LI>"NEAy SOCIETY OF LONDOX. 93 



The Eev. Miles Joseph Berkeley was born at Biggiu, near 

 Ouudle, some time in 1803, and received his early education at 

 Eugby. At Cambridge lie took his degree of B.A. in 1S25, and, 

 having received deacon's orders in 1826, lie was ordained priest 

 in the following year by the Bishop of Peterborough. He pro- 

 ceeded M.A. in 182S, and his next recorded clerical duty was at 

 Margate, where he was appointed curate in 1829. At this place 

 he remained till 1833, and here he began that series of inde- 

 fatigable researches which have rendered his name for ever 

 memorable. Preceded by a few papers in various journals, 

 Berkeley made his first essay in independent authorship by his 

 ' Gleanings of British Algse,' in 1833, the same year which 

 witnessed his acceptance of the living of xlpethorpe with Wood- 

 newton, in Northamptonshire. It was whilst he held this 

 perpetual curacy that his main life-work was achieved. The first 

 great work which he here published Avas his volume on Fungi, 

 as supplemental to Sir James Smith's ' English Flora ' in 1836 ; 

 the manner of execution of this admirable production has repeat- 

 edly been the subject of praise from all competent mycologists. 

 The following year, 1837, saw the beginning of a long series of 

 papers in various! journals, the ' Magazine of Zoology and 

 Botany/ afterwards the ' Annals and Magazine of Natural 

 History,' Hooker's Journals, our own, and the pages of the 

 ' Gardener's Chronicle.' It fell to his lot to describe the 

 novelties from many collectors — Darwin's ' Beagle ' fungi, 

 Cuming's Philippine ones, the fungi in the herbarium of the 

 British Museum and of Sir William Hooker. About 1811 he 

 became acquainted with Mr. Broome, and, with him, co-operation 

 only ceased with the death of the latter in 1886. In 1S4<4< he 

 began his valuable t-eries of papers on plant-diseases and vege- 

 table pathology in the ' Gardeners' Chronicle,' then under the 

 editorship of l)r. Lindley. It is much to be wished that a full 

 index of these striking memoirs should be put on record, for 

 they are totally omitted from the Eoyal Society'*! Catalogue of 

 Scientific papers, and the indexes to the various volumes in 

 which they appeared are wanting in fulness ; a synoptic index 

 has, however, been given in the volume for 1857, p. 676, for his 

 articles to that date. He continued to be a constant contri- 

 butor up to about 1886. Soon after this, Berkeley's attention 

 was directed, by the iuA'asion of the potato fungus, to the 

 morphologic aspects of his chosen study. The ' Introduction 

 to Cryptogamic Botany ' came out in 1857, followed by his 

 ' Outlines of British Fnngology ' in 1860; these works had a 

 remarkable eflect on the study of Fungi in this country. In 

 1868 he was presented to the vicarage of Sibbertoft, which he 

 retained till his death. From this time forward his life was, in 

 many senses, a much easier one. He had had hard work to 

 bring uji a large family and prosecute his scientific labours on a 

 country parson's small stipend. Nonv, with easier means, 



