GEORGE EDWAED MASSEE 225 



hut with dysentery, unconscious most of the time and nursed by an 

 old squaw. Hundreds of miles of mule-riding gave Massee a rather 

 philosophical idea of a mule's characteristics, and, in later years, the 

 sight of one of these animals called up reminiscences of perilous paths 

 and of a wise cautious animal sometimes moved to indiscretions by 

 the persuasion of a wisp of lighted straw attached to its tail. While 

 in the forest he lived on rice meal and an occasional monkey — an 

 experience which cured him of any enthusiasms concerning the " simple 

 life," which he regarded as being quite reasonable excej^t when one 

 has to hunt for one's breakfast at supper-time. The Indians per- 

 suaded him to go bare-foot and he was afterwards very reluctant to 

 return to boots. One of his remarks about the Indians was that they 

 Avere so lazy that the}' would spend an hour catching one of their half- 

 wild horses in order to ride a few yards. Amongst his experiences in 

 South America were earthqviakes and a naiTow escape from a puma, 

 which sprang upon him from the overhang-ing branch of a tree. 



Keturning home on a French boat Massee joined the Foreign 

 Legion — the Franco-Prussian War was then in progress. He trans- 

 ferred to the 4th Chasseurs — he had the name tatooed on his arm, — - 

 but he saw little or no fighting, as the big engagements were already 

 over. His mother, being alarmed, got in touch Avith the authorities- 

 and had him sent home, where she prevailed upon him to remain on 

 the farm with his father — he was an only son. Here he contiimed 

 his botanical studies, sj^ecializing on fungi and plant diseases. When, 

 some years after his return, his fathor died, Massee and his mother 

 removed to Scarborough, where he taught botany in various schools 

 and studied geology, which he nearly adopted as a career, only with- 

 drawing at the last moment from a post which was offered to him. 

 He worked hard at the fungus flora of the Scarborough district and 

 painted a considerable number of agaries, many of the drawings being 

 afterwards used by Cooke in his Illustrations. His first paper on 

 fungi was " Notes on some smaller Fungi " in Science Gossip for 

 1S80 ; this included Myxomycetes. 



In the early eighties Massee removed to London and later to Kew. 

 At this period he lectured at various institutions on various biological 

 subjects. He also did a large amount of University Extension lec- 

 turing ; some of the lectures were afterwards arranged in book-form 

 with the title Evolution in Plant Life. Papers on fungi now began 

 to appear with great rapidity. He worked principally in the Kew 

 Herbarium as a free lance, w^here he received great assistance from 

 M. C. Cooke, who had formed a good ojDinion of his work when 

 Massee was working alone at Scarborough. 



In 1871 Massee published an account of the British Phycomycetes 

 and Ustilaginea3 under the title British Fungi. Although much 

 praised by certain m^^cologists at the time, it cannot be said to be a 

 book of much value, even for the period ; but it is still the only book 

 dealing with British Phycomycetes. The following year his Mono- 

 graph of the Mi/xogastres appeared, but this was almost immediately 

 eclipsed by the splendid Lister Monograph ; and at the same date the 

 first volume of his British Fungus Flora. The arrangement of this 

 is very bizarre, but the work was and is much used, and is on the 



