Natural History. 45 



probable that rooms in the Old Prison in the Castle Grounds at 

 Lincoln would be set apart for a county museum. It was also 

 resolved that the transactions of the Union should be published. 



After the meeting the fungi were named and were exhibited 

 at the Committee Room of the Mechanics' Institution, and at 

 9.15 Mr. Massee delivered a lecture, taking Fungi as his 

 subject, and drawing particular attention to many of the 

 specimens on the table. He treated his theme from the 

 evolutionary standpoint, indicating broadly the relative devel- 

 opment of different types. His first illustration was the flat 

 stereum which lies along the soil or rotten log, and is simply a 

 fruit mass. He pointed out that what is popularly understood 

 to be the fungus is in reality its fruit, which fruit bears a 

 similar relation to the mycelium that an apple bears to the tree 

 on which it grows. Mycelium is the technical word for the 

 spawn or vegetative and productive part of the fungus which 

 creeps underground or under bark and creates the material of 

 which the fruit is the visible sign. He then described nftzri<7, 

 Craterellus and other well-defined and more highly specialised 

 forms. Referring to edible species, he said he did not believe 

 in any of the old rule of thumb methods of discrimination. 

 Edible fungi had distinct characteristics and these characteristics 

 had to be learned. He suggested that anyone who was desirous 

 of pursuing the study should obtain Dr. M. C. Cooke's 

 excellent book on Edible Fungi. He proceeded to state that 

 there were two groups of poisonous forms, the alkaloids and 

 toxalbumins. When the albumen is coagulated, then these 

 latter forms are innoxious and may be eaten with safety. 

 Many of the so-called poisoning cases were in his opinion not 

 due to the actual poison of the fungus, but might very probably 

 be attributed to the fact that the fungus had been eaten to 

 excess. In some cases it was dangerous to drink spirituous 

 liquors after a meal of fungi, for it happens that some of the 

 poisons are not soluble in water, whereas they are in spirit. 

 Thus one man may eat certain kinds of fungi and not take 

 the slightest harm, whereas another man may eat out of the 

 same dish and then may have a couple of glasses of whisky, 

 the result being that the poison would be liberated by the 

 action of the spirit and would perhaps prove fatal. Cases of 

 this sort are well known. 



Mr. Massee was cordially thanked for his lecture on the 

 motion of Mr. Burton, seconded by Mr. B. Crow. In 

 acknowledging the vote, the lecturer said he hoped that one of 



