93 



Crosslaud : The Study of Fungi in Yorkshire. 



The Rev. R. Wood, of Woodhall Park, near Wetherby, 

 recorded in the ' Naturahst,' (Nov. 1852 p. 255) a rare fungus — 

 Geaster, aUied to G. collegens, and G. hygrometricus, but dis- 

 tinct from either. 



The talented and venerable botanist, John Gilbert Baker, 

 F.R.S., F.L.S., etc., for nearly forty years the valued keeper of 

 the Royal Herbarium, Kew, collected fungi about Thirsk, from 

 1852-1865. Few other Yorkshiremen appear to have been giving 

 them attention about that time. Mr. Baker corresponded 

 with the Rev. Andrew Bloxam, a student of fungi among other 

 things, at Harborough Magna. In June 1904, Mr. Baker 

 kindly forwarded me, through the Kew authorities, a fine 

 duplicate collection of dried fungi. Among them were many 

 Thirsk specimens and numerous foreign species. Owing to the 

 unfortunate miscarriage of a letter, the Thirsk species were not 

 included in the Yorkshire Fungus Flora. Some future oppor- 

 tunity may arise of inserting them in a supplementary list. 

 Mr. Baker was one of the first Presidents of the Union. He 

 was born at Guisborough, North Yorks., in 1834. He com- 

 menced to study botany before he w^as twelve ; at thirteen he 

 was appointed curator of the herbarium at the Friend's School 

 at York ; at sixteen he was writing to the ' Phytologist ' on the 

 occurrence of Carex Persoonii in Yorkshire ; at thirty-two he 

 was appointed first assistant in the Royal Herbarium, Kew. 

 He got through an enormous amount of botanical work. There 

 is an excellent account of him and his work, with photo, in the 

 January 1907, ' Naturalist.' 



In 1857, the Rev. F. O. Morris, of ' British Bird fame,' 

 noted the mushroom — A. campestris, at Kilnwick Percy, so late 

 as Nov. 2ist, (' Nat.' Jan., 1858, p. 10). 



In 1858, Mr. E. J. Maude, Leeds, recorded the altitudinal 

 range of the mushroom — Ag. campestris, as up to 1.400 feet, on 

 the slope of Old Cote Moor, near Arncliffe, Sep. nth. (' Nat.', 

 Dec, 1858). 



The forerunner of the present Union was the West Riding 

 Consolidated Naturalists Society. Its place of birth was Heck- 

 mondwike, in 1861. There were NaturaHsts present from the 

 Huddersfield. Halifax, and Wakefield Societies. The idea of a 

 Confederation of Societies originated with Mr. William Talbot, 

 Wakefield. The interests of the members were chiefly confined 

 to the more familiar sections of natural history. In 1864, the /e 

 were six of these Societies. At a quarterly meeting held at 



Naturalist, 



