THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



273 



A FUNGUS FORAY WITH 

 THE HACKNEY NATURAL 

 HISTORY SOCIETY. 



By A. J. Clarke. 



There is a decidedly romantic ring in the 

 word "foray," and whether we will or no 

 there is a responsive vibration from the 

 mind carrying one's thoughts back to the 

 feudal times, when predatoay incursions 

 held sway in certain parts of the Kingdom, 

 and were countenanced, where not actually 

 directed, by those who held high office in 

 the land. Bards have invoked the muse on 

 their behalf, novelists have found in them 

 a fertile source of inspiration ; and our boy- 

 hood days have been charmed by a perusal 

 of the stirring scenes that both have 

 chronicled. But there are forays and 

 forays. As the proverb says — Times change 

 and men change with them, and the moss- 

 trooper of bygone ages is replaced by the 

 mosshunter of to-day, the sword and buckler 

 have been supplanted by the microscope 

 and the valise — at least, so far as " foraging 

 exploits" are concerned. No more is high 

 wassail held over the captured kine, and no 

 more are the retainers mustered for reprisals. 

 Law, stern and methodical, has stepped in, 

 while science and a cultured love of Nature 

 have taught men that there are channels as 

 exciting and opportunities as enticing for 

 their pent-up energy as those which tempted 

 the mauraders of old, though harmless 

 alike in their conception and execution. 



Foremost among these must be classified 

 the Hackney Microscopical and Natural 

 History Society with whom it was my 

 privilege to spend a few instructive and 

 pleasant hours on Saturday last — a red-letter 

 day in their calendar, for it had been duly 

 fixed upon for a " Fungus Foray." By the 

 characteristic courtesy of their hon. secretary 

 * was one of the company, and for the 



nonce, at all events, I was a full-blown 

 Naturalist, trying hard to become profoundly 

 acquainted with the Flora and Fauna, and 

 other terms dear to the student's heart. 

 That I only succeeded in part I am bound 

 to admit, but that I spent a profitable 

 outing goes without saying. The party was 

 divided into two sections, and the start for 

 Epping Forest, the locus in quo, was made 

 from Liverpool-street station 10.9 a.m., and 

 2.2 p.m., respectively. The first named was 

 for Loughton and the other for Chingford. 

 Altogether about twenty-three members and 

 friends put in an appearance, including the 

 president, Dr. M. C. Cooke, F.L.S. ; Mr. T. 

 Hardy, F.R.M.S., vice president ; Mr. 

 Collis Willmott, F.R.M.S., hon. sec. ; Dr. 

 H. Wharton, F.L.S., Mr. Worthington 

 Smith, F.L.S. , Mr. T. Howse, F.L.S., Mr. 

 Jas. English, Mr. F. Coles, F.L.S., Mr. H. 

 Miles, M.A., Mr. Carter, Mr. Barker, Mr. 

 Adley, Mr. Nevins, Mr. Paulson, Mr. G. 

 Mainland, Mr. C. Oldham, Mr. W. Cole, 

 hon. sec. to the Essex Field Club. Canon 

 Du Port, of Dereham, Norfolk, and the 

 Treasurer, Mr. Clark were unable to attend. 

 The Rev. De Kewer Williams was also a 

 distinguished visitor on the occasion. The 

 route, was, by the early train through 

 Monk's Wood, and soon after the arrival of 

 the later train the meet was to take place 

 at the Robin Hood. As it happened, 

 however, the join was appropriately made 

 in the recesses of the Forest, and here the 

 Naturalists, indulging in friendly rivalry, 

 compared notes and exhibited the specimens 

 they had discovered, Of course the early 

 birds had caught the worms, or in other 

 words those who had deployed into the 

 Epping glades where the dew was still to be 

 seen were rich in the spoils of the chase. 

 The others, with whom I was numbered, 

 had not their labour unrewarded, for the 

 ramble fjom Chingford had resulted, in 

 several good finds of fungi, the first of 

 which an A . squavvosus fell to the lot of Dr. 



