Trans. Br. mycoL Soc. Vol. 49

DR JOHN RAMSBOTTOM

(Facing p. 1)

Vol. 49, Part 1

Trans. Br. mycol. Soc. 49 (I ), 1-2 (1966)Printed in Great Britain

DR JOHN RAMSBOTTOM

March 1966

Eighty years old! With a jubilant ' I' ve made it ' and thumbs up, thegrand old man of mycology, as he was recently dubbed in a newspaperparagraph, greeted a large company offriends in the evening of 25 October1965. The occasion was the celebration of his Both birthday with a privateparty at the charming house in Barnes where Dr Ramsbottom ('J.R.' tohis friends) and his daughter Mary now live. That this party came at theend of a day which had included an official celebration at the NaturalHistory Museum, and that his good spirits showed no sign of flagging, isan indication of the tremendous vitality of this octogenarian.

My thoughts went back to September 191I, when J.R., the late MrA. A. Pearson and I took part for the first time in an autumn foray underthe auspices of the British Mycological Society. J.R. had joined theSociety the previous year, but Mr Pearson and I, and also Prof. A. H. R.Buller, were new members. The President was Prof. E. S. Salmon, and inthe list of members who attended the foray one notes many well-knownnames. There were Prof. M. C. Potter, Mr A. D. Cotton, Mr Petch fromCeylon, Mr E. W. Swanton, Mr (later Professor) F. T. Brooks, MissAnnie Lorrain Smith, Miss Gulielma Lister, Miss H. C. I. Fraser (laterDame Helen Gwynne-Vaughan), and of course Mr Carleton Rea, who atthat time was Secretary, Treasurer, and Editor of the Transactions-in factthe Society. All these people were most kind and helpful to the newcomers,and some later became close and valued friends. In his historical accountof the British Mycological Society given in the Jubilee year, 1946 (Trans.Br. mycol. Soc. 30) Dr Ramsbottom himself described this foray, and thefriendships then started, especially with Carleton Rea and Mr Swanton.His account traced the gradual growth and development of the Societyfrom its small beginning as a ' club ' to the large, internationally importantbody which it now is. Perusal of the history reveals how greatly J. R.himself has been involved in this development, while at the same timetrying to keep alive the' club spirit', which he and other older membershave always valued.

One of the projects dear to him and brought about chiefly by hisactivities, was the organization of day forays in the London area, to whichstudents taking University courses in Botany were warmly invited. Theseforays have now become a regular feature of the activities of the Societyand are attended by hundreds of students and members of local naturalhistory societies, who appreciate the opportunity of learning from thevarious experts who act as leaders.

The photograph here reproduced has caught a characteristic pose ofJ. R. when in full cry on a fungus foray. Always helpful to beginners, hemay be found surrounded by a crowd of youngsters, to whom he patiently

Vol. 48, Part 4 was issued 13 December 1965

MyC.49

2 Transactions British Mycological Societyexplains the importance of spore colour for the identification of agarics,or how to distinguish the Death Cap from allied harmless species. Or withequal good humour he will answer the questions of more experiencedworkers while busy negotiating his picnic lunch.

It would be easier to enumerate whatJ.R. has not done than to draw upa complete list of all his interests. In writings and lectures over more thanhalf a century he has dealt with subjects varying from the mycorrhizas oforchids to the study of fungi pathogenic to man, from the ecology of fungito their uses in everyday life, including edibility and the cultivation ofmushrooms. Above all, in addresses delivered to scientific bodies of whichhe has been President, such as the Linnean Society of London, Section Kof the British Association, and twice our own Society, he has shown him­self as pre-eminently an historian of mycology. His reading has been aswidespread as his knowledge of mycologists, past and present, and talkwith him invariably elicits a fund of interesting reminiscences andamusing stories. Beginning with Benn's sixpenny handbook on fungi,published in 1929, J.R. has been influential in popularizing the study offungi. His two King Penguin books with coloured plates of edible andpoisonous fungi respectively have been of great value to those whoseinterest lies chiefly in the field of gastronomy, while the New Naturalistvolume, Mushrooms and Toadstools (1953) puts together in readable form avast amount of information on all kinds of topics connected with the fungi.Judging by his still active interest in mycological meetings and forays, bothin this country and on the Continent (he has for many years joined in theforays of the French Societe Mycologique) there may yet be more writingsto interest and amuse, but with such a record no one could blame him ifhe were now to decide to settle down to a quieter life. One doubts ithowever. With the capable assistance of Mary, who drives a car andgenerally keeps an eye on him, it is to be hoped that for many years yethe will still appear at meetings and assist with wise advice and practicalknowledge.

E.M.W.