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45 



either the French, Latin, or Greek for " Welsh Rabbit." At this and other 

 dinners the famous Foxwhelp cider was produced ; this cider is so strong, that it 

 is hardly safe to open a bottle of it in a dining-room, for the cork rushes out with a 

 terrific explosion. Many bottles burst in the cellars. (Mr. Andrew Knight in- 

 vented a cold-water cellar to keep the extraordinary potency of this cider ^dthin 

 limits, by flooding). It is not uncommon to see scars in ceilings from the per- 

 cusssion of Foxwhelp cider corks, and at one dinner a bottle was opened on the 

 lawn for safety and experiment. In this instance the cork flew out like a rifle- 

 bullet, struck the branch of a tree with terrific violence, and flew off at a tangent 

 into space : it is certain the cork never came down again, .ind it is probable that 

 at this moment it is sailing through the universe as one atom in the cider-ial 

 system, and is perhaps the new asteroid recently named "Maria " by an Ameri- 

 can astronomer ! 



All went to bed very tired on Monday night. Nevertheless, on Tuesday 

 morning the French visitors and a number of old Woolhopeans, including Miss 

 Ellis, were at Dr. Bull's house before seven in the morning, to snatch a hasty 

 breakfast before starting by the 7.30 a.m. train for Ludlow. All the fungological 

 visitors in Hereford joined this excursion, meeting Messrs. Cooke, Phillips, Lees, 

 &c., either at the Ludlow Station, or at the Messrs. Fortey's house. The excur- 

 sionists were 23 in number. The Messrs. Fortey, with their customary liberality, 

 had prepared an excellent (we were almost writing luxurious) breakfast for the 

 entire party, and after a stroll through the ancient town, the botanists departed 

 in vehicles for Downton Woods. The weather was uncommonly fine, had been 

 uncommonly fine, and remained uncommonly fine until the end of the meeting, 

 so that the visitors from France had no reason, in this instance, to complain of 

 Perfidious Albion ; the only little difficulty rested with one of the Ludlow horses, 

 which proved to be a desperate kicker, and looked round at the Nottinghamshire 

 clergyman (on the box) in a most spiteful manner. Mons. Cornu carried an im- 

 mense cylindrical vasculum over his shoulder, a pocket microscope, and a danger- 

 ous-looking knife mth a blade !)^ inches in length : M. Cornu said, the same sort 

 of knife was used for stabbing a French policeman a day or two before. M. de 

 Seynes carried a very small vasculum in front, and an instrument half-way 

 between a chisel and a knife, with a blade more than 1 foot long. The first fungus 

 found, was the Vegetable "Bifteck," and Hygrophorus pratensis, growing in 

 company with Gentiana campestris. After these, came many of the other well- 

 known rare Herefordshire fungi, as Cortinarius sanguineus, cinnamomeus, cinna- 

 barinus, Strobilomyces strobilaceus, Peziza onotica, Clavaria Botrytis, aurea, 

 coralloides; Agaricus euchrous, Hygrophorus calyptraeformis, &c., all large, hand- 

 Bome, rare, and highly-coloured species. The fungi, as regards number, were 

 scarce, but several species, either new or of uncommon interest, were found. By 

 the Teme side, we noticed Scrophularia Ehrharti and Iris foetidissima. One of 

 the Puff-balls, Lycoperdon gemmatum, was growing for a considerable distance 

 up the mossy side of a tree, whilst various species of Hygrophorus were growing 

 in plenty in the open spaces, with the "Eye-bright," Euphrasia officinalis — 



