194^ THE .TOUllXAL OF BOTAXT 



tlie botany cl:l^ses at the Workini^ Men's College from 1862 to 1888 

 when he left London. On his return in 1879 he became Cm-ator of 

 the Miisemn, and later resumed the teaching of botany: his teacdiing 

 at the College lasted over thirty years. 



Gruo-eon was one of the original members of the Society of 

 Amateur Botanists, which Cooke formed from amongst his old 

 students. According to Grugeon, some of tliose who joined the 

 Society became jealous of Cooke's position, and he transferred his 

 energies later to the new Quekett Club. 



Grugeon accompanied Cooke on a week's tour in North Wales in 

 1865, but found to his surprise that the main idea was that Cooke's 

 expenses should be covered by collecting microfungi for fascicles. He 

 explains Cooke's interest in fungi by the fact that he found an old 

 set of continental microfungi in a lot Avhich was knocked down to him 

 at a sale of herbaria ; Cooke carefully examined these, but then- con- 

 dition was such that nothing could be identilied except the leaves 

 of tlie host. Although Grugeon was friendly with Cooke and freely 

 admitted that he owed him much, he did not pretend that the 

 mycologist was in all respects everything that could be desired. 



Grugeon was a wood turner by trade, and his skill with the lathe 

 enabled him to construct some very ingenious models for his botanical 

 classes. He also invented a special " chuck " used largely since for 

 turning " spirals" in hard woods : this "Avas shown at the Great 

 Exhibition, 1851, and earned a bronze medal and certificate. 



In many ways Grugeon recalled the best type of north country 

 naturalist. He was of kindly nature, cheery humour and clear and 

 independent in his views. He was intimately connected with the 

 Working Men's College, and he was for years one of the mainstays of 

 its social life ; he was president of its *' Lubbock Field Club " from 

 its foundation in 1893 until his death. He contributed several papers 

 on botany and natural history to the college magazine, provided 

 Trimen and Dyer with some notes for their Flora of JMiddlesex, and 

 wrote a small primer in Murby's Science and Art Series on Botany : 

 Structural and Phi/siolof/ical, 1873, which was much used in 

 elementary classes, liut his work for Botany cannot be judged from 

 what he published : in his long teaching career he must have intro- 

 duced large numbers of working men to a subject of which, but for 

 him, they had remained totally ignorant. That his work was duly 

 appreciated is shown by the fact that his friends subscribed £30 as 

 a memorial to him, the yearly income from which is devoted to the 

 purchase of botany books for the library; and the botany class 

 room in the WorJking Men's College is now called the Grugeon 

 Laboratory. 



For most of the above facts I am indebted to an unpubhshed MS. 

 ** Botanical Beminiscences," a paper read before the Lubbock Field 

 Club bv Grugeon in 1896, and The Worlving Men's Gollerje Journal 

 f,,P -[9i3_])()th kindly lent by Mr. C. E. JBritton, Avho has himself 

 BU})plied information. 



J. KaMSJ30TT0M. 



