HAHIl OF C.kOWill I\ I'L.IXTS 333 



eyes, we nia)- discoxer tin)- tufts of the Mycetozoa, 

 whose capsules, under the microscope Tancl in some 

 cases even u ith the naked e)e) arc seen to j^i\c off 

 chiuds of spores, actuall}' thrown out by the acti\e 

 movements of fine waving threads, a sight never 

 to be forgotten when it has been watched under 

 favourable circumstances. Winter is also rich in 

 its harvest of mushroom-like fungi; these will well 

 repa>' a little stud)'. We shall be led to note their 

 form, colour, mode, and habit of growth, how they 

 affect certain trees and soils, and the imjjxjrtant 

 difference of some kinds being eatable and others 

 virulently poisonous ; the mere book student can 

 know \er)' little of the keen pleasure enjoyed by 

 those who thus think about what the)' see, and are 

 e\er adding to their stock of knowledge b)- per- 

 sonal observation. I ma\' close with some true 

 and beautiful thoughts b)' one ' who is herself a 

 reverent student of the book of nature. 



" No pleasure is more sure and none less costly 

 than that of watching day by da)' the signs of the 

 coming spring ; than the delight of seeing unex- 



' Miss Blanche Atkinson, nicmhei of the HarniDUth Branch of 

 the Selborne Society. 



