NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND P.0. BOX 3346, CHARLOTTETONN, P.E.I. CIA 8C1

MEETINGS are held on the first Tuesday of the month (except June, July, August, and September) at 7:30 p.m. at the Farm Centre on University Avenue, Charlottetown. Members and non-members are welcome. Please bring your coffee cup so that we will contribute as little as possible to the waste stream.

MEMBERSHIP is open to anyone interested in the natural history of Prince Edward Island. Membership is available at any meeting or by contacting Dan McAskill, Charlottetown RR # 5, Donagh, P.E.I. CIA 7J8 (phone 569-4351). Annual membership rates are: single - $4; family - $5. Renewals are due in January. Membership expiry dates are in the top right hand corner of the mailing label.

The Society is directed by a volunteer executive elected from its members. 1990 Executive: President.......Pat Hootton, Charlottetown 892-5761 or 962-3641

Vice-President..... . . . . ..Nendell MacKay, Stanley Bridge 886-2495 Past President...........Sue Stephenson, Charlottetown 368—2789 Secretary....... . . . . . . . ..Barbara Currie, Charlottetown 894-9297 Treasurer.........................Dan McAskill, Donagh 569-4351 Directors..... . . . . . . . . . ..Peter Klaussen, Charlottetown 892-8625

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NEWSLETTERS are published bi-monthly on recycled paper. Articles, notes, reports, drawings, etc. are welcomed from members and non-members. If you have seen anything unusual, please share it with us. It is important to have your observations recorded so that others may learn from them. "Today's notations become tomorrow's history". All contributions should be sent to:

Dan McAskill, The Newsletter Editor

Natural History Society of Prince Edward Island

Charlottetown RR # 5, Donagh, P.E.I. C1A 7J8

The Natural History Society gratefully acknowledges the financial assistance from the Department of Tourism and Parks which enables the newsletters to be distributed to schools and libraries and to members.

The Natural History Society is an affiliate of the Canadian Nature Federation and has representation on the board of the Island Nature Trust. The Society is a registered, non-profit organization. Tax receipts are issued for donations to the Society and these funds are used to further the work of the Society. Editors of other newsletters are welcome to reprint articles from the Island Naturalist (except when copyrighted). Acknowledgment would be appreciated.

THIS MONTHS COVER

The advent of late summer has brought cool, damp weather and a tremendous flush of fungi throughout the woods and fields. The Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) pictured on the cover is found in many spruce, pine, fir and birch stands both in North America and Eurasia. It reproduces from spores dropped from the gills on the underside of the cap. Its bright yellow to orange cap is usually covered by whitish or yellowish warts but these can be missing. The Fly Agaric is known for its fly stunning properties and is a powerful hallucinogen which can have very unpleasant effects on the nervous and digestive systems.

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