NOTE. The plate of Mantellia nidiformis will be forwarded by
the Secretary, as it has not yet been finished.
EDITOE.
PROCEEDINGS
OF THE
DORSET NATURAL HISTORY &
ANTIQUARIAN FIELD CLUB,
EDITED BY
Professor BUCKMAN, F.G.S., F.L.S., &c.
2.
PUBLISHED BY LOUIS HENEY BUEQGK
1878.
fM 2 8 1Sea
0846G5
DA
67^
V.SL
CONTENTS.
Page.
List of Members . . . . . . . . . . v.
Fossil Cycads, by J. C. Mansel-Pleydell . . . . . . 1
On some Slabs of Trigonia Clavellata, by J. Buckman, F.G.S., &c. . . 19
The Glass Rope Sponge, by T. C. Maggs . . . . . . 21
^ On the So-called Fairy Pipes, by W. J. Bernhard-Smith . . . . 28
On the Botany of a Dorset Parish, by Rev. H. H. Wood, M.A., &c. 32
On some Diggings at East Farm, Bradford Abbas, by J. Buckman . . 53
On Stamped Glass Bottles, by J. Buckman . . . . . . 59
On the Salts of Iron, illustrative of the Colours of Rocks, by E.
Cleminshaw, M.A. . . . . . , . . . . . . 63
V '' Daniel De Foe in Dorsetshire, by T. B. Groves, F.G.S. . . . . 67
The Cherry, by E. Lees, F.L.S., &c 76
On the Species of Astarte, by S. Buckman . . . . . . 79
On the Cherry Tree at Over Compton, by J. Buckman . . . . 93
On Worked Flints, by J. Buckman . . . . . . . . 97
Notes on the Portesham Cromlech . . } . . . . . . 104
Notes on a Saxon Pendant from Dorchester > By the Editor . . 109
Notes on Adam and Eve Dishes . . . . ; . . . . . . 112
LIST OF PLATES.
Frontispiece, Adam and Eve Dishes . . . . . . i.
Mantellia nidiformis . . . . . . . . . . 1
Trigonia clavellata . . . . . . . . . . . , 19
Hyalonema mirabilis . . . . . . . . . . 21
Plate of Astartes . . 84
Ditto 86
Cherry Tree at Compton . . . . . . . . . 94
Worked Flints Arrow Heads, &c. , . . . . . . . 98
Ditto Scrapers, fec. .. .. .. .. 100
Cromlech, Portisham ) 104
Ditto Morbihan j
Pendant from Dorchester, coloured . . . . , , . . 109
Marginal Woodcuts, &o.
THE DORSET NATURAL HISTORY AND
ANTIQUARIAN FIELD CLUB.
(INAUGURATED 16th OF MARCH, 1875.J
J. C. MANSEL-PLEYDELL, ESQ., F.G.S, &c.
EEV. H. H. WOOD, F.G.S. (Treasurer).
Prof. JAMES BUCKMAN, F.G.S., F.L.S. (Hon. Secretary).
Jftembmt:
Eev. M. J. BERKELEY, F.E.H.S.L., &c., Sibbertoft Vicarage,
Northampton
M. H. BLOXAM, Esq., F.S.A., &c., Eugby.
E. BRISTOW, Esq., F.E.S., F.G.S., Ordnance Geological Survey.
W. CARRUTHERS, Esq., F.E.S., F.G.S., F.L.S., British Museum.
THOMAS DAVIDSON, Esq., F.G.S., 3, Leopold Eoad, Brighton.
E. ETHERIDGE, Esq., F.E.S., F.G.S. , Ordnance Geological
Survey.
E. A. FREEMAN, Esq., D.O.L., Summerleaze, Wells.
E. LEES, Esq., F.L.S., F.G.S., Vice-President of the Worcester-
shire Naturalists 7 Club, Worcester.
J. H. PARKER, Esq., C.B., Oxford.
J. PRESTWICH, Esq., F.E.S., F.G.S., Professor of Geology,
Oxford.
Eev. Prebendary SCARTH, F.S.A., &c., Bath.
CHARLES WARNE, Esq., F.S.A., 45, Brunswick Eoad, Brighton.
H. C. WATSON, Esq., Thames Ditton, Surrey.
J. 0. WESTWOOD, Esq., Professor.
G. B. WOLLABTON, Esq., Chiselhurst.
of
sK J ielir
The Eight Hon. the EARL OF SHAFTESBURY, K.G., St. Giles's
House, Cranborne, Salisbury.
The Eight Hon. LORD DIGBY, Minterne, Dorchester.
The LORD EICHARD GROSVENOR, M.P., Brook-street, London.
Acton, Eev. J
Akers, Lieut. -Col
Aldridge, Dr
Amyatt, Capt., F.G.S.
Baker, Eev. Canon, Bart.
Barnes, Eev. W.
Bartley, Dr
Batten, John, Esq
Bethell, E., Esq
Blanche, Eev. J.
Blennerhassett, Eev. J.
Broadley, Eev. Canon. .
Bond, N., Esq
Bond, T., Esq
Boucher, Eev. H.
Brand, J. S., Esq
Buckman, Prof., F.G.S. (Vice-
President and Hon. Secretary}
Iwerne Minster, Blandford
"Weymouth
Yeovil
Weymouth
Eanston House, Blandford
Came Eectory, Dorchester
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Alden, Yeovil
London
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Bridport
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Tyneham, Wareham
Thornhill House, Blandford
N.P. Bank, Sherborne
Bradford Abbas, Sherborne
VI ".
Littlehales, B., Esq
Lyon, Rev. W. H
McAlistor, Miss
Maggs, T. C., Esq
Malau, Eev. Canon
Mansel-Pleydell, J. C., Esq.,
F.G.S. (President} ..
Mayo, Rev. C. H
Medlycott, H. B., Esq.
Micklejohn, Dr.
Middleton, H. B., Esq.
Middleton, H. N., Esq.
Miller, Rev. J
Montague, J. M. P., Esq.
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Parsons, J. F., Esq
Payne, Miss
Penny, Rev. G. H
Penny, Rev. J. . .
Phillips, Rev. G. E
Pike, T. M., Esq
Pope, A., Esq
Portman, Hon. Miss
Portman, Hon. W. H. B., M.P.
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Raven, T. E., Esq
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Yeovil
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Bradford Peverell, Dorchester
Wej mouth
Down Hall, Bridport
Weymouth
Portland
Weymouth
Abbotsbury
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Wareham
Dorchester
Bryanstone
Durvreston, Blandford
Buckland Vicarage, Dorchester
Sherborne School
Vicarage Street, Yeovil
Church House, Yeovil
Symondsbury
IX.
Reid, Miss
Reynolds, R., Esq.
Rickman, Chas., Esq.
Roberts, Rev. R
Robinson, J., Esq., F.S.A. . .
Rogers, Rev. 0. M
Rollo, Honble. W
Routledge, W., Esq
Routledge, Mrs.
Roxby, Rev. Wilfred
Ruegg, L. H., Esq. . .
Sanctuary, Ven. Archdeacon . .
Serrel, H. D., Esq
Smith, Rev. J. . .
Shipp, H., Esq
Sparks, D., Esq
Stephens, R. Darell,Esq., F.GKS.
Stephens, Miss . .
Stuart, J. Morton, Esq.
Surtees, N., Esq
Tancock, Rev. 0. W. . . ; ,
Tregarthen, Rev. W. F.
Thompson, Rev. G.
Todd, Colonel
Udal, J. S., Esq
Warre, Rev. F.
Watts, Rev. R. R
Weatherby, Rev. C
Bridport
Haselbury, Crewkerne
Summerhayes, Blandford
Milton Abbas, Blandford
St. Adhelms House, Swanage
Oborne
Sherborne
Sherborne
Thorr*ord
Sherborne
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lingham
Post Office, Blandford
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Hill Side, Bridport
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Weymouth
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12, Victoria Square, S.W.
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X.
"VVeld, C.,Esq
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Wood, Eev. A
Wood, Eev. H. H., F.GKS; . .
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Yeatman, Captain, E.N.
Young, Eev. E. M
* # * Please notify any errors
Chideock, Bridport
Sherborne School
Sherborne
Sherborne
Holwell Eectory, Sherborne
(Vice-President fy Treasurer}
Sherborne
Stock House, Sherborne
West Lodge, Blandf ord
The King's School
or omissions to the Secretary.
By J. C. MANSEL-PLEYDELL, F.G.S., F.LS.,
&c., &c., President.
| HE Geologist has but few opportunities of
acquainting himself with the Flora of any
past period, because the perishable parts of
their structures, unless rapidly covered over, leave
scarcely any traces. The actual vegetation therefore
of a formation is rarely met with, and still more so
the old land-surface on which it grew. Exceptions are
the coal-fields of the Carboniferous age, and the Dirt-
Beds of the lower Purbecks, from which the fossil I
now propose to bring under your notice was exhumed.
It belongs to an order of plants which, although
exogenous has some links of affinity with Cryptogams.
This Gymnospermous order includes Conifera?, Cycadea3,
and Gnetaceas, the earliest flowering plants known ; of
these three, the Conifers only now grow in Europe.
They are distinguished from the higher forms of Cryp-
togams, mosses, equisetaa, and ferns (which also have
leaf-appendages and vascular tissue), by bearing a
distinct flower, a seed which is naked, and the stems
having rings of annular growth. In point of time the
conifers preceded the cycads, and as early as the
Carboniferous age formed as prominent an object in
the landscape as they do now. The late Hugh Miller
found one in the lower division of the Old Eed Sand-
stone, near the town of Cromarty. They increased
greatly towards the close of the palaeozoic age, both in
genera and species. The dioecious Taxinian branch
of this Order has been met with in the Calciferous
Sandstones of Edinburgh a Lower Carboniferous for-
mation also the stem and spike of an Aroid. Cryp-
tograms of higher organization than their present
congeners clothed the lower levels of the land at this
period, while Stigmaria and Sigillaria, which had
hitherto formed so important a feature in the palaeo-
zoic vegetation, began to decline, and entirely dis-
appeared before the secondary period was ushered in.
At this time of the earth's history the first cycad
appeared, accompanied by new forms of conifers
equi setae and ferns, which began to cover the heights
of the newly emerged land, giving quite a new aspect
to the flora. No true grass is known to have lived at
this period. New forms of cycads successively
appeared, and became more and more numerous
during the latter part of the permian age ; during the
oolitic age they reached their maximum in England,
and probably also over the whole globe. After the
wealden period they showed symptoms of decline, and
from that time, although perhaps slowly, receded step
by step, leaving no traces of their existence for long
periods. The cretaceous age was properly the closing
period for cycads. Professor Nordenskiold brought home
no less than eight species from the Lower Cretaceous
beds of Greenland, lat. 70, N. The monocotyledonous
Palm family, which is met with in the carboniferous
beds, like the cycads, dwindled down at this time to
three species ; but afterwards recovered itself so
marvellously that the eocenes can claim twenty-nine,
and the miocenes thirty-one species, while the cycads
disappeared entirely. I say this with some reserve, as
Le Comte de Saporta states that Professor Heer
has found a cycad in the middle tertiaries of Switzer-
land ; * but on referring to the Professor's valuable
work, " The Primeval World of Switzerland" the
translation of which was published under his direc-
tion, last year, I find the following : f Cycadese,
formerly so numerous, of the Gymnospermous sub-
class, are represented only by two species; and of
these the fragments of stems and remains of leaves,
that have come down to our times are so imperfect
that their determination cannot be regarded as cer-
tain." Again, a fossil cycad is reported to have been
found very recently in a miocene deposit at Koumi, in
the Negropont. The specimen consists of a frond,
each foliole of which measures about four inches ; its
characters agree with that of Encephalartos, a living
African family, which, if so, we are led to the conclu-
sion that while several families of cycads of the
secondary age have entirely disappeared in Europe,
* Paleontologie Frai^aise, 2nd ser., voL.ii., p. 4.
f Vol. i., p. 323.
others existed, whose generic representatives are now
peculiar to Southern Africa. This tendency to extinc-
tion cannot be attributable to a decrease of temperature
like that of the Palm tribe and other tropical plants,
nor to the introduction of more vigorous plants ; but to
a slow and inevitable decline, due, probably, to their
unyielding character, as well to a difficulty of propa-
gation. Their decline, which was accompanied with
the appearance of some of the first dicotyledonous
angiosperms, was so effectual that for ages more or less
remote, they have left no trace in Europe. The living
representatives of cycads are dispersed over the globe,
but only in small groups, separated by enormous tracts
and confined to the tropical and temperate regions of
Asia, Southern Africa, America, and Australia. They
prefer the slopes of mountains and moist sandy spots
sheltered by trees, for the protection and growth of the
young plants, whose stages to maturity are slow and
lingering. ,The internal structure of the whole family
is similar, consisting of a large pith, the cells of which
afford the tree a rich supply of starch. The stem is
very slow of growth, and becomes in course of years a
stout column, which sometimes attains a height of some
feet. The surface of the stem is furnished with leaves,
arranged spirally, and a rosette of large foliage leaves
is annually or biennially produced, in the centre of
which the terminal bud is embosomed, enveloped
with scales, under whose protection the new whorl of
leaves is slowly formed. An axillary bud is often
attached to the exterior of the trunks of fossil cycads,
which are either the rudiments of a branch or of a
young plant. The living cycad has occasionally a
bud at the base of its stem representing a true bulbil,
which remains a considerable time in a state of inactivity,
and after sending out rootlets produces a leaf which is
at first simple, but afterwards becomes divided
into a few pinnules ; the young plant then assumes
the character of the parent. The leaves of
cycads, with one exception, are pinnate, adhering
laterally, or on the upper surface of the furrowed
rachis. The leaflets have simple parallel veins, and,
like ferns and grasses, decay on the stem ; but, owing
to the petiole being disarticulated, the portion nearest
its junction with the trunk remains attached, and
thus adds to its bulk. The flowers of this family are
all dioecious ; the male and female flowers of its
living members, with the exception of Cycas, resemble
fir cones externally, the carpel bearing only two
ovules, attached right and left to a peltate expansion
on a slender pedicel.
The Purbecks already alluded to are the uppermost
beds of the oolitic series. This fluvio-lacustrine forma-
tion forms the limits of the great oolitic gulf of which
it forms its western boundary. The presence of all
kinds of aquatic, amphibious, and land-remains leads to
the inference that this great estuary, or lake, was in
contiguity with a continent, drained by a large river,
which supplied it with its varied land-spoils.
The Dirt-Beds, in which so many vegetable remains
are found, are the first sediments that were deposited by
the fresh- water which covered the Upper Portland beds.
They indicate the commencement of the delta which
extended over a great part of south em England, and
extended to Germany. The Skull-cap, a bed from 1ft. to
3ft. in thickness, lying upon the topmost bed of the Port-
land, beds is succeeded by a thin seam of black earth,
which is barren of vegetable remains in Portland, but at
Eidgway, where it is only a few inches thick, it contains "
the trunks of large trees having the appearance of
being much decayed externally, with none of the bark
preserved. A laminated fresh-water limestone, about
eight feet in thickness, divides it from the famous Black
Dirt, or Dirt Bed, which is about a foot thick, consisting
of a dark loam, containing a large proportion of earth,
lignite, and water-worn stones. It must have supported
a luxuriant vegetation, for in and upon it are numerous
remains of coniferous and cycadeous trees, lying partly
in the black earth and partly covered by the super-
jacent calcareous bed, having the appearance of dome-
like concretions which surround the stumps. Of these
there are good examples about a quarter-of-a-mile East
of Lulworth Cove. The trees are still erect with their
roots in the vegetable soil, and broken off a short
distance from the ground. A submergence, or change
of level, converting the high lands, on which the trees
grew into a morass, would inevitably cause the
destruction of the forest, and occasion a rapid decay,
especially at the bases of the trees, and, thus weakened,
they would yield to the force of wind or flood, and
break off a few inches from the root. The Dirt Bed is
well exposed at the Ridgway railway cutting. The
most eastern evidence of the Purbeckian forest in
Dorsetshire is at Gad Cliff, on the western side of
Kimmeridge Bay, where a magnificent trunk lies among
the debris of rocks, at its foot, encased in a limestone
shroud ; these base-beds of the series occur again
at Tisbury ; Doctor Buckland records them at Thame,
in Oxfordshire, and Doctor Fitton in the Yale of
Wardour ; they appear at Swindon, on the top of the
Portland beds, containing conifers and a few
examples of Mantellia.
In 1854 there were only seven genera of cycads
known,in connection with the secondary rocks of Great
Britain. Mr. Carruthers, in his important and exhaustive
memoir* on fossil cycadean stems of that period, read
before the Linnean Society in 1868, retains the nomen-
clature of two genera only Mantellia and Bucklandia
and establishes four new genera Yatesia, Williams-
onia, Bennettites, and Fittonia, including eight new
species ; two new species are added to Bucklandi and
two to Mantellia. Six of the twenty-two species
enumerated by the author of the memoir have been
found in Dorsetshire,
Yatesia gracilis, Carr,
Bennettites Portlandicus, Carr,
Mantellia nidiformis, Brongn,
M. intermedia, Carr,
M. Microphylla, Miq,
M. pygmcea, Carr.
* Transactions of the Linnean Society, Yol, xxvi., pp. 675-708,
8
Having brought our investigations of the cycadean
family to this point, I now beg to direct your attention
to the examination of two fossils, which I am enabled
to bring to your notice through the courteous kindness
of Mr. Clifton, Governor of Her Majesty's Convict
Prison at Portland.
MANTELLIA. Brongniart.
Cycadeoidea, Buckland, Proc. Geol. Soc. Vol. i., p. 80.
Cycadites, BuckL, Geol. and Min., p. 496.
Echinostipes Porrie.
Trunk cylindrical, covered with the long permanent
bases of the petioles, medulla entirely cellular, with
numerous gum canals. Wood consisting of a cylinder
of striated tissue every where penetrated with
medullary rays. Fruit borne on secondary axes
generally protruding beyond the bases of the petioles.
Mr. Carruthers retains Brongniart's name in prefer-
ence to that of Cycadeoidea given provisionally by
Buckland, but afterwards withdrawn by him in favour
of Cycadites under the erroneous idea that Mantellia
was doing service for a genus of sponges. Mr.
Carruthers says on this subject : " Were Buckland's
name unobjectionable it ought to be retained because
of its priority by a month or two, but as it originated
in an error, was withdrawn by its author, and is in
itself, as Brongniart and others have said, objectionable,
it seems necessary to reject it in favour of Mantellia"
The trunks of this genus are usually silicious, the
beds surrounding them being much impregnated with
silex ; their growth must have been very slow, as may
be inferred from the numerous closely-packed layers of
the petioles, each layer representing the successive
growths of the crowns of leaves, which adorned the
summit of the tree. The petioles are separated by a
thick ramentum, which forms the elevated margins, cir-
cumscribing the lozenge-shaped depressed areas which
were occupied by the petioles during the plant's life-
time.
MANTELLIA NIDFORMIS. Brongn.
Cycadeoidea megalophylla. Buckl.
Mantellia megalophylla. Bronn.
Oycadites megalopliyllus. Buckl.
Zamites megalopliyllus. Presl.
Enceplialartos Bucklandii. Miq.
Echmostipes nidiformis. Pomel.
Trunk cylindrical, permanent bases of the petioles
large, lozenge-shaped, two or three inches broad, by
one and a half deep, meshes in the woody cylinder
small and scattered.
The height of our Portland fossil is five inches, its
breadth, including the cortical appendages, ten inches ;
a transverse fracture has removed a portion of the stem
below the snmmit, and exposes to view the internal
structure of the trunk. Through pressure its natural
cylindrical shape has become slightly elliptical, the
centre, which is composed of true cellular tissue, free
from separate woody bundles, and penetrated through-
out by gum canals, is an inch and three-quarters in
diameter, and circumscribed by a vascular band
traversed by medullary rays, an inch and a half across ;
10
this band is much broader than that of a living Zamia, and
placed nearer the circumference of the stem. A
cortical zone, similar in structure to the centre
medulla, surrounds the woody cylinder, and from it
spring the leaves, which are supplied with vascular
tissue, passing through the cortical cells into the
petioles of each leaf in small distinct bundles.
The petioles encircle the trunk, and are slightly
keeled below, the edges are curved upwards, giving the
upper surface a somewhat concave appearance. The
depth of the zone of petioles exceeds the diameter of
the tree, giving it the character of being much larger
than it is, its exterior ornamentation looks like trellis-
work, the. compartments are disposed spirally, and are
seldom filled, the decayed leaves having left a cavity
surrounded by the mesh-shaped ridges of the
ramentum, which, during the life of the tree, clothed
the under surface of the leaves, and distinctly separate
each from its neighbours. Some of the most durable
may be observed filling up the depressed areas.
The exterior of the fossil bears three axillary
branches, which are associated with the bases of the
petioles, and probably supported the organs of repro-
duction. Some trunks bear no branch nor bud, which
may have been male plants, their staminal flowers would
in that case be produced at the termination of the
main axis.
Mantellia nidiformis usually exhibits a deep cavity at
its summit ; the apex of the stem being more
perishable and longer under the influence of the
II
changes which occurred during fossilization, would
leave a hollow, giving the fossil the appearance of a
bird's nest. The fruit is borne at the end of a short
and slender branch, having a number of simple
acuminate leaves, which are the only foliar organs
hitherto found with this species.
IN CONSIDERABLE QUANTITY IN THE VICINITY OF WEYMOUTH.
By EDWIN LEES, F.L.S., F.Q.S., Vice-President of
the Malvern & Worcestershire Naturalists 9 Clubs
10TANICAL writers of local Floras have not in
general sufficiently attended to what Baron
Humboldt has called the " Physiognomy of
Vegetation," or what constitutes the apparent vegeta-
tion of a district by the aggregation of a number of
plants all of one species. This gives a feature to the
country, which taken in by the eye can be well
understood ; but the mere " occurrence " of a plant,
though a rare one, however interesting to a botanist, may
not make it belong to the endemic Flora of the place
where it appears, perhaps, only as a vagrant. Every
country has its peculiar or indigenous plants that when
gregarious give a feature to the landscape, or to
portions of the scenery, and the Palms of the tropics,
the Cacti of Mexico, the Sage-plants of the deserts of
North America, the Heaths of the Cape of Good Hope,
the Banyans of Hindostan, the Laurels and Myrtles of
13
Greece, the Khododendrons, or " Rock-roses," of the
Alps, and many other instances may be mentioned.
In our own island the astonishing profusion of the
Cuckoo-flower (Cardamine pratensis) gives a silvery
aspect to the moist meadows where it grows, while in
succession Daises, Dandelions, and Buttercups dazzle
the eye in extensive pastures, and the latter plants
especially give a golden week to the summer ere hay-
making commences. But besides the general physiog-
nomy given to the landscape where plants of a
particular species crowd together, there are numerous
spots of mountain, valley, and coast, where plants are
localised, and a peculiar feature is given to such spots,
which is most interesting to contemplate, and tempts
the exploring botanist to many an expedition.
Thus the Cornish Heath (Erica vagans) adorns the
heathy wastes of the Lizard district, the Cheddar
Pink (Dianthus coesius) can only be found in England
on the Cheddar Cliffs, the Veronica hylrida is
especially plentiful and beautiful on Craig Breidden,
Mongomeryshire, the Sox on Box-hill, Surrey, the
Thlaspi perfoliatum on the oolitic quarries among the
Cotteswold Hills, the white-flowered Cistus (Helian-
themum polifolium) on the rocks of Brean Down,
and near Torquay, and many other favoured localities
might be mentioned.
Having been recently roaming about Dorsetshire, in
taking advantage of a visit to my esteemed friend,
Professor Buckman, I have paid some attention to its
local plants, especially those in the vicinity of Bradford
14
Abbas and Weymouth, and marked the feature given
to a locality by the abundance of particular plants not
generally of common occurrence. This I think worthy
of remark to a Dorsetshire Naturalists' Club, and in
doing this I trust the worthy observant President, Mr.
Mansel-Pleydell, the author of the Flora of Dorset, will
not consider me as a poacher upon his manor.
Among the littoral plants that adorn the stony beach
between "Weymouth -and the coastguard-houses, the
Sea Bladder Campion (Silene maritima) reigns
supreme from its abundance, scarcely allowing space
for the Yellow Poppy (Glaucium luteum) to put
in an appearance, which it does but scantily ; while
every waste place near the sea, and especially in the
island of Portland, is covered with the small-flowered
Thistle (Carduus tenuiflorus) quite in thickets.
A feature is given to most of the pastures and
grassy places around Weymouth by the quantities of
the Parsley-leaved Water Dropwort ((Enanthe pim-
pinelloides) that present themselves, for their very
dense umbels of white flowers are very conspicuous
all through June. Even at Preston, some distance
from the sea, the meadows are filled with it. This
plant is decidedly different from either (Enanthe
silaifolia or (E. LacJienalii^ though Mr. Bentham, not
perhaps fully acquainted with them, has placed them
together as one species. I have never met with
(E. pimpinelloides north of Worcester.
The Portland Spurge (Euphorbia Portlandica) is
conspicuous enough on the Portland Island Eocks with
15
its bloody-red stem, and I have formerly noticed a
good deal of it on the railway embankment between
Wey mouth and Portland, but from some cause it was not
so plentiful there this year ; but the gray foliage of
OUone portulacoides met the eye abundantly. Both
here and on the banks of the Fleet the Sea Beet (Beta
maritima) grew very tall and in great quantity. It
struck me as rather curious that the Samphire
(Crithmum maritimumj, that mostly grows high up on
the precipitous rocks of the coast, so that it is difficult
to reach it, grows plentifully on the embankment of the
Portland Eailway, and on some parts of the Chesil
Pebble Beach, so that gathering Samphire here would
not be the " dreadful trade " that Shakspeare describes
it, unless that epithet be given to an occupation that
would find but few customers in the present day,
though I have myself gathered it for pickling, and
found it not bad.
The rare local plant for wb'ch the Chesil Pebble-
beach is celebrated, is the Sea Pea (Lathyrus mari-
timusj, and this, where it flourishes, forms a pretty
feature among the pebbles, especially when in flower ;
but as it is almost confined to one side of the pebbly
bank, some distance from the Portland Eail way-station,
the particular spot is rather difficult for a stranger to
find. The plants form several green clusters growing en-
tirely by themselves, on the descent to the Fleet, and these
verdant clusters may well in the distance be mistaken
for rushes, and such I at first thought them to be ;
and close inspection is necessary to be undeceived. I
16
am glad to report that there are several large clusters
of the Lathy rus all in beautiful flower this year (1877).
The Vicia lutea, or rough-podded yellow-flowered
Vetch, which is a local plant, may be found in con-
siderable quantity on the cliff near Sandsfoot Castle,
and rather curiously, on a hedge bank on the farm of my
sagacious friend Professor Buckman, who pointed it out
to me. There is another place on the railway embank-
ment between Weymouth and Radipole, where I found
a variety of the plant having the flowers purplish, or
veined with purple. This is said to have been the case
with Vicia Icemgata, formerly found at Weymouth, but
supposed to be now extinct, and, as except in its
smooth pod and purplish flowers it differed very little
from Vicia lutea, it was very probably only a variety of
that Vetch.
Another plant that shows itself plentifully all about
the vicinity of Weymouth is the Iris fcetidissima. It
is always conspicuous with its long, shining, rigid, and
leathery leaves ; but its blue flowers make it still more
conspicuous in July.
Other commoner plants might be mentioned as from
growing in extensive patches, giving a colourable
feature to the scene, as the pale yellow Ladies'-finger
(Anthyllis vulneraria), and the Horse-shoe Vetch
(Hippocrepis comosa), both abundant on the cliffs
about Weymouth, as true endemic plants, while the
red-flowered Onobrycliis sativa colours railway banks
in various places as an escape from cultivation, being
a determined colonist not to be displaced.
17
I was pleased to observe on the bank of a meadow
which descends towards the Eiver Yeo, in the parish
of Bradford Abbas, an enormous quantity of the
little white-flowered Trefoil (Trifolium subtermneum),
which is in such profusion, that when in flower it quite
whitens the side of the hill, and it might well furnish
specimens to the herbaria of every English botanist,
and yet an abundance of the plant would remain.
I also noticed that the Monkshood (Aconitum
Napellus) had got upon the banks of the river Yeo,
near Bradford Abbas, and very probably will increase
to the extent it has done on both sides of the stream
near Whistle Bridge, where any stranger might report
it as " truly wild," and certainly giving a peculiar
feature to the banks of the brook.
In like manner I observed in Portland, on the rocky
ground below Bow-and- Arrow Castle, that the Borage
(Borago officinalis) had spread in an extraordinary
manner by hundreds, giving a wide-spreading azure-blue
tint to the ground, and suggesting not as Darwin has
stated, that in the struggle for existence, that " the
fittest" maintain their hold upon the soil but the
strongest, and it may be often said the same in the case
of the Docks, the Oraches, Goosefoots, and Nettles,
the coarsest and the ugliest.
Unfortunately the operations of Man destroy the
beauties of Nature, and cultivation introduces useless
if not noxious plants, which alter the vegetation of a
country, and obstinately flourish as villainous though
showy weeds, in spite of every attempt to dislodge
18
them. It is, however, the duty of a botanist to mark
vegetable changes, and notice the spread, continuance,
or diminution of plants, whether native or of foreign
introduction.
Trigonia clavellata. Sow.
FEOM OSMINQTON MILLS, DOESET.
By Professor J. BUCKMAN, F.L.S., F.G.S., Ac.
I HE genus Trigonia of Bruguiere, Lyriodon, of Goldfuss,
is represented by some three forms of species or
9] varieties, now found on the Australian shores ; while
over 100 species occur in the fossil state.
Our present remarks apply to a form which, from its being
armed with raised tubercles, is placed in the division of the
Clavellata and our species is called Trigonia clavellata and is
typical of this division. One of the best drawings of this
species is by Sowerby, Min. Conch., pi. 87, in reference to which
we have the following remark: "I have figured this from a
specimen sent me by the Eev. S. Eackett, from Eadipole, near
Weymouth, such is also found at Portland. The shell is pre-
served of much the same texture as a recent oyster shell which
has laid in a blackening mud." (Min. Conch., vol i., p. 197).
This fixes the locality and geological position, and is interesting
as showing that certain clavellated forms from the inferior oolites
should not be confounded with the species clavellata, though
placed in the group of which it is the type.
The formation whence these specimens are derived is that,
perhaps, determined by Messrs. Blake Hudleston to be a
20
member of the Upper Calcareous Grit, which is thus described
as it occurs at Sturminster Newton Eailway section in a valuable
paper just brought out by these accomplished geologists :
" No. 36 Rough Limestone, shelly, and hardened towards the
upper part, dnd having a thin led of Hue clay lelow. This contains
a few oolitic grains of all sizes up to that of a pea. Trigonia
Clavellata, &c. (very many specimens of shells). The authors
just quoted say that "A most fossiliferous quarry may le seen at
Glanvilles Wootton, composed of hard Hue finely oolitic ragstone, con-
taining shell layers, and gradually into fine shell limestone. The fossils
here are Trigonia clavellata (abundant), Astarte polymorpha" Sfc.
falout a dozen specimens, with bivalves J. This we may have the
pleasure of seeing, &c.
So abundant indeed is the Trigona Clavellata that two slabs
worked out by that clever Fosil demonstrator, Mr. Bishop
Eeynolds, have as many as 40 valves each displayed out with
the minutest care.
This subject is of interest to us, as it fixes a species, the name
of which, until Dr. Lycett's Monograph was published, had been
given to at least a dozen forms.
The great interest, however, consists in the fact of the large
masses of individuals which are met with in different places.
This added to the perfect state of preservation presented by
these fossils make this species one of your most interesting of
oolitic fossils.
Our county is rich in Trigonias, and as a prize is offered to the
King's School for a paper on the different forms which occur in
the inferior oolite of Dorset, we shall hope for as successful a
working out of species as has already been done in the case of
the genus Astarte a paper on which will be found in the
present volume.
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HYALONEMA MIEABILIS (GEAY).
By T. C. MAGGS, M.G.A., &c.
\ T lias occurred to me that this very interesting sponge
(which was given to me a short time since by Mr.
Cape, of Exeter, who brought it from Japan,) may be
new to some of the members of our club, and that its exhibition,
with as much information concerning it as I have been able to
gather, may have more than a passing interest.
This beautiful production of Nature has, like many of its
kind, been the subject of much discussion. It was first described
as of vegetable origin, under the name of " glass plant." Sub-
sequently Professor Ehrenberg and others regarded it as an
artificial production with which the Japanese sought to impose
upon the credulity of the "modern barbarian," but it is now
recognised as the type of the genus Hyalonema, a form of sponge,
and named, by Dr. E. Gray, Hyalonema mirabilis.
The general notion of a sponge is derived from the substance
used for domestic and toilet purposes. The sponge before you,
of which I am about to give you a brief description, would
scarcely be recognised by the ordinary mind as related to the
sponge of commerce ; nevertheless, such is undoubtedly the fact.
The simple sarcodous substance which in one case weaves a soft,
leather-like, reticulated structure, in the other elaborates a silici-
22
ous skeleton composed of spicula of varying size and outline,
some like long threads of spun glass, a foot or more in length,
whilst others do not exceed the thousandth part of an inch.
For the following description I am indebted to Mr. F. Kitten,
of Norwich, who writes. "The Hyalonema, or 'glass rope*
sponge, was formerly supposed to belong to a class of organisms
called axif erous zoophytes, or barked corals. The ' glass rope, 1
with its ' warty bark,' was supposed to have been distinct from
the sponge-like mass, forming the base, in which it appeared to
grow. Dr. Gray describes it as having a silicious axis : ' The
axis formed of many twisted fibres, and its lower end, instead of
being expanded, is gradually tapering, and is parisitically
embedded in a fixed sponge The part above the
base is in different specimens covered to a greater or less extent
(and evidently in the perfect state is entirely) with a kind of
leathery bark, with truncated, nipple-shaped, scattered tubercles,
having flat crowns with radiating grooves and a central depres-
sion. In general the specimens are withdrawn and cleaned from
the spongy base, and the lower axis is cleaned ; but it appears
evident that they all are attached to such a sponge in then-
natural state. The bark is formed of two distinct layers, the
outer layer having the appearance of an aggregation of grains of
sand, united together by a small quantity of animal matter ; the
inner layer having embedded in its substance numerous very fine
capillary fibres of precisely similar texture to those which form
the axis of the coral, but of much smaller size ; and this portion
of the bark evidently extends between and invests each of the
fibres of the rope-like axis.
Dr. Gray's description is exact, so far as the external appear-
ance of the sponge is concerned ; but his surmise that the
so-called spongy base is a distinct organism recent observations
have proved to be incorrect. The basal portion is an integral
portion of the sponge, and, when growing, is uppermost, the
long fibres being buried in the ooze, as in the allied forms
Phoeronema (HolteniaJ Carpenteri and Pharonema Grayii"
As before observed, the earliest known specimens of this
23
sponge were brought from Japan, but within the last few years
other habitats have been discovered. Professor Perceval "Wright
found it in situ in Setubal, off the coast of Portugal, in 1868,
obtaining many fine specimens from the same locality, and had
the opportunity of examining them whilst alive. He states that
the silicious stem is truly part of the sponge mass, and that the
" Polythoa " (bark) was simply parasitic upon the stem. Some
of the Setubal specimens were very large, the stems of several
measuring nearly two feet in length, and the head consisting of
a somewhat oval mass about eight inches in the long, and four
inches in the short, diameter. On opening out the sponge the
interior concave surface was found to be lined with a delicate
network of spicules and sarcode. A number of large openings
(oscula) were also seen, and these were covered with a network
of sarcode, and the edges of the meshes thickly covered with
spicules, called by Dr. Bowerbank " spiculate cruciform spicules."
The Professor then goes on to say that he has "seen the
parasitic polythoa in a living state on the silicious axis of the
Hyalonema, and that he watched the polyps expand their tentacles,
after the fashion of any other zoantharian, to prove that, though
they have mouths, these mouths are their own, and not at the
service, directly or indirectly, of the Hyalonema" Dr. Bower-
bank is, however, of opinion that the Polythoa is a portion of
the sponge, and not parasitic : " The evidences in favour of the
latter supposition are (at least as far as I have been able to ascer-
tain) first, that the glass rope has never been found without
the ' bark ;' secondly, the spicules are silicious (in all other spicule-
bearing species of Polythoa they are calcareous), and that some
of them are common to every portion of the sponge; neither
am I aware that the Polythoa has ever been found investing any
other organism."
The spicules in this sponge are perhaps more beautiful and
varied than in any other sponge hitherto discovered. Mr. F.
Kitten then proceeds to figure and describe the spicules, adopt-
ing the terminology used by Dr. Bowerbank in his work on the
British spongiada. He then says, " Having had an opportunity
24
of examining a series of specimens belonging to the Rev. J.
Crompton, of Norwich, three of them being of considerable
interest, as throwing light upon the parasitic nature of the Poly-
thoa. One of the specimens was almost entirely divested of the
parasite ; but near the top was a small piece of some frondose
alga, attached, or rather entangled round the glass rope by several
tendril-like filaments, the surface of the fragment being covered
with the Polythoa, identically the same as that found investing
the ' rope.' The other two specimens are still more remarkable.
The Polythoa covers the rope, but beneath it may be seen, in one
specimen, a piece of fine twine, and, in the other, a piece of blue
paper or cloth. The twine and paper had evidently been wound
round the rope in order to keep the filaments together, and the
Polythoa (apparently attached to some riband-like alga, about
three-quarters of an inch in width) wound round afterwards.
This was probably done by some of the Japanese fishermen who
dredged up the specimen."
In the April part of "Annals of Natural History" for 1872
Dr. E. Gray writes : " Mr. Kitten does not seem to be aware
that Hyalonema is more common without its parasitical sponge at
top than with it ; but the specimens with the sponge were for-
merly more sought for by travellers and brought to England,
whilst the Russian specimens, being collected by naturalists,
were chiefly without this parasite, and now we constantly receive
them without any appearance of sponge, covered with living
polyps up to the tip."
In reply to the above remarks by Dr. Gray, Mr. Kitten says :
" I am still unconvinced of the parasitic nature of the sponge,
or that the Polythoa is non-parasitic. Until I saw the specimens
belonging to the Rev. J. Crompton I was very much inclined to
believe that Polythoa was an integral portion of the sponge ; but
when I saw it growing on the alga, as stated, and this not
entangled on the glass rope (anchoring spicula), but carefully
twisted round it, and below it some fine twine, I could only come
to the conclusion that the long anchoring spicula did not belong
to the Polythoa."
,
25
My reasons for considering the sponge and rope as one organ-
ism are that many of the forms of spicula occurring in the heads
of the sponge are also found between filaments forming the rope,
particularly the spiculate cruciform, the attenuated rectangulated,
hexradiate, and the multihamate birotulate spicules. The occur-
rence of long anchoring spicula in Pharonema Graijii and Pharommi
Carpenteri is, I should imagine, very conclusive evidence that the
rope in Hyalonema is a portion of the head.
Dr. Gray says he supposes I am not aware that specimens of
Hyalonema occur more frequently without than with its parasitic
sponge. This is very probably correct ; but they have no doubt
lost the sponge, either from the decay of the sarcode, or from
being pulled off by the dredger or diver ; in the former case the
rope, when divested of its spongy head, would in all probability
soon be invested by the parasitic Polythoa. Dr. Perceval Wright,
who has had the opportunity of examining specimens in a living
state, is quite satisfied as to the parasitic nature of the Polythoa.
Having thus spoken of the glass rope sponge Hyalonema
mirabilis (Gray), I will proceed to give a brief description of the
other beautiful and wonderful, but perhaps not so rare, a sponge
known as " Venus' Flower Basket," or Euplectella aspergillum,
certainly one of Nature's loveliest works. It consists of a
tubular body, varying from six inches to a foot in length, and
from one to ten inches in diameter, and is composed of a
beautiful interlaced network of silicious spicules, with its base
enclosed in a thick tuft of silicious basket-work. It is found in
the seas of the Phillipine Islands, where it is known as the
Regadera or " Watering Pot," and is still supposed by the
inhabitants to be the workmanship of a crab, from the fact that
one, and sometimes two, crab-like crustaceans are often found
shut up in the hollows of the sponges. The lid-like covering of
the upper extremity of the Euplectella is the portion of the
skeleton last formed, so that the crab must make the sponge its
habitation while it is open at the one end, and therefore must
remain a prisoner for life, dependent for its subsistence upon any
food that may gain entrance through the network of its prison.
26
These sponges are found at a depth of about 1 30 fathoms, in a
mud bank, three miles from the coast of one of the Phillipine
Islands, where they are dredged for by the natives. When
taken out of the water they are of a dirty yellowish colour, but
by washing in fresh water, and exposure to the bleaching
influence of the atmosphere, they become a pure white, the
condition in which they are usually brought into this country.
The first entire specimen that described by Professor Owen, in
1841, and now in the British Museum was sold for 30 ; but of
late years they have become more plentiful, and in 1867 were
selling at between 3 and 4 ; but are now to be purchased at
from 5s. to 1 each.
Whilst upon the subject of sponges it may be well to observe
that domestic sponges are found principally in the Grecian
Archipelago, although they are found throughout the
Mediterranean. They occur at depths varying from shallow
water to that of 30 or more fathoms ; those found in shallow
water being of the coarser kind, while those found at the
greatest depths are the softest and best. Aristotle observed this
fact and tried to account for it. He says, " In general those
which grow in deep and still water are the softest, for the wind
and waves harden sponges as they do other things that grow,
and check their growth." They are obtained by diving, an art
to which the inhabitants of the Grecian Isles and the surround-
ing coasts are specially trained from their earliest years, and
dexterity in which is counted one of the first qualifications in a
husband ; while in some places it seems at one time to have
been considered a scarcely less important female accomplishment,
for Hasselquist tells of a somewhat similar custom in his
" Voyages and Travels in the Levant," though rather differently
applied. He says." Himia is a little and almost unknown island
directly opposite Ehode. It is worth notice on account of the
singular method which the Greeks the inhabitants of the
island have of obtaining their living. At the bottom of the
sea the common sponge, Spongia ojficinalis, is found in abund-
ance, and more than in any other place of the Mediterranean.
27
The inhabitants make a trade to fish up this sponge, by which
they get a living far from contemptible, as their goods are always
wanted by the Turks, who use an incredible number of sponges
at their bathings and washings. A girl in this island is not
permitted by her relatives to marry before she has brought up a
quantity of sponges, and before she can give a proof of her
agility by taking them up at a certain depth." To return to the
qualifications of a husband, Pomet says, " The greatest part of
the sponges that are sold come from the Mediterranean, and
there is a certain island of Asia that furnishes us with a very
large quantity of sponges. This island is called Icarus or
Nicarus, where fathers will not allow their daughters to marry
until the suitor can show that he can gather sponges from the
bottom of the sea ; and for this reason, when any one would
marry his daughter, a number of young fellows jump into the
sea, and he that can stay longest in the water and gather the
most sponges marries the maid ! These Icarian fathers evidently
put little faith in being " over head and ears in love," unless it
be accompanied by a fair development of the power to remain
"over head and ears" in water.
TT. J". BEENHAED SMITH,
Barrister-at-Law.
|HAT distinguished antiquary and Anglo-Saxon scholar,
the late J. M. Kemble, once told me that he con-
sidered tobacco pipes as " the opprobrium of
Archaeologists." He meant that we knew so little about
them. It was in reply to a remark of mine that I did not
believe in the great antiquity of the so-called " Fairy
Pipes" of Ireland, and that I thought such specimens as were
said to have been found in tumuli in that country might easily
have dropped out of the pocket of some labourer employed in
the excavation. All such pipes from the sister island that I have
seen are exactly like those found by thousands in the Thames,
and wherever old ground is broken in London. I mean those
with a very small bowl, much contracted at its orifice, and usually
with a " milled" ring around it, and a pointed heel. Most of
these pipes are, no doubt, of the 17th century. I have myself
picked up scores of them at odd times whilst shooting over
stubble and fallow in Berkshire and Oxfordshire, in places where
fighting had been in the days of the great Rebellion. Still, my
friend Mr. Kemble assured me that he himself had found pipe-
bowls of exactly the same type in sepulchral cysts, where crema-
tion had been practised in Pagan times. These cysts were found
in the course of his diggings in the heather-covered moors of
Hanover ; they contained burnt bones, bronze objects, and he
29
told me he had found these pipe bowls with his own hands, when
it was impossible that those of any other person could have placed
them there in recent times. Iron pipes, some with lids, have
been dug up in Switzerland, associated with objects of bronze.
Of course, though I began by calling them "Tobacco pipes," I
did not mean that Tobacco was smoked in them other herbs
might have been used, as coltsfoot is still occasionally in some
out-of-the-way places. With regard to the typical form of the
bowls, dug or ploughed up in such abundance in the vicinity
of large English towns, for example, Stafford, Gloucester,
Ludlow, and Broseley, still famous for their manufacture ;
I shall venture to call them " Gasterpods, " from their
broad foot, an allusion which I think my friend, Professor
Buckman, at whose instance I have thrown together these few
notes, will understand at once. These pipes we can understand
well enough, for the marks of the makers are impressed on the
foot, in relief generally, more rarely incised, occasionally with a
date, always of the 17th century or later. These bowls are of
more convenient form, and tobacco itself was, no doubt, smoked
in them. It is hardly possible to smoke one of the type I have
first mentioned with any degree of comfort, though I have often
tried the experiment. The late E. Thursfield, Esq., of Broseley,
had a fine collection of old pipes from Shropshire ; I also had
another, still larger, from various parts of England. Both are
now in the possession of W. Bragge, Esq., the greatest collector
of these objects, and the best authority on the subject, with
whom I am acquainted. There is a common form of pipe with a
long ungainly bowl, never bearing a maker's mark, which I am
inclined to think is of Dutch origin, and to have come in with
King William III.
NOTE BY THE EDITOE. As I have had great pleasure in sending my
kind friend, Mr. Bernhard Smith, collections of ancient pipes both from
Gloucestershire and Dorset, as I knew him to be interested in them, I pre-
ferred a request that he should give me a few notes upon them for our
Proceedings, and hence the preceding remarks. They are sufficient to show
the interest attached to the subject. All over our farm, on the surface, and
30
at Sherbdrne, wherever any diggings take place, the email pipes have been
found. Most of them are with the broad foot remarked upon by Mr. Smith,
which foot is often impressed with perhaps the initials of the maker :
WL MI ID
One example picked up at Bradford seems to have a lengthened inscrip -
tion, but not perfect enough to be made out. Most of the examples have this
broad rounded foot quite plain, without any letters or inscription whatever.
The pipes with the broad foot are usually very small, and have a crenulated
ornament around the outside of the bowl. Another form is common with a
small pointed base at the bottom junction of the bowl with the stem. In
these the bowl is usually larger than the previous ones, and in shape
nearer those of the present day. The stem is longer the bowl of the pipe
is quite plain. In one example and only one we have the small bowl
contracted and milled with the small pointed heel, and a tube 5 inches
long. We have before us a collection of 20 examples, as follows :
The small contracted bowl and broad foot, with letters on the foot . . 5
Ditto, without letters 10
With larger plain bowl and pointed base . . . . . . . . 4
With email, crenulated bowl, long stem, and pointed base . . 1
20
What would be the tale of those sent away I cannot say ; but to me this
enumeration is curious, as showing that the more ancient form known as
the " Fairy pipe " is the most common. The first or the smaller bowls
belong to those called in the country the " Fairy pipe," and it is supposed
they point to a period when the fragrant weed was very scarce, and per-
haps, too, a time when it was used with great caution and hesitation, the
notion being to" Snatch a fearful joy," as Gray so eloquently puts it.
As the custom became more common, it would seem that the bowls were
made larger, but it is curious to note that these supposed more commonly-
used bowls are not met with so often as the smaller ones, and it is still more
interesting to note that the modern pipe is not found about our fields so
often as are the fairy ones. We quite agree that the subject is curious and
interesting, and if our members will kindly preserve all the bowls they may
pick up, our Society may do something to remove the " opprobium of
Archeeologiste."
J. BUCKMAN.
31
TR EK
ToP WC
WS CB
Marks on Pipes by J. BERNARD SMITH, Esq., mostly from the
Midland Counties.
KB IH M RL T-I CB C-R PC
H3 MD WH
MD TI
IOH TH
NHV MAS LP
NT HVNT
C
O , P
D M
W .. W
IDS
HVG
HES
WILL
DAR
BEY
MICH
BROWN
IOHN
ROB
ERTS
By the Eev. H. II. WOOD, M.A, F.G.S.
|N giving an estimate of the number of plants found in any
particular county or district it is necessary, in the first
place, to specify the system of nomenclature which has
been followed ; otherwise the enumeration can be of little or no use
for the purpose of comparison with the Flora of any other county
or district. For whilst one authority is given to magnify small
differences until, in his eyes, they assume the proportions of
species, another, in avoiding this Charybdis, falls into the Scylla
of generalizing to such a degree that he has no little difficulty
in acknowledging any such thing as a species at all. As
instances of these widely different methods of procedure,
when applied to English Botany, I may mention the latest
edition (1874) of the " London Catalogue of British Plants" and
the " Handbook of the British Flora," by Mr. Bentham (1865).
If we follow the first authority we have in our Flora (excluding
the Characese) 1,665 species; whilst, if we take Mr. Bentham
for our guide, we have only 1,292 a difference of no less than
373 "species."
The person responsible for the present form of the London
Catalogue is Mr. Hewett C. "Watson, one of the very best
botanists in England, who in his most valuable work,
" Compendium of Cybcle Britannica," published in 1875, allowed
no more than 1,428 species. But he has now been persuaded
into following a suggestion made to him by another " competent
and judicious botanist," which is to this effect : By all means
33
give each, sub-species a separate number, and when in doubt
give the sub-species the benefit of the doubt." Now this might
have been all very well if these " sub-species " had been labelled
as such ; but on the face of the Catalogue there is nothing to
deter a simple youth from supposing that each of them differs as
widely from his neighbours on either side as, let us say, a
delicious Hautbois from a common Bramble. And, therefore, if,
in the politics of Macedon, it was allowable to appeal from
Philip drunk to Philip sober, we may surely follow an analogous
rule in the matter of our English Flora.
The groups in which the widest differences of nomenclature
are found are the Hieracia, the Willows, the Brambles, and the
Water Ranunculus. Beginning with the Brambles, the species
now given in the London Catalogue are copied from Professor
Babington's elaborate work on the "British Hubi." The species
thus taken are 44 in number. In Mr. Bentham's work there are
on ly 5 hi s Eubus fruticosus including the other 39. But a
foreign botanist, M. Grenevier, has persuaded himself that the
forms or species of Rubus, to be found in the valley of the
Loire, are not less than 203. Now, what does Mr. Watson him-
self tell us in his Compendium ? After confessing that
' ' botanists are not held in over-reverence by the outer world,
and that collectors of Brambles are often rated very low, even
by botanists," he thus disposes of the Professor:
"Professor Babington writes, p. 22: "I believe in the
distinctness of species, although unable to demonstrate it." But
in whose species of Rubi are iv e to believe ? In the 200 of M.
Grenevier ? In the two score of Professor Babington ? In the
two units of fruticosus and coesius of Mr. Bentham's hand-
book?" (p. 504).
With this may be given a paragraph from a review of the
Professor's work in the Journal of Botany for October, 1869 :
" We cannot see that the 203 species in the one case [M.
Q-enevier] individualized and defined in perfect good faith, as
the deliberate result of the labour of many years, cover a wider
34
range of form, in a materially greater degree of variability
within that range, than the 43 species of the other."
Next I may take the Eoses. Here, again, the specific
names are borrowed from Mr. Baker's monograph of the British
Roses. But in this case a different rule is followed, and the
arrangement is under 13 groups one of them, Eosa canina,
being credited with 29 varieties. Bentham only allows five
species in all ; whilst Professor Babington, omitting two, since
admitted not to be British, gives 17. What Mr. Watson
seriously thinks of the value of Mr. Baker's species, we find in
his " Compendium." After pointing out the differences between
the Bakerian names as given in 1864 and 1869, he says :
" These uncertainties show that the various forms of our wild
roses are so connected by the interchange and crossing of
technical characters, only imagined to be diagnostic between
them, that the book species really depend on an arbitrary
preference given to this or that set of characters, as indicating
affinity, and as necessitating union or severance. Contrast tho
diagnoses of rubiginosa and micrantha, for instance ; and then
compare the description of their varieties with the words of their
specific diagnosis. It will be seen that the diagnostic characters
of one species appear as the varieties of the other species "
(p. 507).
But if Mr. Watson now accepts Professor Babington and Mr.
Baker as infallible authorities in their respective dominions, he
begins to apply a method of selection in the matter of the
Hieracia, which he tells us are taken "almost exclusively " from
Mr. Backhouse's work, " British Hieracia." The London
Catalogue gives 35 species, Mr. Bentham only 7.
If, however, there are materials more or less complete for
determining the value of names in the groups already men-
tioned, what shall be said of ' ' Eanunculus aquatilis " ? Instead
of the single species of Bentham, we have in the London
catalogue 8 forms given as species, with 10 varieties. The Com-
pendium allows only four, the number which Eay had given in
his Botany. " On the whole," says Mr. Watson, " it may be said
35
that circinatus and fluitans are now familiar to most botanists,
and that they are seldom confused with the other two unless
by beginners. But as to the limits and distinctions between
heterophyllus and pantothrix, or between the two groups of
Segregates into which they are cut up, these may still come
under the showman's liberally given choice to the childish
mi&ds, 'which you please, my little dears' "(p. 430).
Whence, then, has Mr. Watson derived his present inspira-
tion ? It is from an elaborate paper of Mr. Hiern in the Journal
of Botany, February, 1871.
He does not, however, take Hiern' s list in its entirety, but
gives a selection as far as he can understand the names ; and as no
descriptions could be given of the varieties retained out of
Hiern's 21, or reasons given for the omission of the rest, we are
left pretty much in the dark as to what is meant by the names
in the Catalogue. A reference to Hiern's own monograph will
not help us much, for he thus describes his method of determi-
nation : " Each species is placed in a given plane with reference
to two axes of co-ordinates, the abscessa being the same number
of units of length as the normal number of Stamens, and the
ordinate being the number of veins on each petal. After being
placed in this manner, those numbered 1 5, Bab., lie in a
straight line whose equation is x 4 y. +11 = 0. Those num-
bered 6-8, in a parallel straight line, whose equation is
0-4^4-6 = 0; and the remaining four, 9- 12, in a third straight
line, whose equation is x-y-^.
Let me give one practical comment on this learned trifling. A
large specimen of one of these forms of E. aquatilis was some-
what maliciously cut in two and submitted to one of these
" competent and judicious authorities." One of the two portions,
when returned, was found to be labelled radians, the other
Godroni. To be sure they are allowed, even at head-quarters,
to be only varieties of diversifolius ; but who can put much
faith in " varieties " after such a warning ?
Some other sentences in the Compendium are so wise that I
cannot help quoting them :
36
"Partly owing to more exact discrimination, but it maybe
feared chiefly under a weak-minded craving- for name notoriety,
the modern system is to subdivide species on differences so slight
and uncertain that descriptive language now almost fails to male o
them intelligible to other botanists without the aid of portrait
figures or selected specimens. To such an excess lias this practice
been carried of late that we now find in print long and worth-
less descriptions miscalled specific, made only from a single indi-*
ridual plant say from a single fern frond, or from the dried
twig of a rose, briar, or bramble bush. It would be almost as
wise to describe an individual Hottentot or Eskimo, a Tom
Thumb or a Daniel Lambert a one legged Donato, or a three-
legged baby, as a species distinct from the fair-skinned and two-
legged Homo Sapiens (Linn.) of medium size." (p.p. 35-6).
" The tendency of this practice (segregation) must be to make
book botany attractive only to the lowest class of minds which
can engage in science at all the minds which devote themselves
exclusively to minute details, and which find their right vocation
there, simply because incapable of anything higher " (p. 428).
But whatever objections there may be to the latest form of the
London Catalogue from a scientific point of view, it still has its
use. It is easily procurable ; it is in the hands of nearly every
possessor of an Herbarium ; it is constantly quoted in natural
history periodicals, and, therefore, it is a convenient book to use
for purposes of Botanical comparisons between counties or
districts. Testing the Dorset Mora by it, we see at once what
reason we have to be proud of this portion of our natural history.
When the admirable work by our President was in preparation
an earlier edition of the Catalogue was all that was available,
and the remark then made about our Flora was this : " The
preceding pages show that of the 1,428 British plants comprised
in the London Catalogue, 989 have been found within the limits
of our county, including 2G which are probably extinct and 68
aliens. There are also 36 sub-species and 44 varieties." But
the new edition of the Catalogue enables us to give still larger
numbers. After a careful comparison of the two lists I have
37
arrived at the following computation : Dividing the plants into
five classes, according to the frequency or rarity of their occur
rence, we have described in the Flora of Dorset,
A. Generally distributed, or very common . . 289 species
B. Common . . . . . . . . 151 ,,
C. Frequent 280 ,,
D. Bare 237
E. Very rare 43
amounting in all, very curiously, to the exact number of 1,000
species. Besides this there are 30 species, probably once found
in the county, but now extinct ; five admitted through mistakes
on the part of " authorities, " and two species now excluded
from British lists. Four out of the five mistakes must be
charged against Dr. Pulteney, namely,
Arabis perfoliata (a species of Brassica).
Trifolium ochroleucum ( = maritiinum).
Chenopodium glaucum ( = ficifolimn).
Euphorbia Stricta ( = platyphylla).
Mr. Salter is responsible for the fifth, his Crepis biennis being,
no doubt, the large form of Crepis virens, which is not uncom-
mon in various parts of the county.
The two species now excluded are Petasites fragrans and
Cannabis sativa.
Some very interesting additions have been lately made to our
Flora, and there is some hope that a portion, at least, of the
plants that once grew in the county may yet be recovered.* But
in any case, I think it may confidently be asserted that it would
be difficult to find any County Flora that surpasses our own
in interest and variety, and that very few counties can at all
compare with it.
If I take so small a portion of the county as the parish of
Holwell as the subject of a local Flora, I am led to do so, among
other reasons, because it has one special item of value it is almost
* This hope has already been realized in three instances, Polycarpum
tetraphyllum, Euphorbia Peplis and Lycopodium Selago, the second
having "been discovered by Mrs. J. Clark, of Street, the other two by our
President.
38
entirely on the Oxford Clay. There are two isolated patches of
other formations in it, but both of very trifling extent, one of
Cornbrash, the other of sands belonging to the Calcareous Grit.
Comparing the plants found here with those of the county
generally, I obtain the following results: Of the 289 plants
described as " generally distributed," the following, so far as I
know at present, are wanting :
Fumaria officinalis.
Helianthemum vulgare.
Scleranthus annuus.
Geranium rotundifolium.
5 Prunus domestica.
Poterium Sanguisorba.
Epilobium palustre.
Callitriche etagnalis (platycarpa).
,, hamulata.
10 Petroselinum segetum.
Pastinaca sativa.
Centaurea Scabiosa.
,, Cyanus.
Matricaria Chamoniilla.
15 Filago Germanica.
Senecio Jacobeea.
Leontodon hirtus.
Campanula rotundifolia.
Atriplex Smithii.
20 Kumex nemorosus v. viridis.
,, Hydrolapathum.
Polygonum amphibiuni.
Scirpus palustris.
Eriophorum angustifolium.
25 Car ex vulgaris.
,, paludosa.
Holcus mollis.
Poa nemoralis.
,, compressa.
30 Festuca elatior.
The absence of some of these is remarkable ; but in the case
39
of others the doubt arises whether they should not really be
placed in the next class.
Class B gives me 90 out of 151 ; class 63 or, adding 10 as
the probable number of Bubi which I have not ventured to
label, 73 out 280 ; D not more than 12 out of 237 ; whilst the
43 of E are represented by a single species, Euphorbia platy-
phylla.
Thus the number of species found in Hoi well up to the
present time amounts to 435 ; * and as, probably, a dozen or so
more have thus far escaped my notice, it will be seen
that we possess in our little parish more than a quarter of the
plants to be found in the whole of the British Isles.
There are, however, some deductions that ought perhaps in
fairness to be made from this list. Mentha Pulegium, though
now fast taking possession of a considerable portion of waste
ground, is, no doubt, a garden escape ; Phalaris Canariensis is a
casual ; and Sedum album must have been brought, though not
at a recent period, to the wall on the Manor House, where two
years ago it grew in profusion, though I fear it is now destroyed.
Parietaria diffusa is only found on the walls of the same place ;
and in what was the farmyard are five plants which are waifs
and strays of cultivation, Tanacetum vulgare, Verbena officinalis,
Geranium rotundifolium, Urtica urens, and still more strange,
Lamium album. Of this plant, so abundant in most places, I
have only found a single specimen away from the Manor House,
in a roadside ditch. Lathyrus Nissolia, which formerly grew in
two localities, has for the present disappeared. Of the other
specimens, at present unique, I must mention Ranunculus
sceleratus, Chrysanthemum segetum, Agrostemma Githago,
Carduus nutans, and I once had as a weed in my garden a
single specimen of Solanum nigrum. The Cornbrash patch
gives me three plants, Circsea Lutetiana, Thymus Serpyllum,
and Clematis vitalba. I had noticed the profusion of this last
* To these must be added Arctium minus, not mentioned in the Flora of
Dorset, and three " Colonists," Trifolium incarnatum, T. hybridum and
Lolium Italicum.
40
plant in neighbouring parishes, and wondered at never having
seen it in my own, till it struck me that it was only on limestone
soils that I had elsewhere noticed it ; and on going to the only
probable locality I found it in profusion. The patch of Cal-
careous Sand did not, somewhat to my disappointment, contribute
a single plant, though I examined it somewhat carefully, and I
did get two species of mosses which I had not met with
elsewhere.
I have myself seen the introduction of one plant into the
parish Carduus eriophorus. Just on the opposite side of the
little nameless stream which forms our boundary for some "dis-
tance is a field, in the parish of Bishop's Caundle, where it
grew in abundance ; but though thousands of seeds must have
been carried off in various directions by the winds, I never saw
a plant of the thistle in Holwell till two years ago. As it has
tl selected " a piece of waste ground for its new habitat, I hope
it has a chance of life in the struggle for existence ; and all the
more, because there is a probability of its disappearing from the
former locality through " improvements." These have already
destroyed the only locality in my neighbourhood where I ever
found Samolus Yalerandi.
The river, which has at last been crossed by the thistle, has
proved, so far, an insuperable barrier to other plants. I can
stand at a particular locality and see half-a-dozen plants or so on
the other side, on soil in every respect identical, not one of
which occurs where I should like to find it ; such as Linaria
spuria, Centaurea Scabiosa, and even Laniium album.
If soil has anything to do with the colours of plants, as I
suppose it undoubtedly has, it may be of interest to mention
that I have found white varieties of the following plants on
Oxford Clay : Primula vulgaris, Centaurea nigra, Carduus
arvensis, Scilla nutans, Bartsia odontites, Scabiosa succisa, and
Erythrsea Centaurium. One of the most beautiful varieties
I have met with was of Centaurea uigra, with white rays and a
red centre.
41
LIST OF PLANTS.
Clematis vitalba.
Anemone nemorosa.
Eanunculus peltatus.
5 diversifolius.
,, Drouettii.
,, hederaceus.
Sceleratus.
,, Flammula.
,, auricomus.
10 acris.
,, repens.
bulbosus.
,, parviflorus.
arvensis.
15 Ficaria.
Caltha palustris.
Nuphar lutea.
Papaver Kheeas.
Chelidonium majus.
20 Corydalis lutea.
Sinapis arvensis.
alba.
Brassica Napus.
,, Rutabaga.
25 Sisymbrium officinale.
,, Alliaria.
Cardamine pratensis.
,, hirsuta.
,, sylvatica.
30 Arabis thaliana.
Barbarea vnlgaris.
Nasturtium officinale.
palustre.
Draba verna.
35 Capsella Bursa-pastoris.
42
Lepidium campestre.
Senebiera Coronopus.
Viola odorata.
,, Lirta.
40 ,, sylvatica v. Eiviniana,
,, canina v. flavicornis.
,, tricolor
Polygala vulgaris.
Silene inflata.
45 Lychnis vespertina.
,,^ diurna.
,, Flos-cuculi.
,, Githago.
Cerastium semidecandrum.
50 ,, glomeratum.
,, triviale.
Stellaria aquatica.
,, media
,, Holostea.
55 ,, graminea.
,, uliginosa.
Arenaria trinervis.
,, serpyllifolia.
Sagina apetala.
60 ,, procumbens.
Montia fontana.
Hypericum Androseemum.
,, perforatum.
,, tetrapterum.
65 ,, humifusum.
,, pulclrrum.
,, hirsutmn.
Malva moschata.
,, sylvestris.
70 ,, rotundifolia.
Linum catharticum.
43
Geranium molle.
,, dissectum.
,, lucidum.
75 ,, Eobertianum.
Oxalis Acetosella.
Ilex Aquifolium.
Euonymus Europaeus.
Rhamnus catharticus.
80 ,, Frangula.
Acer pseudoplatanus.
,, campestre.
Ulex Europeeus.
Gallii.
85 Genista anglica.
,, tinctoria.
Ononis spinosa.
,, arvensis.
Medicago lupulina.
90 Trifolium pratense.
medium.
repens.
95 ,, fragiferum.
,, procumbens.
,, minus.
Lotus corniculatus.
,, tenuis.
100 ,, major.
Vicia Hrsuta.
,, tetrasperma.
,, cracca.
,, sepium.
105 Sativa.
angustifolia.
Lathyrus Nissolia.
44
Lathyrus pratensis.
Prunus spinosa.
110 ,, instititia.
Spiraea Ulmaria.
Agrimonia Eupatoria.
Alchemilla arvensis.
Potentilla Fragariastrum.
115 Tormentilla.
reptans.
anserina.
Fragaria vesca.
Rubi (see below).
Geum urbanum.
Eos89 (see below).
120 Crateegus Oxyacantha.
Pyrus Malus.
Lythrum Salicaria.
Peplis Portula.
Epilobium hirsutum.
125 parviflomm.
montanum.
,, tetragonum.
Circaea lutetiana.
Myriophyllum alternifoliunL
130 Oallitriche verna. ,
Eibes Ghrossularia.
,, rubmm.
Sedum album.
acre
185 reflexum.
Sem/pervivum tectorum.
Cotyledon umbilicus.
Saxifraga tridactylites.
Helosciadium nodiflorum.
140 Sisou Amomum.
Bunium flexuosum.
45
Pimpinella Saxifraga.
(Enanthe pimpinelloides.
,, crocata.
145 ^Bthusa cynapium.
Silaus pratensis.
Angelica sylvestris.
Heracleum Spondylium.
Daucus Carota.
150 Torilis Anthriscus.
,, nodosa.
Chserophyllum sylvestre.
,, temulum.
Scandix Pecten-Yeneris.
155 Conium maculatum.
Hedera Helix.
Cornus Sanguinea.
Adoxa moschatellina.
Sambucus nigra.
160 Viburnum Opulus.
Lantana.
Lonicera Periclymenum.
Qalium verum.
Mollugo.
165 Saxatile.
palustre.
,, Aparine.
Sherardia arvensis.
Valeriana officinalis.
170 Valerianella dentata.
Dipsacus sylvestris.
Scabiosa succisa.
arvensis.
Oarduns nutans.
175 ,, crispus.
,, lanceolatus.
, ; eriophorus.
46
Carduns palustris.
,, pratensis.
180 acaulis.
,, arvensis.
Arctium ma jus.
,, minus.
Serratula tinctoria.
185 Centaurea nigra (decipiens).
Chrysanthemum segetum.
, , Leucanthemum .
Matricaria Parthenium.
,, inodora.
190 Tanacetum vulgare.
Anthemus Cotula.
AchiUsea millefolium.
,, Ptarmica.
Gnaphalium uliginosum.
195 Senecio vulgaris.
,, eylvaticus.
erucifolius.
,, aquatieus.
Bidens tripartita.
200 Inula dysenterica.
Bellis perennis.
Tussilago Farf ara.
Eupatorium cannabinum.
Lapsana communis.
205 Hypochseris radicata.
Leontodon hispidus.
,, autumnalis.
Helminthia echioides.
Tragopogon pratensis.
210 Taraxacum officinale.
Sonchus oleraceus.
asper.
arvensis.
47
Crepis virens.
215 Hieracium Pilosella.
Erica tetralix.
Calluna vulgaris.
Fraxinus excelsior.
Ligustrum vulgare.
220 Erythreea Centaurium.
Convolvulus arvensis.
,, sepium.
Solanum Dulcamara.
Scrophularia Balbisii.
225 ,, nodosa.
Linaria Cymbalaria.
Elatine
vulgaris
Veronica hederifolia
230 polita
,, agrestis
,, Buxbaumii
,, arvensis
,, serpyllifolia
235 officinalis
,, Chamsedrys
,, Anagallis
,, Beccabunga
Euphrasia officinalis
240 Bartsia Odontites
Pedicularis sylvatica
Bhinanthus Crista-Galli
Verbena officinalis
Lycopus Europraus
245 Mentha hirsuta
,, arvensis
,, Pulegiuni
Thynius Serpylluni
Calamintha Clinopodium
48
250 Nepeta Glechoma
Prunella vulgaris
Scutellaria galericulata
,, minor
Ballota nigra
255 Stachys Betonica
,, palustris
sylvatica
arvensis
Galeopsis Tetrahit
260 Lamium purpureum
album
Ajuga reptans
Lithospermum arvense
Myosotis palustris
265 Arvensis
versicolor
Symphytum officinale
Primula vulgaris
270 officinalis
Lysimachia vulgaris
Anagallis arvensis
Plantago major
media
275 lanceolata
Chenopodium polyspermum
album
Atriplex angustif olia
deltoidea
280 Eumex conglomeratus
,, obtusifolius
,, crispus
,, Acetosa
Polygonum Convolvulus
285 ,, aviculare
Hydropiper
49
285 Polygonuni Persicaria
lapathifolium
Daphne Laureola
Eiiphorbia Helioscopia
platyphylla
290 Peplus
exigua
Mercurialis perennis
Parietaria diffusa
Urtica dioeca
295 ,, urens
Humulus lupulus
Ulmus suberosa
,, montana
Quercus robur
300 Fagus Sylvatica
Corylus Avellana
Carpinus Betulus
Alnus glutinosa
Betula alba
305 Populus alba
,, tremula
nigra
Salices (see below)
Pinus sylvestris
Taxus baccata
310 Sparganium ramosum
,, simplex
Arum maculatum
Lemna minor
Potamogeton natans
315 lucens
Sagittaria sagittifolia
Alisma Plantago
,, ranunciiloides
Orchis Morio
50
320 ,, mascula
,, incarnate
,, maculuta
Habenaria chlorantha
Spiranthes autumnalis
325 Listera ovata
Iris Pseudacorus
Narcissus Pseudo-Narcissus
Tamus coinmunis
Scilla nutans
330 Allium vineale
,, ursinum
Luzula campestris
Juncus conglomeratus
effusus
335 ,, glaucus
,, acutiflorus
,, lamprocarpus
,, supinus
,, bufonius
340 Scirpus lacustris
,, sylvaticus
Carex pulicaris
,, vulpina
,, divulsa
345 ,, remota
,, ovalis
,, acuta
glauca
,, prcecox
350 ,, panicea
sylvatica
flava
liirta
,, riparia
355 Antlioxantliuni odoratum
51
Digraphis arundinacea
Phalaris Canariemis
Alopecurus agrestis
,, geniculatus
360 ,, pratensis
Phleum pratense
Agrostis setacea
,, canina
,, alba
365 ,, vulgaris
Phragmites communis
Aira csespitosa
Avena flavescens
pubescens
370 fatua
,, elatior
Holcus lanatus
Triodia decumbens
Molinia cserulea
375 Melica unifLora
Glyceria fluitans
Schlerochloa rigida
Poa annua
,, pratensis
380 ,, trivialis
Briza media
Cynosurus cristatus
Dactylis glomerata
Festuca scinroides
385 ,, ovina
,, rubra (duriuscula)
,, pratensis
Bromus giganteus
asper
390 steriHs
secalinus
52
,, mollis
Brachypodium sylvaticum
Triticum caninum
395 ,, repens
Lolium perenne
,, Italicum
Hordeum pratense
Nardus stricta
400 Pteris aquilina
Lomaria Spicant
Asplenium ruta-muraria
,, Trichomanes
,, Adiantum-nigrum
408 Ceterach officmarum
Scolopendrium vulgare
Aspidium aculeatum
,, angulare
Nephrodium filix-mas
410 dilatatum
Polypodium vulgare
Equisetum arvense
,, palustre
,, limosum.
Total number in the List 414
Add for Eubi, Kosse, and Salices . . . . 24
438
Professor J. BUCKMAN, F.L.S., F.G.S., &c
]N first going over the lands of my present farm I was
particularly struck with the fact that in most fields
were found some interesting archaic remains. Worked
flints, described in the present volume, and rude pottery, took
us back to the Celtic inhabitants of the district, while remains
of a more refined fictilia with tesselse of pavements, roof tiles, as
described in the previous volume, molars, &c., &c. ? testified to
the fact of Eoman occupation.
On breaking up East Hill with the steam plough remains of
these kinds were turned up in such abundance that we determined
to institute a systematic enquiry into their extent, and so having
sent men to work with pickaxe and spade, we now lay the results
before the members of the Club.
The field of enquiry is one of fifty acres in extent, on the
north side of the hill to the East of Bradford, called East Hill ;
the first excavations were made near the middle of the field, as
at this point bits of pavement and pottery were met with in
abundance on the very surface of the turned-up soil.
54
ROOF TILES.
Here, after removing the surface soil, we came upon heaps of
broken roof tiles, of the shape figured in our Proceedings.*
FIG. A. ROMAN ROOF TILES IN POSITION.
These are made from the blue fissile slabs of the lias limestone,
and no doubt they were brought from the adjoining county of
Somerset. Some of the tiles had the nails with which they were
fastened still remaining in their holes. They were found resting
upon a surface of many square yards, which was roughly paved
with slabs of the same kind of material.
EOMAN MOLAES.
On removing the soil from the floors we found the remains of
several kinds of querns, of which the following, in granite,
affords an interesting example :
FIG. B. ROMAN QUERN, OR HAND MOLAR OF GRANITE.
Vol. i., p. 43, fig. B. This is here reproduced to show their form.
55
It is made of Cornish granite, probably brought from Dart-
moor ; it is twelve inches in diameter, and six inches thick, and
is the only specimen of this material which we have found.
This, and a portion of a molar of a Volcanic Grit from
Andernach, 011 the Ehine, and several parts of these early
querns composed of Upper Green Sand, presented, when dressed,
a biting tooth, that made them suitable for grinding purposes,
not so, however, the next series, which were composed of differ-
ent members of the oolitic formation, of which we have met
with examples in Dorsetshire for the first time.
The annexed figure is of a perfect one of these, which though
not dug up at the spot we have been describing was got from
the same hill, probably turned out in removing the soil from a
quarry :
FIG. C. A ROMAN QUEEN OR HAND MOLAR OF GREAT OOLITE.
This perfect example was made from a block of Great Oolite,
probably from the Bath district ; it measures fifteen inches
across, and is 4 inches thick. Like all our examples it was an
Upper Millstone, the nether stone being far less frequently met
with.
Portions of Molars of the Inferior Oolite from Ham Hill, and
even from some of the coarser beds of this rock were got out of
our diggings, and they are interesting as showing that where
stone abounded, soft, and not the best lasting materials were
56
used for grinding purposes, as the more fitting materials (some
of which were even imported from the Continent) must have
been more or less difficult to obtain.
In pursuing our diggings there were found bits of Sarsen stone,
and different grit stones, probably used for sharpening Celts and
knives, portions of drains, and a various assortment of rough
building materials.
BONE OBJECTS.
In bone objects, besides the usual remains from animals used
as food, were found a flat bone rounded at the ends, which had
probably served the purpose of an arm-guard from the bow-
string ; a rudely-shaped bone pin, and a prettily formed bone
button or stud. Oyster shells of the commoner sort, probably
from the Devonshire coast, were somewhat abundant.
Bits of Kimmeridge coal-rings of different sizes seem to com-
plete the natural objects.
FICTILIA.
These consisted of some remains of a very rude kind of
pottery, both black and red, that had been but very imperfectly
baked. A kind of bead or spindle-bob of ,the same rough
make. Some black pottery of better form and workmanship,
with some red pottery, of which were examples from Martoria,
the interiors of which were studded with small bits of quartzose
pebbles, the better to assist trituration, bits of red, rare, red
clay tiles, and other futile objects usually met with in poorer
dwellings.
Lips of different vessels show the usual variety as regards
form. Among the less common pottery were some bits of the
Northamptonshire ware, but there was not even a brace of the
so-called " Samian."
REMAINS IN IEON.
Of these, different formed nails were the most frequently met
with, especially the common ones used for fastening on the roof
tiles, bits of clamps, staples, and the like portions also of the
usual Roman type of horse shot very flat and without the
kalk.
57
COOKING STOVES ?
On removing all the debris from the floors we came upon a
curious structure, which we here figure :
Our drawing shows a flask-shaped pit, narrow at the opening,
and expanding at the closed end. This was built up of the
oolite stones of the district, and covered at the top of this kind
of wall with flat lias stones, and around this, for many feet
square, was a pavement of the like stones.
Some two or three of these structures were found in the
centre of the floors, while others were in the angles formed of
rough foundations. They were all very much alike in shape
and size, about two yards long and a yard wide ; their interiors
were blackened or reddened from heat, and its consequent
different forms of oxidation of the iron in the materials, whilst
a layer of carboraceous matter was found at the bottom of the
pits.
These facts led to the supposition that they were employed
for cooking stoves and bakeries. They might, however, have
been used for baking the rough pottery previously described.
58
But whatever their object they are highly curious, and I think
are here figured and described for the first time.
The five of them met with on East-hill seemed to mark as
many distinct dwellings or sheds ; they were at some distance
apart, but in all the same kinds of objects were met with, so
that they evidently mark a somewhat general use.
The foregoing remarks show quite clearly that we have not in
this place hit upon a Roman Villa, but the few bits of pavement
that were met with in our excavations and the quantity of
scattered tesselse lead to the inference either that we have not
discovered its site or, if so, it has been removed by some pre-
vious workers.
We incline to the opinion that it will yet be discovered, for
we caanot help thinking that this hill must have been occupied
by early Roman settlers, and that the dwellings we have
described were inhabited by Celts, who were their slaves or
labourers.
That a Celtic people occupied this hill before the Eoman
occupation is certain, this seems to be proved both from the rude
pottery we have described, and also from the quantities of flint
implements which are found scattered over the fields.
The present paper then is only intended to mark what has
already been accomplished, but it is hoped that much more may
be done at some future opportunity.
By Professor J. BUCKMAN, F. G.S., F.L.S., &c.
IN our 1st Vol., p. 89, will be found an article on " Some
Glass Bottles from Thornford." These were impressed
with, curious circular stamps which at once pointed to
their ownership.
These were squat, big-bellied forms, with the stamp on the
shoulder. They were of two sizes, one a pint, the other of the
capacity of a quart. These bore a Baron's crest, and our
figure is here reproduced for the purpose of greater clearness,
A BOTTLE PHOM THOBKFOKD. HALF SIZE.
60
Besides this and the other examples figured- we have since
obtained two additional ones from Dorset.
A very interesting stamp was kindly communicated by C. "W.
Dale, Esq., found at Glanvilles Wootton, which will be best seen
from the accompanying illustration.
BOTTLE STAMP FROM GLANVILLES WOOTTON.
The Henlys formerly lived at the Grange at Glanvilles 'Woot-
ton. Sir Robert Henly died in 1758, and we are told by Mr.
Dale that Lady Barbara Henley lies buried in the Churchyard
at Glanvilles Wootton. The name, by Mr. Dale and in
" Hutchings's," is spelled Henley, but in our stamp the latter e
is omitted.
Whether our stamp belonged to Sir Eobert or no we cannot
pretend to say, but it seems to have belonged to a time prior to
his death.
The next specimen from the district is here figured.
61
This was picked up by one of the men on our farm. It is one
of a late date, but we hardly think it belongs to the parish of
Bradford.
Compton Parish adjoins Bradford, and, indeed, part of our
farm consists of land exchanged with Mr. Goodden, of Over
Compton, and it is not impossible that the bottles stamped as
figured belonged to a Robert Goodden.
Besides these, through the kindness of friend W. J. Bernhard
Smith, Esq., of the Middle Temple, we are enabled to point,
among others, to examples picked up in the Thames.
One probably meant as a reversed F as follows :
Another with a crown for a crest and a complicated coat of arms
with the word
'PYRMONT WATER'
for an inscription, from which we gather that these stamped
bottles were not always employed as wine decanters.
In this collection is a stamp found near Abingdon, Berks, with
the inscription of
This was doubtless a stamp from a big-bellied bottlo.
The next two stamps are so modern that they are in use at the
present time. One with the lamb and flag, as a crest surrounded
by the words
MIDDLE
TEMPLE.
Ordinary wine bottles so stamped on the shoulder are still
used by the benches for port wine.
62
We have before us an ordinary shaped claret or light wine
bottle, with the following labels :
CHATEAU YQUEM
HAUT SAUTERNES
GRAND CRU.
This we had recently from a wine merchant, so that stamped
bottles are not yet gone out of fashion.
These objects are of interest as connecting the past with the
present, and if as Mr. Way supposed they were the prototypes
of decanters, they show that while they were supposed to occupy
the place on the table for which the decanter is used, they were
made in a measure more ornamental in shape, and in their
heraldic and other insignia than the stamped bottles of more
modern times.
. CLEMINSHAW, Esq., M.A., F.G.S.,
F.G.S
jURING combustion in air, elements combine with the
Oxygen of the air, the combinations so formed being
called Oxides, and supposed to consist of a certain
number of atoms of the element united with a certain number
of atoms of Oxygen.
These Oxides have, in many cases, the power of combining
directly with water, and these compounds are divided into two
classes Acids and Bases. As familiar examples maybe mentioned ,
Sulphuric, Nitric, and Carbonic Acids, and Potash, Soda, and
Lime. The majority of acids may be supposed to consist of an
oxide combined with water ; others, as Hydrochloric or Muriatic
Acid, consist of Hydrogen combined with another element. Acids
and Bases have the power of acting on each other, forming a salt
and water, e.g., Carbonic Acid and Soda from Carbonate of Soda and
water, Sulphuric Acid and Oxide of Iron form Sulphate of Iron
and water. Salts, which contain Oxygen, may be regarded as a
combination of the two Oxides, e.g., Carbonate of Soda, as Oxide
of Sodium and Carbon Dioxide, or as metal and Chlorine in the
case of Chorides, or Salts of Hydrochloric Acid. These salts
64
are sometimes soluble substances capable of crystallising from
solution in water, and sometimes insoluble earthy powders, e.g.,
Carbonate of Lime.
In the case of Iron and some other metals, there are two
Oxides which are both capable of forming salts when acted on by
acids. These Oxides of Iron are supposed to be composed of
one atom of Iron combined with one atom of Oxygen, having
the formula, Fe 0, and of two atoms of Iron combined with
three of Oxygen, having the formula Fe20s ; they may be dis-
tinguished as Protoxide and Peroxide respectively, and the salts
formed by their action on acids as Protosalts and Persalts.
The protoxide and protosalts have the power of uniting with
the oxygen of the air and passing into the state of peroxide and
persalts ; and, conversely, the peroxide and persalts may be
reduced, i.e., deprived of oxygen, by the action of substances
having a strong attraction for oxygen, and are thus converted
to protoxide and protosalt.
The protoxide and protosalts are as a rule but slightly coloured,
generally being of a greyish, greenish, or pale sandy colour ;
while the proxide and persalts are much more strongly coloured,
being generally of various shades between yellow, brown, and
deep red.
Now the compounds of iron are almost invariably present in
all rocks in varying proportions, the compounds being generally
protoxide, protocarbonate, protosilicate, peroxide, andpersilicate;
and since the essential materials of the rock frequently have but
little colour of themselves, the colour of the rock will frequently
depend to a very considerable extent upon the kind of iron com-
pound present.
The hydrated (i.e., combined with water) protoxide, when
freshly prepared by artificial means, is a greyish coloured
precipitate, but on exposure to the air immediately begins to
absorb oxygen, changing from a greyish to a greenish, and
finally to a rusty-brown colour, eventually becoming converted
into the hydrated peroxide.
The Protocarbonate is of very considerable interest with
65
reference to the colour of rocks. When freshly prepared it is a
finely granular precipitate of a very pale brownish colour.
Like Carbonate of Lime, it is soluble in water containing free
Carbonic Acid ; this solution, like those of other protosalts, is
rapidly peroxidised when exposed to the air. The Percarbonate,
however, does not appear to exist, and when the protocarbonate
is peroxidised the hydrated peroxide is precipitated, since it is
insoluble in Carbonic Acid solution, and Carbonic Acid gas
escapes. This action may be noticed in every chalybeate spring,
which springs contain the protocarbonate dissolved by the Carbonic
Acid in the water ; in the bed of the stream the hydrated per-
oxide, the result of the peroxidation of the protocarbonate on
exposure to the air, is deposited in an ochreous layer. Again
rocks, which contain protoxide of iron or protocarbonate, will
weather of a rusty brown colour from a similar cause ; the
Carbonic Acid dissolved in the water which soaks through the
ground converting the protoxide of iron into carbonate, and
then dissolving it. When this solution is exposed to the air on
the surface of the rock, it becomes peroxidised, and consequently
the rock assumes a rusty colour. This may be noticed in several
varieties of the Inferior Oolite rocks in the neighbourhood,
which are of a pale brown or greenish tinge in the interior, but
rusty-brown on the weathered surface.
The protosilicate is of a greenish colour. It is the cause of
the green colour of the small particles which occur in certain
sandstones, notably in the greensand formation. If, however,
this protosilicate is absent, the sandstone will not be green at
all, but is sometimes colourless, sometimes of a brown colour,
from the presence of the hydrated peroxide.
The peroxide is the most important of the higher oxidised
compounds of iron with reference to the present question. It
occurs combined with water, as the hydrated peroxide, and un-
oombined with water as the anhydrous peroxide. In the former
state its colour is of a rusty brown ; in the latter the colour
varies with the state of aggregation, varying from a rusty-red,
brick-red, to reddish-black, or black in the crystalline condition.
66
When the hydrated peroxide is heated it loses its combined
water, and its colour deepens considerably. This action may be
noticed in brick-making, and in cases where rocks containing
peroxide of iron have been subjected to heat. In the case of
clay, which probably contains small quantities of the protocar-
bonate, the action of heat converts the protocarbonate into the
anhydrous peroxide,' the colour changing from grey to brick-red,
according to the amount of iron in the clay.
The persilicate occurs chiefly in certain Felspars, in which
it is combined with other silicates : e.g., red granite owes its
colour to the red Felspar, which contains a certain quantity of
persilicate of iron.
It is obvious, from what has been said, that iron compounds
could scarcely be naturally deposited under water as proto-salts or
proto-compounds, from the ease with which they are peroxidised.
The persalts and peroxides can however be reduced (i.e., deprived
of oxygen) by certain substances, such as decaying animal and
vegetable matter which have a stronger attraction for oxygen :
it is probable therefore that the proto-compounds of iron occur-
ring in sedimentary rocks have been reduced from the state of
persalts and peroxides, in which state they would naturally be
deposited, by the decay of the animal and vegetable matter
deposited with the sedimentary materials.
"We see therefore, that in the cases where the sedimentary rock
would owe its colour to adventitious ingredients, if the iron com-
pounds be present as proto-salts or protoxide the colour of the
rock will be slight, or the iron compounds will have little or
no effect upon it except in cases where the iron compound is
present as protosilicate, in which case the rock will be coloured
more or less of a greenish colour. If, on the other hand, the
iron compounds are present as persalts or peroxides, the rock
will be coloured reddish-brown or deep red, according to
whether the peroxide is hydrated or not, and according to its
state of agregation, as in the Oolites of the neighbourhood of
Sherborne and the New Red Sandstone of South Devon.
By THOS. B. GROVES, F.C.S., -c., &c.
| HE name of Daniel De Foe, as an imaginative writer,
is probably destined to immortality, yet of late years
we have heard less of his works of fiction than of his
political writings. The former have been to some extent dis-
placed by modern highly spiced boy's books of travel and
adventure, whilst the latter are, and will remain, valuable
materials for the student of the history of the [Revolution of
1689.
Recently the already very numerous printed works of De Foe
have been added to by the publication of a long series of articles
from his pen that hitherto had not been laid to his account, and
the public interest shown at the unexpected find seemed to
justify the putting into print materials even of a trifling nature
that might throw light on the career of so notable a character as
the author of the " True-born Englishman." De Foe was, it is
well known, a strong partizan of the Dutchman, and his imme-
diate successor, and a sharp thorn in the side of the Jacobite
party. So sharp, indeed, was the thorn he inserted that he
made for himself numerous and most virulent enemies, who more
than once succeeded in clapping him in prison for the publica-
tion of supposed seditious pamphlets. His " Shortest way with
Dissenters" were so regarded, and its appearance led to his
arrest, followed by fine, pillory, and imprisonment during the
Queen's pleasure. He was released in. August, 1700. Hi
68
biographer, Chalmers, writes: "The year 1705 was a year of
disquiet to De Foe, not so much from the oppressions of State as
from the persecutions of party. When his business of whatever
nature led him to Exeter and other western towns in August,
September, and October, 1705, a project was formed to send him
as a soldier to the army, at a time when footmen were taken
from the coaches as recruits When some of the
Western justices, of more zeal of party than sense of duty, heard
from his opponents of De Foe's journey, they determined to
apprehend him as a vagabond In his absence
real suits were commenced against him for fictitious debts, &c."
In his " Keview, &c.," of July 17th, 1705, appears an
advertisement with reference to these suits : " Whereas of meer
Malice, and with Design, among several other Mischiefs, to
Load the Author of this with Entangling Suits, and Excess of
Charges, several Actions have been Entred and Suits Com-
menced, some on Account of Trifles not worth naming, some for
Debts after they are fairly Paid and Discharged, and some in
Names of persons unknown to and unconcerned with the
Author, who is made Defendant, &c if any real
Debt can be made appear, for which such Actions are Entred
he promises either to pay, or voluntarily to go to Prison till he
can Pay them."
A variety of motives probably actuated De Foe in undertaking
his journey westward, where, as he writes, " he suffered danger
through the proceedings of foolish justices." His own business,
that of a tile-manufacturer, might have led him in that direction
in quest of suitable clay for his wares ; moreover, he had the
inducement of visiting his two daughters living in Wimborne,
one Henrietta, the wife of John Boston, officer of Excise, the
other Hannah, unmarried ; both of whom now lie buried in the
Minster.
But probably his chief reason for undertaking his 1 , 1 00 miles'
ride was the acceptance of a commission from his friend Harloy
to visit the small and numerous Western Boroughs, in order to
promote the election of Ministerial parliamentary candidates.
69
It might be mentioned that the borough then returned four
members, and therefore was well worth the attention of De Foe>
supposing politics to have been the object of his visit.
However, on July 26th, 1705, occurs a series of entries in the
Weymouth Eecords, containing the examinations of witnesses
seeking to establish against De Foe and others a charge of
plotting against the Government.
In his " Review," August 25th, 1705, he explains the occur-
rence thus : That the Author of this Paper with but one Friend,
and his Friend's Servants, being in the Western Counties of
England, on a journey about his Lawful Occasions, met with
several Unmanlike and Unreasonable Insults upon the Road ;
That at Weymouth his letters being delivered to a wrong Person,
by Mistake, were showed about the Town. That a Friend
having Wrote in one of them, as a Piece of News, and too true,
That a certain Person had the Impudence to say in Defence of
the High Churchman, That the Queen had broke her Coronation
Oath, and the like The Wise Mayor of the Town Examines all
the People he found had Convers'd with him, and officiously
carries them to Dorchester, before the Judges, the Assizes being
at that Place
It will be found that the wrong delivery of the letters was
caused by confusing Capt. James Turner with Capt. Turner, and
their misinterpretation can in some degree be accounted for by
the fact that they were written in such ambiguous terms, and
contained such queer expressions that not even the schoolmaster
or the dissenting minister could make head or tail of them. The
times being ticklish, and things in a state of transition, the
Mayor, whom De Foe denounces as a Jacobite, thought it advis-
able to bring the matter before the higher authorities, then
fortunately sitting at Dorchester, and thus remove from himself
the responsibility of deciding so important a case. He probably
also had heard of De Foe's escapades, and regarded him as a
suspected person. The Mayor in question was Mr. Edward
Tucker, a person of position, who, in 1702, was one of the
members for the Borough of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis,
70
and subsequent to 1705 served the office of chief magistrate on
several occasions.
As the evidence of the various witnesses contains here and
there passages illustrative of the habits and manners of the time,
which would be injured by condensation, I will reproduce them
in the main in full. The first witness is " James Turner, of the
borough and town of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis (com.
mander of ye Diligence privateir), who, being examined, on his
oath saith (vizt.) : That on Munday the Twenty-third day of this
Inst. July he the dep'ent had delivered him by Mrs. Dearinge
ye wife of Edward Dearing postmaster of this place One packett
of letters under a Cover which contained thre inclosed single
Letters. The Direction on ye Cover was to Capt. Turner to be
left at Mr. Fenner's a minister in "Waymouth, and ffrancked by
letters thus (S. Barker). That in ye Cover was writt some Lines
he this Dep'ent Cannot Remember. But ye Cover and ye Three
Letters inclosed were all Delivered to this Dep'ent ye cover being
open and ye inclosed letters broken open. In ye one of ye
Letters Inclosed, Dated from Norwich, part of a paragraph was in
these words, ye Queen hath Broken her Coronation oath; ye rest
of ye Letters were filled up and Intermixed in sundry hands,
within Lines, &c. ; Termes he allowed no sense, or knew not
what to make of it. That all that was mentioned of Turner's
name was (my service to Capt. Turner). That haveinge shewed
ye said Leters to several he was sent to on Tuesday last by Mr.
Richard Arnold, the keeper (of) ye Bear Inn in Waymouth and
went with the said Arnold to ye said Inn and Delivered the said
letters unto a Gentm. who was a stranger to him ; this dep'ent
then in company with ye said Fenner (an Independent Minister
in this place) called as this Dep'ent hath bin Informed Mr.
Daniell Dufoe which said Daniell Dufoe's name was mentioned
very frequent in ye severall Letters, who paid him, this D'pent, 6d-
for postidge of a former Letter Directed as aforesaid. That Mr.
Fenner joaked this Dep'ent about ye Letters and said it came
from some of his wenches, or to that effect. That on Saturday
last he had also a Letter Directed as ye former, but not francked
71
and in ye said Letter writt " they would contrive to
get ye next ffrancked, which Letter he Looked on
as a Trick as also they and therefore Did not give any infomiac'.
Altho' in ye and first Letter was writt " Let them be burned and
poxed wee will manage them well enough." That he also
Delivered this Letter to ye Gentleman Called as he was informed
Mr. Dan. Dufoe in p'sence of Mr. Fenner. That soone after he
had delivered ye Letters, one Mr. Jonathan Edwards of this
place came alone into ye Eoome while ye Letters he this D'pint
had Delivered (were) lyinge then on ye Table. The contents of
ye severall Letters, they being so soone Required of him, he
cannott more fully Eemember, but only that in one of ye Letters
was writt "the Mayor of Norwich had taken some person up or
put him to trouble."
It will further on be seen that Captain James Turner had em-
ployed the schoolmaster to decypher the letters for him.
James Russell deposes to much the same effect, and " consider-
ing that one of the letters contained treasonable words, advised
Captain Turner it was not safe to keep such Letters about him or
words to that effect."
Eichard Arnold, Inholder, " on his oath saith, that on Tuesday
last two Gentn., who was strangers to this Dep't, one of which
went by ye name of Capt. Turner, in company of Mr. Fenner,
a minister of this place, sent this Dep't to call Capt. James
Turner of this place to them at ye Beare Inn in Melcombe, and
to bring with him ye Letters he had directed to one Capt.
Turner to be left at Mr. Fenner' s, a minister. That accordingly
Capt. James Turner came with this Dep't and Delivered ye
Letters to one of ye Gent'n, he thinks to that which went by ye
name of Capt. Turner, but what ye contents of ye letters were
he knoweth not."
Peter Johnson, of the B. and T., schoolmaster, maketh oath :
"That Saturday ye 21st inst. he was desired by Capt. James
Turner of this place to Eead a Letter for him, which letter
was Directed for Capt. Turner to be left at Mr. Fenner's,
a minister in Weymouth. Ye said Letter was Dated Thursday
72
night nine a Clock, and had such Expressions in it (viz.) para-
graph by paragraph, ye word Marshall, there will be ye Devill
to pay for it, I advise you not to ride in ye heat of ye day ; I
will endeavour to get ye next Letter f rancked ; give my service to
Capt. Turner, and I wish you well to "VVeymouth ; what places
else you have to go to I will direct to ye post house. That ye
Letter was writt in severall hands and intermixed with such
Dark Expressions he could not make sence of it."
"John Fenner, of this place, Gent'n, maketh oath that on
Saturday last Capt. James Turner of this place sent this Dep't
a Letter Directed to Cap. Turner, &c., which Letter he this
Dep't Eead. Ye contents were of such uncommon and mixed
Expressions this Dep't Remembers little thereof, and Lookinge
on it as some Trick took little notice thereof. That on Tuesday
last Mr. Daniell Duf oe and one that went by ye name of Capt.
Turner (being at ye Beare Inn in Melcombe, Capt. James Turner
being sent for by Capt. Turner), Delivered ye Letter that Dep't
saw and some other Letters, ye contents whereof this Dep't saw
not. But Mr. Duf oe said he cared not who saw them or if they
were set up at ye Market Cross, or words to that effect."
" Phillip Taylor jun. of this place, M'ch't, deposed to having
seen the letters and amongst other matters mentioned this para-
graph : ''that one of ye Earle of Dysart's party did say that
ye Queen had broken her Coronation Oath, or something to that
effect."
The next entry is the Summons to appear at Dorchester of
course, a strictly ex parte proceeding.
Dorset Ss. Whereas, by Examination taken upon Oath
before the Mayor of W. and M.E. it appears to me that Thomas
Tenner, Minister, Captain James Turner, Mr. Daniel Dufoe,
Captain Turner and Mr. Jonathan Edwards of W. and M.E. are
persons that have Corresponded with sevsrall disafected persons
to the Government and have received Letters of Trayterous
designs against her Majesty. THESE are therefore in her
Maj 'tie's name to command you and every of you to bring before
me on Saturday the Twenty Eight day of this Instant July, by
73
Eight of the Clock in the morning at my Lodging in Dorchester
the said persons, to answer such matters as shall be objected
against them on her Maj 'tie's behalf. Given under my hand and
seal the vj th (? 26th) day of July, Anno D'ni 1705.
(L. S.)
Eo. PRICE.
This was addressed " to the Mayor, Baylliffs, Constables and
other Officers of W. and M.E. and every of them."
The Eev. Canon Bingham very kindly, at my request, searched
carefully the orders and also the minutes of the Dorset County
Sessions for 1705, but was unable to find any entry referring to
Dan. De Foe.
We are, therefore, compelled to accept what De Foe himself
says was the result of his interview with Eo Price at Dorchester.
It is as follows, being the continuation of a previous quotation,
" where the Impertinence being discovered, the Mayor was sent
back, the Gentlemen Dismiss' d, and the Wise Magistrate thought
it his Duty to send up a letter to the Court to inform her
Majesty's Secretaries of State what an Officious B was
trusted with the Government of that Corporation."
To the news of this affair De Foe attributes his further
persecution at Exeter, Bideford, Crediton, &c., where also
"foolish justices " chanced to be in the ascendant.
On the same date (Aug. 25) his "Eeview" contains the following
uncomplimentary passages, referring to the same affair, " Peace-
making being therefore such a dangerous Thing in this Age, I
advise all People to have a Care how they meddle with it :
Memento Mori, Gentlemen: whoever attempts to persuade the
High Church to Peace let him please to accept the following
Cautions.
1 . Let him not come near the Town of Weymouth, in Dorset-
shire, lest the Worshipful Mr. Mayor cry out, A Presbyterian
Plot : and not daring to meddle with him Personally shall put
all his Hearsays, Supposes, and Drunckeii Evidences together
and carry all the Honest People he can find that Converse with
to Dorchester before a Judge, where accusing the Peace-
74
maker of a Phanatick Plot, and a Bloody Design to perswade
Folks to a Peaceable Rebellion, he oomes Home with a Flea in
his Ear, much about as wise as he went. ... Of these,
whether Mayors, Country Justices, F s, or Exeter Aldermen ;
I say, as the Text in another case, " WJiat means the Heating of
such kind of Cattel, and the Reply will hold, they are reserved
for a sacrifice A wise man ought to Sacrifice them all to his
Peace, that is, not concern himself at any thing they say or do ;
but looking on them as a sort of despicable, or as they say in
that Country Madd Men, pass on to the Great Work before him,
without disturbing himself about them."
Here I ought properly to conclude this article, but as I
happened to light upon a couple of entries in the " Reviews,"
which, though not very pointed, are truly local (having appeared
July 28th, 1705), I will here reproduce them ; my excuse being
this, they were thought worthy of publication by De Foe.
" To tell us of the Danger of the Church of England, from a
Protestant Queen ; a Queen ever Professing, ever Practising,
ever Piously Adhering to the Church of England's Principles,
has so much contradiction in it, is so Rude and Absurd, that it
really exposes our own Party to the Ridicule and Contempt of
the meanest People in the Nation. And I'll tell you a ahort
Story, just happening upon the Spot on the occasion of Talking
of this very Head. Writing this in the House of a Friend,
whether (sic] High Church Malice, had obliged the Author to
Enter into some debate about the Government and the like, there
happened to be, another Fool beside your humble servant, I mean an
Idiot, who hearing the Discourse, ask'd presently If the Queen
was Turned Papist ? Why so, Jack, says his Master ? Because
that Ugly Book (?) says he, tells you she is Weaned from the Church',
No, Jack, says his Master, the Queen is a good Churchwoman ; Why
then, says Jack, that man must be ' Fool to think the Queen should
pull down her Church ; for then she must Tumble Down with it'*
Not so bad for an idiot !
ome County Antiquary might possibly be able to identify the
75
persons obscurely and it must be confessed uncharitably alluded
to in the following passage.
" This is like a certain Gentleman's pretending to write gratis
merely for the good of that Church, and to receive no Gratuity,
&c., on this account ; and a certain Clergyman near the County
of Dorset, who own'd to have Collected neer to 100 among the
High Church. Gentry, to make him a present for his good service,
since the Author (the gentleman) must be a Lyar or the Parson
a Thief ; for if tfre Author has not receiv'd it, the Parson has
Cheated him of it ; and if he has, his former Allegation must be
false."
That Queen Ann was strongly suspected of harbouring designs
antagonistic to the C&urch is shown by the following quotation
from the "Keview" of Aug. 18th, 1705.
"The Queen's Health, says an Honest Gentleman at his Table
to some of his friends ; D n these Presbyterian Healths says
the Person Drank to ; I'll Drink none of them, Here's a Health
to the Church of England."
It would be superfluous to enlarge on the points of this
narrative. De Foe seems to have met the fate of all sincere
reformers. I will only add that the capricious use of capitals
and italics is not due to me, but to the several authors. The
spelling also is somewhat archaic here and there.
By EDWIN LEES, Esq., F.L.S., F.G.S.
j]OW, as to the common Cherry Tree (Prunm cerasus, or
Cerasus aviumj that you inquire about. It is at present
abundant in many of the upland woods both of Wor-
cestershire and Herefordshire, so that an observer might well
consider it as indigenous, and Selby says "it is allowed to be
indigenous in many parts of continental Europe, and considered
also by many to be so in England, as well as in Scotland." But
then Pliny tells us that the Cherry was first brought to Home by
Lucullus, from Pontus in Asia, and after the Mithridatic War a
Cherry Tree laden with fruit was borne in procession at the
triumph of Lucullus. Pliny further says, " In less than one
hundred and twenty years after the conquest of Pontus, other
lands had Cherries, even as far as Britain." Thus it would
appear that the Romans introduced the Cherry to Britain, and
certainly it is spread about by birds very much in the present
day. That birds do carry the stones about is clear, as I have
noticed quite a group of young Cherry Trees on the top of the
battlements of Newland Church in the Forest of Dean, Glouces-
tershire . The author of " The Woodland Companion," says the
Cherry is " often found within the hollow trunks of old willows,
into which the stones have been dropt by birds."
I never noticed any perfected fruit on the wild Cherry in the
Midland counties, but in Cornwall a wild variety produces a
77
small black fruit, which is called "Mazzards," and the country
people bring these to market for sale. Selby and Withering
say that the wild Cherry bears the name of " Gean Tree," but I
never heard this name applied myself.
I cannot say much as to any old and remarkable Cherry Trees,
but in my "Malvern Botany" I have mentioned " a very large
and tall tree with drooping branches," on the edge of a
wood at the bottom of Purlieu-lane. This was eight feet in cir-
cumference. Mrs. Hey, the author of " Sylvan Musings,"
alludes to ''remains of aged Cherry Trees still visible in some of
the old Abbey Gardens," but does not give their dimensions.
She also says, " There are some very fine specimens of the Wild
Cherry in the neighbourhood of our English lakes, especially
near Eydal Water ; one or two of which measure seven or eight
feet in circumference near the ground, and rise to a proportion-
able height." I have not seen or read of any Cherry Tree that
equals the dimensions of the monster at Compton, which, there-
fore, deserves record. In the Cherry Orchards of Worcestershire
are some old nearly worn-out trees, but none of these exceed
eight feet in girth.
Selby, in his " British Forest Trees," says, " To the specimens
mentioned by Loudon, the largest of which seem to average
about nine feet in circumference, we may add several trees at
Dunston Hill, near Newcastle-on-Tyne, the seat of Ralph Carr,
Esq., one of these growing upon the lawn measures seven feet
in circumference at two feet from the ground, and three others
in a small plantation, are respectively five feet six inches, five
feet three inches, and four feet eleven inches in circumference,
with a height of upwards of fifty feet." Selby also states that
"the Gean, or Wild Cherry, frequently attains a height of from
60 to 70 feet in the course of fifty or sixty years, with a trunk of
proportionate size, and large enough for all general purposes ;
in this state its wood is of great value, being of a firm, strong
texture, red-coloured, close-grained, easily worked, and suscep-
tible of a fine polish." The smooth rind of the Cherry Tree is
said formerly to have supplied a tablet for lovers to make notes
78
of admiration upon, intended to be read by their sweethearts
" Thy words on cherry bark I'll take,
And that red skin rny table-book will make."
At present, in England, in the woods where the wild Cherry
Tree grows, it adds to the beauty of the vernal woods by its
clusters of white flowers, which are very beautiful, appearing as
they do with the migratory birds a poet says :
" Better far
Than boughs with fruitage crown' d, the dazzling wreaths,
Which deck yon wilding Cherry, white as snow,
Save where a faint soft blush, all but invisible,
Steals o'er the whiteness."
to <rf
(PEEPAEATOEY NOTES.)
By Professor J. BUCKMAN, F.G.S., F.L.S., &c.
]HE following paper is the result of the offer of a Prize
of Books to the amount of 2 guineas by the Dorset
Natural History and Antiquarian Field Club to the
Sherborne School, for the best description of the species of the
genus Astarte to be met with in the Inferior Oolite of Sherborne
and its neighbourhood.
The terms were, that the species should be collected and
described by the author and the specimens in illustration be
produced before our Society.
Accordingly at the at Sherborne on the 12th December, 1877,
the following paper was presented by my son, and somewhere
about 50 specimens were shown by way of illustration and
explanation of the text.
From the paper and specimens we learn that the author
had succeeded in making out 8 species which had been previously
described, and also in naming as many as 9 species that he could
not find out had been noticed by Authors. To this list I have
added another species since the paper was sent in.
These results may be considered as highly interesting when we
consider not only the smallness of the area under review but the
usual thinness of the bed from which most of them were
obtained.
In fact the greater part of the collection was got from the rich
80
quarry at Bradford Abbas ; at the same time it must be noted
that some two or three forms occur at Sherborne which we have
failed to find in our own quarry.
I may say with regard to the paper that the descriptions are
very short, but still they are as detailed as one might expect
from a first attempt. When, as I hope, a monograph may appear
at no distant date describing the species of the whole of the
oolitic rocks, more ample descriptions may be desirable.
Our Club, it may here be stated, is so satisfied with the results
of this their first prize that they offer another on the like terms
for descriptions of the genus Trigonia from the same area.
In doing this the members anxiously hope that they are
encouraging the study of Natural History in a very important
School, and they note with the most sincere pleasure that collec-
tions to forward these studies are gradually being got together at
the King's School, and they ardently hope that the time is not far
distant when the school will possess a highly valuable and teach-
ing collection of natural objects lodged in a suitable museum.
THE EDITOE.
77/E INFERIOR OOLITE OF THE SHERBORNE DISTRICT.
By S. S. BUG KM AN, Esq.
]HE genus Astarte is thus described by Dr. Woodward :
" Shell sub-orbicular, compressed, thick, smooth, or
concentrically furrowed ; lunule impressed ; ligament
external ; epidermis dark ; hinge teeth 2:2, the anterior tooth of
the right valve large and thick ; anterior pedal scar distinct ;
pallial line simple."*
There are several recent species but the fossil ones are far
more abundant, numbering according to D'Orbigny as many as
200 species.
According to Professor Morris's catalogue, they commenced in
the Permian formation, but the greater mass of them is found in
the Secondary and Tertiary rocks. . In the secondary rocks we
find according to Morris's Catalogue :
10. Chalk species.
18. Upper Oolite species.
8. Inferior Oolite species.
* Manual of Mollusca, page 299.
82
In the district under review, viz. : that within a few miles of
Sherborne, I have succeeded in obtaining as many as 18 Species,
which it is the object of this paper to describe.
Our species resolve themselves into two natural groups, in the
first of which the shell is more or less smooth and possesses some-
what fine linos of growth.
The second division has prominent ribs or ridges which present
a somewhat ribbed appearance.
GEOUP I.
Shell more or less smooth
1. Asiarte obliqua (Desh.)
2. ,, planata (Sow.)
3. Mamellii (S.S.B.)
4. expansa (S.S.B.)
5. globata (S.S.B.)
6. tvmida (S.S.B.)
7. pukJim (S.S.B.)
8. rlwmboidalis (Phill.)
GEOUP II.
Sliell with distinct ribs or ridges.
9. Astcrte excavata (Sow.)
10. elongata (S.S.B.)
11. ,, elegans (Sow.)
12. ,, multicostata (S.S.B.)
13. spissa (S.S.B.)
14. mlquadrata (S.S.B.)
15. ,, depressa (Lycett.)
16. ,, (op is} trigonal is (Sow.)
17. ,, ,, lunulata Sow.
18. ,, angulata (J.B.)
As the specimens have been obtained for the most part from
83
Bradford Abbas and Halfway House it will be well to give the
following
Section of Bradford Abbas (East Hill) quarry.
ft. in.
1. Soil 04
2. White Oolite with irregular cleaveage . . 60,
3. Band of Marl with Astarte . . ..03
4. Hard iron-shot rock with Astarte, Ammon-
ites, Belemnites, etc. . . . . 10
5. Band of brownish stone with Ammonites 6
6. Iron-shot Oolite, a mass of Cephalopoda 1
7. Marl with Astarte trigonalis . . . . 03
8. Bed with Univalves 09
9. Blue centred Oolite 12
10. Keddish sands, commencing the Freestone
system of Ham Hill and the Cotteswolds.
(These latter are from 100ft. to 150ft. in thickness, occasionally
interpolated with bands of Oolitic stones.)*
The following is a description of species :
ASTARTE OBLIQUA, (DESll). FIG. 1.
Cypricardia Lam.
Shell suborbicular, posterior margin very oblique going from
the umbo in quite an oblique direction, upper margin lunulate ;
Lunule spoon-shaped ; shell smooth ; with very indistinct maik-
ings, interior teeth well produced ; Shell one of the thickest of
the series.
It occurs very plentifully at Halfway House and Bradford
Abbas quarries ; most of the specimens have the valves separate,
though sometimes with the two valves in contact. This is perhaps
one of the commonest forms in the district.
Proportions : Length, 30 lines ; breadth, 24 ; depth, 18.
* See proceedings of Dorset Natural History Field Club.
84
ASTARTE PLAXATA, SOW. PL 257, F. 2.
"Spec. Char, transversely obvate gibbose, with small, obtuse,
concentric ridges ; edges crenulated ; lunule concave ; shell thick,"
" The ridges upon the surface are small, obtuse, close together,
and lost near the margin ; the edge is often very broad, flat, and
crossed by sulci, formed of extended crenulations, which are
visible even where the valves are close. The anterior side is
slightly truncated.
This is a plain-looking shell in consequence of the smallness
of the ridges ; it is nearly two inches wide and above one inch-
and-a-half long when full grown.*
This differs from the former in being decidedly gibbose. The
shell is thinner.
Proportions Length, 24 lines ; breadth, 20 ; depth, 5.
Bradford Abbas and Halfway-house, rare.
ASTARTE MANSELLII (NOBIS) FIG. 3.
Shell suborbicular, gibbose, upper margin nearly straight,
lines very fine, and numerous ; lunule very small.
This shell is much like A. obliqua ; it is, however, decidedly
gibbose, and flatter.
Proportions : Length, 22 lines ; breadth, 20 ; depth, 13.
This shell is found rarely at Bradford Abbas, Halfway House,
and Clatcombe.
ASTARTE EXPANSA (XOBIS). FIG. 4.
Shell sub-triangular ; gibbose, upper margin slightly curved ;
very oblique ; lower margin semilunate ; lunule elongate, large ;
lines small, indistinct, and numerous.
This shell has hitherto been confounded with A. excavata, but
it differs from it in being smooth, triangular, and oval, but
without an excavated lunule.
Proportions : Length, 36 lines; breadth, 30; depth, 12.
* Sow, Min, Conch, vol. iii, page 103.
PLATE OF ASTARTE (Smooth).
Fig. Page.
1. Astarte obliqua, Bradford Abbas, Ha 1 * way House, &c. 83
2. ,, planata, Halfway House . . . . . . 84
3. ,, Mansellii, Clatcombe, Halfway Horse, and
Bradford 84
4. ,, expansa, oiy at Bradford . . . . 84
5. globata, Bradford Abbas . . . . . . 85
6. ,, tumida, Bradford Abbas 86
7. ,, pulchra. Bradford Abbas only .. .. ..85
8. ,, rhomboidalis, rarely at Bradford Abbas . . 86
Tig
F WaTWT-i^ IP. Hart/in RaTfl.ni
85
I have only seen a single specimen, which was obtained for me
by Mr. Reynolds, the fossil-collector, from Bradford Abbas.
ASTARTE GLOBATA (NOBIS). FIG. 5.
Shell sub-triangular, very tumid, so that its proportions are
nearly the same every way ; lunule broad, but not deep. Umbo
near the posterior margin. This is a small smooth delicate shell.
Proportions : Length 8 lines, breadth 7, depth 6.
This shell occurs very sparingly at Bradford Abbas.
ASTARTE TUMIDA (tfOBIs). FIG. 6.
Shell sub-triangular, somewhat tumid, but less so than the
former. Umbo in the middle of the shell, forming the apex of
a nearly equilateral triangle, and thus differing from the
former.
It is smaller than the former, but cannot be confounded with
it inasmuch as the A. tumida is rounder and only slightly gibbose.
Proportions : Length, 6 lines ; breadth, 6 ; depth, 4.
This shell is found rarely at Bradford Abbas, in bed 3 of the
section (marl bed).
ASTARTE PULCHRA (NOBIS). FIG. 7.
Shell somewhat triangular, the posterior margin is gibbose,
but less so than A. tumida and more oblique ; upper margin
nearly straight ; lunule small and spoon shaped ; crenulations in
the interior of the shell very well denned.
This is really a very distinct form, and cannot be confounded
86
with the two previous ones. I have only one specimen from
Bradford Abbas quarry, and should not venture to name it
except for its difference from all others that I have examined.
Proportions : Length, 9 lines ; breadth, 8 ; depth, 6.
ASTARTE RHOMBO IDALIS (PHIL). FIG. 8.
Mollusca from Great 0, Morris and Lycett. Tab. 9, fig. 20.
Isocardia rhomboidalis (Phil., Geol., York).
Hippopodium luciense (D'Orb Prod Paleont).
Bajociense (D'Orb Ib. )
" Shell thick, convex, sub-quadrate, or oblong ; umbones
anterior, obtuse ; hinge margin elongated, sub-horizontal, but
slightly arched ; lunule large, elliptical ; inferior margin nearly
straight, parallel to the superior border, and slightly sinuated ;
internal margins of the valves plain, acute ; folds of growth few,
large, and distinct ; concentric striations regular, delicate, and
closely arranged."
" The vertical range of this remarkable species is very con-
siderable ; it occurs in the Inferior Oolite of the Cotteswolds, the
Great Oolite of Minchinhampton, the Coralline Oolite of Malton,
and we have seen fine casts from the Kiuimeridge Clay of Wilts.
The Hippopodium Luciense and H. Bajociense, D'Orb, are
probably identical with this species."*
Very rare in Bradford Abbas quarry. Mr. Lycett's figure
represents a fossil three times the size of our specimen. Mr
Darrel Stephens has found larger specimens, but nothing like
the size of the great Oolite form.
Proportions : Length 7, breadth 9, depth 7 lines.
* Morris and Lycett, Mollusca from Great Oolite, pages 84 and 85.
PLATE OF ASTARTE (Ribbed).
Fig. Page.
9. Astarte excavata, common to all the quarries, young
specimen . . . . . . . . 87
10. ,, elongata, Bradford Abbas and Halfway House 87
11. ,, elegans, at all the quarries, internal view
shewing the crenulations, external with the
ribs 87
12. ,, multicostata, rare at Bradford, found mostly
at Clatcombe . . . . 88
13. ,, spissa, Milborne Port . . . . . . 88
14. ,, subquadrata, Bradford Abbas . . . . 88
15. ,, depressa, Bradford Abbas . . . . . . 89
,, (Opis) trigonalis, Bradford Abbas . . . . 90
16. ,, (Opis) lunulata, Bradford Abbas .. .. 91
17. (Opis) angulata 92
9
87
GEOUP II.
ASTARTE EXCAVATA. FIG 9. (Sow. Min. Couch. Tab 233).
Goldfuss. T. 134. Fig 6.
A. complanata (Eomer T. 6. Fig 28.
" Spec : Char. Obovate, convex, concentrically costated ;
anterior side truncated ; lunule hemispherical, excavated ; car-
tilage enclosed in a sulcus ; margin toothed. "f
Proportions : Length 48, breadth 36, depth 20 lines.
This is the largest species of the genus. Its lines are usually
well defined, and it is perhaps the most abundant of the series.
It is somewhat rare to find two valves together, but this is not
uncommon at Bradford Abbas quarry.
ASTARTE ELONGATA (NOBIS). FIG. 10.
Shell slightly gibbose, anterior margin curved, elongated, and
gradually sloping to a point ; base straight ; lines almost
rectangular and clearly defined ; lunule obovate, and somewhat
deep.
This shell is not unlike the preceding, but differs from it
in its greater length, as the following will show.
Proportions : 40 lines, breadth 30, depth 18.
Somewhat common at Bradford Abbas. It is a very elegantly
shaped shell, but rarely found with both valves together.
ASTARTE ELEGANS. FIG. 11.
Sow : M. C, T. 137. Fig. 3.
Phill: G. T. T. 11. Fig. 41.
Goldfuss: T. 134. Fig. 12.
Spec : Char. Transversely oblong, convex, depressed, with
t Sow, Miii, Conch, page 57, vol. iii.
88
many small (prominent) costse ; lunule cordate ; margin crcnu-
lated within."*
This, as it names implies, is a very neat form. It is "by no
means uncommon, especially at Bradford Abbas. It is reported
from the Cotteswolds and also from Dtindry, in Somerset.
Proportions : Length, 17 ; breadth, 14 ; depth, 10 lines.
ASTAETE MULTICOSTATA (NOBIS). FIG. 12.
Shell sub-triangular, with a rounded base ; posterior margin,
gibbose ; anterior nearly straight ; umbo nearly in the middle of
the shell, thus differing from A elegans, which has it near the
posterior margin ; lines exceedingly numerous, but very dis-
tinct ; more than double the number of the former shell.
Proportions : Length, 21 lines ; breadth, 19 ; depth, 15.
Occurs very rarely at Bradford Abbas, and also at Clatcombe.
ASTAETE SPISSA (ivOBIs). FIG. 13.
Shell sub-triangular ; gibbose, tumid, base rounded, lunule
large for the size of the shell, and heart shaped. Lines numerous,
but distinct, crenulations very sharp.
Proportions : Length, 6 lines ; breadth, 5 ; depth, 4.
This shell occurs somewhat commonly at Milborne Port in the
White Oolite, but I have not found it at Bradford Abbas.
ASTAETE SUBQUADEATA. FIG. 14.
Shell somewhat quadrate, posterior margin nearly straight and
inclined outwards, upper margin incurved, anterior somewhat
truncate, base flattened, lunule very small and narrow, costrc
numerous and distinct.
Proportions : Length, 9 lines ; breadth, 8 ; depth, 5.
* Sow, Min, Conch, vol. ii, page 86.
89
This shell is much like A. lurida in shape, but is smaller and
more delicate. It occurs very rarely at Bradford Abbas quarry.
ASTABTE DEPRESSA. FIG. 15.
Lycett t. ix., fig. 11.
Goldf. t. 134, fig. 14.
" Shell compressed, tranverse, ovately orbicular ; uinbones
median, prominent, obtuse ; lunule elliptical, narrow ; cardinal
margin nearly straight, oblique ; concentric costae convex,
irregular, with fine interstitial concentric striae."*
Proportions : Length, 7 lines ; breadth, 7 ; depth, 5.
This shell occurs somewhat rarely at Bradford Abbas quarry.
GKOUP m.
OPIS.
The remaining three forms have recently been separated from
Astarte under the name of . Opts, but as the fine example of A.
trigonalis of Sowerby is a general fossil at Bradford and else-
where, they are retained under the head of Astarte, placing the
term Opis of Desfrance in parenthesis.
The Opis trigonalis, fig. 16, is a fine handsome shell, having
very boldly crenulated inner margins. It is commonly met with
in the basement beds of the stone above the sands at Bradford,
East Hill Quarry, Anbury Quarry, and at Halfway-house. The
other two species are always smaller, and are far less abundant.
Indeed, the latter has been confounded with the trigonalis
appearing to be a young example of the latter, but it differs in
its very small lunule. f
* Morris and Lycett, Mollupca from Great Oolite, page 85
t Note by Editor.
90
ASTARTE (OPIS) TRIOONALIS. FIG. 16.
Sow. M.C., t. 444.
"Spec. Char. Cordato-triangular, depressed, transversely
sulcated ; beak pointed ; anterior side separated by an angle,
smooth."*
Fig. 16. A. (CpisJ trigonahs Front View.
Fig. 17, A. fOpisj trigonalis. flack View.
Proportions: Length, 24 lines ; breadth, 27; depth, 15.
* Sow, Min, Conch, page 63, vol. v.
91
This shell occurs in the lower bed at Bradford Abbas.
This is one of the most abundant species at Bradford, occurr-
ing towards the base of the I. Oolite rock not far above the
sands. Shells with double valves are uncommon, not so single
valves.
ASTARTE (OPIS) LUNULATA. FIG. 17.
Sow, M.O., t. 232.
"Spec. Char. Ehomboidal, pointed, gibbose transversely
costated; anterior part separated by a projecting serrated keel;
lunule deeply excavated ; beaks involute."*
Proportions: Length, 10 lines; breadth, 9; depth 9.
This shell occurs at Bradford Abbas quarry, but is rare.
Fig. 17, A. (OpisJ
ASTARTE (OPIS) ANGULATA. J. B., F. 18.
Spec. Character ; obliquely triangular, posterior slightly gib-
bose, anterior flattened with a raised ridge at the junction of the
valves, beaks incurved, lunule very small and superficial, whole
shell sharply ribbed.
Proportions : Length, 9 lines ; breadth, 6 lines ; depth, 5 lines.
This shell differs from A. trigonalis in its small lunule, which
is larger and heart-shaped in trigonalis, and from the A,
lunulata, which possesses a lunulate and very deep lunule.
* Sow, Min, Conch, vol. iii., page 55.
92
The A. angulata is much of the same size, as A. lunulata,
both being small species.
Only a single specimen has been found at Bradford Abbas
occurring with the other species.
Fig. 18, A. fOpisJ angulata.
By Professor J. BUCKMAN, F.L.S., F.G.S., &c.
jUEINQ- a visit of my friend, Mr. Edwin Lees, to Brad-
ford Abbas, in one of his rambles to the neighbouring
parish of Compton, he found the cherry tree which
forms the subject of our engraving.
It is growing on the scarp of Babylon Hill, and forms a strik-
ing object in a scene of great interest and beauty. Standing on
the hill side, the valley of the Yeo is at one's feet, and its wind-
ings can be traced from Yeovil far to the north, backed by
Glastonbury Tor and the more distant Mendips.
The tree is situate about two-thirds down the slope of the
steep scarp, its roots probably penetrating into the upper lias
reck, and some notion of its size may be formed from the
following :
ADMEASUREMENT OF CHEERY TREE.
Number of
Measure.
Height in
feet.
Circum-
ference in
feet.
4
10
19 6
Height to the Bifurca-
3
6
21
tion of the branches 12
2
3
15
feet from No. 1 .
1
2
21
This is, probably, the largest tree of the kind in England. It
94
is now standing alone, but we are informed that some few years
since there was another cherry tree in its vicinity reported to be
somewhat larger than this extraordinary example.
During the hurricane of the 20th of November, 1877, a large
limb was blown off, hence the scar which is shown on the front
of our drawing.
In April of this year (1878) it was in full flower, and now in
June it promises an abundance of fruit.
The general features and characteristics of the species are so
well described by Mr. Lees that we need say little upon this
subject, but, as there seems to be some question as to whether
the "wild cherry" be a true native or not, we cannot help think-
ing that a tree of such a grand size must at least have been
where it is long before the cultivated sorts were introduced to
this country.
Mr. Selby, speaking of the size to which the wild cherry tree
attains, gives seven feet circumference as a large tree. Evelyn
speaks of some fine trees at Whixly, near Netherby. Our
tree so far exceeds all that we have heard that we fancy we are
justified in concluding it to be one of the largest, if not the
largest, tree of its kind in Great Britain.
We cannot forbear remarking that the tree is one of the most
beautiful of the forest denizens, and for this alone it is worth
cultivation, but we have by us some beautiful objects turned
from cherry that we wish the wood was more plentiful. It is
quite as rich as tulip wood, of a fine grain, and takes a good
polish. We, therefore, quite agree with the following remarks
from the pen of our late kind friend and some time fellow-
worker, P. J. Selby, Esq. :
" Our attention has been directed to this tree for some years
past, in consequence of certain facts that came to our knowledge
respecting the durability of its wood when exposed to the alterna-
tion of moisture and dryness ; and, after having viewed it in its
respective bearings, viz., that of a tree calculated to produce
95
timber of considerable magnitude and excellent quality; as
one well adapted to plant as a nurse or intermediate occupant in
mixed plantations, and where the oak is intended to remain as
the ultimate crop ; and also as an underwood applicable to various
minor purposes; we have no hesitation in recommending it
strongly to the attention of the planter, feeling assured he will
find it much better calculated to repay him for its occupancy in
all its stages than several other trees which, unfortunately, are
now introduced in mixed plantations, such as the beech, wych
elm, or even the ash, except where the latter is intended to form
the principal and ultimate crop of timber. In a soil of tolerable
quality, provided it be not too wet, the Gean frequently attains
a height of from sixty to seventy feet in the course of fifty
or sixty years, with a trunk of proportionate size, and large
enough for all general purposes. In this state its wood is of
great value, being of a strong, firm texture, red colour, close
grained, easily worked, and susceptible of a fine polish. These
qualities render it a desirable material to the cabinet maker,
and the furniture made of it is little, if at all, inferior, both in
respect of beauty and durability, to that of the plainer mahogany.
In this country, where the wood just mentioned has in a great
measure superseded all other kinds in our articles of furniture,
and where the cherry tree has never been cultivated to any
extent as a timber tree, it" is rare to meet with specimens of
furniture made of its wood ; but in France and other parts of
the Continent, where it abounds, it is extensively used for this
and various other purposes, and is eagerly purchased by the
cabinet-maker, the turner, and the musical instrument maker.
Its value however is not restricted to the uses made of it by
those artisans; it is also applicable to out-of-door uses, and
is only inferior to the best oak, or its rival the larch. This
durability or power of resisting decay under such circumstances
renders it valuable even at a young age, or as soon as it is large
enough to make posts, railings, &c."*
Considering how easily the cherry tree may be grown, and its
* Selby's History of British Forest Trees, p. 60.
96
good qualities, it would seem deserving of attention as a forest
tree whether it be desired for pleasure or profit, and we therefore
hope that its cultivation may ere long be greatly extended.
Ey Professor J. EUCKMAN, F.L.S., F.G.S., &c.
|LTHOUGH the study of antiquities has for centuries
continued to be a favourite pursuit, and every object
which could illustrate the history and pursuits of various
peoples have been scrutinised with the greatest care, yet it is
interesting to note that worked flints by the hundred have been
scattered about our fields, and yet it is but comparatively recently
that they have been recognised as such ; nay, on the contrary,
forms, many of which are now recognised as being very
elaborately worked, were attributed to accident, or if admitted
to have been fashioned by the hand of man, it was thought to be
without any adequate object or purpose.
Th3 finding of flint implements at Abbeville, in the valley of
the Sornme, by M. Boucher de Perthes during his Geological
investigations, would seem to have connected these objects with
Geological researches ; hence we find that in 1860, and again in
1862, Mr. John Evans, F.S.A., F.G.S., read papers before the
Society of Antiquaries, tending to show that worked flints were
part of the history of the newer tertiary gravels, and that they
were found in deposits with the remains of different extinct
mammals, such as the JSlepha* primigenius, os primigenius,
Rhinoceras tichorinus, Felis spelcea, Cervus magaceros, and others.
However, it is now found, that so far from worked flints
98
belonging only to drift deposits, they are found everywhere, and
are now recognised as curious and interesting archaic objects.
Thus some twenty years ago, in opening Celtic Barrows in
Gloucestershire, we found flint flakes indubitably worked by
man's hands ; so, again, in extra mural burial grounds around
Cirencester, the Bornan Corinium, flakes of a like kind were not
uncommon, while the Saxon graves at Fairf ord are not free from
worked flints.
During some geological examinations at Lyme Eegis we found
what we considered a manufactory of flint implements upon the
top of a high cliff overlooking the sea. Subsequently we have
found hand-fashioned articles, both in flint and in chert, on the
Island of Portland ; and the wide open Fordington Fields at
Dorchester yield implements of various forms, which, indeed,
are to be met with abundantly in the flint deposits, which remain
from the degradation of the upper chalk in different parts of
Dorsetshire.
These facts show that with the eye once educated a wide range
of observation may be before us, and objects of interest may
everywhere be found in places where they were not suspected
to exist.
However, we do not intend to describe the objects of this class
of the county at large, but would rather beg our members each
to examine his own district, while we proceed to notice a series
of worked flints found for the most part in our own parish ; nay,
not only so, but principally on our own farm.
The village of Bradford Abbas lies in a valley of depression,
faults having brought down the Fuller's earth below the level of
the Inferior oolite sands. Our farm is situate on an eminence of
the Inferior oolite rock, with a prospect towards the south^
bounded by the chalk range of Dorset hills. Through the valley
below us runs the River Yeo. In the valley will be found
pebble drifts, both at Bradford and its associated tithing of
Clifton Maybank.
Now, we have not yet found any flint implements in these
99
drifts, probably from want of diligent search ; but on the oolitic
slopes of our farm we find worked flints and flint cores in
abundance, which were doubtless fashioned from flints brought
up from the valley at a distance of about a mile and a half there-
from.
Our drawings have been taken from specimens chosen from
hundreds of examples, and may therefore be considered as
representative examples, which we shall at once describe under
the following heads :
1. Arrow Heads.
2. Bird Bolts.
3. Thumb Scrapers.
4. Portions of Celts.
1. AEEOW HEADS.
These are of various forms ; figures 1 and 2 represent what are
called leaf arrow heads, both from their thinness (see sections 1
and 2a). They are thin and delicately wrought, and it will be
seen that they are indented on their sides probably with the view
of tying them on to the shaft of the arrow. Fig 5 is also a broad
leafed arrow head, but without being indented.
Figs 3 and 4 represent the narrow or lanceolate shaped leaf
arrow heads ; they are, if possible, more delicately formed than
those previously described The section 3a will show their
thickness.
Nos. 6, 7, and 8 are forms of arrow heads of a commoner
description. 6 is remarkable for the indentation.
Fig 12 and 13 are good examples of the fluked arrow heads.
The stem enabled them to be fixed to the shaft, while the flukes
kept the arrow rankling in the larger bird, or the smaller animal,
until they were subdued.
These are not common. No. 12 was found at Bradford, bu
100
No. 13 was obtained from an adjoining village, Barwick, which
is in Somersetshire.
The examples here figured are but small, and yet we have seen
still smaller ones. Fig 1 1 is a larger and longer form from India,
and we have seen still larger. These, in all probability, were
employed against larger game.
2. BIED BOLTS.
We are constantly picking up flints of the shapes shown in figs
9 and 10. They are usually rounded, instead of pointed at the
apex, and have the indentation apparently for fixing them to a
shaft. These, it is thought, may have been used as bolts to
knock over a bird, instead of transfixing it, as the former would
have done.
These are comparatively common ; they were occasionally made
in a hurry without any great effort. Almost any little flint could
be fashioned for their purpose in a short period.
These differ from the scrapers to be presently described, in
that the latter are flat on one side, and much more elaborately
worked or toothed at the upper extremity.
3. THUMB SCEAPEES.
These, after the French, were named " Grattoir " an instru-
ment to scrape with, but we agree with the late Albert Way, Esq.,
so long the esteemed Secretary of the Archaeological Institute, in
considering our English name of thumb scraper as more signifi-
cant.
These have usually a more or less squared off base with one
side smooth and flat, which we deem the under side ; while
the upper side is rounded off, and the apex on that side
Sectic'ru ofroundeci edge
B
F Wilsr Lidi.18 Jrkran Jarla,
101
is very carefully worked, so as to preserve the combination of a
more or less rounded contour with a fine toothed margin, admira-
bly adapted to their supposed use of scraping and preparing
skins for the various purposes for which these latter were
employed.
Nos. 14, 15, 16, and 18 afford examples of the shorter and
smaller thumb scrapers. These are sometimes much larger ; we
have met with examples at Bradford of broad specimens as much
as three inches across.
No 17 is an example of a long scraper, of which we have
several. These may have been used with the thumb, but
probably they were not infrequently attached to sticks. These
also vary in size, but in most of them the teeth at the apex have
been wrought with considerable care, and how it could ever have
been supposed that this was accidental surpasses belief, as none
but rats could have gnawed them so evenly, and we cannot
suspect that these animals could so serve hard flints.
4. PORTIONS OF CELTS.
We once saw a series of three perfect Celts which were
exhumed from the diggings for drainage at the village of Crud-
well, Wilts. These had a fine outline, and were finely polished
at the sides, with a sharp pointed edge at the apex.
Now of this shaped implement, the true Celt of the ancient
Britons, we have met with no perfect example in Dorsetshire ;
but, strange to say, we have several specimens of portions of
them. These were evidently parts of old Celts, and had proba-
bly been used when broken to take off flakes for other small
tools, and hence figs. 19 and 20 now represent flint cores, made
from what were formerly polished Celts. The sections of figs.
19 and 20 are polished quite smooth, and their apices present
sharp cutting edges.
102
Besides the objects now described, several others have been
met with in the County, such as rounded flints or flint balls ;
these have been called Sling Stones, but we incline to the belief
that instead of having been used for either the sling or balista
they were in reality the hammers which were employed to strike
off flakes in fashioning flints. The ovate flints and hard stones
were undoubtedly used for this purpose. These forms both
occur somewhat plentifully at Jordan Hill, near Weymouth.
Thin flakes, used as Knives, or notched for Saws, of various
sizes are found everywhere over the farm ; some flints squared
up, as though for different tools, are likewise common.
It should be remarked that over the farm we not unfrequently
meet with forms squared up like roughly formed gun flints.
These have at one end the flat one the evidence of recent
fracture. These may be accounted for from the fact communi-
cated to us by an old gentleman of the parish, who assured us
that when he was out shooting, if any accident occurred to his
gun flint, he had often picked up a flint in the field (perhaps an
archaic implement), broken off the end, and fitted it on the spot.
This brings down the use of flints to our own time.
It is not likely that gun flints will be again used, and flint
tools and weapons have passed away in this country, though not
in different parts of the world. Fig. 1 1 represents an arrow-
head brought from India, in some parts of which they are still
used as of old, and we have in our possession Celts from both
India and Australia. In the latter, and in new Zealand, these
implements, we are told, are still in use to fashion the dug-out
boats.
We have now, perhaps, said enough to convince our members
that many of these articles point to a time when metals were
scarcely, if at all, in use ; at the same time we are not to suppose
that they were abandoned when metals began to be employed.
In all probability we have still much to learn about these
objects, and it has been on this account that our pockets for
103
some years have been well stored with flint chips, flakes, arrow-
heads, &c. ; and in advising our members to pick up all the
flints that give the remotest idea of having been worked, we feel
sure of having introduced some of you to a source of surprise
and pleasure which will be not unwelcome.
| HE Cromlech at Portishain (commonly called Possum)
would seem to deserve more than the passing notice of
a visit which was made by the Club on June 20, 1876.
Therefore, as Miss Colfox has so kindly made drawings of
this Cromlech, together with one by way of comparison at
Morbihan, in Brittany, in presenting our readers with copies of
these we propose to add a few notes upon these structures.
The Cromlech at Portisham, which rejoices in the name of the
Hellstone, is situate upon an eminence to the north of the
village, the foot of the hill being approached along the banks of
a rivulet which runs through and over a picturesque mass of
boulder stones, which, as they occur on the hills around the
Cromlech in question and another in its vicinity, may doubtless
have been derived from the heights above, having formerly
belonged to that sandy deposit of the tertiary formation which
rested on the chalk, and is perhaps of the same age as the grey
wethers of Wiltshire, of which stones the ancient monument
known as Avebury circles, and also some of the huge masses of
Stonehenge, are formed.
It is likely then that the Cromlechs were formed from stones
found handy for their purpose, and more especially when these
occurred in commanding situations.
Much speculation has been hazarded as to the use and object
of the Cromlech ; but all experience confirms the view that they
were cementaries built to contain the remains, sometimes of a
single individual, and at others of a whole family ; thus Mr'
Lukis in his " Observations of the Primaeval Antiquities of the
i CROMLECH. PORTISHAM, DORSET.
2 CROMLECH. MOREIHAN, ERITTANY.
105
Channel Islands " has the following remarks :
" THE CROMLECHS. After the investigation of about twenty
of these chambers of the dead, and examining their contents,
the result has been convincing aad satisfactory as to their
original use, and they can no longer be considered otherwise
than as ancient catacombs, erected by a remote people." *
It is interesting to note that the Cromlechs in the Channel
Islands are evidently the same in kind, and were doubtless built
by the same race of people to whom the Hellstone and the other
Cromlechs of the county of Dorset are referred.
If we go further south we find in Brittany a repetition of the
same kind of remains. Our engraving No. 2 is from a drawing
kindly made by Miss Colfox, and has been described as
follows :
"This Cromlech consists of a large rough stone placed hori-
zontally on nine upright stones. It is from one of the fifty Isles
of the Morbihan Brittany, and others abound in the neighbour-
hood, several being still extant on this same little ' He aux
Moines,' where there is also a circle of stones of considerable
size. It is, like the Hellstone, placed on a high ridge commanding
a fine view of the sea." f
The connection of our monument with the one figured from
the Morbihan seems certain, and no less so with the like
structures in the Channel Islands.
These facts seem all the more probable from the following
remarks, also copied from Mr. Lukis's paper, before referred
to:
" The grave, the churchyard, the dark cavern, and the lonoly
cairn, still in our day continue to fill the mind of the ignorant
with timid fears or apprehensions of evil. The 'heaped-up
* The Archaeological Journal, Vol. 1, p. 146, 1845.
t Note by Mrs. Colfox, who so obligingly showed a fine collection of
drawings of these structures on the visit of the Club to Bridport.
106
earth ' and turf, which once lay over the covering stone of the
Cromlech, having been long ago removed or levelled by time,
these ancient depositaries of the dead have become exposed and
left in detached portions, standing like giant spectres deprived of
those accessories which completed their original form. Neglected
throughout many generations, their once venerated site and
hallowed use forgotten, their very name lost or doubtfully
preserved amid the changes which the soil has undergone, they
are left standing in solemn ruin, to the gaze of ignorant wonder,
and the perplexity of the antiquary. Attracted by the magnitude
of their dimensions and peculiar forms, our forefathers regarded
them as the work of super-human agency. Their various names
have thus become associated with fairies, hobgoblins, giants, and
dwarfs, in all countries where they exist. The ' Cromlech,' or
inclined stone, of Britain, the ' Grotte aux Fees,' ' La chambredu
Diable ' of the French, and the Celtic ' Ponquelaye ' of these
islands, all designate certain localities under elfin influence, and
from which the vulgar mind is yet apt to recoil with feelings of
superstition and dread. These terms are, however, significant ;
for they testify to that ignorance of their original use which
followed the extinction of the race which erected them. Those
structures which have resisted the effects of time and remain
entire owe their preservation in many instances to their remote
distance from the haunts of man, or to that superstition which
has in after ages paralyzed the hand of wanton destruction.
The names, ' Druid's Altar,' ' Temple des Druides,' convey a
definite meaning when applied to the Cromlech, properly so
called, and probably owe their origin to the generally received
opinion, and the incorrect translation of the word Cromlech, or
inclined stone, affirmed by certain writers as disposed to permit
the blood of the victims to flow from west to east ! all which is
mere conjecture and equally untenable. The more approximate
derivation of the word, if ever it was originally applied to these
structures, would be from the ' corum ' (Breton), or ' cromen '
(Welch), signifying a dome or vault- and ' lech,' a stone, or ' lie,'
a place or room (lieu, Fr. ; locus, Xat.), or, as in these islands,
107
'pouque,' and 'largo' or ' le ' (from whence puck, an elf , or
dwarf), moaning the place of the fairy." *
In considering the Hellstone, these notes become highly
important, and more especially when compared with the remarks
made at our meeting :
"Mr. Edwin Lees, president of the Worcester Naturalists Field
Club, being seated on the top of the restored pile, was asked to say a
few words about it. Mr. Lees said he had seen a great many of
these Cromlechs, which, no doubt, go back to pre-historic times.
Various opinions had been given by Archaeologists as to their
original intention, but it is generally considered they were the
burial places of some great chieftain or man of eminence. But
besides that, he thought they were also places of divination
that some Druid, or person of divination, actually lived in this
Cromlech, and that persons came to him and he- offered them
certain prophecies. But they were also consecrated to the worship of
the goddess Hel, a female deity, to whom sanguinary sacrifices were
made, and here, he had no doubt, on this altar such sacrifices had
been offered. He believed these Cromlechs derived their names
from the goddess, and these places got to be called Hail or Hel-
stones. He found that in almost every county in England there
were Helstones. There is a town in Cornwall called Helstone,
and in Staffordshire there is a mound which bears the same
name, and there is on it a monstrous impression which looks
like the print of a man's fist, and it is said that the Devil struck
the place with his fist, and the mark remains to this day. In
Saxon times they became places where curses were disseminated.
Some holy man lived under these stones, and if you wanted to
pay an adversary out, instead of giving him a knock-down blow
with your fist, you got 'the holy man to curse him ' in bed and in
board, in living, in dying.' There were places in Wales were
some old fellows will still go to their Cromlechs, and will under-
take to curse for a man who has given them a fee for so doing,
and it is believed that these curses take effect on goods, property,
* Archaeological Journal, Vol. 1, p. 144.
108
and person. The consequence was that a certain amount of
superstition was attached to these Cromlechs. It was suggested
that the name might also be derived from the word Helo (to
conceal), as these Cromlechs covered graves."
These notes are sufficient to show the interest attaching to
monuments of this description. There are several of these in
Dorset, and it will be well to collect all that is known about them
before they pass away.
THE EDITOR.
|HE beautiful ornament which forms the subject of our
illustration was obtained from Dorchester by Mr.
Edward Cunnington, through whose kindness we are
enabled to figure it, and at the same time to quote from him the
following notice of the find. " The buckle was found at the
north-east corner of the new fair ground in Dorchester. There
was only a small place cut open for the foundation of the new
wall, and I could only ascertain that there was a well-made
Roman mortar floor there. I found also several pieces of
Samian ware, one with the maker's name, another with the
characteristic ornament on it ; also several pieces of black
Roman pottery, &c. I consider it the site of a Eoman Villa,
just outside the walls which went to ruin on the Romans leaving
the town." Our engraving of the article in question is of the
exact size of the object, the upper figure representing a front
view, and the lower one a back view of the same.
The framework of the whole is of copper, which has been
oxidised externally, but by the removal of the patina the copper
colour is plainly discernable, the back was impressed at the
sides with, the view probably of economising the metal ; either
end appears to have possessed an elevated button, of which the
one on the right hand has been broken off.
A careful examination of the upper surface of this ornament
will show that its framework is impressed all over, but here the
space is occupied with enamels, of these the rounded ones at
the ends have lost their paste, but the bows and inner angles
have a beautiful arrangement of blue and scarlet enamels, the
110
blue ones having delicately-worked stars with scarlet centres.
The framework at the sides is of very peculiar structure, con-
sisting of a yellow-coloured enamel dotted all over into a pleas-
ing but irregular pattern by metallic (?) points.
With regard to this ornament we would here refer to Aker-
man's Archselogical Index, where, at plate 5, f. 46, we appear
to have an enamel of the like kind, which is referred to as
follows :
" 46. Handle of a dagger, ornamented with minute brass pins
in a very elaborate and tasteful manner. From a barrow in
North Wilts."*
Now we are not quite sure that the points here described aro
in our specimen of brass, or, indeed, that they are metal at all
though, unless metallic, it would be difficult to decide what it
is.f
These notes then are intended to support the two following
points.
1st. This is not a buckle, or a fibula.
2nd. The work is not Eoman though apparently found with
Roman remains, as Samian Pottery, and the like.
1st. The four eyelet holes, and the two buttons seem to point
to the fact that this was a pendant meant to be fastened both by
buttons and sewing to some terminable strops, and hence it was
doubtless a pendant either to some personal ornament or pro-
bably to some elaborate horse gear ; as there is no notion of a pin
it could not be a brooch or fibula and as, again, no sign of a
tongue is present, it could hardly be called a buckle.
2nd. It seems to us not to be of Eoman work as it is really
of copper, and not of bronze, this, however, alone would not be
sufficient to decide the question, neither is it enough to say that
it was found on a Eoman site.
The whole work appears to us so different from that of
Eoman that we cannot help thinking it is a case of the same
* Archaeological Index, p. 54.
t We are unwilling to submit the specimen to the rigid tests required to
settle this question,
Ill
kind that prompted the following remarks from Mr. Akerman
in discussing the origin of Anglo Saxon ornaments : " A
question has lately arisen among antiquaries as to the country
of their fabrication. Some have maintained that they are the
work of the Anglo-Saxons, while others have contended for their
Byzantine origin ; but, unless we can be assured that the Gold-
smiths of the Eastern Empire wrought these fibula (buckles or
pendants), for export to other countries, we must seek some
other city as the place of their manufacture. That city was in
all probability, Paris. These remarks apply more particularly
to the buckles studded with pastes and precious stones, which
there is every reason to believe were imported from the con-
tinent. Merovingian places of sepulture have been explored in
France, and though some of the relics discovered therein differ
from those found in Anglo-Saxon Tumuli some of the buckles
are identically the same."*
Now without at all subscribing to the notion that remains of
this kind emanated from Paris we cannot consider that an ornament
because it is beautiful must be of Eoman workmanship, nor, from
the same cause do we allow that it must have been Parisian, as
we look upon it that the Saxons were also clever in work of this
description, and it by no means follows that because a good
piece of work is found in proximity with Roman remains that it
must of necessity be of Eoman origin.
THE EDITOE.
* Archaeological Index, p. 126.
9) ii*J!**<
\HE dishes we now figure are of great interest from their
' being occasionally met with in some of the most out-of-
the-way places, both at home and on the Continent.
They are made of such different materials as Porcelain and
Metals, and seem at one time to have been in general use, though
their object and purpose is now well-nigh forgotten.
Different, however, as may be both the kind of porcelain or
of metals, they are ornamented upon a similar plan, the principal
figures, Adam and Eve Adam to the right and Eve to the left
of the Apple tree, with the serpent twisted round the stem of
the tree, in a more or less picturesque attitude the picture being
usually a graphic illustration of the Temptation and Fall of our
first parents.
On one of our visits to Eax House, Bridport, Mrs. Colfox
kindly produced for the inspection of the Club a very interesting
series of Porcelain and Faience objects, many of which are very
curious, and amongst these was the dish. Fig. 1 .
The material was that of the better kind of delph ware, and
the figures, which are freely drawn, represent Eve with flowing
flaxen-coloured hair presenting to Adam an apple with the right
hand, while taking a fruit from the serpent's mouth with tho
left. The tree is dotted over with large and conspicuous apples
of the yellow tint of ripeness.
This dish, we understand, was obtained from the county where
we should not be surprised if others were met with in some of
the old-fashioned houses, or even in cottages in out-of-the-way
districts.
113
The second figure was taken by us from an Adam and Eve
dish of fine brass we met with at the White Lion Hotel, at Bala,
North Wales, but the drawing only shows the bottom of the
dish, and is about half the actual size, the dish with its borders
being 16 inches in diameter.
In this the figures are beaten in the brass. They are much
like the former, but the serpent appears a far more important
creature, having some pretensions to a human head with a
coronet of triple leaflets. We saw a dish of the same kind at
the sale of the late Rev. Richard Digby's effects at Thornford,
which we should have secured only we could not glean anything
of its history.
It was probably a copy of an older example, the lettering
around the edge of the dish being, if we remember rightly, the
Gothic form of the 14th century.
With regard to the dates of the dishes before us we may per-
haps regard the upper example here figured as Italian Faience of
the 16th century. The lower or brass dish is probably about
the same period.
With regard to the latter we may mention that it bears every
evidence of having been much in use, as on one side the rim is
a patch of brass to mend up the worn-out metal. As regards
the uses to which these utensils were applied it would seem that
at one period their employment was universal, and yet their
disuse seems to have been so sudden and so perfect that at pre-
sent we can only offer a conjecture as to their application.
The figures clearly show that these dishes were connected with
religious rites and ceremonies, and we have somehow got the
notion but cannot say whence derived that they were used at
funeral obsequies, and perhaps as follows :
The dish filled with salt was placed on the stomach of the
corpse. The salt, from its antiseptic qualities, being employed
with the idea of keeping the atmosphere sweet and the surround-
ing conditions in a healthy state, while the weight of the dish
114
and its contents tended to keep down that distension which
would be the necessary accompaniment of decomposition.
Whether we are right in our conclusions is uncertain, still as
these quaint objects are not unfrequently met with they seem to
invite the attention of the Antiquary.
THE EDITOR.
DA
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