HARVARD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY OF THE Museum of Comparative Zoology Till-: ESSEX NATURALIST : HEING THE ^loiivnal of the (Iziuicx J;ielt) (lllub. EniTEP I!V W I L L I A M C O L E, Honorary Secretary. VOLUME V. y A h'UA R Y— DECEMBER, r 8 9 r. " Men that undertake only one district are much more likely to advance natural knowledge than t/iose that grasp at more than they can possibly lie acquainted with. Every kingdom, every province, should kjve its own Mono- grapher. —Gn.BKKT WHITE of Selborne. [ The authors alone are responsible for the statements and opinions contained in the! respective papers. \ PUBLISHED BY THE CLUB, BUCKHURST HH.L, ESSEX. E. DuRKANT & Co., 90, High Street, CnELMsroRn. 1S91. " // is to the development of Provincial Museums that ive must look in the future for the extension of intellectual pursuits throughout the la?td." Prof. Edward Forbes. " The value of a Museum does 7iot consist so much in the number as in the order and arrangement of the specimens contained in itT Agassiz. " / zvould urge all persons belonging to Field Clubs, not selfishly to retain the speci7nens they gather, but to deposit them where they may be of use to their fellow-explorers. . . I earnestly advocate and petition for the formation of an entirely Local Museum." Prof. Phillips. " I believe that the most useful museum . . . is that which is devoted to the natural objects of its locality. It gives a stimulus to observe and collect ; it adds an interest to every object contributed, in the relation tvhich each specimen bears to its collector, and the circumstances attend- ing its recognition. Well carried out, such a museum is helpful to science in fixing a date to the fauna and flora of the district, and in giving the material means of contrasting it with the conditions of both at a later period!'' Sir Richard Owen. '•''All schools and tnuseums, whatsoever, can only be, what they claim to be, and ought to be, places of noble instruction, tvhen the persons who have a ?>iifid to use them can obtain so much relief from the work, or exert so much abstinence from the dissipations of the outside world as fnay enable them to devote a certain portion of secluded, laborious, and reveretit life to the attainment of the Divine Wisdom, which the Greeks supposed to be the gift of Apollo, or of the sun, and which the Christian knows to be the gift of Christ." RUSKIN. INDEX TO VOLUME V. Aceras anthropophora at Terling, 68. Algae, Marine, observed between Hur- wich and Dovercourt, 263. Amalgamation of Chelmsford Museum with E.F.C., scheme for, 32, 69. Annelids, British, with especial reference to the Earthworms of Essex, 193, 237, Annual General Meeting, 31. Annual Report of Council, 35. Apamea ophiogramma at Woodford, 260, Aquatic Plants of the Thames Marshes, some notes on, 261. Arkwright, Col. A. C, Poisonous Laburnum Seeds, 204. Asheldham, Badger at, 134. "Assembling " of Geometer Moths, 171. Badger at Asheldham, 134. Barking Side, visit to, 183. Basham, J., A voracious eel, 135. Beadle, W. J., M.P., takes chair at Public Meeting for Museum, etc., 69. Benham, C. E., conducts al meeting at St. Osyth, 254. " Bibliography of Essex," 30, 263. Bird, G. W., Coleophora vihicigerella, in Essex, 135. Bolide of November 20th, 1887, 44. Botany of Chelmer river, 250-252, Boulder-clay in Essex (correspondtnce)^ 109, 133- Boulger, Prof. G. S., Essex Worthies II., E. G. Varenne, of Kelvedon, 42. Brightlingsea, Oyster Fisheries, 257 ; visit to, 259-260. Buckhurst Hill, Teslaalla scutulum al, 130. Bures, Puffin at, 4O. Burnham, Notes on Common Rorqual lately stranded near, 35, 124. Bustards, immigration of, during past winter. III. Butterflies of Essex, 74. Buxton, E. N., " Homing " instinct in Hyla arbor ea^ 1 34. Cabinets of Natural History Specimens for circulation among the Village Schools of Essex, 186. Chalk, Undulations of, in Essex, 113. Chancellor, P., on small rainfall of last eight months, 112. ChaRLESWORTH, Ed., on Formation of Flints, 182. Chelmer river, history of the naviga- tion, 248 ; Meeting on, 247-248 ; Otters and Kingfishers in, 73 ; scenery and geology of, 197. Chelmsford, Geological ramble around, 209 ; notes on Glacial formations near, 191 ; to Maldon, ramble, 205. Chelmsford Museum, Meeting in, 31 ; and Essex Field Club, 32. Christy, Miller, Remarks on distri- bution of Bardfield Oxlip in Essex, 123. Clarke, Joseph, quotes "Poor Robin's Perambulation from Saffron Walden to London," 182. Clay Hall, visit to, 185. Cole, H. A., original drawings of Higham Park, 130, 138, 143. IV INDEX TO VOLUME V. Cole, W., " Assembling " of Geometer Moths, 171 ; notes on Enclosure of Sale Wood, 129 ; Meteorite of Nov- ember 20th, 1887, 44 ; More Epping Forest, 137 ; Spotted Eagles in Essex, 219. Coleophora vibicigerelLi in Essex, 1 35. Colne, Oyster Fishery, notes on, 257 ; Sea Lamphrey in, 134. Constable John, and Valley of the Stour, 172. Cooki's " Illustrations of British Fungi," 136. Council, Annual Report of, 35 ; new- members of, 31. County Council, Deputation to, 34 ; and Essex Field Club, 173. Cranmer-Byng, Col. A. M., receives the Club at Quendon Hall, 180. Crouch River, A Day on the, 35, 145 ; Luminous appearance of, 205 ; 03'sters and Mussels in, in 1891, 203 ; Rorquals in, 35, 124, 134. Crouch, Walter, conducts at visit to Hainault Forest, Barking Side, etc., 183 ; exhibits cfistorted form of Limnea palustns, 18 1 ; exhibits and describes forms of invertebrate life, 131 ; MolluscaatSt. Osyth Point and at E. Mersea (note), 259 ; Notes on a female specimen of Common Ror- qual lately stranded near Burnham, etc., 35, 124. Cryptogamic Flora of Kelvedon, i. Cryptogamic Meeting, Postponement of 1 2th, 260. Dalton, W. H.. Boulder-clay in Essex, 109. 133; Remarks on Mr French's paper on Westieton Beds in N.W. Essex, 217 ; on Fault at Wickham Bishop, 204 ; on Undulations of Chalk in Essex, 113. Danbury, visit to, 206. Day, A, on the Crouch River, 145. Deputation to County Council, re Technical Instruction, 34. Diplctaxis tennifolia at St. Osyth Priory, 257- Dipsacus sylvcstris and D. pilosus, Notes on their natural relationship, 235. Dredging, in Crouch River, 145 ; in the Orwell and Stour, 242. Dunmovv, Little, Well at, 216. Eagles, Spotted, at Elmsteadand Leigh, 218. Earthworms of Essex, 193, 237 ; an Appeal, 135. Educational Value of Museums, 71. Eel, voracious, 135. Elmstead, Spotted Eagle at, 218. Enock, F., Lecture on Hessian Fly, 263. Epping Forest, More, 137 ; Rubi of, additions and corrections, 189. Essex, Bibliography of, 30, 263. Essex, Bouldcr-clay in, 109, 133 ; Range of Primrose and Bardfield Oxlip in N.W., 120, 132 ; Vital statistics for, 47, 132 ; Water Supply, 137 ; W^estleton Beds in parts of N.W., 210 ; Wild Swans in, no. Essex Field Club, Eleventh Annual General Meeting, 31 ; Amalgamation with Chelmsford Museum, 32, 69 ; Ramble from Chelmsford to Maldon, 205 ; and County Council of Essex, 173 ; Postponement of Twelfth Annual Cryptogamic Meeting, 260 ; Deputation to County Council, 34 ; Geological Ramble around Chelms- ford, 209 ; Meeting in Hainault Forest District and Barking Side, 183 ; Meeting at Higham Park, 129 ; Joint Meeting with Ipswich Scientific Societ}' at Ipswich and on Orwell and Stour Rivers, 241 ; Local (Essex) Museum, etc., 32, 69 ; Excursion from Maldon to Chelmsford along river, 247 ; Meeting at Newport, Quendon, etc., 178 ; Ordinary Meet- ings, 31, 34, 129, 181, 185, 253, 256, 260, and 262 ; Report of Council for 1890, 31 ; Meeting at St. Osyth and Brightlingsea, 254 ; Special Meet- INDEX TO VOLUME V. ings, 32 anJ 130; Technical Instruc- tion Scheme, 33, 34 ; Treasurer's Statement, 40. Essex Worthies 11., E. G. Varenne, 42 ; III., Dr. William Gilbert, 50. "Fairlop Oak," 183. " Fault," the Wickham Bishop, 204. February, a dry, 49. Felstead, Ancient Pottery at, 205 ; Lake Remains at (paper read) ^2^2 \ Uncommon Plants at, 136 ; new Well at, 204. FiTCH, E. A , A Day on the Crouch River, 35, 145 ; conducts Meeting on Chelmer River, 247 ; Notes on History of Blackwater and Chelmer Navigation, 248 ; Lepidoptera of Esse.x, Part i., Butterflies, 74 ; on Primula elatior in Essex, 132. Flints, formation of {address), 182. Flower, Prof. W. H., on Educational \'alue of Museums, 71. Flowering Plants, near Harwich, 264 ; of Chelmer River, 250, 252. Flycatcher, Pied, near Harwich, 68. French, J., Ancient (? British) Pottery at Felstead, 205 ; Boulder-clay in Essex, 133 ; Lake remains at Fel- stead (paper read), 262 ; exhibits distorted form of Limnea paluslris, 181 ; Otters and Kingfishers in Chelmer, 73 ; Range of Primrose and Bardfield Oxlip in N.W. Essex, 120, 132 ; Notes on late Prolonged Frost, 35, 66 ; late nesting of Rooks at Felstead, 202 ; Notes on Teasels ( Dipsacus sylvestris and D. pilosus) and their natural relationship, 233 ; new Well at Felstead, 204 ; on occurrence of Westleton BeJs in parts of N.W. Essex, 210, 217. Friend, Rev. Hilderic, Essex Earth- worms, an appeal, 135 ; British Annelids, with especial reference to the Earthworms of Essex, 193, 237. Frost, Great, of 1890-91, 117 ; Notes on Recent Prolonged, 35, 64, 66. Fungi, Cooke's " Illustrations '' of, 136. Gearies, Great, visited, 184 ; Little, received at, by Mrs. Edenborough, 184. Geology and Scenery of Club's Voyage from Maldon to Chelmsford, 197. Geological Ramble around Chelmsford, 209. Geometer Moths, "Assembling "of, 171. Gilbert, D ;. William, Founder of the Science of Electricity, 50. Glacial Formations near Chelmsford, Notes on, 191. Gravels, Hill, North of Thames, 204. " Great Graces," visit to, 206. Gulls, Sea, in London, 73. Hainault Forest, visit to district, 183. Harwich, Marine Alga; and Flowering Plants at, 263 ; Pied Flycatcher near, 68 ; visit to, 246. Helices noticed near Newport, 180. Hessian Fly (lecture upon), 263. Higham Park, acquisition of, 137 ; visit to, 129. Highest land in Essex, 172. ■ Hill Gravels, north of Thames, 204. Hippuris vulgaris, 172. Holmes, E. M., Notes on Marine Algae and Flowering 1 lants observed be- tween Harwich and Dovercourt, 263. Holmes, T. V., Geological Scenery of the Club's Voyage from Maldon to Chelmsford, 197. " Homing " instincts of Hyla arborea, 134- Honorary Member, election of, 130. Houblon, J. Archer, death of, 260. Hydrohia ventrosa at St. Osyth Point, 259 ; //. jenkinsi, 260. I.ngleby, Mrs., receives Club at "Valentines," 185. Ingold, Edwin G., Molluscaof nei<,rh- bourhood of Bishop's Stortford, addi- tions and corrections, 202. Insects noted during meeting on Chelmer, 253. INDEX TO VOLUME V Invertebrate life, forms of, exhibited and described, 131. Ipswich, meeting at, 241 ; visit to Museum, 242 ; Red Crag collections in Museum, 242. Ipswich Scientific Society, joint meet- ing with, 241. Jenkins, A. J., Notes on Aquatic Plants of Thames marshes, 261 ; Notes on Mollusca of Thames estuary, with list of species, 220, 260 ; presents specimens to Club, 261. Johnston, Andrew, conducts at Meeting at Higham Park, 129. " Journal of Proceedings of Essex Field Club," publication of pt. 2, vol. iv., of, 263. Kelvedon, The Cryptogamic Flora of, I ; {paper read'), 35. King, Rev. R. Stuart, on Spotted Eagle at Leigh, 218. Laburnum seeds poisonous, 204. Lach-Szvrma, Rev. W. S., conducts at visit to Hainault Forest district and Barking Side, &c , 183. Lamprey, Sea, in Colne, 134. Land, Highest, in Es:ex, 172. Laver, Dr. H., on Local Museum, 72 ; Puffin at Bures, 46 ; Sea Lamprey in Colne, 134 ; Spotted Eagle at Elmstead, 218 ; Wildfowl in Essex, 68. Laver, Dr., and J. C. Shenstone, Notes on Colne Oyster Fishery, 257. Leigh, Spotted Eagle at, 218. Lepidoptera, captures of, in Essex, 171 ; of Essex, Pt. i.. Butterflies, 74; of Leyton and neighbourhood, 153. Limnea palusiris, distorted form of, 181. Lizard, Sand, supposed occurrence of (rt correciion), iii. Local (Essex) Museum, 32 ; Public Meeting in support of, 6g. Luminous appearance of Crouch River, 205. -Maldon to Chelm.'iford, excursion from, along Chelmer, 247 ; Geology and Scenery of Club'.s Voyage from, 197 ; Ramble from Chelmsford to, 205. Marine Algae on Essex coast, 24 ; Zoology of Meeting on Orwell and Stour Rivers, 242-245. Marquand, E. D., The Cryptogamic Flora of Kelvedon, i, 35. Melampyrum arvense in Essex, 203. Meldola, Prof. R., the Lepidoptera of Leyton and neighbourhood, 133. Meteorite of Nov. 20th, 1887, 44. Meteorology of Essex, 1890, 49. Mollusca, of neighbourhood of Bishop's Stortford, additions and corrections, 202 ; of Chelmer, 252-253 ; from Epping ((?x/5z^/WJ, 131 ; observed in Orwell and Stour Estuaries, 244 ; of Roding Valle}', 112 ; at St. Osyth Point and Mersea (j'ote), 259 ; of Thames Estuary, 220, 260. MON'CKTON, H. W., Boulder-clay in Essex, 109 ; conducts Geological Ramble around Chelmsford, 209 ; Notes on Glacial Formations near Chelmsford, 191 ; Land and Fresh- water Shells of Roding Valley, 112 ; Remarks on Mr. French's paper on Westleton Beds in N.W. Essex, 217. Monk Wood, in Loughton, 174. More Epping Forest, 137. Museum Scheme, 32 ; Public Meeting in favour of, 69. Natural History Specimens for circula- tion among the Village Schools of Essex, 168. Newport, visit to, 178 ; Church, 179. Officers for 1891, 32. Oldham, C, Apamea ophiogravima at Woodford, 260. " Old RifTham's," visit to, 206. Origin of our Native Plants, 207. Orwell and Stour Rivers, dredging in, 241. INDl'.X lO VOLUME V. VI 1 Olters and Kiiigt'islieis in the Cliclniei, 7 •>• Uwls, Slioil-eaied, in Kssex in May, 170. Oyster Fishery, Colne, notes on, 257. Oysters and Mussels in the Crouch, 1891, 203. j Penrose, W. H., A Dry February, 49. Phalarope, Grey, at Bradwell, 203 ; at Stratford, iii. I Photography and Meteorological Phe- nomena, British Association Com- mittee on, 35. Plants, List of. on banks of Chelmer, 251 ; Uncommon at Felstead, 136. '• Poor Robin's Perambulation from Saffron Walden to London," quoted, 182. Powell, J. T., Epping Forest Rubi, Pt. ii., additions and corrections, 189. Pottery, Ancient (? British) at Felstead, 205. Primrose and Bardfield Oxlip, range of, in N.W. Essex, 120, 132. Primula elatior in Essex, 112, 132. Public Meeting for Establishment of Local Museum, 69. Puflin at Bures, 46. Quendon Hall, visit to, 180 ; Church, 181. Rainfall, exceptionally small during last eight months, 112. Red Crag, collection of fossils, in Ipswich Museum, 242. Roding Valley, Land and Fresh-water Shells of, 112. Rooks, late nesting of, at Felstead, 202. Rorqual, Common, in Crouch River, 35, 124 ; another in Crouch, 134. ROSCOE, Sir Henry, elected Honorary Member, 130. Rt'DLER, F. W., Cabinets of Xatural History Specimens for circulation among the \'illage Schools of Essex, 186 ; on Local (Essex) .Museum, 72. St. Osyth, visit to, 254 ; legends of, 255 ; Priory and Church, visits to, 255-256. Sand Lizard, supposed occurrence at Woodford, a correction, iir. Sepiola atlantka at Leigh, 260. Shells, Land and Fresh-water, of Roding Valley, 112. ShenSTONE, J. C., Aceras anthropo- phora, 68 ; Hippuris vulgaris in Essex, 172 ; Melampyrum arvense in Essex, 203. Shenstone, J. C, and Dk. Laver, Notes on the Colne Oyster Fishery, 257. Skua, Common, at Bradwell, 203. Smoothy, Charles, receives Club at " Old Riffham's," 206. Snell, H. C, exhibits Teslacella scutulum, 130. Special Meetings, 32, 130. Stour River, 241, 246 ; Hippuris vul- garis in, 172 ; Valley, and Constable, 172. Stratford, Grey Phalarope at, 1 1 r. Swallow's nest, pendant, 134, '• Swallow-tails," a hunt for, 203. Swans, Wild, in Essex, no. Sworder, C. B., exhibits Mollusca from Epping, 131. Taylor, Dr. J. E , Botanical Demon- stration on Chelmer River, 250 ; Address on Crag Collection in Ipswich Museum, 242 ; Address on Marine Zoology of the Estuaries of Orwell and Stour, 245 ; Origin of our native plants, 207. Teasels, notes on the, and their natural relationship, 233. Technical Instruction Scheme, 33, 173 ; Deputation to County Council, 34. Terling, Aceras anthropophora at, 68. INDEX TO VOLUME V. TeslaceVa scn/u.'iiin at Buckhurst Hill, 130. Thames, Bottle-nosed Whales in, 170 ; Estuarine Mollusca, 220, 260 ; Marshes, some notes of Aquatic Plants of, 261. Thompson, Prof. Svlvanus, William Gilbert, the founder of the Science of Electricity, 50. Thorington, visit to, 254. Thresh, Dr. J. C, Notes on recent Prolonged Frost, 64, 132 ; Vital Statistics for Essex, 47, 132 ; Essex Water Supply, 137. Treasurer's Statement for 1891, 40. Trimcatella truncaiu/a at Brightlingsea, 260. " \'alentines," llford, visit to, 185. Varenne, E. G. {the late), the Cryp- togamic Flora of Kelvedon, i, 35 ; Memoir of, 42. \'ice-Presidents for 1891, 35. Vital Statistics for Essex, 132, 47. Vorticellcr, Parasitic, 136. Waller, W. C, Monk Wood in Loughton ; a Fragment of Forest Ilistor}', 174. Water Supply, Essex, 137. Well, new, at Felstead, 204 ; at Little Dunmow, 216. Westleton Beds, occurrence of, in N.W. Essex, 210. Whales, Bottle-nosed, in Thames, 170 ; Rorquals in Crouch River, 35, 124, 134- Wickham Bishop, " Fault " at, 204. Wildfowl in Essex, 68. Wire, A. P., Parasitic VoritcelliT, 136 ; exhibits Photographs of Essex \'iews, 131. Woodham Walter Common, visit to, 208. Zoology, Marine, of Crouch River, 145 ; of Estuaries of Orwell and Stour, 242-246. Erratum. — Page 255, line 15 from bottom, yy;- " Aubrey de Vere," read Aubre}'. PLATES. I. — Dr. William Gilbert Frontispiece. II. — Ezekiel George Varenne, of Kelvedon . . . to face page 42 III. — Map of the Sub-Tertiakv Contour of the Chalk in Essex „ ., 113 IV. — Common Rorqual. River Crouch, Feb. 12th, 1891 ,, „ 128 V. — Fairlop Oak „ „ 183 ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION— Members, 4s. 6d. ; Non-Members, 9s. Post Free. NOS. t-4, VOL. v.] ?viGe, with Two Plates, 4s. [JAN.-APR1L,1891. Essex Naturalist: r.EING THE JOURNAL OF THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB, EDITED BY WILLIAM COLE, Honorary Secretary. (£ on ten Is : The Cryptogimic Flora of Kelvedon and its Neighbourhood; compiled from the Herbarium and Notes made by the late E. G. Varenne, M.R.C S.— Ky E. D. MAKi,ir.\M) I The Bibliography of Essex .. 3' The Es»ex Field Club.— Ordinary and Annual General Meeting and Special Meeting, 31 ; Deputation 10 County Council, 34 ; Ordinary Meeting, February 28th, 34 ; Annual Report of the Council for the year 1890, 35; Treasurer's Account of Income and Expenditure ... 40 Essex Worthies, II. Ezekiel George Varenne.— By Prof. G. S. Boulger, F.L.S. Iiuitli filate portrait t 42 The Meteorite of November 20th, 1887 44 Vital Statistics for the County of Essex. -By J. C. Thresh, D.Sc, M.B., &c 47 Essex Worthies. III. William Gilbert of Colchester, Founder of the Science of Electricity. — By Prof. Silv.^nus P. Thompson, D.Sc, &c. {luith plate portrait and Jive illustrations) 50 Notes on the Recent Prolonged Frost, 1890-91.— By J. C. Thresh, D.Sc, M.B., &c. I -nit It diagram) 64 Notes on the Prolonged Frost, i8go-gi. — By J. Fre.nch 66 The Local (Essex) Museum, LabDratory, and Library. Meeting at Chelmsford ... 69 The Lepidoptera of Essex. Part I. Butterflies. By Edward A. Fitch, F.L.S. , &c. {To be continued) 74 Notes. — PuHiin at Bures, 46 ; .\ Dry February, 49 ; Wildfowl in Essex ; Aceras anthropopliora ((jreen Man-orchisi ; Pied Fly-catcher near Harwich, 68 ; Sea-gulls in London ; Otters and Kingti>hers in the Chelmer 73 The authors alotie are responsible for the statements and opinions contained in their respective papers. PTBLISHED BY THE CLUB, BUCKHURST HILL, ESSEX. E. DURRANT & CO., 90, HIGH STREET, CHELMSFORD. Knt. St.itioners' Hall.] Issued April, 1S91. Communications (7«r/ ADVERTISEMENTS should he addressed : — The Editor of "THE ESSEX NATURALIST," 7, Knighton \'illa=, Buckhurst Hill, Essex. |;ist of IJixblications of the foscx ificlli €iub, APRIL, 1891. All the Publications of the Club are still in print, hut Volumes T. and II. of the " Transactions " can only be supplied with cotnpUte sets, of which about fifteen copies are in hand, the price of which will soon be raised. s. d. " Transactions '' and " Proceedings " (Vol. 111.) 16 o "Transactions" (Vol. IV.) » o "Proceedings" (Vol. IV., Pt. I) 3 ° (" Proceedings," Vol. IV., Pt. II., completing the old series, will be published shortly^ Complete sets of the "Transactions" and "Proceedings" as far as published (unbound) ... " Essex Naturalist," Vol. I. (unbound) Do. Vol. II. (unbound) Do. Vol. Ill, (unbound) Do. Vol. IV. (unbound) 2 10 o 10 o 9 0 9 0 S REPRINTED PAPERS. " Elephant Hunting in Essex." By Henry Walker, F.G.S c " Report on Explorations at Ambresbury Banks." (Plates) ... ... c " Report on Explorations at Loughton Camp." (Plates) ... ... c " Lichen Flora of Epping Forest." By Rev. J. M. Crombie ... ... c " Memoir of the late G. S. Gibson." (With Portrait) c Papers on the Protection of Wild Animals and Plants, and on the condition of Epping Purest, &c. ... ... ... ... ...006 " Report on Exploration of the Essex Deneholes." (With Coloured Plates) 020 List of Members 006 Fac-simile reproductions of " Norden's Map of Essex" (1594) ... ...010 A few copies of other maps and plans can also be supplied. A Pamphlet giving full details of the MUSEUM AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION SCHEMES of the Club, and papers on i^ocal Museums by Professor J. W. Trail and Mr. F. W. Rudler (Curator of the Museum of Practical Geology) has been printed, price 6d. "THE ESSEX NATURALIST," Pnblishid about the 201 h of each Month. Edited by William Cole. The Editor is now willing to receive a few select ADVERTISEMENTS for the Wrapper of the Essex Naturalist. Particulars may be had on application to him at 7, Knighton \'illas, Buckhurst Hill. [^List continued on page 3 of wrapper. I'ln-JH i.Tci fo D'H'Ji/.nluih /;//'/. .1/,/. w/./m .v'7-.7/,//v/,/,v/////.i^///. ^ THE ESSEX NATURALIST BEING THE Journal of tbc jBbqc^ Jficlb Club FOR 1891. THE CRYPTOGAMIC FLORA OF KELVEDON AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD, TOGETHER WITH A FEW COAST SPECIES; COMPILED FROM THE HERBARIUM AND NOTES MADE BY THE LATE E. G. VARENNE, M.R.C.S. By E. D. MARQUAND, [Kcoii Feb>uary zSth, i8gi\. 'T^HE following lists have been carefully compiled from the collec- -*■ tions, notes, and memoranda made during a period of over forty years by my valued friend, the late Mr. E. G. Varenne, surgeon, of Kelvedon, who died on the 22nd of April, 1887, at the age of seventy-five.' As a contribution to the Cryptogamic Flora of the county of Essex, so far as at present known, these lists cannot fail to be of great interest and value, since they embody the labours of an acute botanist whose researches in this department of science have never yet been published. Although possessing a wide practical acquaintance with all sec- tions of plant life, it was as a lichenologist that Mr. Varenne excelled ; the lichens were to him especial favourites, and of these he had, by a lifetime of study, acquired a critical knowledge surpassed by very few British botanists. His last work was the compilation of the lichen list which follows, the introductory preface to which unhappily remains in too rudimentary a condition to be available for the pur- poses of this paper. 1 A short memoir of Mr. Varenne (with portrait) by Prof. Boiilger, is printed in the present volume. — Ed. B 2 THE CRYPTOGAMIC FLORA OF KELVEDON The Other Hsts I have prepared from a thorough examination of the specimens in his extensive herbarium (so far as they relate to the county of Essex) and also from the copious notes in his own neat hand-writing in the text-books he used. In numbers of cases two or more gatherings of the same species were made in the same locality at different dates ; but I have not considered it needful to give more than one of these, and that always the earliest. The number of cryptogams now recorded is as follows : Mosses, i6o species and lo varieties; Hepaticae, 22 species; Lichens, 208 species and 141 varieties and forms" ; Fungi, 136 species ; Seaweeds, 36 species ; Fresh-water Algae, 129 species : amounting in all to 842. As regards the names and classification here adopted the mosses and hepaticae follow the order of the second edition of the " London Catalogue" (1880) ; the lichens, Leighton's " Lichen Flora," third edition (1879) ; the fungi, Cooke's "Handbook of British Fungi" (187 1 ) ; the seaweeds, Harvey's " Manual of British Marine Algae " (1849), ''^"d the remaining section Hassall's "History of the British Fresh-water Algae " (1845). I" the last case I am well aware that the nomenclature is in a great measure obsolete ; but as the list is mainly drawn up from marginal notes in Mr. Varenne's copy of Hassall, I have not ventured upon any attempt to modernise it — ■ which indeed would have been a task presenting considerable diffi- culty, and might have led to serious error. Although some of the stations indicated in the lists lie beyond the neighbourhood of Kelvedon, strictly so called, the great bulk of the localities are situated in that region of the county of which Kelvedon forms the centre, and therefore I trust that no very grave inaccuracy has been committed in giving to this paper its present title. The cryptogams of Essex form only a portion, though naturally the most important one, of Mr. Varenne's extensive botanical collections, the whole of which are now in my possession. Wherever he went for his annual outing he brought home stores of gatherings for future study. Dartmoor he knew well botanically, and his manuscript lists of the mosses, hepaticae and lichens he collected there are very full and valuable. West Cornwall he knew even better than Dartmoor ; and during his repeated visits to Penzance it was my privilege to accompany him in his rambles over the rugged earns and breezy 2 In the Rev. J. M. Crombie's paper on the " Lichen Flor.i of Epping Forest, and the Causes affecting its Recent Diminution" (Trans. Essex Field Club, vol. iv., pp. 54-75), only 136 species and 28 " forms " of lichens are recorded from the forest districts. — Eu. AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. 3 moors of the Land's End, and to point out many a rare plant which made his eyes ghsten with dehght. But it was not the acquisition of a rarity, merely as such, that gave him pleasure ; it was the seeing and gathering for himself in its own native habitat any unfamiliar form — moss or hepatic, lichen, fungus or alga — and the subsequent leisurely examination of it at home, with his microscope and his books ; for it was a characteristic of Mr. Varenne that he would take nothing for granted — he would never accept a name without verifying it by every available means — after which it would be duly tabulated in his own methodical way. Even on his deathbed the recollection that he had inadvertently entered a lichen under a wrong name disturbed his peace of mind, and caused him uneasiness until the error was rectified. It is very probable that some of Mr. Varenne's early hunting- grounds have long since lost their botanical features, and that many of the plants enumerated below are now extinct in the localities specified. If so it will but add to the value of the present record, the publication of which is a humble tribute to the memory of one to whom I was attached by strong ties of personal friendship and esteem. MOSSES. Sphagnum acutifolium, Ehr. West Bergholt Heath, i860. Woodham Walter Common, and Galleywood Common, 1862. Var. pur/>ii renin, Schpr. Tiptree and Bergholt Heath, 1862. S. intermedium, Hoffm. Woodham Mortimer Common, 1862. S. rigidum, Schpr. High Beach, 1883. S. subsecundum, Nees. Tiptree Heath and West Bergholt Heath, i860. Warley Common, 1883, Var. confortufn, Schultz. Galleywood Common and Bergholt Heath, 1862. Pods Wood, Tiptree Heath, 1865. Var. obesum, Wils. High Beach, 1883. Var. auricu/atitm, Schpr. Galleywood Common, 1882. S. cymbifolium, Ehr. West Bergholt Heath, i860. Wood ham Walter Common, 1863. Warley Common, 1866. Var. squarrosulum, Nees. Bog, Pods Wood, i860. Systegium crispum, Hedw. Kelvedon, 1861. Gymnostomum microstomum, Hedw. Inworth, 1862. Siblc Hcdingham, 1864. Kelvedon, 1880. Weissia viridula, Brid. Kelvedon, i860. B 2 4 THE CRVPTOGAMIC FLORA OK KKLVEDON W. mucronata. Bruch. Near Halstead, 1875. W. cirrhata, Hcdw. Kclvedon, i860. Dicranella cerviculata, Hedw. Banks, Woodham Walter, 1862. On a common at Little Baddow, 1864. Pods Wood, 1875. Warley, 1882. D. varia, Hedw. Kelvedon, 1861. D. heteromalla, Hedw. Braxted, i860. Woodham Walter, 1862. Dicranum scoparium, L. Great Totham, 1861. Woodham Walter Common, Tiptree Heath, and Wickham, 1862. D. palustre, Brid. West Bergholt Heath and Woodham Walter Common, 1862. Campylopus fragilis, Br. and Schpr. Chauntry Wood, 1873. C. pyriformis, Brid. Wood near Woodham Walter, 1863. Leucobryum glaucum, L. Tiptree Heath, i860. Wood near Woodham Walter Common, 1863. Wood near Warley Bar- racks, 1866. High Beach, 1883. Pleuridium nitidum, Hedw. Wood near Inworth Church, 1863. P. subulatum, L. Totham and Braxted, 1861. P. alternifolium, Br. and Sch. Totham, 1861. Kelvedon, 1866. Wood at Braxted, 1868. Sphaerangium muticum, Schreb. Kelvedon, i860. Phascum cuspidatum, Schreb. Kelvedon, i860. Pottia cavifolia, Ehr. Kelvedon, 1845. Rivenhall, 1861. P. minutula, Schwg. Braxted; Kelvedon, i860. P. truncata, L. Kelvedon, i860. Tiptree Heath. P. intermedia, Turn. Kelvedon, 1881. P. wilsoni, Hook. Near Wivenhoe, 1864. P. heimii, Hedw. Bank of Stour near Manningtree, 1863. Dovercourt, 1865. Near Alresford Creek, 1876. P. starkeana, Hedw. Kelvedon, 1845. Peering, 1880. P. lanceolata, Dicks. Peering, i860. Kelvedon, 1862. Yeldham, 1863. Didymodon rubellus, Br. and Sch. Inworth, 1861. Near Halstead, 1875. Ditrichum homomallum, Hedw. Mile End, Colchester, 1873- Trichostomum rigidulum, Sm. On a tree in Kelvedon Meadows, 1873. On top of piles in the river, Kelvedon, 1876. AND ITS NKICHBOURHOOD. 5 Barbula ambigua, Br. and Sch. Kelvedon, 1862. B. aloides, Koch. Kelvedon, 1862. Halstead. Near Yeld- ham, 1865. B. atrovirens, Sm. Amongst Pottia heimii, Alresford Creek, 1876. B. cuneifolia, Dicks. Military road, Colchester, i860. Near West l?ergholt Mill, 1862. Near Wivenhoe, 1876. B. marginata, Ik. and Sch. Kelvedon, 1866. B. muralis, L. Kelvedon, i860. Var. cestiva, Schultz. Kelvedon, 1868. Nayland, 1881. Var. iticana, Wils. Kelvedon, 1876. B. unguiculata, Dill. Kelvedon, i860. Copford, 1882. Var. cuspidata. Bry. Eur. Marks Tey, 1881. B. fallax, Hedw. Braxted, i860, Kelvedon, 1861. Tiptree Heath, 1862. Yeldham, 1865. B. hornschuchiana, Schultz. Colchester Castle, 1864. B. revoluta, Schwg. Oyn's Brook Bridge, i860. Buttress of Kelvedon Church, 1863. B. brebissonii, Brid. On a tree in the meadows at Widford, 1876. B. subulata, L. Kelvedon, i860. B. Isevipila, Brid. Kelvedon and Braxted, i860. B. latifolia, Br. and Sch. Kelvedon, i860. Notley. B. ruralis, T.. Kelvedon, i860. Peering. B. intermedia, Brid. On the stones of Kelvedon Church, 1877. B. papillosa, Wils. Trees, Inworth, i860. Ceratodon purpureus, L. Kelvedon, 1845. Rivenhall, i860. Grimmia apocarpa, L. Kelvedon, i860. Withani, 1862, Tiptree Heath, 1863. Rivenhall, 1873. G. pulvinata, Dill. Kelvedon, i860. Racomitrium canescens, Hedw. Tiptree Heath, i860. Zygodon vihdissimus, Dicks. Inworth ; Rivenhall, i860. Easthorpe, 1864. Z. conoideus, Dicks. Tree, Kelvedon Meadows, 1866. Ulota bruchii, Hornsch. Wood at Mile End, near Colchester, 1863. U. crispa, Hedw. Chantry Wood, 1861. Wickham ; Felix Hall Shrubbery, 1862. Flories Wood ; Great Tey, 1883. 6 THE CRYPTOGAMIC FLORA OF KELVEDON Orthotrichum anomalum, Br. and Sch. Feering, 1862. Halstead ; Colchester; Kelvedon, 1866. Hatfield Forest, 1873. O. affine, Schrad. Kelvedon, i860. Woods at Wickham ; Alresford, 1876. O. stramineum, Hornsch. Kelvedon, 1863. Lyston, 1865. O. pumilum, Dicks. On an ash-tree, Kelvedon, 1873. O. tenellum, Bruch. Kelvedon and Feering, 1862. Pods Wood, 1868. O. pallens, Bruch. On an ash-tree, Kelvedon, 1874, O. diaphanum, Schrad. Rivenhall, i860. O. lyellii, H. and T. Wood at Copford, 1863. Felix Hall Woods, 1864. Messing, 1868. O. leiocarpum, Br. and Sch. Near Halstead. O. sprucei, Mont. Old pales near the Chelmer, Chelmsford, 1866. Ephemerum serratum, Schreb. Kelvedon, i860. Braxted, 1864. Physcomitrella patens, Hedw. On damp garden ground, Kelvedon, 1877. Physcomitrium pyriforme, L. Kelvedon, 1861. Riverside, Braxted, 1866. Funaria fascicularis, Dicks. About Kelvedon, Langford, «S:c., on gravel and clay, 1861. Halstead, 1875. F. hygrometrica, L. Kelvedon, i860. Bartramia pomiformis, L. Pods AVood Lane, i860. Philonotis fontana, L. Galleyvvood Common, and West Bergholt Heath, 1862. Leptobryum pyriforme, L. On the brick of a culvert, Feering, i860. Webera nutans, Schreb. Braxted, 1861. Woodham Walter Common, and Wickham, 1862. Wood at Warley, 1866. W. carnea, L. Kelvedon, 1861. Marks Hall. Bryum pendulum, Hornsch. Kelvedon, 1862. B. inclinatum, Swartz. Kelvedon, i860. B. intermedium, W. and M. Kelvedon, i860. B. bimum, Schreb. Kelvedon, i860. Tiptree, 1865. Bright- lingsea Common, 1866. B. erythrocarpum, Schwg. Tiptree Heath; Roman Wall, Colchester; and Rivenliall, 1862. Kelvedon Church wall, 1863. B. atropurpureum, W. and M, Kelvedon, i860. AND ITS NEUJHBOURHOOl). 7 B. caespiticium, L, Kclvedon, i860. Beckinghani and In- worth, 1 86 1. B. argenteum, L. Kelvedon, i860. B. capillare, L. Kelvedon and Inworth, i860. B. pallens, Swartz. Near Kelvedon, 1862. Pods Wood, 1875. Mnium affine. Bland. Copford. Felix Hall Shrubbery, 1882. M. undulatum, Hedw. Kelvedon, i860. Woodham Walter Common, 1863. M. hornum, L. Pods Wood Lane, i860. M. punctatum, Hedw. Brook bank on Chedingsell Grange Farm, 1S61. M. subglobosum, B. and S. Woodham Walter Common, 1862. Aulacomnion androgynum, L. Totham, 1861. Plentiful in Baddow, 1864. Inside an old decayed willow trunk by riverside, Feering, 1882. A. palustre, L. Tiptree Heath, i860. Woodham Walter Common; Galleywood Common; West Bergholt Heath, 1862. Warley Common, 1866. Tetraphis pellucida, L. Woodham Walter Common, 1862. Atrichum undulatum, L. Braxted, i860. Pogonatum nanum, Neck. Tiptree Heath, i860. P. aloides, Hedw. Gravel-pit, Totham, 1861. Polytrichum formosum, Hedw. Pods Wood, i860. Chaulk- ney Wood, 1861. Wickham, 1862. Woodham Walter, 1863. P. piliferum, Schreb. Tiptree, i860. Warley Common, 1880. P. juniperinum, Willd. Totham, 1861. Woodham Walter Common, 1862. Warley Common, 1880. P. commune, L. Tiptree Heath, i860. Woodham Walter Common, 1862. Warley Common, 1866. Fissidens bryoides, Hedw. Kelvedon, i860. F. exilis, Hedw. Kelvedon Hall Wood, 1879. F. incurvus, W. and M. Bank, Kelvedon Hall Wood, 1861. F. viridulus, Wils. Kelvedon, i860. Braxted, 1862. F. taxifolius, L. Kelvedon, i860. Fontinalis antipyretica, L. Pond on AUshots Farm, Kelvedon, i860. Cryphaea heteromalla, Hedw. White Notley, i860. Kelve- don, 1862. 8 THE CRYPTOOAMIC FLORA OF KELVEDON Leucodon sciuroides, L. Messing, i860. Neckera complanata, L. Prested Hall Wood, i860. Homalia tricomanoides, Schreb. Rivenhall, i860, Leskea polycarpa, Ehr. Kelvedon, i860. Anomodon viticulosus, L. Kelvedon, i860. Thuidium tamariscinum, Hedw. Braxted, i860. Thamnium alopecurum, L. Kelvedon, i860. Pylaisia polyantha, Schreb. On an elm-tree, EwcU Hall Farm, i86[. Isothecium myurum, Poll. Kelvedon, i860. Homalothecium sericeum, L. Kelvedon, i860. Camptothecium lutescens, Huds. Kelvedon, i;86o. Brachythecium albicans. Neck. Donyland Heath, i860. Banks of the Colne, near Wivenhoe, 1863. B. velutinum, L. Kelvedon, i860. B. rutabulum, L. Kelvedon and Cressing Temple, i860. Chaulkney Wood, 1861. In worth, 1862. Eurhynchium myosuroides, L. Kelvedon, i860. E. striatum, Schreb. Kelvedon, i860. E. piliferum, Schreb. Kelvedon and Donyland, i860. Banks of the Colne, near Wivenhoe, 1863. E. swartzii. Turn. Kelvedon. 1861. E. prselongum. Dill. Kelvedon, i860. E. pumilum, Wils. Inworth, 1862. Aldham, 1864. Rhynchostegium tenellum, Dicks. Inworth, 1861. R. confertum, Dicks. Great Braxted, i860. R. megapolitanum. Bland. Kelvedon, 1862. Copford, 1882. R. murale, Hedw. Kelvedon Church, i860. R. ruscifolium, Neck. Kelvedon, i860. Plagiothecium denticulatum, L. Pods Wood Lane, i860. Chauntry Wood, 1873. Chaulkney Wood, 1882. P. sylvaticum, L. Chaulkney Wood, 1861. Amblystegium serpens, L. Kelvedon, i860. Copford, 1882. A. irriguum, Wils. On the wall by Peering Mill dam, 1866. A. riparium, L. Waste water near Kelvedon Mill, i860. River Chelmer, 1866. Hypnum aduncum, L. Tiptree Heath, 1873. H. kneiffii, Schpr. West Bergholt Heath, i860. Galleywood Common, 1862. AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD. 9 H. intermedium, Lind. Lingwood Common, 1864. H. fluitans, L. Kelvedon, i860. Tiptree Heath, 1861. \' AX. fa lea turn, Schpr. Warley Common, 1866. H. uncinatum, Hedw. Tiptree Heath, i860. H. filicinum, L. Kelvedon ; near Bergholt ; Braxted ; Mes- .sing, i860. Banks of the Cohie near Yeldham, 1865. H. commutatum, Hedw. Hickmore Fen Wood, 1862. H. cupressiforme, L. Kelvedon; Feering, i860. Chauntry Wood, 1 86 1. Var. lacunosum, Wils. Kelvedon, 1861. H. resupinatum, Wils. Braxted, i860. Donyland Hall, 1884. H. molluscum, Hedw. Rivenhall, i860. H. stellatum, Schreb. Galleywood Common. West Bergholt Heath, 1862. Lingwood Common, near Danbury, 1864. H. cordifolium, Hedw. Wood at Totham, 1861. H. cuspidatum, L. Kelvedon, and near Felix Hall, i860. H. schreberi, Ehr. Tiptree Heath, i860. Galleywood Common, 1862. Woodham Walter Common, 1863. H. purum, L. Kelvedon, i860. Galleywood Common, 1882. H. stramineum, Dicks. Woodham Walter Common and West Bergholt Heath, 1862. Hylocomium splendens, Dill Tiptree Heath, i860. H. squarrosum, L. Tiptree Heath, i860. H. triquetrum, L. Chaulkney Wood, 1861. HEPATIC.-E. Marchantia polymorpha, L. Kelvedon, 1844. Feering, i860. Lunularia vulgaris, Mich. Great Baddow, 1882. Riccia glauca, F. Kelvedon, 1863. Ricciella fluitans, L. Layer Marney, 1861. Frullania dilatata, L. Kelvedon, i860. Radula complanata, L, Kelvedon. Porella platyphylla, L. Kelvedon ; Colchester. Lepidozia reptans, L. Warley, 1883. Lophocolea bidentata, L. Kelvedon and Braxted, 1861. L. heterophylla, Schrad. Braxted Woods and Inworth, 1861. Trichocolea tomentella, Ehr. AVoodham Mortimer Com- mon, 1862. lO THE CRYPTOGAMIC FLORA OF KELVEDON Blepharozia ciliaris, Nees. Tiptree Heath, 1862. Scapaniaundulata, Dill. Tiptree, 1861. Bergholt Heath, 1862. S. nemorosa, L. Chauntry Wood. Diplophyllum albicans, L. Marks Hall, 1863. Plagiochila asplenioides, L. Chaulkney Wood, i860. Jungermannia crenulata, Sm. Tiptree Heath, 1862. J. inflata, Huds. Tiptree Heath, 1863. Nardia scalaris, Schrad. Kelvedon, 1861. Pellia epiphylla, L. Woodham Walter Common, 1882. Aneura multifida. Dill. West Bergholt Heath. Metzgeria furcata, L. Braxted, 1861. LICHENS. Collema pulposum, Bernh. Peering, Yeldham. f. granu- latuiii, S\v. On limestone, Kelvedon ; Salcot. f. tenax, Ach. On earth, Kelvedon. C. limosum, Ach. Kelvedon, Peering. On clay. C. crispum, Huds. On gravel, Kelvedon, Peering, Yeldham. Roman Wall, Colchester. C. cheileum, Ach. On the mortar of walls. Peering. Leptogium microphyllum, Ach. Old elm, Kelvedon, 1882. L. biatorinum, Nyl. Bank at Inworth, 1863. L. tenuissimum, Dicks. Hedge-bank, Inworth ; Braxted ; Kelvedon. L. pusillum, Nyl. Bank at Messing, 1863. ' Sphinctrina turbinata, Pers. On Fertusaria communis, In- worth. Calicium chrysocephalum, Ach. Old elm, Braxted. C. aciculare, Sm, Old elms, Kelvedon. C. trichiale, Ach. Var. ferrugineum, Borr. Old oak post, Great Tey ; Coggeshall. C. melanophaeum, Ach. Palings, Braxted. Oak post, Kel- vedon. C. hyperellum, Ach. Old oak, Messing. C. trachelinum, Ach. On oak post and boarded building, Kelvedon. C. quercinum, Pers. Old wood, Inworth ; Kelvedon ; Cog- geshall. C. curtum, Borr. Old wood, Kelvedon ; Braxted. C. subtile, Pers. Old tree and old boarding, Kelvedon. AND ITS NElGlir.OURHOOl). 11 Coniocybe furfuracea, Ach. Sandy bank, Braxted, and Marks Hall. Trachylia tigillaris, Fr. Old paling, Braxted. T. tympanella, Fr. Old posts, .^c, Kelvedon. T. stigonella, Fr. On Pertusaria, Marks Hall. Baeomyces rufus, 1). C. On earth, Tiptree Heath ; Warley. Cladonia pyxidata, Fr. Banks, Kelvedon. Var. fimbriata, Hoffm. Braxted Park wall. Hedge-bank, Myland. f. contuto- radiafa, Leight. Mile End, Colchester. C. gracilis, Hoffm. f. hybrida ? Tiptree Heath. Var. chorda/is, Ach. Tiptree Heath. C. furcata, Hoffm. Tiptree Heath, Braxted. C. cornucopioides, Fr. Braxted Park wall. C. digital a, Hoffm. Var. madlenta, Hoffm. Old paling, Kelvedon, Copford. Brick wall, Braxted. C. florkeana, Fr. Var. bacillaris, Ach. Tiptree Heath. Cladina sylvatica, Hoffm. Tiptree Heath. C. rangiferina, Hoffm. Tiptree Heath. C. uncialis, Hoffm. Tiptree Heath. Usnea barbata, L. {. hirta,\.. Trees, Kelvedon. i. plicata, L. Trees, Kelvedon. Alectoria jubata, L. Paling, Braxted. Trees, Pods Wood. Evernia furfuracea, Mann. Wooden fence, Braxted. E. prunastri, L. On palings and trees, Braxted; Kelvedon; Feering. The yellow form, Copford. Ramalina farinacea, L. Trees and palings, Kelvedon; Braxted. R. fraxinea, L. f. tcenta'formis, Ach. Trees, Kelvedon. f. ampliata, Ach. Trees, Kelvedon. R. fastigiata, Pers. On trees, Kelvedon. R. pollinaria, Ach. f. humilis, Ach. On old boarded barn, Rivenhall. f. elatior, Ach. On trees, Kelvedon. R. evernioides, Nyl. Trees, Feering ; Kelvedon ; Totham. Cetraria aculeata, Yx. f. typica, Leight. Tiptree Heath. /. tnuricata, Ach. Paling, Kelvedon ; Tiptree Heath. Peltigera canina, L. Banks, Kelvedon. P. spuria, Ach. Bank, Kelvedon. P. polydactyla, Hffm. Grassy bank, Great Tey. Parmelia caperata, L. On trees, (S:c., Kelvedon ; Braxted. P. olivacea, L. Kelvedon. 12 THE CRYPTOGAMIC FLORA OK KELVEDON P. physodes, L. On trees and palings. Var. recurva, Leight. Braxted, on trees. Var. labrosa, Ach. On fir-branches, Kelvedon. Old palings, Braxted ; Colne. P. reddenda, Stirt. Trees, Kelvedon ; Peering. P. perlata, L. On trees, Kelvedon; Peering; Inworth; Easthor[)e. P. borreri, Turn. Trees, Kelvedon ; Braxted Park ; Inworth. P. fuliginosa, Dub. f. olivacea, Leight, On trees and palings, frequent but barren, Kelvedon ; Inworth, &c. P. acetabulum. Neck. On elm, ash, and lime trees, Kel- vedon ; Coggeshall ; Rayne ; Great Braxted ; Witham ; Felix Hall Park ; Rivenhall ; Lyston. P. saxatilis, L. On trees and pales. Easthorpe, in fruit; Kelvedon. Physcia parietina, L. Trees and walls, Kelvedon. Var. aureola^ kz\\. Brick walls, Kelvedon; Chipping Hill. \ar. /aciniosa, Uuf. On trees, Kelvedon ; Yeldham. Var. lychnea, Ach. On trees, frequent, Kelvedon. On walls, Earl's Colne. At base of old elms, Kelvedon, of a dark orange-yellow. Var. polycarpa, Ehrb. Willow-tree, Rivenhall. Palings, Kelvedon and Walton, f. cineras- cens, Leight. Elms, Kelvedon. P. ciliaris, L. Trees, Kelvedon. Old wall. Chipping Hall, f. aciinofa, Ach. Trees, Kelvedon. P. pulverulenta, Schreb. On trees, Kelvedon. Ashy-grey form on horse-chestnuts, Kelvedon, 1884. f. pityrea, Ach. On trees, Braxted ; Kelvedon. On mosses on walls. Chipping Hill ; Peering, f. afigustata, Hffm. On moss, Kelvedon. P. obscura, Ehr. On trees, Kelvedon ; Peering. P. adglutinata, Plk. On elm and ash trees, Kelvedon. On wall, Braxted. On a culvert, Peering. P. erosa, Borr. Base of old elm. Messing. P. astroidea, Clem. Kelvedon. P. stellaris, L. Trees, Kelvedon; Totham; &c. \slx. leptalea, Ach. Ulting, near Maldon, Mr. Piggott. Var. tenella, Scop. On trees, walls, and palings, Kelvedon ; Chipping Hill ; Lyston ; Riven- hall. Var. ccesia, Hffm. On brick walls, trees, and slates, Kelvedon; Coggeshall ; Great Tey. Squamaria saxicola, Poll. Prequent on brick walls, and on tiles, Kelvedon. Van, with margin of apothecia albo-pulverulent, on a tile, Kelvedon. AND ITS NFJGHHOURHOOD. 13 Placodium murorum, Hffm. On mortared walls and brick walls, Kelvedon ; Colne ; Feering ; Misdey. f. lobulatum, Smrft. On stone, Chelmsford. P. decipiens, Am. On walls, Kelvedon ; Mistley. On flint wall, Thetford, in small round spots. P. callopismum, Ach. f. plicatum, Wedd. Mortared walls, brick walls, and sandstone, Kelvedon ; Coggeshall. P. miniatum, Hffm. f. obliteratum, Pers. On limestone, Coggeshall. P. citrinum, Ach. Trees, palings, brick walls, and mortared walls, Halstead Kelvedon ; Feering ; Braxted. P. chalybaeum, Duf. Limestone, Coggeshall. Lecanora vitellina, Ach. Old palings and walls, Kelvedon. Var. coruscans, Ach. Palings, Kelvedon. Var. €pixa?itha, Nyl. Kelvedon. L. candelaria, Ach. On willow and horse-chestnut, on palings and old boarded barns, Kelvedon ; Great Tey ; Lyston. f. granu- losa, Leight. On paling, Great Tey. L. glaucocarpa, Whlnb. {. pruinosa, Sm. Great Coggeshall ; on limestone, T. B. Hall. L. squamulosa, Schrad. Sandstone, Feering, 1881. L. fuscata, Schrad. Sandstone, Feering ; Kelvedon. L. sarcopsis, Whlnb. Kelvedon. L. varia, Ehrb. Old palings, Kelvedon; Great Tey; tree, Braxted. L. atra, Huds. On old walls, abundant, Kelvedon. f. corticola, Larbal. On trees, Messing ; Kelvedon. L. circinata, Pers. On limestone, Coggeshall. L. sulphurea, Hffm. Old walls, Kelvedon ; Great Tey ; Chip- ping Hill. Variable as to colour. L. symmicta, Ach. On palings, old posts, and rails, Kelvedon; Feering ; Pods Wood ; Coggeshall. Var. aitema, Ach. Kelvedon. L. expallens, Ach. On palings, Kelvedon. Var. /3. Ach. {orosthea, Sm.) Trunk of horse-chestnut, Kelvedon. L. subfusca, L. On trees, Gosfield. f. alhphana, Ach. Trees, Rivenhall ; Kelvedon ; Messing, f. parisiensis, Nyl. Kelvedon. f. rugosa, Pers. Kelvedon. f. argentata, Ach. On trees and brick walls, Kelvedon ; Wivenhoe ; Coggeshall ; Totham. f. contufnesceiis, Rob. Upper branches of trees, Kelvedon. f. atrynea, Ach. Brick walls, palings, ash-tree, sandstone, Braxted ; Kelvedon ; Feering ; 14 THE CRYPTOGAMIC FLORA OF KELVEDON Messing. f. epibrya, Ach. On moss, on old walls, Kelvedon. f. chlarona, Ach. Palings and trees, Coggeshall ; Kelvedon ; Totham ; Troyes Wood. Often with Sphcvria epicymatia on its apothecia. L. galactina, Ach. On brick, mortared walls, and old palings, Kelvedon ; Peering, f. dispersa, Pers. On mortared wall, and on sandstone, Kelvedon. L. hageni, Ach. On palings, trees, mortared walls, Osey Island ; Goldhanger ; Kelvedon ; Braxted. Var. paliidior, Larb. Ash-tree, Kelvedon. L. gibbosa, Ach. Coggeshall, on limestone, f. vulgaris, Th. Fr. On oolite, Gosfield. On sand.stone, Kelvedon, L. calcarea, L. f. concreia, Schoer. Limestone, Coggeshall. L. parella, L. Tiles and brick walls, Kelvedon. f. palkscens, L. Walls, Kelvedon. f. tumidula, Pers. On trees, Kelvedon ; Bocking. On boarded building, Easthorpe. Old gate-post, Cogges- hall. f. turneri, Sm. Trees, Kelvedon. L. rupestris, Scop. f. calva, Dicks. Old mortared wall, Kel- vedon. L. angulosa, Ach. On elm, apple, poplar, and old paling, Kelvedon ; Rayne ; Halsted ; Messing ; Myland ; Rivenhall ; Totham. L. albella, Pers. Kelvedon, on aspen-tree. L. aurantiaca, Lightf. Var. salicina, Lightf. Elm-trees, Hal- stead ; Steeple Bumpstead. Var. erythre/Ia, Ach. On sandstone, paling, sea-bank, Kelvedon ; Goldhanger. Var. inalpina, Ach. Brick wall, mortared wall, old paling, Kelvedon ; Feering ; Messing. L. ferruginea, Huds. f. corticola, Leight. Elm and apple trees, and old gates, Feering ; Messing ; Kelvedon ; Rivenhall. L. cerina, Ehrh. On trees, Kelvedon ; Colchester; Easthorpe; Osey Island; Wivenhoe. On maple, Braxted Park. Var. cyafiolepra, D.C. On aspen, Kelvedon ; Easthorpe. Var. chlorina, Fw. On sandstone boulder. Great Tey. Var. stil/iddiorum, Horn. Gold- hanger. Form with fuscous apothecia. Paling, Kelvedon ; Wivenhoe. L. pyracea, Ach. Elm-tree, mortar, sandstone, paling, Braxted ; Halstead ; Coggeshall ; Kelvedon ; Osey Island. Var. ulmicola, D.C On horse-chestnuts, old willows, aspens, and elms, frequent, Cogges- hall ; Kelvedon ; Witham ; Braxted. Var. holocarpa, Ehr. Old pal- ing ; flint stone, Kelvedon; Coggeshall. L. arenaria, Pers. On sandstone, brick walls, Coggeshall ; Chipping Hill. AND ITS NKI(;HliOUKHOOn. I5 L. phlogina, Ach. On elm, Kelvedon ; Braxtcd ; Rayne. L. sophodes, Ach. On slates, on Colchester Roman wall ; and on sandstone, Kelvedon ; Colchester, f, exigua, Ach. Palings, W'alton-on-Naze ; Kelvedon ; Coggeshall. f. vieiabolica, Ach. On sandstone, Kelvedon. Brick wall, Coggeshall. f. kcideoides, Nyl. Old paling, Kelvedon, 1884. L. erysibe, Ach. Trees and walls, Kelvedon ; Halstead ; Peer- ing, f. fusco-cifierea, Mudd. On hedge-bank, Inworth. L. arthroocarpa, Dub. f. fusce//n, Schoer. Fir-trees, Kelve- don. Wood, Totham. L. haematomma, Ehrh. On limestone, Coggeshall. Pertusaria dealbata, Ach. Ash-tree, Rivenhall ; Kelvedon. P. communis, 1).C. Trees, Pods Wood, Messing; Braxted ; Kelvedon ; Marks Hall. P. melaleuca, Sm. Tree, Mile End, Colchester. P. fallax, Pers. Trees, Kelvedon ; Wickham ; Marks Hall ; Pods Wood. P. velata, Turn. Palings, Kelvedon ; Braxted. f. variolaria- aspergi/Ia, T. and B. Oak-tree, Marks Hall, mixed up with F. com- munis. P. faginea, Ach. Trees, brick walls, palings, old posts, Kelve- don, (5v:c. P. globulifera. Turn. Ash-trees, Kelvedon ; Inworth. P. pustulata, Ach. On trees in woods, Kelvedon ; Yeldham ; Bentley ; Braxted ; Messing. P. leioplaca, Ach. Trees in woods, Kelvedon ; Braxted ; Pods Wood. Urceolaria scruposa, L. On l^rick walls and trunks of oak and elm, Kelvedon ; Braxted ; Peering, f. bryophila, Ach. On mosses on old walls, Kelvedon. Phlyctis agelaea, Ach. On trees, oak and ash, Kelvedon ; Braxted ; Messing ; Copford ; Halstead ; Hatfield Broad Oak. Lecidea ostreata, Hffm. On very old oak palings and posts, abundant where it grows, Rivenhall ; Kelvedon ; Marks Hall ; Aid- ham. L. friesii, Ach. Old oak post, Inworth, 1884. L. fuliginosa, Tayl. K — C — ■ C. dissolves the crust. Sandstone, Kelvedon. L. dispansa, Nyl. On flint stones, Tiptree Heath ; Wick- ham ; \\"itham. 1 6 THE CRYPTOOAMIC FLORA OF KEI.VEDON L. crustulata, Ach. On flint stones in fields and roadsides, and on sandstone in a wall, Great Tey ; Tiptree ; Kelvedon. L. flexuosa, I-r. Old palings, Copford. L. decolorans, Flk. Kelvedon. L. dubia, Borr. On the boarding of an old barn, Kelvedon. L. quernea, Dicks. On oaks, Kelvedon; Easthorpe. L. enteroleuca, Ach. Brick walls, tiles, and sandstone, Kel- vedon ; Peering. Corticole, Kelvedon ; Copford ; Witham ; Great Tey. L. minuta, Schrer. Tree, Great Braxted. L. tenebricosa, Ach. Gelat. hymenea I. blue. Tree, Pods Wood ; Ikaxted ; Hickmore Fen Wood. L. parasema, Ach. Trees, old palings, walls, Peering; Cog- geshall ; Kelvedon ; Messing ; Rivenhall. Var. tabescens, Korb. On oak. Pods Wood. Var. flavens, Nyl. On palings, Peering ; Copford. Var. e/ieochroma, Ach. Trees and palings, Witham ; Kelvedon ; Rivenhall ; Peering ; Baddow ; Lyston ; Walton-on- Naze. L. uliginosa, Schrad. On earth, Warley Common ; Mile End, Colchester, f. fulighwsa, Ach. Old railings and ancient oak, Kelvedon ; Bocking. On the mortar of an old building with Verrucaria ?iigrescens. L. coarctata, Sm. f. elacista, Ach. W^all, and on surface of a sand-pit, Braxted ; Copford. f. involuta, Tayl. Brick copings, sandstone walls, Kelvedon ; Great Tey ; Braxted ; Coggeshall. f. glebulosa, Sm. Essex, T. B. Hall. f. ornata, Smft. AVall, sandy bank, Braxted ; Bergholt ; Copford. L. fuscoatra, Ach. Sandstone, bricks, tiles, Coggeshall ; Kel- vedon ; Chipping Hill ; Peering, f. fumosa, Ach. Brick walls, Kelvedon ; Braxted ; Messing, f. meiosporiza, Nyl. Brick wall, Kelvedon. L. sub-kochiana, Nyl. On sandstone, Kelvedon. L. taylori, Salw. Coggeshall. L. contigua, Pr. Var. aggerata, Mudd. Kelvedon. L. confluens, Web. Tiptree, rocks, conglomerate gravel, f. /(Fvigato, Leight. Kelvedon. L. canescens, Dicks. Chiefly on elms, Kelvedon ; Peering ; White Notley ; Inworth. (In fruit at Tattingstone, Suffolk). L. disciformis, Fr. Kelvedon; uncommon. L. myriocarpa, D.C. f. chloropolia, D.C. Old trees and pal- Fssr.x A'>i///m//s/, \'ol. V. iSgi. PI EZEKIEL GEORGE VARENNE, of Kelvedon. Boru i8li. Diet/ 1887. AND ITS NEK'.UBOURHOOI). 17 ings, Kelvedon ; Great Tey ; Messing, f. pinicola, Ach. On elm, willow, fir, and horse-chestnut, Kelvedon ; Coggeshall. f. leprosa, 1).C. On elm, Kelvedon. f. quercicola, Rabh. On an oak, Kelve- don. f. saprophila, Ach. On paling, Kelvedon. L. nigritula, Nyl. l<".lm-tree, Kelvedon. L. chalybeia, Borr. Flint stones, Tiptree Heath ; Witham ; Wickham. L. grossa, Pers. On elms, Kelvedon ; Rivenhall ; (iosfield Hall, Mr. Piggott. L. anomala, Fr. Kelvedon; Tods Wood; Messing; Feli.x Hall Park ; Mile End, Colchester; Hickmore Fen Wood. L. tricolor, With. On various trees, Kelvedon ; Wickham ; Mile End, Colchester ; Troyes Wood ; wood at Gosfield ; Lyston. L. ehrhartiana, Ach. Old wooden barns, Rivenhall ; Ivxsthorpe ; Messing ; Kelvedon. Apothecia liable to be destroyed by an insect pest. L. caradocensis, Leight. Kelvedon ; Marks Hall. L. incompta, Borr. On an old tree. Great Braxted, 1883. L. alboatra, Hffm. Trees, Kelvedon, &c. f. populorion, Mass. On poplar and ash-trees, Kelvedon ; Coggeshall. f. epipolia, Ach. On tombstones; on flint in a wall, Kelvedon; Me.ssing ; Coggeshall. On old mortared wall, Ashdon. L. dilleniana, Ach. On Brightlingsea Church wall. Habitat destroyed by the restoration of the church. L. aromatica, Sm. Old wall, Kelvedon. L. sphaeroides, Dicks. Kelvedon ; Feering. L. umbrina, Ach. On sandstone, Kelvedon. L. mi Hi aria, Fr. f. terristris, Fr. Tiptree Heath. L. phacodes, Korb. On aged elm, Braxted Park, 1884. L. sabuletorum. Elk. On moss on walls, Feering ; Kelvedon. L. premnea, Ach. On old trees, Marks Hall ; Rivenhall ; Kelvedon. Common in parks. L, endoleuca, Nyl. On trees, Kelvedon ; Braxted ; Marks Hall; Wivetihoe ; Great Tey ; Sible Hedingham. L. rubella, Ehr. On elms and other trees, Kelvedon ; Aid- ham ; Hickford Fen Wood ; Braxted Park. L. effusa, Sm. Var. fuscclla, Fr. On trees in woods and parks, Kelvedon ; Felix Hall Park ; Fairstead ; Great Tey. \'ar. ci'ien'o-prui/iosci, Mudd. Chelmsford, Mr. Piggott. L. petraea, Wulf. i.fuscescens, Leight. On sandstone, Kelvedon. c i8 THi: c:k\ pto(;amic i'i.ora of kei.vkdon L. tantilla, Nyl. On old rails and oak fences, Kelvedon ; Feerinu;. L. parmeliarum, Smrft. On the crust of Lecidea quernea, Dicks. I'vasthorpe. L. parasitica, I'l. On Pertusaria communis^ Braxted, 1883. Opegrapha herpetica, Ach. f. vera, Leight. Chelmsford, Mr. Piggott. f. rubella, Pars. On a tree, Rivenhall. f. ru/escens, Pers. On trees, Totham Wood ; Messing. O. atra, Pers. On British and other trees and on a wooden barn, Kelvedon ; Fordham. f. denigrata, Ach. On ash-tree, Kel- vedon ; Colne. f. nigrita, Leight. On birch and i\y and old barns, Kelvedon ; Woodham \Valter ; Coggeshall. f. parallela, I-eight. On trees, Kelvedon ; Inworth ; Woodham A\'alter. f. hapalea, Ach. On a tree near Orwell station, f. arthonoidea, Leight. On trees, Kelvedon ; Marks Hall ; Stoke-by-Nayland. O, turneri, Leight. On trees and palings, Colne; Kelvedon. O. saxicola, Ach. Var. cheva/lieri, Leight. On old mortar, Kelvedon. O. varia, Pers. f. pulicaris, Lightf. On trees, Kelvedon ; Epping Forest; Dr. Crombie. f notha, Ach. On trees, Kelvedon; Braxted. i. diaphora, Ach. On trees, Braxted; Kelvedon. f. ti- grina, Ach. Kelvedon. f. tridens, Ach. Kelvedon. O. vulgata, Ach. f. vulgata, Ach. On elm, ash, yew, Kelve- don ; Braxted ; Messing ; Woodham Walter, f. stetwcarpa, Ach. On old willows, elm, oak. Great Braxted ; Kelvedon. f. suhsiderella, Nyl. On elm, yew, Kelvedon ; Messing. O. lyncea, Sm. On old oaks, Kelvedon ; Rivenhall ; Braxted. Stigmatidium crassum, Dub. On hornbeam, Great Braxted ; Epping Forest, 1873. Arthonia lurida, Ach. On oak, Halstead. A. vinosa, Leight. On trees, Hickmore Fen Wood ; Pods Wood ; Messing. Var. pinefi, Korb. Kelvedon ; Pods Wood. Wood near Gosfield. A, punctiformis, Ach. On oak, Kelvedon; Braxted; In- worth ; ALirks Mall. A. astroidea, Ach. On ash, Braxted ; Kelvedon ; Inworth. A. epipasta, Ach. Braxted. A. swartziana, Ach. On trees, Kelvedon ; Braxted ; Becking- ham : Pods Wood ; \Vickham ; Great Tey, Peering. A. cinnabarina, AN'allr. On trees. \'ar. kermesitia, Nyl. AND lis NKICHUOUKHOOI). 19 f. rosacea, T. and B. Easthorpe ; Rivenliall ; Woodham Walter, f. »iargi/iata, T. and B. Kelvedon ; Woodham Walter ; Riven- hall ; Great Tey. \ar. pnnnata, Del. f. diihia, '\. and B. Great Toy ; Kelvedon. \'ar. aneryfhra'a, Nyl. On trees in woods, Kelve- don ; Braxted ; Great Tey. f. detrita, T. and \\. Kelvedon. A. pruinosa, Ach. On old palings, and hoarded buildings, Kelvedon ; Coggeshall. A. anastomosans, Ach. On young oak, Braxted, 1863. Graphis elegans, Sm. Loughton. G. scripta, Ach. f. minuta, Leight. On trees, Kelvedon. f. varia, Leight. Kelvedon. f. horizontalis, Leight. Kelvedon. f. divan'cata, Leight. \\'ood at Totham. Var. serpentina, Ach. Kelvedon. f. eutypa, Ach. Kelvedon ; Marks Hall ; Baddow ; Hickmore Fen ^Vood. f. spathea, Ach. Copford. f. tremulans, Leight. Chelmsford, Mr. Piggott. f. radiata, Leight. Pods Wood. G. dendritica, Ach. f. smithii, Leight. Hickmore Fen Wood ; Pods Wood ; Messing, f. acuta, Leight. Wood, at Mess- ng. f. obtusa, Leight. Epping Forest, Dr. Crombie. G. inusta, Ach. f. vera, Leight. Inworth ; Hickmore Fen \N'ood. f. elongata, Leight. Pods \\'ood ; Messing, f. siniplicuis- ciila, Leight. IVLarks Hall ; Inworth ; Pods Wood ; Messing, f. macu- laris, Leight. Pods Wood ; Marks Hall. G. sophistica, Nyl. On trees, Kelvedon. f. fiexuosa, Leight. Marks Hall. f. radiata, Leight. Marks Hall ; Baddow. f. diva- ricata, Leight. (ireat Braxted ; Totham. Var. piilverulenta, Sm. On trees in woods, Kelvedon ; Terling ; Halstead ; Braxted ; Mess- ing ; Totham. \"ar. dendriticoides, Leight. Kelvedon ; Troyes Wood. Mycoporum miserrimum, Nyl. On young oaks in woods and hedges, ( Jrcat Braxted ; Great Tey ; Marks Hall. Verrucaria papillosa, Ach. Inworth. Var. acrotella, Ach. On flint stones in fields, Great Tey ; Kelvedon ; Coggeshall. V. mutabilis, Borr. Kelvedon. V. mauroides, Schoer. On sandstone, Kelvedon. V. nigrescens, Pars. Sandstone, flintstones, and mortar, Kel- vedon ; CJoggeshall ; Great Braxted. V. plumbea, Ach. Brightlingsea. V. glaucina, Ach. Old mortared wall, Kelvedon. V. furcella, Turn. Old mortared wall, Ashdon. V. macrostoma, Duff. Coggeshall, old wall. c- 2 20 THK CkVrrOGAMIC FLORA OF KKI.VEDON V. viridula, Schrad. On sandstone, mortared walls, and brick walls, Kelvcdon ; Feering ; Coggeshall ; Mistley ; Braxted. Roman wall, Colchester. V. rupestris, Schrad. On a piece of chalk, Kelvedon. Oyns Brook Bridge. V. muralis, Ach. Mortared and brick walls, Kelvedon. V. subalbicans, Leight. On mortar, Kelvedon. V- calciseda, D.C. On limestone, Coggeshall. V. gemmata, Ach. Trees, Hickmore Fen Wood ; Kelvedon. V. conformis, Nyl. Tree, Kelvedon. V. epidermidis. Birch-trees, Kelvedon. Var. anakpta, Ach. Kelvedon : Myland ; Great Tey. f. fal/ax, Nyl. Young oaks, Braxted ; Mile End, Colchester, f. ciiiereo-pruinosa, Schoer. On a tree, Kelvedon. V. punctiformis, Ach. On holly, Colne Engaine. V. biformis, Borr. On willow and other trees, Kelvedon ; Rivenhall : Felstead ; Witham. V, salweii, Leight. Old mortared wall, Kelvedon. V. rugulosa, Borr. On an old tile, Kelvedon. V. chlorotica, Ach. f. carpinea, Schoer. Colne Engaine. V. nitida, Weig. Trees, Kelvedon ; Messing. Var. fiitidelhr, Flk. Rivenhall ; Kelvedon. V. glabrata, Ach. ^\ar. dermatodes, Borr. On trees, Braxted; Rivenhall. V. albissima, Ach. On birch, Braxted; Pods Wood, Kelve- don. V. epipolytropa, Mudd. Parasitic on S(]ua»iafia saxicola. On a tile, Kelvedon. V. hymenogonia, Nyl. Kelvedon ; Messing; Mistley. Melanotheca gelatinosa, Chev. On hazel, Kelvedon. FUNGI. Agaricus (Amanita) strobiliformis, Fr. Meadow, Braxted 1S76. A. (Lepiota) rachodes, \itt. \\'ood, Braxted, 1875. Kelve- don, uSiSo. A. (Tricholoma) gambosus, Fr. Pasture, Cireat Tey, 1877. Rivenhall, 1877. Easthorpe, 1878. A. (Clitocybe) geotrupus, Bull. Braxted Rectory Park, 1875. A. (Pleurotus) leightoni. Berk. In a cellar, Kelvedon, 1883. AND ITS NEIf;HBOlIKH()()li. 21 A. (Claudopus) enosmus,l^erk. On dcaclclin-trces, Kclvcdon, 1873 and 1 88 1. A. (Pholiota) durus. Holt. Kclvcdon, 1874. A. (Pholiota) spectabilis, Fr. Kelvedon, 187 4 and 1881. A. (Naucoria) semiorbicularis, Bull. Pasture, Kclvcdon, 1876. A. (Panaeolus) campanulatus, L. Rivcnhall I'ark, 1876. Polyporus fulvus, I'r. On elm, Kclvcdon, 1881. Corticium laeve, Vr. Kclvcdon, 1880. Lycoperdon saccatum, Vahl. Kclvcdon, 1879. Didymium physarioides, Fr. Near Kelvedon Hall Woods, and at Tkaxtcd, 1875. Arcyria punicea, P. Kelvedon, 1879. Cyathus striatus, Hoffm. Braxted, 1883. C. vernicosus, D.C. Oreat Tey, 1881. Phoma radula, B. and Br. On yew, Feering, 1881. P. depressum, B. and Br. Kclvcdon, 1881. Leptothyrium ribis, Lib. Kelvedon, 1881. L. juglandis, Lib. Kelvedon School-grounds, abundant, 1865. Dothiora sphoeroides, Fr. Ash-trees, Kelvedon, 1881. Piggottia astroidea, B. and Br. Kelvedon, 1872. Discella carbonacea, B. and Br. Braxted, 1873. Torula ovalispora, Berk. Kelvedon, 1880. T. pulvillus, B. and Br. Inworth, 1880. T. pulveracea, Corda. Kelvedon. Phragmidium mucronatum, Link. Kelvedon, 1873. P. bulbosum, Sch. Kelvedon, 1851. P. gracile, (irev. On raspberry, Kelvedon, 187 1. Puccinia arundinacea, Hedw. Kelvedon, 1871. P. graminis, Pcrs. Kelvedon, 1865. Wivenhoe, 1873. P. coronata, Corda. Kelvedon, 1873. P. polygonorum, Link. Kelvedon, i860. P. vincae, Berk. Kelvedon, 1874. P. sparsa, Cooke. Kelvedon, 1878. P. compositarum, Sch. Kelvedon, 186^5. P. syngenesiarum. Link. Kclvcdon, 1870. P. malvacearum, Corda. Kelvedon; Feering; Rivcnhall, 1874. P. discoidearum, Link. Kclvcdon, 1865. Braxted and Feer- ing, 1875. 2 2 THE CRYPTOGAMIC FLORA OF KELVEDON P. glomerata, (irev. Kelvedon, 1873. P. umbelliferarum, D.C. Kelvedon, 1865. P. apii, C'orda. Kelvedon, 1877. P. lychnidearum, Link. Kelvedon, 1865. P. epilobii, D.C. Kelvedon, 1877. P. prunorum, Link. Kelvedon, 1865. Leering, 1867. P. circseae, Fers. Kelvedon, 1873. P. pulverulenta, Grev. Kelvedon, 1871. P. fabse, Link. Kelvedon, 1851. Tilletia caries, Tul. Allshots Larm, Kelvedon, 1872. Ustilago carbo, Tul. On barley, 187 1 [locality not stated]. U. longissima, Tul. Kelvedon, 1876. U. hypodytes, Lr. Alresford, 1874. U. utriculosa, Tul. Kelvedon, 1851. U. receptaculorum, Fr. Kelvedon, 1874. U. antherarum, Fr. Kelvedon, 1870. Uromyces apiculosa, Lev. Kelvedon, 1865. Leering, 1872. U. ficariae, Lev. Wood, Braxted, 1873. U. appendiculata, Lev. Kelvedon, 1865. Coleosporum tussilaginis, Lev. Braxted, 185 1. Kelve- don, 1865. C. petasitis. Lev. Kelvedon, 1865. C. sonchi-arvensis, Lev. Kelvedon, 1865. Melampsora populina. Lev. Kelvedon, 1865. Leering, 1871. M. salicina. Lev. Kelvedon, 1865. Braxted, 1873. M. euphorbiae, Cast. Kelvedon, 185 1. M. tremulae, Tul. Chaulkney Wood, 1878. Cystopus candidus, Lev. Kelvedon, 185 1, C. cubicus, Str. Kelvedon, 187 1. Uredo potentillarum, D.C. Tiptree Heath, 1873. Colne and Copford, 1877. U. hypericorum, D.C. Liworth, 1853. U. confluens, D.C. Wood, Braxted, 1873. Trichobasis caricina, B. Wood, Colne, 1877. T. oblongata, B. Chaulkney Wood, 1877. T. suaveolens, Lev. Kelvedon, 185 1. T. geranii, 15. Kelvedon, 1865. T. betae, Lev. Kelvedon, 1851. AND ITS NKICHISOURHOOI). 23 Lecythea epitea, Lev. Little Hraxted, 1H77. L. mixta, Lev. Kelvedon, 1865. Braxted, 1877. L. saliceti. Lev. Marks Hall. Raestelia cancellata, Reh. Inworth, 1869. R. lacerata, lul. Kelvedon, 1878. iEcidium albescens, Grev. Inworth, 1878. JE.. tragopogonis, I'ers. Great Tey, 1877. JE.. crassum, Pers. Near Kelvedon. JE.. berberidis, Pers. Kelvedon, 1853. JE. r..nunculacearum, D.C. Kelvedon, 1872. Bra.xted, JE. urticae, D.C. Witham, 1873. JE. compositarum, jVLart. Kelvedon, 1852. Var. tussila- gifiis, Pers. Little Braxted, 1867. JE. violae, Sch. Kelvedon, 1880. JE. geranii, D.C. Kelvedon, 1852. JE. primulae, D.C. Inworth, 1880. JE. rubellum, Pers. Kelvedon, 1853. Tubercularia granulata, Pers. Kelvedon, 1868. Helminthosporium tiliae, Fr. Felix Hall Park, 1872. Macrosporium sarcinula, Berk. Kelvedon, on pea-pods, very abundant, 187 i. On ivy-leaves, 1881. M, cheiranthii. Fa. Var. /3. betcB, Cooke. Peering, 1872. M. brassicse, Berk. Kelvedon, 1866. M. concinnum, Berk. On leeks, Kelvedon, 1878. Cladosporium dendriticum, Wallr. On pears, Kelvedon, abundant, 1876. C. epiphyllum, Nees. Kelvedon, 1872. Peronospora infestans, Mont. Kelvedon, 187 1. P. gangliformis, Berk. On Soiichus okraceus, Kelvedon, 1871. P. urticae, Casp. Kelvedon, 187 1. P. schleideniana, De By. Kelvedon, 187 1. Polyactis vulgaris, Lk. On grapes, greenhouse, Kelvedon. 1877. P. fascicularis, Corda. (Jn Iris pseudaconis in decay, 1880 [no locality given]. Oidium concentricum, W. and Br. Kelvedon, 1872. O. erysiphoides, Berk. On vegetable-marrow, Kelvedon, 18S4. 24 THK CRYPTOGAMIC FLORA OF KF.LVEDON Sphserotheca castagnei, Lev. Kelvedon, 1865. Uncinula adunca, Lev. Kelvedon, 187 1. U. bicornis, Lev. Kelvedon, 1865. Phyllactinia guttata, Lev. Kelvedon, 1865. Podosphseria kunzei, Lev. On apricot-leaves, Feering, 1884. P. clandestina, Lev. Kelvedon, 1870. Microsphaeria grossulariae, Lev. Kelvedon, 1870. M. mougeotii, Lev. Kelvedon, 1865. M. penicillata, Lev. Kelvedon, 1865. Erysiphe lamprocarpa, Lev. Kelvedon, 1865. E. martii, Link. Kelvedon, 1865. E. montagnei, Lev. Kelvedon, 187 1. E. tortilis, Link. Kelvedon and Braxted, 1865. E. communis, Schl. Kelvedon and Liworth, 1865. Peziza salm nicolor, B. and Br. On the earth in a fern- pot, Kelvedon, 1881. P. domestica. Sow. Kelvedon, 1882. Patellaria lignyota, Fr. Feering, 1882. Claviceps purpurea, Tul. Kelvedon, 187 1. Rhytisma acerinum, Pers. Kelvedon, 185 1. Hysterium angustatum, A. and S. Colne. Epichloe typhina, Berk. Kelvedon, 1852. Alresford, 1878. Dothidea rubra, Pers. Kelvedon, 1851. D. ulmi, Fr. Kelvedon, 185 1. D. trifolii, Fr. Kelvedon, 1873. Diatrype quercina, Tul. Inworth, 1880. D. verrucaeformis, Fr. Braxted, 1873. Massaria currei, 1'ul. Kelvedon, 1881. Sphaeria apotheciorum, Mass. Kelvedon. MARINE ALG.F:. Fucus vesiculosus, L. Walton, 1867. F. serratus, L. Walton, 1867. Harwich, 1876. Himanthalea lorea, Lyngb. Walton, 1867. Dictyota dichotoma, Huds. Walton, 1867. Punctaria plantaginea, Roth. Harwich, 1876. Elachistea fucicola, \'cl. Maldon, 1867. Cladostephus verticillatus, Light. \\'alton, 1845. Sphacelaria scoparia, L. Walton, 1845. AND ITS NF.ICHBOURHOOn. 25 Ectocarpus littoralis, 1,. Walton, US45. Bostrychia scorpioides, dm. On the lower part of stems o'i Spdr/iNd stricta, Wivenhoe, 1S73. Polysiphonia atrorubescens, Dillw. Essex coast. P. byssoides, (iood. \\'alton, 1845. CoralHna officinalis, L. Walton, 1867. Jania rubens, L. Harwich, 1876. Nitophyllum laceratum, Clrev. Walton, 1867. Plocamium coccineum, Hiuls. Walton, 1845. Rhodymenia ciliata, L. Walton, 1845. R. palmata, L. Harwich, 1876. Gracilaria confervoides, L. W^alton and Harwich, 1867. Chondrus crispus, L. Southend, 1864. Polyide'' rotundus, Gmel. Walton, 1845. Furcellaria fastigiata, Huds. Walton, 1845. Ceramium rubrum, Huds. IVIaldon, 1844. Walton, 1867. Harwich, 1880. Griffithsia setacea. Ell. Walton, 1867. Cladophora rupestris, L. Southend, 1844. C. laetevirens, Dill. Walton, 1845. Conferva litorea, Harv. Walton, 1873. C. linurri, Roth. Southend, 1844. Enteromorpha intesti, Talis, L. Blackwater River, 1844. Maldon, 1868. E. compressa, L. Walton, 1845. E. erecta, Eyngb. Wivenhoe, 1875. E. clathrata, Roth. Wivenhoe, 1873. Maldon. E. percursa, Ag. Maldon, 1868. Wivenhoe, 1873. Mist- Icy, 1880. Ulva latissima, E. Maldon, 1884. Harwich. Porphyra laciniata, Eight. Maldon, 1867. P. vulgaris, Ag. Southend, 1844. FRESH-WATER AEG^'. Vaucheria dillwynii, Ag. Kelvedon, 1850. V. repens, Hass. Kelvedon, 1850. V. hamata, Vauch. Kelvedon, 1850. V. terrestris, Vauch. Kelvedon, 1850. V. aversa, Hass. Kelvedon, 1850. V. ornithocephala, Ag. Kelvedon, 1850. 26 THE CRYPTOdAMIC FLORA OF KELVEDON V. sessilis, Vauch. Kelvedon, 1850. V. geminata, \'auch. Kelvedon, 1850. V. racemosa, Vauch. Rivenhall, 1850. Kelvedon, 1865. V. ovoidea, Vauch. Kelvedon, 1850. V. po'ysperma, Hass. Pond, Messing, 1880, Batrachospermum confusum, Hass. Near Kelvedon Bridge. Brook, Peering Hill, 1855. Ditches, Coggeshall Meadows, 1859. B. stagnale, Hass. Rivenhall Water, 1850. Kelvedon, 1855. Coggeshall Meadows, 1859. Oyns Brook, Messing, on submerged branches and roots, 1880. B. moniliforme, Hass. Kelvedon, 1850. Rivenhall Brook, 1858. B. vagum, Ag. Rivenhall, 1858. B. atrum, Harv. Brook near Kelvedon Bridge, 1855. Tip- tree Heath, i860. Draparnaldia glomerata, Ag. Kelvedon, 1850. D. plumosa, Ag. Blackwater River, Kelvedon, 1850. D. elongata, Hass. Ditch, Easthorpe Lane, 1880. D. nana, Hass. Braxted, 1859. Chaetophora endivisefolia, Ag. Rivenhall, on decaying leaves, 1850. Pond, Kelvedon, 1862. Near Hatfield Broad Oak, 1873- C. tuberculosa, Hook. Pond, Rivenhall, 1858. Fountain, Coggeshall Road; Kelvedon, 1858. Pond, Ewell Hall, 1859. C. elegans, Ag. Tey, 1850. Peering Moors, 1855. Kelvedon, 1867. C. pisiformis, Ag. Ditch, Easthorpe Lane, 1880. Zygnema orbiculare, Hass. Brook, Easthorpe, 1859. Z. interrupt um, Hass. Waste water beyond Kelvedon (Everett's) Mill, 1858. Abundant at bottom of river there, 1859. Near Maldon, 1858. Z. serratum, Hass. Colne, near Chaulkney Mill, 1876. Z. nitidum, Ag. Kelvedon and Tiptree Heath, 1850. Z. belle, Hass. Kelvedon, 1850. Pond near Marylands, Braxted, 1859. Brickfield, Inworth, 1883. Z. neglectum, Hass. Gore Pit, 1865. Z. deciminum, Ag. Rivenhall, 1858. Witham, 1859. Z. quininum, Ag. Blackwater River, Kelvedon, 1855. Pond and ditch on Langley's Parm, Kelvedon, 1858. AND ITS NKUlIIHOURHOOl). 27 Z. varians, Hass. Kelvedon and Hraxtcd, 1850. Pond near Ewell Hall, 1855. Fleering, 1859. Z. aestivum, Hass. Ditch, Church Hall, Kelvedon, 1858. Easthorpe, 1876. Z. malformatum, Hass. Rivcnhall, 1858. Z. catenseforme, Hass. Kelvedon, 1880. Z. gracile, Hass. Pond near Kevedon Hall, 1865. Z. commune, Hass. Peering, 1867. Z. flavescens, Hass. Messing, 1858. Brickfield, Inworth, 1883. Z. inaequale, Hass. Kelvedon, 1850. Z. tenuissimum, Hass. Kelvedon and Peering, 1883. Z. wood ii, Hass. Kelvedon, 1850. Z. affine, Hass. Inworth, 1883. Z. mirabile, Hass. Near Docwra's Mill, Kelvedon, 1858. Easthorpe Lane, and pond on Ewell Hall Farm, 1859. Messing, 1869. Z. hassallii, Jenner. Rivenhall, 1850. Gore Pit, 1855 Kelvedon, 1858. Z. quadratum, Hass. Kelvedon, 1850. Z, jenneri, Hass. Braxted, 1850. Kelvedon, 1883. Z. insigne, Hass. Peering, 1850. Tyndaridea anomala, Ralfs. Claypit, Messing, 1858. Easthorpe, 1859. T. lutescens, Hass. Bergholt Heath, 1862. Mesocarpus scalaris, Hass. Kelvedon and Peering, 1883. M. intricatus, Hass. Kelvedon and Peering, 1883. M. parvulus, Hass. Kelvedon and Peering, 1883. Mougeotia genuflexa, Ag. Kelvedon, 1850. Pond, Gore Pit, 1855. Zygogonium ericetorum, Kutz. Tiptree Heath, 1850. Vesiculifera paludosa, Hass. Cranes Pond, 1865. V. fasciata, Hass. Pond near Rook Hall, 1865. Peering, 1867. V. sphaerica, Hass. Pond near Kelvedon Hall, i860. Ditch in Coggeshall Hall Meadows, 1866. Kelvedon, 1883. V. flavescens, Hass. Rivenhall, 1850. V. hexagona, Hass. Ditch, Western's Meadows, 1855. I'l'" tree Heath, 1865. V. mulleri, Hass. Kelvedon, 1850. 28 THE CRVPTOGAMIC FLORA OK KELVEDON V. rothii, Hass. Kelvedon, 1850. Near Birch Holt, 1859. Cranes Pond, 1865. Bulbochsete setigera, Ag. On Rajmnculus tricJiophyllus, 1 85 1. [No locality given]. Cladophora glomerata, Dillw. Kelvedon, 1844. Messing, 1850. C. crispata, Sm. Kelvedon; Tiptree, 1850. Conferva linum, Roth. Ditch, Dovercourt, 1865. Coleochaete scutata, Breb. Var. /3. on a \Kf\ioi Hypuin fluiians, pond near Kelvedon Hall, i860. i yngbya zonata, Hass. On stones in the waste water near Braxted Mill, 1855. Kelvedon, 1858. L. muralis, Ag. Kelvedon, 1850. L. copulata, Hass. Ditch near sea-wall, Dovercourt, 1865. L. thompsoni, Harv. On a stick in a pond, Kelvedon, 1858 L. floccosa, Ag. Kelvedon, 1850. Birch Holt, 1855. Messing, 1858. Feering, 1883. L. punctalis, Hass. Near Docwra's Mill, Kelvedon, 1855. In an aquarium, attached to Ranunculus aquatilis, 1858. Felix Hall, 1865. Tiptree Heath, 1880. L. vermicularis, Hass. Ditch, Feering Moor, 1855. Tiptree Heath, 1858. Pond on Ewell Hall Farm, 1859. Hydrodictyon utriculatum, Roth. Blackwater River, Kel- vedon, and abundantly in the back ditch at Docwra's Mill, 1859. Oscillatoria limosa, Ag. Near Docwra's Mill, Kelvedon, 1855- O. cinerea, Hass. Kelvedon, 1858. O. tenuis, Ag. Inworth, 1850. Kelvedon, 1855. O. muscorum, Ag. On Hypnum ruscifolium, Kelvedon, 1863. O. contexta, Carm. Kelvedon, 1850. O. decorticans, Grev. Wall near Kelvedon Mill, 1858. Microcoleus repens, Harv. Kelvedon, 1868. Raphidia angulosa, Hass. Feering, 1867. R. viridis, Hass. Feering, 1867. Spirillum jenneri, Hass. Kelvedon, intermixed with Oscilla- toria tenuis, 1859. Feering and Braxted Hall, 1880. Anabaina flosaquae, Bory. Kelvedon. Near Dovercourt, 1865. A. impalpebralis, Bory. Kelvedon, 1865. Yeldham, 1866. Nostoc commune, Vauch. Kelvedon, 1844. AND ITS NKICHHorKHOOD. 29 N. foliaceum, Ag. Messing, 1880. Ulva bullosa, Roth. Kelvedon, 1850. Oyns Brook, Messing, ,858. U. crispa, Light. Kelvedon, 1850. Tetraspora lubrica, Ag. Blackwater ditches, Kelvedon, 1847. On stones in brook at Rivenhall, 1848. T. gelatinosa, Desv. Kelvedon, 1845. Enteromorpha intestinalis, Link. Kelvedon, in the rivers and ditches, abundant. Botrydium granulatum, drev. Kelvedon. Palmella cruenta, Ag. Kelvedon, 1850. Haematococcus vulgaris, Hass. Kelvedon. Glaeoprium mucosum, Berk. Feering and Braxted, 1850. Coccochloris protuberans, Spreng. Kelvedon, 1859. C, hyalina, Meneg. Kelvedon, 1850. C. mooreana, Hass. Kelvedon, 1850. Closterium ehrenbergii, Meneg. Kelvedon, 1858. C. moniliferum, Ehr. Feering, 1880. C. rostratum, Ehr. Feering, 1880. C. lunula, Ehr. Kelvedon, 1880. C. acerosum, Ehr. Feering, 1880. Inworth, 1883. Scenedesmus acutus, Meyen. Kelvedon, 1883. Meloseira varians, Ag. Kelvedon, 1858. Feering, and Long Mclford. 1865. In the Chelmer at Chelmsford, 1866. Achnanthes minutissima, Kutz. Feering Moors, 1865. Tabellaria flocculosa, Ag. Kelvedon, 1858. Diatoma vulgare. Bory. Kelvedon, 1850. D. elongatum, Ag. Feering, 1865. Fragilaria hyemalis, Lyng. Feering, 1880. F. rhabdosoma, Ehr. Chelmer at Broomfield, 1865. Kelve- don, 1867. Gomphonema truncatum, Ehr. Kelvedon, 1858. G. cristatum, Ralfs. Kelvedon, 1867. G. berkeleyi, (irev, Feering Moors, 1865. Brook in Ewell Hall Lane, Kelvedon, 1867. Cymbella turgida, Hass. Kelvedon, 1864. Navicula phcenicenter. n, Ehr. Kelvedon, 1867. N. palea, Hass. Feering, 1880. N. lanceolata, Ehr. Kelvedon, 1845. Feering Moors, 1865. Exilaria capitata, Ehr. Kelvedon, 1865. 30 THK I!1I!LI0(;RAPHY of ESSEX. E. ulna. Ag. Kelvedon, 1865. E. fascicuiata, Kutz. Rivenhall, 1844. Peering, 1865. Gyrosigma hippocampa, Ehr. Ditch, Kelvedon, 1880. Nitzschia elongata, llass. Kelvedon, 1880. Sphinctocystis librilis, Hass. Pond, Messing, 1880. Frustulia viridis, Kutz. Kelvedon, 1880. Encyonema prostratum, Kutz. Among Zygnema inter- mpium^ in the river at Kelvedon, 1870. THE BIBLIOGRAPHY OF ESSEX. A\ influential Committee, consisting mainly of members of the Essex Field Club and the Essex Archaeological Society, has been formed for the purpose of arranging for the compilation and publication of a comprehensive Bibliography of Essex, which shall enumerate all books, pamphlets, magazine articles, maps, prints, and other publications that wholly or largely treat of the Topography or History of the County of Essex ; or that have been written by, or about, prominent natives of, or residents in, the county ; together with all works that have been published within its borders. Lord Rayleigh has consented to act as President ; Mr. F. Chancellor, Treasurer ; and Messrs. E. A. Fitch and Miller Christy Hon, Secretaries. When the work is considered sufficiently complete, the MS. will be offered to the Essex Field Club, for publication as one of the " Special Memoirs." On Wednesday afternoon, March i8th, the first meeting of the Committee was held in the Shire Hall, Chelmsford. Dr. Henry Laver, of Colchester, was voted to the chair, and others present were Messrs. Thomas Bird, Romford ; Fred Chancellor, Chelmsford ; Wm. Cole, Buckhurst Hill ; E. Durrant, Chelmsford ; Arthur J. Furbank, Chelmsford ; J. Chalkley Gould, Loughton ; J. C. Shenstone, Colchester ; Miller Christy, Chelmsford ; E. A. Fitch, Maldon and W. H. Dal- ton. It was agreed that the AsFociation should be known as the " Essex Biblio- graphical Committee," and it was resolved that it should consist of not more than thirty members, and that the contribution of each member should be two guineas. Lord Rayleigh, who wrote expressing his approval of the scheme, was elected President of the Committee, Mr. Chancellor, Treasurer, and the election of the Hon. Sees, was confirmed. Messrs. G.Alan Lowndes, Bird, Durrant, and Gould, with the Officers, were appointed an Executive Committee, with power to add two other members to their number. The General Rules for the guidance of the Executive Committee were agreed to, and it was understood that a set of complete rules to be observed by the compilers would at once be drawn up, together with a typical set of specimen title-slips, &c. Any further information will be gladly given by the Hon. Secretaries, Mr. E. A. Fitch, Brick House, Maldon, and Mr. Miller Christy, Chelmsford. The members of the Club are strongly urged to aid the Committee in any way in their power — a good bibliography of the county would be of the greatest service to all interested in Essex. 31 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. Orpinakv and Annual General Meeting, and Stecial Meeting. Saturday, January 31st, 1891. [The members from a distance assembled in the Museum during the afternoon, where they examined the loan collections from South Kensington, and some explored the environs of the town. Tea was taken at the " Saracen's Head " Hotel, the President in the chair.] The Eleventh Annual General Meeting ot the Club was held in the Essex and Chelmsford Museum, New Bridge Street, Chelmsford (kindly placed at the dis- posal of the Council by the Committee of the Museum), at half-past six o'clock, Mr. E. A. Fitch, President, in the chair. Previous to the .\nnual Meeting, an Okdinaky Meeting (the 121st) was held. The Rev. W. S. Lach-Szyrma, M.A., was elected a member. The meeting then resolved itself into the Eleventh Annual General Meeting. The minutes of the tenth Annual Meeting, held on February 1st, 1890. were read and confirmed. The Secretary (Mr. W. Cole) read the Annual Report of the Council for 1890 (see p. 35). Mr. Walter Crouch read the Treasurer's Annual Statement of Accounts, which had been duly audited by Mr. C. Ridley and himself (see pp. 40, 41). On the motion of Mr. Avery, seconded by Mr. Corcoran, the report and state- ment were received and adopted. Mr. Float and Mr Day were chosen as scrutineers of the ballot for the election of new members of Council and officers for l89i,the President remarking, alluding to the nom.inations for the Council, that it was the first "contested election" of the Club. The following members retired from the Council in accordance with Rule 111. : — Messrs. W. J. Argent, G. C. Harcourt, N. F. Robarts, and Thomas Royle. To fill the four seats so rendered vacant, the following members were proposed at the meeting on December 30th, 1890 : Messrs. H. Cohn, Edmund Durrant, A. J. Furbank, T. B. Linley and J. H. Porter. While the votes were being counted, Mr. F. Chancellor (Chairman of the Committee of the Essex and Chelmsford Museum) accorded all a very hearty wel- come in the name of the Museum authorities, and at the request of the President, spoke of the Loan Collection of Indian Art fabrics and Art specimens which had been placed in the Museum by the South Kensington authorities to illustrate a course of lectures on India which had been carried on during the winter. He also alluded to the collection of Geological specimens, formed by the late Rev. E. S. \Vright, rector of \'ange, which had been bequeathed to the Museum, and recentiv handed over by his son and daugiiter. The scrutineers reported that the following had been elected into the Council : .Mes?r^. II. Cohn, E. Durrant, A. .1. Furbank, and J. H. Porter. 32 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. They also reported that the following had been elected as officers for 1891 : President, Mr. E. A. Fitch ; Treasurer, Mr. A. Lockyer ; Hon. Secretary, Mr, W. Cole ; Assistant Hon. Secretary, Mr. B. G. Cole ; Librarian, Mr. A. P. Wire. Mr. Fitch warmly thanked the members for re-electing him as their President. In accordance with the unwritten law of the Club, he had exceeded the usual term of office, but his colleagues were anxious that he should continue during the settlement of the scheme of amalgamation, and as he had taken very great interest in the question of the Museum he was very happy to assume the pleasant duties of President for another year. As so much important business lay before the meeting, he had thought it best to omit the usual Address on this occasion. Mr. Varley proposed a vote of thanks to the officers, which was seconded by Mr. Cohn, and carried unanimously. The President then declared the meeting a SPECIAL one, for the purpose of con- sideringthe scheme forthe amalgamation of the Essex and Chelmsford Museum with the Club, and other matters, in accordance with the notice given at the last meeting. The President then read the scheme (which is printed in full in the Essex Naturalist, vol. iv. pp. 236-241, and also separately) and in doing so alluded to the cordial relations which existed between the present Committee of the Museum and the Club, and the friendly way in which the somewhat difficult negociations for the amalgamation had been carried on by the Joint Committee appointed for the purpose. The scheme had been unanimousl}- passed by the Joint Committee and by the Council of the Club, and it was now submitted to the members. Professor Meldola, in an earnest speech, strongly recommended the scheme to the favourable consideration of the meeting The formation of a really good local Museum had always an object with the Club — they had made progress in gathering materials, and a scheme had been much discussed some years ago, but they had never been able to meet with sufficient support. The present scheme had been carefully drawn up by their Secretary, and had been fully con- sidered and unanimously agreed to by the representatives of the two bodies ; it had been received with approval by all their coUeagues, and as far as he could learn b}' all the members. If a local Museum was to be established in Essex, Chelmsford was certainly the best site for it — as being the county town, and as occupj^ing a very central position. He therefore begged to move : — "That the plans for the nrmalgamation of the Essex and Chelmsford Museum with the Essex Field Club, and for the establishment of a Local Museum, as set forth in the scheme, be adopted." Dr. Thresh, as an inhabitant of Chelmsford, and as a member of the Club, seconded the resolution. He pointed out the advantages to the county town, and the advantages which would accrue to both the Field Club and Museum by the amalgamation, adding that the Museum would be built up and made worthy of Essex by the labours of the Field Club, and the latter would add a local habitation to its name. Unfortunately in many respects Chelmsford had not taken the position which a county town might be expected to take, more particularly in regard to education. It was quite time some effort was made to shake off this indifterence, and to realise that there were responsibilities as well as privileges attaching to the position of county town of such a district as Essex. With the erection of a new Grammar School one reproach would be wiped away ; whilst, by the amalgamation of the Field Club and Museum, another would be removed. Mr. J. Taylor owned to a feeling of regret that the words "Chelmsford Museum " did not in any wa}^ form part of the title of the new Society. The President pointed out that the Committee had thoroughly considered the THE ESSEX Fin.D CLITB. ZS matter, and they liad decided to unite tlie two bodies under the name of " The Kssex Field Club," thinkinji^ that as Chelmsford would get the Museum it did not much matter, and that there would be very serious objections to altering the title of the Club. There was really not much in the point, as the proposed institution would be the Museum of the Essex Field Club at Chelmsford — the greater included the less. The objection was also answered by Mr. Chancellor, Mr. F. n. Meggy, Mr. J. C. Shenstone, and Professor Boulger, Mr. Chancellor saying that he thought tie substance was worth far more than the shadow. Mr. Meggy complimented the Committee on their very comprehensive and able scheme, and gave it his hearty support. Professor Boulger hoped there would be no note of discord emanating from Chelmsford, and pointed out that, as a county institution, they would be in a far better position toappealfor funds than as a merely local society. The resolution was passed unanimously amid cheers. In reply to a question from the President, Mr. Chancellor, as Chairman of the Committee of the Essex and Chelmsford Museum, stated that the scheme had been passed unanimously by the Committee and by the Subscribers to the Museum. On the recommendation of the Council it was also agreed that if and when the amalgamation takes effect, the annual subscription of tiew members elected after the date of such event shall be £i is., with an entrance-fee of 105.6^. (to include the Essex Naturalist, post-free as published), and that the life-membership shall be ^10 los.phis the entrance-fee. The President said that the next subject to be brought before the members was the important scheme of technical instruction, which had been prepared with very great care hy the Secretary, with the assistance and advice of several scientific men and teachers, and which had been submitted to the County Council, many members of which body had favourably received it. The Parliamentary Com- mittee had appointed a sub-committee to consider the question of technical instruction in the county under the authority of the recent Acts of Parliament, and they had consented to receive an important deputation from the Club on Monday next, so that the details of the Club's scheme might be brought before them. He asked the Secretary to read the scheme. The Secretary read the scheme, which is fully set out in the last volume of the Essex Naturalist (vol. iv. pp. 259-262), and which had been printed in a separate form and extensively circulated. Professor Meldola, who has had a very large experience in connection with technical education, spoke in high terms of the scheme, dwelling on the great advantage there would be in establishing one roally good centre, which must be much more beneficially productive than if the money were frittered away in small sums. He gave a happy definition of what technical education is, namely, "science applied to human industries." Professor Boulger was equally warm in favour of the project. His only objec- tion was that the Council did not ask enough ; he noticed that the word " minima " was used in connection with the sums asked for in the scheme, and he rather thought that instead of five or six centres there ought to be five-and-twent}'. No county had yet propounded any such comprehensive scheme as this, and it wai greatly to the credit of the Club that they had taken the lead in this important matter. The President said it was very probable if the County Council were satisfied with what the Field Club did in a small wa}-, to begin with, they would be in- clined to make a much larger grant than was now asked for. D 34 THE KSSEX FIELD Cr.Ul:. Ml'. Shenstone thoroughly backed up the idea of an efficient central organisation. Mr. W. G. Shadrake, a member of the Leyton School Board, said he had no doubt that many of the local bodies who had sent in applications to the County Council for a share of the money had done so simply with the view of being in it when the plunder was divided. (Laughter). He regarded the small sums they were likely to get as a white elephant, as they would be too small to be of any practical use for technical education. He believed many of them would be willing to withdraw their applications, and to petition the County Council in f.ivour of the scheme of the Field Club. He should be very glad to bring forward a motion of that kind at the Board of which he was a member. Several other members took part in the discussion, and the unanimous opinion appeared to be that the scheme was one well worthy of support, but no vote was taken on the subject, This brought to a close one of the most interesting and fully-attended Annual Meetings ever held by the Club (members came from all parts of the county, as well as from London, to attend), and genuine enthusiasm was shown in the two schemes which came under discussion. The arrangements for the meeting in the Museum, the tea, etc., were very kindly undertaken by Mr. Durrant, to whom the best thanks of the Club are due. Deputation to the County Council, Monday, February 2nd, 1891. By invitation, a deputation from the Club, consisting of Sir Henry Roscoe, M.P., F.R.S. (one of the authors of the Technical Instruction Act, 1889), Prof. W. H., Flower, C.B., F.R.S. (Director of the British Museum), Prof. Meldola, F.R.S. (City Guilds Technical College), Prof. Boulger, F.G.S., xMr. F. W. Rudler, F.G.S. (Director of the Museum of Practical Geology), and Mr, W. Cole, Hon. Sec , waited upon the Parliamentary Committee of the E^sex County Council, at 35. New Broad Street (Mr. E. N. Buxton, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee, presiding), to advocate the central scheme of Technical Education in Essex, put forward by the Council of the Essex Field Club. Lord Rayleigh, Secretary to the Royal Society, was unavoidably prevented from being present. The speakers strongly urged the claims of the Essex Field Club to bear some part in any work for the promotion of scientific and technical instruction in the count)', and bore testimony to the high position the Club had attained by reason of its excellent publications, and steady adhesion to one plan of work. The}- explained the broad features of the Club's scheme (fully set out in the last volume of the ESSEX NatUR.ALIST, vol. iv. pp. 259-62), and insisted on the great importance of establishing a central institution, in addition to making an}' grants for local pur- poses. The scheme would provide such a central body, and would send competent teachers and lecturirs, furnished with apparatus for practical class-teaching, into the rural districts, thus bringing high-class instruction to the very doors of the' country and agricultural folk, and affording them advantages from the grant almost equal to those possessed by the urban populations. After answering some questions, and being assured by the Chairman that their \iews would receive due consideration, the members of the deputation withdrew. Ordinary Meeting, Saturday, February 28th, 1891. Thk I22nd Onlinary Meeting was held in the Town Hall, Leyton, at 6.30, Mr. E. A Fitch, President, in the chair. The following were elected members of the Club: Messrs. Gerald Christy, W, W. Duffield, A. C Freeman, J. 1). L. Lamarque, Xorm.in l.ott, H. B. Rowan, Augustus A. Tiniliiirll, C'.t'., and Mrs. M . V.. Marsh, ANNUM. RKI'ORT OF THK ESSEX FIELD CI.UB. 35 The President nominated the following as \'ice-Presidents during his year of office: Messrs. K. \. Buxton, J. P., Aldm., C.C, Walter Crouch, F.Z.S., Henry Laver, M.R.C.S., F.L.S., F.S.A,, and the Right Hon. Lord Rayleigh, F.R.S. The Librarian announced the additions to the Library b}- gift, purchase and exchange, and thanks were \oted to the donors. Prof. Meldola called attention to the work of the Committee appointed by the liritish Association " to report upon the application of photography to the elucidation of meteorological phenomena, and to collect any photographs of such phenomena." He distributed copies of the circular issued by the Committee, and hoped that all members who were practical photographers would aid inithe work. Mr. Fitch read a paper entitled "A Day on the Crouch River," being an account of a day's " fishing " with a trawl-net in company with Mr. Crouch last summer. In illustration of the paper were exhibited preserved specimens of the species obtained, comprising Crustacea, Mollusca, Echinodermata, Sponges, &c. Many of the species had never before been recorded from Essex, thus showing that there was plenty of work for the members to do in the department of marine zoology. Prof. Meldola, in proposing a vote of thanks to Mr. Fitch, said that he looked upon the paper as quite a typical one for a Naturalists' societ)- — it was a careful record of actual work done and observations made in their own district, and he should like to see more papers of the kind communicated to the Club. Mr. Crouch read " Notes on a Female Specimen of the Common Rorqual (Balcenoptera musculus) lately stranded near Burnham, with remarks on the Balasnopteridas (Finner Whales)." In illustration of the paper Mr. Crouch showed a long series of drawings, diagrams and prints, and Mr. A. P. Wire also showed some drawings. Remarks on the paper were made by Mr. Gillham, Mr. A. C. Freeman, tl e President, &c., and a cordial vote of thanks was accorded to the author. The Secretary read for Mr. J. French a paper entitled " Notes on the la'c prolonged Frost," upon which a short discussion arose, carried on b}' Prof. Meldola, Mr. Wire, Mr. Filch, and others, the latter reminding members that such notes were just the kind of communications they desired for the Essex Naturalist. The introductory portions of an elaborate paper on "The Cryptogamic Flora of Kelvedon and its neighbourhood ; compiled from the collections and notes made during half a century by the late E. G. Varenne," was read for Mr. Marquand (see ante, pp. I-30), by the Secretary, who referred to the very valuable character of the paper, and moved a very hearty vote of thanks to Mr. Marquand for the trouble he had taken in compiling the lists. A very large number of specimens, drawings, photographs, &c., were exhibited by Mr. Crouch, Mr. Fitch, Mr. Wire and others, and the usual service of light refreshment brought the meeting to a close. ANNUAL REPORT OF THE COUNCIL FOR THE YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31st, 1890. \,Rcaci and adopted at the Annual Mectiiif;, an January Jist, iSgi.] The Council is glad to report that the considerable accession of new members which commenced some few years back still continues, and more than compen- sates for the usual number of resignations and removals from various causes. During the past year 43 persons have joined the Cliih. Ilniii the Council D 2 36 ANNUAL RKPORT OF finally decides 011 ihe louise of action wiih regard to membeis in arrear with their subscriptions it is difficult to state the exact number of members. It may Le put provisionally at about 420. In accordance with the intimation in last year's report, the Council very care- fully considered the important question of the revision of tl.e rate of subscription, and eventually, with some reluctance, decidetl to recommend the members to adopt the foUovvinir proposals : — That the Subscription shall remain as before, viz., lOs. bd. per annum ^ but thai each member wishing to receive the " Essex Naturalist " shall subscribe a furthtr sum of ifS. 6d. in advance in each year io^cards the expensiS of publication, postages, 5fc. That the Life Membership shall be £?, 85. The reasons for these proposals were fully put before the members in a special circular (which is set out in the E.N., vol. iv., pp. 228, 229), and need not be repeated here. The question was simply whether the publications should be curtailed, with an almost certain injury to the usefulness and prestige of the Club, or whether the members should voluntarily tax themselves with an increased subscription, and so enable the Council to carry on the work with vigour. The latter course was adopted, and the Council feels assured that w^hen the slight difficulties and friction consequent upon an}' changes of the kind have passed away, the new rules will work well. The Council much regrets that, notwithstanding every reasonable economy, the payments on the general account have again exceeded the receipts, and the balance on the wrong side is now £^6 4s. 4d., as against ^41 l8s. lod. on the 31st of December, 1889, being an increase of ^"34 5s. 6d. A considerable portion of this is, however, accounted for by the exceptionally heavy printers' bill which was carried over from 1889, viz., ^46 2s. 6d., as compared with the one now due, viz., £2^ 2s. 3d., and it is confidently anticipated that, under the operation of the new rules as regards subscriptions, the debtor balance will rapidly disappear, and the expenditure be eventuall}' brought well within the income. It will be observed by the balance-sheet that fair progress has been made in collecting the overdue subscriptions, which have figured to so serious an extent in former reports. Of the amount due at the end of 1889 a sum of £^0 was estimated as gooJ, and of this about ;^35 (in subscriptions and entrance-fees) had actually been received by the 31st ultimo, and £2 I2s. 6d. has since come in. In round figures this item stood at about ;^8o at the close of last year, and of this the Treasurer estimates £^0 as good, _^20 as doubtful, and fio as bad. Every effort will be made to render it as productive an asset as possible, but the above is as sanguine a view as can be safely adopted in the light of painful experience. The Council desires to direct attention to the fact that the amount of unpaid subscriptions almost exactly corresponds with the excess of payments over receipts, so that if the ladies and gentlemen who are in default had dul}' dis- charged their obligations to the Club (as the Council had a perfect right to expect) the accounts would have exhibited at least an equilibrium, instead of a considerable deficit. In last year's report allusion was made to the proposed renewed attempt to establish a Local Museum in Essex. This very important subject has received great attention during the year. The Committee appointed in 1889 to draw up a scheme for the amalgamation of the Essex and Chelmsford Museum with the Essex Field Club, has now agreed upon such a scheme, which will be placed before the members at the Annual .Meeting. .\s that meeting will be devoted to a discussion of the scheme, it is unnecessary to enlarge upon it here. [It is set THK i;s.si:\ Fii:i.i> cirn. 37 out in full, R.X., \\., pp. J36-241.J 1 lie Comuil lomuiL-ii Js it with LuntKieiue to the members, feeling assured thai the establishment of such an institution would not only he of the greatest service to the Club and its members, but would also be the means of stimulating a love for science and the practical study of Nature throughout the county. When the scheme is finally accepted by the members, a committee will be appointed to make an appeal for the necessary funds, not only to the members, but also the public generally, by means of meetings, ciicular letters, e'.c. The Club will have an excellent cause to promote, and the Council has high hopes that the appeal will prove successful. In connection whh the proposed Museum, allusion should be made to tiie important subject of Technical Education, which has received so great an impetus from the passing of the Local Ta.\ation Act, i8go, under which Act very con- siderable sums are placed in the hands of the County Councils for the promotion of the teaching of technical subjects and the elements of science. '1 he County Council of Essex will have a sum estimated at ;{^i-j.ooo for these objects. In response to a public notice issued by the County Council, the Secretary, on behalf of the Council of the Club, made an application for a grant under the Act for the purpose of giving practical instruction in science and technical subjects. This application has been supp'emented bj- the publication of a detailed scheme for Technical Instruction in the county, copies of which will be laid upon the table at the Annual Meeting, and which will be printed in full in the ESSFX Naturalist. [See E X.. iv., pp. 259 262.] The scheme is now under con- sideration by the County Council. Should the Club's application for a grant be acceded to, the question of the establishment of a Museum and Laboratory will receive additional importance, the practical carrying out of the Educational scheme being ckjsely connected therewith. The Ordinary and Field Meetings of the Club have certainly not lost interest during the past year. They have all been well attended, and it is with great satisfaction that the Council is enabled to reiterate this statement. We are now entering upon the twelfth year of the Club's existence, and it is a legitimate subject of congratulation, that, with no change of methods, and with a close adhesion to matters of local interest, the supply of papers and addresses shows no signs of diminution, and the Field Meetings continue to be carrit d on most successfully. During the j^ear fourteen Ordinary and Field Meetings have been held. At these meetings the following papers have been read, or have been com- municated direct to the Editor for publication in the Essex Naturalist, those marked with an asterisk having already been printed : — * " Binl Migrations : Being the Presidential Address delivered at the loth .Annual Meeting." ¥.. A. Fitch, F.L.S. •"Suggestions on the Collecting and Study of the Minute Fungi of Essex." Dr. M.C. Cooke. * "The Threatened Destruction of the Essex Oyster Culture." William Rome, F.S.A. * " Suggestions for the Formation of a County Herbarium. " J. C. Shenstone, F.R.M.S. ".An Historical Sketch of Waltham .Abbey and its Foundation, with a Description of its .Architecture " (^Address'). G. H. Birch, F'.S.A. "On some .Abnormal Forms of Vegetation." Part II. (^Lecture.) Charles Browne, M.A., F.S.A. * " Notes of Geological Rambles in the Braintree District in connection with the Easter F^xcursion of the Club.'" W. H. Dalton, F'.G.S. * "Chelmsford Water Supply." T. \'. Holmes, F.G.S. * " Remarks on Collecting Diptera." CJ. H. \'errall, F'.E.S. 38 ANNUAL KKPOkT Ol' * " Un the OccurreiK-e of Cyclos.'ona eUgans in a living state at Felstead." J. French, uith Remarks by W. H. Dalton. * " The ' Silting up ' of the River Roding." Henry Stock. * " The Sanitary Condition of Essex." Dr. J. C. Thresh. * " On the Nature of some of the Gravel Patches in Esse.\ " {^Kevieit'). T. V. Holmes, F.G.S. * ''Concerning certain Rivers in Essex." Thomas M. Blackie, F.S.A. * " Tiie Channel of Drift in the \'alley of the Cam " (^Review). T. V. Holmes, F.G S. * '• The Lapland Bunting ; an Addition to the Avifauna of Essex." Rev. H. A. Marpherson, iM.A. * "John Ray, the Naturalist." Prof. Boulger, F.L.S. * " Rats and Mice in Essex." E. A. Fitch, F.L.S. * "The Threatened Destruction of the Essex Ovster Culture." Editor. * " Memoir of the late John Brown, F.G.S., of Stanway." A. P. Wire. " On the Undulations of the Chalk in Essex." W. H. Dalton, F.G.S. * " Note on Punctured Pottery found at Fryerning." F. W. Reader. * " Notes on the Carices of the Epping Forest Area." Robert Paulson. * " Danbury Camp, Essex." F. C. J. Spurrell, F.G.S. * " An Essex Curlew Sandpiper." Rev. H. A. Macpherson, M.A. * " On some Sections between West Thurrock and Stifford, on the Grays and Upminster Railway." T. V. Holmes, F.G.S. * " Hsesten's Camps nt Shoebury and Benfleet, Essex." F. C. J. Spurrell, F.G.S. * " The Estuaries of the Orwell and the Stour." Dr. J. E. Taylor, F.G.S. " The Early Magnetic Experiments of Gilbert of Colchester." Prof. Silvanus P. Thompson, D.Sc, &c. * "Note on the Upminster Brickyard, 1890." W. H. Dalton, F.G.S. * " Acidalia marginepunctata in Essex " E. A. Fitch, F.L.S. * " Benjamin Allen, of Braintree." E. A. Fitch, F.L.S. * "Notes on the Mineral Spring on Tyler's Common." W^alter Crouch. * "Notes on Hvdrobia jenkinsiy Edgar A. Smith, F.L.S. * " List of Land and Fresh-water MoUusca occurring in the Neighbour- hood of Bishop's Stortford." Edwin G Ingold. "Essex Meteorological Records." Rev. T. A. Preston, M.A., F.R.Met.S. "Notes on Dipsacus sylvestris and D. pilosus and their Natural Relation- ship." J. French. * " The Butterflies of Essex." E. A. Fitch, F.L.S. "Biographical Notice of Ezekiel George Varenne." Prof. G.S. Boulger. F.L.S In addition many short papers and notes have been printed, as well as extended reports of the meetings of the Club. Field Meetings have been held at Kelvedon and Coggeshall, when the members were most hospitabl)^ received at Felix Hall, by Captain R. B. Colvin (High Sheriff) and Mrs. Watson ; at Waltham Abbey, when Col. W. H. Noble kindly allowed a visit to the Government Powder Mills, and acted as cicerone ; in Epping Forest ; at W'alton-on-Naze ; a dredging excursion in company with members of the Ipswich Scientific Society on the Orwell and Stour; at Col- chester, in memory of Dr. Gilberd, the first electrician, in company with the members of the Gilbert Club, on which occasion a most brilliant reception was accorded to the Societies by the Mayor, in the Town Hall ; at Tyler's Common and Upminster Hall, where again the Club was received most cordially by our kind member Mr. G. P. Hope, and lastl}- the lith Annual Cryptogamic Meeting was held in Hatfield Forest, by courteous permission of our member Mr. J. Archer Houblon. In the last report the Council gratefully acknowledged the hos- pitality and friendliness so often freely shown to the Club. What was then said can but be repeated — such kindnesses form some of the most pleasant reminiscences of each year's work. Full reports of the above meetings appear in the Essex rilK IlSSKX I'IKl.l) tl.LH. 39 Nai UKAI.I^i'r, bill ihc Couiu-il Uikcslhis opiHirlunity oi ;ukiunv!c(.igin^ the j^real assistance received at the Field Meetin U00000<~^000 '-' S:!' ■+i/->o n M O -^-•^00 O "3 C .2 m . C %'^^ 1 g -z: s « -- -a .S (u « .^ "5 « " tn rt 'C l* O H o I'lr-t; 3 D 3 o OOOOOiOMDvOOOOs-*- Vc C hO . . . . ^-S O ^^ 'XI .a-S . ^'l spQ -^ "- • • o > •5 « 2 s £=•• ^c £ 5 a, "" ^ u . W >-. __ rt • ,. ni • - £ vo r^oo CTv o " g — «'5gocoooooo . . ^^ o c " c oi -Q Q H CO til ■ 3 ^„ S 2 ""^^ -b c "u J2 J2 t_ 3 C C rt rt =* ■^ Vi W Q ctj CQ CQ H :;----'•-- = s = ^ ^ cO CC^ ^ 0 "P , 0 W H C/J 0 0 0 kO 0 0 0 k5 0 u ,r> 0 PI w S3i b THE essf:x riEi.n club. 41 -^•VO c^ ^ 0 - ON •^ :: '*• 0 0 ro « *-« ^" 0 vn >ri CO I- •<*• • bjo • c • 11 • ■ • E S5 -a bo • c • • • biC tn -a 0 . _c • ~ • • • X "^ U •■^^ s? ro O O O O ro O O O 00 S:; o a o H is :_> O o o < o H < u Ij a c •-; ~ tuc .i:-5 = c a -i c . S o ^ .£ • biC-~ iJ S c I. - , •x; c — 1- C-CU c Oh< Ch -[-1 ^-n ;:5 &H Ow ^. o ►- <-. ^^ S:! <" tn' a! "Td E c g .i: c m .- a t-. 0 -0 bi 0 J3 -1 J3 rn oT ^r C -r) Li 0 J= rt Oh C 0 rt C 3 0 u i-l tiLiC/) ro 0 0 0 " 0 0 'i- VO 0 n r^ 'Oi 00 I ^ •^ < IX. in rt - > ^ -a fi — /: c 0 -0 0 rt X b* ' ^ i-t O "■•' ^i bjC__ . .E "rt ' "- b£j= 42 ESSEX WORTHIES. II.— EZEKIEL GEORGE VARENNE, OF KELVEDON. Hy PROF. G. S. HOULGER, F.L.S., F.G.S. {Kedd, December y:>ih, i8go.] "DOTANY in England owes more perhaps of its many-sided pro- gress to the unostentatious labours of those enthusiastic students of Nature who have appeared but little in print than to its most volu- minous expositors. Among such enthusiasts Essex has benefited by the work of Samuel Dale, Edward Forster, William Williamson New- bould and Ezekiel George Varenne. Mr. Varenne was of Huguenot descent, and his father being resident medical officer of Marylebone Infirmary it happened to be in that building that the future botanist was born, May 6th, 1811. He received his medical training at Westminster Hospital and at his father's Infirmary and became in 1832 a licentiate of the Society of Apothecaries and in the following year a member of the Royal College of Surgeons. In 1832 he was appointed surgeon to the Nottingham Cholera Board of Health and he seems to have settled in practice at Kelvedon about 1847. Here he passed the remainder of his life, retiring from practice some time before his death, which was preceded by an illness of two years' duration. He died April 22nd, 1887, aged seventy-five years, and was buried in the churchyard of the parish. He was a scholar and a linguist as well as a naturalist, widely read and most careful in observation. In botany he may well have received part of his training, if not his first stimulus, from William Frederick Goodger, resident apothecary to the Marylebone Infirmary from 181 1 to 1832, and Richard Rozea, a surgeon practising in the same parish about the same time. The herbarium formed by these two gentlemen in the London district between 1815 and 1823 was presented to Mr. Varenne about 1862.' Though in this his favourite recreation he worked largely at the Cryptogamia, especially mosses and lichens, he also did good service among flowering plants. He seems to have taken that special interest in " critical " species that marks the thorough botanist. He collected Ritdi,- Carices, Fo/a/nogefons, and species oi Jiosa, Chenopoduiin and Chara ; whilst his pai)ers, mainly 1 'rrimeii and Dyer, "Flora of . Middlesex. ' p. 398. 2 (Jibson, " Flora ofEsse.v," p. 98. K/.KKIVA. C.KORCUC VARKNNK. 43 in the tliird and fourth volumes of the " Phytologist " (first series) are on similarly difficult groups. He is credited by (iibson with the addition of nine species to the county list, in addition to the casuals A/yssu»i calycimim and Lepidium draba. They are : — Ceratophyllum suhmersuni, 1833. Carex eiongata, 1 844. Filcigo apiculata, 1848. Guh'opsis ochroleuca, 1848. CE nan the pinipinelloides, 1 86 1 . Potamogeton rufescens, 1861. And P. pnrlongKS, P. zosierifolius, and P. Jlabellatus, in 1861 or 1862. From this list we also gather that \'arenne had made some pro- gress in botany and had at least visited St. Osyth as early as 1833. He continued to annotate his copy of Gibson's Flora down to 1884. These annotations will be utilised in the new edition of that work and it is to be hoped that his manuscript cryptogamic matter will also see the light. In politics he was an ardent Liberal, acting for several years as secretary to the Kelvedon Liberal Association, and working very hard to secure the return of his friend and neighbour. Sir T. B. Western. For upwards of fifty years of his life he was a total abstainer and he took a leading part in starting the local Band of Hope. The Kelvedon (ias Company, of which he was at various times both secretary and chairman, and other local institutions, shared his public-spirited interest ; and since, though a Churchman, he was a firm believer in unsectarian education and had an intense hatred of anything savouring to his mind of bigotry, he acted for many years as secretary to the British School. He was elected a member of the Essex Field Club on December 17th, 188 1, but it was always a matter of regret that no scientific communications to the Club were ever received from him. His features betokened the alertness of his mind : his grey hair curled from a head by no means completely bald ; his high forehead, slightly- arched and bushy eyebrows, and eyes whose brightness was not concealed by his glasses, his afjuiline nose and somewhat large but firm mouth all showed his strength of character ; whilst his full white moustache, whiskers and beard lent to his features the gentleness of age. His memory will long live in the affection of those who knew him. The portrait accompanying this notice (Plate 11) is from 44 IHF. METKOKIIK OK N'OVKMIUCR LAST. the last photograph taken, and is considered by Mr. Man^uand a very good Hkeness. His valuable herbarium and manuscript materials for a lichen-flora of the county were, according to his direction, handed over by his widow to Ernest D. Marquand, Esq., a botanical friend of many years' standing.^ I am indebted to Mrs. Varenne and to " The People's News," of April 28th, 1887, for some of the materials for this notice. The only pipers with which Varenne is accredited in the Royal Society's Catalogue (vol. vi. p. no) are the following, all in the third and fourth volumes of the old series of the " Phytologist," 1848-1853 :— 1. "Occurrence of Filago apiculata near Great Braxted, Essex." Ph^t. iii., 1848, 305-6, 385. 2. "Botanical Notes on Plants chiefly growing in Essex, with Observations on some of the Localities menti;ned in Hooker and Arnott's ' British Flora,' " id. iv., 1851,89-94. 3. "Occurrence of Cuscuta hassiaca, Koch, near Witham, in Essex,"/*/, iv., 1851, 382-4. 4. "Notes on Plants observed in the county of Ess?x during the year 1S51," id. iv., 1852, 544-8. 5. "Observations on (Enanthe fiuviatilis, Coleman," id. iv., 1852, 673-6. 6. "Botanical Notes and Observations on Plants observed in Essex," ;'!^ J>-»=> GiLDEKt's Sl'HERICAL LOADSTONE, OR Terrella. The Terrella and its surrounding field of action. and the meridians are marked out upon a geographical chart o^" terrestrial globe. The fact that a magnet of elongated shape — a magnetic rod — is more powerful than one of spherical or cubical or any other shape of equal weight (the horseshoe shape not being dis- covered until many years later) is announced. The screening effect of a sheet of thin iron, and the failure of other metals to screen off magnetic action, are noted. Then comes a series of studies on the effect of capping loadstones with armatures of iron, and on the strengthening of the power of loadstones. Chapter xxxii. of Book II. is a notable one, containing a number of magnetic aphorisms, each tersely summing up some result of experiment or observation. In it the principleofequalityofactionandreactionisillustrated by the experiment of floating a magnet in a little skiff and showing that it attracts itself to a piece of iron, just as the iron, if placed in the skiff, will be attracted to the magnet, thus furnishing an illustration of the principle of action and reaction. Several experiments are also described illustrative of the mutual repulsions of similar poles, north repelling north and south 58 ESSEX WORTHIES. south. Most of these experiments were original with Gilbert, and are indicated as such by him, by the placing of an asterisk opposite the account of them in the margin of the book. These experiments and aphorisms are continued in Chapter xxxiii., which deals mainly with the swiftness of the magnetic motions, and he states that the speed of the motion is proportional (inversely) to the distance. He also showed that the magnetic forces between two distant magnets could be conducted from one to the other by interposing a rod of iron ; the magnetic virtue being transmitted through iron much better than through air. At the end of this chapter he describes the method of obtaining magnetic figures by sprinkling iron filings upon a card laid over a magnet ; and remarks on the movements of the tufts of filings when the magnet beneath is moved. Chapter xxxv. contains a most characteristic diatribe against certain earlier authors, Cardan, Peter Peregrinus and John Taysnier, who had pretended that a perpetual motion machine might be made by means of a magnet ; and ends by exclaiming : Would that the gods might send to perdition all such false, misleading and crooked labours by which the minds of studious men are warped ! Book III. is mainly occupied with the directive action of the compass and of loadstones, and of the property of polarity — or vcrticity — in general. Chapter i. describes further experiments with the terrella made to illustrate observations made on the compass in distant lands which had been communicated to Gilbert by Francis Drake — experiments which fully confirmed his theories, and the results of which are summed up by saying that all magnetic bodies behave toward the globe of the earth precisely as other magnets behave toward the terrella, the laws of their action being alike. In the following chapters further experiments with loadstones and needles are described, relating chiefiy to the results of touching one with the other. Amongst other matters which helped him to this conclusion was his discovery that if a rod of iron is hammered whilst lying in a north-and-south position it becomes magnetized by the influence of the earth's magnetism. This observation is illustrated by a quaint woodcut, which is reproduced on a smaller scale in Fig. 3- Books IV. and V. go into some geographical and astronomical matters ; being intended chiefly as a contribution to the nautical api)lications of his studies. He describes sundry instruments, one of them, for ascertaining the variation of the compass in different WIl.l.l.Wl (HLIiKUT. Fig. 3. 59 Pkocess ok Magnetizing Ik(.in uv Hammering while it lies in a North-anu-South Position. Fig. 4. (lll.UtKT's CoMI'AS.S 11 IK OuSliKVlNG IIIE VaKIAIION 6o ESSEX WORTHIES. regions, being that shown in the accompanying reduced woodcut. Several others are depicted in his book. He particularly discusses the effects of masses of iron ore in mountains and continents in producing local perturbations or variations of the compass ; a matter which has quite lately received fresh attention recently from the magnetic surveys of Professors Riicker and Thorpe, in which they have measured the perturbing effects of mountain-chains such as the Malvern Hills, and have even been led to discover the existence of underground mountains, one of which, for example, is in the neigh- bourhood of Reading. Book VI. is of a more speculative character, dealing with magnetic motions and cosmical systems : the main point of interest in it being its frank acceptance of the astronomical doctrines of Copernicus. These contributions to purely magnetic knowledge were of great importance ; but far transcending them in interest is a short digres- sion interpolated in the Second Book. This is the famous chapter on Electricity which laid the foundation of that science. Prior to his time the only known electrical facts w^ere two isolated observa- FiG. s. Gilbert's Electroscope, or Versorium. tions of prehistoric date. The mineral amber, or electron^ then of great rarity and regarded as a gem, was known to acquire, when rubbed, the magical property of attracting straws and other light objects, A similar property had been recognised to exist in jet. Amber was a substance about which there was something uncanny. It was clear like glass, when of good quality, but was often found to contain flies and other insects enclosed within itself — " shining," says Gilbert, " in eternal sepulchres." Much had the ancients, including Theophrastus and Pliny, written about it and the magical properties which it exhibited after being rubbed. This peculiar phenomenon was submitted to examination by Gilbert with an industry and experimental sagacity thoroughly characteristic of the man. He devised for facilitating the observation of feeble attractions, a simple instrument, consisting of a light, stiff arm of metal, resembling in shape, a compass needle, pivoted like a compass upon WILLIAM GILBERT. 6 1 a pin. This apparatus, termed by him a versormm, constituted the electroscope, by the aid of which he disproved the idea that the alleged magical property was possessed only by amber or by jet. He poured out the vials of his wrath upon the empty-headed and inert philosophers who merely copy from one another and invent high- sounding Greek words wherewith to cloak their ignorance. " For not only do amber and jet, as they say, draw light bodies, but diamond, sapphire, carbuncle, cat's-eye, opal, amethyst, vincentina and bristolla (an English gem or spar), beryl and rock crystal do the same." And he went on enumerating a host of other substances possessing similar powers, following up the true gems with false gems made from paste, glass of antimony, slags, belemnites, sulphur, mastic, hard wax, sealing wax variously coloured, resin and arsenic, and also, but less powerfully and only in dry weather, rock salt, obsidian, and rock alum. All these substances, because they resembled amber, he termed electrics ; whilst he gave the name of cinelcctrics to another class of substances which showed no such power, and which included the following : Emerald, agate, cornelian, pearls, jasper, alabaster, porphyry, coral, marble, flint, haematite, emery, bone, ivory, ebony and other hard woods, cedar, gold, copper, iron, and the other metals, and, lastly, the loadstone. The substance which above all others possesses the magnetic property of attracting iron shows no trace of electric action when rubbed in the hand. From the terms assigned by Gilbert, the word electricitas — electricity — came into use to denote the unseen agent operating in these actions. Gilbert further showed that the power of attraction exercised by the electric when rubbed was not limited to mere straws or chaff, but that all metals and woods, and even stones and earths were attracted. He even found that liquids, oil and water were drawn by the electric force. He ascertained that moisture exercises a prejudicial effect on electrical experiments. He observed that electrical effects can be screened off, and in a way that magnetic effects cannot, by the inter- position of a sheet of metal, or even by a piece of paper. He even ascertained the screening effect of a ring of flames. His observations stop short all too soon, leaving the infant science truly in a state of infancy. Nevertheless he was the pioneer whose first steps showed the path to be latter trodden by Robert Boyle, by Francis Hauksbee, by Sir Isaac Newton, and by Benjamin Franklin ; and therefore is beyond dispute the father of electric science. 62 ESSKX WORTHIES. It remains to he told how Ciilhert's work was received. The book, which he pubhshcd in Latin, was followed by two editions, also unfortunately both in Latin, published in Germany. No Enghsh edition has ever been published. Strange to say it fell somewhat flat. The world was hardly prepared to accept a sober treatise, based on simple facts, in place of the wild and speculative treatises which had hitherto passed as philosophic. Men knew that Gilbert had travelled abroad, and it was known that he had made researches with the magnet; but they were expecting him to write such a treatise as might have been produced by Thomas x\quinas, who was capable of discussing how many angels could dance on the point of a needle. Scaliger, in one of his epistles {ad Casaubon, 1604), speaks of a certain Englishman who three years previously had brought out a book on the magnet, which was nothing worthy of the expectation which it had excited. Bacon, whom so many revere as the founder of the inductive science, calmly appropriated and reproduced as his own in his " Opuscula Philosophica," whole paragraphs, almost verbatim, from the " De Magnete," but he did not say who discovered the truths set forth ; and when he mentioned Gilbert, sneered at him, in his " De Augmentis,"as the man who had made a whole philosophy out of the observations of a loadstone ; and, in another place, he refers to " De Magnete " as a " painfull and experimentall work." In another place, in the " Novum Organon," he accuses Gilbert of having created so many fables about the electric operation, which, he adds, is nothing else than the appetite of the body excited by gentle friction ! Others there were indeed who better appreciated the magnitude of Gilbert's work. Galileo, as we have seen, spoke of him as of enviable greatness. Kepler warmly welcomed the new doctrine of the earth's magnetism, and devoted a long chapter in his Treatise on Astronomy to the exposition of Gilbert's views. Barlowe, the learned Archdeacon of Salisbury, whose " Magneticall Aducrtisements " was published in 161 8, speaks of " De Magnete " as " the very true fountaine of all magneticall know- ledge." Dr. Marke Ridley, who in 1613 published "A Short Treatise of Magneticall Bodies and Motions," speaks of Gilbert's labours as " the greatest and best in Magneticall Philosophic." Sir Kenelm Digby classed Gilbert along with Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation of the blood, as men by whose means our nation may claim, even in this latter age, a crown for solid philosophical learning. WILLIAM (ilLI'.KRT. 63 Gilbert further laid the foundations of future scientific progress by founding a sort of society, or college, which met monthly at his house in Peter's Hill, Knightrider Street, for the discussion of philosophical subjects, and which, though it fell into abeyance at his death, was afterwards revived by Sir Christopher Wren and others, and received the patronage of King Charles II., and was called the Royal Society in honour of its pious founder. He did not live to add, as he purposed, an appendix of six or eight sheets to " De Magnete "; no such addition appearing in either of the German editions published at Stettin in 1628 and 1633 respect- ively. He left behind him, however, the manuscript of another work of lesser merit, which was posthumously published in 1651 by the famous printing-house of Elzevir, entitled " De mundo nostro sublunari Philosophia novo." It is chiefly a meteorological and cos- mical treatise, remarkable indeed for one speculative point, namely, a suggestion that the reason why the moon always presents the same face towards the earth is because the moon, like the earth, is magnetic. His fame as physician and physicist won him the favour of Queen Elizabeth, by whom, in February, 1601, he was appointed chief physician. He even received from her, as has been men- tioned, an annual pension ; and was continued as chief physician to James I., an honour which he only enjoyed for seven months, as he died on November 30th, 1603. The partial oblivion into which Gilbert's fame has been allowed to fall is due probably mainly to the loss of all personal relics of him. With the exception of a single doubtful inscription, " ^.v dono auctoris,'' in a single copy of " De Magnete," not a line of his hand- writing is known to exist,- unless his hand wrote the signature " Yc President and Societie " at the end of a petition, preserved amongst the manuscripts in the British Museum, addressed by the Royal College of Physicians in 1596 to the Lords of the Privy Council, complaining of the exactions of the Lord Mayor and Aldermen of London. It is pretty certain that the MS. copy of " De Mundo Nostro," in Latin, in the British Museum, is not in the author's hand writing ; for in the Elzevir print there is a note which states that the author's original manuscript was partly in English. It is sad to relate that the manuscripts, maps, letters, magnets and minerals, 2 Two other specimens, believed to Ue in Gilbert's handwriting, have Ijeen recently unenrthed. S.P.T., April, 1891. 64 NOTES ON THE PROLONGED FROST, 189O-91. which he bequeathed to the Royal College of Physicians, all perished in the Great Fire in 1666. Almost equally sad is it that his portrait, painted in oils, which he himself presented to the Schools' Gallery of Oxford, has disappeared. It is believed to have been destroyed as rubbish forty years ago. Only a steel engraving, made in 1796, which differs from the original picture in several details, remains to witness to the scholarly features of the great doctor. The engraving in reproduced in the plate (frontispiece to the volume), which accompanies this paper. His residence in Colchester still stands, and his tomb in the church of Holy Trinity still proclaims over his ashes the virtues which he practised whilst living." But his memorial remains in his magnetic and electrical discoveries. His reputation is enshrined in the science which he founded—" shining in an eternal sepulchre." NOTES ON THE RECENT PROLONGED FROST, 1890-91. By JOHN C. THRESH, D.Sc, M.B., F.R.,Met.Soc., etc. [Read March 2ist, iSgr.] 'T^IIE following brief notes upon the recent prolonged frost are based upon the -*- daily observations taken at the Climatological Station, Chelmsford, which is in my charge. For the last few days in November and the first two days in December the mean temperature was below freezing point and about five inches of snow fell. From the 3rd to the gth December the mean daily temperature was above 32° F. and all the snow rapidly disappeared. The prolonged frost set in on the loth, when the mean temperature fell below freezing point and remained constantly below until January 13th, that is, for a period of thirty-three days. On the latter date the temperature rose to 33^9 and remained over 32° until the i6th. It then fell and remained low until the 20th, when it again rose and the thaw set in. With this slight intermission, therefore, the frost lasted forty-one days, or one day only short of six weeks. The coldest day was December 22nd. On this day the minimum temperature was 4-3, the maximum 30-5. At 9 a.m. the thermometer stood at T9- The mean temperature for the day was only 17-4. The subjoined chart is interesting as showing at a glance the minimum temperature and the mean dail}' temperature throughout the whole period of frost. Snow fell on eleven days. The heaviest fall was on December i8th, when a depth of three inches was registered. The snow attained its greatest depth on the 30th, where there was between five and six inches on the ground. On January 20th rain fell ("27 in.) the temperature rose and the snow disappeared. The total 3 The best drawing and description of the tomb, with its numerous coats of arms, and some account of Gilbert's family, will lie found in Chancellors "Ancient Sepulchral Monuments of Essex, pp. 202-6, pi. Ixvii.— Kd. i NOTES ON THE PROLONGED FROST, 1890-gi. 65 fall of snow from Deoembev lOth to Januaiy Kjlh inclusive correspondecl to -81 in. of rain. During the whole period there was fortunately but little wind. A force of '3" was the maximum registered, and that on one occasion only, and most of the time easterly winds ])revailed. E. 1 +4— 4- ""T- -1-4- ■ -I J_+ ^- -\_'|-"__ :;:: J M_ [TT 5-y^ ^"^ T H^' /T-X e>h \ At i"i^ K^ it ^ T 52LAX J > „ -J I- J *i ,- it \ ^i- /-li^ r2 \ \ 1 \ Ij i\ , k L A JV;^ V ^ '^ ^\ 1-M > 1 I {f\^\^i 1 \\ ji VvM'' /? . ^ J 1 5 J / - '^ . V "Xh fj \~,y III /I ^-^'^I ^^V I // At/ t rr v~r 1\ k^// I 1 ifl 1/ 1 vn>^^ ,\ /i 1 Iv \^ "cO i 'V ^^^/ J V j |1' il Tvr '^ V^Uj , - ^W\ ^^ \, u t H t^ \4_ ^ /fi ^ L^ _ _ t IIIlJl Y U- 'fT _ r ^ \ f irir T U '?' \ '^^i ■ : r 1^ -- 7 _ jr _ ff-- ^' - J r \f Nf^ : 7: _i.T , , , \ 1 1 1 8 9 101112 13141Sl6J7 18,19!20ai;22Sa|S4|M^:!7SSS8.30pl|.ll2;3i4^6je 1 7 1 e 1 9 ; I0[lll 13{13lt4,16lieil7ll8i 19120121,22 23 J D e CEMBE n 1890 JANUARY I89I ClI.\RT SHOWING MkaX TeMTERATURF. AND MiXI.MUM TEMPERATURE EACH DaY DURING Prolonged Frost of Winter of 1890-91. Tkici (upper) line Mean Temperature for day : thin (lower) line Minimum Temperature for day. As for some weeks there was only a thin covering of snow on the ground, the effect of the continued cold will probably have proved very disastrotis to vegetation Some of our members who are interested in agriculture will probably have some- thing to say on this point. The effect of the prolonged frost on water mains : — No observations were taken of the earth temperature at varying depths, though such a series would be very interesting. What that temperature was, however, can be judged from its effect upon the Chelmsford water mains. The water in the more superficial mains was frozen before Christmas, and before the break up of the frost the mains at a depth of two feet had become affected. This of course caused great inconvenience in many parts of the town, and it was sometime after the thaw had set in that the ice in such mains melt:d. When this occurred the havoc wrought by the expansion of the water in the art of freezing became apparent. The mains had been fractured in most diverse ways and to varying extents and water w'as rushing to waste at numbers of places. The moral of this experience is that water mains should be laid at a greater depth than is frequently the case. The slight additional first cost of adopting such a course is as nothing compared with the great inconvenience, annoyance and damage wrought by a single severe frost when the pipes are too superficially bedded. F 66 NOTES ON THE PROLONGED FROST, 1890-91. By J. FRENCH (Felstead). {Read February 2Sth, iSgi.^ A FROST of eight weeks' duration is a novelty with the present generation and -^^ gi\es rise to phenomena correspondingly unusual and worthy of remark. It affects more or less (by deprivation of food) the balance of animal life, and its effect on the disintegration of soils and rocks invites observation, inasmuch as the ordinary work of several winters seems to have been carried out in as many •weeks. We have no means of judging the extent to which animal life is affected, but provided observations were reasonably multiplied we might infer the directions in which changes would take place. In the case of birds, especially, the disturbing influence of man becomes apparent, and this to an extent proportionate with his civilization. Thus it cannot be doubted that in England the kindly feeling towards the feathered race compares favourably with that obtaining in 1814, the year of the last prolonged frost. Man has distributed immense quantities of food to the birds during the last two months and herein lies one disturbing element. Those birds which are shy get little or none of this bounty : those, on the other hand, usually frequenting the haunts of m.en have been fed, perhaps sufficientl}', and may suffer no diminution of numbers. Sparrows and starlings are notable instances. All attempts that I have seen made to feed the shyer members, of which rooks, thrushes, blackbirds and finches may be taken as examples, have met with indifferent success. Although these, with me, have all put in an appearance daily, I cannot but think that very few of the early comers have survived. Many thrushes dead of starvation have been picked up on the very ground where the starling has flourished, and it must be noted that suitable food has been supplied. I am also credibly informed that after the frost of 1814 many hundreds of starved rooks were removed from Sheepcotes Wood at Little Waltham, which was then, as it is now, the winter home of all the rooks of the district. We should have, therefore, as an ultimate result of this eight weeks' frost an excess of starlings and sparrows and a diminution in the numbers of many other species. Connected with that observation of the dead rooks in 1814, I was informed that that winter told heavily on hares and rabbits, many of the trees in that wood being denuded of bark to the height at which these animals could graze. Certain it is also that rats and weasels had vacated the wood at the time or the dead rooks would not have remained unmolested. I cannot hear, however, upon enquiry, that hares or rabbits have suffered very much this winter. A curious phenomenon in relation to some pond fish has been here observed. It was noticed that upon breaking the ice in certain ponds the fish came to the hole and remained there with their mouths protruding, giving the idea of vitiated water under the ice. The explanation seems to be that at the outset, in consequence of the state of the springs, the ponds were low. The increase of the ice also further diminished the quantity of available w'ater and thus the water remaining really became vitiated. It would be curious to follow up the possible result to the pond fauna of a frost sufficient to congeal all the water. Death, almost cer- tainly, and the first stage of fossilisation, probably, would ensue, and this brings us to notice the geological effects of a prolonged frost. i NOTES ON THK PkOI.ONM ;i:i) KROSI', 189O-9I. 67 In the case of the dead fish, when the tliaw set in the surface o( the ground would be the first disturbed and that possibly to such an extent as to bring a laj-er of eai th over the pond ice, which would eventually sink and entomb the dead organisms. Similar denudation attending the break up of the frost can now lie observed at the bottoms of fields which have a slight inclination. The result is a layer of brick-earth deposited, similar to that following a heavy rain, only ^ery much greater in quantity ; as we have before observed, the work of seasons is here done in a few weeks. One other possible case of fossilisation is presented by the dead rooks in tlie wood. Suppose, instead of carting away those looks to manure the field, as w.is actually done, they had been allowed to remain. Their desiccated carcases would have held out but little temptation to the returning rodents and carnivores of the summer. When the autumn arrived they would have received a coveting of leaves and so easily have passed to the first stage of preservation. The present speculative position of the conditions under which organisms are entombed is my apology for venturing upon these suppositions. The rapid work of the frost in disintegration has been forcibly brought to notice in the following instance. Some Boulder-clay of a very chalky character had been thrown out last autumn. Ordinarily the lumps of chalk would have wasted ver^^ slowly under exposure from year to year. Now, the appearance of the heaps is that of a mass of white slimy clay, the lumps of chalk having quite disappeared. As bearing upon the work of decalcification the instance is instructive. That work must now proceed there with greatly accelerated velocity. Of the effect of the frost in splitting rocks we have also one instance. A pa\ e- ment in this village (Felstead) is laid with flags of an indurated sandstone.- Some two or three of these flags are broken by the frost, not into laminae, but quite through the substance splitting the flag. The whole pavement, too, is disturbed. As to the penetrating character of the frost in different soils accounts vary greatly. Some pipes were found choked with ice at a distance of more than two feet under ground. Yet there was no good evidence of the frost having penetrated the soil to that depth. In compact soil and closely pressed gravel there is good evidence of a penetration of frost of one foot and some cases are quoted much in excess. In passing over some stubble fields a few days after the thaw, I found many small weeds, notably Cudweed and Pimpernel, looking green and vigorous. Beneath their roots there was still a frozen pan of ice and this proves that at one time the plants were completely frozen. It is not easy to see how they emerged from that state unharmed. Problems affecting the natural transport of plants, not well understood, might perhaps be helped to a solution by noticing their behaviour under prolonged frosts. The varied phenomena attending this great frost serve as an object-lesson to illustrate the ciianges brought about by the severity of early post-Glacial times. Assuming the frosts more severe and prolonged, and the thaws to be of rare occur- rence, our deaths and migrations of plants and animals would be proportionate!}- increased, and the erosion accompanying one of those rare thaws would be so tremendous as to seem perfectly' incredible to ordinary readers ; nevertheless tract s of all such changes are legacies remaining with Essex folk to this da}:. P.S. — Since writing the above I observe a letter in "Nature," of January 29th, by Professor T. G. Bonney, referring to the destruction of fish by the frost in Regent's Park Canal. He also asks whether " such a cause may have acted in the geological history of the globe." I n Nordjenskiold's " Arctic \'oyage " there is K 2 68 NOTES. an account of finding dead fish under some such circumstance but not having the volume at hand I can only quote from memory. Another writer also suggests polluted water as giving rise to a phenomenon which he observed similar to that I have noted. Prof. Bonney has contributed an article in " Nature " on " Temperature in the Glacial Epoch." His concluding words are : " We seem, however, fairly warranted in concluding that, whatever may have been the cause, a lowering of [mean] tem- perature amounting to i8°, if only the other conditions either remained constant or became more favourable to the accumulation of snow and ice, would suffice to give us back the Glacial Epoch." Taking two-thirds of those eighteen degrees as representing a Post-Glacial condition of mean temperature we should probably arrive at the stage where only one summer in a number of years was sufficient to effectual 1}' break up the frost. This would bring us to a time of greatest erosion of which vestiges are left as above stated. It does not seem much to ask a decrease of twelve degrees only, yet on the other hand we must not forget that no amount of occasional cold snaps could materially alter the mean temperature. Physical changes of some permanency are required. We should rather lean on such a theory as that of Dr. Croll, in which he treats primarily of astronomical changes which, ^though small, are known to have actually occurred, and secondarily, adducing other agencies which might reasonably be thought to have operated, produces in the aggregate a result more than required by Prof. Bonney's figures. Wildfowl in Essex — I saw to-day, at Mr. Pettitt's, the following birds in the flesh, all captured in the neighbourliood : One Whooper (^Cygnus musicus), one Mute Swan (C c/w), partly in immature plumage, and possibly an escape ; one Canada Goose, this also may be an escape ; one Pink-footed Goose QAnser bracliy- rhynchus) ; one Bean Goose (jinser segetum), the second example Mr. Pettitt has had this year ; one Common Bittern QBoiauris stellaris'), being the third specimen this winter, including the two previously recorded ; and several female Smews i^Mergus albellus). The almost Arctic season is doubtless the cause of the appear- ance of these interesting visitors, which we rarely see in ordinary winters. (See also E. N., vol. iv., p. 211). — Henry Layer, F.L.S., Colchester, January loth, 1891. Aceras anthropophora, Br (Green Man Orchis). — A specimen of this plant was sent to me last June by Mr. Edwin E. Turner ; he found it near Lord Ray- leigh's park, at Terling. This is an interesting " find," as the plant has been recorded only three times in Essex : once at Belchamp St. Paul, by Ray ; once at Ballingdon in 1715, by Dale, and lastly in 1835 at Shoebury Common, by Edward Foster. We may congratulate ourselves in learning that this scarce orchis still occurs in our county.— J. C. Shenstone, Colchester, February 20th, 1891. Pied Flycatcher near Harwich. — Mr. F. Kerry writes thus to the '■ Zoolo- gist " for March : " On 12th May, 1890, two Pied Flycatchers {^Miisicapa atricapilla) were seen in a garden at Dovercourt ; and the male was shot by a boy scaring birds. This is the first instance that I know of its having occurred in this neigh- bourhood. I have only once before seen this species in the eastern counties ; this was a solitary bird, some years since, at Northrepps, near Cromer, in Norfolk." In the same number of the " Zoologist " (vol. xv., 3rd sen, p. 115) Mr. Kerry has some interesting ornithological notes from Harwich. 69 THE LOCAL (ESSEX) MUSEUM, LABORATORY, AND LIBRARY. Wednesday, Marc/i iH/Zi, 1891. A PUBLIC Meeting, convened on behalf of their respective Societies by Mr. ■^^ W. Cole, //on. Sec. to the Essex Field Club, and Mr. Edmund Durrant, //on. Sec. to the Essex and Chelmsford Museum, was held in the Grand Jury Room of the Shire Hall, Chelmsford, on Wednesday evening, March i8th, 1891, at seven o'clock, Mr. W. J. Beadel, M.P., in the chair. There was a large and representative attendance, not only from Chelmsford and its neighbourhood, but also from other parts of the county and from London ; the attendance would have been larger, had not a Town Council and other meetings, and the lamented sudden death of Mr. Alderman Grey, prevented many from being present. The Chairman, in opening the proceedings, said that they had met to lay the foundation of something which he trusted would be highly beneficial, not only to themselves, but moreparticularlj-to those who succeeded them. The Essex Field Club and the Chelmsford Museum had arranged a scheme which, no doubt, would result in great good to the county at large. (Applause). No man was more proud of his county than he was of his. (Applause). He frequently had the opportunity of hearing Essex abused, but he had the satisfaction of telling those who abused it that the abuse was simply the result of absolute ignorance. (Laughter). The step they were about to take would, he believed, dispel many of the illusions which had existed with regard to the county. Those who had prepared the scheme before them had taken very considerable pains to arrive at something which would be for the benefit of the community at large, and it would be a satisfaction to them to feel that the inauguration had taken place that night, and that the}' had been sowing seed on good ground, where it would fruc- tify and would bring forth great benefit to the people of the county. (Applause). Mr. W. Cole (//ow. Sec), announced that the following had agreed to act as Trustees of the proposed Museum, under the conditions imposed by the scheme : Lord Brooke, M.P., Sir T. Powell Buxton, Bart., Mr. G. P. Hope, the Arch- deacon of Essex, Professor Meldola, F.R.S., Lord Rayleigh, F.R.S., and Mr. W. .\L Tufnell. The bankers would be Messrs. Sparrow, Tufnell, and Co., Chelmsford, and the National Bank, London. The Secretary also read a number ofletters from prominent men who had taken an interest in the scheme, but who, from various causes, were unable to be present at the meeting, including: Prof. G. S. Boulger, Mr. James Britten, F.L.S., Sir T. Fowell Buxton, Bart., Mr. Horace Fulton, M.P., Mr. E. B. Knobel (^Secretary to the Royal Astronomical Society), S)T John Lubbock, Bart., M. P., P'.R.S., Colonel Makins,M.P., Mr. R. McLachlan, F.R.S., Prof. Meldola, F.R.S., Mr. H. B. Monckton, F.G.S., Mr. Hildebrand Ramsden, F.L.S., Right Hon. Lord Rayleigh, F.R.S., Righ' Hon. Lord Reay, Sir Henry Roscoe, M.P., F.R.S., Mr. J. Round, M.P., Sir H Selwin-Ibbetson, Bart., .\LP., Dr. Henry Woodward, F R.S., &c., &c. Sir John Lubbock wrote: " I sincerely trust that the Essex County Council will devote the sum receivable from the Wine and Spirit Duties to Technical Instruction in accordance with the .Act of Parliament, for it seems clear that we must improve our system of education in this respect if we are to hold our own in the future. 70 THt; LOCAL MUSEUM, LABORATORY, ANJ) LIBRARY. This is quite as true (if not more so) in agriculture as in manufactures." Lord Reay (late Governor of Bombaj') wrote : " To my great regret I cannot be present on Wednesday, as I have promised to attend another meeting at that hour. The scheme for technical instruction has evidently been drawn up with great knowledge and care. I should have been prepared to support, warmly, its main features. It will fructif)' elementar}' education, and enhance its value and apprec ation in rural districts, which stand more in need of technical instruction than the manufacturing districts, because agricultural pursuits open a wider field of observation than the supervision of even the most intricate machinery. I wish all success to your undertaking." Mr. Ed. Fitch (^President of the Essex Field CltiU), read the scheme for the amalgamation of the Essex and Chelmsford Museum with the Essex Field Club, and for the establishment of a Local (Essex) Museum Laboratory and Library, which had been agreed to by the two bodies (the scheme is fully set out in the last volume of the Essex Naturalist, vol. iv., pp. 236-241). [In the circular calling the meeiing the fjUowing summary was given of the scheme, and of the advantages to be derived from such an institution as that proposed to be founded : " It is pro- posed, under an agreement for the amalgamation of the two above-named Societies, to establish in Chelmsford (chosen not only as the County Town, but also as being a central position in Essex) a Public ( F'ree) Museum, to illustrate the natural productions, the geology and physiography, and the industries and manufactures of Essex, together with an Educational Series of specimens and preparations, which may be employed for teaching purposes. The Museum will also contain a Library of books, maps, Parliamentary- papers, pictures, &c., treating of the natural history, geology, topography, history, and industries of Essex, as well as a general library of books, neces- sary for the study of the before-mentioned subjects. " It is submitted that the Museum, Laboratories, and Library at Chelmsford will be of great utility, not only to Naturalists and .Students of Science, but also to the inhabitants of the county at large, to Farmers, Gardeners, Fishermen, &c., and to Members of the County Council, County Officers and others, desirous of obtaining accurate information about Essex, its natural produc- tions and industries, and also as affording facilities for any special technical investigations in the subjects above-mentioned. " The benefit to be derived from the establishment of local museums as educational agencies is being very widely recognised ", the British Association for the Advancement of Science appointed a committee to consider the subject, valuable reports being issued in 1887 and 1888. In 1889 Prof. Flower chose Museums as a principal theme of his Presidential Address to the Association, and in speaking of the value of Local ^iuseumE referred especially to that ' numerous class, and one which it may be hoped will year by year bear a greater relative proportion to the general population of the country, who, without having the lime, the opportunities, or the abilities to make a profound study of any branch of science, yet take a general interest in its progress, and wish to possess some knowledge of the world around them. . . . For such persons museums may be, when well organised and arranged, 0/ benefit to a degree that at present catt scarcely be realised. ' " Of the scientific Taluc of local museums nothing need be said — their importance is fully recog- nised by all competent to judge. Mr. F. T. Mott, Secretary of the British Association Com- mittee on Provincial Museums, has well said : ' Every provincial museum which undertakes to do its proper work for the nation at large must set itself to collect and record every natural fact in every branch of science wiihin the area of its own special district. It must waste no energy upon any- thing outside of this district, but within it everything must be done as completely and rapidly as possible. 7'he museum must be a scintific monograf>h of the district, illustrated by actual sf-ecimens 0/ the natural and artificial p'oducts of that district If every district in the kingdom were thus worked up, many scientific problems which are now insoluble would become plain, and the /<;fa/ museums are the institutions most capable of accomplishing this object.' The Essex Field Club, with its large body of expert naturalists and its serial publications, is quite capable on carrying on such a work."] Mr. F. Chancellor, J. P., moved the first resolution, as follows : — "That, in the opinion of this meeting, the proposals put forward b}' the Joint Committee of the Essex Field Club and the Essex and Chelmsford Museum for the establishment of a Local Museum, Laboratory, and Library, is worthy of the support of the county, and this meeting pledges itself to do all in its power to pro note the same." In the course of his remarks Mr. Chancellor mentioned that the present Chelmsford Museum iwas founded more than fifty years ago, and although, like most local museums belonging to a former age, it contained a good deal of what scientific men would call rubbish, it also contained many things of value and THE LOCAL MUSEUM, LARORATORY, AND LIBRARY. 7 1 interest to the town and county at large. The object of the scheme was to increase the usefulness of the Museum by making it truly representative of the county, and to enlarge it so as to become of educational value. The middle classes must ssriousl}' take up the question of technical education, if they wished to hold their own. The establishment of the Museum on right lines would confer a very great benefit upon Chelmsford, as well as upon the county generally ; and he should be mistaken in, and ashamed of his brother townsmen if they allowed this scheme to slip tlirough their hands, and the Institution to be located somewhere else. It was simply a question as to whether they would raise sufificient money for the building, and if they did not raise it, some other district would get the Institution. If they established the Institution it was almost impossible that the County Council could allow it to exist without providing money for its maintenance. (Applause.) Mr. Chancellor proceeded to mention the names of a number of gentlemen who had apologised to him for their absence, and said that Admiral Luard had promised a donation of £•, 5s. (Hear, hear.) The Ven. Archdeacon of Essex seconded the resolution, and commended the scheme to the approval of the meeting, because it had been thoroughly worked out by men who well understood what they were doing. (Hear, hear ) Prof. W. H. Flower, C.B., F.R.S. (Director of the British Museum of Natural History), then gave an able address on the "Educational Value of Museums," a subject which, as above mentioned, formed the principal theme of his Presidential Address to the British Association in 1889. Alluding to the scheme before the meeting, he spoke highly of the claims and capabilities of the Essex Field Club to undertake such a task ; he had followed the operations of the Club almost from the beginning, and the energy and persistence in one line of work and observation^ as evidenced in the publications of the Club, placed it, in his opinion, in the very front ranks of similar institutions. He had had an opportunity of reading and considering the scheme before it was adopted, and now that it was in print he might say that he considered it was as good a scheme as could be devised to me^t the special circumstances of the case. It was well abreast of the modern views of the objects and functions of local museums, and contained all the elements of success, having been drawn up by a body of men who were very much in earnest, and he did not think that any fault could be honestly found with the plans th:it had been put before the inhabitants of Essex. If they succeeded in establishing this Institution it would certainly soon become the centre of great educational advantages, and they would be setting an example for other counties in England to follow. (Applause.) Under Mr. Chancellor's guidance he had been enabled to pa}' a hasty visit to the old museum in Chelmsford that afternoon, and it seemed to contain many things that would form a nucleus of a collection, more especially in the way of Roman and Saxon remains. These remains should always be carefully and jealously guarded. Prof. Flowers insisted most strongly on the necessity of a museu.-n being well arranged, and said that an ill-arranged museum was like the letters of the alphabet thrown about indiscriminately, meaning nothing at all. A well-arranged museum, on the other hand, was like those same letters properly arranged in words of counsel and instruction. But almost everything depended upon the curator — but in most museums he was the last thought of. The Professor was almost inclined to advise, " Get your curator and build the museum around him." Unpaid labour of the kind could never be depended upon ; voluntary aid would be most useful in particular departments, but the con- trolling hand of a permanent curator was in his opinion an absolute necessity if the plans set before them were to be usefully and efficiently carried out. A 72 THE LOCAL MUSEUM, LABORATORY, AND LIF.RARV, museum was like a living organism, it required continued and constant care, but this fact was not sufficiently appreciated by those having the charge of such institutions. Mr. F. W. Rudler, F.G.S. [Curator of the Geological Museum, Jerm}-n Street) and author of the paper on Natural History Museums printed in the last volume of the E. N. vol. iv. pp. 242-251], in the course of a telling speech, said that the scheme was well worthy of support by reason of its comprehensive character. They must not suppose that the Museum, and its attached educational depart- ments, would benefit only a few with scientific or antiquarian tastes. Some people would say that agriculture and other Essex industries being at such a low ebb rendered the formation of such an institution difficult from a financial point of view, but he would reply that a time of depression (from which he was glad to fancy we were now emerging) was the time above all others when it was worth while, when indeed it was absolutely necessary, to see what aid science, as applied to human industries, could give to agriculture and other employments. Such an institution as that they were advocating would benefit not the few only, but the whole county, and would in time to come be looked upon as of great public utility. He was almost ashamed to say that this was his first visit to Chelmsford, but directly he got into the town he was very much struck with the light of modern days which it possessed. He hoped that the townsfolk's adoption of the beautiful and useful electric lighting might be taken as an earnest of their wish to keep abreast of the latest scientific applications. (Applause.) Mr. T. V. Holmes, F.G.S. {President of the Geologists" Association) strongly supported the resolution, and spoke of the practical value of a knowledge of geology in many branches of industry. Dr. J. C. Thresh, D.Sc, F.R.Met.S., &c., said the scheme for carrying technical education into the rural districts was a bold one, and a very good one. Essex should be proud of having an opportunity of being the pioneer county in taking technical education into the country districts. Although he had not been long in the county he had learned something of the demand which existed for technical education. Dr. H. Laver, F.L.S., F.S.A., of Colchester, said it had often been his pleasure t o try to upset the stupid notion that Essex was the marshy and unhealthy county it was sometimes represented to be. (Applause.) He should ver}- much like to have seen the proposed Museum established at Colchester, but as that could not be he would do his best to help it forward at Chelmsford. (Hear, hear.) The county had in the past done as much towards making the history of England as any other count}', and it was now going to be the pioneer in another movement which would spread light throughout the kingdom. (Hear, hear.) Other counties were bound to follow the example of Essex. Mr. F. W. Rogers (Head-master of the Chelmsford Grammar School) said he cordially su]iported the scheme. He was sure that, if properly managed, the local Museum would be a very great help to education. (Hear, hear.) Mr. J. C. Shenstone, F.R.M.S., of Colchester, also supported the resolution, remarking that, although he should have liked the Museum in his own town, it could not be denied that Chelmsford was the centre of the count}', and therefore had superior claims to Colchester as being the home of the Museum. The resolution was carried unanimously. .Mr. Walter Crouch, F.Z.S., moved — " That a Subscription List be at once opened for raising a Fund for the Iniilding and fitting of the Museum, &c., and for the endowment of the same." NOTES. 73 He said that a veiy considerable sum of money would be required to place the Institution on a firm footing, and to keep it going, but with the energy of the Club, and the generous appreciation of the inhabiuiuts of the county and of Chelmsford, he had everj- hope of success. Mr. F. Marria,'e, in seconding the resolution, said that if technical education could be taken into the villages it would be worth all the money they could raise. Subscriptions to such an institution as that proposed should be regarded as investments, and a well-to do man who invested ^50, or a comparalivel}' poor man who invested ;^I0, would, through the work of such an institution, reap advantages for himself or confer them upon others, which might fairly be looked upon as worth far more than merely getting a miserable five per cent, for the money Mr. A. C. Freeman, of M.ildon, supported the motion, and said he had been requested by the Mayor of that " plucky and fightable little town " to state that he would be glad to help the movement in every way he could, not only because he believed in it, but because the president of the Field Club, Mr. Fitch, was one of the most respected and beloved inhabitants of the borough. (Applause.) This motion was also unanimously carried. On the motion of Mr. F'itch, seconded by Professor Flower, a vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Beadel for presiding, and with a few words from that gentleman a very successful and enthusiastic meeting came to an end. [The members and friends of the two Institutions took tea together at the "Saracen's Head " before the meeting, and several of the members and visitors were most hospitably received by local members.] Sea-gulls in London. —During the past Arctic winter one of the sights of London was the large number of gulls flying over the Thames and settling on the blocks of ice. Near Battersea some iiundreds were seen, and Mr. F. J. Chopin, the Superintendent of Battersea Park, wrote as follows to the " Standard," under date December 8th : " It has occurred to me that it might be interesting to some of the readers of your paper to mention the unusual arrival of a large number of sea-gulls during the last few days to the lake in this park. It has been usual in past winters for one or two to visit the lake, but this morning I myself counted one hundred and fifty swimming in one drove, and quite another fifty were flying round. I am inclined to think that their appearance in such numbers is a sign tliat more severe weather is not far distant." Otters and Kingfishers in the Chelmer.— On February 28th a female Otter with two young ones was taken alive in the Chelmer at Camsi.x Farm, Felstead. The mother has since escaped, and the young ones have been returned to the hole in the tree from which they were taken, in the hope that she may find and feed them. The reaches of the Chelmer are here exceedingly secluded, and it is not improbable that others may remain long unobserved in the neighbourhood. As an instance of the seclusion I may mention that last summer my boys found a King- fisher's nest with five young birds. These young birds were very handsome and perfectly clean in their plumage, in a nest and surroundings very disgusting. Their great beauty, apart from any considerations of humanity, was a sufficient appeal to us to allow them to retain their liberty, although, I may add, they were ail caught and handled, and much resented that treatment.— J. FkencH, Felstead, March, i8qi. 74 THE LEPIDOPTERA OF ESSEX. PART I.— BUTTERFLIES. By EDWARD A. FITCH, F.L.S., F.E.S., etc. [Read December 2nd, i8go.'\ OF the sixty-five British butterflies, fifty-five have been known to occur within our borders — a larger number than I can find recorded for any other county. Mr. Porritt's Yorkshire Hst of Lepidoptera includes forty-eight species of Diurni, and the Rev. E. N. Bloomfield is now able to catalogue fifty-four species, and three doubtful records, for Suffolk. Mr. Cockerell gives forty-one species for Middlesex, several of which are certainly doubtful records. Hence our district may be looked upon as rich in species, and the individuals in many cases are fairly numerous. With regard to the completeness of this catalogue it is only necessary to observe that it contains notes of all the species that have been recorded, as far as a tolerably exhaustive survey of our general entomological literature enables me to judge. No MSS. or " Marked Lists " have been asked for, or used in its compilation ; there is always so much difficulty in authenticating captures, and in getting notes of precise localities. With the aid of our Club and the Essex Naturalist, it is to be hoped that many local lists may yet be forthcoming, similar to those we have already published by the Rev. G. H. Raynor {Trans. E.F.C. iii. 30-47) and Mr. Howard Vaughan {E.N. iii. 123-140.). These local lists are interesting and helpful, and act as a stimulus to others to endeavour to make additions to the records in their own immediate localities. Several such lists are already promised, and the publication of the present general list for the whole county will in no way make them less useful. My catalogue cannot be considered as complete ; we know there arc yet many unexplored spots in Essex, and there are few localities that have been at all exhaustively worked (cf. my remarks, E.N. iii. 98-99.) Only this year a new butterfly has been added to the British list, and it was first found in Essex (F. W. Hawes, Ent. xxiii. 3). Hesperia lineola has been an overlooked species, and thought to be only a variety of the common H. thaiimas. Mr. Hawes took his specimens in what is now but the remnant of an old locality. Hartley Wood, a spot t'lat lias been well worked for at least a century {see Miss THE LEPIDOPTKRA OF ESSEX. 75 Jermyn's " Vade Mecum "). The new butterfly is fairly common and generally distributed ih our county, and is a startling instance of what may still remain to be done even among our scanty, much studied, and much collected butterflies. I have but little information from the characteristic country to the north and west of Saffron ^Valden— the north-west corner of our county — which Mr. Christy has aptly termed "the chalky uplands." It is a district in which many local species, peculiar to chalk soil, may be expected to occur. I have to thank Mr. W. H. Harwood, Rev. G. H. Raynor, and Mr. B. G. Cole, for some help with regard to the respective localities in which they have collected. The plan of the paper is self-evident ; it is simply intended to gather together the published records of the Essex Lepidoptera ; a few uri[iublished records are occasionally added, but exceptionally, and for a special purpose. Now that a summary of the printed records is furnished, it should be easy for our lepidopterists to add to thera from their own observations, and the Editor of the Essex Natur.vlist will be very glad to have local lists, or observations on single species, for publication, so that we may get to know the extent of our native riches. Upon the completion of the Catalogue of the Lepidoptera of Essex I shall hope to say something about the com- parative distribution of the species, noting those believed to have become extinct, and the relative richness of our lepidopterous fauna as compared with that of other counties. I ought, i)erhaps, to say that the nomenclature and arrangement followed is that of Mr. R. South's " Entomologist " List, being a recent (1884) adaptation of Standinger and Wocke's valuable Cata- logue. The headings of families, etc., are omitted. The abbrevia- tions used in making the references will be readily understood by most entomologists, but for the benefit of those taking up the study, a full list is appended. RHOPALOCERA— BUTTERFLIES. Papilio machaon, L. Swallow-tail. Geographical distrihution — Europe, North Africa, Asia to Himalaya, and perhaps Japan, Western North -America. Generally distributed and frequenting woods, open fields and gardens ; but in Britain now supposed to be confined to fens of Cambridgeshire, Hunts, and Norfolk, where it is rapidly disappearing. Larva — Bright green, with deep black rings, which are spotted with red. Food — Common and hogs fennel, wild c.irrot, and other umbelliferse. Imago — May to August — hibernates as pupa. 76 THK LKPlDOPTEkA OF ESSEX. ICarly in the century, doubtless, fairly common in several localities in the county, and it has lingered until quite recently, even if it be now extinct in Essex. Ray, who gives a good description of the larva found near Montpellier on fennel, and in Sussex on Piinpinella sagifraga, says, "and I have observed this in Sussex and Essex, counties of England " {H.I. i lo). Stephens says, " It has sometimes been captured close to London, in Epping Forest, at Stepney, and near Peckham ; and it was formerly abundant at Westerham, in Kent " {I.B.E. Haust. i. 8). Newman says, " When at school at Totten- ham I have found these beautiful caterpillars feeding on rue " ( Y.E. 4), and again, " I have repeatedly found the caterpillar feeding on rue in a garden in the occupation of some friends of the name of Forster, on Tottenham Green; this was probably fifty years ago" {B.B., 153V In C. Parsons' MS. entomological journal I find, " 1826, July 31, Papilio machaon, 11, at Trotter's." At first I thought this referred to eleven specimens, but in a MS. list of insects left by Parsons I find "11 F. utachaofi" so it is probably only a reference number. In a box of Parsons' insects now in the Southend Institute, there are four F. machaon, one only with a label " Sutton Broad, Norfolk, 3rd June, 1841 "; the other three are most probably Essex specimens. " Trotters " is in North Shoebury parish, less than three miles from Shoeburyness or Southend. C. O. Rogers captured one, and pursued another, in a marshy place near Southend, on August 24th, 1858 {E. JV.I. iv. 179). Our member, Mr. F. H. Varley, found five pupse between Southend and Shoebury (not Tilbury, as printed in Froc E.F.C. ii. Ixxix.) in October, 1868. Two of the three specimens bred from these pupee are in the Club collection. Fennel (with many other Umbellifer^) is still very common on the cliffs between Southend and Shoebury, and the locality seems a natural one for this interesting butterfly. W. S. Coleman, in his " British Butterflies " (p. 66) says that it has occurred singly at Southend, doubless referring to Mr. Rogers' capture. One of Rev. J. \\\ Mills' pupils took one specimen at Tillingham in 1877 {Ent. x. 191), and Mr. Mills was quite of opinion that machaon used to occur in his neighbourhood, as an old parishioner 1 [I believe that we found a Inrva of P. moKh-ron in our then favourite collecting ground, the lane near Temple Mills, Leyton, in 1859 ; but being then ignorant of the distinguished character of our be.-iuliful caterpillar, and not knowing the food, we failed to rear it. The once rural lane, along which the " Wood-lady " {fi. caniamints) used to flit in early summer, and where a morn- ing s walk would furnish forth abundance of the beautiful common objects of the country, is now, alas, the blackened track to the necessary, but ghastly and stinking, parish dust-yard.' — vV. CoLH.J THE LEPIDOPTF.RA OF ESSEX. 77 of his (a female who was considerably interested in entomology), who saw the specimen after capture, was certain she had seen others many years ago, but not lately. Since Mr. Mills has left this neigh- bourhood I have come into possession of two specimens, also taken at Tillingham by Miss Hance, at least fifty years ago (referred to, E.N. ii. 242). Mr. Raynor records a specimen caught at Maldon by Mr. Gutteridge, in August, 1872 {Ent. vi. 223). Dr. Gutteridge has conrirmed_this to me, and there is no evidence of its introduction artificially. Cornelius Walford, then of Witham, saw a specimen on Tiptree Heath in 183S {E.L.J. 27). Mr. Harwood has known it to occur several times at Walton-on- Naze, on the authority of Thomas Catchpole, and 1). B. Brightwell (caught by one of his pupils). A very likely locality, as it is the only station for Peitcedanuin officinale in Essex, which has been known there t'rom Ray's time to the present ; it is also curious that P. palustre, still the favourite food-plant of this species in the Fens, was recorded as an Essex plant in the " Flora " only from Epping Forest, by John Ray formerly of Epping. Between the years 1848 and 1850 Mr. H. Doubleday turned out a number of E. machaon in parts of Epping Forest, apparently an old locality for this butterfly, but it did not again establish itself (iV^^. E.E.C. ii. Ixxx).- TheRev. H. H. Crewe says, "The family of a clergyman residing near Ipswich told me they had taken machaoti on the banks of the [Essex and Suffolk] Stour " {B.B. 153). W. Gaze records three speci- mens taken near Haverhill, by different collectors in 1841 {Ent. i, 307), and writes later: " On enquiry I found it has several times been taken in that place " {E^it. i. 340). In 1867, '68 or '69, my cousins, Herbert and Arthur Fitch, caught three specimens for me at Clare Priory, where they were at school ; two in one year, and one in another, and I have no doubt whatever but that they were residents, and should not be at all surprised to learn that machaoti still lingers around the sources of the Stour on the Essex and Suffolk border. Mr. W . R. Jeffrey records it from Saffron Walden, but adds, ' Supposed to have been brought to the neighbourhood in the 2 Mr. Maynard, Curator of the Saffron Walden Museuin, writes: "Some years since an un- successful attempt was male to naturalise P. viachaon in this neighbourhood by the late Mr. O. S. Gibson and Mr. W. M. Tuke, who procured a large quantity of caterpillars from Wicken P'en, Cambridgeshire. These were placed in a field of carrots, upon the tops of which they fed and seemed at first likely to do well, until they were found out by the birds, who soon made short work of the colony, and not one specimen was ever seen in the imago state." It is interest- ing to note that many of the old records indicate that P. machaon was formerly a garden insect in England (as it is still on the Continent) although now confined with us to the Ken districts, — Ko. ■JQ THK LKPIDOPTKRA OF ESSEX. chrysalis State " (/).^. 152). In the abridged "Catalogue of the Saffron Walden Museum " (1845), ^^'*2 read, "This species has occa- sionally been seen near Walden, having probably been brought on sedges in the chrysalis state " {/.c. 49). [^Paniassius apol/o, L. — a reputed British butterfly — is said to have been taken at Epping, about 1847 or 1848, by a son of Geo. Bax Holmes, a schoolfellow of H. and E. Doubleday QEnt. vi. 39). This must be an error.] \_Aporia cratcrgi, L. Black-veined White. This species, now verging on extinction in Britain, used to be common near London ; Samouelle says " Woods near London" (^Useful Compendium^ 216'). Stephens took it at Coombe Wood, and Haworth at Little Chelsea (Z. v. 1616). The only Essex record I find is one at Wanstead (^Ent. xii. 163). This is very doubtful.] Pieris rapse, L. Small White. Geographical Distribution — Europe, Asia, Africa north. Introduced into Canada and rapidly spreading in North America. Throughout Britain — our commonest butterfly. Larva — Dull green, thin dorsal and lateral yellow lines, yellow dots on sides. Food — Cabbages, horse-radish, mignonette, &c. ; often destructive in gardens. Imago — April to October, especially abundant in May and August ; hibernates as pupa. Common in every garden throughout the county. Pieris braSsicae, L. Large White. Geographical Distribution — Europe (except polar regions), Asia to Himalaya, North Africa. Throughout Britain. Larva — Bluish-green with j-ellovv stripes. Food — Various cruciferoe, especiall}' cabbages, turnips and other garden produce ; often very destructive. Imago — April to September ; hibernates as pupa. Too common everywhere. Pieris napi, L. Green-veined White. Geographical Distribution— Europe, Asia, North America. Throughout Britain. Larva— DnW green, paler on sides, spiracles black in yellow ring. /^oo(/— Various cruciferoe, as horse-radish, watercress, wintercress, hesperis, &c. Mr. Harwood has found it on sea-rocket. Imago— A-prW to August ; hibernates as pupa. Very common, but not so exclusively a garden or town insect as the two preceding species. Pieris daplidice, L. Bath White or Green Chequered ^^'hite. Geographical Distributwn—¥.\iro}^Q (except polar regions), Asia to Himalaya and China, North Africa. In Britain confined to South and East England, where it is very rare and uncertain. I THK LKI'IUOPIKRA OK KSSKX. 79 Larva — Greyish-green with yellow stripes on back and sides. Food — \'arious crucifcr:r and resedacea;, espiecially wild mignonette. Imago — May and August, but the May brood almost, if not entirely, absent in England ; hibernates as j)upa. Very rare, always occurring singly ; partial to lucerne fields. Probably an immigrant from the Continent. One by Mr. Norman Halls, near Dilbridge Hall, Colchester, on Aug. i2th, 1S57 {\V. H. Hanvood ; E.W.I, ii. 182, B.B. 159). One by Dr. Maclean, near Berechurch, many years ago {Harwood). One male, Epping Forest, by Mr. Walter Nash, 1866 {A. Cottam ; E.M.M. vii. 109). One female, near Southend, Aug., 1870 {D. T. Button; Ent. v. 221). One female, Southend, Aug. nth, 1876 {V.E.L. Young; E.M.M. xiii. 108). Colias edusa, F. Clouded Yellow. Geop-aphical Disti ilmtion — Throughout palaearctic region, except extreme north reaching Azores and Syria. Uncertain in its appearance in Britain. North American species scarcely distinguishable. Larva — Deep green, narrow white stripe on sides with pink spots, /bor/-— Various species of Tri/oltum, Medicago, and Lolus^ especially white clover and lucerne. Imago — June to October; hibernates as imago or larva {see Entom.xi. 60, 139). Notwithstanding some uncertainty I believe that this errant species hibernates as a larva. Although Mr. Buckler knew that its congener C. /ajyz/^ hibernated as a larva, he wrote in 1877, " I strongly incline to the belief that by far the greater number of those I saw on the wing at this time (June I2th) must have passed the exceptionally mild winter in the pupa state " (^Larvce, p. 12). In the latter half of October of that — the Edusa — year, Mr. Buckler had eggs, larvae just hatched, full-fed larvtc, pupae and imagos. Common in some seasons, in others not seen ; generally dis- tributed. Abundant in 1877 {see Ent. xi. 49-61), rare since. " In a field sown with flax not far from the town of Booking, in Essex " (if^Ty ; H.I. 113). Epping (6". J/, i. 17). A few specimens, Sept., 1839, Epping {^H. Doubleday ; ifi litt). One, Epping, 1885 {G. V. Elstoive ; Ent. xviii. 204). Common, Walthamstow, 1877, last noticed Oct. 5th (i>. Cooper ; Ent. xi. 55). Common in Maldon district, 1875 {Fitch; Ent. viii. 221). Not common, Hazeleigh, 1875 {G. H. Ray nor ; Ent. viii. 300). Abundant and bred at Maldon, June 6th to Dec. 12th, 1877 {Fitch; Ent. x. 189, 210; xi. 58). One, Maldon, Sept. 26th, 1879 {Fitch; Ent. xii. 283). One, Maldon, Sept. 26th, 1881 {Fitch; Ent. xiv. 296). One, Maldon, Sept., 1883 {Fitch; Ent. wi 259). Hazeleigh, Maldon, Sept., 1884 {Ray nor ; Ent. xvii. 251). Hazeleigh, Warley, Sept., 1885 {Ray nor : Ent. xviii. 315). One, Maldon, Oct. 4th, 1886 8o THE LKIMDOPTERA OF ESSEX. {Filch ; E/if. xix. 278). One, Maldon, Sept. loth, 1889 {Fitch; E.N. iii. 122). One, Little Cornard, autumn, 1836 {W. D. King; F.S./., Dec, 1838). One, male, Kedington, 1835 {W. Gaze ; Ent. i. 278; Z. iii. 803). Three near Sudbury, Aug. 20th-Sept. 7th, 1843 {Gaze; Z.ii.485). Two, Sudbury and Foxearth; three. Great Cornard ; eight, near Sudbury, 1844 {Gaze ; Z. iii. 803). Several near Chelms- ford, 1844 {A. Greemvood ; Z. iii. 803). Two, Walton-on-Naze, 1844 {/. Taylor; Z. iii. 1198). Walton-on-Naze, 1875 {Harwood ; Ent. viii. 198). One, Walton-on-Naze, Aug. 29th, 1889 {B. G. Cole ; E.N. iii. 93). Common at Clacton to Sept. 28th, 1877 {H. Miller, jiin. ; Ent. xi. 56). One female, Clacton, Sept. 9th, 1881 {Harwood ; Ent. xiv. 232). Wrabness, Oct. 24th, 1877 ; abundant near Harwich, 1877 {F. Kerry ; Ent. x. 286; xi. 55). One male, Harwich, Aug. i8th, 1878 {Kerry ; Ent.\\. 269). Six, Colchester, 1857 {Harwood ; E. IV.I. ii. 195). Colchester, June, iS^S {Harwood; E.lV.I.'w. 107). Ching- ford, June 6th, 1877 {R. L. Rolph ; Ent. x. 189). Loughton and Chingford, upwards of forty seen on one day ; Hackney Marshes, several, xZ']'] {T. Eedle ; Ent.x. 189). Lea Bridge, June 17th, 1877 {G. Fearsofi ; Ent. x. 189). Abundant, Woodford Bridge, 1877 {W. Cole; E.N. ii. 170). Two males, Wanstead Flats, Sept., 1884 {J. A. Cooper ; Ent. xvii. 251). One, Chingford, Aug., 1886 {]V. Cole; E.N. ii. 170). One male, Woodford Green, Sept. 7th, 1888 ( IV. S. Argent ; E.N. ii. 170). One male, Chalk End, Roxwell, Sept. 22nd, 1882 ; a pair near Writtle, Oct. ist, 1882 {K. W. Christy ; T.E.F.C. iii. Ixxxvi ; Ent. xvi. 41). Grays, 1858 {Button ; E. IV.I. iv. 183). Clamp Field, Little Wakering, Sept. ist, 1826 ; Little Thorpe [South Shoebury], Oct. 13th, 1826 {C. Parsons, MS. Journal). Five, Southend, Sept., 1861 {H. Vaughan : E. W.I. x. 202). '•'Common in some seasons," Leigh {Vaughan; E.N. iii. 125). Four, Rainham, Aug. 20th, 1886 {G. A. lewcock ;Ent. xx. 40). Several, south-east Essex, Aug. and Sept., 1889 {/. T. Carrington ; Ent. xx. 256). One, Hole Haven, Canvey, Sept. 4th, 1889 {B. G. Cole; E.N. iii. 93). Saffron Waldcn {Cat. S. W.M. 49). Two, Newport, Oct. 6th, 1886 ( Waldcgrave; Ent. xx. 64). Felsted {Rep. FS.NH.S. ii. 44). The white variety of female {Helice, Haw.) was taken in many localities in the county in 1877 ; it was so common that Mr. H. A. Cole took sixteen in one day at Woodford Bridge. It has been recorded from : — One, Colchester, Aug. 24th, 1858 {Harivood : E.JV.I iv. 194). One, Walthamstow, Sept. 15th, i8r7 (B. Cooper; Ent. xi. 55). THE LF.I'lDOl'TrCRA OV E.SSKX. 8l One, Hackney Marshes, 1877 (7! Eedle ; Ent. \. 189). Twenty, Woodford Bridge, 1877 {W. Cole ; E.N. ii. 170). One, Lea Bridge, Sept. 17th, 1883 (6". F. Bralwn ; Ent. xvi. 259). One, Haze- leigh, 1877 {Raynor; T.E.F.C. iii. 37). One, by Mr. Hewlett, at Shenfieid, in 1878 {Ray/ior). Stepliens figured Colias c/irysothenie, Esp. {LJy.E. Haiist. i. 12, pi. ii. fig. i) and writes: "The male from which the accompanying figure was taken was captured in company with several other speci- mens by H. Sims, Esq., in September, 181 1, either in the county of Norfolk, or near Epping, in Essex " (see also Westivood and Hum- phreys, B.B. 17, pi. iii. figs. 1-3). Cf. my remarks about the small males of the third brood obtained in 1877 iyEnt. xi. 52, 53),and see woodcut. C. chrysotheme is a South-east European species and occurs throughout North America from California and Texas to the northern and mountainous districts. Mr. H. J. JClwes says that its distriljution " is quite unparalleled by that of any other species." {T.E.S.L. 1884, 16.) See figure of a curious and interesting aberration of C. edusa taken near Colchester in August, 1877 {Ent. \\. pi. and/. 52). Colias hyale, L. Pale Clouded Yellow. Geographical Disinl)ufio7t — Throughout palasarctic region, except extreme north, to Japan, and South Africa. Extending its range northwards in Britain, fitful in appearance. Larva — Darit green with narrow yellowish-white lateral stripe. Food — Various species of trifolium. Imago — -July to September ; hibernates as larva. In some years not rare, but more often (juite absent ; generally distributed. " Of this rare British species 1 have seen very few specimens, and until the last season, only three recent captures had come to my knowledge. The first of these was found in August, 181 1, at Wrentham, in Suffolk, by the very ingenious and able artist to whose accurate pencil I am indebted for the figures with which this work is embellished[C. M.Curtis], and is in his brother's collection ; the second specimen was taken about eight years ago in Epping Forest, in June, and the third subsequently, near Brighton ; but last season many speci- mens were captured near the last-named place by a person residing in that town, tVc." {Stephens; I.B.E. Haust i. 14). Epping Forest ( West- wood and Humphreys, B.B. 16). Epping, occasionally {S.M. i. 17). Forty-three, Epiping, Aug., 1842; twenty-one in one day: "I have never hical Distribution — Europe (except polar regions), Asia, North and West. Throughout Britain. Larva — Dull green, white stripe at sides. Food — Pods and flower-stems of vari- ous Cruciferw, especially charlock, bittercress or cuckoo-flower, garden rocket and Alharia. Imago — April to June ; hibernates as pupa. A second autumnal brood is very rare, hut not unknown (see Evt. ii. 293 ; xix. 247 ; xx. 63, 135). Plentiful throughout the county. Dr. C. de (iavere {Tijdschrift x. 185) says of this species, "It is, perhap.s, from an agricultural point of view, the only truly useful lepidopterous insect. I always find the larva upon charlock or wild radish, eating especially the flowers, and so preventing the dissemi- n.iiiop of these troublesome plants." Its larva is certainly useful in TIIK I.Kl'IDOI'TKKA OF ESSEX. 83 liiniiing the spread of charlock, our great pest on the Essex clays, as it is particularly partial to the seed-pods of this plant, and more especially so when growing by the roadside. Mr. I )oubleday writes, " I believe that the cuckoo-flower (^Cardamine pratensis) is the one on which the eggs are most frequently deposited, but the greater part of the larw-e must perish in this neighl)ourhood, because the fields are mowed before the larvaj are full-grown. I have very often seen the larvie on the seed-pods of Erysimum alliaria and have several times found the pupae on the dead stems of this plant in winter. I think it is the principal food oi E.cardamines at Epping." (Z. xiv. 5146.) Leucophasia sinapis, L. Wood White. Geographical Distribution — Europe, North and East Asia (except polar regions). Local in England and Ireland, absent from Scotland. Larva — Green, with darker stripe on back and yellow stripe on sides. Food — \'arious vetches and trefoils. Imago — May and August ; hibernates as pupa. Much rarer now than formerly in woods ; of weak flight. Stour and Hartley Woods [Wrabness and St. Osyth] and Bromley Thickets {L./ermyn ; V.M. 65). One, Donyland Heath, by William Tillaney ; one, Markshall Woods, near Coggeshall, by Henry Law- rence {Hanvood). Kedington and Haverhill, 1833-5 0^^- G<^^^ > E?it. i. 278). Litley Wood, Debden {Joseph Clarke), Saffron Walden {Cat. S.lV.Af. 49). One in 1835, Epping; not seen previously lor five years (E. Doiibleday ; Etit. Mag. iii. 284). Plentiful near Epping in 1839 {J. English; E.N. \. no). Epping, common (S.A/. i. 20). Probably now gone from the Eorest district, although it is said that Mr. P. E. Copland saw it in Ongar Park Woods in 1888. Hainault Forest (" Lover of Nature'' ; K.O.J, ii. 1 10). Rare, Sudbury, two specimens taken ( ^. Z>. A'//;^'-?; F.S.J. Dec, 1838). Eelsted {Rep. F.S.N^.H.S. ii. 44). Rather scarce, Witham {E. H. Burnell ; M.N.H. (2) i. 601). Trotters [North Shoebury], "my father," May 20th, 1827 {C. Parsons ; MS. Journal). Gonopteryx rhamni, L. Prinistone. Geographical Distribution — Europe, Asia (e.xcept polar regions) and North .Africa. \'ery rare and local in Scotland and Ireland. Larva — Dull apple-green, covered with minute black papillsp, each carrying a short, pale bristle, white stripe at sides. Food — Fiucktl.orn. f7nngo — juiv litl .May ; hibernating. ^4 nil, i.Ki'iDOi'TKRA OF essf:x. Common throughout the county, but more so where its normal food-plant (buckthorn) grows. The bright male is especially notice- able, and welcome in early spring, generally the first species seen. 1 )r. Maclean found eggs deposited on the buds and terminal shoots of Rhavmus frangula, in the woods near Colchester, end of Ai)ril, nSsf) (/. Curtis : Proc. E.S.L. May ^th, 1856). Argynnis selene, Schiff. Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary. Geographical Distrihulum — Hurope, except extreme south ; Asia, north and west. Absent from Ireland. Larva — Smoky pink, dark-brown line and double row of black and orange spots on back, pale pinkish-red stripe at sides ; short ochreous spines, anterior pair reminding one of snail's horns. Food — Dog violet. Imago — June [? .August] ; hibernate?; as larva. In open places in woods. Common in Epping Forest and in many other restricted localities throughout the county. Argynnis euphrosyne, L. Pearl-bordered Fritillary. Geographical Distri/niiion — Kiirope, North and West Asia. Absent from Ireland. Larva — Black, greyish-white stripe on sides ; spines short, on back yellow with black tips, rest black. Food — Dog violet. Mr. Harwood found one on j>rimrose. Imago — May and June [? August] ; hibernates as larva. Common in open places in woods, more so than the last species {A. selene) and earlier in appearance ; generally distributed. Abounds in Epping Forest and in most large woods in the county. Interest- ing aberrations both of this and the last species sometimes occur. Argynnis latona, E. Queen of Spain Fritillary. Geographical ZJM/r?(5a//o«— Throughout paloearctic region, except extreme north. Confined to south and east in England and Ireland, always uncertain and rare. Larva — Blackish-gre}-, whitish stripe on back, brownish-fellow lines on sides ; sjjines short, brick-red. Food — Heartsease, violet, sainfoin, and alkanet. Imago — May to October, mostly in the autumn in Britain ; hibernates as larva. Very rare and uncertain. Probably an immigrant from the Con- tinent. Six liritish specimens only known previous to 181 8, com- mon in that year, according to Haworth ; August and September, 18 iS, near Colchester (67<'///d';/i- ; J.B.E. Hatist). Colchester (O/r- tis : HE. : S.Af. i. 43). Five, Colchester, 1857 l^Harwood ; E.U'.I. TWh. l.i;i'll)01'TKK.\ OF IvSSlCX. 85 ii. 1S2). One, Colchester, Aui;., 1858 (//<7/-7fvv;; Forest now ; the only specimen Mr. B. ('•. ("ole has seen there was a worn male in Bury Wood, Sewardstone, in 1874. Garden at Park Place, Leyton, in 1868 (J^. Meldola). Hazeleigh Wood, rare {Rayttor ; T.E.F.C. iii. 37). Mr. E. Stuart and Rev. J. W. Mills' pupils used to take it sparingly in Mundon Furze, doubtless it still occurs there {Fitch). Woods at Warley, not common {Rayfior). Very common in some seasons, as 1837, near Witham {E. H. Burnell ; M.N.H. (2) i. 601). Very rare at Messing {Hanvofld; Proc. E.F.C. iii. xxvii). F^elsted {Rep. F.S.N.H.S. ii. 44)- Sudbury {W. D. King? F.S.J. Dec. 1838). Eastwood, not common {Vaughan ; E.N. iii. 126). [The dark variety of the female ( Valezina, Esp.), now almost confined to New Forest, Hampshire, is traditionally said to have been found many years ago in Lark's Wood, Chingford, a likely locality enough. — W. Co/e.] Melitaea aurinia, Rott. Oreasy Fritillary. Geographical Distribution — Europe (except polar regions), North aiul West Asia, North Africa. Throughout Britain. Larva — X'elvety black, white specks on back and sides ; spines black. Food — Blue scabious, also plantain, speedwell, foxglove, and honeysuckle. Imago — May and June [August ?] ; hibernates as larva. Rare and very local, in damp meadows. Ongar woods, High Beach {H. Doiibleday ; Ent. i. 356). Ongar Park and High Beach in 1839, "but never seen in after years" {English; E.N. i. no). Four, Epping Forest, 1857 (i"?. Tyssen ; E.H'.I. ii. 115). Epping, has occurred commonly {S.M. i. 48). Near Epping {E. Doubleday ; B.B. 42). Used to occur at \\'anstead l'"lats, but has latterly disappeared {Carrington ; Ent. xii. 163). Kedington and Haverhill, 1833-35 {Gaze; Ent. i. 278). About Colchester, but not nearly so common as formerly {Harwood ; B.B. 42). [This record is an error, as Mr. Harwood assures me he has never seen it in the county]. Saffron Walden {Jeffrey; B.B. 42; Cat. S.U:.]/. 49). Melitaea athalia, Rott. Heath Fritillary. Gfographtcai Distribution — Kumpe, Norlh and West .Asia, possibly to Corea and Japan. In Britain confined to South England and Ireland, local. 88 THK LEI'irJOPTEKA OF ESSEX. Larva — Blaik dotted with white ; spines ochreous, white on sides. Food — r Ian- tain, wood sage and speedwell. Mr. Harwood found it on cow-wheat {Melampyrum), probably its general food-plant, and foxglove. Imago — May to August ; hibernates as larva. Rare and very local, frecjuenting heathy spots in woods. Henjamin Wilkes found the larvae " feeding on common heath " in Tottenham Wood, about the middle of May, 1745 {E?ig. M. and B. p. 58 pi. cxii.) Hartley Wood [St. Osyth], {Jermyn ; V.M. 65). Near St. Osyth, July 1845 (/. W. Douglas ; Z. iii. 1089). "Woods bordering road from Colchester to Ipswich " (A {E. Doiibkday) ; Ent. Mag. iv. 231). Colchester {E. Douhkday ; B.B. 48). Common but very local, Colchester, 1867 {Harwood; E.M.M. iv. 162). " Now restricted to one wood " [Uedham Birch Wood] {Harivood ; B.B. ^^). Dark \?^nt\^es irom.Co\c\\e?,iex {Harwood ; Froc. E.S.L., 7th March, 1870). Formerly Highwoods, Colchester, very rare, and twice in field close to town {Harivood). " I may here mention that an attempt was made by Mr. Harwood to establish a colony of M. athalia in a wood about fifteen miles from one of its haunts in Essex, where its food plant {Melampyrum praiense) abounded : but though the insect fairly established itself for a few seasons, from some cause or other, after changing its habitat from one clearing to another in the wood, it disappeared, and has not since been seen in that locality as far as I am aware " (6^. _/. Grapes; Ent. xix. 177). Ongar Park and High Beach in 1839, "but never seen in after years" {English; E.N. i. no). Epping, has occurred {S.M. i. 47). One, Epping Forest {R. Tyssen ; E. JF.I. ii. 115). Series from Essex exhibited (/l^ Souf/i ; F.S.L.E.S. 1885, 34). Two, Witham, June, 1837 {E. H Bitrnc//, M.N.H. (2) i. 601). Vanessa c-album, L. Comma. Geographical Distrihutmi — Europe, Asia (e.xcept polar regions). Local in England and Ireland, rare in South and East England, absent from Scotland. Close ally in North .America. Larva — Grey-brown, red patch on back of anterior segments, broad white stripe on back of posterior ; spines brown and white, red on sides. Food — Hop, current, elm, sloe, and nettle. Imago — September to June — hibernating. \'ery rare, if not now extinct in the county, like the hop industry. " .Many years since it used to occur in profusion at Epping ; I cannot give any date, but it was when I was a mere child —I should judge about 181 7 or iSiS. 'l"wo or three of the specimens taken THE LKinnOl'TKRA OF ESSEX. 89 then were in existence not many years back. Since those times 1 have never met with the insect here " {£. Doubkday ; Ent. Mag. iii. 285 ; B.B. 51). This species has disappeared from many places where it was formerly common. All the old writers record it as being •' abundant near London," and many entomologists now living can remember, when they were young, such was the case {S.Af. i. 40). One, Eastlands Wood, near Maldon {E. H. Biirnell ; M.N.H. (2)i. 602). One, Mundon, near Maldon, by R. E. Stuart, in 1871 {Ray nor ; Ent. vi. 264). I have seen this specimen this year. Colchester, two or three, but it is a great rarity {Harivood ; B.B. 51). Dr. Laver has one taken by \\\ Tillaney, at Colchester. Saffron Walden {Jeffrey; B.B. 51). Mr. H. A. Cole and myself believe that we saw a specimen in Takeley Forest on October loth, 1890. Vanessa polychloros, L. Large Tortoiseshell. Geographical Distribution — Europe. North and West Asia (except far north). Doubtful native of Scotland, absent from Ireland. Larva — Brown, yellow stripe on back, divided by black line, and sides ; spines ochreous. Food — Kim, cherry, sallow, osier, willow, aspen. /»z«^o— July to June : hibernating. Fairly common, and generally distributed throughout the county. See Mr. White's paper on a specimen of V. polychloros, bred with a brood of V. urticce, feeding upon nettle {T.E.F.C. ii. 1-7). [This was probably an error of observation, the larva being really V. poly- chloros.— Ed.]. Mr. J. A. Tawell, of Earl's Colne, bred V. poly- chloros irom nQiiXc-ictiWng larv?e in 187 1 [Ent. vi. 88). Some of these specimens are still in the Entomological Club Collection. Mr. Ray nor found V. iirtiae, in. cop. with V. polychloros at Hazeleigh in the beginning of August, 1872 {Ent. vi. 221). Common in the Maldon district, but I have never found the larv^ feeding on anything but elm, generally on stubs. " A brood of the caterpillars fed upon a cherry-tree this year in a garden in this town [Sudbury] ; after stripping the end of one branch, they were observed to migrate in a body to the extremity of another, preferring the young leaves to those which had been longer expanded" {]V. D. King? ; F.S.J. , Dec, 1838). Larvae feeding on a low branch of a cherry-tree in a garden at Brentwood, July 10th, 1888 {Raytwr ; Ent. xxi. 255). ^'ery common round Colchester in i860, the caterpillars feeding on elm, sallow, and osier, now rare {/Janvood ; B.B. 57). Thi.-. 90 THK I.EIMDOI'TKRA OF ESSEX. year [1695], I found several larvae eating the leaves of the common hroad and round-leaved sallow (AVr ; H.I. 118). Vanessa urticae, L. Small Tortoiseshell. Geographical Distri'mtion — Europe, North and West Afia, local forms in East Asia. Througiioul Britain. One of the most widely distributed and commonest species. Larva — Variable yellowish-g^rey, black line on back, broad brown stripe and yellow line on sides ; spines black or yellow, with black tips. Food — Nettie. Jmago — June t ) June ; hibernating. Particularly abundant throughout the county. In June bright, newly emerged, and tattered, hibernated individuals are frequently to be seen together — a great contrast. Westwood figures a specimen with a supplemental hind wing, abnormally small, but with the usual markings and coloration, fixed to the base of the hind wing {Butterflies of Great Britain., pi. vii. fig. I, and T.E.S.L. 1879, pi. vi. figs. 2, 2a). This monstrous .specimen was caught flying near Epping by Mr. H. Doubleday {Stephens ; I.B.E. Haust i. 148), and was sent to Stephens by Mr. Samuel Hanson, on March 3rd, 1828. It is now in the Stephensian Collec- tion in the National Museum at South Kensington. Vanessa io, L. Peacock. Geographical Disiributioti — Throughout palaearctic region, except extreme north and south. Throughout Britain. Larva — Black, with minute white dots ; spines, black. Fcod — Nettle ; feeds exposed, generally gregarious. Imago — August to June : hibernating. Common everywhere, but apparently less so in Essex now than formerly. Vanessa antiopa, L. Camberwell Beauty. Geographical Distribution — Palocarctic region. North and Central America. 'I hroughout Britain, but rare and uncertain. Larva — Black, with grey pubescence, row of light-red spots on back through which passes thin black line ; spines black. Food — Willow, birch, nettle. Imago — August to June ; hibernating. Rare and uncertain. Comparatively common in 1872, fairly so in 1880, very rare since. " The fine species figured ... is rendered rare and remark- al)lc in this country by its periodical appearance, the cause of which has hitherto never been ascertained : the most probable conjcctin-e THK I.EI'IDOI'TERA OK KSSKX. 9I is (as Mr. Haworth has observed) that 'their eggs in this chmate, hke the seeds of some vegetables, may occasionally lie dormant for several seasons, and not hatch, until some extraordinary but undis- covered coincidences awaken them into active life.' Until four or five years since V. antiopa had not been seen for nearly forty years, when it was exceedingly abundant in different parts of the kingdom. In the year 1819 a few were taken in Suffolk, and Mr. Samouelle cap- tured one the following spring that had lived through the winter, since which period it has not been seen. It has received its Eng- lish name from having been first observed at Camberwell, whither it might have been attracted by willows, upon which the larvae feed, and are full grown the beginning of July," &c. {Curtis ; B.E. 96). Insect migration was then but imperfectly understood (see my last presidential address, E.N. iv. 7). Lewin says, "In March, 1790, a number of these insects were flying and soaring about for the space of twelve or fourteen days ; and then, as if with one consent, they migrated from us and were no more seen." Little Oakley {Jermyn ; V.M. 69). One, Little Oakley Rectory, Aug. 1 8th, 1857 {H. T.Stainton; E. W.I. iii. 13). Twelve, Colchester, 1872 {Hanvood ; E.M.M. ix. 137). Two, Roman Hill, Colchester, Sept. 2nd, 1872 {H. Aggio ; F. xl. 249). Dr. Laver has a specimen taken at Middlewick, Colchester, by William Tillaney, Aug. 29th, 1880. Two, Halstead, Sept. 2nd, 1872 (,5'. R. Bentall ; Ent. vi. 216). One, Clavering, Aug. 31st, 1880 {W. G.Nash; Ent.\\\\. 239). One, Saffron Walden, Sept., 1846 {G. S. Gibson; Z. iv. 1507). Three, Witham, Aug. 23rd-Sept. 5th, 1872 {Cansdak : Ent. vi. 215 ; F. xl. 214V One, Great Braxted, 1837 {C. Walford : E.L.J. 27), One, Maldon, Sept. 13th, 1872 [Raynor ; Ent. vi. 216). I have one from Maldon, taken many years ago by Miss Hance (see E.N. ii. 242). Several, Mundon, 1872 {Rayiwr ; Ent. vi. 216,264). Two, Latchingdon, 1872 {Chelmsford Chronicle; Ent. vi. 216). One, Cold Norton, 1879 {Raynor ; T.E.F.C. iii. 38). Several, Burnham, 1872 {Raynor ; Ent. vi. 216). One, Hurnham, iZ-ji {Fitch : E.N. ii. 83). One, Bradwell-on-Sea, vSept. 2nd, 1872 {/. W. Mills ; Ent. vi. 215). One, Canewdon, July, 25th, 1873 {Fitch ; Ent. vi. 457). One, Hockley, Aug 24th, 1872 {Fitch ; Ent. vi. 193). One, Southend, Aug. 28th, 1872 {E.J. Hig- gins ; E.M.M. \x. 109). One, Southend, 1872 {C. S. Barnes; F xl. 249). One, Chelmsford, Aug. 26th, 1857 (/. Flatnian, E.IV.I. ii. 182). One, Brentwood, Sept. 2nd, 1872 {E. F. Grozvse ; Ent. vi. 92 THK I.KriDOI'TERA OF ESSEX. 216). One seen by Mr. R. (i. Willinieni in AVeald Lane, Brentwood, on Aug. 19th, 1880 {Raynor). One, Havering-atte-Bower, April 14th, 1873 {E. remberton-Barnes ; F. xli. 378. E. Newman : Ent. vi. 410). One, Havering-atte-Bower, Sept. 9th, i%^6 { J V. B. Fem- berton-Barnes ; Ent. xix. 248). One, Epping, Sept., 1835 {F. Lackey; Ent. Mag. iii. 415). Common, Epping, 1836 (A E. Doubleday ; Ent. Mag. iv. 231). Two, Epping, Sept. 12th, 1846 (ZT. Doubleday ; Z. iv. 1504). Epping, occasionally {S.M. i. 39). One, Epping Lower ¥ ore?,i {Engtish ; Buxton s E.F. 100). Three, Chingford, Sept. 6th, 1877 {W. Doivning ; Ent. x. 252). One, Ilford, Aug. 27th, 1880 {G. Watkins : Ent. xiii. 277; exhibited, T.E.FC. i. Ixi). One, Woodford Bridge, 1877 {W.J. Argent). One, ^Valthamstow, Sept. 2nd, 1872 {W.'^ Downing ; Ent. vi. 216). One, Walthamstow, May 24th, 1888 {W. Doivning: Ent. xxi. 155; J. A. Cooper; Ent. xxi. 184; W.J. Argent, E.N. ii. 72). One, Leytonstone, Sept. 4th, 1889 {G. C. Frindell : Ent. xxii. 257). One, Lea Bridge Marshes, Aug. 27th, 1876 (//. Ashpole ; Ent. ix. 229). Vanessa atalanta, L. Red Admiral. Geographical Distribution — Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa, North America. Throughout Britain. Larva — Greenish-gre}', and yellow to black (variable) often with pale freckles, pale yellow stripe on sides ; spines )-ellow, reddish-brown, or black. Food — Nettle, spinning lea\es together, hnago — August to June ; hibernating. Apparently by no means so common in the county now as for- merly, though generally distriljuted. This butterfly has been taken by night at " light " and at " sugar," and I have several times noticed it flying round trees in my wood (Hazeleigh) at dusk together with the red-underwing moth (C ni/pta), which it then much resembles. Particularly partial to fallen fruit, especially plums. Vanessa cardui, L. Painted Lady. Geographical Dixtrihution — Cusmopolitan. except, perhaps, polar regions and South America. Throughout Britain to Orkney and Shetland, but somewhat uncertain. Larva — Dark gre}' with yellow spots, yellow stripes on back and sides ; spines yellow or grey. Mallow-feeding specimens hairy. Food — Thistle, especially C. arvensis, nettle, and common mallow ; spinning leaves together or under a web. Imago — July to July; hibernating. One of Buckler's hairy mallow-feeders pupated 13th Oct., 1868; emerged February 7th, 1869 (Larva-, j). 53). Appar- ently a conspicuous exception to the constancy of hibernation, but doubtless induced by the unnatural conditions of a warm room. Till'; I.l.l'IDOI'i KKA OF ESSEX. 93 Uiu'crtain and irregular in appearance, but generally distributed. S;)me years, as 1879, abundant, in others quite absent. [Very common at Woodford Bridge in 1877, and occurs in most years, more or less abundantly, in the Forest districts. — JF. Co/e.] Ray says, "Occurs with us frequently enough round braintree and elsewhere " {H./. 422 nrfe 122). Mr. Cole has in his cabinet a very beautiful aber- ration of this butterfly, taken in his garden at Huckhurst Hill, on |unc iith, 1879. A similar specimen is figured by Newman (/y./y. 64) from Mr. Ingall's Collection. Limenitis sibylla, L. White Admiral. Geographical Distribution — Central Europe, Spain, and South Russia, Ens;land. Larva — Green, with 3ellowish blotches, two rows of spines on back — reddish at tips with black branches, brown at base — white streak on side ; head, red- brown. Food — Honeysuckle ; preferably those plants climbing oak-trunks. Imago — June and July ; hibernates as larva. Rare, every year becoming more so ; in woods. " The graceful elegance displayed by this charming species when sailing on the wing is greater perhaps than can be found in any other we have in Britain. There was an old Aurelian of London, so highly delighted at the inimitable flight of Camilla, that, long after he was unable to pursue her, he used to go to the woods, and sit down on a stile, for the sole purpose of feasting his eyes with her fascinating evolutions" {Haworth ; Lep. I rit. i. 30). " In its beautiful flight, when it skims aloft, it rivals the Purple I'Lmperor, which it strongly resembles in appearance. It seems, however (unlike the latter), to avoid the sunbeams, for it fre- quents the glades of woods, where it rapidly insinuates itself by the most beautiful evolutions and placid flight through the tall underwood on each side the glades, ap[)earing and disappearing like so many little fairies " {Rev. Revett Sheppard, of Wrabness, V.M. .21). " For the first time in my life I saw this beautiful butterfly near Colchester last July [1836], and its elegant appearance when on the wing will not soon be effaced from my mind. It is vain to try to describe it" i^Edivard Doubleday ; Ent. Mag. iv. 231). "Z. sibylla is only found when the 'slop,' or underwood is high, and a considerable clearance in a small wood means sometimes the all but total extermination of the species in that particular wood ; but colonists from neighbouring woods soon restore the balance, so 94 THK LEl'IDOPTRRA OF ESSEX. soon as favourable conditions again obtain, but when there is no neighbouring wood, the balance may never be restored. In very hot seasons local butterflies become to some extent migratory ; such was the case with L. sihylla last July, and I should not be surprised if, this year, specimens are met with in woods where none have been previously seen. Mr. Laver saw a specimen in the town here [Col- chester] last year [1881] two miles from any known locality " {Har- wood ; Proc. E.F.C. iii. xxvii). Captured by Mr. Morton, in Essex, not far from the town of Tollesbury, and brought to me on July nth, 1695 {Ray ; H.I. 127). Hartley Wood [St. Osyth] {/er/iiyn ; V.Af. 69). Woods between Walton-on-Naze and Brightlingsea, " but seems to be gradually dis- a[)pearing " {A. Lambert and J. W. Douglas ; Ent. i. 384). St. Osyth, July, \2,^c^ [Douglas ; Z. iii. 1089). St. O^yih {Hanvood : B.B. 70). Common, woods bordering road from Colchester to Ipswich, July, 1836 (A E. Doubleday ; Ent. Mag. iv. 231). Not rare, Colchester, 1867 {ffarwood ; E.M.Af. iv. 162). Colchester [S.M. i. 34). History of hil)ernation discovered by Dr. Maclean of Co\c\\esiex {Netv man ; Z. xix. 7565). Great Bromley (^. A/sion ; E. JJ'.I. ii. 143). One, near Park Hall, Epping, 1836 (A E. Double- day : Ent. Mag. iv. 231). Epping {S.M.'i. 34). Saffron Walden {Jeffrey ; B.B. 70). One, Debden How Wood {Joseph Clarke). The dark variety figured in Newman's B.B. 67 has occurred in Essex {S. Stevetts ; Proc. E.S.L. Sept. c^th, 1853, 127) at Colchester {IV. T. Bree ; M.N.H. v. 667). Mr. Ingall also possesses a similar specimen from the ^^i\^VL&w(::A^Jy^^o\\x\\ooA{Westwood and Humphreys ; B.B. 61.) Apatura iris, L. Purple Emperor. Geographical Distribution — Central and South-west Europe, rare in .-Xsia Minor, China (doubtful), England, south of Humber. Larva — Green with yellowish spots, yellow or pinkish stripes at sides in front and oblique yellow stripes in middle ; horns bluish-green in front with brownish- red lips. Food — Sallow, aspen, poplar. //y/r/po — June and July ; hibernates as larva. Rare and local ; restricted to oak woods ; of lofty and noble flight. More often seen than caught. Like V. Atalanta this fine butterfly has been taken both at light and sugar. The larva appears to have been first discovered in Essex (and in England) by Mr. Drury. Moses Harris, in his " Aurelian : or Natural History of English Insects, namely, Moths and Butterflies" (1766), gives in plate iii. two figures of the caterpillar, and remarks upon THl'. l.Kl'inOl'lKRA OF KS^KX. 95 them as follows : " On the 26th of May, in the year 175S, Mr. Drury, an ingenious Aurelian, in searching for caterpillars, beat four off sallow, near Brentwood, in Essex, which in their shape and motion differed from any hitherto discovered, being furnished with two horns of the same hard substance as their heads, resembling the telescopes of a snail, and in their progressive motion seemed rather to glide along, like that animal, than crawl, as most caterpillars do." -After carefully describing the larvae, he expresses his gratitude to his " generous and worthy friend, Mr. Drury, for the discovery of the caterpillar of one of the most beautiful flies in the universe, and which had hitherto eluded the search of the most skilful and indus- trious aurelians." " The Purple Emperor of the British oaks is not undeservedly the greatest favourite of our English aurelians." {Haivortk ; Lep. Brit. i. 19 [1803]). He gives an entertaining description of its habits (reprinted: V. M. 11 7-1 19; B.B. 74-5). Haworth says: " In three days I took myself twenty-three (nine of them in one day), but never took a female at all " {Lep. Brit. i. 20). " Apatura iris was common in Hartley Wood and Riddles Wood ; between eighty and one hundred were seen performing their graceful and rapid evolutions about the tops of the oaks and aspens, gliding among the foliage, and not returning to any particular tree, as Haworth has stated to be its habit. From the frequency with which they visited the aspens, and their greater inclination to settle on them, we are inclined to think that the larvae feed on those trees as well as on the broad-leaved sallows. There was not a wet spot to be found in the woods, or we should have tried the method of capture mentioned by Mr. Hewitson {E7it. 324) : only four were taken " (J. W. Douglas, Ent. i. 384). Caught in July, 1695, near Heveningham [Hedingham] Castle, in Essex, by Mr. Courtman (A'>///'. .'jf/.'V// ; M.S.). Larva on sallow, Brentwood, May 26th, I 758 {D. Drury). Great and Little Stour Woods, \\'rabness and Ramsey {Jerniyn ; V.M. 69). Woods bordering road from Col- chester to Ipswich (A E. Dfluhleday ; Ent. Mag. iv. 231). Hartley UOod, St. Osylh ; Riddles Wood, between Walton-on-Naze and Brightlingsea, July 1842 (A. Lambert and J. W. Douglas ; Ent. i. 384). Woods round Colchester and wood on Mersea Island (//". Doiibleday; Z. iv. 1399). Eggs from Dr. Maclean, Colchester, July i6th, 1861 (Xewman: '/..\\\. 7820). Egg from Harwood, Colchester, g6 THE I.RPinOPTERA OF ESSEX. July 31st, 1S75 ( II'. Buckler; E.M.M. xiii. 3 ; Larva 45). " Formerly common in the High AV'oods, Colchester, but I have not seen a specimen since i860, and it has disappeared from all the other woods where it formerly occurred in the vicinity of Colchester. The last specimen taken here was flying round a moderator lamp in the evening in the town itself. \% in Dr. Laver's Collection.] It still occurs at Coggeshall and in Stour Wood, near Ramsey." i^Harwood B.B. 76). Has re-appeared in most of the larger woods in the Colchester district, but is scarce i^Harivood). Some seasons not very scarce, Witham {E. H. Burnell ; M.A^.H. (2) i. 602). Tsvo, Sudbury, 1838 {W. D. King?; F.SJ., Dec, 1838). Occasionally, near Halstead, larva on sallow, pupated June 15th, 1875 {S. R. Bentall ; Ent. viii. 182.) Kedington and Haverhill, 1833-5 (^^ Gaze; Ent. i. 278). Very rare. Old Hall Wood [Steeple Bumpstead] {W. Gaze ; B.B. 77). Saffron Walden {Jeffrey ; B.B. 76). Occasionally, Saffron Walden {Cat. S. W.M. 49), Twice seen near Walden {J. Clarke). "The late Mr. Joshua Clarke has told me that he formerly took this beautiful butterfly in the woods near Debden, Essex. We have four English caught ones in our ' Old Collection ' ^ that I believe he presented to the Museum, and if so, they may be from the above-named locality." {G. N. Maviia?-d, in Hit.). Rickling, near Stanstead, Aug. nth, 1879 (/. Carter; F. liv. 287). Two, Brentwood, July ist, 1882 {W.J. V. Vande7ibergh ; Ent. xv. 187). Two, captured five or six years ago in woods around Thoby Priory by the sons of Major Arkwright; also two in 1890 {Ray nor). It was formerly not uncommon in Epping Forest, though it is evidently very local It is also found in several parts of Essex and Suffolk {Stephens: I.B.E. Haust i. 51). Very rare, Epping, 1835 {E. Donbleday ; Ent. Mag., iii. 285). I'^Dping, has occurred commonly {S.M. i. 35). Now rare in Epping I'orest, Mr. B. O. Cole has seen two of late years, one in Bury ^Vood, Sewardstone, the other towards Epping. [I have several times seen the butterfly in the forest. — W. Cole.] 3 In explanation of the words " Old Collection " which occur in connection with records from Saffron Walden, Mr. Maynnrd, the Curator of the Museum, writes as follows: "The words ' OU Co/Uction' you cL^k me ahout, allude to the collection of Lepidoptera that I found in the Museum here ten years ago, when I first took charge of it ; how long they had previously been there 1 cannot say; but probably many of them from the commencement of the collection (1834), over fifty years. At the time I allude to 1 found none of them labelled as to locality of capture, &c. ; but for my own convenience, to distinguish them when they came into the general collection, since got together (from various parts of the country, many from Mr. James Back- house, of York), 1 had them labelled ' CVn? Collection.' Mr. Joseph Clarke, our oldest Trustee, and the only person now living who can give any positive information about their locality of capture, &c., him I have interrogated, and he says, ' Many of them were taken in the neighbotir- hood of .Saffron Walden, or this part of the county of Essex,' some of which he speaks more positively about in this respect than others." — En. I LIST OF PUBLICATIONS— r^;/A>/;W. ESSEX FIELD CLUB, SPECIAL MEMOIRS, VOL. I. "REPORT ON THE EAST ANGLIAN EARTHQUAKE, OF APRIL 22N1), 1884." By Prof. Raphael Meldola, F.R.S., F.C.S., F.R.A.S., M.A.I., &c. ; an J William White, F.E.S., Member of Geologists' Association. Price, neatly bound in cloth, is. G(/. " Fortunately for this country, we have not been called upon to notice a report of such an Earthquake as that which is chronicletl in the volume before us since this journal came into existence. Indeed, the authors state that no shock approaching it in intensity has been experi- enced in the British Islands for at least four centuries. A brief notice of the occurrence was given in our columns (vol. xxx., pp. 17 and 60) by Mr. Topley, and we now have a complete scientific account drawn up by Prof. R. Meldola, and presented to the Essex Field Club as a special memoir, embodying the results of his investigation in conjunction with his colleague, Mr, William White. The book consists of aliout 225 pages of readable matter, with four maps and numerous illustrations, aud the Essex Field Club has certainly earned the gratitude of scientific men in enabling the authors to give publicity to this final result of their labour Many illustrations of peculiar forms of damage are given, and there can be no doubt that the observations recorded in this section will be not only of local interest, but also of use to engineers and others who occupy themselves with the important question of Construction in Earthquake countries " — Xature, January 21st, t?86. ESSEX FIELD CLUB, SPECIAL MEMOIRS, I'OL, II, "THE BIRDS OF ESSEX: A CONTRIBUTION OF THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE COUNTRY." By Miller Christv, F.L.S. (.Author of "The Handbook of Essex," "The Trade Signs of Esse.x," &c., &c. Demy 8vo. Price I5f. To members of the E.F.C., lo.f. (id. The book is printed in the best style on superior toned antique paper, and handsomely bound in scarlet cloth. It extends to 300 pages, and more than 160 illustrations of birds are inserted, together with two plans and a frontispiece. Members of the Club may obtain single copies at the special price of lot. &(/., post free, by sending postal orders or cheque to the Librarian. ■'This work .... does equal credit to the enterprise of the Essex Field Club and the author. With the assistance of many fellow-workers, both in and without the county, Mr. Christy has striven to improve on the plans of the local lists which have hitherto appeared ; and not only h.-us he been fairly successful in this respect, but he has undoubtedly introduced some new and Uieful features. . . . The letterpress is, as a rule, written with considerable discrimination. . . . The work is thoroughly well done, and is a valuable addition to our local lists." — AthtniFum. S'.B. — .X reduction cf 25 per cent, from the above prices is allowed to members e.xcepting on the " Birds of Esse.x " and the Annual Subscriptions to the " Essex Naturalist." A SELECTION FROM MESSRS. Edmund Durrant & Co.'s List of Publications. The Ancient Sepulchral Monuments of Essex. By Fred. Chancellor, F.R.I.B.A. Imp. 410, cloth, illustrated, £\ \s. neti. Poems. By Alice E. Aroent. With an Introduction by the RroHT Rev. Bishop Claughton. Crn. 8vo, cloth, 3^. td. nett, post free. Durrant's Handbook for Essex. A Guide to all the Principal Objects uf Interest in each Parish in the County. By MlLLER CHRISTY, F.L.S. With Map, 2s. td. nett, po^t free. " Oiie of the very best Guide Books in existence." — Eiicning News. The Birds of Essex. A Contribution to the Natural History of the County. With numerous lUuUrations, two Plans, and one Plate (form- ing Vol. 11. S,)ecial Memoirs of Esse.x Field Club). By Miller Christv. Demy 8vo, scarlet cloth, I'^s. nett, post free. A History of Felsted School. With some Account of the Founder and his Descendants. By JOHN SARGEAUNr, M.A. Illustrated, nett 4f. The Trade Signs of Essex. A Popular Account of the Origin and Meaning of the Public House and other Signs, now or formerly found in the County of Essex. With Illustrations. By MiLLER Christy. Demy 8vo, cloth, 7^. 6i. nett. Daily Rays of Light for Sick and Weary Ones. Compiled] liy Edith L. Wells, with a Preface by the Rev. Prebendary Hutton. Crown 8vo, cloth, bs. The Limits of Ritual in the Church of England. By Rev. R. E. Bartlett, M.A., late Fellow and Tutor Trinity College, Oxford ;J Bampton Lecturer, 188S. Reprinted by permission from Contemporary Review. Price 3, PlaUin.) 113 The Great Frost of iSgo-gt 117 On the Range of the Primrose and the Bardfield Oxlip (Primula elatior) in North- western Essex.— By J. Fkench ; with remarks by Miller Chkisty, V.h.S. (To he continued) _ 120 The aiil/iors alone are responsible for the statements and opinions contained in their respective papers. PrBLISHED BY THE CLUB, BUCKHURST HILL, ESSEX. E. DLRRANT & CO., 90, {HGH STREET, CHELMSFORD. F.nt. St.itioners' Hall.] Issued Ma}', 1891. COMML-NRATIO-NS rtW ADVEKTISEMENTS should he addressed : — The Editor of "THE ESSEX NATURALIST," 7, Knighton Villas, Biickhiirst Hill, Esse.x. iMst of publications of the (Essex fklh €lub, APRIL, 1S91. All the Publications of the Club are still in print, ^/li Vvlumes I. and II. of the " Transactions " can only he supplied xvitli complete sets, of which about fifteen copies are in hand, the price of which will soon be raised. s. d. " Transactions " and " Proceedings " (\'ol. Til.) ... ... 16 o " Transactions " (\'ol. 1\''.) ... ... ... ... ... 8 o "Proceedings" (Vol. 1\'., Pt. I) 3 " Q' Proceedings," Vol. IV., Ft. II., completing the old series, ivtll he piihlisJied shortly.') £ s. d. Complete sets of the "Transactions" and "Proceedings" as far as published (unbound) ... " Esse.x Naturalist," \'ol. 1. (unbound) Do. \'ol. II. (unbound) Do. Vol. II r. (unbound) Do. \o\. W. (unbound) 2 10 o o 10 o 090 096 086 REPRINTED PAPERS. " Elephant Hunting in Essex." By Henry Walker, F.G.S. ... ...006 " Report on Explorations at Ambresbury Banks." (Plates) ... ...030 " Report on Explorations at Loughton Camp." (Plates) ... ...010 " Lichen Flora of Epping Forest." B}- Rev. J. AI. Crombie ... ...016 " Memoir of the late G. S. Gibson." (With Porti ait) 006 " Cryptogamic Flora of Kehedon." By E. G. Vareiine and E. D. Marquand ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... o I O Papers on the Protection of AVild i\nimal3 and Plants, and on the condition of Epping Forest, (S:c. ... ... ... ... ...006 " Report on Exploration of the Essex Deneholcs." (With Coloured Plates) 020 List of Members ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...006 Fac-simile reproductions of '• Norden's Map of Essex" (1594) ... ... o I O A few copies of other maps and plans can also he supplied. A Pamphlet giving full details of the MUSEUM AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION SCHEMES of the Club, and papers on Local Museums by Professor J. W. Trail and Mr. F. W. Rudler (Curator of the Museum of Practical Geology) has been printed, price 6d. "THE ESSEX NATURALIST," Puhlished ahout the 20th of each Month. Edited by WiLLIA.M CoLE. The Editor is now willing to receive a few select ADA'ERTISEMENTS for the Wrapper of the Essrx N.atl'RALIST. Particulars may be had on application to him at 7, Knighton \"illas, Buckhurst Hill. \_List continued on page 3 of wrapper. THI-: l.KIMUOl'TKKA 0¥ KSSKX. 97 Melanargia galatea, L. Marbled White. Geographical Distribution — Central and South Eurooe (except Spain), Armenia. \'ery local in England, absent from Scotland and Ireland. Lartia, — Green or buff (variable), darker stripes on back and sides, faint reddish line along black spiracles ; head pinkish-brown. Food — X'arious grasses, especially cocksfoot. Imago — July ; hibernates as larva. Yexy local ; it has disappeared from many of its old localities and is rapidly becoming rare in others ; flight feeble and short. Said to be extinct in Suffolk and Yorkshire. " It is most frequent with us round Braintree in Essex ; I first observed it flying this year [1690] in the month of June, about the feast of St. John Baptist, particularly in marshy and wet places " {Ray, H.I. 116). This species is figured twice in Benj. Allen's MS. book. Felstead {Rep. F.S.N. H.S., ii. 44). Mersey Island, Stour and Hart- ley Woods { Jenny n ; V.M. 71). In great plenty, Hartley ^^'ood, St. Osyth {^'J/ac" ; F. xii 430). Three or four on the railway banks near Lexden ; it has disappeared from Hartley Wood, St. Osyth, where it was formerly common {Hanvood ; B.B. 79) One, Colchester, 1859 {Hanvood ; E. W.I. vii. 28). One, Hazeleigh, some years since {Ray nor ; T.E.F.C. iii. 38). Common along the coast and on the slopes near Hadleigh Castle {Vaughan ; E.N. iii. 126). I captured one on Hadleigh Castle slopes at our field meeting, July 13th, 1889 {Fitch : E.N. iii. 284). I have found it fairly common in Canvey and at South Benfleet and Thundersley, 1872-4. In profusion on Laindon Hills (// Corder, N.H.J. ii. 132.) Epping {E. Doubleday : B.B. 79) Epping, common {S.M. i. 26). High Beach, nearly disappeared from woods east of Epping, 1835 {E. Doubleday ; Enf. Alag. iii. 150). Hog Hill, Hainhault Forest, much scarcer now than formerly, July, 1857 {W. Gates; E.W.I, ii. 71). Used to occur, Hainhault Forest {English ; Proc. E.F.C. iv. xxxiii.). Pararge egeria, L. Speckled Wood. Geographical Distribution— (l,QX\\.xd\,'Sov^.\\ -i-Viil South-west Europe, X. Africa, Syria. Throughout Britain. Larva — Dull green with greenish-yellow stripes, head green. Food — Grasses, especially cocksfoot. Imago — April, Jul)' and August, hibernates as larva ? or pupa? (see Entom. .\ii. 3, 57). On April 23rd, 1873, Mr. Buckler received from Rev. John Hellins three larvae that he had brought through hibernation, having reared them from the eggs, one pupated on Ma}- 2nd and emerged on June 4th (Zrtrz/7ian ; Y.E. 11 ; B.B.lli^'). Edward Newman described the larva and pupa of this butterfly (^Enl. ii. 90), and says, " My acquaintance with the larva and pupa was made, very many years ago, in Mr. Doubleday 's garden at Epping, where the very plant oi Rttmex liydrolapathiim on which the larvae fed is still in existence." Erom Sawtry, on June 6th, 1841, H. Doubleday writes, " In Holm Fen, on the edge of Whittlesea Mere, I got about eighty caterpillars of the lovely Lyctvna dispart In his next he says, " I hope to have some good specimens of Z. dispar, as I sent Edward about 120 caterpillars." On Nov. 20th, 1841, he writes, " Becker, of Wiesbaden, is now in London. He was very anxious to get a number of dispar, and I gave him sixty specimens." For some reminiscences of this butterfly see Entom. xvi. 129.] Polyommatus phlceas, L. Small Copper. Geographical Distribution — Europe, Asia to Himalaya and Japan, North Africa, North America. Throughout Britain. Larva — Apple-green, with a rose-pink stripe on back and sides (sometimes indistinct), spiracles flesh-colour, head dingy -green or pale brown. Food — Dock, especially sorrel-dock. Image — April to October ; hibernates as larva. Generally distributed and common throughout the county, but by no means so abundant as was the case only a few years ago. In Mr. Cole's cabinet is a + specimen in which the copper-coloured bands on the hind wings are reduced to a few dashes ; this specimen was taken by Mr. H. A. Cole, on the roadside between the " Wake Arms " and Epping, June 3rd, 1872. Mr. Dale had a similar speci- men. {B.B. 115). Lycaena aegon, Schiff. Silver-studded Blue. Geographical Distribution — Europe, North and West Asia to Persia, and perhaps Japan. Throughout Britain. Larva — Bright yellow-green, blackish-brown stripe edged with whitish on back, small brown plate on second segment, greenish-yellow lines at sides, whitish line along lateral ridge ; head black. Food — Common bird's-foot {Oinithopus perpusillus). Imago — July ; hibernates as ovum. Local, and in this county apparently almost confined to one locality in F^pjiing Forest. THE LEPIDOPTERA OF ESSEX. 103 Swarms in certain spots by the side of our [Epping] Forest {^H. Doubleday ; Ent. iii. 36). Epping, abundant (S.Af. i. 61). \'ery common on a piece of dry ground along the side of the road near High Beach {Argent; B.B. 121). On rushes at the back of the '' King's Oak " {English ; Buxtofi^s E.F. 100). Still very common in this locality, opposite High Beach Church {B. G. Cole). Gynan- dromorphous specimen from Loughton, June, 1868 {W. Cole; Proc. E.F.C. i. xi.) Sudbury ( W. D. King; B.B. i2t). Lycaena astrarche, Bgstr. Brown Argus. Geographical Distribution — Europe, except extreme north, Asia to Himalaya, North Africa. England and Scotland, but absent from Ireland. Larva — Pale £;reen, pink stripe on back, broad purplish-pink stripe on sides ; head black. Food — Yioc^-rose (^Helianthernum)'a.x\d Erodium. Imago — May, June, and .August ; hibernates as larva. Not rare, but local. High Beach, Epping (^. Doubleday ; Ent. Mag. iii. 150). In plenty within one mile of Epping {E. Doubleday., Ent. Mag. iii. 285). Epping {S.M. i. 62). Common in one wood, Great Warley {Raynor). Felsted {Rep. F.S.N.H.S. ii. 44). Scarce, Witham {Burnell ; M.N.H. (2) i. 602). Sometimes common, but local, Hazeleigh {Raynor; T. E.F.C. iii. 38). I have also taken it commonly at Purleigh, and on Osey. Very scarce in Colchester district, Mr. Harwood has not taken twenty. One, Hadleigh Castle, i860 {Vaughan ; E.N. iii. 126). Southchurch VVick, July 28th, 1826 {C. Parsons ; MS. Journal). Lawn of the Parsonage and Cliffs, Wrabness {/ermyn ; V.M. 75). One near Wood Hall, Sudbury {W. D. King?; F.S./., Dec, 1838). Haverhill and Kedington {Gaze : Ent. i. 278). Lycaena icarus, Rott. Common Blue. Geographical Distribution — Europe, North and West Asia to Himalaya, North Africa. Throughout Britain. Larva — Green or olive, darker stripe on back bordered by paler, light green stripe on sides, three pale oblique stripes on each segment ; head black. Food — Restharrow, bird's-foot trefoil, and other papilionaceac. Imago — May to Septem- ber ; hibernates as larva. Abundant everywhere, except in towns [and often not uncommon there, being brought in with farm produce. I have seen several specimens in Mark Lane, London, and it is often almost abundant in Covent Garden. — IV. Cole]. I04 THE LEPIDOP'IERA OF ESSEX. Lycaena bellargus, Rott. Clifden Blue. Geographical Distribution — Central and South Europe, extending northward to Scandinavia, West Asia, North Africa. In Britain absent from Scotland and Ireland. Larva — Deep full green covered with black specks bearing black bristles, two yellow stripes on back and yellow st.-ipe at sides ; head dark brown. Food — Hippocrepis, bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus J, &c. Imago — May and June ; hibernates as larva. Mr. Joseph Clarke informs me that this species has certainly been caught once or twice in the Saffron AValden district. I can find no published record. Lycaena corydon, F. Chalk-hill Blue. Geographical Distribution— (ZQ.x\\.x-2i\ TiViA South Eu- ope, West Asia. England, not Scotland or Ireland. Larva — Light bright green covered with black specks bearing light brown bristles, two yellow stripes on back and yellow stripe at sides ; head dark brown. Food — Various papilionaceae, especially Hippocrepis^ bird's-foot trefoil, kidney vetch and trefoil. Imago — June to August ; hibernates as larva. Almost exclusively confined to chalky soils, consequently rare and very local in Essex. Also recently observed by Mr. Dale near the town of Newport in Essex {Ray ; H.I. 131). Saffron Walden {Jeffrey ; B.B. 132 ; Cat. S. W.M. 50). Six, Saffron Walden {Clarke). I have never taken this myself, but was told that a pair had been caught in a garden at Sudbury {W. D. King?; F.S./., Dec, 1838). Colchester, 1859 {Harwood ; E. W.I. vii. 28). Very rare, Colchester, one or two on the railway banks only. About a dozen in High Woods, Colchester [1870]; not seen before or since {Harwood; B.B. 132). Several, Epping Forest, 1859 and previously {J. W. Downing : E.W.I. v'\\. 51). About 1859 it appeared in an open part of Epping Forest and a year or two afterwards was common in several localities in the neighbourhood — some of them five or six miles apart. It was plentiful near Loughton and in clover-fields at Epping {H. Douhleday ; E.M.M. iii. 91). Observed here and therethrough the Forest, 1866 {E. Newman ; B.B. 132). One, Loughton, July 29th, 1885 {E. B. Bishop ; Ent. xviii. 242). One male, between Leigh and Southend ; " It was probably a railway excursionist from Purfleet " ( Vaughan ; ■ E.N. iii. 126). I have no record of it from the Grays district, but it doubtless occurs there. Rev. G. H. Raynor writes : " Stray specimens have been taken at Childerditch, probably stragglers from Grays where the species occurs regularly." THE Ll'.riDOFIKRA OF ESSEX. I05 Lycaena argiolus, L. Azure Blue. Geographical Diitnhiition — Europe and Asia (except polar regions), North Africa. Closel}' allied species in Himalaya and Xorth America. In Britain absent from Scotland. Larva — Dark greenish-grey or bright yellowish-green (variable), dark green dorsal line ; head purplish-brown. Some varieties marked with crimson on back and sides. Food — Flowers of hoU}', ivy rarely, buckthorn or dogwood. Imago — .-Xpril and May, July and August ; hibernates as pupa. P'airly common and generally distributed throughout the county, the spring brood being much the more abundant. [Very common in the holly thickets in Epping Forest and in the neighbouring gardens. The first time I saw the butterfly was on May ist, 1862, flitting in great numbers around the ivy-clad tower of old Chingford Church.^ B. G. 6Wd'.] Lycaena semiargus, Rott. Mazarine Blue. Geographical Distribution — Europe, North and West Asia to Amur. Local and almost extinct in England ; does not occur in Scotland or Ireland. Mr. Joseph Clarke writes me that this rare, if not now extinct, species in Britain, has been taken in the Saffron Walden district— a likely locality. In a further communication he tells me there are two specimens in the Museum " old collection," [Mr. Maynard says five]. It was reported, doubtless erroneously, from Epping Forest, August 31st, i860 {W. Banks ; Z. xviii. 7249). Lycaena minima, Fues. Small Blue. Geographical Distribution — Europe, except extreme north and south ; North and West Asia to Amur. Throughout Britain. Larva — Pinkish-brown, flesh-colour or chocolate, darker line on back, dark brown oblique dash on each segment, whitish stripe at side ; head black. Mr. Hellins' description differs greatly from that of several Continental entomologists ; probably the larva is very variable. Food — Flowers and seeds of vetches, especi- ally kidney vetch (^Anthyllis vubierurid). Imago — June ; hibernates as larva. Newman says this species appears in his Essex list {B.B. 135) but does not give locality. Morris says, " near Amesbury and Hainhault Forest" {Hist. B.B. 138.) Mr. Joseph Clarke writes me, " I caught one only against the milestone on the Debden road, a mile south of Walden ; but there are eight others in the Museum ' old collection,' all caught, I believe, in this district of Essex." Nemeobius lucina, E. Duke of Burgundy. Geographical Distribution — Central and West Europe, from South Sweden to Balkans. In Britain, England and South-west Scotland, not Ireland. Larva — Reddish-brown, row of black triangular marks on back, two blackish- To6 THE LEPIDOPTERA OF ESSEX. brown lines on side, pule cream-brown line below spiracles ; head brown. Food — Primrose, cowslip. Imago — May and June ; hibernates as pupa. Rare and very local, especially so considering how common is its food-plant ; always in or on the borders of woods. Bromley Thickets and Hartley Wood [St. Osyth] {Jermyn ; V.M. 65). Hartley Wood, St. Osyth {Hartvood ; E.M.M. iv. 162 ; B.B. 104). Still occurs in several of the larger woods in Tendring Hundred {Ilanvood). Gaynes Park and Ongar Park Woods, near Epping, 1839-41. "It held its own fairly well for three years, and then suddenly vanished, never to appear again within my knowledge " {EjigHsh ; E-N". i. no). Epping {S.M. i. 49). Woodham Ferris Hall ^V'ood, common hut \ocvl\ {Ray nor ; T.E.F.C. iii. 38). East- wood, not common ( Frt'/^^-^a-^^/ jS'.iV. iii. 126). Used formerly to be taken near Saffron Walden ; there are fifteen specimens in the " old collection " {G. N. Maynard). Syrichthus malvae, L. Grizzled Skipper. Geographical Distrtbution — Europe, North and West Asia. In Britain doubt- fully absent from Ireland. Larva — Ochreous-green, pinkish on back of anterior segments, five faint lines ; head dark purplish-brown. Food — Barren wild strawberry, wild raspberry and bramble. Imago — May, August (rarely) ; hibernates as pupa. Common throughout the county, but local, and, from its buzzing, Noctua-like flight, not easily seen or captured. Nisoniades tages, L. Dingy Skipper. Geographical Distribution — Europe, North and West Asia (except polar regions). Throughout Britain. Larva — Yellowish-green, darker line on back, pale streak below small red spiracles; head purplish-brown. Food — Bird's-foot trefoil. Imago — May, August ; hibernates as larva. Not common, and local. It is very inconspicuous, and difficult to see or capture. Only a single specimen from Colchester district, captured near Langham Lodge Wood by Tillaney, thirty years ago ; Mr. Harwood has never seen this species alive. \N. tages is not uncommon in some seasons in Epping Forest ; Prof Meldola found it somewhat abundantly north of Monk's ^^'ood in June, 1889. We again saw it in some numbers in 1890. — JV. Cole\ Hesperia thaumas, Hufn. Small Skipper. Geographical Distribution — Central and South Europe to Scandinavia, West Asia, North Africa, North America. In Britain absent from Scotland. Larva — \J\n\\\. green, darker stripe on back, two paler stripes on side ; head, THE LEPIDOPTKRA OF ESSEX. I07 deep green. Food — Nolens^ brume and other grasses, in spun-logellier leaves. Imago — July ; hibernates as larva. Common throughout, especially in the marshes. Newman says {B.B. 175): "In Essex it occurs in open swampy places that are covered with rushes." [Very common in the " rushy plains " in Monk's AVood, Epping Forest. — B. G. Co/e.] Hesperia lineola, Ochs. Narrow-lined Skipper. Geographical Distribution — Europe, North and West Asia (except polar regions) North Africa. Larva — Bright green, five yellow lines on back and sides ; head reddibh. Fo:)d — Grasses. Imago — July ; hibernates as larva. Mr. Hawes brought this forward as a British species in the " Entomologist " for January, 1890, upon the strength of three males taken in July, 1888, "in one of the eastern counties," really in Hartley Wood, St. Osyth. It has since occurred in several counties and commonly in Essex, but is local, though widely distributed ; hitherto overlooked. South-east Essex, in 1889 {Carrington ; E/it.\\m.^, 72). Frequent in Essex, 1885-8 {A./. Spiller ; Ent. xxiii. 56). On marshes near Benfleet and Shoeburyness i^F. G. Whittle ; Ent. xxiii. 57, 99) Mr. Bloomfield exhibited two specimens taken in Essex in 1888 at South London Entomological Society, Feb. 27th, 1890 {Ent. xxiii. 142). Numerous specimens, Leigh, July 25th, 1890 {South; Ent. xxiii. 264, 296). Southend, in 1882 {Bouttell ; Ent. xxiii. 296). Pale variety from Shoeburyness {Nussey ; Ent. xxiii. 296). Long series on the marshes at Leigh (Tui^^we// ; Ent. xxiii. 320). St. Osyth, common ; single specimen near Chappel (Ifaru'ood). Bures ( F. Gerrard). Hesperia sylvanus, Esp. Large Skipper. Geographical Distribution — Europe, except extreme north, North and West Asia to the Amur, and perhaps to Japan. Close ally in North America. Throughout Britain. Larva — Pale bluish-green, indistinct darker line on back, paler line above feet ; head, crim:on-bro\vn. Food — Hairy woodrush, couch, cocksfoot and other grasses, in rolleJ-up blades. Imago — May, June and August ; hibernates as larva. Common and generally distributed in the uplands and woodlands; more common than the Small Skipper. Hesperia comma, L. Silver-spotted Skipper. Geogruphual Distribution — Europe, Asia. Close ally in North America. England. Io8 THE LEPIDOPTERA OF ?:SSEX. /^,-7,.7_01ive-?reen, two white spots on tenth and eleventh se.s;ments ; head black. /=bo/— Birds'-foot, bird's-foot trefoil, and other leguminous plants. Itnigo — Jul}', August ; hibernates as ovum. Apparently very rare and local. Three, Danbury, 2nd August, 1884 {Fitch; E.N. ii. 239). Saffron Walden {Cat. S.W.M. 50). Mr. Joseph Clarke writes: " There are five specimens in the ' old collection,' all caught in this neighbourhood." LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS OF TITLES OF WORKS CITED. B.B. Newman's British Butterflies (1871). B.B. Humphreys and VVestwood, British Butterflies (1848). Buxtons E. F. E. N. Buxton's Epping Forest (3rd ed. 1890). Cat. S.W.M. Abridged Catalogue of the Saffron Walden xVIuseum (1843). E.A. Entomologists' Annual (1855-74). E.M.M. Entomologists' Monthly Magazine (1864-91). E.N. Essex Naturalist (1887-91). Eng. M. and B. Wilkes, English Moths and Butterflies (174760). Ent. Entomologist (1840-42, 1864-91). Ent. Mag. Entomological Magazine (1833-38). E.R. Entomologists' Record (1890-91). E.W.I. Entomologists' Weekly Intelligencer (1856-61). F. Field (1853-91). F.S.J. Fulcher's Sudbury Journal (1838). Hist. B.B. Morris' History of British Butterflies (i860). H.I. Ray's Historia Insectorum (1710). I.B.E. Haust. Stephens' Illustrations of British Entomology, Haustellata (1827-35). K.O.J. Kidd's Own Journal (1852-54). Larvce. Buckler's Larvae of British Butterflies and Moths (1885-88). Lep. Brit. Haworth's Lepidoptera Britanriica (1803-29). M.N.H. Magazine of Natural History, Charlesworth's 2nd Series (1837-40). N.H.J. Natural History Journal (1877-91). Proc. E.F.C. Proceedings Essex Field Club (1880-84). Proc. E.S.L, Proceedings Entomological Society of London (1833-91). P.S.L E.S. Proceedings South London Entomological Society (1873-87). Rep. F.S.N.H.S. Report of the Felsted School Natural History Society (1877-90). S.G. Science Gossip (1S65-91). S.M. Stainton's Manual of Butterflies and Moths (1S57-59). T. E.F.C. Transactions Essex Field Club (i88c-86). T. E.S.L. Transactions Entomological Society of London (1834-91). Tijdschrift. Tijdschriftvoor Entomologie (1858-91). V.M. Miss Jermyn's Butterfly Collector's Vade Mecum (1827). Y.E. Young England — Newman's Butterfly Number. Z. Zoologist (1843-91). log CORRESPONDENCE. BOULDER-CLAY IN ESSEX. Sir, — Referrino; to the paper "On the Boulder-clay in Essex" (Essex Naturalist, vol. iv. pp. 199-201), will Mr. Monckton, or any other geologist, adduce a single particle of evidence of the passage of anything resembling an ice- sheet over any part of the area between Thames and Humber ? There are hundreds, if not thousands, of sections ampl}' disproving this hypothetical :igency, and demonstrating the deposition of the Boulder-clay in a berg-covered sea as clearly as that of the subjacent gravels and sands in one less charged with clayey detritus. " An ounce of fact is worth a ton of theor)-," and the forcing of evidince into harmony with conclusions drawn from observ;itions in other and entirely different regions has in this matter, as in others, led to the promulgation of the most contradictory ideas. The ice-sheet which has scored the hardest rocks of the Northern mountains, under the impulse of a scarcely perceptible gradient, must be supposed in East Anglia to have glided over hills of fine sand without disturbing a grain of their surface ! Believe it who can ! — Yours, W. H. DalTON. Derby Road, Woodford. Sir, — In reply to Mr. Dalton I should say it is unlikely that an ice-sheet would move over hills of fine sand without disturbing a grain of their surface, ai:d I should think it improbable that any one holds such a view. There is , however, evidence to show that an ice-sheet ma}' travel over a country without effecting any great alteration of the surface. (See Clement Reid, " Geology of Holderness" [1885], p. 42.) So far as Essex is concerned, we know that, whatever the precise process may have been, the surface of the ground over which the ice passed was to a large extent destroyed, and the materials of the older beds re-arranged. The Glacial- drift of Essex consists mainly of local material, chalk, clay, sand, and pebbles, with a small pro{)ortion of foreign material intermingled, and that seems to me the great difficulty which those who contend for the marine origin of this drift have to meet. Thus, on the south-west of the road half-way between Ingatestone and Frierning, there was last summer a pit in gravel composed of: — (a). Pebbles of flint, forming the bulk of the gravel and clearly derived for the most part from the pebble beds, remains of which still cap the high ground at Frierning Church close at hand. (/>). S'jbangular flints, many. (cj. Uuartz pebbles and a block of white quartz, 5 by 3^ inches. These must have been brought by ice from a distance. (d). Two large blocks of sandstone or quartzite. Here we find a gravel on the side of a hill mainly formeci of materials derived from the top of the hill. It does not look to me like a marine bed; it is not the least like an old sea-beach with nothing like a sea- cliff. I might give many more instances in support of my opinion that the Boulder-clay and Glacial- no NOTES, ORIC.INAL AND SELECTED. gravels were not formed under the sea. I have failed to find evidence of tlie presence of the sea in Essex in glacial times, and it seems a pity that Mr. Dalton does not mention one of the hundri-ds or thousands of sections which in his opinion prove the deposition of the BoulJer-clay and the subjacent sands and gravels in the sea. I know that two marine shells were found in gravel near Thaxted ("Memoirs of the Geological Surve}', Sheet 47" [1878], pp. 33, 42), and that many have been found in Norfolk, but the presence of marine shells is not conclusive proof of submergence (A. Geikie, " Text Book of Geology " [ 1885], p. 897), and a doubt has been expressed whether these shells are contemporaneous with the beds in which they are found (H. B. Woodward, " Geology of England and Wales" [1887J p. 504). In answer to Mr. Dalton's request for evidence of the passage of an ice-sheet over part of the area between the Thames and the Humber I would refer to the remarks of Mr. Skertchly in the " Great Ice Age," by James Geikie (1877), pp. 354-362, and to Clement Reid, " Geology of Cromer," (1882), p. 1 14, an J H. B. Woodward, on the "Glacial Drifts in Norfolk " Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. ix. p. 122 (1885).— I a-n, etc., Horace W. Monckton. 3 Pump Courts Temple. NOTES, ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. Wild Swans inland in Essex. — For upwards of a month the " Sedgy Lea " has been a solid highway for thousands of skaters and pedestrians. A good long-distance skater might travel from Limehouse to Hertford, if he were oblivious to rough ice and did not object taking to the towpath frequently in order to pass the locks and clusters of ice-bound barges. On Monday afternoon, January 19th, about four o'clock, a striking phenomenon was witnessed by myself and several other persons near Pigott's Lock, Edmonton. Suddenly, coming from the east, appeared a f^ock of Wild Swans, which, with necks outstretched and shrill clamour, flew low over the river, going west. It was a pretty sight, the rays of the setting sun gleaming on their pure white plumage. Wild Swans (these were probably " Whoopers," Cygnits miisicus) are not uncommon, I believe, on the Essex coast in severe winters, but it needs an Arctic climate, like that of the last weeks, to induce a flock to venture so far inland. — Henry A. Cole, Buckhurst Hill. [Under the title "Visitors from the North-West," a correspondent (" E. B., Wakes Colne Rectory "), wrote as follows to the '• Essex Standard " on January 2lst: "About four o'clock on Tuesday afternoon, whilst walking on Wakes Green, I observed a remarkable flight of birds, travelling at a great height and a rapid pace, in a south-easterly direction. On they came, all from the north-west, glowing at that time with the ruddy fires of the setting sun, battalion after battalion, forming a wide and sweeping semicircle. They had in every case an advanced guard, and these also acted as a rearguard to t -.e battalion in front, thus keeping all the battalions in touch with each other. They did not make a [lerfect semicircle, as the leaders formed a sort of wedge in front, clearing a course, as it were, and showing the wa}^ to those behind them. Whence came they ? We can hardly reply, in the language of Longfellow, in ' Evangeline ' — " ' Birds of pass.-\gc sailed through the leaden air, from the ice-bound Desolate Northern bays, to the shores of tropical islands.' notp:s, original and sklfcti-.d. 1 1 1 \Vhither were th-^y wendinj^ tlieir wny 1 \Vhat birds were they ? Perhaps some of your rea lers can answer these questions." These were clearl}' not swans ; we shall he tjlad to hear from any ornithclogical reader on the subject. — En.]. The Immigration of Bustards during the Past Winter. — In the "Zoologist" for March, Mr. Harting gi\es some interesting particulars of the recenc visitation of Bustards, which recalls that of 1879-80 (during which a Hustard was shot in Essex, see Trans. Fi.F.C. i. 59), when seven or eight speci- mens were recorded in the " Zoologist." Derails of the occurrence of seven birds in different parts of England during the past w'inter are given by Mr. Harting, including the one shot at Tillingham, in Essex, already noticed in the Essex NatI'KALIST (vol. iv. p. 214.) He refers to the curious fact that, although Bus- tards formerly bred in England, it is not chiring the breeding season that they now visit us ; they come as winter guests ; wh}', it is not easy to guess. Fi.iiCK C1K Will) S\v.\N>; PASSING ovEK THK LiCA, Jan. igTH. — Drawn by H. .\ C(ii.i:. Grey Phalarope at Stratford.— Mr. .\rthur V . Gates, of Marsh Gate Lane, Stratford, records in the " Zoologist " for March that a specimen of Phalaroptts /iilicarius was shot on the marshes near Stratford on November 8lh, 1890. Supposed Occurrence of the Sand Lizard at Woodford : a Correc- tion.— The specimen exhibited by Mr. Oldham at the meeting of the Club, on November 8th last (E.N. vol. iv. p. 225), as a Sand Lizard {^Lacerler agilis), has been submitted by Dr. Laver to Mr, Boulanger of the British Museum, who writes that it " is a South European species, Z. muralis, possibly from Italy," The lizard must have escaped from some vivarium or fern-case in Woodford, and the supposed record of Z. agilis must be struck out. 112 NOTES, ORIGINAr> AND SELECTED. Land and Freshwater Shells of the Roding Valley. — I have found Helix caperatii, which Mr. Crouch records from the chalk at Grays, on the ridge of Chalky Boulder-clay which divides the Roding from the Cripsey Brook. Helix rufescens and H. ericetorum, both common on chalk lands, I have also found on the Chalky Boulder-clay near Fyfield, and in the neighbourhood of Ongar. I have had most successful hunts after water shells in old pits dug in the Boulder- clay for chalk, and now full of water. One afternoon I collected an abundance of Valvata cristata, Planorhis nitiJuSy P. nautileus, P. carinatus and Ancylus lacustris from these old pits, all of which shells I was very pleased to meet with. — HORACE W. MoxCKTON, F.G.S., Pump Court, Temple, March i6th, 1891. Primula elatior, Jacq. — In the April number of the "Journal of Botany,' our member. Prof. C. C. Babington, F.R.S., makes the following observations on this peculiarly Essex species, which are interesting in connection with Mr. Christy's and Mr. t'lench's papers : " I ha\e a plant of this {P. elatior), growing in a pot, and also one of P. vulgaris ; this caused me to notice the development of the young leaves. I found a most marked difference between them when very young. Those of P. elatior are transversely plicate, so strongly as to show no connecting veins between the ridges ; in P. vulgaris the leaves are conspicuously reticulate-rugose from the very first. As the lea\'es increase in size this difference becomes much less apparent, and does not attract attention. Unfortunately 1 have not a root of P. veris to examine on this point." Exceptionally Small Rainfall of the Last Eight Months. — Our mem- ber, Mr. F. Chancellor, J. P., writes advising economy with respect to the use of water this summer, owing to the meagre rainfall during the past winter. He says: "With every care it will, I am afraid, be difficult to avert a water famine in some districts during the coming summer and autumn. The following is a table of the rainfall for the corresponding eight months of the ten previous years. This will show that I am not unnecessarily drawing attention to the matter : — From Sept., 1880, to April, 1881, inclusive 19-88 15-64 , 20-93 14-69 14-18 ... 15-94 12-43 15-40 13-43 15-16 I88I „ 1882 1882 n 1883 1883 1884 1884 „ 1885 1885 „ 1886 1886 „ 1887 1887 „ 1888 1888 „ IS89 1889 „ 1890 10)157-68 Average for ten years ... ... ... I5'76 From Se,)t., 1890, to April, 1891, inclusive ... ... ... 8-28 or \ery little more than half the average of the last ten years." THE UNDULATIONS OF THE CHALK IM ESSEX. \W \V. H. DAl.TON, F.G.S , /' Uislricts, 8vo, C/te/ms/orJ [i8gi]. 114 THK UNDULATIONS OK THE CHALK IN ESSEX. of the Chalk occurs, one, two, three, or more, hundred feet above or below the sea-level, the ciphers being omitted for the sake of distinct- ness, and the plus and minus signs respectively indicating height above and depth below the Ordnance Datum. The zero^ of course, implies that the Chalk at or near that line is just at sea-level. The straighter lines are faults whose existence is imperceptible on the surface of homogeneous clay, even where not concealed by drift, but which are sufficiently established by their effect on the Chalk contour- lines. The Chalk outcrops from beneath the Tertiary sands along lines running from Sudbury to Bishop's Stortford, and from East Tilbury to near Wennington. To the north and south respectively of these lines of outcrop occur isolated patches of the Tertiary beds, only the more important of which can be shown on so small a map. The Chalk is not everywhere at the surface in the spaces de- nuded of their original Tertiary covering, for (ilacial and Post- Glacial drifts mask both Tertiary and Cretaceous areas, and much of the ground that is shown as Chalk in the map consists of these gravels and clays, extending to depths of sometimes more than loo feet. I have considered it impracticable to attempt to make out any undulations in the Chalk beyond the Tertiary boundary, for the simple reason that where the eroding forces of the Glacial sea laid bare the Chalk, they dealt with it as erratically as with the Tertiary beds, cutting it into deep and shallow, at the will of the changing currents. Instead, therefore, of an undulating plane whose position may be calculated with a fair approximation to accuracy, as is the case under the Tertiary area, we cannot safely pronounce on the position of the Chalk under the Drift fifty yards beyond where it is seen, or proved by boring. Mr. Whitaker has shown us'^ how in the Cam valley, between flanks of Chalk, the alluvium, barely 300 yards wide, conceals a drift-filled fissure of great depth, showing that calculations from exposures in such an area are liable to be completely erroneous. When East Anglia becomes the scene of numerous collieries, perhaps we shall learn from the undulations of the under-surface of the Chalk that which we cannot gather from the open surface, which was lost in the Glacial period. Accordingly I have left that region untouched, and dealt only with the area where the (ilacial erosion has not succeeded in reaching the Chalk. 2 Essex Nat. \o1. iii pp. 140-142, i88y ; (Juan. Jouni. Geol. Soc. vol. xliv. pp. 333-340 [1890). THE UNDULATIONS OF ITIK CIIAI.K. IN ESSEX. II5 It will be seen that about Ware, at Bishop's Stortford, Sudbury, and Ipiswich, the Chalk boundary is very sinuous, whilst between those points it forms curves for the most part broad and smooth. That is simply due to our knowledge at the points mentioned, and our ignorance as to the intervals. We do not know what sinuosities are present under the pall of drift, and w^e can only carry the hypo- thetical line between sections that prove the absence of Tertiary beds to the north, and their presence to the south. Lately a well sunk northward of the boundary assumed in the (Geological Survey map at Little Sampford proved the further extension of the Tertiaries. Such corrections (or their converse, the reduction of the hypothetical area of Tertiary beds) are most welcome and useful. The general strike is E.N.E. from Ware to Sudbury, and thence E. to Bramford. Beyond the limits of the map, it runs N.E. to Saxmundham, and N. to Yarmouth. The base of the Chalk is approximately parallel to this line, and so is the the great faulted undulation of Tiptree Heath, which I described several years ago.^ That important flexure has quite recently been again proved at Messing, and its course through Suffolk is traceable at Shelly, Ipswich, Woodbridge, and Lowestoft. Along Tiptree ridge it is a faulted anticlinal for several miles. From Wickham Bishop it is traceable with less distinctness by Danbury to the south-west, its effects being complicated by a series of obliquely-transverse flexures and fractures in a manner defying verbal description. The parallel fault from ^V'alton to Prittlewell, the anticlinal of Mersea and Burnham, and the bold flexure at Royston (where the Chalk dips at 40^ to N.N.W.) point to some general agency affecting a wide area, and in like manner the east and west fractures from Greenwich to Erith, and ^Valthamstow to Burnham, are probably of the same age and origin as the parallel anticlinals of the Stour estuary (not shown by the contours), and that in which Bentley occurs (as indicated by the zero-line.) The lines of flexure and fault of N.W.-S.E. trend are less regular, of shorter continuance and variable direction, and appear to be the result of transverse strains at the time of the later of the previously- mentioned movements in a district weakened by the earlier series. It seems probable, for instance, that the triangular bit of country between Chigwell, Havering and Romford was crushed into its present structure of anticline and syncline by pressure from the 3 Trans Essex Field Club, vol. ii, pp. 15-18, iS3i. Il6 THK UNDULAIIONS OF THE CHALK IN ESSEX. north-west acting obliquely to the earlier fracture between Waltham- stow and Romford, so that, whilst a deep trough was formed from Wickham Hishop to Havering, a transverse fracture was produced at the latter place. The ground to the south-west of this, being forced into the angle, yielded along a line passing through Chigwell, and there produced a faulted synclinal of much greater importance than the slight depression passing southward from Havering. Between these synclines the Chalk rises in Hainault Forest to the sea-level, whilst to east, west and south it is from two to three hundred feet lower. In like manner the shallow depression between Horndon-on-the- Hill and S. Ockendon becomes a sharp and deep fold between Rain- ham and Dagenham, is unrecognisable near Barking, but re-appears with its normal east and west trend from East Ham to Canning Town. Probably the synclinal of Benfleet is part of the same fold, though obliterated at Fobbing and Vange by predominant pressure oblique to the original flexuring. I do not think it necessary to describe in words the course of the several contours, as the map supersedes any verbal account, and the rest of the county calls for no special notice. Altogether the Essex Chalk shows a range of elevation of about 1200 feet from its greatest depression at Fowlness, over 600 feet below the sea-level, to the 600 feet above sea which, but for denudation, it would exceed in the north- western corner of the county. I believe one is expected to conclude a summary of facts such as the foregoing with a little theorising as to the causes of the phenomena described. I would suggest for the N.E.-S.W. folds, a slipping of the Chalk and Tertiary beds towards the line of main depression of the London Basin, probably over the surface of the Gault, but pinching up some of it into the folds. This slipping could only occur after great erosion of the upper beds. The limits of the Boulder-clay indicate a great bank or land-area as existing in South Essex late in the Glacial period ; over, at any rate, the Essex half of the Thames valley. What was then a hill-range above the level of the Glacial sea is now South Essex, with the Thames, Crouch and Blackwater estuaries, proving enormous denudation (or differential subsidence) in early Post-glacial times. Such reduction in thickness of the Tertiary deposits might, I venture to suggest, result in a series of undulations in the Chalk by gravitation, without invoking Messrs. Vulcan & Co., the agents generally credited with all such i THK CKKAT IKOST OF 1890-91. II7 disturbances. The presence of Glacial gravel on the crest of the Tijitree ridge points to its elevation during; the (ilacial period. I have referred to the possibility in the future of collieries being worked in Essex, but, though the undulations I have endeavoured to portray necessarily aflfect the subjacent beds, this is not a suitable occasion to discuss the question of the constitution of the ancient basis upon which the Secondary rocks of S.E. England repose. I will only say here that I hold Mr. Godwin Austen's views on the sub- ject to have been a priori untenable, and to have been disproved by every successive boring that has reached the Paljeozoic rocks in the south-east counties ; and that, but for the glamour of possible wealth in concealed coal, his speculations would have received but little notice. Few things can be clearer than that the Boulonnais and the Warwickshire coal-fields, with their N.W. strike in common, are better criteria foi the general trend of the older rocks under Essex than the Somersetshire and Belgian coal-fields, which are so much more remote. That Coal-Measures exist, with a N.W.-S.E. strike, under a great part of eastern England I have held as certain for more than a dozen years, whilst every now and then proofs have been dis- covered of older rocks to the westward in Hertfordshire, Middlesex and Surrey. Harwich, with its Carboniferous rock of uncertain horizon, and Dover, with its unquestioned Coal-Measures, areas yet the only Carboniferous localities — and they lie between the North France and Midland English coal-fields. I hope to live to see many a colliery at work in Essex, but it must be in regions outside of the great depressions I have traced, for these may be due to the deep- seated causes, carrying down the Coal-Measures as well as the upper strata. THE GREAT FROST OF 1890-91. TN a paper read before the Royal Meteorological Society on February i8th, -'- Mr. C. Harding gave some details of the late prolonged frost, which are interesting as supplementing the papers of Dr. Thresh and Mr. French in the last number of the Essex Naturalist. The paper dealt with the whole period of the frost from November 25th to January 22nd, and it was shown that over nearly the whole of the south-east of England the mean temperature for the fifty-nine days was more than 2 deg. below freezing point, while at seaside stations on the coast of Kent, Sussex, and Hampshire, the mean was only 32 de^^. [l8 THE CREAT FROST OF 189O-9I. In the extreme north of Scotland, as well as in the west of Ireland, the mean was 10 deg. higher than in the south-east of England. In the southern Midlands, and in parts of the south of England, the mean temperature for the fifty-nine days was more than 10 deg. below the average, but in the north of England the deficiency did not amount to 5 deg., and in the extreme north of Scotland it was less than i deg. The lowest authentic reading was o-6 deg. at Stokesay, in Shropshire, but almost equally low temperatures occurred at other periods of the frost. At many places in the south and south-west of England, as well as in parts of Scotland and Ireland, the greatest cold throughout the period occurred at the end of November ; and at Waddon, in Surrey, the thermometer fell to i deg., a reading quite unpre- cedented at the close of the autumn. At Addington Hills, near Croydon, the thermometer was below the freezing point each night, with one exception ; and there were only two exceptions at Cambridge and Reading ; while in the Shet- lands there were only nine nights with frost, although at Biarritz frost occurred on thirty-one nights, and at Rome on six nights. At many places in England the frost was continuous night and day for twenty-five days, but at coast stations in the north of Scotland it in no case lasted throughout the twenty-four hours. On the coast of Sussex the temperature of the sea was about 14 deg. higher than the air throughout December, but on the Yorkshire coast it was only 6 deg. warmer, and in the Shetlands and on parts of the Irish coast it was only 3 deg. warmer. The Thames water off Deptford, at 2 ft. below the surface, was continuously below 34 deg. from December 23rd to January 23rd, a period of thirty-two days, while the river was blocked with ice the greater part of the time. In Regent's Park skating continued uninterruptedl}' for forty-three days, where the ice attained a thickness of over 9 in. The frost did not penetrate to the depth of 2 ft. below the surface of the ground in any part of England, but in many places, especially in the south and east, the ground was frozen for several days at the depth of i ft. and at 6|in. for upwards of a month. In the neighbourhood of London the cold was more prolonged than in any previous frost during the last century, the next longest spell being 52 days in the winter of 1794-5, while in 1838 frost last lasted for fifty days, and in 1788-9 for fortj'-nine days. At Greenwich the mean was 9-5 deg. below thetaverage, and in some parts it was more than 10 deg. below, while in the extreme north of Scotland it was approximately in agreement with average conditions. Mr. Harding also mentioned the singular fact that on only one day — January 13th — was the mean daily temperature at Greenwich in excess of the average daily mean for sixty years. The frost throughout was remarkable on account of the absence of any high temperatures. Nearly all the prolonged frosts of the last century, said Mr. Harding, were followed by a fairly dry spring and summer, but the accompanying weather was by no means always hot. Mr. Harding explained the great difference between the temperatures of Scotland and Ireland and that of England by the fact that during the whole period there was a large area of high barometric readings over Europe which maintained its own limits. The incoming disturbances from the Atlantic could not make headway into Europe, but skirted to the westward of our islands, their centres keeping well out into the Atlantic. Consequently our westward coasts felt the warming influence of these disturbances, although the weather remained comparatively quiet. lingland, especially as to the eastern parts, was not at all affected by these disturbances. THE GREAT FROST OF 1890-91. 119 •luniu Sfo vOi-iOoor^'/i>-'«1- -ixcj^ ajniosqv Q '*" T^T^»n■^-r^vnTt■^ / •3Aoqn JO -Sap ofr ro ^n 1/-1 > 0 t^ -1- n >-i ON •diu3j_ uiniu ' - -ixBj^T ini.^v •Avojsq JO 'Sap zC 0 m 0 O^ » r, as ko r-\ t^ •diu3j_ luniu 1 ^ <■ 1 ri " 1-. " " < -ixcjv qii.W •Mopq JO •Sap e£ui;3j\i vn M « 1- 0 M ^- >-■ 1 CO ro CO ro M M hH -H- 1 ^p 0 t^O ll) C7> oor^GC O^i 0^'-'^^o^ UinUllXTlj^'jO UB3IV C " CI M n M r CO n " 'tunuiiu]}^ cvivoCTvw^oo r^M 0 UESJ^ Q -^ «MM«P|MM« 1 ■uinuiixEj^ tip 0\ C pN OC CTv f CO vn aj M fO r -+ -t- r^ - CO UB3i\; rv ro cocOf<>corOrocor<>| •uoijEjnQ <7> « PJ 0 t>. VD ■<*- 0 CT\ sXeq ■^ vorj-vriTj-coTJ-M in f^ ) t^ 0 r> c jQ XI c 1 t- ^ " c < cS >— 1 0 0 ft 0 0 0 0 r 0 0 ', 0 ir 1 l-l 0 t- 0 D 0) 0) 0 0? C c c 0 ^ 00 4 r^ ) 00 »f 1 6 d % 1^ 6 CO a r*" ^ ir N 0 J-- 00 o» r^ t> X 00 00 •50 30 30 00 1 « " S.2 >~ > o V « o he 5 8 j; « o y rt « ■=■3 1 li :i e oi) " z r> 0 M , , , 0 ^ ■" fv' the late CHARLES Clark, of Toth.im Hall. With a Glossary and Portrait, 15. nett. The History of Rochford Hundred, Essex. Vol. I., 15^-. 6d. ; Yo\. II , iS.s-. nett. By Philip Bento.x. A First Catechism of Botany. By John Gibbs. Second Edition, I2au), fioards, bd. The Symmetry of Flowers. By John Ginn.s. i8mo, sewed, 4^. Forms and Services used in the Diocese of St. Alban's, Published by authorit)'. Lisls on application. EDMUND DUURANT & CO., Publishers, 90, High St., Chelmsford. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION— Members, 4s. 6d. ; Non-Members, 9s. Post Free. NO. 6, VOL. v.] Price, with Plate, 9d. [JUNE, 1891. The Essex Naturalist: BEIXG THE JOURNAL OF THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB, EDITED EV WILLIAM COLE, Hotiorary Secretary, (f 0 n t c n t s On the Range of the Primrose and the Bardfield Oxiip {Primula elai'ior) in North- western Essex.— Ky J. French ; with remarks by Miller Christv, F.L.S. (Concluded) 121 On a Female Specimen of the Common Rorqual (Baltenofitcra iinisciiliis), captured near Burnham. By Walter Croich, F.Z.S. (With Plate H'.) 124 The Essex Field Club Meeting at Higham Park, Epping Forest, and 123rd Ordinary Meeting. (W'itk Illustration) 129 Correspondence. Boulder Clay in Essex. W. H. Dalton, F.Cj.S., and J. French ... 133 Notes, Original and Selected.— Badger at Asheldham ; .\nother Rorqual in Crouch river; .\ Swallow's "Pendent Bed and Procreant Cradle " ; Homing Instincts of A^/a ar^oild state. — Single tlowers sometimes produce stamens and pistil of eciual length. Under cultivation. — Scarcely perceptible changes occur (?). Observations on the Bardfield Oxlip are few, but all the evidence I can collect goes to show that it is by far the most stable form of the three species. Darwin knew of some plants kept twenty- five years under cultivation and they varied but slightly. I have a plant in my garden which has kept pure for nine years, whilst its companion cowslips and primroses have gone through changes incalculable. The authority for the statement that single flowers sometimes produce stamens and pistil of ecjual length is Darwin's book ; a case was supplied to him in which, out of 894 wild plants, sixteen had "equal styles." This he considered to be very remarkable as occurring in the wild state. The same authority says also that hybrids from P. elatior are rare. If the stability of the species be confirmed, and the occasional variations of the filaments' length be regarded as a case of atavism, should we not be justified in claiming a higher antiquity for the Bardfield Oxli[) than can be accorded to either the cowslip or the primrose ? [I have been kindly afforded by the Editor an opportunity of per- using the above interesting paper. Few who compare Mr. French's remarks on the distribution of Primula elatior and P. veris in North- west Essex with the observations contained in my paper " On the Species of the Cienus Primula in Essex " (Trans. E. F. Club, vol. iii. pp. 148-21 1) could avoid coming to the conclusion that Mr. French had borrowed largely from my observations : but he has satisfactorily shown that at the time he wrote he had no knowledge of the existence of my paper. His remarks come, therefore, to have a definite value, as corroborating my own statements upon a very interesting point in the distribution in Britain of Primula elatior., to which far too little attention has been given. Mr. French's state- ments on this point are, I l)elieve, accurate. His theory as to the cause of the peculiarity of distribution of this species is, however, questionable. It is difficult to believe that it is due to the existence or absence of any particular fertilising insect, and it would be very ditticult to prove this, if it were the case. At the same time I am I 2 124 ON A FEMALE SPECIMEN OF THE COMMON RORQUAL bound to confess that the distril)ution of the species has not yet been satisfactorily accounted for on any other supposition. Further, Mr. French's arguments on behalf of the antiquity o{ P. elatior as a species on account of its non-variability are rather weakened by facts brought forward in my own paper proving its variability within certain limits. I take this opportunity of stating that, since the appearance of my paper, I have been collecting information as to the exact distribu- tion of P. elatior in Britain, and I shall welcome any facts bearing upon the point. Beside the very sharply-defined area which the species occupies in Essex, as shown in my paper, it also extends over large portions of Cambridgeshire and Suffolk, and there is at least one locality within the boundaries of Norfolk. I believe, also, that it crosses the Essex border into Hertfordshire in the vicinity of Stanstead Montfitchet, although this is not stated in the recently- published " Flora of Hertfordshire." There also are localities in Bed- fordshire I believe. Miller Christy.] ON A FEMALE SPECIMEN OF THE COMMON RORQUAL {BAL.'ENOPPERA MUSCULUS), CAP- TURED NEAR BURNHAM. By WALTER CROUCH, F.Z.S. \_Read February zSth, iSgi.\ With Plate IV. A LTHOLTGH the Whale which was stranded in the River "^^ Crouch, on the 12th February, belongs to a species which has occurred more frequently on the British coast than any other of the Baleen Whales, yet it is one worthy of record, not only as an Essex specimen, but as exhibiting a very marked and curious asymmetry of epidermal colour. The animal appears to have entered the river on the early morning flood-tide, and was first seen by Isaac Courtman, a Burnham dredgerman, who, when proceeding to his work, found it floundering and blowing in the shallow water by Hollivvell Point, on the north shore of the river near the oyster layings, about four miles east of Burnham. Nearly opposite this .spot on the south side, by Fowlness Island, the specimen of Rudolphi's Rorqual was taken in November, CAI'TURl'.l) NKAU lU'KNllAM. 1 25 1883, which was described by Prof. I'lovver in I'roc. Zool. Soc. (Nov., 1883), and Trans. E. F. Club (vol. iv. p. 113). The alarm was given, and in half-an-hour about thirty men were at work trying to secure the animal with ropes, and soon afterwards Inspector Rome of the Burnham Oyster Company and Mr. John Auger appeared on the scene with a gun, and n)any shots were fired, to which at length it succumbed, lying close under the sea wall. The tide was then flowing in, and it was taken in tow by the smacks " Plover " and " Teazer," and subsequently by the steamer "Jumbo," which brought the carcase safely to Burnham, where a crowd had assembled to witness its arrival. It was soon seized on behalf of the Crown by Mr. J. Finch, H.M. Customs officer and receiver, and was put up to auction, being knocked down for £,\'] I OS. to Mr. J. S. Prior, of Southminster, and Messrs. John Hawkins and Henry Cook, of Burnham. Later in the day it was claimed by the solicitors of Sir Henry Mildmay, Lord of the Manor, and owner of the royalty of the river, who had on the previous occasion successfully established his right by a Chancery in- junction. Attem{)ts were then made to raise it on to the quay by a crane, but this was found impossible, and on the next day (Friday) fresh efforts were made to raise it on to a slip by means of a capstan and tackle, which were also unsuccessful, the task of raising the carcase being a more formidable undertaking than the buyers had antici- pated. Meanwhile a flutter of excitement was caused in the Dengie Hundred by the news, and the advertisement of Mr. Prior announcing the exhibition at the Malting Yard, and cheap trains at single fares. Many hundreds of people came down on Friday and Saturday, but had to go away disappointed. Subsequently 1,300 paid for admis- sion. I went down to Burnham on Saturday, and was surprised to find the whale lying in the shallow water, held by chains, covered over with tarpaulins, and floated by a number of empty casks. Later in the afternoon, as the tide came- in, it was slowly hauled up on a specially prepared slip, at the back of the post-office, Init the tackle broke several times, giving me, however, an opportunity of examining the head and baleen, and identifying the species to which it belonged. Later on it was well hauled up, the tail only resting on the mud, and with the aid of Mr. John Rogers, jun., of Burnham, I was able to 126 ON A FEMALE SPECIMEN OF THE COMMON RORQUAL have a good inspection and take some measurements. A few days later Mr. E. A. Fitch, who had examined and identified it on the Friday, made further measurements and notes, and I am indebted to him for thus enabhng me to prepare a measured drawing of this Rorqual in illustration of these notes. The original scale is j-inch = I foot ; and as the drawing has been reduced one-half in length, the scale of the accompanying illustration is g inch=i foot. Two photographs were taken by Mr. A. H. Willott, of Maldon, showing the dead whale on the side of the sea wall, but in these the animal is very much foreshortened. The following are the chief measurements : — ft. in. Extreme length 46 ^ Girth at base of pectoral fin, estimated 20 0 Median slit of flukes 0 5^ End of ditto, to anterior base of dorsal fi 1 14 3 Base of dorsal fin to blow-holes 23 10 Blow-holes to end of upper jaw 7 4 ,, „ lower jaw 8 5 Middle of eye to end of upper jaw . 8 6 ,, „ lower jaw . 9 5 Tail flukes, each .... 6 0 ,, Width at A in illustration 0 21 Dorsal fin, basal line 0 leh ,, height from back . 0 15 ,, „ to point of fin 0 iih Pectoral fin, greatest length 5 0 ,, greatest width 0 13 Blow-holes, length of furrows, each 0 135 Eyelids 0 31 Diameter of eyeball 0 4]- Baleen, longest (without bristles, about 2 in.) 0 22 „ greatest width at attachment to maxill a 0 9 „ length of whole row, each side 8 6 The general colour of the upper portion, the dorsal fin, the band of the lower jaw on the left side and the sides of this Rorqual were blackish-slate ; and the under part white nearly to the tail. The underside of the pectoral fins and flukes were white, showing also a margin of white on the upper surface. The baleen, the blades of which numbered about 350 on each side, are delicate slate-colour, mottled with lighter streaks, with the exception of about two feet (part of the row measuring 8ft. 6in.) in front on the right side which are whitish or drab-white. It is a well-known fact that the colour of the skin of whales r.\i'irio V f\' S; •l '-O C) X <*- 0 «\ ^ t,i 3 "V ^ 129 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. Mi'KTrNC, rx Higuam I\\kk, Hpping Fokest, and 123KI) Okdinakv Meeting. Saturday, March 2ist, iSgr. A Field Meeting was held this afternoon (previous to the Ordinary Meeting in the evening) to allow of an inspection of the portion of Highani Park, near Walthamstow and Woodford, recently added to the Forest. The members assembled at Hale End Station about three o'clock, and walked through the pretty village to the " Driftwa}'," as the green lane connecting two portions of the Forest is called. The fence which formerly shut off the woodland and lake of Higham Park having been recently removed, the whole becomes an integral part of the forest, the average width of the belt of land being 150 yards. Mr. E. N. Buxton (V^erderer) was to have led the party, but a letter from him was read expressing regret for his unavoidable absence. Mr. Andrew Johnston (Chairman of the Essex County Council) kindly acted as cicerone^ and gave some account of how the purchase of the woodland and lake came about. Mr. Johnston said that he had the pleasure on the 17th of May last, at a meeting in the Forest, of making the first public announcement to the Club of the project Mr. Buxton entertained about this addition to Epping Forest, a project which he thought they would all say had been most satisfactorily accomplished. He thought they would all agree with him that to Mr. Buxton belonged the credit of having, with indomitable resolution, carried the scheme through. [The proceedings in connection with this important acquisition were alluded to in the last volume of the ESSEX N.\TUKALIST (vol. iv. pp. 127 and 230) and the matter forms the subject of a separate article in the present number.] At the entrance to the Driftway, Mr. Johnston pointed out the ugly elbow of land belonging to the Walthamstow Charity Trustees, which abutted into the green lane, and would considerably mar its beauty. If about half an acre of this land could be acquired, it would be possible to make a nice bend, and Mr. Buxton hoped eventually to be able to make this improvement. Mr. W. Cole read, from the " Rolls of the Court of Attachments of the Royal Forest of Waltham," several references to the enclosure of the " Sale," showing that the land recently thrown out was in a sense a restoration, it having originally been part of the Forest of Waltham {;inde the article in the present number). The lake and woodland having been inspected and much admired as a charm- ing and useful addition to the Forest, the party walked by Chingford Lane, skirting " Hatch Plain " and the " Lops " to Woodford Green, where, at the kind invitation of Mr. Johnston, a halt was made at the " Wilfrid Lawson " Temperance Hotel for refreshment. Then the ramble was continued through the very pretty forest- land to the west of Woodford, over " Rushy Plain " and b}' "Gilbert Slade " in search of the usual " high tea," which was served at the " Eagle Hotel," Snares- brook. In the evening the 123rd Ordinary (and Special) Meeting was held in the Drummond Room, Wanstead, Mr. E. A. Fitch, President, in the chair. The following were elected members of the Club : Messrs. S. T. Taylor, .M.B., Thomas Tyrer, F.C.S., F.I.C., and Frederick West, C.C. I ; I30 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. By order of the Council, the Meeting was made Special, and Mr. W. Cole, on behalf of Prof. Meldola, moved the following resolution :— " That Sir Uemv EnField Roscoe, D.C.L., F.R.S., M.P., &c., sometime Pro- T^^TT ',^, u •" ^ *-""e?e' Manchester, be elected an honorary member of the Essex •fu .u ^ u" .'^«"f 'deration of the services rendered to the Club in connection with the lechnical Instruction Scheme." This proposal was carried unanimously. Hicham Pakk, Epi'ing Forest. A Woodland Path. Mr. Snell exhibited a specimen of the carnivorous slug, Testacella sciitu/ittn, of which a number of specimens had been found in his garden at Buckhurst Hill. THE ESSEX FIELD CLUli. 13I Mr. C. B. Sworder exhibited a sni:ill collection of Mollusca from the neighbourhood of Epping. Some photographs were then thrown upon the screen by Mr. Wire, consisting principally of views taken by himself during the last year's field meetings, views of the Higham Park from drawings by Mr. H. A. Cole, and some copies of old prints of Essex localities, &c. The President then called upon Mr. Walter Crouch, F.Z.S., to speak on the main exhibits of the evening, consisting of a goodly number of specimens from his collection, which he had selected in illustration of the characteristic species of a few important groups of invertebrate life, and showing as far as possible the Foreign, British and fossil forms. The shells of the Mollusca were arranged in seven large cases, with larger specimens and fossils on the tables ; and to aid in the demonstration, a series of diagrams, painted by himself, were hung on the walls. The five classes into which the Mollusca are now divided were then hastily reviewed. The varied forms of Cephalopoda, including the Pearly Nautilus with its fossil allies the Ammonites — the Cuttle Fish, Squids — one of which, the common Loljgo, was shown in spirit — and fossil Belemnites, &c. — the Octopus, and the Argonaut with the delicate fragile " shell " secreted by the female, which is but a " cradle " for the protection of the young fry, were duly noted. The largest of this group, of which a diagram was shown, is the Arc/iiteiit/iis, which has often been known to measure sixty feet from end of the body to tip of the long grasping arms. The small glassy shells of the Pteropoda or " butterflies of the sea," were then described — those "winged" forms floating always on or just below the surface of the ocean. The northern species — some of which are shell-less — provide food for the huge Greenland Whale. One of the larger species, a fine specimen over 2\ inches in length {Cymbtdia peronii ixova. the Mediterranean Sea, a form which has no shell), was exhibited, well preserved in spirit. Many of this class exhibit phosphorescence at night. Then the small division of Scaphopoda, mud and sand dwellers, of which the little ''elephant's tusk" shell, so commonly cast up on the British coast, is a well-known example. The extensive class of Gastropoda next claimed attention, from the small land shells and slugs to the large and brightly-coloured tropical marine species ; and the growth of the shell from the " capsule," in which the eggs are laid, up to the fully grown shell of nearly two feet in length, was shown by specimens of a large Fusus prohoscidiferus from Dampier's Archipelago. Special notice was called to the wonderful variety, in shape, colour, and beautiful patterns, which exists, especially in tropical shells. The spin}' shells of Murex, the brilliant colouring of Vo/utrs, Cones, Mitras, &c., the enamel of Cowries, Olives, and Poached-egg shells, the curious " keyhole " limpets, the shells used for cameo cutting, the frail glassy shell of Carinaria, and such aberrent forms as Chiton, &c. A large Iriton variegalus was shown, and the mode in which it had been used as a trumpet by some dusky native of the Eastern Archipelago to strike terror into the hearts of his enemies ; and also a drawing of the same shell with a finely carved Maori mouthpiece, now in the Chelmsford Museum. The last class, Pelecypoda, was then described, the shells of wiiich consist of two valves united by a ligament, and generally having a number of inter-locking 132 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. " teeth." The common cockle, scallop, oyster, and fresh water swan-mussel being familiar examples. Tropical species occur of larger size, and a sketch of the huge TriJacna shell from the Moluccas was shown with a young native baby taking his bath therein. A pair of these shells have been found to weigh nearly 4 cwt., and the "dainty " mollusc will provide a " square meal " for twenty men. Amongst these bivalves were mentioned the thorny forms of Spondylus and cockles, the pearly Trigonia, the Ark shells, the brilliant scallops or Pectens, the window, hammer, and pearl oysters, the boring forms of Pholas and Lithodomus, and the strange BrechiUs, those dwellers in sand, who commence life in a little pearly bivalve, developing subsequently a calcareous tube with a " watering-pot " top. The beautiful colours of the animal of Lima, with its numerous " processes " or filaments, were shown by the aid of a large drawing. Mr. Crouch then touched briefly upon the polyps which form the stony corals and build up reefs, the Madrepores, Galaxea, Brain-coral, &c., and the brightly- tinted delicate growths of the Stylacter and Alcyonoid corals (which were exhibited in two cases), such as the organ-pipe, red coral, and the sea fans or Gorgonias, of which he shewed some fine and large specimens from Torres Straits and the Bahamas, and a large specimen of the branching "black coral" Antipathes, ^rom the Mediterranean Sea. A short description of the typical forms of sea urchins, star fish, and the rare " sea lilies " (Crinoids) brought home by the " Challenger Expedition, 1873-76 " then followed, illustrated by a number of striking typical specimens. A brief note on Sponges was then given, and some large and rare examples, chiefly from the Bahamas, were shown ; one case containing some beautiful siliceous sponges, Hyalonema sieboldii or glass rope sponge ; EuplectcUa aspergillum, or " Venus' flower-basket " and some lowlier forms from the English seas, such as Grandad Chalma, and the boring Clione. The following papers were read : — " Notes on the Recent Prolonged Frost," by J. C. Thresh, D.Sc, M.B. (ante, p. 64) ; "Vital Statistics of the County of Essex," by Dr. Thresh {ante, p. 47) ; " On the Range of the Primrose and the Bardfield Oxlip in North-Western Essex," by Mr. J. French {ante, p. 120). The latter paper was read for the author by Mr. Miller Christy, who also made some remarks upon the subject, and referred to his paper on the " Genus Primula in Essex," in the " Transactions " of the Club. A short discussion on Mr. French's paper ensued, in which Mr. Fitch, Mr. Christy, Rev. H. C. Howell, and others took part. Mr. Fitch mentioned that Mr. G. Alan Lowndes, in a letter dated May 1st, 1889, stated that the true Oxlip grew in great profusion in the Park Wood, near Barrington Hall, Hatfield Broad Oak, and Mr. Lowndes confirmed this by sending specimens. Mr. Fitch also stated that he had found Primula elatior abundantly in Cobbler's Grove, between Stoke and Hundon, and that it was common in a pasture called " Wellum," in front of Boyton End House, Stoke-by- Clare. These observations extend the distribution of P. elatior N. and S. of the lines marked on Mr. Christy's map in Trans. E.F.C., iii. p. 174. Votes of thanks were passed to the exhibitors and the authors of papers, and the meeting terminated. CORRESPONDENCE. BOULDER-CLAY IN ESSEX, Sir, — Mr. Monckton regards it as improbable that anyone holds that an ice- sheet can traverse hills of fine sand without denuding them. But this absurdity is essential to his assertion of an East Anglian ice-sheet, for the bedding of the Boulder-clay is conformable to that of the finelj'-stratified sands on which it often rests. That the Glacial Drift of Essex consists largely (I quite deny the " mainly ") of local material is further evidence against the said ice-sheet, and how a well- stratified gravel, such as is exhibited by the pit Mr. Monckton refers to, can be regarded as anything like a moraine, or due in any way to continuous ice, passes my imagination. If Mr. Monckton goes to sections in Essex with a mind pre- judiced by accounts of the northern drifts (which were produced by confluent ice) as indicating conditions prevalent throughout West Europe, he cannot expect to see evidence of marine action. Fossil evidence may be dispensed with (in the Thaxted case, the shells indicate Crag, in place or nearly so). Stratification, seen in every exposure worth calling a section, settles the question against ice as forming the East Anglian drifts, though their material, chiefly of Lincolnshire and Midland origin, indicates flotation by ice from those regions, in which there is ample evidence of the action of coast ice as a powerful engine of erosion, when Essex was mainly if not wholly submerged. Of the authors quoted, no one who knows anything of the first values his con- tributions to the literature of the subject, and I wholly dissent from the conclu- sions drawn from the facts recorded by the others. W. H. Dalton. Derby Road, S. Woodford. Sir, — With reference to the letters of Messrs. Dalton and Monckton on the above subject in the last number of the Essex Naturalist (ante, p. 109), may I be permitted to submit some original observations, which although limited to a small area, are probablj' typical of much to be found over the northern half of Essex. In the railway cutting, between Braintree and Bulford stations, the Boulder- Clay lies immediately on gravel and sands of "Westleton" age. The line of division is very sharply drawn. There is no disturbance of the gravel or sand traceable on the minutest examination, neither has either deposit entered by means of a "tongue " or otherwise into the domain of the other. The inference is that the deposition of Boulder-Clay came about there by a quiet process, and not under the pressure and abrasion of land-ice. At Blewitt's pit, one mile N.E. of Stebbing village, where similar deposits occur, the line of division is again sharply marked, and there is also the complete absence of any disturbance of the underlymg bed. In the railway cutting, one mile west of Dunmow Station, the same beds with the same phenomenon are con- spicuous, and in Professor Prestwich's paper on the " Westleton Beds " (Uuart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xlvi.), quoting from a previous paper of Mr. Woodward's, he says " the line between the undoubted pebbly gravels and the overlying Glacial Drift is generally sharply defined." Where the Boulder-Clay rests on " Middle Glacial Gravel," the transition is much less abrupt, and it is often difficult to say where the one formation leaves 134 NOTES — ORKJINAL AND SELECTED. off and the other begins, but in an examination of Mid-Glacial Gravel extending over some years, I have never come across striated stones, whilst these are very common in the Boulder-Clay, a circumstance also implying the absence of an abrading ice-sheet. In Mr. S. V. Wood's paper on "The Newer Pliocene Period in England," (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxxvi. 1880). he gives several illustrations of the quiet deposition of Boulder-Clay on Mid-Glacial Gravel, and on pages 486 and 487 of the volume cited the following passage is to be found : " There can, I think, be no question that these instances show that by some means the moraine of which the clay is composed was introduced tranquilly over a sea-bottom in which sand and gravel had up to this time been accumulating." J. French. Fehtead^ June \y/i, 1 891. NOTES— ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. Badger at Asheldham. — While rabbit shooting the other day over the Asheldham Hall estate, Mr. J. T. Gale and party unearthed a fine badger. It is many years since a badger was caught in the Dengie Hundred. — " Essex County Chronicle," May 29'h, 1891. Another Rorqual in the Crouch River — On the morning of the 7th April, the men on board the "Jumbo" (s.) saw a whale, which they said was about fifty feet in length, almost at the same spot where the one was captured in February, near the mouth of the Roach. Some men at work in that river had heard it blowing during the night. It was subsequently seen distinctly by several persons on the sands at the mouth of the Crouch, and is said to have been stranded, but when the tide returned it made a successful departure from this almost inaccessible position. — E. A. FiTCH, Maldon. A Swallov^r's " pendent bed and procreant cradle." — In the " Essex Hsrald" for June 9th, it is stated that a pair of swallows have built their nest on the knot of a rope carried from one rafter to another in a workshop in the village of Blackmore. The nest hangs in mid air. Homing Instinct of Hyk arborea, L. — Our member, Mr. E. N. Buxton, writes as follows to the " Zoologist " for June : — " Two and a-half years ago I put a small green frog {^Hyla arborea) that my daughter brought from the South of France, into my conservatory here (' Knighton,' Buckhurst Hill). In the following spring he began to croak, and, contriving to make his escape, found his way to the pond where his strident voice awoke the echoes every summer evening. He always remained about the same spot, which was about three hundred yards from the conservatory. Now comes the extraordinary part of his history. When the winter came on, he found his way back to the conservatory. This performance he repeated last year, and now again he has found his voice. That so small a creature should remember where he had been comfortable in winter, and find his way back to the conservatory across an open lawn, seems to me very extraordinary." Sea Lamprey in the Colne. — I saw lately a very fine specimen, weighing about four pounds, of the Sea Lamprey {Petromyzou niarmus) which had been NOTES —ORItHNAL AND SEI.KCTKO. 135 captured in the Colne, at the Ilythe in this town. In many English rivers the capture of a specimen of this fish would not be remarkable ; but here, from its rarity, it may be worth a notice. It was brought to me by its captor to name, as he said he could find no one at the Hythe who knew anything of this strange fish — a sufficient proof that it is very uncommon in this district. — Henry Lavkk, F.L.S., Colchester. A Voracious Eel. — On Saturda}-, May 23rd, a large eel was caught just outside the locks at Heybridge Basin by Alfred Clarke. When opened it had no less than nine perch and a rat in its stomach. The eel itself weighed about two- and-a-half pounds. — John Basham, Maldon. Coleophora vibicigerella in Essex. — Mr. G. W. Bird reports in the " Entomological Monthly Magazine " for June, the re-occurrence of this insect. " A friend and myself journeyed down to the Essex Salt-marshes on April 27th, with the particular intention of looking for hybernated larvae of Geometra smaragdaria. In this, however, we were not successful, but, oddly enough, the very first plant of Artemisia examined produced the Coleophora^ and about a dozen more were found wiihin a few yards. The insect is exceedingly local, as Mr. Elisha has previously observed, for further careful search during the day proved fruitless. . . . . On the Continent this species is reported to be attached to Artemisia campestm ; possibly a careful search among that plant might produce Coleophora vibicigerella more plentifully than we have it at present from A. maritima." Essex Earthworms. — An Appeal. — The Rev. Hilderic Friend, F.L.S.j who has latel}- so successfully studied those neglected, but exceedingly interesting animals, the Earthworms (^Terricolw^ and allied groups, has kindly promised his valuable aid in identifying our Essex species. Mr. Friend writes: — " I have now worked at the worms of Devonshire, Sussex, Notts, Yorkshire, Cumberland, and Westmoreland, S. Scotland, and other parts of the kingdom, and shall be dilighted to add Essex to my list. I have found out some curious facts by this embracing method, and if I can get a few more counties worked up in time, I propose submitting a report to the British Association this year. Of course, I must have material. So far as I am aware, there is no record of Essex worms in existence. If you know of any references I shall be glad to incorporate them in such papers as I might be able to submit to )-ou. Let me indicate where worms may be sought : — "(i.) In cultivated ground, gardens, fields, &c. The species found here have usually been ' lumped ' under the aggregate term Limibricus terreslris. They need careful revision. " (2.) In heaps of vegetable mould, old manure, refuse, compost, quitch, and rubbish heaps. 'Brandlings' (Z. olidus^ Hoff.), 'Gilt-tail' worms, &c., are found here. "(3.) In woods, damp spots under trees, and by hedgerows generally — these are all good hunting grounds. *' (4.) P^specially by streams and brooks and all kinds of water, fresh or stagnant, running or still, the stones, tufts of grass, each to a depth of ten or twelve inches, should be examined. In the roots of grass, the ' Square- tail worm ' (^Allurus tetrcvdriis, Eisen) is mostly found. " (5.) Under droppings, stones, logs, decaying trees, in fields and neglected places, &c. " Put the worms alive and uninjured into a tin box. Wash some soft moss, 136 MORE EPPINO FOREST. scjueeze it prett}' dr)-, and fill the tin box lightly with it, putting in enough to keep the worms from being shaken about on a journey through the post, &c. " My sister the other day — never having collected worms before — went out and got me ten species, within a mile or two of Bovey Tracey. What might not 3'our Field Club accomplish, if a dozen members from different parts of the county would take up the work ? " We hope to publish shortly an introductory paper on the study of the Oligochaeta, by Mr. Friend. Meanwhile we trust that members will assist in the attempt to work out the Essex species. Mr. Friend says : " I shall be glad to receive as many boxes (packed as above) from your members as they like to send. I cannot return them, however, unless postage is enclosed. In the end I could let the Museum have a set duly labelled, if proper bottles were provided." Address — Rev. Hilderic Friend, F.L.S., "The Grove," Idle, Bradford, Yorkshire. —En. Parasitic Vorticellse. — On Tuesday, March 31st, I went fishing for small objects in the ponds on that part of the forest at the back of Forest House. The chief takings were numbers of Daphnia and Cyclops, but almost all were covered with a species of the Bell-Animalculae (Vorticellce'). So thick did these congregate on the surface of their hosts that swimming was quite impeded, and by no means could the parasites be shaken off. — Alfred P. Wire, Leytonstone, Uncommorr Plants at Felstead. — In the interesting " Report of the Felstead School Natural fiistory Society for 1890," just issued, are the following notes on the plants of the district : — During 1890, several notable additions have been made to our local flora, chiefly by the exertions of Mr. W. Moore, of Milch Hill, Felstead; to him and to Mr. J. French, who is responsible for two of the plants below, our thanks are greatly due. The new plants added are : — Viburnum lantana, Hesperis matronalis (casual in a field of Trifolium incarnatuni), Apium inundatiim, Valerienella olitoria, Car ex axillaris, C. panicea, Festuca mvurus, Dianthus (.?) armeria. 1 he following of our rarer plants have been found in fresh places : — Onithogalum umbellatum, Carex pseudocyperus, Genista tinctoria, Ophrys nmscifera, 0. apifera, Carlina vulgaris, Campanula glomerata, Melampyrum arvense. Polygonum bistorta, Neottia nidus-avis, Paris quadrifolia, Potamogeton lucens, Scirpus sylvaticus. Ranunculus parviflorus, Saxifraga tridactyhtes, Echium vulgar eT Cooke's " Illustrations of British Fungi." — We called attention to the completion of this fine work last year (E. N., iv. p. 224). It was emphatically a labour of love with Dr. Cooke, and we are very sorry to hear that he has not only received.no reward for ten 3^ears' persistent work, but he is a very considerable loser by the publication, owing to the small number of subscribers. Fifty sets, in parts, still remain, and it is suggested, if subscribers can be obtained, that they should be issued at the rate of two parts monthly, at the original subscription price of 5s. per part, thus ensuring its complete issue in three years, and enabling Dr. Cooke to recoup part of his actual pecuniary loss. The work consists of 1,200 plates (in eight volumes) drawn and coloured b)' Dr. Cooke, representing 1,400 species of the gill-bearing fungi, or Agaricini, the greater number never ha\ing been figured before. At the subscription price it is the cheapest work o' the kind ever issued To complete the Hymenomycetes there yet remain the species of Boletus, Polyporus, Hydmtm, the Thelephorei, Tremella, and Clavaria, and Dr. Cooke is willing to issue these plates in four volumes, if a sufficient NOTES — OKI(;iNAL AND SRLKCTEl). 137 number of subscribers can be obtained to shield liini from severe loss. We sincerel}- hope that man)- of our readers will become subscribers to these works. Essex Water Supply. — Dr. Thresh has issued in pamphlet form a very interesting and valuable "Repoit on the Water Supplies of the various villages and hamlets in the Chelmsford and IVIaldon Rural Sanitary Districts" (Chelmsford, 1891), which includes details of analyses of over four hundred samples of water. The pamphlet contains matter imt only of value to the sanitarian, but also to geologists and ph3'sioeraphers. In view of the growing importance of a good water s.upply in Essex, the following passage is alarming: " Several deep wells, which formerly yielded an abundance of water, at the present time only furnish a limited supply, and in others which once overflowed the water does not now rise to the surface. Dr. Downes, writing to me in reference to these deep wells, says, ' I have told the Essex people that they are drawing upon capital in regard to their wells — drawing from the lower Tertiaries. I think so, because — i, the gathering surface at the outcrop is small, and to the north steeply graded ; 2, the number of bored wells has greatly increased ; 3, the level of the water is falhng.' " MORE EPPING FOREST. TX the Essex Naturalist for 1889 (vol. iii. pp. 57-60) we had the satisfaction of recording the inclusion of Oak Hill enclo- sure into the " green lands " of the map of Epping Forest, and now it is our pleasant task to chronicle a yet more important addition to this grand open space. On Saturday, June 6th, 1891, a strip of about 30 acres in extent, part of Higham Park, \\'altham- stow, was ceremoniously made free land, and many of those who have taken an active interest in the forest had the pleasure in joining in the hearty cheers which greeted H.R.H. the Ranger's announce- ment— " I now declare this newly acquired land and water to be part and parcel of Epping Forest, and to be dedicated to the use and enjoyment of the public for ever." Seldom has an important public improvement been carried out with greater rapidity and success than this last addition to our great Esse.x woodland. It was only on May 17th, 1890, at a meeting of the Essex Field Club, held under the shade of the trees at Ambresbury Banks, that Mr. Andrew Johnston made the first public announce- ment of the proposals of Mr. E. N. Buxton and Sir T. Fowell Buxton with regard to this matter, and by the middle of December in the same year the matter had been practically settled. We may refer our readers to Mr. Johnston's speech on the occasion alluded 138 MORE EPPINO FOREST. to, printed in the Essex Naturalist (vol. iv. p. 127). A meeting was called at the " Wilfrid Law.son " on Thursday evening, June 5th, 1890, " to take the necessary steps to secure a portion of Higham Park, including the ornamental water, as an addition to the Forest.'' The Ching Bkook in Higham Park'. The chair was taken by Mr. A. Johnston, and he and Mr. E. N. Luxton explained the main principles and advantages of the scheme. As the open lands then existed, the wayfarer travelling from Ching- MORE EPI'I.\(; I'OREST. I39 ford Hatch to Walthanistow, and striving to keep within the bounds of the forest, had to traverse a narrow strip of land, known as the "Driftway" or "Sale." This way skirted Higham Park, and was partly margined by the the Ching Brook. Mr. Buxton's proposal was to extend this avenue to an average width of 150 yards, by acquiring the timbered wilderness of the western side of the park, and also the fine lake, so as to secure some water views, a kind of scenery sadly lacking in the forest. The whole quantity of land proposed to be acquired was estimated at 27I acres. An independent valuation of ^6,000 had been made, for which sum Mr. Courtney Warner was willing to part with so much of his park. If ^3,000 could be raised locally, Mr. Buxton was hopeful that an equal sum would be contributed by the Corporation of London from the Capital Fund under the Epping Forest Act, 1878. Towards the local contribu- tion Mr. Buxton, Sir T. Fowell Buxton and a relative, generously offered ;^i,8oo. A resolution in flivour of the scheme, proposed by Mr. W. Cole, and seconded by Mr. Batey, was unanimously carried. A Local Committee, with Mr. Buxton as chairman, and Mr. W. Cole as hon. secretary, was also formed, to make the proposal widely known, and to solicit subscriptions towards the funds required. At public meetings called by the Local Boards of Walthanistow and Woodford grants from the rates of ^500 and ^250 respectively were voted, and in response to the request of a deputation which waited upon the Common Council on the 25th of September, the Corporation resolved to grant the ^3,000 required. The Drapers' Company contributed ^210, Mr. Warner ^100, the Commoners' Compensation Fund ^100, and the balance was made up by smaller contributions. The quantity of land proposed to be acquired under the original scheme was, as above stated, 27I acres. During the course of the negotiations carried on by the City Solicitor, this was increased by three acres, and the exact measurement of the land and water added to the forest is 30 a. 2 r. 39 p. The shady avenues, and the lake with its tributary stream, the Ching, are exceedingly picturesque, and the whole forms a most valuable addition to the open lands of the forest. The evidences of human handiwork proper to a park combine charmingly with the natural luxuriance of a piece of primitive woodland, the tract having been at one time forest land, or was at least land subject to the forestal rights of the king. This is evident from the following facts : — MOKK KIM'lNd FOkRSr. I4I In the "Rolls of the Court of Attachments'" there are several entiies of leave having been given from time to time to cut the wood in the " Sale." For instance, in the records of a Court held on November 19th, 1720, it was " Ordered that Wm. Row, Esq'", have leave to fell a Grove called the Sale in Waltlianistow Walk at 3 several! falls, it appearing to be of full growth cont. 80 acres." And on the 3rd July, 1786, is recorded the following protest against the attempted enclosure of this wood : — " At this Court Sir James Tylney Long Bart. Lord Warden presented two letters the one wrote b^-Himself to Governor Hornby owner of the Wood called the Sale in the Forest of Waltham concerning His beginning to enclose the same & Govr. Hornby's ansr. to the same ; which being read to the Court, The Court are of opinion that it is necessary for the preservation of the Forest that the Wood call'd the Sale cannot lawfully be enclosed." And again on 30th July, 1787, " Bamber Gascoyne, John Con- yer, and Eliab Harvey, Esq'"'*- Verdurors," report : " We have viewed the Wood called the Sale in the Parish of Walthamstow and part of the said Forest of Waltham at the request of William Hornby Esq"' Proprietor of the said Wood called the Sale. And we do declare that if the said Wood is inclosed by Pale as now begun and intended to be carried on by the said William Hornby Esq"-- that the same will be injurious to the rights of the Forest and the Ruin and Destruction of the Red and Fallow Deer of the s"* Forest - and thereby that part of the Forest called the Walthamstow Walk will be as dis- afforested and we do not think that the present Proprietor or those from whom he claims has or had any Right by Pale to inclose the same. And we do also present that there ancientl}- were one or more Roads and Ridings through the said Wood called the Sale which have lately been and are still shut up and that the same ought to be opened." Action seems to have been taken at this Court to abate the enclo- sure, for it is recorded : — " Note the Failing taken down and the com- munication bet" the Wood called the Sale and the other part of the Forest opened." In spite of these presentments, " Wm. Hornby Esq""" persevered in his attempts to enclose the Sale, and on 19th May, 1788, there is another record: — "John Laver Underkeeper of Walthamstow Walk presents William Hornby 1 "The Rolls of the Court of Attachment of the Royal Forest of Waltham in the County of of Essex, from the 31st October, 1713, to the 6th December, 1848," printed by order of the Epping Forest Commissioners, 1783. The Court of Attachments, anciently the Woodmote, whatever may have been its original nature and jurisdiction, was held under the Charter of the Forest, which directed that the foresters and verderers should meet every forty days to see the attachments of the forest, both for " greenhue and hunting" by presentments of the foresters. There are no early records of this Court in the Forest of Waltham, although they appear to have been duly kept. There are a few of the time of Elizabeth in the British Museum. In the reigns of James I. and Elizabeth the Court was held at Chigwell, and in 1713 and afterwards its sittings were always " apud le King's Head in Chigwell." 2 Licences to enclose lands on the forest were only granted, as a genera! rule, on the under- standing that the ditch or hedge should be low enough to allow a doe with her fawn easily to sur- mount it, certainly not more than about four feet high. MOKK KPI'IXG KORKST. I43 Esq for inclosing and stubbing up part of the Sale adjoining to his P^ields also for securing or making up the remainder of the fence round the cover called the Sale so as to prevent the Deer passing the said cover." Notwithstanding the efforts of the verderers to enforce the law and prevent these encroachments on the open forest, money or Court influence appears to have prevailed, and at a Court held on July 24th, 1797, a licence was entered on the Rolls to permit John Harman, of Higham, in the parish of Walthamstow, to enclose the Sale, but not so as to prevent the deer leaping over the fences, and with no rights of building on the enclosed lands. The record is interesting, because it shows that the lake forming part of the recent purchase is in reality the Ching stream, artificially widened out, and also that the acquired land is, in a sense, a restoration, it having been formerly land under forestal rights. The record also determines the date of the forma- tion of the '' Driftway " : The Licence gives power to John Harman, as Lord of the Manor of Higham Hills or Higham Benstead, "to enclose and continue enclosed a piece of Ground at the North Corner of the said Wood called Little Sale Wood containing about si.xty yards and no more one way and fift}' yards and no more the other wa)' lying adjoining to and at the Head of a piece of Water made by the said John Harman by widening an Old Brooke at or on the West side of his Lands called Hill Mead and Flatt Mead for the purpose of planting only . . . (provided that no Cottage or other Erection or Building was erected or built thereon or anj-part thereof). And to make put or place down a Ditch or other sunken Fence in the long slip of Ground situate on the West side of the said piece of Water such Ditch or sunken Fence to run parallel and coextensive with the said piece of Water on the West or outward side thereof leaving a passage on the outside of such fence One Hundred feet in width at the least for the Deer and all persons having right thereto to pass and repass through the said long slip of land. . , (Provided that such last mentioned Fence was not made or constructed so as to hinder his Majesty's Deer from passing and repassing to and from the said piece of Water and to the said lands adjoining thereto called the Hill Mead and Flat Mead on the East side thereof in such manner as they were before the granting the said Licence by Law entitled to do but no farther or otherwise or was in any other manner to the hindrance or prejudice of such Deer)." The Licence contained other clauses sanctioning further enclosures, but always providing that " his Majesty's Vert and \'^enison of the said Forest received no prejudice by the said enclosures." [To the Licence there were attached plans showing the extent of the enclosures ; it would be very interesting to examine these, if now in existence]. The Rolls contain no further reference to the Sale, and we can- not therefore tell when the Lord of the Manor assumed full rights over the property, but it must have been some time between 1848 and the sittings of the Epping Forest Commission. The dedication of the land and water by the Duke of Connaught (as Ranger of the forest), was made the occasion of a festival by the ^, ^^€? -5^ ^ THE LOCAL (ESSEX) MUSEUM- Co^ifu/ueil. Il cannot be too cmplialically stated or too well known that the institution is for the benefit of the whole county, and not exclusively for that of Chelmsford or any particular district. It must, of course, have a home, and the proposed buildings are to be erected at Chelmsford simply because Chelmsford is a convenient centre at and from which the important educational work that is contemplated can be best carried out. Express care has been taken in the amalgamation scheme to guard against the county town having a ])aramount or more than fair share in the management. The insti- tution is to be essentially and really a county one, and it is designed for the assistance of every student, whether a member of the Club or not, desirous of improving himself in natural knowledge, and in contributing to the general well-being of Essex. The total amount of capital required for the Museum scheme is ^^4,000, and the estimated annual expenditure is ;^4oo. Active work can be com- menced in the temporary premises when one-fourth of the required capital has been obtained. The Council appeals strongly to the public spirit of the inhabi- tants of Essex, and generally to all those interested in science and in its practical ap[)lications, to give the financial support necessary to launch and to maintain the Museum, and to help forward the useful and interesting work which will grow up around it. The property of the Club will be placed under the care of the following Trustees : — The Right Hon. Lord Rayleigh, D.L., D.C.L., LL.D., F.R.S. ; Lord Brooke, M.P. ; Sir T. Fowell Buxton, Bart., D.L., F.R.G.S. ; The ^'en. the Archdeacon of Essex ; W. M. Tufnell, Esq., J. P., D.L; Professor Meldola, F.R.S., F.R.A.S., F.C.S. ; and 0. P. Hope, Esq., M.A. Copies of Appeal and pamphlet of papers relating to the pro- posal may be had from the //o/i. Secretaries, Mr. ^\'. Cole, Buck- hurst Hill, Essex, and Mr. E. Durr.\nt, go, High Street, Chelms- ford, who will be glad to give further information to en(iuirers. Subscriptions either to the C.-vpital Fund, or promises of annual donations to the Maintenance Fund, may be sent to Messrs. Sparrow, Tufnell & Co., Bankers, Chelmsford, or to the National Bank, Old Broad Street, London, or to the Treasurer of the Club, Mr. .■\. Lockyer, Mornington Lodge, Wanstead, Essex. A SELECTION FROM MESJR5. Edmund Durrant & Co.'s List of Publications. The Ancient Sepulchral Monuments of Essex. By FiiEi). Chancellor, F.R.I. B. A. Imp. 410, cloih, illu-trated, ^"4 4^. nett. Poems. By Alice E. Argent. With an Introduction by the Right Rev. Bishop CLAaoHTON. Crn. 8vo, cloth, 3^. 6d. nett, post free. Durrant's Handbook for Essex. A Guide to all the Principal Objects of Interest in each Parish in the County. By MlLLER CHRISTY, F.L.S. With Map, 2s. 6'/. nett, post free. " One of the very best Guide Books in existence." — Ez'ening Ne2us. The Birds of Essex. A Contribution to the Natural History of the County, ^^"ith numerous Illustrations, two Plans, and one Plate (form- ino; Vol. II. S,)ecial Memoirs of Essex Field Club). By MiLLEK CHRISTY. Dem}' 8vo, scarlet cloth, i^s. nett, post free. A History of Felsted School. With some Account of the Founder and his Descendants. By JOHN Sargeaunt, M.A. Illustrated, nett 4?. The Trade Signs of Essex. A Popular Account of the Origin and Meaning of the Public House and other Signs, now or forniiily found in the County of Essex. With Illustrations. By MiLLER Christy. Demy 8vo, cloth, "js. 6,/. nett. Daily Rays of Light for Sick and Weary Ones. Compiled by Edith L. Wells, with a Preface by the Rev. Prebendary HUTTO.N. Crown Svo, cloth, 65. The Limits of Ritual in the Church of England. By Rev. R. E. Baktlett, M..A., late Fellow and Tutor Trinity College, Oxford ; Bampton Lecturer, 1888. Reprinted by permission from Contemporary Review. Price 3(/., by post 35^/. ; 2s. gd. per dozen, post free. Homespun Yarns. By Edwin Coller. Crown Svo, cloth, y. 6d. Royal Illustrated History of Eastern England. By A. D. Bayne. With many Illustrations. Two vols., large Svo, cloth, 155. Domesday Book relating to Essex. Translated by the late T. C. Chisenhale-Marsh. 4to, cloth, 21s, nett. Only a few copies unsold. John Noakes and Mary Styles. A Poem in the Essex Dialect. By the late CHARLES Clark, of Totham Hall. With a Glossary and Portrait, i^. nett. The History of Rochford Hundred, Essex. Vol. I., 15^^. 6d. ; Vol. II., iSj-. nett. By PHILIP Benton. A First Catechism of Botany. By John Cii!p,s. Second Edition, i2mo, boards, 6d. The Symmetry of Flowers. By John Gibes. iSmo, sewed, 4^. Forms and Services used in the Diocese of St. Alban's. Published by authority. Lists on application. EDMUND DURRANT & CO., Publishers, 90, High St., Chelmsford. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION-Members, 4s. 6d. ; Non-Members, 9s. Post Free. N0.7,V0L.V.l Price, 9d. [JULY, 1891. The Essex Naturalist: r.F.IXG THK JOURNAL OF THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB, EDITED nV WILLIAM COLE, Honorary Secretarv, (f on tents More Eppirig Forest. (Concluded} 145 A Day on the Crouch River. }'.y Edwakd A. Fncii, I.L.S . 145 The Lepidoptera of Leyton and Neighbourhood ; a Contribution to the County Fauna. l!y Prof. k. Mki.doi.a, F.R.S 15? The authors alvne are rr<:poiisi/i/e for thi' sla'etiienls and tpiuiovs a n.'aiiied w their respective papers. PUBLISHF.n BY THE CLUB, BL'CKlirRST HILL, F.SSF.X. E. DLRRANT & CO., 90, HIGH STRHHT, CHELMSFORD. F.nt. St.itioners' ITall.] CoM.Mr.NIC.ATIONS ffW AdvektISEMENTS should be addressed : — The Editor of "THE ESSEX N.ATl'RALIST," 7, Kiiigluon \'ill;i=, Buckluiisi Hill, Essex. THE LOCAL (ESSEX) MUSEUM, LIBRARY, AND LABORATORY. The attention of Members of the Essex Field Club, and of all those interested in the practical study of Natural Science, and its applica- tions in industries, and as a means of general education, is earnestly called to the Statement and Appeal for Funds for the establish- ment of the Museum now being circulated by the Council. The scheme has long been under consideration, and it has been fully explained at meetings of the Club and in the Essex Naturalist. Its principal features are as follows : — ■ With the object of establishing at Chelmsford (chosen as being the County Town, and also as a central position in Essex) a Local and Educational Museum, the club has agreed to amalgamate with the Essex and Chelmsford Museum, under the title of " The Essex Field Club," conditionally on the sum necessary for founding the new Museum being raised. The main objects in view are : — (a) The formation of authentic collections to illustrate the Geology, Miner- alogy, Botany, Zoology, Ethnology, Pre-historic Archseology and Technology, &c., of ESSEX and the adjacent sea and rivers, together with an educational series of specimens and preparations to be employed for illustrative and teaching purposes. Specimens that are not of Essex origin will be admitted so far only as they serve to demonstrate the structure and relationship of the local types. (/>) The formation of a Local and Scientific Library, to include (in addition to standard scientific works), topographical, antiquarian, and other books, manuscripts, maps, parliamentary and official papers, pictures, prints, &c., which in any way relate to the county of Essex. (c) The establishment of a Laboratosy and Class-rooms, with fittings, apparatus, and instruments suitable for the preparation of specimens for the Museum, and for the practical study and teaching (either in the Museum or in selected local stations throughout the county) of the subjects named in paragraph (a), and for promoting their practi- cal application in Agriculture, Forestry, Arboriculture, Gardening, Fisheries, Manufactures, Industries, and general education. Ti.e laboratory, class-rooms, instruments. &c., will be under the control of the Council, who may permit students, investigators, and others to use them, and may also lend instruments and preparations out of the Museum buildings for purposes in furtherance of the above objects. \_Contimted on page 3 0/ Wrapper. A DAY ON THE CROUCH RIVKR. 145 Epping Forest Committee of the Corporation of London on June 6lh, as before mentioned. The ceremony took place in a marquee by tlie western side of the lake, and many of the company were afterwards entertained at luncheon at the Royal Forest Hotel. The speakers all testified to the value and beauty of the acquisition, and to its im[)ortance as connecting two parts of the forest before almost severed. The thanks of all true foresters are again due in the highest degree to the two verderers who have so often shown their real interest in the forest in a practical way. There are many other desirable additions which might be made to the forest, and we hope that the exaniple of the Buxton family will be largely followed by those able to thus benefit present and future generations. AVe print a few views of Higham Park, from original drawings, by Mr. H. A. Cole, which were prepared for publication in the news- papers during the negotiations, in order to aid the movement by demonstrating the beauty of the proposed acquisition. Other sketches by Mr. Cole will be found in the " Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News " for July 21st, 1890. A DAY ON THE CROUCH RIVER. By EDWARD A. FITCH, F.L.S., F.E.S. [Read Fc/'iKury zSth, iSgi.\ A FTER the meeting at Upminster last year, Mr. Crouch returned "^^ with metoMaldon. Early on the Monday morning (July 28th) we proceeded to Burnham, a dull threatening morning breaking out into a finer and warmer day than it promised. Close by the railway station on the grass of both sides of the approach we found Heiix virgata abundant, large and well marked varieties occurred and one prettily variegated. AV'e so began a good day's work. At Burnham we went on board Mr. John Roger's yacht " Fame," he and his son being with us, and we had a most pleasant day, the trawl and one dredge being kept constantly at work. These brought \\\) some most interesting material and I have thought that a short account of our finds, as far as we were able to recognise them, might be interesting to our members. To conimence with the Crustacea. We found one Nyinphon K 146 A DAY ON THE CROUCH RIVLR. gracile crawling over a large mass of " ross " {Serjyi/lce). This inter- esting and extraordinary looking little Sea-spider forms the subject of chapter xxvii. of Gosse's " Tenby." With his usual felicity of expres- sion, Mr. Gosse refers to it as " Mr. Nobody," and comparing its tiny cephalothorax with its eight long, many-jointed, strongly-hooked, sprawling legs, it certainly seems to have no body. Another of these curious Pycnogonids occurred in a male specimen of Fyctiogotmm littorale. A much more compact looking creature than Nymphon and with its four eyes on a swelling on the first segment. According to Prof. E. Forbes, this is a true whale-louse. Do coming events cast their shadows, or their parasites, before them ? Several specimens of the roughly triangular-shaped Pisa tetraodon were brought up, all so covered with mud, in their short hairs, in which Algae and Zoophytes were growing, that they had almost lost their individuality. Indeed, when pointed out to our two practical dredgermen, they declared they had never seen this crab before, although I have no reason to believe but that it is fairly common. They knew the Common, Spider and Flying-crab well. Specimens of all were obtained. Carcinus in«nas (the Common Shore Crab) was, of course, in great abundance : this pest appears to increase as the eels decrease. The Spider-crab {Hyas araneus) was not common, but very variable in size and general appearance. Possibly some were H. coarctatus, but I have no specimens now to examine. Two or three " Flying-crabs," as they are called here (more generally known as " Swimming-crabs," Portuniis depurator) were captured, all in the trawl. Their presence in the bucket was frequently impressed upon us by a sharp nip on the fingers ; these active and pretty but pugnacious little fellows are exceedingly fond of giving one a nip, and they do it effectually. Many of the pretty little red-brown Pea-crabs {Pinnotheres pisuni) were found, some hiding amongst the irregular Serpulidoe and others in the Cliona-hox&di shells of oysters and mussels, the former for preference. I only brought home one male and certainly the females were much the more common, these were all well loaded with the bright orange ova, very inconveniently so, I should think. So also were many of the exceedingly abundant Carcinus fna'nas. Hermit-crabs, locally " Farmers " {Enpagurus hernhai-dus) were as usual a common inhabitant of the A\''helk (yBuccinuni) shells. I found one in a Natica shell, which may belong to a different species {P. hvvis ?). When these creatures are frightened and they have A DAY ON THE CROUCH RIVER. I47 thorouglily withdrawn themselves with a snap into the shell, it is quite impossible to extract them by force, but a gentle tapping on the apex of the \Vhelk-shell with the cull-tack or a knife blade will soon cause them to tumble out. When put in a bucket with two or three empty shells, it is interesting to note how speedily they provide themselves with a new house. There are other, but less humane, methods of dislodging the Pagurus from its home. A fine Lobster had been taken in the river the day before our visit, but such grand Crustaceans did not fall to our luck. A large Rhizostoma brought up in the trawl was put into a bucket of clear water, and this was soon filled by dozens of the very active Hyperea latreillii, shooting about in all directions near the top of the water. Their large, elongate, bright apple-green eyes were especially noticeable. These little Crustacea were parasitic within the pellucid gelatinous substance of the Medusa, especially between the peduncle and the umbrella-like disk. I also found its tick-like larva (figured in Gosse's "Naturalist's Rambles on the Devonshire Coast," pi. xxii. fig. 15). Those I brought home were much larger than his grain of- sand-sized specimens. Many Shrimps and Sandhoppers, or " Skipjacks,'' were captured, but I am not sufficiently acquainted with them to attempt to give a list of the species. Idotea emargitiata was in the greatest abundance, and we took several Crangon vulgaris (Common Shrimp) alive. Oysters, mussel-shells and stones were covered with the Acorn Bar- nacle {Balanus porcatus) locally known as " chitters." Of the Actinaria or Sea-anemones we only found two spe- cies. The Beadlet {Actinia mesembryanthemum) was abundant, but all of the liver-brown variety. In one of the bottles you will see three Daisies {Sagartia bellis). The day was not hot enough for us to see many of the common jelly-fish {Aurelia aurita), near the surface of the water, as was the case in the Blackwater on September 15th, 1888, (Essex Nat. ii. 247), when " Thick as blanc-mange the jelly-fish clung to the sluggish keel." Many, however, were noticed, and on one or two hauls the trawl was so filled with " blubber " that care had to be exercised to avoid breaking the net, and when the cord was untied the deck was covered with the jelly-like substance. A few of these common jelly-fish were pale purple in colour, far the larger majority being white, but none 148 A DAY ON THK CROUCH RIVER. were so brilliantly deep purple as I had seen them in the Ijlackwater in the spring. Several of the larger stinging Cyancea capillata were noticed, and the slippery crystal globes of Cydippe pomiformis were not uncommon. Six species of Echinodermata were found. The Common Sand- star {Ophiog/ypha ciliata) in great abundance, many hundreds in some hauls, the writhing and squirming of so many flexible arms presenting a curious spectacle. The Lesser Sand-star ((9. albidd) also occurred with it, but it was much scarcer. Within certain limits the disks of these two species varied much in colour. The Common Brittle-star Ophiothrix petitaphyUutn, Penn. {rosula, Link), was by no means common, only two or three specimens being noticed. The Five-finger { Uraster rubens) was far too abundant in our host's eyes ; in one haul of the dredge as many as seventy-five were brought in, all young and violet coloured ; they turn orange and red later. One violet coloured fellow might have been Uraster violacea, if that species be really distinct from U. rubens; it was the only large violet one caught during the day. The "Five-finger" is a great oyster enemy, sucking out the animal and leaving only "a clock " behind. The voracious Sun-star {Solnsfer papposa), was not common, but all were very bright in colour ; specimens with eleven, twelve and thirteen rays were brought home. The only Sea-urchin met with was the purple- tipped species {^Echinus ?iu7iaris), and this occurred commonly — again too commonly — from the size of a sixpence to that of a five- shilling piece (Forbes says it attains if inch sometimes). The " ross " already spoken of consists of the crowded tubes of a Serpula, I believe Filograna implexa, and all that were noticed as "live," i.e., containing the living worms, was well crushed under foot. Neplitys'M'xiS. Nereis were common amongst the "rubbish " or "stuff," but the only other Annelid that calls for mention was a living speci- men of Pectinaria l>elgica, dredged on the sandy bottom off Holly- well. The smooth, sandy conical tube was a large one, and the beau- tiful orange comb (branchial cilia) of the enclosed worm, which Gosse says "seems to be made of burnished gold," was soon shown busy at work when the worm was placed in a small bottle of sea- water. Mr. Crouch was on the look-out for tubes of TerebellidiC or Sabella, as likely to contain minute shells, but none turned up. Several Polyzoa were noticed, but they were not well known to us. Dead Lepralice were very common on the shells of oysters, mus- sels, whelks, the carapaces of the various crab.s, and on Laminaria A DAY ON THK CUOUCH RIVLR. I49 and other seaweeds. Specific (letermination in this puzzling genus was not attempted. One of tlie hard Esckar-r was noticed, and some fine pieces of " Lemon-weed '' or "Sea-mat" {^Flustra foliacea and the more delicate F. papyrncea), were brought up. These animal colonies being flat and frond-like, are invariably taken for sea-weeds by the 61 ttuXXoi, but the use of a lens soon dispels this idea and shows the numerous closely-clustered cells, each inhabited by its own Polypide. Gosse calculated that in F. foliacea there were 13,440 cells to the square inch. For figure, see his "Tenby," pi. x. Although here called " Lemon-weed," the scent is little like that of a lemon, but more resembles verbena or pine-apple. Alcyonidiiim gelatinosum^ somewhat resembling sticks of barley-sugar, occurred, but in nothing like the abundance we found it in the Orwell (E. N. iv. 170). Membranipora pilosa was common, matting together several Sea- weeds {Algcp) and Sertularians. The somewhat repulsive looking Ascidians or sea-squirts, whose local name need not be given, were in the greatest abundance. They bear considerable resemblance to oriental and ancient wine-skins, whence their scientific name. They were mostly the common Ascidia virginea and were of all sizes and forms consistent with the species, and were attached to everything in the shape of a stone or shell, often in bunches. Alolgida ociilata was found sparingly towards the mouth of the river opposite Hollywell, looking like little bullets of sand ; they were quite indistinguishable until they were touched. 'I'he currant-squirter, Cynthia {Styela) grossularta, looking like a small pink or brick-red sea-anemone when closed, was particularly abundant on the shells of the oyster. It is locally termed "pock" ; when squeezed these smell much like cucumber. The life-history of these Ascidians or Tunicata affords an excellent example of ancestral degeneration ; they all have a free-swimming fish-like larva. Now coming to the MoUusca. We found Pholas Candida^ alive, boring into chalk nodules that were dredged up. These had probably been used originally to face the sea-walls, some of the lumps had been completely riddled by this animal. The soft, wet chalk was easily split or cut through with the cull-tack and so the thin and extremely brittle shell could be easily obtained perfect ; many living specimens were found. One or two dead and I When at Hurnham on 14th P'ebri:ary last, Mr. Crouch got a fine living specimen of Pholas cris/>ata.^ Shell 3 inches long by ij inches broad. The animal with syphons measured almoit exactly six inches. 150 A DAY ON THE CROUCH RIVER. broken shells of P. dactylus occurred as well as those of Sohn fnarginatus. Thracia papyracea was noticed, but the specimen is now lost. Many living specimens of the pretty little Nticula nucleus were found amongst the "stuff" dredged up. Fhiline aperta occurr&d rather commonly, but was unrecognised at first ; it greatly resembled a small piece of cooked fat, or was like the figure of Lccmargus muricatus in Gosse's " Manual of Marine Zoology " (vol. i., fig. 203). About half a dozen Dentalium etitalis were brought up in two hauls of the trawl towards the mouth of the river, off the sand. Chito7is were numerous and Mr. Crouch took many specimens to examine at leisure. Several living Trochus cinerarius were brought up, but only one Nassa reticulata ; and the small Pleurotoma rufa occurred sparingly. A few good specimens of Natica monilifera were also collected. A\' e had one haul at the dredge over the " trail " and got as many mussels [Mytilus edulis), mostly small, as could be hauled aboard, but nothing else. All day we did not get enough whelks {Buccinum) for a " cook," nor did we see a single " Winkle " {Littorind). The Whelk-tingles {Purpura lapillus) or Dog-whelks were in evidence, but not in the same pretty variety as is the case on a rocky coast, such as at Hastings, Deal, or Devonshire. These carnivorous molluscs, being a great and deadly enemy of the oyster, by boring through the shell into the oyster's heart, were soon crushed by the practical men, as were one or two nests of their yellow horn or urn- like eggs attached to stones. Several sponge-like masses of the egg-capsules of Buccinum were brought up. For an interesting paper on these curious objects, see Dr. J. E. Gray. " Mag. Nat. Hist. " (2), i., 247. Ostrea edulis of course occurred, also two specimens of Tapes pu lias tra, and one dead shell of Tellina balthica. Of the interesting Nudibranchs or " Sea-slugs," four species were recognised. Doris pilosa was common, often as niany as half-a- dozen were brought up at one haul of the dredge, with two or three pieces of gelatinous spawn resembling a loosely-rolled frill of sandy ribbon. We found three specimens of the curious Doto coronaia, which we at once christened the "prickly-pear slug," as that fruit was almost exactly represented in miniature by the dorsal papilla; of the slug both in colour as well as form. These papillae are not only branchiae or "gill-plumes " as in the fine and beautiful Dendronotus and others, but in Doto they contain an important part of the digestive system ; nearly the whole of the liver is carried on the A DAY ON THK CROUCH RIVER. 151 slug's back. One brilliant specimen of the bright purple Eolis ccronnfa, and another dark reddish-brown species of Eolis (either Eo/is conciitfia, Alder and Hancock, pi. 24, or a new species) occurred, but these slugs are difficult to preserve, even to make subsequent indentification possible. Doris can be kept well, Doto fairly well, though it loses its bright colours, but attempts to preserve Eolis are quite failures. These slugs are handsome and conspicuous objects when separated from their surroundings, but amongst the various living Zoophytes and Algce their protective resemblance is remarkable and they are by no means easily recognised amongst the varied contents of the dredge or trawl. Corallines or Zoophytes were, of course, abundant, but we were neither of us specialists enough to recognise many. Hydractinia echinata was common on the shells of Purpura iapillus, living and beautiful ; much interest was shown in two specimens we bottled. The presence of a fine " root " of Tubularia indivisa in a jar, with its rich bouquet of delicate, but brilliant, white-plumed scarlet flowers, was also a great surprise to our crew. This Tubularia occurred many times in the deeper water near the mouth of the river, as did also a brilliant orange species, almost equally beautiful, but whose name we did not know. Sertularians were abundant, but all we recognised with certainty were, Serhilaria pumila, S. alnetiua, S. Jilicula, S. argentea, and Hydrallmannia falcata on S. pumila. Among the Escharids Cellnlaria avicularia and Eschara foliacea appeared to be common. Of the sponges, several fine pieces of Chalina oculata were noticed, and both Grantia ciliata and G. compressa occurred, attached mostly to the larger Sertularians. The " Crumb-of-bread Sponge " {Halichoudria panicea) was not uncommon. Oyster shells, bored by Clione cclata, were seen in thousands. \\'hile we were examining the "rubbish," the crew and the Messrs. Rogers were busy with the oyster spat, of which several were found, varying from the size of a pin's head to that of a shirt-button. Often three or four were found on a shell, thus giving promise of a good fall of spat ; a promise which has been fulfilled, for probably there was a larger spat in our Essex rivers last year than in any since 1 88 1, but it came late. I heard of as many as forty being counted on a single sh^U from the Blackwater this year, varying from the size of a pin's point to a split pea ; sixteen and seventeen on a shell were not unusual in 1S81. This is rather a shock to Mr. Frank Buck- 152 A DAY ON THE CROUCH RIVEK. land's famous "heat and trarKjuillity "' formula. Let us hope this valuable spat will not be killed in the winter, as was the case in 1880.2 Of fish we found Flounder (one), Plaice (common), Dal) (com- mon), Sole (several), Dogfish (one, certainly a young Galeus milgaris). Bullhead {Agojius cafaphraetus, several), Fatherlasher {Cotiiis scorpius and C. bubalis, common as usual), and several young Thornbacks i^Raia elavatd). The young Tope had been feeding, apparently freely, on crabs and shrimps It was differentiated from the picked Dogfish by the fishermen through its rough coat. They showed us how to scrub the decks with the skin, and it certainly did it very well. On November 8th, I had another day's trawling at Burnham, but which, from a fisherman's point of view — my object then — was not a very satisfactory one. We took one Eel-pout {Zoarces viviparus\ one of our few viviparous fish. After it had been dead some time, I took from it fifty-five young, all very lively. Four of that little purplish wriggler, the Diminutive Lumpv-sucker {Liparis montagiii) and one Sea-Snail {Liparis vulgaris), besides tlie usual, but a poor, catch of "Bull-routs" (local name for the Fatherlashers, Cotius), Dabs, Flounders, and Plaice. One Bull-rout contained a Whiting as long as itself, and several contained two crabs, besides sundry shrimps and prawns. I believe they are fully as voracious as they look, and that is saying a good deal. In my previous notes I ought to have said that during the day (July 28th) we landed on Fowlness for the purpose of inspecting the Shell-bank already referred to in the Essex Naturalist (ii. 268, and iii. 39), and found that certainly the bulk of the schram consisted of Cockle-shells, but some few other species were present ; all, of course, dead and broken. This Shell-bank, probably an old Sea-beach, may be easily traced from Sales Point, Bradwell, at the mouth of the Blackwater, to Shelford Creek, between Fowlness and New England islands. Besides these places it gives the name to many farms, as Old and New Mountsales ( = the shelly mound), the How (=the hole), and to many fields. Here, on Fowlness, the sea lavender {Staiice) was in the greatest abundance and just in full bloom — a lovely sight. I do not think anything further remains so be recorded of a very pleasant and by no means unprofitable day's work. 2 Unfortunately this has happened; the destruction of oyster-brood during the late se\ere weather has been enormous. 153 THE LEPIDOPTERA OF LEYTON AND NEIGH- BOURHOOD; A CONTRIBUTION TO THE COUNTY FAUNA. I?y Prof. R. MKLDOLA, P'.Ti.S., &c., Vice-President Entomological Society. npHE publication of the first instalment of Mr. Fitch's paper (a/?/^, -'■ pp. 74-108) has induced me to place upon record my own experience as a collector in the above district. Any interest which these records may possess is perhaps more of a personal than of a scientific character, since they relate, for the most part, to a period of about twenty years ago, when, as a novice, I first took up the fascinating pursuit of butterfly and moth collecting with all the enthusiasm of youth. The district referred to in these notes was comprised by the garden attached to No. 8, Park Place, Leyton, with the neighbouring parts of Epping Forest, more especially the glades about " Rushey Plain " and "Gilbert's Slade," although excursions were also frequently made to the more remote parts of the Forest. Commencing in the autumn of the hot and dry season of 1868, the various methods of collecting by netting on the wing, sugaring, searching Cowers at night, attracting by light, breeding from larvre, (S:c., were carried on without intermission on every favourable day and evening, till we left the locality in 1870. After this, collecting was still carried on in the district, but not so con- tinuously. Fairly complete notes of captures from 1869 to 1874 have been kept, and most of the specimens are still in my collection in as good a state of preservation as when taken off the setting- boards twenty years ago. From these notes and specimens the present list has been drawn up. As the locality at Leyton where these captures were made is now being rapidly covered with build- ings, it has appeared to me of sufficient interest to publish the present list, both as a contribution to the County fauna and as a record of the Lepidopterous population of a suburb which was at the time rural, but which is now being gradually absorbed into the metropolis. Fortunately from the naturalists' point of view, however, Leyton stiil is, and always must be, cut off from London to the north by the Lea valley and the low-lying marsh and meadow lands bordering that river. In the list now given, it must be understood that, unless sjjecially 154 THE LEPIDOPTERA OF LEVTON AND NEIGHBOURHOOD, Stated, the record refers to the garden at Leyton. All the species entered have been taken by myself unless otherwise stated. To make the list as complete as possilile, I have included many species which I have never taken in the district myself, but which I have seen others take, or which are known to me on good authority to be inhabitants of the locality. Any omissions will, I hope, be supplied by others who have worked in the same neighbourhood ; one of my reasons in publishing the list as it stands being the hope that it will serve as a basis for other collectors to work upon and to enlarge, especially with respect to the smaller moths (Tortrices and Tineina), which, at the period referred to, I did not know enough about to attempt to name. RHOPALOCERA. All the commoner species were taken in the garden and neigh- bourhood, and need only be briefly referred to here : — Pieridae. Gonepteryx rhamni was fairly common in the autumn and spring ; but never so abundant as I have seen it in the southern counties (Kent, Sussex, and Surrey). Of Colias edusa, I saw one specimen flying over Leyton Green on October 9th, 1869. Pieris brasskcs, rapce and napi were always common. Euchlo'e cardamines was occasionally taken in the garden, but more commonly in the lanes between Walthamstow and Chingford. Nymphalidae. Vanessa cardui was rare as a garden insect. I did not see more than two or three at Leyton, the only Essex specimens taken between 1868 and 1874 having been captured in the plantations on the Forest near the Wanstead Orphan Asylum. V. atalanta was quite common in the garden in 1868 and 1869. I often used to see this butterfly by day on the trunks of trees that had been sugared the preceding night. I remember also being struck by the ease with which it was captured in small glass forcing frames, supported on bricks over plates of beer and sugar, placed about the garden to attract the wasps, which at that time did much damage to the wall-fruit. It was not unusual to find a dozen or more of these handsome butterflies in one small glass frame mixed up with the swarms of wasps, flies, and other insects attracted by the bait. The larva of this species and V. urtiae used to occur also on the nettles growing in a narrow lane (now built upon) running along one side of the garden and leading to the marshes. V. io was fairly common in the garden. V. polychloros was never seen in the garden. THE I.EPIDOPTERA OF LEVI'ON AND NEIGHHOURHOOD. T55 I have taken it in the Forest near Wanstead, and my mother has taken it in tlie same locaHty. /' urtiae was common in the spring and autumn. With reference to the habits of Vancssas^ I recollect an observa- tion which caused me the greatest interest at the time. In the small plantations near the Orphan Asylum above mentioned, there were (and still are) many old birch trees with rugged trunks. From wounds in the bark or some other cause, the sap had exuded from several of the trees and had trickled down the trunk in a long dark streak, extending from near the top of the trunk to the roots. This exudation had attracted numbers of V. io and V. ataianta, and one or two V. polychloros were also seen, the butterflies flying round and settling on the dark streak of moist bark. As the insects sat with wings alternately opened and closed, after the manner of their family, they seemed to me, even at that time, to reveal the meaning of the sombre mottling of the under surface of the wings which harmonised so well with the mottled bark, that when they sat motionless with closed wings they were almost invisible, especially when viewed "end on," i.e., in the plane of the closed wings. The only specimen of Argynnis paphia taken at Leyton is the one referred to by Mr. Fitch. It was a somewhat tattered male ca])tured in August, 1868, on the flowers of a patch of thyme growing in the garden. I have records of having seen this species in Epping Forest (near High Beach), on July 31st, 1870, and July 19th, 1872 ; and my mother has also seen it in the Forest, on at least one occasion near Wanstead. Of the other Fritillaries, A. sekne has been taken by me some what rarely in the Forest between Monk's \\'ood and Epping, and A. euphrosyne more commonly in the same part of the Forest. I have seen one or both these species in the same locality within recent years, and they appear to be getting commoner. Satyridse. Pnrarge egcria was never seen at Leyton, but com- monly in the Forest. P. megcera was occasionally taken in the garden, but more commonly in the Forest. Epinephele Janira was common in the garden and abundant among the grass of the marshes. E. tithonus was only an occasional visitor to the garden, although common enough in the Forest. E. hypcranthus never appeared in the garden, but was common in the Forest. Civnonympha painphilus was common everywhere. Lycaenidae. Thcda betulce was well known to occur in the neighbourhood of High Beach, where its larva was beaten from the 156 THE I.EPinOPTERA OK LEYTON AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. l)lackthorn. I liavc ofleii taken the larva in this way ; but I do not know wliether it is still to he found there, as for many years systematic persLicution of this species has been carried on by collectors and dealers. Although the larva was fairly common at the period to which these records refer, I only saw the butterfly itself on the wing on one occasion : viz.^ on September 23rd, 1870, when I for some time watched a female flying over the blackthorn and depositing eggs. The butterfly probably escapes notice owing to its being mistaken for a common Satyrid, which it much resembles on the wing. Thecla qucrcus is the only other Hairstreak that I have taken in the Forest. It was pretty common about the oaks between Monk's Wood and Epping Thicks. Polyommatus phlceas was common as a garden and forest insect. Lyccena argiolns was also common both in the garden and Forest. The earliest record of the appearance of this butterfly in my notes is April 24th, 1869. L. icarus was common in the garden, on the marshes, and in the Forest. L. cegon was taken only at one locality : viz., in the reedy swamps near the King's Oak at High Beach. L. astrarche was taken occasionally in the garden ; more commonly in the Forest. Hesperidae. None of these butterflies were taken at Leyton ; and the only species I have taken in the Forest are Syrichthus /iialvce, which I saw in considerable numbers in 1889 between Monk's Wood and Epping Thicks, and, in the same part of the Forest, Hesperia thaiimas was occasionally taken. I have a distinct recol- lection also of having seen Nisoniades tages^Awdi Hesperia sylvanus in the Forest within the last few years, but these are not recorded in the notes from 1869 to 1874. One noteworthy fact respecting the butterflies captured in 1869, is the exceptionally small size of some of the specimens. I have now in my collection dwarfed P. rapce and napi, E. cardaniines (taken in lane at Chingford), V. atlanta and V. io (both taken in the garden). Whether this character was prevalent generally, might perhaps be ascertained by referring to the entomological records of that season. HETEROCERA.^ Zygaena filipendulse. This species was taken in the mea- dows about Chingford rather commonly. I believe it still occurs 1 The sequence and nomenclature of the species of Heterocera adopted by Prof. Meldola is that of Stainton's " Manual of British Butterflies and Moths" (1857). As this book is so well known to entomologists, it is unnecessary to re-arrange the species ill accordance with the more modern lists. — Ed. THE i.ei>ii)01'ti:ra ok i,i:vt()N and nekiihiourhood. 157 there, and alsc) in other meadows in the Abridge district. I often searched for it among the grass of the marshes about Lcyton, but without success. Smerinthus ocellatus. Several larwx of this species were taken on S(r//x by Mr. I'^. B. Poulton and myself, near the Wake Arms in 1887. I have no record of the species from Leyton. S. populi. Fairly common ; taken at light, on the wing, and occasionally at rest on fences. S. tilise. One specimen at rest on fence ; "Chestnut Walk." Sphinx convolvuli. Two specimens seen hovering over a bed of geraniums in September, 1868; one was captured, the other escaped. Sphinx ligustri. Fairly common on the wing in 1868 and 1869. All my captures were made at the flowers of the honeysuckle growing round the trunk of an apple-tree I never saw the moth visit anv other tlowers in the garden. ChcErocampa elpenor. Fairly common in 1868 and 1869 ; taken on the wing at honeysuckle with the last species. C. porcellus. One at honeysuckle, June 29th, 1869. Macroglossa stellatarum. Frequently seen in district ; once captured over a scarlet geranium in the garden. M. fuciformis. Never seen in Leyton garden, but taken somewhat freely in certain seasons at High Beach, over rhododen- dron, by Mr. H. A. Cole. M. bombyliformis. Taken at High Beach by Mr. H. A. Cole with the preceding species, but much rarer. Sesia tipuliformis. Common in the garden on the leaves of currant bushes in early morning, and during bright sunshine on the flowers of syringa. S. myopiformis. Fairly common on trunk of an apple-tree in early morning, and on flowers of syringa by day. Hepialus hectus. Common in Forest ; never seen in garden. H. lupulinus. Not common in garden, commoner in Forest ; on the wing at dusk, and on fences by day. H. sylvinus. This species is known to occur along the lanes in the Chingford district. The only record I have is from the neigh- bourhood of Higham Park, August 9th, 1874. H. humuli. I'airly common on wing at dusk, many more females than males being captured. 158 THE LEPIDOPTERA OF LEYTON AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. Zeuzera sesculi. Only once taken at Leyton on trunk of apple (or pear) tree in neighbouring garden.- Cossus ligniperda. One specimen taken on fence in Lea Bridge Road. Larva occasionally found. Dicranura vinula. Taken only in the larval form on willows about marshes. Notodonta camelina. Once on wing in garden ; occasionally in the Forest. Stauropus fagi. I have never taken this species, but it is well known to occur in the northern part of the Forest. Diloba coeruleocephala. Fairly common in larval form in Forest about High Ijeach ; not recorded from Leyton. Pygaera bucephala. Abundant in larval form ; not so com- mon as imago. Liparis auriflua. Common in garden as larva and imago. L. salicis. Common on the wing, or at rest on tree trunks and fences. Has become much rarer in the district of late years. L. monacha. At rest on tree trunks in northern portions of Forest ; not uncommon in some seasons. Demas coryli. In northern part of Forest; scarce (larval form). Orgyia antiqua. Common in garden, but not so abundant as in the London Squares. Calligenia miniata. Taken on the wing at High Beach ; not common. Lithosia helvola. One specimen beaten out at High Beach. L. griseola. Occasionally on the wing in garden, and in the Forest. L. complanula. On wing in the garden, rare ; more com- monly in Forest. Nola cucullatella. Fairly common in garden ; common in Forest, both as larva and imago. Arclia caja. Common in larval form, less common as imago. A. villica. One specimen taken at rest by day on leaf of lilac. Spilosoma menthastri. Abundant as larva and imago. S. lubricipeda. Common as larva and imago. 2 I find among my notes, that in 1871 this moth was remarkably abundant in the London Squares. In July of that year, scores were to be seen on the trunks of trees in Euston and other Squares, and numbers of detached wings were lying about on the ground at the foot of the trees. Whether these wings indicated that the moihs h.ad been eaten by the birds, as appeared the most probable explanation, I was never enabled to ascertain by direct observation. The empty pupa cases from which the moths had emerged were to be seen projecting from the bark in large numbers. See " Land and Water," August 12th, 1871. THE LRPIDOPTERA OF I.FA'TON AND NEIGH I'.OURHOOD. 1 59 S. mendica. Taken occasionally on the wing (female) ; not taken in Forest. Euchelia jacobeae. Never seen at Leyton ; common in larval form on ragwort about High Beach, much less common as imago. Bombyx quercus. Never taken in garden ; larva fairly common on grassy banks about Chingford and VValthamstow. B. neustria. Abundant in garden as larva and imago. Odonestis potatoria. Same remarks apply as under Bom/^yx quercus. Saturnia carpini. I have never seen this sjiecies in the Forest, l)ut its larva is sometimes taken about the heathy parts. Cilix spinula. Occasionally on wing in garden ; more com- monly in Forest. Platypteryx falcataria. Beaten from birch in Forest about Theydon IJois ; never taken at Leyton. P. hamula. Once taken in garden ; occurs (somewhat rarely) in Forest. P. unguicula. Not uncommon among beech at Monk's Wood. Fumea radiella. Once taken flying in some numbers about a roadside bank near the " Robin Hood." NOCTUAi. Thyatira derasa. At sugar in garden occasionally ; com- moner in Forest. T. batis. Not uncommon at sugar in various parts of F'orest ; not taken in garden at Leyton. Cymatophora duplaris. Occasionally at sugar in Forest (" Rushey Plain "). Bryophila perla. Taken in profusion on wall by Lea Bridge Station, and also on a wall at Loughton. I have not seen the moth in the Lea Bridge locality of late years. Acronycta tridens and psi. Both species occurred at Ley- ton ; but were not recorded separately, as I was then unable to dis- tinguish them. A. aceris. Larva occasionally taken on fences throughout district. A. megacephala. Fairly common as larva and imago. A. rumicis. A specimen bred from larva feeding on verbena in garden ; occasionally at sugar in Forest. Leucania conigera. At sugar in garden, scarce. l6o THE LEPIDOPTRRA OK I.KYTON AND NEIGHHOURHOOD. L. lithargyria. Occasionally at sugar in garden ; common in the Forest. L. comma. Somewhat rare at sugar ; and on the wing. L. impura. Common at sugar and on the wing, both in garden and Forest. L, pallens. Very common at sugar and on wing, in garden and Forest. Nonagria despecta. In Forest, about swampy j^arts of " Rushcy Plain " ; not at Leyton. N. fulva. Same remarks as under preceding species. Hydrsecia nictitans. Fairly common at sugar and on wing, in garden and Forest. H. micacea. Occasionally at sugar; more frequently on flowers at night. Xylophasia lithoxylea. Common at sugar, and on fences by day. X. polyodon. Abundant at sugar, at lime blossom, and on the wing. Dipterygia pinastri.^'' Occasionally at sugar in the garden ; fairly common in Forest. Heliophobus popularis. Occasionally at light. Luperina tes acea. Common at rest on fences by day, on the wing, and at light. Mamestra anceps. Once at sugar in Forest (" Rushey I'lain "), June i8th, 1870. M. brassicse. Abundant at sugar, on fences, and on the wing. M. persicariae. Not common at sugar; larva common on garden dahlia, (S:c. Apamea ophiogramma. Once on wing in garden at Wan- stead. A. oculea. Abundant on the wing, at sugar, light, and lime blossom. Miana strigilis. Common at sugar and on fences, in garden and Forest. M. fasciuncula. At sugar in garden and Forest ; not common. M. furuncula. Very common at sugar, and on wing in garden and Forest. 3 I have records of lhi>i and many other species h.iving been taken on ihe leaves of currant bushes and nellies covered wiih "honey dew" (Aphis secretion). See " Entomologist," vol. iv., p. 303. THE LKPIDOPTKRA OF LEYTON AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. l6l Grammesia trilinea. Not uncommon at sugar in Forest ; not taken at Leyton. Caradrina morpheus. Fairly common in garden and Forest. C. alsines and blanda. Both species occurred somewhat commonly, but were not recorded separately. C. cubicularis. Common in garden and house. ' Rusina tenebrosa. Not common at sugar in garden ; com- mon in Forest. Agrotis suffusa. Occasionally at sugar in garden and Forest. A. saucia. Five taken at sugar in garden in September and October, 1869.* A. segetum. Very common at sugar and on wing ; absoluttly swarmed in 1869. A. exclamationis. Common at sugar, at light, and lime blossom. A. nigricans. Occasionally at sugar in garden : commoner in Forest. A. tritici and aquilina. Both species occurred, but not commonly. They were not recorded separately as I could not then distinguish them. A. porphyrea. A fresh specimen taken flying by day over heathy part of Forest near Loughton Camp, July 19th, 1888. Triphaena ianthina. Occasionally at sugar in garden ; com- moner in Forest. T. fimbria. Two specimens at sugar in garden in 1869 and 1870. T. orbona. Common at sugar and on the wing. T. pronuba. Abundant throughout district. Noctua glareosa. Once at sugar in Forest (" Gilbert's Slade"), September 8th, 1869. N. augur. Occasionally at sugar in garden ; commoner in Forest. N. plecta. P\iirly common at sugar and on wing, in garden and Forest. N. c-nigrum. Common at sugar. N. triangulum. Scarce at sugar in Forest (" Rushey Blain ') in July, 1870. 4 This species appears to be somewhat capricious in its appearance. 1869 must have been a good season for it, as it sw.-irmed at sugar in a copse neir lirighion on Septemlier 21st of iliat year, when, among oilier things, I captured a specimen of I.cucania vitetlina. l62 THE LEPIDOPTERA OF LEYTON AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. N. festiva. Scarce at sugar in garden ; abundant in Forest. N. rubi. Occasionally at sugar and on the wing, in garden and Forest. N. umbrosa. Several at sugar in garden in 1869 and 1870. N. baja. Very rarely at sugar in garden; commoner in Forest. N. xanthographa. Extremely abundant at sugar and on wing. Tseniocampa gothica. At sallow in woods near Chingford ; fairly common. T. rubricosa. Same locality as preceding ; scarce. T. instabilis. Common at sallow throughout district. T. stabilis. Very common at sallow in woods near Ching- ford. T. gracilis. Same locality as preceding ; scarce. T. cruda. Very common in same locality as preceding. Orthosia upsilon. Scarce on the wing in garden. O. lota. Fairly common at sugar in garden. O. macilenta. Scarce at sugar in garden. Anchocelis rufina. Scarce at sugar in garden. A. pistacina. Common at sugar in garden. This species absolutely swarmed in 1869, every patch of sugar attracting them by scores. The moths were sometimes seen still at the sugar by broad daylight in the morning. I have never seen the species in such profusion since. A. lunosa. Common at sugar with the preceding, but not so abundant. A. litura. At sugar in garden ; scarce. Cerastis vaccinii. Fairly common at sugar in the garden in the autumn, and at sallow in the spring (woods near Chingford). C. spadicea. Not quite so common as preceding; taken under same conditions. Scopelosoma satellitia. Occasionally at sugar in gardei>, and at sallow in the spring. Commoner in the Forest, where the larva can be beaten out in large numbers. Xanthia citrago. Occasionally at sugar in garden. A speci- men was taken l)y my mother on a fence at Buckhurst Hill, in 1890. X. ferruginea. Fairly common at sugar in garden and Forest. THE LEPIDOPTKRA OF LEYTON AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 163 Dicycla oo. Not uncommon in some seasons at sugar in " Rushey Plain " ; never seen in garden. Cosmia trapezina. Very common at sugar in garden and Forest. C. diffinis. Not uncommon at sugar in garden and Forest. C. affinis. At sugar in garden and Forest ; scarcer than preceding. Dianthaecia capsincola. Not uncommon over honeysuckle in garden in iS6S and 1869. It used to fly about the flowers with S/'/iinx Iigustri\ Chcrrocampa e/penor, and Cucullia timbratica. Hecatera serena. Occasionally at sugar in Forest; once or twice on fenc-es near Woodford. Polia flavicincta. Occasionally at sugar in garden. Miselia oxyacanthse. Fairly common at sugar in garden, and in larval form in Forest. Phlogophora meticulosa. Common at sugar and on wing, in garden and Forest. Euplexia lucipara. Occasionally at sugar in garden ; com- mon in Forest. Aplecta occulta Two specimens at sugar in " Gilbert's Slade," August 26th, 1869. (" Entomologist," vol. iv., p. 325.) A. nebulosa. Scarce at sugar in garden ; fairly common in Forest. A. tincta. One specimen on fence near Woodford, June 25th, 1871. Hadena protea. At sugar in Forest ; somewhat rare. H. den tin a. Occasionally at sugar in Forest ; more fre- quently on fences by day. H chenopodii. Common at sugar in garden and Forest. I once saw this moth actively on the wing in bright sunshine, flying over flowers of Epilobium. H. oleracea. Common at sugar in garden and Forest. H. pisi. Larva not uncommon on broom in Forest. H. genistae. Occasionally at rest on fences in Woodford district. Xylocampa lithoriza. Fairly common on fences and tree trunks throughout district. Cucullia chamomillae. One specimen taken at rest on the extreme end of a pointed wooden paling in the Lea Bridge Road, April 22nd, 1869. (See Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist., Feb. 1878, p. 159.) L 2 164 THE LEPIDOPTERA OF LEVTON AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. C. umbratica. Common over honeysuckle in garden. Heliodes arbuti. Fairly common among grass of wayside strips in lanes between Walthamstow and Chingford. This record refers to 1869 and 1870 ; I have not seen it there of late years. Habrostola urticse. Occasionally on wing in garden ; not common. H. triplasia. Not uncommon on wing in garden. Plusia chrysitis. Occasionally on wing in garden. P. festucae. One specimen over flowers of garden "sweet herbs," in 1868. P. gamma. Abundant on wing in garden and Forest. Gonoptera libatrix. Occasionally at sugar in garden and Forest. Amphipyra pyramidea. Common at sugar in forest ; occasionally in garden. A. tragopogonis. Common at sugar in garden and concealed in house. Mania typica. Fairly common on wing and at sugar in garden. M. maura. Common at sugar in garden and concealed in house. Catocala nupta. Common at sugar in garden, and on fences and walls by day. GEOMETR.^. Urapteryx sambucaria. Common in garden and Forest. I have a record of this species having been double-brooded in 1868, the second brood appearing in September. Epione apiciaria. I took this species in the Forest district in the neighbourhood of Higham Park in 1874 (August 9th) with the Messrs. Cole. My mother took it in 1890 in a garden at Buck- hurst Hill. Rumia crataegata. Abundant in garden and Forest. Venilia maculata. Fairly common in Forest ; never taken in garden. Angerona prunaria. Common in Forest; never taken in garden. Metrocampa margaritata. Common in Forest ; occasion- ally taken in garden. THE LKlMDOi'TKRA OV LEVTON AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 1 65 Eurymene dolabraria. Occasionally at rest on tree trunks in I'orrst.^^Always tx)nsiclcred a rarity. Pericallia syringaria. Occasionally on the wing in Forest. Selenia illunaria. Fairly common in Forest, in both spring and summer forms. Rare in garden. S. lunaria. Bred from larvae beaten out near High Beach. Crocallis elinguaria. Common in Forest and garden. Ennomos tiliaria. Once at rest on fence in "Chestnut Walk." E. fuscantaria. Once at light in house. E. angularia. Fairly common on fences by day and at light. Himera pennaria. The larva of this species was fairly com- mon in Forest. Phigalia pilosaria. At rest on tree trunks and in the larval form ; not uncommon in Forest. Biston hirtaria. Although a London insect, this moth was very seldom taken in the garden. Amphidasis prodromaria. Occasionally on tree trunks and fences. Never taken in garden. A. betularia. Occasionally on fence in "Chestnut Walk." Hemerophila abruptaria. Common on fences throughout district. Boarmia repandata. Fairly common in garden and Forest. B. rhomboidaria. Common in garden and Forest. Tephrosia crepuscularia. Occasionally on tree trunks in Forest ; never taken in garden. Pseudoterpna cytisaria. Fairly common in Forest in larval and imaginal forms. lodis lactearia. Very common in Forest ; not uncommon in garden. Phorodesma bajularia. Not uncommon in Forest; only once taken in garden. Hemithea thymiaria Very common in Forest ; not uncom- mon in garden. Ephyra porata.'' Not uncommon in Forest ; not taken in garden. ^ The species of this genus are seasonally dimorphic. My Reneral experience has been that the spring brood is always somewhat more abundant than the autumnal brood. [.See notes on the seasonal dimorphism of F.fihyra, H. G. Cole, in Proc. Entom. Soc, Lond., 1887 ; pp. vi. and vii.— Eu.l 1 66 THE LEPIDOPTERA OF LEYTON AND NEIGHBOURHOOD, E. punctaria. Not uncommon in Forest; not taken in garden. E. trilinearia. Fairly common among beech woods in Forest. E. omicronaria. Not uncommon in Forest; not taken in garden. E. pendularia. Occasionally in Forest; once taken in garden. Asthena canditata. Abundant in Forest ; not so common in garden. A. sylvata. Rare in Forest. Acidalia scutulata. Common in Forest ; less common in garden. A bisetata. Very common in Forest and garden. A. trigeminata. Occasionally in Forest. A. osseata. Very common in Forest and garden. A. incanaria. Abundant in garden and Forest. A. subsericeata. Occasionally in Forest ; flies with A. canditata, which it closely resembles on the wing. (See Efit. Mo. Mag., vol. ix., p. 163.) A. remutata. Very common in Forest; rare in garden. A. imitaria. Fairly common in Forest ; occasionally in garden. A. aversata. Abundant in garden and Forest, and on fences. A. inornata. Rare in Forest ; never taken in garden. A. emarginata. Not uncommon in Forest. Timandra amataria. Occasionally along lanes towards Chingford. Cabera pusaria. Very common in Forest ; occasionally in garden. C. exanthemaria. Common in Forest; occasionally in garden. Corycia temerata. Not uncommon in Forest. C. taminata. Occasionally in Forest. Aleucis pictaria. Not uncommon over blackthorn blossom in Forest. Halia wvaria. Swarmed in garden; less common in Forest. Panagra petraria. Common in heathy parts of Forest. Numeria pulveraria. I have seen series of this moth from the Forest near High Beach. Fidonia atomaria. Abundant in heathy parts of Forest. Abraxas grossulariata. Abundant in garden and Forest. The larva was commonly beaten from blackthorn. THE I.EPinOPTERA OF LEVTON AND NEIOHBOURHOOD. 167 Ligdia adustata. Not uncommon in Forest; occasionally in garden. Lomaspilis marginata. Not uncommon in Forest. Hibernia rupicapraria. Fairly common along hedges and at light. H. leucophearia. Fairly common at rest on tree trunks. H. aurantiaria. Larva fairly common ; I have never taken the imago in the Forest district. H. progemmaria. Common along hedges, at light, and in the larval form in the Forest. H. defoliaria. Very common in larval form in Forest ; imago less common : generally taken at light. Anisopteryx aescularia. Common in larval form in Forest, and imago on fences throughout district. Cheimatobia brumata. Extremely abundant in larval form everywhere : the imago swarmed in garden. Oporabia dilutata. Common on fences throughout district. Larentia didymata. This moth was tolerably common in the Forest, but was never taken in the garden. I have never seen it so abundant in this district as I have in Surrey and in the Midland and Northern Counties. In parts of Lancashire and Yorkshire and the Lake District it is the prevailing species at a certain period of the year. L. olivata. Occasionally in Forest ; not taken in garden. L. pectinitaria. Not uncommon in Forest ; not taken in garden. Emmelesia affinitata. Occasionally in Forest ; never in garden. E. alchemillata. Occasionally in Forest; rarer than preced- ing. E. decolorata. I only took the species once in the district, a specimen C(Miiing to light at Leyton (May 23rd, 1869). Eupithecia centaureata. Fairly common in garden and Forest. E. pygmseata. Once in garden. E. castigata. Occasionally in garden. E. denotata. Once or twice in garden. E. indigata. Occasionally in garden. E. nanata. In heathy parts of Forest. E. subnotata. Not uncommon in irarden. l68 THE LEPIDOPTERA OF LEYTON AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. E. vulgata. Common in garden and Forest. E. assimilata. Common in garden. E. abbreviata. Occasionally in garden. E. exiguata. Occasionally in garden. E. sobrinata. Occasionally in garden. E. pumilata. Not uncommon in garden and Forest. E. rectangulata. Common in garden. Thera variata. Not uncommon in Forest ; by no means so common as in Surrey and Kent. Hypsipites elutata. Fairly common in Forest ; but never so common as I have found it in the woods of Surrey and Kent. Melanthia rubiginata. Not uncommon in Forest. It is one of the first geometers to appear on the wing at dusk. M. ocellata. Fairly common in Forest; rare in garden. Melanippe rivata. Not uncommon in Forest; never in garden. M. subtristata. Fairly common in Forest ; never in garden. M. montanata. Common in Forest; rare in garden. M. fluctuata. Abundant throughout district. Anticlea badiata. Fairly common in Forest. A, derivata. Not uncommon in Forest. Coremia propugnata. Occasionally in Forest ; never in garden. C. ferrugata. Common in Forest ; less common in garden. C. unidentata. Fairly common in Forest. Neither this nor the preceding are so common as in Surrey. Camptogramma bilineata. Abundant throughout district. Scotosia dubitata. Not uncommon in garden. S. certata. Occasionally in garden. S. undulata. I have seen this species taken once or twice in the Forest. Cidaria corylata. Not uncommon in the Forest. C. russata. Fairly common in the Forest ; but not so abundant as in other parts of the country where the species occurs. C. suffumata. Not uncommon in Forest.'' C. testata. Occasionally in heathy parts of Forest ; a rarity as compared with the abundance of this species in other districts. 6 I have no record of C. prunata ; the species may occur, however, in the district. Its absence would be remarkable, seeing that it is a common garden insect in Kent, Surrey and Sussex, and in the west of England. In 1888 it was almost the only species on the wing in a garden at Chippen- ham. THE LOCAL (ESSEX) MUSEUM— Co/i/i/n^eJ. It cannot he too emphatically stated or too well known that the institution is for the benefit of the whole county, and not exclusively for that of Chelmsford or any particular district. It must, of course, have a home, and the proposed buildings are to be erected at Chelmsford simi)ly because Chelmsford is a convenient centre at and from which the important educational work that is contemplated can be best carried out. Express care has been taken in the amalgamation scheme to guard against the county town having a paramount or more than fair share in the management. The insti- tution is to be essentially and really a county one, and it is designed for the assistance of every student, whether a member of the Club or not, desirous of improving himself in natural knowledge, and in contributing to the general well-being of Essex. The total amount of capital required for the Museum scheme is ^4,000, and the estimated annual expenditure is ;^400. Active \vork can be com- menced in the temporary premises when one-fourth of the required capital has been obtained. The Council appeals strongly to the public spirit of the inhabi- tants of Essex, and generally to all those interested in science and in its practical applications, to give the financial support necessary to launch and to maintain the Museum, and to help forward the useful and interesting work which will grow up around it. The property of the Club will be placed under the care of the following Trustees : — The Right Hon. Lord Rayleigh, D.L., U.C.L, LL.D., F.R.S. ; Lord Brooke, M.P. ; Sir T. Fowell Buxton, Bart., D.L., F.R.G.S. ; The \'en. the Archdeacon of Essex ; W. M. Tufnell, Esq., J. P., D.L; Professor Meldola, F.R.S., F.R.A.S., F.C.S. ; and G. P. Hope, Esq., M.A. Copies of Appeal aivl pamphlet of papers relating to the pro- posal may be had from the Ifo/i. Secrefaries, Mr. W. Cole, Buck- hurst Hill, Essex, and Mr. E. Durrant, 90, High Street, Chelms- ford, who will be glad to give further information to enquirers. Subscriptions either to the Capital Fund, or promises of annual donations to the Maintenance Fund, may be sent to Messrs. Sparrow, Tufnell & Co., Bankers, Chelmsford, or to the National Bank, Old Broad Street, London, or to the Treasurer of the Club, Mr. .\. Lockyer, Mornington Lodge, Wanstead, Essex. A SELECTION FROM ^MESSRS. Edmund Durrant & Co.'s List of Publications. The Ancient Sepulchral Monuments of Essex. By Faed. Chancellor, F.R.I.B.A. Imp. 410, cloth, illustrated, ^4 4?. nett. Posms. By Alice E. Argent. With an Introduction by the Right Rev. Bishop Claughton. Cm. 8vo, cloth, 3^. dd. nett, post free. Durrant's Handbook for Essex. A Guide to all the Principal Objects of Interest in each Parish in the County. By MiLLER Christy, F.L.S. With Map, 2s. 6d. nett, po=t free. " One of the very best Guide Books in existence." — Evening News. The Birds of Essex. A Contribution to the Natural History of the County. With numerous Illustration^, two Plans, and one Plate (form- ing Vol. II. Special Memoirs of Essex Field Club). By MiLLER CHRISTY. Demy 8vo, scarlet cloth, 15^. nett, post free, A History of Felsted School. With some Account of the Founder and his Descendants. By JOHN SaRGEAU.VT, M.A. Illustrated, nett 4r. The Trade Signs of Essex. A Popular Account of the Origin and Meaning of the Public House and other Signs, now or formerly found in the County of Esse.x. With Illustrations. By MiLLER Christy. Demy 8vo, cloth, 7.V. 6d. nett. Daily Rays of Light for Sick and Weary Ones. Compiled by Edith L. Wells, with a Preface by the Rev. Prebendary HiiTTON. Crown Svo, cloth, 65. The Limits of Ritual in the Church of England. By Rev. R. E. Bartlett, M..-\., late Fellow and Tutor Trinity College, O.xford ; Bampton Lecturer, 1888. Reprinted by permission from Contemporary Review. Price 3^/., by post 3^(/. ; 2s. qd. per dozen, post free. Homespun Yarns. By Edwin Coller. Crown Svo, cloth, 35. 6d. Royal Illustrated History of Eastern England. By A. D. Bayne. With many Illustrations. Two vols., large 8vo, cloth, i<^s. Domesday Book relating to Essex. Translated by the late T. C. Chisenh ale-Marsh. 4to, cloth, 21s. nett. Only a few copies unsold. John Noakes and Mary Styles. A Poem in the Essex Dialect. By the late CHARLES Clark, of Totham Hall. With a Glossary and Portrait, 15. nett. The History of Rochford Hundred, Essex. Vol. I., 15,^. 6d. ; Vol. II., 185. nett. By Philip Benton. A First Catechism of Botany. By John Gibbs. Second Edition, i2mo, boards, 6d. The Symmetry of Flowers. By John Gibbs. i8mo, se^ved, 4^. Forms and Services used in the Diocese of St. Alban's. Published by authority. JJsts on application. EDMUND DURRANT & CO., Publishers, 90, High St., Chelmsford. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION -Members 4s. 6d. : Non-Members, 9s. Post Free. NO. 8, VOL. v.] Price, with Plate, 6d. [AUGUST, 1891. 7^e Essex Naturalist: DKI.VO THE JOURNAL OF THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB, EDITl.n 1!V WILLIAM COLE, llittiora ry Scweta ry. Contents The Lepidoptera of Leyton and Neighbourhood ; a Contribulicn to the County Fauna. IJy Prof. R. Mei.dola, F.R.S. {Concltidi-d) 169 Notes: Original and Selected. Botlle-Nose Whales in the Th.nnies ; Short-Eared Owls in I'Issc.x in May; Capiuns of I^epidoptera in Essex; "Assembling" of Geometer Moths; /////«/•/> 7'«/i,«/-/j.- in Esse.x ; The Highest Land in Essex 170-172 The Essex Field Club and the County Council of Essex 17^ Monk Wood, in Loughton. A Fragment of Forest History. Hy W. C. Wallek, M.A. 174 The Essex Field Club. Meetings at Newport, Qnendon, cic, antl in Hainaiilt Forest 1 )isirii:t and Barking Side ('?('//// /'/«/(•; .. 173 The authors alone are responsible for the statements aud opinions contained in their respective papers. PrBLISIIKD BY THE CLLB, Bt'CKHLRST IllI.L. ESSEX. E. DCRRAXT cS: CO., 90, IHGII STREET, Cl 1 IIEMSIORD. I'm. St.itioners' Hall.] CoM.Mi-.N'iCATioNS aW Advertisements should he addressed : — The Editor of "THE ESSE.X NATlRAErST," 7, Knighton \'illa-, Huiklnii.^i II ill, E~se.x. THE LOCAL (ESSEX) MUSEUM, LIBRARY, AND LABORATORY. The attention of Members of the Essex Field Club, and of all those interested in the practical study of Natural Science, and its applica- tions in industries, and as a means of general education, is earnestly called to the Statement and Appeal for Funds for the establish- ment of the Museum now being circulated by the Council. The scheme has long been under consideration, and it has been fully explained at meetings of the Club and in the Essex Naturalist. Its principal features are as follows : — With the object of establishing at Chelmsford (chosen as being the County Town, and also as a central position in Essex) a Local and Educational Museum, the club has agreed to amalgamate with the Essex and Chelmsford Museum, under the title of " The Essex Field Club," conditionally on the sum necessary for founding the new Museum being raised. The main objects in view are : — (rt) The formation of authentic collections to illustrate the Geolog}', Miner- alogy, Botany, Zoolog}', Ethnology, Pre-historic Archaeology and Technolog}% &c., of ESSEX and the adjacent sea and rivers, together with an educational series of specimens and preparations to be employed for illustrative and teaching purposes. Specimens that are not of Essex origin will be admitted so far only as they serve to demonstrate the structure and relationship of the local tj-pes. (/') The formation of a Local and Scientific Library, to include (in addition to standard scientific works), topographical, antiquarian, and other books, manuscripts, maps, parliamentary and official papers, pictures, prints, &c., which in any way relate to the county of Essex. (c) The establishment of a Laboratoiy and Class-rooms, with fittings, apparatus, and instruments suitable for the preparation of specimens for the Museum, and for the practical sti:dy and teaching (either in the Museum or in selected local stations throughout the county) of the subjects named in paragraph («), and for promoting their practi- cal application in Agriculture, Forestry, Arboriculture, Gardening, Fisheries, Manufactures, Industries, and general education. The laboratory, class-rooms, instruments, &c., will be under the control of the Council, who may permit students, investigators, and others to use them, and ma}' also lend instruments and preparations out of the Museum buildings for purposes in furtherance of the above objects. \Continued on page 3 0/ W'lappir. THE LEPIDOPTKRA OF LEYTON AND NEIGHHOURHOOD. 1 69 C. fulvata. Not uncommon in Forest. C. pyraliata. Occasionally in garden and Forest. C. dotata. Abundant in garden. Pelurga comitata. Somewhat rare in garden. Eubolia cervinata. I took this species once or twice in a lane leading from the garden to the marshes. E. mensuraria. Common in Forest. E. palumbaria. Common in Forest. Anaitis plagiata. Occasionally in Forest. Chesias spartiata. Not uncommon in larval form on broom in the Forest. Tanagra chserophyllata. My mother has taken this species in the Forest (" Gilberts Slade"). DELTOIDES? Hypena proboscidalis. Common in garden and Forest. H. rostralis. Abundant in garden. Hypenodes albistrigalis. Once or twice at sugar in Forest (" Rushey Plain "). Herminia tarsipennalis. Fairly common in Forest. H. nemoralis. Occasionally in garden. PYRALIDES. Pyralis costalis. Common in garden and Forest. P. farinalis. Common in garden and about the premises. P. glaucinalis. Occasionally in garden. Aglossa pinguinalis. Common in garden and stables. A. cuprealis. Once or twice in garden. Pyrausta purpuralis. Occasionally in heathy parts of Forest. Endotricha flammealis. Abundant in Forest. Cataclysta lemnata. Abundant over standing water through- out district. Paraponyx stratiotata. Occasionally at light and over ponds. Botys verticalis. Abundant among nettles. B. fuscalis. Once in Forest. B. urticalis. Abundant everywhere. 7 The species in this and the following tribe are very imperfectly recorded, as I was but little acquainted with them at the time. The list will no doubt be largely added to by others. IJO NOTES ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. Ebulea sambucalis. Not uncommon in garden. Pionea forncalis. Very common in garden. Scopula olivalis. Common in garden and Forest. S. prunalis. Common in garden and Forest. S. ferrugalis. Not uncommon in Forest. Stenopteryx hybridalis. Common in Forest. Of the remaining species of this tribe and of the Crambites I havt not sufificiently complete records ; nor is my recollection of captures sufficiently distinct to make the list trustworthy. I prefer, therefore, to leave its completion to later collectors better acquainted with the species than I was at the time covered by my notes. I can only add that many species of Eudorea were common ; that Phycis roborella was occasionally taken on the wing in the Forest, and Pempelia palumbella in the same localities, flying over the heathy parts. Of the genus Cramhus, the beautiful C. pinetellus is a noteworthy Forest species. I have also taken Aphomia sociella commonly in the Forest ; and once a specimen of Galleria cerella at rest by day on a fence, bearing a most remarkable resemblance to a raised splinter of wood. The list now presented, although confessedly incomplete, will, it is hoped, serve as a basis for the more complete catalogue which in time it will be possible to draw up from the joint observations of all those who have collected in the district. NOTES— ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. Bottle-nose Whales in the Thames. — Two male specimens of this whale {^Hyperoodon rostrattis) occurred in the Thames at the end of July — one near the Nore lightship, which was towed into Leigh, and one near the entrance to Bark- ing Creek. Our member, Dr. Murie, has made a careful examination of the Leigh specimen, and has promised to communicate a paper on it to the Club, and Mr. Crouch will append a few remarks on the Barking example. Short-eared Owls in Essex in May. — Mr. F. Kerry, of Harwich, writes as follows to the " Zoologist " : — " Whilst looking for the nests of some gulls, Larus ridihundus^ on the bentlings near Walton-on-the-Naze, on Whit-Monday last, I flushed a short-eared owl. It had just killed a black-headed gull, and had com- menced to pluck and eat it ; the blood was flowing from the dead bird. Being very fearless, it did not fly more than ten yards at a time ; most probably it was NOTES — ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. 171 breeding somewhere near. It was about one mile distant from the spot where I saw short-eared owls in August, 1884, and two miles from where they bred in 1889 (see Zool. 1889, p. 453)." Captures of Lepidoptera in Essex. — At the meeting of the City of London Entomolou;ital Society on May 2ist, Mr. Battley exhibited various Lepidoptera from Southend, including Lyccena argioltts^ Biston liirtaria, Aleucis pictaria and Psyche pulUlla ; and at a meeting of the same Society on June l8th, Mr. Huckett showed a bo.\ of insects taken near Epping on May 23rd and June 6th, including Platvpteryx hamula, P. laceriula, Noln cristualis, Corycia Umerata, Tephrosia consonaria^ &c. On July 22nd, Mr. Hill exhibited a fine aberration of Argyutiis eiiphrosyne, taken by a lad in Epping Forest some years ago. The upper surfaces of the wings were much suffused with black, and the silver spots on the under sides were reduced to mere streaks. On July i6th, Mr. Clark exhibited a series of Heliodes arhuti from Epping Forest ; Mr. Gates, Psyche reticella from Southend, and Dr. Buckell a series of Ephyra trilinearia from Epping Forest, which varied considerably in (l) the basal line, which was well marked in some, but scarcely to be traced in others ; (2) central line, usually narrower in the females, but in one specimen (female) it was exaggerated into a band ; (3) discoidal spot on (a) upper wings, not to be traced in one specimen, well marked in others, and out- lined with black in one ; [b~) hind wings to be traced in all, and often well marked. The position of this spot varied from being imbedded in the median line, to half- way between median and basal lines. Mr. Bayne exhibited Demas coryli, Tephro- sia consonaria, Emmelesia ajjinitata and Ephyra porata from Epping. Mr. Battley reported that he had met with Hesperia lineola commonly on July 14th between Benfleet and Leigh. He thought that it was more sluggish than H. linea, and it was very easy to detect the difference between these two species when at rest. [We have taken these records from the reports in Mr. Tutt's useful " Entomo- logists' Record." — Ed.]. " Assembling " of Geometer Moths. — The mysterious phenomenon of the attractive influence of a virgin female moth is well known to occur amongst various groups of the Bombicidae, but the records of the " 'sembling " power are much fewer in other families. It may therefore be worth while to print the following observations: — In mid-June last, having a number of pupas of Amphidasis betularia, the cage containing them was placed at the window of an upper room overlooking my garden at Buckhurst Hill, a great extent of forest and thickly- wooded park land lying beyond. As the female " pepper moths " emerged in the cage an astonishing sight presented itself. For several successive nights numbers of male moths congregated to the spot and flew around the cage and into the room. Scores might have been easily taken, and most of them were in fine con- dition. When the cage was taken into the garden, a few moths were attracted, but nothing like the swarm around the upper window. My brother and I had previously noticed this " 'sembling " in two other species of Geometrae. In New Forest, many years ago, we observed numbers of the pretty " emerald moth," Hemithea strigata, all males, flying aronnd a small bush, and a careful search revealed a female ensconced therein. On another occasion, in May, 1875, a similar phenomenon was observed in Epping Forest, near Woodford, the species being the common " brimstone moth," Ritmia luteolata. It is worthy of note that in the " Entomologist " for May, our member, the Rev. G. H. Raynor, records a remarkable instance of " 'sembling " in the case of Brephos parthenias, a moth M 2 172 NOTES — ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. formerly classed with the Noctuae, but now grouped in a special famil}'. Mr. Raynor's experience was in a wood near Warley, Essex, in April last. Having caught a {' of the Abbey of Stratford Langthorne, if it exist, is accessible- That said to be preserved in Trin. Coll., Dublin, is a fragment of three pages only. 176 MONK WOOD, IN LOUGHTON. William de Bosco, Richard Alcher and Gregory de Thayden. The last is probably identical with the man of that name who was a Verderer in a.d. 1250. Nor was this the conclusion of the whole matter. Following on the three charters just recited we have two others, from which we learn that both Roger and Geoffrey still had seventeen acres of wood and waste left to them, of which Roger's share was three acres and three- parts of a rood (rode), and this they also made over to the canons. The grant made by Geoffrey was subsequently confirmed by Edward, his son. A pleasing unanimity has marked the proceedings up to this point ; but the new joint-possessors do not seem to have succeeded in maintaining it. For, on the Thursday next after the Feast of Saint Barnabas the Apostle, in the twenty-fourth year of the reign of King Henry, the son of King John (June 14, a.d. 1240) Henry, Abbot of Waltham, ard Hugo, Abbot of Stratford, found it desirable to meet in the mother church of Chelmsford and there to compose certain differences which had arisen over their common wood in Loughton Snarrynge. The result of their meeting is recorded in a charter, by which it is solemnly provided that, when either Abbot wishes to fell any timber, the bailiff of the one shall send for the bailiff of the other, and the two shall, by common consent, fix upon four trees of equal value, of which the Abbot of Stratford shall have first choice as to two, and the Abbot of Waltham take whichever he prefers of the two remaining. Into the other provisions we need not enter here. So far so good, says a logical reader : we have a wood and we have monks ; but there is nothing to show that the wood was called " Monk Wood " ; nor even if it were so called, that it was the particular wood which now goes by that name. To meet these objections, which are reasonable enough, we must carry the reader from the thirteenth to the second half of the sixteenth century, when Elizabeth, by the grace of God, was Queen, and, withal, lady of the manor of Loughton, alias Lucton. From a Commission to survey, dated May 20, 1582, we learn that "greate spoyle and waste" was alleged to have been committed in the felling of a parcel called " Moncke Wood," parcel of the Manor of Loughton, lately sold to Robert Wroth, Esq. by Thobie Hough- ton, surveyor of woods to the Duchy of Lancaster. The three commissioners named were directed to repair to Mouncke AVood, then and there calling before them Robert \\'rothe and others. Their MONK WOOD, IN LOUGHTON. 1 77 report states that they did so on June i, and "the same daie at Eppinge, did by the othes of . . . ., twelve substanciall and honest men, neare inhabytinge to the said mannor of Loughton, make inquirie of the same, who, uppon viewe as well made by them of the woodes as by seekinge further to understand of the same . . . have made presentment." The presentment, or verdict, consists of detailed answers to five articles of enquiry ; and as they are brief and to the point, we give them as they stand : — (i.) (i£U silti that there is a wood uppon the waste soyle of the said mannor called Muncke Wood, containing as it is measured fifty-three acres, sixty-five poles, at twenty-one foote to the pole ; whereof there is waste ground in the same that beareth no wood by estimacion fifteen acres ; which said wood hath been sold to Mr. Wroth, who felled the same. The nature and kind of the woodd so felled was most oke, beach, hornebeame, and birch. The oaken wood was lopte and some shredde, and the other usual wood was most lopte, saving there was felled by the ground of the said usuall wood to the nombre of 500 younge trees. And as we are certifyed by our evidence, it hath byn felled in lyke order before at former sales. The said wood at the time of the fellinge thereof was fifteen years' growthe. (ii.) Wit 0ag that there was late felled within the said wood eight timbre trees for making of a pownde at Loughton Hall ; which is informed to be done by warrant from Mr. Chancellor of the Duchy. Of crabtrees and hawthornes, to the number of 618 trees, and two hollies being vert. And as we are informed moste parte of them were dead in the toppe and felled by carters and beaten down on the fall of the wood. (iii.) cHe sau that Robert ^^'rothe, Esq., paid for the same wood to the Queen ^20. The charges of felling, &:c., stood him in ^^35 ; and he afterwards sold the said bargaine of wood to Phillip Grenely for ^120, giving him one year and a quarter's daie for paiment of jCgo. And Phillip Grenely saith uppon oath that he got not ^,{^20 by the said bargaine. (iv.) oSit say that the verte felled in Muncke Wood aforesaid was felled by the foresaid Phillip Grenely between the Feast of S. Bartholomew and the Feast of S. Michael last past, after Mr. Wrothe had sold the bargain ofwoode to him ; but whether the doing thereof is to be accounted waste or not, we knowe not. (v.) (Lite san that the said Munckewoodd hath byn three times sold within the mynde of man : that is, one tynie by the Abbot of Stratford, and twice in the Queene's Majestie's tyme that now is. In witness of this our Verdict we have hereunto sett our handes and scales the xii. June, 24 anno R. 178 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. Two points are to be specially noted in the foregoing report. First, the area (fifty-three acres, sixty-five poles) of the wood ; and, secondly, the fact that it was sold, presumably before the dissolution of the monastery, by the Abbot of Stratford. A search through one or two Ministers' Accounts for proof that Monk Wood was included among the possessions of the " late dissolved monastery of Stratford Langthorne," proved vain : nor does it seems to be numbered, with the manor of Loughton, among those ofWaltham Holy Cross. But woods were apparently entered on the rolls only when the proceeds of their sale came into the accounts. Of a great felling which took place in or about a.d. 1488, we have evidence in a Forest Roll (4 Hen. Vn.), according to which a certain Christopher Stubbes, of Loughton, was presented for having cut down 100 loads of timber and wood in Monk Wood, called "le King's wast soile", and for the bark of the same received viij. s. The explanation of this would seem to be that the Abbot had sold the wood to Stubbes, without first obtaining a licence to fell. The evidence, however, seems sufl!icient to warrant the identifica- tion of the Abbots' Wood in Luketon Snarringe with that now known as Monk Wood, in Loughton. THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. Field Meeting at Newport, (Juendon, &c. Monday, March 30th, 1891. On the kind invitation of Lieut.-Col. A. M. Cranmer-Byng a meeting was held in the Newport district, which, notwithstanding the cold and ungenial weather, was a very pleasant gathering, largely attended by members from many parts of the county. Some members went down to Saffron Walden on the previous Saturday, for the purpose of visiting the museum, and various places of interest in and about the town. All assembled in Newport at half past ten, waiting there until about one o'clock for the later arrivals, and spending the time in viewing this very interesting village. It was formally a market town (and known as " Newport Pond " from a piece of water at the S. end, now drained), standing on the (Roman) road to Can>- bridge. It was, in pre-railroad days, a place of considerable bustle and importanca. The ancient houses are well worthy of examination, including the " Crown House " (from the crown sculptured over the door), in which according to THE ESSEX P^IELD CLUB. 179 tradition, Mistress Nell Gvvynne once dwelt. It affords a good example of ornamental raised plaster work, but the date of the building (close to the end of the 17th century) hardly accords with that of the frail beauty of the " Merry Monarch's " court. It was formerly an inn, with the sign of the " Horns," and it is said that Charles II., the Duke of York, and Nell Gwj-nne used to stop there on their wa}' to Newmarket.' There are some fine carved chimneys in the village, also the house known as " Monks Barn " in the main street, a timber framed edifice said to have been used in the latter part of the 14th century by Dominicans who received rents and tithes there. It has a very noteworthy bay-window in the upper story, facing w-est, underneath which, and forming part of it, is a bold carving out of solid oak, depicting the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin, but this may have been inserted at a later date than that of the house itself. The building, with its "'herring- bone " brick nogging and studs, well deserves a careful inspection. The " Coach and Horses," an old hostelry, from which, according to tradition, the Duke of Buckingham and the Earl of Rochester used to post ; and many very picturesque cottages and other buildings. In a farm yard are still to be seen vestiges of St. Leonard's Hospital for lepers, dating from " Good King John's '' time. A walk was taken through the village to the grounds of " Shortgroves," a man- sion of Queen Anne's days ; in the park are some unusually fine timber trees, and Cedars of Lebanon, one of which covers with its branches an area of about eighty yards in diameter. On the roadside towards " Shortgroves " is a very large block of sandstone. The Vicar, the Rev. G. F. Tamplin, M.A., and Mr. G. E. Pritchett, F.S.A., acted as guides to the church of St. Mary the Virgin, Perpendicular and Decorated, which w.as carefully restored in 1857 by Mr. Pritchett, but the tower was re-built, because of its dangerous condition. The church is a noble structure, consisting of nave, aisles, transepts, tower porch and chancel. The mouldings and details are good, and at a spot near the pulpit the spectator may see first, second and third pointed work. In the parvise over the S. porch is a remarkably fine oaken chest of unusual size. On the interior of its lid are early painted panels ; it is carved and moulded elaborately, and it has many old locks. How the chest was got into the parvise is a mystery, as the staircase is narrow, and the window too small to aJmit the great box without considerable disturbance of the masonry. The lectern is of oak and of early type ; the pedestal is hollow ; the revolving portion for holding the chained Bible can be let up and down to the required height and is secured by a spring let into the woodwork. There is an inscription on brass let into this lectern which reads as follows : " In the year l535 the first complete translation of the Bible was published, and in 1535 came out the king's command, that a copy thereof should be set up in every church. Then the people long thirsty for the Word rushed to the waters of life and drank freel}'. Shall we have known more and felt greater mercy and shall we love less." The west tower is very lofty and has four octagonal turrets on its summit. In consequence of its having been shattered by lightning and having a faulty foundation, it became unsafe. It was rebuilt in 1855, re-using the original material and the Barnack free- I Mr. Probert says (in Trans. Essex Arch. Soc, v. (ist ser.) p. 77) that he has seen a play in which the scene was laid at the " Horns" at Newport, the King, Nell tiwynne, &c., figuring as characters in it. He adds, " Tradition s.iys that they used to come with pack-horses by the Great North Road, via Rickling, and the lane near Wicken Honhunt, still called ' London Lane ; ' ihen along the ancient roid at the foot of Uury Field in Newport ; then along the back of the Bury water House and so emerging opposite the Crown House." loo THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. stonework so as to reproduce the tower as nearly as possible in its details and dimensions. This tower is very similar to that of Great St. Mary's, Cambridge, and may have been construct^ originally by the same builders ; it forms a striking feature in the landscape and especially so when seen from Shortgroves Park. Quitting the church, the ramble was continued along the lanes and across the fields to Quendon Hall. Although there were gleams of bright sunshine the weather was very cold, with a keen north wind blowing, bringing snow storms at intervals. No plants were in blossom, with the exception of a few primroses in sheltered nooks here and there, and of course insects were absent. In the hedge- rows Mr. Crouch and others found a few Helices : — Helix aspersa, H. nemoralis, H. kortensis, H. ru/escens (deep reddish-brown in colour), H. rotundata^ H. hispida and H. cantiana. Also Hyalinia {Zonites) cellaria, and some glassy shells of Vitrina pellucida. In the park we were met by our kind host, Col. A. M. Cranmer-Byng, and a very pleasant stroll was taken in the finely wooded domain. The herd of deer was much admired ; it was stated to have been maintained in the park for over 200 years. A buck and doe in the herd are pure white. Some of the trees in the park are very fine ; two oaks were measured, one was 17 feet 3 inches, and the other 20 feet 2 inches in girth about 3 feet from the ground. Col. Cranmer-Byng pointed out a tumulus in the park, which appears to be well worthy of careful examina- tion, and some very curious depressions or pits, which occasionally make their appearance in the fields without warning, and are consequently dangerous. Some discussion took place as to their nature, whether natural swallow-holes in the chalk, or whether they owe their origin to excavations of the nature of Dene-holes. The hope was expressed that some investigations might be carried out in order to solve the question. Quendon Hall is of considerable antiquity. Although portions have been pulled down and altereJ, it still has a striking appearance. The present south front is pretty well known to be the work of Wyatt, but it is not in character with the original design of the mansion. A long and wide gallery on the chamber floor extends the whole hngth of the hall front, west to east, and the rooms entered from this gallery have glazed double doors of Georgian character. The hall contains mucn fine oak panelling, old china, and good paintings, including a portrait of Archbishop Cranmer, by Holbein. At the back of the house is a mag- nificent avenue of limes. At the mansion the party (a large one) received a most cordial welcome from Colonel and Mrs. Cranmer-Byng and members of the family, who did all in their power to make the visit a pleasant one. Luncheon was served in the fine dining hall, and, although owing to want of time the Ordinary Meeting intended to have been held in the hall was postponed until evening, on the motion of Mr. Fitch, as President, a most hearty vote of thanks was passed to our kind host and hostess by acclamation. Col. Cranmer-Byng replied, and shortly afterwards the party left for a walk to Rickling for the purpose of seeing the very interesting church (All Saints) principally of very early date (parts being supposed to be Saxon) but which is of mixed styles, having experienced many alterations and additions. The Rood-screen is of late " first-pointed " style of very good detail. The pulpit dates from pre-reformation periods ; the chancel has a oaken roof, and there is a modern reredos both of fine Flemish work. On the quoins about the chancel and on its prieit's south-doorway are incised mediaeval scrolls and lettering, also a curious THE e;ssex field clur. i8i demi-figure supposed to be a Mediaeval caricature. A mural monument in the vestry is dedicated to the memory of Robert Turner who " dyed the second day of Februaf}', 1657," it is recorded that " it was the deceassed's advise to the Lyoeingf that noe man should suffer no ounces of blood to be taken from him ! " There are also several interesting tombs, including an Easter tomb on the north side, some I2th centur}' painted glass, &c. The whole church and its belongings are well worthy of a visit from ecclesiologists. Tiie President and many members from Chelmsford. Maldon, &c., had to hasten back to catch their last train home, but the remainder of the party lingered on the return to Newport to inspect (under the guidance of the rector, the Rev. A. E. ToUemache, and Mr. Pritchett) the little church of St. Mary (?) Quendon, one of the early "first pointed" churches of Essex, consisting of nave, aisles, chancel and porch. The west wall is of unusual thickness and has one large and lofty lancet window in its centre, very boldl}' splaved internall3^ Probably this wall carried a good bell turret ; it had one of the most ancient bells known, but, alas, it went to the melting pot when the church was " restored," a good many years ago (1861). A singular feature about this west wall is, that it is not nearly at right angles with the north and south walls, being about 2 feet out of square, so that the north wall is shorter than the south. There is no apparent reason for this departure, as the churchyard is not cramped in any way. The chancel is a rebuild of late 15th century work. In the north and south angles of the east end are two curious twisted pedestals, which, at some period, doubtless carried two figures, probably representing St. Simon and St. Jude, to whom the church may have been dedicated, but there seems to be some doubt as to this. The original chancel was probably apsidal. On the occasion of the underpinning of the north wall some years ago, the skeleton of a man was found completely covered by the wall ; he had probably been buried before the present quadrangular chancel was built. To the great regret of many members time would not allow of the remainder of the programme being carried out, and the interesting and beautiful village of Clavering, with its fine perpendicular church, the embankments and moat of the demolished Clavingbury Castle, and the little village of Wicken Bonant, were reluctantl}' left for a future visit to this picturesque district. On returning to Newport tea was taken at the " Rose and Crown " Inn, but unfortunately the President and many members from Chelmsford, Maldon, &c., had to leave to catch the train. After tea an Ordinary Meeting (the 124th) was held. Prof. R. Meldola, F.R.S., in the chair. The following were elected members : Messrs. Leonard Brown, Hugh Cranmer- Byng, ^V. G. Gimson, M.D., W. F. Kelsey, T. F". Sanderson, F. Kemp-Smith, and Miss Smoothy. On the motion of Prof. Meldola a very hearty vote of thanks was accorded to all who had contributed to the success of the day's meeting, including Mr. L. Cranmer-Byng, Mr. G. E. Pritchett, the Rev. G. F. Tamplin, the Rev. A. E. ToUe- mache, and others. Mr. Walter Crouch e.xhibited, on behalf of Mr. French, of Felstead, two shells of a distorted form of Liinncra palustris, which he had found " in flood debris in a meadow just below the water mill on the Chelmer at Felstead." In these the columellar of the last whorl is widely reflected and gaping, so that the interior of the shell may be seen from the anterior end. They appear to be recent shells, 152 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. but such a variety or monstrosity does not seem to have been recorded or described ; and Mr. Crouch therefore provisionally named it as Z. palustris, mons. aperta. Mr. Edgar Smith, F.L.S., of the British Museum, (Nat. Hist.) to whom Mr. Crouch had submitted it, wrote " I have had a good hunt for any notice of such a growth of L. paliistris as you send, and cannot find either figure or description. The peculiar form of the front part of the aperture calls to mind Z. reflexa, Say, of the United States, the name being suggested by the slightly reflected appearance of the base of the aperture when viewed in profile. Of course your shell is much more reflexed than the American species." Mr. Edward Charlesworth, F.G.S., then delivered a short lecture on his obser- vations on the formation of flints, illustrating his remarks by a fine series of examples of flints from the chalk pits near Saffron Waiden. We understand that Mr. Charlesworth intends publishing a full account of his observations elsewhere, so that we need only refer to the summary of the principal facts upon which he relies already printed in the Essex Naturalist, (vol. iii. p. 225). Prof. Meldola briefly discussed some of the points in Mr. Charlesworth 's address, and a vote of thanks to the latter gentleman for his interesting exhibits and remarks brought the meeting to a close. The main party of members left by the Doncaster express train, which the authorities kindly stopped at Newport, but some returned to Saffron Waiden, and remained there until Monday.^ 2 The veteran Esse.x antiquary, Mr. Joseph Clarke, F.S.A., who accompanied the party in his carriage the major part of the day, had kindly prepared for the meeting the following extracts from the scarce pamphlet " Poor Robin's Perambulation from Saffron Waiden to London, per- formed July 1678," which mentions in the best of doggerel, many of ttie places visited during the excursion. Mr. Clarke says : " Robert Winstanley (' Poor Robin ') was the second son of Henry Winstanley, a stationer of Safiron Waiden (who was a man of mark, master of the almshouse, churchwarden, and was buried in the church) ; his eldest son Henry was the celebrated builder of the first Eddystone lighthouse and was drowned in its fall. Robert was the author of several works of facetious criticism and the originator of thealmanac, the name of which is continued down to the present day ; in his time it was a skit upon and ridicule of the prognostications of all his con- temporaries. After a jolly carouse at the " Rose and Crown " with his friends he went to Audley End (then a considerable village) and to the " Black Swan " (A'hich he ridicules as no such thing). After passing Hendell and Sparrows' End : — "To Newport-pond my course I next way For having din'd and join'd a pint or two, bent, Then forwards on my journey I did go. And in at the sign of the Black Bull * went ; And first I came into a town call'd Rickling, Where in a room I had set down, Where for to stay awhile I made no stickling, When in came my old friends kind Mr. Brown, But presently in at the King's Head fell. And Mr. Woomwell, two who love their friend, Where of compounding Dkk I first heard tell, With true and hearty love unto the end. To whom if that it please you to resort ye. For though they in another Town do live. He for a Hundred pound will mortgage forty — They to their neighbour some kind visits give. Shillings a year, nor do you think I jest, 'Twas twelve o'clock. Dinner-time did approach. It's very true, indeed, probatum est. When men whet knives on wheels of Cart or Or lend him lesser sums, which if you do. Coach ; For twenty Shillings he will pay you two, The Cloth was laid, and by the scent o' th' meat Not two and twenty Shillings, no such plenty. One might perceive there something was to eat, I mean he'll pay you two Shillings for twenty ; And so it proved, for from the pot Pray heed him then, and this shall be your por- Came forth a rump of Beef was piping hot ; tion And from the spit was brought a Loyn of mut- 'Vou shall not need fear bping su'd for extortion. ton, From the King's Head I out of doors scarce Would satisfy the stomack of a glutton ; went. For like a Loyn of Beef it might been knighted; But was in Quendon-street incontinent, To which our Hostess kindly us invited ; Of many a handsome Country-house the Which we accepted of, and to delight her, station Told her none could deny such an inviter ; It seems to be a little Corporation, For she's a '\Vidow of such excellent carriage. Yet are the houses not so neat as strong. Would make a Man most happy in her Marri- And doth most to one Gentleman belong. age. For nothing on it can you look against, Being young, fresh, fair, of a most pregnant Unless cause there is ne'er an Ale-house in't. wit. Good air, brave Woods, and fine rich Meadow- And for a kind good Husband sure most fit. ground, • Ci>\c ill his MSS rails it the " Red Bull. " with painted {,'hiss in the windows Simply the animal may have been alt«ri'd in its jiaint. There is ii token in the S. W.ilden Museum, and several have been found. .lohii Riinham a bull. Boyiic asiTil)e.s it to Newport. Salop, but it beloiii;s to tliis village, as the Ruuhanis are kiiuwii to liavo livixi tliere. THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 183 Field Meeting in IlAiNAni.r Forest District and Barkingside. Saturday, June 20th, 1891. A pleasant afternoon excursion was made round the Hainault Forest district, under the direction of Mr. Walter Crouch, P'.Z.S., one of the V^ice-presidents ; and the Rev. W. S. Lach-Szyrma, M.A., the Vicar of Barkingside. Over sixty mem- bers were present, the drive commencing at Woodford Station about 2.30, and though the day was warm and fine there was a cool breeze which tempered the heat. The route taken was by the lower portion of Snakes (Sakes) Lane, and over the River Roding, through Woodford Bridge, passing the lodges and entrance to the new Claybury Lunatic Asylum. On the left hand the view is very pretty over the valley to Woodford Green and Buckhurst Hill. Thence by the new road through a belt of woodland, a remnant of the Forest of Hainault, disafforested in 185 1. Attention was called to the extensive Asylum Buildings on the right, now in course of erection, close by Toms Wood, and extending over twenty acres ; and to the view on the left towards Grange Hill and Chigwell Row, and across Fair- lop Plain (now under cultivation) to the wooded heights of Havering. The view extends southward, over South Essex into Kent, and in front the spire of Ilford Church, with Shooter's Hill as a background. The drive was continued by Toms Wood Hill and Lane, past Fairlop Place, to Fullwell Hatch (named from an old mansion which formerly stood here, owned by Adam Fullwell ; in the time of Dorothy Barley, the last Abbess of Barking). Here is the " Old Grey Goose," with its motto, " Live and Let Live," and opposite, the "Old May Pole Inn," where no doubt the May-pole stood, and the May dances took place in the olden days. The party was here joined by the A'icar of Barkingside and his family, and proceeded to Fairlop Plain, where, close by the site of the famed " Fairlop Oak," blown down in 1820, a paper by Mr. W. Crouch on " Hainault Forest " was read bv him from the box-seat of the private carriage of Mr. Green, of Hainault House. This was compiled mainly from parliamentary reports and acts, and other original documents ; a contribution towards what the writer regretted was still a much- needed work, viz., a well-digested history of the Forest of Essex. In this, after a slight sketch of the " Forest of Essex " and " Waltham Forest," a more detailed account was given of the portion known as " Hainault Forest," which was mostly crown land ; of the old perambulations of 1301 and 1640 ; of the three Forest Courts ; the Verderers for petty offences ; the Court of Swainmote for jury trials, and the Court of Justice Seat, held by the Lord Chief Justice in Eyre, till abol- ished in 1777 ; and of the various attempts at enclosure and the litigation which cul- minated in the act for disafforesting, passed August, 185 1. The subsequent spoli- ation, settlement of claims for rights of pasturage, estovers for fuel, vicarial tithes, and poor widows' rights were then described ; and a short notice of the ancient Fairlop Oak was given, illustrated by a number of engravings of the famous tree, some from Mr. Crouch's and some from Mr. Furbank's collections. In conclu- And doth with evei^- sort of Grain ahound. Of seven ribs, three on each side, and one mid- The young men there do bear the Bell away iron. From all the Towns about at Foot-hall play. But ere they laid them on they did them Salt, Unto a Farmer's house I went out-right, A Shoving-horn to draw down juice of Malt. Who entertained me like to a Knight : Yet this much of his Beer's strength I do know And though at Newport I had din'd before, 'Twould well go down without helps there- Yet here with him 1 must eat one bit more, unto ; " Some ribs of Pork, new kill'd, broil'd on a Grid- iron 184 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. sion, Mr. Crouch pointed out tliat "to enjoy the woodlands _vet left we must mount higher up into the belt of the forest by Grange Hill to Crabtree Wood, or a piece by Hog Hill, and there as of old the ladies can Like Robin Hood, still feel themselves the free, And draw their beaux beneath the greenwood tree." Mr. W. Cole added a few remarks on some points in the history of the forest. [Mr. Crouch's and Mr. Cole's notes will be printed in full in a later number of the E.N.]. The accompanying view of Fairlop Oak is from an old print published at the beginning of this century, the block of which has been kindly presented by Mr. Crouch. (See Plate V.) A slight sketch was also given by Mr. Crouch on the surroundings, especially relating to the Claybury Hall estate (230 ft., O.D.), and the new Middlesex Lunatic Asylum, illustrated by a copy of the architect's (G. T. Hine of Notting- ham) designs and ground-plan and some views of the old hall, which will still remain as a prominent feature of the park. The old bridle-path through the great gate across to the side of Toms Wood has since been closed, and a footpath formed further south. The Vicar discoursed on fairs in general, and "Fairlop Fair" in particular, and the eccentric Mr. Day — "good Day" as he was dubbed — who dined his friends each year on beans and bacon beneath the old oak. The drive was then continued by Oak Row to Mossford Green, and a visit paid to Gaysham Hall, where Mr. Crouch read some notes on the estate, and some good old panelling, &c., was seen. In 1360 it was the property of Thomas de Sandwich, proveditor of the household to Edward the Black Prince, who held it under the Abbess and Convent of Barking, with about 160 acres of land. It was subsequently owned by Sir William Denham, Clement Sisley (who built Eastbury House), and the Breame family, aisd was sold in 1609 to Gabriel Wight, in whose family it has been handed down, and formed part of the estates of the Hibbit-White family, but was sold soon after the death, in 1867, of Mr. John Wight-Wight of Blakeley Hall, who died intestate. Lysons tells us that the old Manor House, which was built of timber and very spacious, was pulled down, but Mr. Crouch doubted this very much, and con- sidered that the present house is really a portion of the old building. Due thanks was rendered to Mr. George Brown and his family for allowing the house to be inspected. Returning to Trinity Church, Barkingside (built 1840), on Mossford Green, the church was inspected, and a visit was paid to the school-room, where quite an interesting collection of various objects had been arranged. The Vicar exhibited many historical relics, and some rare linguistic books, &c. A useful collection of trade products, raw materials in process of manufacture, minerals, &c., the pro- perty of Mrs. Denham, and now employed as a school museum, was also arranged for inspection on the tables. The beautiful grounds and greenhouses of Great Gearies were then visited, by special invitation of Mrs. Whitbourn, and the choice collections of Cypripediums and Orchids were shown and explained by the head gardener, Mr. Douglas, who is himself a member of the Club. The members then drove to Little Gearies, and were most kindly and hospit- ably received by Mrs. Edenborough and her family, cur member, Mr. Edenborough, being away from home through illness. After tea, most charmingly served on the THE LOCAL (ESSEX) MUSEUM -Gv///V///.'^. It cannot be too emphatically stated or too well known that the institution is for the benefit of the whole county, and not exclusively for that of Chehnsford or any particular district. It must, of course, have a home, and the proposed buildings are to be erected at Chelmsford simply because Chelmsford is a convenient centre at and from which the important educational work that is contemplated can be best carried out. Express care has been taken in the amalgamation scheme to guard against the county town having a paramount or more than fair share in the management. The insti- tution is to be essentially and really a county one, and it is designed for the assistance of every student, whether a member of the Club or not, desirous of improving himself in natural knowledge, and in contributing to the general well-being of Essex. The total amount of capital required for the Museum scheme is ^4,000, and the estimated annual expenditure is ^400. Active work can be com- menced in the temporary premises when one-fourth of the required capital has been obtained. The Council appeals strongly to the public spirit of the inhal^i- tants of Essex, and generally to all those interested in science and in its practical applications, to give the financial support necessary to launch and to maintain the Museum, and to help forward the useful and interesting work which will grow up around it. The property of the Club will be placed under the care of the following Trustees : — The Right Hon. Lord Rayleigh, D.L., D.C.L., LL.IX, F.R.S. ; Lord Brooke, M.P. ; Sir T. Fowell Buxton, Bart., D L., I'.R.C.S. ; The Yen. the Archdeacon of Essex; W. M. Tufnell, Esij., j.l'., D.L.; Professor Meldola, F.R.S., F.R.A.S., F.C.S. ; and C. P. Hope, Esq., M.A. Copies of .\PPEAL and pamphlet of papers relating to the pro- posal may be had from the //ofi. Secretaries, Mr. W. Cole, Buck- hurst Hill, Essex, and Mr. E. I)urr.\nt, 90, High Street, Chelm.s- ford, who will be glad to give further information to encjuirers. SunscRiF'Tioxs either to the CAi>rr.\i. I-"u\i), or promises of annual donations to the M.ainten.anck Fund, may be sent to Messrs. Sparrow, Tufnell & Co., Bankers, Chelmsford, or to the National Bank, Old Broad Street, London, or to the Treasurer of the Club, Mr. A. Lockyer, Mornington Lodge, W'anstead, Essex. A Sf-.I.f-.CTlU.\ FROM .MESiRS. Edmund Diirrant & Co.'s List of Publications. The Ancient Sepulchral Monuments of Essex. By FiiEU. Chancellor, F.R.I. B. A. Imp. 410, cloth, illustrated, £4. 4.?. nett. Poems. By Alice E. Argent. With an Introduction by the Right Rev. Bishop Claughton. Crn. 8vo, cloth, 35. 6d. nett, post free. Durrant's Handbook for Essex. A Guide to all the Principal Objects of Interest in each Parish in the County. By MlLLEK CHRISTY, F'.L.S. With Map, 2s. 6//. nett, poat free. " One of the very best Guide Books in existence." — Evening' Ncivs. The Birds of Essex. A Contribution to the Natural History of the County. With numerous Illustrations, two Plans, and one Plate (form- ing Vol'. II. Special Memoirs of Essex Field Club). By MiLLER CHRISTY. Demy 8vo, scarlet cloth, 15.?. nett, post free. A History of Felsted School. With some Account of the Founder and his Descendants. By JOHN Sargeaunt, M.A. Illustrated, nett 4f. The Trade Signs of Essex. A Popular Account of the Origin and Meaning of the Public House and other Signs, now or formerly found in tiie County of Essex. With Illustrations. By MiLLER Christy. Demy 8vo, cloth, ^s. bd. nett. Daily Rays of Light for Sick and Weary Ones. Compiled by Edith L. Wells, with a Preface by the Rev. Prebendary FIUTTON. Crown 8vo, cloth, 6.?. The Limits of Ritual in the Church of England. By Rev. R. li. Baktlett, M.A., late Fellow and Tutor Trinity College^ Oxford ; Bampton Lecturer, 1888. Reprinted by permission from Contemporary Review. Price 3^/., by post 3^0'. ; 2s. f^d. per dozen, post free. Homespun Yarns. By Edwin Coller. Crown 8vo, cloth, y. dd. Royal Illustrated History of Eastern England. By A. D. Bayne. With many Illustrations. Two \-ols., large 8vo, cloth, 155. Domesday Book relating to Essex. Translated by the late T. C. Chise.\hale-Marsh. 410, cloth, 2\s, nett. Only a few copies unsold. John Noakes and Mary Styles. A Poem in the Essex Dialect. 15/ the late Charles Clark, of Totham Hall. ^Vilh a Glossary and Portrait, 15. nett. The History of Rochford Hundred, Essex. \o\. I., 15^. 6^. ; \^ol. II., 18^. nett. By Philu' Benton. A First Catechism of Botany. By John Gicbs. Second Edition, i2ino, boards, 6(/. The Symmetry of Flowers. By John Gip.p.s. iSmo, .sewed, 4^/. Forms and Services used in the Diocese of St. Alban's. Published by authority. JJsts on application. EDMUND DUHRANT & CO., Publishers, 90, High St., Chelmsford. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION— Members, 4s. 6d. ; Non-Members, 9s. Post Free. N0S.9-11,V0L.V.] Price, Is. 6cl. [SEPT.-NOV., 1891. Essex Naturalist: BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB, EDITED V,\ WILLIAM COLE, Hotiornry Secretary . Conlfiits The Essex Field Club. Meeting at Barking Side, &c. (Concbidcd) 1S5 On Cabinets of Natural History Specimens for Circulation Among the Village Schools of Essex. By F. W, Rudler, F.G.S 186 Epping Forest Rubi. By J. T. Powell 189 Notes on the Glacial Formation near Chelmsford. By H. W. Monxkton, F.G.S. ... 191 British Annelids, with especial reference, to the Earthworms of Essex. By Rev. Hii.DERic Friend, F.L.S 193 Geology and Scenery of the Club's Voyage from Maldon to Chelmsford, August 8th. 1891. By T. V. HcLMES, F.G.S 197 MoUusca Occurring in the Neighbourhood of Bishop's Stortford : Additions and Corrections. By E. G. Ingold 202 Notes: Original and Selected. Late Nesting of Rooks at Felstead ; Grey Phalarope and Common Skua at B^.^dwc-ll ; Oysters and Mussels in the Crouch in 1891 ; A Hunt for '■ Swallow-iails " ; Mclantpyruin an'ense in Essex; Laburnum Seeds Poisonous; New Well at Felsle.-id ; "Hill Gravels North of the Thames"; The " Fault " at Wickham Bishop ; Ancient Pottery at Felstead ; Luminous Appearance of the Crouch River . . 202-205 The Essex Field Club. Ramble from Chelmsford to Maldon ; Geological Ramble around Ch>;lmsford 205-210 On the occurrence of ^Vestleton Beds in part of N.W. Essex. By J. French, with Remarks by W. H. l).\LTi.N and H. W. MoNCKTDN 210 Spotted Eagle at Elmstead and Leigh: an addition to the Essex Fauna 218 Notes on the Mollusca of the Thames Estuary, with a List of Species Observed. By A. J. Jenkins 220 The authors alone are responsible for the statements and opinions contained in their respective papers. PUBLISHED BY THE CLUB, BUCKHURST HILL, ESSEX. E. DCRRAXT & CO., 90, HIGH STREET, CHELMSFORD. F.nt. St.itioners' Hall.] CoMMiNlC.ATlO.NS (iW AnVERTISK.MK.NTS should he addressed : — The Editor of "THE ESSEX NATIJRALIST," 7, Knighton Villa=, Biirkhiirst Hill, Essex. THE LOCAL (ESSEX) MUSEUM, LIBRARY, AND LABORATORY. The attention of Members of the Essex Field Club, and of all those interested in the practical study of Natural Science, and its applica- tions in industries, and as a means of general education, is earnestly called to the Statement and Appeal for Funds for the establish- ment of the Museum now being circulated by the Council. The scheme has long been under consideration, and it has been fully explained at meetings of the Club and in the Essex Naturalist. Its principal features are as follows : — With the object of cstal)lishing at Chelmsford (chosen as being the County Town, and also as a central position in Essex) a Local and Educational Museum, the club has agreed to amalgamate with the Essex and Chelmsford Museum, under the title of " The Essex Field Club," conditionally on the sum necessary for founding the new Museum being raised. The main objects in view are : — («) The formation of authentic collections to illustrate the Geology, Miner- alogy, Botany, Zoology, Ethnology, Pre-historic Archceology and Technology, &c., of ESSEX and the adjacent sea and rivers, together with an educational series of specimens and preparations to be employed for illustrative and teaching purposes. Specimens that are not of Essex origin will be admitted so far only as they serve to demonstrate the structure and relationship of the local types. (/^) The formation of a Local and Scientific Library, tD include (in addition to standard scientific works), topographical, antiquarian, and other books, manuscripts, maps, parliameniar}' and official papers, pictures, jirinis, &c., which in any way relate to the county of Essex. (r) The establishment of a I,abo:"atory and Class-rooms, with fittings, taratus, and instruments suitable for the preparation of specimens the Museum, and for the practical study and teaching (either in the Museum or in selected local stations throughout the county) of the subjects named in paragraph («), and for promoting their practi- cal application in Agriculture, P'orestry, Arboriculture, Gardening, Fisheries, Manufactures, Industries, and general education. The laboratory, class-rooms, instruments, &c., will be under the control of the Council, who may permit students, investigators, and others to use them, and may also lend instruments and preparations out of the Museum buildings for purposes in furtherance of the above objects. \_Co)tliii!ird oti page 3 of Wrapper. THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 1 85 I:i\vn under the trees, the members inspected Mr. Edenborough's large collection of old watches and other plate, arranged in the billiard-room. Then on the lawn an Ordinary Meeting (the 125th) was held, the chair being taken by Prof. Meldola, in the unavoidable absence of the President. The fol- lowing were elected members of the Club : — Messrs. Thos. Bird, James Round, M.P., D.L., &.C., H. S. Tabor and J. Lichlenstein ; the Rev. J. G. Hughes, Rev. H. M. Milligan, B.A., and Mrs. Ferry, Mrs. Musselwhite and Miss Maud Mussel- white. Cordial votes of thanks were accorded to Mrs. Edenborough and to the con- ductors, Rev. W. S, Lach-Szyrma and Mr. Crouch, for their kind exertions in making the meeting a success, and announcements of meetings, &c., having been made, the meeting closed. The party then proceeded to \'alentines, where they were kindly received by Mrs. Ingleb}', assisted by Miss and Mr. Holcombe Ingleby. The house was built by a son-in-law of Archbishop Tillotson, about 1690, who often came here for retirement. The " Bishop's Walk " of yew trees is in the grounds, which consist of some si.xteen acres, and are exceedingly beautiful, and the rhododendrons being yet in bloom added to the charm. A very enjoyable ramble was made in the cool evening through the grounds and round the spacious lake. Mrs. Ingleb}^ who is known so well and deservedl}' for her good works in this poor district, pointed out some of the chief features of the house and the fine collection of Norse drinking vessels and carved household goods, whilst her son, Mr. Holcombe Ingleby, showed the fine library of the late Dr. Ingleby, his father, who was a well-known Shakesperian scholar and literary man, and also subsequently escorted some of the party round the grounds. Some remarks on the house, and the old vine which formerly existed here, were read by Mr. Lach-Szyrma. Some notes were also given by Mr. Crouch, with reference to Sir Charles Raymond, Bart., who lived here till the death of his wife in 1778. He also owned the manors of Wyfield and Cranbrook, and built the mansion, Highlands, where he resided till his death in 1788. It was he who built in 1785 the triangular tower on the latter estate, which was then called Rajmond's Folly, but now Ilford Castle. He intended it for a Mausoleum for his family, but it was never conse- crated, and he was buried in Barking Church, where there is a monument to his memory, erected by his two daughters. The old Manor House of Wyfield (of which Mr. Crouch exhibited a drawing) was standing in 1800, but soon afterwards pulled down. It is interesting to note that in 1598 it belonged to John Tedcastle, whose fine brass, with effigies of him- self and wife, is still in Barking Church ; and curiously, with the date of his death «o/ inserted in the blank space he left for it. The members found it difficult to tear themselves away from the place, so pleasing in the cool evening, but at last a start was made, and the programme finished by driving through Beehive to Clay Hall, where a short history of the Manor was given by Mr. Crouch, and the chapel, cellar, and other remains viewed. This important Manor was held by the Abbess of Barking, but was leased for 150 years to the Colte family. It was afterwards held by Sir Christo- pher Ilatton, of the same name, and inheritor of the estates of his more famous cousin (the Lord High Chancellor), who married Mistress Ales Fanshawe, and a qnaintl\- worded love letter of his was read. The date is about 1601, and it begins " Sweete Mres. Ales." Then, after signing himself, " Yrs, in all harty affection," he drops into rhyme in a postscript :— N 1 86 ON CABINETS OF NATURAL HISTORY SPECIMENS " Thus have I rudely rigcle this paper saile, Soone maye hee waufted bee with happie gaile ; Nor needs it piratts feare, for, though it ociation, 1890, p. 54. N 2 l88 ON CABINETS OF NATURAL HISTORY SPECIMENS, ETC. lamentations uttered [by the children of the village school] upon my announcing, at our last lesson before Easter, the necessity of six weeks' absence at Cambridge duties, could possibly have doubted the great interest the children take in these exercises."* Nor is it only in schools that cabinets of Natural History objects would be valued as useful loans ; there is no question that they would also be much prized as attractive objects at village soirees and other social gatherings, where adults would have an opportunity of inspecting them. Their educational value would obviously be much increased if, when on loan at any centre, arr intelligent person in the locality would undertake to give a demonstration or lecturette on their contents. It will probably be found desirable that the number of specimens in any single loan collection should be small (perhaps not more than twenty) but that the objects themselves, though not necessarily ex- pensive, should be large and attractive, so as to impress the observer by appealing to the eye. Above all, they should be accompanied by full, descriptive, and bold labels. The selection, arrangement, and labelling of the collections could only be satisfactorily carried out by scientific assistants, experienced in museum work. The Central County Institution is therefore evidently marked out as the place where the cabinets should be prepared, and whence they should issue. The scheme would tend to gain for the Institution respect and sympathy in all parts of the county, even from those who might never come within its walls ; while it would probably be the means of obtaining from remote sources donations of local objects of interest. But there is no shutting our eyes to the fact that such a scheme would naturally entail some expense. Money, which in this sordid world unfortunately measures all things, will assuredly measure the extent to which extraneous work of this character can be accom- plished. The longer the purse, the wider the work. But the cost of procuring, arranging, and distributing a few small cabinets will, after all, be but small. May we not say that it will be utterly insig- nificant in comparison with the good which it is likely to effect in the schools of the county ! Every village school is verily a " workshop of humanity" — the little place where the teachers are busy in shaping the intellect and charac- ter of those who in the course of a very few years will be doing the 4 Memoir of the Rev. Tolin Stevens Henslovv." By the Rev. Leonard Jenyns, M..\ London, 1862, p. 109. EPPING FOREST RUBI. 1 89 work of the world. The circulating museum, if properly used, may become an unspeakable boon in educating and edifying the children ; in drawing-out their observational faculties and building-up their reasoning powers. If the Essex Field Club's Museum will aid in such a work, every educational realist will admit that it will not be simply benefiting the children and teachers in this or that village — it will be indirectly elevating the entire county. EPPING FOREST RUBI. By J. T. POWELL. PART II.— ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS. HP WO more seasons among the Forest brambles have resulted in several additions to the list given in the Essex Naturalist for 1889 (Vol. iii., p. 20), as well as some revision of that list. I have again been greatly indebted to Prof. Babington for his aid in determining difficult forms, and more particularly this year have I been helped by the Rev. W. Moyle Rogers, F.L.S., one of our best batologists, who has not only named the specimens sent to him through the Watson Botanical Exchange Club, but has in the kindest manner rendered me invaluable personal assistance. Mr. Rogers refers to R. rho7}ibifolius, Wei he, a bramble which occurs abundantly about Walthamstow and Snaresbrook, and which I formerly placed under R. rhamtiifolius. We have also plenty of the robust rhamnifolius of the English authorities. A form near villicaulis Mr. Rogers identifies as R. pyramidalis, Kalt. This occurs sparingly at and near High Beach. The bramble previously recorded as R. sertijiorus, P. J. Miill, is believed by the same authority to be a hybrid, probably rusticanus x pyra/nidaiis, in which case the name sertiflortis must be cancelled. A very distinct form of macrophyllns has been named by Prof. Babington, R. amplificatus^ Lees. This occurs at Leppitt's Hill, Buckhurst Hill, and near High Beach. The professor has also given the name R. plinthostylus, Genev., to a bramble from Hawk Wood, Chingford, which I had included under Koehleri. R. spretigelii, Weihe, recorded in 1886 by Mr. J. G. Baker, I have found to be one of the most widely-spread of the Forest Rubi. An elegant little bramble, entered in the 1889 list as a small-leafed lyo EPPING FOREST RUBI, form of radii I. x^ is now referred by Mr. Rogers with some licsitation io R. echi/iatus, Lindl. He says : "Under R. echiiiafi/s, I-indl., I think. A remarkable and very beautiful variety." In this case the name radula will have to be omitted. It illustrates the extreme dif- ficulty of classifying some of the forms of this most perplexing genus to note that this not uncommon bramble has been variously named radula, rosaceiis and echinatus. It may ultimately require a name to itself. Another bramble, one of the largest and most showy I have yet collected, is in a similar case. Mr. Moyle Rogers says of it : " This handsome plant seems just intermediate between R. echinatus, Lindl., and R. rosaceus, W. &: N., but with mature stems very dif- ferent from both." (Watson Club Report). Another bramble found about Walthamstow has been named R. emersistylus, P. J. Miill, by Prof. Babington, who has also referred one of the commonest forms under hirtus to R. saxicolus, P. J. Miill. Another form of the same group he is disposed to place under R. kaltenbachii. I think we have two of the three varieties of R. coryli- folius, but will await the confirmation of the authorities before recording them. It will be seen that there is work yet to be done among the Rubi of the forest, and that the list, though growing, is not complete. The following are the additions : — R. rhombifolius, Weihe. R. pyramidalis, Kalt. R. amplificatus, Lees. R. sprengelii, Weihe. R. plinthostylus, Genev, R. emersistylus, Lees. R. saxicolus, P. J. Miill. The following two species, given in ray former list, should be omitted. R. radula, Weihe., and R. sertiflorus, P. J. Mull. 191 NOTES ON THE GLACIAL FORMATION NEAR CHELMSFORD. By HORACE VV. MOXCKTON, F.G.S. [Kca.i at the Field Mcctins on July nth, iSgi \ npHE sections which we shall see this afternoon' illustrate very well tlie Glacial formation of this part of Essex. It consists of — (i) The Great Chalky Boulder Clay. (3) The Glacial Sands and Gravel. In Norfolk these sands and gravel are underlain by a second Boulder Clay ; but here they rest directly on the London Clay, a marine formation of Eocene age, very much older than the Glacial Period. The origin of the Boulder Clay has given rise to a great deal of controversy. At one time it was supposed to be due to a series of great waves raised by hurricanes and storms which swept over the continents, carrying mud and stones of all sorts with them ; but that theory has long been abandoned, and all geologists now, I think, agree that both the Boulder Clay and the materials of which the accompanying sands and gravel are formed were brought into this part of the country during the Glacial Period or Great Ice Age by the agency of ice. There is, however, a great difference of opinion as to the manner in which the ice did the work of transport. Sir Charles Lyell favoured the view that the Boulder Clay was formed of mud and stones melted out of floating ice when nearly the whole of England north of the Thames and Bristol Channel lay submerged beneath the sea ("Antiquity of Man," 4th ed., 1873, p. 273); but many geologists now attribute the transport of the material of which the (ilacial beds are formed to the agency of land-ice, either in the form of a vast sheet which covered a great area, or to more or less local glaciers. The Chalky Boulder Clay is supposed, according to the land-ice theory, to have been pushed or drawn along under the ice, or to have been carried enclosed in the ice and deposited where we now see it when the ice melted ; whilst the sands and gravels are supposed to be due to glacial streams or rivers flowing over, through ' The sections visited were in the gravel pits at Rainsford End, Writtle Mill, and Rolstons, all in the neighbourhood of Chelmsford and Writile. See the account of the Excursion, fost. 192 NOTES ON THE GLACIAL FORMATION NEAR CHELMSFORD. or under the ice, and to floods caused by the melting of greater or lesser portions of the ice. The materials of which the gravel is composed are — (i) Flint pebbles more abundant at Rolstons than at Rainsford End, probably derived for the most part from pre-glacial pebble gravel, such as that which still caps the hill at- Writtle Park. (2) Sub-angular flints, the brown colour of which shows that they have not been derived directly from the Chalk, but from older gravels. (3) Black flints, not much worn or rolled, derived from the Chalk. The nearest point at which the Chalk crops out is twenty- five miles distant. These flints have, therefore, travelled at least twenty-five miles, and must have been carried embedded in ice, for they would have been rolled and water-worn had they been brought all the way by water. (4) Pebbles of quartz of a white or pink colour, derived either from older pebble gravels or from the Triassic beds. (5) Pebbles of red and white quartzite from the Triassic beds of the north. The nearest point at which these beds now reach the surface is near Leicester, ninety miles N.W., so that these pebbles have been carried at least ninety miles, no doubt by ice. The presence of these pebbles in a gravel proves it to be either Glacial or formed of debris from Glacial Gravel. (6) Blocks of white quartz and of various old rocks, and frag- ments of Lias, Oolite, &c., probably nearly all brought by ice from the north. (7) Small pieces of chert, originally from the Lower Greensand, but derived at secondhand from older gravels. The Chalky Boulder Clay is here mainly composed of Chalk, and contains pebbles of chalk, chalk flints, pebbles, and fossils from Oolitic or Liassic strata, the whole having come from the north. The thickness of the Glacial beds is very variable, and they rest on a very uneven surface of London Clay, Chalk, &c., often filling deep Pre-glacial valleys, as at Littlebury, near Saffron Walden, for instance (see Whitaker on " A Deep Channel of Drift in the Valley of the Cam, Essex," Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, 1890, p. 333, and Essex Nat., vol. iii., pp. 140-142, and vol. iv., p. T17), or banked up against Pre-glacial hills which in places rise above them, as at Writtle Park. There are some patches of gravel and brick-earth in this neighbourhood which are believed to be newer than the Glacial beds, but in none of them, nor, indeed, in any beds newer than the r.RlTISII ANNELIDS. I93 London Clay and Bagshot Sand, have I been able to discover any trace of marine remains, excepting fossils derived from older forma- tions ; nor have I seen any reason to believe that the sea has flowed over this part of Essex either during or since the great Ice Age. AVTE.—Ur. W. H. Dalton, F.G.S., finds fault with my state- ment that the "Glacial Drift of Essex consists mainly of local material" (compare Essex Nat., vol. v., pp. 109, 133); and I therefore take this opportunity of pointing out that of the above classes of materials, No. i may well have come from the Eocene beds, or Pre-glacial gravels of the immediate neighbourhood ; Nos. 2 and 3 from the chalk or older gravels of North Essex ; and Nos. 4 and 7 from the Pre-glacial pebble gravel (Westleton shingle) of North Essex, leaving only classes 5 and 6, which have, no doubt, come from a distance. — H. W. M., 4 November, i8gi. BRITISH ANNELIDS. WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE EARTHWORMS OF ESSEX. By REV. HILDERIC FRIEND, F.L.S. TN these days of detailed research, when every department of natural history is being carefully explored, and every secret process in the development of life investigated, it is curious that so little attention has been paid to our indigenous annulosa, and especially the ubiquitous, easily obtained, and readily studied earthworms. Many naturalists seem to be still under the impression that we have but one species of Earthworm in the British Isles, the life-history of which is so thoroughly well known that nothing more remains to be done in the matter of its study. No delusion could be greater. If we limit ourselves entirely to genuine earthworms, or Lumbrici, we shall find at least a dozen well-worked species ; and it is perhaps not too much to prophesy that the number will shortly be raised to a score or more. As yet, some of the most interesting portions of the island (not to say the British Isles) have not been examined even in the most casual way, while even those counties whose worm- fauna has been examined, may yet yield numerous other species or varieties when our researches have been more thorough and extensive. 194 BRITISH ANNELIDS. Let me first claim the reader's indulgence for a moment while I attempt a brief description of the class of animals to which the earthworm belongs. If we admit that every member of the animal kingdom must belong either to the vertebrates or the invertebrates — just as every plant must be a phanerogam or a cryptogam — then we know that worms are invertebrates, because they are boneless. Now the invertebrate animals fall into a number of sub-kingdoms, the names of which I need not detail. One of these divisions, however, must include worms, and to it the name of Annulosa, or Articulata, is applied. The latter term, invented by Cuvier to represent this sub-kingdom of animate nature, is now usually replaced by the former ; and the Annulose or articulated animals are again subdivided into smaller groups. One of these bears the name of Annelids, the members of which are normally distinguished by the possession of a jointed body and a double nerve-chain on the ventral or under surface of the body. In addition to the earth- worms, there are also included in this class the leeches and freshwater worms on the one hand, and the marine worms on the other. Not one of these groups is well known. There are numerous freshwater worms in our streams and stagnant waters whose life- history has never been carefully worked out by any British naturalist trained in the new school of biology, while the distribution of the leeches is almost unknown. Some attention has been given of late years by the marine biologist, to the curious and surpassingly interesting annelids found on our shores, but the results of their researches are not in the hands of the public. Under these circum- stances it seems eminently desirable that something should be done to put us on a level with our continental and American fellow- workers in this department of science. While I shall hope eventually to deal with each of the groups included among the annelids, it will be necessary for the present to confine attention entirely to that group which is at once the most widely distributed and the most easily worked — the Earthworms or Oligochsetes. This group of animals may be described as pre- eminently domestic. By this I mean, that, wherever man is found, there will the worms be also ; w^hereas they are almost entirely absent from our broad moorlands and bleak mountains, except where the cattle graze, and the collie seeks up the sheep. Their distribution is very wide. The following hints will afford the collector all the information he needs for starting him in his pursuit, experience RRITISH ANNELIDS. 1 95 being very quickly acquired by the rieUl-worker after he has made one or two excursions. 1. Ciardens and cultivated soil, especially if "fat," will always yield a good supply. The species usually found here has been ahva}"s termed the earthworm ( Lumbriciis terrestris), but we shall find that this old aggregate term needs revision, and the various species, forms and varieties, rearranging. The worms found in these situations vary immensely in colour, size, shape of hinder extremity, and in other particulars, and a good series should be secured. 2. Lawns, grass plots, pastures, and the paths through the same, are also very productive. In the garden or field digging can be resorted to ; not so very frequently on the lawn. Here, however, other methods can be adopted. Those naturalists who do not retire before midnight can carry a bull's-eye on to the lawn before going to rest, and thus secure a good supply. Others prefer to spread an old carpet on the short sward. Nothing, in any place, succeeds better than this. 1 have taken my heaviest " bags " by the side of a stream where an old piece of sacking has been thrown, while my friends have often told me, when it was too late to benefit by it, what numbers of worms had accumulated under their carpets which had been spread on the grass. The species differ in many cases from those dug from the rich soil. 3. Manure heaps, lumps of compost, decaying leaves, lawn grass in a state of decay, quitch and rubbish mounds on the borders of fields and occupation roads will abundantly repay a careful examination. Here, especially in very old manure and thoroughly rotten vegetable matter, the brandling will lurk, while the angler's gilt-tail, the red worm, and others will abound. 4. Next away to the stream or pond, to any spot in fact where water is found, only let clay and iron be absent. Mineral waters do not seem to be required by worms to keep them in health, and clay is not necessary to keep them cool. So far as my experience goes it is useless to look for worms here, unless there be some unusual factor at work to entice them. In every other case the pond, ditch, stream, gutter, will yield a golden harvest. The stones should be overturned, the tufts of grass pulled up by the roots and carefully examined, and the soil and debris dug up to the depth of a foot or so for different species. The curious little square-tail will haunt the grass roots ; the turgid worm, the mucous worm, and the green worm will probably be found under the stones, and frequently fine speci- mens of the ruddy worm will occur as well. 5. Nor should the woodlands be neglected. Under some species of tree no worms seem to thrive, while under others they multiply amazingly. It is as well to begin by the hedgerow where leaves and vegetable mould have accumulated, then work further in towards the denser parts of the copse or forest. Usually the humid spots are the best ; but I have often found worms some inches under the soil in 196 ISRITISH ANNELIDS. drier places, coiled up in a state of quiescence, ana perfectly clean within and without. 6. I need mention only one other favourite habitat. In passing through pasture land it is well to overhaul the dry droppings, the stones or boulders which are large enough to keep the grass from growing, and the decaying timbers, old logs, unbarked trees, and other similar harbourers of uncanny creatures. Here will be found the purple worm, the green worm, the red head, marsh worm, and gilt-tail, with perhaps one or two others. It will be seen that there are few places where worms may not be sought with some reasonable hope of discovering sufificient to afford one occupation for many days to come. It will perhaps be well to indicate here how worms should be prepared for future use. The process is simple. The collector should carry with him a tin box or two containing a sufficient quantity of soft, damp, clean moss, to fill the receptacle loosely. It would be well for the beginner to have a separate box for each locality, duly numbered or labelled, so that he might have a means of learning what worms were peculiar to certain habitats. After keeping the worms a short time in the moss, to clean and scour, they should be carefully removed one by one, with as little rubbish as possible, and put into an old tumbler half filled with water. When all the worms from the tin are transferred to water, a little common salt should be dropped in if it is intended to preserve them for future use. This causes them to empty their canal of excrement, which would otherwise greatly interfere with section cutting. Let the worms now be transferred to another glass of pure water, leaving the refuse behind. If it is necessary to examine the worms alive, in order to note their colours and other external characteristics before they are changed by the preservative medium, let a little methylated ether be dropped into the water. This quiets without paining them, and soothes any slight irritation caused by the salt. They can now be examined on a plate, sketches or drawings taken, the colours imitated, and the worm transferred to weak spirits. This will kill the creature while it is still in a comatose or unconscious state — for of all things in the world a naturalist must avoid giving even a worm a needless pang — and, finally, it can be placed in strong spirits for permanent preservation. i^To be continued.^ 197 THE GEOLOGY AND SCENERY OF THE CLUB'S VOYAGE FROM MALDON TO CHELMSFORD, AUGUST 8th, 1891. By T. V. HOLMES, F.G.S. \_Read August Sth, iSgi.'] TT is now three years since our very pleasant voyage on the -*■ Blackwater estuary, from Maldon to the sea off Mersea, took place. On that occasion we sailed (or were becalmed) on a broad sheet of water having low shores composed of London Clay, gravel or alluvium. During our voyage to-day we are towed along a narrow stream, the banks of which are bright with flowers, through a rich valley, bordered by hills of considerable height. At Maldon we leave behind us the broad tract in southern and south-eastern Essex which is wholly, or almost entirely, free from Glacial Drift, and enter the district in which that formation covers almost the whole of the surface, except that occupied by the valleys of the various rivers and streams. In these valleys the underlying beds appear, that which everywhere exists beneath the Glacial Drift and the Valley Deposits during our course to-day being the London Clay. Indeed, could we prolong our voyage up the Chelmer as far as Dunmow, or ascend the other streams, which, when united with the Chelmer, form the Blackwater, as far as Braintree or Coggeshall, we should still find London Clay in the sides of the river-valleys, and Glacial Drift capping the plateaux between them. In this district the Glacial Drift generally consists of gravel covered by Boulder Clay, as we saw during our excursion to Rainsford's End and Writtle on the nth of July. Sometimes, however, the gravel is absent, sometimes the Boulder Clay ; and more rarely, as in the new railway cutting at Maldon, a little Boulder Clay may be seen underlying the gravel. The full thickness of the London Clay in Essex is perhaps 450 feet, but of course this is only attained where it is capped by the conform- able Bagshot Beds. Where it is covered by the highly unconformable Glacial Drift, as between Chelmsford and Maldon, or is exposed at the surface, as between Brentwood and Rayleigh, its thickness is much less. Thus, beneath Valley Gravel, near Maldon railway station, were 130 feet of London Clay, there being 21 feet of gravel. And at Maldon Waterworks the London Clay is said to 198 THE GEOLOGY AND SCENERY OF THE CLUB'S VOYAGE be 234 feet thick. On the other hand, at the waterworks at Moulsham, near Chehiisford, the surface beds consisted of 63 1 feet of Glacial Drift, which rested upon 86^ feet of London Clay. The river-gravel and alluvium, which occupy the flat ground close to the streams, are the work of the rivers, and are consequently confined to their valleys. Rivers are perpetually tending to change their courses, to eat into the bank on one side and to deposit gravel, sand, or loam on the other. The nature of the material deposited in this way at any given spot depends partly on the force of the current, partly on the nature of the rocks higher up the stream. These valley-beds between Maldon and Chelmsford probably seldom exceed twenty feet in thickness, and average less. They, in all probability, rest everywhere upon the London Clay. As we leave Maldon, a broad flat of river-gravel appears on the northern bank of the Blackwater between Heybridge and Langford, and a small patch surrounds the railway station. It is slightly higher in level than the alluvium of the marshes. Old river-gravel has always been a favourite site for human habitations, whether towns, villages, or isolated dwellings, while houses on marshes are extremely rare. As we ascend the river, few patches of gravel of any size are seen, while the alluvium of the marshes occupies a belt of ground bordering the stream, and having an average breadth of rather more than half a mile throughout our voyage. It forms excellent pasture land. As already stated, the higher ground on each side consists of London Clay capped by Glacial Beds, the latter being hereabouts almost wholly gravel. Between Chelmsford and Maldon, on the southern bank, this Glacial Gravel covers a considerable area, and the overlying Boulder Clay is seen only here and there in small patches. Between Little Baddow and Chelmsford this gravel is shown on the map of the Geological Survey (i N.E.) as coming down to the level of the alluvium on both sides of the stream. Mr. Whitaker, however (Geology of London, vol. i., p. 316), is inclined to think that the wash of sand and gravel down the slopes may have proved deceptive. No doubt there is glacial sand and gravel low down on these slopes, where it is depicted as being, but it is not where it was originally deposited. The material belongs to the (ilacial Period, but all of it below a certain level has been washed down the hillsides during the ages in which the Chelmer was cutting its way downwards to its present level, and thus forming the valley FROM MALDOM TO CHELMSFORD, AUGUST 8tH, 1891. 199 which now divides the (ilacial gravel of the plateau of Tiptree Heath from that of Danbury. IJeacon Hill, between \\'ickham Bishop and Clreat Totham on the right, and Danbury on the left, are noticeable as hills of some- what unusual height for this part of Essex. At the County Asylum of Wickhani Bishop a well of unusual interest was sunk about a dozen years ago. The base of the London Clay was found at a depth of 295 feet from the surface, then the \\'oolwich and Reading Beds were pierced, and at 343 feet a fault was crossed and the Diagram to illvstrate the effect of the Fault at the Wickha.m Bishop Well. W.— Well. F.— Fault. L. C— London Clay. W. B.— Woolwich Beds. T. S.— Thanet Sand. C— Chalk. London Clay again bored through and its base reached at 383 feet. Mr. W. H. Dalton described this well and the fault in our "Transactions" (vol. ii., pp. 15-18, pi. i), and there gives a diagram showing a reversed fault, or one inclining to the upthrow, and not, as usual, to the downthrow. The late Searles Wood, on the other hand, in his note on the subject in our " Transactions " (vol. iv., June, 1885), prefers to account for the peculiar section in the well l)y the supposition that there is a very singular S-like fold in the strata, 200 THE GEOLOGY AND SCENERY OF THE CLUB's VOYAGE and thinks a fault unnecessary. For my own part I am inclined to favour Mr. Dalton's explanation as the more probable one ; for the Tertiary rocks of Essex afford no evidence of being contorted any- where, and, on the contrary, appear to be singularly free both from contortions and from faults of any magnitude, such as abound in mountain districts. It is, indeed, almost impossible- to imagine the existence of a contortion of this kind in strata so soft and of so late a date as those of Essex. But a reversed fault may exist anywhere, and a small one at Loam Pit Hill, Lewisham, in Woolwich Beds, which I noted there three years ago, is figured in Whitaker's " Geology of London," vol. ii., p. 333. As regards the fault at Wickham Bishop, my reason for giving a diagram to illustrate its effects, instead of referring the reader to Mr. Dalton's section, is that the latter, being without shading, is not so intelligible to the non-geological eye as a shaded drawing ; and the increased slope here given to the fault also tends to make the result more obvious. But the question of most interest for us at this moment is whether the fault in question, or any others known to exist, have had any noticeable influence on the scenery of this district. That faults may have a very powerful influence on the scenery of a locality is evident to all who have studied the geology of a place like Settle, in N.W. Yorkshire, where massive limestones of great thickness have been thrown against beds of a totally different kind. But in Essex, though many faults doubtless exist of which we have no evidence, nothing is known of faults of any great importance, nor is there anything in Essex geology which can be accounted for only by their aid. Besides, the Tertiary rocks, with the (llacial and other drifts, which form the surface of the country are all alike soft, and give no indication of the range of a faulted line such as we get when hard and massive rocks are brought side by side with softer beds. It is obvious, indeed, here in central Essex, that w^here the London Clay, uncovered by other strata, forms the surface, we have gently undulating country, while a gravel-covered area, whether at a high or low level, has a flattened contour — flatter even than that of the districts covered by Boulder Clay. But if we enquire what explanation can be given of the unusual height of the plateau of Danbury on our left, and of the rid^e of Tiptree Heath on our right, what answer can be given ? The \\'ickham Bishop fault does not appear to me to throw any light on the matter. We have no evidence as to the direction in which it ranges, nor does it appear to be of any great size. Nor do we know FROM MALDON TO CHELMSFORD, AUOUS'l' 8tH, 1891. 20I of any important fault which points in this direction, 'j'he only one, indeed, shown on the (Geological Map which may possibly continue to exist in this locality is that which throws down the Chalk on its northern side to a depth of about 40 yards at the Royal Naval College, Creenwich. But even in the case of faults of much greater size, it is in the highest degree rash to prolong them in any direction without evidence of their existence. To illustrate this point I have brought with me a map of a portion of the Yorkshire Coalfield, which gives a fair notion of the average state of things there. It becomes at once evident on glancing at this Yorkshire map that where faults exist others range more or less parallel with them, and are crossed by a second series having an average direction nearly at right angles to that of the first-named group. The evidence afforded by a map hke this is of special value on account of the absence of drift, the greater facility of tracing faults at the surface (as compared with Essex), owing to the interstratification of hard and soft beds, and to the information obtainable from colliery plans. Yet it shows how few faults preserve an independent existence for a distance of even six or seven miles, most of them being stopped off by others crossing them in a much shorter distance. And — to return to Essex— we have no evidence of the continued existence of the Greenwich fault north of the Thames, while the distance between Greenwich and Danbury is about thirty miles, in a straight line. If, however, we turn our attention from faults to those folds in the strata which Mr. Ualton has so thoroughly worked out in his paper on " The Undulations of the Chalk in Essex" (Essf:x Nat., vol. v., pp. 1 13-1 17), we may obtain, I think, some explanation of the unusual height of Danbury and Tiptree Heath for this part of Essex. It is well known that where beds are thrown into synclinal folds they are usually better preserved than where they form anticlinal curves. Outlying hills are, therefore, usually found where the strata lie in a trough or basin, and consequently dip towards the centre of the hill, not away from it. Now, if we draw a straight line along the axis of Tiptree Heath, across Danbury, and prolong it in a south-westerly direction, we find that it passes through, or close to, the equally lofty Bagshot outliers of Stock, Billericay and Warley, each attaining a height of more than 300 feet. Beyond Warley we soon reach the broad flat of old river-gravel and alluvium which covers so much ground north of the Thames. But if we prolong our line southward of the Thames we find ourselves at Shooters' Hill (420 feet), the o 202 MOLLUSCA OCCURRING IN BISHOPS STORTFORD. highest ground in the district between Greenwich and Dartford, which certainly lies in a slight synclinal basin, the Blackheath Pebble Beds at Woolwich dipping slightly under Shooters' Hill and coming up again southward of it at Eltham. It seems, therefore, probable that the Bagshot outliers of Warley, Stock and Billericay, with the heights of Danbury and Tiptree Heath, may owe their preservation in a considerable degree to their position on a long line of synclinal fold. MOLLUSCA OCCURRING IN THE NEIGHBOUR- HOOD OF BISHOP'S STORTFORD. ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS. By EDWIN G. INGOLD. O INCE my paper on the above was published in the Essex Natu- ^^ RALisT (vol. iv., pp. 215-217), I have been able to add two species to the list of local Mollusca ; and I find it necessary to make corrections in the determination of some species in my collection, at the instance of the referee to the Conchological Society. The additions to the previous list are : — Ancylus lacustris, L. River Stort; uncommon. Helix hortensis, Miill. Hedgerows ; common. The corrections necessary to be made are : — For Paludina contecta read P. vivipera, L. Delete Zonites aliiarius^nd Z. excavatns (the supposed specimens of the former were a variety of Z. cel/ariiis, and the latter a variety of Helix hispid a). For Helix conciutia read Helix hispida, L. For Pupa timbilicata read Pupa margin ata, Drap. All the remaining species in my list are, I believe, correctly named, and I regret that any mistakes should have occurred. NOTES— ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. Late nesting of Rooks at Felstead. — Mr. J. French, writing on October 28lh, said : — '' Some Rooks of about five or six weeks old have been observed since October 2Cth in this village (Felstead). Nothing is known of their nest, or whether they are first or second broods. It is believed to be an uncommon NOTES--ORl(;iNAI, AND SFJ.I'XTED. 203 phenomenon." And again Mr. French wrote on Nov. i6th : " A nest of Rooks of about a fortnight old is now perched upon a tall elm tree in the village of Fel- stead. The nest is evidently an object of much interest to many Rooks, who daily visit it — partly perhaps on account of the untinielj' season, and partly perhaps on account of the experimental situation of the nest ; this, with one exception, being the only nest which has produced young ones on that clump of trees, although experiments have been made annually for more than ten years. Its exposed situation has always proved disastrous to the nest, and I have invariably noticed that the twigs have been completely blown away before sitting commenced. The one exception is the nest which produced the Rooks late in the summer of this year, of which I have sent a notice. It escaped observation until quite recently. The thick foliage as against the bare twigs of March seem to act as a pro- tection, as the great storm of last Wednesda}' did not affect this nest." Grey Phalarope and Common Skua at Bradwell-on-Sea. — Mr. R. G. Owen, of Trent College, Nottingham, writes that single specimens of these un- common birds were sent to him from Bradwell in the last week in October. Oysters and Mussels in the Crouch in 1891. — ■" The oyster spat this year has been, contrarj* to early prognostications, a very poor one. Mussels are found everywhere in great abundance. Were they to confine themselves to their recog- nised quarters, viz., the mussel banks some miles from the mouth of the river, little cause would be felt for complaint. The oyster layings are, however, infested with the mussels bunched together with rock, shells, and weed, which causes them to gather large quantities of mud in their vicinity. If disregarded this would speedily choke the oj'sters, and consequently much time has to be spent in lifting them up from the deposit. The oyster, unlike the mussel, has no power to change its position. The latter is capable of erecting itself on edge and going forward with a slow laborious irotion. If thrown into a lake separately mussels are some- times taker, in bunches of many together. As an instance of the rapidity with which these animals collect mud, a bushel of mussels was put down upon a clean sandy foreshore, and at the end of two months they were found 13'ing on the surface of two feet of mud. The season for mussels is from July to October." — Essex County Chronicle. A Hunt for " Swallow-tails." — "On Saturda3^the members of the Felstead School Natural History Society made an excursion to Wicken Fen, Cambridge, which is about the only piece of wild fen of any extent left in England, and almost the only known home of the beautiful swallow-tail butterfly in this coun- try. The party, which numbered between thirty and forty, was conducted by the Rev. E. Gepp, Hon. Sec. of the Society, and accompanied by Mr. J. F. Martin and Mr. F. H. Meggy. The spoils of the day included about twenty specimens of the swallow-tail i^Papilio machaon'), the hog's fennel (^Peucedanum paluslre), on which the caterpillar of the swallow-tail feeds, the marsh fern {Lastna l/ie/yfiteris'), great spearwort (^Ranunculus lingua), flowering rush (^Bu/omus uml/ella/us), &.c. Return- ing by water to Clay Hithe, full justice was done to a substantial meal prepared there, after which the party entrained, and reached Felstead about seven p.m., immensely pleased w iih the day's expedition." — Esse.v County Chronicle, July icih, 1891. Melampyrum arvense in Essex. — I have received from Mr. F^dwin E. Turner a specimen of .Melampyrum arvense. It was found at Faulkbourne near the Fairstead Road. This is an uncommon plant, only being recorded for two localities in our count}-. — J. C. She.nstone, Colchester. O 2 204 NOTES ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. Laburnum Seeds Poisonous. — Lieut.-Col. A. C. Arkwrighl, Thoby Priory, Mountnessing, writes as follows : — " As it does not seem to be generally known how poisonous laburnum seeds are, I think my experience may be of some use as a warning to others. On the evening of Friday, Sept. 25th, some clippings of a laburnum tree were thoughtlessly placed where some young stock could reach them, and on Saturday morning nearly the whole herd had apparently been feast- ing on the seed pods. All were in a partly dazed state. Three were lying on the ground motionless, and while the remainder were being driven to the homestead six more dropped. Up to the present, in spite of all remedies, one has died, two are lying in a hopeless state, and four more are prostrate and in a critical condition. Every muscle of those affected seems paralysed. The warning may be of some service to others." New Well at Felstead. — A well section has just been exposed at Felstead, which is in some respects interesting and worthy of note. The section is as fol- lows : — Feet. Surface soil and Boulder Clay '....... S Brick Earth i Boulder Clay, verj' chalky and compact ..... 8 ,, darker ........ 2 Very sandy, buff-coloured clay ...... 3 Dark earth, resembling garden-soil, with minute fragments of flint and chalk (not bottomed) ...... 2 21 It will thus be seen that the whole section consists of Drift deposits, and there is no trace in the depth reached of the underlying London Clay. The two feet of " darker " Boulder Clay yields fragments of Gault Shale, but in other respects the rock to that depth is quite normal. The veiy sandy, buff-coloured clay I take to be the equivalent of Glacial gravel and sand. The dark earth at the bottom resembling garden soil is a puzzle. It certainly has no possible relation to London Clay, and could not have been imme- diately derived therefrom. On the other hand, in being apparently destitute of sand it has no relation to its overlying bed, and cannot be conceived to have any relation to it. The minute particles of chalk and flint seem to imply its near rela- tion to a Boulder Clay ; but how it was formed and deposited in its present place there seems to be no evidence to show. The well is about i^ miles north-east of Felstead village, and near the railway arch on the Braintree Road. — J. FRENCH, Felstead, September 14th, 1891. " Hill Gravels North of the Thames."— Messrs. H. W. Monckton and R. S. Herries have a paper under the above title in the last part of the " Proceedings, Geologists' Association " (vol. xii., pp. 108-114), which contains matter of interest 10 Essex geologists. Sections of these gravels at Billericay, Norton Heath, the Epping Hills, Coopersale Common, &c., are described, the latter showing a par- ticularly good exposure of AVestleton Beds. The " Fault " at Wickham Bishop. — With reference to a proposal recently before the County Council that the asylum site at Wickham Bishop should be sold, in spite of a satirical remonstrance from some members that the Council would thereby be parting with a potential coal-field, Mr. W. H. Dalton, F.G.S., writes as follows: — "With respect to the proposed re-sale of the land acquired some 3'ears ago at Wickham Bishop as a site for an additional Lunatic As^dum, THK ESSEX FIELD CLUK. 205 there is to be considered, not only the possibility of the area being underlain by Coal Measures (an idea first suggested by myself in 1877, and to which recent discoveries give a considerable degree of support), but the probability of the land being ultimately required for the purpose of some public building, if not that for which it was primarily secured. The well sunk by the county authorities proved waterless, because (as I told the engineers soon after they commenced operations) the spot selected is on a line of ancient disturbance of the strata, which are faulted and crushed, so that the same beds are penetrated twice over in the boring. This movement has closed all the water-bearing fissures in the chalk in its immediate vicinity, but has not injured the yielding powers of that rock at short distances away from the line of fault. The direction of this line is precisely determined by the boring at Messrs. Thorn and Swermore's brewery at Messing, confirming the previous hypothesis of the line coinciding with the trend of the hill. At Messing, the crushing has been less severe, and a sufficient supply was obtained. Consequently, a well not far down the hill to the N.W. of the site would yield an ample supply, and the only difference in cost of pumping would be the trifling extra ' duty' arising from friction in an oblique instead of a vertical pipe. If, therefore, it is decided to sell the land, it should be as a magnificent site for a large building, with every natural advantage, water supply included." — [This fault was described by Mr. Dalton in our " Transactions " for 1881 (vol. ii., pp. 15- 18), and is referred to by Mr. Holmes in the present number of the E.N. (ante, p. 199).— Ed.] Ancient (? British) Pottery at Felstead.— A very ancient piece of pottery has recently been dug from a gravel-pit at North End, near Felstead. It isshaped by hand, and although fragmentary, its form and dimensions can be made out. It is a round dish of about eight inches diameter and four inches in height. The pottery is of coarse earth about three-fourths of an inch in thickness, and has mixed with it an abundance of pounded flint, the particles being rather larger than a pin's head. It has been very imperfectly baked, although it has certainly been subjected to a considerable heat. It is now in possession of Mr. A. Skill, of Felstead. — J. FRENCH. Luminous Appearance of the Crouch River. — "All who live by, or have sailed on, the sea, are familiar with the luminous appearance of its waves by night. For some time past this natural phenomenon has been more than usually noticeable in the Crouch. In some places the water shines as far as the eye can reach, and at other times only when the waves break against the side of a vessel or when the oar of a row-boat dashes into the water." — Essex County Chronicle, August 14th, 1891. THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. R.-VMBLE I-KOM CHELMSKOKD TO MaLDON. Saturday, June 27th, 1891. THE idea of the projectors of this meeting was to explore the country lying between Chelmsford and Maldon, which is of a very varying and picturesque character, and presents great attractions to the botanist. The rendezvous was the " Saracen's Head," Chelmsford, where, at a little after one o'clock, a very large 'com- pany of members and friends (including students of the botanical class of the 206 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. Chelmsford Museum) assembled, the '• Directors" being Mr. F. Chancellor, J. P., the President, Mr. E. A. Fitch, F'.L.S., and Mr. Edmund Durrant. In breaks and other vehicles the party was driven along the Baddow Road, and so through the fine avenue of old oaks, elms and beeches to the site of " Great Grace?," Little Baddow, where Mr. Chancellor desciibed the interesting features of the remaining fragments of this once important manor house, which takes its name from the family of De Gras, the ancient owners. An account of the former possessors and the present condition of the building ma}' be read in Mr. Chan- cellor's magnificent work, " The Ancient Sepulchral Monuments of Essex," page 64. The fragments still remaining consist of a portion of the south-east wing, and one of the grand old chimney shafts, and inside one of the old square staircases with cut newels and ballusters. It is now a farm house. The weather was lovely, and the ramble through Blake's Wood to " Old Riffhams " (where Mr. Charles Smoothy hospitably received the party), a struc- ture also anciently a manor house, which was probably originally a wooden structure, and afterwards encased in brickwork. Mr. Smoothy's knowledge of natural history is well known ; the greater part of his collection of birds (pre- sented by himself) is on loan at the Chelmsford Museum ; but attention was directed to a Honey-Buzzard, specimens of the Long and Short-eared Owls — all loc^l specimens, and a Golden-eyed Duck, and a Swan, shot in company with Mr. Fitch on the Blackwater, and a Danbury Raven killed by mistake for a Carrion Crow. Close by the house in Holly Grove were shown nests of the Kingfisher, Flycatcher and Wren — the last-named without a dome, under an old coat. The ramble through the Holly Grove was a delightful experience, the abund- ance of Foxgloves and the pretty White Fumitory {Corydalis clavicnlata) in full bloom being noticeable features ; while the abundant flowers of the Yellow Pimpernel (^Lystmachia nummiilarui) in the damp rides was a welcome sight. Dr. J. E. Taylor acted as botanical " Conductor," and readily imparted infor- mation to non-botanical members on the numerous plants found in the woods. Then over Lingwood Common (from whence a vast panorama of lowland Essex was visible), through " Bell Hell Wood," concerning the origin of the name of which old Holinshed relates a wild legend. Leaving this wood the party passed up the meadows to Danbury, where, at the ancient and well-known " hostelry called the ' Griffin,' near Baddow " (immortalised in these words in the introduction to " Waverley "), a cup of tea, enjoyable after the long ramble, and more substantial viands, awaited the pedes- trians. The " Griffin " is also mentioned several times in Strutt's romance of " Queenhoo Hall." Danbury is a village of great interest. It has been commonly described in local guide books as the " highest land in Essex " ; but this is an en or, as par;s of Epping Forest exceed it in height, and the highest elevations in Flssex are found in the north-west parts of the county (see ante, p. 172). The Club visited Danbury on .August 13th, 1881 (Proc. E. F. C, vol. ii., liii.), and in the report of tie meeting on that occasion much information about the village and church will be found. The Early-English church (St. John the Baptist) stands within the bounds of Danbury Camp, figured in Morant's " Essex," and more accurately by Mr. F. C. J. Spurrell in EssE.X Natur.alist (vol. iv., 138). The ancient and interesting features of the church were pointed out by Mr. Chancellor, notably the three cross-legged wooden effigies of Crusaders, presumably the St. THE ESSEX FIELD CI.U15. 207 Clere family (Jemp. Edward I.) figured in Chancellor's " Ancient Sepulchral Monuments of Essex," plates 33 and 34. Several members climbed up to the top of the tower to view the fine landscape, extending over a great part of Essex. On the pleasant greensward in front of the picturesque old church (both in the very centre of the camp) the party then gathered together, augmented by a scattered fringe of curious visitors, to be photographed by Mr. Spalding, and to hear Dr. Taylor deliver one of his delightful scientific " lay sermons." Considerable regret was felt that time did not allow of a more extended treat- ment of his subject, which was : — " The Origin of our Native Plants." For the purpose of illustration, the specimens gathered during the ramble were laid upon the table in front of the lecturer. Many of them were quite " common objects of the country," Horsetails (^Equisetuni)^ Bracken-fern, Bryonia^ Black Bryon}' (^Tamus), Spurges, Ranitnculi, Po/yga/in, &c., &c., but they served as texts for the discourse. Where, asked Dr. Taylor, did our common wild flowers come from ? It is very certain they did not originate in the British Islands. We have not a single flowering plant which is peculiar to this country. The only original flora of England exists in the fossil state. Our oldest flowering plants are found in the pipeclays of Bournemouth, and they are allied to, if not iden- tical with, the flora which now characterises Australia and New Zealand. But there were some common flowerless plants, such as the horse-tails and brackens, which had a high geological antiquity in this country. In the Upper Old Red sandstones of Kilkenny, in Ireland, which were deposited in a large fresh water lake before the commencement of the Carboniferous epoch, there were found fossil ferns, club mosses (J^ycopodhini)^ and plants allied to the quillworts Qlsoetei) ; and if we rambled around Windermere Lake at the present time we should find in the woods the royal flowering fern, or Osmurida, which could hardly be differentiated from the fossil ferns imbedded in the Kilkenny sandstones. There also are found growing miniature groves of the wood hovselTiW (^Eqidsetum syhaticufri), whilst in the shallow waters, where the green meadows border the lake, would be found abundance of living quillworts (^hoetes)^ so that in this respect our famous English lake as regards its flowerless vegetation resembled that which existed in Ireland in Devonian times. Our bracken fern, so abun- dant on all commons and heaths, and by our hedgerows, could hardly be distin- guished from the abundant fossil fern (JiletJioptris) found in the Coal Measures, and there was hardly anj' doubt it was its lineal descendant. Bracken ferns identical in all but a trifling particular with our own, were as abundant in the wild bush of Australia as on our English commons. Their wide geographical distribution proved the enormous geological antiquity of these common plants. The bracken was found not only in Australia, but in New Zealand, in all the great Atlantic islands, near the Cape, in the northern parts of the United States, and even near the equator. No fern in all the world was so widely distributed. Dr. Taylor gave his reasons for believing that the ancient terrestrial, flowerless flora of our planet was a modification of aquatic plants ; and showed that the sperm cells of mosses, ferns and others were still pos- sessed of aquatic locomotive organs which were very possibly lelicsof their ancient aquatic mode of life. Turning to the floweringplants, and producing a specimen of the White Bryony, he asked what it was doing here. We had only one species. It belonged to an abundantly represented tropical order of plants — that of the Gourds ; and it was as singular to find it in our hedgerows as it would be to find a Chinese family settled in an English village. The same thing might be said of the Black Bryon)^ which belonged to another tropical order — that of the Yams. Our English Spurges were dwarfed representatives of gigantic tropical relations, such as the indiarubber and gutta-percha trees. Even our common and too-abundant nettles were herbaceous modifications of the family to which they 208 THE KSSKX FIKLD CLUH. belonged, which in warm countries grew to the height of forest trees. It might be that these slenderly represented British plants were relics of the ancient tro[)icaI flora of Eocene times. Similarly on the tops of our British mountains would be found an abundance of flowering plants met wiih onlj' in similar situa- tions in Switzerland, but which grew at the sea level in Arctic regions — such as pinks, gentians, saxifrages, and others — and he drew attention to the fact that nearly all our early spring flowers, which appeared before the warmth of the summer, belonged chiefly to Arctic and Alpine orders. There was much reason to believe that these cold-loving plants came over to Great Britain during the Glacial Period, and had remained ever since. The lecturer also showed that in the south of Ireland and Cornwall there were flowering plants which were outliers of the Spanish flora, which had spread thither when the intervening sea bed was dry land. He then turned to the fact of the recent formation ot the German Ucean, proving that the depression of its bed had probably taken place since the appearance of man upon the earth. Probablj' since then also the chalk downs, which formerly stretched right across from Dover into Picardy in France, had been breached through, so as to allow the waters of the German Ocean and the English Channel to form the Straits of Dover. When England and Ireland were a continuous western prolongation of Europe, the common European plants would naturally spread over them. It was in this way that our daisies, buttercups, primroses, cowslips, dandelions, campions, roses, grasses, and other abundant wild flowers came to us. Dr, Taylor also dwelt upon the ups and downs of floral life as related to the great climatic and geographical changes which had taken place in Europe since the Pliocene Period, or the time when the crags cf Suffolk and Norfolk had been formed. Our plants, said the doctor, like the great English people, have come here from various directions. Some of the plants that lived in cold climatic conditions adapted t'lemselves to our changed climate by appearing only in the early spring, others by surviving only on mountain heights. " Saxon, Dane, and Norman are we," wrote Tennyson ; and the same might indeed be said of our British flowering plants. Dr. Taylor having been warmly thanked for his interesting lecturette, the ramble was continued along the Rodney Road towards "Cherry-tree Cottage" ; then through ■' Fir-tree " and " Pheasant-house " woods (where a huge nest of the wood ant (^Formica rufa) was seen), which include a large variety of forest trees, notably some fine beeches ; and where the curious Butcher's-broom, the only woody monocotyledonous plant in Britain, is abundant. Then across Woodham Walter Common, covered with oak scrub, and the home of the Lily of the Valley, Buckbean, Wood Pimpernel, many ferns and other inter- esting plants. The Deptford Pink and Golden Saxifrage have been found there, while the Badger once made the Common its home. Abundant -patches of the Sundew (^Drosera rotundifolid) were found among the Sphagnums on the boggy hill-sides, and two specimens were found, each of which had captured by means of its glutinous tentacled leaves, a poor little blue butterfly (^Lyavna icarus) ; one of the insects was already dead, the other was still struggling in the clutches of its relentless captor.' But the special train was to leave Maldon at 8.45, and the hasty walk rendered necessary to reach the station in time precluded any extended botanical or other observations; nor could the other items on the programme be carried out — the visit to Woodham Walter Church, and the Hall, interesting as being the last place in England where the Royal Hawks were kept by the Duke of St. Albans, Hereditary Grand Falconer, and Lord of this Manor, being unavoidably I As recorded in our " Journal of Proceedings" (vol. i., p. xxiii.) I have on two occasions in in Epping Forest seen, on Drosera, butterflies thus entrapped — the species being Safyrus janira, an insect measuring two inches across the wings. — W. Cole. THE KSSKX KIKI.D CLUIi. 209 lefi for another occasion. It was evident to everyone present at the meeting that had time permitted the district so rapidly traversed would have furnished many interesting specimens both to the entomologists and botanists. The New London Road was reached at last, leading the party over Wintersleet Hill to the ancient town of Maldon, already so well explored by the Club— but some missed the train after all ! Geological R.-vmble akound Chelmsford (In conjunction luith the Geologists' Association). Saturday, July iith, 1891. Conductor— HOKXCV. W. MONCKTON, F.G.S. The party started from Chelmsford Station soon after 2.30 on Saturday afternoon, and walked along the Roxwell Road to the water tower and reservoir of the Chelmsford Waterworks, which were inspected under the guidance of Mr* Chancellor. The spring, roofed over, from which the water is pumped, attracted considerable notice. A gravel-pit in an adjoining field was then visited. It was found to show a very good section of well-stratified sand and gravel, overlain in two places by patches of Boulder Cla}'. One of these patches filled a great hollow in the underlying gravel, and the manner in which this hollow had been formed and the clay deposited in it became the subject of a most interesting discussion, in which the Rev. E. Hill, F.G.S., the author of a paper on Boulder Clay, read at the Geological Society on the 24th June last, and Mr. F". C. J. Spurrell, a well-known authority on River Gravels, took part. A short paper, " Notes on the Glacial Formation near Chelmsford," was here read by Mr. Monckton (see pp. 191-193). Leaving this pit the party crossed the River Can, and, passing through Admiral's Park, walked to another gravel-pit close to the bridge over the River Wid, at Writtle. Here, again, the section shows Glacial Gravel overlain by a clayey bed, which is probably partly decomposed Boulder Clay, and partly brick-earth of a more recent date. On a heap of gravel in the pit several large blocks of white quartz were seen, and Mr. Thomas Leighton, F.G.S., found a block of mica-schist containing garnets. The paitythen passed through the picturesque village of Writtle (noticing the two masses of pudding-stone at the gates of Writtle Brewery), and visited the Rolstons pit, which, not having been worked lately, did not show as good a section as usual. A considerable thickness of White Chalky Boulder Clay was seen to rest on a somewhat uneven floor of Glacial Gravel (see Woodward's " Geology of England and Wales," 2nd edition, 1887, p. 506, fig. 89). The Boulder Clay was found to contain many s.r.all concretions of carbonate of lime termed "race." A few remarks on the formation exhibited in this pit were made by the Rev. Edwin Hill, F.G.S. After thoroughly examining this section, the members assembled in a group, and were photographed, after which they returned to Chelmsford along the edge of Hylands Park and through Widford. On crossing the Wid, the party composed of members of the Botanical Class of the Chelmsford Museum was overtaken. The class, under the guidance of Mr. E. Durrant and J. E. Taylor, F.L.S., had spent the afternoon in searching for wild flowers on Waterhouse Farm and the back lane to WidforJ. On their return to Chelmsford, the united party found an 2IO ON THE OCCURRENCE OF WESTLETON BEDS excellent tea provided at the Saracen's Head Hotel. Mr. E. A. Fitch, the President of the Essex Field Club, took the chair, and Mr. T. V. Holmes, Vice- president of both the Essex Field Club and the Geologists' Association, the vice- chair. After tea Mr. Holmes proposed and Mr. Fitch seconded a vote of thanks to Mr. Monckton, which was cordially responded to ; and Mr. Monckton having returned thanks, the party broke up— some returning by the 7.50 train to London, whilst others, on the invitation of Mr. Durrant, visited the Church and the Mussum. ON THE OCCURRENCE OF WESTLETON BEDS IN PART OF NORTH-WESTERN ESSEX. By J. FRENCH ; with Remarks by VV. H. DALTON, F.G.S., and H. W. MONCKTON, F.G.S. [Read Noz'cmber 7th, iSgi.] TI^OR some years my attention has been drawn to certain pebbly gravels used for road metal in the neighbourhood of Stebbing. These gravels are so greatly unlike those excavated in my own neighbourhood (Felstead), that I had made enquiries of Road Surveyors and others ; but, beyond their remarks that they were obviously sea-shingle, no information could be afforded as to their place in the Drift series. On reading in the Essex Natur.\list (vol. iv., pp. 100-102) the summary of Prof. Prestwich's article on the Westleton Beds, I gathered that there was some probability of getting light thrown on these pebbly gravels ; and through the kindness of Mr. W. H. Dalton, I was put in possession of the original text,^ together with some hints and warnings from Mr. Dalton, which have proved very useful in conducting my observa- tions. In addition to Prof. Prestwich's article, I find that Mr. S. V. Wood, junr., had previously described a Drift Gravel as earlier and underlying his " Middle " series at Danbury Hill and Tiptree Heath. The Geological Survey Map and Memoir, illustrating Sheet 47, except in one doubtful case, provisionally group all the gravels underlying the Boulder Clay into one series. It will be the object of the present paper to show that in the area observed the series is sometimes divisible into two parts, and also to substantiate in many particulars Prof. Prestwich's observations and inferences. The tract of land to which I would direct attention lies between Bulford Station, near Braintree, on the extreme east, and Dunmovv High Wood on the extreme west. Its southern border nearly agrees (Juart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xlvi., pp. 84-181 (1890). IN PART OF NORTH-WESTERN ESSEX. 2[T with the line of railway. The area is bounded to the north-east by the Blackwater as for as Shalford, and a line drawn from that point through Stebbing Mount to Dunniow High Wood completes the northern limit of the area of observation. (Ireat changes have occurred at Braintree since I'rof. Prestwich visited the spot and drew his sections, presumably in 1849. Those sections are now all concealed. New sections have, however, been opened at higher, at the same, and at lower elevations, and these are in the main confirmatory of those he drew. It is to be regretted that the section in Black Notley cutting (of which he has given such an instructive illustration, Plate vii.. Fig. 6) is now covered by talus, and there is no present equivalent in that neighbourhood ; that is to say, no section at Braintree now shows the \V'estleton Beds overlaid by the Middle Glacial Gravel. They are generally sharply overlaid by Boulder Clay. The section shown by the Black Notley cutting I have used as a standard of comparison with other beds. These gravels and sand vary greatly in their composition, but not to such an extent as to be mistaken for the Glacial deposits of the district. Moreover, the variations have proved valuable in cases where the section was small and only one particular variety of sand or shingle was exposed. The sand is sometimes ferruginous, sometimes of a rich yellow colour, and in this case contains almost always abundant, though minute, scales of mica. Sometimes it is quite white, like silver sand. It is generally finely comminuted, and, with the pebbly gravel, contains but little clay. The gravel is well described in Prof. Prestwich's paper {I.e. p. 133). (jenerally it is made up about half of Quartz pebbles and half of Flint, both ivell rounded. It has but very few sub-angular flints, and none sharply angular ; and only a small proportion of the stones in number are larger than a pullet's egg. Moreover, the pebbles are enclosed in a matrix of yellow or iron-coloured sand, which has but a small admixture of clay. In this respect the gravel differs radically from the Middle Glacial Gravels of the district. The Middle Glacial Gravels are well developed at Felstead and Great Waltham, and generally just south of the area under con- sideration ; and, however much these gravels may vary in more widely separate localities, they certainly do not, for the few miles in or near the tract under consideration, show a great amount of variation. Gases occur where, as Prof. Prestwich points out, they are hopelessly mi.xed up with the Westleton series ; but sufficient instances remain 212 ON THE OCCURRENCE OF WESTLETON BEDS where no such mixing occurs, and where the one cannot easily be mistaken for the other. Briefly, they may be described as being made up of angular and rounded rocks, chiefly flint, and the angular often in excess. Besides the flint, there is a motley collection of various hard rocks — Quartz and Quartzite, Sandstone, &c., and some Volcanic (Crystalline). The latter I have never found in Westleton Beds. Prof. Prestwich's distinction of the Glacial Gravel is that of the presence of dark brown ovate pebbles of quartzite out of Triassic beds. This distinction I have not been able to apply, but it is doubtless due to the narrowness of the field, or to imperfect observation. We will now take the sections in detail : — From Bulford Station to Braintree Station, the line of rails entirely rests upon Westleton shingle, the embankments filling up the valleys near both stations being made up of Westleton rock derived from Black Notley cutting, which lies intermediate between the two. This cutting is from 20 to 30 feet deep, and the Westleton Beds are, perhaps, of twice that thickness. I infer this from the exposure of London Clay made on the other bank of the small river flowing to the west of the cutting. It is capped with Boulder Clay, which, as before stated, in all visible sections, is sharply divided from the Westleton Beds, and has no intermediate member. The want of this intermediate member (Middle Glacial Gravel) is apparent at Braintree particularly, and more or less in the whole area under observation. In fact, it is partly due to this that we have exposures of Westleton at all. Most of them are made for gravel pits, and these are not workable to a great depth. Therefore, if the upper gravel be Glacial, and this much exceeds 1 5 feet, we have no know- ledge of the underlying bed, as it is rarely pierced, except in the case of wells, which we shall note later. At Braintree, the Westleton Beds have been very much disturbed on the southern side of the town. The disturbance was most likely due to river erosion in Post-glacial times, either leaving a cliff on the side of the hill, or producing a landslip of some magnitude. The facts are as follow : — In Hunnable's gravel pit, which lies on the slope of the hill at about midway from its summit to the river flat, Mr. Kenworthy obtained clearly-worked flint implements and bones. These were overlaid by 15 feet of undisturbed shingle, palpably Westleton, and this again by 5 feet of Brick-earth. The explanation seems to be that they were covered by tahts from a cliff. IN PART OF NORTH-WESTF.RN ESSEX. 2T3 or that an enormous mass of gravel had slipped over the relics. As, however, the brick-earth is not of a kind agreeing with ordinary rain- wash, but appears to have been formed /// si/it, the latter supposition (unless we refer them to Pre-glacial interment) seems to be the only one admissible. This section is^ I believe, at a greater elevation than any treated of by Prof. Prestwich at Braintree. As a disturbance, therefore, has probably occurred at that elevation in Post-glacial times, should it not rather modify his statement as to the gravels at lower elevations, "round which the glacial beds wrap" {/.c. p. 134) — the more so that no true Boulder Clay is found in the valley there ? The Westleton series extends to the summit of the hill, but at places on the top it has a capping of about two feet of Boulder Clay. The total thickness of Westleton Beds there cannot be less than eighty feet, as stated by Prof. Prestwich. The Boulder Clay, trending in a north-westerly direction, attains a considerable thickness near Panfield Wood, but at a point about a quarter of a mile north of that wood it has thinned out somewhat, and under two or three feet of Chalky Clay the Westleton Shingle appears again. It is here of the ordinary pebbly character and unaccompanied with sand for the first six feet, the depth of the section. On Clap-bridge Farm, south-west of Braintree (marked erroneously on the one-inch map as "Mill-farm"), at an elevation of about fifty feet from the river, there is an exposure of about four feet of Westleton pebbly gravel. No Boulder Clay exists here now, but a large lump of Lower Tertiary Sandstone lying near the surface gives evidence of its former existence. In the cutting for the goods-siding at Rayne there is a small section of Westleton Gravel. The gravel-pit marked on the one-inch map south of Rayne station is not free from a suspicion of (ilacial admixture. Passing on to Felstead Station, there is a low cutting there of not more than six feet of fine shingle, undoubtedly of ^\'estleton age. Although not by any means a fine or typical exposure, it is worthy of special notice, because from it have been obtained vege- table remains. This was a piece of wood of about six feet in length, and flattened into a thin lamina l)y pressure. At some i)arts it is said to have had the consistence of coal, but other i)arts clearly showed its woody fibre. I am indebted to the platelayers and 2 14 ON THE OCCURRENCE OF WESTLETON BEDS signalman for this information, as, unfortunately, I was too late to see the specimen, which had been destroyed. There can be no doubt on examination of the place, as to its entombment being contemporary with the laying down of the shingle. This piece of ancient flotsam seems to be our only representative of the Cromer Forest Bed series. In further support of the antiquity of this exposure, I may mention another section shown in a gravel- pit about one-eighth of a mile south of this cutting, and at a less elevation down the valley slope. That gravel-pit is capped in part by Boulder Clay, and the underlying gravel (Glacial) is partly made up of blocks, as it were, of the Westleton shingle derived from the older bed. Cubes, in fact, of this material may be cut out completely and compared with the bed where it occurs in situ, and from which, probably, it was originally torn. There is a chalybeate spring rising near this place, and I have thought whether its impurities can in any way be traced to carbonaceous matter lying in the Westleton bed, from which it undoubtedly originates. Our next section is less than a quarter of a mile west of Dunmow station, and is a small exposure at the foot of the hill on which the windmill stands. This is of Westleton shingle. It would not appear to have any great thickness here, because the London Clay rises nearly to the surface opposite Dunmow station. Passing to the railway cutting a mile further west near the " High Wood " we have the most instructive section to be found in the area. It occurs at the commencement of the cutting. The gravel there abuts rudely on a boss of bright yellow Westleton sand, which, under the sun's rays, glitters abundantly with scales of mica. The false-bedding of the gravels is abruptly broken off at its junction with the sand, and forms a conspicuous feature. Unfor- tunately, the Westleton sand passes almost immediately under the talus, which exists continuously throughout the cutting. The gravel, with its overlying boulder clay, is very finely developed. There is some doubt as to the true character of this gravel. Inas- much as it is sharply divided from the Boulder Clay, a character common to the " Westleton " over a wide area (.see Prestwich and Woodward), it resembles \\'estleton gravel, but in its uneven lie and total unconformability to the underlying sand it resembles Glacial gravel. Unfortunately, I could find no loose heaps about to assist me in further determination. As we shall meet with the underlying micaceous sand again, and IN PART OF NORTH-WESTERN ESSEX. 2x5 as it seems a characteristic of the ^^'estleton Beds, it is worth while here to ask two questions — (i) Is it derived from the waste say of the Chillesford Clay? (2) Has it ever been known to occur in the Glacial series ? In passing north-east towards Stehbing Downs we pass over a ridge of some elevation, say 250 feet above O.D., and more than two miles across. It is a matter of speculation as to whether the Westleton Beds may not enter largely into the composition of this ridge. Yet again it may be due to a fold in the I>ondon Clay. Towards its south-eastern end, at a point one-eighth of a mile west of " Throws " Farm, the Drift is about sixty feet in thickness, and the London Clay two hundred feet. (See letter from Mr. Hasler, Appendix.) The sand-pit at Stebbing Downs, to which I now call attention, has furnished some good evidence as to the Pre-glacial age of the gravel and sand. It is shown as "Sand-pit " in the Geological Map. A nodule of clay containing shells was taken from there a few years ago, and submitted to Prof. Keeping, of Cambridge, who pronounced them to be of " Crag " age. Unfortunately the relic has since been lost.- The exposure there is now very fine, and is as under : — Post-Glacial drift .... 8 feet. Westleton Pebbly gravel . . . 4 ,, Finely bedded yellow sand, with mica scales, not bottomed . . . 8 ,, A shallow pit, one hundred yards to the north-east of the above pit, shows only Westleton gravel overlaid by dark soil of about one foot. Westleton gravel appears to underlie the mount and stream at Stebbing Park. A small exposure shows that it extends to the level of the stream. It is not thus shown on the Drift Map, being included in the London Clay. About a mile to the east of Bran End, near the letter " \V " in "White House" (one-inch map), there are two gravel pits known as "Blewitt's." One is in the lane, and the other in the field adjoining. That in the lane is a long semi-circular exposure, showing six feet of Westleton shingle overlaid by two feet of Boulder Clay. The pit in the field shows also six feet of Westleton shingle overlaid by four feet of a purple sandy clay of uncertain age. A depression in the lane at a lower elevation shows bright yellow sand with mica scales. 2 This specimen of Crag from the .Stebbing pit was described by the Rev. Edward Gepp in a note in our " Journal of Proceedings " for April 26th, 1884 (vol. iv., p. xcvii.). — Ei). 2l6 ON THE OCCURRENCE OF WESTLETON BEDS The next section is that of the gravel pit just north of Cireat SaHng Church. This exposure is very fine (see figure), and consists of: — Brick-earth — Boulder Clay . . 6 feet. Middle Clacial gravel . . . o ft. to i ft. Westlcton shingle . . 12 ft. (not bottomed) The peculiarity of the Brick-earth is that the decalcification of the chalky Boulder Clay is incomplete, leaving a nodule of Boulder Clay unchanged about midway in the section. This phenomenon I believe to be rare. The Middle Glacial gravel thins off to the right and left, and at a few feet distance is reduced to an inch in thickness. It would seem as suggested by Prof. Prestwich that the beds may be still more developed in the Thaxted direction. The most northerly point that I could trace was the pit at Park Hall Farm, Great Bardfield. I saw gravel from this pit which could be at once identified as Westleton, but was unable to visit the spot. Again, I am credibly informed that sands precisely similar to those at Stebbing are developed at Shalford and Wethersfield, that is on both sides of the Blackwater river at that place. On the other hand, there is but small chance of examining what is perhaps but a remnant of the Westleton beds south of the area I have drawn. The mid-glacial and overlying beds effectually conceal the Westleton where it exists. In the village of Felstead the drift deposits attain a thickness of from forty to fifty feet. Yet it is well known that the lower stratum of gravel varies widely from the mid- glacial type. It is, in fact, Westleton shingle or sand, and is the water-bearing stratum into which wells are sunk. The thickness varies from a few inches to six or ten feet, but I regret that I cannot as yet speak with precision of any well-section. Apart from this general remark, which applies to the neighbourhood around, there does not appear to be a section which can be adduced in further illustration.-^ APPENDIX. [Letter /rem Mr. R. //as/er, referred to above (/. 2 1 5).] iMr. J. French, Felstead. Dear SrR, — The well for Jubilee Pump in this village is twenty-eight feet deep, and the soil twenty-five feet down was half white or chalky clay, and the 3 Some post-glacial deposits have been mentioned in the above article, and the question will naturally be asked as to the evidence of their age. As they are all curious 1 purpose to treat of them specially in another paper. I\ PART OF NORTH-WESTEKN ESSEX. 21 7 Other half, stiff yellow clay or tile earth, then the lower three feet into drift. My well here is about fift3--eijxht feet deep, white clay at twenty feet throu,<;;h, yellovv about thirty-five feet, and then same as above. Mr. Richardson's, at the cottages here, late " Flitch of Bacon Inn," is the deep well. As nearly as I can remember it was same as mine TO SAME DEPTH ; they came on to the London Clay at about sixty feet, and dug eighty feet in it, and then bored about 120 feet lower, all London Clay ; had just decided to give up that day when they came on a thin crust of rock, which, having broken through, there came in upon them a great rush of water. Yours truly, Ltttle Dunmow, May 20th, 1891. RoBEKr IIasler. A'oUs Oft the above Letter. The place of this Artesian Well is about one-eighth of a mile due west of Throws Farm, Little Dunmow. The thickness of the London Clay mentioned is a near approximation to the truth, because the boring was compared at the time with the Saling Well men- tioned in the Survey Memoir, and much surprise was expressed at its much greater thickness. The thickness at Great Saling was 165 feet, with seventy-five feet of drift over it, the surface level being 290, according to Mr. Dalion. — J. Frenxh. The level of this spot (Little Dunmow) is 288 (new Ordnance Map, Sheet 222), giving the base of the London Clay at X 28, and the Chalk (by inference) at — 16. This fairly coincides with my map in FssEX Nat., vol. v., p. 113, being a little south of my zero line, on which the Chalk is at sea level. — W H. Dalton. REMARKS BY Mr. W. H. D.ALTON, F.G S., AXD Mr. HORACE IV. MONCKTON, E.G..S: [At the reading of the above paper, Mr, Dalton sent some observations, and Mr. Monckton made a few verbal remarks which may be cunveniently printed here : — ] " Although I have not had an opportuuity of visiting the sections described by Mr. French, whose paper was shown me by Mr. Cole some months ago, I am quite prepared to accept his correlation of these Essex beds with the typical series at Westleton. In some recent investigations in the Chelmsford district, effecting various corrections of the Geological Survey Maps, I have found two in- dubitable outliers of the Westleton series : vtz., at Writtle Mill and Roxwell Hoe Street, whilst the Middle Glacial Gravels in several places are clearly derived in large part from the denudation of Westleton Beds, which were probably continuous across the county originally. The occurrence of the Lower Boulder Clay in similarly severed patches seems to indicate that the principal denudation was in the Middle Glacial period. Unfortunately the Westleton Beds and the Lower Boulder Clay are now both so fragmentary in Essex, that their mutual relation cannot be seen. There can be no doubt (from the Suffolk and Norfolk series) that the Westleton is the older ; but whether the unconformity below the Westleton is more serious than that above it, is not determinable, even in the principal area of development and exposure." — W. H. Dalto.\. At the reading of the paper at the meeting on November 7th, Mr. Horace W. Monckton remarked on its value, and on the interest attaching to the section near Dunmow High Wood : — " Prof. Prestwich had endeavoured to trace the P 2l8 SPOTTED EAGLE AT ELMSTEAD AND I.EIGH. Westleton Beds from Norfolk and Suffolk through Essex, Middlesex, Hertford- shire, etc., into the West of England ; but there were several breaks in their continuity, and one of the most serious was that between Broxted, near Braintree, and Coopersale Common, near Epping, a distance of nineteen miles. The sections described by Mr. French served to shorten this distance to about fifteen miles, and were so far very satisfactory. It should be noted that Prof. Prestwich says of the Westleton Beds, that they extend from Braintree, by Withersfield, to Dunmow and Thaxted, but are rarely exposed " (Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc, vol. xlvi., p- 134)- SPOTTED EAGLE {AQUILA N.^VIA) AT ELM- STEAD AND LEIGH ; AN ADDITION TO THE ESSEX FAUNA. OOME time since I recorded the fact of a Crane having been ^^ shot in the parish of Ehnstead near Colchester {see Essex Naturalist, vol. ii., p. 271), and now I am very pleased to announce the occurrence there of a Spotted Eagle — but with this welcome cir- cumstance, that the bird was not killed, but is alive and apparently healthy. If these captures continue Elmstead will become celebrated in ornithological annals as the harbourage of rare birds. Mr. Pettitt, our local taxidermist, purchased the specimen from a gipsy, who had a few days before bought it of the captor, a farm-labourer of Elm- stead. On October 29th, the man had noticed a strange bird, in an apparently exhausted state, alight in a field in which he was working. He immediately gave chase, and after the bird had taken a short flight he came up with it and succeeded in taking it alive and uninjured. The specimen appears to belong to the small race of the species, its size and markings corresponding to Mr. Saunders' de- scription of this variety. — Henry Layer, F.L.S., Colchester. It was stated in the local papers that on Thursday, November 3rd, a " Golden Eagle " was shot at Leigh by the Rev. R. Stuart King. Having some doubts as to the species, I wrote to Mr. King, and he informs me that the bird he shot was the Spotted Eagle {Aquila mevid). It was first seen on the ground in the Rectory meadow at Leigh, and upon being alarmed by a lad, it flew up and settled on a tree. The lad, thinking it was a goose, fetched Mr. King, who, at once recognising it as an Eagle, procured a gun and shot it. Mr. King describes it as a young bird, the spots being very plainly marked. The measurements were : from tips of wings 5 feet, from beak to tail 2 feet \ inch. He adds : " The bird was evidently SPOTTED KAdI.E AT KLMSTEAD AND I.KIGH. 219 weak from want of food, and was very light. A gale from the N.E. had been blowing for two days, so 1 imagine that the bird had been carried out of its course. I find that it had been seen two or three days before I shot it." — W. Cole. [We, of course, give the names of the species on the authority of Dr. Laver and Mr. King. The Spotted Eagle appears to be one of our rarest birds, only six examples having been previously recorded in (ireat Britain and Ireland {viz., two near Youghal in 1845 ; two in Cornwall in 1861 ; one in Lancashire in 1874; and one, in 1885, in Northumberland). Its distribution is thus summarised by Mr. Saunders : — " It is probable that the specific name generally employed was originally intended for the small form which breeds in the forests of Northern Germany, and becomes numerous in Pomerania and the Baltic provinces of Russia ; though rare on the eastern side of the Gulf of Bothnia, and only a straggler to Sweden and Lapland. Southward this can be traced through Poland and the marshy woods to the west of the Dnieper down to Bessarabia, as w^ell as to the Caucasus. A larger form, which slightly intrudes on this area, occupies the forest region to the eastward and southward as far as the steppes ; beyond which it extends across Turkestan and Central Asia to Northern China, and to some parts of India, Persia, and Asia Minor. It nests in Turkey, the districts watered by and south of the Danube, and suitable localities in Italy and the islands of the Mediterranean ; also, sparingly, in north Africa. In the south of Spain it is not common ; but I frequently saw and heard it in the Pyrenees. In France and Belgium it is rare, except on the wooded south- eastern frontier towards Switzerland and Luxemburg. In winter both races migrate entirely from their northern, and partially from their southern, haunts in Europe, numbers ascending the Nile valley to Abyssinia." The late severe storms were doubtless the cause of these distinguished visitors' presence in Essex. Possibly they were blown from their course during migration. It is stated that the Elmstead specimen is a young male, in good plumage, the wings extending nearly six feet from point to point. Its appetite is very keen, it having disposed in three days of a large barn-door fowl, a rabbit, and the entire pluck of a sheep ! If Dr. Laver is correct in referring the specimen to the small form, it is probably quite new to the British fauna, as Mr. J. H. (kirney stated that all the I'riiish examples he had seen were referable to the larger variety, which, he says, is the A. clnnga of Pallas. The Elmstead specimen forms the subject of a large engraving in the "Daily Graphic " of November i8th. — Ed.] NOTES ON THE MOLLUSCA OF THE THAMES ESTUARY, WITH A LIST OF SPECIES OBSERVED. By A. J. JENKINS, Member of the Conchological Society. [Read November yth, l8gi.\ T N bringing before the Essex Field Club the following account of the MoUusca inhabiting the Thames Estuary, I am free to acknowledge that the list is by no means complete. When asked by your Secretary some time ago to prepare an account of the various species collected by myself in this locality," I was hopeful that I should be able to increase the number during the past summer. Unfortu- nately, pressure of work during fine weather, and the heavy rainfall when it was possible to steal away from business, have frustrated these bright hopes ; consequently, I have been able to make during 1 89 1 but few additions to the list of species previously observed. My attention has generally been confined during the past two years to the marshes bordering the Thames upon either side of the river. I have collected upon many occasions at Beckton, over the marshes at Rainham, Purfleet, Grays, Thurrock, and Tilbury as far as Low Street Station upon the Tilbury and Southend Railway. I have not yet paid attention to the land shells of the Essex Marshes, but I hope to do so in the future. Parts of the marshes in Kent and Essex are somewhat incon- venient to travel over, particularly after wet or foggy weather, when the roads are rendered almost impassable by thick tenacious mud, and the coarse grass, reaching to the knee, is saturated with moisture. They are also intersected with numerous wide, deep, and in many cases swift running dykes or drains, frequently involving the neces- sity of a jump to avoid a detour of several miles. These ditches are connected with the Thames in many places by drains and sluices, and the river overflowing occasionally at high tides, the water in them is more or less brackish. On the other hand these ditches are interesting to the naturalist, being the abode of numerous aquatic animals and plants ; in many places the dykes literally teem with MoUusca, and with Microscopic Algae and Infusorian life. And although the pernicious effects of the refuse from manufactories, and particularly of the London Sewage, have done much to annihilate the I At the reading of the paper Mr. Jenkins exhibited a complete series of all the species and varieties mentioned, and also presented an almost perfect series to the museum of the Club.- Eu. NOTES ON THE MOI.LUSCA OF THE THAMES ESTUARY. 22 1 animal and plant life of large tracts of marsh land, still we hope that for years to come the shores of the estuary will afford ample scope for collecting and observation. Within recent years the establish- ment of various chemical, gas, and sewage works and factories has caused several species of Mollusca to retreat some miles lower down the river, and in one case, that of Hydrobia similis, will soon have completely exterminated this rare and local form. As far as is at present known, the only remaining British resort for this shell is a small narrow ditch, a few yards only in length, the precise locality of which, to prevent vandalism, it is necessary to keep a secret. The conversion of the Thames into a gigantic sewer has almost abolished " shrimping " near the mouth of the Thames, at Gravesend, and the shoals of fish are fast retreating seaward. Last year a ditch at Beckton, abounding with Hydrobia Jeukinsi, and a very peculiar tumid variety of the same shell, was completely poisoned by the deposition of a quantity of chemical ballast. In the " Journal of Conchology," vol. vi., page 141, Mr. J. T. Marshall, in an article on the Hydrobice and AssifninecE from the Thames valley, mentioned the fact, that " for some years Assi?fn?iea grayana has been migrating down riverwards. Many years ago it was found abundantly in the Greenwich marshes ; but when Dr. Jeffreys, in 1868, wanted fresh specimens for the purpose of illustrating his fifth volume, he could find only two specimens, after a most diligent search," assisted by Mr. Marshall ; and his recorded habitat in that volume was " banks of the Thames, between Greenwich and a little below Gravesend, making altogether a distance of about twenty miles." Mr. Marshall mentions that in his interleaved copy of Jeffreys', the following note occurs, written in 1872 : " This habitat, which was correct twenty years ago, has undergone some change in the interval. At that time Clark and Barlee found it in myriads between Green- wich and Charlton ; but at the present time neither Mr. Jeffreys nor myself can find it there. We have, however, found it in countless thousands at Abbey Wood, and Erith, on the raised banks of the Thames, which now seems its nearest locality to London, so that they appear to have migrated a distance of about ten miles ;" and Mr. Marshall adds that " as Mr. Horsley has been searching for this species also at the latter stations without success, it must have migrated further still, if the sewage outfall works of recent years has not altogether exterminated it." A short time after this was written by Mr. ^Larshall, the Rev. J. 222 NOTES ON THE MOIT.USCA OF THE THAMES ESTUARY, W. Horsley obtained a number of this species from the river bank at Gravesend : and subsequently we collected together a number of living Assimineas with Melampus myosotis at the Salt Marsh near Purfleet. I have frequently taken dead shells from the same habitat as Hydrobia similis, and also below Erith ; but I have never' found living specimens above Greenhithe and the Purfleet Salt-marshes. The marshes between Greenwich and Woolwich were for some years the recorded habitat of Hydrobia similis ; but it has long since disappeared from that locality, together with the original colony of the new Hydrobia which I discovered in East Greenwich Marshes in 1883. It thus appears that in a period of about a quarter of a century, several species have been forced to migrate lower down the river from the causes above mentioned. The same causes will also account for the total extinction of rare or local forms not sufficiently vigorous to reproduce their species quickly, or to adapt themselves to new habits and environment. The list of MoUusca appended to this paper is the faithful record of two years' work ; but, as I have said, it is by no means complete, and I am certain that members of the Essex Field Club in collecting along the Essex Marshes will be able to add to it considerably. Of shells peculiar to the marshes, eighteen fresh-water species, six brackish-water, and nineteen species of land shells have been recorded ; or a total of forty-three species. Adding those collected in the lanes and hedgerows in close proximity brings the number up to fifty-four species, with thirty-two varieties. It is to be regretted that circumstances have not at present per- mitted a study of the mouth of the Thames for marine forms ; neither has there been time for collecting land shells upon the Essex Marshes. But this last omission is less to be regretted ; for, on reading the very interesting account of the "Land and Fresh-water Mollusca of Wan- stead and the neighbouring districts of the Becontree Hundred," by Mr. Crouch in vol. iv. of the Essex Naturalist, I came to the con- clusion that in all probability the Terrestrial Mollusca that are most common upon the Kentish Bank, are also likely to be the prevail- ing species inhabiting the Essex Marshes." I have little to say respecting the land and fresh-water shells of this district ; but will take the opportunity of making some remarks 2 I was also pleased to find that the pretty little inany-whorled shell PlanorHs contortus, which 1 had reason to believe was both rare and local, having only taken four shells once in two years, has been recorded Ijy Mr. Crouch as common in quite a number of localities in the Becontree Hundred. WITH A LIST OF SPECIES OBSERVED. 223 with regard to the brackish-water species, and also a few words of explanation of the difficulties which have arisen, by reason of the discovery of the new Hydrobia, which is now generally considered by conchologists as worthy of specific rank. Our British Hydrobiae and Assimineoe, which were originally divided by I )r. Jeffreys into two distinct orders, would seem to occupy a somewhat anomalous place in the Molluscan world. They are not all strictly marine in habit, neither can they all endure long immer- sion in fresh water. To me they appear to form distinctly a con- necting link between the fresh-water and the marine Mollusca. Take the Hydrobiai for instance, of which family H. tilvcc nearest approaches to the purely marine species ; whilst jenkinsi, by the readiness with which it adapts itself to fresh-water environment (during which it will remain hardy and vigorous for prolonged periods, reproducing its species with remarkable fertility), certainly serves to connect the two groups. H. similis also does not object to water that is not in the least brackish ; indeed, specimens remained alive in tap water in Aquaria after many months (but I could not succeed in breeding them under artificial conditions). Dr. Jeffreys states in his " British Conchology " that in France they inhabit quite fresh water. Under these circumstances it is rather difficult to properly classify this family. They can scarcely be all designated as fresh-water Mollusca, neither does it seem quite right to include them all with the marine shells ; possibly the best way out of the difficulty would be to constitute them an intermediate class. Hydrobia ventrosa has a persistent habit of floating shell down- wards upon the surface of the water after the manner of the fresh- water Physce. H. jenkinsi and H. similis may occasionally have recourse to the same habit, but not habitually. The two latter species will also crawl about immediately after being placed in a saucer without sufficient water to cover them, and the former will extend its researches over the edge of the dish and even upon the table. H. venirosa is very timid if disturbed in this way ; it will remain quite dormant for a long time, and it never travels out of the reach of water. A. grayana, Melampus myosolis, and //. ulvie are great wan- derers also, and may frequently be collected many yards away from the water, or high and dry upon mud flats, and crawling upon wooden piles some distance from tide mark. In such a situation last summer I collected some thousands of //. u/vw at Lowestoft 224 NOTES ON THE MOLLUSCA OF THE THAMES . ESTUARY, by just brushing them into a box from off the piles of a landing stage. Upon two occasions I have found I/j'drol'ia jefih'jisi exisi'mg with J/, ventrosa in the same ditches, but generally the MoUusca associated with it have been fresh-water species, viz. : Bytliinia tentaculata, B. leachii, Plafiorhis nautileus, P. spirobis, P. complauatus, and the ubiquitous Lininaa peregra. Once I found a single living H. similis with H. jenkinsi in a new locality upon Erith Marshes. I have found Hydrobia similis associated with Limiicca truncatula ; and I think it has at one time been accompanied by Assiminea graya?ta, as I have taken numerous dead shells of the latter from its habitat. A. grayana and Melampiis also seem to inhabit the same waters, and upon one occasion I collected H. ulvce from the same ditch upon Dartford Marshes, in which these two species were abundant. A curious dwarfed variety of Littorina rudis occurs in the brackish- water ditches upon West Tilbury Marshes along with Hydrobia venirosa, and the latter species and H. similis are also found together. I believe that H. jenkinsi is the most abundant Thames marsh species of the Hydrobiae, and its habitat extends far beyond the others, occupying many miles of ditches from the commencement of the Plumstead Marshes, near the Arsenal wall, away down to a point midway between Dartford Creek and Greenhithe, and from Beckton nearly to Coldharbour Point, which to me appears to be the full extent of its distribution in Essex. I made my first acquaintance with this interesting Mollusc during the early summer of 1883, when I collected from a muddy ditch upon the marshes near East Green- wich six or eight specimens of a small operculated Mollusc, which did not agree with any British shell with which I was at that time acquainted. The animal seemed to me to differ entirely from the genus Bythinia, and the operculum, in particular, was quite distinct, and seemed to more nearly approach that of the Littorinidae. I made a drawing of the animal and its shell, and sent off by the post a number of specimens to several conchologists of my acquaintance, and they were unanimous in pronouncing them to be Hydrobia similis, Drap. Another well known conchologist to whom I sent specimens of the same shells from East Cireenwich Marshes, also wrote me to the effect that at first suspecting them to be H. ventrosa he had sent them WlTEl A LIST OF SPECIES OBSERVED. 225 to ail authority, who had pronounced them to be undoubtedly H. simi/is. This appeared to me to be conclusive evidence that the shells were certainly the Hydrobia similis of Draparnaud, and from that date until October 4th, 1889, I had no further doubt al)0ut them, and during that period I sent out many exchanges of this species to various correspondents. To Mr. J. T. Marshall, of Torquay, belongs the credit of being the first to positively say that it was not H. similis, although also for a time he considered these shells to be Jeffreys' variety ovata of H. veyitrosa.^ These opinions of good conchologists must be my excuse for being so easily misled in respect of this shell. Certainly, if I had thought that there was the least doubt as to its identity, I should have taken care to submit specimens for observation and comparison to some practical conchologist well acquainted with the family. I also regret that many correspondents have at various periods received as an exchange these Hydrobice as authentic H. similis. I feel confident that these mistakes originated owing to the great difficulty of obtain- ing shells of^. similis, and also Jeffreys' variety ^z'rz/d' of -^ vetitrosa, and I am certain that at that time the real Simon Pure was to be found in the shell cabinets of very few collectors.* As the dispute waxed warm between the advocates oi H. jenkinsi versus H. ventrosa, var. ovata, I felt the necessity of procuring living examples of all the species under discussion, and made frequent excursions to the marshes in all sorts of weather. Having supplied Mr. Smith, of the British Museum, with living examples of the three species, I kept a number in Aquaria under my own observation for many months. During this time I had every opportunity of noting their difference in habit and capability of adapting themselves to water which was more fresh or more brackish than that to which they had hitherto been accustomed. Close examination soon convinced me that Mr. Smith was right 3 This statement may be correct so far as the particular specimens sent to Mr. Marshall by his correspondents as //. siiittlis (" Journ. of Conchology," vol. vi., p. 140) were concerned; but it seems to be clear that the credit of positively determining the Essex and Kent specimens as con- stituting a new species belongs to Mr. E. A. Smith and Mr. Walter Crouch, who came to that conclusion as long ago as February 2nd, 1889. (Essex Nat., iv., pp. 212-214.) — Ed. 4 The first H. jenkinsi dcpo?ida, Taylor. Generally distributed ; with type. H. rufescens, Penn. Common and general ; a very dark form occurs at Charlton. H. concinna, Jeff. Common ; Plumstead Marshes, &c. H. hispida, L. Bostal Wood ; generally distributed. H. virgata, Da Costa. Common; Greenwich and Plumstead Marshes. Var. a/ki, Taylor. Occurs with type. H. caperata, Mont. Generally distributed. Var. ornata, Picard. With type ; Plumstead Marshes. H. rotundata, Mull. Common in lane and hedgerows, at Bostal ^^'ood and Belvedere ; not generally found in Marshes. Var. aHni, Picard. Two shells at Bostal Wood. H. pulchella, Mull. Charlton, Plumstead, &:c. Bulimus obscurus, Mull. Charlton and Belvedere. Pupa umbilicata, Drap. Under stones ; Dartford and Marshes. Clausilia rugosa, Drap. Bostal. C. rolphii, (iray. Bostal Wood, and lane Belvedere. This generally rare species, although local, is fairly common in places. C. laminaia, Mont. Bostal and Belvedere. Cochlicopa lubrica, Mull. Charlton, Bostal, and Plumstead Marshes. Carychium minimum, Mull. Occurs sparingly, on leaves and under stones, at Bostal Wood. Cyclostoma elegans, Mull. Very common ; and general in chalk districts from Bostal Wood to Gravesend. Var. ochroleuca. Bostal Wood. Cyclostoma elegans and Ac/ne lineata are the only two operculate land shells which are found in the British Isles. The first species is very common in chalk districts, and abounds in this neighbour- hood. Acme lineata has been recorded for East Kent, but we have never been fortunate enough to obtain specimens from our district. 232 NOTES ON THE MOLLUSCA OF THE THAMES ESTUARY. No doubt, owing to its extreme minuteness, and its habit of hiding among moss, it is frequently overlooked. //. — Brackish Water Shells (^generally classed as Marine) inhabiting the Alarshes of the Thames Estuary in Kent and Essex. Order PECTINIBRANCHIATA. Family LITTORINID.E. Littorina rudis, Maton. Small brackish water variety ; asso- ciated with Hydrobia ventrosa, and Assiniinia grayana. Ditches upon East Tilbury Marsh. Hydrobia ulvae, Pennant. Grays, Tilbury, Greenhithe, and Gravesend. H. ventrosa, Montagu. From Erith to below Gravesend, Kent ; Coldharbour Point to below Tilbury Fort, Essex. H. similis, Draparnaud. Erith Marshes ; one dead shell at Beckton ; two live and one dead shell, marshes near Abbey ^^'ood, 1890. Var. Candida^ Jeff. Occurs sparingly with type. (A clear pellucid variety.) H. jenkinsi, Smith. The most abundant shell of this genus upon the Thames Marshes ; from the commencement of Plumstead Marshes nearly to Northfleet, in Kent, and from Beckton to Cold- harbour Point, Essex. Var. ecarinata, Jenkins. Shell smooth, without keel or tufts ; occurs with type. Var. tiimida, Jenkins. Shell much inflated, very short spire ; ditch near Beckton. Var. gracilis, Jenkins. Ditches; Rainham and Erith Marshes Order PULMONOBRANCHIATA. Family ASSIMINEDM. Assiminea grayana, Leach. Between Coldharbour Point and Purfleet ; also from Grays, extending some distance down the river below Tilbury Fort ; and in Kent from Greenhithe to below Gravesend ; abounding in the canal near the latter place. Fami LY CAR \ XHIID. E. Melampus myosotis, Drap. Associated with Assiminea in the same localities. THE LOCAL (ESSEX) mUSEUM — Qwfi/i//cd. It cannot he too cmphali(-ally stated or too well known that the institution is for the henefit of the wliole county, and not exclusively for that of Chelmsford or any particular district. It must, of course, have a home, and the proposed buildings are to be erected at Chelmsford simply because Chelmsford is a convenient centre nt and from which the important educational work that is contemplated can be best carried out. Express care has been taken in the amalgamation scheme to guard against the county town having a paramount or more than fair share in the management. I'he insti- tution is to be essentially and really a county one, and it is designed for the assistance of every student, whether a member of the Club or not, desirous of improving himself in natural knowledge, and in contributing to the general well being of Essex. The total amount of capital required for the Museum scheme is ^4,000, and the estimated annual expenditure is ;^4oo. Active work can be com- menced in the temporary premises when one-fourth of the required capital has been obtained. The Council appeals strongly to the public spirit of the inhabi- tants of Essex, and generally to all those interested in science and in its practical applications, to give the financial support necessary to launch and to maintain the Museum, and to help forward the useful and interesting work which will grow up around it. The property of the Club will be placed under the care of the following Trustees : — The Right Hon. Lord Rayleigh, D.L., D.C.L, LL.D., F.R.S. ; Lord Brooke, M.P. ; Sir T Fowell Buxton, Bart., D L., F.R.G.S. ; The Ven. the Archdeacon of Essex; W. M. Tufnell, Esq., J. P., D.L; Professor Meldola, F.R.S., F.R.A.S., F.C.S. ; and G. P. Hope, Esq., M.A. Copies of Appeal and pamphlet of papers relating to the pro- posal may be had from the //on. Secretaries, Mr. \\'. Cole, Buck- hurst Hill, Essex, and Mr. E. Durrant, 90, High Street, Chelms- ford, who will be glad to give further information to encjuirers. Sup.scRiPTiONS either to the Capital Fund, or promises of annual donations to the Maintenance Fund, may be sent to .Messrs. Sparrow, Tufnell «Sc Co., Bankers, Chelmsford, or to the National Bank, Old Broad Street, London, or to the Treasurer of the Club, Mr. .\. Lockyer, Mornington Lodge, Wanstead, Essex. A SELECTION FROM MESSRS. Edmund Durrant & Co.'s List of Publications. The Ancient Sepulchral Monuments of Essex. By FiiED. Chancellor, F.R.I.B.A. Imp. 410, cloth, illustrated, £\ 4?. nett. Poems. By Alice E. Argent. With an Introduction by the Right Rev. Bishop Claughton. Crn. 8vo, cloth, is. 6d. nett, post free. Durrant's Handbook for Essex. A Guide to all the Principal Objects of Interest in each Parish in the County. By MlLLER CHRISTY, F.L.S. With Map, 2s. 6d. nett, poat free. " One of the very best Guide Books in existence." — Evening Neivs. The Birds of Essex. A Contribution to the Natural History of the County. With numerous Illustrations, two Plans, and one Plate (torm- ing Vol. II. Special Memoirs of Essex Field Club). By Miller Christy. Demy 8vo, scarlet cloth, 15^. nett, post free. A History of Felsted School. With some Account of the Founder and his Descendants. By JOHN Sargeaunt, M.A. Illustrated, nel.t 4y. The Trade Signs of Essex. A Popular Account of the Origin and Meaning of the Public House and other Signs, now o' formerl}^ found in the County of Essex. With Ilhntrations. By MiLLER Christy, Demy 8vo, cloth, fs. 6d. nett. Daily Rays of Light for Sick and Weary Ones. Compiled by Edith L. Wells, with a Preface by the Rev. Prebendary HuTTON. Crown Svo, cloth, C^. The Limits of Ritual in the Church of England. By Rev. R. E. Bartlett, M.A., late Fellow and Tutor Trinity College, Oxford ; Bampton Lecturer, 1888. Reprinted b}^ permission from Contemporary Review. Price 3?/., by post Z\d. ; 2s. <^d. per dozen, post free. Homespun Yarns. By Edwin Coller. Crown Svo, cloth, 35-. 6d. Royal Illustrated History of Eastern England By A. D. B.AYNE. With many Illustrations. Two vols., large Svo, cloth, 155. Domesday Book relating to Essex. Translated by the late T. C. Chisenhale-Maksh. 410, cloth, 215-. nett. Only a few copies unsold. John Noakes and Mary Styles. A Poem in the Essex Dialect. Bv the late Chakles Clakk, of Toiham Ilall. With a Glossary and Portrait, \s. nett. The History of Rochford Hundred, Essex. Vol. I., 15^-. dd. ; Vol. II., 185. nett. By Philii' Bh:nto\. A First Catechism of Botany. By John Gibhs. Second Edition, i2mo, boards, 6//. The Symmetry of Flowers. By John Giisrs. i8mo, sewed, 4^'. Forms and Services used in the Diocese of St. Alban's. Published by auihoril\-. JJsts on application. EDMUND DUf(RANT & CO., Publishers, 90, High St., Chelmsford. ANNUAL SUBSCRIPTION— Members, 4s. 6d. ; Non-Members, 9s. Post Free. NO. 12, VOL v.] Price Is. [DECEMBER, 1891. Tbe Essex Naturalist: BEING THE JOURNAL OF THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB, EDITED P.Y WILLIAM COLE, Honor a ry Seer eta ry . Contents. Notes on the Teasels, Dipsacus Sylvestris and D. Pilosus, and their natural rela- tionship. P.y J FK1.-.NCH 233 British Annelids. With esperial reference to the Earthworms of Essex. By Rev. Hilderic Frikxii, F.L.S. {Continued.) 237 Short Papers. List of Mollusca observed in the Orwell and Slour Estuaries, 244 ; Notes on the History of the Chelnier and Blackwater Navigation. By E. A. Fitch, 248; List of Plants noted on the Banks of the Chelintr, &c., 251 ; Mollusca observed in Chelmer, 253 ; Notes on the Colne Oyster Fishery. By J. C. Shenstone, F.R.M.S., and Dr. La\ er, F.L.S. , 257 ; Notes on Aquatic Plants of the Thames Marshes. By A. J. Jenkins and W. BlUUISCOMlSE 261 The Essex Field Club. Second Joint Meeting of the Club and the Ipswich Scientific Society at Ipswich, and on the Orwell and Stotir Rivers, 241 ; Excursion from Maldon to Chelms- ford, along the Blackwater and Chelmer Navigation River, 247 ; Meeting at St. Osyth and Brightlingsea, 254 ; Ordinary Meeting, November 7th, 260 ; Ordinary Meeting, November 2Sih 262 Note on the Marine Algae and Flowering Plants observed between Harwich and Dovercourt. By E. M. Holmes, F.L.S 264 The authors alone are responsihie for the statements and opinions contained in their respective papers. PI:BLISHF.D by TF^E club, BL'CKHURST hill, ESSEX. F.. nrRR.-XNT & CO., 90. ElIGII STREET, CHELMSFORD. Fnt. Stationers' Hall.] ^Issued March, iSgi..'] CoMMu.NiCATioNS flW Advertisements should be addressed : — The Editor of "THE ESSEX NATURALIST," 7, Knighton Villas, Buckhurst Hill, Essex. THE LOCAL (ESSEX) MUSEUM, LIBRARY, AND LABORATORY. The attention of Members of the Essex Field Club, and of all those interested in the practical study of Natural Science, and its applica- tions in industries, and as a means of general education, is earnestly called to the Statement and Appeal for Funds for the establish- ment of the Museum now being circulated by the Council. The scheme has long been under consideration, and it has been fully explained at meetings of the Club and in the Essex Naturalist. Its principal features are as follows : — With the object of establishing at Chelmsford (chosen as being the County Town, and also as a central position in Essex) a Local and Educational Museum, the club has agreed to amalgamate with the Essex and Chelmsford Museum, under the title of " The Essex Field Club," conditionally on the sum necessary for founding the liew Museum being raised. The main objects in view are : — (rt) The formation of authentic collections to illustrate the Geology, Miner- alogy, Botany, Zoology, Ethnology, Pre-historic Archaeology and Technology, &c., of ESSEX and the adjacent sea and rivers, together with an educational series of specimens and preparations to be employed for illustrative and teaching purposes. Specimens that are not of Essex origin will be admitted so far onlj' as they serve to demonstrate the structure and relationship of the local types. (/^) The formation of a Local and Scientific Library, to include (in addition to standard scientific works), topographical, antiquarian, and other books, manuscripts, maps, parliamentary and official papers, pictures, prints, &c., which in any way relate to the county of E-^sex. (r) The establishment of a Laboratory and Class-rooms, with fittings, apparatus, and instruments suitable for the preparation of specimens for the Museum, and for the practical study and teaching (either in the Museum or in selected local stations throughout the county) of the subjects named in paragraph (r?), and for promoting their practi- cal application in Agriculture, Forestr}-, Arboriculture, Gardening, Fisheries, Manufactures, Industries, and general education. Tlie laboratory, c!a=s-rooms, instruments, &c., will be under the control of the Council, who may permit students, investigators, and others to use them, and may also lend instruments and preparations out of the Museum buildings for purposes in furtiierance of the above objects. \^Conlinitfd 071 page 3 of Wrapper. 233 NOTES ON THE TEASELS, DIPSACUS SYLVES- TRIS AND D. PILOSUS, AND THEIR NATURAL RELATIONSHIP. By J. FRENCH. [Kfad Deceinbey 2nd, lSgo.\ '"PHE Teasel, Dipsacus sylvestris, in its stage of flowering and seed is so familiar that description is quite unnecessary. Dip- sacus pi/osus, with a more modest appearance, is less common, and not nearly so well known. Its heads of flowers are nearly globular, and not half the size of those of its kinsman, and the bloom is white and inconspicuous. The plant, moreover, is nearly destitute of that formidable array of prickles so characteristic of D. sylvestris. The curious arrangement of water-cups in the latter plant, which are developed at the axils of the leaves at an early stage of its growth, is absent in D. pilosus. In point of foliage and habit the two plants are not greatly unlike. We will now call attention to the prickly apparatus and cups of D. sy/vestris. Neither of these appliances are brought into operation until the stems' are in process of development. The cups precede the prickles, which latter do not appear on the stem until the fourth or fifth node is reached. The cups, hoivever, cease just before the time of flowering, while the prickles are hardened and multiplied to a much later date. A very cursory examination will assure us that the cup is the result of a special process, and is not the accidental result of con- tiguity of leaf bases like Blackstonia, Lonicera, and others. Long before the leaf attains its full development the puckering at the base is well marked, and a set of vascular vessels specially contributing to the support of the cup make their appearance. The rim of the cup, too, is very entire, and never crenated like the leaf limb. The cups are absolutely water-tight, only losing water by evaporation and rupture. The arrangement of the prickles is such as to indicate a special design. This design is more pronounced as the plant advances to seed, and in the species known as the " Fuller's Teasel " {D./ulIotium) it attains its maximum. The points of the prickles are directed dowiv wards, as though to repel a foe creeping upwards. In the " Fuller's I The plants are. it shoiikl be recollected, biennial, .nnfl in the first year make only radical leaves. 2.34 NOTES ON THE TEASELS, DIPSACUS SYI.VESTKIS AND Teasel " even the tips of the awns of the flowering head have this downward inchnation. It is not easy to say what are the foes so carefully guarded against. That there are, or have been, foes in the case of the cups there can be no doubt; for the most careful observation will not show that the water is in any case absorbed by the plant, or used as nourishment. Ants have been suggested as possible enemies, but it is hard to see what harm they could do. The prickles in any case are not against them. In the allied species, D. piiosus, the cup is represented by a fringe of bristly hairs, which also is no protection against ants. Slugs and snails in both species are guarded against ; but far more effectively in D. sylvestris, although there is reason to believe that no English species of MoUusca now attack the plants. It does not seem that the prickly apparatus is directed against the attacks of cattle, as these prickles are rarely hardened enough to cause much inconvenience till the plant has flowered, when the foliage will be dry and tasteless. It may be that the prickles at an early stage guard against molluscs^ and at the last stage assist in dissemination of the seed- heads by attaching themselves to the wool of cattle, &c. We will now attempt to trace the mutual relationship of the two species. When we consider that D. piiosus has only the rudiments of a prickly system, and a rudimentary form of cup, we infer, either that it is a degenerate form of D. syhestris, or, on the other hand, is more nearly allied to an ancestral form. An examination into the struc- ture and habits of both species will show that the latter alternative must probably be the one accepted. In plants of the first year it is hardly possible to discriminate the species, both being so much alike. The configuration of the leaf in this early stage is instructive, the limb is reduced to a rudi- mentary fringe for nearly half the length of the mid-rib, and the leaves may therefore be regarded as petioled. There is a tendency to development of the sheath of the petiole equally in both species. The epidermis is also here equally active, giving rise to occasional prickles, and develops the serrature on the mid-ribs of the leaves of both. The start in the following spring appears to run for a short time on equal lines, as the radical leaves are much alike ; but a difference soon n. PII.OSUS, AND THF.IR NATl'KAI, RKI.ATIONSHIl'. 235 becomes apparent. D. syJvcstris goes on with new and vigorous developments ; out of the sheath of the petiole is developed the cup, and each pair of leaves is strengthened and rendered rigid by a more perfect system of venation than obtains in D. pilosus. The prickly system is afterwards matured with the same vigour, and the whole gives rise to a very robust plant having flowering heads proportionately much larger than its kinsman. There is still usually an excess of vigour expended in different ways, sometimes in producing very long and foliaceous bracteoles, sometimes in bifurcating a leaf or leaves, and sometimes in producing an additional leaf or pair of leaves at one of the upper nodes. In D. pilosus this vigorous growth is pretty well absent through- out. In this species, in place of the cup, there is developed from the sheath of the petiole, which is not greatly expanded, a fringe of bristly hairs, and also some prickles on the earlier nodes of the stem. The cauline leaves, which are the largest of the plant in both species, in D. pilosus are peculiar. They have a naked petiole for the most part, but at the base of the leaf-limb some two or three leaflets are generally developed. The leaf, moreover, has a flabby appearance. It is at this stage that the essential weakness of the plant, as com- pared with D. sy/vestris, becomes apparent. The flower stalks are clothed with weak prickles, and, with the flower-heads, attain a size comparable with D. sy/vestris only when its stem has been cut nearly through so as to allow only two or three bundles of fibres to nourish the plant. We have adverted to the not infrequent case of bifurcation (or even addition) of a leaf of D. sylvestris, which, of course, means that the mid-rib of the leaf separates at a certain point into two equal or uiiecjual portions, and these develop proportional independent leaflets. This must be regarded as the most pronounced stage of a l)henomenon which is traceable in both species, but far more frequently in D. sylvestris. It seems reasonable to suppose that the plant exercising this function (of variation) most readily should be the newer form. Closely associated with the fibro-vascular tissue giving rise to these variations are the prickles, and some attention should therefore be directed to their structure and distribution. In the advanced stage of D. sy/vestris they almost acquire the consistency of spines, whereas in D. pi/osus they are often represented by hairs. They are all epidermal, and there is no material difference between the hair of <) 2 236 NOTES ON THE TEASELS. one plant and the spine of the other, as every transition between them can be found. It would seem that in most cases they are nourished directly from the fibrous vessels, no other tissue inter- vening. For instance, in the serrature of the mid-rib — the most persistent line of prickles in both plants — the epidermis closely invests a bundle of fibres for the whole length of the leaf. It further seems that the vitality of the prickles is dependent on the presence of the growing fibres, and in that respect they may be regarded as secondary appendages. This will perhaps account for their presence on the stem o{ D.pilosus at an early, that is, fast-growing stage. No functional importance appears to attach to the prickles. We may, however, safely prognosticate their further development in direct proportion to the increase of the vigorous tissue on which they depend. As we have seen that this tissue is such a capricious and increasing quantity, the plant bids fair to become eventually a spiny monster. Any mention of the leaves of D. pilosus would be incomplete without a special reference to the pair of characteristic leaflets, occur- ing as before noticed at the back of the main limb. Do these still exist as relics of an earlier form ? My ignorance of the other members of the genus will not allow me to discuss that question ; but I can certainly say that no such appendages ever occur in D. sylvestris. Comparing the two British species, it seems to be correct to say that the one (sylvestris) is vigorous and variable, and tends to depart from forms which may have been ancestral. The other {pilosi/s) is much less vigorous, and shows affinity with forms {Ce/>/ia/aria and Scabious) which also may have been ancestral. [At the reading of the above paper. Prof. Boulger communicated the following remarks : — " I am sorry that I cannot get down to the meeting, as I should have liked to say a few words on Mr. French's paper on Dipsaci's. As, how'ever, you have kindly given me an opportunity of seeing the paper, I may briefly state what would have been the substance of my remarks. Generally, I may say that I consider that the chief mistake of the modern students of the new teleology — the followers of Mr. Grant Allen, with whom I must class Mr. French — is that they constantly look for some immediate utility to the possessor in every detail of structure. In so doing, they often, I think, overlook two large classes of structures, which I may term ancestral VLnd indifferent respectively. The first class, the ancestral, includes : (i.) the liKlTISH ANNELIDS. 237 embryo)iu\ those useful to the organism in its early stages ; (ii.) the vestigia/, those useful to its ancestors, but now in process of abortion through the operation of the law of economy of nutrition ; and (iii.) the indifferent ancestral structures, structures originating in the vari- ation which we call * spontaneous ' of its ancestors ; which, being neither directly useful nor extravagantly wasteful of tissue — and there- fore likely to become aborted — nor otherwise harmful, are inherited unaltered. The indifferent class similarly includes all structures originating in the free play of that ' spontaneous variation ' which Mr. Wallace has shown to be so widely varied in its results, which are neither directly useful nor harmful. Darwin showed that struc- tures which I should refer to one or other of these classes, being practically beyond the scope of natural selection, will be extremely variable. Coming to Mr. French's immediate subject, I would remark that he has confined his attention to the two species of Dipsacus that happen to be British, whereas there are seventeen or eighteen species of the genus, five or six of which occur on the con- tinent of Europe ; and that D. sylvestris and D. pilosus belong to different sections of the genus, the Eudipsaci and the Trichocephaia, the latter approximating to the genus Cephalaria. I should be interested to know whether Mr. French has ever observed the two British species, or others, growing so as to compete with one another." ' — G. S. BOULGER.] BRITISH ANNELIDS. WITH ESPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE EARTHWORMS OF ESSEX. By REV. HILDERIC FRIEND, F.L.S. {Continued from page tgd.) /^NLY a few words are necessary in order to present a bird's eye ^^^ view of the different genera of British earthworms. The indi- genous species belong entirely to one group, which has been, at the most, divided into four sections, and as one of these divisions is not at present retained (though it may at any time be revived), we have practically only three distint genera to examine. These are Lum- hricus, Allololwphora, and Allurus. The lapsed name is Dendro- bcena, but we will not include it in our present study. Lumbricus is distinguished from AUolobophora chiefly by the shape of the lip or prostomium. In Lumbricus the foremost portion of the body and the first ring form a perfect mortise and tenon, whereas in AUolobo- phora the lip cuts but partially into the first ring. The first ring, which bears no setae, is usually known as the peristomium. While I This I have not yet seen.— J. Fkenxh. 238 BRITISH ANNELIDS. both the foregoing species have their male pore on segment fifteen, it is found on the thirteenth in A/iurus, and thus they may be readily distinguished. A brief tabular arrangement may present the matter in clearer light, and help to pave the way for a rather more detailed account of the different genera : — Tabular View of British Lumbrici. Genera. MalePore: Segment. Lip or Pros- TOMIUM. Girdle or Clitellum. Colour. Set^ or Bkistles. Lmnhrkus 15 Perfect mor- tise and tenon with peristo- mium. Begins on any segment from 25 to 34 and coversaboutb. Usually red-brown, iridescent. Always in couples. A llolobophoru 15 Partial. Same as Lumbricus. Variable. ^^^ ^^ Pink, brown, .^ ^^ j^->^_ yellow, green. '^ A hunts 13 Partial. 22 to 27. Brown and golden. Fourcouples one at each angle. Let us imagine the naturalist going out with a collecting tin lightly filled with damp moss, and securing a dozen specimens of worms from different localities. He wants to know first of all what genera he has procured, and takes them out one by one for examina- tion. With his pocket lens he first examines the head and finds the first ring cut right through by the lip. This points to Lumbricus. He next counts the segments from the head to the girdle, and finds upwards of twenty-two. It cannot, therefore, be Allurus. It is a dark red or ruddy brown colour, and will therefore not be Allclobo- phora, unless it is an exception, and then the shape of the mortise and tenon is decisive. Putting this aside as a species of Lutnbricus, he takes up another. It is a small worm but mature, or possessed of a girdle, and has a happy method of progressing tail foremost ; while the tail, instead of being flat round or oval, is sharp-angled, or square. The mortise and tenon is imperfect, so it may be either Allurus or Allolobophora but the male pore is on the thirteenth and the girdle on the twenty- second segment, so it must be Allurus. Now since we have at pre- BRITISH ANNELIDS. 239 sent only one species of Allunis (subject to variation, liowever, as \vc shall see later on), it will be utterly impossible to confound it with AllolobopJiora when we have once seen and examined it. We are thus narrowed down practically to the two genera I.umbi-iciis and Allolohophora^ and have, as external guides to their distinction, the mode of insertion between lip and peristomium, the colour, and the setje. Since the latter are variable we may be obliged occasionally to resort to anatomy before we can be absolutely certain about a given species ; but I believe that I shall be able to show as we pro- ceed that all the species may be readily distinguished by external characters alone, if only they are mature. I shall endeavour to give such unmistakable clues to the identification of each species by external means as shall render the use of the knife and the micro- scope unnecessary. Those who have followed me thus far will have learned which are the leading portions of the bocy of a worm, and what parts must be particularly observed in order to obtain a clue to their identity. I may add now a few more details which will be helpful, and explain some terms which will be constantly met with in the study of Annelid literature. Beginning with the front or anterior portion of the body we find that there is no distinct head, while no organs of vision or hearing are anywhere apparent. 'J'here is a retractile lip, usually called the prostomium on account of its being in front of ai.d above the mouth (stoma). The first ring, segment, or somite, bears no setae or bristles, and is called the peristomium, because it surrounds the mouth. Some works include this ring in all calculations relating to the number of segments, but it is usual in England to omit it, and begin to reckon from the first segment which carries bristles. The setae are organs of locomotion. Along the back, in the groove between each segment, one will be able to discover a series of pores oi punctures which look as though a pin had been thrust through th( skin. These are the dorsal pores of which an account w ill be found in "Science Gossip," December, 1891. The male pore, found on segment fifteen, except in the case of A/lurus, is to be looked for on the lower surface of the body. In some species the opening is seated on a cushion or papilla of very delicate structure, which gives it great prominence ; but in other cases only a well-trained eye will detect it. The Greenworm and the Common Earthworm have the most prominent papilla for the male pore, and these should be 240 BRITISH ANNELIDS. Studied in order to understand the position and appearance of this important organ. The girdle, which has been variously called the " clitellum," " cingulum," or " knob," is that swollen portion of the body, usually of a lighter colour, which one observes in adult worms, and which when I was a boy in Sussex was declared by the country folk tc represent the place where two portions of a worm had joined up after having been bisected under the gardener's spade ! It is usually saddle shaped in our native species, and in the channel which it forms on the under surface of the body we may find a series of pores, and at times a number of beautiful trumpet-shaped bodies which are known as spermatophores, and play an important part in the repro- duction of the species. I have found the Greenworm the best species for many of these researches, and as it is to be obtained under stones wherever cattle are kept, or by the side of stagnant water, it will be a convenient subject for the beginner to practise upon. It is a good plan to have a note-book in which to make entries on the following plan : — " Species taken at Romford, January, 1892. " I. A specimen found by the side of a pond where cattle come to water, lying under the stones in a coil, and appearing very sluggish. Dirty green colour with a yellowish girdle about the middle of the body. Length about two inches. The lip only partially bisecting the first ring. Male pores on segment fifteen with prominent, pale papillae. Girdle commencing on segment twenty-eight, and extending to the thirty-sixth, with three pairs of pores on the under side on seg- ments 31, ;^^ and 35. Tail curled up, cylindrical or round, tapering off rather abruptly." "2. A small worm from the roots of grass by the side of the stream. Dull brown, with lighter girdle and square tail. Only an inch long, and unlike the last, very active ; chiefly moving tail foremost. Lip partly cutting the peristomium, male pore on segment 13, and girdle extending from the 22nd to the 27th." These will be the Greenworm and the Square-tail {Alhirus) respectively, and all the others should be w'orked up on the same principle. It remains for me now to describe in successive issues of the Essex Naturalist the species of Earthworm which I have already received from Essex, with such others as shall by the courtesy of the reader be submitted to me for identification and registration. I shall THE ESSEX FIELD CLUC. 24I be glad if specimens are sent to me in a tin box with damp moss, and data respecting the habitat, soil, nearness to sea or brackish water, and the like, addressed, "The drove," Idle, Bradford, York- shire. ( To be continued. ) THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. Second Joint Meeting of the Club and the Ipswich Scientific Society, at Ipswich, and on the Orwell and Stour Rivers. Friday and Saturday, July 24th and 25th, 1891. Birec/ors:— Henry Miller, M.Inst.C.E. ; Dr. J. E. Taylor, F.L.S., F.G.S. ; E. A. Fitch, F.L.S. ; E. M. Holmes, F.L.S. ; Walter Crouch, F.Z.S. ; G. H. Hewetson, and W. Cole, F.E.S. n"'HE meeting in June last year, for the purpose of dredging in the Estuaries -*■ of the Orwell and Stour rivers, having been so successrul and pleasant, the Council, with the kind and hospitable co-operation of the Ipswich Scientific Societ}-, arranged to repeat the experiment, with some additional features. A full account of the previous meeting, with lists of the objects of marine zoology and botany found, was printed in the Essex Naturalist, vol. iv., pp. 169-173. Ipswich (" Gipes-wic," A.S. Chronicle, A.D. 993) is a fine example of an English town, containing abundant evidences of antiquity and continuity of history, and many interesting buildings and churches. The building known as " Sparrowes House " is perhaps the most remarkable specimen of ancient domestic architecture to be found in the eastern counties (see " In and About Ancient Ipswich," by Dr. J. E. Taylor). The centre of attraction for the naturalist is, of cou'se, the Museum, in which are local collections of very considerable scientific importance. It was largely promoted by the Rev. W. Kirby, the celebrated entomologist, and by the late Prof. Henslow. It is famous for its collection of fossils from the Red and Coralline Crags of the eastern coasts, which was augmented in 1877 by the late Sir Richard Wallace's gift of the Rev. H. Canham's fine collection, the result of twenty years' labour. There are also excellent botanical and bird collections, shells and crustacea, and a good series of flint implements, principally found in Suffolk by Mr. S. Fenton. Dr. J. E. Taylor is the Curator, and under his able management the Museum has become the centre of scientific activity in Suffolk. Members of the Club assembled in Ipswich on the Friday afternoon, coming by road and rail. The management of the meeting was again in the hands of the Secretaries of the two Societies, Messrs. G. H. Hewetson and W. Cole, the former most kindly undertaking all the local arrangements. The " East Anglian Daily Times " gave excellent accounts of the two days' meeting, and we cannot do better than repeat the opening words of the reporter : — " Between men engaged in scientific pursuits, whether professionally or as a form of recreation — and the women too, happily enough — there is a kind of freemasonry which places them all upon a common footing of sympathy and good comradeship. No society is more democratic, in the best sense of the word ; and in none other are more friendly relationships established without any deference to political or religious ?42 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. differences. The study of nature, like the poet's ' one touch ' of it, makes the whole world kin. It was the underlying, if unexpressed, apprehension of this fact, we think, which left so many pleasant memories of the joint meeting of the Essex Field Club and the Ipswich Scientific Society, and led eventually to a repetition of the programme during the present summer. Members of the now famous Essex Society expressed an earnest wish for another visit to Ipswich, the local Society were delighted with the opportunity of giving them an enthusiastic w^elcome, and the introduction to a day's outing assumed the form of a social and scientific ' reception ' at the Ipswich Museum on the previous evening. Arrange- ments for this preliminary gathering were made in a spirit of heartiest hospitality by the Committee of the Ipswich Scientific Society. The President for the year (Mr. Henry Miller, jun.), Mr. G. H. Hewetson, Hon. Secretary, and Mr. F. Woolnough, welcomed the compan3r.upon their arrival, and were the more active orj:;anisers of the proceedings ; but they were assisted in various ways by others of their colleagues, including Mr. J. Napier, Mr. E. P. Pidley, Mr. W. Vick, and Mr. F. W. Wilson. "The visitors at once proceeded to the room occupied by Dr. J. E. Taylor, who acted as guide, philosopher, and friend to all inquirers, and showed the way with pardonable pride around the Museum which he has in great part created, and for which the borough is rightly famed. In the Doctor's room, Mr. VV. Vick showed his remarkable coUectionof photographs of one hundred people over seventy years of age, which make a curious study in character and facial expression, together with many good views of scenery and places of interest in the neighbourhood, which were seen to advantage through two or three graphoscopes. Dr. Taylor exhibited a group of carnivorous plants. Sundews (^D^-osera) and Butterwort (^Pinguicula), of which he gave an intensely interesting account ; and his sanctum was, as usual, full of objects which arrested the attention of the naturalists and geologists." Dr. Taylor afterwards led the way upstairs into the principal room of the Museum, and proceeded to give, in his inimitable style, a most interesting dis- course upon the Essex and Suffolk Red Crag formations, demonstrating each statement by aid of the magnificent collections of Crag fossils which were con- tained in the cases around. At the close of the address the Ma3-or of Ipswich proposed a hearty vote of thanks to the demonstrator, which was carried by acclamation. Dr. Ta3lor replied in a happy speech, complimenting the Essex Field Club upon the high position it had attained among natural hi tory societies. The remainder of the evening was occupied in examining the collections, and in partaking of the refreshments which were hospitably provided in the Art Class- room. The members of the Essex Field Club present on the Friday evening were not so many as were desired ; but those who went down to Ipswich on the Friday were delighted at the kind reception accorded to them by the Council and members of the local Scientific Society. On the Saturday morning the Conductors and members of both Societies assembled punctually at the landing-stage on the New Cut, and (after being reinforced by the Field Club members who travelled down by the 8.5 a.m. from London) embarked on the Great Eastern Railwr.y steamer, the " Stour," for a day's dredging in the estuaries of the Orwell and Stour rivers. Whilst awaiting departure alongside the fteamer, Mr. Walter Crouch pointed out the numerous borings of a most destructive mollusc, the Teredo, which was well in evidence on the landing-stage ; and before the start other interesting forms were to be seen on board, alive. These had been taken on the previous day from llli: KSSEX 1-lKl.D CI.UB. 243 ihe oyster-Leds in the river. Of these, two exceedingly fine varieties of the beautiful sea-anemone, Bunodes (Tealia) crassicornis, at once attracted attention ; and the white and orange-coloured specimens of Alcyonium digitatum^ or " dead- man's fingers," with their crowd of translucent extended polypes, each with eight feathery tentacles. Crawling on the sides of the glass vessels were two specimens of the Gastropod, Philine aperta, whose delicate shells are concealed beneath the mantle lobes ; and the little Top-shell, Trochus cinerarius, but both of these had been recorded in the previous year's excursion (see Essex NATURALIST, vol. iv., p. 171). On leaving Ipswich, the walls of the quay were observed lobe lined with green Alg:c of a filamentous character, probably (Mr. E. M. Holmes suggested) consist- ing of species of Urospora and Enteromorpha^ and possibly (in the darker patches) of Osci/laria, Lynghya and Protococcus, but neither time nor opportunity permitted of their examination. The weather was rather dull and cold as the " Stour " dropped down the river, under the command of Captain Mills, and it remained so during the greater part of the day. The reader is referred to the report of the previous dredging meeting on June i4ih, 1890, in tlie Essex Naturalist (vol. iv., pp. 169-173), for much interesting information on the natural history of the estuary of the Stour. The methods of working were the same as on the first visit ; but a greater number of large clear-glass bottles and small aquaria having been provided than on the previous occasion, the members were enabled to view the various animals brought up with ease and minuteness. Microscopes and hand lenses were provided for this purpose. Mr. W. Jolly (the lessee of the Orwell Oyster Fishery) again gave permission for dredging in his waters, and rendered most valuable assistance. The first cast of the dredge was made on the VVoolverstone Park side of the river, just beyond the Cat House, and this haul (and subsequent casts both in the Orwell and Stour) brought up an abundance of the POLYZOAN, Akyonidium gtlatinosum, or " Barley Sugar," on which were thickly sprinkled young specimens of a mollusc allied to the periwinkle, Lacuna crasswr, with the epidermis of the shell drawn up into ridges. On the same Polyzoan, and also on the siliceous sponge, Chalina oculata, were crowds of the small scarlet and white skeleton Crustacean, Caprella linearis^ both male and female. Other Crustaceans observed were N)mphon gracilis (in good numbers), Eiipagurus bertihardus (in Buccinum shells), Nyas araneus, Carcitius mcenas (abundant, as usual) ; of Pallene brevirostris Mr. Fitch recorded one specimen, &c. Of other POLVZOA, some specimens of Bugula avicularia and Metnhranipora pilosa were noticed investing the algae ; and on dead shells, species of Eschara and Lepralia. A few forms of the TuNlCATA, or " Sea Squirts," were brought up — Botiyllns, Cynthia and Ascidium ; among the latter, A. intestinalis, with almost transparent gelatinous tunic, which was fairly abundant, and generally attached to dead shells of Tapes, &c. Among the Sea Anemones were many free-swimming Ilyant'ms scoticus and specimens of another species that comes nearest to Edwardsia callintorpha, and another small sage green species with yellow furrows that seems to come near Gregoria fenestrata ; it was attached to seaweeds, especially Laminaria and Fucus. The Medus.E (HyproZOA) included Amelia aiirita, and one specimen of Cydippe pomiformis \ and the division Hydromeduscc' was represented by 244 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. Hydractinia echmata (on various shells), Sertularia abietina, Hydralhnannia falcata, and Thuiaria thiiia. The ECHINODEKMATA were represented by 6". papposa, and Ophiothrix (" brittle-star "). Worms. Good specimens of Sabella penicillus^ in their leathery tubes, were brought up, and in their new abode, in the bottles and aquaria, soon displayed the delicate mottled plumes, as though they sought for admiration. On an old oyster shell was a tube of Terebella conchihga, with its rough exterior composed of broken fragments of shells and stones, but the annelid- builder was no longer within. On the Laminaria, a host of the tiny spiral calcareous tubes (which simulate a true shell) occurred, the shelter of the delicate plumed Spirorbis nautiloides. Many other species of Marine Worms of the genera Phyliodoce, Nereis, Po'ynof, Nepht/iys, &c., were taken, and it is hoped that they may be subsequently worked out. Sponges. Some grand specimens of Grantia compressa and G. ciliata (of the former two very large ones) were brought to the surface, which were pronounced by Dr. Taylor and Mr. Crouch to be the largest they had ever seen. One of these measured 7 inches in length, and z\ inches in breadth, and is prettily lobed. Chalini oculata, and Halkhondria panicea (" The Crumb of Bread Sponge ") were abundant, as on the previous occasion ; and a number of the small but very interesting Sycon ciliatus, with its tri-radiate calcareous spicules around the osculae. The largest one taken is barely half-an-inch long. MOLLUSCA. A larger number were captured than on the previous trip,' when only sixteen species were recorded. These (with two exceptions — Saxicava and Eolis) were again taken, and Mr. Crouch has now been enabled to add twenty- one to the list, making in all thirty-seven species. Of these, nine were in the River Stour, and in the following list Mr. Crouch has detailed these and marked those which had occurred in 1890. A large specimen (dead) of the northern shell Fusus norvegicus was dredged up ; but this cannot be taken as indigenous, as they have been brought here at different times v\ith oyster spat from the North Sea, the Dogger Bank, &c. LIST OF MOLLUSCA OBSERVED IN THE ORWELL AND STOUR ESTUARIES. {Species marked * occurred also in 1890.) Bivalve Shells — Pelecvpoda. * Ostt ea edui'is. * Pecteti varius .... Two dead shells. * Mytihis edulis Modiolaria marmorata . Nttcula nitida * ,, nucleus Lucina bar ea lis Cardium exiguum * „ edule * Tapes piillastra ,, decussatus . Tellina balthica (Stour) Abundant. Four alive. A few. A few. One valve, young. A quantity. Mostly dead. Mostly dead. Several dead. One dead valve. See Essex Nat., vol. iv. THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. MS Miictra solida (Stour) . Scrobicu'.aria piperata (Stour) „ alba (Stour) , *Mya arenaria (Stour) . ,, truncata (Stour) . Pholas dactylus ,, Candida Teredo sp. (?) *Saxicava rtigosa . Univa * Chiton cinereus *Trochus cinerarius Trochus, sp. ? Lacuna crassior . *Littorina rudis (Stour) * „ littorea (Stour) Rissoa mimbranacea Hydrobia ulvce (Stour) Purpura lapillus . * Buccinum undatum Murex erinaceus . Fusus norvegicus . *Nassa reticulata . *Philine aperta N Doris filosa * Eolis coronata Egg ribbons of a Nudibi anch . One dead. . Several. . One alive. . A few dead. . A quantity of dead shells. . Dead. Several dead. . Borings only, . (Taken 1890 only.) LVEs— Gastropoda. Two alive. Quantity alive. Two on oyster shell. . Abundant, but small, . Common. . Common. . A few. , Plentiful. . Dead shells. . Alive, but mostly small. . Several dead shells. . (From North Sea.) • A few. . Plentiful. UDIBRANCHIATA. . Several specimens, one an inch in length, . (Taken 1890 only.) also occurred. Mr. E. M. Holmes reported that the Marine Algae dredged up were very few and hardly worthy of record. Enteromorpha compressa, Gracillaria con/trvoides ■and Antithamnion pliimula were noticed, but even these only in small quantities. During the afternoon, Dr. Taylor gave an exceedingly interesting address '' On the Marine Zoology of the Estuaries of the Orwell and the Stour." Nobody, he said, who merely travelled over the surface of the water would ever dream of the marvellously dense metropolis of marine life which crowded the bottoms of the estuaries. Submarine life was not so abundant in the Stour as in the Orwell, and his explanation of the fact was this — that the bed of the ''ormer river was more largely composed of London clay than the Orwell, and that the mud of this clay took a great deal of the oxygen out of the water, leaving but little to support animal life. Dr. Taylor thought that a fairly representative collection of the animals inhabiting the littoral zone, found everywhere between high and low water marks in the British Islands, had been obtained ; but that, as these estuari«s openeJ southward, they had perhaps met with some forms of life which would not be found in the firths and lochs of Scotland, while the latter would contain some arctic animals not discoverable in the Suffolk and Essex estuaries. Along the bottom of the Orwell and Stour, adapting themselves to changed climatal con- ditions, forms of animal life had probably lingered, like those found fossilised in the crags, and, perhaps, had lived there ever since the Crag period. 246 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUK. Dr. Ta3-Ior then briefly described the various forms of animal li.'e dredged up during the morning, taking as his texts the numerous specimens in the bottles and jars on the deck. Nearly every conspicuous species mentioned in the above lists was attended to, and many very interesting remaiks were made on the details of their structure or life-histor3\ Dr. Taylor's remarks were highly appreciated by the company ; and then Mr. Walter Crouch, upon the invitation of the former, said a few words about the shells, referring more particularly to monster Almond Whelks (^Fusus tiorvegicus'), which had been brought to the Orwell with oyster spat from the Dogger Bank. Mr. E. A. Fitch, as President of the Club, proposed a comprehensive vote of thanks. First of all, he said the Essex Field Club felt indebted to the Ipswich people for suppoiting such a splendid Museum as that over which Dr. Taylor presided. The collection there of fossils illustrating the Red Crag, both of Suffolk and Essex, was, perhaps, one of the best in the country ; and the graphic demon- stration by the Curator, to which they had listened on the previous night, alone repaid a visit to the town. During the whole of that Excursion, moreover, the Doctor had been always demonstrating and answering the many questions of inquiring friends, and to him their thanks were in the first place due. They had also to most warmly thank the members of the Ipswich Scientific Society for the reception given them, Mr. G. H. Hewetson and Mr. W. Cole for their hard work as Secretaries, and Mr. Frank Woolnough for the excellent manner in which the Excursion had been organised. Mr. H. Miller, jun., on seconding the motion, said he hoped there would be another joint Excursion next year in some part of Essex, and that Dr. Taylor would again be present with them. The motion was carried by acclamation, and Dr. Taylor, in repl}-, said that he was always happy to do what he could to assist naturalist students. A vote of thanks was also passed to Mr. W. Jolly for his courteous assistance in superintending the dredging operations. In other ways than those strictly scientific, the Excursion was very much enjoyed. Luncheon and tea were served on board by Mr. James Hardwick, of the "Queen Street Restaurant," and these important arrangements were well carried out under the personal supervision of Mrs. Hardwick. The veteran Captain Mills was anxious to please his visitors, and was most successful in his efforts ; and the crew and dredgermen were most helpful in assisting the various efforts of the naturalists. A short run was taken up the Stour to Parkeston. The Stour is celebrated as certainly the most beautiful of Essex rivers. Constable was born upon its margin, and the charms of its scenery made a deep impression on his mind and works. " I associate," he said, "m}' careless boyhood with all that lies on the banks of the Stour ; these scenes made me a painter, and I am grateful." Unfortunately, the river not being navigable far from its mouth for a vessel like ours, the scenes of Constable's labours were reserved for another visit to the Stour. At Harwich some of the members were landed, in order to catch an earlier train home, and spent some time in viewing the town, perhaps, historical!}', tlie most interesting port in Essex, which was long the chief point of communication between England and Holland. It was a very earl)' settlement ; the remains of a camp may still be traced to the south, and Roman relics have been found in and about the town. It had early acquired such maritime importance as to be able, in 1347, to furnish fourteen ships to the fleet of Edward 111. The harbour THK ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 247 is of great extent, and forms, united witli the bay, a roadstead for large sliijis of war. While waiting at Harwich, Mr. E. M. Holmes made some observations on the algse of the shore there, which will be found recorded in the present number of the Essex Naturalist (see page 263). A run was also made by the steamer across the harbour to Felixstowe Pier, where nearly an hour's stay was allowed, and where, on the shore, the botanists were much interested in finding Zostera marina var. angustiftlia in flower and in fruit, the furrowed seeds being almost as large as wheat kernels, while the axillary flowers weie only to be seen by the slight thickening and by holding the plant up to the light. The company saw the " Lord of the Isles " leave Harwich and a splendid steamer belonging to the Wilson Line come in, and the journey home was made in glorious weather, with the evening sunlight showing the scenery of the river- side in its loveliest aspect. All were landed at Ipswich before seven o'clock, and the party separatrd with mutual expressions of a hope that other meetings of a similar kind would be held in future. E.XCURSION FROM MaLDON TO CHELMSFORD, ALONG THE BlACKWATEK AND Chelmer Navigation River. Saturday, August 8th, 1891. Directors— Tt.. A. FITCH, F.L.S , EDMUND DURRANT, WALTER CROUCH, F.Z.S., W. COLE, F.E.S., Dr. J. E. TAYLOR, F.L.S., and Dk. PEARL. The main object of this meeting was to afford opportunities for botanical, entomological and conchological observations along the banks of the Chelmer river, which was rendered navigable in 1797 b}' the setting up of numerous locks, and making some cuts to avoid bends, &c. The principal arrangements were in the hands of Messrs. Fitch and Durrant, and they were admirably carried out in every detail. The members and visitors (numbering about eighty) embarked about eleven o'clock from the Maldon siding, close to the railway station, on board the barge "William Davis," which was drawn by a couple of horses, the helmsman being Mr. Lewis Hansell. Our veteran Essex Naturalist, Mr. Joseph Clarke, of Saffron Walden, was on the platform to meet some of the party, and to wish us bon voyage. The weather was delightful, and the barge being most comfortably fitted up, and flowers and other natural history objects fairly abundant, the novel " Field Meeting " was thoroughly enjoyed by all privileged to take part in it. Mr. President Fitch acted as skipper of the craft, and, on starting, read out the humorous "sailing orders" he had prepared, printed copies of which had been posted up on the awning. A splendid view of Maldon was obtained as the craft passed under the railway bridge, and there were som.e grand stretches of river scenery, the banks abounding with flowers. Eleven locks had to be ascended, namel}' — Beeleigh, Ricketts, Eloe Mill, Rushes, Little Baddow Mill, Paper Mill, Stonehams, Cuton, Sandford Mill, Barnes Mill, and the Upper Lock. On the voyage the parishes of Fleybridge, St. Peter's Maldon, Langford, L'lting, Woodham Walter, Hatfield Peverel, Little Baddow, Danbury, Boreham, Sandon, Great Baddow, Springfield, and Chelmsford were touched or traversed. The most noticeable features passed en route were Beeleigh Weir and Mill, the Speeney, Sugar Bakers' Hoe (where the old Sugar Mill formerly stood). All 248 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. Saints' Church, Ulting, the junction of the river Ter, the Paper Mill, Little Baddovv Mill, Sandford Mill, and Barnes Mill, Springfield, and concerning most of these places the " Skipper " had a fund of information to communicate. The first halt was made at a small eyot, where many river-side plants were gathered in profusion, Dr. Taylor and Dr. Pearl affording information to those unfamiliar with field botany. At Beeleigh Lock the following paper was read : — Notes on the History of the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation. By E. A. FITCH, F.L.S., &c. All our Essex rivers rise in the north-western portion of the county. This somewhat peculiar physical feature is due to the outcrop of the chalk in that district. A four-mile radius from Radwinter Church (near Saffron Walden) includes the sources of the Blackwater, the Chelmer, the Stour, the Colne, and the Cam. The Stort is reached in seven miles. With the exception of the Cam, these Essex rivers take a southerly or south-easterly course, and are mostly con- tained within the county. The Blackwater rises at Crawney Wood, Debden, and to the north-west of Wimbish Green, joined by two other brooks, or " burns," as it trends round Radwinter Hill. It then flows through the Sampfords (the " Sandy " Ford) and the Bardfields, receiving many smaller tributaries in this district and Wethers- field, and at Shalford (the '' Shallow " Ford) is its first mill. Then on past Panfield, which derives its name from the river Pant, to Bocking and Stisted. The high road crosses it at Blackwater, thence to Coggeshall, and by Feering to Kelvedon, where it is crossed by the railway a few yards before the railway station, and by the high road over a single span bridge, with five small arches for flood water, built in 1788. The old seven-arched bridge, now much dilapi- dated, still remains, situated a short distance to the south-eastward. Morant gives " Easterford " as an alias of Kelvedon, as in John Norden's map (1594), and says " Easterford denotes the more eastern ford, which it is in regard to Rivenhall water, now covered with a bridge, and to that at Wickham mills " (Hist, of Essex, ii., 150). The river now turns sharply in a south-westwardly direction, and flows past the Braxteds to Witham meads, the high road running almost parallel with it, where it receives the important affluent known as Pod's Biook, which is fifteen miles in length, and has five mills on its stream. The Blackwater now passes below Wickham Bi, hops, through Langford (the " Long" ford) nearly to Beeleigh Mill, which is on the Chelmer. It then flows parallel with its sister river almost to Fullbridge, when it turns northwards and flows in a semicircle round the Little Marsh and Potman Marsh, joining the common estuary at Heybridge Creek, just at the back of Maldon East Railway Station, a little more than half-way from Fullbridge to the Hythe, Maldon. The tide flows up under the stone bridge (Heybridge High Bridge) to Heybridge Mill. This bridge at the end of the Causeway was doubtless the one solitary bridge over the river when the Chelmer only took the water from Beeleigh Mill, the flood water going into the Blackwater channel ; and even to-day in the old leases of the Maldon wharf property it is described as on "the bank of Beeleigh Mill- stream." Fullbridge was then a shallow ford ; now the tide rises about seven ftet at ordinary tides, and to ten feet at spring tides. The whole river is doubtless a much cleaner cut channel than formerly. The river Chelmer rises about two mil s to the north of Thaxted, less than one mile south-east of the Blackwater, and these ri\ers almost join about one and a half miles above their common estuary ; in fact they interchange their waters here commonly in flood times. Running round Thaxted the Chelmer runs through Tilty, where it receives a rather large but nameless brook on either side. Between Great and Little Easton there is its first mill, and at this point its channel is within a mile of the source of the Roding. Traversing Easton Park, through Church End, Dunmow, the silvery streak approaches almost to Felstead where it receives the Stebbing brook, on which are two mills, through the THE ESSEX FIELD CLUH. 249 \V;ilthams — it is said to flow a distance of five miles through the parish of Great Walthain — between Broonifield and Springfield to Chelmsford. Here it receives the two important tributaries of the Cann and the Wid. The former rises at High Easter and High Roding, and flows between Margaret RoJing and Good Easter to Chignal St. James, a little below which it is joined by the Roxwell Brook, which flows round Fingrith Hall and the High Woods. The lalter flows from Doddiiighurst and Biackmore, Shenfield, and Herongate, through Buttsbury, Margaretting, Widford, and AVrittle. It may be news to some of the travellers on that great Essex highwav — the Colchester line of the Great Eastern Railway — that the flood water thej^ so often see out from the Mountnessing Brook, between Brentwood and Ingatestone stations, comes down to Maldon to the same point as the river the}' cross just below Kelvedon station. P'our miles below Chelmsford this river receives on the left bank the New Hall and Boreham Brook, and a little lower, at Little Baddow, it receives from the other side the Sandon Brook, a considerable stream flowing from Stock and the Hanningfields. The Ter runs from Felstead, within a mile, from the old river and from Rumley Wood, Great Saling, within a mile of Pod's Brook, a tributary of the Blackwater. through Little Leiglis, Great Leighs, and Terling, (to which parish it gives its name), under the main line of railway at the \'iaduct, near Crix Mill, through Hatfield Peverel, and falls into the Chelmer about half-a-mile above Ulting Church. Between Hoe Mills and Beeleigh Mills it receives a brook running from Little Baddow and Woodham Walter Common. The tide flows up past Beeleigh Abbej^ to Beeleigh Mill. There has been and still is considerable confusion about the Blackwater and Chelmer rivers during the last mile of their separate existence. As has been already said, they interchange their waters at many points from a consider- able distance above Beeleigh Mill, but their streams are distinct now, if not in times past, and it is the Chelmer that flows under Fullbridge, although in the six-inch Ordnance map this is called the Blackwater, and some years ago a convic- tion of the justices was made upon an information for an offence committed here upon the river Blackwater, but upon appeal this conviction was quashed on the ground that the river wasn't there at all. Only last year the Maldon borough authorities had the satisfaction of setting both the Board of Trade, the Woods and Forests Office, and the Local Governmmt Board right in this important particular, doubtless caused by the serious error in the Government survey. It is Heybridge Creek, falling into the estuary iust east of the railway station, that is the river Backwater. In the year 1765 a proposal was made to make the river Chelmer navigable for 30-ton barges from Moulsham Bridge, Chelmsford, to IMaldon Bridge, and an Act of Parliament was obtained to that end. In those da3's, however, company floating was not so readily accomplished as now, and although the capital asked for was but ;^l3,CCO, sufficient was not subscribed. The details of the survej', by Thomas Yeoman, for this project will be found in the " History of Essex, by a Gentleman," vol. i., pp. 84-102, and in the same volume, at p. 93, we read, " We here give the survey and report, made by the encouragers of this navigation, as a'so th.'ir plan, curiousl)' engraved on copper, and when we come to treat of Maldon we shall then subjoin the survey plan, &c., given by several gentlemen who strongly opposed it, lea\ing the reader, after a thorough inspection of the whole, to form his own conjectures." I cannot learn that these plans were ever published, and Yeoman's plan is only found in a few^ copies of the Histor)*. In 1762 the cost of land carriage " for coals and all other goods brought by waggons from Maldom to Chelmsford " was 8s. per ton, and it was estimated that the water carriage was to cost 2s., with a toll of 2s. 6d., in all 4s. 6d , a saving of 3s. on every ton of goods so carried to Chelmsford, in addition to a considerable saving of time in transit. It was also estimated that then (1762), "under all the disadvantages of the late war," at least 6,oco tons of coal and 4,000 tons of other goods were im- ported into Maldon for the use of Chelmsford. In the year 1793 (33rd Geoi-ge HI.) another Act of Parliament was passed " for making and maintaining the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation." In this Act the pro[)rietors' names are set forth, so in this instance, presumabl)-, the K 250 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUH. subscription list was closed before the Act was obtained, and we know that the works were proceeded with at once. The capital was ;^40,ooo, divided into 400 £100 shares, witli power to raise a further sum of ;^20,coo if necessary. The only initial difficult}' that arose was that on April 13th, 1795, ^ meeting of the proprietors was called for the purpose of raising a further sum of ^8,000, in con- sequence of the company having been compelled to purchase Betkigh Mill. In accordance with this Act, the canal was made from Moulsham Mill to near Beeleigh Mill, by widening, deepening, cleansing, straightening, and improving the river Chelmer ; here a short cut along the Long Weir was made into the Blackwater, and the bed of that river was " widened, deepened, cleansed, and improved " to Heybridge Mill, whence a new canal was cut through Heybridge to what is now known as Heybridge Basin, falling into the estuary at Collier's Reach. The opposition from the borough of Maldun to this undertaking was so great that the company were not able to bring their canal within the borough boundaries. I do not think that I need go into the commercial history of the undertaking. The topography of the canal we propose to explore to-day, and in conclusion it will suffice to say that a detailed plan of the navigation, las completed, ma}' be seen in Mr. Andrew Meggy's office at Chelmsford. A short stoppage afforded an opportunity for a walk to Beeleigh Mill. There in the mill pond a few species of aquatic mollusca were taken by Mr. Walter Crouch, but there was not much time for collecting them.- Some again landing, Speeney Meadow, further on, was also perambulated, and at Hoe Mill, Woodham Walter, Mr. S. Garratt accorded permission to stroll through his beautiful gardens, grotto, and grounds. Here was seen a female Golden Eagle, about twenty-four years of age, and two of her eggs (blown) were shown. (Mr. Fitch described the history of this bird in the ESSEX Naturalist, vol. iv., p. 124). Ulting Church was the next place of call. The edifice, dedicated to All Saints, is a small stone structure, close to the river side, and consists solely of a nave and chancel, with wooden turret and shingled spire, a pure example of Thirteenth Century or Early English st3-le. The botany of the country traversed was, as the programme led the visitors to expect, of considerable interest. The district is Number 3 (Chelmsford) of the artificial divisions in Gibson's " Flora of Essex," and is embraced in River-basin Number iv. (Biackwater) of Prof. Boulger's more natural an angement (see " On the River-basins of Essex as Natural History Provinces," Trans. Essex Field Club, vol. ii., pp. 79-87, and map). The following plants were noted in the programme as being likely to reward the botanists, and, curiousl}- enough, as Dr. Taylor pointed out in his " Botanical Demonstration," given on board soon after leaving Ulting Church, every species anticipated had been found that morning on the banks of the river or in the meadows near : — The Meadow-rue {Thalictrum flmiuni) ; Moore's beautitul "Virgin lily" {Nymphcea a.'ha), near Hoe and Little Baddow Mills, and the commoner Yellow Water-lily (A', hitea) ; Meadow-sweet (^Spircra ulmjrici) will be abundant and fragrant as usual ; the remarkable trimorphic and showy Purple Loosestrife (^Lythrum salicaria) and its namesake the Yellow Loosestrife {^Lysunachia vulgaris) ; the true Forget-me-not (^Myosotis palustris), a flower recalling many poetical associations ; various species of Willow-herb (^Epilohium), local!)' known as " Apple " or " Cherry-pie ' plants ; the tall Hemp Agrimony (^Eupatorimn can- 2 On the succeeding day, however, Messrs. Fitch and Crouch spent a longer time in the grounds of iVIr. Ward, at Beeleigh Mill, and found seven species existing in great numbers in the artificial lake there ; all, however, had already been taken on the previous day in the river Chelmer (see list post) . THE ESSKX FIELD CLUH. 25 1 )ia/)iiiui)i'), and llie lowly Scull-c;ip i^Scutfllaria galeriaihla'). Tliemore interesting of the water-plants may be the Great Water-Dock {^Rumex hydiolapat/iutii), the Yellow-Iris, or Flag (/;/> psmdacorus^, the Great Water Plantain (^AlUma plantago)^ Sagitiaria sagittifolia, with its arrowed-shaped leaves, the Flowering Rush (^Butomus utnbellatus)^ with its peculiarl}' elegant and handsome rosy umbels, the Bur-reed {Sparganium'), and the aromatic Sweet Flag QAcofus cii/amus^ at Springfield. Indeed, Dr. Taj-lor added, they had noted more species than the compilers of the programme had expected, and although none of the plants were rare, there were man}' that were exceedingly pretty and suggestive. He had little sympathj' wiih the person who studied a plant because of its rarity, which showed that it had not been able to keep its place in the great battle of life, while those that were common had adapted themselves to the changes going on around them. lie had, in the plants on the table, so many, as it were, botanical museums — many suggestive specimens about which long yarns might be told, and which by their peculiarities registered their affinities, and the lines of their descent. Some were armed with thorns, prickles, and hairs ; others had their leaves peculiarly placed, and there were those whose leaves or roots were edible and poisonous ; while, in certain instances, the plant had become wholly poisonous. A thousand 3-ears ago, of the collection of plants before him, those that were useful to man were put down to Providence and the saints, and named accordingly ; and those that were poisonous were put down to the other power. (Laughter.) Under- lying the history of plants was this fact — they had not all toemarked the same line ; some had fallen back, some had become rare. Believing as he did in the laws of evolution, he thought there were still existing some of the primitive types of vegetable life — not horse tails, but mare's tails, a true flowering plant, and it was to those he referred. Dr. Taylor then took severally in hand the flowers collected, and demonstrated, amid much interest, their several peculiarities, floral histories, structures, and relationships. Speaking of their folklore, he said that many of the traditions concerning them were the common property of Norwe- gian, Danish, German, French, English, Spanish, Russian, Hungarian, and other countries, and he expressed his belief that these traditions were of Aryan origin, older even than the evolution of European languages, and distributed all over Europe during the great Arj-an emigration. In this w'ay he connected the popular names and folklore of common plants with ethnological history. It maj' be interesting to record the names of the plants collected, which is compiled from the notes taken on the spot by Dr. Pearl, who took the greatest care in identifying the species. The list will be useful to beginners as an indica- tion of species to be looked for during a riverside midsummer ramble in Essex, and also as showing what a rich flora the district possesses. A thorough search would probably furnish a much more extensive list, including some scarce species : — L/Sr OF PLANTS NOTED ON THE flANKS OF THE CH ELMER AND IN THE NEIGHBOURING MEADOW LANDS, AUGUST St/t, iSqi. Thalictrum fiavum. Ranunculus sceleratus, „ repens. Caltha palustiis. Nv.phar htteum. Kymplura allui. Hypericum perforatum. K 2 Nasturtium officinale. ,, ampliihimn. Erysimutn cheiranthoides. Brassica nigra. Hellaria aquatica. 252 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. Malva sylvesiris. L athyrus pi-atensis. Spiraea tihnaiia. Kuhii ccFsius. Geum urbanum. Potetitilla reptatts. Agrimonia eiipatoria. Myriopliyllmn spicatum. Lvthrum salicaria. Epilobhim hirsutiim. „ monianum. Apium nodifloritm. (Egopodiuni podagraria. Torilis anihriseus. H eracleiim sphondylium. Galium verittn, „ moUujce. „ paiustrjs. Valeriana officinalis. Dipsacus sylvesiris. Pulicaria dysenterica. Eiipatoriiim cannabinum. Achillea millefolium. Matricaria inodora. Artemisia vulgaris. Arctium majus. ,, minus. Sonchus palustris. Senecio aquatica. Lysimachia tnilgaris. Vinca major. Symphytum officinale. Myosoiis palustris. Calystegia sepium. Solatium dulcamara. Linaria vulgaris. Scrophularia aquatica. Veronica beccabunga. „ anagallis. Mentha sativa. Lvcopus europceus. Sentellaria galericulata. Polvgoniim hydropiper. „ persicaria, „ amphibium. Rumex hydrolapathium. Humulus lupulus. A Inus glutinosa. Salix alba. Ceratoph\llum demersum. Elodea canadensis. Iris pseudacorus. Typha latifolia. Sparganium ramosum. Acorus calamus. Alisma plantago. Sagittaria sagitlifolia. Butomus umbellatus. Patamogeten natans. „ lucens. ,, prcelongus. ,, perfoliatiis. „ pectinatus. Lemna minor. Scirpus lacustris. Carece paludosa. ,, vesicaria. Phalaris arundinacea. Glxceria aquatica. Nitella flexilis. At the conclusion of Dr. Taylor's interesting address, Mrs. Marsh (sister of the Rev. S. Baring Gould), on behalf of the lady students of the Chelmsford Botanical Class (many of whom were of the part)'), presented him with a pair of gloves, in a neat and highly applauded little speech, thanking him for the time and trouble he had given as Botanical Director of the Class during the summer. Dr. Taylor was the only person present not in the secret, and he said the best and most practical use he could make of the gloves would be to put them on, which he accordingly did amid much laughter and applause. Mr. Walter Crouch was the conchologist to the expedition, but there was not much time allowed for collecting the land mollusca, which require some search ; although we landed many times during the day, walking along the tow- path, and across the fields. The common snail was of course seen, and a few specimens of the hedge snail, Helix nemoralis, usually found in banks or among nettles. During the trip, a good many a(]uatic species were taken by means of a small THE ESSEX FIELD CLUU. 253 low-net, chiefly by Messrs. Filch, Crouch, andW. Cole ; but the swirl of the water as the barge was pulled along hindered the success of their endeavours; and as Mr. Crouch opined, better results would probably be obtained by carefully work- ing in the more quiet backwaters. In Mr. French's paper in the Essex Naturalist (vol. ii., pp. I and 46), many species are recorded from the Chelmer near Felstead. The results of the day's work were rather disappointing, only eighteen species being on record, as shown in the following list. Nearly all of these were taken alive, and were exhibited in a small aquarium brought for the purpose. A considerable number of caddis cases (Phryganida;) were observed on the water weeds, some formed of stones, twigs, &c., whilst others were thickly covered with adherent shells, chiefly of Sp/nrrmm. LIST OF AQUATIC MOLLUSC A OBSERVED IN THE CHELMER, AUGUST 8th, iSqi. Bivalves. Splurrium corneum, a few, ver}' large. * Phidium amnicum. Unto pictorum (dead). .'} nodonta cygncea. ,, anatina. Univalves. Neritinu fliiviatilis, operculated. * Bvthinia tentaculata ,, * Planorbis albus. * Planorbis vortex. * ,, car hiatus. ,, complanatus . „ corneus. ,, coniorius. * Pliysa fontinalis. * Litnnwa peregra. ,, truncatula. Ancylus lacustris. Succinea putris. * These were also taken at Beeleigh Mill, gth August. Some interest was evinced in two Musk Beetles (^Aromia moschata) that were taken off the pollard willows. Only one butterfly, Vanessa to (the Peacock) was seen. Our President boxed several moths off the tree-trunks. — the "Yellow-tail" (^Liparis aurifiua'). the " Dagger " (^Acronycta psi), the " July Highflyer" (^Ypsipetes elutala') being the most abundant. As the tow-rope swept over the reeds and sedges many moths and Phryganids, &c., were disturbed but not secured. The " Scorpion Fly " (^Panorpa communis') was also abundant, and its curious structure attracted notice. During the afternoon, Mr. T. V. Holmes, F.G.S., read a very interesting paper on " The Geology and Scenery of the Club's Voyage from Maldon to Chelmsford, August 8th, 1891," already printed in the Essex Naturalist (atite^ pp. 197-202.) The paper was illustrated with geological maps and sections. Cordial votes of thanks were passed to all who had assisted in the success of the meeting. Most ample provision of light refreshment was provided on board by our kind "skipper," Mr. Fitch, and somewhat late in the afternoon a combined luncheon and tea was partaken of in the garden of the Paper (Livermore's or Huskett's) Mill, the use of which was kindly granted by Mr. Pharaoh Byford. After luncheon, an ORniNARV Meeting (the 126th), was held for the pro- posal and election of new members, Mr. Fitch, President, in the chair. The following were duly elected : Messrs. J. H. Chapman-Coombs, A. H. Gray, and C. F. Osomond. On the motion of the President, a special vote of thanks was passed to Mr- Byford and family, for allowing the luncheon to be served in their grounds, and for their kind aid in many ways given in the arrangement of the details of the meeting. 254 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUIi. The voyage came to an end at Springfield Wha'f, near Chelmsford, and the company separated, after hearty congratulations and thanks to Mr. Fitch and Mr. Durrant, and well pleased with a delightful day. Field Meeting at St. Osyth and Brightlingsea. Monday, September yih. 1891. BRK;HTLINr,SEA HARBOUR AND MoUTH OF THE CoLNE, WITH MaRTELLO ToWER, No. I. {From a Sketch by H. .\. Cole, Aus^ust, iSSo.) Favoured by glorious weather a large number of members and friends made an expedition into this interesting district, under the direction of Mr. C. E. Benham, Mr. J. C. Shenstone, and Prof. Boulger ; Dr. Laver, whose name was on the programme, being unavoidably absent by reason of professional engage- ments. Members assembled at Thorington Station about 12.15, many coming from London, Colchester, Dovercourt, &c. The Secretary came over from Mersea, the President from West Mersea, having reached there b)' water a few days previously from Maldon, and Mr. Walter Crouch walked over from Bright- lingsea. The business arrangements of the meeting had been kindly taken in hand by Mr. C. E. Benham, and w'ere admirabl}' managed. As the London train travelled down, Prof. Boulger pointed out some plants on the railway banks — Solidago virgaurea, at Brentwood, Evpatorhim cannahinum ^ Lythrum salicaria and Alnus glutinosa, at Mark's Tey, and Epilobium angustifo'ium on the banks at Brentwood and Wj'venhoe. Leaving Thorington the party proceeded in brakes to St. Osyth, through most charming flower-decked lanes, the openings in the luxuriant hedgerows affording delightful glimpses of fields, meadows and woodlands, diversified with pretty homesteads and picturesque farm buildings. At Thorington a halt was made to inspect the remarkable oak trees (the pedunculate oak) of enormous girth near Thorington Church. These trees, with a circumference round the bole vary- THE ESSEX ITEI.I) CI.UB. 255 iiig from 27 to 31 feet, are obvious!}' of great antiquity, and it is thought by some that an indirect allusion to them may be traced in Domesday. These were noticed in a " Report on the Flowering Plants of the Neighbourhood of Col- chester " (Essex Nat., i., 34), by Mr. J. C. Shenstone, who possesses excellent photographs of the venerable relics. It was observed that the hollies about Thorington appeared to be remarkably spineless, and among other interesting plants noticed were the Cotton Thistle {Onnpordon acatithium') and the great abundance of the Lesser Calamint {^Calaniintha nepeta). From Thorington the party was driven to the village of St. Osyth, of which the Saxon name (Chich or Chic) is of doubtful derivation, and which is one of the most interesting resorts in Essex. Numerous ancient homtsteads exist in the parish, as is evident from the large number of "wicks" in their designations, but time would not permit a visit on this occasion to any of these manors, nor were the party able to inspect the beautiful Flower Farm of Messrs. Carter and Co., of High Holborn, vvh'ch adjoins the vicarage, permission to visit which had been given by the firm. The present name of the village refers to Lady Osgith or Osith (daughter of King Frithwald), of whose career there are various traditions. According to Morant she was born at Quarendon, near Aylesbury. Her father endeavoured to persuade her to marry Sighere, the Christian king of the East Angles ; but she had made a vow of virginit)'^, and her intended husband at last consented to her wearing the veil and gave her his village of Chic, where she founded a church dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul. She also instituted a nunnery here of the Order of the Holy Trinity. The monastery was plundered by the Danes under Inguar and Hubba, who caused St. Osyth's head to be cut off near the spring in Nun's Wood, where she used to bathe with her virgins. Other legends say that, at an early age, she was sent to visit a sister of King Alfred at St. Modwen, and then fell off a bridge into the river and was drowned, but was restored to life by the fervent prayers of St. Modwen. Tradition also relates that she refused to change her religion at the time the monastery was despoiled, and that where she was beheaded a spring of water burst forth from the ground, while the saint picked up her head and carried it in her hand as far as the church. This legend has many counterparts in other places — notably, at Hol3'well, in Wales, where an almost precisely similar story is told. After the death of St. Osj-th, her body was removed to Aylesbury, where it remained forty- six years for fear of the Danes. It was then brought back to the parish, "and in those days," says Aubrey de Vere, "when people went to bed they did rake up the fire and make a cross in the ashes and pra^-ed to God and St. Osyth to deliver them from fire and water and all misfortune," At St. Osyth the church was first inspected, the vicar. Rev. J. E. Potts, accompanying the party and pointing out the most interesting features of the edifice, which has evidently undergone extensive alterations in the past. It was originally a cruciform structure, and in fourteenth century documents is alluded to as the minster of St. Peter and St. Paul. From an inventory of the goods and effects of the church and priory made by the King's commissioners after the dissolution, it appears that the church had a chapel on the south side, a chapel and vestry on the north, and a chapter-house and chapel at the west end. The vicar gave a quaint narrative relative to some ships' companies of pious Danes, who in days of yore landed at St. Osyth, and kneeling in the church offered up prayers for a favourable voyage to their native land. Upon concluding his orisons, one of the sea-captains purloined a valuable piece of marble from the 256 THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. south porch of the church, but so dire were the misfortunes resulting to the voyagers that the sinful captain put back in haste and restored the stolen jiroperty. Carved in stone, above the north door of the church, is a wheel from which a fragment has been struck by the sword of an angel. This has reference to the story of St. Catherine and her release from the wheel by the angel. The noble monuments of the D'Arcy family and to the Earl and Countess of Rochfort came in for their share of attention, as also did the rem.arkable " fold " within which communicants were wont to kneel. It is shaped like a horse shoe, and together with other portions of the chancel has been recently restored by Sir J. H- Johnson. The vicar pointed out a monument prepared by an ancient worthy in his own commemoration. On it he in his own lifetime caused to be inscribed, with special reference to himself, " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord . . . for they rest from their labours." The labours of this particular saint consisted, said the vicar, in hunting down old people and destroying them as witches. The roof of the north aisle of this ancient church merits special notice, being superbly carved in chestnut, each beam worked in a different design, and the whole executed in the spirit of a true artist. A capital cold luncheon was served at the " Lion Inn," after which an Ordinary Meeting (127th) was held for the proposal and election of -members, the president, Mr. E. A. Fitch, in the chair. The following were elected members of the Club : Messrs. S. F. Hurnard, W. du Flon Hutchinson, and G. Bentall. Gateway of St. Osvth Priory. {Block kindly lent by Mk. Bf.nham.; The priory and grounds were then visited, by the kind permission of Sir J. H. Johnson. It was originally an Augustinian monastery supposed to occupy the site of an ancient nunnery founded by St. Osyth. The old nunnery was plundered b}' the Danes, and, according to the legend already alluded to, St. Osyth's head was cut off near the spring in Nun's Wood (in the present park). The spring, sajs I THE ESSEX I'lELD CLUB. 257 tlie old stoiy as related above, arose at this tragic scene of martyrdom. In the year 1 1 18, Richard de Belmeis, Bishop of London, founded the priory, and up to the time of the suppression its endowment and possessions throughout the county were very considerable. After the suppression the site was converted into a seat by Lord D'Arcy, son of Roger D'Arcy, of Danbury, Sheriff of Essex, to members of whose family the handsome monuments and effigies in the church were erected. Here Queen Elizabeth was entertained in 1561 and 1579. The priory stands in a beautiful park of 250 acres, in which are some fine Cedars of Lebanon, and also some old Lombardy Poplars, planted in 1768 by Lord Rochfort, and supposed to be the first specimens of the tree introduced into England (see Essex NATURALIST, i., 34, and ii., 40). The extensive remains of the old building were visited, and a magni- ficent mulberr}' tree came in for some attention, but the theory that it might have been planted in the da)^s of the monastery, was quickly disposed of by Prof. BOULGER, who stated that the tree was unknown in this country till a much later date. In the grounds was noticed a fine tulip tree, Robinia pseudacacia, and a profuse "escape " of Impaticus parvijlora. And on the walls of the priory was noticed Diplotaxis tenuifolia (the wild mustard), a station recorded by Varenne in Gibson's " Flora of Essex." The visitors would gladly have lingered longer amid these delightful sur- roundings so rich with historic interest, but the nineteenth century whistle of the directors abruptly interrupted their old world musings, and bidding a hasty farewell to this scene of mingled history and tradition a further stage in the day's pilgrimage was entered upon. The return journey was made by Brightlingsea, the first two miles in the brakes and the remainder on foot, over country of considerable interest to the botanist and entomologist. (A few notes on the entomology and botany of the district will be found in the Essex Naturalist, ii., 115-116, and in Mr. Shenstone's papers in vol. i.) The short drive over " The Hard " and on towards the first Martello Tower, disclosed a fine prospect of the mouth of the Colne with the open sea beyond, and away to the right appeared little red-brick Brightlingsea, fronted by an array of masts and rigging, clearly betokening the principal means whereby this small town maintains its livelihood. Resting on the grass at this vantage-point the company listened to some very interesting remarks by Mr. J. C Shenstone on the valuable oyster fishery at Brightlingsea, where the celebrated " Colchester Natives " are reared : — Notes on the Colne Oyster Fishery. By J. C. shenstone F.R.M.S., and Dr. HENRY LAYER, F.L.S. It is a matter of regret that Dr. Laver should have been prevented from addressing us upon the subject of the Oyster Fishery to-day. Not only has he taken a very practical interest in this fisherj^, but has collected notes with a view of writing a full account of the subject, and would therefore have given us a valuable paper. I have to thank him for lending me some of his notes, and thus enabling me to address you with more confidence than I should have otherwise been able to do. I will adopt the ordinary course and first deal with the history of the oyster : I mean, of course, the history of the oyster as an edible mollusc. It is quite possible, with a large number of modern food stuffs, to state accurately when they were first used by man, but the only statement with regard to the introduction of oysters that I know of is " That it must have been a very brave man who first swallowed one of these delicate but questionable-looking morsels of flesh." Now my own opinion is, and possibly such of you as hold by the evolutionary 25cS THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. theory may agree with me, that this ])lucl^ •;?»: