22 Crossland : Fungus Flora of Mnlgravc Woods. 



this happens, it is an almost certain sign that fungi generally 

 are abundant in the woods, and so it proved. 



The collecting was done in small piarties so that more ground 

 could be covered. The entrances to the woods being close at 

 hand, no time was wasted in long drives or railway journeys, 

 either at the beginning or ending of each day's investigations. 

 In addition to the woods, there was plenty of pasture and 

 meadowland to look over. 



Each season, in all districts, there is a varying preponder- 

 ance of a few families of agarics over others ; some are plentiful, 

 others scarce. This season at Mulgrave, many genera abounded 

 notably Tricholoma, with twenty-tour species found ; Mycena, 

 thirty-two ; Riissula, twenty-eight ; Cortinarius , twenty- 

 nine ; Lactarms, twenty ; Philiota, ten ; Inocyhe, thirteen ; 

 Hygrophorifs, eighteen ; and so on. Other genera were com- 

 paratively equally prevalent ; even Jew's ear was abundant 

 at Sandsend in a fence formed of aged elderberry trees. During 

 the five days very much more material was met with than on 

 any previous occasion. Among it were many common species 

 that occur everywhere. Attention was given to all branches of 

 the subject, more particularly, perhaps, to micro species. 



At the rooms all the spacious table accommodation was 

 occupied by named specimens left there for the benefit of the 

 less-experienced students. One part of the interest lies in 

 seeing the immense variety in size, shape, and colour displayed 

 by the Agarics alone, when laid side by side. 



On Monday evening Mr Massee gave an address on 

 ' Economic Mycology,' dealing more especially with fungi that 

 attack potato tubers, causing them to rot. One of these — a 

 Thielavia, has been proved to have four distinct stages, each 

 one of which, prior to the life-history of the fungus becoming 

 fully known, was considered a distinct species. Mr. Massee's 

 preliminary remarks appear on page 28. A special paper on 

 the Thielavia, with figure, will appear later. 



The same evening Mr. Wager discoursed on ' The Develop- 

 ment of Spores in the Basidiomycates,' tracing the fusion of a 

 couple of nuclei into one, and its subsequent division into two 

 or four, mostly four, in the young basidium. Later, or con- 

 currently with the formation of the resultant nuclei, two or 

 four projections (according to the species) spring from the 

 upper part of the basidium. These develop into narrow cones 

 (sterigmata), through each of which a nucleus passes upwards 



Naturalist, 



