CORRESPONDING SOCIETIES. 749 



This growth, which had the effect of whitewash, appeared first about ten years 

 ago at Brighton, and seemed to be rapidly spreading. It had been described by 

 Mr. Massee, of Kew, but no attack had yet been recorded there. Gardeners 

 on the South Coast at present did not seem to understand it. By clipping the 

 plant to make it look more presentable they only weakened it and made it 

 look more bare. 



The Rev. T. R. R. Stebbing asked whether those medical men were to be 

 trusted who affirmed that edible fungi, however agreeable they might be to the 

 palate, had practically no value as nutriment. On the other hand, he believed 

 that the enormous pecuniary damage caused by some insidious members of the 

 class was compensated by the efficient help which other members of it gave to 

 higher vegetation. 



Miss Lorrain Smith explained that some parts of the vegetable kingdom 

 did in fact find the co-operation of fungi essential and invaluable. 



Mr. W. P. D. Stebbing, with reference to the value of fungi to the human 

 race, could not help alluding to their far greater use on the Continent than in 

 the British Isles. They form a striking feature in the markets down the Loire, 

 at Toulouse, and in Rome, where in the autumn the large brown and yellow 

 Boletus seems to be an especial favourite. He asked if any satisfactory method 

 of preserving them was in use ? As a matter of curiosity, he would like to 

 know if there was anything in the common saying that a wet summer drowned 

 the mycelium of the Agaricus campestris. Sir Daniel Morris's remarks led him 

 to ask if the white fungus attacking the leaves of young oak-shoots in summer 

 was similar to the one now affecting the Euonymusl 



The Chairman, in closing the discussion and before calling on Mr. Wager 

 to reply, drew the attention of the Conference to the exhibition of drawings, 

 dissections, and photographs of fungi hung round the walls. For them the 

 Conference was very deeply indebted to Mr. A. Clarke, of Huddersfield (stereo- 

 scopic photographs of fungi) ; to Mr. Clarke and Mr. A. E. Peck, of the same 

 town (photographs of British fungi) ; to Mr. C. Crossland, of Halifax (water- 

 colour drawings with magnified dissections of British micro- and other fungi) ; 

 and to Mrs. W. P. D. Stebbing and Mrs. T. R. R. Stebbing for water-colour 

 drawings of fungi, mainly from the counties of Surrey and Kent. 



Mr. Wager thought that Sir Daniel Morris had indicated very clearly one 

 of the problems of economic importance in the solution of which the observa- 

 tions of members of Local Societies might be of very considerable value. It was 

 clearly desirable that natural history societies should have very definite prob- 

 lems placed before them, and he was glad to learn from the remarks made by 

 one of the speakers that some such guidance would be welcomed. 



Co-ordination of the Work <?/ Local Scientific Societies. 



Sir Daniel Morris opened a discussion on the above subject, which he thought 

 was of supreme importance if the best use was to be made of the energy now 

 often lost in such societies, or when there were rival societies in the same town. 

 He considered that co-ordination would prevent stagnation and direct surplus 

 energy through discussions into more profitable channels. 



Dr. Tempest Anderson (Yorkshire Philosophical Society) pointed out that 

 union is strength ; for instance, the British Association with its numerous Sec- 

 tions wielded an influence for good far greater than would be the case if the 

 different Sections were separate organisations. The same was the case with the 

 new Royal Society of Medicine, formed by an amalgamation of the various 

 medical societies of London. 



Mr. Beeby Thompson (Northants N. H. Society and Field Club) remarked 

 that the society which he represented was conducted on the lines suggested by 

 Sir Daniel Morris. There were various sections, each with its own president 

 and secretary, and they were given independent management of their own 

 affairs. Two of the sections admit sectional members for a much smaller sub- 

 scription than that to the parent society, but since the proceedings of these 

 sections and their more important papers are published in the Quarterly Journal 

 of the Society, they act as feeders to it. That is to say, the sectional members 



