Boston Mycological Club. 
Bulletin No. II. (issued December 16, 1899.) 
Hollis Webstek, Corr. Sec., P. O. Box 21, Cambridge, Mass. 
The favorable conditions for the fruiting of fungi, and hence for the 
collection of them, which existed in the seasons of 1897 and 1898, were 
not repeated in 1899. Inconsequence, the exhibitions of the Club at 
Horticultural Hall during last summer and autumn, though maintained 
weekly as usual, were not so large and full as before, and the additions to 
the Club herbarium were few. It is not surprising, either, to find that 
interest flagged somewhat, because even active search was often produc¬ 
tive of small rewards or fruitless altogether. At times, however, and in 
favored places, mushrooms were abundant enough to keep eaters of them 
active, and students and collectors on the wdiole found enough to study. 
Such stingy seasons are to be expected occasionally, and ought not to 
quench the ardor of the real amateur. 
Indeed, signs multiply that indicate a continued spread of popular 
interest in mycology. New clubs have been formed, more articles on the 
subject and some books are being published, and lectures are in demand. 
Notably, we have seen the issue of Professor Underwood’s “ Moulds, 
Mildews and Mushrooms,” which ought admirably to orient a student 
coming at the study from the popular side, and in Boston the Lowell 
Institute lately offered the public six illustrated lectures on Edible and 
Poisonous Mushrooms by Prof. W. G. Farlow, which were attended by 
many who are not members, though they ought to be, of the Boston 
Mvcological Club. So many additions have been made to the literature 
of mushrooms that space will be given to them in a future bulletin. 
ACTIVITIES OF THE CLUB. 
Of matters that more intimately concern the Club first mention'should 
be made of the winter meetings in progress, on the third Monday of every 
month, at the rooms of the Boston Society of Natural History. Although 
there is usually no definite announcement of topics for presentation and 
discussion, it should be understood that at every meeting there is a talk 
of some kind, illustrated, as a rule, from the Club’s increasing collection 
of lantern slides. Only those who attend regularly — and most of the 
faces at the meetings are familiar — can have any understanding of the re¬ 
sources of the Club in this regard or of the wisdom of adding constantly 
to this means of illustration, even at considerable expense. Members are 
urged to bring friends to these meetings, and to let them know that 
membership is easy to obtain. The attendance at the evening meetings 
so far has been hardly greater than at the Saturday talks, which always 
have attracted numerous strangers, many of whom have eventually joined 
us and added their assistance to the work that the Club is trying to do. 
And what is that work? Many members perhaps need to be reminded 
that the dollar that they pay yearly, and the subscription which those 
that can have contributed in addition, are really doing something more 
than bringing them an occasional notice or bulletin, and giving them 
the somewhat unsatisfactory (because unsatisfied) privilege of asking 
