Journal of Proceedings.
li
which had proved so inclement on that and several other former Field
Meetings. On looking along the tables, the officers of the Club could
not but feel proud to note the large and eminent Cryptogamic forces
they had succeeded in bringing together. He was sure all were deeply
indebted to their conductors, Dr. M. C. Cooke, Mr. Worthington Smith,
and Mr. James English, for their valuable assistance, and as some
members might be obliged to leave before the termination of the dis-
cussion, he proposed to reverse the usual order of things, and at once
call upon the meeting to pass a cordial vote of thanks to the botanists
named. In doing so he could not but refer to the many well-known
naturalists who attended the meeting as visitors, and he was sure all
were proud and pleased to welcome their illustrious confrere, Professor
Maxime Cornu, of Paris, among them that afternoon. The vote of
thanks was given with much cordiality and enthusiasm.
Dr, Cooke then delivered one of his characteristically humorous and
learned extemporaneous lectures, taking as his subject the discrimina-
tion of Fungi generally, and edible and poisonous species in particular.
He alluded to the extreme richness of the Epping Woods in this class
of plants, and congratulated the Society on having inaugurated so suc-
cessfully a much-wanted mycological meeting. Since the collapse of
the Fungus Meetings of the Royal Horticultural Society, lovers of these
lowly plants had had no opportunity of meeting together for pleasant
conversation and comparison of notes, and he was sure, should the
meetings become an annual, institution, they would be much appre-
ciated by metropolitan botanists.
The Doctor gave an admirable resume of the characteristics of the
principal families of the larger or pileate Fungi, illustrating the points
insisted on by means of fresh specimens extracted from the hidden
recesses of his wonderful portmanteau. He described the mode of
examining specimens with a view to classifying and naming them—
whether with gills, pores, or teeth, on the underside of the pileus; the
colour and nature of the spores, the structure of the stem, whether
solid, hollow, or fibrous, the attachment of the gills to the stem,
&c., &c. ; all these points were touched upon, and demonstrated prac-
tically with the aid of a table knife, and the inexhaustible bag. He also
pointed out what species to select, and what to avoid from a gastro-
nomic point of view, particularly praising the "Orange Chantarelle,"
alluded to above; and one species deliciosus of the genus Lactarius,
known by exuding a milky fluid when broken. Our giant friend
Boletus edulis came in for a large share of commendation, and the
visitors were told to study its characters well so as to know it again,
particularly remarking the delicate pinkish reticulation of the stem
which serves to distinguish the right species from its congeners, many
of which are the reverse of wholesome. One of these Boletus luridus
had been found plentifully during the afternoon's hunt. It is poison-