2 o 8 lister : the study of mycetozoa in Britain. 
of the party. By concentrating our attention on one subject 
and by allowing ample time for leisurely observation, discussion 
and enjoyment of the beauty of the scenery, many of us felt 
this expedition one of the most instructive and delightful that 
we have taken. 
In October and November, the Fungus and Cryptogamic 
Forays were, as usual, well attended and profitable. In the 
Forest we never draw a blank and each season provides its 
own charm. On these occasions, it is, I think, apparent that 
there is an increasing endeavour among the whole party to 
observe and to study something. In this way, we are carrying 
out one of the principal objects for which our Field Club was 
founded. We are becoming, in the words of our honorary secre¬ 
tary, Mr. Thompson, more “democratic,” and our members 
are realising that each individual has a responsibility to make, 
if possible, a study of some group of natural objects and to 
share the results with others, while everyone is more alive to 
the help that may be given by sympathetic interest in the 
work of others. 
Two autumn meetings held by the Club were the occasion 
for interesting exhibits by Mr. J. Wilson, on Epping Forest 
Desmids, and by Mr. Charles Soar, F.L.S., on Water-mites. 
The January meeting gave us the privilege of the exhibition 
by Mr. J. H. Owen, of a magnificent seiies of lantern slides, 
illustrating the nesting habits of Sparrow-hawks, taken from 
photographs made by himself and some of the boys of Felsted 
School—a wonderful record of parental solicitude on the part 
of the birds, and of endurance and of ingenuity on the part of 
the photographers. 
The February meeting was distinguished by a valuable paper 
by Miss Champness on the death-rate of West Ham. A study 
of the death-rate of the population had been made in relation 
to over-crowding, to unhealthy sites, and to distance from open 
spaces ; the details were illustrated by instructive charts and maps. 
Two enjoyable visits have been arranged for us in the present 
year. In February, at the Natural History Museum, Cromwell 
Road, the attractive botanical gallery was explained to us 
by Dr. Rendle, the head of the plant department, and Mr. E. G. 
Baker showed an interesting historical series of flower-illustra¬ 
tions, including the delightful woodcuts of the sixteenth- 
century Herbals, and Ferdinand Bauer’s beautiful paintings 
made at Kew a hundred years ago. 
