GLASGOW SOCIETY OF FIELD NATURALISTS. 199 



litmus, Amanita muscaria, ergot of rye, dry rot, the morell, and 

 chantarelle, and briefly noticed a few of tlie edible fungi. It is 

 strange that although tons of good meat lie rotting in our woods, the 

 poorer classes will rather feed on garbage than eat either Agaricus, 

 Lycoperdon, or Boleto fungi. He drew attention to the strange fact 

 that some fungi are poisonous in one country and edible in others, 

 of which our common mushroom is an example, in Italy being 

 regarded as a poison. He stated that up to the present time no 

 useful product had been derived from mosses, ferns, or jungermanniae, 

 which seem intended to beautify the world. 



19th January, 1877. 

 Mr. W. J. Milligan, Vice-President, in the chair. 



SPECIMENS EXHIBITED. 



By Mr. Arch. Fawcett. — A very large collection of ferns from 

 St. Helena, among which were the following: — Hymenophyllum 

 capillaceum, Polypodmm Helence, P. marginellum, P. rugosum, 

 Dicksonia arhorea, Pteris paleacea, Asplenium gemmiferum, A. 

 eredum, Acrostichum furcatum, and A. suhdiaphanum. 



By Mr. E. H. Paterson. — The following species of Britisli fungi — 

 Agaricus suhcavus, A. maritimus, Polyporus sanguineus, P. 

 carnosus, and Geaster cryptorrhynchus. He also reported the 

 discovery of Lycopodium inundatum and Potentilla Salishurgense on 

 Benlomond. This is the first time that these plants have been 

 found in the West of Scotland. 



PAPER READ. 



" On the probable reasons why certain plants occur most 

 frequently in the vicinity of human dwellings," by Mr A. S. 

 Wilson, M.A., B.Sc. It is a' fact worthy of remark that in nature 

 we often find the most dissimilar organisms mutually dependent 

 on each other. The curious phenomena of animal commensalism, as 

 seen in the pilot-fish, the buffalo guardian bird, or the honey guide, 

 are not without a parallel in the vegetable kingdom. The nettle, 

 pellitory, dock, borage, and henbane exhibit markedly a predilec- 

 tion for the abodes of man ; and the same tendency is shown by 



