Fifty 
THE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN NATURALIST 
June, 1955 
MAY MEETING 
On 19th May the Section held I 
its general monthly meeting when 
over 40 members and friends 
attended. Also present were rep- 
resentatives of the South Austra- 
lian Ornithological Association 
and of the Royal Society of South 
Australia. The Chairman wel- 
comed members from other organ- 
isations and especially two mem- 
bers of the Arrarat Field Natura- 
list Club, Misses Banfield and 
Mitchell. 
The important business of the 
evening was the presentation to 
Professor J. B. Cleland of the 1952 
award of the Australian Natural 
History Medallion. The Chairman 
in presenting the award, men- 
tioned the long association Pro- 
lessor Cleland has had with the 
Section, the wide-spread interests 
and knowledge which he has al- 
ways made available to any who 
sought information, and the other 
awards which had been given to 
him, culminating in the award of 
the O.B.E. by the late King George 
VJ. 
In reply Professor Cleland 
thanked members of the various 
organisations present for forward- 
ing his name to the Committee. In 
his remarks he mentioned attend- 
ing an excursion to Oakbank over 
60 years ago, and other incidents 
connected with the early history 
of the Section. It was in 1896-97 
when it was necessary for the Ade- 
laide medical students to go either 
to Sydney or Melbourne to do 
their training, that natural history 
commenced to play a big part in 
Professor Cleland’s life. Dr. 
Pulleine mentioned to the Pro- 
fessor that “the birds were more 
interesting in and around Sydney.” 
The Professor told us of making 
a collection of birds in the heavy 
scrub around Rose Bay, the asso- 
ciation between natural history 
and the plague in Sydney, of lep- 
rosy and house burning, and of 
the mysterious “X” disease which 
occurred in 1919 and 1924 and 
was identified in the late 1940’s as 
encephalitis. 
The Chairman then asked Pro- 
fessor Cleland to give his lecture 
for the evening on Fungi. As was 
expected, Professor Cleland gave 
us a most interesting account, first 
touching on the scientific side, 
then the gastronomic and finally 
on the general side of his subject. 
He warned all from attempting 
experiments in eating other than 
the common mushroom, but if ex- 
periments were to be made, make 
certain that a portion of the 
“fungus” was left uncooked so 
that “in the case of a atastrophe 
those left would have a chance to 
identify the species concerned!” He 
further drew attention to the 
danger of the Flyaagaric, a scarlet- 
topped white-dotted species which 
is now extremely common through 
the Mt. Lofty Ranges, but norm- 
ally associated with introduced 
trees. Because of its brilliant col- 
ouring Professor Cleland thought 
that at same stage a youngster may 
eat it; it is extremely poisonous 
and there is no known remedy. At 
the conclusion of Professor Cle- 
land’s talk he was thanked by the 
Chairman, and members showed 
their appreciation. 
The Chairman, on behalf of all 
members, presented Mr. Lothian 
with Stan Kelly’s “Forty Eucalypts 
in Colour” as a token of their 
appreciation for his assistance in 
