SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



Swords, was- made, where Hypocrea sphndens, 

 Rosellinia mammaeformis P., Nolanea pisciodora cesati, 

 Poria vitrea Pers., and P. cbducens Pers. were found. 

 At the evening meeting a very valuable paper was 

 read on behalf of our member, Mr. Harold Wager, 

 F.L.S., on a " Fungus Parasite on Euglena," in 

 which Mr. Wager recorded his original observa- 

 tions on the life-history of Polyphagia euglenae 

 Schroet., which had not previously been so fully 

 worked out ; and Dr. C. B. Plowright made some 

 observations on "A Clover-Destroying Fungus," 

 stating that up to the present year he had always 

 regarded Pseudopeziza trifolii Fckl. as a harmless 

 parasite, but that this year he had found it to be 

 an injurious one, owing to the stems of clover 

 being affected as well as the leaves. The election 

 of officers then took place, and Dr. C. B. Plowright 

 was unanimously elected President for the ensuing 

 year, and Mr. C. Rea Hon. Secretary and Treasurer. 

 The invitation of the Cryptogamic Society of 

 Scotland to join their meeting next year or the 

 year after was then considered, and it was decided 

 that as next year was their semi-jubilee the year 

 after would be more acceptable, and that the 

 annual meeting of this society next year should 

 be held in the New Forest. 



On Thursday, September 22nd, the woods of 

 Ballyarthur were explored, and yielded specimens 

 of Boletus parasiticus Bull and countless ascophores 

 of the pretty cup-shaped Chlorosplenium aeruginosum 

 De Not. on the green-stained oak wood which was 

 formerly employed in the manufacture of Tun- 

 bridge ware. In the evening Dr. C. B. Plowright 

 read a very learned and exhaustive paper entitled 

 "An Epitome of Eriksson's Researches on the 

 Cereal Rusts," a careful consideration of which 

 cannot fail to be of benefit to agriculturists and 

 economists. 



Friday morning, September 23rd, was devoted 

 to work at the museum ; and in the afternoon the 

 demesne of Woodlands, near Eucan, was investi- 

 gated, where fine specimens of the rare Amanita 

 strobilifonnis Vitt. and Cortinarius (Phlegmacium) 

 julgens Fr. were gathered. In the evening Mr. 

 Greenwood Pim exhibited, under microscopes, 

 specimens of some curious moulds, which in- 

 cluded Botvytis dichotoma Ca., Stysanus stemonitis 

 Ca. var. ramosa, Pimia parasitica Grove, Papulo- 

 spora scpedonioides Preuss., My xot rich urn chartarum 

 Kunze and M. deflexion Berk, Hclicomyces roseus 

 Link, and Ra'mularia rapae Pim, etc., and he 

 added some very interesting notes concerning 

 them. Dr. E. J. McWeeney then made some ob- 

 servations on " Two Sclerotia Diseases of Potato." 

 The one was characterized by large sclerotia in 

 the pith cavity, the other by small crumpled 

 inconspicuous sclerotia firmly adherent to the 

 epidermis of the leaves and stem. The former 

 gave rise to the well-known peziza Sclerotinia 



sclerotiorum Mass., whereas the latter produced a 

 mouse-grey mould, Botrytis ; but the two were quite 

 distinct, and not stages in a life cycle. To 

 eradicate the disease he advised burning the 

 potato haulm each autumn, and the non-cropping 

 with potatoes of the same ground for some years 

 to come. Mr. Soppitt offered some valuable ob- 

 servations on the Uredineae in general, and more 

 particularly as to the life - history of Aecidium 

 grossulariae Gmelin, in the elucidation of which he 

 has done good work for many years past. Mr. C. 

 Rea read a few notes on "The Different Names 

 Applied by English and French Mycologists to 

 One and the Same Basidiomycete." Hearty votes 

 of thanks were then unanimously accorded to the 

 Dublin Naturalists' Field Club, the Royal College 

 of Science, the Museum authorities, and Professor 

 T. Johnson, D.Sc. 



Saturday, September 24th, was the concluding 

 day of the week's foray, when the members visited 

 the picturesque demesne of Dunran by the kind 

 invitation of Mr. Patinson, who most hospitably 

 entertained them to luncheon and showed them 

 round his well-kept gardens, which contained many 

 rare shrubs and flowers. The demesne proved to 

 be an excellent collecting-ground, and the somewhat 

 scarce purple spored Boletus, B . porphyrosporus Fr., 

 was found in some abundance, together with vast 

 clusters of the giant polypore, Polyporns giganteus 

 Fr., and a solitary example of a Hydnum new to 

 Britain, though previously recorded for the 

 continent of Europe, viz., H. cinereum Bull. 



Over 430 distinct species of fungi were identi- 

 fied during the week's foray, of which 150 were 

 additions to the list published by Mr. Greenwood 



Pim ' M - A - Carleton Rea. 



Hen. Sec. British Mycologkal Society. 

 34, Foregate Street, Wcrcester. 



September, 189S. — September last will long 

 be known as a month remarkable alike for its 

 physical and social events. With the latter we 

 are not concerned in these pages ; but among the 

 former were the heat wave and dry period — both 

 exceptional maxima. Generally the rainfall was 

 less than half, and in some cases only reached 

 ten per cent, and under, of the average ; absolute 

 droughts occurred at about ten recording stations. 

 This seems to be only part of the abnormal dry 

 period that has affected some portions of Europe 

 for the past four years, during which the average 

 rain has. been considerably below what is usual. 

 It applies especially to this year, when up to the 

 .end of September every month has been deficient 

 in rainfall. The area in Britain most affected by 

 the phenomenal heat of September was south- 

 eastern England. In certain places as much as 

 93 Fahr. was the shade temperature, and 85 up to 

 90 were not uncommon. The hottest days were 

 from the 3rd to 9th and 14th to 17th Septem- 

 ber ; whilst it was on the 9th that the brilliant 

 aurora display took place, following the commence- 

 ment of the enormous sunspots demonstration, 

 which lasted most of the month. 



