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fungi, maialy the St, George's mushroom, Agaricus gamhosus. At the present 

 time they had a bare appearance, from the decay of the finer grasses ; and 

 the Marasmius oreades was growing there. He had had several of these 

 rings cut through without finding any trace of the moles' operations ; but 

 in one instance he came upon a moles' track passing through the ring 

 towards the centre and had it opened several feet both inside and outside 

 the ring. There were no surface indications of its course, either in the form 

 of fungi or more vigorous vegetation, while the ring — under which there was 

 no indication of a track— was distinguished by both, as described. He also 

 remarked that under the ring the soil was infiltrated with mycelium, which 

 always extended a few inches beyond its outer, but rarely beyond its inner 

 margin. (A specimen of the soU fiUed with mycelium was produced). This 

 also seemed to him to give support to the generally received theory of growth 

 from a central group. He regretted the facts would not allow him the pleasure 

 of agreeing with l\Ir. Lees, as he should gladly have found that the scientific 

 world was wrong for once, and that a member of the club was entitled to the 

 credit of setting it right. 



He concluded by recommending the members of the Club to mark some 

 isolated group of fungi, and also stake out careful^ some of the rings, with a 

 view to a better settlement of the question (applause). 



The Kev. "Wm. Houghton, F.L.S., said that, from the very first, the 

 amatory molecular theory of Mr. Lee had for him no atti-action. He was con- 

 vinced that the mole had nothing to do with the formation of " fairy rings." 

 Mr. Lees's quotation from Mr. Thomas Bell's " British Quadrupeds " did not 

 bear him out. Mr. Lees laid great stress upon the circular form of moles' runs ; 

 of course, it was necessary for his argument ; but what does Mr. Bell say ? — 

 "The tracks by which the male pursues his mate are numerous and curiously 

 divaricating." They are termed by the French naturalists traces d'amour, and 

 by our English mole-catchers "coupling runs" or "rutting angles." He (Mr. 

 Houghton) had yet to learn that rfu-anca<in^ tracks and '' rutting angles" were 

 synonymous with amatory gyrations. 'His. Lees had abandoned his explanation 

 as far as it related to Ireland ; but the absence of moles and the presence of 

 "fairy-rings" in that country are fatal to his theory. He (Mr. H.) also 

 did not agree with Mr. Lees that the operations of moles destroyed the grass. 

 His own experience led him to a different conclusion. The subject of " fairy- 

 rings " was no doubt a difficult one to explain, but he thought that some modi- 

 fication of the centrifugal theory would be the true explanation (applause). 



Mr. J. E. SmTH said that after the numerous raps and ponderous blows 

 our friend Mr. Lees has had, he felt vei-y reluctant to give him any more, nor 

 was it his wish to give the sick lion another kick. But he considered that the 

 very foundation of this molecular theory was unsound. Mr. Lees stated that 

 funguses find their pabulum in decaying vegetable and animal matter. The 

 mole in his runs destroys parts of the grass, and the decaying grass forms a 

 suitable nidus for the fnngi to germinate in. But no fungi are to be found in 



