208 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 series 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.