174 Canadian Record of Science. 



epidermis readily peeled off and resembled a piece of 

 heavy white kid. 



Slices were cut from it and served at several meals 

 during the week. Last year two large ones were sent 

 us from Odelltown, Quebec, and two smaller ones 

 from the vicinity of Montreal, and in September I 

 purchased one which weighed six pounds when fresh. 

 I have a newspaper clipping describing one found near 

 Three Rivers, which measured fifty-live inches in cir- 

 cumference. 



Mcllvaine says that if a large puff-ball is left 

 attached to the ground and a slice is taken from the 

 top, its development will be arrested and it will re- 

 main firm and white, so that pieces may be taken 

 from it when wanted. When sliced, seasoned, dipped 

 in egg and fried, it is quite like a light omelette. 



Scleroderma vulgare belongs to this group. It has a 

 very tough warty brown coat, is very hard when 

 white, and turns to a blackish slate color, when it 

 smells quite like a tuffle ; later it is filled with a dark 

 powder, which escapes as in the puff-ball through a 

 chink in the top. Phallus impudicus seems a quite 

 common fungus. It is very beautiful in color and 

 structure, but has a loathsome odor. It is commonly 

 called the Stink-horn fungus, or Fetid Wood-witch. 



We have identified about seventy species, and are 

 able to place others in the proper genera, but have only 

 made a beginning in the study. There is a wide field 

 for work in this branch of Botany, particularly in 

 this country where so little has been done as yet. 



In the States a number of Mycological clubs have 

 been formed, which are adding materially every year 

 to the recorded knowledge on the subject. 



The Boston Mycological Club sends out bulletins 

 frequently during the year to its members, describing 

 the various species found from time to time. Meet- 

 ings are held every week during the summer months 

 in Boston, when specimens are exhibited and lectures 

 and talks on them are given. During the winter, 

 meetings are held once a month. Members have the 

 privilege of sending plants to be named or identified, 



