Armed with a basket and a pointed stick, and wearing special hunting cloak and gloves, she would sniff her way round the wood, pausing here and there, her nostrils twitching . . . then at last, with a deadly pounce, she would fall upon her victim, and poke his putrid carcass into her basket. At the end of the day\u2019s sport, the catch was brought back and burnt in the deepest secrecy on the drawing-room fire, with the door locked; because of the morals of the maids.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Douglas Sly is a lakeside resident who has harboured in his lawn the object of Etty’s moral outrage: a common stinkhorn. This fungus’ scientific name tells all: Phallus impudicus<\/em>—the shameless phallus. Here is Doug’s picture of it.<\/p>\n Douglas Sly’s picture is used with permission.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Etty would not have approved of Doug or his lawn. Etty was the daughter of Charles Darwin and she helped her father with his editing, alas, often with an eye to\u00a0bowdlerizing biology to conform with her Victorian sensibilities. Etty’s … Continue reading ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/stinkhorn120824DS.jpg\")
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