TRANSACTIONS 


OF THE 


WOOLHOPE 


NATURALISTS FIELD CLUB. 


[ESTABLISHED 185I.] 


1852 To 1865. 


COLLATED AND COMPILED BY 


H. Crecir Moore, Honorary SEcretary. 


**HOPE ON.” “HOPE EVER.” 


HEREFORD: 


PRINTED BY JAKEMAN AND CARVER, 4 & 5, HIGH TOWN. 


IssuED DECEMBER, 1907- 


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TRANSACTIONS 


OF THE 


Woolhope Haturalists’ Field Club. 


1852—1865. 


INTRODUCTION. 


The Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club, according to the 
Title-page of its earliest publications, was established in 1851, 
and, as we gather from subsequent issues, during the winter 
period of the end of that year. The earliest minutes, how- 
ever, which we possess are dated Tuesday, April 13th, 1852, 
when Mr. R. M. Lingwood was in the chair. The twelve Rules 
of the Club are entered upon the minutes. Rule 2 regulates 
“That the Club consists of 40 Members, with such Honorary 
Members as may be admitted from time to time. . .’ That 
the formation of the Club had received mature consideration 
preliminary to this first record of its proceedings, may be 
assumed from the fact that, at this its first recorded meeting, 
30 Members were elected upon its foundation. Seven of the 
most distinguished authorities in our Kingdom on Geology and 
Botany were at this same meeting elected honorary members. 
Mr. R. M. Lingwood was elected President. The thanks of the 
meeting were voted to Mr. M. J. Scobie for his exertions in 
establishing the Club, and he was elected Honorary Secretary. 


The first bound volume of the Transactions of the Club 
contains the proceedings of the year 1866. The proceedings of 
the Club during the fourteen years, 1852 to 1865, were generally 
summarised or epitomised in the annual address of the President 
for each respective year. Only six printed publications were 
issued during those fourteen years; these were in pamphlet 
form with paper covers. Possibly not more than one or two 
complete sets of the six parts are in any one’s possession. 
These six parts are incorporated in their proper sequence in 
this volume. 


Fortunately there was amongst the earliest members of 
the Club a chiel taking notes, who published them in one of 
our local newspapers, the Hereford Times. This was Mr. Flavell 


IV. 


Edmunds, a good botanist, anda scholar of various scientific 
attainments. To the Hereford Times, of which paper he was 
the Editor, we owe our records of many very valuable articles. 


In the compilation of this volume I have, in addition to 
consulting the volumes of the Hereford Times in our Reference 
Library, availed myself of the Minute Book of the Club, and of 
the Proceedings of contiguous kindred Clubs. My best thanks 
are due to Mr. Walter Pilley for the loan of his collections, 
which have supplied many references. 


Rule 1 of the Club determines its object :—‘‘ For the 
practical study, in all its branches, of the Natural History of 
Herefordshire and the districts immediately adjacent.” This is 
very comprehensive. 


From its origin the Club has been in a state of “ evolution”’ ; 
and its fields of investigation and research considerably widened. 
In the Rules published for 1903 the subject of Archeology was 
added to Rule 1. Our Members are not limited. At the end 
of 1907 our Club embraces about 260 ordinary Members. In- 
cluding our Honorary Members and Officials of Corresponding 
Societies with whom our Transactions are exchanged, we forward 
more than 300 of our publications when issued. 


We now possess eighteen bound volumes treating princi- 
pally of our beautiful county. Our nineteenth volume, now 
in the press, will bring the Geology, Botany, and Mycology of 
the county up to date. There is much more work to be done, 
especially in details of Geology, examination of Drifts, exposition 
of the general configuration and formation of the scenery of the 
county, and the causes to which it is due. 


On the completion of my task, however imperfectly per- 
formed, I am sensible that our Members will highly appreciate 
the ground work established by previous labourers. My desire 
is that the study thereof will stimulate each individual to con- 
tribute to the stores of our knowledge, thus ensuring the con- 
tinued progress of the Club and the maintenance of its 
reputation. 


H. CECIL MOORE, 
14th November, 1907. 


The following original Rules are copied from the Minute Book 
of the Club, dated April 13th, 1852. 


RUE ES 


OF THE 


Moolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


I.—That a Society be formed under the name of “THE 
WooLHoPeE NATURALISTS’ FIELD CLUB” for the practical study, in 
all its branches, of the Natural History of Herefordshire and the 
districts immediately adjacent. 


IIJ.—That the Club consist of Forty Members with such 
Honorary Members as may be admitted from time to time; 
from which number a President and Honorary Secretary be 
appointed at the Annual Meeting, to be held at Hereford on the 
Fourth Monday of January in each year. 


III.—That the Members of the Club shall hold three Field 
Meetings during the year in the most interesting localities for 
investigation of the Natural History of the district. That the days 
and places of meeting be selected at the Annual Meeting, and that 
timely notices of each be communicated to the Members by a 
circular card from the Secretary. 


IV.—That those Members to whom it may be convenient shall 
breakfast together at the nearest country Inn at g o’clock, after 
which the researches of the day shall commence. 


V.—That 4 be the hour appointed for Dinner, after which any 
papers shall be read by the respective authors. Kach Member may 
introduce a friend on such occasions who must pay his own 
expenses. 


VI.—That the Annual Subscription be Ten Shillings, to be laid 
out in defraying the cost of printing such papers as may be selected 
for that purpose by a Committee of Five Members selected at the 
Annual Meeting from the general body, and to meet any expenses 


VI. 


which may be incurred for stationery, postage, &c. That the cost 
of any lithographic or other illustrations be defrayed by the author 
of the paper for which they may be required. 


VII.—That the papers of the Club be printed in a cheap octavo 
form. 


VIII.—That at the Annual Meeting the President be requested 
to favour the Club with an address containing a written summary of 
its proceedings at the several Field Meetings during the previous 
year, together with such observations from himself as he may deem 
conducive to the welfare of the Club, and the promotion of its 
objects. 


1X.—That all Candidates for Membership shall be proposed and 
seconded by existing Members, either verbally or in writing, at any 
Meeting of the Club, and shall be eligible to be balloted for at the 
next Meeting, provided there be Five Members present ; one black 
ball in three to exclude. 


X.—That Members finding rare or interesting specimens, or 
observing any remarkable phenomenon relating to any branch of 
Natural History, shall immediately forward a statement thereof to 
the Honorary Secretary. 


XI.—That the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club undertake 
the formation of and publication of correct lists of the various 
Natural productions of the County of Hereford, with such observa- 
tions as their respective authors may deem necessary. 


XII.—That these Rules be printed and a copy sent to each 
Member. 


April 13th, 1852. 


VII. 


Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


OFFICERS FOR THE YEAR 1852. 


President : 
R. M. Lincwoop, Esg., Lyston, Herefordshire. 


Honorary Secretary : 
M. J. Scopie, Esg., Hereford. 


Honorary Members : 
Str Rop. I. Murcuison, G.O.St.S., F.R.S., F.G.S., &c., London. 
PROFESSOR JOHN PHILLIPS, F.R.S., F.G.S., &c., London. 
PROFESSOR JOHN LINDLEY, Ph.D., F.R.S., London: 
Hucx E. SrricKLanpD, Esg., M.A., F.G.S., Lecturer on Geology to the 
University of Oxford. 
Rosert E. Grant, M.D., F.R.S., &c., London and Edinburgh. 
Rev. P. B. Broprg, M.A., F.G.S., Foleshill, Warwickshire. 
GrorGE BEnrHAM, EsQ., Pontrilas, Herefordshire. 


Members : 
Rev. J. H. Barker, Hereford. 
A. C. DE BotnviLte, Esg., Hereford. 
H. G. Butt, M.D., Hereford. 
Tuos. Cam, F.R.C.S., Hereford. 
Rev. J. CoMMELINE, Rector of Redmarley, Worcestershire. 
Rev. J. F. Croucu, Pembridge Rectory, Herefordshire. 
A. W. Davis, M.D., Tenbury. 
J. E. Davis, F.G.S., Tenbury. 
Rev. W. C. Fowe, Ewias Harold, Herefordshire. 
R. W. Fryer, Hereford. 
Rev. R. LANE FREER, F.S.A., Bishopstone, Herefordshire. 
W. L. Giitiiwanp, M.D., Hereford. 
W. C. Henry, M.D., Haffield, Ledbury. 
Rev. REGINALD HiLx, Cradley, Worcestershire. 
Rev. R. Hormes, Eldersfield Vicarage, Worcestershire. 
RICHARD JOHNSON, Hereford. 
R. M. Lincwoop, Lyston, Herefordshire. 
Tuos. H. LEE WARNER, Tibberton Court, Herefordshire. 
Rev. T. T. Lewis, Aymestrey, Herefordshire. 
EpMuUND LECHMERE, The Rhydd, Worcestershire. 
Cuas. LinGEN, M.D., F.R.C.S., Hereford. 
W. H. Purcuas, Ross. 
W. S. Rootes, M.D., Ross. 
ANDREW Roway, M.D., Hereford. 
Rev. Wm. S. Symonps, Pendock Rectory, near Tewkesbury. 
M. J. Scosts, F.G.S., Hereford. 
J. A. F. Suter, Abergavenny. 
Henry Stone, Chambers Court, Worcestershire. 
A. THompson, Hereford. 
Rev. H. J. Taytor, Rector of Upton-on-Severn. 


VIII. 


Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


1851 
1852 
1853 
1854 
1855 
1856 
1857 
1858 
1859 
1860 
1861 
1862 
1863 
1864 


1865 


PRESIDENTS 


FROM ITS ESTABLISHENT IN 1851. 


Club formed in the winter months. 
Lingwood, Mr. R. M. 

Lewis, Rev. T. T. 

Symonds, Rev. Wm. S., F.G.s. 
Crouch, Rev. J. F., B.D. 
Wheatley, Mr. Hewett. 

Lingen, Charles, M.D., F.R.C.S. 
Bevan, G. P., M.D. 

Bevan, G. P., M.D. 

Banks, Mr. R. W. 

Lightbody, Mr. Robert. 
Hoskyns, Mr. Chandos Wren. 
Hoskyns, Mr. Chandos Wren. 
Crouch, Rev. J. F., B.D. 


Steele, M. Elmes Y. 


Ix. 


1865. 


oalhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


LIST OF HONORARY MEMBERS. 


Sir W. Jardine, Bart., Jardine Hall, Dumfriesshire. 

Sir Charles Lyell, Bart., M.A., F.R.S., London. 

Sir Roderick I. Murchison, Bart., F.R.S., F.G.S., F.R.G.S., London. 
George Bentham, Esq., President of the Linnzan Society. 

Rev. P. B. Brodie, M.A., F.G.S., Vicarage, Rowington, Warwick. 

J. E. Davis, Esq., F.G.S., London. 

W. Henry Fitton, Esq., M.D., F.R.S., F.G.S. 


Dr. H. B. Geinitz, Professor of Geology & Mineralogy in the University, 
Dresden. 


Professor John Lindley, Ph. D., F.R.S. 

Professor W. Melville, Queen’s College, Galway, Ireland. 
Professor John Phillips, F.R.S., F.G.S., St. Mary’s Lodge, York. 
Rev. W. H. Purchas, Highfield Cottage, Lydney. 

J. W. Salter, Esq., F.G.S., &c., London. 


Rev. Professor A. Sedgwick, B.D., F.R.S. F.G.S., University, 
Cambridge. 


Worcestershire Natural History Society. 
Sir Charles Hastings, M.D., Worcester, President. 
The Cotteswold Naturalists’ Field Club. 


Major Sir W. V. Guise, Bart., F.L.S., F.G.S., Elmore Court, 
Gloucester, President. 


W. H. Paine, Esq., Stroud, Honorary Secretary. 
The Malvern Naturalists’ Field Club. 
Rev. W. S. Symonds, F.G.S., Pendock Rectory, Tewkesbury, President. 


Edwin Lees, Esq., F.L.S., F.G.S., Greenhill Summit, Worcester, Vice- 
President. 


Rev. R. P. Hill, Bromesberrow Rectory, Ledbury, Hon. Secretary. 
The President of the Warwickshire Naturalists’ Field Club. 


The President, Vice-President, and Hon. Secretary of Worcestershire 
Naturalists’ Club. 


The President, Vice-President, and Hon. Secretary of the Oswestry and 
/ Welshpool Naturalists’ Field Club. 


The President, Vice-President, Curator, and Hon Secretary of the 
Dudley and Midland Geological and Scientific Society 
and Field Club. 

The President, Vice-Presidents, and Hon. Secretary of the Severn 
Valley Field Club. 

The President, three Vice-Presidents, and Hon. Secretary of the Cara- 
dock Field Club, Shropshire. 


1865 


LIST OF MEMBERS. 


Adams, W., Esq. | Johnson, R., Esq. 
Armitage, Arthur, Esq. Jones Thomas, Rev. W. 
Banks, R. W.; Esq. Jukes, Rev. J. H. 
Baylis, Philip, Esq. Key, Rev. H. C. 

Bevan, G. P., Esq. King, Rev. T. 

Blashill, Thomas, Esq. Lee, John Edward, Esq. 
Bright, H., Esq. Lightbody, R., Esq. 
Bull, H. G., Esq., M.D. Lingwood, R. M., Esq. 
Cam, Thomas, Esq. Martin, C. J., Esq. 
Candy, Rev. T. H. McCullough, D. M., Esq., M.D. 
Capel, Rev. Bury. Merewether, Rev. F. 
Clive, G., Esq., M.P. Mildmay, Humphrey, Esq. 
Cocking, George, Esq. Morris, J. G., Esq. 
Colvin, Colonel. Newton, Marcellus, Esq. 
Cornewall, Rev. G. H. Nicholls, W. H., Esq. 
Crouch, Rev. J. F. Phillips, William, Esq. 
Curley, Timothy, Esq. Phillott, Rev. H. W. 
Davies, Isaac, Esq., C.E. Poole, Rev. William. 
Dixon, Rev. R. Power, Captain. 

Du Buisson, Rev. E. Purchas, Alfred, Esq. 
Eld, Rev. F. J. Salwey, Humphrey, Esq. 
Fielden, Lieutenant-Colonel Scudamore, Colonel. 
Garrold, T. W., Esq. Smith, Rev. Charles. 
Gray, Rey. Arthur. Smith, J. E., Esq. 
Greenhow, R.. Esq. Stanhope, Rev. B. L. S. 
Hanbury, Rev. J. Capel Steele, Elmes Y., Esq. 
Hereford, Richard, Esq. Thompson, Arthur, Esq. 
Hereford, Rev. R. Weare, Rev. T. W. 

Hill, Rev. H. T. West, Rev. T. 

Hoskyns, Chandos Wren, Esq. Woodhouse, Rev. T. 
Jenkins, Henry, Esq, 


1852. 


CAsalhope Naturalists Field Club. 


From THE “ HEREFORD TIMES,” 22ND May, 1852. 


It has long been a subject of regret to the lovers of naturai history and its 
kindred science of geology, that Herefordshire, although so situated as to promise 
a rich field of investigation, has been left almost unexplored, save by isolated 
observers, unaware of each other’s labours, and therefore unable to prosecute the 
investigation comprehensively. The delightfnl ‘‘ Natural History of Selborne,” 
a book which has perhaps done more to spread a taste for natural history than 
any other ever written, is at once an instance how much matter of general 
interest can be collected within the compass of a single parish, and a guide to the 
mode in which the investigation of nature may be conducted. Its publication has 
been the means, doubtless, of enabling many other persons to commence the 
observation of nature under more advantageous circumstances, because it gives 
them facts to start from ; and thus puts them in possession of the results of the 
Author’s labour. For want of some such knowledge of each other’s progress, 
visitors to the County—although men of immense general knowledge and habits 
of observation—have been left in ignorance of local circumstances which might 
have proved to be of immense value in the education of principles; while the 
County itself, although possessing in almost every parish a scene of far greater 
natural beauty than Selborne, and probably greater wealth in a botanical, a 
geological, a conchological, or a naturalistic view, can scarcely be said to be 
known at all, even to its inhabitants. By way of indicating the extent of the 
field of observation, in one department alone—botany—we may point to the 
subject of the prizes for wild flowers offered in connection with the Hereford 
Horticultural Society. It will be seen that a mere list of the common plants of 
this County, which are in flower at the present time, number 130 species. A 
vigorous attempt is now being made to extend the knowledge of Herefordshire 
among its inhabitants; and if it only meet with the support and co-operation 
which it deserves, great advantage will be conferred, not only upon the County 
itself, by opening up to its inhabitants wide and ever fresh sources of instructive 
amusement, but also upon the state of the naturalistic sciences generally, in the 
accumulation of new facts, or the confirmation or rejection of existing hypotheses. 


The impetus to this very gratifying movement was given by a conversation 
which arose on the occasion of a recent visit and lecture of the Rev. W. S. 
Symonds, Rector of Pendock, Worcestershire, to the Literary, Philosophical, 
and Natural History Institution of this, his native City, in speaking of the 
eminent success of the Cotteswold, Tyne-side, and Berwick Field Clubs, in 
developing the fauna and flora of their districts. The hint to ‘‘do likewise” 


2 


was not lost. Anadmirable instance of the manner in which the desired work 
might be accomplished was shortly afterwards given by the instructive lecture 
‘©On the Ferns of Herefordshire,” by Mr. W. H. Purchas, of Ross ; who added 
the expression of his earnest wish that the progress of natural science might be 
aided by the labours of local observers. The opportunity for putting into 
practice the hints of these two gentlemen was seized; and great credit is due to 
Mr. M. J. Scobie for the earnest and intelligent manner in which he at once 
set to work to organise the first Naturalists’ Field Club for Herefordshire. In 
the work for which he was so well suited, Mr. Scobie was effectively aided by 
Mr. R. M. Lingwood, F.L.8S., Mr. T. H. Lee Warner, Dr. Bull, Mr. Purchas, 
and other gentlemen. Nor was the countenance and aid of men of world-wide 
eminence in science wanting: Sir Roderick Murchison, whose researches in 
Herefordshire were the cause of his giving to the world his splendid work on the 
Silurian System, and Mr. H. E. Strickland, F.G.S., of Oxford, have both 
kindly interested themselves in the new Club, and both have expressed an 
intention of visiting its meetings as soon as practicable. With such powerful 
encouragement, and with the ready concurrence of the lovers of natural history 
and geology in the district, Mr. Scobie, the Hon. Secretary, has been enabled to 
mature his plan. We need not add our hearty wish for, as well as our confident 
belief in, the success of this movement for the extension of scientific knowledge. 
The Club has been styled The Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club, its first object 
being the investigation of the locality which is geologically known as ‘The 
Woolhope Valley of Elevation,” a district which represents, as it were, an 
epitome of the history of immense tracts of the earth’s surface. To the Geologist, 
its having been the birthplace, so to speak, of the Silurian System of Murchison, 
must make it ever classic ground. The operations of the Club, however, will not 
be confined to the Woolhope District; the vicinity of Whitchurch, and the 
limestone beds of Aymestry, have been selected for future excursions. 


Our object in thus calling attention to the formation of this scientific Club is 
to point out a mode in which the intelligent everywhere throughout the County 
may aid its operations. The number of Members will necessarily be limited, but 
the effectiveness of the Club may be increased greatly by the neighbours of each 
Member making known to him any circumstance bearing upon natural history 
which they may consider interesting. The members themselves will of course 
cultivate habits of observation individually, so that each may be prepared to add 
to the common stock of information, at each successive meeting ; but they will be 
all the better able to fulfil this duty, if each become a centre of those non- 
members who cultivate like pursuits. By and bye we hope to see other Clubs 
formed in different parts of the District ; but the first object must obviously be 
to make the existing Club as efficient and useful as possible. 


GHoolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


First Fretp Mretine, Turspay, May 187, 1852. 


HEREFORDSHIRE WILD FLOWERS. 


We are requested to draw particular attention to the prizes offered for Wild 
Flowers at each of the forthcoming exhibitions of the Horticultural Society. At 
each show there will be prizes for ‘‘ the best bouquet or device of wild flowers,” 
and also for “‘ the largest collection of different kinds;” and all are to have a 
paper attached to them to state in what wood, field, or parish they were gathered. 
It will be evident from these conditions that the Committee of the Society are not 
only desirous of having them at the Show, but also of ascertaining what wild 
flowers grow here, and where they grow, with a view to advancing the know- 
ledge of the natural productions of the county. This isa step in the right direction, 
and we have much pleasure in calling attention to it. Let every parish send its 
collections, and the school children will like nothing better than gathering them, 
if the clergyman or schoolmaster would kindly allow them a half-holiday the day 
before, to do so. In this way much useful information will be procured, in a 
pleasing way, for an accurate list will be taken of all that are brought, and doubt- 
less, moreover, should they be very numerous, extra prizes will be given to such 
as deserve them. 


With a view of directing still closer attention to them, two special prizes 
have been offered, open to everyone, “‘for the best Herbarium of Herefordshire 
wild flowers, collected and dried by the exhibitor during the present year, the 
first prize consisting of a gold pencil case, the second prize of a silver pencil case. 
The plants are to be fastened on paper, with the Latin and English names, the 
date and locality where gathered, written on it. The collections are to be sent 
to the Honorary Secretary, Mr. Phillips, High Town, on or before Monday, 
September 6th, with a motto attached and a sealed envelope containing the name 
of thecompetitor. The plants will be restored to their owners.” We trust these 
prizes will be well competed for, and again we call upon all lovers of our wild 
flowers, and all zealous for the scientific honour of our county, to bestir them- 
selves, that the fields and woods, and hedgerows of our villages may be fairly 
represented at our Horticultural fétes. 


At the fourth soiree of the Hereford Literary and Philosophical Society on 
Friday, April 2nd, Mr. W. H. Purchas, of Ross, read an interesting paper on the 
Ferns of Herefordshire, illustrated by specimens and diagrams. Thanks were 
voted to Mr. Purchas, and Dr. Bull expressed a hope that the address would be 
followed up by a closer study of the Wild Flowers of Herefordshire generally, 
with a view to which he suggested that a few of the summer excursions of the 


4 


Institution should be devoted to botanical research. If this Society, he said, 
could be the means of ascertaining the various species and localities of different 
plants in the County, an exceedingly interesting work might be published, 
which would tell the people in ages to come that it had existed usefully, Dr. 
Bull expressed a hope that Mr. Purchas would be induced to accompany the 
members in their excursions, and give them the benefit of the valuable knowledge 
he had already acquired as a botanist. 


The first excursion of the members of the newly-formed association for 
the examination of the natural productions and phenomena of this County, 
took place on Tuesday, May 18th. The day was unfortunately most unfavour- 
able, being the first thoroughly wet day for weeks past, to which circumstance 
was due the absence of many of the members. There was, however, a goodly 
attendance. The Members partook of an excellent breakfast together at 
Tarrington, at 9 am. After breakfast, the Rev. W. S. Symonds, rector of 
Pendock, Worcestershire, was voted into the chair, the president, Mr. R. 
M. Lingwood, being absent from illness. The Hon. Secretary, Mr. M. J. 
Scobie, of Hereford, read several letters from members who were unable, from 
various causes, to attend. He also read a note from Lady Emily Foley, who, 
upon being informed of the wish of the members to commence their investigations 
upon her grounds, with her characteristic kindness, at once acceded to the 
request, and gave every facility. Mr. Robertson, her ladyship’s horticulturist, 
accordingly met the Members, and acted as their guide through the highly 
interesting gardens and conservatories. The continued heavy rain, howeyer, 
prevented the members from starting upon their investigations until about noon. 
Meanwhile, some time was very profitably spent in examining a very interesting 
collection of mammalian remains, discovered during the formation of the 
Hereford and Gloucester Canal, in gravel beds of various ages. They belonged 
chiefly to extinct species of the elephant, the elk, and the deer; but there were 
also bones which may probably be referred to the hippopotamus. The Chairman 
remarked that their discovery was a most interesting fact in the geology of the 
County, in which so few instances of drift occur, and the gravels in which had 
been described as so poor in remains of that kind. In the conversation which 
ensued, the Reverend Reginald Hill, of Cradley, kindly undertook to examine 
the localities in which the bones had been found, which are situated mostly in the 
parish of Bosbury, and to communicate the results of his investigations on a 
future occasion. The unanimous thanks of the Meeting were voted to Mr. 
Ballard, of Hereford, to whom the remains belong, for his kindness in lending 
them on that occasion. 


The Rey. R. Hill produced an interesting specimen of Caradoc Sandstone 
from the Malvern range, containing the characteristic fossils of the formation 
curiously altered by the action of heat. He had found it associated with trap 
which was doubtless coeval with the elevation of the Malvern syenitic ridge. 


The Hon. Secretary then gratified the Meeting with the instructive paper 
which (at the request of the Rev. Chairman) we subjoin ;— 


5 
When, some years ago, I first turned my attention to the study of Geology, 
I viewed, with no small regret, my location upon the Old Red Sandstone of 
Herefordshire ; for although by the laborious researches of eminent geologists in 
the same system in Scotland and elsewhere, the strata had yielded objects of the 
greatest paleontological interest, still that of Herefordshire enjoyed the reputa- 
tion of being peculiarly destitute of organic remains. 


The Silurian rocks, however, teeming as they do with the relics of the 
inhabitants of the early seas, seemed to offer a rich field for exploration, and I 
accordingly directed my attention to those formations as exhibited in the very 
attractive spot from which our Club derives its name, and which has to-day 
witnessed the practical commencement of its labours—I mean the Woolhope valley 
of elevation... But, finding the distance from Hereford too great for an ordinary 
walk, which only my leisure could afford me, I determined, notwithstanding 
their doubtful character, to form an acquaintance with the rocks in my more 
immediate neighbourhood. Acting upon this determination, I lost no opportunity 
of making my observations, and it was with no small satisfaction I at length 
discovered a remarkable protrusion of Downton Sandstones and Upper Ludlow 
Shale, at a spot where I little expected to meet with any member of the Silurian 
system. TI allude to the elevated dome of Hagley Park, with its carbonaceous 
strata and fish bed, lately visited by Mr. H. E. Strickland, F.G.S., whose 
description of it will shortly appear in the Journal of the Geological Society of 
London. Continuing my investigations, other objects of local interest constantly 
forced themselves upon my attention ; which, however, it is not my intention to 
particularize on the present occasion. The object I have in view on this, the first 
field meeting of the ‘‘ Woolhope Club,” is merely to give a short and general 
sketch of the phenomena around us, and to point out a few of the more striking 
objects within the range of our geological enquries. When Sir Roderick 
Murchison commenced his explorations of this region about 21 years ago, great 
obscurity rested upon the ancient rocks previously termed ‘‘Grauwacke.” The 
importance of fossils as a key to the identification of strata— however different in 
lithic structure—had for some time previously been fully recognized by geologists 
in every part of the world ; and great progress had consequently been made in the 
chronological classification of the various formations, from the Tertiary down to 
the Old Red Sandstone epoch. In order to take a comprehensive view of the 
subject, it will be necessary to direct attention to portions of the adjacent counties. 
Sir Roderick Murchison’s eminent researches in *‘ Siluria,” and those of Professor 
Sedgwick in North Wales, were the means of connecting by a series of links, so to 
speak, the oldest sedimentary rocks—or the “‘ transition” of Werner—with the 
newer, and already ascertained deposits. The terms “Transition” and 
“ Grauwacke,” I should observe, have by universal consent, fallen into disusage, 


and geologists now recognise them as forming one great system to which the term 
Silurian has been applied. 


In no pirt of Great Britian is the geological sequence of the ancient fossili- 
ferous rocks interpolating between the Old Red Sandstone and the Cambrian 
schists so complete as in the district now under review. They constitute the 


6 


Silurian basin in which the Old Red or Devonian strata repose. and may be seen 
cropping out from beneath the Old Red at the margin of the basin at various 
points, at both the eastern and western limits of the county. We also become 
acquainted with them in the district of Woolhope, at Hagley Park, Shucknall 
Hill, and other places where it is to be remarked they are thrust through the 
superincumbent Old Red Sandstone by the action of internal forces. Those pro- 
trusions, and the physical aspect of the country are so intimately connected with 
a great line of dislocation forming the eastern limit of the district, that this axis of 
disturbance, marked by the upheaval of the Abberley, Malvern, and May Hills, 
demands special notice. We trace it from the river Dee to the Severn, coinciding 
nearly with the ancient political boundaries of England and Wales, and even 
extending for some distance south of the Severn, as observed in the paleozvic 
upcast of the Tortworth district. It forms, in fact, for about 120 miles, the 
eastern boundary of a vast region of elevation, including Herefordshire, Wales, 
and a part of Ireland. Throughout the greater part of its course it partakes of the 
nature of a fault; the upheaved strata, which is commensurate with the amount 
of vertical dislocation between the two sides of the great fault at Malvern, being 
at least from 13,000 to 14,000 feet,—an ‘‘amount,” says Mr. Strickland, ‘“ greater 
than can be paralleled in any other instance of a single fault which the world can 
produce.” 


An observer from the top of the Malvern syenitic ridge cannot fail to be 
forcibly impressed with the physical contrast of the country on either side of this 
line. To the west, the scenery is mountainous and picturesque, and belongs to 
the troubled paleozoic ages ; to the east it represents an extended plain which has 
been subjected to comparatively little disturbance from subterranean forces, and 
is composed of younger marine strata. But the picturesque appearance of the 
elevated tract is only partially attributable to the dislocating forces which produced 
its upheaval. Our hills and dales bear witness to long ages of denudation, when 
ocean currents and rapid rivers gradually washed away vast masses of the upeast 
strata—here meeting with greater, there with less resistance, scooping out the 
valleys and leaving the hills as memorials of their power ; thus laying bare for the 
astonished gaze of modern man those ‘‘ tables of stone” upon which geologists 
have been able to read the history of the world during ages so incalculably remote 
as to be scarcely within the power of human mind to conceive. 


While the upheaved region was thus subjected to the degrading action of 
water, its sedimentary matter was being incessantly carried to the mesozoic sea 
which occupied the downcast region to the east, aiding to supply that ocean bed 
with the materials for the successive deposition of the Triassic, Liassic, and Oolitic 
strata, in which again we witness the traces of long subsequent denudation in the 
valley of the Severn and the Cotteswold hills beyond. 


It will thus be seen that while the elevated district to the west was constantly 
undergoing the process of degradation, the downcast to the east was being con- 
temporaneously supplied with additional thickness of sedimentary strata. In 
conformity with this view we find the upheaved Carboniferous beds to the west, 
where they have withstood the denuding forces, occupying elevated situations on 


7 


some of the highest hills; and it is difficult to behold the Coal Measures of South 
Wales and the Forest of Dean, with outliers of the same system capping ‘Old 
Red” at Pen-cerrig-calch on the top of the Black Mountains, and on the Clee 
Hills in Shropshire, without concluding that they are the remaining portions of a 
great mantle of Carboniferous strata which, at one period, must have stretched 
continuously over the Old Red Sandstone of this district ; and in confirmation, it 
is interesting at several points on the axis of disturbance between May Hill and 
the Southern part of the Malvern Ridge, to observe the Coal Measures overlaying 
the Old Red, dipping rapidly eastward underneath the Triassic strata of the New 
Red series. It is evident that the convulsive movements which produced the 
upheaval took place after the deposition of the Carboniferous system, and prior to 
that of the Triassic. They arereferred by Sir Robert Murchison (Silurian System, 
p. 131) to the close of the Permian epoch. 


On the subject of igneous rocks, I may observe that our district affords some 
very interesting examples. I have already alluded to the syenitic ridge of the 
Malvern Hills—we there find the igneous mass assuming the various forms of 
granite, greenstone, hornblende, felspar, and serpentine, graduating into each 
other in perplexing compounds. A rock technically undistinguishable from gneiss 
is also abundant. ‘This plutonic mass was protruded upwards in the form of a 
wedge, in a cooled or consolidated state, rising abruptly over the downcast area 
of Worcestershire, and throwing the strata on the Herefordshire side into every 
variety of contortion, actually overturning in some places the Silurian formations 
which rested upon it. 


Some very interesting instances of trap occur in the area covered by the Old 
Red Sandstone. At Bartestree and Brockhill, crevices of dislocation have been 
filled by greenstone ejected in a fluid state from the plutonic region below, as 
evidenced by the heat-altered strata with which it is in contact. 


The drifted clays or gravels of the County, and the fluviatile deposits of 
different ages are worthy of especial attention. They are found to contain the 
colossal remains of elephants, elks, hippopotami and other huge mammalia of 
extinct species. Through the kindness of Mr, Ballard we have here ocular proof 
of the fact. 


I may now remark that, notwithstanding the fears and regrets with which I 
commenced the study of Geology, I think I have reason to congratulate the Club 
upon the extensive and highly interesting field for research which lies before it, 
We find ourselves in the neighbourhood of a fault of unequalled magnitude and 
grandeur, surrounded by evidences of active plutonic agencies, and our district 
embraces extensive developments of the Carboniferous, Devonian, and Silurian 
systems. The Silurian and Carboniferous formations by the laboriously minute 
researches of Sir R. Murchison, Professor Phillips, the officers of the Geological 
Survey, and others, are, with their fossil contents, pretty accurately known ; but 
the Devonian, or Old Red, computed to be in this county at least 5,000 feet in 
thickness, is comparatively a terra incognita ; and from the slowness with which 


8 


its contents are yielded to the explorer, it is manifestly impossible, without the 
assistance of local geologists, for the distinguished men who occasionally visit our 
county, to bestow upon it that time which is necessary for the thorough investiga- 
tion of the subject. I am inclined, therefore, to hope that by the contribution of 
such facts as may from time to time come under the observation of our Members, 
the Woolhope Club will be the means of throwing additional light on this system, 
which, in Scotland, Hugh Miller has proved to be so rich in ichthyolites of 
surpassing interest ; and the prospect of success is so far encouraging from the 
fact that in almost every quarry of Old Red Sandstone in the vicinity of Hereford 
IT have succeeded in disinterring fragmentary remains of vertebrata, namely 
ichthyodorulites, and other bones of fishes. 


The Chairman, amid applause, presented the thanks of the Meeting to Mr. 
Scobie for his excellent essay. 


The weather being by this time somewhat less inclement than it had been dur- 
ing the forenoon, the Members started for Stoke Edith Park, under the guidance 
of Mr. Robertson. After having been much gratitied by an examination of the well- 
kept gardens, and the splendid collection of stove and greenhouse plants, the 
Members ascended the ridge behind Stoke Edith House, and proceeded through 
the woods to the Woolhope valley of elevation. They first visited the quarried 
escarpment of Wenlock limestone, at Dormington Wood, and the landship so rich 
in fossils and corals ; and subsequently made their way across the various minor 
ridges around the central dome, visiting successively Littlehope and Scutwardine 
quarries. ‘The skiey influence being still most adverse, they were obliged to 
postpone their intended visit to Woolhope itself; and in the midst of a heavy 
thunderstorm bent their course to the Green Man Inn, at Fownhope. Here they 
were joined by Mr. R. Johnson, of Hereford; and the party of fatigued and 
hungry philosophers discussed with evident relish a new class of subjects in the 
shape of an excellent dinner provided by Mr. Connop. After the removal of the 
cloth, the health of the Queen was given from the Chair, and was succeeded by 
‘better health to the respected President.” The health of the Hon. Secretary 
was drunk, and neatly acknowledged, as were also the healths of the Rey. 
Chairman and the Rey. Messrs. Hill and Holmes (of Eldersfield), who had 
travelled a distance of twenty miles in order to be present that day. The Rev. 
gentlemen severally returned thanks, expressing their gratification at the pro- 
ceedings of the day, and their readiness to aid the operations of the Club. The 
health of Mr. R. Johnson having been drunk, the Chairman gave ‘‘ Success to 
our next Meeting,” which was drunk with applause. Mr. Purchas and Dr, Bull 
having undertaken to draw up a report of the botanical, and Mr. Scobie a similar 
report of the geological proceedings of the day, the company separated about 
8 p.m., each expressing his conviction that, in spite of pluvial difficulties, the day 
had been spent most agreeably and instructively. 


i 


CAoolhope Naturalists’ Field Elub. 


Second Fietp MeEtinG, JuLy 20TH, 1852. 


The Second Field Day of this Club for the present (its first) season was held 
on Tuesday, July 20th. The district of country selected was not only of great 
scientific interest, but of surpassing picturesqueness ; and the unbroken fineness 
of the day in agreeable contrast with the intermitted rain of the first day of 
meeting, heightened the natural beauty of the district, while it afforded abundant 
opportunity for carrying out the scientific objects of the trip. Altogether the 
meeting was a highly successful one; a delightful mingling of amusement with 
instruction, 

At seven o’clock a.m., a party of nine members, residents in Hereford, started 
(in a stage coach, supplied for the occasion by Messrs. Bosley) for the village of 
Whitchurch, midway between Ross and Monmouth. At Harewood End they 
were joined by Mr. R. M. Lingwood, the esteemed President of the Society. 
After a pleasant ride of 16 miles in the balmy air of the morning, the fierce heat 
of July being tempered by a cloudy sky, the party reached Whitchurch shortly 
before nine o'clock, Here they were much gratified to find, already arrived, several 
of their most distinguished honorary Members: Sir Roderick I. Murchison, 
F,R.S., F.G.S.; Mr. H. E. Strickland, F.G.S., Lecturer on Geology to the 
University of Oxford ; and the Rev. P. B. Brodie, F.G.S, of Foleshill, Warwick- 
shire. Shortly afterwards other members arrived and the routine business of the 
Club was proceeded with. Two new members having been admitted, the Hon. 
Secretary, Mr. M. J. Scobie, F.G.S., of Hereford, read the subjoined invitation 
which he had received from Mr. R. Blakemere, to visit his estate at the Leys, but 
which the Club had been unable to accept :—- 


Tue Leys, Monmouth, 9th July, 1852. 
Srr,—I beg to say that it will afford me much gratification to render my 
Doward Hill, the iron tower upon it, and the grounds attached to it, accessible to 
yourself, and to the Members of ‘‘ The Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club” on the 
visit you have requested to be allowed to pay to them on the 20th inst, for the 
purpose of making geological and botanical investigations. 


Allow me to add that should my state of health permit me personally to 
receive the visit, I shall have much pleasure in doing so, and in drawing the 
attention of the visitors to some interesting localities connected with the objects of 
their pursuit. 

I have the honour to be, Sir, 
With much respect, 
RICHARD BLAKEMERE. 
To M. J. Scop, Esq. 


10 


Tt was resolved that the Hon. Secretary be requested to convey to R. 
Blakemere, Esq., the thanks of the members for his kind invitation, and their 
regret that they found themselves unable to accept it. A member of the Club had 
also received for the party an equally kind invitation from Captain Meyrick to 
visit Goodrich Court and Castle ; but this also had to be declined for want of time. 


A viper preserved in spirits of wine, which had been caught in May last in 
Barrett’s wood, near Tyberton House, in the parish of Madley, and had been 
forwarded by Mr. T. H. Lee Warner, was handed round for inspection. The 
brief accompanying note stated that it had been killed by giving to it a pinch of 
tobacco. ‘The generic character, as given in Bell's ‘‘ Reptiles,” is: ‘Head 
depressed, oblong, ovate, somewhat compressed before, and wider behind the 
eyes ; vertex covered with scuta ; no pit between the nostrils and the eyes ; tail 
with double plates beneath.” The colour of this reptile is yellow, with a dark 
zigzag line down the back ; but there are also red and black vipers. The eye of the 
viper differs from that of the snake in the pupil being placed in astraight line lead- 
ing from the top of the head downwards. Mr. Strickland explained that both red 
and black vipers were the same species at different stages of growth. The excre- 
scences near the end of the tail, about which some doubt was expressed, were the 
male reproductive organs developed in the breeding season. Thanks were voted 
to Mr. Lee Warner for his communication. 


The Hon. Secretary laid on the table some fragments of a deer’s horn, and of 
a bone of an ox, which had been found ata depth of 20 feet beneath the surface, in 
the silt deposit on the southern bank of the Wye at Hereford, in the course of the 
excavation for a pier of the Newport, Abergavenny and Hereford Railway Bridge 
now in course of erection. The bones had been handed to him by Mr. J. 8. 
Davis, of Broad Street, in this city. Mr. Strickland remarked that these bones 
were of comparatively recent date, the polish on their surfaces indicating that 
there was a considerable amount of gelatine still remaining in them. Upon losing 
their gelatine bones became rough and porous on the surface. 


The bones, tusks, &c., found in the parishes of Bosbury and Withington in 
1843, during the formation of the Hereford and Gloucester Canal, which had been 
brought for inspection by Mr. Ballard, excited much interest. Sir R. Murchison 
and Mr. Strickland explained that some of the large bones which had been sup- 
posed to belong to the rhinoceros or hippopotamus, were femur and other bones 
of probably the Bos Urus, or bison ; the vertebra andskull in the collection were 
those of an animal of the deer species, probably thered deer. The collection also 
included teeth and portions of tusks of the elephant. These remains were the 
more interesting from the fact that so few mammalian remains have been hitherto 
found in the drift of Herefordshire. 


The company, having breakfasted, started about half-past ten o’clock upon 
their pedestrian excursion. The points to which they first directed their course 
were the quarry and limekiln at the north-eastern base of Doward Hill, at which 
place the Mountain or Carboniferous limestone is laid bare. After spending a 


11 


short time in searching for fossils, the party crossed the Wye at the adjacent ferry, 
and then turning to the right, ascended to the summit of the luxuriantly wooded 
limestone range known as Coldwell Rocks, and proceeded to the well-known 
Symond’s Yat (or gate). The magnificent view from this spot, which forms the 
narrow neck of a lofty rocky promontory washed on three sides by the Wye, is 
too well known to need more than a passing allusion, but in a geological aspect 
the scene was particularly interesting. Standing on the limestone ridge which 
forms the edge of the Forest of Dean, to the eastward the eye ranged over a wide 
champaign of the Old Red Sandstone, bounded in the distance to the east by the 
syenitic peaks of Malvern and the oolitic ridges of the Cotteswolds. To the south 
stretched the coal measures of the Forest basin; and thus, at one view, the eye 
embraced strata of widely different dates. From the Old Red Sandstone in 
which the highest type of animals was fish, and the only vertebrate fish were 
of species allied to the shark, down through the long ages of the gradual 
deposition of immense masses of limestone—the intervals of violent volcanic 
action, when masses of molten matter were forced through the existing strata—the 
long succession of forests which grew, were successively submerged and covered 
with sand, the mass again elevated to become the soil of new forests, and again 
plunged into the ocean depths and buried beneath sand and mud, to be there 
converted into fuel for the use of mankind—the gradual formation, above the 
Carboniferous strata, of the New Red Sandstone, the Lias, and the Oolite, with 
their myriads of animals of higher types than any which had previously appeared 
—all were epitomised to the eye by these salient points of the landscape. 


Some time having been devoted to this fascinating spot, Mr. Strickland and 
a number of the party proceeded southward along the road to Coleford. On their 
way, Mr. Strickland pointed out the millstone-grit rock, which forms the inner 
edge of the coal basin. The party made their way to Christchurch, where they 
visited several pits, receiving from Mr. Strickland much interesting and valuable 
information in regard to the vegetable remains, which are so abundant in the 
shales and coal seams. Fragments of Sigillaria, and other extinct vegetation, were 
found by several of the party in the débris lying about the mouths of the pits. 
Mr. Strickland notices the fact that scarcely any remains of air-breathing land 
animals had been found in the coal measures ; a circumstance which was probably 
due to the great excess of carbonic acid in the atmosphere at that remote period. 
The vegetation which then flourished being of genera, the analogues of which now 
live chiefly in the torrid zone, it had been concluded that the heat of the earth in 
the periods when these forests grew was very great; and that circumstance, com- 
bined with the excess of carbonic acid in the atmosphere, would cause a most 
luxuriant growth of vegetation. Vegetables might be said to be constantly en- 
gaged in producing carbon. From the atmosphere they drew it by decomposing the 
carbonic acid ; and then, passing into the state of peat, and from peat to coal, they 
became a depository of carbon. When the coal was drawn from the earth for the 
use of man, part of the carbon passed off as carbonic acid gas into the atmosphere, 
to be thence again drawn by plants, again stored up in the earth as coal, and 
again liberated by combustion as before. The theory that these coal fields were 


12 


deposits of vegetation in lakes or estuaries is strengthened by the circumstance 
that a bed of whitish mud or shale is found under every one of the seams in South 
Wales, a vast coal field, the limestone edge of which was visible from that spot. 
This white mud or shale is found to be similar in its nature to the deposit of mud 
which was found at the bottom of lakes and pools when they were dried up. The 
inference is that every one of the many coal seams of South Wales was formed in 
a similar position; that the mass was then submerged, and again becoming 
dry land, was elevated, and became the site of a fresh deposit of vegetation. 
In many cases trees were found erect in the coal beds, a fact which showed that 
they had been buried on the spot where they had grown. The position of parts 
of the carboniferous strata on the summit of the Black Mountains, and on other 
elevated spots, rendered it probable that the whole surface of Herefordshire was 
once covered with carboniferous strata to an immense thickness, which were 
broken up by convulsions of the earth, and swept away by the action of water. 
This process of degradation by water is still going on: the Wye is constantly 
carrying down into the Bristol Channel, and thus to the ocean, portions of the lime- 
stone and other rocks through which it passes; and the mass is accumulating in 
the Atlantic, above the remains of similar rocks, which have been thus carried 
away in past ages. 


Leaving the coal pits of Christchurch, the party retraced their steps to 
Symonds Yat, and, descending the slope of the promontory, reached the very 
striking outcrop of the Conglomerate, which lies between the Mountain Lime- 
stone and the Old Red Sandstone. This formation (Mr. Strickland explained) 
was composed of rounded fragments of quartz, greenstone, jasper, &c., which had 
been deposited in the mud of a turbid ocean. The quartz is what is called vein 
quartz, and many of the pebbles contain with it portions of the rock in which the 
quartz vein was formed. In some cases this is a chlorite schist. An interesting 
circumstance was here noticed: a longitudinal fissure in the rock, 20 feet in 
length, was partly occupied by one of the roots of an oak, which had grown down 
in search of moisture ; and partly by a stalagmite, or deposit of carbonate of lime 
from water. Mr. Strickland explained that the formation of stalagmite was 
identical with the process called ‘‘ petrification.” 


The party now returned across the Wye to Whitchurch, on their way to the 
inn, noticing a curious instance of the power of vegetation to accommodate itself~ 
to altered circumstances. A poplar tree having fallen or been blown across a 
small pool, the branches continue to grow along the upper side of it ; but instead 
of preserving the curved direction towards the summit of the tree, which char- 
acterises the species, the branches all shoot straight upwards, and therefore at 
right angles to the stem. 


Throughout the pleasant ramble, some of the party devoted their attention 
in part to the botany of the district. The equally rare and beautiful Bee-orchis ; 
the Small St. John’s Wort (Hypericum pulchrum), the Canterbury Bell (Campan- 
ula latifolia), the Scrophularia nodosa, and other more common plants, were 
found growing abundantly. As, however, the presence of the distinguished 


13 


visitors gave the excursion a turn chiefly geological, the botany of the spots visited 
may be said to have been left almost unexamined. 


At 4 p.m., the explorers assembled to a substantial dinner at the Crown Inn. 
The President of the Club, Mr. R. M. Lingwood, presided at dinner; Mr. M. J. 
Scobie, the Hon. Secretary, officiating as vice-chairman. The company also in- 
cluded Sir R. I. Murchison, Mr. Strickland, Rev. P. B. Brodie, Rev. T. T. Lewis, 
Bridstow ; Rev. W.S. Symonds, Pendock; Rev. R. Holmes, Eldersfield ; Rev. 
A. Kent, Minor Canon of Gloucester Cathedral; Dr. Gilliland, Dr. Lingen, Dr. 
Rowan, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Cam, Mr. Stone, Mr. DeBoinville, Mr. Otte, Mr. 
Ballard, Mr. A. Thompson, and Mr. Flavell Edmunds. 


The cloth having been removed, the Chairman gave the healths of the Queen, 
Prince Albert, and the Royal Family, which were duly honoured. 


? 


The Chairman then gave the health of ‘‘ The Honorary Members,” coupling 
with the toast the names of Sir Roderick Murchison, Mr. Strickland, and Mr. 
Brodie, whose presence at that Meeting the Members felt to be a great honour 
and privilege. (Applause). 


Sir R. I. Murchison, in acknowledging the compliment, said that he felt the 
greatest interest in Herefordshire, as the County which had furnished so many 
important facts for the development of the Silurian system ; and he was therefore 
much gratified to find that a Club had been formed for the further investigation of 
the geology and natural history of this interesting county. He almost considered 
himself a Herefordshire man, for another reason. The company was aware that 
there was a regiment called ‘‘ the 36th, or Herefordshire Regiment.” As a young 
ensign in that regiment at the age of 16, he had the honour of carrying a colour 
at the Battle of Vimiera. The Duke of Wellington was just behind them at the 
charge, and expressed himself delighted with the steadiness of the men in making 
it. His Grace, in fact, devoted a whole paragraph in one of his despatches to a 
description of that charge ; a compliment which he has paid in no other instance 
to the charge of a single regiment. Two-thirds of the men in the 36th at that 
battle were actually natives of Herefordshire. This old reminiscence had just 
occurred to him, and he mentioned it asone of the reasons why he felt such an 
interest in this beautiful county. (Applause). 


Mr. Strickland begged also to return thanks for the honour conferred upon 
him. He felt great interest in the Club, and thought, as it had come into the 
world so healthy and vigorous, they might be interested to learn something of its 
parentage. The first Club of the kind was established at Berwick; and, as it had 
proved very useful, the idea was adopted by some gentlemen in Gloucestershire. 
The Club which they formed was called the Cotteswold Club ; and its labours had 
been the means of aiding greatly in the investigation of the natural history, &c., of 
the Cotteswold range and its vicinity. He was happy to find that the Woolhope 
Club, its sire the Cotteswold Club, and its grandsire the Berwick Club, were all 
flourishing and useful ; and he hoped that similar institutions would be formed in 
other counties, Perhaps one means of assisting each other’s progress would be for 


14 


each Club to fix a meeting, say once in a season, on the confines of their counties, 
where they could become acquainted with each other, and interchange the fruits 
of their enquiries. They, as Herefordshire men, had been that day, strictly 
speaking, poaching upon another manor, since they had been into Gloucester- 
shire ; and he would suggest that next season a meeting be appointed for May 
Hill, or some other spot near the border, where the Cotteswold Club could meet 
them. (Applause). 


The Rey. P. B. Brodie returned thanks, expressing his approval of Mr. 
Strickland’s suggestion. 


The Chairman then called upon the Hon. Secretary to read the papers which 
had been prepared. ‘The first of those read was 


THE GEOLOGICAL REPORT OF THE PROCEEDINGS AT THE 
FIRST EXCURSION OF THE CLUB, 


On Turspay, May, 181rH, 1852, spy M. J. Scosre, F.G.S. 


The Rey. Reginald P. Hill, of Cradley, exhibited a specimen of Caradoc 
Sandstone, containing the characteristic fossils curiously altered by heat. This 
specimen was from the Malvern Hills, where the Caradoc formations are at 
various points associated with trappean rocks, which, at a very early period, must 
have been erupted in a state of fusion, altering the strata through which the 
voleanic matter had forced a passage. Here it may not be unworthy of remark 
that there is no instance throughout the district of a similar metamorphosis 
having taken place from contact with syenite, the foundation rock of the Malvern 
range. We may hence justly infer that the latter was consolidated previous to 
the deposition of the superincumbent sedimentary strata, under the pressure of 
an ocean of considerable depth. 


A collection of Mammalian remains discovered by Mr. Ballard, of Hereford, 
during the formation of the Herefordshire Canal, in gravels of various kinds, was 
then submitted for examination. It has been a subject for remark that our 
superficial deposits are peculiarly destitute of Fossil Mammalian remains, and it is 
therefore gratifying that our first Meeting should have been instrumental in 
throwing some light upon a subject which has hitherto remained in obscurity. 
The elucidation of these gravels presents an ample field for the researches of an 
intelligent geologist, and it is to be hoped that they will receive that amount of 
attention at the hands of the Club which their importance demands. It is only 
by a careful examination of their constituents, fossil contents, manner of distri- 
bution, and relative elevations, that the periods of their deposition and origin can 
be ascertained. 


Sir Roderick Murchison divides the gravels of England into two classes. 
The first includes all those coarse and sometimes far-transported fragments to 
which some geologists apply the word ‘ diluvium,” but which, to avoid miscon- 
struction, he designates drift; and this drift he subdivides into three distinct 


—— 


15 


varieties, two of which he terms local, the third foreign. ‘‘The drift of the high 
lands of Siluria ” (to quote from “Silurian System,” p. 510), ‘tis of the earliest 
date, and was produced by the elevation of the older rocks. The next in age 
arose from the upcasts of the various coal measures ; and the third or most modern 
drift is that which covers large portions of the central countries, and contains 
boulders of northern granite, all which detritus was accumulated beneath the sea 
during successive epochs. The second class of ‘‘alluvia” includes all the deposits 
formed in lakes and river courses since the elevation of the districts from beneath 
the sea; also the masses of travertine formed by calcareous springs and the 
various results of atmospheric action.” 


As we have no evidence in the district west of the Malvern Hills of the 
deposition of any rocks more modern than those of the Palaeozoic ages, it is 
evident that some of our gravels may be of very high antiquity. 


But to return to our fossils. Bones and teeth referable to the mammoth and 
the deer were distinguishable from others which, on closer examination may 
prove to belong to the hippopotamus, bos urus, or bison, and the hog. Important 
and suggestive facts! Has the climatal system of the earth, it may be asked, 
undergone a change since these dry bones lived and moved, the denizens of this 
land? The representatives of some of these mammals are in our day confined to 
the swamps and borders of certain tropical rivers, or at least to countries within 
the torrid zone. 


From the wonderful adaptation to particular spheres of enjoyment which 
characterises the various families of the animal kingdom, it seems just to argue 
that, when those extinct creatures were indigenous and roamed the forests and 
sported in the waters of this northern latitude, the conditions under which they 
lived were analogous to thosein which similar families exist in the present day. 
But this is not the conclusion to which our most eminent geologists have arrived. 
Huge pachyderms are known to have existed during the glacial epoch, and Sir 
Charles Lyell and Professor Owen have explained the capabilities of these animals 
to sustain the hardships of a cold climate equal in intensity to a Siberian winter. 


The weather having partially cleared up towards one o’clock, the investiga- 
tions of the day commenced on the interesting grounds of Lady Emily Foley, 
where our party divided, geologists and botanists taking separate routes. 


Near Tarrington were observed some examples of Downton Sandstones at the 
base of the Old Red System, but not in actual contact with it, the junction beds 
being obscured by superficial accumulations. 


In ascending the hill at Stoke Edith, our party crossed the Upper Ludlow 
shale, and upon attaining the summit, recognised a ridge of Aymestry rock, a 
formation one step lower in the Silurian series. In ascending the hill, however 
paradoxical it may sound, we had, geologically speaking, penetrated deeper into 
the earth’s. crust. Palaeontologically, we had receded to a period when, ere the 


fiat had gone forth calling a higher order of beings into existence, invertebrata ap- 


16 


pear to have been the sole inhabitants of the deep. We had now arrived within 
view of the Woolhope ‘‘valley of elevation.” So great has been the labour 
bestowed upon this remarkable region by Sir Roderick Murchison, Professor 
John Phillips, and other eminent geologists, and so copious is the information 
already before the public, that our object in visiting it was rather to launch our 
bark and proceed to our voyage from a port of such world-wide celebrity, than to 
entertain much hope of making any fresh discoveries. The Woolhope Valley of 
Elevation, admitted to be the most symmetrical of its type in Great Britain, is 
described by Mr. Strickland as an ‘‘elevation crater, in which we see the 
ineffectual struggles of a focus of voleanic energy to burst through the super- 
incumbent strata.” That this energy was directed towards a single point is 
evident, for we find an unbroken succession of Silurian strata from the Caradoc 
to the Old Red Sandstone, dipping on all sides from a common centre at angles of 
15 to 70 deg. The area occupied by the upcast Silurian strata extends from 
Dormington on the N.W. to Gorstley Common on the 8.E., a distance of about 
ten miles ; and from Fownhope on the 8.W. to Putley on the N.E., about four 
miles. A semicircle described from Fownhope to Putley, through the villages of 
Mordiford, Dormington, and Tarrington, with convergent lines from the extremi- 
ties of the arc meeting at Gorstley Common, would embrace the whole district, 
the general outline of which resembles a boy’s kite, or a pear tapering towards 
Gorstley Common, which part Sir Roderick Murchison designates ‘‘ the stem.” 


The manner of upheaval, and the denudation to which the district 
has been subjected, are strikingly manifest in the physical character of the 
country. We perceive a central elliptically shaped dome encircled by two narrow 
ridges of hills attaining their greatest altitudes towards the north; Seager Hill, 
in the exterior circle, being 892 feet above the sea, while the elevation of a nearly 
corresponding point of the inner circle at Devereux Park is about 650 feet, or 
somewhat lower than the central dome. In the ‘‘ Memoirs of Geological Survey,” 
Professor Phillips gives the following graphic description of the upceast region :— 


“The internal structure corresponds most accurately with the external con- 
figuration. The central dome is composed of the lowest strata, viz., Caradoc Sand- 
stone, overlaid by Woolhope Limestone; the concavity around it is sunk in the 
Wenlock Shales; the inner ring of hills is formed by the outcrop of Wenlock 
Limestone ; the hollow which encircles it, of the Lower Ludlow Shales; and the 
outer chain of high ground which borders and overlooks the whole of this singular 
district is a ridge of Aymestrey Rocks and Upper Ludlow flags and shales, 
dipping everywhere from the centre towards a wide area of the Old Red Sand- 
stone.” 


There can be no doubt that, previous to the convulsive movement of which I 
have spoken, the whole country was continuously overlaid with Old Red 
Sandstone, and that again by Carboniferous strata; but during long ages of 
submergence, the wreck of those systems has been swept away along with 
immense masses of the upcast Silurian formations. So complete was the work of 
denudation, that not a fragment of Old Red or drift of any description can be 
detected in the valley. 


17 


The Faults which here occur deserve attention, not being the least interesting 
phenomena which present themselves to puzzle young geologists; the most 
considerable of these, which runs from Mordiford for some distance in the line 
of the Pentelow Brook to near Tarrington, cuts off a portion of the Woolhope 
Limestone and Caradoc Sandstone from the central dome, and as it has the 
effect of depressing the strata towards the north, brings these formations into 
contact with Wenlock shale, and at the Gorge near Mordiford places the 
Ludlow rocks in opposition to Old Red Sandstone. Another fault, which runs 
in a northerly direction east of Old Sutton and Prior’s Frome, depresses the 
strata to east, and produces in its course a double ridge of Aymestrey rock. 


The gradual percolation of water through the Ludlow rocks, which are much 
interlaminated with argillaceous bands, and which occupy elevated situations to the 
north and north-east, has occasioned landslips of considerable magnitude. That 
near Dormington, which took place in 1844,* was visited by our botanical party. 
** Adam’s Rocks,” on the southern slope of Backbury Hill, and ‘t The Wonder,” 
near Putley, are also interesting examples of similar displacements. 


Descending the southern slope of Stoke Hill we crossed the excavated trench of 
Lower Ludlow shale already alluded to, to the quarried escarpments of Wenlock 
Limestone at Dormington Wood. The scene presented at this interesting spot is of 
a character to strike the most casual observer with aweand astonishment. Buried 
and embalmed in solid rock, of which they may be said to form the mass, are seen 
the remains of millions of the early invertebrate inhabitants of our planet. Not to 
speak of myriads of encrinital, molluscous, and conchiferous remains, the beautiful 
corals of the formation are in such vast abundance that, to the mind’s eye, a 
modern tropical reef seems realised ; imagination pictures its millions of polypi 
stretching forth their tiny arms in their native element, revelling in the enjoy- 
ment of that peculiar and beautiful principle of life, which, animating 
individually, and vibrating through the mass, associated them together in a 
common bond of unity. After leaving Dormington Wood, our party were 
subjected to a terrific and uninterrupted storm of thunder, lightning, and rain. 
Our progress consequently being hastened along the line of fault, through the 
romantic glen of the Pentelow Brook, and from thence to the Scutwardine 
Quarries of Woolhope Limestone, we arrived at Fownhope at four o’clock. There 
the Members dined together according to appointment, and separated late in the 
day, after expressing many hearty wishes for the prosperity of the Woolhope 
Club. 


CONTINUATION OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECOND FIELD MEETING. 


The health of the Hon. Secretary was drunk, Mr. Strickland expressing his 
earnest hope that so valuable a report as had just been read would not be lost, but 
be printed and circulated, for the information of other Clubs and the scientific 
world generally, and that it might be handed down to posterity. 


The President was sure Mr. Strickland would be gratified to learn that the 
Rules of the Club contemplated the printing of the papers submitted to it. 


* See Hereford Journal March 2oth, 1844. 


18 


FOSSILS. 


Mr. Otte produced a small slab containing a specimen of graptolite—the 
skeleton of a fish resembling the pen-fish of the tropics—from the Woolhope 
Limestone. 


A remarkably perfect specimen of the trilobite, called Bumastus Barriensis, 
coiled up like a hedgehog, which had been lent by Mr. Hodges, of Ledbury, was 
produced, and excited much interest. The thanks of the Club were voted for the 
loan of this valuable specimen. 


BOTANICAL REPORT. 
By Dr. ne G. But. 


The President then read Dr. Bull’s Report of the Botanical Observations 
made during the former excursion. Having briefly described the visit to Stoke 
Edith Gardens, the Report noticed that in proceeding through the park to the 
landslip, the Orchis Morio, Saxifraga granulata, Pteris aquilina, Chenopodium 
Bonus Henricus, Potentilla verna, and many other common plants were gathered. 
On descending the hill, the party found the Helleborus foetidus in two situations, 
apparently indigenous. After crossing the Pentelow Brook, they found the 
Aquilegia vulgaris, Viburnum Lantana, Viola hirta (in seed), Habenaria bifolia 
(probably H. chlorantha, but the flower had not yet opened), and occasional trees 
of Pyrus torminalis. On the Wenlock Limestone, around the rubbish from the 
lime-kilns, were Cynoglossum officinale, Lithospermum officinale, &e. ; while the 
luxuriant foliage of the Clematis Vitalba, covering the hedge, and the fresh green 
plants of Dipsacus sylvestris attracted attention. The report then proceeds :— 
Descending the Wenlock ridge, through the quarries on to the Wenlock shale, 
the Valeriana dioica, Convallaria majalis, Paris quadrifolia, Allium ursinum, 
Listera ovata, were found growing plenteously; there were some plants of 
Daphne Laureola; and here, too, was gathered Luzula Boreri, probably not 
uncommon, though as yet but little known. The Luzula sylvatica, so common in 
the south and other parts of the county, was not once noticed. The Epipactis 
ensifolia grows freely amongst the underwood on the Caradoc Sandstone, but its 
locality is very limited in extent ; upwards of thirty plants were observed in 1851, 
all growing on the right hand side of the high road leading to Woolhope, just 
below the brow of the hill in the Haugh Wood. The locality is about fifty yards in 
length, and does not extend above ten or twelve yards into the wood. P.S., June 
9th, 1852. The plants are still more numerous this year, and a little more spread 
out ; nearly 300 were in flower, and two or three were observed on the left-hand 
side of the road. At the foot of the hill at the village of Mordiford, the 
Helianthemum vulgare grew freely on the south bank; and on a bank on the 
opposite side of the road, on the roots of the Acer campestris, grew the parasite, 
Lathraa Squamaria, now in seed, but always interesting from its peculiarities. 


The general botanical character of the district is wooded, the slopes and 
ridges being covered with underwood, consisting for the most part of oak, ash, 
hazel, dogwood, meal-trees, elder, blackthorn, hawthorn, &c., cut at regular 


19 


intervals for poles, firewood, &c. The valleys contain hamlets, or scattered 
houses, with small orchards or open meadows, affording a pleasing variety in the 
botany as well as in the scenery. 


Throughout the route taken there was an abundance of the Mercurialis 
perennis, Hyacinthus non scriptus (one plant with pinkish flowers), Stellaria 
Holostea, Euphorbia amygdaloides, Galeobdolon luteum, Carex sylvatica, and 
the universal Carex recurva. The Polygala vulgaris (blue, pink, and white 
varieties), the Colchicum autumnale, now pushing up into seed vessels, grew 
freely in the valleys; Anemone nemorosa, with many more ordinary plants. 
The wild Bird-cherry, Prunus Avium, so often constituting a beautiful object 
in the woods of the southern part of the county, was not observed. 


Here followed an accurate list of all the plants observed in flower during the 
day named, according to the London Catalogue. 


ABUNDANCE OF AVENA FLAVESCENS AT ROSS. 
By W. H. Purcuas. 


At the request of the Secretary, Mr. Edmunds read the following communi- 
cation from Mr. W. H. Purchas, of Ross, who was unfortunately prevented by 
indisposition from being present :— 


My attention has frequently during the last few weeks been drawn to the 
peculiar silky appearance of the fields of mowing grass around Ross, due to the 
unusual prevalence of the yellow oat-grass (Avena flavescens). It seemsa trifling 
circumstance to mention, but as small facts in natural history often turn out to be 
important ones, I have less hesitation in briefly drawing the attention of the Club 
to it. Like other British perennial oat-grasses, Avena flavescens flourishes in dry 
situations, and produces very few and weak leafy shoots—bottom grass, as the 
farmer terms them. Hence these grasses are of little value for cultivation, and 
from their slow growth will readily be overcome by more vigorously growing 
kinds. The unusual plenty which I have mentioned is, I think, readily explained 
by the remarkable drought during the spring months of this year, which, while it 
retarded the growth of the more luxuriant pasture plants, supplied the precise 
conditions required for the healthy growth of the yellow oat, and prevented it 
being stifled and overrun, thus having the double effect of a stimulus and a 
safeguard. 


It may not be amiss to mention to the Club that I had, on the 12th instant, 
the pleasure of making an addition to the list of South Herefordshire plants by 
finding, near Hope Mansel, Pyrola minor—a single plant, and also a Silene, 
which I think will turn out 8. noctiflora, but the specimens are scarcely forward 
enough to warrant a positive statement. I also found, near the same spot, new 
stations for the elegant fern Polypodium Dryopteris, and for the Dutch rush, 
Equisetum hyemale, remarkable for the abundance of silex in its stem, which 
renders it useful in polishing wood. 


Ross, July 17th, 1852, 


20 


On this communication, Mr. Edmunds remarked that the grass alluded to is 
said to be distasteful to cattle, although sheep are very fond of it; and perhaps 
its unusual prevalence in this instance may have been partly caused by cattle 
having been turned into the meadows early in the season. If they rejected the 
Avena, while they cropped the other grasses, it would naturally be in excess of 
them at the time of flowering. He merely threw that out as a conjectural cause 
in addition to the drought as suggested by Mr. Purchas. 


THE CIRL BUNTING; THE NIGHTINGALE, &c. 


The President, referring to the excellent remarks of the Rev. W. 8S. Symonds, 
at the former meeting, as to the desirableness of members noticing every circum- 
stance bearing upon the natural history of the district, observed that he had this 
year noticed a bird rare in this county, the cirl bunting, a bird resembling slightly, 
but somewhat larger than, a yellow-hammer. The fern-owl, too, had become 
much more common this year in his neighbourhood than had previously been 
known, somewhat to the alarm of the old women. (Laughter). 


The Rey. W. 8. Symonds wished to know how far westward the nightingale s 
range extended. 


The President did not know how far westward, but to the south-west he 
believed the neighbourhood of Abergavenny was the limit. He might add that 
in his neighbourhood the nightingales had been more numerous this year than for 
many years past. He believed that in this county they were mostly heard in the 
valley of the Wye. 


DECOMPOSITION OF SULPHURETTED HYDROGEN BY 
HEREFORDSHIRE MARL.—THE CHOLERA. 


THE ORIGIN AND USE OF PEROXIDE OF IRON IN THE 
OLD RED SANDSTONE. 


By Dr. Rowan. 


After briefly adverting to the importance of its bearing upon agricultural 
chemistry, Dr. Rowan proceeded :— 

Finding myself located upon the Old Red Sandstone formation, whose 
agricultural character does not rank so high as other and more recent deposits, I 
was anxious, if possible, to go beyond what I found written in books, to discover 
the true chemical elements of which the strata was composed, with a view to the 
determination of what the soils might derive from the ancient rock, out of the 
débris of which they were formed, and by ascertaining of which elements the 
rock was deficient, to suggest the best mode of supplying that deficiency. In the 
course of this investigation two things were manifest, namely, a great abundance 
of peroxide of iron, and a deficiency of phosphoric acid. The latter I attribute to 
the scarcity of fossil remains, and to the fact that those fossils that are discovered 
are the remains of fish, the bones and scales of which are composed chiefly of the 
carbonate of lime, and not, like the reptilia and mammalia, composed of the 
phosphate of lime, 


21 


With regard to the peroxide of iron, it became an interesting subject of in- 
quiry :—By what acid was it originally held in solution, before it was deposited 
in this interesting formation? Could it be nitric, hydro-chloric, or sulphuric, or 
was it originally dissolved by the aid of carbonic? The absence of nitrogen, and 
the very small portion of chlorine and sulphuric acid (merely a trace), compared 
with the abundance of base, at once determine that the first three acids could not 
have been tke solvents, and there was every reason for the supposition that carbonic 
acid was; but by reasoning from analogy, and considering that where iron was 
held in solution by this acid as in chalybeate springs, its instant exposure to the 
atmosphere deprived it of the carbonic acid, producing a deposit of peroxide of 
iron—this, I admit, would be a fatal objection to this theory, provided that we 
could prove the constitution of the atmosphere, during the existence of those 
early seas, was the same as it is at present. The constitution of our atmosphere 
apart from carbonic acid and aqueous vapour is— 

71 oxygen, and 21 nitrogen ; or 
77°50 nitrogen gas, 

21°00 oxygen, 

1°42 aqueous vapour, 

0°08 carbonic acid. 


Aithough there is a constant quantity of carbonic acid evolving from decaying 
vegetable matter, yet the quantity of the different elements of which atmos- 
pheric air is composed varies but little on any part of the globe. But geologists 
consider (and indeed with great plausibility) that the atmosphere which surrounded 
our globe before the Carboniferous era, must have contained a much greater pro- 
portion of carbonic acid than it does at present, so much so, as to be incapable of 
supporting animal life, except that of the lowest scale; and instead of abstracting 
carbonic acid, the atmosphere was one of the greatest sources of its supply. The 
growth and development of the vast forests (which afterwards became submerged, 
and by the influence of heat and pressure became our present extensive coal fields, 
which is in reality, the basis of our national wealth, for without our coal fields our 
steam engines would be powerless—our railways could not exist—our iron works 
would languish—our cotton factories would never have attained to their present 
position, and all our other great manufacturing speculations of wool, flax, silk, 
&c., would be in weakness and decay) were the cause of the abstraction of the 
super-abundant carbonic acid from our atmosphere, and subsequently fitted it 
for the use of every class of air-breathing animals. That carbonic acid does hold 
in solution peroxide of iron, we have abundant proof, in the chalybeate springs found 
in various parts of this island, and, indeed, in our own county. I analysed, some 
years ago, a spring of this sort, belonging to the late Mr. Burnham Pateshall, of 
Allensmore; it contained a quantity of iron, held in solution by carbonic acid, 
together with lime and magnesia. I have also found it in water passing through 
a meadow belonging to Mrs. Powell, situated near the road leading from Hereford 
to Ross, about a mile and a half from Hereford, and doubtless it occurs in many 
other parts. This fact has been doubted ; but to me, considering the nature of the 
substance, it is rather a wonder that chalybeate springs are not more frequently 
found. Mr. Hugh Miller, in his work entitled ‘‘ The Old Red Sandstone,” in relating 


99 


24 


the fruitless attempt of some miners in searching for coal, in Cromarty, by boring, 
states that they founda true artesian well, which puta stop to their labours ; 
and although the waters were not strongly tinctured with ferruginous matter, yet 
he could see every pebble and stalk over which the water passed, enveloped with a 
ferruginous coagulum. I can easily conceive that, before the carboniferous era, 
the atmosphere, surcharged with carbonic acid, supplied the early seas with a 
sufficient abundance of that gas to hold in solution the iron, lime, magnesia, &e. ; 
that the latter elements were partially used up by the fish, with which those early seas 
abounded, and as the purification of our atmosphere proceeded, the iron, parting 
with its double dose of carbonic acid, gradually departed, giving to the formation 
its peculiar red tinge, by which it has acquired its name, the Old Red sandstone. 


Thus whilst it is interesting and useful to trace (if possible) the source of such 
combination of elements as the peroxide of iron, there are often other considera- 
tions arising out of the investigation, of equal importance to the student of natural 
philosophy. Herefordshire, for instance, has been proverbial for the salubrity 
of its atmosphere, and the freedom of its inhabitants from those epidemic scourges 
which have so often depopulated districts resting upon other geological formations ; 
and it isa remarkable fact that, in the two visitations of cholera, not one case 
occurred in the county. Now, it becomes an interesting question—Is there any- 
thing peculiar to the Old Red sandstone, which would in any way contribute to 
this exception? The faculty have long been accustomed to consider that cholera 
follows the track of typhus, and that typhus is often occasioned by gaseous emana- 
tions arising from the decomposition of animal and vegetable matter; but in 
what way such effects are produced, science has not as yet been able to determine. 
Whether by producing a change in the electrical state of the atmosphere it 
induces disease (Sir James Murray), or by being taken into the lungs, it produces 
a peculiar chemical change in the constitutents of the blood, thereby inducing 
morbid action. During the progress of some chemical investigations upon the 
properties of sewage water from thickly inhabited places in this county, I was 
surprised to find that its composition varied materially from that stated by other 
analysts in other localities; and I was led to inquire whether there was any 
peculiar property possessed by the soil of the district which would account for the 
difference. Knowing the composition of the soils, and the quantity of ferruginous 
matter they contained, and being aware that when solutions of any salt of iron were 
placed in contact with sewage, the whole of the iron would be precipitated as an 
insoluble sulphuret, it remained then to be proved whether the finely divided 
peroxide of iron would act analogously to the solutions of its salts, Which, indeed, 
by direct experiments, I found to be the case; and the play of affinities were as 
follows—the sulphur of the sulphuretted hydrogen, combined with the iron of the 
peroxide, forming the metallic sulphuret; the liberated hydrogen combining with 
the liberated oxygen of the peroxide, forming water; thus the most deadly 
compound gas, by transposition of its elements with peroxide, was converted into 
two most innocuous compounds, water and the sulphuret of iron, and the sulphuret 
again, by exposure to the atmosphere, became re-converted into the peroxide of 
iron, with liberation of sulphur, not again to be converted into the deadly 
sulphuretted hydrogen, but into the useful sulphuric acid. From the above con- 


23 


siderations, if the premises and conclusions are correct, we have proof of the 
wisdom and beneficence of that great Creator, who has created nothing in vain; 
and the more we enter into the minutiz and detail connected with His works, and 
the laws by which they are governed, the more fully convinced shall we be that 
not only do the Heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shew His 
handy work, but every atom of matter, whether simple or compound, proves its 
wonderful adaptation for the use for which it was designed. 


Sir R. Murchison expressed the interest that he felt in the theory which had 
been so well worked out by Dr. Rowan in the paper which had been just read. 
He would suggest the question; whether the freedom of the town of Birmingham 
from cholera arose in any degree from the use, in the manufacture of iron, of 
similar substances to that upon which Dr. Rowan had experimented ? During the 
meeting of the British Association at Birmingham, that subject had been started, 
and it had been thought by various persons that the exemption of the town from 
cholera might be due to a chemical process going on in the sewers, in consequence 
of the mixture of sewage matter with the refuse of the iron manufacturers. 


Dr. Rowan replied that the decomposition of sulphuretted hydrogen might 
take place in the sewers, as suggested by Sir Roderick’s question. 


Dr. Lingen remarked that the exemption of this county was the most remark- 
able, from the fact that the cholera had never begun within it. If it had begun, 
and had then stopped, it might have seemed that the cessation was connected 
with chemical action in the soil, as now suggested ; but the difficulty was in the 
fact that the cholera had not begun. 


Mr. Edmunds observed that, having lived for some years in Birmingham, he 
felt much interested in the allusion made to it by Sir R. Murchison. It appeared 
to him, however, that there were several local circumstances which might with 
advantage be taken into account, in seeking for the cause of Birmingham’s 
immunity from the cholera. One of these was the great cleanliness of the town, 
compared with other towns, both large and small. Filth was generally held to be 
a predisposing cause of cholera. This statement was not inconsistent with the 
existence of another circumstance which he would name ; the fact that the sewage 
of Birmingham was exceedingly defective at the time of each of the two great 
visitations of cholera. Within the last five years large sums had been expended 
in effecting a system of sewerage upon a scale not unworthy of comparison with 
the Cloaca Maxima of Rome; but before that time the sewerage was very defective. 
This evil, however, was less felt in Birmingham than it had been elsewhere, in 
consequence of the town being situated on a very absorbent stratum, the New 
Red Sandstone, and the surface being broken up into many sandhills. 


Sir R. Murchison thought there was also another reason, besides the nature of 
the soil and subsoil, why Birmingham, as well as Herefordshire, and other districts 
and places, had escaped the cholera. Elevation above the sea is a circumstance 
which ought always to be taken in account, although it had been quite overlooked 
by the Press. All elevated places have escaped the cholera. There had not been 
a case in Switzerland ; and in this country, although we have scarcely anything 


24 


like elevation, yet the highest parts had also escaped. There had been no cases 
of cholera in the Highlands; along also what is called the backbone of England— 
at Buxton, for instance, where he was staying at the time of the last visit of 
cholera—there was not a case, while the towns lying right and left of the ridge 
were being desolated by that disease. He believed that no place more than 600 
feet abovs the sea level had been attacked by cholera ; and should it reach this 
country again, he should feel quite safe at any place above that limit. Many parts 
of Herefordshire are much more than 600 feet above the sea. It seemed to him, 
too, that the cholera generally followed the course of great rivers; now there 
were no great rivers near Birmingham. 


In the course of the conversation which ensued, Dr. Gilliland and other 
gentlemen remarked that a great part of Herefordshire was watered by the Wye, 
but that its volume was too small to entitle it to be ranked as a “‘great river,” 
while the county was cut off by chains of hills from the valley of the much larger 
river Severn. The exemption of the county from cholera might be due to the 
combination of the geographical and the chemical causes which had been 
named. 


The healths of the President and of the new members having been drunk 
and suitably acknowledged, several papers were promised in future meetings. 
Among these we may mention a paper on Carpology, or the structure and 
arrangement of the fruit of plants, by Dr. Lingen, to whose kindness throughout 
the day, in imparting information, the botanical members were greatly indebted. 
From so profound a systematic botanist, on so important a branch of the science as 
that now selected, an interesting paper may be anticipated. 


About 7 p.m. the party broke up, highly gratified and instructed by the 
proceedings of the day. 


The next meeting was fixed to be held at Aymestrey, in the north-western 
part of the county, in September next, when it is hoped Mr. Strickland and 
others of the distinguished honorary members of the Club will be present. 


The Hon. Secretary, Mr. Scobie, having since visited the Woolhope Valley 
with Mr. Otte, found the graptolites previously alluded to in abundance in a 
newly opened quarry on the southern slope of Backbury Hill, a few hundred yards 
to the east of Adam’s rocks; the formation is a calcareo-argillaceous finely com- 
pacted deposit of Lower Ludlow shale, containing the exuvie of trilobites, and 
the characteristic testacea of the period. They are of the species Graptolithus 
Ludensis, a zoophyte allied to Pinnatula, or Sea-pen. The existence of this fossil 
in the Silurian rocks of Woolhope is another interesting fact in the geology of 
Herefordshire, brought to light by means of the Woolhope Club. 


25 


HEREFORD HORTICULTURAL SOOIETY. 
CLOSING SHOW FOR THE SEASON (SEPT, 11, 1852), 


The last Exhibition of plants, flowers, fruit, and vegetables, for the second 
season of this flourishing and useful Society, was held yesterday (Friday), At this 
late period of the summer, of course, the main portion of every such exhibition 
consists of dahlias and greenhouse plants. To the former, the weather of late has 
been by no means favourable ; but before we enter into details on this point, we 
may with advantage call attention to a department of the Show, which was to a 
great degree independent of the weather. It will be remembered that in addition 
to the Society’s prizes for collections of wild flowers—to which we have so often 
with pleasure called attention, as calculated to benefit society by extending our 
knowledge of the natural productions of this county, many of which are medicinally 
valuable, while it affords to the young a pleasant and instructive pursuit—prizes 
were also offered by Dr. Bull for the best collection of dried specimens of Here- 
fordshire plants. These prizes could of course only be adjudged at the close of 
the season ; and thus, one of the most pleasing and useful of the classes of objects 
for exhibition graced the final show. There were four Herbariums sent in for 
competition, but they were each very extensive, the plants numbering nearly 360 
in the largest, and little short of 300 in the smallest. Considering that it was the 
first year of competition, this was a highly encouraging fact. It was also pleasant 
to find that the plants were, with very few exceptions, correctly named ; while in 
all instances they were pressed and prepared with great care and neatness. One 
of these herbariums, bearing the motto ‘‘ Garde lhonneur” (sent by Miss Riley, 
of Pencraig Court, to whom an extra prize was awarded), although botanically 
deficient in arrangement and nomenclature, was nevertheless deserving of very 
high praise for the exquisite taste with which it was executed. The flowers in 
the other herbariums were affixed to separate sheets of paper, in the usual mode, 
which is much more convenient than any other, since each plant is presented dis- 
tinctly to the eye in all its parts, and its characteristics are more easily apprehended 
by the mind—the main object of such collections. Tn this instance, however, the 
tasteful predominated over the useful ; the flowers were artistically grouped in 
wreaths, bouquets, letters, &c., upon large, square cardboards, in the sequence of 
the months, forming pictures well adapted for framing. The names of the plants, 
botanical and ordinary, with the locality in which they were gathered, were 
appended to the edges ; while the specimens were all numbered, and the Linnean 
classes and orders to which they belong, enumerated at the head of each card. 
The great defects of this collection, as we have hinted, were the crowding of the 
plants, which rendered it difficult even for botanical eyes to distinguish any one; 
and the fact that the specimens did not include the roots and stems, which are 
often the characteristic parts of plants. As the flowers in this Herbarium were 
arranged according to the months, a list may be useful to the young botanist. 


(Here followed a list of the flowers for the months of April, May, June, July, 
August, and September, which it is unnecessary to reproduce here). 


26 


The other Herbariums were got up with remarkable care and skill; two of 
them were, in fact, quite models of neatness, not a leaf being disarranged, while 
the hues of the flowers, usually so evanescent, were beautifully preserved. The 
plants were entire in all cases where that was practicable ; and, where the size 
forbade it, portions of the root, stem, and foliage were presented with the 
flower. 


Altogether, the collections sent in agreeably surprised the judges, to whom 
they were submitted, and on the whole are exceedingly creditable to the industry 
and care, and, in some instances, to the botanical knowledge of those who have 
formed them. The largest and most carefully arranged bore the motto, ‘‘ Nature 
is the book of God, before thee set.” (The Rev. James F. Crouch, Pembridge 
Rectory). It gained the first prize; the full size of the specimens, about 855— 
their careful pressing—generally correct naming—and ‘scientific arrangement— 
being considered to bring it nearest to the standard desired. The collection forms 
an extremely interesting and valuable record of the plants of that part of our 
county. 


The collection which gained the second prize, bore the motto ‘‘Tyro” (Mr. 
Thomas Blashill, jun., Mansell Gamage). It contained about 298 specimens, or 
rather sheets. This, in no degree, yields to the preceding one, in careful selection 
and drying of the specimens ; but the sheets were of smaller size, and hence the 
specimens in many instances could not be so complete, and many of them were 
sent still green ; this collection is, however, a model of neatness and care, and 
leaves little to be desired in style of pressing the specimens, while the errors of 
name were remarkably few. It is alsoa most interesting addition to our know- 
ledge of our little explored county. 


Next in value came the collection inscribed ‘‘ Spero meliora” ; very fair as to 
number and careful selection of specimens, and exceedingly creditable to one 
whose attention has only been so lately directed to the subject. 


A very handsomely mounted collection bore the motto, ‘‘Collegisse juvat” ; 
but though many of the specimens were of full size and carefully pressed, there 
was great irregularity in this respect, and the nomenclature was not what could 
have been desired. Many plants, too, were sent wholly unnamed. 


The prizes awarded in this department consisted of a gold and silver pencil- 
case, manufactured by the celebrated London house of Mordan & Co., of very 
rich yet chaste design and workmanship. The extra prize given was an elegant 
small gold pencil-case, with ring to be attached to a chain. 


The judge for the flowers of the divisions I. and II. was Mr. George Glenny, 
the celebrated florist ; and the judge for the fruit and vegetables of the same 
divisions was Mr. Kidd, gardener to D. Peploe Peploe, Esq., of Garnstone. 


The judges for the division III. were the Rev. J. Dudley, of Sarnesfield, and 
Mr. Thomas, of Belmont. 


27 


The special prizes given by Dr. Bull, for the best Herbarium of Herefordshire 
wild flowers, collected and dried by the competitor within the year—Ist prize, 
a gold pencil case, the collection marked with the motto, ‘‘ Nature is the book of 
God before thee set,” Rev. James F. Crouch, Pembridge Rectory ; 2nd, a silver 
pencil case, the collection marked with the motto, ‘‘Tyro,” Mr. Thomas Blashill, 
Mansell Gamage; an extra prize of a small gold pencil case was also awarded 
for the elegance and taste displayed in the arrangement of the plants, Miss Riley, 
Pencraig Court, near Ross. 


28 


GGloolhope Naturalists Field Glub- 


TurirD Fietp MEETING, SEPTEMBER 21sST, 1852. 


AYMESTREY. 


The last meeting of the season of this useful society was held on Tuesday last, 
at Mortimer’s Cross Inn, the object of the members being to explore the geology 
and botany of the neighbouring districts, which has given name to a very important 
formation of the Siluriansystem, the Aymestrey limestone. The morning, although 
wet and stormy at an early hour, gradually cleared up, and the day was very fine 
for the season, the high equinoctial S.W. winds having carried off the masses of 
rain-cloud which gathered so ominously in the morning. The members met at 
breakfast at 9 a.m., at the Mortimer’s Cross Inn, those who had come from 
Hereford having greatly enjoyed the ride of fifteen miles through the charming 
scenery of that district. The chair was filled by Mr. R. M. Lingwood, the 
President of the Club, and there were also present the Rev. T. T. Lewis, Rev. 
J. F. Crouch, Dr. Bull, Dr. Rowan, Messrs. Ballard, Blashill, Cam, Otte, 
W. H. Purchas, Thompson, and the Hon. Secretary, Mr. Scobie, F.G.8. 


Lord Gifford and the Rev. A. Kent, Minor Canon of Gloucester Cathedral, 
who had been proposed at last meeting, were elected members. 


The Hon. Secretary read letters, regretting inability to attend, from the 
Ven. Archdeacon Lane Freer, J. Lee Warner, Esq., the Rev. W. S. Symonds, 
Dr. Davis, of Tenbury, and Sir R. I. Murchison. The letter of Sir Roderick, 
which was dated ‘‘ Bangor, September 20th, 1852.” contained the following 
passage :— 


“‘T have only just got your letter, and much regret that I cannot be at 
Aymestrey, having been kept so long in Ireland. Offer my kind regards to all the 
Silurians, and assure them that my heart is with them.” 


The letter of Dr. Davis enclosed a list of ferns (with their habitats) found in 
the neighbourhood of Bockleton by Mr. George Miller, as follows :—Pteris 
aquilina, P. crispa, Polypodium vulgare, P. Dryopteris, P. Phegopteris, Asplenium 
Adiantum nigrum, A. Ruta muraria, A. Trichomanes, and A. viride; Aspidium 
aculeatum, A. dilatatum, A, Filix faemina, A. Filix mas, and A. lobatum ; 
Scholopendrium vulgare, and S. Ceterach, Blechnum boreale ; Osmunda Lunaria ; 
and Ophioglossum vulgatum. The classification is that of Sowerby, except in 
the case of Asplenium viride, which is taken from Newman. 


After the transaction of the routine business, the party started upon the 
pedestrian part of the excursion. 


eee eee 


—- eet 


29 


The geologists, under the able guidance of the Rev. T. T. Lewis, who has for 
many years been known as a distinguished and successful investigator of the 
Silurian rocks, made their way first to the north-field quarry, an excellent example 
of the Downton sandstone. The characteristic lingula, with various superficial 
markings, indicative of early vegetation, were here noticed. From this spot they 


“retraced their steps to Mortimer’s Cross, and visited the Cross quarry, where the 


Upper Ludlow rock is worked. Thence they shaped their course to the quarries 
near Lucton, and afterwards entered the grounds of Croft Castle. In these 
grounds, some noble oak trees (Quercus sessiliflora) attracted all eyes, their great 
magnitude leaving the ‘‘ Druidical” oaks at Bromfield, and other celebrated trees, 
far behind. The trunk of one was found to measure, including some excrescences, 
not less than 37 feet, and that of another 244 feet in circumferance. Passing on 
to Croft quarry, the party there examined the Upper Ludlow rock. <A beautiful 
wooded dell formed in the side of the lofty hill of Croft Ambury, excited much 
both of admiration and scientific interest. This dell seemed to have originated 
in a crack in the Upper Ludlow surface rock, which by the action of water was 
gradually denuded so as to bring to view the Aymestrey rock beneath, leaving 
precipitous cliffs, considerable in height This lovely ravine is interesting to the 
tourist on account of the extensive and striking landscape visible from its upper 
extremity, the view embracing a great part of middle and southern Herefordshire, 
with the noble old tower of Leominster Church in the middle distance. We 
described this view at length several years ago, when noticing the picnic of the 
Herefordshire Literary and Antiquarian Society on this spot,.in their excursion 
to Wigmore, Croft Ambury, &c. 


Crossing the ravine, the geologists traversed the Oaken Copse on their way 
to a quarry, which presents a prominent and beautiful example of the outcrop of 
the Aymestrey rock. The rock dips at an angle of 37 degrees, underneath the 
Upper Ludlow, and in the direction of the Old Red. From this spot they went 
along the ridge to the Camp of the British monarch, Ambrosius, whose name, in 
the corrupted form ‘‘ Ambrey,” it still bears. The view from this spot is one of 
unequalled grandeur and beauty, while to the geologist its prominent points are 
highly suggestive. To the northward, passing over the ancient lake of Wigmore, 
long since converted into fertile meadows, the eye reaches in the extreme distance 
Longmynd hill—said by some geologists to be formed of the oldest sedimentary 
rocks in the world ; next, Stiperstones, a huge mass, once Caradoc Sandstone, but 
by the protrusion of igneous matter, converted into quartz; the broad summit of 
the Brown Clee, and the lofty peak of Titterstone, capped with columnar basalt ; 
while in the far east are visible the New Red Sandstone Hills of Worcestershire, 
and in the south-east, the Syenitic Malverns, and the long line of Oolite called 
the Cotteswolds. To the south, the eye ranges over the broad vales of Hereford- 
shire, broken by hills of Old Red, and passes off to the Carboniferous district of 
South Wales. Westward a sea of hills presents itself, vast billows of Old Red 
Sandstone, among which the dimly seen Breconshire Vans (ban or van, high), the 
wall-like Hatteral and its continuations northward, Radnor Forest, the Wimble, 
and other innumerable summits meet the eye. After spending some time in 


30 


admiring this vast panorama, the party descended the hill, passing over the 
Aymestrey rock to the Lower Ludlow. 


At Aymestrey they visited a quarry, in the beautifully laid out grounds of Mr. 
Lewis, which was interesting, as presenting a fine escarpment of rock, perhaps 
100 feet high, quite even and wall like, The rock is so jointed that, as it is worked 
it preserves this evenness of vertical surface. From the quarry Mr. Lewis 
conducted the members into his residence, where he threw open for their 
inspection a collection of fossils, the fruits of many years careful investigation 
of Silurian and other rocks, and certainly one of the finest collections in the 
kingdom. The botanists of the party had a very delightful ramble, although 
nothing was met with which had not been previously detected in the county, with 
the exception of Lycopodium clavatum, of which one of the members met with a 
very small portion. Polypodium Dryopteris, and also Scrophularia Ehrhardti, 
was scattered in its previously known station of Aymestrey, and notwithstanding 
the late season of the year 300 species or more were ascertained to be natives of 
the district visited, though many plants which may have been expected to occur, 
proved absent. 


Several beautiful fungi (Clavarie and Agarics) were seen in the woods of Croft 
Castle. 


The company then returned to Mortimer’s Cross Inn, where they carried out 
the spirit of the poetic resolution, — 


“T am resolved : 
The mind shall banquet, though the body starve,” 


in a manner much more satisfactory than a literal fulfilment could possibly have 
been. The mind having ‘‘ banqueted,” the body was treated with equal justice.. 
After partaking of an excellent dinner, on the cloth being removed, the Chairman 
gave the usual loyal toasts. He then proposed, in complimentary terms, the 
health of the Rev. T. T. Lewis, thanking him, not only for his kindness in acting 
as their guide to so many interesting and instructive spots in the day, but also for 
the bountiful supply of fruit which he had sent for the dessert (applause), 


The Rey. Mr. Lewis retarned thanks, in a neat and suitable manner, for the 
compliment paid to him. He remarked that, although they had had a long ramble 
that day, they had only done half their work. They ought to complete it by 
visiting the other side of the anticlinal. He would suggest that next year they 
should hold one of their meetings at Leintwardine in the morning ; that they 
should start from that place after breakfast, and after examining the Wenlock 
formation, make their way down to the northern limit of to-day’s excursion ; and 
meet in the evening at Mortimer’s Cross to dinner, as on the present occasion 
(applause). He went on to remark upon the importance of meteorological observa- 
tions. He considered such to be quite within the objects of the Club, and was 
glad to observe that 1 Meteorological Table was published weekly in the Hereford 
Times. He was sure that if any member would undertake to record observations, 
the Meteorological Society of London would furnish the necessary instruments. 


31 


Mr. Scobie said the tables in the Hereford Times were furnished by Dr. 
Rowan, one of the members present, who he believed acted upon the principle 
carried out for many years by the late Captain Pendergrass, whose averages for 
the last thirty years, and instruments, had been handed over some time ago to Dr. 
Rowan. 


Dr. Rowan said that, although he possessed duplicates of Capt.’ Pendergrass’ 
recorded observations, and continued to register according to the regulations of 
the Greenwich Observatory, he did not possess Capt. Pendergrass’ instruments, 
although those he used had been approved of by the Captain. 


REPORT OF THE WHITCHURCH FIELD MEETING, HELD 
20TH JULY, 1852. 


In describing the geological phenomena which came under observation at our 
First Field Meeting, I took occasion to remark that, in proceeding from the base 
of the Old Red Sandstone to the Silurian formations of the Woolhope valley of 
elevation, we receded from a period of vertebrate to one of invertebrate marine 
life. At that early epoch of the world’s physical history, “‘ mighty ocean” seems 
to have held almost undisputed dominion. Traces of dry land are but dimly 
perceptible; and the Terrestrial Flora, which to-day gladdens the face of 
nature, lay undeveloped in the womb of time. Our researches at Whitchurch, 
on the other hand, led us progressively forward from the upper strata of the Old 
Red Sandstone to a formation crowded with evidence of vegetation infinitely 
more profuse and luxuriant than can be found to have existed during the human 
epoch. The weather was highly favourable, and the attendance of members good. 
We were, moreover, gratified by the presence of three honorary members, Sir 
Roderick Murchison, H. E. Strickland, Esq., and the Rev. Peter S. Brodie, 
gentlemen of the highest distinction in the scientific world, to whom we are 
indebted for much valuable geological information most courteously communicated 
during the course of the day. 


Before entering upon the details of our visit to the Coal Measures of the 
Forest of Dean, it may not be out of place to offer a few remarks upon the sand- 
stones, marls, clays, and cornstones, or impure limestones, intervening between 
the Silurian and Carboniferous formations, geologically known as the Old Red, or 
Devonian system. In the clays and marls of the series, organic remains are 
extremely scarce ; and it is therefore a matter of difficulty, except by observing 
the order of super-position, to determine their relative ages. 


This difficulty is greatly increased by the dislocations and local upheavals to 
which the area of our county has been subjected; but, in the sandstones and 
cornstones of some localities, remains of fishes of the placoid and ganoid orders 
are readily discovered, and have enabled geologists to divide the system into 
three groups, in conformity with a similar arrangement adopted in Scotland and 
other parts of the world. Each group is characterised by peculiar organisms: of 
these, without entering into minute detail, the Dipterus distinguished the Lower, 


32 


or tilestone formation, and was first brought to light by Sir R. Murchison. 
This was a ganoid fish of a type to which we find no living analogue; internally 
cartilaginous, it was defended externally by finely enamelled osseous plates and 
seales, the skull and jaws being as naked and polished as its teeth. 


The Middle, or Cornstone, formation is characterised by the Cephalaspis, also 
a cartilaginous fish, covered externally with strong plates of bone, having an 
enormous crescent-shaped cephalic shield with a comparatively small body, jointed 
so like the lobster that, when first discovered, it was supposed to be a Crustacean 3’ 
its remains are found in the neighbourhood of Hereford associated with the spines 
or rays of the dorsal fins of the Onchus, a placoid allied to the shark. 


The Holoptychius, a sauroid, or reptile fish, marks the Conglomerate or 
Upper Division of the system. This creature must have been of great magnitude, 
for its thick enamelled scales are as large as oyster shells, and its teeth rival those 


of the crocodile. 


Although fossils are the safest guides to the identification of the sedimentary 
rocks, still the geologist does not always find that synchronous formations yield 
similar organisms. There is a striking dissimilarity in this respect between the 
Old Red formations of Scotland and Devonshire. In the former, shells are entirely 
absent, and the remains of fishes abundant ; while, in Devonshire, the converse 


is the case. 


It would, therefore, have been impossible confidently to refer strata so 
oppositely characterised to the same system, had not Sir Roderick Murchison, 
and M. de Verneuil, in their memorable researches in Russia, found there fishes 
similar to those of Scotland and Herefordshire associated with the mollusea and 
corals of Devonshire, proving incontestibly their co-existence, and that they con- 
stituted together the fauna of one great Devonian ocean. Thus was confirmed the 
accuracy of the classification previously adopted at the suggestion of Mr. Lonsdale, 
founded on the assumption that the Devonshire fossils presented a character 
intermediate between those of the Carboniferous and Silurian systems. 


Fishes of extinct genera were, until lately, the highest types of the animal 
kingdom met with in the Devonian strata; but Dr. Mantell, in the quarterly 
journal of the Geological Society, has described a fossil reptile discovered last 
year in the Old Red sandstone of Morayshire, which he has named the Telerpeton 
Elginensis ; and also some fossil ova, supposed to be batrachian. These, with a 
few footprints and scattered traces of vegetation, resolved, in some instances, into 
coal, appear to be the only indications of terrestrial life hitherto met with in this 


system. 


At length, the era of the Old Red Sandstone passed away, and upon its upper- 
most formation, the Conglomerate, were deposited the richly fossiliferous strata 
of the Carboniferous Limestone, a purely marine deposit, averaging some hundred 
feet in thickness, and containing the remains of fishes, shells, encrinites, and 
corals. Overlying the limestone, we find a coarse quartzose sandstone passing 


33 


into a conglomerate styled, from its economic usefulness, Millstone-Grit, in which, 
with marine organic remains, drifted land plants are common, and on which 
repose the Coal Measures. 


Starting from Whitchurch, which, as I have said, is situate upon the superior 
Old Red Sandstone system, our party proceeded to the escarpments of the 
Carboniferous or Mountain Limestone quarried on the cliffs of Doward Hill. Here 
some time was agreeably spent in the collection of fossils ; after which, we crossed 
the Wye to the luxuriantly wooded range known as the Coldwell rocks, and from 
thence ascended to the far-famed Symonds Yat. 


The extensive view from this lofty promontory is so well known, as to require 
only a passing allusion ; but geologically, as described by Sir Roderick Murchison, 
it excited more than common interest. Standing on the limestone ridge, which 
forms the edge of the coal basin of the Forest of Dean, the author of the Silurian 
system pointed out the various formations as seen from that commanding eleva- 
tion. To the north theeye ranged over a wide extent of Old Red Sandstone, 
bounded in the distance by the Syenitic peaks and Silurian upcasts of the Malverns 
—to the south stretched the Millstone-Grit and Coal Fields of the Forest of Dean, 
embracing the entire series of Palaeozoic Strata which lie within the province of 
the Woolhope Club. 


Gazing over the widely diversified scene, our attention was naturally directed 
to the consideration of the physical changes the country had undergone, more 
especially to those produced by denudation. Mr. Strickland’s observations on 
the subject were highly instructive ; he remarked that every drop of rain has, in 
seeking its level, a degrading influence, and carries with it, however minute the 
quantity, a supply of materials towards some new formation. The sea under- 
mines and encroaches upon our coasts—rivers furrow out their channels, carrying 
with them, and depositing elsewhere, the sediment with which they are charged— 
such hydraulic forces are not confined to the present time, but have been in opera- 
tion from the remotest ages, and we have but to make allowance for long periods 

_ of submergence to account for the disappearance of the vast masses of strata 
which have been swept away from the area before us. 


In a practical address delivered by the Rev. W. S. Symonds, he particularly 
urged the necessity of cultivating habits of observation even in small matters, for 
in the economy of nature nothing is unimportant, and it not unfrequently happens 
that objects of apparent insignificance prove valuable aids in determining scientific 
facts. The rey. gentleman’s remarks were exemplified by observations made 
- during the course of the day. 


In one instance, a vertical fissure in the Old Red Conglomerate on the slope 
of the promontory of Symond’s Yat was observed to contain a stalagmite formed 
by the percolation of water charged with carbonate of lime. 


The remarkable occurrence of a calcareous stalagmite in a fissure of siliceous 
conglomerate was explained by Mr. Strickland as being due to the carboniferous 
limestone, which had once extended over the conglomerate, but had since been 

removed by denudation. The constituents of this conglomerate also bear 


o4 


testimony to the value of Mr. Symonds’ remarks. It is made up of water-worn 
pebbles, vein quartz, jasper, &c., which were embedded in the sediment of a 
turbid ocean, and it is a subject for enquiry whence those rounded pebbles were 
derived. Like the stalagmite just spoken of, the siliceous veins, of which the 
pebbles are the remaining fragments, were evidently formed in fissures and 
crevices of sedimentary rocks, but of a still more ancient system, which had been 
broken up ere its constituents were washed into the Devonian seas. Many of the 
pebbles were observed to have portions of the ancient rock still adhering to them. 


Under the guidance of Mr. Strickland, a number of the party proceeded 
southwards from Symond’s Yat to the coal-pits at Christchurch. On their way 
thither he pointed out the outcrop of Millstone-Grit which forms the inner edge 
of the Coal basin. The structure and organisms of this formation lead to the con- 
clusion that it was deposited in a shallowing sea in the vicinity of land, and that 
it subsequently received a deposit of muddy sediment destined to become the soil, 
whence should spring up a vegetation far surpassing in luxuriance that of the 
most favoured tropical spots of the present day. Geologists are, however, not 
agreed as to the precise circumstances under which the vast accumulation of 
vegetable matter took place to produce the phenomena of the Coal Measures. 
The most prevalent opinion cannot be better explained than in the words of 
Sir Charles Lyell :— 


‘* The beds throughout, with the exception of the coal itself, appear to have 
been formed in water of moderate depth, during a slow, but perhaps intermittent 
depression of the ground, in a region to which rivers were bringing a never-failing 
supply of muddy sediment and sand. The same area was sometimes covered 
with vast forests, such as are seen in the deltas of great rivers in warm climates, 
which are liable to be submerged beneath fresh or salt water should the ground 
sink vertically a few feet.” 


This pulsation of the earth’s crust, if I may be allowed the expression, appears 
to have been in periodical operation, and continued at intervals during the deposi- 
tion of the Coal Measures. We accordingly find an alternation of many seams of 
coal, sandstone, and shale, attaining in South Wales the extraordinary thickness 
of 12,000 feet. In this field, which appears to be entirely of fresh water origin, 
the number of coal seams is about 100, each accompanied by its under clay. That 
the Coal fields are the remains of a vegetation which, after flourishing on the spot, 
passed into the condition of a peat-moss, and then became submerged, is rendered 
probable by the fact that the underclays contain the roots of stigmaria occupying 
the original spots on which they grew. Stems of trees, still retaining their upright 
position, are familiar to all miners, under the name of “ coal pipes.” 


“These coal pipes,” again to quote Sir Charles Lyell, ‘‘are much dreaded by 
miners, for almost every year in the Bristol, Newcastle, and other Coal fields, they 
are the cause of fatal accidents. Each cylindrical cast of a tree, formed of solid 
sandstone, and increasing gradually in size towards the base, and being without 
branches, has its whole weight thrown downwards, and receives no support from 
the coating of friable coal, which has replaced the bark. As soon, therefore, as 


35 


the cohesion of this internal layer is overcome, the heavy column falls suddenly 
in a perpendicular or oblique direction from the roof of the gallery whence coal 
has been extracted, wounding or killing the workmen who stand below. It is 
strange to reflect how many thousands of these trees fell originally in their native 
forests, in obedience to the laws of gravity ; and how the few which continued to 
stand erect, obeying after myriads of ages, the same force, are cast down to 


immolate their human victims.” 


With respect to the fauna of the period, no air-breathing creatures, with the 
exception of a few insects, had been discovered until the year 1844. Bones and 
footprints of reptiles have, however, since that time been met with in several parts 
of the world. Beds of fresh water shells alternate with marine strata, containing 
fishes associated with crustaceans and molluscs ; but the most remarkable feature 
of the period is its flora, composed chiefly of eryptogamic plants of gigantic size, 
differing specifically from living types ; and it is further remarkable that in the 
most widely separated parts of the world, where coal has been discovered, such 
as Australia and America, a striking uniformity of genera is found to have pre- 
vailed. Cycadez and Conifer, but no true exogens, and only a few endogenous 
plants, referred to palms, have yet been met with; huge stems and leaves of 
ferns, equisetums, or horse-tails, and lycopodiums or club-mosses, are, however, 
found in great profusion, rivalling in point of size the forest trees of modern times. 
Specimens of these, such as sigillaria, calamites, lepidodendra, &c., were collected 
from the Coal shales at Christchurch by our party. A comparison of the flora of 
the Coal measures with plants of living species, establishes the remarkable fact in 
natural history that, as we find in the animal, so it is in the vegetable kingdom, 
many intermediate links in the organic series have been lost. 


It is believed by geologists, and supported by the evidence of botanists and 
chemists, that this superabundant vegetation was nurtured by a warm and moist 
atmosphere, charged with an excess of carbonic acid gas. Such a condition of 
things would have been highly favourable to vegetable, though not to animal life, 
accounting satisfactorily for the paucity of air-breathing animals already alluded to 
as being characteristic of the period. Through the absorption of carbon thus going 
forward in the vegetable kingdom, the atmosphere was undergoing a chemical 
process of preparation by which the earth became a fit habitation for that superior 
class of animals which were afterwards to appear. 


If we regard this vast depository of carbon, with its associated iron-stones, in 
relation to the social and intellectual advancement of the human race, we cannot 
fail to recognise the wisdom and goodness of the Creator, and the perfect design 
everywhere evinced in all His wondrous works. 


Having remained for some time at the Coal pits, our party retraced their steps 
to Whitchurch, devoting the time to botanical observations, and receiving from 
Dr. Lingen much valuable information as to the structure and properties of the 
plants collected. On our re-assembling at the inn, a choice selection of Silurian 
fossils, chiefly trilobites, in excellent preservation, was exhibited by Mr. Richard 
Johnson, of Hereford. Some fragments of deer’s horns, and the bone of an ox, 


36 


found at the depth of 20 feet, in the silt deposit which forms the southern bank 
of the Wye, at Hereford, in digging a foundation for the Railway Bridge now in 
progress, were also laid upon the table. Petrifaction not having taken place, and 
their polished surfaces indicating that they still contain a considerable amount of 
gelatine, these mammalian relics must be of comparatively recent date, probably 
of the human epoch. 


Mr. Otte exhibited specimens of graptolites from a newly opened quarry at 
Backbury Hill, in the Woolhope district, where the exuvie of that zoophyte had 
never been previously observed. Having since visited the spot, I found them as 
described by Mr. Otte in great abundance. They are of the species Graptolithus 
ludensis, and are embedded ina finely compacted calcareo-argillaceous deposit of 
Lower Ludlow shale, containing the remains of trilobites and the characteristic 
testacea of the period. 


The day having thus been most agreeably spent, our Whitchurch Meeting 
broke up at 7 o’clock p.m., the Members expressing a hope to meet and enjoy an 
equally pleasant ramble over the geologically-famed rocks of Aymestrey. 


Postscript.—My attention has just been directed to a paper read by Professor 
E. Forbes at the recent meeting of the British Association at Belfast, upon some 
remarkable fossils quite new to geologists, discovered lately near Kilkenny, in 
yellow sandstone of the Devonian epoch, They consist of the remains of ferns, 
lepidodendra, &c., accompanied by fish, remains of Old Red types, and traces of 
crustacea. As no fossil plants of the kind had ever previously been detected in 
British strata of such high antiquity, I allude to this interesting fact. They indi- 
cate the proximity of land, and were probably embedded under estuary conditions. 


In this county I have frequently found small spherical organisms, or car- 
bonaceous pellicles, which, under the microscope, reveal structure of a peculiar 
kind, and which, without venturing too confident an opinion, I think will prove 
upon closer inspection, to be seeds or pericarps of land plants. 


In company with Mr. Strickland, I lately found them abundant in Cornstones 
used for repairing the roads near Monmouth Cap, associated with other car- 
bonaceous markings, and with the remains of the Cephalaspis. We are informed 
that these Cornstones were quarried near Llanfihangel. 


I have also met with similar pellicles in the Silurian rocks where sea-weeds, 
especially fucoids (which constitute the earliest forms of vegetation on our planet) 
have alone hitherto been found to represent the vegetable kingdom. 


The specimens on the table are from the Ludlow fish-bed of Hagley Park 
quarry, where the ripple marks seem to indicate a beach. «The fish-bed is mixed 
up with a thin layer of vegetable matter, converted into coal. I have observed 
pellicles of the same age at Prior’s Frome, and I learn from Mr. Strickland that 
he has discovered them in the very same stratum at Gamage Ford. 


In the hope that, by following up these researches in other parts of the 
country, additional light may be thrown on the subject through the collection of 


37 


further evidence as to the yet questionable existence of a terrestrial flora in the 
Silurian ages, I bring these facts before the notice of the Club. 


The report was much applauded, and the health of the Hon. Secretary was 
then drunk, with thanks for his excellent report, and suitably acknowledged. 


Mr. Purchas proceeded to read an instructive essay on the geography of 
plants. This was followed by an interesting paper by Dr. Rowan. Thanks 
were unanimously voted to Mr. Purchas for his valuable paper. Dr. Bull handed 
in for the use of the members a carefully compiled list of plants found in this 
county, arranged on the natural system, and named according to the London 
Catalogue, as far as specimens of them were included in the Herbariums sent in 
for competition at the last show of the Hereford Horticultural Society. This list 
is calculated to be of great use to the young botanist; and it might be with 
advantage printed by the Club in a separate form. 


Thanks having been unanimously voted to the President for his conduct in 
the chair, the party broke up between 7 and § p.m. 


OcToBER 2ND, 1852. 
REMARES. 


In our report of the Aymestrey Field Meeting last week, we omitted to 
mention the vote of thanks passed to the High Sheriff of the County, W. T. Kevill 
Davies, Esq., of Croft Castle, for his polite attention in throwing his grounds open 
to the Club. 


It is a matter for gratulation that the several proprietors in whose localities 
the Club has held its meetings during the season, have, with an enlightened spirit, 
highly encouraging to the votaries of science, offered every facility to the Members 
for the prosecution of their pursuits. 


With a willing readiness, proving his appreciation of the study of Nature, and 
at aconsiderable expense and inconvenience, Mr. Robert Biddulph Phillips, of 
Longworth, lately caused a quarry, which had been partially filled up, to be re- 
opened for a party of geologists, Members of the Club, who were anxious to 
investigate a remarkable protrusion in Silurian rocks, discovered on his estate at 


Hagley Park. 


BOTANICAL GEOGRAPHY. 
By W. H. Purcuas. 


The science of Botanical Geography is one of comparatively recent origin. 
The great and striking changes in the aspect of vegetation as we ascend from the 
plains to the summits of lofty mountains, as we pass from the equator to the 
poles, or from one continent to another, had long attracted the wondering notice 
of travellers and botanists; but it was reserved for men still living—foremost 
amongst whom stands the illustrious Humboldt—to arrange facts and develop the 
laws of the phenomena which constitute the basis of this philosophical department 
of botany. 


38 


If we consider the existing distribution of plants upon the earth’s surface, we 
find that two classes of phenomena present themselves to our notice; one which 
evinces a close dependence upon the distribution of heat and other elements of 
climate, and is simply the result of the peculiarities of constitution in the various 
species, which, as they cease to meet with their climatal requirements, become 
earlier or later arrested in their progress towards the equator or the poles; the 
other, clearly independent of physical causes, and remaining as a residuum of 
unexplained facts after the influence of heat, moisture, and other elements of 
climate, have been fully taken into account, and for the explanation of which we 
must look beyond any causes at present in operation; for example, when 
we examine the lists of plants which grow spontaneously in different countries, we 
find that, though these countries may be closely alike in physical condition, the 
species, and even natural families which inhabit them, are more different in pro- 
portion as these countries are widely removed from each other. Thus the vegeta- 
tion of Europe has a tolerably uniform character ; but, if we pass over to America, 
we find that a very small proportion of British plants grow wild there ; and, if we 
extend our glance to Australia, we meet with but one or two European species, 
the flora being wholly unlike that of the northern hemisphere, and made up in 
great part of natural families which have no European representatives 
(Goodeniads, Epacrids, Stylidace). That the absence of the requisite physical 
conditions is not the cause of this, we have abundant proof in the fact that so 
many of our British plants have readily established themselves when once intro- 
duced to America; and conversely, that American species have been thoroughly 
naturalised in Britain and other parts of Europe. To explain these facts then, 
no other course is open but hypothesis ; but no hypothesis can be fully received 
until we have made certain that the facts on which it is based are not the results 
of physical causes, unless also it is found to explain all the facts when thus 
sifted. 


These striking differences in the floras (as they are termed) of distant regions 
may, it has been found, be expressed on maps by marking down the regions of 
the world in which the various families have their greatest development. Thus 
in the tropics we have the region of palms and bananas, &c. ; and in temperate 
latitudes, the region of oaks and European dicotyledonous trees, with others, 
which I must not stay to mention. Now the hypothesis which the study of these 
phenomena has induced botanical geographers most generally to adopt is that 
which supposes species or groups of species to have been created at different 
centres, from which, by their gradual spreading, they have, like so many inter- 
secting circles, populated the intervening regions, and produced the complex 
character of their existing floras. 


If we turn our attention to the vegetation of Great Britain, and compare it 
with that of surrounding countries, we find that the great mass of species distri- 
buted through the lowlands are identical with those of what is termed the north 
German or Central European Flora; that in the south western extremity of 
England there is an addition of species more peculiar to France; while in theS, W. 
of Ireland, together with these, occur several which, on the continent of Europe, 


39 


are seldom met with north of the Pyrenees; and further, that the mountains 
(and im the north of Scotland the comparatively low tracts near them) are 
characterised by the presence of species which seem to have their metropolis in 
the Scandinavian peninsula, and on the higher summits of southern Europe. 
Thus there is but one British species not present on the Continent. 


Beyond this brief general notice, it isnot my intention to speak of the external 
relations of British plants. I wish rather to draw your attention to the peculiar1- 
ties of their natural relations within the limits of our islands; to show the light 
in which the Herefordshire Flora—at least what we know of it—appears, when 
viewed in connection with the whole British Flora ; and to point out to those who 
may be willing to help in its complete elucidation the various kinds of information 
required, and the directions in which their energies may be most profitably 
directed. 


The species composing the indigenous flora of Great Britain may be studied 
—first, as to their areas of distribution ; secondly, as they occur in ascending or 
climatic zones. With regard to the first mode of grouping them, Mr. Watson, 
who has so long and laboriously studied the geographical relations of British 
plants, distinguishes what he terms seven types of distribution, according as the 
_ species evince a predilection for one or other part of the island. These are :— 


1. The British type, consisting of generally distributed species, evincing no 
peculiar predilection for one part of Great Britain more than another. Some few, 
as Viola palustris, extending from the sea-level on the south coast to near the 
summits of the highest Scotch mountains ; others having a more restricted range. 
This includes about two-fifths of the whole number of British plants. 


2. The English type, comprising plants which have their chief prevalence in 
England, particularly in the more southern provinces, whence they gradually 
become rare in a northward direction. About one-fifth of the whole British flora 
ranges here. 


3. The Scottish type—the opposite of the English ; the plants referred to 
here having a northward tendency, and becoming rare toward the south. This 
includes perhaps one-twentieth of the whole number of species. 


4. The Highland type. It consists of plants limited to the higher mountains 
and their immediate vicinity. About one-fifteenth of the entire number of British 
species come here. 


5. The Germanic type, so called from the species being most abundant in 
those provinces which are washed by the German Ocean, and shading off to the 
western side of the Island. 

6. The Atlantic type; plants of the West of England, some of which are 
absolutely restricted to Cornwall ; the others occurring very rarely, if at all, 
towards the east coast. 

7. A local or doubtful type ; species whose distribution is restricted to 
single or few counties, occurring too rarely to be ranged with the British type, 


40 


and yet in too scattered and irregular a manner to agree with either of the other 
types. 


It must not be supposed that the plants thus grouped have exactly identical 
limits; different species show the features of the type to which they belong in 
different degrees of intensity ; while it is obvious that these general tendencies 
towards one side or other of the kingdom will be interfered with by the varying 
character of soil and situation; uniform distribution within the known limits of 
their areas being prevented by some species growing only in water, bogs, or 
marshes, or requiring for their free growth and multiplication a calcareous, sandy, 
or other special kind of soil. 


With regard to the second mode of grouping plants, according to their 
latitudinal or climatical range, it is obvious that the same change of climate which 
we meet with in ascending elevated summits in more southern parts will, if we 
proceed farther north, be found repeated at a lower and still lower altitude, till, 
at a certain point, it will reach the sea level ; and if we connect all the points from 
the summits of the hill on the one hand, to the coast line on the other, which are 
characterised by the same climate, we obtain a series of zones, each of which 
presents marked differences of vegetation. Mr. Watson considers that six is the 
greatest number of such zones which can be satisfactorily distinguished, if regard 
is had to the whole of Britain ; and these six range themselves into two principal 
groups, which he terms “regions.” 


In uncultivated countries, such regions and zones can be readily noted by 
the means of the various trees, to whose growth opposing climate sets a limit. 
In England such a method would be impracticable. The very obvious mark of 
the limit to which cultivation can be carried is therefore adopted to distinguish 
the boundary between these two regions ; and where, from other interfering 
causes, culture is absent, nature supplies us with a second test in the common 
Brake fern (Pteris aquilina), rarely absent from such spots, and whose limit 
coincides very nearly with that of cultivation. The upper zones, separated by this 
line of culture from the three lower ones, constitute the arctic region. Now, as 
it is evident that no part of our county lies within this upper—the arctic region— 
I will not dwell upon the peculiarities of its several zones, but pass at once to the 
distinguishing marks of those of the lower, or agrarian region. 


The diagram will show that the three zones of the arctic region are confined 
to the mountains, the latitude of the north of Scotland not being high enough to 
allow it to reach the coast level. The highest part of the agrarian region, com- 
mencing on the coast line of the north of Scotland, and including, as we come 
southward, portions of the higher hills of England and Wales, is called the 
“super agrarian zone”; and, as we descend from the arctic region, is marked by 
the first appearance of the oak, the ash, hawthorn, and holly. 


Immediately below this lies the ‘‘mid agrarian zone” ; composing the coast 
line and low grounds from the estuaries of the Clyde and Tay down to those of 
the Dee and Humber, and a narrow belt winding round the hills of Wales. This 
zone is chiefly characterised by the upper limit of the common maple, the dwarf 


41 


furze (Ulex nanus) and the black bryony (Tamus communis), &e., falling within it. 
Here, I think, it is we first approach the position of our county. The Hatteral 
hills, on its western border, certainly lie within this zone (if they do not attain to 
the one above it); and possibly a narrow tract along their base may also be 
included, as the proximity to a hilly district always influences the climate and 
vegetation of comparatively low tracts. The globe flower (Trollius Europeus) 

Illustrates this; it isa plant which never, I believe, comes below this zone ; it 
occurs in some plenty about Cusop hill; but it also descends to low ground about 
Monnington (as Dr. Bull informs me) ; while it is absent from the east of the 
county. I am not sufficiently familiar with the Malvern range—the eastern 
boundary of Herefordshire—to be able to say whether they fall within this zone 
or not. But at equal altitudes it is possible that their climate would be higher 
than that of the Black Mountains, on account of their isolated position. In this 
place it is well to remark that the short distance to which cultivation can be carried 
up these hills is due, not to the deterioration of climate, but to more special 
causes, such as the scantiness and infertility of the soil, and the conformation of 
ground, &e. 


The lowest, called the ‘‘infra-agrarian zone,” embraces all the country south 
of the Dee and Humber, excepting the mountainous tracts of Wales and the 
higher hills and moors of the south and south-west of England. The plants 
mentioned as commencing in the mid-agrarian zone become more frequent in this ; 
and one or two are absolutely confined within its limits ; Clematis Vitalba, the 
common Traveller’s Joy, is one of these. It is in this zone that the greater part 
of Herefordshire lies; and the Clematis occurs frequently in the hedges and 
woods of the southern part. The vegetation generally may also be considered 
very characteristic of this zone. 


Let us now see what kind of flora we might expect to meet with in Hereford- 
shire, when all its peculiarities are taken into account. Situated in the south-western 
portion of the kingdom, our county seems most likely to produce chiefly plants of 
the British English and Atlantic, together with a small intermixture of the less 
strict examples of the Scottish and German types of distribution ; further, as it 
constitutes an undulating tract sloping from the hilly district of South Wales 
towards the vale of the Severn, from which it is separated by the Malvern and 
Abberley ranges—rarely, moreover, rising into eminences of considerable altitude, 
and exhibiting an almost unbroken series of rich pastures, arable lands, and dry 
woods, the most abundant species from the above-mentioned types will naturally 
be those least restricted to heathy and upland tracts, and which evince the 
greatest readiness to adapt themselves to the alterations produced in soils by 
culture. On the other hand, the rarities of our county will consist of rock, heath, 
bog, and mountain plants. Water plants are not likely to be found, because only 
a few species find a congenial home in the waters of the Wye, on account of the 
rapidity of its shallower parts—its uncertain height, and violent floodings. These 
anticipations will, I think, be borne out when Herefordshire botany shall have 
received the attention which the interests of science render desirable. My re- 
marks on the physical character of the county relate chiefly to its southern half, 


42 


as that with which I am almost exclusively familiar. With the plants of this portion 
T am likewise best acquainted; and through the assistance of various botanical 
friends, my list of them now amounts to nearly 700. 


The whole number of species which I know on good authority to grow within 
the county limits is under 700 (693). And the natural orders most fully repre- 
sented by species are Composite, Graminez, Cyperacee, Rosaceew, Leguminose, 
Lamiacee, Scrophulariacee, Cruciferze, Umbelliferee, Caryophyllacee, and Ranun- 
culacez, mentioned in the order of their numbers. 


The whole flora of Britain, excluding all Cryptogamous plants, except the 
ferns and their allies, amounts to 1,400 or 1,500. It is impossible to name an exact 
number, because of the conflicting opinions on the limits of species; and the 
number of these growing in single counties usually amounts to from 700 to 900. 
Shropshire produces 876, or more; Surrey about 800; and Hertfordshire 900, or 
nearly. Hence, making all allowances for unlike conditions of soil and 
situation, it is impossible not to believe that many Herefordshire species remain 
undetected ; and now that good botanists seem to rise up in unexpected quarters 
of the county, we hope that these lurkers will shortly be drawn from their con- 
cealment. To those who may be willing to help in working out a local Flora, I 
shall be glad, by private correspondence, to communicate matters of detail, which 
it would be tedious to dwell on after taking up so much of your time. Permit 
me, however, to mention some of the general heads of inquiry. 


First, lists of species. The exact mode of inquiry at which we should aim 
requires not merely a general list for the county, but for smaller tracts of country. 
Such districts should include about 50 square miles. I am engaged in dividing 
Herefordshire into such a series as seems most suitable ; and I shall be exceedingly 
glad of help in those which lie in the northern half of the county. 


Besides an exact catalogue of every plant occurring in each of these districts, 
with special localities for the rarer ones, it will be of great value to note carefully 
the times of flowering—commencement, greatest perfection, and duration—in the 
various species ; also any reasons for concluding plants to have been introduced 
by the agency of man. And, in connection with this point, it is often of great 
service to learn the date at which woods were planted. The character of the 
timber, for example, the relative frequency of the two or three kinds of British 
oak, and their economical value, would also form an interesting subject of 
enquiry. 


Secondly, a correct series of meteorological observations taken in different 
parts of the county, particularly towards the N.E. and S,W. points. But, to 
render these comparable amongst themselves and with others, it is needful that 
they should be taken with properly adjusted instruments, and according to the 
form recommended by the Meteorological Society. 


Thirdly, the relation of species to the various soils. In this direction it is 
that the investigations of small tracts of country—whether counties or smaller 
divisions—is most likely to subserve the interests of geographical botany. The 
question is as yet ill understood, and, moreover, much too wide to enter on here. 


i ee i, 


Ps 


a 


43 


I will, however, just say that there are two principal opinions upon it ; one which 
maintains the choice of one soil rather than another by a plant to be due to its 
chemical constitution ; the other tracing the choice to its mechanical and hygro- 
metrical qualities. Though of so great importance to be known, the chemical 
qualities of soils fall without the range of ordinary observation, We must wait 
for their investigation till possessed of some competent help. But I think that 
any pains-taking observing botanist may do much towards tracing the influence 
of their mechanical and hygrometrical properties upon plants. I would, there- 
fore, suggest that a commencement should be made by noting the various kinds 
of soil ina district, not resting in the old division into sands, clays, and loams, 
but first dividing them according to the degree of disintegration of the rock 
whose detritus mainly constitutes them. This may be partial, as in the case of 
sands and gravels, or complete, as in clays, loams, &c. They should then be 
studied with regard to their hygrometric properties—as to their relative degree of 
retention, transmission, and evaporation of moisture. And when their peculiari- 
ties have thus been noted, the relative abundance of species not common to all 
soils must be carefully observed, selecting for this purpose plants which are 
tolerably conspicuous, and at the same time, such as are likely to be present, if 
the soil is suitable. Ora shorter process may, if this is too complex, produce very 
valuable results. Such might consist in observing what species are not present on 
all soils, and then ascertaining what qualities are possessed in common by those 
soils which do produce them. 


Fourthly, Altitudinal range of species. On account of the physical character 
of our county, this is not a fertile branch of enquiry; yet it is desirable to note 
“the highest and lowest places at which species occur, whether in absolute height, 
in comparison with the appearance or cessation of other species, or in relation to 
the parts of particular mountains, as at the base, middle, or summit.” And 
lastly, ‘“‘any other information of an historical, economical, and philosophical 
nature tending to illustrate the Flora of Herefordshire, or the science of botany, 
cannot fail to be of much value.” 


THE DESTRUCTION OF FERN AND GORSE BY THE APPLICATION 
OF FRESH LIME, &c. 


By Dr. A. Rowan. 


At the Aymestrey Meeting of the Woolhope Club, Dr. Rowan, of Hereford, 
read the interesting paper on this subject, which we subjoin :— 


Being a few months back at an agricultural meeting in the adjoining county 
of Radnor, I was interrogated as to the cause of various phenomena occurring in 
that locality. Facts were brought forward of which T had no previous knowledge, 
and which required investigation before a correct reply could be given. One 
question asked was, why does the application of lime to fresh broken up land 
destroy fern and gorse, it being ascertained that the application of guano produces 
an opposite result? I requested that specimens of those plants should be fur- 
nished to me, together with a portion of the soil, as well as of the lime used in 


44 


the district, expecting that by investigating those specimens, I might be able to 
put the question to nature in a proper manner, and receive a correct reply. In 
this I was not disappointed. 


Having weighed a given portion of the gorse, and fern, I burned off the 
organized elements, and having weighed the residue of each, I found that the fern 
left of ashes per 100 parts, 8°6, and the gorse 5°0. The fern contained 7 per cent. 
of silica, the remainder being carbonate of lime and magnesia, with traces of 
peroxide of iron and alkaline chlorides. The gorse contained 5 per cent. of ashes, 
and was composed of peroxide of iron, carbonate of lime, and magnesia, a little 
silica, and a trace of the alkaline chlorides ; the iron was in greater abundance 
than in any other plant I have examined, though I believe it was not necessary to 
the healthy development of this plant. The analysis of the soil showed that it 
contained besides a great deal of soluble silica, an unusual proportion of organic 
acids, such as humic acid, arising from the decay of a large proportion of vege- 
table matter in the soil. 

The analysis of the lime showed that it was similar to lime generally found 
in this district. I had here a plain and satisfactory solution of the problem ; first 
it was evident that silica was the chief inorganic food of the fern, and it abounded 
in the soil, and from the quantity of carbon compared with the inorganic elements 
in the gorse, it was clear that besides the portion of carbon supplied by the 
atmosphere, this plant must take a large proportion from the soil, and the soil 
was rich in carbon, in a state of transition into carbonic acid. Now if the lime 
possessed the property of precipitating in an insoluble state the indispensable food 
of these plants, the cause of their destruction was at once plain. By direct 
experiment I found that lime had the property of precipitating soluble silica in 
an insoluble form, and of hastening the progress of the decomposition of 
carbonaceous matter, in order to form carbonic acid, for which the lime had a 
great affinity, and by this means the lime was converted into the insoluble 
carbonate, thus locking up for a time the food of these plants, and producing their 
decay, and, remaining inert in the soil until it was rendered soluble by a double 
dose of carbonic acid, it would descend into the subsoil and render a fresh supply 
of lime again necessary. Guano would not produce this effect, for its value being 
dependent upon the amount of volatile and fixed alkalies, as well as the phos- 
phates, it would not convert the carbonic acid or silica into their insoluble 
modifications, or combinations, but would have a tendency to dissolve a greater 
portion of the silex, and set free a larger portion of carbonic acid. I have stated 
that the quantity of iron I found in the ashes of the gorse was no proof that 
iron was a necessary ingredient to the food of gorse; I would rather consider 
that it was carried into the circulation of this plant as an adventitious cireum- 
stance, being rendered soluble by the carbonic acid in abundance in the soil, and 
the fixation of the carbon and liberation of the oxygen left the iron insoluble 
in the tissues of the plant; in this way can we account for a greater portion of 
lime or magnesia existing in some plants in one locality than another. 


The question was proposed with a view also to ascertain whether or not some 
other substance could supply the place of lime at less cost, and after repeated 


45 


experiments I found that clay possessed the same property, though in a limited 
degree, and I recommended that, if it could be obtained at a cheap rate, it would 
form a valuable auxiliary to the use of lime, and by increasing the retentive and 
absorbent properties of the soil, would render them much more productive. 


I will now mention one or two other little subjects of investigation. I was 
furnished by Mr. Johnson and Mr. Scobie with one or two specimens of a 
substance found imbedded in a rock of Old Red Sandstone, at the Elms Quarry, 
near Hereford. I produce a specimen of it—it puzzled those gentlemen to know 
what it was. I found, on analysis, that it contained no organic matter, and, 
when heated gently to a faint red, underwent no change ; submitted to an intense 
heat before the blow-pipe, it merely became whiter in colour, and partially lost 
its lustrous appearance. I did not estimate it quantitatively (not having time), 
but I found it to contain peroxide of iron, alumina, lime, magnesia, and silica, 
with a trace of potash. From its analysis, as well as its external appearance, I 
decided that it was talc. 


On referring to some chemical works which I possess I found a very accurate 
description of this substance given. It states there are two kinds ; however, I 
will only mention the one nearly resembling the specimen. ‘‘In colour, white, 
greenish, or grayish ; soft and soapy to the touch ; much more tender and brittle 
than mica ; does not effervesce with acids, and is soluble therein with difficulty, 
and consists of alumina, magnesia, silica, and sometimes lime and potash. It is 
sometimes used as crayon, as an ingredient in rouge, importing a softness to the 
skin, and is frequently used to give a fleshy tint to alabaster images.” 

I have been furnished with a specimen of coaly looking matter by Mr. 
Scobie, which I have examined. It contained, as near as possible, 50 per cent. 
of carbon, the residue is iron and sand, and from the external portion, having the 
combined iron simply as an oxide (Fe O) and the internal portion as peroxide 
(Fe2 Os) I was led to believe that it was formed by the aggregation of car- 
bonaceous particles, or decayed vegetation round a nucleus of peroxide of iron, 
and that the carbonaceous matter, in a state of decomposition, reduced the peroxide 
to a state of suboxide by the abstraction of oxygen for the formation of carbonic 
acid, and this would account for the difference of colours between the external 
and internal portions of the specimen. These are but little matters, but I have 
thought fit to bring them before you in the hopes that the accumulation of little 
facts would tend to the elucidation of others of greater importance. 


Hoolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


First Firnp Meertine, Turspay, June 7TH, 1853. 


EASTNOR CASTLE. 


MEETING OF THE WOOLHOPE, COTTESWOLD, AND MALVERN 
NATURALISTS’ FIELD CLUBS. 


The first aggregate Meeting of the members of the three Clubs, formed to 
investigate the botany, geology, ornithology, and zoology of Herefordshire, and 
of the neighbouring counties of Gloucester and Worcester, was, by the kind 
permission of the Right Hon. Earl Somers, held in his Lordship’s beautiful 
demesne of EKastnor, at the southern extremity of the Malvern range of hills, on 
Tuesday (7th June), 


The continuous rain of the previous day—so acceptable to the thirsty soil and 
languishing vegetation—had cleared the sky, and freshened up the entire face of 
nature. Under a brilliant sunshine, the charming undulations of the scenery, 
the delicious hues and varied outline of the masses of foliage, the sweet soft green 
of the meadows, and the silvery glitter of the streams and pools, throughout the 
whole of the beautiful district lying between this City and the Malverns, were 
fully brought out, Although there was scarcely a breath of air in the early part 
of the day, the previous rain had given a pleasant coolness to the air, and it was 
not until about noon that the fierceness of the sun’s rays began to be oppressive. 


Unluckily, the philosophers were at that time engaged in toiling up the steep 
sides of ‘‘the Ragged Stone,” and therefore they had full opportunity of testing 
in their own persons the effect of solar heat in the resolution of the human body 
into its constituent elements. This conflict between caloric and scientific devo- 
tion, however, ended triumphantly for the latter: the members gallantly 
weathered all the perils of the ascent, for which they afterwards duly awarded 
themselves by fulfilling the description of the poet, 

** And greatly daring dined.” 


The meeting was altogether a most brilliant and successful one, the company 
numbering neariy sixty of the members of the three Clubs; and the addresses, 
delivered on the hills and at the dinner, being admirably lucid and instructive. 


The idea of the gathering, which originated at the Whitchurch Meeting of 
the Woolhope Club last year, as reported in our account of that meeting, was 
heartily taken up by the Cotteswold and Malvern naturalists ; and we trust that 
the meeting of Tuesday last will prove to be but the commencement of a long 
series of similar delightful and useful meetings. 


AT 


THE WOOLHOPE CLUB. 


Our Herefordshire Club being the hosts, and the scene of exploration being 
within the limits of our county, we commence with their proceedings. A party 
of the members assembled at 6 a.m. at the Green Dragon Hotel, whence they 
were conveyed in a brake to the Somers Arms, Eastnor. On their way between 
Ledbury and the latter place, the song of that delicious warbler, the nightingale, 
was heard frequently. On reaching the Somers Arms, the members breakfasted, 
and then proceeded to transact their business. The chair was filled by the Rev. 
T. T. Lewis, the President, who, in opening the proceedings. made a very feeling 
allusion to the great loss which the Club had sustained by the sudden and 
lamented death of their late Hon. Secretary, M. J. Scobie, Esq., whose talent, 
business habits, perseverance, and integrity had procured for him the esteem of all 
who knew him. To Mr. Scobie’s exertions the Club was indebted, not only for 
its formation, but for the remarkable success which had hitherto attended its 
proceedings. He could not trust himself to express his feelings at the suddenness 
and conflicting nature of the calamity with which it had pleased Providence to 
visit the family of their deceased friend; and would therefore pass from that 
topic to express his gratification at the prospect of the loss which the Club had 
sustained being likely to be made up, to a considerable extent, by a relative of 
their late lamented Hon. Secretary, who had kindly consented to be nominated 
as his successor. 


Dr. Bull, in moving a resolution of sympathy with Mrs. Scobie, and the other 
relatives of their lamented friend, remarked that he fully concurred in all that 
had been said by their worthy President. The sudden death of their late Hon. 
Secretary, with whom he had had the happiness of an intimate acquaintance, 
had affected him more than he could express ; and he felt how great a loss the 
Club had sustained in the death of one, whose talent and energy had done so 
much for it. In every relation of life, their late Hon. Secretary was all that 
could be desired: and he (Dr. Bull) had the greatest possible pleasure in submit- 
ting to the meeting a resolution, by which the Club’s sense of the great loss which 
it had sustained by Mr. Scobie’s death, should be recorded upon its minutes, He 
then moved :—‘‘ That the Members of this Club, before proceeding to the election 
of a Secretary, record their sense of the very great loss they have sustained by 
the awfully sudden removal of Mr. Scobie; and their united admiration of the 
sobriety and integrity which marked his public and private character. And that 
a copy of this resolution be presented to Mrs. Scobie, with the expression of the 
deepest sympathy of the whole Society, in the lamentable loss with which it had 
pleased Almighty God to visit her.” 


Mr. Flavell Edmunds seconded the motion, remarking that, from an intimate 
acquaintance with their late esteemed Secretary, he could also fully concur in the 
expressions of esteem and regret which had been uttered by the President and 
Dr. Bull. Since the formation of that Club, in particular, he had had abundant 
opportunity of seeing and admiring the excellencies of their deceased friend ; and 
no death, out of the range of his own kindred, had shocked and grieved him more 


1s 


than that of Mr. Scobie. In so speaking, he felt that he simply uttered the 
sentiments of every member of the Club. The regret felt on the occasion 
of Mr. Scobie’s death was universal throughout Hereford and its neighbour- 
hood, but particularly was the loss felt in that and the other scientific in- 
situtions in which their lamented friend was so active, so persevering, and so 
widely useful. He (the speaker) felt happy to have the opportunity of thus 
expressing the sympathy of this Club with the bereaved relatives. 


The resolution was passed unanimously. 


The Society then proceeded to elect an Hon. Secretary. It was moved, 
seconded, and unanimously agreed to that Mr. J. A. F. Suter, who has kindly 
discharged the duties during the vacancy caused by the death of Mr. Scobie, be 
requested to undertake the office. It was remarked that the coincidence of tastes 
and habits between Mr. Suter and his deceased relative, as well as the efficient 
manner in which Mr. Suter had performed the duties temporarily, pointed him 
out as well fitted to fill it permanently. Mr. Suter briefly acknowledged the 
compliment, adding that the melancholy reflections which crowded upon him 
rendered it quite impossible for him to say more than that he thanked them for 
the kind expressions of sympathy which had been uttered. 


The meeting then balloted for new members. Messrs. F. Whitfeld and E. 
Morris, M.D., were elected. Two other gentlemen were proposed ; they will be 
balloted for at the next meeting, which is to be held at Leintwardine on July 26th. 


A statement of the quantity of rain which has fallen during the last twelve 
years was handed in to the Secretary by Mr. B. Boddington, of Bircher Court. 
It had been printed at the private office of that gentleman. 


The following paper was read on 


THE OCCURRENCE OF OOLITIC REMAINS IN THE GRAVEL 
OF CRADLEY, HEREFORDSHIRE, 


BY THE REV. W. S. SYMONDS. 


The members of the Woolhope Club will remember the announcement by the 
Rey. R. Hill, last summer, of his detection of liassic and oolitic remains in local 
gravel at Cradley. This detritus occurs at intervals along the valleys west of 
the Malvern range, and my object in this present paper is to prove that the 
current which transported it came from the north or north-east, and furnishes a 
well-marked proof of the setting in of a back water or small strait from the 
Teme Valley, by way of Cradley and Mathon; also that the other valleys in the 
neighbourhood of Eastnor must have had a communication with this strait, as 
the superficial deposits in the Netherton Valley, as well as at Ockridge, have 
furnished the same fossils. 


Having examined the Cradley deposits, in company with Messrs. Strickland 
and Grainger, and collected from them gryphza, terebratula, and other water- 
worn remains of the Lias, I proceeded to examine the next locality where grayel 


49 


occurs in the parish of Mathon; and although I saw no pits open, I succeeded in 
establishing the fact in my own mind, by observations on the sides of lanes, and 
collecting Lias erratics that had been dug up by the cottagers. 


Now, the occurrence of these remains at all on the western side of the 
Malverns seemed to me so important, that I wrote to Sir R. Murchison, 
mentioning the discovery, and requesting the favour of his opinion. In reply, 
Sir Roderick wrote as follows :— 


16, Belgrave Square, June 3, 1852. 
My Dear Sir,—I do not think that the océurrence of Liassic and Oolitic 
fragments and remains at Cradley would indicate clearly what I mean by the 
northern drift. 


The probability is that such materials come from the S.W. It is difficult 
now-a-days to bring to the mind’s eye the country covered by the waters at the 
period of the Straits of Malvern; but I see no great difficulty in imagining a 
western bay of the same Straits extending from Gloucester by Ledbury to 
Cradley—a back water. I am not very fond of reasoning too much on existing 
outlines ; but the facts you mention, and the form of the ground, might favour 
_ the view I should be disposed to adopt. 


In this way, eddies from the Straits of Malvern might certainly carry some 
true northern drift to the localities in question, but the Lias and Oolite have 
probably travelled only from the banks of the Severn. Pray do not attach any 
value to this surmise, and believe me, yours very truly, 


RODE. I. MURCHISON. 
My observations have led me to form a contrary opinion. 


On the 8th of March I visited the gravel pits between Eastnor and Clincher’s 
Mill, which lie quite at the extremity of the Malvern range, and, after a careful 
_ search for two hours, was unable to find any erratic of the Lias or Oolite. The 
- Clincher’s Mill pits.are nearly twenty feet in depth, and the beds are for the 
_ most part in regular layers. The lowest of all is very interesting, and for some 
4 time it is difficult to divest oneself of the idea that it is not a rough underbuilt 
wall; it is entirely made up of large angular fragments, in a half stratified mass, 
and consists of slabs of syenite, Caradoc sandstone, Ludlow and Wenlock rocks, 
and here and there a trace of greenstone and Hollybush sandstone. These 
fragments have no appearance of being water worn. I found no trace of 
Cambrian pebbles ; the beds are entirely made up of detritus from the neigh- 
Pouring hills. Above these, several beds appear in succession, and the higher we 
ascend the evidences of attrition become more apparent ; but the fossils I collected 
were all local, and must have been washed out from the local rocks. It was only 
the upper layer, not more than three feet below the alluvium, that I could find 
any trace of the northern drift. This was associated with fossils of the Silurian 
rocks, and consisted of water-worn pebbles of the well-known Lickey quartz and 
other altered sandstones. In the same layer with the rounded erratics laid before 
you this day, I found remains of pleurotomaris, orthides, terebratula Wilsoni, 


50 


but no signs of the fossils of the Lias and Oolite we obtain at Cradley, Mathon, 
and even as far as Netherton. The presence therefore of these fossils with Lickey 
quartz pebbles in great abundance at the southern extremity of the range of 
valleys. and their absence at the northern portion of the district, has suggested 
to me the idea that the depositing currents really set in from the north. Why 
should not the detritus of Clincher’s Mill contain the Liassic and Oolitic remains 
equally with the vale of Cradley? We know that, the Lias extending on the east 
of the Malverns, at least as far as the Berrow Hill, had a current set in by way 
of Haftield Camp and the south side, we must have found the remains in the 
local deposits of that valley. + 


The business having concluded, the members proceeded to visit the beautiful 
Church, restored by the late lamented Earl Somers, and the highly interesting 
gardens attached to Eastnor Castle, which had been kindly thrown open to their 
examination by the present Earl. The beauty and taste displayed in the Church, 
not less than the rarity and beauty of the plants in the greenhouses, &c., elicited 
general admiration. The great number of immense Mexican aloes, which were 
ranged in a long line on one of the walks, was a most remarkable spectacle. 


THE MALVERN CLUB. 


The members of this newly-formed, but strong and vigorous, Club met about 
10.30 a.m. at the Somers Arms. The President—the Rev. W.S. Symonds, Rector 
of Pendock (who is also an active member of the Woolhope Club)—filled the chair. 


THE COTTESWOLD CLUB 


arrived soon afterwards, under the leadership of B. Baker, Esq., their esteemed 
President. 


VISIT TO THE RAGGED STONE HILL. 


The three-fold gathering of naturalists now poured forth, in a series of little 
knots, along the road leading from their inn to Howler’s End Hill. Here they 
were joined by Mr. W. E. Strickland, Deputy-Reader in Geology at Oxford, who 
directed the making of a small experimental incision into the Black Shale on that 
hill, with the view of exploring for impressions of the Asaphus caudatus, a small 
trilobite. Some very good impressions of parts of the skeleton were found, but 
the time at the disposal of the members did not permit of any extended search. 


The members proceeded to the Ragged Stone Hill, commonly but incorrectly 
called the Gloucestershire Beacon, upon the steep and lofty summit of which 
they seated themselves for some time to admire the wondrous and magnificent 
panorama presented to them. Some perhaps amid their philosophy, touched by 
a spice of the martial enthusiasm of the day, and the remembrances of the 
stirring times when 

“Twelve fair counties saw the blaze on Malvern’s airy height,” 


51 


. 


might even be led to echo the celebrated exclamation of George IV., in reference 
to the lovely district which bounded the western horizon of their view:—“‘ By 
Jove, this is a land worth fighting for.” 


Passing over the ripple-like ridges of Hastnor, and the white towers of the 
castle, mirrored in the quiet lake, the eye ranged over the whole county of Here- 
ford, with parts of Shropshire, Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire, Breconshire, and 
Monmouthshire. From the high table-land of the Clee Hills on the north, to the 
Blorenge and the Scyrydd-fawr on the south, and far west over the pretty town 
of Ledbury, nestled in foliage, the isolated hill of Shucknall, the blended summits 
of Credenhill and Lady Lift, to the lofty Radnor Forest, the two peaks of the 
Gadr, and the cone of the Pen-y-val, the beautiful land lay smiling in the summer 
sunlight. Turning eastward, the high rim of the Woolhope basin led the eye to 
the lofty enclosing range of Dean Forest, to May Hill with its diadem of trees, 
to Robin Hood’s Hill, the ‘‘fair city ” of Gloucester, the Cotteswolds, and the 
broad out-lying mass of Bredon Hill. The vale of the Severn, studded with 
village spires and towers, as far north as Worcester, lay spread out like a map, 
while far in the dim distance, the Lickey Hills bounded the view with a 
cloud-like mass. 


To the eye of the geologist, the scene was suggestive almost beyond descrip- 
tion. At one sweep, the eye passed down a long vista of distinct creations; the 
physical history of myriads of ages lay unrolled, as it were, before him, The 
grandeur of the conceptions thus suggested, blended with the picturesque history 
of the scene, give to the view from Malvern an almost unique interest. It has, 
however, another and a hardly less potent attraction to the geological student : 
Malvern is classic ground. By painful and long pursued investigation, here 
Murchison gradually mastered the mysteries of the Silurian system ; and half the 
interest of his colossal work rests upon discoveries made at the western base of 
the Malvern ridge. After enjoying the view for a short time, the party were 
gratified by a very clear and beautifully delivered 


LECTURE BY MR. STRICKLAND 


on the geology of the scene presented to their gaze. Mr. Strickland began by 
describing the nature of the range of hills upon which they were then assembled, 
remarking that it is composed by a mass of syenite, a rock of igneous origin, 
which had been forced up from beneath at a very early period of geological 
history, subsequent to the formation of the strata deposited on its western side, 
but long anterior to the time when the eastern strata were formed. In the 
syenite, fragments of gneiss and mica schist are found, and the whole substance 
of the rock seems to be composed of fragments of older rocks in a partially fused 
state. The sandstones, shales, and limestones, which lie obliquely against the 


_ syenite on its western side, do not seem to have been altered by contact with it, 


although in various cases the edges are in close approximation, hence he inferred 
that the mass was forced upward after having cooled; while the regular, almost 
horizontal, deposition of the rocks on the eastern side proves that the elevation 


52 


of the ridge must have taken place at a time when the country on that side was 
below the level of the sea, by the waters of which those rocks were subsequently 
deposited. 


The tract of country to the westward, being composed of the Old Red Sand- 
stone and Silurian Rocks, belongs to and represents the paleeozoic or most ancient 
period of the existence of our earth; while the strata eastward of the Malverns, 
belong to the mesozoic, or middle ages of geologic history. Looking westward, 
he pointed out the remarkable manner in which the strata between the syenite 
and the Old Red Sandstone of Herefordshire are arranged in rude concentric 
semicircles, having the hill on which they stood for their centre; the shales, 
being softer, had been hollowed out by the action of water into valleys, while the 
harder materials, resisting that action, had been left as ridges. Curving round 
the immediate base of the hill is an undulating valley, the stratum in which is the 
Black Shale of Howler’s Heath. Beyond this, at a distance of about one mile, 
runs a low ridge, terminating at the hill to their right, another of the summits of 
the Malverns, called Holly-bush Hill. The substance of this ridge is a sandstone 
which Sir Roderick Murchison has named, from its termination, the Holly-bush 
Sandstone. Beyond this is a second valley formed of the Caradoc Sandstone (so 
called from Caer Caradoc in Shropshire, where it is also found), which also 
extends part of the way up the next ridge, of which the Obelisk Hill is part. 
The next valley is composed of the Wenlock Shale, beyond which is the long hill 
called the Ridgeway, composed of Wenlock limestone. Westward of this are 
found the Lower Ludlow Shale, and then a ridge composed of the Aymestrey 
Rock; then the Upper Ludlow Shale, and then the Upper Ludlow Rocks. 
Next to these lies the Old Red Sandstone of Herefordshire, with the isolated 
hill of Silurian rock, called Shucknall. 


The force exerted in the elevation of the Malverns has left many evidences 
in the disturbance of the strata; and the semi-circular arrangement shows that 
the centre of the disturbing force was in the Ragged Stone Hill. Far to the 
north may be observed the elevated range of the Clee Hills coal-field, and to the 
south, the similarly elevated coal-fields of Dean Forest ; and it has been demon- 
strated almost as clearly as was possible in geology, that these two patches formed 
the remains of a vast coal-field, which with the other strata of the Carboniferous 
system, once covered the whole of Herefordshire. Fora height of at least two 
miles and a half, these strata once stretched above the present surface of the 
district ; but it was afterwards submerged in the sea, and the combined action of 
the water and the atmosphere broke down and swept off the whole of those strata. 
Prior to that event, the elevation of the district must have been about that of the 
Alps, but with the exception of the Clee Hills and the Forest of Dean, the whole 
of the Carboniferous strata have been swept off into the depths of the Atlantic 
Ocean. After that denudation the surface was again raised above the level of the 
ocean, and the Malvern Hills formed a bold coast to the Straits of Malvern. The 
tremendous convulsion which thus raised the western side has produced probably 
the most stupendous ‘‘line of fault” which is known to have occurred anywhere. 


— ee ee _ => i) el 


or 
os 


Turning to the eastern side of this ancient sea-coast, the lecturer pointed out 
the broad vale of Severn, formed on the surface of the New Red Sandstone, and 
bounded to the eastward by the Blue Lias, a deposit of mud in the waters which 
once covered the district ; and beyond it the high range of hills, with the outlying 
masses of Bredon Hill, Robin Hood’s Hill, &c., composed of the Oolite. From 
that spot, no part of the Wiltshire Hills was discernible ; but, after passing the 
Oolite, they would come next upon the Cretaceous system, or chalk; and after 
that upon the Tertiary system, until they reached the London clay, and the 
formations which contain remains of animals and vegetables most nearly resemb- 
ling those of the present system. The lecturer closed, amid applause, a most 
interesting address, of which this is a mere summary, by referring his hearers for 
details to the great work of Sir R. Murchison, ‘‘The Silurian System.” 


The assemblage then proceeded, under the guidance of Mr. Strickland, to 
visit quarries on the Holly-bush sandstone, the Caradoc sandstone, the Wenlock 
limestone, &c., and at each place, the energetic tapping of several scores of 
hammers must have considerably startled those celebrated personages, the genii 
locorum, unless indeed they had taken a mid-day nap in some ot the few wooded 
dingles which were not visited by the enthusiastic philosophers. In the Caradoc 
sandstone, at the base of the Obelisk Hill, specimens of Arca Eastnorii, Lingula, 
Fucoids, and other characteristic fossils were found by some of the party. Ata 
quarry of Wenlock limestone, several remarkably fine corals, madrepores, &c., 
were found, and carried off in triumph by members of the various Clubs, to grace 
the museums of Worcester. and the private collections of the explorers. After 
crossing the Ridgeway, the geological section of the party made their way to the 
Inn, to await, with appetites sharpened by the pure air and eager explorations of 
the morning, the arrival of their botanical confreres, and of the dinner so much 
needed by both. 


During the interval, a. collection of beautiful specimens of the principal 
fossils of the Silurian rocks was exhibited by the Rev. W. 8. Symonds. 


THE BOTANICAL SECTION, 


under the guidance of Mr. Edwin Lees, F.L.S., of Worcester, took the same 
route as the geologists, until they reached the Ragged Stone Hill. From that 
point they made their way into the many beautiful rocky and wooded dingles 
lying between it and the Ridgeway. On their way they gathered, in Holly-bush 
gully, some rare lichens, carices, and ferns, among which were Jungermannia, 
Carex strigosa, &c.; on the hill, the singular Adder’s-tongue fern, Ophioglossum 
vulgatum; and in other parts of their rambles, Trifolium striatum, Geranium 
columbinum, Aquilegia vulgaris, Moenchia erecta, Ranunculus parviflorus, Lepidi- 
um Draba, Arenaria rubra, Vicia angustifolia. Professor Buckman, of Cirencester 
College, remarked that, so far from this last named plant being, as was commonly 
supposed, a distinct species from Vicia sativa, he is now raising good agricultural 
vetches from this supposed different species. In the woods of the Ridgeway 


54 


Hill, the party found a cluster of not less than seven very fine specimens of the 
Broom-rape, Orobanche major; and in the Park, the lesser Burnet (Sanguisorba). 
At a distance of about 300 yards N. from the Lodge, they found one of the oak 
trees upon which the mistletoe grows, of which only three (we believe) are known 
in England. This plant grows in no less than six places upon the tree, and a 
* singular effect is produced by the mistletoe alone being alive in the upper 
branches, those parts of the tree being quite withered. 


The Rey. J. H. Thompson, of St. Nicholas, Worcester, brought to the 
meeting for inspection some very interesting specimens of rare British plants 
which he is cultivating in his garden. Amongst them were Carex montana, 
Geranium sylvaticum, Impatiens Noli-me-tangere, Poterium muricatum, &e. Dr. 
Bull, of Hereford, brought specimens of Bird’s-nest Orchis (Neottia nidus-avis), 
&e., gathered near this City. 


THE DINNER 


was a plentiful one, served up in a creditable manner. The chair was taken by 
Mr. B. Baker, President of the Cotteswold Club, and the vice-chair by the Rev. 
T. T. Lewis, President of the Woolhope Club. Among the company were Mr. 
Strickland, Rev. B. Brodie, Professor Buckman, Dr. Wright, Mr. Lees, Rev. 
W. 8. Symonds, Rev. G. Davies, Vicar of Tewkesbury, Rev. R. Holmes, 
Eldersfield, Mr. T. Lee Warner, Capt. Guise, Mr. Hewett Wheatley of Hereford, 
Dr. Bull, Rev. J. H. Thompson, Rev. R. Hill, Mr. W. H. Purchas, the Hon. 
Secretaries of the Clubs, &c. 


The healths of the Queen, Prince Albert, and the rest of the Royal Family 
having been drunk, the health of the Chairman was next given, followed by 
those of the Vice-chairman, and the Rev. W. Symonds, as the Presidents of the 
two junior Clubs. In reply to the last-mentioned toast, the Rev. W. 8. Symonds 
delivered an excellent address on the practical value of geologic studies. 


The health of ‘Sir R. Murchinson and the Honorary Members” was 
responded to by Mr. Strickland, who explained that Sir Roderick’s absence was 
due to the singular coincidence that on that very day, and at that very time, he 
was engaged at the Oxford Commemoration, receiving the deserved honour of the 
degree of D.C.L. (applause). After alluding to the interesting fact of the Meeting of 
the Clubs on the ground rendered classic to geologists by Sir Roderick’s work on the 
Silurian system, which would hand down his name to posterity, Mr. Strickland 
remarked that, if Sir Roderick was the father of that system, the Rev. T. T. 
Lewis, by his previous extensive and valuable researches, was justly entitled to 
be called the grandfather of the system (laughter and applause). 


In returning thanks for the toast of ‘‘ the President of the Woolhope Club,” 
the Rev. T. T. Lewis neatly acknowledged the compliment paid him, and 
expressed a hope that these united meetings would recur annually. 


55 


Mr. Lees proceeded to read a paper on ‘“The Plants that more particularly 
flourish on Silurian limestone.”* The Rev. G. Davies, of Tewkesbury, then read 
an elaborate paper on ‘‘ The migrations of the house-martin, swift, and sand- 
martin.” He argued that their migration was not governed by the weather, but 
by the instinct which led them to seek a country in which a sufficiency of their 
insect food could be found, at the time of year when it is no longer to be obtained 
in England. He combated very effectively the notion that some swallows pass 
the winter in a state of torpidity in this country. 


The next paper read was by Mr. Wheatley. 


Thanks were voted to Mr. Wheatley for his excellent paper, with a request 
that he will permit the Club to publish it in extenso. A vote of thanks to the 
Chairman closed the proceedings about half-past nine p.m., and the company 
shortly afterwards separated. 


ADDRESS BY THE REV. W, S. SYMONDS. 


To the gentlemen of the Cotteswold Club, who would recall the great general 
apathy that formerly existed in the public mind respecting natural history, the 
Eastnor Meeting must possess a particular interest, and a peculiar value and 
signification. The sister counties of Hereford and Worcester had other institu- 
tions and societies well adapted to carry out the ends proposed ; but as a Society 
engaged in the personal investigation of natural science, as a society formed for 
the sake of the personal observations of the rocks of the mountain, the birds of 
the air, the plants of the field, and the habits and wonders of the insect world, 
the Cotteswold gentlemen had, until lately, stood alone, and they would therefore 
thoroughly appreciate the formation of the Woolhope and Malvern Societies, 
which were established on the same system, and were conducted on the same 
plan. 


Until lately the study of natural history had scarcely been recognised in 
England as a public study ; and I was sure that many of the gentlemen present 
would agree with me, when I said that we most of us had closed our educational 
career without once having had our attention directed to those subjects, which 
are, after all, the most intellectual as well as the most interesting. 


The system of training is chiefly confined to the classics and mathematics, 
and the consequence was, we went forth to our different spheres of duty as 
ignorant of the great volume of nature, or, in other words, the book of God’s 
works, as if the world were made up of no other articles than the Latin, and no 
other particles than the Greek; not that I would for one moment wish to 
depreciate the value of the classical and mathematical literature—it is the one- 
sided system that is to be lamented, and the absurdity of confining the system of 
education, and the acquisition of University honours, to those subjects alone. 

* This paper, revised by the Author with additional matter, is to be found in Transactions of 
the Malvern Field Club, pages 15 to 28, which were published in 1870. See also that pleasantly 


written work ‘‘ Pictures of Nature in the Silurian region around the Malvern Hills,” by Edwln 
Lees. Excursion III., page 49, published 1856. 


56 


These prejudices are passing away ; and although there is amongst a certain 
class of society, unacquainted with the facts of science, some popular fear lest 
certain branches of natural history subjects should tend to scepticsm, those 
prejudices are also disappearing as men begin to grapple with subjects that at 
first are, of necessity, visionary and dim. It is not an easy thing to throw over- 
board the lessons of childhood and the instructions of youth; yet most of us, 
when we entered upon the study of those high subjects, had to confess that much 
that we had hitherto learned was false. And in the communication of scientific 
knowledge, and lending an impetus to the study of the natural sciences, I said I 
believed that. the formation of such societies would have a beneficial effect in 
every county in which they were established ; and in endeavouring to advance 
these subjects we should remember by whom we had ourselves been taught. 


The honorary members, Murchison, Sedgwick, Strickland and others, had 
been, by their writings, beacon lights to us, and we should endeavour to make 
them so to others; for most of us had learned by experience that there is a 
philosophy that is false, as well as a philosophy that is true—that there is a 
philosophy that elevates, and another that misleads, just as well as that there is 
a system of reasoning that perplexes and confuses, as well as a system that 
instructs. 


TI then said I conceived that much service might be rendered by our societies 
in matters of every-day life, for there is no department of science that has not 
some ties with the common business of life. 


I mentioned instances in which geology had been, and might be again, useful 
in preventing absurd and useless expenditure in mining speculations, as the 
localities most favourable for the segregation of minerals were every day becoming 
better defined. The perusal of certain elementary works of geology might 
convince the agents of a noble Earl, in an adjoining county, that their intention 
of boring for coal in the Lower Lias, would be rather a remarkable proceeding in 
these days; they would learn that they would have not only the whole of the 
New Red System to sink through, but sundry coal measure clays and sandstones, 
before they came to sufficient of that mineral to pay for a box to put it in 
(laughter and applause). 


I then mentioned how generally useful the practical chemist of our societies 
might be, as well as the geologist and botanist, as there is not one of those sciences 
that has not a direct practical influence on agricultural enterprise. The farmer is 
constantly taken in by the purchase of artificial manures (hear, hear). Guano 
had been sold which had not one particle of the genuine article in its composition ; 
the newspapers teemed with advertisements of the nitrate of this, and the 
phosphate of that ; and would not the Clubs be of practical service to the agricul- 
turalist, if we could ascertain for him the chemical compounds of these nostrums, 
and, if genuine, whether they were adapted to the soil to which they were to be 
applied ? 


The Old Red clays of Herefordshire must require a very different chemical 
agent to the Ryelands of the Worcestershire New Red ; and not a hundred years 


57 


ago, in my own neighbourhood, marl-pits were sunk in mar] land, to manure marl 
soil, a proceeding not altogether agreeing with the laws of agricultural chemistry, 
and somewhat analogous to the old school-boy adage of giving bread to bread and 
cheese to cheese (laughter and applause). So now, we continually see lime used 
upon soils upon which it is entirely thrown away, while upon land on which it 
might have a beneficial effect, it is never used at all. Under such circumstances 
as these I said I believed we might often be of service to the agriculturalist, and 
carry the helping hand of science into the ordinary pursuits of men; but asI said 
before, there is no department of science that has not its ties with the ordinary 
business of life, and there is no business entirely independent of science ; and so 
it matters not amongst what class of persons the different members of our societies 
may be thrown. 


By our not disdaining to assist the school-boy in his arrangement of natural 
history specimens—by our inculcating by every means in our power, the growing 
thirst for natural history—by assisting, through such means as lectures and ex- 
planations of fossils, minerals, chemical compounds, and plants, the communica- 
tion of scientific knowledge, I believe we might become the means of awakening 
many of our fellow men to a consciousness of the value of our pursuits, and the 
utility of their results (applause). 


ON THE PLANTS WHICH FLOURISH ON SILURIAN LIMESTONE. 
By EDWIN LEES, A MEMBER OF THE MALVERN CLUB. 


There are many plants that indicate limestone in the localities where they 
grow, or flourish most luxuriantly on a calcareous soil, so that an experienced 
botanist at once recognises them, and knows the nature of the ground he is on 
from the very circumstance. The Traveller’s Joy (Clematis Vitalba), the Lady’s 
finger (Anthyllis Vulneraria), Saintfoin (Onobrychis sativa), Yellow-wort (Chlora 
perfoliata), wild Marjoram (Origanum vulgare), and the Wayfaring tree (Viburnum 
Lantana), all abundant in this district, are familiar instances; and many others 
might be named. 


Botanical travellers have all made the remark that on limestone vegetation 
assumed a peculiar character, and that calcareous strata possessed plants different 
from all other soils. This has been noted even in America by Von Martins; and 
Wahlenberg, in his ‘‘Flora of the Carpathian Mountains,” has enumerated 43 
species of plants that he only met with upon limestone. 


Now I must here make the passing remark, that our Sisyphean rock-rolling 
and stone-breaking friends, the geologists, may here get an up-lift from the humble 
exploring botanist, who might in a strange place tell them where to look below 
for fossil remains from the appearance of a little flower, even before they were 
themselves aware of the formation they were on from the appearance of the magna 
ossa parentis, the great ribs of our mother earth, elevated and laid bare before 
them by some dyke or protrusion of the strata beneath. Indeed, a change of rock 
may be indicated by the sudden and unexpected appearance of plants not partial 
to limestone, and which have other affinities. Thus, when flying about like a 


58 


thistle-down some summers since, and resting for a short time among the vast 
Carboniferous Limestone masses of the Great Orme’s Head in Carnarvonshire, 
T one day wandered to an isolated hill called Craig Diganwy, where, to my sur- 
prise, tufts of Foxglove appeared in lofty splendour, as they do in such luxuriance 
on our Malvern Hills, but keeping clear of the limestone. ‘* Why, good gracious,” 
I exclaimed, ‘“‘I seem got back to Malvern,” and on examining the ground, I 
soon found I had unconsciously wandered to a mass of trap-rock, and there only 
did the Foxglove present itself to view, for not a single specimen did I anywhere 
find upon the limestone, while the Gentian, the Rose, the Marjoram, and the 
Spiraea Filipendula as cautiously kept out of the trap (a laugh). 


The botanist, therefore, always feels pleasure in treading upon limestone, 
because he knows that many plants can there be found with certainty not easily 
obtainable elsewhere, and some of these are very local, as the Cotoneaster, found 
on the Orme’s Head; Thlaspi perfoliatum, a Cotteswold plant ; Carex humilis, 
on St. Vincent’s Rocks ; C. digitata, on the limestone ledges of the Wye, near 
Symond’s Yat, and others that might be mentioned. Our Silurian limestone 
nourishes Pimpinella magna, Linaria minor, Orchis pyramidalis, and Ophrys 
apifera, Cnicus eriophorus, Gentiana Amarella, Avena pubescens, -and the local 
wood Lyme-grass (Elymus europzus). 


This, then, points out the advantage of cultivating kindred sciences, and 
maintaining friendly relations with geological explorers, since in their company 
hints may be obtained useful in practical researches, and mutual rubbing up 
polishes both parties and takes off the absorbing, overweening rust that is apt to 
gather sometimes about a man, like grey lichens on an old apple-tree, when too 
over-shadowed by a single engrossing subject. 


Most of the British plants partial to limestone may be found in our Silurian 
woods, or on the exposed rocks that are brought up by the Malvern syenite ; yet 
there are special exceptions not easily to be explained, but which give a value to 
local researches, and impress a pleasure on local explorations. Thus the White 
beam-tree (Pyrus Aria) that grows on the Oolitic rocks of the Cotteswolds, and is 
such an adornment to the grey, romantic precipices of the Wye, is not anywhere 
seen in the Malvern district ; but, in exchange, we get beautiful clumps of glaucous 
fragrant Juniper, which is scarcely found on, if not altogether absent from, the 
banks of the Wye. The Columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris) forms quite a feature in 
many of our Silurian groves and woody borders, but is very rare indeed in the 
Cotteswold woods, only one locality for it being given in my friend, Professor 
Buckman’s ‘‘ Flora of Cheltenham.” The differences between local Floras would, 
however, lead us insensibly into too wide a field of observation ; but I may here 
remark that the Autumnal-flowering gorse (Ulex Gallii) that grows on our Malvern 
Hills in such extensive and wide-spreading prickly tufts, is unknown or unre- 
corded upon the opposite Cotteswold cliffs of the ancient Malvern Straits. 


For a moment let us glance at the characteristic vegetable aspect of our 
Silurian woods in the summer time, after the countless wild daffodils with which 
they are crowded in early spring, the Snow-drops, the Blue-bells, the numerous 


59 


Hairy violets (V. hirta), and the lurid four-leaved Parises (very abundant) have in 
a great degree passed off. Roses and Sweet-briars now rise in beauteous pro- 
fusion—the Rosa micrantha and R. villosa especially—about the Wenlock lime- 
stone quarries ; and we have also the rare R. sepium‘at Little Malvern. Vor Rubi, 
I need only refer you to my “ Botany of Malvern,” where there are prickles 
enough, sharpened up and described perhaps ‘* too numerous” for any but the 
enthusiastic thicketeer to encounter. For perhaps you may say, with Dr. Warren 
in his ‘‘Ten Thousand a Year,” ‘‘ He wants me to scratch my hands in a bramble- 
bush only to get blackberries for himself.” 


But the beautiful Wood-vetch cannot be easily passed by. This fills the hilly 
woods near Ledbury with its graceful tresses, hanging in festoons about the trees, 
its purple-streaked blossoms fitted, as Scott says, to canopy Titania’s bower. 
Then on the exposed limestone the golden Cistus in profusion, the Bee-orchis, and 
the purple Pyramidal show beautifully. with the Yellow-wort and Picris hiera- 
coides; while extensive masses of the great purple Knap-weed (Centaurea Scabiosa), 
the bright Saintfoin, and the yellow flowers of the Melilotus officinalis combine in 
spreads of gold and purple to adorn the undulating scene of hill and dingle. 


Among the few bogs yet remaining, where springs gush out to murmur along 
the deep limestone gullies or old hollow ways, the purple Pinguicula appears with 
the red viscid Sun-dew, the delicate pale Bog-pimpernel, and a few—very few— 
Cotton-grasses, with many Carices and Blysmus compressus, that have escaped 
destruction from the too-rapacious hands of the exterminators, who too often 
strip bare the bosom of the earth as remorsely as geologists tear out its entrails. 
(A laugh.) 


The natural crest of the Ridgeway in Eastnor Park, splendidly wooded as it 
is on either side, with the grand Camp Hill towering above, once covered with 
painted Britons under the eye of Caractacus, is invested with exciting interest 
both to the geologist and the botanist. Earl Somers has most judiciously retained 
this old British roadway always bare at the summit, as a winding drive to the 
Castle from the Chance Pitch Lodge. Gloomy Yews of indigenous growth, that 
have outlived many an eagle’s life, and certainly exceeding five hundred years in 
age, overshadow parts of the road like a glen devoted to the Furies ; in other 
parts glaucous-green Junipers adorn the scene ; Oaks everywhere robe the acclivi- 
ties, and in one secluded spot appears high up on its supporting dryad, that 
“aureus ramus” of mythologic fame, honoured by the Druids as ‘‘ Pren Awr,” or 
the celestial plant, because believed to have dropped from Heaven, though now 
known only as the Mistletoe, or mingled bush. 


But to return to the subject of plants particularly attached to a calcareous 
soil. From numerous plants having been observed to be almost peculiar to lime- 
stone, it has been suggested that geological formations exercise such a remarkable 
influence upon vegetation, that they maybe discriminated thereby ; and some 
attempts have been made to do this, but close examination proves the idea unsus- 
tainable, as the influence exercised on vegetation appears to be realiy mineralogical 
and chemical. Thus the Lady’s finger (Anthyllis Vulneraria) and the Clematis are 


60 


as abundant on Lias as on Silurian limestone, and the former, as I recently 
noticed, is equally at home on the Carboniferous limestone of South Wales. The 
Yellow wort (Chlora) is as common too on the Wye Cliffs as it is about our own 
exposed shales. The little Squinancy wort (Asperula cynanchica), though absent 
at Malvern, grows on the Cotteswold oolite, but is more luxuriant and plentiful 
still on the Carboniferous limestone of South Wales. The pretty Bee orchis and 
O. pyramidalis, devoted as they are to a limestone soil, yet seem to know no 
difference between the Devonian and the Silurian, and are found as well on the 
Lias, nay, they flourish even where there is only a thin coating of modern traver- 
tine on the fundamental rock, as at Tedstone, Herefordshire, on the northern 
margin of this district. Yet some Orchidez are almost entirely confined to the 
chalk formation ; while the Cornish heath (Erica vagans) in our own island, revels 
entirely upon the serpentine of the Lizard, to which rock it is curiously restricted. 
Nevertheless, some plants are so peculiarly isolated, apparently without reference 
to soil, that the manner of their location is not easily explainable, Potentilla 
rupestris in this country never strays from the heights of Craig Breidden* ; and a 
little plant named Origanum Tournfortii has never been found anywhere else but 
on the island of Amorgos in the Mediterranean. The Fungus meliteus is also on 
the rock of Lagos. Other singularly limited plants might be mentioned, as the 
Handtree of Mexico, and the Cedron of New Granada, Neckera crispa on the Cottes- 
wolds and Devon; but nearer home, several mosses, as the Encalypta, incline 
only to calcareous soils. Where nature has retained its stern pristine aspect 
among remote rocks and wild fells ‘“‘unknown to public view,” upon desolate 
granitic heights and unaltered igneous rocks, it might not be unreasonably ex- 
pected that characteristic plants would appear independent of their altitudinal 
character, and this is the case ; but unfortunately they do not remain only there, 
for as secondary and tertiary rocks, as well as erratic gravel, are nothing more 
than modified ancient rocks, plants are perpetually migrating, and thus many 
species are equally found on igneous rocks and on gravel. 


If the more ancient rocks were really elevated above the waves for ages prior 
to the secondary or mesozoic strata, it would appear perhaps not improbable that 
vegetation, first appearing upon them, would still remain indicative of the earliest 
races of plants now in existence. But the migratory nature of plants foils any 
attempt at demonstration here, since the newest rocks may possess a vegetation 
more luxuriant than the most ancient, though derivable therefrom ; and Lyell has 
recorded that Monte Nuovo, near Naples, whose birthday has been historically 
recorded, bears a more splendid and luxuriant load of groves of Arbutus than any 
of the older hills around. Hooker and Arnott have suggested that our own flora 
is altogether derivable from continental sources, though surely rocks of Sedgwick’s 
Cambrian system must be as ancient as any in Europe. One plant only, Vicia 
levigata, appears in our flora as having been found nowhere else in the world 
than, Weymouth. 


Perhaps, however, the humble lichen tribe give some indications as remark- 
able, if not more so, than the phanerogamous or flowering plants. These are so 


* In Montgomeryshire 


= 61 


chained down to the rocks on which they grow that they were called by Linnzus 
Vernaculi, or bond-slaves, as being unable to escape ; and as they are indestructible, 
with whatever reverence a forest tree two thousand years old may be looked upon 
it might be possible to find lichens twice as ancient where the surface of the rock 
has not been degraded by imbral influence, or shattered by the hammer of the 
geologist or the blast of the lime burger. 


Some lichens especially affect granitic rocks, as Urceolaria cinerea, Lecidia 
atrata, sulphurea and glaucoma, Lacanora coccinea and tartarea, Parmelia 
omphalodes and stygia, and especially Umbilicaria pustulata, plentiful on the 
harder Malvern syenite, and giving the rocks a carbonic aspect, as if covered with 
soot, or half burnt with fire. 


Then there are others only to be found on limestone or calcareous stones, 
such as Endocarpon miniatum, rare here, but plentiful on Backbury Hill near 
Hereford, Endocarpon Hedwigii, Urceolaria calcarea, Lecidea immersa, pruinosa, 
rupestris, &c., and particularly Squamaria crassa, Collema nigrum, sinuatum, and 
other Collemas. 


Now I feel inclined to make the suggestion from these lichens being thus 
imprisoned, as it were, from the very beginniug of the present geologic period, 
on their respective rocks, that they really have arisen first, or been created first, 
if you prefer the expression, on the phytological stage of life; since whatever 
time was engrossed by creative power, there must have been an order of detail. 
Now in the present day, we may notice anywhere, if a castle or abbey falls to 
ruin, or an old limestone wall is left to mature, the coloured yellow, grey, and 
black lichened washes of old time first appear to harmonise the walls and lay on 
a ground tint; then come the fleshy and thalloid warty lichens; mosses and 
ferns follow, while wall-flowers and other plants rise in succession, till shrubs and 
trees shadow the walls with their denser foliage, as they do now the broken arches 
of Netley Abbey and Tintern, till they become bushy as wild cliffs themselves. 
So Byron says of the walls of Rome and the palaces of the Flavian Emperors :— 


‘The trees that grow along the broken arches 
Wav’d dark in the calm moonlight, and the stars 
Shone ‘midst the rents of ruin— 
Some Cypresses along the time-worn breach 
Appear’d to skirt the horizon, but they steod 
Within a bow-shot: where the Cesars dwelt 
Now dwell the tuneless birds of night midst groves, 
That spring through ruin’d battlements 
And twine their roots with the imperial hearths.” 


In like manner, then, I feel inclined to suppose, seeing how nature now acts, 
that on the emergence of the older strata, lichens, and cryptogamic tribes preceded 
in the order of advancing vegetation the flowering plants and forest trees ; but in 
throwing out this hint as a probability, I altogether deny that transmutation 
theory, that considers it possible a palm or a forest tree could be developed from 


62 


a moss or a lichen left to manage its own affairs on a desert island. The subject 
T have ecursorily touched upon—the limitation of plants to certain soils and rocks 
—you must admit is well deserving of attentive examination. I do not profess to 
have now extensively treated it as the theme deserves—our limited time would 
not permit it—but I have merely produced a few burs of observation carried off 
while passing through the thickets of research ; and if, perchance, some of them 
stick to any friends I have now the pleasure of addressing, they may possibly, 
stored in thoughtful ground, germinate in due time, and like plants migrating to 
a richer soil, produce double flowers, exhale a richer fragrance, and rise in fuller 
luxuriance than when located on the original barren shales of their birthplace. 
At all events, as the humblest weed produces seeds of some kind, which are scat- 
tered about as if uselessly by the idle winds, and yet the little birds find them 
out, or they come up where least expected, so every winged thought takes its 
course, and lives its life over again in the minds of others to some useful purpose. 


So concluding in the homely, but quaintly impressive language of one of our 
almost-forgotten poets, I may say— 


‘ There’s not a tree, a plant, a leaf, a blossom, 
But contains a folio voluine ; we may read 
And read again, and still find something new, 
Something to please, and something to instruct, 
E’en in the humblest weed.” (Applause). 


Upon the subject thus quaintly and amusingly started by Mr. Lees, a con- 
versation ensued, in which Mr. Strickland, Professor Buckman, and other gentle- 
men took part. Mr. Strickland expressed his conviction that the distribution of 
plants was rather mineralological than geological. The plant chooses limestone, 
not any particular formation of it. Provided it contains the required mineral, 
the plant does not care twopence about the age of the rock. (Laughter and ap- 
plause). It was agreed, on the motion of Dr. Wright, that a Committee, con- 
sisting of Professor Buckman, Mr. Lees, and Mr. W. H. Purchas, be appointed 
to prepare a Flora of the district. 


REMARKS ON THE ICHTHYOLOGY OF HEREFORDSHIRE. 
By Hewretr WHEATLEY. 


In a short paper of this kind, it is impossible to enter upon even the briefest 
preliminary sketch of the Natural History of our British Fishes; with a few 
incidental observations, therefore, on Ichthyology in general, the following will 
be confined to the species of this county—Herefordshire. 


One of the most striking curiosities of Natural History, is the close approxi- 
mation of a higher order, to its immediate inferior—the nicely graduated degrees 
in the scale of being. 


63 


In the present subject—the lowest of the vertebrates, fish—there is established 
a clear deduction from its inferior—the highest invertebrate class, the Cephalo- 
podus mollusks. The lowest rank of fish, the lamprey, has only a rudimental 
skeleton, a sort of gelatinous cord. Its affinity with the mollusk, is not only 
recognised in the skeleton, but in the skin, which ejects an abundant secretion 
when the animal feels in danger; in the process of respiration being carried on 
through the gill-apparatus, independent of the mouth; and from the eight fila- 
ments extending round the lips of some species; which Professor Owen considers 
“to represent the eight arms of one of the mollusks (Cephalopoda Dibranchiata), 
but arrested in their development, by reason of the preponderating size of the 
caudal extremity of the body, which now forms the sole organ of locomotion.” 
One of this family—the lancelet—is the lowliest of all fishes ; its organization is 
so very humble, that it has even been mistaken for a mollusk, and not of the 
highest class either. Here then we see the fish emerging from a lower grade by 
an almost imperceptible gradation ; and the connection with a higher, the reptiles} 
is clearly established in the salamander and the frog, whose early lives are passed 
as fishes ; for the tadpole, whether the young of the salamander or the frog, is a 
tadpole, a real fish—breathing by means of gills, and incapable of living out of 
the water. Subsequently undergoing a wonderful metamorphosis, and becoming 
a true reptile, cannot invalidate its fish-like youth; but only shews, that though 
a step higher in creation, it is very closely allied to the race below it. 


It is strange, that even now, the sciences enlighten but a comparatively nar- 
row horizon ; and this seems the more extraordinary, as neither their utility, nor 
the amusement derived from their pursuit, can be questioned ; and because in 
the earlier historic ages, we find traces of the cultivation of many of them. But 
there is a spirit of enquiry now abroad, which bids fair to wipe away the stigma 
from our own times. 


The Ichthyology of the Ancients is sufficiently confused. That they had some 
knowledge of it, as well of other branches of Natural History cannot be denied ; 
they even made collections. Alexander gave orders to all huntsmen, birdeatchers, 
fishermen, and others, to send whatever creatures they could procure to Aristotle. 
Apuleius, caused all kinds of animals—particularly jish—to be brought to him, 
that he might study their anatomy, and thus determine their characteristic 
peculiartiies. 


It appears, indeed, highly probable, that the researches of the ancients, on 
this subject, were far more extensive than we can glean from the fragments of 
their works which have survived to our day ; as from these, it is known, that fish 
was a more highly esteemed delicacy than either fowl or four-footed beast. Their 
culinary preparations are more frequently of fish than of other creatures. The 
fasting of the Greek monks was abstinence from what they considered the greatest 
of delicacies—fish; and if, at the present day, we go through the markets of 
Greece, we find a large preponderance of scales over feathers. Indeed, Strabo, 
Plutarch, and others, tell us of a people called Ichthyophagi (fish-eaters), who, 


although they possessed cattle, made no other use of them but to feed their 
fishes ! 


64 


Yet early as we find the taste for fish, and for their natural history, pervading 
the European world, and much as it has been cultivated of late, the history of one 
of the finest fish that swims—the salmon—is to this hour a matter of dispute. 


In our British rivers we have, at least, fifty-four species of fish; of which 
number thirty-one, if not more, are found in this county. 


Of the salmonide, we have three species—the salmon, the common trout, and 
the grayling ; with, I believe, an occasional visit from two others—the sewin and 
the salmon trout. Of these, pre-eminence being universally accorded to the 
salmon, and in consequence of its commercial importance, and its hitherto disputed 
descent, a larger portion of this paper will be appropriated to that part of our 
present subject, than to any other. 


A very remarkable feature disclosed by comparative anatomy, may here be 
mentioned ; not only as in its connection with the gradual rise in the types of 
organized life, but as illustrated by Ichthyology ; most, if not all creatures, in 
their embryo or early condition, pass through the gradations—perhaps they must 
be considered degradations—of inferior life. The whole of the fossil fish of the 
Devonian era (for previous to that geologists acknowledge but limited and obscure 
traces of this section of animate nature), are distinguished by the tail, formed of 
two branches of greatly unequal length. This one-sided sort of tail, is the 
characteristic of higher orders, at a certain point of their embryonic history. 
Such is the case with the salmon; which, as an embryo, possesses the tail, and 
also the mouth and vertebral column, of an inferior class. 


By investigating the paternity of the fish, known by a great variety of local 
names, such as fingerling, graveling, parr, pink, and lastsprimg—we may be able 
to elucidate the perplexed history of the salmon. 


One or two facts are puzzling enough to the unobserving and unscientific. It 
is known that the salmon fry go down to the sea every spring ; yet, at all seasons 
this fish isin the river. Hence it has been denied, as it is found all the year in the 
river, that it can be same species as that which abandons the freshwater in the 
spring. Nor could it be, if the salmon fry really left the river soon after it was 
hatched—a belief which formerly prevailed— because in that case, all would dis- 
appear together. But since they are now proved to remain nearly two years in 
the fresh water before they seek the sea, it is obvious there must be these fish in 
the river the whole of every year. Those which have arrived at the age destined 
by nature for migration, accordingly migrate; the rest remain in their native 
stream, awaiting the appointed time; and so on, in successional years. 


The external appearance of others of the salmonide, when young, has suf- 
ficient resemblance to deceive many. The same dusky, transverse bars, mark their 
sides. But this is no perplexity to the naturalist. A family likeness in early 
youth is the common stamp of nature. The lion’s whelp, and the young of the 
domestic cat, have alike the tiger’s marks. Fawns, in their youthful days, are 
spotted ; though, when adult, many kinds are perfectly plain. However closely 


65 


outward forms may approximate, there is no instance, so far as I am aware, of a 
coincidence of formation in the osteology of different species of the same genus; 
and I may venture to affirm that organic structure is incontrovertible evidence. 
Determine the anatomy of the salmon, and when a small fish of the migratory 
salmonidz is found, having corresponding anatomy, that fish may fearlessly claim 
heirship to the salmon. The parr has sixty vertebre, and the salmon is the only 
one of the salmonidz having the same number. He must bea daring naturalist, 
therefore, who, in classifying these, should assign them the parentage of others 
of their genus. Ifa race of men were found having thirty-three vertebree—which 
is one more than we have—what would it be? of the genus homo, certainly, 
but another species. In such rivers as the Teivi, where several migratory species 
of the salmon are found, those who know little of Ichthyology may easily be 
deceived in attempting to identify the different kinds. Let them visit your 
Herefordshire Wye, or the upper part of Bandon river, in the county of Cork, 
and they will have less to distract their attention ; for the salmon is the only one 
of the migratory salmonide that regularly visits those waters. Whence then the 
multitudes of lastsprings in the Wye, and gravelings in the Bandon, if they be 
not young salmon? How comes the assertion that they are a distinct and separate 
species ? 


Since the laws stamped on nature, by the Creator, are inflexible, unswerving, 
and unerring, it results that a discovery in natural history, must, if true, be 
equally invariable and inflexible, and in harmony with the Creator’s works, in 
that particular division of the great laboratory; else it is necessarily a misinter- 
pretation of nature, If the fish of which we are speaking be a distinct species of 
of the salmonide, we are presented with that Ichthyological anomaly, ‘‘ that 
monster which the world ne’er saw ”—two species of the same genus, with pre- 
cisely the same anatomical structure. Scientifically, therefore, it is at once 
pronounced not to be a separate species, or there would be some structural dis- 
tinction. Besides, at nearly two years old, they have only attained a few inches 
in length; and, with rare exceptions, not three ounces in weight. In the whole 
range of nature, we meet with no instance in which this tardy growth is exhibited, 
where smallness is maturity. It is contrary to the law of nature. All creatures 
that have arrived at their full size and are yet small, have grown rapidly—a wise 
provision; for such are destined to a very brief existence; with which a pro- 
tracted advance towards the perfect stage is inconsistent. The converse is equally 
true. The slow-growing races, whether of animate or inanimate nature, are com- 
paratively large and of long life. The slowly matured oak, and the aloe, endure 
for centuries—the quickly-formed mushroom, for hours. The elephant continues 
to grow for nearly a quarter of a century—and lives long. The ephemera leaps 
perfect from his grub state—and dies in an hour, or at most, in a few days. Why 
then argue against nature’s decree? Why stamp this little fish as an aberration 
of the Creative Power? Again, every fish in our waters can be detected breeding, 
if they do breed there. But though the parr has been watched and examined, 
with the most scrupulous care and industry, it is universally admitted “ that its 
breeding is unknown.” It has been noticed by all who have studied this part of 


66 


the subject, that when the male parr has perfected his milt, the female presents 
only the rudiments of ova. Had they arrived at maturity—were they indeed a 
distinct species—both males and females must necessarily be complete in their 
organisation ; the one, as well as the other, would show a corresponding breeding 
condition. No more appropriate instance of this need be desired than is shown 
in one of their own genus—the smallest of the migratory salmonide—the smelt, 
T have, at different times, examined considerable numbers of these little fish, and 
invariably found the milt and ova in an equally advanced stage in every specimen. 
When near the spawning time—toward the end of March—the milt of the male 
and the ova of the female are advanced, simultaneously, to that state when either 
can be made to flow by slight abdominal pressure with the fingers. Here we have 
a distinct species of the genus salmo, perfect, and scarcely larger than the parr, 
at his migratory stage ; and were that parr an equally small, distinct, and perfect 
species, it is incredible to suppose that the male could breed and the female could 
not ; that in short, the history of its breeding should be altogether unknown. Every 
experiment, too, has invariably ended in proving the parr to be the young of the 
salmon. Those now extensively carried on by the two Frenchmen, Gehin and 
Remy. but confirm the experiments of Shaw and others. The French Govern- 
ment has had the wisdom and patriotism to grant a sum of 30,000 francs to these 
two men for an extensive artificial production of fish; for the joint purposes of 
scientific objects, and an increase of the national resources. 


In a scientific point of view, as well as in political economy, the breeding of 
fish is of some importance ; and as many may not be aware of the facility of pro- 
ducing fish, by manipulation, and of the enormous quantities to be so produced, 
I may be allowed an observation or two on these points. 


Perhaps I ought, for a moment, to advert to the singular assertion of Dr. 
Robertson, of Dunkeld, namely, that he had produced trout, through the agency 
of the female only—I mean, by extracting the roe from the female, without subse- 
quent fecundation—that it had vivified. If this be true, previous impregnation 
must have taken place; which is Dr. Robertson’s theory. How comes it, then, 
that the milt of the male, and the ova of the female, disappear at precisely the 
same time? If impregnation had occurred before the female’s deposit, the male 
would be void, or nearly so, of milt, at a period prior to such deposit; which is 
contradicted by the unanimous testimony of numberless observations. The milt 
is not only a secretion of gradual progress, but is imperfect, until the cavity in 
which it forms is entirely filled. This great accumulation suddenly disappears— 
completely and at once. Is it credible to suppose that intromission produces this? 
Eminent anatomists have, from careful examinations, come to the conclusion that, 
as in the case of the frog, the organization of the fish is such as to render impreg- 
nation, in utero, impossible. My own testimony must be of little value; yet from 
the trifling practical knowledge I possess, I believe impregnation in utero 
physically impracticable. If Dr. Robertson’s theory be correct, it seems to me, 
that nature has formed a superfluity in the excessive quantity of milt; a quantity 
easily accounted for, and necessary, on the supposition of extra uterine impregna- 


——_: 


67 


tion; the diffusion, in such an element as water, requires a proportionately 
large amount of milt, to ensure its contact with the bulk of ova. 


The artificial production of fish is exceedingly simple. By causing the spawn 
to flow from the female into a vessel of water, and then the milt of the male into 
the same vessel; and by immediately stirring up the water, the ova are fecun- 
dated. That fecundation has been effectual can be known instantly ; for, before 
the milt and ova have been mixed, the latter are of a pale orange colour. After 
they have been subjected to the influence of the milt, they are suddenly changed 
from pale orange to brownish, and a minute black speck will be seen in the centre 
of each. Some few white looking eggs will be perceived among the rest, and 
these are barren. 


Now if we consider the numbers thus produced, in comparison with those 
abandoned to the open river, we shall at once see the immense benefit this branch 
of science must bestow. Estimating the salmon--large and small—to yield an 
annual average of 10,000 eggs each female, and calculating—I believe with a con- 
siderable degree of correctness—that not more than one per cent. becomes a 
mature fish ; 100 only is therefore the produce of 10,000 ova when left in a natural 
state, 


The causes of this production of mere units from thousands are sufficiently 
obvious. In some cases a deposit of mud will accumulate over the spawn, and it 
will perish. The water-ousel hunts eagerly for his favourite food; and I have 
watched this bird searching and scratching a salmon bed, and devouring the 
spawn with the greatest avidity. When hatched, the trout, the pike, the eel, and 
the perch, all prey upon the defenceless delicacy. Then comes man—perhaps as 
great a destructive as all the others together. Taking these various causes for the 
paucity of mature fish, compared with the mass of ova, it is perfectly credible 
that not more than 100 result from 10,000 eggs. 


Mark the difference of artificial production. 


Tn 1852, Messrs. Gehin and Remy obtained from 3,000,000 of eggs 1,600,000 
fish—more than the half, instead of the hundredth part ; and, with sufficient care, 
I feel satisfied that scarcely ten per cent. would be lost; thus introducing an 
enormous mass of food into the country, at comparatively a very trifling outlay ; 
a subject which certainly ought to engage the attention of the political economist 
and those having the means of improving our fisheries. 


The most striking peculiarity of the salmon, and some few others, is the power 
they possess of living in either fresh or salt water; in fact, that an alteration is 
essential to the continuance of the species. The salmon, too, affords the remark- 
able example of the rapid growth of fish under certain circumstances. The 
salmon, which at one and a half years old weighs only from two to three ounces, 
goes down to the sea for the first time, and returns in about three months weighing 
from two to five pounds, and occasionally more. 


68 


Their arrival in our rivers varies very greatly ; which, I apprehend, depends 
much on the temperature of the water. This is strikingly exemplified in the 
Oikel and the Shin, in Sutherlandshire. The Shin joins the Oikel five miles from 
the entrance of the latter into the sea; it might, therefore, be presumed that the 
salmon which entered the Oikel in the spring, direct from the sea, would continue 
a straight forward and upward course. The chief body of them, however, turns 
up the Shin. The temperature of the Shin is higher than that of the Oikel; and 
they do not journey up this latter river till the advancing season has raised its . 
temperature. Precisely the same thing occurs in the Esk and the Hden of 
Cumberland. Though emptying themselves into the same estuary, salmon enter 
the Eden many weeks earlier than the Esk—the Eden is the warmer stream. 
For a similar reason, salmon remain some time within tidal influence. The water 
there is two degrees warmer than either salt or fresh water separate ; chemistry 
having proved that when two fluids of different densities come in contact, the 
temperature is elevated for a time, in proportion to the difference in their densi- 
ties; and as this mixture is constantly occurring at the mouths of those rivers 
which run into the sea, salmon remain there, a shorter or longer time, according 
to the warmth or coldness of the pure fresh water. 


The salmon-trout and the sewin are such rare visitants to this county, and 
their habits so closely resemble those of the salmon, that they only need incidental 
mention as Herefordshire fishes ; indeed, of my own knowledge, I cannot vouch 
for either of them being entitled to the honour. 


The most universally distributed of the salmonids, is the common trout 
(S. fario). There is no purely fresh water fish that varies more in appearance and 
quality. From the varieties of colour—deviations in the spots—and external 
differences of shape, a plurality of species has been trequently inferred. But it 
seems now to be well ascertained that we have only one single species in our 
rivers ; and my own experience certainly confirms it. No matter how nature may 
clothe the skeleton of certain specimens, so long as the osteology remains un- 
changed, the species is unchanged. The apparent varieties are easily accounted 
for. The different strata through which the rivers flow must impregnate the 
water with their peculiar chemical properties, and thus affect both the appearance 
and the quality of their inhabitants. I have witnessed this in some trout, taken 
from holes whence peat had been extracted, and which had become filled with 
water. These fish were not only dark, but very dark— scarcely a lighter colour 
than the peat itself; while in the neighbouring river, from which they had, no 
doubt, been driven by floods, they were peculiarly bright and beautiful. The 
variety and quality of their food will also make a difference. Yet neither the 
food nor the water are to be exclusively charged with this ; for the brightest fish, 
in the clearest stream, if he takes up his abode under a low bridge, or in a thickly 
sheltered situation, becomes much darker than his brethren who sport in more 
exposed positions. Hence it appears that light is essential to the briliancy of 
fish, as well as of plants; and so is good condition, for we never see a bright 
coloured fish immediately after spawning—the only season when they become 
thin and poor. Circumstances, therefore, determine these variations, and not 


—_ yy is 


69 


distinction of species. Even the gilleroo trout of Ireland, whose stomach is 
unlike that of any other of the salmonide (being thickened into a substance 
resembling the gizzard of a fowl), has still the fifty-six vertebre of the common 
trout, and is clearly nothing else. It has been imagined, and with great proba- 
bility, that the thickening and hardening of the stomach is an accommodation of 
nature to the peculiarity of the food, which is found to be, almost exclusively, 
small crustaceous animals; and we are too well satisfied of the adaptability of 
the animal frame to circumstances to consider this as anything very remarkable. 


The largest common river trout of which I have ever heard was taken in a 
small stream branching from the Avon, at Salisbury, in 1822. Its weight was 
twenty-five pounds. 


Deformities are not common among fishes. But there is one curious mal- 
formation in the trout—the upper jaw is much shortened, and very obtuse. There 
is a specimen of one, thus imperfect, in the Museum of the Zoological Society ; 
and in 1852 the Rev. Mr. Hill caught one in the Wye, which he kindly gave to 
me. [I intended it for the Museum of the Philosophical Institution of Hereford ; 
but have never been able to recover it from the hands of the party who was to 
preserve it. As I have said already, that higher classes, in their earlier stage, 
pass through the forms of their inferiors ; this shortened upper jaw of the trout is 
an example of an arrest in its progress to the perfect state, at a point which marks 
the completed organization of the lamprey—a grade preceding the bony fishes, 
What is always permanent in the lower animals, becomes occasionally so in the 
higher, and is then a deformity. 


Though Ichthyological monstrosities are rare, the trout is by no means a 
solitary instance. The perch has been taken with the back greatly elevated, and 
the tail contorted. It is so found in some of the lakes of the North of Europe, as 
well as in Llyn Raithlyn, Merionethshire; and I once took one, thus deformed, 
in asmall brook in Picardy. Another very remarkable malformation has been 
noticed in both the perch and the carp; a female roe on one side, and a male roe 
on the other side of the same fish. 


The grayling is the only other of the salmon family which claims to be a 
Herefordshire fish ; and considering its beautiful shape, the sport it affords, its 
excellence as an edible, and its best season being in the autumn and winter, when 
the rest of its genus are out of condition, it is extraordinary it should not be more 


‘widely disseminated. In the Monnow, for instance, where though trout are 


{ 
; 
i 
: 
4 
; 


abundant, they are of poor quality, I imagine the grayling would flourish ; for it 
delights in rivers with a gravelly bottom, and an alternation of gentle stream and 
pool— the smallness of all its fins, except the dorsal, depriving it of power to stem 
a heavy and rapid water. 


The mouth of this fish is so formed—the upper lip projecting considerably 
beyond the lower—that in rising at insects it is compelled to turn on its back ; 
yet with such celerity is this movement accomplished, that it formerly received 
the name of umber, from wmbra, a shadow. With the exception of the salmon, I 


70 


believe it is the only fish, which even when feeding on surface insects, always lies 
at the bottom of the water. The beautiful hues of the mackerel, when first taken, 
scarcely exceed those of ‘‘ the flower of fishes,” as St. Ambrose is said to have called 
the grayling. Its green, blue, copper, and golden shades, as seen in different 
lights, combined with the most symmetrical shape, establish it pre-eminent in 
beauty over all the fresh water fishes ; and it is peculiarly grateful to the epicure, 
net less than to the sportsman. 


The herring genus affords us two specimens—the twaite shad and the alice 
shad (clupeide). These fish were long considered the parents of the celebrated 
whitebait. Mr. Yarrell has satisfactorily disproved this, both from a comparison 
of their habits, and anatomically. There is a great distinction between these two 
species ; the twaite shad has teeth, and several dark spots along the side behind 
the gill-covers; whereas the alice shad has no teeth, and only one spot on the 
side. The latter, too, is a good fish on the table, the twaite valueless. They enter 
our rivers in May, seeking fresh water for the purpose of depositing their spawn. 


The next family I shall mention should, in point of numbers, if not of excel- 
lence, head the list of British fresh-water fishes—the carps (cyprinide). Of this 
genus, we have nineteen species in England ; at least nine of which are found in 
this county. For the most part it is a toothless race—presuming the mouth to 
be the appropriate organ for teeth. Yet teeth they have—and strong ones too— 
but they are situated in the pharynx, the upper part of the gullet. 


I believe it has never been distinctly ascertained whence this fish was first 
imported ; but it is generally understood to have been from the southern parts of 
Europe. Ichthyologists give the name of cyprinus to this fish; probably from 
that designation having been bestowed by the ancients on a fish supposed to be 
identical with the carp. Cassiodorus is the oldest author who uses the word 
carpa. He lived in the sixth century ; and where speaking of the most costly 
fish, which then appeared on the tables of princes, says, ‘‘among these is the 
carpa, which is produced in the Danube.” It is probable, therefore, that we have 
to thank the Danube for its introduction into England. When that introduction 
took place does not seem quite clear. According to Anderson’s ‘‘ History of Com- 
merce,” they were first brought into England in 1514. But it is perfectly certain 
they were in this kingdom before 1486 ; for in that year was published, perhaps 
the only work on angling ever written by alady, Dame Juliana Berner’s ‘‘Book of 
St. Albans.” She says, speaking of the carp, ‘‘ It is a dayntious fyshe ; but there 
ben but few in Englonde, and therefore I write the lesse of hym.”’ She however 
observes, ‘‘ he is an envyll fisshe to take, and there maye noe weke harnays hold 
hym. 


” 


The great carp countries now are Austria and Prussia. In the latter I have 
seen many specimens weighing from sixteen to eighteen pounds each. They thrive 
well here, but seldom attain the size just quoted. There is a painting of one, 
however, at Weston Hall, Staffordshire, which weighed nineteen and a half 
pounds. They are probably the most productive of fresh-water fishes; Bloch 
having, he says, found 600,000 eggs in a carp of nine pounds. Though still held 


71 


in some estimation, they do not appear to be as highly prized by the moderns as 
by the ancients ; if we are to believe Krunitz, Heliogabalus invented a fricasee of 
carp’s tongues. Krunitz was, however, mistaken, the tongues were those of 
peacocks and nightingales. Bloch asserts they have no tongue. So does Aristotle. 
Athenzus says they have a tongue, but that it lies in the upper part of the mouth 
or palate. The fact is, the palate of the carp is a thick, soft substance, even now 
vulgarly called ‘‘carp’s tongue”; and certainly it is the most dainty part of the 
fish. 


Of the rest of this genus, with the exception of the tench, which resembles the 
common carp in its habits, it is composed of unimportant races, such as roach, 
dace, gudgeons, loaches, and minnows. The loach is nevertheless remarkable in 
the want of union in the two parietal bones at the upper part of the head— 
shewing a structural relation between fish and reptiles. 


Of the true perches (percide) I am not aware that we have more than one in 
this county—the common perch. The ruffe, or pope, is abundant in many rivers, 
and may be found here, though I have not met with it. We have, however, the 
stickleback, which is of another family of this class. 


The Wye is celebrated for the size and excellence of its perch. I have seen 
four, taken the same day in the salmon nets, weighing together sixteen pounds. 


These fish were well known to the ancients, and described by Aristotle. It 
is curious that a word, derived from its Greek name, and closely resembling it in 
sound, should be its common appellation in many countries. Thus, its Greek 
name was perke (repxn) ; its Roman, perca; its Italian is pergesa; its French, la 
perche ; its Prussian, perscke ; and its English, perch. 


Fish will bear wonderful extremes of temperature without sustaining any 
apparentinjury. In Bushman’s ‘‘ Introduction to the Study of Nature,” we are told 
that perch have been frozen—transported in that state considerable distances— 
replaced in water near a fire and recovered. If fish can endure great cold, some 
genera can also bear great heat. According to Saussure, both fish and infusoria 
are found in the hot springs of Aise, in Savoy, ata temperature of 113° Fahrenheit. 
Desfontaines and Shaw observed several kinds of fish in the hot waters of Cafsa, 
in Barbary ; temperature 86° Fahrenheit. (Many years ago I verified the fact of 
the existence of infusoria in the hot springs of Savoy ; and a gentleman who was 
with me, pronounced them to be of the second order—the leucophora.) 


If fish can, uninjured, sustain these violent extremes of temperature, not less 
can their eggs continue their vitality, under the most remarkable vicissitudes. 
The tanks of India are dried up during the hot season, and every fish, of course, 
destroyed ; but soon after the commencement of the rainy season, the tanks are 
replenished, not only with water, but with fish. Though many fantastical reasons 
are assigned for so strange a phenomenon, the only rational explanation seems to 
be that the ova of the former season, remaining dormant during the drought, 


_ were hatched on the recurrence of water, though continuing dry for many months. 


72 


Nature thus playing pioneer for our benefit (if we choose to avail ourselves of it) 
by shewing us that, as the impregnated ova may remain long productive, deprived 
of the element essential to after life, how easy is the transmission of spawn, even 
from remote countries ; thus making the replenishment of our rivers, or the intro- 
duction into them of new kinds, a matter of great facility. 


Perhaps the ugliest fish we have is the bullhead ; but it is said to possess a 
trait which would redeem the very personification of the hideous—care for its 
young. Unlike other fishes, it certainly hovers about its spawn for a long time 
after having deposited it, as if reluctant to abandon it to the mercy of unknown 
enemies. It is found in most of our streams, but particularly abundant in the 
Monnow, Dwyr, and their small tributaries. 


The six species of sticklebacks (gasterosteus) contribute three to this county. 
It is the smallest fish in our waters, and is chiefly remarkable as being the most 
pugnacious. Each species is furnished with spines on the back, varying in num- 
ber. These they use, as cattle do their horns; and an adversary is not unfre- 
quently killed by them. 


Of the pike genus (esocide) we have only one species—the most voracious of 
fresh-water animals ; around whose broad, obtuse muzzle, however, a glory has 
been thrown by Shakspeare ; who paints the ‘‘dozen white lucies” (the heraldic 
name of the pike) as part of the armorial bearings of the immortal Justice 
Shallow. 


The pike grows to a larger size than any of our pure river fishes, I have 
repeatedly seen them, from the neighbourhood of Neufchatel, m Switzerland, 
between 25 and 40 pounds. Gesner relates it as a fact, that “‘in 1497, a pike was 
taken at Hailburn, in Suabia, with a brass ring attached to it, stating it was put 
there in 1230; it was therefore 267 years old ; its weight 350 pounds.” 


Whether this be fable or fact, certain it is that many of the races live to a 
great age, and attain a great size. Does not this go far towards showing what I 
have long been inclined to believe—namely, that fish continue to grow till they 
die? A fact, if it be one, well worthy of establishment ; as affording good evi- 
dence, and elucidating the mystery, of the few diseases that afflict them ; for it is 
the gradual decay, consequent on a cessation of growth, which forms a large item 
in the history of disease. 


Although fish is more difficult of observation than land animals—which, at 
almost any time, and under a great diversity of circumstances, we have oppor- 
tunities for studying—yet, I think, we may reasonably conclude that the diseases 
of fish are few. It is a rare occurrence to find one out of condition, except froin 
spawning. If they suffered the deterioration of age—inevitably following com- 
pletion of maturity—we should as inevitably meet with numerous specimens 
labouring under the signs indissolubly united to the stage when growth had long 
ceased. As faras I am aware, this is not thecase. What then can we infer, but 
that they are exempt from the visible decline, inseparable from having passed the 


73 


point of perfection ; and, therefore, that they increase in size as long as they live? 
There are even proverbs in support of the healthiness of fish; and though it by no 
means follows that a common proverb must be true, there is usually some founda- 
tion for it. We say in England, ‘‘as sound as a roach,” and the Italians, ‘‘® sano 
come il pésce ”—as healthy as a fish. 


Tt is said thata pike will swallow a fish half itsown weight, and I have reason 
to believe this. But the stories told of his voracity from gorging a tailor’s 
thimble to fastening on the lip of a cow while drinking at the river, are endless. 


It is curious to note the different values placed on the same article by different 
generations. In the reign of Edward Ist pike were dearer than salmon, and ten 
times dearer than turbot. In Henry 8th’s reign, a small one sold for more than 
a fat capon ; and a large one for the price of two house lambs in February. In 
these degenerate days, I am afraid neither fishmonger nor butcher can be per- 
suaded to give, the one, ten turbots for a pike, and the other, a couple of lambs. 
As taste is often subservient to fashion—and as the dear must, of course, be the 
fashionable—probably taste had no more to do with the reputation pike formerly 
enjoyed than it has for the modern preference of house lamb. 


The quality of fish depends greatly on food. The pike of the Medway, at 
those seasons when feeding on smelts, are in the highest condition, and of remark- 
ably fine flavour. Nor is this at all extraordinary. The honey, from bees which 
collect it from particular flowers, is peculiarly flavoured. The partridge which 
lives among heath, more nearly resembles the grouse than the partridge of other 
localities. And this is natural. Since food replenishes evaporation, it is clear 
that food must impregnate the substance with its own appropriate characteristics. 


Of the sturgeons (accipenser) there is one—the common sturgeon (A. sturio), 
which pays an occasional visit to the Wye; and a personal struggle has several 
times ensued betwen fish and biped—not always to the glory of the latter—for 
they are known to reach more than four cwt. This is the largest fish that seeks 
fresh water for the purpose of spawning. In spite of its bulk, and alliance with 
the shark, it is perfectly harmless ; and exhibits in its structure a very low degree 
of organization. Its skeleton is cartilaginous, and not bony ; and the tail has one 
lobe much shorter than the other. Its flesh is tolerably good; and it is particu- 
larly valuable for the eggs, which are manufactured into caviare ; and for its air- 
bladder, from which the finest isinglass is prepared. 


The flat fishes (pleuronectide), furnish one member of their family to Here- 
fordshire—the flounder. This is a very remarkable genus—whereas all other 
fishes swim on the belly, the flat fishes swim on their side. In the vertebrate 
kingdom it is unique on another account—its want of symmetry in the head ; both 
eyes are placed on one side; and an animal, to be symmetrical, must possess the 
two sides counterparts of each other, supposing it to be vertically divided exactly 
in the middle. 


Those who have been deceived by its changes into the belief that the parr was 
not the young salmon, and who have thought, from the many variations 


74 


observable in trout, that there was a multiplication of species, might find some 
striking analogical reasons for a contrary opinion, in the natural history of the 
flounder. In this curious fish, one side is usually coloured, the other white. But 
we often find them coloured on both sides—white on both sides, with brown 
patches on the white—and even with their eyes and colour on the opposite side to 
which they are generally placed. These are far greater and more important 
deviations than we find in either salmon or trout ; yet they are mere varieties of 
one species. 


Of eels (murzna), we have three species in this county—the broad-nosed, the 
sharp-nosed, and the snig. Strictly speaking, they are fresh-water fishes ; yet, 
whenever they have the opportunity, it is said they migrate tothesea. It has been 
suspected, however (and as far as my own observations extend, I think with truth), 
that a large majority of them, if not the whole, remain during winter in the 
estuaries. Of all our fishes, it is the most susceptible of cold ; and as I remarked 
when speaking of salmon, the mixture of salt and fresh water is warmer than 
either unmixed. When, therefore, they reach the higher temperature, it is un- 
likely they shonld pass through it into a colder; particularly, as every-day 
experience shows us that the sea is neither necessary to their health or propaga- 
tion. It has been said, too, that those eels which have the means of migrating, 
reascend the rivers to deposit their spawn. It is probable some may do so; but 
that great numbers of them spawn in the estuaries, or in the sea, if they penetrate 
as far, is certain. If not, whence come those multitudes of young eels whose 
periodical passage up the Thames is called eelfare? “Whence the transit of those 
myriads of elvers up the Severn and its tributaries? Obviously the result of fish 
which have spawned below. Both these names, eelfare and elver, appear to have 
the same derivation ; being compounded of eel and fare ; the latter, a Saxon word, 
signifying to go, or travel ; and itis still retained in our language, with its original 
meaning—for instance, in the words, ‘‘thoroughfare,” and ‘‘ wayfarer.” 


That eels did spawn at all was long denied. They were considered viviparous ; 
and the presence of a multitude of thread-like living creatures being found in 
them at certain seasons appeared to sanction the idea. These were not, however, 
the young eels ; but one of the internal parasites, to which this fish is peculiarly 
obnoxious. 


Some very odd notions have prevailed respecting the propagation of eels. 
Pliny says they are produced from bits, separated from the parent bodies by 
friction against rocks; thus degrading the fish to at least a level with the polypi. 
But Helmont favours us with a strange receipt for engendering eels, as can well 
be imagined. Hetells us to ‘‘cut two turfs, covered with May-dew, and lay one 
upon the other, the grassy sides inward, and expose them to the heat of the sun. 
In a few hours there will spring forth a great quantity of eels.” 


Though many fables have been related of the eel travelling by land, it certainly 
can make its way for some distance ; the singular arrangement of its gill-covering, 
by not exposing the gills themselves to the atmosphere, enables it to live for many 
hours out of its native element. 


75 


A curious discovery of pulsation in the tail of the eel was made by Dr. 
Marshall Hall, in 1831. This pulsation is wholly unconnected with the heart, and 
beats more than double in the same time. Dr. Muller, Professor of Physiology at 
Bonn, found that these pulsating sacs in the batrachia—such as the frog, sala- 
mander, and others—contain lymph, and direct its motion. The pulsation in the 
eel is probably lymphatic. 


The electric eel (Gymnotus electricus), not being one of our fishes, I merely 
allude to it, for the sake of noticing the singular fact that, so long ago as the days 
of Anthony and Cleopatra, their physician, Dioscorides, recommended, for medical 
purposes, the shock of the electric eel—the earliest record extant of the application 
of electricity to medicine. 


The last fish to which I shall now refer is the lowest in this division of the 
animal kingdom—the lamprey (petromyzon). We have four species in England ; 
three of which, if not the fourth, are found in the rivers of this county. Two of 
them (P. fluviabilis and P. plauerii) are often called lamperns ; why, it were per- 
haps difficult to say, unless to puzzle Ichthyologists. They are true lampreys. 
By means of their circular fleshy lips they adhere firmly to stones or fish ; piercing 
the strongest integuments of the latter and preying on their substance. 


To those who have never examined this remarkable fish, it must seem utterly 
incomprehensible, how, when adhering closely to any object by means of the 
mouth, the process of respiration can be carried on. But like everything else in 
nature, it is modified in accordance to the circumstances in which it is placed. 
Most fish have free gills, which open to expel the water that has been taken in by 

‘the mouth. But the lamprey is constantly so situated as to make this process 
impossible ; it is, therefore, supplied with a power of breathing by means of external 
orifices, through which the water is both inhaled and ejected—altogether 
independent of the mouth. 


The marine lamprey is found in the Wye, as well as in the Severn, during 
summer. Like allsea fish that mount the rivers, its purpose isto spawn. This it 
does in pairs, while the smaller species congregate in large masses. 


The common river lamprey was supposed to visit the sea. Mr. Yarrell says 
that his own observations lead to a contrary conclusion. I have myself seen it in 
the Wye early in February —long before the marine lamprey has left the salt 
water; and hence conceive that Mr. Yarrell is right. The pride is much smaller 
than the others ; and though often called the mud lamprey, it is not a real lam- 
prey ; for as the mouth does not form a circle, it is incapable of adhering to stones 
or any other object. 


Between those fish that swim near the surface—such as the trout, and those 
that live at the bottom, as the flounder, loach, and eel—there is a great and im- 
portant distinction. The former have a higher standard of respiration, a lower 
degree of muscular irritability, a greater necessity, for oxygen, die almost as soon 
as taken out of the water, and whose flesh quickly decomposes. While such as 


76 


frequent the bottom, have a low degree of respiration, great muscular irrita- 
bility, less necessity for oxygen, live long out of water, and the flesh not so soon 
subject to decomposition. Thus is each peculiarly adapted to its general abiding 
place ; for, I need scarcely say, it isa mere vulgar error to suppose that fishes breathe 
water. Their life is sustained by air as well as our own. The water taken in, 
either by the mouth, or by an apparatus fitted for the purpose, in passing through 
the filaments of the gills, imparts to these the oxygen of the air it contains; re- 
ceiving carbon in return ; precisely like any of what are popularly considered air- 
breathing animals. The water, in its passage through the gills, is not decomposed ; 
but merely the oxygen extracted from the atmospheric air contained in the water. 
Deprive water of this air, and no fish can live in it. Now as—especially in cold 
weather—the ground fish are partially, and often wholly, buried in sand or mud, 
their low degree of respiration is perhaps necessary to existence; as in such a 
situation they must obtain a more limited supply of air, than in the free and 
open water ; thus, not very remotely, approximating to the hybernating animals 
of earth. 


I must close these slight remarks on the Ichthyology of Herefordshire, by 
adverting to one part of the economy of fishes, which remains unexplained—at 
least satisfactorily—the air-bladder. Its office is usually supposed to be that of 
enabling the fish to raise or depress itself in the water, at will, by a sudden 
and voluntary alteration of its own specitic gravity. But this may reasonably be 
doubted; for at least one fourth of the race are without it. Were this large 
proportion condemned to crawl at the bottom, we might have better reason to 
believe the air-bladder necessary to empower the fish to rise. It is not so, how- 
ever. The cartilaginous tribes are deprived of it; and we have a familiar 
instance in our two species of mackerel—both having bony skeletons ; and both 
possessed of precisely similar habits ;— yet the one has an air-bladder, and the 
other has not. If the air-bladder enable the animal to rise and sink, at pleasure, 
it is clear that the one without such organ, and which can yet perform the same 
office, must either have some compensating power, hitherto undetected, or the 
air-bladder is not necessary for the purpose to which it is commonly presumed 
applicable. No scrutiny has been able to discover any equivalent in those genera 
which have it not: and it would seem, at least, very anomalous, to be requisite 
in the progression of one and not of another, unless the structural difference were 
far more considerable than it is found to be, in many instances. Chemical analysis 
has proved that the air contained in these bladders is not atmospheric air ; nor is 
it universally the same in all fishes—nitrogen being in excess in some species, and 
oxygen in others; which would lead to the deduction, that it was not a mere 
swimming apparatus; for they are filled with an animal fluid; and I am not 
aware that in any branch of physiology a natural secretion is elaborated, except 
in connexion with some vital function; which the simply moving upward, or 
downward, in the water, cannot be considered. We must, therefore, look for some 
faculty in those to whom has been ‘granted this additional organ, which is not 
held in common with such as are deprived of it: for, in all animate nature, where 
the organism is varied, so I believe, are the demonstrations. 


77 


For such reasons as these Iam induced to conclude, with Dr. Priestley and 
the ancients, that the air-bladder in fishes is designed for other purposes than 
merely ascending, or descending, through the water. 


The discovery of what these may be is still to be made. 


NOTE. 


P. 65.—‘‘ However closely outward forms may approximate, there is no instance, 
as far as I am aware, of a coincidence of formation in the osteology of different 
species of the same genus.” 


When this paper was read at a Meeting of the Naturalists’ Field Clubs of 
Herefordshire, Worcestershire, and Gloucestershire, the above position was 
denied ; and the felide adduced in opposition to the text. I consider, however, 
that we can scarcely be justified in illustrating one great division of animate nature 
by another. The laws which govern the one may be totally different from those 
which influence the other. This must apply with the greatest force, when two 
classes of animals, so far removed in the scale of creation as fishes and terrestrial 
mammalia, are compared. I was speaking of Ichthyology, alone. Nevertheless, 
I think it will be found to apply, as a general rule, to every grade of animal life— 
the felide not excepted. The numerous species of the genus felis very closely 
approximate in their osteology: but even here, it is only approximation—not 
identity. Mr. Owen has shown a difference between the skull of the lion and the 
tiger, for instance. The structural distinction, however, between even the largest 
and the smallest of this genus—between the lion and the cat—is so trifling that 
Zoologists determine the various species by other than anatomical details. ‘Still, 
I cannot but think—since the only permanent character is the skeleton—that 
wherever this principle is unrecognized, there must be perplexity. Soclosely are 
the felide anatomically allied, that Temminck considers them zoologically 
indivisible. But what Naturalist has ever so affirmed of any genus of fishes? 
However nearly external appearances may approach—as they do in some of the 
salmon species—I am bound to say that I am not aware of any instance in which 
structural difference does not mark species ; and therefore conclude that anatomy 
is the true basis to distinguish them. Even were not this recognised by 
Naturalists, and an observer of fish noticed that there was a striking distinction 
between the anatomy of different species of the same genus, he would be startled 
to find, in the course of his researches, two so called species, in which there was 
no structural distinction ; and would judge them to be misplaced. So would an 
observer of the feline tribes, on finding the anatomy of various species to shew 
very trifling differences, be surprised to detect, in two of them, a wide dissimilarity. 
I believe no instance of this has occurred: if ever it should, the supposed species 
would probably be removed from the genus to which it had hitherto been supposed 
to have belonged ; and if not referable to any other, would either form a separate 
and new genus, or hold the isolated position of an anomalite. 


78 


T must therefore conclude, that where there is a very marked difference 
between any two species, a similar marked difference will extend through every 
species of the genus ; that where the difference is trifling between any two, such 
trifling difference will characterize the whole ; and that there are no classes which 
will not come under one or other of these rules. 


79 


Woolhope Naturalists Field Club. 


Sreconp Fretp Meetinc, TUESDAY, JULY 26TH, 1853. 


LEINTWARDINE, FOR DOWNTON, WIGMORE. 


The Second Meeting of this Club was held on Tuesday, 26th July. At 
5-30 a.m., notwithstanding the frequent and heavy rain which was then falling, a 
party of the Members started from Hereford in a brake supplied by Messrs. 
Bosley, and made their way to Leintwardine, which they reached at 9 a.m. 
Having partaken of an excellent breakfast at the Lion Inn, the Members 
transacted the business of the Club. The new members, Mr. Booker of Ross, and 
Mr. Stubbs of Fownhope, were unanimously elected. A letter from Dr. Rowan, 
of Hereford, was read, stating his inability to be present, and enclosing for the 
use of the Club a schedule of directions for taking meteorological observations, 
which he had received from James Glashier, Esq., of the Meteorological Society 
of London. By about 11 a.m. the rain began to clear off, and the Members started 
on their scientific explorations. The remainder of the day was fine, and the varied 
scenery which met their view at every step, whether the eyeranged over the broad 
vales and step-like ridges of South Shropshire, or surveyed the picturesque wooded 
hills and valleys of North Herefordshire and Radnorshire, showed to the greatest 
possible advantage. 


Under the guidance of the respected President, the Rev. T. T. Lewis, they 
visited the limestone quarries, one mile from Leintwardine, on the Ludlow road, 
and then made their way through the beautiful demesne and woods of Downton, to 
Burrington and Leinthall. Thence they directed their course to Wigmore, after a 
most delightful and instructive ramble of about six hours duration. At 5 p.m., the 
Members met at the Hundred House Inn, where they refreshed their exhausted 
frames with an excellently served dinner. 


There were present—The Rev. T. T. Lewis, President ; Rev. J. B. James, of 
Knowbury ; Rev. J. F, Crouch, Pembridge; Mr. E. Davies, Barrister of the 
Oxford Circuit; Mr. Lingwood, Mr. Cam, Mr. Purchas, Mr. Lichfield, Mr. 
Blashill, Mr. A. Thompson, Mr. Edmunds, and others. 


After dinner, Mr. Lingwood read a Paper containing a list of the Birds of 
Herefordshire, as observed by himself and some friends upon whose accuracy he 


could rely. After spending a day of great intellectual enjoyment, the party 
separated about 9 p.m. 


Throughout the day the Members were greatly indebted to the Rev. President 
for his lucid explanations of the arrangement of the various strata belonging 
to the Silurian system, which the party visited. Some excellent specimens of 
Pentamerus Knightii, various Trilobites, and other fossils were found. 


80 


We subjoin a list of the rarer plants gathered in the course of this ramble of 
ten miles in length :— 


ON ASCENDING THE HILL FROM LEINTWARDINE. 


Erysimum cheiranthoides—Hedge mustard. 
Galium montanum—Dwarf bedstraw. 
Reseda luteola—Dyer’s weed or Weld. 
Trifolium medium—Trefoil. 


AT DOWNTON-ON-THE-ROCK, 


Lactuca muralis—Wall lettuce. 

Tanacetum vulgare—Tansy. 

Sambucus Ebulus—Danewort, or Dwarf elder. 
Campanula Trachelium—Nettle-leaved Bell-flower. 


IN DOWNTON GORGE WOOD. 


Adoxa Moschatellina—Moschatel. 
Hieracium murorum—wall Hawk-weed. 
boreale. 


Chrysosplenium oppositifolium—opposite-leaved Golden-saxifrage. 
alternifolium—alternate leaved ditto. 
Saxifraga granulata—white Meadow saxifrage. 


Sedum Forsterianum—Forster’s Orpine. 

Luzula Forsteri—Forster’s Wood-rush. 

The numerous splendid oaks seen were chiefly Quercus sessiliflora. 
FERNS. 


Polypodium Dryopteris, Cystopteris fragilis, the Maiden-hair-fern, Blechnum 
boreale (Hard fern), besides the Common Polypody,. the angular Shield-fern, the 
Hart’s-tongue, &c. The ill-savoured Allium ursinum (wild Garlic) was abundant, 
and there were many beautiful lichens and mosses observed. 


Asplenium adiantum nigrum. 
AT BURRINGTON. 


Artemisia Absinthium— Wormwood. 
Chenopodium Bonus Henricus—Good King Henry. 


IN WET PLACES. 


Scrophularia Ehrharti—Square-stemmed Fig-wort. 


IN CORN FIELDS. 
Ranunculus hirsutus—Hairy Butter-cup. 
IN MEADOWS. 


Geranium pratense—Great Cranesbill. 
Nasturtium terrestre—Land-cress. 
Glyceria rigida—Little Wall-grass. 


81 


IN VARIOUS PARTS. 


Sinapis nigra—table Mustard. 

Hypericum dubium—Imperforate St. John’s wort. 
perforatum—Perforate ditto. 
humifusum—Creeping ditto. 
—— _ — pulchrum—Small upright ditto. 
Genista tinctoria—Dyer’s weed. 

Picris hieracioides—Hawkweed-Ox-tongue. 
Carduus nutans—Musk-thistle. 
Lithospermum officinale—Gromwell. 
flavum—yellow ditto. 
Lysimachia Nummularia—Money-wort. 
Epipactis latifolia—Broad-leaved Helleborine. 
Carex flava—Yellow Carex. 

——— muricata. 

Sanguisorba officinalis—Great Burnet. 
Melicia unifiora. 

Solidago virga-aurea—Golden-rod. 


NEAR WIGMORE. (SPARINGLY). 
Hyoscyamus niger—Henbane. 


Moolhope Naturalists Field Club. 


Tuirp Firtp Meetine, Turspay, Aucust 23rp, 1853. 


KINGTON, PRESTEIGN, STANNER ROCKS. 


The Third Field Meeting of this very successful and flourishing Club was 
held on Tuesday, 23rd August, the district chosen being the Upper Ludlow 
Rock, Wenlock limestone, and Caradoc sandstone, developed in the triangular 
space between Kington, Presteign, and Stanner Rocks. The day was a brilliantly 
fine one, there was a good attendance of members, and the exceeding beauty not 
less than the scientific interest of the country, made the meeting altogether a 
most delightful one. 


The Hereford party of members assembled at 6 a.m. at the Green Dragon 
Hotel, from which they speedily departed on a small coach appropriated to them, 
on their way to Kington. The sky was at first overcast, but it speedily cleared, 
and the charming succession of views, and especially the magnificent panorama 
from the Norton Canon and neighbouring hills along that route, were never 
seen to greater advantage. 


At 9 a.m. the members assembled at breakfast at the Oxford Arms Hotel, 
Kington. After breakfast, the Chair was taken by the Rev. T. T. Lewis, the 
President, and the business of the Club was transacted. Mr. Edward Davies, of 
the Oxford Circuit, was unanimously elected an honorary member. Letters of 
apology for unavoidable absence were read from Professor Sedgwick, of Cambridge 
University, and other honorary members; and one from Francis Evelyn, Esq., 
kindly granting the members free permission to explore his grounds. Two 
gentlemen were nominated as candidates for membership, and will be balloted 
for at the next meeting, viz., the annual meeting in January, 1854. A communi- 
cation from Mr. Purchas, who was prevented from being present, suggesting the 
supply of maps to the members in order that they might record their observations 
of the botany of the various districts, and thus aid the work of making out a 
complete Flora of the county, was read and discussed ; but the question was 
finally postponed to the annual meeting. 


About 11 a.m., the members started for Corton Gate, near Presteign, where 
they proposed to commence their explorations for the day. On arriving at the 
spot, the respected President (who throughout the day acted as the cicerone of 
the party, luminously explaining the phenomena of the district) led the party to 
the Nash Quarry, which is close to the toll-bar. The rock there laid bare, he 


83 


__ explained, is a conglomerate of fragments of sandstones, quartz, and other rocks, 
_ deposited in the form of mud, and afterwards consolidated by great heat and 
pressure. 


' The hammers of the party were speedily in rapid action, but the rock 
presents little to repay the explorer ; and the party, after a brief stay, bent their 
steps in the direction of the Folly, situated on the northern face of the hill. On 
reaching that spot, the striking beauty of the vale of Presteign, with its en- 
circling range of hills, singularly varied in forms, and in many parts richly clad 
in foliage, with the old gray church tower, and the quiet town bathed in the 
brilliant sunlight, excited the admiration of the visitors. 


In describing the geologic formations of the scene, the Rev. President 
remarked that the hills before them consist of the Upper Ludlow, but in one 
instance, a broad patch or islet of Old Red Sandstone, quite dissevered from all 
the rest of the formation, still forms the summit. This Old Red islet crowns the 
hill} called Hell-peak Hill. Its occurrence is interesting, as evidence of the 
natural sequence of the rocks. 


Doubtless, the whole tract of country was once covered with the Old Red, 
but save the islet before them, and one or two others lying some miles to the W. 
and S.W. of that spot, the whole formation had been swept away, leaving the 
subjacent rocks exposed. 


At this quarry the members found a great number of specimens of trilobites 
and other fossils, but had not time to prosecute their search to any great extent. 


From that spot the party proceeded through the wood in a southerly 
direction, visiting various quarries and spots where the Caradoc sandstone “‘ crops 
out,” the botanists gathering a number of uncommon plants, and the geologists 
finding many interesting specimens of Orthis, Pentamerus, Corals, and other 
fossils. The next stage was the lofty precipice of Wenlock limestone, at the 
Nash lime kilns. From that spot they made their way again through the wood 
into the lane leading to Knill. 


Passing on through the romantic gorge in which the secluded mansion of 
_Knuill Court is situated, the party proposed to extend their explorations to the 
lofty and striking igneous dyke of Stanner rocks, the concussion attending the 
_ protrusion of which (Mr. Lewis explained) had probably caused the wild contor- 
tions of the strata, now forming the picturesque hills of Burva, Herrick, Bradnor, 
&c.; but as a section of the party had previously devoted themselves to the 
botanical examination of Stanner rocks, and as the hour fixed for the not less 
important duty of dining was fast approaching, it was resolved to leave the 
ogical exploration of Stanner to a future occasion. The members reconciled 

1emselves to this decision the more readily since they felt at that time of the 
day, about 4 p.m., it was useless to attempt the satisfactory examination of a spot 
which would well repay the labour of at least an entire day, Having gratified 
hemselves with many an admiring look at the beautiful scene, the party directed 
their course through the pass by way of Downfield, entering the Aberystwith 
toad near the two-mile stone. 


84 


In passing along, a road-side heap of water-worn, and other fragments of 
stone, attracted the attention of the President and the Rev. W. 8. Symonds; 
and in it the President discovered (we believe in Downton limestone) a small 
slab, full of fine specimens of the Lingula, a fine Serpulites, &c. 


At 5 p.m. the members assembled to dine at the Oxford Arms Hotel. The 
dinner was an excellent one in every respect, the Rev. T. T. Lewis occupied the 
chair, and there were present also the Rev. W. 8. Symonds, Rev. R. Holmes, 
Rev. J. H. Barker, Rev. W. H. Thackwell, Mr. Edward Davies, Mr. Lingwood, 
Mr. E. H. Griffiths, Mr. Wheatley, Mr. Lingen, Mr. Cam, Dr. G. H. Marshall, 
Mr. Blakeley, Mr, Suter, Mr. W. Blashill, Junr., Mr. A. Thompson, Mr. 
Edmunds. 


Upon the removal of the cloth, the Chairman gave the health of the Queen 
and the Royal Family, which was drunk with all due honour, The Chairman 
then observed that, as the members had mostly considerable distances to go in 
order to reach their homes, he would at once proceed to the business of the 
meeting. He would, therefore, at once call upon Mr. Flavell Edmunds to read 
a paper. 


Mr. Edmunds rose and said that he had thrown together a few thoughts on a 
department of botany which he had felt to be a very interesting one ; but he had 
done so, not because he felt that he could lay before the meeting much, if any- 
thing, that was particularly novel, but rather in the hope that he should thereby 
provoke a conversation, and that thus the members might be all benefited. He 
then proceeded to read the following paper on 


COLOUR IN PLANTS: ITS CAUSES AND DISTRIBUTION. 
By FrLavett Epmunps, 


The beauty of the vegetable kingdom, constituting as it does its most promi- 
nent characteristic, seems to have been designed by the great Artificer specially 
to attract the notice of man. Hence to the mind of the child, the beauty of a 
flower is an attraction as early as it is unfailing; and to the mass of mankind, 
who in the study of nature seldom pass beyond the portals, the child’s love of 
flowers remains to the latest period of life. In the pageants and pomps which 
delight the multitude, no less than in the decorations of the great and wealthy, 
flowers still occupy the place of honour. The crown of the monarch, and the 
rustic’s maypole ; the ornaments of the bride, and the decorations of the coffin ; 
the wreath of the conqueror, and the chaplet of the bard ; alike owe their beauty 
to the use of the imitation of flowers. The vegetable kingdom supplies to oratory 
the finest illustrations ; to poetry, its most beautiful imagery. When we come 
to analyse this universal feeling, we find it to consist in most cases of a mere per- 
ception of the hues which adorn vegetation. The soft green of the sward, the 
bright colours of the flowers, and the varying tints of the leaves, are caught by 
the least instructed eye. To the thoughtful enquirer it seems obvious that this 


85 


universal perception of beauty was designed to lead to a closer study of its nature ; 
yet, by the great majority, even the small advance to a perception of the beauty 
of form is never taken. To such an eye— 


The primrose, by the river’s brim, 
A yellow primrose is to him ; 
And it is nothing more. 


The wonders of vegetable structure—the exquisite adaptation of means to ends 
—the beautiful regularity of action, and the exact harmony of arrangement, are 
matters into which few, even of the otherwise well-informed, ever trouble them- 
selves to look. In this, as in many other things, “‘men” continue to be but 
‘‘ children of a larger growth.” Although it must be conceded that colour is the 
least essential of all the attributes of vegetation, and has been to some extent 
neglected by botanical writers as comparatively unimportant, yet its prominence 
as a characteristic, and the readiness wherewith all appreciate it, would point it 
out as worthy of a more careful consideration. Its susceptibility to atmos- 
pheric and other influences does, indeed, render it so variable, that according to 
the canon of Linnzeus, it cannot be safely made the basis of the nomenclature of 
plants—a canon, by the way, which that great master himself has in various 
instances broken—but that very variability may itself prove to be the result of 
definite laws, and therefore be another reason for careful study. On various 
grounds then, the causes and distribution of colour in plants may be pronounced 
not less worthy of examination than any other branch of vegetable physiology. 


In thus writing, I must not be supposed as implying that I have found time 
or opportunity to investigate the subject ; I merely wish to call to it the attention 
of others better qualified than myself to prosecute it ; and my object at present 
is simply to enunciate its elementary principles. 


Premising that, in this branch of study, black and white are numbered as 
colours, I may notice that the hues of the vegetable kingdom are arranged by 
botanists in the following departments :— 

1. Water colour, hyalinus. 
2. White. 
3. Brown, fuscus. 


4. Yellow, luteus, which is subdivided into flavus, straw-colour; fulvus, the 
colour of molten brass ; and gilvus, or iron colour. 


5. Red, subdivided into incarnatus, flesh-hued ; and coccineus, scarlet. 
6. Blue, ceruleus. 
7. Green, viridis. 
8. Purple, ceruleo-purpureus. 
4 9. lead or ash-colour, cinereus. 


10. Black, subdivided into niger, dull black ; and ater, jet black. 


86 


These colours are found appropriated to different parts of the plant. For 
instance, water-colour is found chiefly in the filaments of stamens and the styles 
of pistils; white in the centres of the cups of crateriform, and malvaceous flowers, 
which are less exposed to the light ; and in that part of the stem which is under- 
ground. Yellow is found chiefly in the anthers and stigmas, but frequently in 
the corolla. Blue and violet almost exclusively appear in the petals, while 
green, save in a few instances, such as the Mercurialis perennis (Dog's Mercury) and 
the Bryonia dioica (red-berried Bryony) is confined to the leaves and the calyx. 
Red is found most frequently in the corolla, but it appears often in the leaves 
when decaying ; it also tinges seed-vessels and fruits. Black is found in the 
roots, seeds, and sometimes, as in the Vicia tribe, in the seed vessels when ripe, 
of which fact it is in such cases the evidence. 


Whatever may be the hue, or the part to which it is usually appropriated, it 
is ascertained that the colour in plants is generally due to the presence of a sub- 
stance called chromule, distinct from the sap, which is found in the form of 
minute grains in the cellular tissue. The common theory of its formation, as 
physiologists state it, isa chemical one. It is asserted that the carbonic acid gas, 
which has been absorbed by the plant, is decomposed in the cellular tissue, the 
oxygen being given off to the atmosphere, while the pure carbon is retained by the 
plant, and converted intocolouring matter. The researches into human physiology 
exhibit a case in some degree similar, in the colouring matter of the hair, of the 
negro’s skin, &c. In the plant, this process of manufacturing chromule goes on 
most actively under the influence of sunlight. That part of the stem of a grass, 
or of the leaf-stalk of an Arum, for example, which is hidden by the soil or 
the surrounding grass, is always white. By imitating this natural process, the 
gardener blanches celery, or quickens the hearting of celery or cabbage. Dry 
plants become succulent in darkness, owing to the imbibed moisture not being 
so readily carried off by evaporation ; and, which is less easily explicable, acrid, 
and even poisonous plants, may be rendered innocuous by the same process of 
“blanching.” This would seem to show that the constituent of chromule is not 
pure carbon, but varies somewhat according to the constituents of the plant in 
which it is formed. 


This conjecture may, too, help to explain the great difficulty of the chemical 
theory, viz., the production of a green hue in the leaves, and of a variety of other 
colours in the flowers of the same plant. May it not be because there are not 
only individual elements in different species, but distinct secretions in different 
organs of the same plant, which chemically modify the chromule? This, of 
course, you will take as merely my conjecture. 


The chronological changes of colour are explained satisfactorily. To quote 
the valuable little work of Messrs. Chambers on ‘‘ Vegetable Physiology,” ‘‘ It 
is found that when the leaves first expand, and are of the brightest green, the 
grains of chromule are always surpéunded by a thin film of gluten, the principal 
ingredient in which is nitrogen. In autumn, the gluten and carbon generally 
have both disappeared, particularly in plants which contain a notable amount of 


—- 


oe 


87 


acid, the basis of which is oxygen. In proportion as the oxygen predominates, 
the leaves become red ; hence the beautiful tints of red and crimson taken by the 
same leaves in autumn. When the carbon disappears without the nitrogen, 
the leaves become yellow. It has been observed that the leaves of plants 
always turn yellow, red, crimson, or violet, and never blue, and this corresponds 
with the above theory, as the carbon, which is dark, is c.rried out of the leaves 
by the descending sap, and its place partially supplied withoxygen. . . . The 
Lime and other trees which abound in mucilage or gluten, further corroborate this 
theory in having their decaying leaves yellow. . . . The colouring matter 
is not in the sap, which is either colourless, or faintly tinged with yellow; thus, 
while the stem consists chiefly of cellular tissue, it remains as green as the 
leaves.” 


To the remark as to the Lime-tree, I may add that the Acer campestre 
(Common Maple) in almost every hedgerow, furnishes a parallel in the changes 
of its leaves, which are further remarkable for the ruddy tint which they assume 
in spring. 

The presence of iron, manganese, and other mineral substances, and the 
peculiar character of the soil, are also important elements in the produc- 
tion of colour. We have all seen, in the cultivation of garden flowers, the im- 
mense changes, not alone in colour, but in form and size, which are effected by 
the artificial alteration of the soil. 


The main cause of colour, however, must be admitted to be solar light. 
Plants found in mines generally differ from their congeners of the same species 
in the absence, total or comparative, of the colours which mark those grown in 
the sunlight. The recorded exceptions to this rule are not numerous, and seem to 
be confined to some of the lower classes of vegetable existence, viz., mosses and 
algee, with an occasional case of ferns. I do not remember reading any instance 
in which the plant belonged to the phanerogamous, or flowering division of the 
vegetable kingdom. 


The colours of young flowers change by fixed laws, just as we see the hues of 
fruits or seed vessels alter as they approach maturity. It has been found that 
these changes may be all classified thus :— 


1. Red changes into white, blue, or maroon. The Digitalis purpurea (Fox- 


glove) commences with white flowers, which become red, deepening into purple, 
and then fading into white again. Under some circumstances the Anagallis 


4 arvensis (Pimpernel) sends forth blue instead of scarlet flowers, but that is an 
_ accidental change rather than a progressive one. The hue usually alters as it 


fades to a maroon. The bud of the Myosotis palustris (Water Forget-me-not) 


_ which is tipped with reddish purple, becomes white, and then blue as it expands ; 


while the Convolvulus arvensis (Small Bind-weed) fades from flesh colour to 


_ white. 


2. Blue passes into white. In the Polemonium (Greek Valerian) blue and 
white flowers will be found side by side upon plants produced by the spread of 
_ the same mother stock; but the change appears to be one of seminal variety, 


88 


rather than of progressive change. The Aquilegia, Polygala vulgaris (Milk- 
wort) and Scabiosa arvensis (Scabious), which last I have found of all shades from 
pink ranging through blue to a blueish white, may be taken as illustrations of the 
remark made about the Polemonium. 


3. Yellow passes into white. This is the case with the Agrimonia Eupatoria 
(Agrimony), which fades from orange into a dingy white. The converse is the 
fact with the Primrose, which advances from a pale straw colour to an orange, 
and becomes brown as it fades. 


4. The change from white into purple is illustrated by the change of the 
snow-white blossoms of the Oxalis Acetosella (wood-sorrel), which become purple 
as they fade ; while the tips of the perianth of the Daisy sometimes become pink 
or purple as the flower opens. A parallel effect may be seen in the upper part of 
the bulb of the Turnip, which turns purple as the bulb increases in size. 


5, In rare cases, red gives way to golden yellow; the buds of the fitly 
named Hypericum pulchrum, when near opening. are tipped with crimson, but 
the flower becomes all golden when expanded. 


The distribution of colour is, beyond question, thermal, whether we consider 
its chronology or its geography. These two departments, indeed, fitly illustrate 
each other. As we advance towards the perpetual line of snow, we find the 
hues of vegetation fading into white, just as the Galanthus nivalis (Snow-drop) 
marks the snowy time of the year. There are some exceptions in each depart- 


ee 


ment—the ‘‘red snow,” a minute crimson lichen of arctic regions, and the purple 
blossoms of the Daphne Mezereon, in February to wit—but the rule nevertheless 
holds. In the same manner, the temperate zone with its wealth of flowers of all 
shades of white, blue, yellow, and pink, deepening into red, is paralleled by “ the 
flowery lap of May,” from which a dower of beauty, yet all of the more delicate 
hues, is poured over hill and dale. The deep reds and purples of summer are in 
likewise paralleled by the gorgeous hues of tropical vegetation. As the purples 
of the foxglove, the willow herb, and the vetch (Vicia Cracca) ; the crimson of the 
Lychnis, and the deep blue of the Hyacinthus nonscriptus (harebell) fade away 
from our hedges and hill-sides, the reign of yellow flowers succeeds. As the eye 
wanders from the orange of the tall Verbascum Thapsus and V. nigrum (mulleins) 
to the beautiful straw coloured spikes of the Linaria vulgaris (toad-flax) the golden 
star clusters of the Senecio Jacobcea (ragwort), and the broad flat flowers of the 
Inula Helenium (elecampane), while the delicate yellow tint of the hawkweeds 
leads the eye to the cheerful-looking Chamomile, with its fringe of white around 
a yellow centre, we feel that autumn in the hedgerows is in keeping with autumn 
in the fields; and that the lusty maturity of the year is golden in aspect as in 
produce. Most compound flowers now flourish, and all of them that are now in 
bloom are yellow; the connexion of that hue with flowers of the natural order 
Composite being not the least curious fact of the whole. Through the dreary 
months of winter, some of the hawkweeds are to be found, their lemon-hued 
flowers keeping us company until January brings us the bright yellow of the 
dandelion, and the duller tint of the groundsel, to help us on until the bright 
spring completes the circle with 
“The yellow cowslip, and the rathe primrose.” 


89 


The connexion of colour with temperature is naturally suggested by its dis- 
tribution. It appears to be established that the temperature of flowers rises in 
proportion to the ‘‘ warmth” as painters say, of the tone. On introducing the 
bulb of a thermometer, flowers of deep scarlet have been found to be two or three 
degrees above the temperature of the surrounding air, while blue and white 
flowers were as much below it. 


Tn conclusion I may add, that colours have an intimate connexion with the 
taste of plants, and therefore their fitness for the use of man. Linneus tells us 
that :— 


‘*Vellow generally indicates a bitter taste, as in gentian, aloe, celandine, 
turmeric, and other yellow flowers. Red indicates an acrid or sour taste.” 


The strawberry, however, might be named as an exception. Linneus pro- 
ceeded to instance :— 


‘*Cranberries, barberries, currants, raspberries, mulberries, cherries, the 
fruits of the rose, the sea buckthorn, and the service tree. Herbs which turn red 
towards the autumn have likewise a sour taste, as sorrel, wood-sorrel, and bloody 
dock. Green indicates a crude, alkaline taste, as in leaves and unripe fruits.” 


I may here remark that the delicious greengage and magnum bonum plums 
are certainly not liable to this depreciatory sentence. The great botanist goes on 
to say :— 


**A pale colour denotes an insipid taste, as in endive, asparagus, and lettuce. 
White promises a sweet luscious taste, as in white currants, plums, sweet 
apples, &c.” 


These fruits, however, seem to come rather under the description of ‘‘ hyaline,’ 
or water-coloured, than that of positive white. 


‘*Black,” he proceeds to say, ‘‘indicates a harsh, nauseous, disagreeable taste, 
as in the berries of deadly night-shade, myrtle-leaved sumach, herb Christopher, 
and others, many of which are pernicious and deadly in their effects.” 


To this last description, two of our most common wild fruits certainly do not 
answer, true as it generally is. The blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) and the bil- 
berry or whinberry (Vaccinium Myrtillus) are not only very wholesome, but their 
taste rather tends towards flatness and insipidity than towards harshness, while 
the fact that both fruits are universally favourites with children may be taken as 
a sufficient testimony that they are not ‘‘nauseous.” It is nevertheless true that 
many poisonous fruits are black, and that most black fruits are injurious to the 
human frame. 


The Chairman presented the thanks of the members to Mr. Edmunds for the 
very interesting paper which he had just read. (Applause). 


In the conversation which ensued, Mr. Lingen observed that Mr. Edmunds 
had struck upon quite fresh ground, and he(Mr. Lingen) had felt greatly interested 


90 


by the facts and arguments ofthe paper. The whole subject of the development 
of colour was a difficult one. There could be no doubt that it was greatly affected 
by light, but still there were so many facts which seemed to conflict with that 
view, that it was very difficult to say how far that explanation could be taken as a 
solution. Take, for instance, the case of a tulip. Under the microscope, the 
structure of the corolla was found to consist of a great number of cells, in the 
majority of which the matter contained is either white or hyaline, yet among them 
would be found a single cell of another colour, say red. The red cell would be 
wholly disconnected from any others of the same colour, yet it would produce a 
streak or a patch of colour. How it received that colour, and how it acted in the 
spread of it, were the great difficulties of the case. 


The Chairman observed that perhaps the difficulty might be explained by the 
laws of optics. A very minute alteration in the shape of the vessel might cause 
such a difference in its power of refraction, as to produce a different colour. 


Mr. Lingen rejoined that he had carefully examined the cells, but could not 
detect any difference in shape in the case where a different colour was visible. 
There could be no doubt, however, that the presence or absence of light greatly 
affected the colours both of animals and vegetables. The well-known cases of the 
carp caught in subterranean rivers were instances of this fact. 


Mr. Wheatley remarked, as an illustration of the influence of light on the 
colour of animals, that a fish that was caught under a bridge would be found to 
be of a different colour from what it would have been had it been caught in the 
open stream. 


Mr, Blakeley observed that a similar fact was noticed in reference to trout 
caught in a dark pool. When, for instance, a trout was caught in Hindwell pool, 
it was a dirty looking fish, disagreeable to an angler’s eye; but if the same fish 
were thrown into an open stream, where there is plenty of light, it speedily 
changes, until it becomes as beautiful in its hues as any other trout. 


Mr. Edmunds asked whether the fish would be equally healthy in the dark 
pool as in the river. 


Mr. Blakeley replied that the fish appeared to be healthy while in the pool, 
but its flesh would certainly not be so wholesome for food, and therefore the fish 
could not be so healthy in the dark pool as in the open river. 


Mr. Lingwood, reverting to the remark in the paper as to the influence of 
darkness in blanching plants, observed that it must be taken with some limita- 
tion, as he had often found white, or apparently blanched specimens, growing in 
light situations, side by side with darker specimens. 


Mr. Edmunds observed that doubtless facts which were quoted as illustra- 
tions of a theory, might often be explained away on more accurate observation ; 
but there were certainly many well-established instances of the etiolation of plants. 
He had felt much gratified by the discussion which had been produced, and 


91 


hoped that other members would institute observations upon the subject for the 
benefit of the Club and science generally. 


A proposition to admit ladies to one of the yearly Field Meetings of the Club 
was brought forward, but adjourned until the annual meeting. 


At 8 p.m. the Members accepted the hospitable invitation of Dr. Marshall 
to partake of tea with him at his house. Having spent a pleasant hour with that 
gentleman and his family, the party broke up about 9 o'clock. The Hereford 
members immediately departed homeward, and reached the City about 11 p.m. 


In the course of the day, the botanists of the party gathered many interesting 
plants, of which the following are the most uncommon :— 


IN NASH WOODS. 


Borago officinalis. 
Solidago Virga-aurea. 
Campanula Trachelium. 
Campanula patula. 
Tormentilla vulgaris. 
Jasione montana. 
Artemisia absinthium. 
Artemisia vulgaris. 
Vaccinium Myrtillus. 


AT STANNER ROCKS. 
Teesdalia nudicaulis. 
Lychnis Viscaria. 
Helianthemum vulgare. 
Veronica spicata. 
Erodium cicutarium, 
Ornithopus perpusillus. 
Sedum rupestre. 
Sedum Rhodiola. 
Thymus Acinos. 
Allium vineale. 
Scleranthus annuus. 
Scleranthus perenne. 
Trifolium arvense. 
Trifolium medium. 
Trifolium striatum. 
Geranium sanguineum. 
Geranium columbinum. 


IN THE RIPPLE GORGE, ABOVE KINGTON 


Epilobium angustifolium. 


92 


CAoolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


EXHIBITION OF WILD FLOWERS, PRIZES. 


SEPTEMBER 6TH, 1853, 


At the Horticultural Exhibition held 6th September, 1853, the collection of 
wild flowers was the most attractive part of the Exhibition. The Prizes (gold 
pencil cases given by the Members of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club) were 
well contested. The first prize collection contained the surprising number of 740 
plants, all collected within the past seven months of this year, bore the motto, 
“Solus non Solitarius.” 


It was sent in by A. T. Wilmot, Esq., Surgeon, Ross. Although it contained 
some plants which might perhaps be more strictly classed as cottage-garden 
rather than wild flowers, yet the collection was remarkable for the botanical skill 
and judgment displayed in the choice and arrangement of the specimens, while 
the nomenclature was almost invariably correct. 


The second prize was obtained by Mr. E. Davies, of this City, for a collec- 
tion of not less than 532 plants. The pressing and arrangement of these plants 
were remarkable for neatness, and the nomenclature was very careful and correct. 
Both collections reflected very high credit upon the exhibitors. 


Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


ANNUAL MEETING, TUESDAY, JANUARY 24TH, 1854. 


The Annual Meeting was held on Tuesday, 24th January, at the house of the 
Hon. Secretary, J. A. F. Suter, Bye Street, in this city. The chair was occupied 
by the Rev. T. T. Lewis, Rector of Bridstow, president for the preceding year, 1853; 
and there were present the Rev. J. F. Crouch, Rev. J. H. Barker, Mr. Lee Warner, 
jun., Dr. Bull, Dr. Rowan, Mr. Cam, Mr. Flavell Edmunds, Mr. Blashill, jun., Mr. 
Ballard, Mr. A. Thompson, Mr. Otte, and the Hon. Secretary. Mr. Hewett Wheatley, 
of this city, and Mr. E. H. Griffiths, of the Weir, were unanimously elected 
members. One candidate was nominated to be balloted for at the next meeting. 


The president delivered an exceedingly interesting report of the Geological 
proceedings of the Club, at the various field meetings during the past year, in 
which he alluded in very feeling terms to the heavy loss which the club had sus- 
tained in the death, first of its founder and first Secretary (the late Mr. M. 12 
Scobie), and then of the late Mr. Hugh Strickland, one of its most distinguished 
honorary members. At the conclusion of the address, which was applauded, 
Dr. Bull moved, and Mr. Suter seconded, the thanks of the meeting to the President 
for his able and instructive address, with a request that he would allow it to be 
printed as the commencement of a record of the Club’s Transactions. The motion 
was carried unanimously, and the President kindly acceded to the request. 


After some conversation, it was resolved that prizes for the best collection 
of dried specimens of the plants of Herefordshire be given this year, as in 1853, 
but that they may be given from the funds of the Club, and not merely as last 
year under its patronage, and that the districts immediately around Hereford 
and Ross be excluded from the competition. The prizes will thus be offered for 
Herbaria, comprising only plants from the remainder of the county, beyond a 
circuit of eight miles around this city and Ross respectively. Dr. Bull observed 
that on consultation with Mr. Purchas, to whom the duty of drawing a conplete 
list of Herefordshire plants was entrusted at the Eastnor meeting, they found 
that the number of specimens sent in, during the past year, was so great as to 
approach within some 30 or 40 of all that could possibly be found in the two dis- 
tricts of Hereford and Ross; and they were anxious to see the other districts 
of the county equally well examined. He was happy to say that Mr. Purchas was 
making great progress with the complete list of Herefordshire plants upon which 
he was engaged. The members present then proceeded with the election of officers 
for the ensuing year. 


The Hon. Secretary proposed, and the Rev. J. H. Barker seconded, that the 
Rev. W. S. Symonds, Rector of Pendock, to whose great attainments as a Geo- 
logist reference was made, be appointed President for the ensuing year. The 


94 


motion was carried amid much applause, the ex-President expressing the great 
gratification which he felt at yielding up the chair to a gentleman so able to render 
valuable service to the Club, and so zealous in pursuit of science. 


The Rev. J. F. Crouch then proposed, and Dr. Bull seconded, a vote of thanks 
to the Rev. T. T. Lewis for his very efficient services as President during the past 
year, and for his great kindness in imparting valuable information to the members 
at the field meetings. The vote was carried by acclamation, and was suitably 
acknowledged. Thanks were also voted to the Hon. Secretary, who was re- 
elected. 


The Secretary subsequently read a statement of the income and expenditure 
of the Club, from which it appeared that there are 37 members, and there is a 
balance in hand of £15. 


The subject of the admission of ladies to one of the field meetings annually 
was brought forward by the Secretary, but it was thought advisable to defer it 
for future consideration. 


The three field meetings for the year were fixed to be held:—the first at the 
Speech-house in Dean Forest, the joint meeting of the Woolhope, Malvern, 
and Cotteswold Clubs, the day for which is to be fixed by the three Presidents ; 
the second at Monmouth Cap, on Tuesday the 18th of July; and the third at 
Woolhope, on the 22nd of September. The meeting then terminated. 


ADDRESS. 
By THE Rev. Tuos. T. Lewis, M.A. PRESIDENT. 


GENTLEMEN, . 


On quitting the office of President of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club, 
to which your kindness elected me last year, it devolves upon me, in conformity 
with your rules, to submit to you a brief sketch of the year’s proceedings. 


On entering this task the thoughts of all present will be at once directed to 
the painful events by which a wise providence within a few months deprived us 
of the society of two of our most active and valuable members,—the one regarded 
by us as the founder of our little club, and the other as a very distinguished member 
of it,—under circumstances awfully sudden, and too distressing and well known 
to you for me to dwell upon. Suffice it to say, that we are daily and hourly sensible 
of the loss we have sustained in their removal, but console ourselves in the re- 
trospect, that they were not more respected by all who had the pleasure of their 
acquaintance and friendship, than distinguished for their abilities and intellectual 
attainments, their high moral integrity, and the zeal with which they devoted 
themselves to the promotion of science, and its application to the improvement 
cf the condition of their fellow-creatures. Such ornaments of society ought not 
to pass away from this transitory scene as mere ordinary mortals. Among the 
friends of Mr. Scobie a desire was at once expressed to secure, if possible, a memorial 


95 


of his personal appearance; and this has happily been affected by Mr. Butler, 
with a fidelity which is highly satisfactory to his nearest and dearest friends and 
connexions ; and I have much pleasure in hearing that a mould of the bust is or 
will be prepared, which will enable such of his friends as are desirous to possess 


a copy. 


With the members of the Cotteswold and Malvern Clubs, whose districts have 
been illustrated by the botanical and geological researches of Mr. Hugh Strickland, 
and where he had long been known and valued, a subscription originated to place 
a window to his memory in his parish church of Deerhurst. I heartily call your 
attention to this laudable design, and shall be happy to communicate to Mr. 
Symonds—whose absence on this occasion I much regret—any contributions from 
our members towards this object. 


I now pass to the business of our present meeting, so far as your retiring 
President is concerned. 


The financial statement I will but briefly refer to. A laxity in the payment of 
the yearly subscriptions has already commenced, to which it is proper your attention 
should be at once called, with the view of preventing its recurrence. Little or 
no expense, beyond that of printing the yearly statement, has been incurred, so 
that no inconvenience has yet arisen; all that need be said, therefore, is, that it 
is suggested that in future a statement of the year’s receipts and expenditure be 
printed with the annual papers, and to request members to bear in mind that 
their subscriptions are due at the commencement of each year. 


Though the last year has been productive of but few papers by our members, 
I may venture to say, the object for which the Club was formed, namely, the 
practical study of the Natural History of Herefordshire, has been strictly kept 


“in view. 


Four papers have been brought before our meetings :— 


1. Anelaborate paper, by Mr. Hewett Wheatley, on the Fishes of the Here- 
fordshire Waters, from the perusal of which no one at all acquainted with the 
subject can arise, without feeling convinced of the superior scientific attainments 
and practical knowledge of its author on a very curious and interesting enquiry. 


2. Wewere favoured by Mr. Symonds with a notice of lias and oolite fossils, 
found in the gravel near Cradley (west of the Malvern Hills) and his speculations 
on these facts; which, trifling as they may appear, are of great importance ; 
affording real data in the discussion of questions, now of increasing interest, on 
the distribution of land and water, in times comparatively recent in the physical 
history of the earth.* 


*In the discussion which arose on this paper, I stated that many years ago a Gryphza 
incurva, very little worn, was brought to me by a person who assured me he had taken it from 
the gravel at Aymestry (perhaps 400 feet above the level of the sea), and that I had another 
specimen, much worn, which was taken from the gravel of the Wye. in the Oak Meadow, opposite 
to Ross. I quite believe these specimens were found in the localities above stated, and am con- 
firmed in this opinion bya statement made by Mr. Lingwood at our last meeting that he had 
found the Gryphza in the gravel near Much Dewchurch,.— Aug., 1854. 


96 


3. A more enlarged list of birds of Herefordshire than any yet published, 
was afforded by Mr. Lingwood, which we may hope ere long to have recorded in 
our pages; and 


4.—An ingenious paper by Mr. Flavell Edmunds, on the distribution and 
causes of Colour in Plants, which has already been placed within the reach of the 
general reader. 


Considerable progress has been made by our botanical members towards 
completing the Flora of Herefordshire. The approximate number of species is re- 
garded by them a little short of 800. Of these, 723 flowering plants and ferns 
have been met with in our excursions, exclusive of such as have been regarded 
as doubtful, or escapes from cultivation, which have also with their habitats been 

‘ carefully noted and excluded from the lists. The old catalogues of Duncomb and 
others (Agricultural Survey of Herefordshire) give the names of some plants 
which have not been met with; some of these may yet be discovered, whilst 
others, it may fairly be presumed, from the known distribution of British plants, 
will be looked for in vain within our area. We record with pleasure that several 
of the rarer species have been brought to light by the Herbarium Prizes offered 
by the Club, at the Hereford Floral Meetings of the past year, which, under certain 
conditions, we propose continuing the ensuing year. 


In the formation of a Flora, it is not a mere catalogue of plants which the club 
has in view, but their distribution, as affected by soil, moisture, temperature, 
aspect and elevation above the sea; a design in which we have, I believe, the 
co-operation of the Cotteswold and Malvern Clubs, for their respective districts. 


With this subject that of Meteorology is intimately connected. It is well 
known that considerable attention has been given to the ranges of the barometer 
and thermometer for many years, by many persons, in different parts of Here- 
fordshire. The late Mr. Prendergrass’ observations extended over a continuous 
period exceeding 30 years. Unfortunately his instruments were, as those of many 
others of the time, imperfect, and his observations not up to the requirements of 
modern science. Within the last few years very considerable improvements have 
been made in meteorological instruments, and methods of observation and correc- 
tion much improved and facilitated. Under the direction of the Meteorological 
Society of London uniform and contemporary observations are being organized 
in very distant parts of the world. In this then, the very infancy of the subject, 
it has been proposed to our Club to purchase a set of improved instruments, 
which, if resolved on, Mr. Wheatley has kindly engaged to take charge of ; and 
from his habits of accurate research, we may confidently look forward to a most 
faithful, interesting, and useful record of his observations.* 


* A Barometer by Barrow.—Wet and dry bulb Thermometers,—maximum and minimum 
Thermometers,— Day and night Thermometers for solar and terrestrial radiation ; rain gauge and 
wind gauge by Negretti and Zambra, Hatton Garden, London, compared with the standard 
instruments by James Glaisher, Esq., F.R.S., Secretary to the Meteorological Soaiety, have been 
obtained and placed in the care of Hewett Wheatley, Esq., of Eign House. His observations 
are now forwarded monthly to Mr. Glaisher. The first three months are recorded, as on next 
page, in the Meteorological Tables, published in the Registrar-General’s Report, for the quarter 
ending 30th June, 1855. 


97 


The excursions of the year have been very fairly attended, and been pro- 
ductive of much social pleasure and improvement to those who had the privilege 
of taking part in them. Eastnor, Leintwardine and Kington were selected, as 
affording points of great interest in their respective neighbourhoods, which have 
been visited by several distinguished naturalists, who, since the year 1831, have 
contributed so much to the illustration of the natural history of our district, and 
given it an importance, not merely local, but cosmical. 


The Eastnor meeting afforded us the gratification of the first joint meeting 
with the members of the Cotteswold and Malvern Clubs, and together with the 
enjoyment of the most exquisite scenery, upon a most charming day, the oppor- 
tunity of associating and forming friendships with many already engaged in the 
same exhilarating and ennobling pursuit—the promotion of science and truth. 
You will, with peculiar and melancholy pleasure, recollect, that on that occasion, 
you had the high privilege, under the direction of our lamented friend Mr. Strickland, 
to examine the structure of the south-western portion of the Malvern Hills and 
Eastnor Park, and were deeply interested and instructed by the lecture with which 
he then favoured us ; in which he communicated those views of the changes of 
surface, which modern science all but demonstrates must have taken place, since 
the deposition of the sedimentary strata which flank that range on the western 
side ; announcements which must have been regarded not less astounding than 
novel, especially by those amongst us, whose minds had not been pre-engaged 
by objects of geological research, and disciplined and inured by the spirit of 
inductive philosophy. The centre of the Malvern chain was described as igneous ; 
the successive sedimentary deposits, commencing with the equivalents of the 
lower Silurian rocks of Sir Roderick Murchison, and continued to the Old Red 
Sandstone, were enumerated. The effects of upheaval and denudation on the harder 
and softer strata, producing the domes, ridges and valleys which make up the 
more remarkable features of the nearer landscape from Malvern to Ledbury, 
Woolhope, Cradley and Abberley pointed out ; the conditions assigned, under 
which the sedimentary rocks, in many places mineralogically unaltered, were 
deposited, upon beds of igneous matter already cooled down, in the bottom and 
along the shore of an ancient sea,—their elevated, inclined, and in some, not 
unfrequent cases, overturned position, in which they now remain, attributed 
a eR ea a i a eh cre cll 


Name of Station ae a Eign 
Height of cistern of the Barometer above the level of ‘the SQa). a. = 250 ft. 
Mean pressure of dry air reduced to the level of the sea ove ++» 29°689 in. 
Mean temperature of the air aa oe ae 49°4 
Highest reading of the Thermometer sae ae - eas 85°6 
Lowest reading of the Thermometer aa =e pie 21°5 
Mean daily range of temperature Sa ‘ 22°6 
Mean monthly range of temperature Petit = aes ne 537 
Range of temperature in the quarter hee aa sae 64°1 
Mean temperature of evaporation, o oa ae ose 47°0 
Mean temperatnre of the Dew point BF 255 a pa 44°1 
Mean estimated strength of the  winel nae ae nas na O'1L 
General direction of the wind . +2 me =: «. N.W. & N.E. 
Mean amount of cloud af aa Kae 6°5 
Number of days on which rain fell aa He a a 37 
Amount collected one ath ae 5 Gan 
Mean weight of vapour in a cubic foot of air ite sea OETSs 
Mean additional weight sured to saturate a cubic foot of air.. «=. 0°6 gis. 
Mean degree of humidity = 83 
Mean whole amount of water in a vertical column of atmosphere oe ose. 


Mean weight of a cubic foot of air ane Sic oF «530 gs. 


98 


to ebullition and efforts to rise of rocks in a state of fusion far below, and which 
found a vent here and there along the range and amid strata of more recent origin 
many miles distant. These changes were attributed to forces, producing not 
merely the upheaval of the range itself, but also the great fault which has been 
satisfactorily traced from the British to the Irish Channel, elevating the greater 
part of Wales from the level of cotemporary strata, which lie underneath the New 
Red Sandstone on the Worcestershire side of the Malvern Hills, and other for- 
mations more recent still, of the eastern parts of England. 


We are not to imagine that no changes of surface have taken place since this 
great catastrophe; the uplifted and denuded strata of Herefordshire and South 
Wales afford ample evidence of the extent of denudation, and data to reason out 
their restoration, which gives as a result mountains of Old Red Sandstone now 
washed away, in comparison with which the greatest height of any portion of 
the existing deposit in South Wales is a mere fraction. This upward movement 
and denudation were inferred to have taken place, for reasons assigned, just before 
the period of the deposit which covered up the coal fields. It is quite foreign to 
my purpose, on this occasion, to go further into the evidence of this vast and 
interesting question, but I will confidently say, it is not built upon a mere idle 
fancy, but the result of an accurate investigation of facts, now recorded and reasoned 
out, with great patience of research. They who are anxious to follow up the train 
of thought springing up now perhaps for the first time in their minds, will find 
ample materials already prepared, the true value of which may be verified by a 
very few days’ field work, in the paper of Mr. Horner, in the first volume of the 
Geological Transactions of London, 1811; Sir Roderick Murchison’s Silurian 
System, 1838; Sir Henry de la Beche’s paper on the formation of the rocks of 
South Wales and south-western England ; Mr. Ramsay’s paper on the denudation 
of South Wales, and the adjacent counties of England; and Professor Phillips’s 
elaborate paper on the Malvern Hills: all to be found in the Memorials of the 
Geological Survey of Great Britain, vol. 1, 1846, vol. 2, 1848; and a paper by 
the lamented Hugh E. Strickland, on the elevatory forces which raised the 
Malvern Hills, in the Philosophical Magazine for November, 1851. I will only 
add, that, looking to the existing evidences of adequate forces, it may be fairly 
conjectured that the outburst of basalt which forms the top of the Clee Hills, 
in Shropshire, between 20 and 30 miles distant (20° N. of W.), and which there 
has not merely dislocated the coal field, and the elevated portions of it, 200 or 300 
feet above the level of the top of the Malvern Hills, to a higher position than that 
of any other coal field in Britain (?), carrying up the three lower seams of coal in 
one place many yards above the corresponding strata on each side of the fault 
(the upper seam being now wanted), and overflowing them like the top of a huge 
mushroom, was obviously due to that period, and might not improbably have 
been connected with the convulsive throes to which the elevation of the Malvern 
Hills, and the continuation of the range to Abberley, and of the Old Red Sandstone 
of Herefordshire may be attributed. 


Before passing to the Leintwardine meeting, with a view of giving the matter 
a little more continuity, I will recall your thoughts to the last meeting of 1852, 


99 


which took place at Mortimer’s Cross, of which, in the absence of the President, 
I had the honour to have the direction. The object of it was to familiarize the 
eye with the best types of the Upper Ludlow formation, which, rising from below 
the Old Red Sandstone of Herefordshire, forms the top of the Silurian system. 
Commencing our walk at the North-field quarry, in the parish of Shobdon (the 
equivalent of the Downton Castle building stone), we visited several sections and 
quarries along the slopes towards Croft Castle, observing the junction of the yellow 
sandstone beds, with the Old Red Sandstone near Lucton, and following down 
the strata to the limestone in Croft Castle demesne valley (the equivalent of the 
Aymestry and Sedgley limestone, separating the upper from the lower Ludlow 
rocks), which we examined on each side of the valley, and again at the Whiteway 
Head (on the prolongation of the escarpment from Aymestry and Croft Ambrey), 
where the strata are highly inclined, and the structure well exhibited. (See the 
beautiful wood-cut page 243 of the Silurian System). Occasion was taken to 
explain the meaning of the strike or direction, and the dip of rocks; the use and 
measure of the same ; anti-clinal and syn-clinal lines of action: the formation 
of domes, basins, valleys of elevation, and denudation ; the actual thickness of 
strata, in relation both to the horizontal and vertical lines drawn through them ;* 
deceptive appearances of frequent occurrence pointed out, arising from faults, 
repeated strata, and strata rolled over. Remarks were made on the sedimentary 
and mineral structure of rocks, the creation of organic beings, their duration and 
extinction, and the importance of their imbedded remains in the identification of 
contemporary deposits. Several of the most remarkable fossils were collected. 
I need not trouble you with their well-known names. It is an advantage of our 
field days, that they must send us to our books; whereas, owing to the vis 
inerti@é of our nature, the persual of the very best books on the subject will not 
necessarily send us into the field: for this reason, most strictly one of bodily 
and mental enjoyment, such clubs as ours are worthy of all encouragement. Our 
walk was continued over Croft Ambrey and along the escarpment of Yatton Hill, 
which affords most extensive and instructive views of the Old Red Sandstone 
and Silurian districts, from the Cambrian ranges of North Wales, beyond the 

Corndon and Stiper Stones to the basaltic top of the Clee Hills, Abberley, The 
Lickey, Malvern, Woolhope, May Hill, The Cotteswold, Forest of Dean, and South 
Wales. A grand physical feature, hereafter alluded to, the repetition of the upper 
Silurian rocks, exterior of the south side of the Wigmore valley of elevation, in 
a great bow, commencing near Aymestry, and extending to the Ambrey and the 
Palmer’s Cairn, in the parish of Orleton, was pointed out. In our descent 
to Aymestry we took the path of an old road, up which I had the honour 
of conducting Mr. Murchison (now Sir Roderick), in his first visit to 
Herefordshire, July, 1831, presenting in itself a continuous section from 
the Lower Ludlow rock to the Old Red Sandstone. I had at this time very fairly 
developed the structure of the surrounding country. My own researches in this 
district commenced with my residence, at Aymestry, in 1827: but I was working 


* The thickness of any stratum in relation to a horizontal line drawn through it, is—that line 
multiplied by the natural sine of the angle of inclination of stratum; and in reference to a 
vertical line, is~-the vertical line multiplied by the natural co-sine of the same angle of inclina- 
tion, 


100 


in the dark, and it was in that walk, which I continue to regard as one of the most 
interesting events of my life, there dawned upon me the vision of the deep interest 
of the then comparatively unknown country, in which it was my good fortune 
and happiness to be dwelling, and to the true development of which I had, unknow- 
ingly, discovered the key, and made some progress. With what zeal, industry, 
ability and success Sir Roderick Murchison has followed up these beginnings, 
and prosecuted the identification of these rocks, through our own and the adjoining 
counties, and the greater part of the North of Europe, into Asiatic Russia, is 
shown by his great works on the Silurian System (1838), and the Geology of Russia 
and the Ural Mountains (1845), and the various scientific journals of the time ; 
and how far it has been verified by the researches of others, more especially by 
the United States’ naturalists, will be seen in their own reports, and Sir Charles 
Lyell’s interesting volumes on his two visits to that country. We shall have a 
condensed view of the known distribution of these rocks over the Globe, by Sir 
Roderick Murchison, in his new work “‘ Siluria,’”’ now announced.* The history 
of the Silurian system must be sought in the proceedings of the Geological Society 
of London, the anniversary speeches of its Presidents, and in an article by Dr. 
Fitton, in the Edinburgh Review, April, 1841. 


The Leintwardine meeting afforded us an excellent opportunity in the section 
along the new road to Ludlow, for examining the lower Ludlow rocks, between 
the Aymestry and Wenlock (= Sedgley and Dudley) limestones; and passing 
through the Aymestry limestone, we came upon the upper Ludlow rocks, 
which we found again succeeded by the Aymestry limestone at Downton, 
and on both sides of the river Teme, near the Bow Bridge. Continu- 
ing thence along the Downton Castle walks, in the gorge of the river, 
through the upper Ludlow rocks, we arrived at their junction with the 
yellow micaceous sandstone (known as Downton Castle building stone), near the 
Castle bridge; noticing here the hitherto discovered northern limit of the 
Silurian fish-bed, the exact position of which was pointed out, and fragments of 
it collected. Our section proceeding now in a descending order, again we passed 
the upper limestone on the ridge of the Ludlow promontory, here forming the 
northern side of the Wigmore valley of elevation, over the obscured escarpment 
to the thinned-out strata of the Wenlock (= Dudley and Ledbury) limestone, 
to the productive organic shales (known as Wenlock Shales) at Burrington. The 


* Published May, 1854, of which a new edition is now preparing. The reader will do wellto 
consult the reviews of this work, in the Worth British Review and Quarterly Review, October, 
1854. 

+ My friend, the late Dr. Thomas Lloyd, of Ludlow, in 1832 first noticed the existence of 
fossils in the Old Red Sandstone of Herefordshire about the Wyld, near Leominster, and soon 
afterwards near Downton Hall and other places in the neighbourhood of Ludlow. Onchus 
Murchisoni was discovered by myself in the mudstones of the upper Ludlow, near Batchcott, 
1833, and Pterygotus problematicus in the exact equivalent, near Croft Castle, in 1835. The 
Ludlow bone bed was laid open 1834, by workmen engaged in a quarry—now filled up—on the 
site of the house at the entrance to Ludford churchyard from the bridge. Its positiou is near 
the bottom of the yellow sandstone, known as Downton Castle building stone ; a repetition of 
the bed, vertically separated several feet, was observed by the late Messrs. Scobie and Strickland, 
at Hagley. Small spines had been previously noticed in corresponding beds at the Tin Mill 
Coppice. near Bringewood. ‘Traces of the fish bed have now been satisfactorily observed near 
Kington, Lucton, Richard's Castle, Ludford, Downton Castle Bridge, round the Ludlow pro- 
montory ; at Hagley and Gamage Ford, round Woolhope; and at Longhope, Blaisdon Edge 
cutting and Flaxley, in the prolongation of the upheaval towards the Severn, I have foun Z- 
ments of it in the gravel between Leintwardine and Clungunford. 


101 
valley of Wigmore, though not so regular and perfect as that of Woolhope now 
so well known, deserves a more extensive examination than we were enabled 
to give it. Its physical features are very striking. The escarpment and slopes 
from the fault at the Bow bridge over the Teme, along Bringewood Chase to 
Mary Knoll, Whitcliffe and Ludlow; thence by Ludford to Richard’s Castle, 
the High Vinnals and Gatley, and the exterior diverging escarpment from Orleton 
Common to Croft Ambrey and Aymestry, with the numerous transverse valleys 
by which they are cut into and through, especially Mary Knoll Dingle, the Hay 
Park, Croft Castle Dingle and Aymestry Valley, afford most instructive sections, 
in many places abounding with fossils. The broken-up strata of the lower escarp- 
ment, forming the picturesque knolls from Aston Common to Elton and Leinthall 
Starkes, cannot fail to attract attention; whilst the road from the finger-post 
at Elton to Richards’ Castle and Orleton presents excellent sections of the 
Wenlock Shales and limestone, the lower Ludlow beds, Aymestry limestone, and 
upper Ludlow with the Downton beds—in fact, the greater part of the upper 
Silurian—into the Old Red Sandstone. The valley of Wigmore abounds with the 
detritus of the surrounding rocks, which was also found swept out over portions 
of the Old Red Sandstone between Ludlow and Leominster. The absence of gravel 
within the valley of Woolhope has been remarked by Sir Roderick Murchison. 


These visits having thus made us acquainted with good types of the upper 
Silurian beds in regular succession, in their most classical localities, the Kington 
meeting was designed, for the examination of the Nash-scar limestone, near Pres- 
teign, and the igneous outburst of Radnor and Stanner. The position of the 
Nash-scar limestone, originally regarded by Sir Roderick Murchison as the 
equivalent to Wenlock (= Dudley and Ledbury) limestone, has given rise to some 
controversy. Professor Sedgwick, in his first visit to the district, suggested that 
it was of an earlier date, the equivalent of the lower band, appearing in the centre 
of the Woolhope valley, and which Sir Roderick had classed as Caradoc or lower 
Silurian. The Geological Staff of the Ordnance Survey adopted the Professor’s 
views. The question has been carefully investigated by J. E. Davis, Esq., of the 
Middle Temple, our honorary associate, and happily on this occasion we had the 
benefit of his presence, and under his direction examined the most interesting 
points of the district. A paper on the age and position of this limestone was read 
by him before the Geological Society of London, in May, 1850, which will 
be found in their journal of Nov. of that year, in which the question, confessedly 
one of difficulty, is very ably discussed. Since the question was mooted, more 
extended observations have removed the Woolhope limestone from the Caradoc 
into the Wenlock series; so that the question is now, to which of these bands 
—viz., the upper or lower Wenlock limestones—is the Nash-scar limestone to be 
teferred. The evidence collected by Mr. Davis, more especially, of the organic 
remains (for mineral structure quite fails in this case), inclines me to the position 
originally assigned to it, by Sir Roderick. The Nash-scar affords a fine example 
of metamorphic or altered limestone, occasioned by contact with igneous matter, 
injected against or between the strata, maintaining a high temperature, under 
great pressure, for a considerable time, producing a complete change of mineral 
structure, destructive of stratification, and in some parts of almost all traces of 


102 


organic remains. The actual junction of these rocks is not here seen, but the 
examination of similar phenomena at Radnor, where the igneous rock and limestone 
are actually fused together, and where traces of organisms are found within a few 
inches of the junction, leaves no doubt that the causes of these changes are correctly 
assigned. A considerable thickness of Caradoc sandstone and conglomerate, 
undistinguishable from the Malvern conglomerate in its mineral and organic 
structure, is observed at Corton, and in Cam Wood, here highly charged with 
characteristic fossils of the upper portion of the lower Silurian rocks, and affording 
evidence of the very slow nature of the deposit itself, in the repetition of fine strata, 
distinctly marked by regular lines of small well-rounded quartz pebbles, with 
organics, evidencing the recurrence of floods and flushes at short and unequal 
intervals. 


From the summit of Nash Hill or Cam Wood a view was obtained north- 
ward to the small outliers of Old Red Sandstone, showing the former continuity 
of that formation, over the older rocks of Siluria, traces of which are found many 
miles to the north in Shropshire. 


With this imperfect sketch, our notice of the last year’s excursions must ter- 
minate. Radnor and Stanner and the immediate neighbourhood of Kington 
demand an early visit. We do not appeal to these notices of our excursions as 
having contributed any considerable advance in science, but more modestly, as 
evidence of the industry with which some of our members at least are actuated, 
and of the utility of such associations as our little club, in opening and rendering 
popular such researches ; and we are confident that we shall not be unsuccessfully 
or uselessly employed, ifin the progress of future years we follow up our enquiries 
with a little increasing interest and perseverance. 


The strata of Herefordshire are now, as regards position, very well known. 
There is no longer a doubt that the Old Red Sandstone, which forms so great 
a part of its area, dipping in the south under the coal formation of the Forest of 
Dean, is of enormous thickness, and rests upon the deposits called Silurian, which 
are brought up from below in the country extending from the left bank of the 
Severn, near the Wrekin, to Ludlow ;_ thence by Richard’s Castle, Croft, Shobdon, 
Kington, along the north-western parts of Herefordshire, to Hay, and so on to 
the sea coast of Pembrokeshire, supporting the great coal field of South Wales, 
and reposing themselves on the Cambrian or older rocks of that country ; again, 
along the eastern border from Abberley to Malvern, and are thrust through it 
at Tinker’s Hill and Cainham Camp, near Ludlow; at Shucknell and Hagley, 
near Lugwardine ; more remarkably round Woolhope, and further south, at May 
Hill; and again, on the left bank of the Severn at Tortworth, in Gloucestershire. 
The Gloucester and Hereford Railway exhibits a solitary section of these Silurian 
beds, contracted intoa few yards at Blaisdon edge, but skirts within a mile the Wool- 
hope upheaval, which forms the beautiful landscape on the left bank of the river 
Wye, seen from the line near Holme Lacy ; and the Hereford and Shrewsbury Rail- 
way,cut through the Old Red Sandstone, all but touches the Silurian outlier of 
Tinker’s Hill, between Woofferton and Ludlow, and just exposesa junction of those 
rocks at the entrance of the tunnel at the latter place. The intermediate line, from 


103 


Blaisdon to Ludlow, a distance of between 40 and 50 miles, is altogether through 
the Old Red Sandstone, exposing good section of strata, with every degree of 
inclination, and considerable beds of detritus, It is difficult to ascertain or even 
approximate to the thickness of strata comprised in such an area ; this must be 
sought for in the escarpments and ridges of the Black Mountain, and the river 
channels of South Wales, where a good succession is observed, and which, when 
fairly invoked, give an estimate of at least 10,000 feet. The strata in Hereford- 
shire are pierced by a single trap dyke at Bartestree, near the Hagley dome, full 
particulars of which will be found in the Silurian System, as well as of a similar 
dyke at Brock Hill, on the left bank of river Teme, near Shelsly Beauchamp, on 
the borders of Worcestshire. Let me add, that the name “ Silurian ” was happily 
selected by Sir Roderick Murchison to include the strata immediately below the 
Old Red, prevailing over the territory occupied by the ancient Silures and their 
neighbours, and superimposed on the Cambrian or older rocks of North Wales ; 
and the names of Ludlow, Wenlock, Caradoc, and Llandeilo direct the enquirer 
to those districts where he may find the strata instructively exhibited in a true 
descending order. Carefully as these strata have been examined, there is still 
detail to be made out, and abundant pleasure to be derived from their identifi- 
cation. The zealous explorer need not fear but that he will be rewarded with 
discoveries. The Hagley dome, repléte with interest, brought to light by the 
late Mr. Scobie, had escaped for 20 years all other explorers, including the staff 
of the Ordnance Survey, who had bestowed with excellent results so much time 
and strength on the examination of the immediate district round Woolhope. 
I cannot forbear the remark, that the names of those friends, whose premature 
departure we have so much reason to deplore, are associated in the record of this 
discovery.* 


Few organics have yet been collected from the Old Red Sandstone of Hereford- 
shire, in comparison with what have been found in Scotland and elsewhere. I 
have not heard that the railway cuttings have produced a single specimen ;_ but 
there are many localities where they have been found, and which have hitherto 
been scarcely examined. The detritus and gravel, of daily increasing interest, 
will be found a rich and productive field. The nature and distribution of soils 
and vegetables naturally invite our examination, and we trust will be followed 
up by some of our members who have already, in the previous year, shown 
themselves not unequal to the task, and who will thereby be enabled to vindicate 
the study of natural history, to the “cui bono” enquirer. There is, however, a 
higher view, which we must not lose sight of. Endowed with reason, man is called 
on all sides to the contemplation of God’s works, and, enlightened by God’s grace, 
to the study of His word. In one he sees the manifestation of Almighty power 
and wisdom; and in the other of Divine love and mercy to mankind. In the 
words of Professor Sedgwick, to whom I have been privileged to listen as a master, 
in his delightful book on the Studies of the University of Cambridge :—“ The 
studies of mankind have sometimes been divided into natural, moral, and religious. 


* See a paper on the protruded mass of the upper Ludlow rocks at Hagley Park. Hereford- 
shire, by Hugh E. Strickland, Esq., F.R.S., &c., in the Quarterly Journal of the Geological 
Society of London, November, 1852. 


104 


Each branch requires its appropriate training, and yields its own peculiar fruit. 
A study of the natural world teaches not the truth to revealed religion ; nor do 
the truths of religion inform us of the inductions of physical science. Hence it 
is that men whose studies are confined to one branch of knowledge, often learn 
to overrate themselves, and so become narrow-minded. Bigotry is a besetting 
sin of our nature. Too often it has been the attendant of religious zeal, but it 
is most bitter and unsparing when found with the irreligious. A philosopher, 
understanding not one atom of their spirit, will sometimes scoff at the labours 
of religious men ; and one who calls himself religious will, perhaps, turn a harsh 
judgment, and thank God that he is not as the philosopher, forgetting all the 
while that man can ascend to no knowledge, except by faculties given to him by 
his Creator’s hand; and that all natural knowledge is but a reflection of the will 
ofGod. In harsh judgments, such as these, there is not only much folly, but much 
sin. True wisdom consists in seeing how all the faculties of the mind and all 
parts of knowledge bear upon each other, so as to work together to a common 
end, ministering at once to the happiness of man, and his Maker’s glory.” 


Gentlemen,—I return you my most sincere thanks for the honor conferred 
upon me, in selecting me as President for the second year of your existence, and 
for the courtesy you have shown me during the period of my office ; and with 
pleasure I resign it to Mr. Symonds, whose ability and zeal for the promotion 
of natural science are well known to you all; assured that you could not have 
made choice of anyone who will carry out the objects of our club with more 
advantage than he who so readily co-operated in its formation, and has been so 
successful in his attempt to establish a sister club at Malvern. 


Bridstow Vicarage, 
3oth Nov., 1855. 


105 


Woolhope Naturalisis Field Club. 


Jotnt Meetinc, Wootnorr, MALverN, AND CoTTEswoLp CLuss, TUESDAY, 
JUNE 13TH, 1854. 


SPEECH HOUSE, FOREST OF DEAN. 


The second joint meeting of the Woolhope, Malvern, and Cotteswold Natural- 
ists’ Field Clubs, fixed in pursuance of a resolution passed at the first meeting 
held at Eastnor, on the 7th of June, 1853, was held on Tuesday, 13th June, at 
the Speech-house, in the Forest of Dean. 


The Malvern and Cotteswold Clubs met at breakfast at Newnham, transacted 
their special business, and thence proceeded to the Speech-house. 


The Woolhope Club met at 8.30 a.m., at the King’s Head Hotel, Ross, where 
they breakfasted, and held their ordinary meeting, under the presidency of the 
Rev. T. T. Lewis ; Mr. T. T. Williams, of Wessington Court, was unanimously 
elected a member ; and a number of gentlemen were proposed to be balloted 
for at the July meeting, which is to be held at Monmouth Cap. It was agreed 
that the address of the Rev. T. T. Lewis, on retiring from the office of President 
in January last, together with a narrative of the Club’s proceedings, and a selection 
of the papers read at its meetings, be printed for the use of the members; and 
it was arranged that the Printing Committee should meet at Hereford on the 
evening preceding the next meeting, for the purpose of carrying out the resolution. 


The desirability of purchasing a set of Meteorological instruments, and request- 
ing one of the members to undertake the keeping of a series of observations, was 
discussed at some length, but the decision was postponed until the July meeting. 


At 10.15 a.m., the members started in a stage coach, (supplied by Messrs. 
Bosley, of Hereford), for the Speech-house. The morning had been marked by 
heavy rain, but by this time the sky cleared, and the rest of the day was fine, 
with the exception of some flying showers. The route taken was along the south 
bank of our beautiful Wye to Lydbrook, a portion of the river which is scarcely 
excelled even in any part ofits course, for scenery. The luxuriance of the vegeta- 
tion; the various forms of the richly wooded hills ; the serpentine windings of 
the pellucid Wye; the picturesque Court and gray old Castle of Goodrich; the 
venerable Churches of Walford, English Bicknor, and pretty villages, nestling 
among the foliage; and the succession of comfortable and elegant mansions 
studding the slopes, all showed to perfection. The thousand different lights and 
shades, thrown from the ApriJ-seeming sky, gave as many varied effects, as the 
clouds scudded swiftly across the landscape. Considering the state of the atmos- 
phere, the views were remarkably extensive, while they could not have been seen 
to greater advantage. 


106 


A striking contrast to this scene of pure natural beauty was presented as the 
party entered the deep glen in which the thriving village of Lydbrook is situated. 
There the songs of birds were unheard amid the heavy blows of the forge hammer ; 
and the clouds of dense black smoke—an unpleasant proof how plentiful coal 
is, since so much of its main ingredient (carbon), can be wasted—shut out the 
bright sunlight. In passing the various factories and workshops, the eye was 
caught by the golden brightness of the heated iron, which was being cut, hammered 
or rolled into various forms; the members however, did not stay to enter into 
any of the workshops. 


Having passed through the village, and begun to mount the steep ascent 
which leads to the summit of the lofty ridge which here forms the rampart, as 
it were, of the Forest, the members alighted, and devoted a few minutes to the 
observation of the fine selection of the Mountain Limestone-rock, and of the unpro- 
ductive Coal-measures, which are presented on the bare faces of the hills. In 
passing, the pretty new Church attracted a glance of interest, while it was also 
noticed that, on the hill above, the haymakers were at work. 


On reaching the summit of the long ascent, the members proceeded onwards 
on foot through the broad glades of the noble Forest to their place of meeting. 
After reaching the Speech-house they separated into two parties, in order to 
pursue their geological and botanical observations. 


The Botanists explored the ‘‘ greenwood shade” under the guidance of 
Mr. Purchas and Mr. Lingwood; while the Geologists, led by the Rev. T. T. Lewis 
(by whose researches Sir R. Murchison was so much aided in the investigation 
of the Silurian system) proceeded in the first instance to the coal pits and works 
of the Gully level. Thence they made their way to Park-end, where they spent 
a considerable time. At the latter place, some fine specimens of fossil ferns 
and casts were obtained from the shale. 


The party also spent an instructive hour at the tinplate works of Mr. James. 
Here they were courteously received by the proprietor, who conducted them 
through the works, showing and explaining the various processes of rolling the 
bars of iron into plates, cutting them, annealing them in the furnaces, pickling 
them in sulphuric acid, coating them with tin, and finally polishing them for the 
market. 


The Botanical party did not find the Forest so rich in common plants as 
might have been anticipated, but they obtained a number of specimens. At 
4 p-m., the members of the various Clubs, about 70 in number, re-assembled at 
the Speech-house to dinner. 


The place of meeting being within the district of the Cotteswold Club, its 
President, Mr. T. Barwick Baker, presided, and the Vice-chairs were filled by the 
Rev. W. S. Symonds, Rector of Pendock, and President of the Woolhope and 
Malvern Clubs, and the Rey. T. T. Lewis, Rector of Bridstow, formerly President 
of the Woolhope Club. There were also present the Right Hon. Earl Ducie, Rev. 


107 


H. Bellairs, H.M. Inspector of Schools, Mr. Herbert Mackworth, H.M. Inspector 
of Mines, the High Sheriff of Gloucestershire, Sir M. H. Crawley Boevey, Bart., 
and Mr. E. D. Pyrke, Verderers of the Forest, Mr. J. Atkinson, Deputy Gaveller, 
and others. 


On the removal of the cloth, the Chairman gave the health of the Queen. 
This toast was followed by the health of the President of the Malvern and Woolhope 
Clubs, in acknowledging which toast, the Rev. W. S. Symonds stated that they 
had hoped to have been favoured by the presence of Professor Phillips, of Oxford, 
and of Sir R. Murchison, but that other engagements had rendered those eminent 
geologists unable to attend. \ 


In the course of the evening, a member of the Cotteswold Club mentioned 
a singular fact showing that the Hedgehog is carnivorous. His gardener, while 
at work, had heard the scream of a leveret, and on going to the spot found a 
hedgehog devouring the leg of one. He had previously suspected that the 
disappearance of some chickens was to be accounted for in the same manner. 


Mr. Jones, of Gloucester, read a short paper upon the Rhynchonella of the 
Oolite,” a fossil allied to the Atrypa and the Terebratula, which showed close 
observation and extensive knowledge of fossil conchology. A collection of 
specimens of the fossil was handed round for inspection. 


The Rev. J. H. Thompson, of Worcester, announced the discovery of two 
plants new to Worcestershire, in the neighbourhood of Evesham, viz., the Carex 
montana, and the Potamogeton flabellatus, of which he produced specimens for 
the inspection of the botanical members. 


The Chairman remarked that at the Eastnor meeting, the drawing up of a 
complete Flora of the three districts had been committed to Professor Buckman, 
Mr. Lees, and Mr. Purchas. The two former gentlemen had previously completed 
their portions, and he wished to know if the Herefordshire portion was near 
completion. 


_ Mr. Purchas observed that the work was in progress, but was not yet suffici- 
ently advanced for publication. 


The Chairman read an extract from a letter received from Sir Thomas 
Tancred, now in Australia, the former Secretary of the Cotteswold Club, upon 
the model of which the other two had been formed. The letter announced 
that a number of specimens of plants, insects, etc., illustrating the Flora and Fauna 
of Australia, had been sent to this country. The members of the different clubs 
were invited to meet the Worcestershire Naturalists’ Club, at Worcester, in Sep- 
tember next. 


Mr. Herbert Mackworth then delivered an interesting address on “the 
Ventilation of Mines.” He briefly sketched the different stages of the conversion 
of vegetable matter into Coal, observing that in its first condition, that of Lignite, 
its exhalations consisted of watery vapours; inits next stage it gave off carbonic 


108 


acid, or ‘‘ choke-damp ” ; in its third stage, it exhaled carburetted hydrogen, or 
fire damp; and lastly, having giving off all its gaseous contents, it was reduced 
to anthracite, or stone-coal. He observed that the Coal-measures of the Forest 
of Dean were composed of coal in the second stage. He then proceeded to explain 
the means whereby these exhalations may be dissipated by the ventilation of 
the mines, and exhibited an improved Davy lamp, and a model of an anemometer, 
or gauge of the quantity of air passing through a mine. Mr. Mackworth’s 
explanations were remarkably lucid, and delivered in a very pleasing and effective 
manner. The address was much applauded. 


Mr. Atkinson produced, and explained, a series of plants illustrative of the 
mining operations in the Forest. 
The company separated at 7 p.m.; the members of the Woolhope Club 


making their way back to Ross, where they also separated. The Hereford 
members reached this City at midnight, having spent a very instructive and 


agreeable day. 4 


109 


CAoolhope Haturalists’ Field Club. 


Turspay, Juty 18TH, 1854. 


LEOMINSTER. 

Another of the pleasant and instructive Field Meetings of this Society took 
place at Leominster, on Tuesday, 18th July, the district proposed for investigation 
lying between the town of Leominster, Kimbolton Church, Lever Hill, Puddle- 
stone, Brockmanton, and Bach. 


Geologically situated upon the Old Red Sandstone, which it is regretted 
has hitherto remained in Herefordshire almost a “‘ terra incognita,” a doubt rested 
upon the minds of the geologists present as to the probable interest of the day’s 
proceedings. We are happy, however, to record that the investigations were 
more than ordinarily fruitful, and some facts were ascertained which were not 
only highly interesting to the members present, but will tend to throw additional 
light upon the geology of the county. 


The weather was remarkably fine; there was a fair attendance, and the 
extreme beauty and richness of the surrounding scenery rendered the meeting 
a most delightful one. 


The Hereford members assembled at the railway station after breakfast, and 
proceeded by the 9.40 a.m. train, to Leominster. On their arrival at the Royal 
Oak Hotel, the party was increased by members from the surrounding district, 
and the ordinary business of the club was transacted ; seven new members were 
balloted for, and duly elected, a fact which indicates that the love of the delightful 
study of Natural History is on the increase. 


At 11 a.m., the party started in a special coach for Lever Hill, under the able 
guidance of the President, of that celebrated geologist, the Rev. T. T. Lewis, of 
Aymestrey, and also of the Rev. Thos. Hutchinson, of Kimbolton, whose extensive 
local scientific knowledge was the means of adding considerably to the day’s 
enjoyment. As the party proceeded, Mr. Lewis explained that the portion of the 
Old Red Sandstone to be explored was the central and largest of the deposit, 
consisting of spotted green and red‘clays and marls, affording on decomposition, 
the richest soils, and also containing irregular courses of red and green earthy 
limestone, locally termed “ Cornstones,”’ usually consisting of small concretionary 
lumps, but expanding here and there into large sub-crystalline masses. 


The first spot visited was the quarry on the southern approach to Lever Hili, 
exposing the Cornstone and accompanying flagstones of the district. Attention 
was immediately attracted by the organic contents of the rocks. Every fragment 
around was filled with the evidence of former life ; the remains being principally 
those of the characteristic fossil, the ‘‘ Cephalaspis,” 


110 


No party of Australian gold-diggers could be more excited in their search 


than were our naturalists. The blows of the hammers at work resounded at every | 


corner, exclamations of astonishment here, delight there, and eager enquiry ail 
around were heard without intermission, to the no small astonishment of the 
work-people, whose countenances showed evident marks of the wonder within. 


Hugh Miller’s eloquent description of life in those early seas in which the 
surrounding rocks were deposited, and in which lived those extraordinary animals 
whose remains lay entombed in every fragment around, was brought forcibly to 
mind. In opening his description ot the Middle formation he says :—‘“‘ The curtain 
rises, and the scene isnew. The myriads of the Lower formation have disappeared 
and we are surrounded on an Upper platform by the existence of a later creation. 
There is sea all around, as before ; shoals of Cephalaspides, with their broad arrow- 
like heads and slender angular bodies, feathered with fins, sweep past like crowds 
of cross-bow bolts in an ancient battle. We see the distinct gleam of scales, but 
the forms are indistinct and dim: we can merely ascertain that the fins are elevated 
by spines of various shapes and patterns: that some of the coats glitter with 
enamel, and that others—the sharks of this ancient period—bristle over with 
minute thorny points.” 


On their route to Puddlestone, the members visited several other quarries 
equally abounding in organic remains. 


From the summit of Lever Hill, Mr. Lewis directed attention to the general 
geological features of the extensive view from that commanding spot. Looking 
towards the north, to the left lay his own peculiar district of Aymestrey, where 
he laid the solid foundation upon which Sir R. Murchison raised his splendid 
superstructure of the “ Silurian System.’ In front lay Tinker’s Hill and Caynham 
Camp, a remarkable and isolated upheaval of Upper Silurian rocks, lying between 
the Ludlow district on the west, and on the east the Clee Hills, which last 
are composed of the upper beds of the “‘ Old Red,” capped by Mountain Lime- 
stone and workable Coal Measures, and surmounted by basalt, which is seen to 
have been erupted through the entire series, and to have overflowed on the top 
of the hill. 


Thence the members proceeded in a south-easterly direction towards the 
pretty little church of Puddlestone, recently restored, which was visited by the 
whole party, and much admired. 


Mr. Elias Chadwick, the High Sheriff of the County, here met the Club, 
and kindly invited them to Puddlestone Court, where they partook of his hospit- 
ality in the form of luncheon. The Court, an elegant castellated building, is built 
of stone taken from a quarry hard by, opened in the ‘“‘ Old Red,” and supplying 
materials of a most beautiful and durable description. 


Bidding adieu to their kind entertainer, who conducted them personally 
through his grounds, the members proceeded to examine the quarry in question. 
Here a discovery was made which we believe to be unique in the history of the 
“Old Red,” of Hereford. Upon blocks of a purplish rather thinly laminated 
sandstone were distinctly observed the ripple marks produced by waves of 


, 


111 


primeval seas, and traversing the blocks in every direction, the footprints probably 
of crustacea as they roamed at the bottom of their native ocean. A specimen 
of this remarkable ‘‘ medal of creation ” was carried away, and will be forwarded 
by Mr. Lewis to London for examination, and we hope to be able to revert to the 
discovery on a future occasion. 


From this spot, the party made the best of their way to Leominster, passing 
Brockmanton, Bach, and Puddlestone, and arrived at the Royal Oak at 5 o’clock, 
where an excellent dinner was provided for them by Mr. Jackson in his usual 
style. The President, the Rev. W. S. Symonds, of Pendock, occupied the chair, 
and there were also present Rev. T. T. Lewis, Rev. J. F. Crouch, Rev. H. Barker. 
Rev. H. T. Hill, Messrs. W. Stubbs, Woodhouse, H. Price, T. H. Lee Warner, 
Dr. Rowan, Rev. T. Hutchinson, Messrs. Arthur Thompson, and Jas. F. Suter, 
Honorary Secretary. 


After dinner, the Rev. Thomas Hutchinson was proposed as a member by 
Mr. Crouch, and seconded by Mr. Thompson, and in consideration of his services 
on that day, it was proposed by Mr. Lewis, and seconded by the President, that 
the formality of the ballot be dispensed with; he was accordingly enrolled a 
member. 


A highly practical and suggestive paper was read by Dr. Rowan, on the 
fracture of iron, which gave rise to an animated conversation. 


THE FRACTURE OF IRON. 
By Dr. A. Rowan. 


My attention has been called to a notice which appeared in a number of 
“ Chambers’ Edinburgh Journal” stating that a paper had been read before 
some of the Philosophical Societies upon the “fatigue of metals’—(this term 
is used by way of explanation of that property possessed by metals whereby they 
are subject to fracture from repeated strains). I desire to lay before this Club a 
few particulars relative to the crystallisation of iron occasioned by percussion. 


It has been ascertained, upon the examination of railway axles which have 
been fractured (by which accidents of a serious nature have occurred), that the 
fracture was always crystalline, although the axles, when constructed, were 
originally fibrous. The same thing occurs with the coupling-rods of railway 
carriages. The repeated jerks they receive, especially at starting of trains, 
render them liable to break, and when broken, the fracture is invariably crystal- 
line. 

I have myself observed that some smiths, in the process of forging iron, render 
it peculiarly susceptible of breaking, and others again materially improve the 
quality of the iron they work ; and I have observed a difference in the percussive 
force of the blow given by each, the blow of the latter being like the solid stroke 
of the tilt-hammer, whereas the blow of the former rebounds from the iron as he 
strikes, like the stroke of a stonebreaker. 


I was conversing a short time back with a practical and very intelligent 
workman upon the subject, and he related many instances in which he had 


112 


observed similar phenomena. One instance he mentioned was of a very singular 
character: an engineer on board one of H.M. steamships, observed that a very 
strong connecting-rod attached to the side valves, in the course of a very short 
time, broke, or rather twisted, off ; others were substituted, every care was taken 
in their manufacture, and the best iron procured, but with like results; at length 
he tried what is termed in trade as “‘ faggoting,’’ which means the welding a number 
of bars together ; but still the same accident occurred, and whether the iron was 
fibrous or laminated, the fracture always presented a crystalline structure, the 
molecules having arranged themselves differently during the repeated percussions 
which acted upon them; at length, it suggested itself to him to have a hole 
drilled through the rod, after which the bar lasted for years without undergoing 
any perceptible change. 


Now, how the hole in the centre prevented the crystallisation of the iron and 
its consequent fracture is a problem difficult to solve, unless we assume that it is 
subject to the general laws of crystallisation, a nucleus or centre being first 
formed, around which the different molecules arrange themselves until a perfect 
form of crystallisation is effected. 


This I have frequently found to be the case in the crystallisation of salts 
in solution :—for instance; a sample of the iron liquor obtained from the Park 
End Tin Works at our last meeting in the Forest of Dean, refused to crystallise 
although concentrated to a point at which crystallisation might reasonably be 
expected; but as soon as a small particle of the sulphate of iron was placed in 
the liquid, crystallisation commenced, and continued uninterrupted. In this 
way, I apprehend, the centre being removed from the bar, no crystallisation could 
take place, and the iron would preserve its fibrous or laminated structure. It is 
a fact, also, observed by practical men, that, when iron, which has assumed the 
crystalline structure is heated, and then gradually cooled (which is called 
“annealing,”’) it again resumes its fibrous texture. 


LIST OF PLANTS OBSERVED. 


The following list of some of the rarer plants observed during the day, was 
handed in by Mr. Hutchinson, and other members :— 


Trifolium medium. Onobrychis sativa. 
Melilotus officinalis. Genista tinctoria. 
Nardus stricta. Pyrola minor. 
Helianthemum vulgare. Scrophularia Ehrhardti. 
Anthyllis Vulneraria. Trifolium medium. 
Orchis pyramidalis. Epilobium montanum. 
Chlora perfoliata. Circaea alpina. 
Aurantia arvensis. Sedum album. 
Hypericum pulchrum. Linaria minor. 
Geranium lucidum. Lycopsis arvensis. 
Ophrys apifera. Euphorbia exigua. 
Rhamunus catharticus. Typha latifolia. 
Spartina stricta. Poa compressa. 


Agrostis vulgaris. Fedia dentata var. mixta. 


113 


Mr. E. Davies, of Hereford, produced a specimen of Gastrvidium lendigerum 
(Nit-grass) discovered by himself at Breinton, near Hereford, with respect to 
which the following letter was read from Mr. Purchas, of Ross :— 


“It may be as well to communicate to the Club the various additions to the 
list of Herefordshire plants, as they are successively made; perhaps, as I cannot 
be present to-morrow, you will do me the favour to state that I have lately 
received from Mr. E. Davies, of Hereford, specimens of the Gastridium lendigerum 
or “‘ Nit-grass,’’ which he has discovered at Breinton. This is a somewhat un- 
expected addition, because the plant usually, though by no means universally, 
is found in the neighbourhood of the sea coast.”’ 


The President afterwards favoured the members with an excellent paper 
on the Old Red Sandstone, and particularly with reference to the country visited. 


114 


THE OLD RED SANDSTONE OF HEREFORDSHIRE. 
By Rev. W. S. Symonps. 


The series of stratified deposits which occupy the greater part of this County 
is called the Old Red Sandstone, or Devonian group, and lies between the Silurian 
and Carboniferous strata. At the close of the long Silurian period, a great change 
occurred in the character and colour of the deposit, over large areas of those primeval 
seas. We find the gray mud of the Upper Ludlow rock succeeded by red sediments, 
and this red colour is owing to the influence of iron oxides. Whole tribes and 
families, with which we are familiar in the Silurian beds, perish and disappear, 
and the tenants of the deep, whose records we have traced amongst the limestone 
and mudstones of the upper Silurians, pass away for ever, and scarcely a species 
of the Old Red Sandstone group, in whatever part of the world it has been 
examined, is identical with the creation which rests below. 


A careful investigation of the thickness of the Old Red Sandstone, by Sir 
Roderick Murchison, and the Government Geological Surveyors, gives its enor- 
mous depth at not less than 8,000 to 10,000 feet. It was originally divided by 
Sir Roderick into three groups of deposits : (1) a quartzose conglomerate passing 
downwards into (2) chocolate, red, and green sandstone, and marl; and (3) the 
tilestones. It is now however ascertained, that this lower or tilestone division 
penetrates rather to the Silurian rocks, for the fossils agree in general character 
with those of the Upper Ludlow which lie immediately beneath. The Cornstone 
group, with its many irregular courses of mottled red and green earthy limestones, 
is the true Old Red deposit which succeeds the tilestones, and these are more 
especially the beds which we have journeyed to investigate this day. 


Far above our heads, however, in by-gone periods of our planet’s history, 
there existed upon this Cornstone group the upper quartzose conglomerate No. 
x. Enormous denudation and excavation have long since borne away every 
particle of these upper beds from this district. 


I had the pleasure of examining their contemporaries and equivalents on 
the sides of the Blorenge some months since, in company with several members 
of this Society, and it may not be uninteresting if I allude to our observations. 
The pleasant town of Abergavenny, surrounded as it is with picturesque hills 
all exhibiting the immense development of the Old Red Sandstone, was our starting 
point. We were met at the station by our hospitable entertainer and lately 
elected member, Mr. Elmes Y. Steele, and with our Honorary Secretary (Mr. Suter) 
for our guide we commenced the examination of the Blorenge. 


The valley of the Usk is a great line of fault, caused no doubt by intense 
earthquake action that succeeded the Coal period, when the thick floor of the 


115 


palaeozoic deposits was broken up and laid on edge,—when volcanic eruptions 
and overflows took place that exterminated every living creature in those ancient 
seas,—when consolidated mineral masses, such as the Malvern Syenite, deep 
down in the bosom of the earth, were thrust upwards from below, to form a 
mountain chain upon the planet’s surface,—when, in short, one great epoch ceased 
to be, and another creation, fresh from the Creator’s hand, came forth at His 
fiat, to live and breathe and enjoy. 


Along the sides of this valley we observed immense mounds of boulders and 
gravel, the detritus of materials that once occupied a surface far above our heads. 
The rough sand and rolled peubles were all that remained of the immense masses 
which once connected the Blorenge with the Scyrrid, and Pen-cerig-calch. We 
gazed in wonder at the mountains around us, not only as evidences of the enor- 
mously long period during which those boulders and pebbles were gathered 
together in bye-gone ocean beds, but still more as proofs of the furrowing out 
of the strata which at one period filled up the very valley we were walking up, 
to the depth of more than 2,000 feet, and united the widely separated mountain 
Masses around us. 


As we ascended the Blorenge, we saw, 2m situ, the red and green Cornstone 
deposit so common in this part of Herefordshire ; and I would here call particular 
attention to this Cornstone group, as it appears above the detritus of the Usk 
Valley, on the sides of the Blorenge, and more especially on the northern escarp- 
ment of the Scyrrid, for it is by such examples the young geologist learns to 
connect strata with strata, though separated often by many intervening miles. 
In the Blorenge the Cornstone is not well developed; but the remarkable 
ridge of the Scyrrid, where of old the Druid worshipped, and which we 
shall I trust visit on our expedition next month to Monmouth Cap, exhibits 
a fine section of thick beds of true Cornstone, passing under red, brown, 
and chocolate sandstones, and surmounted by the quartzose Conglomerate, the 
-uppermost member of the Old Red Sandstone, the composition of which so 
much excited our curiosity on our visit to the Blorenge, of which more anon. 
It is this Cornstone group of the lofty mountains of the Breconshire Fanau, of the 
Blorenge, the Sugar Loaf, the Scyrrid, and all the hills around Abergavenny, that 
once was continuous with the hills of Foxley, Moccas, Weobley, Tenbury, 
Bromyard, Dinmore hill, and Robin Hood’s Butts (the Pyons). The upper beds, 
the Old Red Conglomerate, are as I said before gone from the hills of the district ; 
swept away, but still left on the summit of the Scyrrid. On the Blorenge 
again other beds, the representative of another age in the planet’s history, are 
piled as monuments of the wondrous past. 


We passed on the Blorenge, upwards, from these Cornstone beds which there 
are not well developed, to the pebbly beds and conglomerates which constitute 
the upper bed of the Old Red Sandstone,—form the underlying encircling edge 
of the great South Welsh coal basin, and of Dean Forest—which appear in large 
subcrystalline masses on the western face of the Brown Clee Hills—are seen 
below the Carboniferous limestone at Symond’s Yat, on the gorges of the Wye— 
and rest above the Cornstone on the summit of the Scyrrid. This upper member 


116 


of the Old Red Sandstone, or substratum of the Carboniferous limestone, is 
composed of pebbles of white quartz in a red matrix, varying on the Blorenge 
from the size of a pea to that of an orange; and much did we speculate on the 
former history of these white quartz pebbles and that ancient red mud. At what 
depth of the ancient planet was that silex formed ? What ancient land or sea-girt 
rock composed the coast from whence they came? In which direction rolled the 
current which deposited them in the red mud, now as hardened as themselves ? 
We know that strange forms of fishes inhabited the seas whose waves thus rounded 
them; but what of the shores? What land animals then lived? What trees 
grew upon the hills of that far-off period? The little reptile of the Upper Old 
Red (Telerpeton Elginensis) is all that answers to our question; and one frag- 
ment of coniferous wood is the only information we possess of a true tree 
vegetation. 


There is another history, however, connected with a hill near the Blorenge, 
the very mention of which bewilders the mind if unaccustomed to the wonders 
of geology, and the revelation of which we can only compare to the marvels of 
astronomy, when we learn “‘ that suns and systems are more numerous than the 
sand upon the sea shore.” The hill is called Pen-cerig-calch, or the “‘ Hill of the 
limestone-peak.” Well may the geologist stop and contemplate that hill; 
there is a wondrous inscription chiselled upon its rocks. In ascending the 
Blorenge we leave the Old Red Conglomerate, and find resting comformably upon 
it the lowest member of the Carboniferous series, the Mountain Limestone ; 
above this again rests the Millstone Grit, to which succeed the Coal Measure 
shales and sandstones. Pen-cerig-calch is a separated mass of Old Red Sand- 
stone, and on the top also is a detached mass of Mountain Limestone and Mill- 
stone Grit, corresponding bed to bed and strata to strata with the opposite 
deposits on the Blorenge. The Mountain Limestone and Millstone Grit of the 
Blorenge, and indeed of the whole of the great Welsh coal basin, dip under deposits 
which in South Wales have been ascertained by actual measurement to attain 
the thickness of 12,000 feet ; and who shall say that the same beds have not 
been formerly extended over the Pen-cerig-calch, above the Scyrrid, above the 
spot where we now stand ? 


The Forest of Dean is but an island of the great Welsh Coal basin, preserved 
from denudation. The Coal beds of the Clee Hills are but the shores of vast 
deposits which once extended far above those beds which now constitute the 
surface of the most of Herefordshire ; and though the statement may seem 
more like the tale of a fairy land, yet we know that we speak truth when we assert 
that a vast area above and around us for thousands of feet together, now only 
occupied by the thin air or the soaring lark, was in former periods of this planet’s 
existence filled by a mass of sediment, the product of unnumbered ages, accumu- 
lated layer upon layer, the upper surfaces of which were occupied by vast forests 
drained by great rivers, where the finest vegetation the sun ever shone upon 
flourished for a time, and when its hour was passed was elaborated by the 
Power of all-seeing Wisdom into the mineral, which of all others most adds to 
the comfort, the greatness, and happiness of man. 


117 


On the sides of the Blorenge, as we descended, we observed the impression 
of a plant that lived in the ages of the Coal; the vivid impression of a large fossil, 
a gigantic Calamite, was marked out upon a mass of sandstone and grit that lay 
against the hill. A “view halloo” announced the discovery. 


I would now revert to the deposits of this immediate neighbourhood, the 
Cornstone group. 


* Wherever in the Hereford district (of course always excepting Silurian 
upthrows, such as the Woolhope and Dormington hills) you see verdant and 
wooded hills, there is the Cornstone formation, with its valleys denuded in the 
softer marls, and the hills made up of concretionary nodules and gritty sand- 
stones. The fact that these hills have been preserved from destruction is owing 
to the hard, impure limestone nodules of which they are composed. Occasionally 
the land of the Cornstone is spoiled by its contiguity to the upper beds of the 
mountain ranges, of the rocks of the Silurian region. In the parishes of Almeley 
and Lyonshall and the upper part of Eardisley, for instance, whole tracts are 
rendered barren by the boulder stones and coarse gravel composed of Silurian 
and trap rocks drifted from the neighbourhood of Kington and Aymestrey. 


The valley of the Wye is a deep denudation in the Cornstone beds; and the 
strata of Wall Hills near Ledbury, Dinedor, near Hereford, Moccas, the hills 
of Weobley, Leominster, Bromyard, and Tenbury were all once continuous and 
joined. I suspect that the men of Herefordshire have very much to thank their 
Cornstones for, and that peroxide of iron combined with carbonate of lime is the 
great secret of the rich soil in the county. Nothing is more certain than that 
Herefordshire apple trees when transplanted will not grow Herefordshire cider. 
The cider of the Old Red Sandstone is altogether a different affair to the cider of 
the New Red, and no one ever saw a Dormington or Marden hopyard upon the 
New Red Sandstone. 


You will remember our late lamented friend, Mr. Strickland, stated at the 
Eastnor Meeting last year, in opposition to an opinion advanced by the well- 
known botanist Mr. Lees, that he did not believe plants affected any limestone 
_ soil in particular, and he evidently supposed that the lime was the assistance 
and the mineral they most required. An active botanist of our society (Mr. 
Edmunds) must allow me to quote his opinion upon the same subject, although 
T had not alluded to the subject of lime in enquiries I made of him as to the Flora 
of Herefordshire. He says,—‘“ I attribute the number of wild flowers to be found 
on the Old Red to the fact that the Silurians protrude in so many places, and that 
the soil and subsoil in all parts contain an unusual amount of lime, as compared 
with the New Red for instance. You have thus a greater variety of soil in the 
district, according to the varying proportion of lime in different parts of it.” 


It appears to me that lime is not the only ingredient that conduces to the 
fertility of Herefordshire. All limestone soils—the upper Silurian for instance— 
_ are not as fertile as the Cornstones. I believe therefore, with Dr. Rowan, that 
_ the iron oxides combined with the lime make the soil of this part of the county 


118 


the rich and fertile land it is; and for this reason I have always, in my addresses 
and lectures on the Geology of Worcestershire endeavoured to induce our farmers 
to use more lime. We have the same iron oxides, but the Worcestershire New 
Red contains little carbonate of lime, and I therefore feel convinced that our 
agriculturists would gain by its addition, and that if a regular system of well 
liming the soil were persevered in for a few years, we should have finer crops, 
less squashy cider, and better beer. 


As regards fossils, the Old Red Sandstone of Herefordshire is remarkably 
poor. There are no fossil shells, for the peroxideof iron has destroyed every vestige 
of their remains, and the relics of the fish of that period, so numerous in Scotland, 
and so celebrated through the works of Mr. Hugh Miller and Agassiz, are with 
us very few and far between. We must not however forget that temporary deposits 
in Devonshire contain abundance of fossil shells ; and that, in Russia, the fish of 
Scotland and Herefordshire are entombed in the same rock with the shells and 
corals of Devon. 


The Upper Old Red beds contain forms typical of the Carboniferous group 
which succeed, while the lower forms of life partake of Silurian aspect and 
demeanour. The fishes too die out through that long period during which the 
Old Red beds were depositing, for the Pterichthys of the lower strata had ceased 
to exist long before the conglomerates of the Blorenge and Scyrrid were washed 
into their bed, and of sixty fine species of remarkable fish but one (Holoptychius) 
ascends to the Mountain Limestone. 


The Lower Old Red beds afford scarcely any traces of land plants, but its 
uppermost contain a considerable number, including tree ferns and Calamites, 
and thus shadow forth the period of the Coal. There is no abrupt break between 
the Silurians and the Old Red, or the Old Red and the Carboniferous epochs, 
but they seem,so to epeak, to glide into one another; and yet, “significant 
circumstance as to the lapse of time,’ we fearlessly assert that not one shell, 
fish, plant, or even coral, is common to them all. 


One word, gentlemen, as regards ourselves and our collections. The 
practical value of a Local collection depends chiefly upon the history of in- 
dividual specimens. A fossil from the Old Red Sandstone of Herefordshire has 
a value far beyond any accident of fineness or rarity ; it is illustrative of the history 
of the Geology of our Native county. Chinese butterflies and Australian cuckoos 
are very well in their way, and gifts not to be despised when offered ; I would 
rather however see in Hereford a Herbarium containing from 700 to 800 
Herefordshire plants presented by one of the many good botanists the county 
can boast of, than all the foreign specimens of the British Museum. The same 
remark applies to fossils, birds, fish, or natural specimens of any kind. 


It may be argued that the Old Red Sandstone of Herefordshire contains 
very few fossils ; perhaps so; the Silurian rocks of Herefordshire are, however, 
particularly rich, and careful eyes would, I am convinced, detect the remains of 
the Old Red fish if careful eyes would but take the trouble to search. The Rev. 


} 
, 


119 


Mr. Barker, of Hereford, has a fine remnant of.a new species of Cephalaspis, which 
was forwarded by the late Mr. Strickland to Lord Enniskillen for examination. 
This, with about half a dozen other specimens in the private cabinets of Mr. Lewis 
and Mr. Suter, constitute the memoranda a stranger geologist may expect to 
find of that Old Red Sandstone of which Sir R. Murchison declares, “ there is no 
such other tract in the world.” 


_ Gentlemen, I apprehend that the formation of these Societies is to extend 
the love of Natural History as an educational science, and that our aim lies 
beyond a dinner and a walk. I therefore think that every one of us should lend 
a helping hand towards making the Hereford Museum a practical Institution 
of the county and neighbourhood of Hereford. We are now engaged upon the same 
work at Malvern, and before another year has passed away we shall be enabled 
to give you tangible proof that the Naturalists of Worcestershire have not been 
idle. Let me then call upon you, as lovers of nature, to assist in the illustrations 
of the natural history of your own county. Geologists, make the rocks ring and 
yield up their treasures. Botanists, many a specimen you carelessly throw 
away would be worth noting and recording. We may one and all, if we choose, 
come forth with friendly aid and render some good service towards the illustration 
of the Natural History of Herefordshire, the dear old county of the “ Old Red 
Sandstone.” 


Mr. Symonds proceeded to remark that he had lately found how true of 
geology was the saying of one of its greatest masters, that “its goal of to-day is the 
starting point of to-morrow.” Since writing that ‘paper he had been compelled 
to modify several of his opinions. It had been said that the Old Red of Hereford- 
shire contained no fossil shells, but he now produced a specimen from the neigh- 
bourhood of Bromyard, which he was enabled to show them by the kind permission 
of the council of the Worcestershire Natural History Society, to whom it belonged, 
and which was undoubtedly Orthoceratite. He had himself, quite accidentally, 
met with the fossil in going over the collection of the Society, and it showed him 
how dangerous it was to form positive conclusions on mere negative evidence. 
He trusted the Old Red of Herefordshire would now receive thorough investigation 
and he had no doubt that a multitude of new facts would yet be brought to light 
through the medium of their Society. 


A set of Meteorological instruments was ordered to be purchased, and to be 
placed in the hands of Hewett Wheatley, Esq., who has undertaken to make the 
necessary observations. From Mr. Wheatley’s known ability we look forward 
to important results being obtained. 


The President announced that the great Meeting at Worcester of the Natural 
History Clubs was fixed for the roth of October, and that the Bishop of Worcester 
had consented to occupy the Chair. Professor Phillips of Oxford has kindly 
undertaken to deliver an address; and Professor Lindley, the eminent botanist 
and author, is also expected. Mr. Armstrong, of London, will conduct archzo- 
logical parties and explain the principal features of interest in the Cathedral and 


120 


City, and similar arrangements will be made with respect to every branch of 
science. He hoped that the Woolhope Club and their friends would muster strong 
on the occasion. 


The health of the President was proposed by Mr. Barker, and the thanks 
of the meeting were presented to him for his excellent paper. The health of Mr. 
Lewis was proposed by the President, and in the course of his remarks he 
eloquently alluded to the eminent services the rev. gentleman had rendered to 
Geology and to the Woolhope Club. Mr. Crouch proposed the health of the Hon. 
Sec. (Mr. Suter): both of which toasts having been appropriately acknowledged, 
the meeting broke up. A happier party we have rarely seen. 


121 


Woolbope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


TuEspDAY, AUGUST 22ND, 1854. 


MONMOUTH CAP, GARWAY, GROSMONT, &c., &c. 


Another—and the last of the season—of the delightful and instructive field 
meetings of this club was held on Tuesday, August 22nd, at Monmouth Cap. 
The romantic beauty of the neighbourhood, one oi the very finest bits of scenery 
in all our beautiful Siluria, and the many memorable names and deeds with which 
its chequered history in past ages has been filled, added no little to the interest 
of the day’s explorations in a fresh district. 


The day was singularly favourable to a full appreciation of the various sources 
of instruction and enjoyment. Now a brillant sunshine, giving almost intolerable 
brilliancy to the stately masses of cumulus cloud, then a grateful veil drawn 
suddenly across the sky, by a gathering of the light nimbi (or rain clouds). About 
noon, as the party were approaching the summit of Garway, a smart but brief 
shower pattered down upon the broad acres of ferns, of course without sparing 
the scientific travellers, who happened at the time to be wandering among them ; 
but with that slight exception the weather was propitious, the swift moving 
lower stratum of rain-cloud merely adding a charm to the natural beauty so 
lavishly spread on every hand. To ruined castle, village church, wooded hill, 
hamlet-dotted valley, and far-stretching mountain range, a thousand gradations 
of light and shade gave endless variety of expression. To the botanist the 
picturesque brokenness of the country, lying as it does on the confines of the two 
Silurian counties, gave the day’s explorations a special interest ; while to the 
geologist the succession of lofty hills, islets of the mighty ocean-torrent by 
which the Old Red Sandstone was ploughed into valleys, after its Carboniferous 
covering had been swept off, was full of interest, all the deeper for the fact that 
that particular district had scarcely attracted the attention of geologists at all. 
Of course on such an occasion little could be done save to glance at the field, 
leaving the patient exploration of it to individual members who reside near the 
locality ; but sufficient was ascertained to justify the assertion that the field 
is a promising one. 


To descend (as Bunyan says) “‘ from generals to particulars,” we have to 
record that the day’s meeting began by the assembling of about 20 of the members 
at the Monmouth Cap Inn at 9 a.m., most of them having been conveyed thither 
by the Newport, Abergavenny, and Hereford railway. Having experimented 
upon the chemistry of the breakfast table, a process not the less agreeable for the 
miles of fresh morning air through which the savans had made their way, the chair 
was taken by the President, the Rev W. S. Symonds, rector of Pendock. 


The names of several gentlemen having been announced as candidates, the 
members proceeded to adjourn to the fields. A Botanical party, headed by Mr. 


122 


Purchas and Mr. Lingwood, then departed on an exploration of the vales of the 
Monnow and the Dwr, in the district of Rowlstone, Abbey Dore, Ewias Harold, 
and Kenderchurch, &c. ;. while-the larger part of the party chose for the scene 
of a mixed botanical and geological ramble the valley of Kentchurch, Garway 
Hill, and Grosmont. 


Passing along meadows dotted with orange flowers of the Hypochoeris radicata 
and the deep blue spikes of the Prunella, and fragrant with the perfume of the 
Plantago, the larger party of the members made their way by the footpath to 
Grosmont mill. In-the coppice and hedge-rows on the way the elegant blossoms 
of the spreading bell-flower Campanula patula a characteristic plant of the district, 
and the noble Meadow Cranesbill which grows luxuriantly in the rich warm valley 
of the Monnow, attracted attention. 


Crossing that river by the stout old bridge of the 14th century, which is 
associated by tradition with the mighty wizard, “ John o’ Kent” or ‘‘ Gwent,” 
the party proceeded up the beautiful bowered lane, between hedges purple with the 
Vicia Cracca, passing the Church and Court of Kentchurch, and making their way 
to the sandstone quarries on the slopes of Garway hill. Thence they mounted to 
the summit of the hill; and there, as they rested from the fatigues of the ascent, 
enjoyed for a while the glorious panoramic view, embracing at a glance all Here- 
fordshire, with portions of the counties of Worcester, Salop, Radnor, Brecon, 
Monmouth, and Gloucester, the blue hills of Wiltshire closing in the view to the » 
S.W. 


Shortly before 2 p.m. the party left the peak of Garway, and made their way 
down towards the Cornstone and other quarries situated in the woods of Kent- 
church. On the way down the steep, they noticed the great profusion wherewith 
the beautiful mountain fern, Aspidium Oreopteris, clothes the mountain sides, as if 
to shelter the abundance of Hare-bells (Campanula rotundifolia), Hawk’s-beard 
(Crepis virens) ‘and Tormentilla vulgaris. _ It was noticed, however, as remarkable, 
that not a single plant of the Sheep’s-bit, Jasione montana, so common upon lofty 
hills in other parts of the district, was observed throughout the day. 


On reaching one of the quarries the Geologists were interested in discovering, 
on a piece of Old Red Sandstone, a remarkable impression of vegetation— 
apparently the stem of a tree. At the same spot, the Botanists were gratified to 
find the somewhat rare and very pretty little orchideous plant called Lady’s- 
tresses, Spiranthes autumnalis. Among the Cornstones very many remains more 
or less perfect of the Cephalaspis, the shield-headed fish of the Old Red Seas, were 
found. In threading the by-paths of the woods towards the river bank one of 
the botanists wis fortunate enough to light upon a plant of the broadleaved 
Helleborine, Ep)pactis latifolia, in full flower. 


Having crossed the Monnow by the picturesque but shaky footbridge, the 
party directed their steps towards Grosmont. The examination of the majestic 
old Castle, with its massive semi-circular keep, and the beautiful tall chimney of 
its banqueting hall, occupied a pleasant half hour. The party subsequently visited 
the interesting old Church, the beautiful chancel of which—along with the Castle, 


: 
c 


123 


strangely overlooked in the explorations of the British Archaeological Association 
last week—is remarkable for the fine rows of Early-English windows, connected 
by dripstones, inferior in size only to the noble range of similar windows in Christ’s' © 
College Church at. Brecon, upon which so much admuration was deservedly 
bestowed at the meeting of the Cambrian Archaeological Association last year. 
A-very good carved piscina of the 14th century ; the rudely carved stone brackets 
which once supported the Rood Screen; the curious Elizabethan tombstones 
near the Communion rails; and the noble aspect of the nave and aisles—a 
miniature cathedral effect—were also observed. 


Giving a passing glance to the stone table of the 15th century in the market 
hall with its edge carved with quatre-foils, which Mr. Clayton, architect, who 
was present considered to have been removed from the Castle—the party pro- 
ceeded towards Monmouth Cap Inn. The heaps of Cornstones along the 
roadside, which were found to be rich in remains of the Cephalaspis, were subjected 
to but a cursory examination, owing to the fact that the hour for another duty 
was fast approaching. Even naturalists must dine, if they are to contiune their © 
studies afterwards with the agreeable reflection that body and mind have received 
their due share of attention. 


Accordingly, at 5 p.m., the party assembled at the inn to partake of an 
excellently served dinner the provision of which in the opinion of the guests, 
was decidedly a ‘‘ feather in Mrs. Dew’s (Monmouth) Cap.” The Rev. W. S. 
Symonds presided, the Vice-chair being filled by Mr. Suter, Hon. Secretary of the 
Club ; and there were also present the Rev. T. T. Lewis, rector of Bridstow ; the Rev. 
W: H. Thackwell, of Birtsmorton; Rev. T. H. Hill, of Felton; Rev. J. F. Crouch, 
Pembridge ; Mr. Edwin Lees, F.L.S., Worcester (author of “ the Botanical Looker- 
out,” the ‘‘ Geology and Botany of Malvern,” &c.); Mr. Baxter, of Worcester, Mr: 
Clayton, Architect (author of ‘‘ The Timber Halls of England,’’); Mr. Lingwood, 
F.R.C.S., Mr. Purchas, Mr. Cam, Mr. Clark (Abergavenny), Mr. T. T. Davies, 
Senr., of Hereford, Mr. Ballard, Mr. Arthur Thompson, Mr. Flavell Edmunds, ! 
and others. 


The health of the Queen having been given and duly received; the Chair- 
man then rose and said,—Gentlemen, the last of our pleasant excursions of this 
season is quickly drawing to a close, but altogether I think we may congratulate 
ourselves upon a tolerably satisfactory career. As Geologists, we are now 
enabled to record the discovery of a fossiliferous district of the Old Red Sandstone 
in the neighbourhood of Leominster, while as Botanists, the detection of the 
marine grass, Gastridium lendigerum, by Mr. Davies, at Breinton near’ Hereford, 
is of considerable interest. 


With regard to the first discovery, I cannot too strongly impress upon my 
brother Geologists whe live in the neighbourhood of Ludlow and Leominster, 
the importance ot collecting the fossils of the quarry of Leysters’ Pole.* 


On the left hand side of the road going from Leominster to Tenbury, before arrival at 
Leysters’ Pole, is arow of cottages called Quarry Cottages, at the back of which is an old quarry, 
for many years disused. In the parish of Leysters, situated on the Church Farm, near the 
Poet Wordsworth’s Stone, there is another quarry. It is ya the first of these two quarries 
to which the Rey. Wm. Symonds here refers.—Zditor. ’ 


124 


We have now had unequivocal proof of the existence of numerous fossil fish 
in the Cornstone group of the Old Red Sandstone of Herefordshire, for twenty 
or thirty specimens were disinterred under our own observation, by the members 
of this Society, in our last expedition to Leominster ; I cannot doubt therefore, 
that, through the aid of the intelligent naturalists of that part of the county, we 
shall, before another season has passed, be enabled to show such a suite of 
specimens as would delight the eyes of Hugh Miller himself ; while by collecting 
these ancient organisms, and sending them to some good paleontologist—Mr. 
Salter, for instance—for comparison with the Scotch ichthyolites, we may hope to 
add something to the development of that analogy which exists between the Old 
Red Sandstone groups of Scotland and Herefordshire. 


There is one circumstance, as President of your Society, which has given me 
especial pleasure this day, and that is the kind and friendly manner in which the 
well known botanists of Worcester have came forward to assist the Woolhope Club 
in our kindred pursuits. These gentlemen have set us an example we shall do 
well to remember in the cause of good feeling and scientific research ; and if the 
naturalists of Herefordshire have at any time been inclined to flag in their own 
efforts, let them call to mind that our Worcestershire friends have travelled 
fifty miles to be present at our exploration this day. This is not the first time I 
‘have had occasion to notice in public the untiring assiduity of the botanists of 
Worcestershire ; but as the tale may be new to many brother naturalists on this 
side of the Malverns I may be excused if I once again refer to the history. 


There is on the eastern flat below the Malvern Hills, a tract of land called 
Longdon Marsh, celebrated as the habitat of several peculiar plants, as well as 
for having been, within a recent geological period, a backwater of the marine 
estuary of the Severn. The botanist gathers there Scirpus maritimus, Cnicus 
palustris, and Lathyrus palustris, also the elegant Butomus umbellatus, or 
Flowering rush. This marsh is I believe the only locality in Worcestershire for 
the Lathyrus palustris; and it was during one of the rambles of the Malvern 
Club last season that Mr. Lees and Mr. Thackwell gathered some fine specimens 
in full blossom. Well, gentlemen, this capture was recorded in the Worcester 
Herald, and I believe, on the very day after the publication of that report, four 
of these ardent botanists posted from Worcester to Upton-on-Severn, and walked 
all day in pouring rain up to their knees in Longdon Marsh. Alas however some- 
times for botanical as well as for other human projects, they did not find the 
Marsh vetch. 


Yet another botanical episode attaches to this delicate flower. Soon after 
this expedition from Worcester, there was at Malvern a large and fashionable 
flower show; a great marquee was filled with the choicest and most gorgeous 
plants of the neighbouring conservatories, and my friend Mr. Thompson of 
Worcester was appointed the judge of the wild flowers that competed for Mr. 
Dyson’s prize. In a sodawater bottle, filled with water from its native haunt, 
amongst the simple tenants of the wood and mead and mountain, was a little 
metallic looking pea that so excited the ardour of our worthy friends that perhaps 
no single flower at all that “ gay and brillant throng” excited more interest, 


it i se ee 


ae eae 


ek 
2 


aroegy 


125 


notwithstanding its humble guise and lowly companions, than the Lathyrus 
palustris of the Longdon Marsh. 


Now nothing is more true than that the perusal of one volume of Natural 
History leads to the perusal of another ; and it would be strange if, surrounded 
by such excitement and example, I for one did not plead guilty to enlisting as a 
humble recruit in the service of the botanist. For many years the study of geology 
occupied most of my leisure hours, but now I often find myself making long 
rambles merely in search of plants. I mention this not I trust egotistically, 
but as an instance of the advantage that accrues to us all from being thrown in 
contact with others who have cultivated those branches of Natural History of 
which we ourselves are altogether ignorant ; and if no other good arises from 
the establishment of these Societies, we may surely point to some amongst us 
who have been induced to turn over many a page of Nature’s works, hitherto 
unregarded and unknown, simply from having the right hand of fellowship held 
out to us by those who are more advanced in knowledge than ourselves. One 


' word with regard to the future prosperity and meetings of this Society, and I 


have done. In the eloquent words of the author of the “ Botanical Looker-out,” 
“ Flowers may fade, and summer days may wane, but the wreath we gather isa 
perennial one, that will revive month after month and in after years,” and thus 
may it be with us. Our investigations for this season have come to a close, but 
I trust that another spring will find us prepared for future rambles and social 
intercourse, and that many a hillside and mountain grove and glen of Hereford- 
shire will yet re-echo to the friendly argument, and at least innocent mirth of 
the friends and members of the Woolhope Club. (Applause). 


The Chairman subsequently gave—prefacing it by some complimentary 
remarks—the health of Mr. Lees, Mr. Baxter, and the Worcester Naturalists. 
Mr. Edwin Lees, F.L.S., said that on the part of Mr. Baxter and himself, he thanked 
them for their kindness and warmhearted welcome, though he thought the 
President was rather hard in thus calling upon him to make sport or to show it, 
when he himself came to find it at his friends’ invitation. He could, however, 
if he pleased, at once put in a demurrer which would fully excuse him from any 
speech-making on that occasion ; for, as the President well knew, his voice was 
in another county, and as a Worcestershire man he had no “locus standi” in 
Herefordshire. But he must admit that they had one claim upon him, and that 
he must answer for—from his strong botanical hold of the Malvern Hills, he had 
made frequent incursions into the Silurian valleys ; and the Worcester botanists, 
when pouncing upon and appropriating rare plants to themselves, had not been 
careful to enquire whether they were really within the county of Hereford. His 
friend Mr. Purchas whom he had now in his view, and who was collecting materials 
for a Herefordshire Flora, knowing his predatory success in this way and willing to 
make reprisals, had proposed to draw a line within which their respective operations 
should be confined ; but he (Mr. Lees) found the pleasure of trespassing upon the 
Hereford border too great to be withstood and so, in accordance with a system 
which was found to work well,—at least on one side—he had declined to give up 
anything. 


126 


To revert to the occasion that had brought them together, he felt that the 
effect of Clubs like these was not merely a pleasurable acquaintance with 
external nature, but of importance in giving a zest to investigation, and by 
friendly council together removing the difficulties that frequently arose. The 
invitation to members of other clubs too was a most desirable thing, which he 
trusted would be followed in other places ; for not only did it give an opportunity 
of forming friendships, but it warmed the mind with emulation, and raised an 
enthusiasm, without which every pursuit became in time flat and unprofitable. 


In the present day it must be admitted that the cultivators of natural history 
were rather different from their predecessors, who a couple of centuries ago were 
mostly lean apothecaries with great buckled shoes, whose ideas scarcely pene- 
trated farther than the stuffed alligator or cockatrice’s egg which dangled from 
their ceilings ; while the pretty stones on their shelves, which they called “ petri- 
factions,” had nothing to doin their estimation with the organic life that had 
been, but the shells and fossils contained in the rocks they considered to be mere 
“ sports of nature,’ made in a playful or experimental mood during her apprentice- 
ship, in accordance with the fanciful idea of Burns :— 


“*On man she tried her ’prentice hand, 
And then she made the lasses, O.” 


(Laughter). Even in the time of Charles II., just before the Institution of the 
Royal Society, we should have a mean estimation of the pursuits of philosophers 
if we judged them from what Butler alleges in “* Hudibras,” that instead of 
classifying great rock formations they employed themselves in considering 


** What figured slates are best to make 
On watery surface duck and drake.” 


And the same author represents their studies as being merely notices of wonder 
to gape at— 


‘“ Of men that walked when they were dead, 
And cows of monsters brought to bed ; 

Of hailstones, big as pullet’s eggs, 
And puppies whelped with twice four legs.” 


Surely in the present day our observations have got to a point in advance of this. 
Formerly theory and speculation were advanced in the most ridiculous manner 
without any sufficient data, and humble untiring but invaluable observation 
was comparatively neglected. Even in the times of the Grecian philosophers, 
to whom we were accustomed to look up with such respect, the mere fancies of sages 
were held to be true, and materially retarded the advance of knowledge. Plato 
considered all our knowledge as derived from the mere recollection of what we 
had known in a former state, and Socrates advocated the same thing. But such 
nonsensical dreams had only the effect of restricting and impeding the advance 
of observation. But in the present age of observation and research, none of these 
deceptive corks were allowed to buoy us up on the service of the broad river 


127 


of science—if we could not swim without them, down we must go; andno theory, 
however plausible, no attempted working up of the monkey into the man, and 
after a Monboddo of La Marqueian fashion lopping off his tail to make a reason- 
able being of him, no mere vestigian dreams will now enable us to take rank in 
science, instead of ourselves by patient effort moulding the ethereal figure that 
must give life and spirit to the shapeless marble. Hence, observed Mr. Lees, 
I hail the numerous Clubs and associations devoted to the study of natural 
history now springing up on every side and in every county, because they all 
inculcate observation and instigate research. As they rouse us from the slumbers 
of vacuity and call upon us to exert our faculties in some useful way, so they all 
offer us agreeable occupation, from the Entomologist seeking for the earth-born 
insect, through every hall and colonnade of scientific study, till we reach the 
terminal escarpment of native rock, where the geologist leads us down the stone 
steps of the palaeozoic crypt, where amidst the shadows of past ages all traces 
of organic life are lost amidst igneous agency and chaotic confusion. 


Yet notwithstanding the pleasure we derive from that intercourse of emula- 
tion that brightened up all our faculties, from the meetings that led us into 
communion with nature in picturesque localities, by babbling streams, rocky 
precipices, and Dryadean shades, how often was it asked us—what could there 
be in’plants and fossils so fascinating and interestingas to induce us to take 
long journeys and endure such fatigues in quest of them? Or what adequate 
remuneration was obtained ? Why, what limited ideas such questions must have— 
for it might just as well be asked what benefit resulted from any mental pursuit 
or even recreation ; what indeed was the use of eating and drinking? It was 
admitted that they must all eat and drink to live, to enable the body to carry the 
soul; and then the soul required that superior aliment that was fitted to sustain 
its intellectual powers. The mind of man was always sighing for something to do, 
or to explore some fresh field of discovery ; Lucretius had observed ages ago that— 


“* Twas sweet to cull new flowers ”’ ; 


and in the various fields that nature stretched before our eager view, there was 
always something to learn, and the hope of novelty was a continual spur to effort. 


The illimitable universe of enquiry was constantly expanding before our view, 
and accompanied by the pilot of faithful observation such excursions would add 
to our stock of knowledge, so that we not only made pleasant paths for ourselves, 
but left a beaten track that could be made use of by our successors in the same 
delightful studies. 


Thanking them again for their kind welcome, and feeling the importance of 
Associations that thus brought observers together in the field, he would conclude 
by proposing—Prosperity to the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. (Applause). 
Mr. T. Baxter (from Worcester) also briefly acknowledged the compliment paid 
to the Worcester Naturalists. 


128 


THE DRIFT OF HEREFORDSHIRE. 


A brief conversation on this subject was originated by Mr. Edmunds observing 
that during the last twelve months he had, along with his friend Mr. T. T. Davies, 
devoted some little attention to an examination of the nature of the Drift in the 
neighbourhood of Hereford ; and he found it to consist of two beds. The upper, 
or surface drift, is composed principally of fragments of the green and red beds 
of the Old Red Sandstone, intermingled with quartz pebbles, all evidently water- 
worn, and not of any great size. Below this bed, at an average depth of some 
three or four feet—in some cases rather more—is an extensive deposit of larger 
fragments. Among these he had found felspar, pure or in conjunction with 
portions of trap and of rocks of aqueous origin; with clayslate, Lydian stone, 
greenstone, grey Cambrian rocks, and quartz boulders. 


The recent works in the excavation for the Railway station at the Above- 
Eign, Hereford, had laid bare a very extensive deposit of this larger drift, which 
had been used on the line as ballast or gravel. Upon the Ross and Gloucester 
line, between Dinedor Court and Holme Lacy, the deep cutting had been driven 
through another deposit of the same character, the fragments of which had been 
used upon that line also as gravel. He had not observed any drift of a similar 
character beyond the limits of the valley of the Wye. 


Along the Lugg the drift is Old Red, mixed with Silurian rocks; he had 
seen, for instance, in the possession of their fellow-member, Mr. Ballard, a good 
speciment of chain-coral, much water worn, which had been taken from the bed 
of the Lugg. Along the Monnow, he had noticed the drift to be chiefly fragments 
of Old Red, with the quartz pebbles universal in the district. In the Wye, on the 
contrary, the pebbles were fragments of various rocks represented in the lower 
drift-bed, only much smaller and more water-worn, mingled with a portion of the 
surface-drift. He wished to know whether the experience of other members of 
the Club, in regard to the same or other districts of the county, corroborated his 
own. 


The Rev. T. T. Lewis remarked that the subject of the Drift was one of very 
great interest to geologists, and one upon which all the observation possible might 
with advantage be brought to bear. Sir Roderick Murchison had investigated it 
very carefully, and is still pursuing his investigations. The explanation of the 
phenomena involved a great many considerations. The distances to which 
fragments have been transported by water from the nearest beds to which they 
could have belonged are very great. For instance he had received a fossil of the 
Upper Ludlow rocks, the Gryphaea incurva, from his friend, Mr. Lingwood, which 
he understood to have been picked out of the river-bed near Ross. If the fact 
could be substantiated it would be very interesting as an illustration. 


Mr. Lingwood said the fragment had been brought to him by a man who told 
him that he picked it out of the river, and he knew no reason to doubt the veracity 
of the man. 


129 


Mr. Baxter observed that Silurian fossils had been found in the bed of the 
Severn at Worcester. 


Mr. Lewis remarked that the River Teme which drains the Ludlow district. 
falls into the Severn at Worcester, and probably the Silurian fragments had been 
brought down by that tributary. 


Mr. T. T. Davies remarked that he had long felt a great interest in the inquiry, 
and about twelve months ago, when returning from the meeting of the Cambrian 
Archaeological Society at Brecon, he had, in conjunction with his friend, Mr. 
Edmunds, examined pretty closely the drift in the neighbourhood of the igneous 
ranges which cross the river near Builth. At Dol-fach, in particular, they found an 
immense quantity of the fragments of the rocks mentioned by Mr. Edmunds as 
occurring in the lower drift about Hereford. They then traced the drift to its 
termination, which was upon the side of a hill of Upper Ludlow rock, the strata 
of which they noticed to become gradually tilted until they became vertical. 


Mr. Edmunds wished to add a single remark: he had not only found the 
lower drift at Hereford to be identical with that at Builth, which latter had been 
washed out of the subsoil by the floods of July, 1853 ; but he also noticed that 
the size of the fragments gradually diminished from Builth downwards to Hereford. 
Among the fragments found at Dol-fach he remembered Mr. Davies calling his 
attention to a piece of basaltic column more than a foot long, and seven or eight 
inches broad, the crystalline form of which was fully preserved, as far as a shaving— 
so to speak—of about an inch thick could preserve the form of a column. 


Mr. Lewis had no doubt that such fragments would be readily found in the 
vicinity of Builth. 


The Chairman felt much obliged to Mr. Edmunds for having brought forward 
the subject, which was a very interesting one. Individual observation by the 
members, and the communication of the result at the meetings, was the only mode 
by which the Club could fulfil its object in the investigation of the Natural History 
of the County. 


A New PLANT FOUND IN HEREFORDSHIRE. 


The allusion of the benefit of individual observation in the advancement of 
scientific knowledge elicited from Mr. Lees a fact interesting to the botanists of 
this and neighbouring counties. 


‘ Mr. Lees observed that there was a circumstance recently come to his know- 
ledge, which would doubtless be interesting to the Club, and which he thought 
deserved notice in their records. This was the discovery of a plant in Hereford- 
shire, entirely new to the Flora of Britain. The plant was an orchideous one, grow- 
ing 1n very shady places, the Satyrium Epipogium of Linnaeus, but by the modern 
botanists denominated Epipogum aphyllum. It had been found within the last 
three weeks by a lady botanist, Mrs. Smith of Tedstone Rectory, in the parish of 
Tedstone Delamere near Bromyard, and he was obliged to confess that he was here 
vanquished by a lady, as he had himself botanised on the same spot with the Rev. 


130 


Dr. Cradock, the President of the Worcestershire Club, and lately the Rector of Ted- 
stone, without finding the plant. This showed that the field of observation was 
never exhausted, and he hoped that their friend Mr. Purchas, now working up the 
plants of Herefordshire, would take the hint thus given him, and emulate Mrs. 
Smith by introducing some plant at present unknown to the county of Hereford 
to their notice next year. To give him encouragement in the wide field he had 
to observe, he would beg to propose the health of Mr. Purchas, and success to 
his botanical labours. (Applause). 


Mr. Purchas, in acknowledging the compliment paid to him, expressed the 
obligation under which he and the Herefordshire botanists felt to Mr. Lees and the 
Worcestershire botanists for having crossed the boundary, and made what might 
be called an inroad into this county. In preparing the Flora of Herefordshire, 
a work which is in progress, he felt that the labours of Mr. Lees would in that 
respect be of very great assistance. With reference to that part of the county 
which lies near the Malvern Hills, to which the labours of Mr. Lees had extended, 
the work could not possibly have been better done. 


The health of Mr. R. M. Lingwood, the first President of the Club, was then 
given, and neatly acknowledged. 


This toast was followed by the health of the Rev. T. T. Lewis, the President 
of the last year, whose researches laid the foundation for the elaborate investi- 
gation of the Silurian rocks by Sir Frederick Murchison. The Rev. Mr. Lewis 
suitably returned thanks. 


The party rose from the table about 8.30 p.m. ; and the Hereford members 
departed from Pontrilas station. Through the kindness of Mr. Leyland, the 
traffic manager, a carriage had been appended to the luggage train which was 
ordered to stop at Pontrilas for the purpose of taking up the party, who reached 
Hereford about 10 p.m., much gratified by their last field meeting for 1854. 


PLANTS GATHERED DURING THE Day. 


Although no plants were found which could be termed new to the county, 
yet during the day many ot the rarer plants of the district were met with. 


Epipactis latifolia—Broad-leaved Helleborine. 

Spiranthes autumnalis—Lady’s tresses. 

Gentiana Amarella—Autumnal Gentian. 

Ranunculus hirsutus—Hairy Crowfoot. 

Sinapis nigra—Black Mustard. 

Reseda Luteola—Weld. 

Geranium pratense—Meadow or Blue Cranesbill. 

Vicia tetrasperma—4-seeded tare. 

Rosa villosa—Downy Rose. 

micrantha—Small-flowered Sweetbriar. 

Epilobium roseum—Rosy Willowherb. 
angustifolium—Rosebay Willowherb. 

Carex strigosa—Wood Carex. 


131 


Sison Amomum—Bastard Stone-Parsley or Hedge Stonewort. 
Torilis infesta—Spreading Hedge-Parsley. 

Petroselinum segetum—Corn-Parsley. 

Dipsacus sylvestris—Wood Teazle. ‘ 
Lactuca muralis—Wall Lettuce. 

Cichorium intybus—Chicory. 

Erigeron acris—Blue Fleabane. 

Achillea ptarmica—Sneezewort. 

Chlora perfoliata—Yellow-wort. 

Linaria minor—Small Toadflax. 

——— elatine—Sharp-pointed Fluellin. 

Mentha sylvestris—Horsemint. 

Calamintha officinalis—Common Calamint. 

Lysimachia nummularia—Herb Twopence. 


RUBI (brambles). 
Rubus tenui-armatus, R. scaber, R. amplexicaulis, R. Koeleri, R. rham- 
nifolius, &c. 


COLLECTION OF WILD PLANTS. 


EXHIBITION OF THE HEREFORDSHIRE HORTICULTURAL Society, SEPT. 12TH, 1854. 

The Special Prize (a gold pencil case) which was offered by the members of the 
Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club for the best Herbarium of Herefordshire Wild 
Flowers, brought only one competitor to the show—The Rev. Thomas Hutchinson, 
of Kimbolton. The Rev. gentleman’s Herbarium consisted of about 350 plants, 
beautifully pressed and mostly consisting of rarer specimens found in the district 
where he resides. They were arranged according to the natural system; but 
the Linnaean classes and orders were not appended, according to the usual 
custom, with the Herbaria sent in. The plants were fine and characteristic 
specimens 


132 


JOINT MEETING OF NATURALISTS AT WORCESTER. 


The date of this meeting was probably on Tuesday, October roth. The report 
below is taken from the Hereford Times, of October 21st, 1854. 


A joint meeting of the members of the Worcestershire Natural History 
Society, and the Woolhope, Cotteswold, and Malvern Field Clubs, was held at 
Worcester, on Tuesday sennight. The Lord Bishop of Worcester presided, and 
there were present of the Woolhope Club—Rev. W. S. Symonds, President ; 
Mr. J. A. Suter, Hon "Secretary, Rev. J. F. Crouch, Dr. Gilliland, Mr. A. Thompson, 
and other members. 


Professor Phillips, of Oxford, delivered an interesting and instructive lecture. 
He observed (we quote the report of the Worcester Herald) that the Malvern Hills 
formed one of the most beautiful and singular ranges of mountains in the world, 
owing to the antique character of their strata, which were situated in the midst 
of a magnificent modern garden, both westward and eastward. Looking from 
the summit of that range, they might behold two of the oldest creations in the 
world, and were between two totally distinct systems of life. And, still more 
wonderful, there was not one species of organic beings in either of those two 
systems, the counterpart of which was at the present time existing on the globe. 
Looking westward would be found the tombs of an immense group of vanished 
life. Eastward, in the direction of Gloucestershire and the Cotteswold Hills, 
the Saurian and other reptilian remains, shells, &c., proclaimed another ancient 
system of life, every species of which, on being compared with living types, was 
found to be extinct. These two ancient forms, therefore, were not only totally 
distinct from each other, but from all species now existing. This was a marvellous 
thing in so narrow a range; and surely such a fact would prevent people from 
beating the Malvern Hills to pieces, without at least recording what they saw 
during the operation. When it was found that a difference in temperature, 
food, and other physical circumstances, occasioned the forms of life to be widely 
varied—as, for instance, in the phenomena of Australia compared with Europe— 
those variations were not so startling when the countries put into comparision 
were as wide apart as one-half the circumference of the globe; but that was not 
the case with the Malvern district. Looking on nature with philosophical eyes, 
it must be perceived that the whole was a manifestation of infinitely wise and 
predetermined plans, where everything had been calculated for, and where every 
existing thing had been placed amid circumstances which had been prepared for 
its existence. Then these forms of life differed in proportion as the physical 
circumstances of life varied. Well, then, on one side of the Malvern Hills were 
the evidences of one set of physical circumstances, and on the other side a totally 
distinct set. There were two distinct periods of time, marked by two distinct 
strata ofrocks. On inquiring further into this subject it would be found that the 
surface of the earth, for the most part, had once formed the bed of a primeval 
ocean, and that it had been at successive periods covered over by strata con- 


— a 


ee eS ee eee ee TT SLD eee 


133 


taining the remains of animal and vegetable life, differing according to the times 
and physical circumstances under which they had existed. 


He then described the Paleozoic, the Mesozoic, and the Tertiary systems, 
expatiating on the infinitude of ancient forms of life left close to our hand for 
study, also remarking on the submerging of portions of the earth’s crust which 
once were dry land, and the existence of ancient forests to an extent which defied 


all calculation, as proved by the immense beds of coal in various quarters of the 
globe. 


The question then forced itself upon our consideration as to what could 
have been the conditions of nature under which these changes of life had taken 
place, and he proceeded to speak at some length on the nature of those changes. 
The most ancient stratification on the west side of the Malvern Hills exhibited 
no traces of mammals or of birds, and but few of fishes; and he pointed out, by 
means of a diagram chalked on a board, the lowest strata, in which no signs of 
life were visible (directing his hearers to the middle part of the Malvern range 
for a specimen of this stratum), progressing upwards to the upper Silurian system, 
where life abounded in various forms, and next to the famous “ Old Red,” 
deposited just above the Silurian field. 


He spoke of the great researches of Sir R. Murchison in this branch of science, 
the result of which proved that, in whatever part of the world the same kinds of 
strata were met with, precisely similar features were apparent in them—namely, 
the non-existence of life in the lower region, and its gradual increase and develop- 
ment in superincumbent layers. It was a subject of anxious enquiry as to how 
and why these ancient specimens differed so specifically from now existing plants 
and animals; but he would here remark, that they were not found to differ in 
such a manner as to prove that they had belonged to an entirely different creation, 
or to a Providential plan not in harmony with that under which we ourselves lived ; 


_ for we might readily infer, from existing species, the character and habits of 


extinct ones. Nature herein was one great book, and in her pages were 
clearly recorded the various changes through which the system had passed. We 
might interpret the most ancient things by those still existing ; for instance, 
the Lingula had been found in the earliest formations and likewise in the latest. 
But this was not so with all other species—the Trilobites for one class, not being 
now in existence. On the west side of the Malvern Hills, in the Paleozoic strata, 
Trilobites might be found, and they were never found but in that strata in any 
part of the world. Indeed, the specimens of Trilobites were a sort of coin, 
struck in the Paleozoic age of the world, just as the Belemnites indicated the 
Mesozoic period. 


Now the knowledge of geological phenomena was decidedly necessary for 
practical life as he showed by the futile attempts which had been made (especially 
in the neighbourhood of Northampton) to obtain coal by sinking into strata 
where that article could not possibly have been deposited ; and he censured the 
evident contempt shown to geological science by parties who had preferred in 
such cases the advice of comparative ignorant men to that of scientific geologists. 
Their failures were a fit reward for such short-sighted conduct. 


134 


The Professor then went on to describe the various strata on the west of the 
Malvern Hills from the lowest point where life was absent—then its first appearing, 
taking his hearers up through the prolific Silurian bed, where a very large develop- 
ment of life had taken place. The remains of fishes were found for the first time 
about half way up that bed. But when they came to the next formation—the Old 
Red Sandstone—there was a total change of deposits. Very few traces of life 
appeared there, and even those appeared to have been drifted. Although the 
Old Red was many thousand feet in thickness, it contained but about a dozen 
specimens of life, and those embraced a few fishes which totally differed from the 
strata both above and below it. Some attributed these changes to great con- 
vulsions, but he was not inclined to that theory when he compared the inclinations 
of ancient strata with those of the more modern. There had been, no doubt, 
phenomena effecting these changes in physical condition which formed the 
present problem in geology. Some believed the earth had undergone a general 
change in the quality of its atmosphere; but though there was reason to believe 
this, yet it would not account for the whole of the phenomena presented. 


He alluded to the astonishing masses of coal in the crust of the earth as 
a proof of the ancient existence of a wonderful vegetation. Plants lived on air, 
which gave them their solid substances ; they extracted carbonic acid from the 
air, fixed it as carbon, and ultimately becomecoal. Hence the atmosphere must 
have become considerably modified by such an immense abstraction, and vegeta- 
tion itself dwindled as the means from which it derived nutrition became less 
and less. This carbonic acid was essential to plants, but unfavourable to animals 
which breathed the air directly. Therefore no such air-breathing animals were 
found older than the coal formations, excepting one description of lizard in the 
Old Red of Scotland, a little land shell, and one or two other specimens. 


The Professor went on to explode the theory of those imaginative naturalists 
who affirmed that all the species of living things were capable of gradual changes, 
whereby they passed into other forms, and that geological strata exhibited a 
series of these easy and gradual changes from the oldest times till now. We 
might start with a shell, the inhabitants of which in the course of ages would 
aspire to the class of fishes, and not content with that, would go on to a bird, and 
ultimately join the mammalia tribes—and so an oyster might become a man. 
Given a form of life out of which anything might come, and of course everything 
might come. (Hear hear). But there was no basis for that absurd theory. 
Had anything changed its form within the period of man’s existence or know- 
ledge of the earth? Sepulchred in Egyptian soil was found the mummied Ibis 
as it was 3,000 or 4,000 years ago, and the Crocodile of those days agreed with 
its modern representative on the banks of the Nile. Nothing, indeed, within our 
experience, justified the suspicion that even plants changed their forms; nor, 
in fact, that any one specific form of life ever varied so as to represent others. 


The lecturer then returned to the Malvern Hills, to show how they illustrated 
the succession of life, and particularly alluded to a description of Black Shales 
found on a part of those hills, which some had mistaken for coal. He had in- 


135 


vestigated those shales, and discovered in them small Trilobites, about the size 
of pin’s heads or peas. These Trilobites had never been seen in England before, 
and were only known in Scandinavia ; and he strongly recommended students to 
patiently examine the shales, as it might lead to results of great interest. 


The next prominent point in the address was an allusion to Haffield Hill, 
near Malvern, which was pronounced to be a curious conglomerate of materials 
brought together from various distant parts, some of its pebbles being supposed 
to have drifted from Shrewsbury. Professor Ramsay’s startling theory, founded 
on the scratched appearance of certain stones and pebbles, was that those rubbings 
and indentations were occasioned by icebergs passing over the rocks, and hence 
the Haffield conglomerate might be an evidence of glaciers and icebergs at a 
remote period. This theory was the more startling from the fact that the appear- 
ance of plants and animals just before the period of that conglomerate indicated 
a very warm if not a tropical climate! It was a fact, however, that no pebbles 
on the sea-shore were ever seen to beso scratched or rubbed, and that in Switzer- 
land and other mountainous countries, where glaciers existed, the rocks were 
invariably scratched. He, therefore, recommended a careful examination of 
the stones at Haffield, to ascertain whether similar traces existed. 


In conclusion, the Professor strongly urged all persons belonging to field- 
clubs not selfishly to retain the specimens they gathered, but to deposit them 
where they might be of use to their fellow-explorers ; and above all, he advocated 
the formation of an entirely local Museum at Malvern. Such an institution there 
would prove of the utmost value ; but he cautioned them, if such a museum were 
established, to decline accepting any specimens whatever that did not actually 
belong to their own district. There was no reason why the British Museum 
should swallow up all the provincial institutions, and a district so exceedingly 
rich as Malvern ought to have one of its own; for if they sent their specimens 
to London they would be lost in the immense collection there, whereas, if deposited 
at Malvern, geologists could go there and study them with advantage. For the 
same reasons a local publication should be established at Malvern, devoted to 
the purposes of natural history. 


The learned Professor’s address was listened to with great attention and 
rewarded by much applause, and a unanimous vote of thanks was moved by Sir 
P. Egerton and seconded by Canon Cocks. 


Dr. Wright, of Cheltenham, then made a short communication as a member 
of the Cotteswold Club, to show how much benefit science derived from naturalists 
steadily working out the details of their own respective localities. 


An interesting letter from Sir R. Murchison, who was absent owing to illness, 
was read. Sir Roderick observed :— 


“In reference to the classification of the upper Silurian rocks, my most efficient 
assistant was my valued friend, the Rev. T. T. Lewis, of Aymestrey. That 
gifted but modest individual first obtained the true key to the subdivision of those 
rocks, and he was also the first who made known to me that the black limestone 
of Sedgley must be the same as his own Aymestrey rock. 


136 


“It did indeed give me entire satisfaction, at the late meeting of the British 
Association at Liverpool, to point out a flagstone of the Old Red Sandstone, on 
the surface of which Mr. Lewis had detected the trails of animals—some of them 
apparently made by crustaceans, others by mollusks. Sterile as the Old Red 
Sandstone has hitherto been in affording any traces of fossil remains except those 
of fishes, this one fact, discovered at Puddlestone, near Leominster, leads us to 
believe that there must have been an ebb and flow on the surfaces of the Red 
rock, and no deep sea, just as we have numerous other evidences of shallow and 
shelving shores, where the Upper Ludlow rock, with its minute fishes, was 
accumulated. 


“In the later years of my labours, I received solid and substantial aid from 
a lamented friend, whose name will never be pronounced in the City of Worcester 
without producing unequivocal signs of respect for his character, and admiration 
of his powers as a naturalist. 


“ Mr. Hugh Strickland was not only my associate in the field, in unravelling 
the order of the youngest Red formation beneath the Lias, and in proving it to be 
the equivalent of the German Keuper, but he executed a labour of love for me 
in compiling and arranging that copious and most perfect Index of the original 
«Silurian System.” 


“One of my last excursions with him was when he took me to see the exact 
position of the Black Schists, or the oldest fossil-bearing Silurian rocks, in the 
west flank of the Malverns (schists in which Professor Phillips first detected the 
Olenus), in which Mr. Strickland, with indomitable perseverance, had further 
detected the very minute crustacean Agnostus piriformis. These close obser- 
vations are of the highest importance, for they unequivocally identify the Black 
Schists of the Malvern with the lowest zone in Sweden and Norway containing 
animal remains, viz., the Alum Slates. Now, in Scandinavia, where I have 
explored the Alum Slates, Black Schist is never of greater dimensions than in 
your Malvern Hills; they repose, as I have described, on a sandstone of much 
more considerable dimensions, in which fucoidal impressions and casts are alone 
discernible ; and as Professor Phillips, in his inimitable description of the Malvern 
and Abberley Hills, has shown you that the Black Schists with crustaceans 
repose on a similar rock (Hollybush sandstone), you have, in my opinion, the 
very basis of all Silurian life within a short drive from the city of Worcester. 


“‘ Such, let me say, is the unhesitating opinion of the first of all authorities 
on the Schist, M. Barraude, who, seeing in your Malvern schists the very same 
species of the Agnostus as in Sweden and in his own primordial zone of Bohemia 
(also the base of Silurian life), has desired me to state his view publicly. 


“Tn a brief letter I am not going to endeavour to show that all the Silurian 
formations, including my well-beloved rocks of Llandilo and Caradoc are ade- 
quately developed. I know that these members of the Lower Silurian, which, 
with their fossils, typify the group over wide continental regions, are only partially 
seen near you. But let me remind you that your Upper Silurian, from the 
Woolhope limestone to the Ludlow rock and Old Red inclusive, are as instruc- 


137 


tively displayed along your Abberley and Malvern ranges as in any part of the 
British Isles! In vain will you seek for this beautiful sequence in any part of the 
continent of Europe, except partially in Bohemia. 


“To that spot, and to the isles of Gothland and those of the Bay of Christiana, 
our British Upper Silurian is restricted. But there it is seen to be indissolubly 
connected with Lower Silurian rocks, full of fossils, and the strata occupying 
very small vertical dimensions. 


“Excuse me for venturing, as a sick man, to say even these words on the 
analogy which your charming neighbourhood represents to that of other regions. 
Permit me, however, to express my true delight in seeing natural history in all 
its branches flourish so efficiently as it does in and around the City of Worcester, 
where my esteemed friend, Sir C. Hastings, is ever rendering aid with his fostering 
hand, and where the dignitaries of the neighbourhood are prompt in supporting it. 


“‘ When I read the names of so many friends, fellow-labourers, and associates, 
as are announced to be present to-morrow, you may well believe how truly I 
deplore my absence. Unable to stand forth on the part of my own dear Wool- 
hope Club, let me congratulate you on having the Malvern Club represented by the 
Rev. W. Symonds, the Cotteswold Club by Lord Ducie, and the Worcestershire 
Club by the Rev. Dr. Cradock; and in respect to the first of these, as more 
immediately connected with myself, I owe a deep debt of gratitude to my zealous 
friend Mr. Symonds, for his lucid preparation of the Index of the work I now 
lay upon your table. 


“When I was bold enough (16 years ago) to bring to the mind’s eye ot the 
geologist, and in a period long after all Silurian days, a powerful marine current 
running from the north and occupying the Straits of Malvern,” as I then termed 
them, I little thought that I should live to see my friends from the opposite shores 
of former days—the Cotteswolds and the Malverns—now rivalling each other 
in their search after truth, and in meeting together to record their advances in 
this city, so ancient in the annals of our country, but which (the archeologist 
must not object to the phrase) was in one of the last geological epochs at the 
bottom of the sea!” 


A resolution was next passed, on the motion of Sir C. Hastings, seconded 
by the Rev. J. Pearson, congratulating the meeting on the co-operation of the 
field-clubs ; and after a vote of thanks to the Bishop, on the motion of Earl 
Ducie, seconded by Mr. Ricardo, M.P., the business of the meeting terminated. 
The members afterwards dined together. 


138 


Woolhope Naturalists Field Club. 


ANNUAL MEETING, 


TUESDAY, JANUARY 23RD, 1855. 


The Annual Meeting was held on Tuesday, January 23rd, in Hereford. 
The Rev. W. S. Symonds, Rector of Pendock, as the outgoing President, occupied 
the Chair at the opening of the business, and there were also present: Rev. 
T. T. Lewis, Rev. J. F. Crouch, Rev. T. Hutchinson, Dr. Bull, Mr. H. Salwey, 
(Ludlow), Mr. Hewett Wheatley, Mr. Suter, Hon. Sec., Mr. Flavell Edmunds, 
Mr. A. Thompson. 


The Secretary read a statement of the accounts, from which it appeared 
that after purchasing a set of Meteorological Instruments, with which Mr. Wheat- 
ley has kindly consented to make a series of observations, there is still a handsome 
balance in hand. 


The subject of printing a collection of the papers read at the Meetings 
of the Club having been discussed at some length, it was resolved that the 
address of the late President, the paper of Mr. Wheatley on the Salmonide, 
and a statement of the Botanical proceedings of the Club, be at once printed, 
so as to be ready for delivery to the members on or before the first Field Meeting, 
which is to take place in June next. The Chairman, on behalf of the Malvern 
Club, invited the members to meet that Club at Malvern in June. 


The invitation was accepted, the fixing of the date being left to the Kev. 
W. S. Symonds, he being also President of the Malvern Club. 


Dr. S. Steele and Mr. Clarke, of Abergavenny, were unanimously admitted 
members. Four other gentlemen were nominated. 


It was resolved that, in future, non-payment of subscriptions for a period 
of three years shall exclude from membership. 


The President delivered his address :— 


ADDRESS DELIVERED JANUARY 23RD, 1855, 
By Rev. W. S. Symonps, F.G.S., PRESIDENT. 


GENTLEMEN,—Three summers have passed away since the Naturalists of 
the Woolhope Club met for the first time, on a May morning, at Tarrington, to 
explore that Silurian Valley of Elevations whence this Club takes its title. Since 
that period we have experienced the storm as well as the sunshine, and our 
little society has not been exempt from the vicissitudes which it is the lot of man 
while here below to meet with. The bust of our departed friend (the late Mackay 
Scobie, Esq., formerly Honorary Secretary to the Society), presented by those 


139 


who knew his worth, as a token of regard to his widow (which even at this moment 
seems to watch over our proceedings), must ever remind this Society, when 
assembled in this room, of many pure and happy hours spent together in the 
investigation of God’s Works ! 


We are now assembled together for the third time for our Winter Meeting, 
and to elect a new President. Allow me, then, without affectation or reserve, 
to thank you all cordially for the honour you have done me in calling me to the 
Chair during the past year, as well as for the courtesy and kindness with which 
my humble efforts have been received. 


It has been the custom that the President should each year address at this 
meeting a short recapitulation of the proceedings of the Club; but as, at both 
our Leominster and Monmouth Cap Meetings, I went through much of our 
“sayings and doings,” it would be perhaps more interesting if I address you 
to-day upon some occurrences which have since arisen, which affect the Woolhope 
Club in their character of Naturalists. 


You will remember the paper I had the honour of reading upon the Old Red 
Sandstone, and the remarks I felt bound to make upon the wretched collection 
of fossils from that system, so characteristic of this county, obtained by our 
working geologists. 


I then said ‘‘ The practical value of a local collection depends chiefly upon 
the history of individual specimens. A fossil from the Old Red Sandstone of 
Herefordshire has a value far beyond any accident of fineness or rarity; it is 
illustrative of the history of the geology of our native county,” . . . - and 
““T would rather see in Hereford an herbarium containing a good collection of 
Herefordshire plants, presented by one of the many good botanists the county 
can boast of, than all the foreign specimens of the British Museum.” 


You will call to mind the delight we experienced in finding, on our Leominster 
expedition, a true fish bed containing great numbers of the relics of those re- 
markable denizens of an ocean long since passed away, and rendered classical by 
the writings of Hugh Miller and Agassiz. I little thought at the time we were 
examining the plates and heads and tails of the Cephalaspides of Leysters Pole 
that, in a few weeks I should have the pleasure of making the acquaintance of the 
celebrated Scotch geologist, of examining in his cabinet the analogues of our 
Herefordshire fishes, and conversing with him on the similarity of the deposit, 
and the identity of the organic remains that occur in spots so far distant as the 
quarries of our native county and the north of Scotland. Most heartily do I thank 
the kind friend who afforded me the opportunity! Both Mr. Hugh Miller and 
Professor E. Forbes (alas, now no more !) were anxious that I should introduce 
our Herefordshire specimens to the notice of the many distinguished geologists 
assembled at the British Association for the advancement of Science at Liverpool, 
and I immediately wrote to our Honorary Secretary (Mr. Suter) to furnish me 
with all the specimens he could collect at so short a notice. He kindly and 
promptly acquiesced in my request, and I have to thank Mr. Suter, Mr. Barker, 
and Lord Ducie for the loan of those fossils which I had the honour of exhibiting. 


140 


There is a distinguished botanist, who is also, I am happy to say, an active 
geologist, a member of our Club, who, since the meeting of the British Association, 
has found time and energy to follow up our discovery between Ludlow and 
Leominster—I allude to my friend Mr. Crouch, of Pembridge. This gentleman 
has managed to collect, in a few short months, the most valuable series of Corn- 
stone fishes it has ever been my lot to examine, with the exceptions of those in 
Mr. Hugh Miller’s cabinet. Sir Philip Egerton, the British ichthyologist, having 
kindly offered to examine any specimens I could forward, I sent him those belong- 
ing to Mr. Crouch, and they now lie on this table. Sir Philip, as you may see, 
has already determined three species of Cephalaspis from the quarries of Leysters 
Pole, all of which are identical with the Scotch organisms. 


These fossil remains all appertain to the Cornstone, or middle group of the 
Old Red Sandstone. I would here revert shortly to those deposits as they 
occur in this immediate neighbourhood. Wherever in the Hereford district (of 
course, always excepting Silurian upthrows, such as Woolhope and Dormington 
Hills) you see verdant and wooded hill, there is the Cornstone formation, with 
its valleys denuded in the softer marls, and the hills made up of concretionary 
nodules and gritty sandstones. The fact that these hills have been preserved 
from destruction is owing to the hard impure limestone nodules of which they 
are composed., <. . - =. * 


There is another branch of the science of Geology connected with our dis- 
coveries in the Old Red Sandstone, to which I would for a moment draw your 
attention. It is that of “ Ichnology,” or the history and study of the footsteps 
of animals, that untold ages ago walked on the shores of our Old Red Sandstone 
seas. This intricate and difficult witness in the courts of geologic record has in 
late years been put very closely to the question, and the Ichnology of Annandale, 
and the description of the footprints impressed upon the Bunter beds, is a work 
that will connect the name of Sir Wm. Jardine with the most difficult of geologic 
researches in modern times. 


The Leominster meeting was not only remarkable for tlic discovery of a 
habitat of fossil fish; a distinguished geologist and former president of this 
Society (Rev. T. T. Lewis) bore away in triumph a large slab, bearing thereon the 
evidence not only of the ripple of the waves, but of an animal that had actually 
travelled over the sandy beach upon which those waves dashed. 


This slab was brought forward by Sir Roderick Murchinson, at the meeting 
of the British Associations, and the footprints thereon were declared by those who 
have studied this branch ot the science, to be the traces of a crustacean.{ 


While speaking of a Paleozoic crustacean, I may recall to your memory the 
first discovery of the limbs of that remarkable Silurian “‘ lobster ” the “‘ Pterygotus 
problematicus,” by Mr. Scobie, which is described in the Geological Journal 


* Here Mr. Symonds reverted to the remarks upon the Cornstones he made in his paper 
on ‘‘ The Old Red Sandstone of Herefordshire.” delivered at the meeting at Leominster, on 
July 18th, 1854, already printed a few pages antea. See page 117.—(£ditor). 


t This slab is to be seen in the Museum at Worcester.—(£u7¢o7). 


141 


by Mr. Strickland and W. Salter. I give the passage at the commencement of 
Mr. Salter’s paper im extenso .— 


“The limbs of this interesting Silurian fossil not having hitherto been 
discovered, the present specimen is of considerable interest, as connecting it 
satisfactorily with the species so fully figured by Agassiz, which was obtained from 
the basement beds of the Old Red Sandstone of Forfarshire. But though of the 
same genus with the Scotch fossil, it presents characters that specifically differ.” 
Not more than a fortnight since my attention was called to a collection of Upper 
Silurian fossils in the cabinet of Mr. Richard Banks of Kington, and on examining 
these specimens I found he possessed a large drawer full of the very fossils which 
palzontologists have so coveted to obtain. They were obtained from the “ Tile 
stones” at the base of the Old Red Sandstone at Kington; and what with the 
feet, plates, and claws (one of which is even more perfect than the Hagley specimen) 
I believe that from Mr. Banks’ collection an Owen or Agassiz would restore the 
Pterygotus, even as the Seraphim of the Scotch quarrymen stood forth, plate 
to plate restored, a monument of creation and design! Mr. Banks has kindly 
promised on the first opportunity to forward his fossils to Mr. Salter for examina- 
tion and description.* 


There is another point respecting the Pterygotus to which I would call the 
attention of geologists, and that is the great range of that animal as regards its 
period of existence. With the Downton beds how little of Silurian life remains ! 
With the Tilestones it altogether disappears ; and yet the remains of the Ptery- 
gotus occur in the upper Caradoc of Malvern. 


The conclusion of Mr. Symonds’ address contained a reproduction of his 
earnest requests in his paper on ‘‘ the Old Red Sandstone of Herefordshire ” 
that every one of us should lend a helping hand towards making the Hereford 
Museum a practical Institution of the county and neighbourhood of Hereford. 


The concluding remarks will bear repetition :—Let me call upon you as 
lovers of Nature, to assist in the illustrations of the Natural History of your own 
county. Geologists, make the rocks ring and yield up their treasures! Botanists, 
many a specimen you carelessly throw away would be worth noting and re- 
cording! We may one and all, if we chose, come forth with friendly aid and 
render some good service towards the illustration of the Natural History of 
Herefordshire, the dear old country of the ‘‘ Old Red Sandstone.” 


The thanks of the meeting were voted by acclamation to the Rev. W. S. 
Symonds, who consented to furnish a history of the Geological proceedings of 


* “* Together with the Pterygoti, Mr. Banks found fossils formerly confounded with the 
genus Cephalaspis Ag., but nowseparated, The species are new, but much like C. Lloydii Ag., 
hitherto known only in the overlying Old Red” (Journal Geological Society, Feb. 1, 1856, 
Pp. 23). ‘‘Himanopterus Banksii, a remarkable crustacean found by Mr. Banks, is described 

y Mr. Salter, page 32 of the same Journal. 

An excellent engraving of ‘‘ Leptocheles,” or triple tail species of a Stomapod crustacean, 
in the possession of Mr. Lightbody, a member of the Woolhope Club, is engraved on plate 8 
of the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, October, 185s. 

The Club have to thank Mrs. Salwey, of Ludlow, for the drawing from which the 
engraving was executed.—W. S. S., March 2nd, 1855. 


142 


the Club, to be appended to the Botanical history, and printed with the other 
documents already selected for that purpose. 


On the suggestion of the Rev. W. S. Symonds, seconded by Dr. Bull, and 
supported by several other members, the Rev. J. F. Crouch, Vicar of Pembridge, 
an active and accomplished botanist, was elected President for the ensuing year, 
and took the Chair accordingly. 


The Field Meetings were fixed: for June, at Malvern ; for July, at Eardisley ; 
and for August, at Ludlow. The subject of a bye-day to be devoted to a meeting 
at Bromyard, was discussed, but left for future consideration. 


The Hon. Secretary was unanimously re-elected. 


It was resolved that the prize (a gold pencil-case) for the best Herbarium 
of plants collected in Herefordshire during the year, be again given through the 
medium of the Herefordshire Horticultural Society, there being no restriction 
as to district. 


After some further routine business had been disposed of, the following 
paper was read on 


AN INCIDENT OF BOTANICAL HISTORY. 
By FLAveLL EpmunpDs. 


An incident in the botanical history of the district around Hereford, which 
may be useful as an indication of one of the kinds of service which I think our 
Club might with advantage render towards the advancement of the natural 
history of the county, forms the theme of this brief paper. I allude to the sudden 
appearance of certain plants in localities where, as my frequent previous examina- 
tions had convinced me, they had not grown for at least some years past. 


In the course of last autumn, the embankments, spoil-heaps, and cuttings 
of the railways attracted my attention from the fact that one day at Widemarsh, 
I found a plant growing in the embankment of the diverted turn-pike road. 
I did not at first recognise it, as it merely showed its root-leaves, but on handling 
it, the peculiar smell left by the leaves recalled it to my recollection as Hyoscyamus 
niger, or common henbane. I then remembered that my friend, Dr. Bull, had 
told me some time ago that that plant occasionally made its appearance at 
Widemarsh, on any extensive stirring of the soil, but soon disappeared again. 
I at once carefully examined all the other embankments, and on the spoil-heaps 
near Widemarsh Mill I discovered no less than 4o other plants, none of which, 
however, had thrown up stems, or advanced much beyond the stage at which I 
found the first, although some of them were very luxuriant in root-leaves. I 
observed the plants carefully, visiting them several times a week until the winter 
set in, when, partly from the frost, and partly from the deposits of fresh heaps 
of earth, I suddenly lost sight of them. Perhaps the fact that I mentioned them 
to a druggist may have had something to do with the disappearance of the leaves 
at least. Next spring, perhaps, the plants may re-appear. The nearest spot 


143 


to_Widemarsh which I know to be the habitat of the Hyoscyamus is the lane at 
the foot of Backbury hill, which is about five-and-a-haif miles from the scene of 
its sudden re-appearance last autumn. 


In the course of my search upon the embankments, I obtained several other 
plants new to the locality. Of Chrysanthemum segetum, I gathered two specimens 
on the railway between the Above-Eign bridge and Widemarsh. The nearest 
habitats for it, as far as I am aware, are Sugwas Camp, 3 miles, and Clehonger, 
4 miles distant. 


In two places, viz., on the railway embankment near the locality of the last- 
mentioned plant, and at Widemarsh, I found very fine bushes of Marrubium 
vulgare, which I had not previously seen anywhere within five or six miles of the 
spot. 

Lamium incisum is more common, but I had not previously seen it at Wide- 
marsh, although I found it on the Breinton road, on the opposite side of Hereford. 


Parthenium febrifuga, which is now growing freely on the slopes of the 
raised road over the Ross line, at Athelstan Hill, is another, and the last of these 
new-comers which I detected. Although common enough in some parts of the 
district, this is the first time I have seen it within some miles of its present habitat. 


The cause to which I attribute this sudden appearance of plants fresh to the 
locality will be at once seen from the connection in which I have named them. 
The spoil-heaps and embankments consist wholly of earth dug out of the cuttings ; 
and it appears to me that the seeds had been buried, for ages perhaps, below the 
reach of germinative influences. During their long entombment, by the mys- 
terious power which vegetation possesses of suspending the vitality of the germ 
until circumstances are favourable for the development, the seeds had laid 
dormant. The instances of the germination of the mummy wheat, after an 
entombment of two or three thousand years, show to what long periods this state 
of dormancy may extend. Perhaps the plants, whose appearance amid the light 
of “upper earth” I thus record, may be the product of seeds entombed when 
our British forefathers fought an ever-honourable, if a losing, game against 
Ostorius and Agricola. It may be that the passing foot or the trailing spear of 
some painted Silurian, while hastening to the Camp on Dinedor or Backbury, 
struck against the parent plant, skaking off the seeds, which winds or waters 
speedily swept into some gully, where drifting silt, and the slower accumulations 
of successive ages covered it up, until the needs of the great civiliser Steam at 
length disentombed it from the prison of ages; another proof that, in this well- 
ordered frame, the work of the great Architectonicus—to borrow the term of the 
17th century—nothing is lost. 


I make no apology to my brother students of nature for recording at length 
what may be deemed so small a fact. It is by the accretion of small facts that 
soundest generalisations become possible. To those who do not share our love 
for the study of this wondrous world of nature which lies around us, I would 
quote this as another instance that even science has its poetical side. If my 


144 


deductions be sound, two or three plants now living near our feet take us back 
direct, by a single leap, to the ages long past. I am quite aware that geology 
deals with periods to which these are but moments, and that the unregarded 
stone which mends our roads, or is rolled along by the current of the brook, is 
an antiquity before which the earliest works of man are mere novelties of yester- 
day. Botanical pursuits afford us no such grand visions of unrecorded time ; 
but the little they furnish we may not the less thankfully receive. Facts like 
that which I thus venture to chronicle, show at any rate that botany, too, has its 
side of mystery—its hints of long-past days, its matter for the poet and the 
speculator, amid all the admitted dryness of its terminology and its descriptions. 


In the conversation which followed, Mr. Symonds noticed the fact pointed 
out to him by Mr. Lees, of two fresh plants having made their appearance on a 
railway embankment in Worcestershire. The Rev. Mr. Lewis observed that 
the spoil-heaps of coal-pits were generally quickly covered with clover. The 
President remarked that if poppies had grown in a field, although it might be 
laid down in grass for fifty years afterwards, whenever again broken up, poppies 
would be sure to spring up. Mr. Edmunds had found two plants of Verbascum 
blattaria, last summer, in a road at Widemarsh. That plant is not common 
anywhere, he believed, and had certainly not been seen lately in the spot where 
he had found it. Dr. Bull observed that, about seven years ago, V. blattaria 
had made its appearance on the Abergavenny tram-road, and then as suddenly 
disappeared. 


A hope was expressed that other members would furnish notices of incidents 
illustrating the natural history of the county. 


— Ss - -- ~~~ 


ere Sear 


145 


W@oolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


First FIELD MEETING, TUESDAY, JUNE 12TH, 1855. 


WORCESTERSHIRE BEACON. 


On Tuesday (12th June) the members of the Cotteswold (Gloucestershire), 
Woolhope (Herefordshire), and Malvern Clubs met at noon upon the summit of 
the Worcestershire Beacon, which had been chosen as the place where Sir Roderic 
Murchison would deliver a lecture on the Geology of the surrounding country, 
and Mr. Edwin Lees would also point out its principal features of interest in a 
botanical point of view. At this general rendezvous there could not have been 
less than 150 ladies and gentlemen. Amongst the latter were Sir Roderic 
Murchison, F.R.S., Sir Chas. Lyell, L. Horner, Esq., Rev. T. T. Lewis, Sir Chas. 
Hastings, M.D., Hon. and Rev. J. S. Cocks, Rev. W. S. Symonds, President of 
the Malvern Club, Rev. P. T. Brodie, Mr. C. Lingen, Professor Jas. Buckman, 
Dr. Wright, of Cheltenham, Dr. Grindrod, Rev. F. Dyson, Mr. W. Dowdeswell, 
Rey. J. F. Crouch, President of the Woolhope Club, Mr. P. Marriott, Mr. R. M. 
Lingwood, Rev. J. Pearson, Rev. W. L. Isaac, Mr. Edwin Lees, F.L.S., Messrs. 
Hewett Wheatley, Curtis Hayward, W. Burrow, Secretary of the Malvern Club, 
Rev. W. Thackwell, Rev. W. Thorne, Rev. D. Melville, Rev. — Taylor, Rev. 
T. Hutchinson, Mr. T. H. Lee Warner, Dr. Rootes, Mr. R. Johnson, Rev. S. P. 
Denning, Rev. G. Hodson, Captain Guise, Mr. S. Baker, Rev. F. Bayly, Dr. 
Guillemard, Rev. E. Bradley, Rev. C. Smith, Rev. C. Hill, Rev. W. A. Hill, 
Rey. A. Kent, Messrs. B. Maund, M. Curtler, M. M. B. Cooper, C. G. H. St. Pat- 
trick, H. Sewell, W. C. West, R. P. Hill, Shipway, Glynn, Chambers, Fellowes, 
Smythe, Walker, P. Baylis, A. Thompson, R. Wheatley, H. Hill, J. Burrows, 
Preedy, &c., &c. 


ADDRESS BY SIR R. MURCHISON. 


Sir R. Murchison commenced his address by remarking that, surrounded as 
he was then by friends to whom he had himself been greatly indebted for the 
knowledge of this region, he could not but take this opportunity of acknow- 
ledging his obligations. Before him stood Mr. Horner, who had explored this 
part of the country before he (Sir Roderic) set foot in it; and there was also his 
intimate friend, Mr. Lewis, of Aymestrey, who had developed the structure of the 
rocks in his native county long ago, and had been his precursor in laying open the 
wonders of the system to which he (the lecturer) had afterwards given the name 
of Silurian. And now having expressed the gratitude under which he laboured 
to those gentlemen, he would proceed at once to give his hearers a general notion 
of the geological features of the surrounding country. 


They were at that moment standing on a ridge composed of rocks of an 
igneous eruptive charcater, formed by fusion, which had come through all the 


146 


sedimentary rocks around them. But at what period did they rise up through 
the surrounding sediment ? Some of the rocks in the Malvern Hills were amongst 
the oldest to be found in England. But he would direct them first to the ex- 
tremity of the ridge, and take the rocks as they occurred in succession. 


If they would carry their eye to the Obelisk in Eastnor Park, and then a 
little to the left, they would discover a dome which was composed of the oldest 
rock in the Silurian system. It was composed of sandstone, beautifully grained, 
and full of the shells of trilobites—the agnostus and olenus—all characteristic 
of the very oldest strata of the Silurian series. In Scandinavia or Russia— 
wherever these rocks occurred, when carefully examined, the same lesson was 
invariably read, though their mineral condition might be extremely different. 
If they could examine them at St. Petersburg, where none of them could now pay 
a friendly visit, but where he begged to say he had been most honourably and 
kindly received, they would find these very rocks in a state of unconsolidated 
mud. On the banks of the Neva they found limestones scarcely consolidated, 
in the very process of settling down and becoming rock—not yet hardened and 
indurated, yet they yielded precisely similar fossils to those found in the rocks to 
which he was now directing their attention. This was the condition of these 
strata all through the north and central portions of Russia. They never had 
been operated upon as these at Malvern had, by heat and igneous action, yet the 
fossil remains found in them prove them to be exact equivalents of one another. 


When he first came through this part of the country the true system of 
classification had not been discovered, but now it is satisfactorily established 
that the age of rocks is in no degree determinable by the mineral characteristics, 
but only by the fossil remains found in them. Sir Chas. Lyell could tell them 
of a vast extent of country in North America, which, on this principle, had been 
proved equivalent to the Silurian and Devonian rocks of this neighbourhood, 
and he had thought it well to refer them thus to other countries in order that 
they might understand this point clearly. 


If, from the dome to which he had already referred them, they would carry 
their eye into the valley of Eastnor Park, and descend into Stumps’ Wood, they 
would find the sandstone connected with the limestone called the Woolhope 
limestone. The Woolhope limestones were the very bottom of the Upper Silurian 
series. The Upper Silurian rocks formed the chief strata in all the ridges which 
he saw before him on the Herefordshire side of the hills. The Woolhope were 
succeeded by the Wenlock limestones, which were characterised by fossils, many 
of which were preserved in the museum they would presently inspect, and they 
were identical with the rocks of which Gothland and those isles of the Baltic, 
which our fleet was now passing, were composed. 


The intervening valleys were occupied by shales, and in the ridges which they 
saw over Ledbury they came to the Ludlow limestone. Their eyes would 
easily discover, from the very red colour of the fields, where the Red Sandstone 
of the great Devonian formation first came in, and overlapped all those strata 
which spread beneath them for so great an extent of country. The line of the 


me = 


147 


eruption which had thrown up the Malvern ridge ran exactly north and south— 
they could trace it along the Berrow and Abberley Hills, and those who had long 
sight, yet further. He had come upon a little cone of syenite in the middle of a 
field about six or eight miles to the north of the spot where they were now standing, 
which fell exactly in the axis of this line of eruption, as marked by dialling with 
the other hills. 


Sir Roderic finished his allusion to the oldest rocks on the Herefordshire side 
of the hills, by pointing the attention of his auditors to the magnificent escarp- 
ment in the distance, where the Old Red Sandstone took an entirely different 
dip, and went underneath the Carboniferous rocks of the Forest of Dean, and by 
asserting his belief that the rocks of the Old Red were entirely equivalent to 
those of the magnificent gorges of the Rhine, though there they are slaty and 
crystalised, while here they are argillaceous. Excepting as to a few Conglo- 
merates and Cornstones found in the upper portion, nothing could be more 
monotonous than their appearance throughout ; it only proved that, in different 
parts of the same seas, different conditions had existed, one part containing 
more lime than others, and so on. 

Sir Roderic then turned to the New Red Sandstone on the Worcestershire 
side, differing toto celo from the Old Red, and containing groups of organic 
remains entirely distinct. He then explained the position of the New Red with 
the Lias and Oolite from the maps of the Geological Survey, in which, by the bye, 
he said he hoped now that he was appointed Director of the Survey, to effect 
some little improvement—colouring the different limestones so as to make them 
more distinguishable. 


Having just referred to the Bredon Hill as an outlying islet in the sea that 
once washed the Malvern Hills, and to the extensive denudation which must have 
taken place to cut it off from the Cotteswolds, to which it so evidently belonged, 
Sir Roderic showed how the age of the Malverns was determined by the condition 
of the rocks around it. There had indeed been an upheaval of the range since 
the New Red Sandstone was deposited at its base, for this rock was found tilted 
up against it at the extraordinary angle of 50 degrees, but this had been long 
after the Malverns had cooled down, for the sandstone was not in the least altered 
by heat at the point of contact—the disturbance had been merely mechanical. 
But blocks of Malvern Syenite were found imbedded in the Caradoc sandstone, 
which was much older than the New Red, and this proved that the Malvern 
ridge was in existence when these colder strata were in process of formation. 


Sir Roderic then adverted to the proofs that a sea had once rolled down 
“the Straits of Malvern,’ between the Malvern and Cotteswold ranges, and 
that at a period when the climate was excessively cold; for huge boulders of 
granite, evidently detached from the mountains of Cumberland and Scotland, 
were found scattered all along this channel, and he could not conceive how they 
could have been removed so far except by the action of glaciers. 


The whole of England must have been at one time connected with the 
continent of Europe, and the Isle of Man both with Ireland and England, for 


148 


the fossil remains of immense animals, the mammoth and gigantic stags, were 
found in Ireland, Cheshire, and the Isle of Man, where but a single herd of them 
would have eaten up all that the Island could contain. 


He might, he said, go on talking in this general way for an indefinite length 
of time; if he had had a party only of geologists to address he should have 
entered into details on one point only, but he saw around him many who were 
probably only just beginning to think about Geology. He was glad to see so 
many young people round, and he therefore contented himself with pointing 
out a few of the chief great phenomena of the region on which they were standing, 
in the hope that it might stimulate beginners in the science to pursue it with 
vigour and earnestness. 


They would now take a look at some of the cuttings in the neighbourhood, 
especially a quarry in the North Hill, where they would see specimens of the 
very varied mineralogy of the hills. Some people called them granite, others 
porphyry, others greenstone, and others, with more propriety, syenitic; but 
amongst them were forms of all those older rocks ; some specimens being found 
indeed even of gneiss, the oldest rock in the world ; proving once more that the 
mere mineralogical character of a rock could not determine its relative age. 
The learned lecturer concluded amid loud applause. 


Mr. Edwin Lees, F.L.S., then addressed to the company an interesting 
lecture on the Botany of the district, confining himself in his remarks, however, 
pretty much to pointing out the connection between geological and botanical 
studies, and to the assistance deriveable to the former from the latter. He 
entered into an examination of the fossil flora of the district, but said he would 
reserve all remarks upon the actually existing flowers till they met with them 
in their excursion. 


A select party forthwith plunged, under Mr. Lees’ guidance, into the woods 
and thickets at the bottom of the west side of the hills, in search of botanical 
rarities, but we believe they were not fortunate enough to meet with many very 
great novelties. 


The Geological party, with Sir R. Murchison, Sir C. Lyell, Rev. W. S. Symonds, 
and others, descended the hill, and first visited the section where Miss Phillips, 
the sister of the celebrated professor, first discovered the Caradoc Conglomerate. 
Sir Roderic here called attention to a remarkable reversal of the strata, the 
lower beds actually overlying the upper, as a consequence of some violent volcanic 
action. The party then proceeded to a dingle near the lodge of the Rev. J. S. 
Cocks, at Mathon, where the same inversion was well seen. Some of the party 
proceeded with the Rev. W. S. Symonds round the end hill, examining various 
objects of interest on their way, especially a large quarry at North Malvern, 
where the New Red Sandstone touches upon the Malvern syenite. 


The tunnel of the proposed line of the Worcester and Hereford railway 
could not be explored, as the works are now closed. 


149 


After coming back from their rambles, the naturalists examined with great 
interest the Museum of the Malvern Club, which, although so recent in its origin, 
and entirely the result of the individual labours of its members, already makes 
a very fair appearance, and contains fossils which Jermyn Street may well envy. 
It is very tastefully arranged in a room immediately at the back of the shop 
occupied by Messrs. Lea, Perrins, & Burrow. 


The Dinner took place at the Abbey Boarding House Hotel, at five o’clock, 
in the magnificent dining room of that establishment. A party of about roo 
gentlemen sat down to a first-rate entertainment, which, with the excellent 
wines afterwards served, did all possible credit to the catering and tact of the 
proprietor, Mr. Wm. Archer. The Chair was taken by Sir Roderic Murchison, 
with the High Sheriff of Worcestershire and Sir Chas. Lyell on his right, and the 
Hon. and Rev. J. S. Cocks and Mr. L. Horner on his left. The Rev. F. Dyson 
occupied the Vice-chair. Grace having been said, and the cloth drawn, Sir 
Roderic gave the usual loyal toasts. In proposing “‘ the Queen,’ he said that 
toast was always received right loyally whenever he proposed it to any scientific 
societies of the metropolis, and he had no doubt it would be welcomed as heartily 
by the dwellers in Siluria as any of the old Silurians would have welcomed Carac- 
tacus himself. (Laughter and cheers.) 


With very commendable condensation, the Chairman insisted upon putting 
“the Army and Navy, the Bishop and Clergy of the Diocese, and the High 
Sheriff,” all in one, and called upon Mr. Dowdeswell to reply to it. 


Mr. Dowdeswell accepted the task very good humouredly, and concluded 
by proposing the health of Sir R. Murchison, Sir C. Lyell, and the other dis- 
tinguished naturalists present, thanking them for their kindness in honouring 
the Club with their presence. (On the suggestion of Mr. Symonds, the toast 
was honoured with three times three.) 


Sir R. Murchison, in replying to the toast, said he had never been so sincerely 
delighted to come before his country as on the present occasion, because he now 
found himself amongst his scientific friends in the region which he had so sedu- 
lously set himself to work out for a great many years. He proposed the Natural 
History Society of Worcestershire, and called upon Sir Charles Hastings to 
respond. He was delighted to find that the Society had been the means of 
grouping other Societies around it of such importance as those here present. my 


Sir C. Hastings replied at some length, attributing the establishment of 
the Worcestershire Natural History Society to the acquaintance which he formed 
with Sir R. Murchison when he was getting out his great work on the Silurian 
system. The Museum of that Society had succeeded far beyond its expectations, 
and had given a great impetus to the study of Natural History in the county. 


The Chairman then gave the Natural History Field Clubs of Herefordshire, 
Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, and Warwickshire. They were doing the 
teal work of science, and he hoped they would long continue to flourish. The 


150 


geologists were infinitely indebted to their labours. He coupled with the toast’ 
the name of the President of the Malvern Club. (Loud applause.) 


The Rev. W. S. Symonds, in replying, eloquently urged upon his friends the 
desirability of making the elements of natural science part of the education of 
the humbler classes, and read an interesting extract from a letter from Professor 
Henslow, showing how he had taught Botany to the children of the parish in 
which he resided. He thought the natural sciences ought to form part of the 
curriculum in our Universities, but certainly our working classes would be holier 
and happier for being instructed in the knowledge of these things. 


The Rev. F. Dyson proposed the health of the honorary members of the 
Clubs, coupling with the toast the name of Leonard Horner, Esq. (Applause.) 


Mr. Horner said he felt some shame in thinking that when he published (in 
1811) his ‘‘ Mineralogy of Malvern Hills,” he had left so much unexplored, but 
was delighted to find the district was being so well explored, and expressed the 
great gratification which the day’s visit had afforded them. 


The Chairman proposed the health of Sir Chas. Lyell, amidst great applause. 


Sir C. Lyell, in replying, alluded to the only visit he had ever made to Malvern 
before, 30 years ago, and to the progress which geological science had made in 
the interval. 


Sir R. Murchison announced that the time for adjournment had arrived, 
and gave them their “next merry Meeting,” for he hoped often to meet them 
again. (Cheers.) He promised, as Director of the Geological Survey, to send 
the Maps published by the Survey, and other valuable works, to their Museum. 


The party then adjourned to the Saloon, where papers were read by Professor 
Buckman, Mr. Lees, and others. 


as 


me Ep 


151 


oolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


SECOND FIELD MEETING, TUESDAY, JULY 24TH, 1855. 


EARDISLEY. 


On Tuesday (24th) the members of this Club held their Second Field Meeting 
of the season at Eardisley. The attendance, owing to the wetness of the morning 
and other causes, was thin, but a very pleasant and instructive day was spent. 
At nine a.m., the party met at breakfast at the New Inn, the Chair being filled 
by the respected President, the Rev. J. F. Crouch, Rector of Pembridge. Between 
to and 11 o’clock, the sky having cleared, the party set out on their scientific 
exploration of the district. 


The route taken was by Willersley and Letton to Bredwardine Bridge, and 
thence up the hill to the Cromlech, or so-called Druidical monument of Arthur’s 
Stone. This Cromlech they found to consist of three large blocks of stone, of 
which the two* upon the ground are masses of Cornstone, while the superincum- 
bent (which is also the largest) block, is of the Old Red Sandstone, placed in a 
horizontal position as regards the stratification. As the Cornstone “ crops out,” 
and is at present being burnt for lime, at a distance of about half a mile to the 
northward of this spot, and as the hill itselt is of the Old Red, there is no ground 
for supposing that the Cromlech was formed of stones brought to the hill from 
any other place. 


After examining the stone, the party proceeded along the pleasant green 
lane, in which Arthur’s Stone stands, towards the northern extremity of the hill, 
which is known as Merbage point. The view westward as they passed along, 
was striking; the whole extent of the Golden Valley, dotted with scattered 
farm-houses, the secluded village of Dorstone, and the tall spire of Peterchurch 
peering out from amid the trees, and the ridge of Cusop and Vagar hills carrying 
the eye upward to the stern and bare Black Mountains, in the background ; 
while the southern horizon was bounded by the Blorenge and the Scyrrid; and 
the Graig, Garway, Saddlebow, and Orcop hills led on the eye to the far-off 
Malvern range, the limit of view to the east. 


From Merbage Point, a magnificent panorama delighted their eyes. The 
day, at this time, about 2 p.m., was brilliantly fine, and the fertile vale, bright 
with the windings of the glittering Wye—the wooded slopes of Ladylift and 
Bishopstone—the Upper Ludlow ridges stretching on to meet the broad hills of 
Radnorshire and the lofty Begwm in the west, with the ridges of igneous rock 
which surround it—made up a scene equally rich in natural beauty and in scientific 
interest. 


* The separate supporters are eight in number. See page 158.—Zditor. 


152 


After resting awhile upon the Point, the party descended to the Cornstone 
quarry, but did not succeed in discovering any fossils. They then made their 
way to the Clock-mill Ferry, crossed the river, and returned by Letton to Eardisley, 
Mr. Bryan, the attentive host of the New Inn, being mindful of the great truth 
that even philosophers must dine, had a well-prepared dinner awaiting them ; 
and the party betook themselves to the discussion of the different ‘ formations és 
placed before them. 


After dinner, Mr. R. W. Banks, of Kington, read a carefully prepared and 
interesting essay on the “ Pterygotus problematicus”’ of the Downton Sand- 
stone, which was illustrated by a number of well-executed drawings and several 
specimens found by Mr. Banks in the rock at Bradnor quarry, near Kington. 
A conversation ensued, which terminated in a vote of thanks to Mr. Banks for 
his excellent and valuable paper. The party broke up at 9 p.m. 


The Botanical researches of the day did not produce many rare plants, but 
Orobanche major, Carex pulicavia, Montia fontana, Potamogeton crispus, Eptpactis 
latifolia (abundant near Clock-mill Ferry), Nasturtium palustre, N. tervestre, Hy- 
pericum pulchrum, H. humifusum, Aspargia hispida, Cerastium glomeratum,,Cam- 
panula patula, C. latifolia, Ranunculus hirsutus, R. flammula, Aspidium oreopterts, 
&c., were found. 


153 


oolhope Haturalists’ Field Club. 


THIRD FIELD MEETING, TursDAy, AUGUST I4TH, 1855. 


LUDLOW. 


This Society held its Third Field Meeting for this season on Tuesday, August 
14th, at Ludlow. The day being brilliantly fine, there was a good attendance of 
members, and a very pleasant day was spent. 


The Hereford members left this city by train at 7 a.m., and reached Ludlow 
at 8-15. On arriving at the station, they were met by a brother member, Mr. H. 
Salwey, of that town, who had hospitably invited the party to breakfast at the 
Cliff, where a number of the members of the Ludlow Natural History Society 
had already assembled. After having partaken of a sumptuous meal, the mem- 
bers proceeded to transact the business of the Club. The election of five new 
members (who had previously been proposed) was postponed in consequence of 
the list being full, and notice was given that it would be proposed at the next 
Annual Meeting to extend the number of members from 50 to 60. It was also 
notified that on the same occasion a plan would be submitted for forming and 
arranging a collection of Natural History specimens to be confined to those of 
this county. 


Business having been transacted, the party, numbering exactly 40, started 
in three omnibuses and an open carriage (supplied by Mr. Prothero of the Feathers 
Hotel), and among them we noticed several ladies, who accompanied the party 
in their scramble across the hills, and who were much interested in the day’s 
proceedings. Sir Charles Lyell, to whose labours geologists are so much indebted, 
accompanied by Lady Lyell, honoured the club with their presence. 


The route taken was by Bitterley and Bedlam, towards the lofty Titterstone 
Clee Hill, whose basaltic peak forms so conspicuous a feature of the noble land- 
scape around Ludlow. The view from the ‘‘ Giant’s Chair,’ to which the party 
ascended, was magnificent. Although there was a slight haziness in the sky, a 
vast range of country, unequalled in interest to the geologist, and unsurpassed 
in natural beauty, presented itself to the admiring eyes of the visitors. The 
massive Old Red mountains of Radnor Forest, the Hatteral, Scyrrid-fawr, and 
the range of Graig, Garway, Saddlebow, and Aconbury; the lofty hills which 
tringe—if we may so write—the Silurian islet of Woolhope; the noble igneous 
range of Malvern and Abberley; the broad mass of the Brown Clee, and the 
picturesque Silurian ridges and peaks of Caer Caradoc and the Stiperstones, 
successively met the eye as it wandered round the wonderfully beautiful landscape. 


Titterstone Clee, as our geological readers are aware, consists of a patch of 
the Carboniferous system resting upon a huge mass of basalt, part of which, after 
coming up to the surface, has flowed over the coal, as lava covers the surface of 


154 


the soil from beneath which it has risen. This fact, having been ascertained by 
geology, has been turned to account by the coal miners, who, in some places have 
bored through the basalt, and now work the Coal Measures beneath it. The 
party of course bent their steps across this basaltic capping, guided by the Rev. 
T. T. Lewis, to the sections of Mountain Limestone on the ridge of Knowl Hill, 
thence descending to the Golden Cross, where their carriages awaited them. 


The visitors then proceeded to Nash Court, the residence of George Pardoe, 
Esq., who had previously invited the Club. Here they were entertained at an 
elegant déjéuner ; an appreciation of his hospitality was expressed in an appro- 
priate speech by the President (Rev. J. F. Crouch). 


The Club has never since its formation received such attention as from its 
* Ludlow members and their friends ; and it will be doubtless gratifying to them to 
know that their guests were highly gratified. On returning to Ludlow, the members 
visited the Museum, which they found to contain a splendid collection, especially 
of Silurian fossils. Among the party were noticed Sir Charles and Lady Lyell, 
the Rev. J. F. Crouch, the President of the Club; Rev. T. T. Lewis, of Aymestrey ; 
Rev. W. S. Symonds, Pendock; Rev. W. H. Thackwell, Rev. H. Lee Warner, 
Rey. T. Hutchinson, Rev. J. H. Barker, Rev. —. Hayward, Rev. H. T. Hill, 
Rev. J. Millar, Col. Colvin and Master Colvin, Captain Johnstone, Mr. H. and 
Mrs. Salwey, Mr. G. Pardoe, Mr. H. J. Pardoe, Miss Pardoe, Mr. F. Nash, Mr. 
H. Hodges, Mr. H. Lightbody, Mr. and Mrs. Hodgson, Mr. D. and Miss Lewis, 
Mr. C. Lingen, Mr. Suter (Hon. Sec), Mr. T. Curley, Mr. Marston, Mr. Cocking, 
Dr. Rowan, Mr. Ballard, Mr. A. Thompson, &c. 


155 


EXHIBITION OF THE HEREFORDSHIRE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 


SEPTEMBER 4TH, 1855- 


Two Herbaria were sent in to compete for the Woolhope Club’s prizes, the 
competition for which was this year thrown open to the whole county. The 
collection which bore the motto ‘‘ Feci quod potui » was almost wholly composed 
of plants gathered in the immediate neighbourhood of Hereford ; while the other 
Herbarium in like manner illustrated the botany of eastern Herefordshire. 
The commonest plants had been to a great extent omitted, but each collection 
contained some rare plants, although neither was so extensive as we have seen 
in former competitions for the Woolhope Club’s prize. The Hereford Herbarium, 
which contained 376 specimens, and obtained the first prize (an elegant gold 
pencil-case) proved to be the compilation of Mr. Flavell Edmunds, of this City- 
The second prire (also a handsome gold pencil-case) was awarded to the Herbarium 
bearing the motto “ Coetera desunt,” containing 361 plants, sent by Miss Piper, 
of Blackway, Canon Froome. It was curious that the mottoes chosen should not 
only be both in the same language (Latin), but should make together a complete 
and appropriate sentence if taken in the order in which they were ranked by the 
Judges. Thus: “ Feci quod potui ; coetera desunt”—I have done what I could ; 
the rest are wanting.” The collections were prepared with much care, and 
were generally very correctly named. The second collection included a tastefully 
arranged bouquet of wild flowers, and several lichens and mosses. The numbers 
were reduced by disqualification of particular plants to those stated in the prize- 
lists. The plants in the second collection were put out on sheets of paper of too 
small a size to show properly the characteristics of the plants; but they never- 
theless evinced so much care in their preparation, that the judges recommended 
a gold pencil-case to be awarded to this collection also, which was done. 


156 


CGoolhope Naturalists’ Field GElub. 


ANNUAL MEETING, 


TUESDAY, JANUARY 22ND, 1856. 


On Tuesday, January 22nd, the Annual Meeting of the Members of this 
Club was held at the house of the Hon. Secretary, Mr. Suter, in Bye Street, in 
this city. The Rev. J. F. Crouch, the President, occupied the Chair. After 
the usual routine business had been transacted, five candidates were balloted 
for, and elected members. The President then delivered a highly interesting 
farewell address, detailing the operations of the club during the year, which the 
members unanimously requested the President to allow to be printed in connexion 
with the papers of the Club. 


Mr. Flavell Edmunds proposed that Mr. Hewett Wheatley, the eminent 
Ichthyologist, should be elected President for the ensuing year. The proposition 
was seconded by Mr. Suter, Hon. Sec., and supported by the Rev. T. T. Lewis, 
Dr. Bull, Mr. Lingwood, and other gentlemen, and unanimously agreed to. 


Mr. Wheatley, having taken the Chair, votes of thanks were passed to the 
late President and to the Hon. Secretary (who was unanimously requested to 
continue his valuable services). On the motion of the Rev. J. F. Crouch, a 
Committee was appointed to consider the propriety and feasibility of forming a 
Museum to be devoted exclusively to the Natural History of the County. The 
Field Meetings were appointed to be held at Bromyard on June 31d; at Kington 
July 29; and at Abergavenny on September gth. It was considered desirable 
that a bye-day should be appointed for the month of August, to enable the 
members to visit the meeting of the British Association at Cheltenham in that 
month. 


ADDRESS OF THE PRESIDENT, Rev. J. F. CROUCH. 
JANUARY 22ND, 1856. 


Gentlemen of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club,—The time has arrived at 
which I am called on to resign the very honourable position to which you raised 
me a year ago, and to give some short account of the proceedings of our Club 
during that period, in obedience to the requirements of our eighth rule. This 
duty I could have wished to have fallen into abler hands than mine. I will not, 
however, waste more time than is necessary in apologies for inefficiency, of which 
I have too often been conscious, but offer my best thanks for your kindness to 
me, and proceed at once with my statement. 


Firstly. It gives me great pleasure to inform you that our finances are in a 
healthy state on the whole. We have not yet thought it expedient to put the 
twelfth rule into force, but in justice to ourselves and candidates for admission 


157 


we cannot long delay it. Secondly. Ourclubisfull. We have no loss to lament 
—we have gained much. To our list of Honorary Members we have added Sir 
Charles Lyell, who may well be called a Working Member, for none, as I believe, 
of those who have had the pleasure of meeting him on two occasions within the 
year can have forgotten the zeal which characterized him in the pursuit of his 
favourite science, nor the frankness and freedom with which he imparted to the 
younger disciples in the same school the knowledge which he possessed. May 
our list of ordinary Members, to which we have had the good fortune to add 
several valuable men, furnish us with as ardent working men as Sir Charles Lyell. 
We shall then, year by year, with increased ardour, go forth in the spirit of the 
poet, to 

“ Read nature—nature is a friend to truth, 

“* Nature is Christian—preaches to mankind, 

“And bids dead matter aid us in our creed.” 


Our meetings during the year have been as usual, three—at Malvern, Eardis- 
ley, and Ludlow. The first was an aggregate one of the Malvern, Cotswold, 
Warwick, and Woolhope Clubs, held there by the invitation of the Malvern Club, 
and was attended by Mr. Horner, who forty-five years before had written on the 
Mineralogy of the Malvern Range, Sir Roderick Murchison, Sir C. Lyell, and Mr. 
Brodie, of our Honorary Members, and a large number of good and true naturalists. 
The day was nearly all that could be wished, and will be long remembered by me, 
who stood on the summit of the Worcestershire Beacon for the first time in my 
life, and listened to Sir R. Murchison, as he directed our attention to the wonders 
that lay at our feet on the one side and the other of that marvellous range, in the 
successive formations of lower and upper Silurian, Old Red Sandstone, Carboni- 
ferous, New Red Sandstone, Lias and Oolite, and carried us with him to Russia 
and Scandinavia, where he himself had marked their equivalents, and to America, 
where Sir C. Lyell had done the same, and brought forcibly to our minds the 
words of the Psalmist, ‘“*O Lord, how manifold are Thy works, in wisdom hast 
Thou made them all. The earth is full of Thy riches.” It is not for me to attempt 
to follow him through his lecture, nor to do much more than notice the eloquent 
parallel drawn by Mr. Lees, who succeeded him, between Geology and its sister 
(younger indeed, but perhaps more beautiful) Botany, and shewed how a kind 
providence has gradually clothed the rugged rock with verdure and with beauty, 
and at the same time put the indelible mark of change upon it all. The Geological 
division afterwards made their way to the quarry with which the name of Miss 
Phillips is connected, and found most interesting specimens of the Caradoc 
conglomerate, showing its junction with the igneous rock, and had their attention 
drawn to the great natucal phenomenon of the overturning of the strata, by 
which the younger have taken the place of the older formation, and after a 
delightful ramble round the North Hill, noticing various objects of interest, par- 
ticularly a large quarry at North Malvern, where the New Red touches on the 
syenite, returned to the Malvern Museum, where they met their botanical triends, 
who, under the direction of Mr. Lees, had examined the great bog, and a most 
interesting line of country, and had gathered many plants, but nothing very rare. 
After dinner, Professor Buckman read a paper on the Terebratule of the Oolite 


158 


formation in the neighbourhood of Cirencester, and Mr. Lees another on some 
very remarkable forms of the cryptogamic Flora of Malvern, both illustrated by 
specimens and drawings; and in leaving this part of my subject, I feel that I 
should have done my duty very imperfectly, if I did not record my sense of the 
admirable endeavours of the gentlemen ot the Malvern Club for the entertainment 
of their brother Naturalists of the other Clubs. I hope that we may take one 
lesson from them at least, and bearing in mind how much time may be lost in 
a description, when a specimen is before us, may ere long follow their example, 
and have a good local Museum of our own. I may mention that in the Museum 
at Malvern we saw specimens of the plumbago lately discovered in the tunnel on 
the Worcester and Hereford Railway, and perhaps the only disappointment 
which we experienced was the loss of the opportunity of examining it in s7/u, on 
account of the works being suspended. 


The following day was intended to be devoted to the examination of the 
Keuper beds at Pendock by one section, and some portions of the south end of 
the Malvern range by another ; but after exploring one bed of the Keuper, and 
an outlier of the Lias on Berrow Hill, in a wood near which latte: place we saw the 
Listera Nidus Avis, or Bird’s Nest Orchis, in great luxuriance, nature proved 
that she had a black as well as a fair side to her face, and a heavy continuous rain 
forced us from the field. Thus ended our first meeting. 


We now descend from great things to small. Our second meeting was fixed 
for Eardisley, and a more unpromising morning for an excursion I have not often 
witnessed. We met few in number, and the rain having ceased after breakfast, 
started for Bredwardine Bridge, and from thence up the hill, intending to make 
for Arthur’s Stone. (In this part of our walk we found Orobanche Major in great 
plenty.) We were the more anxious to see this ancient monument of people and 
times long passed away, for it had been suggested that it might be a boulder, and 
throw some light on the glacial theory, but it seems to be formed of simply the 
stone of the country. The supporters, eight in number, are of cornstone, which 
is found in a quarry a little lower down the side of the hill, at about the distance 
of half a mile, where it is burned into lime. The horizontal one is of the chocolate 
coloured sandstone, found in a quarry at the north point of the ridge. We found 
no fossils of any kind. We descended the hill, crossing the Wye at Clock Mill 
Ferry, and reached Eardisley by way of Winforton and Willersley, having cata- 
logued about 230 plants. After dinner, Mr. Banks read a most interesting and 
valuable paper on the subject of the discoveries which he has lately made at 
Bradnor, near Kington, in the tilestones, illustrated by specimens and drawings ; 
but as this will very shortly form part of the proceedings of the Geological Society, 
and as there is reason to believe that his drawings of the Pterygotus will be 
engraved and form part of a forthcoming Decade of organic remains, under the 
direction of Mr. Salter, in conjunction with the magnificent suite of allied genera, 
and species which have been recently procured from the uppermost Silurian 
Black Schists of Scotland, I feel that I shall better discharge my duty by referring 
you to them, than in any other way. 


159 


Our third and last meeting was at Ludlow. The early morning was spent in 
the Museum, where we had the advantage of seeing some of the most interesting 
specimens lately collected in the neighbourhood, by Mr. Lightbody and others. 
The route for the day was by way of Bitterley to Titterstone summit, where, 
after examining the basaltic capping, and tracing the walls of the ancient encamp- 
ment, we crossed the basin to Hoar-Edge, and on to the mountain limestone, and 
works at Nover’s Farm, remarking, as we went, the columnar form of the basaltic 
rocks, and picking up some specimens of the Ironstone. Here Sir Charles Lyell 
called our attention to a remarkable curve in the strata, and a red line in those 
overlying the limestone, which did not appear to be explained. On our way 
back to Ludlow we examined a quarry or two at the base of Tinker’s Hill, near 
Cainham Camp. The botanists were more successful than usual. Mr. Hodges, 
of Ludlow, shewed a specimen of Osmunda Regalis, gathered on Clee Hills. 
Polypodium Phegopteris, P. Dryopteris, Pteris crispa, Aspidium Borreri, 
Campanula Hederacea, and other curious and interesting plants, were found. I 
may say that our physical wants were most carefully attended to by Messrs. 
Salwey and G. Pardoe, Nash Court, who kindly threw open their houses for our 
accommodation, and of them I must beg the acceptance of the best thanks of the 
Club. Such is the best account which I am able to give of our meetings. I only 
wish that it were more worthy of your notice. Your eighth rule seems to look 
for “‘such observations as your President may deem conducive to the welfare 
of the Club, and the promotion of its objects.” 


The constitution of our Club supposes us each more or less engaged in the 


“ 


pursuit of natural science, and provides ‘‘ that members finding rare or interesting 
specimens, or observing any remarkable phenomenon relating to any branch of 
natural history, shall immediately forward a statement thereof to the Honorary 
Secretary,” and this is required for ‘‘ the formation and publication of correct 
lists of the various natural productions of the country.” This rule has not been 
so exactly observed as probably it might have been. I have, however, endeav- 
voured by applications to particular members, to do something towards the 
supply of this deficiency, and I am bound to say that those applications have 
been met in a very liberal spirit ; so much so, indeed, as to persuade me that it is 
only necessary to call attention to this rule, in order to obtain very interesting 
papers at our meetings. 


I shall begin with Mr. Purchas, who has, in a particular manner, taken 
charge of the botanical portion of the objects of the Club. It has been often 
remarked, that no list of the plants of this county has been published. This is 
true, but it must not be supposed that no attempts have been made. The 
labour of examining a county is no light affair. It must be borne in mind that 
unpublished manuscripts like Mr. Williams’, the value of which is acknowledged 
by Mr. Leighton in his excellent Flora of Shropshire, are known to exist, and that 
he has had only a small number of assistants in his enquiries. That you may 
know something about what has been done and is doing, he has kindly furnished 
me with a statement, the substance of which I will read to you. 


160 


The map of Herefordshire has been divided into fourteen districts, somewhat 
arbitrarily perhaps, for, natural divisions being impossible, convenience suggested 
them. 


The total number of flowering plants and ferns as yet satisfactorily ascer- 
tained, is somewhere about 750. This does not include such doubtful natives as 
Castanea vesca, nor plants, which, like Hesperis matronalis, have been met with 
in clover fields and cultivated ground. Neither are the forms of Rubus fruticosus 
separately reckoned. Of these, 702 are recorded in Mr. Purchas’ own district 
(No. 2), the remaining 48 are then scattered irregularly among the others. This 
number, he thinks, ought not to satisfy us: when we consider the variety of soil 
and geological formations within the boundary of the county,the number of species 
which it may be expected to produce must be nearer 800. The districts 1 and 2, 
comprising the part of the county bounded by the Newport and Abergavenny 
Railway on one side, and the road from Mordiford to Lea on the other, have been 
fairly examined, although neither of them can be said to be exhausted—especially 
the northern parts. From each about 700 species are recorded. No. 3, adjoining 
No. 2, and running south from Tarrington, produces some of the rarer plants of 
the county, e.g., Lathrea squamaria, Convallaria majalis, Potentilla verna. It 
has been chiefly examined by Mr. Lingwood, when resident at Mordiford, and on 
the occasion of the first excursion of the Club, a considerable number of species 
was catalogued. The district about Tarrington, Putley, &c., still requires exam- 
ination. Of No. 4, which may be called the Ledbury district, the eastern part of 
which comes within the limits of Mr. Lees’ ‘‘ Malvern Botany,” a reference to that 
interesting little book establishes many species as natives of our county, but there 
is still a large tract of ground, comprehendeng the parishes of Bosbury, Canon 
Frome, Castle Frome, Munsley, &c., which remains, so far as we know, unexplored. 


No. 5, which we call the Bromyard district, distinguished as containing the 
habitat of the most remarkable plant inthe county, Epipogon Gmelini, has been 
very imperfectly examined. Lees’ ‘“‘ Malvern Botany” gives some help as to 
the plants of the south part, and Messrs. Purchas and Hutchinson catalogued as 
many species as they could (between 200 and 300), on the occasion of their 
search for the Epipogon last summer, which I regret to say was unsuccessful. 
From No. 6, extending right and left of the road from Bromyard to Hereford, a 
few plants are recorded, but the parishes of Pencombe, Ullingswick, Cowarne, 
Marston Chapel, and Moreton Jeffreys, have not hitherto been examined with a 
view to forming anything like a complete list. 


From No. 7, the Hereford district, Mr. Davies has collected a good number 
of species, and Mr. Purchas has marked down others from the prize bouquets of 
the Horticultural Society, and from his own visits, to the number of 400 or more, 
but it is clear that examination is needed. 


From No. 8, bounded on the north by the road from Leominster to Willersley, 
Mr. Blashill, who was very careful and accurate, has recorded 463 species. 


No. 9, extending to the north from Leominster to Orleton and Brimfield, has 
been very diligently worked by Mr. Hutchinson, who, in the course of last summer, 


161 


has added Convallaria multiflora, which, until that time, had never been known 
to grow in the county. There is every hope and expectation that a few more may 
yet be recorded. The number at present is believed to be nearer 600 than 500. 


In No. 10, comprising Aymestry, Wigmore, and Leintwardine, Mr. Thomas 
Woodhouse’s observations, and the excursions of the Club, have brought up the 
number of species to 463. Lathrza squamaria is plentiful near Kinsham. 


Of No. 11, called the Kington district, I fear that very little is at present 
known. Messrs. Hutchinson and Miller have found a few interesting plants, and 
among them Meenchia erecta. 


No. 12, a narrow slip extending from Leominster to Brilley, is considered 
more particularly my district. I wish that I could say it has been more closely 
examined than it has been. Of the western portion I know very little indeed. 
The number of species ascertained may be about 500. 


From No. 13, the Golden Valley district, Mr. Blashill has recorded a small 
number of species found in the northern part, and the excursion of the Club in 
1854, to Monmouth Cap and Rowlstone, has enabled us to record a few hundred 
species from the southern part. 


No. 14, containing the south-west portion of the county, adjoining the last, 
remains almost unexplored. 


In the Geological branch of our proceedings, the discoveries made by some of 
our members, as well as the light thrown on them by those of others in Scotland 
and elsewhere, are most interesting. I am informed by Mr. Symonds that the 
Upper Ludlow bone bed has been discovered near Malvern by the Rev. F. Dyson, 
at Brockhill Copse, identical in position, &c., with the other known localities. 
A great discovery has recently been made by Mr. Salter, viz., that the Cambrian 
rocks of the Longmynd are fossiliferous—that trilobites and fucoids are found 
there, and it seems to remain for Sir R. Murchison to announce, in his second 
edition of Siluria, that there are no stratified deposits which can be called azoic. 
With regard to Mr. Lightbody’s discoveries, I beg to say that I requested him to 
give us some account of them in a paper, or allow me to incorporate them in this 
address. He has chosen the latter mode. In a letter just received he says, “I 

found on Whitcliffe in the spring, a trifid tail or spine of some crustacean, which 
I fancied might be ‘ Leptocheles,’ and which, when sent to London, was at first 
said to be a ‘ Dithyrocharis,’ but is now, on further examination by Salter, 
pronounced to be ‘Ceratiocharis, a mew species, which he has called 
* Robustus,’ being much stouter in the make than the spines called ‘ Leptocheles 
Murchisoni,’ and which must now be called ‘ Ceratiocharis Murchisoni.’? Mr. 
Salter, looking through our museum at Ludlow, in the autumn, fortunately dis- 
covered in an unnamed species, the tail or body of probably L. or C. Murchisoni, 
with the base of the spines attached, and which came from Clunbury. One of 
my boys afterwards found on Whitcliffe, two joints of the body, with parts of 
spines attached, and exhibiting longitudinal strie, and therefore probably differ- 
ing from the Clunbury specimen.” This fossil is engraved in the October number 


162 


of the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. It may be satisfactory also to 
state that Professor Harkness has informed Mr. Symonds, that among the dis- 
coveries of Mr. Slimon, at Lesmahago, in Scotland, there are some trifids like Mr. 
Lightbody’s Phyllopod. 


He then informs me of discoveries of portions of the Pterygotus, which the 
Ludlow Geologists have made, especially one which looked like a fish’s tail 
(membranaceous scaly above), together with some spines, which Mr. Salter con- 
siders to be the end of one of the swimming limbs, also of a new kind, which 
Salter calls Himanopterus punctatus. But I hope that he may himself be 
prevailed upon to give us a paper on the subject of that, and of his other dis- 
coveries, including the star fish af Leintwardine, and a “rara avis,’’ which has 
fallen in his way, Ascoceras Bohemicus, noted by Barrande in Bohemia, but never 
until now found, or at least made known, as British. And in this hope, I shall 
desist from further notice of the letter. 


Mr. Banks also most kindly responded to my request for information, by 
sending me an account of the Scottish discoveries, and his own at Bradnor, but 
as they have been published in the Society's reports, I must refer you to them 
for fuller information than I can give, except by copying the whole report. He 
has seen, and reports that the Scotch fossils are most instructive and interesting, 
because in many instances the form of the animal is all but entire, while all the 
peculiarities of form are remarkably preserved. He says, you may imagine how 
perfect some of the specimens are, when I mention that, with the aid of a glass, 
the pair of jaw feet in one specimen is seen with its inferior articulations in 
working order; and that, in most instances, the didactyle foot, with its pincer, 
is entire. They occur on large slabs of a slaty material, and look like casts of 
black sealing wax. Many of the portions, especially the jaw feet, resemble the 
Pterygotus, and there is but little doubt entertained by Mr. Salter that the Himan- 
opteri are closely allied to Pterygotus. 


Mr. Banks also informs me that his cephalaspis-like heads have, with C. 
Lewisii and Lloydii, been provisionally styled Pteraspis. To this I may add that 
I have found some good specimens in the Leysters beds, as well as a portion of a 
head, but perhaps of a different species from the Lower Ludlow at Leintwardine. 
This fact seemed curious enough to warrant my mentioning it here. 


I may mention that the Meteorological observations of the Club have been 
continued under Mr. Wheatley’s superintendence, and I think you will agree with 
me, that our thanks are eminently due to him for the pains which he has taken 
in that department. 


As regards the Zoology of the county, I know not that I have much to say. 
I have seen by the papers that a specimen of the Red-throated or speckled Diver 
has been taken near Ross, and in my own parish, a pair of the Anas clypeata, or 
Shoveler duck, and a Green Sandpiper are the principal strangers, if indeed they 
are strangers. 


; 
! 
. 


163 


In the Entomological department, I hope my successors may have more to 
say than I have. We have now on our list more than one good observer. I 
trust we shall not look to them in vain. 


I know not that I can add anything to what I have said. Permit me then 
to repeat my thanks to those who have done the work of the Club cordially with 
me in the field, and in an especial manner to those who have given me their 
assistance in this my account of myself and them. I hope before long that we 
shall have an answer to those who look with wondering eyes on our baskets, 
bags, vascula, and nets, in a museum which shall be worthy of the county ; and 
to the conceited ‘cui bono” enquirer, be able to say “‘ Circumspice.” 


DRIFTS OF HEREFORDSHIRE. 


At the Annual Meeting on Tuesday, January 22nd, the following objects of 
interest were laid upon the table for examination :—Finely stuffed specimens of 
the Red-throated Grebe, exhibited by Mr. Lee Warner, junior; a collection of 
deers’ horns and bones found in the sewerage excavations, Hereford, by the 
Honorary Secretary ; some specimens of the Hereford Drifts, consisting of Ludlow 
rock, Lydian stone, felspathic and Cambrian rocks, &c., by Mr. Flavell Edmunds. 
—From The Hereford Times, February 2nd, 1856. 


164 


Woolbope Haturalists’ Field Club. 


First Frerp MEETING, JUNE 3RD, 1856. 


BROMYARD. 


On Tuesday, June 3rd, the members held their first Field Meeting for the 
season. Bromyard having been fixed for the place of meeting, a party of mem- 
bers left Hereford for that town about 7 a.m. The morning being brilliantly 
fine, and the effects of the late rains and subsequent warm days being everywhere 
visible in the luxuriant beauty of the vegetation, the ride was a delightful one. 
About 9 o’clock the members arrived at the Falcon Hotel, Bromyard, where they 
were joined at breakfast by several members and visiting friends from the neigh- 
bourhood. 


In the absence of the President (Mr. Hewett Wheatley, of Hereford), Mr. 
R. M. Lingwood, of Lyston, was called to the Chair, and the usual routine business 
was transacted. 


About 11 a.m. the party started on a scientific exploration of part of the 
exquisitely beautiful scenery which surrounds the clean and quiet town of Brom- 
yard. Taking the Tenbury road for a short distance, they crossed Buckenhill 
Park, leaving on the left Edvin Camp, and Edvin Ralph, and making their way 
through the valley near Saltmarshe Castle to Edvin Loach. 


After examining the quaint little church at that spot, as well as the various 
small quarries on the line of route, the party made their way by Norton to the 
beautiful heights above Linceter. 


Here the magnificent view stretching from Titterstone Clee by Abberley Hill, 
Clifton-on-Teme, Ankerdine Hill, the wooded vale of Teme, the ‘“ fair cham- 
pagne”’ of Worcestershire, to the lofty heights of the Malvern ridge, contrasted 
with the picturesque wooded valley at their feet, long detained the admiring gaze 
ofthe party. For its scientific interest alone, the landscape could not be surpassed 
anywhere ; the working out of the Silurian system by Sir R. Murchison, from 
those very hills, making the scene classic ground, while the variety of strata, 
palzozoic and mesozoic, aqueous and igneous, sandstones, limestones, coal, and 
the volcanic syenite, towering high over them all into the blue heavens, suggested 
to the geologist abundant matter for thought. The unknown vastness of the 
bygone periods indicated by the view, no less than the vast number of the forms 
of life represented by the fossils garnered up in hill and dale before the eye, gave 
an added charm of the highest kind to the wondrous natural beauty of the scene. 


165 


Passing from this enchanted spot, the party made their way down to the 
curious old Moated Grange and ruined Church of Brockhampton. Here the 
Elizabethan gatehouse and drawbridge, and the singularly beautiful tracery in 
the east window of the desolate Church, attracted much admiration. 


After ascending the wooded hill to Upper Brockhampton, the party passed 
through Clater Park on to the “breezy downs.” At the great quarry on this 
elevated spot they spent some time, and then made their way back to their hotel 
at Bromyard, fully prepared to extend their investigations to the viands which 
awaited them. 


After dinner, a pleasant hour or two was spent in conversation, of which one 
of the subjects was the extent and nature of the Drift in the valleys of the Wye 
and Lugg. The discussion on this subject was introduced by Mr. Flavell 
Edmunds, of Hereford, and participated in by the Chairman, the Hon. Secretary, 
the Rev. Mr. Hill, of Felton, Rev. Mr. Kershaw, of Bromyard, Mr. Curley, of 
Hereford, and other gentlemen. 


The botanical members did not find any rare plants during their ramble, 
the extent of which, indeed, prevented any great amount of time from being 
bestowed on the examination of any place which they visited. 


About 7 p.m. the party broke up, and after some of the members had visited 
the venerable and interesting old Church—the Rev. Mr. Kershaw kindly acting 
as cicerone—the Hereford party left the town soon after 8 p.m., and arrived in 
this City about ro o'clock. 


166 


GHoolkope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


SeconD Fietp MEETING, TUESDAY, JULY 29TH, 1856. 


KINGTON. 


The members of the Club held their second Meeting for this year at 
Kington, on Tuesday, 29th July, when the following members were present :— 
Mr. R. W. Banks, Mr. R. Lightbody and son, Mr. W. H. Purchas, Dr. G. P. Bevan, 
Col. Colvin and son, Rev. J. F. Crouch, Rev. T. Hutchinson, Dr. Samuel Steele, 
Mr. A. Thompson, Mr. T. Curley, Mr. J. Cocking, and Mr. Salter, of the Museum 
of Practical Geology, Jermyn Street, one of the hon. members, who conferred a 
great favour upon the Club by his kind attendance and lucid remarks upon the 
different rock formations visited in the course of the day. 


The party having breakfasted together at the Oxford Arms, and having 
gone through some preliminary business, proceeded to the house of Mr. Banks to 
inspect his splendid collection of fossils. A drawing of the Pterygotus anglicus 
was exhibited, and explained by Mr. Salter. The drawing is designed to illus- 
trate a paper to be read at the British Association at Cheltenham. This huge 
crustacean was about 9 feet long, being supplied in addition to the pincers, 
with two swimming feet, or paddles. The body, which is conical, consists of a 
series of moveable rings, terminating in an oval-pointed tail. Nearly the whole 
of the parts have been found, leaving very little for the comparative anatomist 
to fill up in order to complete the animal. : 


The party, under the guidance of Mr. Banks, proceeded to the Ivy Chimney 
quarry, where large boulders of trap rock, probably from Hanter Hill, and Wool- 
hope limestone, were found imbedded. After spending about half an hour in this 
quarry, they proceeded to a quarry of Downton Sandstone on the top of Bradnor 
Hill, when a large quantity of fossils were found, the most interesting being the 
swimming feet and pincers of the Pterygotus. These specimens were the largest 
ever found, and fully bear out Mr. Salter in his theory that the animal attained 
a very large size. 


After spending about an hour and a half in this quarry, which lies at the base 
of the Old Red Sandstone system, the party proceeded down Newton Lane, 
where the Upper Ludlow formation of the Silurian system is very finely developed. 
The strata in this part are exceedingly prolific in fossils, every person filling his 
bag with very fine specimens. After spending about two hours in “ grubbing ” 
and “ bagging ”’ fossils in this lane, the day’s work was brought to a close at the 
Castle Hill, where the tram-road cutting lays the rock bare for about 50 feet in 


167 


perpendicular height. The beds are very much tilted up here, the angle being 
about 45 degrees. The fossils here are much larger than in Newton Lane, but 
not so numerous. 


The day’s work having terminated, Mr. Salter left on his way to Cheltenham, 
and the remainder of the party proceeded to Downfield, the hospitable mansion 
of Henry Miles, Esq., where they were entertained at dinner. 


The botanical part of the day’s exploration was interesting, although it did 
not issue in the discovery of many fresh plants. The tract of ground examined 
being small, the list of plants was necessarily small also; still it is a step in 
advance to have formed a catalogue (however small) of the species in the Kington 
district of our county. The best plant of the day gathered within the limits ot 
our county was Moenchia erecta, hitherto our only Herefordshire locality for 
which was the Malvern Hills. An Agrimonia also was gathered, which may 
possibly turn out to be A. odorata, or, if not, is a connecting link between it and 
A. Eupatorium. The other plants were only the common ones of the county. 


The next Field Meeting of the Club will take place early in September, at 
Abergavenny. It is proposed to examine the Coal districts of South Wales at 
the same time. 


168 


Woolhope Naturalists Field Club. 


Turrp Firtp MreEtinc, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER I6TH, 1856. 


ABERGAVENNY. 


On Tuesday, September 16th, the Third Field Meeting of the Woolhope 
Naturalists’ Field Club was held at Abergavenny. A party of the members left 
Hereford by the 8 a.m. train, and were joined by other members at the Tram Inn 
station. On reaching Abergavenny, the members made their way to the Grey- 
hound hotel, where they were met by Mr. E. Y. Steele and Dr. Bevan. After 
breakfast, the Rev. J. F. Crouch, Rector of Pembridge, was called to the Chair, 
in the absence of Mr. Hewett Wheatley, the President. 


The minutes of the last Meeting having been read and confirmed, Mr. Flavell 
Edmunds made (at the request of the Hon. Secretary) a brief report of the pro- 
ceedings of the Museum Committee, narrating the negotiations with the Philo- 
sophical Institution, for the use of a part of their premises, in which to place the 
collection designed to be made by the Club. The Institution had, however, fixed 
the rent to be paid at £15, which sum the Committee considered to be much too 
high, seeing that the Club would also have to bear the greater part of the salary 
of a Curator. They had, therefore, come to the conclusion that it would be most 
for the advantage of the Club to engage separate premises, and form their Museum 
entirely independent of any other society. The Committee further considered 
that the nature of the proposed collection for which a great many specimens have 
already been promised, renders it desirable to have it in a place easily accessible to 
the members and their friends ; and they believed that suitable premises might 
be obtained for a moderate sum, and a qualified person may be engaged as Curator. 
Of course, it was understood that the Museum would be, not a general collection, 
but strictly a representation of the Natural History of the district, in the various 
branches of geology, botany, zoology, ornithology, ichthyology, and entomology. 
The visitor would thus be able to ascertain precisely the nature of the soil, the 
rocks, the natural products, and the animals of the district. The Committee 
had, of course, taken no steps beyond making enquiries. 


Some conversation ensued, in which the Chairman, the Rev. T. T. Lewis, 
the Rev. W. S. Symonds, and other gentlemen took part ; and it was ultimately 
agreed that the Committee (which conists of the President, the Hon. Secretary, 
Rev. T. T. Lewis, Rev. J. F. Crouch, Mr. Lingwood, and Mr. Edmunds) be re- 
quested to continue its inquiries, to take such steps as shall seem desirable, and 
to report to the annual meeting in January next. 


| 
. 
{ 
; 


169 


The routine business having been transacted, the members started about 
11 o’clock on their day’s explorations, Dr. Bevan, of Beaufort, kindly and ably 
acting as guide. As the strata on the northern boundary of the great South 
Wales Coal-field were the principal objects to be viewed, and as the distance to be 
covered was consequently great, the party engaged and filled a stage-coach, by 
which they were conveyed over the first and least interesting part of their journey. 
Taking the Merthyr road, they passed rapidly out of the charming valley of Usk, 
by way of Llanfoist and Govilon to Clydach. Here the romantic beauty of the 
scenery, the richly wooded dells, the lofty hills, the little village clinging to the 
hill-side, the canal-aqueduct, the broad vale of Usk, and the mighty Pen-y-fal, 
Gadr, and Scyrrid, in the background, made up a landscape not easily to be 
surpassed, even in Siluria. The natural charms of the scenery lost nothing from 
the alternations of bright sunshine and light cloud. The morning had been 
dull, but as the day advanced, the nimbus clouds melted into the azure, and the 
magnificent cirrus and cirro-stratus clouds, which hung almost motionless in 
upper air, at once added to the beauty of the scenery and tempered the heat. 
Fortunately for the party, the day continued to be fine throughout, and was 
followed by as fine an evening. 


On reaching Bwlch-y-cwn (‘the dog’s pass’’), the explorers dismounted 
from their vehicle, and descended into this wild and picturesque wooded glen. 
The aspect of the country at this spot is characteristic of the junction of the three 
strata, the Mountain Limestone and its immediate neighbour-strata, the 
Red Conglomerate, and the Millstone Grit. Lofty hills with broad summits and 
steep precipitous sides ; beautiful glens resounding with water-falls, and streams 
making their way over the naked rock; a rich clothing of vegetation shutting 
out the depths of the valley from above, and giving to the gazer from below 
lovely pictures of ‘‘ chequered shade,” as the sunbeams peer between the leaves. 


Ascending again from this beautiful valley, the party soon afterwards again 
quitted the road in order to visit the limestone qaurries on the hills. Passing 
by Ffynnon-y-coed, they ascended Craig-y-gaer, which is in fact the eastern 
corner of the immense hill called Myndd-pen-cyrn. The mountain limestone is 
worked at several places on this hill; and the sound of many hammers, on reach- 
ing a quarry, proved that the geologists were busy. After bagging a few fossils, 
the party made their way along the tram-road past Yr Hafod to Brynmawr, and 
thence to Beaufort. Here Dr. Bevan kindly entertained the party at a very 
handsomely provided lunch. 


The visitors afterwards spent some time very profitably in inspecting Dr. 
Bevan’s interesting collection of fossils from the Coal Measures of the immediate 
neighbourhood. Besides many beautifully perfect specimens of the vegetation 
of the Coal period, Dr. Bevan’s collection included some specimens of the highest 
possible interest to geologists, viz., teeth, scales, and bones of fish of the same 
Carboniferous period embedded in the black shale. 


The members started about 3-30 for the pits of the Beaufort Iron Company, 
and spent a considerable time in examining one of the workings on Cefn-meiddig, 


170 


where the ironstone and the coal crop out, and are worked in the open air. An 
excellent section is thus obtained. The stratum immediately below the surface 
is a ferruginous sandstone, in which large nodules of ironstone occur. Below is 
a large coal-bed, some 12 feet in thickness, divided by a thin shale into two 
seams; the upper being the well-known Red Ash, the lower the less valuable 
White Ash coal. Here an intelligent workman, who has benefited by the 
instruction of Dr. Bevan, pointed out to the party a Calamite, one of the tree- 
reeds of the carboniferous period, standing upright in the ironstone bed. He 
stated that, when first laid bare, at least 20 feet in height of it was visible; and 
it was not yet fully uncovered. Some of the members brought away fragments 
of this “tree.” The bark was converted into coal, but the centre of the stem 
was wholly sandstone. 


From this very interesting spot, the party were taken to the cottage of the 
workman before alluded to, where they were no less surprised than gratified to 
find a collection of valuable specimens of Sigillaria, Lepidodendron, Calamite, 
ferns of various species, and other fossils of the Coal-beds. 


As the day was by this time fast waning, the members hastened to Bryn- 
mawr, at which place they found their vehicle awaiting them. A smart drive 
of ten miles brought them back to their hotel at Abergavenny. There an excellent 
dinner, provided by Mr. Philip Morgan, was an agreeable realisation of the 
great scientific truth that even phliosophers must dine, if their explorations of 
nature are to be rendered satisfactory to body as well as mind. 


The Rev. J. F. Crouch presided, and the company included among the 
visiting friends, C. C. Babbington, Esq., the eminent botanist of Cambridge ; 
Dr. Samuel Steele, of Abergavenny, and Mr. James Davies, of Hereford. Of 
members present there were: Revs. T. T. Lewis and W. S. Symonds, Dr. Bevan, 
Dr. Gilliland, Mr. E. Y. Steele, Mr. Suter, Hon. Secretary, Mr. Lingwood, F.R.S., 
Mr. Flavell Edmunds, Mr. A. Thompson. 


After the removal of the cloth, the Chairman gave the health of the Queen, 
which was followed by the health of Dr. Bevan, with thanks for his kindness in 
guiding and entertaining the members that day. Dr. Bevan neatly acknow- 
ledged the compliment. On the suggestion of the Hon. Secretary, which was 
unanimously agreed to, the Chairman requested Dr. Bevan to draw up a narra- 
tive of the day’s excursion, in order that it might be published in the Society’s 
transactions. Dr. Bevan consented to do so; and intimated that he was making 
a collection of fossils of the Carboniferous strata for the intended Museum of the 
Club. At 8 p.m. the company separated, having spent a most agreeable and 
instructive day. 


> 


<< ye” 


aE 


171 


SIR W. JARDINE on tHE ICHTHYOLOGY or HEREFORDSHIRE.* 


The first issue of the Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club, 
including the Annual Addresses of the successive Presidents, and a selection 
from the many interesting papeis which have been read at the meetings, having 
reached the hands of that distinguished naturalist, Sir Wm. Jardine, has elicited 
from him a very gratifying expression of approval and encouragement. Ina 
letter to the Rev. W. S. Symonds, Rector of Pendock, lately President of the 
Club, Sir William Jardine thus refers to the Club, and to Mr. Hewett Wheatley’s 
very valuable paper on the Ichthyology of Herefordshire, which forms part of 
its Transactions :— 


**Let me congratulate the members of the Club on their progress and the 
publication of this first record of their doings. All they have to continue to do 
is to work steadily to record their observations, and in time, far less than they 
think, these Transactions will bear a value and be much estimated. They will 
be part and parcel of a great Natural History of England yet to be drawn up. 
I was glad to see the Ichthyology taken up, and particularly the remarks of the 
Salmonide by Mr. Wheatley, with which you know I am at present working. 
I trust Mr. Wheatley will continue his observations, and I enclose, for such 
members of your Club as are interested in the pursuit, a few copies of the report 
read at Cheltenham on the experiments at Stormontfield regarding artificial 
production. You will see from this that one of the facts which Mr. Wheatley 
states as proved (see antea pages 62 to 78), is just one of those which has been a 
point of dispute, and helped to originate the Stormontfield ponds. The experi- 
ments now in progress will prove (next May) whether any portion of the brood 
of young fish assume the migratory dress within the twelve or thirteen months ; 
but I have no doubt. whether this is the case or not, that a great deal might be 
done artificially to increase the produce of any salmon river, and at no great 
expense of old fish, as the salmon, if carefully handled during the expulsion of 
the ova and their impregnation, are not killed, but as in the case of the Tay fish, 
have even been a second time captured and employed. I am not sufficiently 
acquainted with the Herefordshire rivers to know much of their contents, but 
it appears to me remarkable that the other migratory salmon should be such rare 
visitants as Mr. Wheatly mentions. And now I will ask Mr. Wheatley in future 
to give us scientific names as well as common ones—the use of provincial names 
only is one of the fertile causes of all confusion. Thus salmon trout is commonly 
applied over Scotland to various small fish (3 to 4 lbs.) and indiscriminately to 
the two other migratory species, so that in some places salmon trout would be 
synonymous to Mr. Wheatley’s sewin. ‘“‘Sewin” is a provincial name used 
chiefly, I believe, in Wales; but I rather think it is indiscriminately applied to 
both Salmo trutta and Salmo eroix. Would your Club understand me if I asked 
them to send me herlings or whitings from the Wye? I have killed sewin in a 
small stream at Aber, about ten or fifteen miles before you reach Bangor; they 


* From the Hereford Times, November rst, 1856. 


172 


were small fish, about } or ?-Ib. weight, and were equivalent to our herling of 
the Annan river, which is the young state of Salmo trutta in its first appearance in 
the rivers after having gone to the sea in a migratory dress. This I have seen, 
and have the specimens. I understand, however, that the term sewin is applied 
also to a fish of from r} to 3 Ibs., in all probability equivalent to our Annan sea 
trout ; but this I have not proved. I shall send you our herling (young S. trutta) 
and S. albus) to compare. This would be quite a legitimate part of any local 
collection as illustrating the subject (you know I object to miscellanea in local 
collections), and would fix the species of some of those fish which are so often 
locally mentioned. As an instance of the disadvantage of using local names, and 
without attention to what they are applied, I am at present trying to make out 
the geographical distribution of the common salmon, and the difficulty of doing 
so, with any satisfaction to your own mind that you are right, is very great. 
Plenty of notices of salmon over nearly all the world; but what are they? 
Certainly all are not our British S. salar.” 


THE SALMONIDA? OF HEREFORDSHIRE. 
To the Editor of the Hereford Times.* 


Sir,—In a communication by Sir W. Jardine to the late President of the 
Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club, inserted in your last publication, in reference 
to Mr. Wheatley’s paper on the Salmonide of Herefordshire, Sir William makes 
some interesting remarks on the breeding of salmon, but appears sceptical as to 
the rare habitats of the Salmo eroix or sewin, and of the Salmo trutta or salmon 
trout, in the rivers of this county ; and appears desirous of eliciting some further 
information. As I have been acquainted from long experience with the rivers 
of this county, as well as with most other rivers in the kingdom frequented by the 
three species of migratory Salmonidw, and have devoted some attention to the 
subject, I would beg permission to make a few observations. 


The S. eroix is the sewin of South and North Wales, in the rivers of which, 
especially the former, they are numerous; as also in most of the rivers of Scotland, 
instance the Tweed and its tributaries, in one of which, the Teviot, they attain a 
considerable size. Those of 2 to 4 Ibs. weight are called “square tail,” those 
of 6 Ibs. and upwards “round tail” ; so termed because the ultimo fin presents 
that appearance at their various ages. The fish is thick and chubby about the 
head and neck, as compared to the salmon (S. salar); hence, I presume, the 
prevailing name in Scotland of ‘‘bulltrout.” Its flesh is paler and inferior 
to the S. salar. 

The Salmo trutta, or salmon trout, is, according to my experience the least 
distributed of the tribe; but it prevails in many of the rivers of North Wales, 
where I have captured them from 1 to 3 lbs. weight, and especially at a small 
river at Bangor (not the Ogwen). Its flesh is equal to the true salmon, and of 
high colour ; it is shorter in proportion than the other two species, the number 


"See th 


DD ~aide “a? 


SS CTC! SS 


bo ty < 


173 


I think Mr. Wheatley is correct in saying that the two former are rare visi- 
tants in the only salmon river of this county—the Wye; indeed, I am not well 
aware of a well authenticated instance of the kind. I have noticed, wherever a 
river contains a fish of either species, that they are tolerably abundant, and I 
very much doubt the existence of either in any of the rivers that debouches into 
the estuary of the Severn, or mouth of the Bristol Channel. Yet in the rivers of 
Carmarthenshire, and north of Glamorgan, the sewin much abounds. I was 
some years ago led to believe from the fishmongers there that these fish were 
found in the Wye, but this assertion must be taken cum grano salis, for they are 
apt to attribute to the fish of the Wye not only superior freshness, but quality, 
as an inducement to purchase by their customers. Some twenty years ago I 
hooked what appeared to me a fish of this kind, between 2 and 3 lbs., at Mon- 
nington rocks on the Wye, in this county, having an ocular inspection of his 
outline by holding him in the water for half an hour and bringing him near shore 
more than once, and from his leaping upwards when hooked—a fact peculiar to 
the sewin when in season ; but at last, I presume, not liking his proximity to dry 
land, he made a last effort and plunged upwards out of his element, seeming to 
say “I give you notice to quit,” and away he went, with a portion of the line 
and two other flies attached, thus cheating me of the opportunity of examining 
his osteology. 


In reference to the very interesting experiments neat Perth, Sir W. J. observes 
“ will prove in May next whether any portion of the brood of young salmon will 
assume the migratory dress within the twelve or thirteen months.” According to 
what I have observed from the experiments of Shaw, Young, and those at Stor- 
montfield, it appeared to me that though that assumption of dress occurred 
usually in two years, there were some, more forwardly developed than the rest, 
that did assume this particular costume at a little more than twelve months old. 
However, it is gratitying to one like your humble servant, who fifteen or sixteen 
years ago endeavoured to prove by papers read before the Natural History 
Institution of this city (and which was then considered to be an ichthyological 
heresy), that the small fish called variously par, lastspring, samlet, &c., a supposed 
hitherto distinct species, was the real offspring of the salmon—but denied by 
Sir W. J. and others, “ distinguished naturalist ” though he be—that is not now 
a question, but at what particular age do they arrive at the natural instinct 
which directs them seaward. 


Although this subject has been before discussed in your extensively cir- 
culated periodical, you may be of opinion that correct notions of natural history, 
and that regarding one of our most valuable fishes, cannot be too often laid before 
the public. Even so late as four years ago, a certain Archdeacon of Wales, ina 
correspondence with me and the author of the “ Rod and Line” in your paper, 
maintained the old theory ; but I presume that venerable and learned gentleman, 
with that candour evidencing an inquiring mind, has recanted his error. 


T. JENKINS. 
HEREFORD, 5th Nov., 1856. 


174 


Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


ANNUAL MEETING, 


JANUARY IQTH, 1857. 


The Annual Meeting was held on Monday, January roth, at the residence 
of the Hon. Secretary, Mr. J. A. F. Suter, in this City. Mr. Hewett Wheatley, 
the President, took the Chair. The Hon. Secretary read a statement of the 
accounts, which showed a balance in hand of about £34. It was resolved, pur- 
suant to Rule XII, tostrike off from the list of members all who have been in arrear 
with their subscriptions since 1852 and 1853. This resolution left eight vacancies, 
two of which were filled up by the election of Mr. Cocking of Ludlow, and Mr. 
' Alfred Purchas, of Ross; several other gentlemen were nominated. The latter 
will be balloted for at the first Field Meeting. 


Dr. Bevan of Beaufort then read a very able and instructive paper on the 
Field Meeting of the Club at Abergavenny in October last, and on the Geology 
of the adjoining portion of the South Wales Coal-field, with the overlying beds 
of the Millstone Grit and Mountain Limestone formations. 


The President (on resigning the Chair at the close of his year of office) 
delivered an excellent address, pointing out the importance, socially, morally, 
and religiously, of naturalistic pursuits, and indicating the advantages which 
would flow from the formation of the contemplated Museum. He then glanced 
at the subject of Ichthyology, remarking that the recent experiments at Stor- 
montfield, Perthshire, as described by Sir Wm. Jardine and other eminent 
naturalists, had brought to light a most remarkable fact in regard to the Sal- 
monide, which had led him (the President) to modify some of the opinions 
expressed in the paper on ‘‘ the Ichthyology of Herefordshire,” read by him 
at a former meeting (see antea, page 64). It has been ascertained that a part 
of the salmon hatched at one time make their way to the sea at the end of the 
first twelvemonth, while the rest do not migrate until the end of the second 
year. This circumstance could not be accounted for by the consideration of 
sex, as both male and female were among those who migrated at the end of the 
first year, although it might possibly be that the females were a year older than 
males, since it was well established that the male salmon reaches maturity much 
sooner than the female. This question, however, will probably be set at rest 
by further observation. 


Experiments are being made to ascertain also whether, by supplying the 
young fish with abundant food, they may not be all so far advanced in growth 
as to be ready to depart for the sea at the end of the first year. 


175 


The President concluded by briefly reviewing the Field Meetings of the 
year, recommending the further investigation of the interesting question as to 
the Drift of the valleys of the Wye and the Lugg, which was discussed at the 
Bromyard meeting; passing a deserved compliment to the researches of Mr. 
Banks, of Kington, in reference to that huge crustacean, the Pterygotus, once 
an inhabitant of the Old Red seas; and finally glancing at the highly interesting 
meeting held at Abergavenny, and the valuable paper on that subject just read 
by Dr. Bevan. 


In conclusion, Mr. Wheatley alluded to the paper read at the last Annual 
Meeting by Mr. Flavell Edmunds, on the sudden appearance of certain plants, 
new to the immediate district, on the spoil heaps and embankments of the railway 
works (see antea, page 142). Since then, he understood from Mr. Edmunds, that 
nearly all those plants had disappeared; and he (the President) thought the 
fact was worthy of record, while it certainly seemed to justify the theory of Mr. 
Edmunds that the plants had been produced from long-buried seeds. The 
President quoted some other instances of germination after the seeds of plants 
had been buried for a very long period of time ; and then added that he under- 
stood that Mr. Edmunds had found Scrophularia Ehrhardti at Huntington, and 
Mellilotus officinalis and Adoxa moschatellina at Hunderton—both plants which 
had not previously (he believed) been found in the. Hereford district, although 
common in distant parts of the county. 


After thanking the members for the honour conferred upon him, and ex- 
pressing his ardent desire for the continued usefulness and prosperity of the 
Club, the President concluded amid applause. 


It was resolved that the addresses of the President and of his immediate 
predecessor in office (the Rev. J. F. Crouch) together with Dr. Bevan’s paper, 
form the second part of the Club’s Transactions, which will be forthwith placed 
in the hands of the printer, so as to be ready for delivery to the members in the 
course of the ensuing season. 


Mr. Charles Lingen, of Hereford, was then unanimously elected President 
for the year 1857-8 ; and the Field Meetings were fixed for 


Tuesday, June 2nd, at Fownhope ; 
i July 21st, at Ludlow ; 
a August 25th, at Westhide. 


The programme for the third meeting was arranged so as to include the 
Silurian formations at Shucknall, the Dormington landslip, &c., the Bartestree 
trap-dyke, and the Hagley dome, the party returning to Hereford to dinner. 


176 


ADDRESS 


Read before the Members of the WooLHopr NATURALISTS’ Fretp Cup, at their 
Annual Meeting, held in Hereford, January roth, 1857, by Hewett 
WHEATLEY, Eso., President. 


GENTLEMEN.—A blind man may be led through a picture gallery, and 
therefore truly say—I have been there! How many who possess the blessing 
of sight, thus walk through nature during a long life, and all they can do at last 
is to whimper out—we have been there! Such societies as ours tend directly 
to the repression of that great evil, intellect unexercised. By such societies 
many a germ that might otherwise have remained dormant, may be fostered 
into vitality. By such, may old misunderstandings be uprooted, and planting 
new ones be avoided—the purely fanciful be exposed—the hint of former days in- 
vestigated—and true theories be built on the only sure foundation—practical 
labour. Instead of first inventing a system, and then, with every paternal 
predisposition in its favour—with atom after atom piled up by vanity to sub- 
stantiate it, nature is herself distorted to support imagination—instead of this, 
we practise first and theorize afterwards. The child of solitude, the offspring of 
fancy, born in the student’s closet, can never be the true interpreter of any one 
page in the volume of Natural History. No! We must go forth unbiased by 
preconception, and—hardest lesson of all—isolating oneself from self—thus 
must we go forth into nature—air, earth, rock, and water our books, and God 
our teacher; thus must we go forth—see, labour, and then decide. The very 
title of our Society inculcates this doctrine—THr NATURALISTS’ FIELD CLUB. 
It extends our operations—our active and practical operations—over many 
branches ; from the insect that sports its life of an hour—from the humblest 
herb that rejoices in the glorious light of Heaven—to the vast marvels of geology 
—to the sublimity of the Great Creator’s works. I repeat, it extends our practical 
operations; and herein, the superiority of these Societies. There is less risk 
of hasty and rash decisions—quod cito fit, cito perit. Theophrastus doubted the 
wondrous architecture of the universe, because he imagined that the luminous 
appearance from the stars of the galaxy was nothing but the light which shone 
through a crevice of the badly joined hemispheres! The wildest of modern 
theorists would have been hissed for such an absurdity: yet there is no incon- 
siderable amount of error to be overcome, not less than of discoveries to be 
made; and of those already made, to be further illustrated and confirmed. 


Though I cannot consider mind as cumulative, science certainly is; and 
the annual publication of scientific papers, in connection with the transactions 
of each Society, is commendable and useful. But there is another source of 
utility, both highly interesting and highly instructive, and whose benefits are as 
obvious as those of the steam engine and the gas lamp—a judiciously selected 
and well kept Museum; the formation of which is contemplated by this Club ; 
and will, I trust, be carried out with equal liberality and clearness of detail. 


—— 


e's 


177 


The intention is, that such a repository of specimens shall be strictly local— 
strictly confined to the district worked by the members of the Woolhope Club. 
This feature is peculiarly adapted to the true aims of such institutions ;' and 
those aims appear to me, to be stimulative and educational. General collections, 
like general remarks, rather insinuate than assert; and seem too vague for 
individual purposes. We rove from here to our antipodes; we circumnavigate 
the globe ; we pierce the jungle, and brave the rigours of ice—producing collections 
of the utmost splendour. They are magnificent—they are worthy of high 
civilization. But how few visit them with any other object than the gratification 
of curiosity, or at best, a general and fugitive recognition of the wonders of 
Creation. Their scope is far too vast for every day life; they may shed lustre 
over the collectors, and they may adorn a nation, without furnishing one sugges- 
tion of practical value, or one incitement to systematically scientific research. 
But a local Museum possesses attractions peculiarly its own, and peculiarly 
suggestive. We there see not only the produce of earth, air, and water, but more 
immediately, of our own earth, air, and water—of our own nat:ve place, or the 
place of our predilections. Even as strangers, we cannot view such a collection 
without curbing all rambling propensities—without the idea arising that all we 
see was gathered here—here, within a very narrow zone—here, from the waters 
which flow through our own lands—from the air which passes over this very 
spot—from the earth on which we are treading. Sympathy is aroused—emula- 
tion stimulated. Further (and what I conceive to be one of the chief practical 
uses of a Museum), the student, desirous of consulting the highest authority on 
any subject embraced by the collectors, can here satisfy his doubts—glean 
important information—and scattering the chaff of false theories to the four 
winds of heaven, store up the golden grains of truth. And may not all this be 
obtained through the medium of books? I doubt whether as efficiently ; for 
where the eye ministers to the understanding, there is less room for conjecture, 
and consequently less chance of error. There is perhaps, too, some difficulty 
in separating the true from the false, in books; while in such collections as you 
propose, all is truth—each specimen is a spark drawn from nature ; there is none 
of that Chinese-slipper work, which is all very well in a curiosity shop; but 
aiming at something higher and better, the student will here contemplate nature 
as framed by the Great Creator’s hand—thence drawing his own conclusions, 
unswayed by the bias of a human teacher. 


To facilitate its educational purpose, I think every specimen should be 
accompanied by a statement (which might be comprised in two or three lines), 
of the order and family to which it belongs ; together with any marked peculiarity 
attending it—its most striking character, whether as an individual specimen, 
or one of a group. A descriptive catalogue would also be of some assistance ; 
more particularly with a short prefix of each science—confined to what is known 
and proved, excluding the merely conjectural. 


Thus it appears to me, would the labours of our Field Club not only redound 
to their own credit, but aid in developing—and very largely too—the truths, the 
beauties, and the admirably designed harmony of creation. 


178 


There is one branch of our pursuits, however, which does not admit of 
pecimens, in the usual sense of the word—Meteorology. Yet it might be repre- 
sented in your Museum—and I think ought to be—by preserving a copy of each 
month’s observations ; together with such periodical comments as the observer 
might find cause to make. Nor is this by any means a subject of minor import- 
ance ; for since every creature that breathes, and every blade of vegetation which 
either delights the eye by its beauty, or the mind for its usefulness, is dependent 
on Meteorological elements—surely an endeavour to ascertain the causes and 
the laws of atmospheric variation should stand in the foremost rank of science ; 
especially on considering that such knowledge may, and I believe must, tend to 
elucidate some of the hidden phenomena of disease, both in the animal and the 
vegetable worlds. And I incline to agree with a late writer in the North British 
Review—however bold may sound his assertion,—“‘ that had Hipparchus and 
Ptolemy made hourly observations, and had their contemporaries and successors 
in different parts of the world done the same, we might now have been predicting 
the weather with as much certainty as we do the planetary motions.” Light is, 
however, beginning to break in upon us—order arising out of seeming irregularity 
—for seeming it only is :— 

“** All Nature is but Art unknown to thee, 
All Chance, Direction which thou can’st not see.’’ 


What Geology has done and is doing for the earth, Meteorology will do for 
the air; the one has unveiled some of the great mysteries of ages—of the very 
existence of which few ever dreamed; the other will develop secrets of the 
atmosphere whose benefits can hardly yet be estimated—or overestimated. 


Even from the slight sketch I have given of your projected Museum, I think 
it will appear that the County of Hereford, and the adjoining district, are pecu- 
liarly interested in its establishment ; and I earnestly hope, that on appealing 
for support, it will not be denied. For two or three considerations only, I cannot 
but deem that support certain. In the first place, our Club, with few exceptions, 
is composed of Hereford and Herefordshire men. Next, they are, for the most 
part, men practically following out some specific branch of knowledge. Among 
them are those who rank high in the world of science ; and others who energetically 
following their philosophic vocation, are not the less valuable in the class of the 
scientific, though they may not have attained the same distinction ; those who 
ably back an able general, share their leader’s renown. Add to this the fact, 
that I believe all who have formed, or are forming, local collections of Natural 
History, in its branches of Geology, Botany, Ornithology, Zoology, Entomology, 
and Ichthyology, have promised to place such collections in the Museum of the 
Woo.nore NaTurRALIsts’ Fietp CLus. Though I am not, myself, a native of 
your city or county, I cannot help speaking strongly on this subject ; and say, 
emphatically, to both county and city, that if you would reflect honour on your- 
selves—if you would hold out the right hand of fellowship to native talent—if 
you would mark your approbation of contemporary mind and merit—and if you 
would encourage in the rising generation a desire to emulate and to surpass its 
predecessors—you ought to support a Museum, dedicated to the illustration of 


179 


your own native place, inthe whole range of its Natural History. I would merely 
further say that we should recognize the broad principles of independence and 
liberality ; I mean, that your Museum, essentially local in character, should be 
kept distinct— unfettered by association with any other—else would it in a great 
measure lose its characteristic. It should be on a liberal basis too. Nothing 
whatever of selfishness should taint the course of education and science ;_ there- 
fore should freedom of access, at all reasonable hours, be secured to the public ; 
otherways would its usefulness be ‘‘ cribbed, cabined, and confined.” 


As a stranger, I ought, perhaps, to apologise for urging this subject ; but as 
one of the Committee, I deemed it my duty. It is moreover the cause of know- 
ledge in general, though sought to be effected by local means. 


In consequence of the favour you did me in publishing a paper on the Ich- 
thyology of Herefordshire, I may be allowed an observation or two on that topic. 
1 have been told Sir William Jardine had remarked that, in consequence of sub- 
sequent discoveries, I must greatly modify my own views on the natural history 
ofthe Salmon. I had the pleasure, a short time ago, of receiving from Sir William 
his paper on the subject ; and I must freely confess, that if 1 were not absolutely 
wrong in /oto, I was only partly right. The experiments recorded by Sir William, 
as carried on at Stormontfield, with the greatest care, shew the remarkable fact, 
that part of a brood of Salmon goes down to the sea for the first time, the spring 
after they are hatched—that is to say, a little more than a year old—while the 
remainder of the same hatch neither assume their migratory dress nor exhibit 
migratory inclinations till the second spring; whereas I asserted, generally, that 
the young did not leave their native rivers till the second spring. Having 
noticed multitudes thus acting, I concluded—and now it appears rashly—that 
all were influenced by the causes which operated on about the half of them. 


Why this should be so is at present merely conjectural. It is clear that age 
has nothing to do with it; since parts of the same brood seek the sea at very 
different ages. It might be attributable to sex; for the male we know to be 
perfect (for all purposes connected with impregnation) long before the female, 
and might consequently be fitted for his sea-destination before her. But we 
meet with both males and females travelling together down the rivers; it may 
be, however, that the females were those which were hatched two years before, 
and the males only one year. The question can be very easily settled at Stor- 
montfield by noticing whether males only migrate the first year. An experiment, 
I believe, is also going to be tried there, with reference to the effect of feeding ; 
whether, by furnishing the young with as much food as they can consume, all 
cannot be advanced to the migratory stage the first year. Should this be the 
result, it will go far toward clearing up the present embarrassment ; for we might 
thence naturally conclude that the earliest migrators from their native streams 
were those who had obtained the larger amount of food, either from their being 
stronger than their brethren, or from any other cause. That fish, especially fish 
of prey, can be very rapidly increased in size by an unlimited supply from the 
commissariat department, is certain; but I am inclined to look to some fixed 
law influencing the instinct of migration, rather than to any precarious source. 


180 


To give any summary of the Meetings of the Club for the past year, I am 
unfortunately very ill qualified, in consequence of absence on those occasions. 
This, however, cannot be regretted. The benefit is yours; since the excursion 
to Abergavenny, in September, appears to have been the most interesting, and 
a narration of which, I am happy to say, is in far abler hands—Dr. Bevan having 
kindly consented to add to our annals an account of that day’s proceedings, and 
which we have just had the pleasure of hearing. 


If the Meeting at Bromyard, in J une, afforded neither geological nor botanical 
specimen of rarity, it produced a discussion on the extent and nature of the drift 
in the valleys of the Wye and Lugg; and I cannot but think the topic of sufficient 
local scientific interest to deserve investigation and a place in our Transactions. 


The other Meeting, at Kington, in July, was more prolific in specimens. 
The Geologist found a great abundance of fossils ; the most interesting of which 
was the finest specimen supposed to have been ever found of the swimming feet 
and pincers of that large crustacean, the Pterygotus Anglicus. Mr. Flavell 
Edmunds has also found Scrophularia Ehrhardti, at Huntington, not a very 
common plant anywhere—and hitherto, I understand, unobserved here ; also, 
an Adoxa Moschatellina, at Hunderton; which, though previously not noticed 
here, is abundant in the southern parts of the county. It will be remembered, 
this gentleman read a paper at our last Annual Meeting on the sudden appearance 
of plants new to the locality, on the railway embankments near Hereford. He 
has since then remarked their as sudden disappearance ; which he considers to 
establish his theory that they sprang from buried seeds. The Rev. Mr. Crouch 
found Hyoscyamus niger at Pembridge, under somewhat analagous circumstances 
—on digging down to an old drain, the soil with which it was again covered over 
produced from 30 to 40 plants. On the soil which re-covered a grave that had 
been recently dug, and which apparantly had not been disturbed for many years, 
he also noticed the same plant. Though there does not seem any reason why 
this particular vegetable production should not be indigenous, Mr. Crouch’s efforts 
to discover a specimen in the neighbourhood have never been successful. It is 
not an uncommon occurrence for large tracts of the North American forests to be 
consumed by accidental fires, when a similar phenomenon occurs by the springing 
up of trees wholly dissimilar in kinds to those destroyed, and which is usually 
attributed to the vivification of long buried seeds. There is one instance on 
record of the strawberry appearing under such circumstances, in a locality where 
it was never previously known to have existed. We may well understand the 
possibility of these occurrences, since seeds, affirmed to have been found in the 
catacombs of Egypt, have fructified; and since a material of such delicacy as 
the mere pollen of a plant will retain its fertilizing powers for eighteen years— 
and probably very much longer. This is said of the Chamcerops humilis—the 
common European palm. The facts are curious; and as Mr. Edmunds has 
favoured me with a list of the plants he found under the above conditions— 
eight in number—I have added them below. 


Hyoscyamus niger. 
Carduus Marianus. 


181 


Lamium incisum. 
Maitricaria Parthenium. 
Chrysanthemum segetum. 
Armoracia vulgaris. 
Veronica ccespitosa. 
Jasminum orientale. 


As these Field Meetings only occur on three days in the year, many important 
discoveries are not, on such occasions, to be expected. They may be considered 
as tending to keep up and augment an interest in scientific pursuits—as relaxa- 
tions, rather than periods of work—though work does form a portion of the day. 
But their great charm is not only in visiting beautiful or interesting localities— 
not only in geological and botanical investigations—but in the associating 
together a few men of congenial pursuits—in the collision of minds embued with 
the true spirit of a philosophy, founded on the glorious and mighty works of 
Omnipotence. 


And now, gentlemen, I have to return you my cordial and hearty thanks for 
the honour you last year conferred upon me, in electing me your President, and 
to resign the office into your hands. I can only say, that inattentively and 
inefficiently as I have fulfilled the functions of the station to which you last year 

_ called me, yet will I yield to no man in respect for the talent which adorns our 
Club; nor in the honest and sincere desire for its continued prosperity and 
usefulness. I will, therefore, conclude with one single word—the “strange 
device” on the banner of Longfellow’s pilgrim—** Excelsior.” 


182 


ON THE GEOLOGY OF THE COAL FIELDS. 


In the neighbourhood of Braurort, Monmouthshire, by G. P. Brvan, Esg., M.D., 
F.G.S. Read at the ANNUAL MEETING of the WooLHorEe NATURALISTS’ 
FrieLp Cuus, Hereford, January 19th, 1857. 


GENTLEMEN,—At the Autumn Meeting of the Members of the Woolhope Club, 
held at Abergavenny, on October 14th, I was requested to draw up a slight sketch 
of the proceedings of the day, and of the country through which our day’s excur- 
sion extended. I have felt very diffident about writing this report, feeling that 
the Geology of the district would have been much fuller and more scientifically 
described by many of our members, and my sole reason for agreeing to do so has 
been that as regards the Jocale and physical features, I am perhaps better acquain- 
ted with the neighbourhood than any other member of the Club. I ought to 
be so, for during the six years that I have resided in Beaufort I have spent nearly 
three in endeavouring, as far as my other duties would allow time, to become 
acquainted with the many geological curiosities of this highly interesting district ; 
a district—with the exception by a friend who has lately left, and myself— 
almost unworked and unknown, and yet so prolific in all its fossil flora and 
fauna, as to rival the most celebrated localities ; and I assure you that I felt no 
ordinary pleasure in being the means of introducing our Club to a maiden country, 
and which, I trust, will induce many—especially those who live nearest—to 
assist in its geological development. 


Before I commence our day’s excursion, I must throw myself on the in- 
dulgence of the Club, to excuse my errors of geology, my knowledge of which, 
were it not for the reasons I have before stated, would not be an excuse for my 
writing a paper on it. 


Our meet then, was at Abergavenny, situate in the heart of the Old Red 
Sandstone, and commanding the most lovely views up and down the Vale of Usk. 
Although a place which makes the heart of the sketcher glad ,I fear it will not 
reward the fossil collector for a long day’s work; the sole fossils found there 
having been a couple of fishes, viz., the ctenacanthus ornatus and the ptycacan- 
thus dubius. As to the precise spot where these were found, they are both 
“ dubius” to me, but I doubt not that Abergavenny will yield as many fishes 
as Herefordshire, when they are searched for. Looking up the Vale of Usk to- 
wards Crickhowell, we see on the right the Old Red groups of the Sugar Loaf and 
the Daren. On this last, Sir R. Murchison found a portion of the Holoptychius 
nobilissimus. I have often looked ior another, but the deeply peroxidised 
stones never disclosed anything to my gaze. On the left we see a very different 
system, viz., the escarpment of the Mountain Limestone, the great northern belt 
of the South Wales Coal field. At the furthest end of the valley, although only 
visible from the hills around, we see the Brecon Beacons, the highest of the Old 
Red range, attaining an altitude of 2682 feet.* Owing to the small angle of dip, 


(ase n ————————EE ee 
* In the New Series Ordnance Map, Sheet 213, Pen-y-fan is given 2907 feet, and Corn- 
ddu 2863 feet.—£ditor. 


183 


the continuation of beds, which form the summit of the Vans is only a few feet 
below the Carboniferous Limestone at Merthyr, which Sir H. De la Beche supposes 
may have covered the Vans, just as it does the opposite height of Pen-ceryg-calch. 
One can well imagine the denudation of the soft marls, leaving the harder Con- 
glomerate untouched, for even at the present day the rivers of the district, when 
swollen after a storm, bring down enormous quantities of red marl, presenting 
a nearly bloody appearance. Our way then lay under the hills of Mountain 
Limestone for about four miles, until we arrived at Gilwern, where we abruptly 
turned from the valley of the Usk, and entered the South Wales Coal field, through 
the picturesque gorge of the Clydach. The road soon becomes deeply interesting, 
both artistically and geologically—winding through the narrow valley, with the 
Clydach foaming below—the escarpments of the Limestone are seen towering 
above us—while on the left the light of innumerable fires, and the roar and clank 
of engines, tell us that we have left the agricuitural for manufacturing districts. 
The Llanelly works are placed in a deep dingle, bounded on both sides by the 
limestone, which is extensively worked to assist in the reduction of the iron ore ; 
while on the hill towards the south, numerous chimneys are scattered, marking 
the shafts of the pits. In the Geological Survey, vol. I., page 149, is seen an 
interesting account of a visit made by Llwyd in 1697, to Llanelly, in which he 
describes the mode of working the pits and levels, and also the discovery of the 
stigmaria, which seemed to perplex him much. 


After descending to visit the Pwl-y-cwm waterfall, we mounted the hills 
directly above us, and commenced an examination of the limestone quarries. 
We are now standing on the thin belt which immediately surrounds the South 
Wales Coal field. Running up from Pontypool to Abergavenny, it forms the 
range of the Blorenge mountain, at which point it turns and runs due west to 
Carmarthen Bay. From Pontypool to this latter place there is a gradual diminu- 
tion of the thickness of the mass, preparing us for the final disappearance of the 
same range of beds in Pembrokeshire. There is also a change in the character 
of the beds—the lower shales, which are so conspicuous in the south border of the 
Coal field, have disappeared, except now and then in the gullies and ravines. 
The limestone is much worked on the whole of the Pengwern mountain— the 
thickness at Llangattock being about 520 feet. The lowest beds consist of a 
hard grey crystalline-looking stone, containing but few fossils. In the upper 
beds I have found large quantities of corals, and in small thin partings of blue 
shale, great numbers of producti in tolerable preservation—euomphalus, phanero- 
tinus nudus, different varieties of lithodendron and fungites, and a few leptenz. 
In the lower beds at Llangattock the prevailing form is spirifer. Continuing 
our course westward from Llanelly or Llangattock, we do not get any more 
sections of limestone until we arrive at the Trefil quarries, near Tredegar. They 
are of enormous extent, and worked as it were in terraces, so that an easy descent 
can be made from the top to the bottom beds. The junction of the Millstone 
Grit is here extremely well marked. Boulders of quartzose grit overhang the 
edges of the upper beds, frequently rolling over and being mixed with the lime- 
stone. These quarries are riot so rich in fossils as those at Llanelly. I have found 
productus giganticus very perfect—some good specimens of lithodendron— 
rhynconella, and a number of casts of euomphalus filled with spare 


184 


Further on we arrive at the quarries of Dyffryn Crownan, which I have 
examined, and did not find a single specimen of any sort, seeming as if they 
decreased as the range went further west. Dyffryn Crownan is, however, well 
worth a visit. It is a narrow gorge of horse-shoe shape, above which the lime- 
stone rocks tower precipitously, and forming one of the most lovely views in 
South Wales, although it is so remote from any tourist track, that I question 
whether it is known by fifty people in the county. Geologically it is interesting, 
as affording the most perfect junction line with the Old Red Sandstone that I 
ever saw ; so exactly is it marked that a person could almost make a circuit of 
the gorge, and trace it with a spade. The next section displayed is that of the 
Rhymney quarries, in the Valley of the Taff Vechan ; followed by the Penydarren 
quarries to the north of Merthyr; but as I have not examined any of them, I 
merely mention them as a guide to anybody who might wish to visit the whole 
series. 


Retracing our steps to Beaufort from the Trefil, a fine and instructive view 
is gained. To the north we see, in the horizon, the undulating Silurian hills about 
Builth and Radnor Forest. To the left the Old Red Sandstone of the Beacons 
tower up. Right opposite us we have the whole range of the Black Mountains 
and Pen-ceryg-calch, withits isolated covering of Grit and Limestone, like that on 
which we stand. Far in the distance to the north-east, the Malverns show their 
plutonic heads. That faint smoke in the far east is the Forest of Dean Coal field, 
once allied to our own. Looking to the south, we are struck with the parallel 
edges of the Pennant grit, and between us and them the dense smoke points out 
the site of the busy iron works. If it is very clear, we may see beyond it all the 
Mountain Limestone of the Mendip range in Somersetshire. Again, I do not know 
who would be most pleased—the artist or geologist. I think they should always 
go together, for the scenery that delights the eye is generally one of scientific 
interest. This rule, however, will not apply to the Coal Measures, more particularly 
to those of Beaufort, which we are now entering. The surface on which we are 
now standing is a vast slope of Millstone Grit or Farewell rock, which, by the bye, 
is wrongly coloured in the Ordnance map, in which a considerable district is 
marked as Coal Measures, whereas it is Millstone Grit. As a rock, it is here as 
elsewhere, an excessively hard material, almost destitute of fossil remains. 
Although the name “ Farewell rock’’ implies to the collier that there is no more 
coal to be found underneath, that is not the fact, for there are occasional seams, 
termed Rosser veins, to which I shall more particularly allude. The following 
section will describe the Millstone Grit. in about eighty yards of thickness. 


Sandstone. 

Strong white sandstone. 
Sandstone and argillaceous shale. 
Sandstone. 

Argillaceous shale. 

Coal, 4 in. 

Sandstone and shale beds. 

Coal, 1 ft. 6 in. 


: 
: 
{ 
. 


185 


Blue sandstone. 

Brown sandstone. 

Argillaceous shale, with small pins of ironstone. 
Strong grey sandstone. 

Dark sandstone and argillaceous shale. 

Dark grey sandstone. 

Light brown sandstone. 

Conglomerate or plum pudding stone. 


This section I have obtained from that of the Ebbwvale measures. One 
peculiarity of this district is, the immense quantity of sulphuret of iron contained 
in it, the decomposition of which gives rise to numerous chalybeate springs. One 
about two miles from my house, contains iron and sulphurretted hydrogen in 
such quantities as to taint the air immediately around it. - 


At first view of the Coal district, one is struck with the parallel ridges of 
sandstone running south, and forming the equivalent of the Pennant grit. They 
are a marked feature in the whole of the South Wales Coal field. Commencing 
at Llanelly, Caermarthenshire, they run east to Swansea, where they attain the 
great thickness of 2125 feet, and from thence may be easily traced to Pontypool, 
running in parallel ridges due north and south. The denudations which have 
acted on the softer shales below, have been resisted by this hard rock. According 
to Sir H. De la Beche, they are formed in the following manner :—he considers 
the principal mass of sand to have been forced along the bottom by the pressure 
and movement of superincumbent water, but little having been thrown down in 


. plane horizontal surfaces from mechanical suspension in the water. It is a kind of 


deposit which, if the sand be readily supplied, may be effected in very shallow 
water; and hence, by continued subsidence, a very great thickness might be 
eventually obtained. There are but few coal seams in this rock, at least with us, 
but at the Town Hill, at Swansea, there are, by Mr. Logan’s section, at least 
twelve seams of considerable thickness, accompanied by their underclay and a 
considerable amount of shale. At Ebbwvale we find it of a thickness of 330 
yards, consisting of 


Sandstone, with thin seams of coal and underclay. 
Troed y rhiw coal, 2 ft. 4 in. 

Underclay. 

Sandstone. 

Coal, 1 ft. 6 in. 

Carbonaceous shale. 

Sandstone. 

Coal, 1 ft. 2 in. 

Underclay. 

Shale, continued seams of coal, and underclay. 
Argillaceous shale continued, pins of ore. 
Oldman’s coal, 2 ft. 4 in. 

Underclay. 


186 


Thin seams of black band. 
Sandstone and shale. 
Coal, 2 ft. 

Sandstone and shale. 


We therefore find here five seams of coal, of different thickness, with their 
underclay. The vegetation is often abundant in the Pennant grit; confined 
stems and stalks, accompanied by multitudes of small leaves,{ generally very 
faint, and covered with carbonaceous specks, are most usually seen. I cannot 
quite reconcile to myself the appearance of the vegetation, with the continued 
and quiet subsidence which the formation betokens, for the former appears to 
bear marks of great violence and confusion, unless it be that it has been carried 
along by the water until entangled by the sand, and subsided with it. 


Descending from the heights of the Pennant rock, we come upon the actual 
Coal Measures, and I purpose giving you a brief section of the coal and iron veins 
at Beaufort and Ebbwvale—not so much a recapitulation of the vertical sections 
published by the Survey, as with a view to naming the different fossils peculiar 
to each vein. Few coal fossils (veritably coal and iron), have been figured, 
with the exception of the fossil Flora, which Lindley and Hutton, and after them 
Brogniart, have fully elucidated. The principal description has been by Mr. 
Prestwich, in his account of Coalbrook Dale (Geological Transactions, vol. 5), 
but there are not many figured even there. I have found but few seams without 
a distinctive shell ; some so distinctive that I can tell the measure to which the 
rubbish tip belongs, by the shell—and within the last year I have found more 
than forty species in Beaufort and Ebbwvale. 


EBBWVALE SECTIONS. 


Coal, rft. Daren pins (ore). 

Coal, 1ft. 6in. Engine vein coal, 5 ft. 9.in. 
Black pins (ore). Golin goch bach coal, 1 ft. 6 in. 
Coal, 4 in. Coal, 1 ft. 2 in. 

Elled coal, 3 ft. 4 in. Yard coal, 3 ft. 2 in. 

Coal, 1 ft. 6 in. Black band (ore). 

Big vein coal, 4 ft. 9 in. Old coal, 5 ft. 6 in. 

Three quarter coal, 3 ft. 4 in. Coal, 5 in. 

Coal, 1 ft. 3 in. Red vein (ore). 

Coal, 84 in. Spotted vein (ore). 

Coal, 7 in. Big vein (ore). 

Coal, 11 in. Bottom vein coal, 2 ft. 


Bydyllog coal, 3 ft. 9 in. 


I have, of course, left out in these sections all the intervening courses of 
shale, sandstones, &c., as uninteresting, and merely confined myself to the seams 
themselves. 


At Beaufort the section is not so long ; we have 


Pin Will shone, 6 in. Coal, 6 in. 
Coal, 6 in. Old coal, 4 ft. 8 in. 


| 
; 


187 


Course of mine, 3 in. Rock vein (mine), 4 in. 
Bydyllog coal, 3. Chance pins (mine), 2 in. 
Little pins (ore), 4 in. Red vein (mine), 7 in. 

Gloin goch bach coal, 1 ft. 9 in. Spotted pins (mine), 3 in. 
Yard coal, 3 ft. 3 in. Yellow vein pin (mine), 3 in. 
Small pins (mine), 3 in. Yellow vein (mine), 4 in. 
Coal, 9 in. Big vein coal, 1 ft. 


Allowing for difference of names, especially in the courses of mine, we have 
pretty well the same thickness and order in the two places. 


The Elled vein of coal is worked on the hill between Nantyglo and Beaufort, 
from above ground, the appearance of which, I dare say, everybody who was 
present will remember, as it was the only “patch” (locally so termed) that we 
visited on our way back to Brynmawr. We observed from above downwards, 
the top clay and sandstones, succeeded by large balls of ironstone, in tolerably 
regular layers, which, when broken, present beautiful little quartz crystals (termed 
Welsh diamonds), imbedded in the interstices ; below this was a large amount 
of shale, which, perhaps, contains a more valuable fossil flora in a small space, 
than any place known. Although in great confusion, yet the beautiful preser- 
vation of the ferns, coupled with the utter absence of fish and shells, point out at 
once, that in this case, we cannot account for this growth by any drift theory— 
but that they grew there is plain; for, I daresay, the members will remember 
seeing one or two fossil trees erect, running up through the shale into the iron ore. 


The following is a list of ferns that I have collected, in conjunction with a 
friend, the Rev. S. Lucas, a Fellow of the Geological Society, whose departure 
from the county I lamented very much. I must not forget to mention my head 
gardener, whose knowledge and interest in his vocation has procured me many 
good specimens. 


Annularia brevifolia. Pecopteris dilatata. 
Asterophyllites foilosus. ai cistii. 

3 Parkinsoni. mg caudata. 

a longifolius. Hf laciniata. 
Araucaria. Pe Mantelli. 
Calamites approximatus. - nervosa. 

#5 cannceformis. 7 repanda. 

ss Suckovii. $3 serra. 
Fructification of an Equisetaceous plant. We Stutgardiensis. 
Hippurites longifolia. B urophylla. 
Knorria imbricata. Pinnularia capillacea. 
Lepidodendron crenatum. Pterophyllum. 

rs elegans. Sigillaria flexuosa. 

= minus. »  oculatum. 

- Sternbergili. »  pachyderma. 

a plumosum. »  reniformis. 


Lepidostrobus. »  tesselata. 


188 


Neuropteris acuminata. Stigmaria. 
ed gigantea. Sphenopteris caudata. 
af heterophylla. a crenata. 
a macrophylla. = dilatata. 
Pecopteris adiantoides. es elegans. 
= dentata. a latifolia. 
> denticulata. 55 macilenta. 


In the black pins, which is a course of mine above the Elled, I have found 
two species of unio, or, I suppose, anthracosia—for I am not aware whether that 
name is applied by Capt. Brown to the whole tribe of uniones, or merely to shells 
termed anthracosia agrestis. To descend. In the three quarter coal, Mr. Adams, 
of Ebbwvale Works, to whom I am indebted for much information, has found 
terebratula, as also in the Bydyllog coal. In the Daren pins, next in order, 
three species of uniones—one of which is very small. In the black band we have 
found a large unio, quite different from those of the Daren pins, and a species of 
rhynconella. In the red vein, unio, and a small modiola, associated with quan- 
tities of lepidodendron. The bottom vein of coal is the most important, as 
containing shells, viz., microconchus, or spirorbis carbonarius, and great quantities 
of anthracosia agrestis, teeth, scales, lower maxillary jaw, palates, pectoral rays, 
skin, bones, and heteroceral tails of an (to me) unknown fish or fishes, and a tooth 
of the megalicthys.* 


I have found no fishes above the bottom vein ; I suspect the reason is that 
the waters at the time when these upper measures were formed, were shallow and 
fresh, and this I conclude to be the case, on account of the uniones and fresh water 
shells, which we find in these upper measures ; as also from the ground tracks of 
worms, which are abundant, and the discovery of a large nereites, plainly in- 
dicating a shallow and muddy shore. The remains found in the bottom vein 
seem to indicate deeper waters, more nearly approaching the deep sea waters, 
in which the shells of the Rosser veins lived. 


The nereites to which I have alluded, I found on a slab of hard stone, from 
between the coal seams, and used for building materials. It is curved once or 
twice, and in length about two feet, 7.e., as much as I found of it ; and as the 
breadth does not seem to dinimish at either end, there may be as much more again. 
It consists apparently of a thin vertebra, with a multitude of small spicule, like 
fish bones, on each side of it, for its whole length. It is not at all unlike the 
nereites Cambrensis, as figured in Siluria, but is apparently much larger, and of 
more regular structure. As the specimen itself is very heavy, I have succeeded 
in getting a tolerably exact photograph of it. I have alluded before to the Rosser 
veins—the small seams found in the Millstone Grit. In the dingle running up 
into the heart of the mountains from my house, and called Cwm Carnol in the 
Ordnance map, I have discovered a great number of shells. These seams of coal 
and iron mines are but little worked—they appear incidental, like the veins in the 
Pennant rock—but it is singular that in all the Rosser veins I have found traces 


tune were EEE ————————————SS Se 
* Since writing the above, I have found the fish remains to belong to the Palceoniscus, 
Ccelacanthus, Holoptychius, and Megalicthys. 


189° 


of shells of a deep sea character, and which bear such a similarity to the shells 
of the Mountain Limestone below, that I look upon them as a sort of transition 
bed. Another curious and suggestive fact is, that in all the sections there is no 
mention made of any underclay to these veins, while above—even in the Pennant 
rock—there is no coal without it. In the coal seams I have found wings of 
insects ; something very like the body of a dragon fly; another nondescript like 
a small paddle with five toes—lingula, leptena, producta and conularia (perhaps 
quadrisulcata). In a small measure of ironstone, at the very head of the dingle, 
I have obtained 


Productus giganticus and another species. 
Rhynconella. 
Leptena tenuistriata and one other. 
Terebratula. 
Spirifer, three or four varieties. 
Strophomena depressa and another sort. 
Lingula mytiloides, and another sort. 
Orthis. 
Donax sulcata. 
Nucula acuta. 

»  equalis. 

»  accipiens. 
Pecten scalaris. 

»  gentilis. 
Mytilus triangularis. 
Modiola. 
Unio aquilinus. 

;, robustus. 
Bellerophon hiulcus, and two other varieties. 
Nautilus. 
Littorina obscura. 
Goniatites Listeri. 
Turritella minima. 


and another variety so small that it is impossible to make it out without a 
magnifying glass. All these shells are in ironstone and ferruginous clay, and some 
of them—especially the small ones—glitter like gold with their polish of iron 
pyrites. 

After considering all these different measures and their remains, the truth of 
what Sir R. Murchison says is very evident. Hesays: “ In geology, less indeed 
than in other sciences, can we ever hope to account for certain rssults by one 
“modus operandi’ only. For nature seems to have worked out phenomena 
apparently similar, through distinct paths, and by devious processes and of this 
no clearer proof can be given than that coal was formed out of vegetables, which 


were accumulated by at least two methods.” 
> 


190 


Woolhope Naturalists Field Club. 


First FIELD MEETING, TUESDAY, JUNE 2ND 1857. 


TARRINGTON. 


Tuesday, June 2nd, being the day appointed for the Joint Meeting of the 
Woolhope and Malvern Field Clubs at Tarrington, there was a good muster of 
visitors to that pretty and picturesquely situated village. 


The Hereford party, which started at 8 a.m., filled one of Messrs. Bosleys’ 
stage-coaches, and a second party, which started at 10 a.m., on the arrival of 
the morning trains, occupied two other carriages. A party of members of the 
Malvern Club made their appearance at Tarrington soon after the arrival of the 
first Hereford party ; and other naturalists arrived afterwards from other parts 
of the county. 


After breakfast, the Woolhope Club held its Meeting, and transacted its 
ordinary business, the chair being occupied by Mr. C. Lingen, of Hereford, Presi- 
dent of the Society. 


The members of both Clubs then proceeded to visit the noble residence and 
gardens of Stoke Edith, which had been kindly thrown open to their inspection 
by the directions of the Right Hon. the Lady Emily Foley, communicated through 
her Ladyship’s agent, Mr. C. A. Mason. Mr. Robertson, the head of her Lady- 
ship’s horticultural establishment, received the visitors, and conducted them 
through the gardens. The new Italian garden, now in course of laying out at the 
southern front of the house, excited some attention. 


THE DORMINGTON LANDSLIP. 


The naturalists then proceeded to visit that singular and most instructive 
spot, the landslip near Dormington, a conspicuous object from the Ledbury and 
Hereford road, but one which has probably been looked upon by most tourists 
as merely what it seems to be—a large quarry. Had they visited the spot, they 
would have come away with very different feelings, however little they might 
have known of the geology of the district. The impression made by a first view 
upon an intelligent spectator is not to be soon forgotten. A whole field of several 
acres in extent, which has precipitated itself down a steep descent, and been 
broken to fragments in the fall—fragments of every conceivable form, and of all 
sizes from that of a footstool up to that of a good sized house ; some of them bare 
and weather-beaten masses of crumbling rock, others green islands of grass, wild 
flowers, and trees—is a sight confessedly not to be seen often, nor to be soon 
forgotten when seen. To the geologist, the spot is one of the deepest interest. 


191 


This huge mass of ruin is to him an evidence of the power of that mighty agent, 
water, since he correctly traces the slip to the percolation of water which had 
fallen upon the field, and had made its way out through the loosely compacted 
mass of fossils which formed the substratum. The rock is the Upper beds of the 
Aymestrey Limestone, which are composed almost wholly of madrepores, corals, 
shells of the Pentamerus and the Atrypa—extinct bivalves allied to the familiar 
cockle of the present day—besides the curious Leptena, with its ridged margin 
and its beautifully striated surface, and the flat shells allied to the pilgrim’s 
“escallop,”’ so familiar to ballad and romance, but which can only boast the 
hard names of Orthis, Avicula, Rhynconella, and such like. This singular chaos 
in miniature would doubtless long ago have disappeared by the simple process 
of the conversion of the rock into lime, but for the fact that it is, commercially 
speaking, too impure to repay the cost of burningit. Like many other things in 
this world, its worthlessness protects it ; and thus an instructive scene is preserved 
for the student of nature. 


The slip, as our local readers know, occurred nearly thirty years ago,* in the 
evening. An eye witness assured us that he was sitting quietly in his cottage, 
which is not far off, when he heard a loud noise like distant firing. He ran out, 
and saw the vast mass of some thousand tons in weight, rolling down into the 
deep valley below. The surface of the hill all around seemed to quake with the 
effort, and presented to his mind the idea of one of the terrible earthquakes of 
which, happily, in this country, we only know that which we learn from books. 


The fragments are slowly crumbling down under the influence of the seasons; 
vegetation is silently clothing them with an ever-extending robe of verdure, and 
in process of time all these glacier-like ruins will be hidden from sight; but, for 
long years to come the Dormington Landslip will be a scene well worth the visit 
of the lover of nature, while it is a noble class-room for the student of geology. 


In passing from this spot, the botanists of the party noticed the abundance 
of the Greater Knap-weed, Centaurea Scabiosa, a noble plant, especially when 
covered with its large purple-rayed heads of flowers, while the delicate White 
Meadow Saxifrage, Saxifraga granulata, a characteristic plant of the district, 
was also noticed as abundant. 


From the Landslip the party proceeded to the British Camp on the summit 
of the range of hills, which has, for some unknown reason, been styled the camp of 
the Saxon St. Ethelbert. Here some of the party bestowed a passing glance upon 
the remains of the earth works, which are most perfect on the western side—the 
opposite to that by which they had entered the camp—while others looked with 
equal delight and interest upon the unsurpassed view over the broad champaign 
of Herefordshire, in which the beautiful Wye revealed itself here and there, 
glittering like silver even amid the somewhat clouded atmosphere. The tower ot 
Hereford Cathedral and the Church spires were lighted up for a minute or two 


* Its occurrence is recorded in the Hereford Journal of March 2oth, 1844. The date of 
the landslip is not given.— Editor, 


192 


by a faint beam of sunlight, but the lofty ranges of “ the stormy hills of Wales ” 
loomed out but dimly in the background. 


To the geologist the scene was interesting, as bringing together in one view, 
classic Siluria, with the Syenite of Malvern, the Basalt of Titterstone, the Old 
Red Sandstone of Radnorshire and Breconshire, the Cornstone ridges of Hereford- 
shire, the Mountain Limestone wall of Dean Forest, with the Liassic and Oolitic 
formations of the Severn Vale and the Cotteswolds. 


On this spot, under the shadow of the lofty Scotch firs which crown the 
summit where, may be, Caractacus once marshalled his brave followers, the 
peaceful students of nature assembled, with the expectation of hearing a lecture 
on the geology of the district, from the eloquent President of the Malvern Club, 
the Rev. W. S. Symonds, Rector of Pendock. The President, however, was com- 
pelled to disappoint expectation by the announcement that, as Mr. Symonds had 
been unexpectedly prevented from being present, and as he (the President) had 
been unable to prevail on any of the geologists present to address the company, 
that part of the plan must necessarily be given up. He, however, had another 
announcement of a more agreeable character to make. They were met on that 
spot by the kind permission of Mr. Thomas Evans, of Sufton Court, who had, 
with his characteristic hospitality, on learning that the meeting was fixed to be 
held in his neighbourhood, thrown open his house to the members from a distance. 
He, however, had felt that in the present state of Mr. Evans’ health, it would not 
be at all proper for them to avail themselves of his very kind invitation ; and he 
(the President) had intimated that feeling to Mr. Evans, while thanking him on 
the part of the members, for his kindness. Mr. Evans, however, not satisfied 
with the mere invitation, had given a fresh proof of his kindness by sending up 
the materials for a handsome luncheon to that spot. (Applause). 


As even geologists and botanists must eat and drink, like other people, and 
as the out-door pursuit of science is particularly favourable to the cultivation of 
a good appetite, the latter part of the President’s short address was received with 
hearty applause. Their minds had been deprived of a banquet, but it was not 
considered at all necessary to fulfil the poet’s resolve by ‘“‘ letting the body pine ” ; 
and so the luncheon was attacked with spirit, and was relished all the better for 
being partaken of on the breezy hill-top, under a sky which wore at the time a 
somewhat threatening aspect. 


After luncheon the party proceeded through the wood to the well-known 
“ Hatton’s-rocks ”*—a striking spot at the eastern ridge of the Camp, where 
enormous masses of rock hang impending over the deep woody valley beneath. 
Here the famous Woolhope “‘ valley of elevation,’ by the exploration of which 
Sir Roderick Murchison worked out his great Silurian System, is visible at a 
glance. The deep concentric valleys represent the denuded shales, while the 
separating ridges are composed of the harder rocks. In the centre the Caradoc 
Sandstone rises as a vast dome, though the lowest in the series of the Silurian 


* At the period of republication (1907) these rocks are very generally known as Adams 
Rocks. The late Judge W. H. Cooke advocated Atoms Rocks.—£Zditor. 


ee eee 


le ae eS ee 


193 


rocks here exposed; the Woolhope Limestone lying immediately against the 
base of the dome. The cliffs of the limestone hills are dotted here and there with 
quarries and lime kilns, the refuse heaps around which are capital ground for 
the fossil- hunter. 


It was decided that the geologists should make their way to Dormington 
lime-kilns, and accordingly the whole party scrambled down the precipitous 
descent, over the heaps of débris, and made their way through the wood. On 
the way the botanists of the party gathered true-lover’s knot, Paris quadrifolia, 
Wall Hawkweed, Hiervacium murorum, Shining Crane’s-bill, Geranium lucidum, 
and Hellebore, Helleborus fatidus and H. viridis. The presence of wild Garlic, 
Allium ursinum, in large quantities was unpleasantly evident to the olfactory 
senses of the party. 


In Dormington wood and around the lime-kilns, the Small-flowered Crow- 
foot, Ranunculus parviflorus, the Columbine, A quilegia vulgaris, very fine in both 
plant and flowers; the Yellow-wort, Chlora perfoliata, the Hemlock Storksbill, 
Erodium cicutayium, remarkable for the contrast between the long style and 
small purple flowers ; the Smallest Cudweed, Filago minima, the Mealy Guelder- 
rose, Viburnum Lantana, and other more common plants were found abundantly. 


At this point several parties of botanists started for the exploration of the 
neighbouring parts of Haugh Wood, Checkley valley, the course of the Pentaloe 
brook, &c., One of these parties found the Lily of the Valley, Convallaria majalis, 
in all its beauty and fragrance, rather plentiful in Checkley valley. 


About half-past four p.m., the different detachments of the party reassembled 
around the dinner table at the Foley Arms Inn, Tarrington, where an excellent 
dinner was served in “‘ Sir Roderick’s room,” so named from its having been often 
occupied by that eminent geologist when working out his Silurian researches. 
The Chair was occupied by Mr. C. Lingen, the President of the Woolhope Club ; 
and the Vice-chair by the Rev. W. S. Symonds, the President of the Malvern Club ; 
and the party included as visitors the Rev. F. Merewether, Woolhope; Rev. 
T. H. Bird, Yarkhill; Rev. G. Smith, Tarrington; Messrs. R. Hereford, C. T. 
Bodenham, A. Y. Spearman, Jas. Davies, J. De Blaquiers, &c., &c. Among the 
members of the Malvern Club present we noticed Rev. W. Haywood, Rev. A. J. 
Douglas, Lieut. W. C. B. S. Constable, Mr. Edwin Lees (the author of ‘‘ Pictures 
from Nature’”’ and other excellent works on Natural History), and Mr. Walter 
Burrow, Hon. Secretary. Among the members of the Woolhope Club were Mr. 
Lingwood, Rev. J. F. Crouch, Mr. E. Y. Steele, Mr. Salwey, Dr. Bull, Mr. Cam, 
Mr. Lightbody, Mr. Cocking, Mr. Curley, C.E., Rev. T. Hutchinson, Rev. J. 
Miller, Mr. Banks, Mr. Edmunds, Mr. A. Purchas, Mr. A. Thompson, Dr. Rowan, 
Mr. Blashill, &c. Grace was said by the Rev. G. Smith. 


After the removal of the cloth the President read a kind letter which he had 
received from Sir Roderick Murchison, expressing his regret that the pressure of 
his other scientific engagements, especially in preparing for the Annual Meeting 
of the Royal Geographical Society, of which Sir Roderick is President, rendered 


194 


it impossible for him to be present, but expressing his earnest wishes for the 
prosperity of the Club. The toast of “‘ the Queen’ having been drunk, the 
health of Sir Roderick Murchison followed, and the remainder of the evening was 
spent very pleasantly in speeches and discussions on points of natural science. 


Mr. Symonds expressed his regret that an attack of sore throat had prevented 
him from being present at the out-door explorations of the Club that day, and 
he regretted still more that a similar cause had prevented that eminent naturalist, 
Sir Wm. Jardine, from being present among them that day. He then proceeded 
to sketch with admirable clearness the recent important discoveries in Geology, 
such as the discovery of animal remains in the Longmynd rocks, so long supposed 
to be azoic, or destitute of life ; the discovery of the remains of fish by Dr. Bevan, 
of Beaufort, in the South Wales Coal-beds, and of a highly organised flowering 
plant in the Newcastle coal shale by an eminent Northumbrian geologist ; the 
important new light thrown on the tilestones by the researches of Mr. Banks ; 
the greatly enlarged range over which it now seems trilobitic forms of life extended, 
&c. After paying a high compliment to the geologist named, and to Mr. Roberts 
of Kidderminster, Mr. Symonds eloquently enforced the lesson of caution in the 
formation of theories, as being particularly suitable to the students of a science 
yet so young as geology. 


Mr. Lees, of Worcester, in a clever and humourous address, alluded to various 
points of Botanical history, calling attention to the appearance of fresh plants 
in various localities, which he attributed to their seeds being carried by the wind. 
He exhibited a specimen of a new form of oak-gall, which he had seen in some 
places in Worcestershire, and enquired if it had been observed in Herefordshire. 
He also noticed the new Canadian Water-weea, the Anacharis alsinastrum, which 
has invaded the rivers of Worcestershire and other countries, and would be glad 
to hear if any botanist had yet discovered it in the Herefordshire waters. 


Mr. Lingwood remarked that the gall alluded to was exceedingly plentiful 
in the neighbourhood of Lyston and the Mynde. 


Dr. Bull understood that the Anacharis had been very lately found in the 
canal, about two miles from Hereford. 


Mr. Lees made reference at some length, and with much humour, to the 
statement of his friend, Mr. Edmunds (reported in the Woolhope Club’s Transac- 
tions), as to the appearance of a number of plants on the railway embankments 
near Hereford, which Mr. Edmunds supposed to be reproduced from long-buried 
seeds. He (Mr. Lees) considered on the contrary that the seeds had been trans- 
ported thither by the wind, and he stated some facts in corroboration of his view. 
He looked upon this as a case analogous to the monumental pillars of Oolite stone 
which he once saw in a churchyard situated on the New Red Sandstone: they 
had undoubtedly been brought thither. 


Mr. Edmunds replied, jocularly regretting his inability to subscribe to the 
theory of his friend, whose argument he declared to be very good—too good to 
be accepted. (Alaugh). In fact it proved too much. If the mere presence of 


195 


these fresh plants must be held to be proof that the seeds had been carried thither 
by the wind, then the presence of his friend’s Oolitic pillars might be taken as due 
to the same cause. (Laughter). Badinage apart, the facts would not bear the 
explanation. The wind did not bring those seeds to the neighbouring ground, 
nor has it this year brought such seeds to the ground where the plants grew last 
year. Before those plants appeared on the spoil-banks, among the sand and 
earth which had been dug up from the excavations, no such plants were to be 
found within some miles of the spot. On a view of all the facts, he felt confident 
that the assembled Clubs would, notwithstanding his friend’s talent and humour, 
return a verdict that his indictment was “‘ not proven.” (Laughter and applause) 


The President then called the attention of the meeting to a very singular 
specimen of a hybridised plant, which had been sent to him by Mr. Godsall, 
Nurseryman, of Hereford. The stock of the tree wasacommon yellow laburnum, 
but having been budded with a purple laburnum, it for some years produced 
only purple flowers. Now, however, as in the branch before them, the tree 
produced yellow flowers on one side and purple on the other; and, which was 
much more remarkable, a cytisus, with purple flowers. The occurrence of the 
yellow flowers was easy to be accounted for by the known law of physiology, that 
the offspring has a tendency to return to the original type; the stock of the tree 
being the yellow laburnum, it was in this case making an effort to return to its 
normal state; but the question remained, how came the cytisus there? Pro- 
bably the tree had been grafted with it before, but the singularity of its remaining 
dormant, and then suddenly reappearing after a long interval, was worthy of 
notice. 


Mr. Lingen then proceeded to deliver a short lecture, illustrated by coloured 
diagrams, upon the formation of the seed and the bud, pointing out with great 
clearness, and in an easy, lively style, the distinctions between the seeds of the 
monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous plants, and explaining the distinction 
between both those seeds and the spores of the fern. He remarked that the great 
object of the plant was to produce a seed, and that the seed was designed to re- 
produce the species, while the bud was designed to reproduce the individual 
plant. After explaining the formation of the bud, he concluded amid applause, 
by promising to resume the subject at a future meeting. 


The Rev. Mr. Hutchinson exhibited specimens of Botrychium lunaria, Poly- 
gonatum mulitflorum, and Pyrola rotundiflora, all gathered in the neighbourhood 
of Kimbolton. 


In the course of the evening it was stated that Mr. Edmunds had, within 
the last few days, discovered Ranunculus caenosus, a plant supposed to be new to 
the district; and had also found Chrysosplenium alternifolium and Geranium 
pyrenaicum in a fresh locality, all in the vicinity of Hereford. 


About 8 p.m. the party broke up, having spent a most delightful day. 


196 


GHoolbope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


SeconD FreLtp MEETING, JULY, 21ST, 1857. 


LUDLOW. 

The Second Field Meeting was held on Tuesday, July 21st, at Ludlow. In 
their choice of the day the members were singularly unfortunate, Tuesday being 
being the first wet day we have had for several weeks past, and being followed, 
as well as preceded, by fine bright weather. The rain began soon after the 
Hereford members departed by the 9-45 train for Ludlow, and continued with 
scarcely an interval, until evening. Despite this drawback, however, there was 
a pretty good muster—the party at dinner numbering 22—and the scientific 
explorations of the day were carried on with zeal, although the range of country 
examined was necessarily much restricted by the weather. 


Among the members present were: Mr. C. Lingen, President of the Club ; 
Mr. Suter, Hon. Sec.; Mr. Lingwood, Mr. T. H. Lee Warner, Rev. J. Miller, 
Messrs. Salwey, Lightbody, Cocking, Cam, Flavell Edmunds, Ballard, Curley, 
G. Smith, A. Thompson, and Rev. J. D. La Touche, of Stokesay. The list of 
guests present included Mr. C. T. Bodenham, Rotherwas; Rev. Mr. Green, 
Holme Lacy; Mr. W. Gilkes, Mayor of Leominster ; Mr.T. T. Davies, Hereford, 
&c. 


On arriving at Ludlow, the members departed, in two crowded omnibuses, 
for Forge Bridge, the nearest point of the Silurian district of Downton, not more 
remarkable for the exquisite beauty of scenery than for the geologic interest 
attaching to the chief formation there developed. The fine-grained, compact, 
Downton Sandstone, so valuable for building purposes, is particularly interesting 
to a geologist, as the uppermost member of the Silurian system, and therefore 
the next formation to the massive Old Red. 


At the point of junction between the Leintwardine road and the road to 
Downton Castle, the party alighted from the conveyances, which were sent on to 
the furthermost point at which the Downton gorge approaches the road, there to 
await them at the close of the pedestrian part of the journey. 


On their alighting, the members were joined by Col. Colvin and Mr. Colvin, 
junr., who kindly acted as their guides in the exploration of this very beautiful 
tract of country. Col. Colvin on this occasion acted as the representative of Mr. 
J. H. Tarratt, who thus conveyed an invitation to the members to lunch at the 
Castle, and also kindly threw open the Park for their explorations. 


The members proceeded first to the quarry on the roadside near the Bridge, 
where the geologists of the party spent half an hour very satisfactorily, bagging 


eS. +. ~~. 


197 


anumber of fossils. The party then crossed the glen, after admiring the bold arch 
of the very beautiful bridge which at this spot spans the Teme, and’ visited 
several newly opened sections of rock on the south side of the river. They 
subsequently re-crossed the river, and made their way along its north bank to 
Downton Castle. 


At this finely situated mansion, a handsomely provided luncheon awaited 
them, at which Col. Colvin presided in the unavoidable absence of Mr. Tarratt. 
In the course of the luncheon it was unanimously agreed that the Hon. Secretary 
of the Club, Mr. J. A. F. Suter, be requested to convey the thanks of the members 
to Mr. Tarratt, for his kind consideration. The only toast drunk was proposed by 
Mr. Edmunds, who remarked that he had been requested by his fellow members 
around him to express the sentiments which they all felt towards their hospitable 
entertainer. Not only had he thrown open to their view the exceedingly beautiful 
park, upon the scenery of which they had gazed with such gratification, but he 
had also invited them to examine the still more beautiful scenery of the upper 
part of the gorge, and he had with kind thoughtfulness entertained them very 
handsomely also. He begged to express their grateful sense of the hospitality of 
Mr. Tarratt by drinking the health of that gentleman. (Applause). 


This toast having been cordially drunk, the party rose from table, and having 
spent a few moments in admiring the beautiful prospect visible from the south 
front of the castle, seen as it was through the thin veil of the constantly falling 
rain, made their way towards the ‘‘ Walks,’ in the upper gorge of the river. 
At and near to the bridge they examined various outcrops of the Old Red and of 
the Downton Sandstone, and then entered the gorge, noticing and admiring the 
“dim religious light” of the grotto, the musical murmurings of the river, and 
the ever-changing beauty of the winding course. It was remarked by one member 
that the scenery bore so strong a resemblance to that of a part of the Scottish 
Lake district that the gorge might fitly be called a miniature of the Trossachs. 


Having made their way up the gorge as far as the cottage of the Leint- 
wardine fishery watchman, who is a careful collector of fossils, many of the 
members examined his collection of Protasters, the star-fishes of primeval waters, 
and other curious fossils. 


At Bow Bridge the fine sweep of the valley and the lofty range of perpen- 
dicular cliffs excited their admiration. Here, of course, the hammers of the 
geologists speedily awoke the echoes, not wholly unused to such summonses it 
must be admitted. 


On the road above this lofty cliff the vehicles awaited the party ; and here 
they departed from their kind guides, Col. Colvin and Mr. Colvin, jun., who 
returned to Leintwardine, while the rest of the party were rapidly driven towards 
Ludlow, where the important business of dining had to be transacted. 


The Botanists of the party had of course only glanced at the treasures of the 
district through which they had passed. They had, however, secured specimens 
of the beautiful Polypodiwm dryopteris and Aspidiwm filex foem., Cystopteris fra- 


198 


gilts, Ceterach officinarum, with many other more common ferns. Among the 
phanerogamous spoils of the day were Tyvifolium arvense, Campanula trachelium, 
Fedia carinata, &c. 


The members and visitors sat down to an excellent dinner at the Feathers 
Hotel, at 5 p.m., the President occupying the Chair, and the Vice-chair being 
filled by the Hon. Secretary. After the removal of the cloth the President gave 
**the Queen,” which was the only toast drunk. 


The Rev. J. D. La Touche, of Stokesay, was unanimously elected a member. 


Mr. Ballard laid upon the table some sections of an oak tree and a poplar 
as illustrations of the different results of what he distinguished as natural and 
artificial pruning. In the latter case, which was that of an oak, the decayed 
stump of the pruned limb had remained, the tree having formed a complete box 
all around it; and the wood, which seemed from the outside perfectly firm, 
revealed, when cut with the saw, a large cavity. He remarked that long ex- 
perience convinced him that artificial pruning was altogether injurious; the 
new wood seldom unites with the old, and where it does a knot is formed. In 
either case the value of the timber is lessened. In the case of natural pruning 
nature had completely healed up the wound, without the solidity of the wood 
being at all affected. The oak appeared to have been pruned about 30 years ago, 
judging from the concentric rings. 


A brief conversation ensued, in which Mr. Lingwood seemed to express a 
conviction that pruning of trees is sometimes necessary; and the President 
remarked upon the difference between the true bud, the design of which is to 
produce a leaf or a flower, and the merely adventitious buds, which are sometimes 
produced when the top of a poplar is cut off. He laid on the table an instance 
of the kind in a lily, which had not only produced flowers and seeds, but had 
also produced adventitious buds. 


Mr. Cocking, at the request of the President, gave a brief sketch of the 
discovery of the Protaster, or star-fish, in the rocks which they had been that 
day visiting. He also exhibited specimens of P. Miltonz, and several other 
species. 


The President subsequently occupied a short time not less usefully than 
pleasantly in a brief but lucid lecture on the formation of the flower, in con- 
tinuation of his remarks at Tarrington on the bud. He illustrated his observations 
by a number of coloured diagrams of the different parts of the flower, concluding 
amid applause. 


Shortly before 7 p.m., the party broke up, and the Hereford party reached 
this city by train at 8-20 p.m. 


1. -—-—-  e~ 


Tey 


ao 


199 


Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


Tuirp FIELD MEETING, TUESDAY, AUGUST 25TH, 1857. 


SHUCKNALL—HAGLEY PARK—BARTESTREE. 


The last Field Meeting for the present year was held on Tuesday, August 
25th. The district selected for the explorations of the members being the huge 
upcast of Silurian rocks at Shucknall, the Old Red of the vale of Weston Beggard, 
the trap dyke or protruded mass of volcanic matter in Hagley Park, near Bartes- 
tree chapel; and the famous dome of Hagley. The route thus included the 
opposite side of the valley to that chosen for the first Field Meeting of the year, 
which was held at Tarrington in June last. 


On this occasion, owing to the contiguity of the scene of investigation to 
the city, the usual meeting at breakfast was dispensed with, and about Io a.m. 
a party of the members met at the Green Dragon Hotel, from whence they departed 
soon afterwards in a brake. The route lay by Westhide, which is situated on 
the north slope of Shucknall, and on reaching the ancient Church of that parish 
the party were received by the Rev. Mr. Bulmer, the Curate, who kindly threw 
open the little but very interesting old Church for the inspection of the members. 


As most of the party had eyes for the beauties of Archeology no less than 
for those of the natural sciences, a half hour was spent very pleasantly in ex- 
amining the curious recumbent figures of the 14th century, one of which appears 
to represent a lawyer; the interesting incised stone of the reign of Henry VII., 
with its black letter inscription ; the ancient carved brackets which supported 
the rood-screen; and the windows, which belong respectively to the Early 
English, Early Decorated, Flowing Decorated, and Early Perpendicular periods. 


From the Church Mr. Bulmer led the party to his house, in the grounds of 
which an elm tree of prodigious size was made the occasion of a short but in- 
structive address by the President of the Club, Mr. C. Lingen. 


The President pointed out the remarkable fact that there was something 
like a stream of new wood, which, like an eruption from a volcano, had broken 
out far up the trunk of the tree, and had flowed downward to the ground, filling 
up a great portion of the space left by the decay of the stem of the tree. The 
centre wood was altogether gone, yet the vital power of the tree seemed to have 
made extraordinary efforts to repair the loss. At various points fresh leaves 
were thrown out from the bark, contrary to the natural arrangement, which only 
produces leaves upon or about branches. He pointed out the fact that it was 
only plants of the comparatively low natural order to which the elm, the nettle, 
and one or two other plants belong, which possessed this astonishing amount of 


200 


vital energy. The oak could neither produce this stream of fresh wood, mor 
throw out these adventitious leaves at places so far removed from the growing 
points of the tree. 


On the conclusion of the President’s remarks, the Rev. Mr. Bulmer invited 
the members into his house, and there hospitably entertained them with refresh- 
ments. The intense heat of the day rendered this little episode by no means the 
least agreeable part of the day’s proceedings. 


About 1 p.m. the party left Westhide, Mr. Bulmer guiding them, visited 
several quarries, and penetrated through the wood to the summit of the hill. 
Here for a while they regaled their eyes with the glorious landscape, not less 
powerful in its suggestiveness to the geologist than admirable for its picturesque 
beauty. The view ranged from the Syenitic peaks of Malvern and the Basalt of 
Titterstone to the Upper Ludlow hills of northern Herefordshire, the Cornstone 
ridges of Dinmore and Burghope and Credenhill, and the Old Red of the broad 
campaign and of the long dark range of the Black Mountains—while the lofty 
Pen-y-fal, the dimly seen Blorenge, and the peaked Scyrrid suggested the immense 
Carboniferous district of South Wales which lay behind them; and the eye 
returned from the vast range along the Cornstone ridge which runs up the county 
from the Graig and Garway to Dinedor and the Wye. 


Having crossed the summit the party made its way to the immense section 
on the south side, which is conspicuous from a great distance, like a scar upon a 
giant’s forehead. Here they spent some time pleasantly with their hammers, 
but no new fossils were disinterred—if that word may be properly applied to the 
extrication of fossils from a bed of rock. 


The next point made for was the Trap dyke at Bartestree. Here the party 
were received by Mr. J. Radcliffe, of Hagley House, along with whom they 
descended into this very striking chasm—solemn in its stillness, the lofty walls 
of rock at the sides, and the thick coppice at the foot, shutting out all the outer 
world save the soft blue of the sky overhead, or the masses of fleecy clouds which 
sailed slowly across it. Here the conical jet of Toadstone—the least compacted 
form of lava—was traced through the sandstone rock, which still bears unmistake- 
able marks of the fiery heat of the matter so forced through it. It is evident 
that the molten matter cooled as it reached the surface, and did not overflow. 
It was noticed that the Old Red beds lie almost horizontal on each side of this 
miniature volcano, which fact was explained by Mr. T. T. Davies of this city as 
suggesting the conclusion that the eruptive force came into action suddenly ; had 
the process been a slow one it must have tilted up the beds, but being sharp and 
sudden it broke through them. 


From the Trap-dyke the party proceeded to Hagley House on their way to 
the dome in the Park. At the house Mr. Radcliffe very hospitably set a luncheon 
before the party. After a short stay they visited the dome, an upheaved mass 
of Old Red, Downton Sandstone, and Upper Ludlow, the scene of the discovery 
of the celebrated fish-bed made by the late lamented Hon. Sec. of the Club, Mr. 
M. J. Scobie, F.G.S. The excavation having been partly filled up however, the 
members were unable to trace the fish-bed. 


<a he 


201 


At the Park gates the party took leave of Mr. Radcliffe and resumed their 
conveyances to Hereford, reaching the Mitre Hotel, the scene selected for the 
very necessary operation of dining, shortly before 5 p.m. Here they partook 
of an excellent dinner under the Presidency of Mr. C. Lingen, President of the Club, 
Mr. J. A. Suter, Hon. Secretary, occupying the Vice-chair. Grace before and 
after dinner was said by the Rev. Mr. Bulmer. The only toast drunk was the 
health of “‘ the Queen and the Prince Consort,’ whose patronage of science was 
neatly referred to by the Chairman. The meeting then proceeded to transact 
the business of the Club. 


The list of ordinary members was stated to be full. The subject of extending 
the number fixed by the rule was opened, but postponed to the Annual Meeting. 


The Rev. W. S. Symonds, Rector of Pendock, and author of ‘‘ Old Stones,” 
“Stones of the Valley,” &c., was elected an honorary member. 


The Hon. Secretary mentioned the discovery of a crustacean in the Cornstone 
near Rowlstone, in this county, by a gentleman who had communicated it to 
Mr. Symonds. The specimen had been sent to the Museum of Economic Geology, 
and its discovery was considered by the most eminent geologists of the day as one 
of the very greatest importance. The name was not yet fixed. He observed 
that Mr. Symonds would have been present at that meeting but for the fact that 
the opening meeting of the British Association, at which he was anxious to be 
present, was fixed for the following morning at Dublin, thus rendering it impossible 
to be present at both. 


The subject of the new Canadian Water-weed was reported upon by Dr. Bull, 
who said that since the last Meeting of the Club the Anacharis had extended itself 
through a great part of the Hereford Canal, and is now abundant in the basin at 
the Hereford end. He also stated that Mr. Edmunds had found the Anacharis, 
not only in the Canal, but also in the bye-pools of the Lugg meadows, a fact which 
was more difficult to account for than its presence in the Canal. He observed 
that the notion of its presence in the Wye had got abroad among some people 
who could not be supposed to be very accurate in their botanical knowledge. He 
had examined one place where a boatman had told him the “‘ new water weed ” 
was growing, but he saw nothing there but Potamogeton and Myriophyllum, and 
he did not think that a rapid stream like the Wye was a place where the Anacharis 
was at all likely to gain a footing. That plant loves shallow and slow-moving or 
stagnant water best ; a rapid stream with a large body of water does not suit it. 
He remarked upon the short period which had elapsed since the plant was first 
noticed, and upon the mysterious manner in which it had since spread over the 
country. He knew of its having been found at Northampton in 1836, and Dr. 
Hooker recorded its first discovery in Scotland in 1841, and since that time, by 
some unknown means, it had made its way into rivers, canals, and pools in all 
parts of England. It would seem to propagate itself by fragments torn from it 
taking root wherever the water dropped them, for all the plants which had been 
found in flower in this country are stated to have been male plants. He begged 
to suggest that, as the time of flowering is just now, some member of the Club 
might test the correctness of the statement on this point. 


202 


A brief conversation ensued, in which the President, Mr. Edmunds, the Hon. 
Secretary, and other gentlemen took part, but it did not appear that any one of 
them had yet found the plant in flower. 


The President then called upon Mr. Edmunds to address the meeting on the 
subject of buried seeds, some fresh facts in reference to which he understood that 
gentleman had to state. 


Mr. Edmunds briefly recapitulated the leading points of the discussion which 
had been originated by his friend, Mr. Lees, the well-known naturalist of Worcester, 
at the meeting at Tarrington. They would remember that Mr. Lees took up a 
paper which he (the speaker) had read to a former meeting of the Club, the subject 
of which was the sudden appearance of certain species of plants fresh to the 
district on the railway embankments near Hereford, and their almost equally 
sudden disappearance. He had attributed their appearance to buried seeds 
having been, by the disturbance of the soil from a considerable depth, brought 
again within the range of atmospheric influences, which had caused their vitality 
to revive. To this view his friend Lees had demurred, holding that the seeds 
must have been transported by the wind, and he instanced cases of certain plants 
always making their appearance on spots which, after having been cultivated, 
were suffered to become waste. He (Mr. Edmunds) held that argument to be 
unsound, for the reasons that the plants were confined to a small surface, that 
they did not appear before the spoil bank was made, and that they have now 
again disappeared, all which facts are inconsistent with the agency of the wind in 
the case, more especially since the plants alluded to were of the heavy-seeded 
orders, with one exception. This exception belongs to the order Composite, the 
seeds in which are furnished with a pappus, or parachute-shaped crown of fibres, 
evidently designed to aid their dispersion by the wind. 


He wished now only to add that, since the discussion, a gentleman who was 
then present had called upon him and told him of a fact strikingly corroborative 
of his views. A piece of old pasture land in Warwickshire had been broken up, 
a house built and a garden laid out oupnit. To the great surprise of the occupants, 
plants of the Rubus idaeus, or common raspberry, sprang up plentifully around 
the house, and they have since supplied the family with all of that description of 
fruit which they had required. Upon the theory that there had once been a wood 
there ; that the seeds had been buried under the vegetable soil formed by decayed 
leaves, &c.; that, on the cutting down of the wood, the growth of the sward had 
sealed up the seeds ; but that they germinated as soon as the removal of the turf 
and the disturbance of the soil brought them again within reach of atmospheric 
influence, the case was clear enough; but he thought it quite inexplicable on 
what he would call the ventose theory. 


He remembered having read of another case in which a gentleman, while 
passing a long un-worked coal-pit, and observing the buckets full of earth, &c., 
drawn up, had filled his botanical box with it, taken it home, covered it with a 
glass, and watered it with condensed steam, thus guarding against any arrival 
of seeds by either wind or water. The result was that the experimenter got some 


203 


ten or twelve plants from this covered soil, all of which, save one (the universal 
Trifolium repens, or Dutch clover) were fresh to the district. 


Dr. Steele of Abergavenny (who had been unable to stay to the dinner owing 
to a prior engagement) had told him of a case in which the bringing of soil to the 
surface had issued in the appearance of a species of Veronica which had not been 
previously seen anywhere in the neighbourhood. 


He (Mr. Edmunds) had himself seen Linum usitatissimum, or common flax, 
growing between the pavement stones of a yard in Hereford, although upon 
enquiry he could not find that, for 20 years at least, the plant had ever been grown 
there. Many years ago, however, some earth had been brought thither from a 
distance, and it might be that the seeds had been then brought and buried, but 
had not germinated until the decay of the mortar suffered atmospheric influences 
to reach them. 


He also alluded to the fact stated by their late respected President, the Rev. 
James Crouch, as to the sudden appearance of Hyoscyamus niger, common 
Henbane, after the opening of a deep drain in his own lawn. 


All these facts were quite clear upon the hypothesis that the seeds were buried, 
but were unintelligible to the wind theory. (Applause). 


An animated conversation ensued, in which the President, the Hon. Secretary 
Dr. Gilliland, Dr. Bull, Rev. Mr. Bulmer, Mr. T. T. Davies, Mr. Akerman, an 
other gentlemen took part. 


The President thought the facts stated, with the exception of the flax case, 
very strong proofs in support of Mr. Edmnnds’ theory. The flax seed might have 
been dropped from the cage of some canary kept in the adjoining house. 


Dr. Bull took a similar view of the facts. He thought that they quite 
demolished Mr. Lees’ theory. It was remarkable that these appearances of fresh 
plants were all under circumstances which agreed with Mr. Edmunds’ explanation. 


Mr. Akerman had thought that the suspension of vitality in seeds was 
admitted on all hands. He alluded to the case of the mummy wheat. Dr. Bull 
remarked that some eminent botanists had expressed their entire disbelief in the 
story of the wheat having been found in the mummies. 


The Hon. Secretary thought there was not much dependence to be placed on 
the statements of the Arabs; they would find plenty of mummy wheat when 
they discovered that there was a demand for it. 


Dr. Gilliland had read some very circumstantial accounts of the finding of 
the mummy wheat, its committal to the ground, &c. 


Dr. Bull agreed that there was little dependence to be placed upon eithei 
the Arabs or upon the tradesmen’s announcements that they had mummy wheat 
for sale, but he could not wholly reject the accounts which he had read. 


204 


Mr. Davies inquired whether, in the cases referred to by Mr. Edmunds, the 
seeds might not haye been washed into crevices of the ground by rains, and there 
buried ? 


Mr. Edmunds thought it very probable. 


The Hon. Secretary observed that where there was water there was air also, 
so that the vitality of the seeds might be thus exhausted while buried. 


Dr. Gilliland remarked that light was also necessary before plants could grow. 
After some further remarks the company separated. 


During the day the members present were: Mr. C. Lingen, President ; Mr. 
Suter, Hon. Secretary ; Rev. J. H. Barker, Mr. DeBoinville, Dr. Bull, Mr. Cam, 
Mr. Edmunds, Dr. Gilliland, Dr. Steele, Mr. Thompson. The visitors present 
were: Mr. Ratcliffe, Rev. — Bulmer, Mr. T. T. Davies, Mr. James Davies, Mr. 
Akerman, Mr. Cunningham. 


The botanists of the party made no important “finds” in the course of 
the day, but specimens of a curious plantago, supposed to be a dwarf state of 
P. media; of a Campanula, apparently midway between C. rapunculoides and 
C. Trachelium ; of the beautiful C. patula ; and of a dwarf state of Lepidium 
Smithii, rewarded the zeal of some of the party. The dwarfed state of the 
herbage generally on the north side of Shucknall Hill was observed as being 
somewhat more marked than usual. 


BURIED SEEDS. 


To the Editor of the “‘ Hereford Times.” 


S1r,—In the report of the proceedings of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field 
Club, which appeared in your last number, I observed a second notice of what 
has not been inaptly called the ventose theory, to account for the general dis- 
tribution of plants, or that which is the same thing, being a consequence thereof, 
the appearance upon newly-excavated soils of plants specifically, and, it may be, 
also generically, distinct from those to be found in the surrounding district. It 
was a matter of considerable surprise to me to find that a botanist of reputation, 
like Mr. E. Lees of Worcester, should be a supporter of so airy an hypothesis, 
which, if duly examined, would be found scarcely more rational than that hypo- 
thesis designated funicular, by which a section of the ‘“‘ schoolmen,” before the 
nature and properties of the air were ascertained, or the science of wro-dynamics 
even dreamed of, sought to account for the ascent of light bodies through the 
zrial medium, deeming it to be effected through the agency of invisible threads. 
That the seeds of many plants belonging to the Composite are widely distributed 
by the agency of the wind is indisputable ; and that the pappose appendages with 
which they are furnished is a provision of nature for such purpose, appears highly 
probable; but the partial distribution of the more ponderous seeds through 


205 


such means could not (one would think) be reasonably considered as any other 
than what is properly called accidental. Certainly the appearance, in number- 
less instances, on virgin soils, of plants strange, with respect to the botanical 
character of the circumjacent lands, in some cases, perhaps, many miles in extent, 
could not be explained upon such theory. During the last 25 years provincial 
botanists have had extensive fields of observation opened to them by the forma- 
tion of railways, the embankments of which afford ample scope for the investi- 
gation of the question at issue; and need it be said that the Anemonians would 
often be grieviously puzzled to maintain the credit of their agent as a general 
carrier. The earth of which railway empankments are formed has often been 
conveyed from a distance in some instances, perhaps, of ro or 20 miles, and 
excavated from a considerable depth. In the course of a few months after its 
completion it is found to possess a Flora peculiar to it, from which posies might 
be culled, more dainty, perhaps, than any to be found in the “sweet garden of 
nature”’ thereabout. Which would be the more rational mode of accounting 
for such phenomenon ?—that the seeds were brought thither by a special con- 
veyance of Dan Ventus, the carrier, or that long-buried germs, newly brought 
within the sphere of the combined influence of air and light, being vitalised, 
“burst their cerements,” and were expanded into beauty by the plastic hand 
of nature ? 


It is worthy of remark that the Flora of an embankment does not long continue 
peculiar, a variety of causes operating in the distribution of the seeds through the 
adjacent districts, where each, according to its nature, elects a soil congenial to 
it, and becomes a settler; and it is an indisputable fact that many districts 
traversed by a railway embankment have had their Floras enriched by the 
addition of plants which were not to be found there before the formation of the 
line. As to the power of seeds to preserve their vitality for an indefinite period, 
when placed beyond the agency of air and light, I see not how scientific men can 
regard it as indisputable; certainly geologists, of all others, do so with the 
least grace, and those who would 


‘* Shame the doctrine of the Sadducee ” 


are surely not disagreed upon the matter(?). The study of entomology would 
reveal to each and all of them more marvellous facts. 


A remark upon this question, made by a member of the Woolhope Club, as 
given in your report, appeared to me extremely unworthy of one in his position. 
It was something equivalent to stating that the supply of mummy wheat would 
be always equal to the demand—as if anybody could be found, at least among 
those who are speculative enough to seek a few grains of the said wheat for the 
experiment, so weak-minded to believe it to be procurable at Memphis or Cairo 
at Mark-lane prices. Certainly we are among the most gullible people of the 
northern hemisphere—even science has its dupes; but if there is any master 
tiller of the ground of the mental calibre referred to, for aught of agricultural 
science the world could expect from him, he might at once be steeped in mummy 


and deposited in the great Pyramid. 


206 


Doubtless many people have purchased modern Egyptian for genuine mummy 
wheat, and there can be no question that the Egyptian trader, if he were encouraged 
by European credulity, would find an inexhaustible store of it in Pharaoh’s granary, 
but the truth is that, with all our folly, we do not give scope to fraud in that 
direction. We will go any length you like in the matter of antiquities, as those 
travelled sages can prove who have purchased at Memphis ‘‘ petites idoles,”’ &c., 
the spoils of the Pyramids, which had been manufactured at Birmingham for 
the gratification of those who ascend the Nile in pursuit of knowledge under 
difficulties. Believing that the vital principle of seeds may be preserved in- 
definitely, if protected from external influences, I see no reason to doubt the 
vitality of mummy wheat 3,000 years old, and that such grains have germinated 
and proved prolific within the last 10 years are well authenticated facts. It is, 
I presume, upon such facts that the theory as propounded by Mr. Flavell Edmunds 
is based, accounting for the appearance of plants in a newly-excavated soil in the 
neighbourhood of Hereford at a considerable distance from any other known 
habitat ; and I take this occasion to say that the ungracious reception which 
was given to such theory by those who ought to have known better has led to the 
remarks herein made. It was Mr. E. who wisely applied the descriptive designa- 
tion of ventose to the theory originated by his opponent, a theory characterised 
by ventosity, and certainly scarcely more tenable than the exploded one of 
spontaneous generation. Yes, ventose is the word—“ thin air!” whose density 
will be increased by the light of science until it be ultimately annihilated as the 
baseless fabric of a dream. 


BOTANICUS. 


MEETING OF THE WOOLHOPE CLUB. 


“BURIED SEEDS.” 


To the Editor of the ‘‘ Hereford Times.” 


S1r,—Being from home, I have only just seen the report of the late meeting 
of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club in your paper, and as my name is 
brought forward in connection with the subject of “ buried seeds,” I think I 
may be permitted a word or two in explanation. Mr. Edmunds made a com- 
munication to the Woolhope Club on the appearance of certain plants on the 
railway embankments at Hereford, which he considered were the produce of 
seeds long buried in the ground. At the Tarrington meeting, which was a joint 
meeting of the Woolhope and Malvern Clubs, I alluded to the observations of 
my friend, Mr. Edmunds, but considered his idea of long-buried sceds was 
erroneous, and thought that upon newly turned-up soil the agency of the wind 
(which every botanical observer must admit does abundantly scatter seeds 
about) was sufficient to account for the appearance of the plants. I should not 
have mentioned the subject had Mr. Edmunds not been present, and he made an 
eloquent and forcible reply in defence of his theory. Now I think the matter 


207 


should have rested there until we had both an opportunity of joining in friendly 
discussion again; but instead of that, proceedings are taken in my absence ; 
the discussion, according to the Bridgnorth system, is all “‘ on one side,” and 
then a shout of victory is raised, that they “* quite demolished Mr. Lee’s theory.” 
To proceed to actual demolition in my absence was rather too bad, and even had 
I been present, it would have been cruel to take all the wind out of me! When 
Mr. Flavell Edmunds and Dr. Bull, dissatisfied with the Tarrington skirmish, 
had resolved to give me a regular baiting, they should have considered that to 
impale me effectually on the horns of any prepared dilemma, it was necessary, 
and indeed only fair, to have me personally before the pack to show sport. As 
it is, they have only battered ‘* the shell of Anaxarchus,” and I shall be prepared 
to show as much vitality yet as any of their “ buried seeds,’ though the winds 
may seem laid for the present. 


In truth, I believe that I can dispose of most of the facts brought forward 
by Mr. Edmunds and his friends, without the necessity of taking the hypothesis 
(for there is no proof adduced) that the seeds that produced the plants in question 
had been buried for any enormous length of time. But I have no desire to be 
dogmatical, and beg to remark that I value every fact that can be brought 
forward on undoubted evidence, merely differing from my friends of the Woolhope 
Club on the explanation of the facts. I object to the term “ ventose theory,” 
given by Mr. Edmunds to my views, because I only bring forward the agency 
of the wind as a means of transport, in explanation of particular facts. The 
general aid given by the wind to disperse the seeds of plants is undeniable, as 
numerous walls, rocky escarpments, and waste places show every day. It 1s to 
be remarked that the seeds of plants in the cases mentioned are not really found, 
but only plants appear, presumed to have arisen from buried seeds, deposited a 
long time ago. Now, with our present knowledge, certainly being absent, when 
on fresh turned-up soil plants appear new to the vicinity (for that point seems 
to be relied on), which is the most reasonable supposition, that the wind has 
carried the seeds there from some place where the plants are now or were growing, 
or to presume an entombment of the seeds for centuries beneath the soil? No 
unknown plant has ever been thus brought to light, and as yet nothing is certainly 
known as to how long seeds could remain buried uninjured. Mr. Darwin has 
commenced experiments on the subject, but they are as yet incomplete; and 
reverting to first principles, let us, like good Mrs. Glasse, with her hare in the 
cookery book, first ‘“‘catch’’ the seeds themselves buried in the soil, before 
presuming they are there. The mummy wheat tale, reiterated over and over 
again, has never yet been properly authenticated ; and unless the experimentalist 
himself took earth at a measured distance underground, and from mines where 
no horse or hay had ever had access, strong suspicion attaches to common plants 
rising up from such a source. Cultivated plants, such as flax, rape, and agrarian 
weeds, are ever coming up in strange places where casually dropped, and soon 
again disappear ; and I have myself seen dead plants of henbane, with abundance 
of capsules and seeds, blown about on a windy day in Autumn, while it is quite 
impossible to say where they grew originally. The seeds would doubtless be 
wafted into all sorts of queer places, and vegetate where they could. The case 


208 


of the raspberry is a different affair, and explainable in a different way; but I 
fear to take up valuable space now about what may not be interesting to every- 
body, and so will keep a shot in the locker ready to use in case of necessity. 


Had I not been typically ‘‘ demolished,’ I should have remained quiet as 
a zephyr, but thus roughly shaken, I take the liberty to tell the gentlemen of the 
Woolhope Club that they must ‘look out for squalls,” as if I can “ raise the 
wind’ anyway in my behalf, I shall get up a breeze that may scatter about 
seeds that may produce something for their further observation. 


Perhaps in another Court judgment may be reversed; but 1 hope my 
antagonistic friends may be present when the cause is again heard, and be lucky 
enough to escape entire demolition. 

EDWIN LEES. 


WeymoutTH, September 7th, 1857. 


209 


EXTRACT OF REPORT 
OF 


METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS 


Taken at the HEREForD INFIRMARY, from June 1st to December 31st, 1857, 
By J. E. Smira. 


Mr. Smith, House Surgeon of the Infirmary, commences his report by 
enumerating the apparatus belonging to the Society that came into his possession 
on April 25th, and consisted of the following :—A Meteorological Observatory, 
Barrow’s Barometer with attached Thermometer, Maximum Mercurial Ther- 
mometer, Minimum Spirit Thermometer, Black-bulb Maximum Mercurial Ther- 
mometer, Hygrometer consisting of a wet and dry-bulb Thermometer with glass 
for holding water, Rain Gauge, Graduated Glass Jar for measuring rainfall, and 
Glaisher’s Hygrometrical Tables. 


He then records the valuable aid he had in Mr. W. Glegg Bullock in making 
punctual note each day from the rst June; so few occasions being missed as not 
to affect the averages importantly. 


The Observations were taken twice in the 24 hours, viz. :—at 9 a.m. and 
3 p.m. A general summary has been made out at the end of every month, a 
copy of which he regularly forwarded to Mr. Glaisher, and one to each of the 
local, papers. 


Mr. Smith suggests for your consideration the following additions to the 
instruments :—A good self-registering Anemometer, a proper Weathercock, 
another Rain Gauge, a Minimum Thermometer for the grass, Ozone Papers, and 
a Flood Gauge or River Gauge. 


The following summary of the Meteorological Observations for the seven 
'months from June rst to December 31st, 1857, may contain points of interest to 
many of you, and be useful as a Record of Facts. 


From the Table on the next page it willbe seen that the BAROMETER rose 
highest in Decmber, but the highest mean was in November. It reached its 
lowest (28.563 inches) in October. 


The THERMOMETER was highest in June, but the highest mean was in August. 
It was lowest, and the mean lowest, in November. 


The Driest Montu was June. The DAmpest was December. Every month 
from September increased in humidity. 


The ATMOSPHERE was lightest in August, and heaviest in December; its 
weight increasing throughout the Autumn to the end of the year. 


210 


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211 
Ratn.—The greatest amount fell in August ; the smallest in December. 


The greatest number of rainy days was in October. The smallest number in 
July and November. The rain in December consisted chiefly of light showers. 


CLoup.—August was the brightest month ; October was the darkest. 


Winpv.—Westerly winds prevailed throughout this period, about 2} to 1 
over the East wind, about 5 to 1 in the first quarter, and 4 to 3 in the last. 


South winds prevailed over North winds in each quarter about 2 to I. 


212 


WMoolhope Naturalists Field Club. 


ANNUAL MEETING, 


TUESDAY, JANUARY 26TH, 1858. 


The Annual Meecing was held in this City on Tuesday, January 26th, when 
there was a numerous attendance of members. The Chair was occupied by the 
Rev. J. F. Crouch, of Pembridge, the President, Mr. C. Lingen, being unavoid- 
ably absent. The Hon. Secretary read the Minutes of the last meeting, after 
which Mr. Charles Bodenham, of Rotherwas, who was nominated at a former 
meeting, was elected a member. A Statement of Accounts was then submitted 
to the meeting, and we are glad to observe that the funds of the Club show a 
considerable surplus in hand. 


A highly interesting report was handed in by Mr. J. E. Smith, of the Infirmary, 
who has kindly conducted the Meteorological observations for the Club from the 
1st of June last. The very careful manner in which these observations have 
been made entitle Mr. Smith, not only to the thanks of the Club, which were 
cordially voted to him, but also to the thanks of scientific men generally, for 
such an important contribution to the statistics of Meteorology. We are glad 
to understand that Mr. Smith continues the observations for the ensuing year. 
It appears that the observations have been taken twice in the 24 hours, and 
that a general summary has been made out at the end of every month, a copy 
of which has been forwarded to Mr. Glaisher and one to each of the Hereford 
newspapers. 


Mr. Crouch read the following account of the 


LARGE PEAR-TREE AT HOLME LACY, 
By Rev. J. GREEN. 


‘* This tree consists of 18 immense branches, which, proceeding in all direc- 
tions, as from one common centre and lying upon the ground, appear to have 
broken themselves off, in consequence of their great length and weight, from 
an original parent stem. At first only partly separating, they seem eventually 
to have become rooted at the first point of contact with the earth, and then 
completing the separation and rising again from the earth in a peculiarly twisted 
shape, each branch has at length attained the bulk of a large ordinary tree. 


Although much of the tree has been cut away by former residents at the 
Vicarage, the ground still covered by it measures 57 yards in one direction, and 
in another, at about right-angles with it, 69 yards.” 


The Rev. J. Green has, however, traced it 65 yards in one direction and 
103 yards in another, thus showing that at one time about 6,695 square yards 
must have been covered by this enormous tree. 


213 


A most interesting collection of Old Red Sandstone fossils was exhibited 
by Mr. Salwey, and, amongst other rare Ichthyolites, the Cephalaspis Salweyt, 
desciibed and figured by Mr. Salter, in the Transactions of the Geological Society. 
Mr. Salwey said that much attention had lately been given in Ireland to the 
study of the Old Red Sandstone series, and that in all parts of the country a 
remarkable fact had been observed, viz., the unconformability of the Upper Con- 
glomerate of the Old Red to the underlying strata. Little had yet been done 
towards the working out of the Old Red Sandstone of Herefordshire, principally, 
he thought, from its unattractiveness in comparison with the underlying Silurian 
rocks, no fragment of which but yielded its organism. But it must be remem- 
bered that, although the geologist might labour for days amongst the rocks of 
the Old Red without success, he was rewarded at last, probably with a single 
fossil worth a whole waggon-load of Silurians. It had been well remarked that 
every man who hammered away for fossils in a quarry must not consider himself 
a geologist. There was real work to be done in Herefordshire. At the edges 
of the Coal Measures in various parts of the district there were many opportunities 
of studying the Upper beds of the Old Red, and he trusted the members would 
put their shoulders to the wheel, and work out the interesting problem suggested 
by the Irish explorations. He was not prepared to give a decided opinion as to 
whether the same phenomenon obtained in the Old Red Sandstone of Hereford- 
shire ; but, if it did, and he was inclined to think so, the result might be that the 
Conglomerate of the Old Red must henceforth be classed as the base of the 
Carboniferous system. Dr. Bevan observed that he lately examined the great 
escarpment of the Scyrrid, and thought he detected a general unconformability 
between the Conglomeraie and the Lower beds; but he was not yet in a position 
to give a decided opinion upon it. He thought the subject one of great interest. 


The retiring President’s address was read by Mr. Crouch, and the cordial 
thanks of the Club were voted to Mr. C. Lingen, for his indefatigable and valuable 
exertions as their President for the past year. 


Dr. Bevan, of Beaufort, is President of the Club for 1858, and the Secretaries 
were re-elected. The days and places of meeting for the year were fixed for 


June 3rd, Ledbury. 
July 2oth, Bromyard. 
August 24th, Usk. 


ADDRESS 


of the retiring President, CHARLES LincEN, Esg., M.D., read in his absence 
before the Members of the WooLtnore NATURALISTS’ F1eLp Cuuvs, at their 
Annual Meeting, held in Hereford, January 26th, 1858. 


My year of office has closed, and now it becomes my duty—a somewhat 
embarrassing one I find—to give an account of our proceedings since you did me 
the honour, twelve months ago, to elect me your President; but I must first 
record my acknowledgments for the honour conferred, which I felt to be as 


214 


unmerited, as it certainly was unexpected ; indeed, had I known of your decision 
in time, I should have entreated you to reconsider, and reverse it ; but I had no 
choice. My professional occupations, though scientific in their nature, only 
border on those branches of knowledge to which the attention of this Society is 
devoted, and leave little time for such pursuits. Being fully aware that those 
subjects demanded of your leader more than a general familiarity with them, I 
entered on my duties with timidity; yet, thanks to the efficient and ready help 
of my fellow-members, my duties have been lightened, and my presidential cycle 
has passed off very pleasantly as regards myself, and not fruitlessly as regards 
the Club ; if success has attended its labours, the merit of that success is essen- 
tially its own. 


It is from combinations such as these, scattered throughout the kingdom, 
that so much has been effected, and it is yet to be hoped for, in accumulating 
material for purposes of generalization, and for testing theories on a large scale ; 
each member is expected to do something in his own department. In our case, 
I hope we may feel this Club has doneits part. Nature herself exhibits phenomena 
illustrative of this idea; the vegetable kingdom, with which I claim to be more 
familiar, perhaps as prominently as any. The prodigious results attained by vital 
actions coincident and long-sustained, manifested in trees that excite our wonder 
by their bulk and solidity, and the products of the minutest contributions un- 
ceasingly deposited and sent downwards from the leaves. Again, the enormous 
amount and exceeding variety of nutriment for man and animals, stored up in 
form of grains, fruits, or leaves: the supply, too, of silk and of cotton, that give 
clothing to half the civilized world, illustrate the same fact. Let these serve to 
remind us how essential is individual labour, and how much may be done by 
combined energy in the natural sciences. 


I am indebted toso many of our friends for aid in preparing my report, that 
I find it difficult to make acknowledgments—yet I must mention especially the 
assistance I had from Mr. Lightbody, Mr. Salwey, Mr. Barker, Mr. Banks, and 
Mr. Cocking, in the Geological department ; to Mr. Edmunds I owe much in the 
Botanical section ; and to Mr. Smith for his accurate observations on Meteorology, 
so ably drawn up. 


We now turn to our three meetings during the year. The first, fixed for 
Tarrington, a convenient place whence to explore the “ Woolhope Valley of Eleva- 
tion,” came off on the second of June, and as we were honoured by the company 
of the Malvern Club, we mustered much stronger than usual—breakfasted at the 
“Foley Arms *’—after which we visited the mansion and gardens at Stoke 
Edith ; Lady Emily Foley, who was from home, having kindly ordered them to 
be thrown open for our inspection. 


We next proceeded to the “ Landslip,’’ a spot conspicuous from afar to 
the tourist, and of great interest to the geologist. The obvious cause of this 
enormous ‘‘slip,’”” was percolation of surface water: it took place suddenly 
some twenty years ago. The rock itself consists of upper beds of Aymestry 
Limestone, composed for the most part of Madrepores, Corals, and Shells of the 


215 


Pentamerus, Atrypa, Leptzna, Orthis Orbicularis, Rhynconella, &c.; but time 
and weather are fast effacing the memoranda, and vegetation is attempting to 
conceal the masses of rock that lie scattered over an area of two or three acres, 


“Like crags and rocks confusedly hurled, 
The fragments of an earlier world.” 


In proceeding hence along the outer northern border of the great upheaved 
valley, the botanist recognised an abundance of the Centaurea Scabiosa and Saxa- 
fraga granulata. The party now proceeded towards the British Camp, known by 
the name of the Saxon “St. Ethelbert,’’ where part of the earthworks are still 
discernible: hence were brought within view classic “‘ Siluria,”’ the Syenite of the 
Malverns, the Basalt of Titterstone, the Old Red of Radnorshire and Breconshire, 
the Cornstone ridges of Herefordshire, and the Limestone wall of the Forest of 
Dean, with the Oolitic formations of the Severn and Cotteswold. It was on this 
spot that the Club experienced the hospitality of Mr. Evans, of Sufton Court, 
who, though absent from the mansion, had ordered there an excellent supply of 
refreshments. After dispensing these beneath the lofty well-known Firs, we 
proceeded to Hutton’s or “*‘ Adam’s Rocks,” at the eastern edge of the camp. 
From this place the ‘‘ Valley of Elevation” is seen at a glance, and the central 
dome of Caradoc Sandstone rises through the deposits before you to the south-east. 


The geologists of the party then made for the Dormington Limekilns, as 
mentioned elsewhere; the botanists met with Paris quadrifolia, Hieracium 
murorum, Geranium lucidum, Helleborus fcetidus, and viridis; also the Allium 
ursinum, or Wild Garlic, in abundance. 1n Dormington Wood, and near the 
Limekilns, were found the Ranunculus parviflora, and the Columbine or Aqui- 
legia vulgaris, Chlora perfoliata, Erodium cicutarium, Filago minima, and 
Verbena Lantana; the Convallaria majalis was also met with plentifully in 
Checkley Wood. 


We dined at the Foley Arms, and were joined by the Members of the Malvern 
Club and several visitors. After dinner Mr. Symonds (who had been prevented 
by indisposition from joining us at Adam’s Rocks, and there giving the party the 
benefit of his complete knowledge of the subject, and the locality, by a lecture 
on the spot) favoured us with an able address, noticing recent important dis- 
coveries in geology, such as animal remains found in the Longmynd Rocks, 
near Church Stretton, hitherto believed to be azoic ; the discovery of the remains 
of fish in the South Wales Coal Fields by Dr. Bevan, and of a highly organized 
flowering plant in the Newcastle Coal Shale: also the new light thrown on the 
“ tile-stones” by the researches of Mr. Banks, and the greatly enlarged range 
over which Trilobitic life extended, &c. Then followed an animated discussion, 
sustained chiefly by Mr. Lees, of Worcester, and Mr. Flavell Edmunds, of Hereford, 
on the sudden appearance of plants, rare in the district, in railway cuttings; Mr. 
Edmunds maintained that they clearly resulted from the germination of seeds, 
buried for ages, but still retaining vitality ; Mr. Lees considered that such seeds 
must have been brought thither by the winds, and rejected the admissibility of 
the other explanation. 


216 


Your President then called attention to an interesting specimen of a hy- 
bridized tree from the garden of Mr. Godsall, of Hereford. Its stock was a yellow 
Laburnum, which had been budded with a purple one, and for several years 
produced only the purple flower of a Laburnum; now, however, besides here 
and there perfect purple and perfect yellow flowers, appeared a third and distinct 
kind, the Cytisus, as separate and as perfect as either of the others ; indeed, the 
small branch which was shown had all three on it. Mr. Elmes Steele subsequently 
wrote that Mr. Saunders, of Abergavenny, had a tree in his nursery showing the 
same facts. Mr. Blashill also reported a similar case in the nursery of Mr. Mc- 
Pherson, of Plaistow, Essex. Several speculations as to the cause of this most 
remarkable fact were hazarded, but it was eventually allowed that the whole 
was the result of laws purely vital and beyond our scrutiny ; it is curious that in 
each case the Cytisus blossom was the last, by several years, to appear; one 
thing appears proven at all events, namely, the very close affinity of these several 
plants to each other. After a brief lecture from the President on seeds, and the 
essential differences ’twixt the seeds of flowering and the spores of non-flowering 
plants—the chief distinctions being, that the former possess an embryo ready 
formed, the latter being formed at the time of germination—the meeting broke up. 


Letters addressed to the President were read, among others from Sir Roderick 
Murchison, also from Professor Sedgwick and Mr. Lewis, expressive of their regrets 
at being unable to attend. The former venerable geologist, alluding to his early 
associations with the locality, and to a recent visit to it with Professor Ramsay, 
added, ‘‘I assure you that I never can visit that wonderful scene too often, and 
that I infinitely regret being prevented doing so on this occasion.” 


The second meeting, on July 21st, was at Ludlow; “‘ Jupiter was not pro- 
pitious ”—the early part of the day was wet, yet we mustered well, and 22 sat 
down to dinner. The first rendezvous was Forge Bridge, the entrance on the 
Downton Silurian district ; here the fine-grained compact Downton Limestone 
(a capital building stone) exhibits the topmost member of the Silurian system, 
and therefore the deposit immediately inferior to the ‘‘ Old Red.” Col. Colvin 
acted as our guide, and conveyed a cordial invitation from Mr. Tarratt to lunch 
at the Castle, which the Club accepted, though they had to regret the unavoidable 
absence of Mr. Tarratt. 


The geology of the day is recorded in another place. Among the plants 
bagged by botanists were Polypodium dryopteris, and Aspidium filix foemina ; 
Cystopteris fragilis, Cetarach officinarum, and many more common ferns; the 
Trifolium arvense, Campanula trachelium, Fedia carinata, were among the Phana- 
rogamous plants. We dined at Ludlow, after which Mr. Ballard exhibited 
specimens of wood (of the oak and poplar) illustrating the different results of 
artificial and natural pruning; he remarked that long and careful observation 
convinced him that artificial pruning was an error, for as in these cases the new 
wood blended imperfectly with the wounded part, leaving either a cavity or a 
knot, calculated to spoil the timber ; and that such was not the case where pruning 
was the effect exclusively of a natural process. This led to a discussion on the 
nature of ‘‘ adventitious buds,’ or buds produced otherwise than from the axilla 


217 


of the leaf (the ordinary or normal source), as for instance from roots of some 
trees—the elm, the cherry, and the acacia; or from other parts of the ascending 
axis of certain trees—those of the willow and ash for instance, which have the 
power to produce adventitious buds in abundance, as shewn by the ready supply 
of hop-poles from the branches produced by these buds. Your President took 
occasion to remark that to the late Mr. Knight, of Downton, is due the merit of 
first calling special attention to the elucidation of this most interesting fact— 
the distinction between the ordinary leaf-bud and the adventitious one ; and 
then proceeded by the aid of diagrams, to compare the flower-bud with the leaf- 
bud, and to show that each part of the flower is really a modification of a leaf, or 
in other words, is made out of a leaf, and that the flower-bud in all important 
respects is the analogue of the leaf-bud, but destined for a different object, and 
a briefer existence. 


Mr. Cocking exhibited various specimens of Protaster, and gave a brief 
history of their discovery in the Downton rocks. The Rev. J. Green gave a 
description of a curious and nearly prostrate pear tree, well known as “ the Big 
Pear Tree,” in the Vicarage garden of Holme Lacy. It is remarkable from the 
circumstance of its slender and disproportionately long branches having extended 
in all directions, and then become depressed, so as to reach the ground, where 
eventually some of them have taken root, and thus become independent centres, 
if not detached trees! There are now about 18 of these branches, which from 
their peculiar spiral growth have a fantastic appearance, and cover a space of 
nearly 4,000 square yards ; in years past it was known to cover nearly 7,000 yards ; 
different occupiers, however, of the Vicarage, have cut away many of the limbs 
or centres. It has been said that 20 hogsheads of perry have been made in one 
year from this tree. There isa similar but smaller and younger tree in a meadow 
near, evidently grafted from this one. The spreading and spiral tendency of the 
branches is peculiar to the sort ; the rooting of prostrate branches of such mag- 
nitude is perhaps without parallel in a pear tree, and worthy of record. 


Our last gathering was at Shucknall Hill, Weston Beggard, selected for 
exploring the precipitous upcast of Silurian rocks there, the “ Old Red” in the 
vale separating it on the south-east from the Woolhope elevation ; the “ Trap i 
Dyke near Hagley Park, Bartestree, and the famed ‘“ Dome of Hagley,” lie to 
the west of it. The route comprising the opposite side of the valley was chosen 
for the first meeting of the year. We commenced at Westhide, on the north 
slope of Shucknall Hill, where we were hospitably entertained at the Vicarage 
by the Rev. Henry Bulmer. Here a prodigious elm in his lawn gave occasion for 
a discussion on the age of trees, and their powers of repairing injuries. Much 
of its centre or heart-wood was decayed and gone, but by extraordinary efforts 
masses of new wood had found their way inwards, and in a fashion repaired the 
loss, by the formation of a spurious heart-wood. The party now made its way 
over the Hill, visiting quarries open here and there, and finally to the abrupt 
section that faces the south, and is so conspicuous from the Tarrington road, but 
were not successful in obtaining new fossils. Next followed the ‘‘ Trap Dyke; ie 
here a conical jet of Toadstone was traced through the Sandstone and Limestone, 


218 


which latter still bears evident marks of the molten mass that was forced through 
it. It is evident that the erupted matter did not overflow, but cooled down as it 
reached the surface; it was noticed also, that Sandstone on either side of the 
chasm lay horizontally, probably owing, as was suggested by Mr. T. T. Davies, 
to the abrupt and sudden manner of its intrusion. Near this is ‘‘ the Dome,” 
an upheaved mass of Downton Sandstone and Upper Ludlow—the scene of the 
discovery of the Fish bed by the late lamented Mr. Scobie, the first Honorary 
Secretary of the Club. We dined at Hereford (Mitre Hotel). Afterwards the 
Honorary Secretary mentioned the discovery of the Rowlstone fossil alluded to 
elsewhere (the specimen itself now being at the Museum of Economic Geology)— 
its discovery is esteemed one of the highest importance. Dr. Bull called attention 
to the rapid spread of the Anacharis, and its presence in our Canal; also to the 
circumstance that it had been found at Northampton in 1836, and that Dr. 
Hooker had noticed it in Scotland in 1841. Mr. Flavell Edmunds was now re- 
quested to revert to a subject discussed at Tarrington—that of buried seeds— 
he gave many instances, chiefly from excavations in railway cuttings, where 
plants, fresh to the district, had sprung up in great abundance; illustrating as 
he believed, the admitted fact that seeds may retain their vitality for an almost 
indefinite period, if separated from those essentials to germination, air, moisture, 
warmth, and darkness. Your President instanced a fact in support of these 
views, in the sudden appearance, and very great amount, of the Equisetum in 
the Brick-yard at Shelwick, alongside the Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway, 
where previously none had been observed. Botanists made no important 
“finds.” Campanula patula and Lepidium Smithii were the most notable. 


THE GEOLOGICAL SUMMARY. 


It will be expected that an Institution, whose field is Siluria, and which even 
takes its name from the most remarkable spot of that remarkable region—should 
have a word to say about geology. Nor will that expectation be disappointed, 
seeing that it is our good fortune to number among ourselves several acute and 
successful observers. No special discoveries, that I am aware of, were made by 
the members in their Field Days during the past year, as had been the case in a 
former year, when they found the footprints of a crustacean on the sandstone 
slabs in the large quarry at Puddlestone ; yet by the kindness of Mr. Salwey and 
Mr. Lightbody and Mr. Banks, as well as our late President, the Rev. William 
Symonds, I am enabled to announce to you the discovery of several interesting 
fossils in different localities of this County, or its immediate neighbourhood. 


In the Ludlow district, the Lower Ludlow beds at Church Hill, near Downton, 
have yielded to the persevering researches of the two former gentlemen, Mr. 
Cocking, and other local observers, at least eleven different species of Asterias, 
or Starfish, which have been named Protaster ; a new genus intermediate between 
the Trilobite and the Limulus, and named Limuloides ; three or four species of 
Phyllopod, a crustacean resembling the Shrimp, with a beautiful tail, and a new 
species of Cornularia. 


219 


In the same neighbourhood, at Forge Bridge, though in the Upper Ludlow 
bed, several imperfect specimens of the Pterygotus were found. In a similar 
situation, namely, at the top of the Upper Ludlow Rocks, in Stoke Edith Park, 
Mr. Banks reminds me that the members found a layer of carbonised fucoid 
plants, as well as a small species of the Trilobite family, which has been named 
Lichas Bucklandi (or Hirsutus). At Ludford, the same beds—those immediately 
below the Downton Sandstone—have yielded remains of Pteraspis, Cephalaspis, 
Eurypterus, and Pterygotus, also some pustulated curved plates, having teeth 
on the outside of the curve; they are supposed to belong toa fish. The railway 
cuttings of the same neighbourhood, through the beds at the bottom of the “‘ Old 
Red,” have furnished an immense quantity of remains of the Pterygotus, of two 
different species, Pterygotus Anglicus and Pterygotus Acuminatus ; also two 
species of Eurypterus, and a Cephalaspis, named by Sir P. Egerton, ** Ornatus,”’ 
besides a smaller specimen which he considers to be generically distinct, and 
names Auchenaspis Salteri. The same beds have also supplied specimens of the 
spines and skin of Plectrodus mirabilis, and two species of bivalve Crustaceans. 
The lower strata of the “‘ Old Red” on the banks of the Teme, near Downton, 
contain a “fish bed,” in which have been found the Pterygotus, Eurypterus, 
Cephalaspis Murchisoni, with the Ornichus and Lingula. 


Our friend Mr. Symonds, has also brought into notice a fine specimen of a 
crustacean allied to Eurypterus, which was discovered by an intelligent working 
man at Rowlstone, near Ewyas Harold, in this County, in a Sandstone bed of the 
upper Cornstones of the ~ Old Red” at Rowlstone, and which, through the 
kindness of the Rev. Mr. Wenman, in whose possession it now is, many of us have 
had the opportunity to examine. 


Various fossils from this county and neighbourhood are to be described by 
Mr. Salter in the forthcoming number of the Decades of the Geological Society. 


The Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society for August, 1857, contains 
a description, by Sir R. Murchison and Sir P. Egerton, of some entirely new fossil 
fishes, discovered by Mr. Salwey and Mr. Lightbody ; by the former in the ‘* Old 
Red” of Acton Beauchamp, and by the latter in the bone-beds of Lucton. 


And last but not least, the discoveries of organic remains in water, as low 
down in the scale as the Cambrian Rocks, have been made in the neighbourhood 
of the Malvern Hills by Dr. Grindrod, of Malvern. The green Hollybush Sand- 
stone of the Malverns are generally ranked as of Cambrian age, inasmuch as the 
black shales above them contain Trilobites, found in other parts of Europe in 
strata older than the base of the Llandilo flags. The fossils discovered by Dr. 
Grindrod are the tubes of ancient marine worms, which have been named “ Areni- 
cola antiquissima.” It would appear more than probable, from certain specimens 
of Trilobites associated with shells—which as we learn from the Edinburgh 
Philosophical Journal, were lately exhibited by Professor Dawa at the American 
Association for the Advancement of Science, as having been discovered in a 
deposit called the Potsdam Sandstone of the Cambrian age—that the Cambrian 
deposit was by no means so destitute of life as has been generally supposed. 


220 


Woolbope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


First Firtp MEETING, THURSDAY, JUNE 3RD, 1858. 


LEDBURY. 


The First Meeting of the season of this Club took place at Ledbury on 
Thursday, June 3rd, when the members were joined by members of the Malvern, 
Worcestershire, and Cotteswold Clubs. 


The following Members were present:—WooLHOPE CLiUB—Dr. Bevan, 
President, Mr. R. M. Lingwood, Mr. R. Lightbody, Dr. Steele, Rev. J. H. Barker, 
Messrs. T. Curley, A. Thompson, P. Ballard, G. Cocking, P. Baylis, &c. ; MALVERN 
CLtusp—Rev. W. S. Symonds, F.G.S., President, Rev. Reginald Hill, Rev. C. Hay- 
wood, Mr. John Jones, and Rev. J. Kent, &c. ; WorRCESTERSHIRE CLUB—Edwin 
Lees, Esq., F.L.S., Vice-President ; Messrs. J. S. Walker, Edward Gillam, R. 
Smith, Rev. W. Thorne, Mr. Henry C. Vernon, Mr. Herbert Budd, Captain 
Pointing, &c. 


The whole of the Clubs and their friends, numbering 60 or 70, assembled 
on the summit of Braidlow Hill, near Ledbury, where the Rev. W. S. Symonds 
delivered a very able and instructive lecture on the Geological formation of the 
Malvern range of hills, explaining the upheaval and contortion of the strata. 
He dwelt with great feeling on the loss to science of the late lamented Hugh 
Strickland, who some three or four years ago, on a similar occasion, delivered 
a lecture on Ragged Stone Hill. 


The lecturer recommended that the day’s ramble should begin by visiting 
a fish-bed lately discovered by two working men, who devote their leisure hours 
to the pursuits of geology. The descent was made io the exposure in a vertical 
escarpment of Ludlow Rocks at Dog Hill, and proceeding thence to the examina- 
tion of a supposed bone-bed on Wall Hills, the threatening aspect of the weather 
and the rain commencing to fall induced the party to return to the Feathers Inn, 
where Dr. Bevan lectured on fossils lately discovered by him in the Coal, which 
are unique, consisting of Ammonites and other shells, which have yet to be named. 
He treated of a deposit of Marine Shells found by him in the Coal Measures near 
Beaufort, in the South Wales Coal basin. 


Mr. Jones, of Gloucester, exhibited a new instrument called a Gyroscope, 
which demonstrates the fixity of the earth’s axis in the position it was placed in 
when the earth began to revolve. We may refer to a description of this instru- 
ment at some future time. 


Mr. Lees read a paper on “ The Colouring given to Nature by Cryptogamic 
Vegetation,” which caused a good deal of discussion. His theory of the non- 


————<_  s - he rmrmhUrttCOt 


221 


vitality of seeds buried for any length of time in the ground was opposed by 
several gentlemen. Mr. Lees humourously attributed Mr. Edmunds’ absence 
to a fear of another encounter with him ; in fact, he (Mr. Lees) considered that 
“he had knocked the wi1np out of him.’ (Laughter). 


Mr. Curley exhibited a large horn of some antediluvian animal, found in the 
excavation of the Newport Docks, 38 feet below the surface which the Rev. 
W. S. Symonds intends to send to Professor Owen for the purpose of determining 
the class of animal to which it belonged. 


About 40 gentlemen sat down to an excellent dinner, after which several of 
the members proceeded to visit the fish-bed, where they found fish-scales in 
abundance. 


Woolhope Haturalists Field Club. 


Srconp FieLtp MEETING, TUESDAY, JULY 20TH, 1858. 


BROMYARD. 


The Second Meeting of this Club for the present year was held at Bromyard, 
‘ on Tuesday, July 2oth, under the presidency of Mr. C. Lingen, in the absence of 
the President, Dr. Bevan, of Beaufort. There were present also, Mr. Suter, 
Hon. Sec., Mr. Salwey, Mr. Lightbody, and Mr. Harley, of Ludlow; Mr. Curley, 
Dr. Rowan, Mr. Edmunds, of Hereford, &c. The party met at breakfast at the 
Falcon Hotel between 9 and 10 a.m., and afterwards proceeded to transact the 
usual business. The Rev. C. Smith, of Tarrington, was unanimously elected a 
member, and another gentleman was nominated, to be balloted for at next 
meeting, which was fixed for August 17th, at Usk. Progress was reported on the 
subject of the Flora of the County, a complete account of which is being prepared 
by the Rev. W. H. Purchas. 


After breakfast the party started for an exploring ramble, Mr. Salwey and 
Mr. Lingen acting as guides. 


The party first visited the quarries on Bromyard Down, and thence made 
their way by the Hawkins to the interesting old Church of Stanford Bishop. 
Here a few minutes only were allowed for a glance at the fine Norman doorway, 
and other interesting features of the Church. In passing, the patriarchal yew 
tree, 15 or 16 feet in girth, and probably six or seven centuries old, which shades 
the north side of the churchyard, was greatly admired. 


From Stanford Bishop Church the party made their way through the Church- 
house dingle to Sevington, visiting divers quarries, and putting ‘‘ crushing 
questions”? to stone heaps wherever found. Until they reached Sevington, 
however, their researches were fruitless. There, on the contrary, a mass of 
Cornstone fragments yielded a number of good specimens of Pteraspis, Cepha- 
laspis, &c. 


A visit to another quarry, lying eastward of the house, was then made, 
after which the party made their way to Ponton, and thence through the Acton 
Beauchamp dingle to Hingston, returning through Avenbury Churchyard to 
Bromyard. 


The weather was delightful, the passing clouds frequently veiling the sun, 
and thus rendering the intervals of his fierce glare more tolerable. The slight 
fatigues of the journey were lightened by the hospitality shown by Mr. Philpotts, 
of The Hawkins, and Mr. Brown, of Sevington, the latter gentleman kindly 
entertaining the party at an al fresco lunch on his lawn. 


223 


For the botanist, the ramble yielded nothing fresh, the extent of ground 
covered being too great to allow of that thorough examination which is necessary 
for the exploration of a district. As in other instances, Campanula patula was 
found marking out the Cornstone ridges, while the downs and elevated places 
were adorned with the characteristic Galiwm saxatile ; the marshy hedge-bottoms 
yielded G. Witheringii and palustris, and the walls were becoming golden-hued 
with the rich yellow flowers of Sedum rupestre. In one instance, Sempervivum 
tectorum, evidently wild, was found growing on a wall. 


At 6 p.m., the hungry and tired explorers met at the Falcon, and recruited 
their strength by an excellent dinner. During the pleasant hour which they 
afterwards spent together, Dr. Rowan exhibited and explained a simple con- 
trivance for ascertaining in a few minutes, the percentage of. lime in any given 
sample of limestone, and proceeded to experiment with it in a very successful 
manner. It consists of a large glass jar or bottle with a perforated cork, into 
which fits a smaller glass vessel and a glass syphon, one leg of which reaches 
down to near the bottom of the jar. A small tube also passes through the cork. 
A given quantity of limestone, bruised, with a small quantity of water is put 
into the jar; the whole is then weighed; the inner vessel is filled with hydro- 
chloric acid, and the jar is exhausted of air by suction through the tube. A 
partial vacuum being thus created, the acid rushes through the syphon, and falls 
upon the limestone, producing an effervescence. The carbonic acid being expelled 
through the tube, the residuum is chlorite of lime. On the jar being again 
weighed, the loss from the former weighing is deducted, and the actual amount of 
lime is thus ascertained. Of course, the weighing is a matter of great nicety, 
but the saving of time in analysis by this method is very considerable, while the 
practical value of a cheap and easy test of the value of limestone in agriculture 
is obvious. 


The party broke up at 8 p.m., having spent a very agreeable day. 


224 


Woolhape Naturalists’ Field Club. 


TuirD Frietp MEETING, TUESDAY, AUGUST I7TH, 1858. 


USK. 


The Club held its Third and last Field Meeting for the season at Usk, on 
Tuesday, the 17th. The following members and their friends were present :— 
The President, Dr. Bevan; Professor Melville, J. C. Salter, Esq., Rev. W. S. 
Symonds, Mr. Lingwood, Mr. Bodenham, Rev. J. F. Crouch, Mr. Lightbody, 
Rev. J. D. La Touche, Captain Symonds, Mr. Beddoe, Mr. Cocking, Mr. Curley, 
Mr. Marston, Mr. Thompson, Mr. Purchas, Rev. C. Smith, Mr. Smith, Mr. Suter. 


The intended excursion lay between the Little Mill Junction, on the Newport, 
Abergavenny, and Hereford Railway, and the town of Usk, but, at an early hour 
in the morning, rain commenced to fall in torrents, and as every indication existed 
of a thoroughly wet day, the party proceeded direct by railway to Usk. 


At the Salmon Hotel, the usual business having been transacted, Professor 
Melville favoured the Club with an interesting lecture on the Palzozoic rocks. 


After having in a very clear, though succinct manner, explained their charac- 
teristic features, composition and sequence, he proceeded to say that the subject 
of Conglomerates having occupied his attention for some time, conclusions had 
been forced upon his mind respecting their origin, which were gradually forcing 
themselves likewise on the minds of all practical geologists. He would not say 
that his interpretation of the phenomena was absolutely the true one. Anxious 
only correctly to read the lessons that nature taught, he was willing to be con- 


vinced if in error. 


Up to a very late period he was a firm adherent of what might be called the 
Lyellian School of Physical Geology, z.e., he thought that all the great changes 
which had taken place in the earth’s crust, such as the upheaval of mountain 
chains, &c., &c., were due to forces which had been exerted slowly and unre- 
mittingly from the beginning of time, and which continued to the present in 
gradual operation. His observations, however, had led him to regard the 
present period as a period of absolute repose ; he thought that the earthquakes 
and volcanoes, upon the existence of which so much stress had been laid, pro- 
duced little or only local effects, and that strictly speaking they were the con- 
comitants of a period of quiescence, and not of disturbance. 


The Conglomerate beds interspersed amongst the sedimentary rocks would, 
he thought, be found always to indicate violent and unusual disturbance of the 
earth’s crust at the time of their deposition ; whenever, therefore, such appeared 


225 


to be looked for, disturbing causes were close at hand, or in some other region 
upon the same Geological platform. 


A mass of evidence had already been accumulated corroborative of this view, 
and the proofs are almost sufficient to enable him to assert that the great geological 
epochs have been ushered in by such periods of real disturbance, and that 
quiescence, such as now obtains, reigned between. 


Beds of Conglomerate also had been found to form the boundary between 
one system of life and another. Take, for example, from this locality, the Old 
Red Conglomerate, which seems to usher in the Carboniferous series. The same 
catastrophe which produced the Conglomerate seems also with only a very few 
exceptions, to have annihilated the then existing animate creation. 


He did not mean to assert that there was there a great and positive break 
in the chain of being, but what he did mean was that, although certain species 
appeared to have lived on, there seemed to take place a change in the conditions 
of the planet unfavourable to life, and that the great proportion of then existing 
species perished, a few being carried forward into the subsequent creation. 


He concluded by recommending an earnest study of the Conglomerates, 
in relation to evidences of disturbance occurring on the same geological platform. 


Mr. Salter said that, when his friend had first propounded the opinions with 
which he had just favoured the meeting, he was disposed to differ from him 
tn toto ; but now, having studied the evidence for himsclf, he believed there was 
little difference of opinion between them. He might mention one fact, which 
went to prove that during the present geological period no fresh creation had 
taken place. It is stated by Edward Forbes that the Baltic is a Sea of very recent 
formation, extending far up into the Arctic regions. It may be almost called 
an inland sea, yet its inhabitants have migrated upwards from its mouth. Though 
unadapted to a high northern latitude, still there the animals are, gradually 
creeping upwards into those regions, stunted and dwarfed, it is true, yet at the 
farthest point showing no specific dissimilarity. Almost the same may be 
said of the Mediterranean Sea. 


He would wish to draw particular attention to the Conglomerate of the 
“Qld Red.” There were people bold enough to assert that the Holoptychius 
was a fresh-water fish, and that the deposit showed other evidence of not being 
of marine origin. This was a point he was inclined to dispute, and it would 
prove of great service to science if gentlemen would devote a little attention to 
these rocks. To be sure, the formation yields its fossils slowly, and it was rather 
discouraging to hammer away for a whole day without reward; but it must be 
remembered that one discovery was abundant success. And if the remains of 
shark-like fishes could be detected, he believed it would go far to settle the question 
as these fishes never inhabited fresh water. 


Another subject he would like to bring under the notice of geologists—the 
desirability of collecting in this locality traces of annelids and other similar 
markings on the rocks. There were doubtless many ancient, soft-bodied animals, 


226 


of which we could never know anything except by the tracks they had left behind 
them. 


The Rev. W. S. Symonds made some eloquent observations on Professor 
Melville’s opinions, arguing in favour of a continual chain of animal life, and 
appealing to Mr. Salter, as the greatest Paleontologist of the present day, to 
support the opinion which he had seen in his hand-writing, that the chain of life 
was continuous and progressive, and that there existed no sudden break, such 
as Professor Melville’s theory would seem to require. 


Professor Melville replied, and after a conversation sustained by Mr. Salter, 
Dr. Bevan, Mr. Cocking, and Rev. J. F. Crouch, Mr. Symonds humourously re- 
tracted his objections, having, he said, brought them forward merely to give 
rise to the discussion which had taken place. 


After dinner a glimpse of sunshine induced the members to sally forth. 
The escarpment of Aymestrey limestone (query Wenlock ?) at Llanbadoc was 
visited, under the guidance of Mr. Salter. Llangibby was the next point, but 
the rain again commenced to fall in torrents, and the party retraced their steps 
to Usk, where they arrived in time for the 6-30 train for Hereford. 


Notwithstanding the unfavourable state of the weather, we are happy to 
state that the party enjoyed a very agreeable and instructive excursion. In 
consequence of the unfavourable state of the weather, we have no botanical 
report. 


IN MEMORY OF THE LATE REV. T. T. LEWIS. 


A name occurring in this week’s obituary, calls for some notice in our columns. 
By the death of our late excellent friend, the Rev. Thomas Taylor Lewis, M.A., 
Vicar of Bridstow, Herefordshire has lost one of its best and most accomplished 
men. We may claim him one of its worthies, for although born out of the 
limits of the county, his life has been spent within it, and to it he was deeply 
attached. Fond of natural history and of science in all its branches, a residence 
at Aymestrey as Curate of that parish, turned his attention, in leisure moments, 
to the investigation of the geological structure of that most interesting district. 


The geology of this part of England was at that time unexplored and for- 
saken. Sir Roderick Murchison’s Silurian researches had not commenced; there 
were no Ordnance Surveys to direct the student ; and therefore we can hardly 
overrate the value of the services which Mr. Lewis rendered by his silent and 
unobtrusive labours thirty years ago. 


“My acquaintance with Aymestrey,”’ to use Mr. Lewis’s own words addressed 
to Dr. Fitton, the eminent geologist, some years later, ‘‘ commenced with 
my entering on the Curacy of the parish in the autumn of 1826. Its natural 
beauties soon invited my attention, which was likewise directed to its natural 
and artificial sections, and its regular, but broken structure, and I began at once 
very zealously to collect the fossils which were everywhere in abundance strewed 
over the roads and fields, and to dispose of them in drawers, keeping those of each , 


— 


227 


stratum separate, and distinguishing the now named ‘ Upper and Lower Ludlow 
rocks’ by the names of ‘ Grauwacke and Pendle’ (the latter being the local 
name); and the Aymestrey and Wenlock limestones by Pentamerus, and Coral 
or Nodular limestone ; the former from its abounding in the Pentamerus Knightii ; 
and the latter from its great richness in corals, and the appearance which its 
weathered beds assumed in this neighbourhood, even where they were con- 
sidered worth working for the kilns. I had very soon a collection, ex- 
tending from the junction of the Old Red Sandstone with the Grauwacke, 
down to the Wenlock Shale (or nodular strata), and had fairly traced these beds 
westward and eastward, to the full extent of this parish, 1829 ; and along 
the prolongation of the Croft Ambrey and Gatley escarpments towards Ludlow ; 
and in the outliers of Tinker’s Hill and Cainham Camp, on the other side of the 
river Teme, in the direction of the Clee Hills; and likewise in the neighbourhood 
of Leintwardine.” 


_ The Edinburgh Review, when treating subsequently of the Silurian system, 
and speaking of Mr. Lewis’s labours in this district says, ‘“‘ We have had the 
pleasure of examining a part of that beautiful and instructive country under his 
guidance, and are thus enabled to give personal testimony to his exact acquain- 
tance with its structure ; and not less cordially to the frankness and absence of 
pretension with which his knowledge is communicated. And we are satisfied 
that Mr. Lewis was the first person to ascertain that a series of what were called 
transition rocks, succeeds, conformably, to the Old Red Sandstone at Ludlow ; 
to distinguish the groups of strata by many of their principal fossils ; and to prove 
that in the tract immediately adjoining Aymestrey, and on the south of Bringe- 
wood chase, the strata, though thrown up and much disturbed, exhibited every- 
where the same determined order of succession.” 


Sir Roderick Murchison, in his great work, The Silurian System (of which, by 
the bye, a third edition is announced by Mr. Murray), refers to the great assistance 
afforded him by Mr. Lewis’s earlier labours. In treating of the now world-famed 
“ Aymestrey limestone,”’ he says he named it “ after the beautiful village of 
Aymestrey, where the rock is fully and clearly laid open, and where its fossils 
contents have been elaborately worked out by my friend the Rev. T. T. Lewis.” 


It may appear superfluous to enlarge upon this point, or to say that the 
fossils named after Mr. Lewis (as the Lingula Lewisii, Cephalaspis Lewisii, Spiror- 
bis Lewisii), must prepetuate his name in the mind of every student of Geology ; 
but the “absence of pretension” which the Reviewer speaks of, and the love of 
retirement, prevented Mr. Lewis from taking that position before the public to 
which his talents and knowledge entitled him. He loved knowledge and science 
for their own sake, and cared not to have his name associated with this or that 
society. Nevertheless, he maintained an intimacy and correspondence with some 
of the most distinguished men of the day, especially in that field of knowledge to 
which his attention had been early directed, and with which he kept pace, not- 
withstanding that the circumstance of his appointment to the living of Bridstow 
withdrew him from Siluria propria. 


228 


Although so diffident of his own powers, he was ever the encourager of others, 
and often sacrificed his own desire for retirement for the sake of stimulating the 
general zest for knowledge. His consent to take his turn in the Presidency over 
the meetings of the Woolhope Club of Naturalists illustrates this part of his 
character. Nor was his leisure engrossed by merely one branch of knowledge. 
Cambridge, his alma mater, had given him a sufficient knowledge of mathematics 
to fully appreciate the works of Newton, and the ‘‘ Mechanique Celeste” of 
La Place was studied by him with delight. 


It was, however, the observation of Nature, as exhibited in his every day . 
walks through his parish, that seemed to be his great source of enjoyment. It 
was noticing this that led the author of the Silurian System to express a hope 
(alas ! never realized) that ‘‘ the application of his leisure hours to the cultivation 
of the natural history of his neighbourhood may one day enable Mr. Lewis to 
confer upon Aymestrey the celebrity which White has bequeathed to Selborne.” 
At the same time his taste for and knowledge of antiquities, and care as an editor, 
admirably qualified him for the task of editing the ‘‘ Letters of the Lady Brilliana 
Harley ” for the Camden Society, placed in his hands for that purpose by Lady 
Frances Vernon Harcourt, and published in 1853. 


We trust no one who reads this notice will suppose for one moment that the 
pursuits we have mentioned were permitted by Mr. Lewis to interfere with the 
duties of a country clergyman. Those duties were performed in an exemplary 
manner. At the time of the alteration in the administration of relief to the poor 
Mr. Lewis worked hard, and with the greatest success, in reconciling and adapting 
the new system to the wants of his own district, giving prominence to the un- 
doubted advantages of the new law, and smoothing the harder features of its 
operation. The School and School-houses at Aymestrey and Bridstow, erected 
through his personal exertions, however assisted by others, bear testimony to his 
zeal for the Christian education of the children of his parishioners. While he held 
his religious opinions firmly, he was unobtrusive and free from everything like 
bigotry. Kind but discriminating in his charities, so gentle and affectionate, 
reproving with firmness where reproof was needed, and commending whenever 
he could do so with truth, Mr. Lewis’s name (no less as a pastor, a neighbour, and 
a friend, than as a naturalist) well deserves this slight tribute to 1ts memory 
at our hands. 


Moolhope Faturalists Field Club. 


ANNUAL MEETING, 
TUESDAY, JANUARY 25TH, 1859. 


The Seventh Annual Meeting of the Club was held on Tuesday, January 
25th, at the house of the Hon. Sec., Mr. J. A. F. Suter, in this City. In the 
unavoidable absence of the President (G. P. Bevan, Esq., M.D.) the Rev. J. F. 
Crouch was called to the Chair; and there were also present the Rev. J. H. 
Barker, Messrs. R. J. Griffiths, J. E. Smith, T. Curley, Philip Ballard, Flavell 
Edmunds, and the Assistant Hon. Sec., Mr. Arthur Thompson. 


The minutes of the last meeting held at Usk in August last having been 
read, the Rev. Thomas West, of Ross (nominated at that meeting) was unani- 
mously elected a member of the Club. 


The Accounts having been passed, it was agreed, on the motion of Mr. 
Griffiths, to insert in Rule VI. certain words indicating the time and place at 
which the Annual Subscriptions shall in future be payable. The subscription 
will consequently be payable in future at the National Provincial Bank, on the 
1st of May in each year for the year then ensuing. 


The subject of the Flora of Herefordshire having been brought up by a 
question, it was stated that the Rev. W. H. Purchas (who had kindly under- 
taken the work) had come to the conclusion that it would be desirable to publish 
the Flora in parts, so as to allow of additions being made in the course of pub- 
lication ; and that the first portion is now in progress. 


Some conversation ensued upon the subject of the preparation of a list of 
fossils found in the district of the Club, including the necessary information as 
to strata and locality, but the matter was allowed to stand over to the next 
Field Meeting. 


Col. Colvin was unanimously requested to undertake the Presidency of the 
Club for the ensuing year. 


Thanks were voted to the Hon Secretary and the Assistant Hon. Secretary, 
who were requested to continue their valuable services. 


The address of the late President (Dr. Bevan) on quitting office was read 
by the Chairman. ; 


230 


THE ADDRESS 


Of the retiring President, G. P. Bevan, Eso., M.D., F.G.S., read in his absence 
before the Members of the WooLnorr NATURALISTS’ FIELD CLus, at their 
Annual Meeting, held in Hereford, on Tuesday, January 25th, 1859, by the 
Chairman, The Rev. J. F. Croucn. 


GENTLEMEN OF THE WOOLHOPE CLUB, 


The time has arrived when in accordance with the rules of our Society, I 
give up the reins of office to a new and worthier successor, and I do so the more © 
gladly as I feel on looking back at the past year, that I have ill performed those 
duties which devolved upon me on undertaking the honourable post to which 
your kindness elected me. Whatever may have been my shortcomings as 
President of this Club, I can assure you that in ardent love for the science of 
Natural History, and particularly in interest for the welfare of our body, I yield 
to none. My chief difficulties during the past year have been, first, an accession 
of work to which I did not at all look forward at the commencement of the year, 
and secondly, the great distance at which I reside from our head-quarters, and 
indeed from the whole district which 1s the scene of our labours. The very earth 
iteslf has conspired against me in this matter, for although a Welshman, I am not 
so good a Silurian as I ought to be ; and living amongst Coal Measures, I have been 
obliged, and I must say, not very unwillingly, to devote my principal attention 
to that interesting formation. In almost every science each man has his speciality, 
and in geology, more particularly, a speciality is necessary—for although every 
geologist should be fairly up in the general principles and features of all the rocks 
that compose our earth’s surface, yet few of us can ever hope to reach the general 
perfect knowledge of a Lyell or a Mantell—but each in his department can carefully 
and thoroughly work out that formation in which circumstances have placed him ; 
and even should he not succeed in becoming an authority in his department, the 
very humblest observer, if he observe with care and caution, is contributing to the 
more solid foundation of existing knowledge, and adding his mite to the ever 
increasing train of discovery. 


It is the duty of the retiring President to chronicle the events of the past 
year in the proceedings of the Club, more particularly with regard to the excursions. 
With your permission, then, I intend in my address, first, to touch briefly upon 
the affairs of the Club, and second, to give a short outline of the geological events 
and discoveries that have taken place in the past year in the Paleozoic formations. 
First, then, the state of the Club, upon which, as regards the number of Members 
and the commercial state of affairs, we may congratulate ourselves and our 
Secretaries, though I fear they have often more trouble than they should have in 
obtaining the current subscriptions. But while congratulating ourselves on our 
full lists, we have to deplore a vacancy which will be long ere it is filled up. Death 
has robbed us of one of our Members—one, whose knowledge of science and 
contributions to geological discovery not only reflected honour on the Club of 
which he was so prominent a Member, but also on the whole body of English 
geologists. As a geologist, we are all aware how honourably the name of the 


231 


Rev. T. T. Lewis was associated with the early labours in the Silurian strata, and 
of the important value attached to his discoveries by the greatest authorities of 
the day. As long as geology endures, the name of the Aymestrey limestone will 
ever bring back to memory the loss of our friend and late President, who was 
beloved and respected by all, as much for his private virtues as for his scientific 
attainments. 


The proceedings of the past year have not been so satisfactory as those of 
other years, as regards the out-of-door work. Our excursions were respectively 
held at Ledbury, Bromyard, and Usk ; though the first and last were considerably 
marred by unpropitious weather. At Ledbury, where we were joined by our 
friends of the Malvern, Cotteswold, and Worcestershire Clubs, we were fortunate 
enough to hear an interesting panoramic lecture from Mr. Symonds, on the summit 
of Braidlow Hill. But scarce was it finished, when Jupiter Pluvius and Jupiter 
Tonans put in an appearance, and drove us under cover, where, however, we 
passed a tolerably pleasant afternoon. At Usk the weather was still worse, and 
in point of geological work, none was done. I regret to say that I was not able to 
be present at the Bromyard meeting, which I understand was very pleasant and 
instructive, though attended by only a few Members. I do not, however, regard 
Field Days generally as occasions when much work is done, but what is of great 
importance, they are social gatherings where friends may meet and communicate 
to each other points of interest, new facts and theories, and all the latest intelli- 
gence in the several departments of Natural History, while the real work is done 
quietly and steadily, each one for himself, in his own locality. The Woolhope 
Club rejoices in several parties, thorough workers, who by their accumulation of 
new facts and specimens, are doing good service in the cause of geology. If there 
is one locality in the district on which I should like to see more attention bestowed, 
it is that of our head-quarters, the City of Hereford and its neighbourhood—the 
fluviatile deposits of the valleys of the Wye and Lugg, the classic valley of Wool- 
hope itself, Hagley Dome, and other places, which might be more thoroughly 
worked out than they are at present. 


With regard to the internal economy of the Club, a measure has been pro- 
posed which I hope ere long to see carried out, viz., the formation of a tabular list 
of fossils, arranged stratigraphically and locally, which have been found in the 
area embraced by the Woolhope Club. At present numbers of fossils, mostly 
typical, and many new and rare, are in the cabinets of our Members, unknown 
save to the select few; and not only to the Members of the Club would it be a 
guide to what the district has furnished, but also an incentive to add to the list— 
while it would at once put the geological stranger in possession of the key to the 
fossiliferous localities, and would serve as an important feeder to the general 
stream of discovery, besides elevating our Club to something more than a mere 
local gathering. 


I will now, in a few words, make some remarks on the recent researches and 
proceedings that have taken place in the Paleozoic rocks within the last year or 
two. Scotland has been the scene of greatest interest, owing to the vast expanse 
of country which was until lately but little understood and worked out. Sir 


232 


R. Murchison, who has been labouring hard at it, has pointed out, while laying 
down a more definite arrangement of the geological features of the country, many 
new and interesting facts, on which the new edition of Siluria, just published, has 
enlightened us. The Lower Silurian deposits in the northern part of Scotland, 
particularly in Sutherland, appear to be very different from the same deposits in 
this country, consisting of a series of quartzite with intercalated limestone highly 
crystalline, overlaid by quartzose and other crystalline rocks having a gneissose 
character. So little were these understood, that Professor Nicoll, of Aberdeen, 
was inclined to consider them as equivalents of the carboniferous rocks in the 
south of Scotland, while Hugh Miller regarded them as metamorphosed representa- 
tives of the Old Red Sandstone of the eastern coast. Mr. Peach, however, dis- 
covered in these crystalline rocks, fossils, which are determined to be of Lower 
Silurian age, consisting of a Serpulites (S. Macculochii) and a few fucoids from 
the quartzite, besides a series in the limestone—Maclurea, Ophiolite, Onchoceras, 
and Orthoceras, fossils which hitherto have been limited to the Lower Silurian 
series of North America, known as the Huronian rocks, and the limestones above 
them. With regard to the Upper Silurian beds, there have not been so many 
discoveries very lately—that is to say, in the old established Upper Silurian 
rocks—but it is in the disputed ground of the Passage-beds that the most im- 
portant work is being done, and new creatures discovered in rocks which were 
formerly looked upon as unfossiliferous and uninviting. Some of the members 
of our Club, especially our Ludlow and Kington friends, have Deen foremost in 
developing the strange forms of Pterygotus, Eurypterus, Auchenaspis, Ceratio- 
caris, that we are now familiar with ; nor must I forget the Starfish bed which 
has yielded such uncommon fossils as the Paleocoma, &c., to their diligent 
hammers. While they have been working out their transition beds to such good 
purpose, Mr. David Page has exhumed strange-looking forms from the Lanark- 
shire and Forfarshire beds, which until their exact positions have been defined, 
he styles Siluro-Devonian rocks. From the Tilestones of the former he has got 
Pterinea, Orthonota, Trinucleus, Avicula, Orthoceras, Eurypterus clavipes and 
Eurypterus spinipes, thus adding two new species to the twelve already known ; 
while the Forfarshire flagstones, which appear at the base of the Old Red, have 
yielded the gigantic tube of the worm (Scolithus) and two new crustaceans, which 
have been named Kampecaris and Stylonurus, as well as a small fish with kite- 
like head, armed with five spines, called Ictinocephalus granulatus. In the same 
beds he has also found a Cyclopteris and Lepidodendron. Perhaps these are the 
equivalents of the beds at Trimpley, where Mr. Roberts also found vegetable 
remains. The Old Red, since the days when Hugh Miller wrote his admirable 
little volume, ‘‘ The Old Red Sandstone,’ has been so divided and subdivided 
that it has had a narrow escape of dying away altogether ; but fortunately for it, 
the opinions which were for giving half of it to the Carboniferous system and the 
other half to the Silurian, have changed, and the Old Red is still Old Red. 


Again, it is in Scotland that the most important work has been done. Sir 
R. Murchison has finally classed the rocks in the north-east under three divisions : 
the lowermost being conglomerates and sandstones, the equivalents of the For- 


233 


farshire beds and the lower Cornstones of this country ; the middle series or 
Caithness flagstones, bituminous and calcareous; and third, the uppermost, 
consisting of yellow sandstones. These latter have been a vexata questio ; for 
they have been described by Sit Richard Griffiths, in Ireland, as Carboniferous, 
as also by Mr. Jukes. Their proper place seems to be now definitely settled as the 
uppermost member of the Old Red, and the equivalents of the Dura-Den beds in 
Fifeshire, which have proved so rich in fish remains. In this country, the same 
beds are to be found, according to Mr Symonds and Dr. Melville, in the escarp- 
ment of the Daren, near Crickhowell, just underlying the Mountain Limestone 
and Millstone Grit of Pen Cerig Calch. Sir R. Murchison once found here a scale 
of Holoptychius nobilissimus, a very characteristic fish, which seems to corro- 
borate the assumption ; and I hope some day in the course of the summer, to be 
able to examine it more thoroughly than I have yet done. The same beds are, 
I think, to be found on the opposite side of the valley of the Usk, under the 
limestone of the Llangattock quarries. At Dura-Den they appear to be one 
mass of fish remains in the most perfect preservation, and of the most charac- 
teristic type. A still higher point of interest lies in the fact that in these upper 
yellow sandstones, reptilian remains have been found of an organization still 
higher than even the Telerpeton Elginensis. The Stagonolepis, which was for 
long considered a fish, has been declared by Professor Huxley to present a very 
close resemblance in some points to the Crocodilian, and in others to the Lacertian 
tribes ; in fact, it diverges materially from all known and recent forms. This 
circumstance warns us not to pin our faith too strongly on the limits of animal 
life, for of late many an example has occurred which has forced us to become more 
liberal (to use a political phrase) in our determining points, both as to horizons 
of life, as well as individual features. Before I quit the subject of the Old Red, 
I must not omit to mention the discovery of the fish bed on the Wall Hills at 
Ledbury, which has yielded to the praiseworthy researches of two working men, 
Pteraspis and Ceratiocaris, associated with the Holoptychius, the earliest true 
Carboniferous fish. 


Ascending into the higher beds of the Carboniferous system, I fear not so 
much has been done; although views have been lately put forth which will ere 
long change many of the theories of coal vegetation. One of the principal of these 
views is, that the waters of the Coal Measure age were all salt, and that there were 
no fresh-water deposits whatever. I may mention here that water has fre- 
quently been found at the bottom of deep mines, strongly and thoroughly salt : 
and after all, the supposition that such fishes as the Czlacanth, the Palzoniscus, 
and the Amblypterus, belonged to fresh water, or that the Unio or Anthracosia 
was of fresh or brackish water origin, is very gratuitous, for Palezontologists are 
much in doubt whether the Uniones, the strongholds of the fresh-water theorists, 
were not marine inhabitants. The botany of the Coal Measure flora is still 
dubious on many points, and there are several plants about which the geologico- 
botanists seem unwilling to pronounce a decided opinion. The great Stigmarian 
question seems finally set at rest, principally by the labours of my friend, Mr. 
Binney, of Manchester, but there are others still waiting to be solved, such as the 


234 


true place of the Sigillaria, whether Asterophyllites is an aquatic plant or not, 
and several other exclusively botanical points, which it would be out of place to 
enter upon now. 


As regards our local work, I have, in company with Mr. Adams, one of the 
members of the Club, found seven specimens of fish remains, and upwards of 
fifty shells ; and what is of more importance, I have succeeded in tracing a very 
abundant marine shell bed for nearly sixty miles throughout the coal basin. 
With Mr. Salter’s help in naming and classifying my fossils, some minor discoveries 
were made, further exemplifying the uselessness of limiting our zones of life too 
severely—for some 700 feet up in the Coal Measures, a shell was found, hitherto 


considered to have perished with the end of the Mountain Limestone series. 


And now I trust you will not have considered me very tedious in my attempt 
to review some of the principal points interesting to us as a Society, feeling 
assured, that though they are not all of local interest, yet they affect us all, for 
while we individually are local and minute workers, we are, or ought to be, cos- 
mopolitan in geological and scientific knowledge. In bidding you, therefore, fare- 
well as President of Woolhope Club, let me remind you of the somewhat hackneyed 
but deeply significant proverb :— 

* Ays longa vita brevis.” 


Thanks were then voted to Dr. Bevan, with the expression of the wish that 
he would allow his address to be printed in the Club’s Transactions. 


NOTE. 

While these sheets were passing through the press, a discovery was made, 
which, though not actually occurring in the area embraced by the Club, will be of 
sufficient interest to record ; and that is, the observance of a protrusion of Upper 
Silurian rocks close to Cardiff, in a district hitherto entirely unsuspected, and 
indeed marked by the Government Surveyors as Old Red Sandstone. My 
attention was called to the fact by a letter which appeared in the Geologist for 
April, 1861, and I immediately visited the spot. The deposits occur in the 
rising ground of Pen-y-lan Hill, about one and a half miles to the east of Cardiff, 
and are bounded on the west, east, and south by the Drift valley of the Taff, the 
valley of the Rhymney, and the alluvial marshes on the sea-shore respectively. 
On the west and south they are covered by Drift, and on the north are overlaid by 
Old Red Sandstone. The whole area, as far as I have at present made it out, is 
about one and a half miles in breadth, by one and a half in length. A quarry, 
the mouth of which faces the Bristol Channel, has been extensively worked. The 
beds appear to be Wenlock Shale, of which there are also capital sections in the 
lanes around. They dip to the north east at an angle of thirty degrees. The 
following fossils have been found—some by Mr. Glass, of Kensington, who first 
called attention’ to the facts, and a few by me. Bellerophon dilatatus, Athyris 
tumida, Ilenus, Calymene, Phacops, Acidaspis, Orthoceras, Natica, Rhynconella, 
&c. Ishould be very glad if any Hereford member would devote a day to a further 
examination of these beds with me. 

April, 1861. G.P.B. 


n 


235 


THE METEOROLOGY OF THE PAST YEAR, 1858. 


Mr. Smith (who had kindly taken charge of the Meteorological department 
of the Club’s observations) laid on the table a number of tabulated statements 
of the results of his observations, remarking that several interesting phenomena 
have occurred in the course of the past year. 


During the total eclipse of the sun on the 15th of March, 1858, he made 
observations every five minutes, and communicated the results to Mr. Glaisher, 
the Secretary of the Meteorological Society, as requested by that gentleman, 
but the clouded state of the atmosphere prevented them from being so useful as 
they otherwise might have been. He laid on the table a copy of the collected 
results as published by the Meteorological Society, and other pamphlets, and then 
passed to notice the appearance of Donati’s comet, remarking that even our elders, 
generally so loth to acknowledge that anything in these later degenerate days 1s 
equal to that in the ‘‘ good old times,’ were obliged to confess that this comet 
equalled, if it did not surpass the comet of 1811. _ (A laugh). 


The high temperature of August, the small amount of rain (only 22 inches) 
the damp and foggy atmosphere of October, the remarkably low temperature 
of November, and the mildness of December, were also remarkable features of 
this year. 


The partial eclipse of the moon on February 27th was invisible owing to the 
clouded state of the sky. 


A Meteor was observed by Mr. Lingen in the clear sky at 4 p.m. on December 
2nd, the sun shining brightly at the time. It appeared in the N.E., and after 
moving a short space, leaving a trail of light, it suddenly disappeared. Mr. 
Smith read a tabulated statement of the appearance of this phenomenon at 
Brighton and other places, and then passed on to notice that he had been re- 
quested by Mr. Glaisher to record seasonable phenomena in the animal and 
vegetable world. That request having been made public by him (Mr. Smith), 
he had received from Mr. Woodhouse, of Aymestrey, an obliging communication 
of the observations which he had made, with a promise to continue them and 
transmit the results to him from time to time. Last summer the quarterly 
reports of the Registrar-General previously supplied to Meteorologists gratis 
were stopped by order of the Government, but the order had been since rescinded 
through the exertions of Dr. Barker, of Bedford, to whom it was proposed to 
present a smal] testimonial of thanks, in the shape of a timepiece, as an acknow- 
ledgment of his services to the meteorologists. 


Mr. Smith then drew attention to his Returns, remarking that, among other 
facts, it was noticeable that the Wye was lower in August than had been known 
for 25 years. 


The Barometer for the year was nearly the same as the average for this 
latitude. 


. , The mean Temperature was 1.4 degrees above the average. 


236 


The degree of Humidity was only 14 thousandths less than the average. 
The weight of a cubic foot of air was 7 grains less than the average. 
Wind—less N. and S., more of E. and W. 


Rain—6 days more than the average; quantity, 1 inch more. 


Comparing the results with the average of Hereford from 1846 to 1849, it 
resulted that the Barometer and mean Temperature were higher in 1858; there 
have been ro days more of Rain, but 13 inches less in quantity. S. and W. Winds 
have prevailed over N. and E. in the ratio of 3 to 2 nearly. Rather less than 
half of the days in the year were overcast; one-fourth were fair, and the re- 
maining fourth variable. 


February was last year the coldest month, and June the hottest, although 
in general January gth is the coldest day, and July 30th the hottest. The heat 
of August last exceeded the average by only one-tenth of a degree. January and 
December were the dampest months, and June the dryest ; during the last quarter 
of the year there was more moisture in the air than in the other three quarters. 


Thanks were voted, amid applause, to Mr. Smith, and it was agreed that 
his Report should be printed in the Transactions. 


METEOROLOGICAL REPORT FOR 1858. 
By J. E. Smiru. 


All the instruments of the Society are in good order and preservation. To 
those already in our possession, the following have been added :— 


1. A Black-bulb Maximum Thermometer. 
2. Minimum Spirit Thermometer, for terrestrial radiation on the grass. 
3- Lind’s Anemometer for ascertaining the force of the wind. 


4. Dr. Moffat’s Ozone papers, and wooden box for suspending them. 


{ have also had a River Gauge painted on the wall of the Infirmary lawn, to 
show the rise of the Wye at periods of flood ; and a Weathercock fixed on the top 
of the building. 


The Record of Observations has been kept with tolerable regularity through- 
out the year, and the monthly summaries, with the deductions from them, 
accompany this report. 


Several interesting Meteorological phenomena have occurred during the 
past year. 

A Total Eclipse of the Sun happened on the 15th of March, and in com- 
pliance with a request from the Meteorological Society, which I lay before you, 
I made observations every five minutes during the eclipse, and sent the results 
to the Secretary, Mr. Glaisher. The clouded state of the atmosphere, both here 


237 


and at most other stations, prevented these observations from being so useful 
as they otherwise might have been. The collected results of observers at various 
stations have been published by the Meteorological Society, and a copy forwarded 
me by the Secretary, which I lay before you. The pamphlet contains much useful 
information, and some that may be interesting. I will merely read the con- 
cluding general remarks of the Secretary, Mr. Glaisher, and my own observations 
made at the time. ‘“‘ At gh. the sky was overcast, principally with cirrhus ; 
occasional glimpses of blue sky. At 1th. the sky still overcast; clouds more 
dense ; wind sinking. At I2 noon, the clouds very thick ; a slight darkness was 
to be perceived ; birds were singing cheerily. At 12h. 15m. the air still duskier ; 
birds were chirping, but less than before, and getting out of sight ; blackbird 
began to sing as at evening; windrising. At 12h. 30m. very dusky ; clouds to 
south of a ruddy tinge ; blackbird singing as before, but sparrows disappeared ; 
the clouds very thick, and in riven shapeless masses, in layers towards the horizon ; 
wind rising; small rain. At 12h. 45m. the clouds rather breaking, but very 
low; the sun visible for about 5° at the middle of the eclipse (about I p.m.) ; 
the glimpse of sky thus afforded was of a bright light blue; the clouds continued 
to break up; light rain. At gh. the crocus was open; at rth. half open; at 
12h. 30m. nearly closed; at 12h. 45m. quite closed. 1 p.M., from this time the 
clouds gradually cleared, allowing frequent glimpses of the sun, when a dark spot 
was observed on its face through the blackened glass.” 


I have received another pamphlet from Mr. Glaisher, on the mean tem- 
perature of every day in the year, as deduced from ‘“ Daily Observations taken 
at Greenwich, during forty-three years, from 1814 to the end of 1856,” of which 
I have made some use in my own deductions. 


Donati’s Comet was decidedly the great Meteorological feature of the year 
1858. Few of us ever saw so glorious and wonderful an object, night after night 
lighting up its marvellous transparency in the western sky, as it were a flaming 
sword to protect the gardens of the Hesperides ; and when Arcturus shone through 
it like a brilliant diamond in the hilt of that sword, it certainly surpassed in beauty 
and grandeur all that I had ever witnessed before ; and even our elders, generally 
so loth to acknowledge that anything in these later degenerate days is equal to 
what was in the good old times, were obliged to confess that this equalled, if it did 
not surpass, the Comet of 18rr. I have no remarks to make on tiis subject in 
addition to what have already appeared in the local journals. 


The high temperature of August, the small amount of rain fallen, the damp 
and foggy atmosphere of October, the remarkably low temperature of November, 
and the mildness of December, are also remarkable features of the year. 


A partial Eclipse of the Moon happened on the 27th of February, but was 
invisible from the clouded state of the sky. 


On December 2nd, as Mr. Lingen was passing through the Vale of Wye, he 
observed a meteor in the clear sky at 4 p-™., the sun shining brightly all the time. 
It appeared in the N.N.E., and after moving a short space, leaving a trail behind, 


238 


it suddenly disappeared. An account of this phenomenon having been published 
in The Times newspaper, elicited letters from observers in various parts of the 
country, who saw the same meteor. I have reduced and tabulated their obser- 
vations, and forwarded them to Mr. Glaisher; a copy of the same is attached 
to this report. 


METEOR SEEN AT FOUR P.M., DECEMBER a2np, 1858. 
Altitude at Direction at Direction of motion 
Station. instant of dis- | instant of dis- | at instant of disap- Remarks. 
appearance. appearance. pearance. 
N.W. Towards N. E. | Trail 8° long, only 
Brighton 70° by obliquely down seen just at disap- 
N. from zenith. pearance. 
Hereford 45° N.N.E Towards N.E. 
From N.W. toS.E. Trail of bright 
first ascending, sparks. Larger than 
Derby 20° to 30° S. by E. then descending star of first magni- 
in an arc. tude. Blue colour. 
Alford, Perpendicular, Started from thin 
Lincoln- About 40° S.W. started at about 45°| _ belt of clouds, and 
shire. and descended 5° | disappeared in clear 
sky. 


In the month of June I received a communication from Mr. Glaisher, requesting 
me to record all observations of seasonal phenomena respecting the changes in the 
animal and vegetable world, such as the period of leafing and flowering of trees, 
the migrations of birds, the state of the crops, &c. This letter was published 
in the local papers, and I soon after received from Mr. Woodhouse, of Aymestry, 
a very obliging communication of the observations he had made for several years 
past on this subject. He also kindly promised to continue his observations and 
send them to me from time to time. 


Last summer the Quarterly Reports of the Registrar General usually supplied 
to us gratis, were stopped by order of the Government. Dr. Barker, of Bedford, 
took up the case on behalf of the Meteorologists, and after extensive correspon- 
dence, much trouble and expense, he succeeded in obtaining for us a continuation 
of the supply of their Reports, which have since been regularly forwarded. It has 
been proposed to present Dr. Barker with a small testimonial, in the shape of a 
timepiece, as an acknowledgment of his exertions on our behalf, the subscription 
to be limited to five shillings ; the greater number of observers have already paid 
their subscription, and a proposition respecting this matter will be laid before 
you to-day. 

J. E. SMITH, 
Meteorological Observer, 
HEREFORD INFIRMARY, 
January, 1859. 


239 


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240 


WEATHER, &c. 


THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRED.—April 16th, May 13th, June on 4 days, July 3 days, 
August 3 days, September 2 days, December 18th, and at several places 
round. 


THUNDER OR LIGHTNING.—May, June 5 days, July 17th, August 30th, September 
5th and 17th. 


Lunar Hatos.—August 22nd, November 17th, and several other days. 

SNow FELL.—February 4 days, April 3 days=7 days. 

REMARKABLE RAIN.—January 30th and 31st, March 21st, April 7th and r6th, 
June 3rd, July 16th and 25th, September 22nd, December 18th, 21st, 22nd, 
and 23rd, with high winds. 

Hoar Frost.—January 1o days, February 5 days, March 4 days, April 3 days, 
November 8 days. 

FoG PREVALENT.—January 4 days, February 4 days, September 2 days, October 
11 days, November 9 days, December 7 days. MorninG or EvENING— 
March 3 days, April 7 days, June 2 days, August 2 days. 

SHOOTING STARS.—January 4th, September, several nights ; October rst, 8th, and 
30th, November 6th, 7th, and rrth (none 12th, and on 13th and r4th too 
cloudy). 

MeErtTEors.—Zodiacal light several evenings in January ; a large meteor at 4 P.M. ; 
December 2nd, at Woolhope, by Mr. LINGEN ; and at several other places 
in the County. 

Aurora Boreatis.—March 12th and 13th ; October 8th. 

WYE RosE.—January gth and 30th: March 14th; April 8th; June 17th; 
September several times ; December tst, 4 ft.; roth, 5 ft.; 25th, 6 ft. 
Very low in February ; lower in August than had been known for 25 years. 


VEGETATION.—Leaf—earlier shrubs in March ; trees in April; Pyrus Japonica 
in flower February, March, and April; Flower—ornamental trees in J une; 
change colour—most trees in October ; fall of leaf—most trees in Novem- 
ber. 


Martin, cuckoo, and wheatear about April 18th. 
Cuckoo not heard after June. 


Martins, &c., depart in September. 


GENERAL CONCLUSIONS FROM THE FOREGOING 
TABLES. 


In comparing the results of this year with the average of the same parallel 
of latitude, viz., between latitude 52° and 53° N., we find that for Hereford 


The barometer is nearly the same as that average. 
The mean temperature is 1.4° above the average. 


The degree of humidity (1000 saturation) is 799, only 14 less than the average. 


241 


The weight of a cubic foot of air is 533 grains, being 9 grains less than the 
average. 

Winp.—Less amount of N. and S., greater of E. and W. 

Rain.—No. of days—6 days more than the average—1z inch more. 

In comparing the same with the average of 4 years (1846 to 1849) taken at 
Hereford. 

The barometer and mean temperature are higher. 

Of rain there have been 10 days more and 13 in. less. 

South and West winds have prevailed over North and East, in the ratio of 
3 to 2 nearly. 


The fair days, or those with nearly cloudless sky, and therefore sunny, are 
about equal to the variable ones, and the overcast exceed them by about 60 days, 
so that rather less than half the year consists of overcast days, and of the re- 
mainder one half are fair and the other, or rather more than 3 months, are variable. 


The following Table shows the mean temperature of each month at Hereford, 
and Greenwich Observatory, for the year 1858, and the same at the latter place as 
deduced from daily observations of 43 years, from 1814 to 1856. 


1855. 

As corrected by Average of 

Month. Mr. GLAISHER. | 43 years. 

Hereford. | Greenwich. | Greenwich. 

° ° ° 

JANUARY .... 38.8 37-5 | 36.6 
FEBRUARY... 37-0 34.6 | 38.6 
MARGE ges; 5.514) 42.9 41.4 41.4 
PRE: esas sas 47.8 46.2 46.2 
IIA Wet operates: 6 52.2 SEY 53-0 
PUNE) soto ler 63.0 64.9 59-0 
PUES iter efarere's.0 59.8 60.6 61.8 
AUGUST ..... 61.2 62.0 61.1 
SEPTEMBER. --r| 59-4 60.3 56.5 
OcTOBER.....| 50. 49-9 
NOVEMBER... 39-1 43-2 
DECEMBER... 42.2 39:3 


From this we observe that in 1858 February was the coldest, and June the 
hottest month, though in general January (gth) is the coldest, and July (30th) the 
hottest. The temperature at Hereford was above the average in all the months 
except February, May, July, and November. The first five months of the year 
were warmer at Hereford than at Greenwich. That August, though very hot on 
some days, exceeded the average by only one-tenth of a degree. 


WITH RESPECT TO THE SEVERAL MONTHS. 


Tue BAaROMETER.—Was highest (30.461 in.) in January, and lowest (28.771 in.) 
in November. The highest mean was in January, and the lowest in May. 
Every month in the year it has risen above 30 inches, and has gone below 
29 inches only 5 months. 


242 


THE THERMOMETER.—Mean temperature increased from February to August, 
being higher in January than February. From August it decreased to 
November, and was again higher in December than it had been in January 
or February. The mean temperature of April was not quite 1° below, and 
that of October just 13° above the average of the year, 51.3°. 


MotsturE.—January and December were the dampest months, and June the 
dryest by a great excess. During the last quarter there was more moisture 
in the air than during the other three. The weight of the atmosphere was 
greatest in January, and least in June, from which month to September it 
varied but slightly. 

CLoup.—The average amount of cloud was greatest in December, least in March 
and June, so that these last were the sunniest months; but the greatest 
number of overcast cloudy days was in October, 17 days, and the smallest 
number, 9, in January, androin June. The greatest number of fair sunny 
days was 12 in August, and the smallest 3 in December, and 4 in September. 
In every month the overcast days exceeded the fair, except in June, when 
there was one more of the latter, and in August they were equal. The 
variable days, or those on which sunshine and cloud were tolerably balanced 
were generally about the same as the fair days, occasionally exceeding 
them, at other times being less by a few days. In the first two quarters the 
variable days were less, in the last two, more than the fair ones. 


Winp.—Westerly prevailed above all others in every quarter; next to these the 
Southerly winds, though these were surpassed by the Easterly in the first 
and last quarters. North and East winds prevailed in November, and were 
fewest in June. The wind’s force on December 23rd was about 15 lb. to 
the square foot. 

Rain.—The greatest number of days rain fell was in December (20) ; the smallest 
was in June (6). The greatest amount fell in April, 4.39 inches ; next 
to that in October, 3.04 inches. The least was in March, } inch, and in, 
January not quite }inch. In the first quarter only 1.72 inches fell. 

Ozonr.—Only recorded the last two months. In November it was present 24 
days, in December 29 days, and generally was most plentiful during 
Westerly winds. 


The sum of £1 4s. was voted towards the Barker testimonial. 


The Field Meetings were fixed as follows :—Church Stretton, Tuesday, May 
31st; Longhope, Tuesday, July 19th; Usk, Monday, August 22nd. 


Thanks having been voted to the Chairman, the meeting broke up. 


24 


Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


First Firetp MEETING, TUESDAY, May 31ST, 1859. 


CHURCH STRETTON. 


The record of this meeting cannot be found in the local newspapers. From 
the minutes of the Club we find that the following were present. Dr. G. P. Bevan 
(President), Messrs. Cam, Hutchinson, La Touche, Lingwood, Salwey, Smith, and 
Thompson. 


A letter was read from Colonel Colvin, announcing that he was unable to 
accept the office of President. 


It was resolved that three Vice-Presidents be elected annually, to be selected 
from their acquaintance with the localities fixed for the Field Meetings, whose 
duties would consist in their acting as Guides and Directors of each separate 
meeting. 


Mr. Cam was requested to interview the Council of the Herefordshire Philo- 
sophical Institution as to the possibility of making an arrangement as to obtaining 
a space in their Museum for the collection of the Woolhope Club, and to report 
at the next meeting. 


It was announced that, on the invitation of the Malvern Club, there would 
be a joint meeting of the Field Clubs at Ledbury on Friday, July 29th.* 


The ground covered by the members extended from Church Stretton through 
the parishes of Coddington and Gretton to Caer Caradoc. The Rev. J. H. Barker 
and Mr. T. Curley joined the party at dinner, and Mr. James Davies and Mr. 
Morgan attended as visitors. 


* Afterwards altered to Wednesday, June 29th 


244 


WMoolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


Joint MEETING WITH THE COTTESWOLD AND MALVERN FIELD CLuss AT LEDBURY, 
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29TH, 1859. 


Having failed to find a record in our local papers or in the minutes of the 
Club of the above Joint Field Meeting, we learn from page 1g of Transactions of 
the Malvern Club, Part III.* that an examination was made of the railway cutting 
at Ledbury railway station, and of the fossils collected by Henry Brooks, a working 
man of Ledbury, consisting of numerous remains of the fossil fishes, Auchenaspis, 
Cephalaspis, Pteraspis, and Plectrodus, from rocks at the base of the Old Red 
Sandstone, termed ‘ Passage-beds”’’ by Sir Roderic Murchison, but which lie 
considerably above the Downton Sandstones and Upper Ludlows. 


“Tt was soon after this meeting that Mr. Walter Barrow obtained a nearly 
perfect specimen of Cephalaspis Murchisoni from the Auchenaspis bearing grey 
grits above the Downton beds z 


A short account of the meeting will also be found on pages 52 and 53 of the 
Worcestershire Naturalists’ Club, in which we read that the company were led by 
Rev. Wm. Symonds to the deep railway cutting through “‘ Dog Hill,” where the 
Passage-beds between the Old Red and the Upper Silurian formations are exposed 
to view, and the Old Red Sandstone, with its intervening beds of marl and grey 
shales, appear in a singularly disturbed manner, its strata tilted up very strangely, 
and presenting various tints. 


Mr. Symonds alluded to the position of the so-called Cornstone beds in the 
Old Red, and contended that some of them, instead of being at the base of the 
system, as laid down by Sir R. Murchison, . c 3 - in fact occurred 
in various places of the system. 


Braidlow Hill was also visited, and the botanical members botanized in 
Frith Wood. 


The clearness of the atmosphere rendered the view of the distant heights of 
Monmouth, Brecon, and Radnor very impressive. 


The proposed Second Field Meeting of this year for Longhope, on Tuesday, 
July roth, did not come off, in consequence of the members not having received 
due notice thereof. A special bye-day was appointed for Mordiford on Thursday, 
September 8th. 


* The first 37 pages of Part II]. comprise ‘‘ A Sketch of the Proceedings of the Malvern 
Naturalists’ Field Club from its commencement in 1853 to the close of the year 1868,” by the 
Rev. Wm. S. Symonds, F.G.S., Reetor of Pendock, and President of the Club. 


Woolhope Naturalist’s Field Club. 


SEconpD FiELD MEETING, MonpAy, AUGUST 22ND, 1859. 


USK. 


This Club had one of their most agreeable Field Days on Monday, August 
22nd, in the neighbourhood of Usk. Having reached the station of Little Mill 
by rail, they proceeded, under the guidance of their indefatigable President, Dr. 
Bevan, on foot through the isolated districts of Silurian rocks, that have been 
elevated above the Old Red Sandstone, in the neighbourhood of the town of Usk. 
Here they examined several interesting sections and quarries of Ludlow and 
Wenlock rocks, and carried off many of the characteristic fossils. 


The country in its general appearance very much resembles the valley of 
Woolhope, but the hills have not been raised to so great an elevation, nor have 
the lower strata been brought into view. 


Having enjoyed a most rural lunch at the wayside inn at Prescoed, the 
little party of eight or nine reached the ‘‘ Three Salmons” at Usk in high spirits 
and with capital appetites, which however were soon satisfied at the plentiful 
table of their host, Mr. Dowell, of that hostelry. 


The Club intend having another Field Day before the season is over, when 
they expect every member to do his duty by attending at the appointed time and 
place, which will be duly announced. 


246 


Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


Tutrp Fretp MEETING, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8TH, 1859. 


MORDIFORD. 


On Thursday, September 8th, this Club held a meeting, the last probably tor 
the present season. At 9 a.m. the members met at breakfast at the City Arms 
Hotel, in this city, under the presidency of Dr. Bevan, of Beaufort, besides whom 
there were present :—the Rey. J. F. Crouch, Rev. J. Miller, Rev. J. D. La Touche, 
Mr. C. Bodenham, Col. Colvin, Mr. R. M. Lingwood, Mr. R. Lightbody, Mr. T. 
Cam, Dr. Bull, Mr. E. Y. Steele, Mr. J. E. Smith, Mr. Flavell Edmunds, Mr. 
Baylis, and Mr. A. Thompson, Assistant Hon. Secretary. 


After the transaction of the business, the members started for a visit to 
Mordiford, and the neighbouring valley of elevation, which had been rendered 
classic ground to the geological student by the labours of Murchison, Lewis, and 
others. The day was fine, and the members spent some hours pleasantly in the 
Checkley Valley, and at the various quarries in the vicinity. At 4 p.m. they 
returned to the City Arms and partook of an excellent dinner together. 


At this meeting a letter was received from Mr. Suter, notifying his resignation 
of the office of Honorary Secretary of the Club. 


247 


Woolhope Naturalists Field Club. 


ANNUAL MEETING, 


FEBRUARY 28TH, 1860. 


The Eighth Annual Meeting was held at the Green Dragon Hotel, Hereford, 
oa Tuesday, February 28th. 


A letter was read from the President (Dr. Bevan), apologising for not being 
able to attend on account of the serious illness of his wife. 

Mr. R. M. Lingwood, Vice-President, was voted to the Chair. There were 
present :—Revds. J. F. Crouch, T. Hutchinson, T. H. Lee Warner, Thomas West, 
Dr. Bull, Mr. Thomas Cam, and Mr. Arthur Thompson. 


The Accounts showed a balance of £43 15s. gd. 


Notice was given of the resignation of Mr. John H. Griffiths and Mr. Wm. 
Stubbs. 

ALTERATION OF RuLES.—Rule 2. The Club was to consist of 50 Members, 
with Honorary Members, President, three Vice-Presidents, and other Officers 
elected at the Annual Meeting in the early part of the year. Rule 3. Fourteen 
days’ notice of the Field Meetings to be given to the Members. Amongst other 
alterations, Rule 13 was inserted, by which the Assistant Secretary was to send 
out circulars one month before the Annual Meeting to all defaulters, calling 
their particular attention to Rule 12. 


Mr. J. E. Smith having resigned the office of House Surgeon at the Infirmary, 
the Meteorological Observations were continued by Mr. Glegg Bullock. 


Rev. W. H. Purchas was elected an Honorary Member of the Club. 


Mr. R. W. Banks of Ridgebourne House, Kington, was requested to fill the 
office of President for 1860. Mr. R. M. Lingwood, Rev. J. F. Crouch, and Rev. 
T. H. Lee Warner were elected Vice-Presidents ; Rev. J. F. Crouch, Honorary 
Secretary ; Mr. Arthur Thompson, Treasurer and Assistant Secretary. 

A Committee for the publication of The Flora of Herefordshire, by Rev. 
W. H. Purchas, was appointed as follows :—Dr. Bul], Rev. J. F Crouch, Mr. 
Flavell Edmunds, Rev. Thos. H. Lee Warner, and Mr. R. M. Lingwood. 


The following days were fixed for the Field Meetings of the present year :— 


TuESDAY, JUNE 5th—LysTon. 
ry Jury 3rd*—Yazor. 
ve AucGusT 7th—PRESTEIGN. 


3 a Afterwards altered to July 24th, to meet the Warwickshire and Oswestry Field Clubs at 
udlow. 


248 


Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


Joint MEETING WITH THE MALVERN AND THE WORCESTERSHIRE 
NATURALISTS’ CLUBS. 


EASTNOR, DOG HILL, AND LEDBURY. 


TurEspAy, May 15TH, 1860. 


In the minutes of our Club there is no record of this Meeting. It is, however, 
recorded in the Transactions of the Worcestershire Naturalists’ Club, from 
which we read that the united party proceeded to the line of the Hereford railway, 
where a shaft was being sunk in the Silurian rocks. Mr. S. Ballard, the Engineer 
of the line, explained its course. 


Thence the route was taken to the open cutting at the mouth of the tunnel 
near Dog Hill, Ledbury, where Rev. W. S. Symonds delivered an extempore 
discourse upon the order of succession of the ‘‘ Passage-Beds,’’ between the 
Silurian strata and the Old Red system here exposed to view in a very pic- 
turesque manner, as also upon the curious bucklered fishes contained in some 
of them, especially adverting to the curious forms of Auchenaspis, Plectrodus, 
Cephalaspis, and Pteraspis, all now extinct. It was important to observe that 
there was no sudden breaking off, but a gradual retrocession of strata from the 
Ludlow rocks into the Old Red. 


In his sketch of the Proceedings of the Malvern Field Club from 1853 to the 
close of 1868 (see Transactions of the Malvern Naturalists’ Field Club, Part III.), 
on page 21, referring to the year 1860, the Rev. W. Symonds writes: ‘‘ The 
principal Field investigation of this year consisted in various explorations and 
examinations of the Malvern tunnel near the Wells. On several occasions many 
of the members joined in the arduous undertakings, which were carried out by 
Mr. Alan Lambert and myself, of taking sections of the Malvern and Ledbury 
tunnels, amid darkness, dirt, wet, and smoke. The results of these explorations 
is fortunately recorded elsewhere, for probably many years will pass before 
human eyes will again rest upon the vast masses of greenstone, the great veins 
of red syenite, and the fissures filled with old Silurian muds and shales containing 
fossils, which are entombed in the bosom of the Hills (see “ Quart. Journ. Geol. 
Soc.,” p. 113, May, 1861, and “‘ Siluria,”’ 4th edition, p. 94). 


Another important discovery was the detection of several bones of the Bos 
primigenius, Rhinoceros, and Mammoth, found by Mr. Ballard’s workmen in the 
till and angular drifts which rest against the flanks of the Malverns. Other 
specimens obtained by Mr. Walter Burrow were found in the excavations made 


249 


for the cellars of the Railway Hotel. Like those found near the mouth of the 
tunnel, they were imbedded in a mass of red stiff clay full of large angular boulders, 
most of them of local origin. 


Later study of these Angular drifts containing Mammalian remains induces 
me to believe that they are for the most part atmospheric, and owe their origin 
to that latter portion of the Glacial epoch which is termed Post-glacial, but when 
the cold was very intense during the autumn and winter months, and ice and 
snow enveloped every hill and dale, while at the same time the long-haired 
elephant and rhinoceros were the inhabitants of the Malverns and the Cottes- 
wolds, and the ancient vales of the Severn, Avon, Wye, and Usk. 


250 


Woalhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


Fietp MEETING, TUESDAY, JUNE 5TH, 1860. 
LYSTON HOUSE. 


On Tuesday, June 5th, the Members of this Club held their first Field Meeting 
for the season, on which occasion, under the Presidency of Mr. R. M. Banks, 
fourteen Members and seven Visitors met at breakfast at Lyston House, pursuant 
to invitation from Mr. R. M. Lingwood. 


The meeting fixed for July 3rd at Yazor was altered to July 24th, to meet the 
Warwickshire and Oswestry Field Clubs at Ludlow. 


Rev. R. Dixon was elected a Member of the Club. 


After a pleasant exploration of the neighbourhood, the members returned 
in the evening to Hereford and dined together at the Mitre Hotel, when three 
other Members joined the party. The Very Rev. the Dean of Hereford, and 
Mr. J. F. Symonds and James Davies came to the dinner as visitors. 


After dinner a short address was delivered by Rev. W. S. Symonds on “ The 
Old Red Sandstone,” and Captain Guise of Elmore Court, Gloucester, President 
of the Cotteswold Naturalists’ Field Club, gave an address on “ Flint Instruments 
found in the Gravel Drifts of France.’ Capt. Guise was elected an Honorary 
Member of this Club. 


251 


Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


MEETING, JULY 24TH, 1860. 
LUDLOW For DOWNTON anp LEINTWARDINE. 


The second Meeting of the present year took place at Ludlow on Tuesday, 
the 24th July. Mr. R. W. Banks presided. Mr. Sparrow and Mr. Wyles, 
Members of the Warwickshire Naturalists’ Field Club, were in this party (thirteen 
Members and six Visitors). The party were conveyed from Ludlow to Downton 
Castle Inn, where the botanists and geologists separated to follow their researches 
through the Downton Castle grounds in the localities which were most favourable 
to their pursuits. 


The geologists, under the able guidance of Mr. Lightbody, after examining 
a section of the Old Red on the left bank of the Teme, crossed the river at Forge 
Bridge, and walked down the river for a short distance as far as Tin Mills, 
to examine the Passage-Beds from the Ludlow Rocks into the Old Red. 


On the road a quarry of the Downton Sandstone was examined; the beds 
dipped at a sharp angle to the S.W. On one of the slabs of building stone 
recently raised were found numerous portions of the remarkable crustaceans, 
Pterygotus and Eurypterus, which form a distinguishing feature of these beds. 


Passing onwards, some olive-gray-coloured beds of Shale were examined, 
which were considered to be identical with the Upper Passage-Beds in the railroad 
cutting at Ludlow. These beds are on a lower level than the beds of the quarry 
before mentioned, and appear to graduate upwards into the Red Sandstone, 
but no opportunity was afforded of ascertaining on what beds they repose. 


Their relative position to the Downton Sandstone here can only be reconciled 
by the supposition of the occurrence of a fault and the upheaval of the Downton 
beds, which were ascertained to lie conformably on the Upper Ludlow Rocks. 


The course of the party now was up the river through the beautiful and richly 
wooded gorge of the Teme; the picturesque rocks on either side of the river, 
in many places almost white from a calcareous deposit, afforded excellent sections 
of the Upper Ludlow rocks. 


Polypodium dryopteris, the Lady Fern, Polystichum and Cystopteris fragilis, 
were noticed as occurring in great abundance. 


Near the Bow Bridge, on the left bank of the river, a fine escarpment of 
Aymestrey Limestone was passed. Here the party again united, and left in 
crowded carriages for Leintwardine. 


252 


At Trippleton a quarry of Lower Ludlow was examined, and a fine specimen 
of the shrimp-like Crustacean, Ceratiocaris, was discovered. 


Near Leintwardine the Lower Ludlow beds again appeared on the sides of 
the lane leading to Church Hill, and numerous Graptolites and other charac- 
teristic fossils were found in them. 


At Church Hill, famous for having furnished so many new species of Star- 
fishes (several of which have been described by Mr. Salter in the ‘* Annals of 
Natural History’) and Crustaceans, the day’s excursion terminated, and the 
party returned to Ludlow, where they dined at the Feathers Inn. 


The Club was honoured with the presence throughout the day of Dr. H. B. 
Geinitz, Professor of Geology and Mineralogy in the University of Dresden, 
whose able researches in the Permian and Lower Silurian beds of Saxony are so 
often mentioned by Sir Roderick Murchison in “ Siluria.’”’” He was elected an 
Honorary Member of the Club. At this Meeting Mr. Henry Jenkins of Madley 
was elected a Member. 


253 


Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


Fretp MEETING, TUESDAY, AUGUST 7TH, 1860. 
PRESTEIGN. 


This Club held their last Field Meeting for the year at Presteign, on Tuesday, 
the 7th August. 


The Members under Mr. R. W. Banks, President, assembled at Corton 
Turnpike, and after passing the quarry of Upper Llandovery, or May Hill Sand- 
stone, made their way to the sandpits on the north side of the hill. Here Wenlock 
Shale and Woolhope Limestone, resting on Upper Llandovery beds, inclining 
40 deg. N., appeared cropping out on the surface, evidently upheaved by the 
same volcanic eruption which altered the adjoining limestone rocks of Nash, and 
threw up Stanner rocks, Hanter and Old Radnor hills. 


On the top of Nash Scar the party halted to admire the view of the Nash 
and Knill Valley, the plains of Herefordshire, and distant Malvern Hills ; while 
Mr. J. E. Davis and his father, Dr. Davis (who so ably aided Sir R. Murchison 
when he first explored this district), pointed out the numerous faults which 
occurred in the broken and wooded ground immediately around. 


Evenjobb was next visited, and the party proceeded over Evenjobb Hill, 
where the quarries afforded good sections of the Lower Ludlow rocks. A small 
portion of Pterygotus was here discovered. A still more extensive view opened 
out on Evenjobb hill; the Malverns, Stoke Edith grounds, the Cotteswold range 
of hills, from Cheltenham down the vale of the Severn, the Black Mountains, and 
Brecon Beacons, appeared in the distance, while the valley of Old Radnor im- 
mediately beneath, and Radnor Forest, added to the beauty of the scene. 


Passing by Discoyd, and visiting several Upper Ludlow quarries on the 
way, the party arrived at Presteign, where a substantial and excellent dinner 
was provided at the Radnorshire Arms. 


bo 
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Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


ANNUAL MEETING. 


THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7TH, 1861. 


The Ninth Annual Meeting of the Club was held at the Green Dragon Hotel, 
on Thursday, February 7th, at 1-o p.m. There were present: Mr. R. W. Banks, 
President, Rev. J. F. Crouch and Rev. R. M. Lingwood, Vice-Presidents. Rev. 
W. S. Symonds, Hoaorary Member, Colonel Colvin, Rev. R. Dixon, Rev. 
T. Hutchinson, Mr. J. E. Smith, Rev. Thos. West, and Mr. Arthur Thompson, 
Treasurer and Assistant Secretary. 


The Accounts showed a balance in the bank on January 31st, 1861, of 
£81 ros. 1d. 


A letter was read from Mr. H. Wheatley, Black Rock, Co. Cork, dated Feb- 
ruary 1st, 1861, offering, provided the projected Museum was in a sufficient state 
of forwardness to exhibit them, a cheque for £20 towards procuring and preserving 
a specimen of each of the fish of Herefordshire—and a further donation if re- 
quired. As regards the King of Fresh Waters, he desired that a specimen of the 
fish should be represented soon after being hatched, the samlet of one year old, 
and the samlet when he has just put on his silvery dress, with the adult salmon 
of say from 20 to 30 lbs; the rest of the river inhabitants to be represented 
by a single specimen, the finest procurable. 


Mr. Robert Lightbody was elected President for the year. Mr. George 
Cocking of Ludlow, Mr. R. M. Lingwood, and Mr. Elmes Yelverton Steele of 
Abergavenny, Vice-Presidents. Rey. J. F. Crouch was re-elected Honorary 
Secretary, and Mr. Arthur Thompson Treasurer and Assistant Secretary. 


The following days and places for Field Meetings for this year were fixed :— 


TuHurRSDAY and FripaAy, 23rd and 24th May—Lup.Low, to meet 
the Malvern Club. 


FRIDAY, 21st JUNE—TARRINGTON. 


Fripay, 9th AuGUST—ABERGAVENNY. 


The retiring President, Mr. R. W. Banks- gave an address. 


255 


THE ADDRESS 


Of the retiring President, R. W- BANKS, Eso., read before the Members of the 
Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club, at their Annual Meeting, held in Hereford, 
on Thursday, February 7th, 1861. 


GENTLEMEN,—On retiring from the office of President, it becomes my duty 
to present to you a summary of the proceedings of the Club during the past year, 
and to offer such suggestions as will, in my opinion, best promote the objects 
which it has in view. I enter upon the subject with a feeling of diffidence, as my 
remarks are founded more on the discoveries and observations of others, than of 
myself, and I must therefore request your indulgence for any errors into which 
I may fall, and for the want of anything novel in my address. 


The addresses of preceding Presidents have in many respects anticipated the 
remarks which I might have made, and have somewhat circumscribed the field 
over which I have to travel. I shall however endeavour, as far as I am able, to 
avoid a repetition of their views and suggestions, merely calling your attention 
to them as I proceed. 


We must deem it a fortunate circumstance, that during an unusually wet 
season, we were able to hold our Field Meetings on the days originally fixed, and 
to enjoy on each of those days, uninterrupted fine weather. 


You will all remember the hospitable reception which we met with at Lyston, 
the residence of one of our Vice-Presidents, Mr. Lingwood, prior to our excursion 
on the 5th of June. The object of our meeting was to explore that well-defined 
ridge, known as Saddlebow Hill, which appears to an observer from the northern 
part of this County, as one of the southern barriers to the valley of the Old Red 
Sandstone. Mr. Lingwood had discovered a head of Pteraspis Lloydii in the 
Cornstones of Orcop; there was therefore a reasonable hope that we might on 
our way find some traces of the Old Red fishes. In this we were disappointed; 
but, although we failed to find any fossil remains, we obtained an admirable survey 
of the country. Having ascended the hill from Lyston, we looked down on the 
well-wooded grounds of Mynde Park, and passing near Orcop, and over Saddlebow 
Hill, arrived at Garway Hill, the extremity of the range. From its summit a 
magnificent prospect opened to our view ; to the west lay the Skyrrid, and the 
hills of the Upper division of Old Red, which surround Abergavenny—to the 
north-west the long range of the Black Mountains, and in the same direction, 
considerably in advance, the comparatively low range of Cornstone hills which 
extends from St. Devereux to the Wye at Whitney ;—looking to the north, over 
the wide valley of Old Red, Lady Lift and Dinmore hills appeared—beyond 
them the Ludlow rocks, represented by Hergest ridge and Bradnor, and, in the 
extreme distance, Radnor Forest, occasionally hidden by passing showers ;—to 
the east, the well-known features of the Titterstone Clee Hill and Wenlock Edge, 
and the somewhat tame outline of the Longmyndsg, the oldest of our fossiliferous 
rocks, thus affording a view of the whole range of Paleozoic rocks. Turning 


256 


round to the south, Monmouth and Ross lay before us, and the valley of the Wye, 
flanked by the Coal basin of the Forest of Dean—to the east, the Malvern Hills, 
with the range which runs along the vale of the Severn, and the more distant 
Cotteswolds, representatives of the Oolite formation, in the background. It 
would be difficult, perhaps, to find a spot where a better view can be obtained 
of the Old Red Sandstones of Herefordshire, which at Pen-y-cader-fawr rise to 
the height of 2,545 feet,* and which are in this district estimated to be 10,000 
feet thick. 


I shall not notice the evidences of upheaval and denudation which must have 
struck every reflecting observer, but will refer you to the address of our late 
lamented member, The Rev. Thomas T. Lewis, where the subject has been dis- 
cussed with all that local knowledge and ability which peculiarly distinguished 
his investigations ; and to Mr. Symonds’ able paper on the Old Red Sandstone 
of Herefordshire.t Descending Garway Hill, our road lay through Kentchurch 
Park, to Kilpeck and St. Devereux, whence the railway conducted us to Hereford. 
I cannot conclude the notice of this day’s proceedings without referring to the 
pleasure which the members experienced from the presence of Capt. Guise, the 
President of the Cotteswold Club, whose knowledge on all subjects connected with 
Natural History, particularly Entomology, is as accurate and methodical as it is 
various. He has kindly favoured me with a list, which I subjoin, of the Beetles 
which he met with during the day, by the roadside and on the swampy parts of 
Garway Hill. 


Our second meeting was at Ludlow, on the 24th July. The members pro- 
ceeded to Downton Castle ; our indefatigable member, Mr. Lightbody, undertook 
to be our guide for this day’s excursion. After examining a section of the Old 
Red on the left bank of the Teme, we crossed at Forge Bridge, and walked down 
the river for a short distance, as far as Tin Mills, to examine the passage from the 
Ludlow rocks into the Old Red. On our way, a quarry of the Downton Sand- 
stone, the beds of which dipped at a sharp angle to the south west, was examined. 
On one of the slabs of building stone, recently raised by the workmen, numerous 
heads and other portions of Eurypterus pygmceus and Pterygotus Banksii, with 
parts of the body rings of another species of Pterygotus (probably P. Gigas) were 
observed. Passing onwards, some olive grey coloured beds of shale were examined 
by the side of the old watercourse, which were considered by Mr. Lightbody to 
be identical with the Upper Passage-beds in the railroad cutting at Ludlow. 
These beds are on a lower level than the Downton beds before referred to, and 
may probably graduate upwards into the Old Red, but no opportunity was 
afforded of ascertaining on what beds they repose. Supposing that they are the 
Upper Passage-beds, their relative position to the Downton beds, which were 
ascertained to lie here conformably on Upper Ludlow rock, can only be reconciled 
by the supposition of the occurrence of a fault, which has placed these shales in 
a position apparently inferior to the Downton beds. Retracing our steps for a 


*The more recently published Ordnance Survey Map, Sheet 214, on the scale of 1 inch to 
x mile, gives Pen-y-gader fawr as 2,624 feet high, and Wawn fach (14 miles further north) as 
2,660 feet high. See Transactions, Vol. 1903, p. 147-—EDITOR, 

+ Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, April, 1859. 


257 


short distance, our course was up the river, through the beautiful and richly- 
wooded gorge of the Teme—the picturesque rocks on either bank, in many places 
whitened by a calcareous deposit, affording excellent sections of the Upper Ludlow 
rock. Near the Bow Bridge a fine perpendicular escarpment of Aymestry limestone 
was passed ;—here the Botanists, who had separated to pursue their researches 
in the Downton Castle grounds, rejoined the party. Our course was now directed 
to Leintwardine. At Trippleton a quarry of Lower Ludlow was examined, and 
a fine specimen of Ceratiocaris discovered. Near Leintwardine, either side of the 
lane leading to Church Hill exposed beds of Lower Ludlow, in which numerous 
Graptolites and other characteristic fossils occurred. At Church Hill, famous 
for having furnished the Pterygotus punctatus and many new species of Star-fishes 
(several of which have been described and figured by Mr. Salter), the day’s 
excursion terminated. Here the custodians of the quarry appeared, and offered 
for sale some fair specimens of Star-fishes, which ere now probably grace the 
cabinet of Professor Geinitz, of Dresden, our companion during the day, whose 
able researches in the Permian and Lower Silurian strata of Saxony are so often 
mentioned by Sir Roderick Murchison in “ Siluria.” I will not quit the Church Hill 
quarry without expressing a wish that the Club will use its influence to persuade 
the owner of the land in which the quarry is situate, to allow the working of it to be 
continued within fixed and reasonable limits, and thus enable our enterprising 
members to continue their researches, which have already thrown so much light 
and additional information on the forms of extinct Star-fishes and Crustaceans. 


Before I pass to our next day’s excursion, I must again refer you to Mr. Lewis’ 
Address for an account of previous meetings of this Club at Leintwardine and the 
Nash Lime Rocks, which the Club again visited on the last Field-day of the past 
year. 


We met at Corton Turnpike on the 7th August, and after passing the quarry 
of Upper Llandovery, or Mayhill Sandstone, here worked for road materials, we 
ascended the hill and passed round to the sand-pits on the northern side. Here 
Wenlock Shale and Woolhope Limestone, resting on Upper Llandovery beds, 
dipping 40 degrees to the north, appeared cropping out on the surface—the anti- 
clinal beds of which are seen on the southern side, affording, in the Upper Llan- 
dovery beds, specimens of Petraia and other characteristic fossils. Sir Roderick 
Murchison, in his “Silurian System,” expresses an opinion that the same volcanic 
forces which disturbed the strata on Old Radnor Hill and threw up the volcanic 
masses of Stanner Rocks, Worzel and Hanter Hills, had also exercised a powerful 
operation here, upheaving the limestone and Llandovery beds—altering the 
limestone of Nash into an amorphous, unstratified rock, and causing the numerous 
faults in the Old Red Sandstone, which occur in the immediate vicinity, although 
the igneous rocks did not present themselves to his view ; subsequent investiga- 
tions have confirmed the correctness of his opinion. At Old Radnor the igneous 
matter has burst through the limestones, altering in a similar manner the portions 
which came immediately into contact with it, and converting the Wenlock Shale, 
with the Trilobites and Encrinites which it contains, into a fractured coal-like 
shale. 


258 


We shall add fresh interest to the subject, if we can ascertain the period 
when this outburst took place; we know that these Syenitic or hypersthenic 
rocks are supposed to have been formed under water, when the whole district was 
submerged. The searcher for fossils in the Upper Ludlow rock in the immediate 
neighbourhood of Kington will be struck by the fact that he cannot find the 
Orthoceratites and larger Mollusca in the same symmetrical state as in the 
neighbourhood of Ludlow ; at Kington they are generally flattened, compressed, 
or broken ; now this flattening, or compression, is attributable to either direct or 
oblique pressure on the mould or cavity which the shell itself once occupied, 
before the cast, which we now find, was perfectly formed. The outburst of a 
large igneous mass, upheaving and bending the strata of the adjacent rocks, 
would account for the pressure which these fossils exhibit. If we continue our 
search upwards we shall find further evidence of the period of the outburst in the 
fact that at Ivy Chimney and on other parts of Bradnor Hill, waterworn pebbles 
of the syenite of Stanner, pieces of partially calcined limestone, and boulders of 
the red and white quartz (Upper Llandovery Conglomerate) of Old Radnor are 
met with, imbedded in the Downton sandstone. I think, therefore, it may reason- 
ably be assumed that the outburst took place when the Upper Ludlow rocks were 
in an unconsolidated state, and while the deposits, which form the Downton 
sandstone, were taking place. Hoping that you will excuse this digression, I will 
now return to the subject of the day’s excursion. Passing through Can Wood, 
our party halted on the summit of Nash scar, to admire the view of the Nash and 
Knill valley, the plain of Herefordshire, and distant Malvern hills, while our 
Honorary member, Mr. J. E. Davis and his father, Dr. Davis, who first investi- 
gated these limestone rocks and their fossil contents, pointed out the numerous 
faults in the broken and wooded ground around, and the outlying patches of Old 
Red Sandstone. Proceeding to Evenjobb, we ascended Evenjobb hill, where 
quarries afforded good sections of the Lower Ludlow rocks. A small portion of 
Pterygotus was here discovered. Descending the hill, and passing by Discoyd, 
we reached Presteign, examining on our road several quarries of Upper Ludlow 
rock. Thus terminated the last excursion of the year. 


I am able to record but few geological discoveries during the past year within 
the district which the Woolhope Club considers to be its own. 


The Ludlow Bone-bed, since the publication of the ‘‘ Silurian System,” has 
been considered to afford the earliest traces of vertebrated animals, but we now 
know that the Lower Ludlow and Upper Ludlow rocks contain a species of 
Pteraspis, nearly allied to the Pteraspides of the Downton sandstone, which 
have been definitely placed among the Fishes by Professor Huxley, on a careful 
comparison of their structure with that of Cephalaspis.* 


Mr. Lightbody, in a letter of some length, has kindly communicated to me 
the result of his labours; among other discoveries he mentions a new species of 
Ampyx, and a shell of small size, which Mr. Salter considers to be a new genus 
allied to Siphonotreta in the Caradoc Shales of the Onny valley ; a new species 


* Huxley on Cephalaspis and Pteraspis. Quarterly Journal, Geological Society, vol. 14, p. 281. 


259 


of Lingula in the Bala limestone at Hordesley ; and a new species of Asaphus 
found by Mr. Marston in the shales above this limestone. Mr. Lightbody also 
tells me that Professor Wyville Thompson is writing on a new Echinospharites, 
found in Church-Hill quarry, somewhat similar in character, but larger and more 
spiny than Paleodiscus ferox. I regret that I am unable to refer at greater 
length to the sbject of Mr. Lightbody’s letter, but I trust that he will supply my 
omission by reading a paper at one of our meetings for the present year. Mr. 
Crouch has met with Pterygotus punctatus, and a species of Ceratiocaris in the 
Lower Ludlow Shales of Bradnor wood, Kington. Mr. Salter, when he heard 
of it, rejoiced in the probable discovery of the zone of the Star-fishes, and spent 
a day during last summer with Mr. Crouch and Mr. Lightbody, in a search for 
traces of them in these beds without result. As none of the Old Red fishes have 
been yet met with in the neighbourhood of Kington, I may mention that I found, 
last summer, in a quarry of grey sandstone, on the Rodd farm, Kington, a good 
specimen of the head of Cephalaspis Lyellii. I had previously met with slight 
traces of fishes in the same quarry, but the fragments were too small for reference 
to any known species. Mr. Alfred Marston, who has done so much to bring to 
light the extinct animals of the Ludlow district, has kindly furnished me with a 
list of fossil Crustaceans, Star-fishes, and fishes, found in the neighbourhood of 
Ludlow, during the last four or five years. I have made additions to the list, 
and, having submitted it for correction to Mr. Lightbody, have added it to my 
address, as a record of some of the discoveries of the Woolhope Club. 


I have dwelt at some length on these details, because it appears to me that 
the Field Clubs may more usefully employ themselves in the collection and 
co-ordination of facts relating to Natural History in all its branches, than in 
speculations, which, however ingenious, would crumble to pieces when they were 
handled, on account of the limited range of our researches. 


As it is part of my duty to-day to offer suggestions for the promotion of the 
objects of the Club, I feel I cannot do better than call your attention to the 
following suggestions of our kind friend, Mr. Salter, in a letter to myself :—“ We 
shall never really know what the true nature of our boundary lines is until people 
of leisure will note on their maps the facts as they arise. May I beg you, in the 
name of science, to do this for your district—a yellow colour for Downton—a blue 
for Ludlow—a brown for Passage-beds, dotted down in the exact spots where 
they occur, would point to the true arrangement of the faults and anticlinals in 
a way that no guess work in London could do; then, when such coloured spots 
increased in number, a visit from any practised field-worker would clear up whole 
lines of work, and our maps would begin to look like what no other country has 
done. There is a special reason for doing so on the borders of Siluria and Devonia, 
since the information is all valuable among Transition beds.” I would suggest, 
in addition, to any members of the Club who may carry out Mr. Salter’s sugges- 
tions, that they will do the Club a great service if they will bring the maps on 
which the facts have been so noted to the Field Meetings, in order that their 
notes may be there compared and criticised, and the result recorded on a map 
belonging to the Club. 


260 


Notwithstanding all the attention which has of late years been paid to the 
subject of the Old Red Sandstone of Herefordshire, it still remains an object for 
our careful investigation. Fresh discoveries are continually throwing a new 
light on the relations of the Herefordshire beds to those of Scotland. The Les- 
mahago black flags proved on a comparison of the similar, although varying, 
species of fossils which at the same time were discovered in the Downton beds, 
to be the equivalents of the latter,* and are now known} to be overlaid by red 
shales in which Cephalaspis Lyellii occurs—the relation of the Passage-Beds of 
the Ludlow railway cutting to the Old Red have recently been elucidated by the 
able investigations of Mr. Symonds, t in the Ledbury tunnel. He traces a gradual 
succession from the Aymestry limestone through the Upper Ludlow and the 
Downton Sandstone, which has there scarcely a representative, to the equivalents 
of the Ludlow Passage-beds, identified by the occurrence in them of Auchenaspis 
and Pterygotus Ludensis, and he finds that these beds pass upwards into a series 
of red marls, with yellowish, grey, and pink, sandstones, containing Pteraspis 
and Cephalaspis. 


At Trimpley, near Bewdley, Mr. Roberts has found in the Cornstones Cepha- 
laspis Lyellii and Pteraspis Lloydii, and in the immediately underlying Grits, 
Pteraspis Banksii, Pterygotus Ludensis, and Parka decipiens. When we add to 
these facts the occurrence of Cephalaspis Lyellii and Pteraspides in the Cornstones 
of Leysters, and numerous other parts of Herefordshire, and the discovery of 
Eurypterus Symondsii in the Cornstones of Rowlstone, we cannot doubt that we 
have in Herefordshire the equivalents of the Perthshire and Forfarshire§ beds, 
in which Cephalaspis Lyellii, Pterygotus Anglicus, and Stylonurus are associated. 
These beds have been styled by Sir Roderick Murchison as the Lower Old Red. 


I am not aware that we have any trace of the middle division (or Caithness 
flags) characterised by Ptericthys oblongus, Cocosteus, Dipterus, Diplopterus, 
and other fishes. Very recently, the Rev. Hugh Mitchell has discovered one of 
these fishes, Dipterus, associated with Cephalaspis Lyellii, in the Lower Old Red 
of Forfarshire.|| Here then is a subject for our researches; fresh discoveries 
are continually made, and there is no reason why we may not, in the Woolhope 
district, find some remains of fishes, which may either establish, or negative, the 
existence of this threefold division of the Old Red. We have some traces of the 


“ce 


* Murchison’s ‘* Lesmahago Silurians,” Quarterly Journal, Geological Society, vol. 12, p. 
15. Salter’s ‘‘ Himantopterus,” ibid, p. 26. Banks’ ‘‘ Tilestones of Kington,” ibid, p.93. Mr. 
D. Page, F.GS., remarks that this last paper ‘‘ might as well have been written for the Tile- 
stones of Forfar as for the Tilestones of Kington, so entirely similar are they in all their organic 
remains 

+ Geikie’s ‘‘ Old Red Sandstones,” Quarterly Journal, Geological Society, vol. 16, p. 214. 

t Symonds’ ‘‘ On Passage Beds at Ledbury,” ibid, p. 193. 

§ Mr. Page informs me that the grey fissile flagstones and tilestones of Forfar ‘‘ our lowest 
Old Red,” contain among other fossils, Lepidodendroid stems, Fucoids, and Zooterites, fern- 
like fragments (Sphenopterys?', Pterygoti of several species, from rft. to 6ft, long ; Eurypteri, 
two species ; Acanthodes Viplacanthus, two species ; Climatius, several; Plectrodus, Icthyo- 
lites undetermined, Cephalaspis, etc. 

“| ‘‘Synoptical View of Old Red Sandstone,” Quarterly Journal, Geological Society, vol. 
15 P. 436. 

3 || This statement was made on the information ofa friend. I have since read Mr. Mitchell's 
paper (Quarterly Journal, Geological Society. vol 17, p. 145), Dipterus is not there mentioned ; 
but fossils belonging to the genera Acanthodes, Diplacanthus, and Crenacanthus are mentioned 
as occurring in these beds. 


261 


upper division. A scale of Holoptychius nobilissimus, found by Sir Roderick 
Murchison on the Daren, near Crickhowell, prior to the publication of the “Silurian 
System,” was the only indication we had of the upper beds, until the discovery at 
Farlow, in Shropshire, two or three years ago, of a new species of Ptericthys in 
yellow sandstone, overlaid by the shale of the Carboniferous Limestone of Clee- 
Hill, and the more recent discovery at the same place, by Mr. Lightbody and 
Professor Melville, of the remains of Holoptychius.* I hope, therefore, our 
indefatigable Ludlow members will pursue their researches further in this direc- 
tion, and that Dr. Bevan and our Abergavenny members will vie with them in 
the endeavour to trace the limits of the uppermost beds of Old Red.+ I cannot 
help noticing, before I quit this subject, an erroneous notion (adopted by Sir 
Roderick Murchison in the appendix to the last edition of Siluria, p. 559) that 
the Old Red Sandstone is necessarily a red rock. He says, “the true base in 
Shropshire and Herefordshire of the Old Red Sandstone, properly so-called, is, 
I repeat, seen to be a red rock, containing Cephalaspis and Pteraspis, and gradually 
passing down into the grey Ludlow rock.” Now, although this is generally the 
case in the Old Red of Herefordshire, we know that it is not universally so; the 
sandstones in the neighbourhood of Kington, Hay, and other parts of the northern 
side of the County, are overlaid with red soil, arising from the denudation of the 
Black mountains and other elevated masses of the Old Red, but the rocks beneath, 
including those which contain Cephalaspis Lyellii, are generally a grey micaceous 
sandstone. In this as in other similar cases, we must look to fossil contents 
rather than to colour and lithological composition as the truest indicator of the 
age of rocks. , 


But the geological observer may not only view the imbedded fossils as the 
indicators of the stratigraphical position of the rocks in which they are found ; 
but be may view them with the eyes of a naturalist, and compare them with 
animals which now exist, tracing the affinity of extinct to existing species; he 
will thus note their differences, learn their habits, and form a notion of the con- 
ditions under which these animals of the past existed—he will marvel that the 
worm should have lett its track and burrows, the ebbing tide its ripple, and the 
raindrop its record on the surface of the rocks ; he will observe the Trilobite, 
one of the earliest crustaceans, attain its greatest development in the Silurian 
period, and gradually become extinct in the Carboniferous rocks—he will be 
struck with its varied form, elaborate structure, and the countless facets of its 
eye—he will compare the Orthoceratites and the numerous Cephalopods with 
their allies, the extinct Ammonites, and the Nautilus of the present seas ; and 
will see in each species the same chambered structure and the same provision 
for floating on the surface of the water, although the forms are so various and 
unlike ; he will admire the numerous and varied series of Corals and Crinoids in 
the Limestones, the elegant Star-fishes and numberless Mollusca of the Silurian 
seas, and when these last are gradually dying away, he will see the Pterygoti and 
Eurypteride, the largest of Crustaceans, for a brief time the principal occupants 


oe 


* Symonds’ “‘ Old Red Sandstones of Herefordshire,” ubi supra. 
+ Morris and Roberts ‘fon the Yellow Sai.dstone and Mountain Limestone of Oreton and 
Farlow.’ Quarterly Journal, Geological Society, vol. 18, p. 94. 


262 


of the deep, in their turn succeeded by the Fishes, and at last a Flora, of which 
faint traces before appeared, of gigantic Ferns, Palms, and Conifers, covering 
the surface of the earth with a luxuriant tropical vegetation, and he will rise 
from the contemplation of the subject more and more impressed with the infinite 
wisdom, power, and goodness of God in the works of creation. 


When we consider in how few places the crust of the earth is broken, and 
how seldom, when the rocks are exposed to our view, we have an opportunity of 
arriving at their contents, we may reasonably expect that fresh discoveries will 
from time to time reward the persevering searcher of the Paleozoic rocks. We 
know how the accidental discovery of a Star-fish at Church Hill led to a further 
search, and an addition of thirteen or fourteen new species of Star-fishes to the 
three or four species previously known in the Silurian rocks, and to the discovery 
of several new species of Crustaceans ;—how the discovery of the contents of the 
Downton Sandstone at Bradnor, and of its equivalent at Lesmahago, induced 
a general search in the beds which range upwards into the Old Red, and the 
results ; and how the beautifully preserved forms of the Lanarkshire Pterygoti 
enabled Mr. Salter to arrange the scattered members of Pterygoti in other rocks, 
and by comparison to discriminate the different species. We know, too, that 
the Cornstones of Herefordshire have recently yielded several new species of 
fishes, and many more specimens of previously known species than were a few 
years since supposed to exist in the Herefordshire Ola Red, and we have every 
reason to believe that the contents of these beds are still unexhausted mines, 
which will gradually unfold new facts to the diligent and constant observer. 


I feel that I am promoting the interests of the Club when I call your attention 
to the Museum at Ludlow, and urge the members of this Club to give it their 
aid and support, either by contributions to its funds, or the gift of specimens of 
those branches of Natural History which it contains. Those of us who have 
visited it must feel the aid which we have derived from the inspection of the 
specimens of Ornithology and Fossils in its well-arranged cases, and from the 
valuable works of reference which its small but well-selected library contains. 


I may reasonably be expected to touch on other subjects, which the idea of 
a Naturalists’ Field Club embraces, such as the Ornithology, the Entomology, 
and the Botany of the district. The fact that none of these subjects have, during 
the past year, been brought under the notice of the Club, in some measure relieves 
me from a charge of omission. I must, however, admit my inability to offer any 
useful observations or suggestions on these subjects, and confine myself to a request 
that any members, whose tastes and inclinations lead them to the study of any of 
these branches of Natural History, will record the result of their observations in 
a written paper, and bear in mind that the colleetion of a number of common-place 
facts leads to a useful result. 


Mr. Crouch, in his Presidential Address on January 22nd, 1856, very clearly 
and ably explained to you the scope of the Flora of Herefordshire, which has been 
prepared under the direction of Mr. Purchas ; hopes were entertained that a part 
of it would be placed in the publisher’s hands during the past year. Mr. Symonds, 


263 


of Pendock, undertook to supply, by way of preface, a short account of the geology 
and soil on which the plants grow. If I remember rightly, the manuscript, 
although in a forward state, was not ready for the printer, and therefore the 
publication was delayed. On behalf of the Club, I venture to express a hope that 
Mr. Purchas will endeavour to carry out, in part at least, during the present year, 
the completion of a work which will so greatly assist the systematic Botanist, and 
will reflect so much credit on himself. 


One other subject occurs to me as worthy of afew remarks. The Aquarium, 
now so easily procured and managed, enables us to observe the structure, and 
study the habits, ot the numerous animals which frequent our streams and ponds 
—the gradual development of the tadpole, of the frog, and the newt ; and the 
transformation of the insects whose larve are aquatic, as the gnat, the dragon fly, 
and the may-fly, and the beetles and other insects whose life is spent in the water 
—we may watch their movements and see how the countless forms of animal life, 
which abound in the water, are reduced in number by the predatory habits of each 
other—we may watch the sportive activity of the smallest of our fishes ; the mode 
in which the crayfish propels himself, the use which it makes of those jaw feet, 
which were so fully developed in the Pterygoti, and in how wonderful a manner 
it periodically emerges from its shelly covering, and withdrawing all its members, 
even the delicate antenna, casts aside in an entire form its old coat, and appears 
in all the splendour of a new one. But, in addition to these recorded facts, I 
think the Aquarium will enable us, by careful observation, to record many new 
facts which otherwise would escape our observation, especially in the winter 
season, under the influence of a low temperature, when these inhabitants of the 
water disappear, and fall more or less into a state of torpidity or comparative sleep. 


A suggestion has been made to me that the Club might with great advantage 
increase the number of its members, and have six Field Meetings in the course of 
the year. As regards the number of members, I think, if occasion should require, 
the Club might advantageously alter the rule which limits our Club to fifty 
members, but I am not aware that at present we have any candidates for admission 
to justify its alteration. If we increase the number of our Field-days, I fear our 
meetings will not be so well attended as they are at present, for if we look over the 
list of our members we shall see that by far the larger portion has engagements 
which have a prior claim on its attention, and can only make the study of Natural 
History an ‘‘ employment for its idle time, which is then not idly spent”; but 
I see no reason why those members who have leisure time may not, with great 
advantage to the Club, visit localities which are now comparatively inaccessible 
to the Club as a body, report the result of their discoveries to the Field Meetings, 
and thus extend our knowledge of the district. 


I cannot conclude without expressing to the members generally my deep 
sense of the honour which they conferred on me in my election as President of the 
Club, and tendering to them my sincere thanks for the kind support and friendly 
aid which they have so readily given me at the field meetings, and whenever I have 
had occasion to seek for information during the past year. I resign my office to 


264 


my successor in the fullest confidence that the members will heartily co-operate 
with him in an endeavour to make the Field Meetings of the present year as 
attractive as possible, to promote the objects of the Club, and to increase its 


prosperity. 
RICHARD W. BANKS. 
7th February, 1861. 


CAPTAIN GUISE’S LIST. 


COLEOPTERA. 
Elaphrus cupreus .. Sid se S65 .. Garway. 
Ctenicerus pectinicornis .. fe ad .. Kentchurch Park. 
Saperda ferrea es oe af 30 pe D1ULO 
Onthophagus fracticornis .. Ab Ai .. Garway. 
Aphodius merdarius Ale At we Be DILEOs 
Luperus flavipes .. a re 35 .. Saddlebow. 
Galeruca crategi .. is 0s ts .. Kentchurch. 
Mecinus semicylindricus .. os ye ',. Hedges. 
Magdalinus atramentarius Be 40 -. Ditto. 
Rhinonchus pericarpius .. < ap See ILO. 
Sciaphilus muricatus a6 oe oo Be DILLO, 
Phyllobius argentatus oe be a os) DIttOs 
Polydrosus cervinus 50 Seg oe See DIELOS 
Tropiphorus mercurialis .. ac ahd -. Ditto. 
Otiorhynchus picipes ae 0 eds we) Ditto: 
Anthonomus rubi .. as = ne aa ADMFUO 
—_————— ulmi .. ae ae i =a Ditto. 
Balaninus pyrrhoceras ans Br ae i» Ditto: 

HOMOPTERA. 


Centrotus cornutus 5° Ad ane .. Hawthorn Blossoms. 


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269 


LIST OF ANIMALS, BIRDS, &c., OF HEREFORDSHIRE. 
R. M. LINGWOOD. 


The names are according to L. Jenyns in his Manual of British Vertebrata. 


MAMMALIA. 
Meles taxus Badger. 
Mustela foina Marten-cat. 
Rare. Moccas. 
putorius Pole-cat. 
vulgaris Weasel. 
erminea Stoat. 
In white winter garb, Feb., 1840, at Mordiford. Ditto, 1855, at Llanwarne. 
Lutra vulgaris Otter. 
Canis vulpes Fox. 
Talpa europea Mole. 
Sorex araneus Shrew. 
fodiens Water Shrew. 
Mordiford and Lyston. 

Erinaceus europzus Hedgehog. 
Rhinolophus Hepposideros Lesser horse-shoe Bat. 
Over kitchens at Sufton Court. 

Vespertilio noctula Noctule. 
Forty-seven individuals found in hole in ash-tree, at Sufton Court. 
————— pepistrellus Pepistrelle. 
Caught on the wing, December, 1839. 
————— auritus Greater long-eared Bat. 
Sciurus vulgaris Squirrel. 
Myoxus avellanarius Dormouse. 
Mus sylvaticus Field Mouse. 
musculus House Mouse. 
decumanus Brown Rat. 
Avvicola amphibia Water Rat. 
agrestis Field Vole. 
Exceedingly numerous in the summer of 1839, more than 200 being caught in making hay on 
25 acres. 
———— riparia Bank Vole. 
Two specimens only have come into my hands. 
Lepus timidus Hare. 


May 27, 1839. My keeper drew my attention to a hare carrying something in her mouth, she 
passed about four yards from us in the open field, and we distinctly saw she had a leveret, 
a few days old, in her mouth. 


Lepus cuniculus Rabbit. 
Black and yellow varieties occasionally. 


270 


AVES. 
Falco peregrinus Peregrine Falcon. 
Stoke Edith, March, 1855. Alton Court, 1857. 
—— subbuteo Hobby. 
Rare. Bred in Haugh Wood, Mordiford, 1846. Shot at Pencoyd, 1854, by Mr. Palmer. 
—— salon Merlin. 
Seen on wing, 1858, at Llanwarne. Killed at Kinnersley, 1845. 
—— tinnunculus Kestrel. 
Accipiter fringillarius Sparrow Hawk. 
Milvus ictinus Kite. 
Rare. Killed at Stricksteyning, Much Birch. 
Buteo vulgaris Buzzard. 
—-— cyaneus Hen Harrier. 
Llanwarne, 1854. 
Otus brachyotus Short-eared Owl. 
Shot at Marden, 1845. Ditto near Ross. Mordiford, 1839. 
Strix flammea White Owl. 
Syrnium aluco Tawny Owl. 
Lanius collurio Red-backed Shrike. 
Not common. 
Muscicapa_ luctuosa Pied Flycatcher 
Shot a pair at Sufton Court, June, 1839. Sawa pair at Aymestry, 1854 
———— grisola Spotted Flycatcher. 
Cinclus aquaticus Water Ouzel. 
Turdus viscivorus Missel Thrush. 
——— pilaris Fieldfare. 
Very numerous in December, 1839 
——— musicus Song Thrush. 
——— iliacus Redwing. 
——— merula Blackbird. 
Occurs with white marks in its plumage. 
——w— torquatus Ring Ouzel. 
Black Mountains. Migrates in September. 
Accentor modularis Hedge Sparrow. 
Sylvia rubecula Redbreast. 
— — Pheenicurus Redstart. 
—— — phragmitis Sedge Warbler. 
_— luscinia Nightingale. 
Not common. 
atricapilla Blackcap. 
cinerea Whitethroat. 
curruca Lesser Whitethroat. 
Not common. ; 
sibilatrix Wood Wren. 
trochilus Willow Wren. 
hypolais Chiff Chaff. 


Regulus aurocapillus Gold-crested Wren. 


271 


Regulus ignicapillus 
Sufton Gardens and Lyston. 
Motacilla alba 

Boarula 


Fire-crested Wren. 


The more generally dispersed species 


Pied Wagtail. 
Gray Wagtail. 


A constant resident. 


neglecta ? 


flava 
Anthus pratensis 
arboreus 
Not common. 

Saxicola cenanthe 

rubetra 

rubicola 
Parus major 
ceruleus 
palustris 


ater 


caudatus 
Bombycilla garrula 


Blue-headed Wagian. 
Only seen and not handled, therefore a little doubtful. 


At Lyston, Novy., 1840. 


Yellow Wagtail (rare). 
Meadow Pipit. 
Tree Pipit. 

Near Ross, 1849. 


Wheatear. 

Winchat. 

Stonechat 

Great Titmouse. 

Blue Titmouse. 
Marsh Titmouse. 
Cole Titmouse. 
Long-tailed Titmouse. 
Bohemian Waxwing. 


In flesh at Baker's, in Hereford, 1856. 


Alauda arvensis 


Skylark. 


Observed perched on hedge, and then on a low bush. Short-toed Lark? 


arborea 
Emberiza nivalis 

In flesh at Baker's, December, 1854. 
miliaria 

Not common. 

Schceniclus 
citrinella 
cirlus 


Near the Callow Turnpike, 1852. 


Fringilla celebs 
montifringilla 


Woodlark. 
Snow Bunting. 


Shot at Pool Cottage, 1856 


Common Bunting. 


Reed Bunting. 
Yellow Bunting. 
Cirl Bunting. 
June, 1863. 
Chaffinch. 
Mountain Finch. 


Killed at St. Weonards, March, 1855 


domestica House Sparrow. 
montana Tree Sparrow. 
— coccothraustes Grosbeak. 
At Lyston, 1847. Ayleston Wood, May, 1849, nesting? Lyston, March, 1860 
chloris Greenfinch. 
— carduelis Goldfinch. 
spinus Siskin. 
Appears every winter. 
Linaria Redpole. 
——— cannabina Grey Linnet. 
——-— montium Twite. 


Black Mountains. 


Pyrrhula vulgaris 
Loxia curvirostra 
In flesh at 
Sturnus vulgaris 
Corvus corax 


Bullfinch. 
Crossbill. 
Baker's, Gunsmith, Hereford, 1855. 
Starling. 
Raven. 


Bred in several places, but each year Lecoining more rare. 


corone 
cornix 


Shot at Llanwarne, Jan., 1850. 


frugilegus 
——— monedula 
——— Pica 


Garrulus glandarius 


Picus viridis 


major 


——— minor 
Iynx torquilla 
Certhia familiaris 


Troglodytes europzeus 


Upupa epops 
Rare. 
Sitta europea 
Two specimens killed themselves 


Callow Hill. 1847. 


Crow. 
Hooded Crow. 
Shot at Perrystone, Feb., 1860. 
Rook. 
Jackdaw 
Magpie. 
Jay. 
Green Woodpecker. 


Great spotted Woodpecker. 
Mordiford, 1840. 


Small spotted Woodpecker. 
Wryneck. 

Tree Creeper. 

Wren. 

Hoopoe. 
At Baker's, 1856. 

Nuthatch. 
by flying against the glass of Conservatory into which they 


had entered by open doorway. 


Cuculus canorus 
Alcedo ispida 
Hirundo rustica 
urbica 
— riparia 


Cypselus apus 


Caprimulgus europzus 


Cuckoo. 
Kingfisher. 
Swallow. 
Martin. 

Sand Martin. 
Swift. 
Goatsucker. 


Not very generally dispersed, but numerous in some localities. (Orcop) 


Columba palumbus 


cenas 
Turtur 


Phasianus colchicus 
torquatus 


Ringdove. 

Stockdove. 

Turtledove. 

Pheasant. 

Ring-necked Pheasant. 


Pied varieties occasionally. 


Tetrao tetrix 


Black Grouse. 


Occasionally on the borders of Radnorshire. 


scoticus 


Red Grouse. 


Black Mountains, heavier than Sotch birds. 


Perdix cinerea 
coturnix 


Killed at Belmont, near Hereford, 1847. 
Charadrius pluvialis 


Partridge. 
Quail. 

Killed at Llanwarne, 1852, R. M. L. Killed at Fawley. 
Golden Plover. 


Black Mountains, rare, 1849. 


273 


Vanellus cristatus Lapwing. 
Ardea cinerea Heron. 
Bred near Newcourt, but not for some years past. 
stellaris ; Bittern 
Shot on the Wye, by J. Griffiths, Esq., 1849. 
Numenius arquata 7 Curlew. 
Very rare. Seen in the flesh at Baker's, gunsmith, Hereford ; whether killed in the county (?). 
(CEdicnemus crepitaus Thick-kneed Plover. 
Seen in the flesh at Baker's, 1854; killed at Lyde. 
Totanus hypoleucus Sandpiper. 
Limosa rufa Bartailed Godwit. 
Shot on Lugg at Mordiford, 1839. 
Scolopax rusticola Woodcock. 
Has bred at Trepenkennet and Dinmore Hill Wood. 
gallinago Snipe. 
gallinula Jack Snipe. 
Phalaropus lobatus Grey Phalarope. 
Shot at Allensmore, 1847. 
Rallus aquaticus Water Rail. 
Crex pratensis Corn Crake. 
porsana Spotted Crake. 
Shot at Wormside, Allensmore, 1 849. 
Gallinula chloropus Moorhen 
Fulica atra Coot. 
Anser ferus Wild Goose. 
segetum Bean Goose. 
Cygnus ferus Whistling Swan. 
Bewickii Bewick’s Swan. 
Killed near Ross, on the Wye, 1854, by Mr. A. Armitage. 
Anas boschas Wild Duck. 
crecca Teal. 
—— clypeata Shoveller. 
Killed at the Mynd e, 1858. 
Mareca penelope Widgeon. 
Fuligula ferina Pochard. 
Killed on Wye, 1855, by Mr. Armitage. 
marila Scaup Pochard. 
In flesh at Baker's, 1855. 
cristata Tufted Pochard. -¥ 
Mr. Moss, Ross. 
Mergus merganser Gooseander. 
In flesh at Baker's, 1855. 
Podiceps minor Dabchick. 
cristatus Crested Grebe. 
Mr. Moss, Ross, young bird, 1859. 
Colymbus septentrionalis Red-throated Diver. j 


Caught7on_ice near Ross, 1854. 


274 


Phalacrocorax carbo Cormorant. 

Shot on the Wye, 1856, by Mr, Armitage. 
Sterna hirundo Tern. 

Near Ross, 1854+ 
Sterna nigra Black Tern. 
On Mynde Pool, 1859 
Larus canus ? Gull. 
tridactylus Kittiwake Gull. 


Mr. Moss, Ross. 


REPTILIA. 
Lacerta agilis Lizard. 
Not common. Doward Hill. 
Anguis fragilis Blind Worm. 
Natrix torquala Snake. 
Vipera communis Viper. 
Specimen killed at Mordiford by myself, measured eft. gin. in length. 

Rana temporaria Frog. 
Buteo vulgaris Toad. 
Triton palustris Warty Eft. 

punctatus Common Eft. 

PISCES. 

Perca fluviatilis Perch. 
Cottus gobio Bull-head. 


Gasterosteus aculeatus Three-spined Stickleback. 
Two or three varieties. 


Clupea finta 


Shad. 


Occasionally ascends the Wye as far as Hereford. 


Cyprinus carpio Carp. 
gobio Gudgeon. 
tinca Tench. 
rutilus Roach. 
leuciscus Dace. 
cephalus Chub. 
phoxinus Minnow 

Cobitis barbatula Loach. 

Esox lucius Pike. 

Salmo salar Salmon. 

fario Trout. 

Thymallus vulgaris Grayling. 

Platessa flesus Flounder. 


Mouth of Lugg, December, 1839, caught with a worm in angling. 


Anguilla acutirostris 


latirostris 


Petromyson fluviatilis 


Sharp-nosed Eel. 
Broad-nosed Eel. 


River Lamprey. 


275 


PERIODIC PHENOMENA. 


Observed at Lyston and Llanwarne, Herefordshire, average date of occurrence 
for seven years, from 1850 to 1857. 


Song Thrush sings .. Ae a bre -. January 8 
Chaffinch sings + Io 
Mezereon flowers ae Bf Ac ne =e i 16 
Hazel flowers .. Be a Se te ar HF 27 
Snowdrop flowers : é a 30 
Lesser Periwinkle flowers .. oe sc -.- February 18 
Yew flowers .-- is és aie At ee i$ 19 
Frogs croaking Ae ‘ 20 
Yellowhammer sings .. Sc Sc ae ee March 3 
Rooks begin building ~ 5 
Pilewort flowers ar ay 10 
Apricot flowers ae oe ra af A be I4 
Ringdove cooing ae =. a 14 
Alder flowers .. nie oa aa Ae a - 15 
Coltsfoot flowers ne ae ee sc ate as 18 
Elder buds burst ae ate iat Be Ba a 20 
Sulphur Butterfly seen ie Be ae re Fe 20 
Daffodil flowers ahs =f as ote Aye 5 20 
Frog spawns .. a Be a Bt ae a 22 
Tortoiseshell Butterfly seen . % 24 
Gooseberry flowers or 30 
Larch flowers .. Ar Ae Fic: Se ae ag 31 
Wych Elm flowers... Se we ae ate April 2 
Cowslip flowers 3 2 
Chiffchaff Warbler seen ss 4 
Herb Mercury flowers =F 5 
Humble Bee seen 9 5 
Horse-chesnut buds open + 9 
Fieldfares last seen = 9 
Field Wood-rush flowers - 9 
Meadow Ladysmock flowers fe II 
Queen Wasp seen oF I4 
Cuckoo heard .. op 17 
Swallow seen 7 17 
Blackthorn flowers 5 £7: 
Blackcap Warbler singing tf 22 
Redstart or Firetail seen x 22 
Martin seen 3 22 
Nightingale heard “ 27 
Sand Martin seen + 27 


Strawberry flowers 


iS) 
oo 


276 


Germander Speedwell flowers ay 7 ‘ April 28 
Orange-tip Butterfly seen .. of ie we ; 28 
Horse-chesnut flowers Sir 5c iC ve May 4 
Spotted Flycatcher seen 3 ite {3 Sa . 9 
Whitethorn flowers .. Sie an oe Ff ss 16 
Swift seen ore 5c a a oe Sc i 16 
Oak flowers... 40 se es s6 a 45 20 
Large Cockchaffer seen fe ai ae ae = 20 
Mayfly seen .. aC fe = oe re ‘3 21 
Laburnum flowers .. ate sie be pe S, 25 
Oxeye Daisy flowers .. 36 Bc Fe ar 3 29 
Landrail heard 36 bn Se Bi oe June 

Foxglove flowers AC 5c 56 Ac Sc 7 9 
Small Garden Chaffer seen oe x¢ ae ~ 9 
Strawberries ripe “1s aie oe Se ae i 12 
Wasps plentiful AS ae oe 50 oe Fe 14 
White Water Lily flowers .. oe md re 3 2 
Lime-tree flowers ote 56 oc Ao oc July 18 
Apricots ripe .. 3¢ AC os 36 ois <5 24 
Swift last seen 25 aes EN me .. August 6 
Swallows and Martins congregating ve ws + 24 
Winged Ants appear .. af ae Ae ‘is mar 24 
Meadow Saffron flowers te 50 ae ie % 24 
Yew Berries ripe of ae ats af ade as 26 
Elder Berries ripe .. Ae ae as .. September 16 
Ivy flower oe Sic 50 ac ic se > 22 
Swallow last seen so 5c S06 ate =» , October) | 26 
Martin last seen 4c 30 oe 2c Be fs 23 
Woodcock first seen .. 3 Sc oe oC ‘ 23 
Redwings and Fieldfares seen So se .. November 18 


I would add that there is only a difference of three days in the arrival of the 
Swift, and four days in that of the Cuckoo, during a longer period of twelve years. 


R. M. LINGWOOD« 


Lyston, APRIL, 1860. 


277 


Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


FIRST FIELD MEETING. 


Joint MEETING WITH THE MALVERN CLUB, May 23RD AND 24TH, 1861. 
LUDLOW, MOCKTRE, LEINTWARDINE. 


The members of the Woolhope and Malvern Naturalists’ Field Clubs met at 
Ludlow on Thursday, May 23rd, for two Field Days. The first day’s excursion 
was to examine the Caradoc beds up the Onny Valley, and also at Marsh Brook 
and Acton Scott. The Malvern friends, who arrived on Wednesday night, 
proceeded by the train at 8 o’clock next morning to Marsh Brook, and from 
thence walked to a quarry near Acton Scott, of the Middle Caradoc formation, 
which is rich in fossil remains. There the members procured Phacops conoph- 
thalmus, Orthis vespertilio, Orthis unguis, Orthts actonia, Strophomena grandis, 
Bellerophon bilobata, and Leptaena serricea. Thence the members retraced their 
steps to Marsh Brook, and examined the sections along the Horderley road. 
Those nearest the railway station are Caradoc, containing the usual remains, 
and a little further on are the lower beds of the Longmynd or Bottom Rocks, 
all the beds of which were considered to be unfossiliferous until Mr. Salter, about 
two years ago, discovered worm tracks, and a portion of a trilobite, in the blue 
beds immediately overlying these Olive Shales. 


A little further along the road is a large quarry of Bala Limestone (where 
the members from Hereford were met), the beds of which are all tilted up nearly 
vertical, and on the lower side of the quarry the lowest beds of Caradoc formation 
lie conformable to it, containing several scarce and new organisms, such as 
Trinucleus concentricus, a new Asaphus, a new Fenestella, and several other 
remains; from the Bala Limestone were procured several specimens of a new 
Lingula. 


Thence, crossing the river Onny by the stepping stones, and proceeding by 
the side of the river, they examined the loose stones that are thrown down from 
several quarries of the Horderly Flags or Middle Caradoc, amongst which the 
beautiful Oak-fern, Polypodium dryopteris, grows most luxuriantly. 


‘ About a mile further down the stream (though up the beds) the celebrated 
Onny section was reached, showing the Purple Shale or Lower Wenlock, the 
Pentamerus Limestone, and the uppermost beds of the Caradoc, all in one con- 
tinuous section. From the Caradoc were procured some fine specimens of 
Trinucleus concentricus, and from the Purple Shale, Orthis biloba, Encrinitus 
punctatus, Leptaena laevigata, Atrypa reticularis, and Petraia bina. The Pen- 
tamerus Limestone is here a very thin band, containing only Pentamerus undata, 


278 


but the water was too high to reachit. From thence a walk of about a mile and 
a half to Craven Arms and back to Ludlow by train, concluded the first day’s 
excursion over a most interesting and splendid country. 


The second day’s trip was first to Mocktre, and after examining the fine 
sections of Aymestrey Limestone and Lower Ludlow, the party proceeded to 
Leintwardine, where they separated for a short time, Mr. Symonds and Mr. 
Lightbody going on further to Pedwardine, to examine the small upheaval of 
Lower Llandeilo Flags, containing Dichtyonema sociale in abundance, and a small 
species of Obolina. The remainder of the party went to Church Hill and waited 
there for Mr. Lightbody to meet them. 


The Church Hill quarries are the most productive in new organisms of any 
section in this locality ; more than twelve species of new Star-fish, several new 
Encrinites, a few species of Ceratiocaris, and two or three specimens of Limulotdes 
optatus, an organism allied to the great King-crab of our existing seas, have been 
found there. It seems to be a connecting link between the Silurian Trilobite 
and the Old Red Cephalaspis. In these beds of the Lower Ludlow formation, 
the oldest known fish was found of the species of Pteraspis, but the members 
were very unfortunate in their day. 


After Mr. Lightbody joined, they continued on towards Ludlow, through 
the beautiful grounds belonging to Downton Castle, in which are some fine sections 
of Upper Ludlow, and many rare species of ferns are to be procured. At the 
lower end of the Walks near Downton Castle Bridge, the Upper Ludlow Bone Bed 
is well exposed, and immediately overlying it is the Tvochus Bed, from which 
several small, but perfect, Fish-heads have been obtained. A short walk from 
here to the Forge Bridge, and back to Ludlow by carriage, concluded the second 
day’s excursion, through a most interesting locality both to the geologist and the 
botanist. We noticed present the following members and visitors :—WOOL- 
HOPE CLUB :—Mr. Robert Lightbody, President ; Mr. George Cocking, and 
Mr. Elmes Y. Steele, Vice-Presidents ; Capt. Guise, hon. member, President of the 
Cotteswold Club ; Messrs. C. T. Bodenham, H. Salwey, T. Curley, Arthur Thomp- 
son, A. Wall Davies, M.D., Kington. MALVERN CLUB :—The Rev. W. S. 
Symonds, President; Mr. Edwin Lees, Vice-President; The Rev. R. Bilson, 
The Rev. W. Thorn, Mr. Kent. VISITORS:—David M. McCullough, 
M.D. ; The Rev. R. Soper, Messrs. F. Kempson, Alfred Marston, and — Pritchard, 
Weston-super-Mare. 


The Rey. Arthur Gray, of Orcop, was elected a member of the Woolhope Club, 
and the following gentlemen were proposed:—The Rev. Thos. Woodhouse, 
Mansel Lacy; David Wylie, Esq., Shrewsbury ; Dr. McCullough, and Mr. Wm. 
Phillips, Hereford. 


In his ‘‘ Sketch of the Proceedings of the Malvern Naturalists’ Club “ from 
1853 to the close of 1865 ” the Rev. Wm. S. Symonds refers to this Field Meeting 
in 186r in conjunction with the Woolhope Club at Ludlow, in the follow- 
ing words :—‘‘ We were specially interested in the fossils found in the Passage 


279 


Beds or, basement beds of 'the {Old Red Sandstone in the railway cutting at 
Ludlow, which co-relates so exactly with those found within the shaft and at the 
northern entrance of the Ledbury tunnel near the railway station there.” 


** The fossils from Farlow in the Ludlow Museum are well worthy of notice, 
as they are from those newer Passage Beds which intervene between the Old Red 
Sandstone and the Carboniferous deposits, aud contain the remains of two Scotch 
genera of fossil fishes, the Holoptychtus and Pterichthys.” (See Transactions of 
the Malvern Club, Part III., Page 22). 


Rev. Wm. S. Symonds was requested to re-publish this Paper* which appeared 
in the Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. £5 was voted toward the expenses. 
(See Transactions of the Malvern Club, Part III., Page 23). 


* “ Geology of the Railway from Worcester to Hereford,” by Rev. W. S, Symonds. 
This was afterwards published by Hardwicke, 192, Piccadilly, London, 1862 ; Re-printed with 
additions and corrections from the ‘‘ Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal,” New Series, 
April, 1861, with Section both of Malvern Hill and Ledbury Tunnel. 

This reprint will be found commencing Volume III. of bound pamphlets B 85 in the Refer- 
ence Library, Hereford; and in the same Volume, see No. 42, Extracts, with two sections 
(as above) from pages 204 to 232 of the ‘‘ Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal,” New Series, 
Vol, XIII., Plate VI. (Zdztor). 


280 


Woolhope Naturalist’s Field Club. 


SECOND FIELD MEETING, FRIDAY, JUNE 21ST, 1861. 


TARRINGTON. 


The second Field Meeting for 1861 was held at Tarrington Vicarage, by the 
invitation of Rev. Charles Smith, on Friday, June 21st. There were present :— 
Mr. Robert Lightbody, President, and Mr. Elmes Yelverton Steele, Vice-President, 
Rev. W. S. Symonds, Honorary Member, President of the Malvern Club, Rev. 
J. F. Crouch, Honorary Secretary, Messrs. R. W. Banks, Chas. Thos. Bodenham, 
P. Ballard, Thos. Blashill, Philip Bayliss Henry Jenkins, Colonel Colvin, 
Revs. H. T. Hill and Charles Smith, Mr. Arthur Thompson, Treasurer and Assis- 
tant Secretary, and about twelve visitors. 


After breakfast the members proceeded through Stoke Edith Park to Adam’s 
Rocks, where a lecture upon the surrounding district was given by Rev. Wm. S. 
Symonds. 


The Limestone quarries at Dormington were afterwards visited. 


On their return to Hereford, the following joined the party at the dinner at 
the Green Dragon Hotel:—Mr. Thomas Cam, Mayor of Hereford, Dr. W. L. 
Gilliland, Mr. Charles Lingen, and Mr. Henry Blashill. 


Mr. Thomas Blashill read a short paper and exhibited several specimens of 
Flint implements found in the Drifts of Abbeville and Amiens in France, lent for 
the purpose by the British Archeological Society. 


At this meeting several members, Presidents, and other officers of the 
Cotteswold, Malvern, Warwickshire, and Worcester Naturalists’ Clubs were 
elected Honorary members. 


281 


Woolhope Daturalists’ Field Club. 


THIRD FIELD MEETING, FRIDAY, 9TH AUGUST, 1861. 


ABERGAVENNY, SCYRRYD FAWR. 


The third and last meeting for the season of the Woolhope Naturalists’ 
Field Club was held at Abergavenny on Friday, August gth, when the following 
gentlemen were present :—Mr. Robert Lightbody, President; George Cocking 
and Mr. Elmes Y. Steele, Vice-Presidents ; Chandos Wren Hoskyns, Esq., 
President of the Warwickshire Club; Edwin Lees, Esq., Vice-President of the 
Malvern and Worcestershire Clubs ; and the following members of the Woolhope 
Club :—Dr. Bevan, Rev. J. F. Crouch, Hon. Sec., Col. Colvin, Mr. T. Curley, 
C.E., Rev. H. T. Hill, Mr. T. Cam, Dr. Gilliland, Mr. J. E. Smith, Rev. Charles 
Smith, Dr. Steele, Rev. T. Woodhouse, and Mr. Arthur Thompson, Treasurer 
and Assistant Secretary. Visitors:—Rev. T. H. Bird, Messrs. Colvin, Cunning- 
ham, Crouch, Rev. W. D. Duncombe, Messrs. Davies, John Kent and Son, A. 
Marston, Nichol, Rev. — Pigott, Mr. Martyn Roberts, Dr. Thom, and Mr. W. 
H. West. Rev. Thomas King was elected a member. 


Sir Charles Hastings, the President of the Worcestershire Natural History 
Society, was (on the proposition of Mr. Arthur Thompson, seconded by the Rev. 
Chas. Smith) elected an honorary member. 


A notice was read from Sir Charles Hastings inviting the members of the 
Club to attend the Annual Meeting of the Worcestershire Society at Worcester 
on the 17th of September. A similar invitation had been sent to the other 
Field Clubs. 


Dr. M’Cullough, Superintendent of the United Counties Lunatic Asylum, 
had courteously invited the party to breakfast, and most hospitably and bounti- 
fully had he provided for his guests. The Naturalists were first conducted by 
Dr. M’Cullough to a quarry in the grounds of the Asylum, where, in the Corn- 
stone, specimens of some of the characteristic fishes of the Old Red Sandstone 
had been obtained ; and, after some hammering here, though with no remarkable 
results, the route was taken direct for the Scyrryd-fawr, or Great Scyrryd Hiil. 
In progressing to this mountain, a deep watery ravine was passed, where the 
Scolopendrium vulgare, and several species of Lastrwa flourished exceedingly in 
the deep gloom. Indeed, the botanical interest of the day centered in the ferns ; 
for the barren steeps of the Scyrryd produced scarcely anything else but a dense 
growth of the common brake, Pterts agilina and masses of the Ulex gallii, which, 
however, made a pretty show with their golden flowers. The day was dubious 


282 


and fitful, though the ‘‘ pink-eyed pimpernel ’’ was observed fully expanded, 
even while scuds of rain and vapour swept furiously over the landscape, and 
was pronounced a gay deceiver. ’ 


With some difficulty, the mountain base was reached, and by a path across 
its shoulder, the opposite side was gained; and here, from the cliffs of sandstone 
having broken down and spread widely over the declivity, a singular wild and 
subalpine scene comes before the eye, which, under the influence of a gloomy sky, 
and the inky clouds that covered the crest of the Sugar-Loaf mountain opposite, 
had the appearance of a rocky wilderness amidst impervious fastnesses. Over 
this broken ground, various ferns and mosses spring up, while tabular and broken 
rocks that have faHen from the precipices above are dispersed irregularly around. 
By a steep natural flight of stairs the crest of the ridge was at length gained, 
where some remnants of an oratory appear ; but the boisterous wind and driving 
scud rendered it unpleasant to remain here long, and the extensive mountainous 
views could be only seen in partial snatches, though a sunny gleam rested upon 
Abergavenny and the valley of the Usk. 


The party now descended into the Gap, a great hollow intervening between 
the great mass of the Scyrryd and a wooded fragment (itself a good-sized hill) 
that at some former period has, by a landslip, broken away from the parent 
mass, and now, like a cub, reposes at the foot of its mother. 


Here it had been announced that an acceptable lunch would be in readiness 
and Mr. E. Y. Steele, the kind-hearted founder of the intended feast, had spoken 
in praise of exquisite old cider that he had selected from the recesses of his cellar, 
and which was believed would prove to have had a body within it. The natura- 
lists, weary and thirsty after their assault of the hill, had pressed forward rather 
impatiently towards the siderial region ; but, alas— 


The best laid schemes o’ mice and men 
Gang aft agley ; 


and after no little delay, and considerable anxiety, it was announced that some 
mistake must have occurred, or the supplies had been intercepted. 


As a last resource, to give the commissariat a chance to come up, Dr. Bevan 
mounted a rock by the side of the President, Mr. Lightbody, and delivered an 
instructive lecture on the iron ores present in almost every geological formation, 
and stated the amount of iron contained in each ore. This was received with 
applause ; and the company having again “sighed and looked,” but without 
avail, gave up the lunch and the cider in despair, and turned their steps towards 
Llanfihangel, which, after threading some deep and miry watery lanes, they at 
last reached about 4 o’clock. Here a quarry containing many interesting 
specimens of Old Red fossils rewarded the hopes of the geologists, and several 
good captures were made. 


The party dined at Abergavenny. 


283 


Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


ANNUAL MEETING, 


THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20TH, 1862. 


The General Annual Meeting of the Club was held at the Green Dragon Hotel, 
on Thursday, 20th February. Present: Mr. Robert Lightbody, President, Mr. 
George Cocking, and Mr. R. M. Lingwood, Vice-Presidents ; Rev. J. F. Crouch, 
Honorary Secretary, Mr. Chandos Wren Hoskyns, Dr. Bull, Mr. Thomas Cam, 
Colonel Colvin, Rev. R. Dixon, Mr. R. Johnson, Rev. T. H. Lee Warner, Rev. 
Chas. Smith, Mr. J. E. Smith, and Mr. Arthur Thompson, Treasurer and Assistant 
Secretary. 


The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. 


Mr. John Jones Cleave, of Hereford, proposed at the last meeting, was 
elected a member. 


Agreeable to notice given at the last Meeting by the Rev. J. F. Crouch, it 
was resolved that the word “fifty” be struck out of Rule 2, and that of “or- 
dinary ’ substituted. 


The Hon. Secretary presented the report of a deputation of the Club 
appointed to confer witb a deputation of the Herefordshire Philosophical, Literary, 
Antiquarian, and Natural History Society, with a view of effecting the union of 
the two Societies. It was explained that the joint deputations had passed a 
resolution at their meeting on the 15th of January, to the effect that it was 
desirable that the Woolhope Club should unite with the Herefordshire Philo- 
sophical Society, on terms to be hereafter arranged by the joint committees of 
the two societies, and a prolonged discussion followed the presentment of the 
report, which terminated in the following resolution, proposed by Mr. Chandos 
Wren Hoskyns, seconded by Dr. Bull, and carried unanimously :— 


“‘ Pending any further arrangements respecting a Museum of Herefordshire 
specimens, geological, &c., that the Philosophical Society be requested to inform 
the Committee of the Woolhope Club on what terms they would admit them to 
a separate or joint use of the Museum-room.” 


Resolved—That the name of Mr. R. M. Lingwood be added to the deputation. 


The Treasurer submitted a statement of the accounts for the past year, 
which were unanimously adopted, showing a balance of £95 12s. 5d. in favour 
of the Club, together with the following arrears :—Ios. for 1858, ros. for 1859, 
50s. for 1860, and fro ros. for 1861, amounting altogether to £14. The bill of 
£x0 12s. of Mr. William Phillips, for stationery and printing, was ordered to be 
paid. 


284 


Resolved—That the following bye-laws having been carried unanimously, 
be issued with the notices of each Field Meeting :—‘*‘ That each member not 
answering the Secretary’s circular shall be presumed to intend to be present at 
the meeting, and shall be held liable for his share of the expenses of conveyance, 
dinner, &c.’”” ‘‘ And that each member signifying to the Secretary his intention 
of attending, shall pay his share of conveyance and dinner, whether he avails 
himself of them or not, unless he shall have signified to the Secretary his intention 
to the contrary.” 


Mr. Robert Lightbody, the retiring President, read his address, and it was 
proposed by Mr. R. M. Lingwood, seconded by the Rev. Charles Smith, and 
carried unanimously, that the same be printed in the next number of the “ Tran- 
sactions.” The thanks of the meeting were also voted to Mr. Lightbody for his 
able discharge of the duties of President, and for his exertions in promoting the 
objects of the Club. 


Proposed by Rey. J. F. Crouch, and seconded by the Rev. Charles Smith, 
that Mr. Chandos Wren Hoskyns be elected President for the present year, 
which was carried unanimously. 


Resolved—That the Rev. Charles Smith, Tarrington; G. P. Bevan, Esq., 
M.D., Beaufort ; R. M. Lingwood, Esq., Lyston House ; and Robert Lightbody, 
Esq., Ludlow, be elected Vice-Presidents for the present year. 


Resolved—That the Rev. J. F. Crouch be re-elected Hon. Secretary for the 
ensuing year. 


Resolved—That Mr. Arthur Thompson be re-elected Treasurer and Assistant 
Secretary for the ensuing year. 


Proposed by Mr. Arthur Thompson, and seconded by Mr. R. Lightbody, 
that the President, Vice-Presidents, and Secretary of the Oswestry Field Club 
for the time being, be added to the list of hon. members. 


The following gentlemen were proposed for election at the Ledbury Meeting : 
Mr. William Townsend, Hereford, proposed by Mr. R. Johnson, and seconded by 
Mr. J. E. Smith ; Mr. Alfred Marston, Ludlow, proposed by Mr. George Cocking 
and seconded by Col. Colvin; Mr. J. W. Colvin, Leintwardine, proposed by 
Rev. J. F. Crouch, and seconded by Rev. Charles Smith. 


A letter was read by the President from Dr. A. Wall Davies, Kington, 
suggesting that one of the Field Meetings should be held this year at Tenbury, 
which was declined for the present, the locality not being of sufficient interest. 


A letter was also read from the Rev. R. P. Hill, Hon. Secretary of the Malvern 
Club, with a list of their Field Meetings for the present year. 


Resolved—That the following days and places be fixed for the Field Meetings 
for the present year :— 


285 


Lepsury (to meet the Malvern Club), on THURSDAY, May 22ND. 
Usk, THURSDAY, JUNE 12TH. 
HEREFORD, for Hotme Lacy STATION, THURSDAY, AUGUST I4TH. 


CuurcH STRETTON (to meet the Oswestry Club), on THURSDAY, 
SEPTEMBER I8TH. 


Resolved—That the Assistant Secretary be requested to write to the Rev. 
W. H. Purchas, to request him to kindly favour the Club with any portion of the 
Herefordshire Flora he may have ready for the press, so that it may be printed 
with as little delay as possible. 


Resolved unanimously—That the indefatigable exertions of Mr. Thompson 
as Assistant Secretary and Treasurer of the Club merit its warmest acknowledg- 
ments, and that he be requested to accept the sum of five pounds to expend in 
any book or other article as to him may seem best, as a very slight mark of the 
opinion entertained by the members of the importance of his services to the 
Woolhope Naturalists’ Club. 


——_o0——_ 


THE ADDRESS 
Of the retiring President, RoperT LicHTBopy, Esg., read before the Members 
of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club, at their Annual Meeting, held in 
Hereford, on Thursday, February 2oth, 1862. 


BroTHER MEeMBERS,—I am very much at a loss how to address you on this 
occasion, as I feel strongly my incompetence to discharge properly the duties of 
my position. It was very repugnant to my feelings to assume the responsible 
post of your President, and I was only induced to do so because I felt that as a 
member of your body, I was bound to take my share of its duties when called 
upon by you. I trust, however, that in future you will be more fortunate in 
selecting a leader who will be able to amuse and instruct you. 


In referring to the Field Meetings we have had during the past year, I may 
express my regret that the first meeting at Ludlow was so unfortunate in some 
of its circumstances. Though intended to be a joint meeting of the Malvern Club 
and our own, our numbers came very short of what might have been anticipated— 
principally in consequence of the railway trains from and to Hereford not suiting 
our arrangements, though we were entitled to expect that in May the summer 
passenger traffic would have been commenced. Another time, however, it 
would be well to have our first meeting near Hereford, so as to avoid this annoy- 
ance. y 


Another point on which I would remark, is, that so few members of our Club 
are sufficiently interested in Geology (which I think is our leading object), that 
it is hardly wise to make arrangements, involving their passing a night from home, 
thereby incurring expenditure of both money and time which may not be con- 
venient to some of them. 


286 


Further, I may observe that my conduct at the Ludlow meeting having been 
commented on, both verbally and in print, by some of our friends, I am compelled, 
in self-defence, to say that I felt bound in courtesy to the learned President of the 
Malvern Club (who was visiting our territory on that occasion), to consult his 
wishes as much as possible ; and though I fear it produced considerable annoy- 
ance to some, it was my misfortune more than my fault, that I could not be in 
two places at once. The inconvenience, too, might have been lessened, if one of 
our members, who knew the ground, had accompanied us from Ludlow, instead 
of walking to Leintwardine. Fortunately all our meetings of the past year were 
favoured with fine weather, except the last hour,of our Tarrington meeting, and 
a few light showers at Abergavenny. I am not aware that any great discoveries 
were made on any of these occasions, but perhaps I ought to give a glance at the 
ground passed over with more or less interest. 


On the 23rd of May we left Ludlow by train for Marshbrook, near which 
place, at Acton Scott, we examined the Caradoc beds, which are there full of 
heads and tails of Phacops conophthalmus, as well as the usual Caradoc Orthides, 
&c. Thence we walked to Horderley, passing on the way some very faulted 
ground, where we found the Upper Llandovery partially shewn at White Birches, 
with its characteristic Petraia subduplicata, and traces of Pentamerus oblongus. 
Some distance further along the road we came to beds of the Lower Caradoc or 
Bala Limestone, which were thrown up on edge between two faults, and do not 
contain many fossils. Immediately after passing this we found ourselves on the 
barren Cambrian rocks which skirt the way to Horderly turnpike.. Near here 
we were joined by some of the party from Hereford, who arrived too late for our 
train, and had walked from the Craven Arms up the valley of the Onny. After 
enjoying our luncheons, and a little rest, we proceeded down the Onny, passing 
the prolongation of the bed of Bala Limestone, at a quarry in which a number of 
fragments of an unnamed Lingula, and one or two entire ones, were found. 
These beds are almost vertical, and the shale lying above them is well worth a 
close examination, as it contains, with abundance of Trinucleus concentricus, 
several other rare or new Trilobites,—and abundance of Beyrichia complicata. 
There has since been found here a new Beyrichia, which Mr. Rupert Jones has 
called B. Wilkinsoni. We then crossed the Onny, and after passing the thick 
hard beds of Horderley Sandstone, which in some of its layers contains abun- 
dantly Bellerophon bilobatus, Leptena serricea, Strophomena grandis, and 
Modiolopsis orbicularis,—and, growing among the loose stones, great quantities 
of the lovely Polypodium dryopteris, or oak fern,—we came to a road-cutting 
leading to Cheney Longueville, where in one stratum is found the curious Sphero- 
spongia hospitalis, so named by Mr. Salter in commemoration of the hospitality 
displayed by the kind-hearted Duppa Duppa, Esq. A little lower down the river, 
we came to the Trinucleus shales, at the well-known Onny section, where the 
slight unconformability of the superimposed Llandovery beds is seen. These 
shales are full of heads and tails of Trinucleus, with rarely an entire one, and also 
occasionally a head of Amphyx pennatus, and part of the head of Remopleurides 
radians. The Upper Llandovery beds overlying these shales were inaccessible 
without a wetting. They are very thin here, and are succeeded by the Purple 


287 


shales, forming here the lowest part of the Wenlock shale. In them have been 
found tails of Cheirurus bimucronatus, but our party were not so fortunate as to 
find any. It was now time to return to Ludlow after a very pleasant day. 


On the 24th we took carriages to Mocktre, where there is a remarkably fine 
section through the Upper Ludlow and Aymestry Limestone, down to the Lower 
Ludlow—in which latter bed such fine specimens of Lituites and Phragmoceras, 
and also Ischadites Kénigii have been found. Our labours were not, however, 
well rewarded, and we went on to Leintwardine. Here we dropped some of our 
party, who went to look for Star-fish in the celebrated Church Hill quarry, but I 
am grieved to say, that, partly from want of a guide, but chiefly from the state 
of the quarry, they were not successful in finding the right beds. In the mean- 
time, my brother President persuaded me to take him, and some others of the 
party, to Pedwardine, where there is a fine exhibition of the Lingula flag beds 
(containing abundance of Dictyonema sociale, and a few Lingulelle ? i} 
lying at an angle of 25° to 30°, and covered nearly horizontally by beds of Llan- 
dovery conglomerate. These beds were peculiarly interesting to Mr. Symonds, 
as being similar in character, though superior in productiveness, to some in the 
south end of the Malvern Ridge. Unfortunately we spent too much time here, 
and consequently were unable to examine the interesting ground between Leint- 
wardine and the Forge Bridge, as several members were obliged to get back to 
Ludlow in time for the train to Hereford. 


Of our next meeting at Tarrington, on June 21st, I will say nothing, as it was 
all old beaten ground for us, except that the Rev. Charles Smith gave us a 
sumptuous breakfast on his lawn, which was done full justice to by his friends. 


On our last meeting at Abergavenny, on August 16th, we were splendidly 
breakfasted at the Asylum by our friend Dr. McCullough, who was determined not 
to be outshone by anyone in his entertainment. Here we were on new ground for 
us, it not having been supposed formerly that the Old Red beds in that neigh- 
bourhood were fossiliferous. However, our brother members, Messrs. Elmes Steele 
and McCullough, having seen the Fish remains of the Old Red near Ludlow, were 
stimulated to search their own neighbourhood, and were fortunately rewarded 
by finding, not only shields of Pteraspis Lloydii and Pteraspis Crouchii, as well 
as Cephalaspis Lyellii and Cephalaspis asterolepis, but also another species of 
Cephalaspis, which is declared by Professor Huxley (who has the specimens before 
him) to be quite new. After seeing a large number of specimens—some very 
fine—and breakfasting, we betook ourselves to the quarry in the grounds of the 
establishment, whence the stone for the building was obtained. The loose stones 
there, however, had been too diligently investigated to yield us much beyond 
fragments, and we soon proceeded to the romantic sides of the Skyrryd, where we 
had hoped to enjoy the magnificent views of the neighbourhood. Unfortunately, 
a sharp scud of rain came on, and the mountain tops were obscured by mists. 
However, after sheltering for a few minutes, we resumed our walk, and while one 
party went up to the top of the Skyrryd, the rest of us looked (but nearly in vain) at 
a quarry of Cornstone on the east side of the mountain, where some of the choicest 


288 


specimens had been found. We soon moved on again, and rejoined the Alpine 
party on the west side, in the wild ravine, which seems formed by a fracture and 
slip of a great mass of the Old Red beds which have parted, leaving a huge cliff 
on either side. Here we were entertained by listening to a very instructive address 
by Dr. Bevan, on the various strata in which Iron Ore is found, which I trust will 
be printed for our benefit, if, as I hope and believe, our friend had written it out, 
but had forgotten.to bring it with him. 


Having rested here on the rocks for some time we walked on, with the 
occasional mishap of losing one another in the tall gorse, till we got to another 
quarry, not far from Pandy Station, where we found in the Cornstone some fine 
shields of Pteraspis, shewing how well worth more close examination than it has 
hitherto received this neighbourhood is. After a very pleasant day we returned 
to Abergavenny, much indebted to our kind friends, Drs. McCullough and Steele, 
for exhibiting to us the treasures of their quarries; and I trust their further 
investigations will be crowned with success. If each of our members would as 
actively and continually examine the rocks in his own neighbourhood, whether 
Silurian, Devonian, or Carboniferous, I feel sure the result would amply reward 
him—if not in new species, at least in health and geological knowledge, and 
probably in all three. 


And now having (I fear in a tedious manner) gone over the routine of our 
Excursions, I should wish, if you are not already tired, to say a few words in re- 
ference to the classification of the Upper Ludlow, Aymestry, and Lower Ludlow 
rocks. Our great authority, Sir Roderick I. Murchison, as well as the Maps of the 
Geological Survey, have laid down the whole of Whitcliff at Ludlow as Upper 
Ludlow. Our friend Mr. Cocking, soon after I came to live at Ludlow, hinted to 
me his belief that, notwithstanding these assertions, the Aymestry Limestone 
was shown there ; and though I was then a novice, and quite incompetent to offer 
an opinion on the subject, I bore his observation in mind. Some time after, I had 
the great advantage of seeing Mr. Salter at Ludlow, and called his attention to 
the subject. On breaking off a few fragments of rock at the foot of the hill, he 
unhesitatingly pronounced that, from a fault existing in a line with the New 
Bridge, as far as the green slope on the north side of the quarry opposite the next 
weir, the beds at the bottom of the hill were Aymestry Limestone, as evinced by 
the abundant presence of Strophemena filosa. Since that time, I have con- 
tinually examined both these beds and corresponding beds in other localities, and 
feel convinced that the line of demarcation between the Aymestry Limestone 
and the upper Ludlow has been drawn in the wrong place—the Aymestry includ- 
ing within its limits the bands of Rhynchonella navicula which Sir R. Murchison 
considers as the base of the Upper Ludlow. Let it not be considered a matter 
of no moment whether this band be called the bottom of one, or the top of the 
other, of two contiguous beds, remembering that the only way in which different 
beds can be distinguished is by the fossils contained in them respectively. Now 
the band of rock in question, reaching from the recognized Aymestry Limestone 
for about thirty or forty feet, perhaps, in thickness, though included in the 
Aymestry, cannot be called Limestone, although it is much more calcareous than 


289 


any bed I know of in the true Upper Ludlow,—but it contains abundantly 
Strophomena filosa and depressa, Atrypa reticularis, and in the lower part Lingula 
striata, Encrinurus punctatus and variolaris, and Proetus Stokesii, all of which 
belong emphatically to the Aymestry beds. None of these fossils, I believe, can 
be found above this horizon, while they run through the Aymestry Limestone, 
and at least to the bottom of the Lower Ludlow. 


Another indication of their nature occurs in the existence, in these beds over 
the limestone, of the honeycomb structure of the faces of the joints, where we find 
lines of cavities formed by the solution of the calcareous matter in the fossiliferous 
layers,—the very character on which Sir R. Murchison lays stress as indicating 
the Aymestry Limestone. This honeycomb formation may be seen more or less, 


nearly as far as the turn of the sloping walk leading up Whitcliff from the New 
Bridge. 


Does it not then seem clear that the classification should be altered, so as to 
include all beds in which these fossils and honeycomb markings are found in the 
Aymestry Limestone, and only refer those above them, which are destitute of 
such forms, to the Upper Ludlow. The great advantage of this would be to 
enable us to separate (wherever these fossils are found) the Upper Ludlow from 
the Lower Ludlow, instead of having them confounded together in the maps by 
the same colour, wherever the limestone happens to be absent. No doubt the 
error arose from the Surveyor at that time being unaware of the faults, and 
fancying the Whitcliff beds all of the same nature, because they had nearly the 
same dip, and all contained Chonetes lata, Rhynchonella nucula, Orthonota amygda- 
lina, and other common Upper Ludlow forms; but these forms also run down 
to the bottom of the Lower Ludlow. When, however, the fossils of the beds I 
am speaking of were classed with the Upper Ludlow, of course the discrimination 
of the Lower Ludlow from the Upper Ludlow became impossible, except where 
the limestone intervened—which yet is often wanting. Still, I am far from 
assuming that we shall always be able to say whether a certain rock is Upper 
Ludlow or Lower Ludlow, because in the western parts of these beds, not only is 
the limestone absent, but the fossils are very few in number, so that, unless we 
by chance break open a characteristic Lower Ludlow fossil, we shall be still in the 
dark. It will, however, answer well in many places ; and even if it did not, that 
would be no reason why we should not endeavour to discriminate as much as 
possible. 


The examination of this point has suggested to me the probability of another 
alteration being required. Looking at the general identity of the fossils of the 
Aymestry Limestone and Lower Ludlow ; at the general prevalence of calcareous 
beds in both formations—only varying in thickness and frequency ; and at the 
difficulty, if not impossibility, of pointing out, even in the best sections (such as 
Mocktre), where one ends and the other begins; will it not be better to merge 
the one in the other, and to call the whole series Lower Ludlow ? 


We have lately seen a further confirmation of this view, in a quarry on the 
west side of the old Mocktre road, where we find a bed of Pentamerus Knighttt at 


290 


least eight feet thick, surmounted by two or three feet of laminated shales, similar 
to those in the Lower Ludlow quarry at Church Hill, and containing the same 
fossils, and especially at least two species of Starfish, and two or three species of 
Ceratiocaris. Above this comes another bed of Pentamerus Knightii, twelve to 
eighteen inches thick, covered by more shales, which last we have not yet examined 
closely. However, this occurrence of the Lower Ludlow Starfish, in shale lying 
above a thick bed of palpable Aymestry Limestone, is a very strong indication 
of identity between the two series of strata. 


Perhaps it may be well to observe, in reference to the Lingula flags at Ped- 
wardine, that when I was there the other day, to procure some Dictyonema for a 
friend, I found what I believe to be part of the head of a small Trilobite, which I 
immediately sent off to Mr. Salter, who writes that he can make nothing of it, 
though it may be a Trilobite head; but anothe1 fossil from the same place he 
thinks is a new shell. We have never previously found anything else here, 
except Dictyonema and Lingulella, though several Trilobites belong to the for- 
mation. 


And now, gentlemen, having, in one way or another, got through my year 
of office, I take leave of you, rejoicing, not only at returning to private life, but 
also that you will have, as I am led to believe, a much more efficient President 
to succeed me. 


Woolbope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


TuHuRsDAY, MAY 22ND, 1862. 
JOINT MEETING witH THE MALVERN FIELD CLUB, ar LEDBURY. 


At this meeting there were present: Rev. Chas. Smith, Vice-President, who 
acted as President for the day; Mr. R. Lightbody, Vice-President ; Col. Colvin. 
Revs. H. T. Hill, F. Merewether, and J. J. Miller, Dr. McCullough, Messrs. C. T. 
Bodenham, Philip Baylis, George Cocking, T. Curley, C.E., Henry Jenkins, 
E. Y. Steele and Arthur Thompson, Treasurer and Assistant Secretary, and the 
following visitors: Messrs. W. De Blaguire, — Dugard, T. Clarence Porter, 
Rev. W. Purton, and Mr. A. Smith. 


After breakfast the following three members were elected: Mr. J. W. Colvin, 
Leintwardine; Mr. Alfred Marston, Ludlow; and Mr. Wm. Townsend, of 
Hereford. 


In reply to a letter from Rev. W. H. Purchas enclosing a portion of the 
Flora of Herefordshire, the subject of the publication thereof was referred to the 
Committee appointed on February 28th, 1860, with the addition thereto of the 
President, Mr. Chandos Wren Hoskyns, and of Mr. Thompson as Secretary. 


The offer of the Herefordshire Philosophical, Literary, Antiquarian, and 
Natural History Society of the joint use of their Museum Room and services of 
their Keeper, at an annual rent of £10, was accepted. 


The following members of the Malvern Field Club joined the party: Rev. 
W. S. Symonds, President, Rev. A. H. Winnington Ingram, F.G.S., Rev. R. H. 
Hill, Honorary Secretary, and others. 


The Silurian rocks in the Railway cutting at Hope End were visited by the 
kind permission of Mr. Thomas Heywood. 


After dinner at the Feather’s Hotel, the Rev. Wm. S. Symonds delivered an 
interesting address in connection with the Gravel Drifts in different parts of 
Europe, more particularly Denmark. 


DRIFTS. 


Referring to the year 1862, the Rev. Wm. S. Symonds, in the Transactions 
of the Malvern Club, part III., page 23, remarks: “ During this year we paid a 


292 


good deal of attention to the Drirts, and I visited the sources of the Severn, Wye, 
and Usk foi the purpose of examining the character of the river deposits among 
the hills of Wales. I afterwards pronounced an opinion that it was impossible 
to account for the transportation of the large rock masses, many sharp and 
angular, in the ancient river beds, without calling in the agency of melting snow . 
and floating ice which stranded blocks from the Longmynd and Clee Hills on the 
Old Red Sandstone of Lugwardine, near Hereford, or masses of Dudley ‘“‘ toad- 
stone”? on the banks of the Severn at Upton-on-Severn. 


It was, I believe, during this latter cold period that our rivers were so much 
more torrential than they are now.” 


293 


GHoolhope Naturalists Field Club. 


SECOND FIELD MEETING, THURSDAY, JUNE I2TH, 1862. 
USK. 


There was a small attendance at this meeting. Rev. Chas. Smith acted as 
President. Other members present were: Mr. Philip Ballard, Mr. Alfred Mar- 
ston, Rev. Thomas West, Mr. Arthur Thompson, Assistant Secretary and 
Treasurer, and Mr. Nicholls, senior, and Mr. W. H. Nicholls, junior, both visitors 


and inhabitants of Usk. 
No record can be found of the proceedings at Usk beyond the business 
transacted. Some letters were read with reference to the recent Bye-laws passed 


at the Annual Meeting, in which alterations were proposed and suggestions given. 
Action, however, was deferred to a more representative meeting of members. 


Rev. T. W. Weare, Hampton Bishop, was elected a member. 


294 


Woolbope Naturalists Field Club. 


TuirD FIELD MEETING, THURSDAY, AUGUST I4TH, 1862. 


HOLME LACY, near HEREFORD. 


At this meeting the President, Mr. Chandos Wren Hoskyns, presided. There 
were also present: Messrs. R. Lightbody and R. M. Lingwood, and Rev. Charles 
Smith, Vice-Presidents ; Revs. J. H. Barker, J. F. Crouch (Hon. Sec.), and T. W. 
Weare ; Drs. H. G. Bull and W. L. Gilliland; Messrs. C. T. Bodenham, T. Cam, 
and Arthur Thompson; and visitors: Mr. Richard Hereford, Mr. Lightbody, 
junior, Mr. Mason, and Mr. Robertson from Birmingham. 


Mr. W. H. Nicholls of Usk was elected a member. 


The Officers of the Dudley and Midland Geological and Scientific Society 
and Field Club were elected Honorary Members. 


The offer of presentation of fossils from the Coal Measures by Mr. William 
Adams of Ebbw Vale was declined with thanks, on the grounds that our Museum 
was to be a “Local”? Museum. 


A sum of £15 was voted to provide such cases for the Museum as the specially 
appointed Committee should deem most suitable. 


The subject of the Bye-laws of the suggested following alteration ‘“‘ that 
every member (other than honorary) not answering the Secretary’s circular, or 
not attending after signifying his intention of so doing, shall be held liable for 
a proportionate share of any cost incurred for conveyances, dinners, &c.,”? was 
referred for reconsideration by Mr. Cocking and Mr. Lightbody. 


295 


Woolbope Naturalists Field Club. 


FourtH FIELD MEETING, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER I8TH, 1862. 
CHURCH STRETTON. 


JOINT MEETING with tHe DUDLEY anp tHE OSWESTRY 
FIELD CLUBS. 


This meeting was well attended. The Dudley FIELD CLUB brought a 
party of twenty-three, and the Oswestry Naturalists’ Field Club brought six 
members. 


Of the Woolhope Club there were present: the two Vice-Presidents, Mr. 
R. Lightbody and Mr. R. M. Lingwood; Rev. J. F. Crouch, Honorary Secretary ; 
Colonel Colvin, Revs. Thos. Hutchinson, J. De La Touche, J. J. Miller, Rev. W.S. 
Symonds, President of the Malvern Club; Messrs. Thos. Blashill, J. W. Colvin, 
H. J. Jenkins, H. Salwey, — Watkins, and Arthur Thompson, Treasurer and 
Assistant Secretary. Visitors: Rev. A. Pelham and Miss Hodgson. 


Amongst the business transacted Mr. Richard Hereford, of the Moor, Here- 
ford, was elected a member. 


A letter from Dr. Bull was read, asking for further information for The Flora 
of Herefordshire from the following Districts, from which our information was 
very deficent, in the order as below: Frome (6), Bromyard (5), Golden Valley 
(13), Kington (11), and Black Mountains (14). Dr. Bull offered to receive and 
examine for Mr. Purchas any collections from any of the above Districts. 


Dr. Bull asked for authority to proceed with the publication of a Map of the 
County divided into Botanical Districts, and the General Introduction, &c. £5 
was voted for the Lithographic Map.* 


The large party divided and took routes as recommended in the programme 
as follows :— 


The route recommended for the Longmynd party was up the ‘“ Ashes Valley ” 
from Little Stretton, which gives a fine section, and some of the Arenicolites at 
Yearling Hill, just before crossing the first side dingle on the right ; thence up 
the Pole Hill, for the extensive view of the surrounding formations, descending to 
Stretton by the Spout Valley and Carding Mills. 


* For the Map, divided into 14 Botanical Districts, see frontispiece, Vol. Transactions, 1866. 
The Map also forms the frontispiece of ‘‘ The Flora of Herefordshire,” published in 1899. 


296 


The Caradoc party ascending Caer Caradoc, from the summit of which a 
fine view was obtainable of the three great ridges or beds of the Caradoc, viz., 
The Hoar Edge, Chatwall, and Gretton Beds, descended and examined the beds 
as far as the limited time permitted, on their return to Church Stretton. 


At 5-0 p.m. dinner (Tickets 3s. each) was partaken of at the Crown Hotel, 
Church Stretton. 


297 


Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


ANNUAL MEETING 


THURSDAY, MARCH 12TH, 1863. 


The Annual General Meeting was held at the Museum in the Castle Green, 
Hereford, on Thursday, March rath, 1863. 


Present: Mr. Chandos Wren Hoskyns, President; Members: Dr. Bull, 
Rev. J. F. Crouch, Hon. Sec., Dr. Gilliland, Mr. R. Lightbody, and Mr. R. M. 
Lingwood. 


The following bills were ordered to be paid :—Mr. Thompson, for Glass Case, 
£13; for Half-year’s Rent of Room, £5. 


The proposition from Mr. Cocking before referred to (June 12th, 1862), 
relating to a suggested alteration of the New Bye-law being considered, it was 
unanimously decided that the present Laws should still continue in force, with 
the insertion of the words ‘‘ within four clear days of the meeting” in the second 
line after the words “ circular” and before the words “shall be presumed,” &c. 

The Treasurer’s account showed a balance in hand at the bank. 


Mr. C. Wren Hoskyns was re-elected President for 1863. Mr. Thompson 
was requested to continue in office as Treasurer and Assistant Secretary. The 
Museum Committee and the Botanical Sub-Committees were requested to 
continue their services. 


It was resolved that the Field Meetings should be held as follows :— 


TuESDAY, JUNE 9TH, MITCHELDEAN Roap for ihe SpEEcH HOUusE, 
Forest oF DEAN. 


TueEspDAy, JULY 7TH, CRAVEN ARMS. 
TuEsDAY, AUGUST IITH, PONTRILAsS.* 


WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9TH, for that day and the roTH, MALVERN, 
to meet the Malvern and Cotteswold Clubs.t 


The President (Mr. Chandos Wren Hoskyns) read an address on the pro- 
ceedings of the past year, 1862.{ 


The Very Rev. the Dean of Hereford, the Rev. Wm. S. Symonds, Captain 
Guise, and Mr. W. C. Lucy attended the dinner at the Mitre Hotel. 


Mr. Symonds gave a very interesting account of the results of their inspection 
of the Gravel Beds (Railway opening) at Stretton Sugwas. 


He was followed by Captain Guise on the subject of Gravel Beds in general. 
eee SS 
* Afterwards postponed to August 18th, by a requisition signed by the President and five 
members. 
+ This meeting took place at Malvern Link on Monday, September 7th. 
¢ This address, apparently, was never published. 


298 


Woolhope Naturalists’ ield Elub. 


First Frerp MEETING, TuEsDAy, JUNE 9TH, 1863. 
FOREST OF DEAN. 


The First Field Meeting in 1863 was held at Mitcheldean Road Station, on 
Tuesday, June oth. 

The following is taken from the minutes of the Club :—“ After a delightful 
trip to Lea Bailey Hill, part of the Old Limekilns, to a deep trench in which some 
of the shales and their bands of fossiliferous stone underlying the Carboniferous 
Limestone are exposed, . . . . . the party proceeded over the hill past 
Mr. Allaway’s Mine Pit at Wigpool, where some specimens of iron ore were pro- 
cured, past the Wilderness through a portion of the Forest, past Woodside to 
Cinderford. 


“On passing the neighbourhood of one of the numerous Coal-pits, some good 
specimens of fossil plants were found in the shales. 


“The party returned in a carriage from Cinderford to Ross. 


The election of Vice-Presidents for the year having been omitted at the 
Annual Meeting, the following were elected: Dr. G. P. Bevan, Mr. R. Lightbody, 
Mr. R. M. Lingwood, and Rev. Charles Smith. ; 


Various Officers of the Oswestry and Welshpool Naturalists’ Field Club, of 
the Severn Valley Naturalists’ Field Club, and of the Caradoc Field Club were 
elected honorary members. 


Six candidates were elected members. 


The following is a list of the party: Mr. Chandos Wren Hoskyns, President ; 
Mr. R. M. Lingwood and Rev. Charles Smith, Vice-Presidents ; Members: Mr. 
T. Curley, C.E., Rev. Arthur Gray, Rev. W. H. Purchas, Mr. Alfred Purchas, 
Mr. Humphrey Salwey, Rev. Thomas West, and Mr. Arthur Thompson, Treasurer 
and Assistant Secretary. 


299 


WAoolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


SEcOND FrELD MEETING, TUESDAY, JULY 7TH, 1863. 
CRAVEN ARMS. 


Joint MEETING WITH THE ‘‘ OSWESTRY AND WELSHPOOL” AND ‘‘CARADOC ” 
NATURALISTS’ Fre_p CLUBS. 


At the Second Field Meeting, on July 7th, 1863, the following attended: 
Mr. Chandos Wren Hoskyns, President; Mr. Robert Lightbody, Mr. R. M. 
Lingwood, and Rey. Charles Smith, Vice-Presidents ; Honorary Members: Mr. 
George Bentham, President of the Linnean Society, and Captain Guise, President 
of the Cotteswold Field Club; Members: Messrs. R. W. Banks, Thomas Cam, 
George Cocking, T. Curley, A. Purchas, Humphrey Salwey, Colonel Colvin, 
Revs. T. Hutchinson, H. C. Key, J. J. Miller, and Mr. Arthur Thompson, Treasurer 
and Assistant Secretary. Also the following visitors: The Misses Colvin, Mr. 
Crouch, Master T. Hutchinson, Rev. John Hanbury, and Miss Hodgson. 


The party was joined by the Presidents and Vice-Presidents of the Oswestry 
and Welshpool, also of the Caradoc Field Club, and other members of each Club. 


By permission of Mrs. Stackhouse Acton, Stokesay Castle was visited, its 
features being described by Rev. J. D. La Touche. The adjoining Church of 
Stokesay was also visited. 


The party divided—one party proceeding up the river Onny by Horderley, 
to trace the Wenlock, Caradoc, Llandovery, and Longmynd formations, limited 
by the south-west spire of the Longmynds, a walk of ten miles. 


The majority visited a quarry of Lower Ludlow rocks under Stokesay Wood. 
Ascending the wood to the summit of the hill a rare plant, Astrantia major, was 
found in three different places, also varieties of ferns. Addresses on the Geology 
of the neighbourhood were given by Rev. J. D. La Touche, and by Mr. Humphrey > 
Salwey. 


The Aymestry Quarries at View Edge, or Weo Edge, were also visited. 


After dinner at the Craven Arms Hotel, at which seventy-two sat down, 
addresses were given by the President, by Captain Guise, and by Mr. Thomas 
Owens. 


The Rev. Thos. O. Rocke read a paper on a Tumulus at Clungunford, ex- 
hibiting various relics found therein. 


Mr. George Bentham gave a short address on ‘“‘ The Distribution of Plants.” 


Thanks were voted to Rev. E. Jacson for his presentation to the Museum of 
specimens of Roman Pottery. 


300 


Woolhope Naturalists’ Field @lub. 


TuHirD Fretp MEETING, TuESDAy, AuGusT 18TH, 1863. 
PONTRILAS. 


The Third Field Meeting in 1863 was held at Pontrilas, on Tuesday, August 
18th. After examination of the section in the cutting at Pontrilas railway 
station, the route was taken through lanes and woods to the Eurypterus quarry 
and other quarries recently opened at Rowlestone, a visit to Rowlestone Church 
being made in passing. 


From Rowlestone the party proceeded to Ewyas Harold, where several 
fossils were obtained from a massive block which Mr. Smith has raised from a 
quarry in his field for their inspection. 


The thanks of the meeting were voted to Dr. McCullough for his presentation 
to the Museum of fossils from Abergavenny, which were exhibited by him. 


Some of the party visited Abbey Dore Chuich.* After dinner under a tent 
at the Temple Bar, Ewyas Harold, the Rev. — Thornton read some interesting 
passages on the history of Abbey Dore Church. 


On return to the station Ewyas Harold Church was inspected. 


The following were present at this meeting: Mr. Chandos Wren Hoskyns, 
President, Dr. G. P. Bevan,, Mr. Robert Lightbody, and Mr. R. M. Lingwood, 
Vice-Presidents ; with the following members: Dr. McCullough, Messrs. C. T. 
Bodenham, Geo. Cocking, T. Curley, Henry Jenkins, Humphrey Salwey, J. E. 
Smith, Revs. Arthur Gray and H. J. Hill, and Mr. Arthur Thompson, Treasurer 
and Assistant Secretary ; and visitors: Rev. T. H. Candy of Llangua, Rev. George 
Cornewall, Mr. — Bosanquet, Rev. C. L. Eagles, Colonel Fielden, of Dulas Court, 
Rev. A. M. Fielden, Mr. — Jones, Mr. T. Clarence Porter, Mr. — Smith, Rev. — 
Thornton, and Rev. W. Wenman, of Rowlestone. 


* In his retiring address, Mr. Chandos Wren Hoskyns made some remarks on the architec- 
tural beauty of Abbey Dore Church. 


301 


Woolhope Haturalists’ Field Club. 


FourtH FIELD MEETING, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 7TH, 1863. 


MALVERN LINK. 


On 7th September, 1863, the Club met at Malvern Link for a grand Field 
Day, with the members of the Malvern, Worcestershire, Cotteswold, Dudley, 
Severn Valley, and Caradoc Clubs. 


The members breakfasted at Lyttlet¢n House, Malvern Link, by invitation 
ot Rev. Thomas King. 


The business of the Club consisted in the election of the following candidates : 
Rev. Thomas H. Candy, Lilangua; Rev. George Cornewall, Moccas; Colonel 
Fielden, Dulas Court ; Rev. Berkeley L. S. Stanhope, Bosbury ; and Rev. W. 
Wenman of Rowlestone. 


The following attended the meeting: Mr. R. Lightbody and Rev. Charles 
Smith, Vice-Presidents; Rev. H. C. Key, Rev. Thos. King, Dr. McCullough, 
Messrs. Philip Baylis, Thos. Blashill, C. T. Bodenham, T. Curley, Elmes Y. Steele, 
and Arthur Thompson, Treasurer and Assistant Secretary; and the following 
visitors: Mr. T. T. Davies and Rev. — Mason. 


Having partaken of the kind hospitality of the Rev. Thomas King, at Lyttel- 
ton House, and transacted the ordinary business of the Club, our members joined 
the general assemblage in a visit to the very interesting Abbey Church at Great 
Malvern, which has been recently restored by Mr. Gilbert Scott. A brief history 
of the Abbey was given by Mr. J. S. Walker, with an explanation of the curious 
and very old glass in the South West Chapel. 


The Museum of the Malvern Club at the house of the Messrs. Burrows was 
next visited, and after a short inspection of some of the many interesting fossils 
of the district, which it contains, a general move was made for the summit of the 
Worcestershire Beacon. From this (the highest point of the Malvern Hills), a 
most interesting and eloquent lecture was given by the Rev. W. S. Symonds, 
F.G.S., President of the Malvern Club, on the Geology of the surrounding district. 
It was thoroughly appreciated by everyone, but enjoyed more especially by those 
gentlemen who had wisely carried up with them their great coats. 


The Geologists, under the guidance of Dr. Holl, then pursued their way 
across the Llandovery conglomerate of Miss Phillips to the Upper Silurian Rocks, 


302 


and thence by Ham Green, Backburrow Wood, and Stoctons Copse, to the lime- 
kilns near the Croft Farm, and on down the valley to inspect the trap bosses in 
Cowleigh Park. 


The Botanists present, attracted irresistibly to Mr. Edwin Lees, had a delight- 
ful ramble under his special guidance. This district is peculiarly his own. No 
one knows so well the localities of its rarest plants, and happily no one knows how, 
with better tact, to guard them from ruthless destruction. 


The whole party, some 60 or 70 strong, met to dine at the Link Hotel, and 
such as could remain for the night were kindly invited by Dr. Grindrod to a soirée 
at Townshend House, when his fine collection of Silurian fossils was exhibited, 
and where several interesting papers were afterwards read. 


A day on the Malvern Hills—weather propitious—must always be enjoyable, 
but with Mr. Symonds to descant on the rocks he loves so well, and Mr. Lees to 
explain all that grows upon their surface—it would be strange indeed if this 
particular meeting should not ever be of pleasant memory to those who had the 
good fortune to be present. e 


Our Club, with the others, may be considered to have been on a visit to the 
Malvern Club, and it would ill become your Reporter to trespass on the rights ot 
hospitality. To those, therefore, who wish for more exact details of the day’s 
proceedings and the papers read, I must answer, Are they not written in the 
Archives of the Malvern Club? I don’t think much real work was done, and 
perhaps never is on such grand gatherings. All present most thoroughly enjoyed 
the day, and returned home with a store of information, and a renewed enthusiasm, 
let us hope, to carry on the work of observation in their several districts. 


I prefer asking you, on the present occasion, to leave Worcestershire, and 
come with me along the top of the hills to our own Herefordshire Beacon, and 
descending by the long spur called the ‘‘ Ridgeway,”’ leading from it to Eastnor 
Park, to visit the Oak Tree upon which the Mistletoe grows so luxuriantly.* 


See “‘ The Mistletoe in Herefordshire,” following the President’s Address on March 17th, 1864. 


303 


oolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


ANNUAL MEETING. 


THURSDAY, MARCH 17TH, 1864. 


The Annual General Meeting was held in the Museum in the Castle Green, 
Hereford, on Thursday, March 17th, 1864. The following were present: Mr. 
Chandos Wren Hoskyns, President ; Mr. R. M. Lingwood and Rev. Chas. Smith, 
Vice-Presidents ; Rev. J. F. Crouch, Honorary Secretary ; Dr. H. G. Bull, Mr. 
C. T. Bodenham, Mr. Thos. Cam, Mr. T. Curley, Rev. H. C. Key, Rev. Thos. 
King, Rev. F. Merewether, Rev. W. Wenman, and Mr. Arthur Thompson. 


¢ 
The Assistant Secretary announced that he had received the Meteorological 


Instruments and Reports from Mr. Glegg Bullock at the Infirmary, and that Mr. 
Edwin J. Isbell had examined and reported concerning them, and had offered to 
take charge of them. They are at present in the Museum. 


Rev. J. F. Crouch was elected President for the year, and Mr. Thomas Cam, 
Mr. R. Lightbody, Rev. Chas. Smith, and Mr. Elmes Y. Steele were appointed 
Vice-Presidents. 


Mr. R. M. Lingwood was appointed Honorary Secretary ; Mr. Arthur 
Thompson was re-appointed Treasurer and Assistant Secretary. The sum of £5 
was presented to him. 


Botanical Committee was constituted of Rev. J. F. Crouch, President, Dr. 
Bull, Mr. R. M. Lingwood, and Rev. T. H. Lee Warner. 


Museum Committee: The Rev. J. F. Crouch, Mr. C. Wren Hoskyns, Mr. 
R. M. Lingwood, and Mr. Arthur Thompson were requested to continue their 
services. 


The following were elected members of the Club: Mr. Thomas Garrold, 
Westbank, Hereford ; Rev. Robert Hereford, Sufton ; Mr. E. J. Isbell, Hereford ; 
Mr. John Edward Lee, The Priory, Caerleon; Mr. Humphrey Mildmay, M.P. ; 
Mr. J. Griffiths Morris, Hereford ; and Colonel Scudamore of Kentchurch Court. 


The Field Meetings for 1864 were fixed as follows :— 


Tuurspay, May 26TH, K1ncsLanp, to meet the Caradoc Field Club. 

TUESDAY, JUNE 21ST, Hay. 

WEDNESDAY, JULY 20TH, Ross, to meet the Cotteswold and 
Malvern Clubs.* 

TuurspDAy, AuGusT 18TH, LEDBURY. 


Se 


* Afterwards altered to Thursday, July 2ist. 


304 


Dinner took place at the Mitre Hotel, where the party were joined by the 
following members: Mr. Thomas Blashill, Rev. J. H. Candy, Rev. Thos. Wood- 
house, and the following visitors: Mr. H. Blashill, Rev. E. DuBuisson, Mr. T. W. 
Garrold, Mr. R. Greenhow, Mr. J. G. Morris, Rev. J. J. Parsons, and Rev. J. 
Taylor. 


The President, Mr. Chandos Wren Hoskyns, read his address as Retiring 
President for 1864. 


The following papers were read :— 


On the Forest of Dean Meeting, on Tuesday, June oth, 1863, by Mr. 
R. M. Lingwood. 


On the Pontrilas Meeting, on August 18th, 1863, prepared by Mr. J. E. 
Smith, and read by Mr. Lingwood. 


On the Malvern Meeting, on September 7th, by Dr. Bull. 


On, the Earthquake of Tuesday, October 6th, 1863, prepared by Mr. 
E. J. Isbell, read by H. C. Key. 


It was resolved that notice be given to the Herefordshire Philosophical 
Society of the intention of the Club to give up that portion of the Museum occupied 
by them on August rst. 


THE ADDRESS 


Of the retiring President, C. WrEN Hosxyns, Eso., read before the members of 
the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club, at their Annual Meeting, held in 
Hereford, on Thursday, March 17th, 1864. 


GENTLEMEN OF THE WoOLHOPE NATURALISTS’ FIELD CLUB, 


I am afraid to say how many years have passed since I was standing one day 
in a Bookseller’s shop in Warwick, when a gentleman, personally unknown to me, 
came in and took up a pamphlet from the top of a heap fresh from the Printers, 
which had my own name on the title page, and contained the first year’s Tran- 
sactions of the Naturalists’ Field Club of that county. 


I experienced a very agreeable sensation on seeing the stranger immediately 
take out his purse, with the apparent intention of buying it. But Capital is 
proverbially timid, and self-love liable to disappointment. As he looked closer 
at the title page I had the mortification to observe that his purse gradually;made 
a retrograde movement towards his pocket ; the ungrateful action being accom- 
panied and explained by his utterance of the words, “ O, it’s only an Annual 
Address !” 


As soon as he had left the shop, little aware of the slaughter inflicted upon 
my hopes in that short pantomime, the publisher, who was himself at the counter, 
looked across at me with the consolatory smile of 

: “the fiend who never spoke before, 
But cries, ‘I warned you,’ when the deed is o’er.” 


305 


and almost literally recited ‘the Fiend’s part > by saying to me “I told you, 
Sir, how it would be if you put ‘Annual Address’ on the title page!” The 
incident was instructive. 


Nevertheless, owing either to a dearth of disengaged presidential material, 
or a too easy acquiesence in “ the ills they had” in the Club, I still had, for 
many succeeding years, to encounter the annual experiment of reviewing our 
pleasant field excursions of the past summer; but always under a somewhat 
stinging remembrance of the fate that impends over an ** Annual Address,”’ and 
a taste on entering upon the task, of that after instinct which makes a horse shy 
extempore on approaching the spot where an accident has happened to him ; and 
which you may have often seen exemplified in a certain leading article of The 
Times which appears about quarter-day, in which after enticing the eye through 
half a column of agreeable preface, the writer lands you high and dry in the 
statistics of the Registrar General’s Quarterly Report of Births, Deaths, and 
Marriages. 


I cannot, however, enter upon the duty of endeavouring to recall the pro- 
ceedings of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club during the past year without 
indulging a reflection, which occurs to me very strongly, upon the great extension 
of interest which has taken place in those pursuits which form the out o’door 
study and objects of Societies like our own, and have led to their increased 
establishment in the surrounding counties and districts. Nothing, perhaps, in the 
year has been more remarkable than the evidence of this which it embraces in the 
growth of these kindred associations around us, and the joint meetings, and 
augmented interests to which they have from time to time given rise. 


Besides the Malvern, the Cotteswold, and the Warwickshire Clubs, which 
we formerly recognised in the adjoining or neighbouring counties, we have now 
to welcome the restoration of the Dudley and Midland Geological and Scientific 
Society, the Severn Valley Field Club, the Oswestry, the Bridgnorth, and the 
still more recently established Caradoc Club, occupying areas that well deserved 
the scrutiny of separate Societies, while their establishment has increased the 
opportunities of mutual acquaintance and united labour amongst the members 
resident in the different districts. 


There can be no doubt that the Geology alone of each of these districts, 
as now occupied, affords an ample field of operations ; and it is impossible to 
witness the rise of these numerous local societies without being struck by the 
prospect of the immense accession they promise to the scientific knowledge of the 
areas they represent, an advantage likely to be rapidly extended to the whole 
kingdom. I only wish—and I will take the liberty of here expressing it—that 
some medium more central and comprehensive might be made available than 
the annual reports of each separate society, for giving to those acquisitions to our 
knowledge a form more easily accessible, and condensed, such as has suggested 
itself to me on looking over the various papers that have been printed (to say 
nothing of those of equal value that have been read but not printed), in the de- 
tached form of publication which the nature of the Societies at present necessitates. 


3506 


The Clubs that I have named have already a certain bond of union in the 
reciprocal acceptance of the officers of each as honorary members of all. The path 
is therefore open for a joint publication of the most valuable discoveries and 
papers of each Society during the year, which might also include a list of the 
whole of the places visited by each. The expense of such a publication jointly 
borne by the associated Societies would be but trifling, while the form of publi- 
cation would enhance the character of the papers themselves and the importance 
of the meetings in a general point of view. The very nature of Geological study 
suggests such a co-operation, because its working out cannot, like the boundaries 
of a county, be limited by any artificial line, but radiates through and across the 
districts of several or all; like the medullary rays which traverse the angular 
rings in the growth of wood, connecting each year’s deposit with the central pith, 
and ensuring the united structure and solidity of the whole stem. 


But I would not be understood to speak too exclusively of our Geological 
pursuits, though from its comparative novelty of research, and study, that science 
has been allowed to occupy a prominent and almost exclusive attention from 
many of the most active members of these Societies. We can hardly be too often 
reminded that it is the special privilege of Field Clubs to study the secrets of 
Nature, not as they are cut up by books into the jealous divisions of distinct 
‘sciences,’ but upon her own broad field where she is all one, and, in a certain 
sense, indivisible, the materials of every science being found in union with all 
others. It is the limitation of our own faculties, not of anything in Creation 
itself, which compels separation of pursuits and object, and subdivision, as it were, 
into chapter and verse. This is more powerfully felt, though insensibly conveyed 
to us, by one day out of doors, surrounded by men of science (however each may 
have wisely compressed his studies into one channel), than it ever can be under- 
stood from books themselves. 


There is, however, one class of out-door investigation which is of course an 
exception to this remark, and does not strictly fall under the category of science, 
but for which I would venture tosay a word—I mean the study of Archeology— 
on this ground, that whereas the records afforded by the earth’s geological struc- 
ture are permanent, and its botanical features constantly renewed ; those records 
which tell of the hand of man claim our prompt and early attention on account 
of the destructive hand of time, and the obliterating effects of the winter’s frost 
and summer’s vegetation. 


Nature’s monuments remain: while those of art follow the perishable hand 
that reared them, and allow of no delay. The County of Hereford is unfortunate 
in the want of a completed History ; and I confess that I should like to indulge 
the hope that a Club which is so ubiquitous in its action and operations will not 
omit to render its out-door labours as much as possible in union with the objects 
of the Literary and Philosophical Society. ‘‘ We are a Brotherhood for mutual 
and self help’? says Mr. Hayes in his address this year to the Severn Valley 
Field Club, ‘“‘ and we should deem it a duty as well as a privilege to contribute 
to the instruction of others, fully hoping to receive instruction in turn. The 


a 


a ee ol 


ae) ie 


a 
oa 


— 


307 


object should not be to exhibit learning but to gather it and impart it, reciprocally. 
Each branch of the enquiry should have a fair if not an equal consideration ; 
and the addresses given should be rather those of fellow-students assisting 
each other, than set lectures ex cathedrd@. Much will of course depend on the 
points of interest existing in the place we visit ; but those who plan the day’s 
ramble should remember that all the members have not the same pursuit or 
object, and that the wants of each branch should be provided for.” 


I entirely agree with these plain and obvious remarks of my brother President, 
and can confirm the value of his suggestions from the spontaneous remembrance 
that occurs to me of the peculiar pleasure of Field Club days and wanderings as 
arising from the variety, and if I may so say, the flexibility of scientific topics 
brought together; a pleasure of extreme rarity at scientific meetings in Town 
and Country ; where speciality of subject and treatment is so apt to drift into a 
monotony and conventionalism of language, and laborious classification, and 
worse than these, a referential and esoteric style understood only by a small knot 
of devotees to particular branches of art or study. I merely allude to this 
subject in passing, because I have in frequent instances found that those who 
would become valued members of our Society have been deterred by the fear 
that they were not sufficiently learned in particular Sciences to join us. 


Certainly our rambles of the past year would not have left upon the minds, 
even of the most sensitive in that respect, any such impression. Our First Meeting 
which took place on the 9th of June, at the Mitcheldean Road Station, near Ross, 
and led us into the Forest of Dean, formed a most cheerful and agreeable opening 
of the season. The day was fresh and fine, exactly suited for a long walk, and 
that we had, passing through some good sections of the Carboniferous Limestone, 
which were examined at its outcrop, and some of its characteristic fossils obtained. 
Our walk, which was directed to Cinderford, led us by some newly erected mining 
works, where Iron Ore has been obtained from the Limestone beds. The last 
part of our walk, for a couple of miles before we reached Cinderford, was through 
some very picturesque Forest Scenery, through the openings of the foliage of 
which the smoke of the town and works of Cinderford “‘ gracefully curled ”’ ina 
manner more pleasing than on nearer acquaintance. The members had walked 
quite far enough to enjoy a very primitive luncheon at a small but by no means 
quiet Inn, which, to misquote Goldsmith, 


““ Did seem contrived a double debt to pay, 
An Inn by night, a Butcher’s shop by day,” 


and adapted rather to test the power of appetite than to satisfy it. On returning 
past the town some curious sections were noticed of the disturbed Limestone beds 
thrown into very nearly vertical Strata. On their return the members dined 
together at Ross. 


This little raid into the Forest was such as to make me feel very jealous of a 
subsequent Forest tour undertaken by our valued Secretary elect, which I hope 
will, together with a more detailed account of our Club day, form the subject of 
a paper for this evening. 


308 


The Second Meeting of the Society, which took place on the 7th of July at 
the Craven Arms, near Ludlow, was one that will be long remembered by those 
who were present. It was a joint assemblage, in fact, of not less than five Societies, 
consisting of the Oswestry, the Dudley, the Bridgnorth, and the young and 
promising Caradoc Club with our own. The place chosen presented several 
attractions—the Ruins of Stokesay Castle, for the inspection of the Archeologist, 
the Wood of View Edge, said to be the only place in England where the Astrantia 
major is supposed to grow wild, of which abundant specimens were found, and to 
the judgment of some, rather cruelly brought away, suggesting to the mind of our 
late Secretary the very just remark that ‘it is not wise to talk too loudly about 
a scarce plant,” for several of our number who climed the heights of the wood, in 
search of it, came out of it with the rare Astrantia ruthlessly torn up, in some cases 
by the roots, and borne in ruinous triumph on their hats, and other parts of their 
dress. ‘‘ I took two specimens—for I do not like to exterminate ’’—adds his com- 
munication, but if all the septuagint of naturalists assembled on that day were 
equally forbearing, the exterminating process will hardly have received a very 
exemplary check. 


But the Wood of View Edge contained another attraction in its celebrated 
Quarry of Aymestry Limestone, where nearly the whole of the rock, exposed to 
a thickness of from 30 to 40 feet, is composed of Pentamerus Knightii cemented 


together. 


As the very interesting ruin of Stokesay Castle is the subject of a printed 
account, I will not attempt any extended notice here of its almost indescribably 
angulated Tower, and its old Court Yard, and very curious and grotesquely carved 
Gateway. The brief notice of it in Hudson Turner’s “‘ Domestic Architecture 
of the 12th and 13th Centuries ”’ places it in the catalogue of what may be called 
the classic ruins of our early history. I should be wanting in justice if I did not 
mention that it owes its preservation, in the existing condition of interest to the 
Archeologist, entirely to the tasteful interposition of Mrs. Stackhouse Acton, who 
took a most kind interest in opening it for the scrutinising inspection of the 
Society, at which she was present during the whole day, affording the aid of her 
own accomplished archeological experience, towards the explanation of the 
original plan of the ancient Hall, and other parts of the building. I must add 
that the presence of Mrs. Acton during the day, and with a large party of ladies 
of the neighbourhood at the dinner of the Society at the Craven Arms, will be 
remembered by the members present, of many Clubs, almost as an illustration 
of what may be done to render these meetings interesting and useful both to the 
Societies themselves, and to the residents of the districts visited. The dinner 
was one which furnished very cogent illustrations of the maxim ‘the more the 
merrier,” the double room of the rather astonished host of the Craven Arms 
being as full as it could or rather couldn’t hold, and something over. Several 
short but useful papers were read, in the intervals of a rather brisk discussion, 
chiefly on botanical questions suggested by doubts as to the indigenous character 
of the Astrantia major. 


309 


On the 2nd of the following month, August, the Club assembled at Pontrilas 
Station for its Third Meeting, and the members walked, by Ewyas Harold Common, 
as far as the beautiful vestige of the ancient border Abbey of Dore; of which the 
historical account (if such it can be called) that we have, is so defective that the 
detruncated relic (for the nave is gone) remains a perfect mystery of architectural 
beauty and labour, affording a school of transitional work, of that choice period 
when the Norman treatment had not disappeared from Early English work, and 
the latter had not begun to yield to the temptations of the Decorated style: a 
period, to my mind, the most attractively beautiful, and the most permanently 
interesting of all that come under the general title of Gothic Architecture. The 
plain and shallow work of the exterior enhances the surprising beauty of the chisel- 
work in the groining of the Lady Chapel or Ambulatory which encioses the 
Chancel, almost the only portion which remains quite entire. Even through 
the stubborn coat of whitewash, which is half an inch thick, the deep yet 
delicate work of the artist may be appreciated in all its rich and never self 
repeating profusion. Scarcely any of the capitals or corbelled projections are 
alike: indeed, the execution of the groin work of the Ambulatory on the north 
side is unsurpassed by any work of the kind I have ever seen. To examine it is 
to wonder more and more, after approaching it over so many miles of bad road, 
and in so wild a district. To the traveller from the Abbey of Dore to that of 
Llanthony the world would not appear to have advanced much during the last 
five centuries. The thanks of all admirers of Architecture are due to the present 
Vicar, Mr. James, for the labour of love which he has expended, at his own unaided 
cost, in clearing a considerable portion of the plaster away, and revealing the 
exquisite work beneath. 


The portion of the building now used for worship is disfigured by the wooden 
fittings of the Transept, which bear the stamp of James the First’s time: amongst 
which is to be classed a curious old Altar monument in the Choir to Serjeant 
Hoskyns, covered with latin verses by Bonham of Essex, Daniel, Dr. Donne, and 
others, in the extravagantly laudatory fashion of the day. I trust the time may 
not be far distant in this Church-restoring day, when this gem-like relic may be 
wholly relieved of its mask of white-wash, and the unsightly intrusion of its 
Jacobite wood fittings and pews. After inspecting Dore Abbey and Ewyas Harold 
Church with its curious Tower, the members dined under canvas, and were joined 
by the present High Sheriff, and separated after a most interesting day’s excursion. 


The last meeting of the year, which was a joint assemblage of the Malvern, 
Worcester, and Cotteswold Clubs with our own, at Malvern, on the 7th of Sep- 
tember, I have to express my great regret to have been prevented attending. 
The Excursion was to the Worcestershire Beacon, where Mr. Symonds, President 
of the Cotteswold Club, lectured on the Geology of the surrounding country. 
Dr. Bull has promised to make this meeting the subject of a separate paper to be 
presently read to you. 


I can hardly conclude my address without some reference to a subject which 
appears to have lately revived much of the same feeling between Science and 


310 


Theology, which those who are old enough to remember it, will call to mind as 
having characterized the discussions which arose at the infancy of Geological 
Science in our day—I allude to the subject of Sir Charles Lyell’s late work on the 
Antiquity of Man. The conclusions that have been indicated by men of science 
and exaggerated (as is often the case) by their followers on this topic, have 
naturally startled the minds of many by the conflict suggested with some received 
theological views. I do not think it is sufficiently borne in mind that the whole 
history of physical science during the last four centuries affords sufficient con- 
firmation of the belief that there is no just cause for the least apprehension on this 
ground. Butthisisnotall. It isnot enough to say that any existing or apparent 
antagonism between science and religion will die out ; this would be the truth, 
which we often hear: but it is wanting in fairness to science because it is not the 
whole truth. A reflection, in some respects even more important, may be 
derived from looking back upon the influence which science—however once 
shrunk from and dreaded for the conclusions it seemed to threaten—has even- 
tually produced, in its gradual and insensible absorption within the very centre 
of religious thought and language, enlarging and expanding the views it was once 
apprehended that it would overturn, and it was at any rate believed to invade. 
The history of Astronomy in the seventeenth century is apt to be forgotten in this 
day. But it may be appealed to with advantage as that of a campaign far more 
fierce and lasting than probably advancing science will ever witness again, and 
compared with which our disputes are a mere mockery of warfare, and an echo 
of the fear that once overspread Christendom. Yet who, in the present day, 
would exchange the chart and title-deeds of Christian faith for those maintained 
befor the progressive hand of science had spread in our view the field of creative 
wisdom and goodness as it is now understood and appreciated ? 


Had Wicliffe been asked what he thought of the progress of Physical Science 
in reference to Revelation, it is possible he would scarcely, if at all, have recognised 
the pertinence of the question. The very relation between them had not suffi- 
ciently awakened to assume the form of antagonism. Of the storm raised in the 
theological world by the discoveries and doctrines of Copernicus and Galileo, we 
can scarcely, at this distance of time, form aconception. In the case of Astronomy 
this storm has long passed away ; but it has not left a mere negative atmosphere 
behindit. As the antagonism with theological ofinion, mistaken for discrepancy 
with religious Truth, died away, the relation that suggested it survived, and the 
scientific study of the wonders of Creation was found in powerful alliance with 
the very truths it had been supposed to threaten. It entered into the very 
language of religion ; it did more, it became a part of religious thought, and 
practical devotion. It is one of the purest pleasures of a life devoted to scientific 
pursuits, to mark, when once the true reading of a complicated problem has been 
obtained, how all the difficulties which had previously blocked up the path like 
piles of ruin, are one by one cleared away, not by being destroyed, but by being 
harmonised and reduced to consistency and order. Things which appeared 
hopelessly antagonistic, are found necessary to the elucidation of each other, and 
to the comprehension of the whole of which they form a part. And thus from 


< ££ ys < 


=e = 


311 


what seemed at one time a wild chaos of facts driven about at random by each 
conflicting current of hypothesis, there emerges at last that compact symmetry 
and simplicity which we recognise at once as truth. What inward misgiving 
is it that makes us distrust or despair of this result in Theology? If we could 
look back to the occurrence of the first great medieval discoveries in Geography, 
in Astronomy, even in Literature, we should see convulsion of existing opinion, 
processes of mental revolution, far greater, for many obvious causes, than any 
which scientific discovery can cause to-day. Yet the pyramid which seemed to 
many, perhaps most thinkers of that day, to be trembling on its point ready to 
topple down upon the next generation, if not their own, still rests upon its base ; 
and to the thinking of most, even of the timid of our day, a good deal more firmly 
than it did, as it depended on man’s previous opinions and creeds. The progress 
of physical discovery knows no respite, nor pity, for the most persistent theological 
opposition, any more than the blind forces of nature will pause in obedience to the 
will of man. But in the progress of time he learns to harness to his own use the 
very agencies at which his ignorance once trembled, and discovers that Creation 
is in unison, not in opposition to his wants and happiness, and was framed to be 
in subservient accordance with that of which it appeared to threaten the very 
existence. 


A heathen writer tells us that the first Mariner was deemed guilty of impiety. 
We know, from much more recent history, that the first man who used the 
telescope, the first man who drew lightning from the clouds, nay, the first man 
who dared to raise the wind artificially to winnow his wheat, was thought little 
better than an atheist. But nobody now considers Christianity in danger from 
Lord Rosse’s ten-foot Reflector, from the Electric Telegraph, or from Hornsby’s 
Corn-Dressing Machine with its internal hurricane almost enough to blow a man’s 
head off. 


In this age, as well as in those before it, we mistake the discordance with 
our own readings and opinions for opposition to Christian truth. We mistake 
the ideas we have associated with our religious views, for religion itself. Time, 
the greatest of revolutionists, insensibly corrects the error, and supplies the 
reconciliation better than any argument. In matters of science it is far better to 
keep the work separate at first, to let each investigator go on in his own track 
undisturbed by perpetual challenge of disagreement with received opinions. 
The Chinese foot does not become more symmetrical by the attempt to restrain 
it within the shoe that fitted its infancy ; and the Study of Nature, if lef. un- 
confined, will best preserve the symmetry of Truth while the proportions of human 
Thought are enlarged. 


312 


THE MISTLETOE IN HEREFORDSHIRE. 
By Dr. Butt. 


The Mistletoe in Herefordshire deserves the especial attention of the mem- 
bers of our Club. The Viscum album is indeed so much more common here than 
in any other county of England, that it may truly be said to be more distinctive 
of Herefordshire than the apple tree itself. It is not my intention to give the 
Botanical characteristics of the Mistletoe, which books contain ; nor do I pro- 
pose to give any special description of the graceful elegant plant you all know 
so well; but I take this opportunity of bringing before your notice some of the 
chief points of interest with regard to it, which have been more or less over- 
looked, viz. :— 

1st. The Mode of its Propagation and growth: 

and. The Trees it lives upon in this county : 

3rd. The recorded instances of its growth on the Oak in England: and 

4th. The Romance of its history as developed in times past and present. 


J.—THE PROPAGATION AND GROWTH OF THE MISTLETOE. 


The mode in which the Mistletoe is propagated has given rise to much 
discussion. 
** The Naturalists are puzzled to explain 
How trees did first this stranger entertain, 
Whether the busy birds engraft it there, 
Or else some Deity’s mysterious care, 
As Druid’s thought,” 
or rather taught, adds Withering severely. 


This plant has long been the object of close observation from the religious 
veneration in which it was held—Aristotle (De Gen. Animal. lib. 1, c. 1.) and other 
of the ancient writers imagine that the seeds will not grow unless passed through 
the intestines of a bird. 


In olden times—long before the birds had cause to dread the invention of 
gunpowder—the Mistletoe was the chief source of the birdlime which caught 
them,* and the Mistletoe Thrush (turvdus viscivorus) in thus making the seed grow, 
might be said to produce the cause of its own destruction, and hence arose the 
ancient proverb, ‘‘ xix\n xéfer abrq Kaxdv.” 


(Turdus cacat suum malum), or, as the old doggrel expresses it, 


“The Thrush when he pollutes the bough 
Sows for himself the seeds of woe.” 


Baudin, Scaliger, and others, more modern writers, have treated this view as 
fabulous, but have committed a still greater error themselves in fancying it a 


* In Herefordshire and in Italy much birdlime was formerly made from the berries of 


the Mistletoe.’ London Encyclopedia. 


313 


mere excrescence from the tree on which it grew. Virgil represents them in the 
lines : 
“ Quale solet sylvis brumali frigore viscum 
Fronde virere nova quod non sua seminat arbor 
Et croceo fcetu teretes circumdere truncos.” 


(Zneid lib. vi. 1. 205). 


and still later it has been supposed that the glutinous berries stick to the beaks of 
the birds that eat them, and as they clean their beaks on the neighbouring trees 
their seeds are sown—a view, it is sufficient to say, which supposes that the birds 
dont’t know how to eat the berries they like so much. 


There is no longer any question that the natural mode in which the Mistletoe 
is propagated from one tree to another is that so graphically represented by the 
ancient observers ; and it is a fact that many modern experimentalists succeed 
so much better in growing the seeds that the birds have thus dropped, that they 
seek for them, in preference to using seed fresh from the plant itself. It is equally 
beyond all doubt, however, that fresh seeds will grow without undergoing any 
such process. 


The artificial propagation of the Mistletoe from the natural seeds, on trees 
adapted to receive the parasite, is by no means difficult in this county with ordinary 
care. Fasten the seeds of the berries by the glutinous matter surrounding them 
to the boughs of a crab or an apple tree, or a black poplar, and if they escape 
destruction from small birds, Sparrows, Bullfinches, or especially Tom-tits, some 
of them will be sure to germinate and take root. Many persons, however, even 
here, have found such great difficulty in growing the seeds that the following 
precise rules for doing so are added. Raise a considerable piece of the bark by 
a sloping incision, nearly an inch long, on the under side of the branch to be 
experimented upon: the cut should only be made through the bark itself, and 
not into the wood of the branch ; or, more simply still, a broad notch may be cut in 
the bark, then having chosen some fine well ripened berries, open the skin of one 
of them, remove the seeds with great care and place them in the base of the notch 
thus made, with the embryo directed towards the trunk of the tree, and restore 
the raised bark over it. In this way it is best secured from the sun and winds 
that might dry it up; from the rains that might wash it off ; and from the birds 
also. The branch experimented upon should not be less than five feet from the 
ground. 


The seeds of the Mistletoe require to be handled with great delicacy, a light 
crush will destroy their vitality by injuring the embryo, and the pulp surrounding 
them is so very glutinous that it is difficult to place them right and keep them 
there without pressing on the seeds ; many experiments have doubtless failed from 
want of care in thisrespect. Some persons have used with advantage a covering 
of moss and bass to protect them still further from injury and to keep them 
damp. An old tree in a damp situation will render the success of the experiment 
still more probable. 


314 


The best time for sowing the seed is January or February. The young plant 
is at first very slow in its growth, and will spend one, and sometimes two years, in 
the formation of roots only, before sending out any regular stems. 


Mistletoe can also be artificially propagated by grafting or budding, and with 


still greater certainty by inarching, but it is very unnecessary in this county to 
adopt either of these plans. 


The Continental experimentalists do not seem to find much difficulty in 
making Mistletoe seeds grow. M. Du Hamel made a long series of experiments 
with regard to its mode of propagation, and succeeded on all trees but the fig, 
the oak, the hazel, and the juniper. He could always make the seed germinate, 
even on earthen pots,.stones, dead pieces of wood, or even upon the ground, but 
though the radicles would shoot out freely at first they quickly died, shewing 
that it was a true parasite and would only grow upon trees. 


M. Dutrochet proved by a series of delicate experiments that they do not 
obey the usual law of plants in germinating, by at once directing their radicles 
towards the centre of the earth, but always direct them towards the centre of the 
object against which they are grown. He caused Mistletoe seeds hanging from 
threads to germinate on all sides of round balls, and in cases even when the ball 
was of metal, the radicles were directed towards the centre of the ball, and not 
towards the earth—that is, the seeds beneath the ball directed their radicles 
upwards, those on the top sent them downwards, and those at the sides hori- 
zontally. 


Paley, in his Natural Theology, brings forward the Mistletoe as a singular 
instance of what he terms “‘ compensation ”’ in his argument to prove the design 
and contrivance of nature, that inasmuch as its seeds could not grow in the earth 
like those of other plants, nature has provided them with an adhesive property, 
which no other seeds have, to enable them to stick to the tree on which they do 
grow. 


The following observations on the mode of growth of the young plant are 
taken from a paper by Dr. John Harley, on the “* Parasitism of the Mistletoe,” 
which was read before the Linnzan Society, in March, 1863. This paper con- 
tains a very careful and elaborate investigation into the anatomical relation of 
the Mistletoe to the plants on which it grows, and draws some very interesting 
conclusions as to their physiological relations to each other. 


‘““The Mistletoe attaches itsclf to the nourishing piants, by roots, some of 
which are horizontal and confined to the bark, while the others are contained 
within the wood. Henslow, Griffith, Unger, Schacht, and Pitra, all agree in the 
following particulars :—The young plant first sends into the bark of the nourishing 
plant a single root, sucker, or senker, which, pressing inwards, comes into per- 
pendicular relation to the wood of the nourishing plant, in the cambial layer of 
which the point rests, and there ceases to grow. In its passage towards the wood, 
it gives off several horizontal or side roots, which run along the branch in the bark, 
or upon the surface of the wood. These side roots give origin to perpendicular 


315 


suckers, which come into contact, like the original root, with the surtace of the 
wood.” ‘‘ The wood and bark of the mother plant, in their periodical increase, 
form layers around the suckers, which grow in exactly the same manner in the 
cambial stratum ” (Pitra) and thus the hardened suckers come to be imbedded 
in the body of the wood. Dr. Harley goes on to state, amongst many other 
interesting particulars relating to the growth of the plant, that their perpen- 
dicular roots are tapering, diminishing in size from the circumference towards the 
centre; that there are usually three or four and sometimes five or six such 
perpendicular roots; that their terminations are always composed of delicate 
tubular cells joined end to end, and arranged parallel to each other and to the 
long axis of the root, and that these roots are always arranged strictly parallel to 
the medullary rays of the nourishing plant. “ The young cellular root of viscum 
may be regarded generally as a prolongation of the central pith of the parasite, 
and contiguous medullary rays of the nourishing plant are successively confluent 


with its surface.” 


Having minutely described the loose porous structure of the stem and base 
of the Mistletoe, Dr. Harley says ‘‘ with regard to the direction and arrange- 
ment of the roots of the Viscum which’*lie within the wood, this is determined by 
the arrangement of the medullary system of the nourishing plant, the roots always 
lying strictly parallel to the medullary rays ;’’ a conclusion to which he was led 
by the fact that the Mistletoe and the supporting branch grow at right angles to 
each other, and that on a transverse section the Mistletoe roots are always shown 
to be arranged like the radii of a circle from the circumference towards the central 
pith. 


“The horizontal ramifications (side roots) of the base of the Mistletoe have 
plainly the same structure as the young perpendicular roots. Whichever direc- 
tion they take, they produce at frequent and pretty regular intervals, other taper- 
ing cellular roots which, guided doubtless by the medullary rays of the bark, 
press towards the surface of the wood and are thus brought in contact with the 
ends of its medullary rays. They are subsequently found embedded at various 
depths in the hard wood of the nourishing plant, like the primary roots. These 
lateral roots also give origin to budlike processes, which, deepening in colour, 
grow up obliquely through the bark, and appear as little shoots in the chinks, 
soon developing leaves and stems as a ‘separate plant..—Dr. Harley also gives 
gives good ground for believing the perpendicular roots penetrate the hard wood 
by their own growth, in th: absorption they occasion in the wood itself, and in the 
depth to which they enter—a conclusion which all who have made careful sections 
of the bough with the Mistletoe attached to it, will have no difficulty in believing. 
It forms another example of the common law in organic life, that when two living 
structures impinge on each other in a confined space, the one possessing the 
lowest power of vitality must give way to the other, and here it is the dense wood 
of the tree that is gradually caused to be absorbed by the pressure of the soft 
cellular growth of the perpendicular roots of the Mistletoe. 


“When the roots of the Viscum album,” says Dr. Harley again, ‘“* have be- 
come fairly infixed into the medullary system of the nourishing plant, their outer 


316 


portions become gradually thickened by the formation of woody layers upon their 
‘surfaces. This increase in the lateral dimensions of the root takes place, part 
passu, with that of the branch upon which it grows; for every layer of wood 
deposited on the branch, a corresponding one is deposited upon the Mistletoe ; 
and the growth of the two plants proceeding thus uniformly, the concentric rings 
of the stock pass uninterruptedly into those of the Mistletoe, and the woody layers 
become co-incident. Whilst the roots thus undergo increase and ligniflcation 
about their outer portions, their inner extremities which now lie deeply within the 
hard wood constantly retain their original soft cellular condition; they are in 
fact to the viscum what the cellular rootlets of terrestrial plants are to them.” 


Il.—Tue TREES UPON WHICH THE MISTLETOE GROWS IN HEREFORDSHIRE 


so far as I have been able to ascertain them by my own observation, and with 
the kind assistance of several members of our Club, and others, are as follows ; 
and I give the list, as closely as may be, in the order of the frequency of its occur- 
rence on the trees at this time :— 


Ist.—THE APPLE TREE, (Pyrus mdlus domestica) general throughout the 
County. 


On the English Poplars :— 


2nd.—THE ABELE TREE or WHITE Pop ar, (P. alba ;) not common. 
3rd.—TuHE Grey PopLar, (P. canescens ;) rare. 


4th.—TuHeE AspEN, (P. tremula ;) occasionally ; and on the following 
introduced varieties of Poplar. 


5th.—Tue Brack Pop.ar, (P. nigra ;) the earliest introduced species; 
very common. 


6th.—TuHeE BLAcK ITALIAN Poprar, (P. monolifera ;) introduced in 1772, 
and has now for the last 30 years been substituted by nurserymen for the 
Canadian Poplar; very freely. 


zth.—THE CANADIAN Poptar, (P. Canadensis) formerly much more 
generally planted than at this time ; very common. 


8th.—TuHeE Ontario Poprar, (P. candicans) a balsam bearing Poplar, 
introduced from North America in 1772, and now much distributed by 
Nurserymen ; common. 


The Mistletoe grows more or less on all these varieties of Poplar. I bracket 
them together as a class, for in the reports sent to me, no distinction has been 
made between them, and when the leaves are off the trees it is very difficult to 
do so. 


9th.—On THe Hawrnorn, (Crategus Oxyacantha) not uncommon throughout 
the County, where old trees are found. Round Haywood Forest ; Belmont ; 
Breinton ; Dinedor; Lyde; The Weir, Hereford; Holme Lacy; Harewood 
Park; Ledbury district; Ross district (Rev. W. H. Purchas); Leominster 


317 


district (Rev. Thomas Hutchinson); Garnons, (Thomas Blashill, jun., Esq.) ; 
Croft Ambrey, very abundantly (Rev. Thomas Woodhouse). 


toth.—TuHE Cras (Pyrus malus), general throughout the County where it 
is found. 


rith.—Tue Lime Tree (Tilia Europea), Belmont; Lower Bullingham ; 
Cagebrook ; Stoke Edith; Whitfield; Ross district (Rev. W. H. Purchas) ; 
Yarkhill (Thomas Blashill, jun., Esq.) ; Wigmore Road, Aymestry, (Rev. Thomas 
Woodhouse). 


r2th.— Tue Marte (Acer campestre), Belmont ; Vennwood, (three trees) ; 
Marden (several trees) ; Much Dewchurch ; Holme Lacy (several trees) ; Putley 
near Ledbury (several trees) ; Garnons (T. Blashill, Esq.) ; Leominster (Rev. T. 
Hutchinson). 


13th.—TuHe WuiTe FLOWERING Acacia (Robinia pseudo-Acacia), Black- 
marston; Litley ; Belmont (2 trees); Breinton ; Lugwardine (several trees) ; 
Harewood Park ; Brinsop ; Garnons (Thomas Blashill, jun., Esq.) ; Foxley and 
Kings Meadow, Wigmore (Rev. Thomas Woodhouse). 


14th.—_ Tue Mountain Asu (Pyrus Aucuparia), Aylstone Hill ; Stoke Edith; 
Withington ; Sutton Court; Yatton Court, Aymestry (Rev. Thomas Wood- 
house) ; Leominster (Rev. T. Hutchinson) ; Dormington (Rev. T. Bird) ; Lyons- 
hall (Rev. J. F. Crouch); “In the vicinity of Ledbury ’’ (Lees’ ‘‘ Botanical 
Looker out.’’) 


15th.—_Tue Asu (Fraxinus excelsior). Beyond the ‘‘ Three Elms,” Here- 
ford, on the Burghill road; near Mr. Hooper’s yard, Canon Frome; Abbot’s 
Meadow, Brampton Abbotts; Strangford-on-the-Wye, opposite Fawley; and 
near Carey Island, Kings Caple (A. Lee, Esq.) 


16th.—Common WHITE WILLOw (Salix alba.), over pool in front of Sugwas 
House ; River Lugg, bank opposite Freens Court, Marden; Strangeway Bank, 
Bodenham ; over pool beyond Thruxton; Mathon near Malvern (Mr. Baxter, 
by Mr. Haywood). 


17th.—Tue Haze (Corylus avellana), near Pope’s pool, Putley, Lebdury ; 
Kimbolton (Rev. T. Hutchinson); Swinmore brook-side, opposite Upleadon, 
Ledbury (P. Ballard, Esq.) 


18th.—TueE PEAR TREE (Pyrus communis). Orchard behind Graftonbury 
farm ; in the pleasure ground of Graftonbury House ; and said also to grow, on 
reputable authority, on one tree in Mr. Martin’s perry orchard at Monkhide, 
Ledbury ; and on one tree at Wigmore. 


19th.—THE Oak (Quercus robur), the Ridgeway drive, Eastnor Park, Ledbury, 
and Tedstone Delamere, Sapey (Revs. Dr. Cradock and Gregory Smith, M.A.) 


2oth.—TuHE ALDER (Alnus glutinosa), banks of Lugg, opposite Lugwardine 


(two trees). 


318 


2tst.—THE Rounp LEAvED SALLOw (Salix caprea), field near Ruckhall 
~* Common, Eaton Bishop. 


22nd.—TuHE Sycamore (Acer pseudo-platanus), in belt of trees by road-side, 
Sufton Court. 


23rd.—THE Common Doc Ross (Rosa Canina), Vennwood, Bodenham ; on a 
stem layered in a hedge one foot from the ground. 


24th.—TuHeE MEDLAR, (Mespilus Germanica), at Easthampton Lodge, Shobdon 
(Rev. Thomas Woodhouse). 


25th.—_ THe Wycu Exim (Ulmus montana), near Bockleton (Rev. J. Miller, 
lately deceased, by Rev. Thomas Hutchinson). 


(There is some little doubt whether this example exists in Herefordshire or 
Worcestershire). 


The Mistietoe also grows spontaneously on the following cultivated trees in 
this County :— 


26th.—THE YELLow Horse Cuesnut (4sculus flava). In the Rectory 
Gardens, Stretton Sugwas (Rev. H. C. Key). 


27th.—TuHeE Pink Horse Cuesnut (4sculus rubicunda). In the Gardens of 
Harewood (Chandos Wren Hoskyns, Esq.) 


28th.—On THE WESTERN MAPLE (Acer occidentalis). The Lawn, Belmont, 
Hereford. 


29th.—On THE EASTERN MapLeE (Acer orientalis). The Island of Belmont 
Pool, Hereford. 


30th.—_TuHEe AMERICAN Craps (Pyrus malus Americanus). Mr. Godsall’s 
Nursery Ground, Hereford. 


The favourite site of the Mistletoe is certainly the APPLE TREE. There is 
scarcely an orchard of any standing in the county without it, and in many it grows 
far too luxuriantly. The proportion of Apple trees which bear Mistletoe in the 
central districts of the County, as obtained by a separate examination of more 
than two thousand trees, as they came, in several orchards, is as follows: in 
orchards of comparatively new kinds of fruits, principally French and Italian 
Apples, the average number of trees which bore mistletoe ranged from 13 to about 
30 per cent ; in old long established orchards the proportion varied from 30, to as 
high as go per cent. ; whilst the general average from all the trees marked down 
was 39 per cent. of Mistletoe bearing trees. The actual numbers were 784 with 
Mistletoe, and 1218 without it. Nor can this very high average be an over state- 
ment ; for the trees were examined in March and April, after they had supplied 
the Christmas and New year’s day requirements for this and other Counties, and 
had been subjected moreover, to the usual annual pruning. 


319 


Mr. Adams, of Marden, who kindly undertook to obtain for me a fair reliable 
average of the number of Apple trees in full vigour, which bear Mistletoe in that 
district, has sent me the following result of his examination of all the trees in six 
different orchards. Mr. Adams was careful to select orchards in which the trees 
had attained their full growth and were in full bearing—avoiding on the one hand, 
orchards of very young trees, where comparatively few were affected by the para- 
site, and on the other, those containing very old trees, where almost all of them 
bear Mistletoe. 


ORCHARDS. ae are ees 

Ty cuating tides tae. ar ao 80 or 33 per cent. 
Ree a ga 225 trees cider 71 se ecaacnnerk 
Brie ya ees, € 41 39 or 51 per cent. 
No. 4, with 41 trees in a : 

fie cans, cae 34 7 or 83 per cent. 

ing fruits of the old sorts. 
Peart 6 ese: Sigs £0 38 or 21 per cent. 
We: 6, WE 76 tes ehietiy 6 70 or 8 per cent. 

Total 590 trees. 202 388 or 34 per cent on 


the general average. 


It is the general belief amongst orchard proprictors that th Mistletoe, when 
in moderation, injures neither the tree itself nor the fruit it bears, as used formerly 
to be thought. It is not therefore pruned out so much as would otherwise be 
the case. Mr. Edwin Lees in his “‘ Botanical Looker Out,” goes further, indeed, 
and thinks that the tendency in apple trees to form knots in the wood arises from 
over-abundance of sap, and that the Mistletoe relieves the tree, as cupping would 
do: a view so unphysiological, that I prefer to look for the true explanation in 
the opinion of Dr. Harley, that the presence of the Mistletoe causes an increased 
quantity of sap to be drawn up for its supply from the soil, and thus the tree would 
not be much injured, so long as the soil was not exhausted. 


Whether the Viscum album shews any preference for any particular sorts 
of Apples, is a point requiring further investigation. There are certainly some 


320 


facts which seem to shew that this is the case. Some observers, with much 
orchard experience, think it likes best the more acid kinds of fruit, as the varieties 
of the Crab, the “‘ old Bromley,” ‘“‘ Skyrme’s kernel,” “‘ Hampton’s delight,” &c., 
&c., and is much less common on the “ Bitter-sweet,”’ the ‘‘ Royal Wilding,” 
Norman, French, and Italian fruits, and on ‘‘ pot fruits” in general. Mr. Adams 
has observed, that trees bearing white-fleshed apples are much more liable to be 
attacked by Mistletoe, than those which bear yellow-fleshed apples: The former 
correspond to the acid fruits, whilst the latter embraces nearly the whole of the 
new, and French fruits of recent introduction, called Bitter-sweet apples, and 
from which the best and mildest cider is made. 


I have myself observed in some orchards I chance to know well, that there is 
scarcely a tree of the “‘ Foxwhelp,”’ “‘ Old Cowarne red,” or Cowarne Queening, 
or Quining, that is not inhabited by the Mistletoe, and it signifies not whether the 
tree may be oldor young. This has been confirmed by several close observers, who 
have also added that it is the same also with the ‘‘ Redstreak,”’ the ‘‘Old Styre,”’ 
the ‘‘ Garter apple,” the ‘‘ Woodcock,” and indeed with almost all the old Here- 
fordshire apples. It is the general opinion, that Mistletoe is much less common 
in the orchards of the French, Norman, and Italian fruits lately so much planted : 
even here though, the viscum seems to make a selection, and will attack young 
trees of the “ upright Normandy,” and “ Italian apple.’”-—It may be perhaps that 
as most of the old sorts of apples named are rapidly dying out, (and the two last, 
though recently introduced, may belong to the same category) this parasite, 
following the example of parasites in general, as well animal as vegetable, takes 
advantage of weakness, and thrives best, where it finds the least power of resis- 
tance. This view moreover, is supported by the general observation of its greater 
frequency on old and cankered trees, or on those growing badly from want of 
drainage, or from some other cause. It is not by any means the case, however, 
that all weak and decaying trees are attacked in orchards with plenty of Mistletoe 
in them ; so that from the trees it will attack when young and strong on one side, 
and those that resist it when weak and old on the other, there seems a promising 
field for careful observation. Whoever may enter it, to find the secret for the 
requirements for Mistletoe life, or Mistletoe predilections, will have in the first 
place to master the confusion that prevails amongst the Apple trees themselves, 
and the ignorance of their owners, as to their right names and virtues, and sorts, 
and kinds, always excepting, however, the knowledge of the quality of the cider 
they will make. * 

Next to the Apple tree, the Mistletoe certainly likes best the quick-growing 
Poplars, taken generally as a class, and in particular the Black Italian, Canadian, 


*In many a Herefordshire Orchard, may be seen an old cankered tree or two, past 
bearing fruit, or nearly so; with most of its main branches dead, and what little remains of the 
tree, overpowered with Mistletoe. A stranger passing by might take such trees as the ground- 
work for some slashing remarks on the slovenliness of Heretordshire farmers in general. If his 
good fortune should afterwards bring him within reach of the hospitality of the house, he will 
very probably, as he walks round the homestead after luncheon, be shown these very dilapidated 
remains of trees, as the “pets” of the orchard. “‘ That cider you thought so strong and good, 
grew on these trees 15 years ago” ; or they are some old favourite kind that grew the strongest 
cider in days gone by ; or made some wonderful quality in some particular year ; or they were 
“ my father’s favourite trees, and will bide my time, I hope.” Anyway, he will discover that 
Herefordshire farmers can have amiable reasons for preserving old worn-out apple trees, and will 
be more cautious in criticism for the future. 


321 


and Ontario varieties. Here its luxuriant branches thrust themselves into notice, 
as well by their contrast to the tree itself, as by their lofty situation. These 
trees are now very much planted throughout the country, and no sooner do they 
attain any size, than a number of them are sure to become inhabited by the 
Mistletoe. In the central parts of the county the proportion of trees which bear 
the Viscum may be said to vary from ro to 30 per cent. according to the age and 
position of the trees ; but in some districts, and in some isolated groups of trees, 
they probably reach a still higher average. On the upright Lombardy Poplar 
(Populus fastigiata), on the contrary, there is no recorded instance of its growth 
in this county, nor in England, that I am aware of, although examples have been 
occasionally found on the Continent. 


On the Hawthorn the growth of Mistletoe is widely extended through the 
county, though it is much more common in some districts than in others. Mr. 
Edwin Lees has observed the Mistletoe to grow on Thorns, in lines extending 
across the country, which he accounts for by the long observed fact of the Field- 
fares and Thrushes fiving across the country in direct lines: * Thorns within the 
line are numerously affected, whilst the Oaks and such uncongenial trees seem 
passed over, and the Thorns out of this line are also comparatively free. 


On the Lime Tree, the Maple, the White Flowering Acacia, and the Mountain 
Ash, the Mistletoe is not uncommonly observed—considering the number of trees 
the Maple does not seem to bear Mistletoe so frequently here as in some other 
districts ; but the Mountain Ash seems a favorite site for it, though this tree is 
not very common in the County. 


It is singular that its growth on the Pear tree should be so very uncommon. 
In many works of reference this tree is placed next to the Apple, as a Mistletoe- 
bearing tree, but in this County it is extremely rare to findit. Mixed up together 
so commonly, as these trees are here, the absence of the Mistletoe upon it is very 
marked. At the present time, after very extended enquiries—enquiries which 
must have caused some thousands of trees to be examined—the only instances 
of its occurrence in this County are on two trees at Graftonbury, one an old tree 
loaded and almost killed by it, in the orchard by the fold-yard, at Graftonbury 
farm, and the other a younger tree, in the pleasure ground of Graftonbury House 
also bears a large bunch of Mistletoe ; and on authority which I have no reason to 
doubt, it is said to grow on one tree in Mr. Martin’s Perry-orchard at Monkhide, 
near Ledbury—the only example to be heard of in this great perry district of the 
County—and lastly, it is also said to grow at Wigmore, in five or six places, on one 


pear tree. 


On all other trees it is certainly rare. Besides the recorded instance of the 
growth of the Mistletoe on the Wild-rose, it formerly grew spontaneously on a 
briar, with an engrafted rose, in the garden of Thomas Cam, Esq., one of our 

‘members, for many years, but was destroyed in 1860 to make way for improve- 


*** When the Velts fly from North to South, it will be a hard winter,” they say in Worces- 
tershire, ‘* but if they fly in the reverse direction it will be a mildone.” The same thing is said 
inreference to wild geese and ducks. (Mr. J. S. Haywood, Worcester.) 


322 
ments; and I have also heard of another example of its growing wild on the 


briar in this County at Westhide, which was unfortunately destroyed some time 


since. 


There is but little doubt that the list of trees which the Mistletoe occa- 
sionally inhabits in Herefordshire may, and will be extended by more general 
and careful observation. The Viscum album is by no means particular in its 
selection of ahome. I will briefly notice all the other trees upon which it has been 
observed to grow in England so far as I have been able to ascertain : 


31st-—THE WHITE BEAM (Pyrus Aria), ‘“‘On the rocks near the western 
portal of Chepstow Castle is a fine tree with much Mistletoe upon it.” Lees’ 
“ Botanical Looker Out ’?; and at Cobham in Kent. (Jesse.) 


32nd.—TuHe BuckK-THORN (Rhamnus catharticus), named in a paper of 
Thomas Willisels in the Philosophical letters of Mr. Ray and friends. (N. & Q. 
Vol. iii., p. 396.) 

33rd.—TuHe LaBurntuM (Cytisus Laburnum), at Hampton Court Gardens ; 
and the Slopes, Windsor Park. (Jesse.) 


34th.—_Tue Rep Swamp MapLe (Acer rubrum), near the ranger’s house, 
Bushy Park. (Jesse.) 


35th.—Tue Horse Cuesnut (Gsculus hippocastanum), in Bushy Park, 
Middlesex. (Jesse.) 


36th.—TuE FIrBerT.—(Corylus avellana alba), at Wigmore, Bishop’s Cleeve. 
(Mr. J. S. Haywood.) 


37th.—Tue Catapa (Catalpa syringefolia), in Kent. (The Rev. Gerard 
Smith.) 

38th.—Tue EncLisH ELm (Ulmus campestris), at Longdon near Upton-on- 
Severn (Rev. W. S. Symonds) at Bushy Park Farm, near Tewkesbury, 
(“Botanical Looker-out ’?) Monmouthshire, (The Rev. J. Hibbert) and at 
Strensham Court, Worcestershire. (Mr. Taylor, in Jesse.) 


39th.—THE GOOSEBERRY (Ribes grossularia), on some large old Gooseberry 
bushes, Maidstone, Kent. (Journal of Horticulture, December 1863.) 


40th.—TuHE PLANE TREE (Platanus occidentalis), at Wick, near Worcester. 
(Mr. J. S. Haywood.) 


4ist.—TuHe YEW TREE (Taxus semper-virens), near Sheffield, ‘‘ on a venerable 
tree of many centuries growth.” (W. S. Sheffield, N. & Q. Vol. vii., p. 199.) 

42nd.—Tue Cepar (Cedrus Libani), in Somersetshire. (W. C. Trevelyan, 
N. & Q. Vol. vi., p. 249.) 


43rd.—Tue Larcu Fir (Abies Larix), plentifully at Cold Weston, Shrop- 
shire. (Jesse.) 


323 


The Mistletoe has never been observed to occur spontaneously in England, so 
far as I am aware, on any of the following trees, although it has been success- 
fully propagated on several of them :— 


The Beech (Fagus sylvestris), 

The Birch (Betula alba), 

The Bird Cherry (Prunus Padus), 

The Wild Cherry (P. avium), 

The Sloe Tree, or Blackthorn (P. spinosa), 
nor on any of the cultivated cherry or plum trees. 


The Hornbeam (Carpinus Betulus), 
The Elder (Sambucus nigra), 

The Holly (Ilex Europea), 

The Dogwood (Cornus sanguineus), 
The Box Tree (Buxus semper-virens), 


nor has the Mistletoe been observed on any of the following trees naturalised 
here :— 


The Lombardy Poplar (Populus fastigiata ), 
The Sweet Chesnut (Castanea vesca), 

The Walnut (Juglans regia), 

The Laurel (Cerasus Colchicum), 


nor on any of the other many introduced varieties of trees and evergreens. 


Why the Mistletoe should attach itself to certain trees in preference to others, 
is a mystery not yet fully solved. Common observation always refers to it some 
peculiarity in the bark, and seems, oddly enough, pretty equally divided in opinion 
as to whether the Viscum prefers a smooth and hard bark, or one that is rough and 
porous. Dr. Harley from his observations, was led to suppose, “that a difference 
in size, number, and arrangement of the medullary rays might explain it, and serve 
to determine, in any given case, the attachment of the Mistletoe ;” and he, 
accordingly, guided by their minute anatomical structure, has arranged a list of 
thirty trees in the supposed order of their liability to become the site of the para- 
site.—On dividing the list into three groups, the ten trees most predisposed to 
bear Mistletoe—and in the order in which they stand,—are stated to be :— 


The Vine 
Maple 
Walnut 
Elder 
Holly All these trees are common in this 
Plum County, and yet it is only found on the 
Acacia Maple and the Acacia. 
Cherry Laurel 
Portugal Laurel 
Plum 


324 


The middle group, or those only moderately liable from their structure to 
bear Mistletoe are thus given :— 


The Hawthorn 
Apple and Crab 


Almond 

Medlar This group contains all the chief 
Lime Mistletoe-bearing trees, and mixed with 
Olive them at least three kinds—the Alder, the 
Ash Willow, and the Ash—upon which it but 
Poplar rarely occurs spontaneously. 

Willow 

Alder 


The group least liable to become affected by the parasite, is framed as 


follows :— 
The Pear 

Elm and Birch 
Fir 
Larch The Mistletoe is found in this County 
Lilac on three of these trees—and on the Hazel, 
Oak f at least three instances are known, incon- 
Beach spicuous as it is on this tree. 


Spanish Chesnut 
Hazel 
Horse Chesnut 


It is very clear then, that there must be some predisposition of a kind which 
this list does not represent and which has yet to be discovered. 


Mr. Buckmann, late Professor at the College of Cirencester, gives the follow- 
ing table of the comparative frequency with which trees are prone to bear Mistle- 
toe :—The various kinds of Apple, 25: Poplar, mostly black, 20: White-thorn, 
to: Lime, 4: Maple, 3: Wlilow, 2: Oak, 1: Sycamore, r: Acacia, 1: (N. & 
Q. Vol. iii, p. 226.) In Herefordshire, the proportion for the Apple tree must 
certainly be raised considerably, and the Acacia also must be put higher on the 


list. 


It is a remarkable fact that, when the Mistletoe has once established itself on 
any kind of tree—and the rule holds equally good for those it seldom inhabits— 
it frequently grows in several branches at the same time, as if the tree no longer 
possessed its original power of resisting the intruder. The tree shews it too, and 
soon puts on a desolate woe-begone look, with fading leaves, and dying branches. 
It is thought that the Limes in this condition in Datchet Mead—a place often 
mentioned in the ‘‘ Merry Wives of Windsor,”—gave Shakespeare the illustration 


embodied in these lines :— 


325 


~ Have I not reason to look pale ? 
These two have ’ticed me to this place ; 
A barren, detested vale you see it is: 
The trees, though Summer, yet forlorn and lean, 
O’ercome with moss, and baletul Mistletoe.” 


(Tit. And. Act II., sc. 3.) 


Dr. Harley has so well described the effects of the Mistletoe on the supporting 
branch, and the struggle for life between them, that I must again make a free 
extract from his interesting paper. ‘‘ The roots of the Mistletoe stand to the 
nourishing plant in the relation of a hypertrophied (increased) medullary system 
and one which induces an excessive flow of sap to the branch, resulting at first in 
the local hypertrophy (thickening) of its tissues, but subsequently the supply ot 
sap, or the power of transmitting it, failing, the central portion of the wood 
becomes exhausted and dies, involving in its death that of the destroyer also. 
The branch, however, still maintains its vigour, and slowly buries the inveterate 
intruder by its subsequent growth. But other roots are meanwhile penetrating 
the newly formed layers of wood, and its whole circumference is in time more 
thickly beset with parasites than ever. The branch is heaved out into a spindle- 
shaped swelling, and the outer layers of the bark are rent into wide branches 
favourable to the continued encroachments of the invading parasite, while its 
inner layers become immensely thickened, and form a suitable nidus for its in- 
crease. After a while the second crop of roots spread destruction still further 
outwards, and like the former crop, implicate themselves in it. The branch still 
struggles vigorously with its enemy, but as fast as one generation of roots is 
dying, a later and more numerous progeny attack it. The affected branch more- 
over assumes various contortions, being twisted sometimes in one direction, and 
sometimes in another ; it is frequently found bent at right angles toitself. But it 
wrestles in vain with a veritable hydra which, having killed its centre, spoiled, 
and occupied its bark, and invaded anew the Jiving wood that remains, now 
gradually completes the work of destruction.” An excellent example of this 
struggle, as here pictured, is to be seen in a Lime tree at Yarkhill,—a thoroughly 
Mistletoe-possessed tree, its branches all knotted and dying but yet sending off 
fresh shoots at all angles below the knots, in the vain effort to overcome the 
enemy ; and in other trees in a lesser degree too numerous to mention. 


IIIl.—Tue OccurrRENCE OF THE MISTLETOE ON THE OAK. 


The Viscum album but rarely ‘“‘ gains a settlement ” on the Oak tree—as 
seldom in our own day as in the Druidical times of old, when its very rarity 
heightened the veneration with which it was regarded when found. “ Est 
autem id varum admodum inventum, et repertum magné religione petitur ” says 
Pliny in his natural History. (lib. xvi, c. 44.) In an excellent note by Dr. Giles 
in his translation of ‘‘ Richard of Cirencester,” (p. 432) he gives the opinion of Dr. 
Daubeny, that Mistletoe-growing oaks were exterminated after the Druids were 
destroyed. (N. & Q., Vol. ii.) It is highly probable that this was the case, but 
since all their oaks too have been gone centuries since, it can make no difference as 


326 


- to its occurrence at the present time. Whatever may be the conditions necessary 
for the germination and growth of the Mistletoe on the oak, they must be suchas 
rarely coincide, or it certainly would be much more common in this County. 
Oak may be considered the weed of Herefordshire. Oak timber and Oak bark 
form two of our chief exports. Oak woods and Oak trees border Mistletoe-abound- 
ing orchards very generally, and the trees themselves are often mingled in very 
close alliance: indeed it would not be too much to say, from the great abund- 
ance of Oaks in the vicinity of orchards, that the birds must sow the Mistletoe 
seeds upon them more frequently than upon any other kind of tree in the County. 
Nevertheless so far as is known. there are but two instances of its growth on the 
Oak in Herefordshire, the one in Eastnor Park, which has been so well known for 
many years, and the other in an outlying district of the County at Tedstone 
Delamere, discovered by Dr. Cradock in 1857. 


The occurrence of the Mistletoe on the Oak is at once so rare and so interest- 
ing, that I have not confined myself to this County in my enquiries about it, but 
have taken some pains to ascertain its existence, at the present time, in all the 
instances which have been recorded as occurring in England. The following 
instances I have been able to get well authenticated :— 


No. 1. Tue Oak at Eastnor.—Ten days since I visited this Mistletoe- 
bearing Oak. It is situated the left side of the drive leading from the Park up the 
Ridgeway hill towards Malvern, about two hundred yards beyond the Lodge. 
The Oak may be some 80 or go years old and the Mistletoe grows freely upon it. 
It is most luxuriant high up in the tree where three large branches grow very near 
each other, having in each instance destroyed the bough beyond the place where 
it is situated. It is also’growing in four other places in the tree, one fresh yearling 
plant shooting straight out from the main stem of the tree about twelve feet from 
the ground. One large bunch of Mistletoe growing in a large branch many feet 
from the main stem was dead and decaying, but without having killed the branch. 
The Mistletoe plants are of both sexes, and the females bear berries freely. It is 
more slender and pendulous, with smaller and thinner leaves ; or in other words, 
it is not so stiff and rigid, and short jointed, as it usually is when growing on the 
Apple tree. During the twelve years I have known this tree the Mistletoe has 
increased upon it, and the Oak is already beginning to shew signs of suffering 
severely from the parasite. Upon the large moss-covered branches it was curious 
to observe the great number of Mistletoe seeds which had been deposited by the 
birds. 


No.2. THE OAK AT TEDSTONE DELAMERE.—In 1853, Dr. CRADOCK, (Principal 
of Brazenose College) discovered the Mistletoe growing on a thriving Oak in the 
parish of Tedstone Delamere. It had been known for some time before by a 
woodman who kept it a secret but occasionally produced a piece of it on particular 
occasions. The Incumbent of the Parish at this time, The Rev. GREGORY 
Smitu,'M.A., has kindly sent me the following description of its present appear- 
ance: ‘‘ The Mistletoe is still growing where Dr. Crapock observed it, on an 
Oak some 60 years old, and there it has been, according to the Woodman, for some 


327 


30 years or more. The Mistletoe grows in one bunch of five stems from the trunk 
of the tree about 50 feet from the ground.” It does not bear berries although 
from the small portion Mr. Smith was good enough to inclose, it is a female plant.* 


No. 3. On A FINE Oak At BADAMs Court, SEDBURY PARK, NEAR CHEPSTOW, 
the Mistletoe is also now growing luxuriantly :—G. OrRMEROD, Esq., has kindly for- 
warded the following description of its condition at this time. ‘‘ The Mistletoe 
is still growing on an Oak here, the tree is about 85 years old, and situated on the 
northern mound of Badams Court, once a moated mansion of the Herberts, or 
Ap Adams of Beachly and Llanllowel, but now forming part of the Sedbury Park 
estate. There is only one branch of Mistletoe on the tree, but it has become very 
luxuriant and has now a diameter of at least three feet. It is more thin and 
straggling in its growth than it usually is on the apple tree, though it is very healthy 
and bears berries freely. It grows from the side of a large branch some yards 
from the main stem of the tree and about 20 feet from the ground. The Oak 
itself is healthy and vigorous, and does not seem to be injured by the parasite.” 
(April 5th, 1864.) 


No. 4. The Mistletoe is also now growing on an OAK aT BURNINGFOLD 
Farm, DuNSFOLD, SURREY.—The Proprietor of the Estate, W. LayLtanp Woops, 
Esq., has been good enough to send me the account of its present condition. 
“* The Mistletoe at Burningfold grows on an Oak, not less than 150 years old. The 
tree is more upright than spreading, and the branch grows on the side of an 
upright limb at about 50 feet from the ground. There is only one branch on the 
tree, it has grown there for many years, but in January 1849, it was broken very 
severely by a high wind. However, it flourished afterwards better than before ; 
it is nearly three feet long, of a pendulous nature, not growing so rigid as Mistletoe 
usually does. During the past summer a sparrow built her nest in the midst of 
the bunch. It does not injure the tree at present, but has in fact been the means 
of its preservation, for the Mistletoe branch saved the tree from the axe some 
yearsago. The Oak grows alone in a piece of pasture, but another which formerly 
stood near it has spoilt the beauty of the tree. The soil in the district is the 
weald clay of Surrey and Sussex where the Oak used to flourish and abound.’”’ 
(April roth, 1864). 


No. 5. ON AN Oak tn Hackwoop Park, NEAR BASINGSTOKE, Mistletoe 
has long been known to grow.—C. Hooper, Esq., of Eastrop House, Basingstoke, 
has very kindly obtained for me the following account of this tree. ‘‘ The first 
Lord Bolton, [grandfather of the present Lord] sent a specimen of the Mistletoe 
from this tree to Sir Joseph Banks, who gave an account of it in the Philosophical 
Transactions. The Oak is still a fine large tree, but evidently very old and reduced 
in size from what it formerly was, but whether this is from the presence of the 
Mistletoe, or from storms, it is difficult to say. The Mistletoe grows near the 
middle of the tree al a considerable height from the ground and in several places 
among the branches.” [April 28th, 1864].—Mr. Hooper had not seen the tree 


* T have since learnt that there is but little Mistletoe in the neighbourhood of the tree. The 
nearest Mistletoe-bearing tree is a Pear tree, about 100 yards from the Oak ; and this in itself, 
as we have seen, is an example of ave occurrence. 


328 


himself, but described it from a sketch which had been shewn to him by Mr. Hill, 
of Basingstoke. 


No. 6. Tue PrymoutH Oak.—On recent authority, that of Mr. Edwin 
Lees, as quoted by Mr. T. W. Giping in the Phytologist [vol. i. p. 151.] it grows 
in an Oak tree not far from Plymouth by the side of the South Devon Railway. 
A single bush grows in the topmost branches of a scraggy Oak tree. It is the 
first wood that occurs by railway north of Plymouth and two or three miles distant 
from that town. Iam unable to state whether this Oak is stil] in existence with 
the Mistletoe upon it. The authority for it however, is so good and so recent, 
that I am prepared to have faith in it. 


These are all the instances of the growth of the Viscum album on the Oak 
that I have been able to authenticate, or believe in, as existing at the present time. 
I fully thought to have been able to give some examples of Mistletoe Oaks in this 
paper, which had not been recorded before, but one after the other, they have all 
failed me, and I have had, on the contrary, to reduce those before known to this 
small number. 


I will now notice all the other instances which I have found recorded in books, 
and shall be able to shew that most of them have ceased to exist either from the 
removal of the Oaks, or the death of the Mistletoe in them.—The Frampton 
Mistletoe-bearing Oak, as one of the most recently discovered, shall head the list. 


In the third volume of Notes and Queries, Mr. Buckman states that Mr. 
Baker, the then President of the Cotteswold Field Club, and himself, were taken 
by Mr. Clifford, to see an Oak near Frampton-on-Severn, in which Mistletoe was 
growing. 


No. 7.—‘‘ The tree was a century old, and the branch, with a good bunch of 
Mistletoe on it, was about forty years old.” This example no longer exists. 
In answer to a letter of enquiry about it, Mr. Clifford of Frampton Court has 
politely written to say: ‘‘ A large party of us went to examine the Mistletoe Oak 
yesterday, and were sorry to find, that the branch of the tree on which it grew 
was decayed, and the Mistletoe dead. The tenant intends to observe whether 
the Mistletoe grows again upon it.” [April r9th, 1864].* 


* Mr. Clifford wrote again in 1866 that the Mistletoe had shot out from the trunk of the tree 
at the base of the dead bough. 


A FEW SUBSEQUENT RECORDS. 


No. 8. THE MisTLETOE OAK IN DEERFOLD ForEST, HEREFORDSHIRE, was discovered 
in 1869. See Transactions of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club, 1869, p. 15, where it is 
illustrated. 


No. 9. On an Oak at Tue HEeNpDRE, LLANGATTOCK, NEAR Usk. See illustrations in 
Transactions, 1870, p. 68 


No. 10. On an Oak aT Moccas, NEAR HEREFORD, half a mile west of Moccas Park. 
Discovered by Sir George Cornewall. Tvansactions, 1870, p. 317. 


No. 11. ON an OAK oN THE Moccas EsTaTE, on the west of Woodbury Hill ; also dis- 
covered by Sir George Cornewall. Transactions, 1903, p. 104. 


Since the date ofthis paper doubtless numerous other records have been found.— 
Foiror, 1907.] 


329 


JEssE in his “Scenes and Tales of Country Life’ [1844] states that 
Mistletoe then grew on an Oak, near Godalming in Surrey; at St. Dials, 
near Monmouth ; near Usk; and also at Penporthlenny, Goitre, Monmouthshire. 
I have been unable to learn the fate of the Godalming Oak, but through enquiries 
which have been made for me with great diligence and perseverance, I am able to 
state positively that the Mistletoe-bearing Oaks in the three Monmouthshire 
localities named, no longer exist. “ The Oak at St. Dials which bore Mistletoe, 
was cut down by the bailiff about twelve years since, and the owner of the estate, 
Sir Lionel Pilkington, dismissed him immediately for doing so.” The Mistletoe 
Oak near Usk, can be heard of up to five years since, and shortly afterwards it is 
reported to have been cut down with its neighbours. The loss of the Goitre ex- 
ample, is thus sadly accounted for by a gentleman who kindly wrote about it— 
“I remember about 25 years ago there was a very large bush of Mistletoe growing 
in an Oak in the parish of Goitre, but it was most sacrilegiously cut down and hung 
up over the President’s chair at the Cymrygyddian held at Abergavenny. I saw 
it there myself as, no doubt, hundreds of others did also.” *[J. M. N., April roth, 
1864.] 


In 1817, Mr. Dickson, at the Linnzan Society, stated that he had seen Mistle- 
toe growing in an Oak four miles from Maidstone, by the side of the Medway, 
but since this has never been recently confirmed, it has most probably ceased to 
exist. 


The late Mr. Loupoy, also, was shewn it in an Oakon the estate of the late 
Miss Woods of Shopwyke, near Chichester, but this tree can no longer be heard of. 
It has doubtless passed away with its observer, and the proprietor of the land it 
grew upon. 


Mr. Dovaston, in Loudon’s Magazine of Natural History, (Vol. v. p. 203) says 
he saw it at the Marquis of Anglesea’s Park, at Plas Newydd, Isle of Anglesea, 
“hanging almost over a very grand Druidical cromlech.”’ (Lees’ “ Botanical 
Looker Out’); but this not only wants recent confirmation, but is indeed denied 
by the statement in the same book, that Mistletoe is not now to be found on the 
Island. 


The following examples are interesting, though they have never been publicly 
recorded, nor are they any longer in existence :— 


The late Sir HuNcERForD Hosxyns, Bart., of Harewood, in this County, 
saw the Mistletoe growing on an Oak in the parish of St. Margarets, near Moor- 
hampton, and used to tell the anecdote that when staying at Moccas, he men- 
tioned the fact to Sir George Cornewall Bart.,, who would not believe it. As usual, 
in those days, a wager was to decide the point, and the next morning, both gentle- 
men rode off to the tree. Since Sir George paid the £10 we may be quite sure the 
Mistletoe was there upon the Oak, though it has never since been heard of. 


It formerly grew on an Oak in Rockingham Forest, near Moorshay Lawn, 
Northamptonshire, where the tree was notched for the convenience of climbing up 
to get the Mistletoe. (J. Percival Smith, Esq.) 


330 


It grew some years since on the lower bough of an Oak in the Vale of Neath, 
Glamorganshire, about two miles below Aberpergwm House, but the Oak was 
afterwards blown down in a storm. 


It grew on an Oak at Mersham Hatch near Ashford, Kent, where the tree 
was cut down: it grew on another Oak, at Ledbury, which was also cut down 
accidentally : and it also has grown upon several other Oaks, if the most positive 
statements of trustworthy intelligent people are to be relied on ; but it is unneces- 
sary now to mention them further, since they have never been noticed publicly, 
and are admitted no longer to exist. 


Mr. Epwin' Lees (Phytologist 1851, p. 357) thinks “‘ that Mistletoe occurs 
much more frequently on the Oak than is generally imagined, but that the instances 
are not made known.’ The present enquiry about it, gives a result precisely the 
reverse. The belief in its frequent occurrence is very general, it is the fact that 
fails. Many persons have seen it, and are sure of it, but no one can show the tree 
with the Mistletoe on it. Time after time have I followed up the most precise 
statements to my repeated disappointment. ‘“‘The Mistletoe on the Oak, 
writes an energetic searcher for it in Monmouthshire, is like a ghost, it vanishes 
into thin air when you try to grasp it; everybody has seen it long ago. but the 
tree is always cut down, or somehow or other the result is—nzl.”—Most wood- 
wards will tell you, and in good faith too, that they have seen it, and indeed will 
generally mention the exact tree, and the place where it grows, but the result of 
their further examination has always been the same: for some cause or other, 
the instance fails, and the Mistletoe can never be shewn on the Oak. The tree 
has been felled, or blown down, or it may be, the isolated bunch of wild ivy, or 
honeysuckle which deceived them, is revealed now the leaves are off the trees. 
Or perchance, where nothing is found, as most frequently happens, they have been 
misled by a cluster of small twigs from the Oak branch itself, and indeed, at certain 
periods of the year they do resemble Mistletoe more closely than would be 
credited by those who have not closely observed them. In some instances the 
mistake has arisen from one tree being intermingled with another, the Mistletoe 
bush is 7 the Oak tree, but it is found to be wpon a branch of Maple, or Thorn, 
or Apple tree. 


I cannot do better than insert here the following lively passage from the 
letter of one of our members. It shews at once, very graphically, his own zeal in 
the pursuit of science, and the caution essentially necessary in dealing with facts 
ofrare occurrence. I regret that the excellent sketch sent with it must be omitted. 
* You, of course, will be particular in verifying every case of its occurrence on the 
oak, and the following instance of my experience will only be valuable to you in 
proportion to your capacity to enjoying the spectacle of pain in others. After 
our Annual Meeting, I was staying with a friend whom I knew to have a very 
excellent practical acquaintance with Natural History. I asked if he had met 
with Mistletoe on the Oak. He at once said he knew of one example which he 
had discovered himself two years before. It was growing on a scraggy bush of 


331 


Oak that overhung the edge of a quarry in a coppice wood. I was glad to accept 
his offer to point it out to me and we made a special pilgrimage to see it. I was 
to climb and tear, and scuffle through the underwood and briars so as to come 
round on the top over the brink of the quarry, whilst my friend remained below to 
point out the position—with difficulty I got there, creeping down on all fours—and 
there sure enough it was, as pretty and healthy a bunch of Mistletoe as I ever saw. 
I thought I would have a specimen, not quite believing my own eyes (though both 
would have made affidavit of its genuineness on the spot); with much trouble and 
care, at length I got hold of the branch and was immediately struck by something 
unusual in the colour of the bark (the leaves were not out) so I at once tasted and 
found it Apple; one single small branch was growing out from under the stock 
of this Oak bush, the exact counterpart of all the other shoots. My disappoint- 
ment you may conceive, but not the chagrin of my kind guide who had treasured 
up for two years the knowledge of this magnificent ‘‘ find,”’ and in his own parish 
too!” 


A writer in the Quarterly Review (Vol. 114 p. 219) speaks of the Mistletoe as 
“ deserting the Oak ’’ in modern times. ‘‘ It is now so rarely found on that tree, 
as to have led to the suggestion that we must look for the Mistletoe of the 
Druids, not in the Viscum album of our own trees and orchards, but in the 
Loranthus Europzus, an allied parasite, which is frequently found growing on 
Oaks in the south of Europe.” A very unnecessary confusion it seems to me, 
has been created between the plants, and I purposely avoid entering further into 
the subject for the reason given in the Review. ‘“‘ There is no proof that the 
Loranthus ever grew further North than at present ; whilst the Mistletoe figures 
not only in the traditions of the Celts, but also in those of Northern nations, as will 
be shown in the next section. 


IV. Tue ROMANCE OF THE MISTLETOE. 


“When the Romans first invaded Britain,” says Dr. Henry (Hist. of Gt. 
Britain, Vol. I. p. 136), “‘ the inhabitants of it were famous, even among foreign 
nations, for their superior knowledge of the principles, and their great zeal for the 
rites of their religion. This circumstance we learn from the best authority, the 
writings of that illustrious and observing gen: ral Julius Caesar, who informs us: 
“that such of the Gauls as were desirous of being thoroughly instructed in the 
principles of their religion (which was the same with that of the Britons) usually 
took a journey into Britain for that purpose ” (Cesar de Bel. Gal. lib. vii. c. xiii.) 
and he then goes on to shew its antiquity—that its first and purest principles had 
descended with the language from Gomer, the eldest son of Japhet, from whom the 
Gauls, Britons, and all other Celtic nations derived their origin (Pezron Antiq: 
Celt. c. iii.), but that by tradition it had degenerated into “‘ an absurd, wicked, 
and cruel superstition.” 


Mr. Davies in his learned work on the “ Mythology and Rites of the British 
Druids,”’ has endeavoured to trace out “ the threads of connection ” between the 
Druidical and Patriarchal religion, from the writings of the ancient Celtic Bards, 


332 


Taliesin, Aneurin, Llywarch, Hén, Merddin, &c., who were themselves professed 
Druids. One of these old poems, the ‘‘ Chair of Taliesin ’’ (Kadeir Taliesin*) furnishes 
a long list of the apparatus requisite for the due celebration of the feast of the Cerid- 
wen, and there we find the Mistletoe mentioned as one of the ingredients of the 
celebrated ‘‘ Mystical Cauldron’ which was always prepared with the most careful 
and elaborate ceremony. From this Cauldron, Genius, Inspiration, Science, 
and Immortality, were supposed to be derived. ‘‘It purified the votaries of 
Druidism for the celebration of certain mystical Rites which commemorated the 
preservation of mankind in the ark, and the great renovation of nature.” I give 
the passage in the poem, with Mr. Davies’ literal translation, and the explanatory 
note he has appended to it. 


“* Dawn ei lif Dofydd 

Neu pren puraurf fydd 
Ffirwythlawn ei gynnydd 
Rei ias berwidydd 

Oedd uch pair pumwydd.” 


(Kadeir Taliesin.) 


“a flood which has the gift of Dovydd, or the tree of pure gold which becomes of a 
fri\ctifying quality, when that Brewer gives it a boiling who presided over the 
cauldron of the five plants.” 


There is no mention made in the poem of any particular tree, from which the 
Mistletoe was to be gathered, nor of the ceremony requisite for so doing, but there 
can be little doubt from other authorities, that it must have been from the Oak. 
““Nor must the admiration of the Gauls for the Mistletoe be unnoticed,” says 
Pliny. ‘‘ The Druids (thus they call their chief-priests) hold nothing in greater 
veneration than the Mistletoe, and the tree on which it grows, provided only, 
that it be the Oak. They select groves of Oak trees, standing by themselves, and 
perform no sacred ceremonies without green oak foliage. Indeed, they truly 
believe, that whenever the Mistletoe grows upon the Oak, it has been sent from 
heaven, and they consider it a sign of a chosen tree.t But the Mistletoe is very 
rarely found upon the Oak. When it is discovered, they proceed to collect it with 
very great devotion and ceremony, and especially on the sixth day of the Moon. 
This period of the Moon’s age, when it has sufficient size without having attained 


* This poem Mr. Davies thinks from internal evidence, dates ‘‘ long before the sixth century, 
in an age when the Britons were acquainted with the Romans, but whilst Rome itself as yet was 
Pagan. Nota single Christian idea is introduced : on the contrary, we find an open profession 
of worshipping the Moon, in a general concourse of men, and the lore of the Diuids is declared 
to be meet tor Sovereign princes.” (p. 280.) 


t Nore.—" Pren Puraur, the tree of pure gold—the Mistletoe—Virgil's Aurum frondens, and 
ramus aureus—which the Arch-Druid gathered with a golden hook. Amongst the extraordinary 
reported virtues of this plant, was that mentioned by our Bard, of promoting the increase of the 
species, or preventing sterility. The names of the Mistletoe in the Welsh language preserve the 
memorial of its ancient dignity. Itis called Pxex Awyr, the Etherial tree; Pren Uchelvar, 
tr e of the high summit ; and has four other names derived from Uched, or lofty.” (page 280.) 


t Mr. Davies in his Celtic researches says that ‘‘the Apple was the next most sacred tree to 
the Oak. and that orchards were planted in the vicinity of the sacred groves.” (Mr. Lees in 
Phytologist, 1851, p. 357.) But in his ‘‘ Botanical Looker Out” it is said that Mistletoe from 
ee Hazel was prened by the Druids, next to that from the Oak, but on what authorityI 

now not. 


333 


the half of its fulness—makes the beginning of their months, and vears, and ot 
an age, which consists but of thirty years.” (C. Plinii Nat. His. lib. xvi. c. 44-) 


The grand ceremony of cutting the Mistletoe from the Oak, was the New- 
year’s day festival of the ancient Britons, and it was held on the sixth day of the 
moon, as near to the roth of March, as the age of the Moon permitted. The New- 
year’s day festival of our forefathers would have fallen, this present year, on the 
14th of March, and if we, and the Eastnor Oak with its fine luxuriant bunches of 
Mistletoe, could throw ourselves back into history some 2000 or 3000 years, this 
grand festival would have been held last Monday, anc we should now, doubtless, 
have been discussing the events of the day. The exact proceedings of the Druids 
on this great Annual Festival are thus described by Pliny. “Calling the Mistle- 
toe in their manner of speaking—a cure-all (or all-heal), and having got the sacri- 
fices, and the good things for the feast, all properly ready under the tree, they 
lead up two white bulls, and begin by tying them by their horns to the tree. The 
Arch-Druid, clothed in a white robe, then mounts the tree, and cuts the Mistletoe 
with a golden sickle. It is caught as it falls in a white cloth. Then they offer up 
the victims as a sacrifice, praying that God would make His gift prosperous to 
those to whom it had been presented. They believed it would give fruitfulness 
to all barren animals, and would act as a remedy against all poisons.” (zbid.) 


The animals were killed, cut up, and cooked, meantime prayers were offered 
up ; hymns were sung ; and the heaven-born plant, thus carefully saved from 
pollution by any touch of the earth, was distributed in small sprigs amongst the 
people, as a sacred relic for the new year ; a charm to ensure fecundity ; a panacea 
against every disease ; a remedy for poisons ; anda safe protection against witch- 
craft, and the possession of the devil. Many a good wife has travelled for days, 
perchance, on a pillion behind her husband, through bogs and fords, and over 
wide tracts of uncultivated land and primeval forest, to attend this festival ; 
leading a sumpter horse, laden with their offerings to the priesthood, and all the 
good things they could muster for the festival ; venison and salmon ; roasted 
bustards and boars’ hams, with cakes and other delicacies ; not forgetting some 
well filled skins of Metheglin, or mead: happy, in being able, as a recompense 
for so much toil, to procure from the hand of the Arch-Druid, for herself and her 
husband, so many blessings in the coming year.* 


The memory of the Druidical ceremonies is still kept up in Normandy, as 
they give the Mistletoe to each other on new year’s-day, by the saying “ Au guy 
Yan neuf,” and in Picardy they add the word ‘“‘ plantez”’ to wish a plentiful and 
prosperous new year to each other. (Chambers’ Encyclopedia.) 


+ “Vou recognise amongst the Druids the conditions of all primeval people, as they are 
found in the East amongst the Egyptians, the Israelites, &c. They had combined completely 
in themselves the whole conduct and rule of the people as the Priest-physicians, and many of 
their customs accorded fully with those of the East. The Druids communicated their funda- 
mental doctrines and customs only to the initiated whom they taught in sacred groves and 
remote places. (Caesar lib. iii., c14.) In the exercise of the sacred services, the Druids, like the 
Egyptians and the Pythagoreans, were clad in a whiterobe. They healed sicknesses and diseases 
by magical practices, while they professed to have intercourse with the Gods ; they proclaimed 
future events ; they were also acquainted with the means of producing ecstasy, and asone of the 
most excellent magical means—and as one adapted to nearly all possible cases—they used the 
Mistletoe of the Oak, which they gathered at certain times and with certain ceremonies.’ 
(Ennemoser’s History of Magic, Vol. ii., p. 87, translated by Mary Howitt. 


334 


The Mistletoe has entered into the Mythology of other nations besides the 
Britons and Gauls. The fact of its great peculiarity in ripening its fruit and thus 
coming to its perfection in the winter solstice, has been very happily rendered in 
Icelandic poetry, where Baldur, the Sun, is supposed to be slain by a sprig of 
Mistletoe, as the only plant capable of injuring him. In the poem of Voluspa, 
or visions ot Vala, in the Edda of Semund, Vala tells of the death of Baldur in the 
following stanza, translated from the French of M. Bergmann :— 


‘*T foresaw for Baldur, for that bloody victim, 

For that son of Odin, the destiny reserved for him : 

He was raising in a charming valley 

A tender and beautiful Mistletoe. 

From that stalk, which appeared so tender, grew 

The fatal arrow of bitterness, that Hoder took upon himself to dart.” 


(Madame Ida Pfeiffer’s “* Visit to Iceland,” p. 329.) 


But the idea is so much more fully and beautifully expressed in the legend 
on the death of Baldur, given in the tale of ‘“‘ The Young Norseman,” by Mr. W. 
B. Rands, which appeared in the ‘‘ Boy’s Own Volume,” that I attach it entire, 
as an appendix to this paper.* 


“More than one sword of a Northern Champion was named ‘ Mistilteinn,’ 
after the weapon which had slain the white god. The story affords one of many 
points of resemblance between the mythology of Northern Europe, and those of 
Persia and the far East. In the Shah Naméh, the hero of Asfendiar is represented 
as invulnerable, except by a branch from a tree growing on the remotest shore of 
the ocean. Desthan his enemy found it, hardened it with fire, and killed the hero. 
Both legends possibly refer to the ‘death’ of the Sun; perishing in his youthful 
vigour, either at the end of a day struck by the powers of darkness, or at the end of 
the sunny season stung by the thorns of winter.” (Max Muller’s ‘‘ Comparative 
Mythology ” in Oxford Essays for 1856.) “* The * Marentakken,’ or ‘ branch of 
spectres ’ which still in Holstein is believed to confer the power of ghost-seeing on 
its possessor, is unquestionably the true Viscum album.’’—(Quarterly Review, 
Vol. 114, p- 220.) 


It is very difficult to trace down in history the customs relative to the Mistle- 
toe, after the overthrow of the Druidical ceremonies in which it played so impor- 
tant a part. We know that in more serious matters—superstitions of deeper 
import, and more injurious tendency,—our stubborn ancestors resisted for many 
centuries all attempts to set them aside: ‘“‘so deeply rooted” says Dr. Henry, 
“were these pernicious principles and superstitious practices in the minds of the 
people, both of Gaul and Britain, that they not only baffled all the powers of the 
Romans, but even resisted the superior power and divine light of the Gospel for a 


long time after they had embraced the Christian Religion. This is the reason we 
iT rrr Sree nEEEEeeeEn 

+The Mistletoe, Trefoil, Oak, and Wheat form the Bardic emblems of the four seasons, and, 
as such, the Mistletoe was figured on the jewelled National Token, given by the Ladies of South 
Wales to the Princess of Wales. (Illustrated London News March sth 1863.) 


355 


meet with so many edicts of Emperors, and Canons of Councils in the sixth, 
seventh, and eighth centuries against them, and even so late as in the eleventh 
century, in the reign of Canute it was found necessary to make the following law 
against these heathenish superstitions. ‘‘ We strictly discharge and forbid al! our 
subjects to worship the Gods ot the Gentiles ; that is to say, the Sun, the Moon, 
fires, rivers, fountains, hills, or trees, or woods of any kind.” (Leges Politice 
Canuti Regis, c. 5. apud Lendenbrog in glossar, p. 1473-) 


It is not likely that the Mistletoe could possibly escape the effect of so much 
authoritative denunciation. As the object of the New-year’s day festival, it had 
become a sign of the religion itself ; and the very mention of its name and certainly 
of the virtues attributed to it with so much pomp and ceremony, would be strongly 
condemned. The Mistletoe, however, was not thus to be lightly set aside. Laws 
might denounce it, as an emblem of Paganism, but no power could prevent its 
private use. It had become a household, or rather, perhaps, a personal mark of 
the religious faith of the people. The belief in the chief virtue given to it so 
solemnly, was a part of their religion itself, and the more it was denounced, the 
more strongly would it maintain a place in their faith. 


When at length the Old Style of computing time had passed away, with the 
Druidical Priesthood, and their ceremonies, and the New Style had become estab- 
lished, the sixth day of the moon’s age must obviously have lost more and more 
of its significance. As the people became accustomed to the change in their New- 
year’s day, we can readily imagine that the Mistletoe would become-associated 
with the change, as still the sacred charm for prosperity in the coming year, and 
the cherished symbol of their old superstitious festivities. 


Medical writers of all times seem to have regarded the belief in the fertilising 
powers of the Mistletoe, as a mere fanatical superstition and unworthy of scientific 
notice. Hippocrates, Dioscorides, Galen, Matthiolus, Paracelsus, Kolderer, 
Cartheuser, Colbatch, Loseke, Van Swieten, &c., &c., whilst they extol its virtues, 
as a remedy for Epilepsy in chief, and also for Paralysis, Chorea, Hysteria, and 
other Nervous, and Convulsive diseases ;—and the glutinous matter of the berries 
for external uses—say nothing whatever of any more special virtue. Even in 
Epilepsy, says Pliny, “‘ Quidam id religione efficacius fieri putant, prima Luna 
collectum e robore sine ferro. Si terram non attigit, comitialibus mederi.” (p. 
442.)* 


The real properties of the plant itself are those of a slight tonic. (Barton 
and Castle British Flora Medica, Vol. ii. p. 146.) The leaves and shoots have an 


* What is the Mistletoe good for? I asked ofa man learned in country customs, and great 
in faith. ‘‘ That do depend on what tree it comes from,” he answered. ‘*It be a very fine thing 
for fits. My father had the Leptic fits for many years afore he died. He tried almost all the 
Doctors in Hereford, and the Infirmary too, but nothing did him so much good as Mistletoe 
from the Haw, mixed with Woodlaurel. and he took nothing else. Sometimes he took it in 
powder, with honey, and sometimes made a teaofit. Then my daughter took Mistletoe for the 
Sterricks but it didn’t cure her ; so may be, it was not the right sort. They do tell me that 
Mistletoe from the Maiden Ash be a fine thing tor Convulsives, but I never had much to do with 
giving it to people. I know when you get it from the Mawpell it’s good for animals. It’s 
capital for sheep when they don’t go on weil at lambing time, and for cows too. That as comes 
from the Apple tree and Poplins is the best to hang up in the house on New years day for good 
luck through the year, but a many people use any that comes first.” 


336 


- astringent and rather bitter taste, and “strong extracts made from them are 
nauseous, bitterish, and sub-austere.’’ (Lewis’s Mat. Medica, p. 575.) The 
berries are reputed to act as a purgative, and are even now sometimes given to 
sheep for this purpose. 


In Prussia in times of great scarcity the branches and leaves of the Mistletoe 
have been used, says Bock (Nat. His. of Prussia, Vol. iii. p. 367) powdered and 
mixed with rye flour, to make bread, which is by no means unwholesome. In this 
County before turnips were so abundantly grown, the plant used regularly to be 
given to sheep in frosty or snowy weather. 


“Tf snowe do continue, sheepe hardly that fare 
Crave mistle and ivie for them for to spare.” 


(Tusser’s Husbandry.) 


There can be no question, however, that the chief virtue ascribed to Mistle 
toe from the Oak by the Druids was the “ fructifying quality,’’ as Taliesin has it, 
or of giving “‘ fertility to all animals ” as described by Pliny ; and it was for this 
virtue, when worn as an amulet, or when drunk in infusion, that the sprig of 
Mistletoe was so anxiously sought from the hands of the Arch-Druid on the New 
year’s day festival. It is always necessary to remember this in endeavouring 
to trace down the domestic history of the Mistletoe in succeeding ages. It ex- 
plains fully the personal hold it had gained in the esteem of the people—and its 
continued private use in spite of all opposition. Though books ceased to mention 
it, tradition would perpetuate its use, and it will be shewn presently to have done 
so, even to our day. 


This peculiar virtue may perhaps serve to explain some points with regard 
to it, which have not been otherwise satisfactorily accounted for. “In one of 
Colepeper’s MSS. at the British Museum in a curious notice of Sir Peter Fresch- 
ville’s house at Stavely, Derbyshire, is this passage: ‘‘ Heare my Lord Fresch- 
ville did live, and heare grows the famous Mistletoe tree, the only oake in Eng- 
land that bears Mistletoe, * and to this tree the following letter from The Countess 
of Danby to Mrs. Colepeper probably refers. It is without date, but was written 
between the years 1663 and 1682. 


“Dear Cozen, 


Pray if you have any of the Miselto of yor fathers oke, oblidge 
me so far as to send sum of it to 


yor most affectionat servant 
Bridget Danby.” 


(N. & Q. Vol. vii. p. 119., Ist-s.) 
Let us hope that the Countess’s desires were fulfilled in all respects ! 


~The remains of the Oak still exist, and the Mistletoe was there in 1803, but it has long 
since disappeared. 


337 


It has occurred to me whether the “‘ fructifying virtue,” given to the Mistletoe 
by the Druids might not explain, in part, why the Mistletoe should never have 
been generally used in decorating our Churches. Asa symbol of the Paganism 
of the Druids, its significance has passed away centuries since ; and if this were the 
objection to its use, the Holly also should be rejected. ‘‘ The Holly,” says Shirley 
Hibberd (Notes & Queries rst ser. Vol. v. p. 208), “‘ owes also its importance in 
the Christmas festivities to Paganism. The Romans dedicated the Holly to 
Saturn, whose festival was held in December ; and the early Christians, to screen 
themselves from persecution, decked their houses with its branches during their 
own celebration of the Nativity.” It may be, however, that the fact of the Mistle- 
toe being the especial emblem of the New-year’s-day festivities, has prevented its 
use for Christmas decoration : or it may be also, I must add, that this favourite 
parasite has taken too prominent a place in the rejeicings of the kitchen, to secure 
for itself a place in the church. 


For a time, indeed, it seems to have been used in decking the church, the poet 
Gay (Trivia, Book ii. p. 437), thus refers to it :— 


“When rosemary and bays, the poets crown, 
Are bawl’d in frequent cries through all the town ; 
Then judge the festival of Christmas near,— 
Christmas, the joyous period of the year ; 

Now with bright holly all the temples strow, 
With laurel green and sacred Mistletoe.” 


> 


““It seems something like caprice,” says a writer in the Quarterly Review, 
“which has excluded the Mistletoe as well from the decorations of our Churches 
at present, as from their ancient sculpture and carvings. We know of one instance 
only of its occurrence—Sprays of Mistletoe, with leaf and berry, fill the spandrels 
of one of the very remarkable tombs in Bristol Cathedral, which were probably 
designed by some artist monk in the household of the Berkeleys, whose ample and 
broad lands are among the chief glories of the west Country, in which the Mistle- 
toe is now for the most part found.’”’ We do not remember to have seen it else- 
where, even lurking among quaint devices of ‘ Miserere ’ ; whilst the Oak—every 
portion of which, in the days of Celtic heathenism, was almost as sacred as the 
Mistletoe which grew on it—was one of the principal trees ‘ studied ’ by medieval 
sculptors, when, during the so-called ‘ Decorated’ period, they reproduced leaf 
and flower with such exquisite beauty and fidelity—witness the oak leaves laid 
into the panels of the Cantilupe shrine at Hereford, or the twisted sprays of oak, 
clustered with acorns, which form one of the most graceful corbels in the choir of 
Exeter Cathedral.” (Quarterly Review, Vol. 114, p. 220.) 


“Certain it is,” says a writer in Notes and Queries (Vol. vi. p. 523, N.S.), ‘that 
Mistletoe formerly had place amongst Christmas decorations of Churches, but 
was afterwards excluded. In the earlier ages of the Church many festivities not 
tending to edification had crept in—mutual kissing amongst the number—but as 
this soon led to indecorum, kissing and Mistletoe were both properly bundled out 
of the Church.” (Hone. Hook. Moroni. Bescherelle. Du Cange. &c., &c.) 


338 


Mr. Edwin Lees, says quaintly in one of his books, * “ the Druids thought 
the Mistletoe would cure everything, we only think it worth . . a kiss.” When 
it received this specific valuation seems a mystery. ‘‘ Why Roger claims the 
privilege to kiss Margery under the Mistletoe at Christmas,”’ says the learned 
Editor of Notes and Queries, “‘ appears to have baffled our Antiquaries.” Brand 
states that this Druidic plant never entered our sacred edifices but by mistake, and 
consequently assigns it a place in the kitchen, where, he says, it was hung up in 
great state with its white berries, and whatever female chanced to stand under it, 
the young man present either had a right, or claimed one, of saluting her, and of 
plucking off a berry at each kiss. Nares, however, makes it rather ominous for 
the fair sex not to be saluted under the famed Viscum album. He says the 
custom longest preserved, was the hanging up of the bunch of Mistletoe in the 
kitchen, or servants’ hall, with the charm attached to it, that the maid who was 
not kissed under it at Christmas, would not be married in that year.’ (1sts., Vol. 
v. p. 13.) Mr. Shirley Hibberd thinks this account altogether unsatisfactory. 
** Would it be not more reasonable,” he says, ‘“‘ to refer it to the Scandinavian 
mythology, wherein the Mistletoe is dedicated to Friga, the Venus of the Scan- 
dinavians.”’ (Ibid p. 208.) It seems rather doubtful whether this custom would 
be likely to originate in any deduction from ‘“‘ reason” at all; and I am quite 
sure the privilege could not rightly be claimed on Christmas Day. The only other 
suggestion that offers itself is, that tradition should have handed down this 
pleasant ceremony from the New-year’s day festivities of Druidical times. If it 
be not so, where history is silent, and antiquaries at fault, we are only left to sup- 
pose the present existence of some mutual attraction—given, the feasting and 
festivities below stairs—and the conduct of Roger and Margery seems natural 


enough. fT 


Herefordshire may be considered the centre of the Mistletoe district of Eng- 
land ; with Shropshire to the North, and Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, and 
Monmouthshire, to the East, South, and West: and when, moreover, it is con- 
sidered, how comparatively isolated its situation was before the introduction of 
Railways, here we might expect to find remaining, if anywhere, the existence of a 
belief in its special Druidical repute, and here—though authors for centuries have 
ceased to mention it—it still does exist. It is somewhat altered in character, as 
might be expected. I have asked the question of many old agriculturists and 
people learned in country customs, ‘Is the Mistletoe ever used for any purpose 
now’? and it is a fact that the one answer I have had from every single person 
has been “‘ Yes, it is an excellent thing to give sheep after lambing,’’ and some add, 
a ee 


*“ Pictures of Nature,” around Malvern Hills and the Vale of Severn—a book that every 
lover of nature, who has seen or known the hills, must rejoice in possessing. It deserves to be 
much more freely illustrated when it could not fail to be still more generally attractive. 


+ Hone, in his ‘‘ Every Day Book,” relates a discussion which took place at a Christmas 
party, as to which might be the great and crowning glory of Christmas festivity. One said 
‘* mince pie” ; another said ‘‘ beef and plum pudding” ; some said “‘ wassail-bowl” ; but a fair 
maiden blushingly suggested “‘ the Mistletoe.” (Notes and Queries, Vol. vi.) 


“‘ But when Mistletoe is not to be obtained” says Halliwell ‘‘ the kissing-dunch,” a garland 
of evergreens, ornamented with ribbons and oranges, may be substituted for it at Christmas.” 


(Ibid.). 


339 


‘and for cows too after calving.” * I have several times been told that it must 
not on any account be given to them before, and know that accidents in the 
families of our domestic Animals are sometimes attributed to its having been 
eaten prematurely. I may say indeed, with truth, that it is a common practice 
in this county now to give it to sheep at this particular time. It is true that the 
Mistletoe is a gentle tonic, that the animals like it, and will often eat something 
fresh and green when they will not take anything else, but it is very remarkable 
that it should only be given to them on this occasion, and never for weakness pro- 
duced from any other cause. Tradition has somewhat altered its original Druidi- 
cal repute if it be so, but the common practice still bears so close a relation to the 
‘*increase of the species,” that I cannot but regard the general belief in its 
efficacy in this special way, as a very singular and interesting example of Druidical 
influence carried down, century after century, for nearly 2000 years. The fact of 
its taking, in our day, a somewhat modified form, only strengthens the probability 
that this supposition is correct. 


The Mistletoe still holds well its place in the esteem of the people, if not in 
their veneration. There is scarcely a house or cottage in this county that has not 
its bunch of Mistletoe for New-year’s day. The ancient custom is still observed 
aright in most of the farm houses through the County, by all the old true Here- 
fordshire inhabitants ; and especially by the lower classes. The Mistletoe bough 
is cut on New-year’s Eve, and hung up in state as the clock strikes twelve ; the 
old one, which has hung throughout the year, is at the same time taken down and 


burnt.t 


The Mistletoe does not appear to have been considered a Christmas evergreen 
until the close of the sixteenth or the beginning of the seventeenth century. ‘‘ We 


have Christmas Carols in praise of Holly and Ivy,’ says Timbs (‘‘ Things not 


* For giving to Cows, the popular belief is that it should be gathered from the Hawthorn or 
Maple. It was from a woodman near Ledbury that I first heard of the continued existence of 
this use for Mistletoe. ‘‘ Mistletoe aint of much use now Sir, as I knows on,” said he, ‘‘ except 
for one thing and thenit do beat everything. A pieceof Mistletoe from the Haw,—from the 
Haw Sir,” he repeated, ‘* chopped in pieces and given to a Cow after calving, will do her more 
good nor any drench you can give her,” and this has been confirmed from other parts of the 
County. Sir Thomas Browne (‘‘ Vulgar Errors,” Book ii. c. 6) also states that it is a common 
country practice to give Mistletoe to Cowsat this particular time. 


“© 4 Worcestershire Farmer,’’ says Cuthbert Bede, “‘ was accustomed to take down his bough 
of Mistletoe, and give it to the Cow that calved first afler New-year's day, which was supposed 
to ensure luck throughout the year to the whole dairy. (N. & Q. Vol. iii. p. 313.) 


+ ‘*The Mistletoe bough,” says Mr. Haywood. of Worcester, ‘should always be gathered 
by the last male domestic that has entered the family. It is then dressed with nuts, apples, 
ribbons, &c., and suspended in the centre of the room, sometimes with a cord attached toa 
pulley, to allow of its being lowered for the lady to pick a berry. The berry should then be 
thrown over the left shoulder, I once saw, at an old mansion near Worcester, a large bunch of 
Mistletoe beautifully bedecked, and so cleverly suspended, that by means of strings it could be 
pulled to any part of the ceiling, and thus be brought over the heads of any ladies who could not 
be induced to go under it.” The proper time for hanging up the Mistletoe however, Mr. 
Haywood states, very decidedly, to be Cxvistmas Day, by Worcestershire custom—thus giving 
very clear proof ofa border district for Mistletoe, where the true traditions with regard to it 
have been lost at a much earlier period than in the centre. ‘‘ This is the common custom of 
North Worcestershire to this day.” Mr. Haywood goes on to say, “‘and it is also usual tokeep 
part of the Mistletoe bough used at Christmas in the house until the following Christmas, when 
the new one is broughtin and the old one burnt. It is said to be most wonderfully efficacious in 
expelling witches and keeping hobgoblins away. I know a poor woman, upwards of 70 years of 
age, who walked two miles for a bit to put in some ‘‘droathens” for her pig that had been 
bewitched by a bad neighbour. I saw her with it, and laughed at her credulity: but she was 
not to be shaken in her faith. I afterwards found that the pig recovered and made a good one.’ 


340 


generally known,” 1st series p. 159), of even earlier date than the fifteenth century ; 
but allusion to Mistletoe as a Christmas evergreen can scarcely be found for two 
centuries later, or before the time of Herrick :— 


“Down with the rosemary, and so, 
Down with the baies and mistletoe ; 
Down with the holly, ivie, all, 
Wherewith ye dressed the Christmas Hall.” 


Coles in his ‘‘ Knowledge of Plants,”’ (1656), says of Mistletoe: ‘‘ It is carried . 
many miles to set up in houses about Christmas time, when it is adorned with a 
white glistening berry,” and in the tract “‘ Round about our Coal fire, or Christmas 
Entertainments,” published early in the last century, it is said ‘‘ the rooms were 
embowered with holly, ivy, cypress, bays, laurel, and mistletoe ; and a bouncing 
Christmas log in the chimney.” 


** Kissing a fair one under the Mistletoe,’ says Timbs, ‘‘ and wishing her a 
happy new year, as you present her with one of the berries for luck, is the 
Christmas custom of our times ; and in some places persons try lots for the bough 
with most berries, by the crackling of leaves and berries in the fire’ :—this 
conclusion is certainly inconsistent, and tends itself to prove the new-year 
character of the Mistletoe. 


Gay’s description has already been given, and many more might be added to 
shew it a Christmas evergreen in later times, but it is unnecessary, since they are 
chiefly written by authors who were not acquainted with Mistletoe lore. They 
lived beyond the range of true Mistletoe customs ; where the plant did not grow 
naturally, or only very sparingly; and where, consequently, there were no 
traditions existing amongst the common people with reference to it. 


The old new-year’s-day custom, indeed, is rapidly changing,—even here, 
in the very centre of the Mistletoe district—and where, as I have shown, its tradi- 
tions endure so tenaciously. Partly from lapse of time, perhaps, but chiefly from 
change of inhabitants, the Mistletoe is changing its character as a symbol] of new- 
year’s-day, to take its place with the holly, as an emblem of the festivities of Christ- 
mas. 


No man, perhaps, has done more to effect this change, than he, who of all 
modern writers would the most regret it—Sir Walter Scott.—Great lover as he 
was of folk-lore, and the traditions of the people, he was quite ignorant of the 
history, and legendary lore of the Mistletoe. His spirited description of Christ- 
mas-tide, in the introduction to the sixth Canto of Marmion, ever hangs on the 
memory :— 

England was merry England, when 

Old Christmas brought his sports again. 
*Twas Christmas broached the mightiest ale ; 
*Twas Christmas told the merriest tale ; 

A Christmas gambol oft would cheer 

The poor man’s heart through half the year. 


341 


On Christmas eve the bells were rung ; 
On Christmas eve the mass was sung. 


Ce 


The damsel donn’d her kirtle sheen ; 
The hall was dressed with holly green, 
Forth to the wood did merry men go 
To gather in the Mistletoe.” 


Had a single sprig of Mistletoe grown in the domain of Abbotsford, we may 
safely say that the two last lines would never have been written. Who can wonder 
that lesser writers should follow, year by year, with increasing devotedness, in the 
same track. One of these productions it behoves me to notice for the very name 
it bears, and the popularity it has gained, albeit, the song of ‘‘ The Mistletoe 
Bough,” does injustice to the plant itself ; is a modern-antique of a mild order ; 
and worse than all, owes its renown and its interest, to an unacknowledged 
plagiarism ; = 
“The Mistletoe hung in the Castle hall, 

The holly branch shone on the old oak wall, 
The Baron’s retainers were blythe and gay 
Keeping their Christmas holiday.” 


The burden of the song—which has made most of us tremble with horror—is the 
tale of Genevra, the bride, shut up in the old oak chest, from Rogers’ “‘ Italy.” 


In the Midland and Northern Counties the Mistletoe is very rare, and it could 
not be expected that its traditions should be known. Nevertheless theinterest 
in this plant is so universal, that this deficiency—like many of another kind—has 
been met by the improved means of transit in modern times. The Mistletoe has 
now actually become an established export from this County, and there perhaps 
never was a year when so many people rejoiced in its presence at their Christmas 
festivities as during that which has just passed. Through the politeness of the 
Traffic Managers for the Great Western, and London and North Western Railways 
at Hereford (Messrs. Wall and Cartwright), I am enabled to give you an approxi- 
mation towards the correct return of the quantity of Mistletoe actually sent out of 
this County last December. The exact returns are as follows :— 


Tons. Cwt. Qrs. 


Hereford sent off aa me 3. 25 fo) fe) 
Withington a it Se “ee ¥ I5 to) 
Ledbury .. a ae we re 15 2 3 
Moreton .. 4c Hc ae od 2 II I 
Dinmore .. 4é a a aa 3 3 fo) 
Leominster AP ae ac Me I2 I4 fe) 
Berrington ae oe ats ee fo) 16 ° 
Woofferton ai ae re oe a fo) fo) 
Ludlow .. ate se an ee I 3 
Ross we a “fe <0 oe I5 ° fe) 
Moorhampton .. ee ae ee 5 fe) fo) 


342 


making a total of eighty-nine tons, three hundred weight, and three quarters, 
actually sent off by invoice. But the guards and engine-drivers had the privilege 
of exporting Mistletoe on their own account, and did so by almost every train that 
left the County during the early part of December. An immense quantity went 
off in this way, and I am told that I greatly under-estimate it, when I put it down 


at 25 tons in addition—thus making a grand total of more than one hundred and 
fourteen tons. 


The places to which it was chiefly sent were Manchester and Liverpool,—for 
their supply, and that of Towns further north—London—and Birmingham. 


The established price paid for it, when delivered at the stations, was from four 
to five shillings per cwt. according toits condition; and the average rate of charge 
for the transit was about thirty shillings per ton; so that the whole expense of 
delivery may be said to be from five to six pounds ten shillings per ton.* 


I have purposely given you all these details; they are distinctive of the age 
in which we live. It isa practical, commercial, unpoetical period, when trains 
will wait for neither the peer nor the peasant ; and when common-place railway 
trucks carry off romance—in the shape of Mistletoe—at so much per ton! Had 
good Sir Walter Scott lived in these days, it would never have occurred to him 
to send his ‘“‘merry men” to the ‘‘woods”’ for it—where, by the way, they would 
never have found it—but the Mistletoe none the less, would have reached him; 
and if he had chanced to look over his greengrocer’s bill, he would, doubtless, 
have found some such items as these: 


To a bunch of Mistletoe, fine and full of berries {1 0 o 
To pieces of ditto ditto, for decoration On Gano 


There only remains for me the pleasant duty of thanking those gentlemen 
who have so kindly answered my enquiries and given me so much information. 
To the Rev. F. T. Havergal, I am indebted for the opportunity of consulting the 
books in our valuable Cathedral Library: Thomas Blashill, jun., Esq., has been 
most useful to me in looking up authorities in the British Museum and in other 
ways: The Rev. Thomas Woodhouse has been a greater help to me than he would 
be willing to allow, for an example, see Appendix B. The Rev. Thomas 
Hutchinson, the Rev. W. H. Purchas, Dr. Willis, of Monmouth; Elmes Y. 
Steele, Esq., Abergavenny; and our Honorary Secretary,]R. M. Lingwood, Esq., 
have kindly assisted me in various ways. Mr. Adams, of Marden, has taken 
much trouble in his enquiries forme, as has been acknowledged previously. 
Flavell Edmunds, Esq., has given me much information on divers subjects: and 


* “© Many people would be greatly amazed,” says Mr. Haywood, “‘ were they to stand on 
Worcester bridge fora short time, any Market day a few weeks before Christmas, from about 
six to nine o'clock in the morning. They would see vehicles of every description, from the 
largest waggon down to the donkey cart and wheel-barrow, loaded as high as can be piled with 
the “hallowed mirth-inspiring Mistletoe.” All this is eagerly bought up by men called 
‘ Padgers,’ who pack it in casks or crates, and send it off to decorate the houses of our neigh- 
bours in Manchester, Liverpool, &c.. I have made enquiry of the Badgers, and they say the 
Roe of Mistletoe is about £4 per ton, and that upwards of 10c tons are annually sent from 

orcester,” 


343 


last, though not least, I am indebted to Mr. Cranston, of Kings-acre, tor his 
opinion on many points; especially for giving me the thread that guided me~ 
through the difficult labyrinth of introduced Poplars. 


In conclusion I must state to them and others, that no one can be more 
sensible than I am myself of the many deficiences of this paper, and that it would 
be very satisfactory to me to add a supplement to some future number of the 
Transactions if sufficient additional information could be obtained with regard to 
the Mistletoe, and the trees upon which it grows. 


POSTSCRIPT.—Whilst this Paper has been in the Press, the following additional 
examples of the occurrence of the Mistletoe in this County have been 
reported to me, viz.—on the Sycamore in the grounds of Barton Court, 
near Ledbury, (Captain Peyton), the second instance only of its growth 
here; on the willow, (Salix alba) on the banks of the Wye, below the Weir, 
(the Rev. E. Du Buisson); on the Mountain-Ash at Tarrington School, 
(Mr. Fraser) ; on the Acacia at Downshill, (Mr. Musgrave) ; on Maples and 
Thorn in St. Devereux Park; and, asa matter of course, I have heard of 
another Oak said to bear it, too late to disprove the assertion. I have also 
been assured that the Mistletoe grows on an Oak in the Bishop’s Park at 
Farnham, Surrey (Mr. Findlay), but have not had time to make enquiries 
about it. 


ERRATA: Page 316, the Mistletoe is stated to be “‘ very common” on the Black 
Poplar (Populus nigra); it should be “‘not common’’; and very remark- 
able it is, that it should be so rare in this tree, since it so closely resembles 
in its habit of growth the Black Italian Poplar (P. monolifera), in which 
the parasite grows so very freely. 


Page 318, the Mistletoe is stated to grow on the Pink Horse-chesnut at 
Harewood,—it is the yellow variety on which it is found there, making 
the second example of its occurrence on the Zsculus flava in this county. 


Page 323, the botanical name of the common Laurel is ‘‘ Prunus lauro- 
cerasus,” and not cerassus colchicum, as accidentally given in the text. 


APPENDIX A. 


THE DEATH OF BALDER. 


Erom the Tale of ‘‘The Young Norseman” by Mr. W. B. Rands, in the 
“Boys Own Volume” for 1863. (p. 143-4-5-) Beeton: Strand. 


“Once upon a time, Balder the Beautiful, whom all gods loved, and all 
men, and all things that breathed, and that had not breath, was troubled in his 
sleep with bad dreams, which made it seem to him that he must die. Then 
Freyga. who was exceeding fond of Balder, and was, indeed, said to be his 


344 


mother, stood up in the peace-stead, and declared that she would take this 
matter in hand, and that Balder should not die, if Odin would give her leave to 
sit but once in Lidskialf, so that she might look out over all the heavens and the 
earth. For Lidskialf was the chair of Odin, in which none but he himself might 
sit—such was the decree of the gods—and he often sat there, that he might see 
all that was being done in Jotunheim by the Giants, and what charms were 
being prepared by the swart littie Lapps, and other sorcerers. However, the 
gods considered it thoroughly among themselves, and at last it was decreed 
that Freyga might sit in Lidskialf for once, only she was not to tell of it, and it 
was never to be permitted again. 


So Freyga was very much pleased, and went up all alone to Odin’s high 
seat, and looked out upon heaven and earth, and cried with a loud voice— 

“Who loves Balder? ” 

Then arose a sound like the voice of ten thousand thousand seas—a voice 
from all things, above and below, that they all loved Balder. Fire, and water, 


and iron, and wood, and stones, and beasts, and birds, and poisons, and serpents, 
and all things whatsoever, spake for Balder. 


Then Freyga looked out once more all over the heavens and the earth, and 
said, also with a loud voice— 
“Who loves not Balder ?” 


And there was no answer. But a strange noise came up from the eastward 
of Valhalla, which Freyga could not clearly make out. 


“T think,” said she at last, “it is only Lok the mischief-maker laughing. 
It is of no consequence—he laughs at everything.” 


And as she spoke, she saw Lok laughing and mocking to himself, with his 
hair blown about in the wind, and his arms spread over his head, and she 
despised him in her heart. And she looked angrily and scornfully on him; and 
while she looked he seemed to change into a little shrub which the wind was at 
play with. 


“Tt is only the mistletoe,’ thought Freyga; “it is very little, and no con- 
sequence.” 


Then Freyga looked out yet a third time over heaven and earth, and spake 
with a voice yet stronger,than before— 


“O fire and lightning, hurt not Balder!” 


And a loud consenting voice made answer. So that Freyga was content. 
Then she said— 


““O water, and wind, and hail, and snow, hurt not Balder!” 


And there came a voice as before, and Freyga was content. And she spake 
yet again— 


*O iron, and stone, and earth, and wood, hurt not Balder!” 


And there came a voice as before, and Freyga was content. And she spake 
yet again— 


345 


“O poisons, and plagues, and creeping things, hurt not Balder!” 


And there came a voice as before, and Freyga was content. But she spake 
yet again— 


“OQ beasts, and birds, and trees of the forest, hurt not Balder!” 


And there came a voice as before, and Freyga was content. So that shespake 
no further from Lidskialf. 


“<I think,” said she to herself, ‘“‘that will do very well indeed.” 


But just as she was gathering her garments around her to step down from 
Lidskialf, which was nine hundred and ninety-nine golden steps to it, she heard 
once more what seemed to be the sound of distant laughter. 


“Tt is only Lok again,” said Freyga; “he is always laughing.” And looking 
forth upon the east of Asgard, where she had seen the little mistletoe, she saw 
Lok, whose sides were shaking with mirth. “I thought it was a mistletoe- 
bush,” said she, ‘‘ but it seems to be Lok.” 


So she came back to the Asir, and told them Balder’s dream would come 
to nothing, for she had made all things in heaven and earth make oath not 
to hurt him. 


Arter this the gods used to make much sport with Balder of an afternoon, for 
he was very good-natured. It was their manner to make a target of him, some 
throwing darts, some slinging stones, and some hewing at him with their swords 
and battle-axes; but there was nothing that hurt him. Nanna, his wife, was 
very pleased with this, and it was great amusement for the other gods, allexcept 
Lok, who was not only on tip-toe, as he always was, for mischief, but was very 
jealous that less regard was paid now than formerly to his antics, because the 
Asir found so much entertainment in throwing things at Balder. Now Lok had 
his suspicions about the mistletoe, and, putting on the shape and attire of a 
woman, he went to Freyga’s house, which was on the sea shore, and said— 


“T have noticed of late that the Asir are in the habit of standing in a circle 
around Balder and trying to hurt him, and yet none of the things they use seem 
to do him any harm. How is that?” 


Now Freyga was proud of what she had done when she had ascended 
Lidskialf, and she said to Lok, taking him for the woman he seemed to be— 


“ You must be very ignorant not to know that nothing can harm Balder, for 
all things in heaven and earth have sworn never to do him rt pee 


“What !”? said Lok, “all things?” 


“Why, yes,” said Freyga, ‘“‘ you may well say all things, for who would 
call the mistletoe a thing? I did not think it worth while to ask so insignificant 
an affair for an oath.” 


This was just what Lok wanted to hear, and what he expected to hear. So 
the next time the gods were having sport with Balder, he took with him a sprig 
of the mistletoe, and went up with it to Hoder, who, being blind, was standing 
sadlv apart from the rest. 


346 


“Why do not you also fling somewhat at Balder ?”’ said Lok. 


‘“‘First,’’ answered Hoder, because I cannot see where he stands, and 
secondly because I have nothing to throw.” 


“Well,” says Lok, “hold out your hand slyly—behind you—and I will put 
into it something to throw at Balder, aud will, moreover, direct your hand, so 
that you shall take good aim.” 


Now, when the Asir saw Hoder making ready to throw this small branch at 
Balder, they all laughed heartily, and Balder among the rest. 


“Put up your weapon, Hoder, for it seems to me too dangerous a thing to 
throw.” 


Those were the words of Balder. But Lok, at the same moment, directed 
the aim of Hoder, and the mistletoe-bough went straight to the temples of the 
White Sun-god, who fell down dead” 


APPENDIX B. 


HISTORIC DOUBTS. 


Exception has been taken so ably to the quotations from Dr. Henry and 
Mr. Davies which open the last section of this paper, that the subject must not 
be left altogether unnoticed. It is asked, what proof have we that the Britons 
were descended from Gomer? There is an interval of some 2,000 years between 
the age in which Gomer lived and the earliest period at which we find mention of 
the Britons. It is a mere unsupported hypothesis. We do not even know that 
Gomer was, as he is here asserted to be, the eldest son of Japheth. 


Still greater objections are urged against the supposed ‘‘ connection between 
the Druidical and Patriarchal religions.”” The little we do know of what the 
Patriarchal religion really was shows a most material difference between them. 
The Patriarchal religion was certainly a worship of the one true God: the 
Druidical religion was, as certainly, an idolatrous system, consisting as all ac- 
counts agree, in the worship of the heavenly bodies, and of the gods whom the 
Romans call Hesus and Teutates. , 


Some objectors have even gone further than this, and doubted the existence 
of Druids at all. This seems a most unreasonable piece of scepticism, in the 
face of the evidence of such contemporary writers as Strabo, Tacitus, Suetonius, 
Pliny, and, above all, Cesar, the earliest, and by far the best of all our authorities 
on the subject. 


With very much higher interest and originality, the Rev. Mr. Woodhouse 
points out the very striking resemblance that exists on some points between 
Druidism and Brahminism. We know that the maintenance and honour of a 
sacerdotal caste was the leading feature of the religion of the ancient Britons ; 


347 


just as it is, at this day, of that of the Indians; the caste of the Druids strongly 
resembling in position and privileges the caste of the Brahmins. In fact, the 
very existence of a sacerdotal caste invested with such powers, and regarded with 
such reverence as the Druids were, betrays the oriental origin of the system. 
Nothing like it existed in any other western nation; not even among the 
Germans, the close neighbours of the Gauls and Britons, was there anything of 
the kind. Such a connection is by no means improbable, when we recollect that 
there is [also an undoubted connection between the languages of Britain and 
India, the Celtic and the Sanscrit : when, moreover, it is remembered that ethno- 
logists are agreed in the belief that extensive migrations took place in pre- 
historic times from Central Asia, the great seat of the Aryan races, into western 
Europe. 


Such remarks are as interestiug as they are suggestive, but seeing that the 
subject of this paper is ‘“‘ Mistletoe” and not ‘‘ Druidism,” with all due deference, 
the text has been allowed to remain. If it has been shown, successfully, that 
Mistletoe has been held in honour from the times of the Britons to our own; that 
it has always been connected with the celebration of the New Year, and sup- 
posed to have certain mysterious virtues; that even among races of other name 
and blood—such as the hardy conquerors of Roman Britain and their Scandi- 
navian kinsmen—it held an honoured place; a history has been traced for it, 
more ancient and more romantic than almost any other native plant can boast. 
Its other rivals of Christmas-tide, the holly and the ivy, scarcely vie with it in 
ancient fame and wide-spread honour: only the oak, on which it grows, has 
associations more venerable and historic: only the yew carries back the thoughts 
to a more remote antiquity, or into more poetic scenes: and none of these has 
the same homely charm, or is so exclusively connected with Christmas and the 
New Year, with England and with Herefordshire. 


348 


THE EARTHQUAKE OF OCTOBER 61, 1863. 


On the morning of Tuesday, the 6th of October, 1863, at about 20 minutes | 
past 3 o’clock, Greenwich time, the sky being then free from clouds, and the air 
cold, calm, and clear, a very extraordinary sound was suddenly heard approaching 
with astonishing rapidity from the Westward. 


This souna, which appeared to consist of arapid succession of detonations, was 
accompanied by a tremor of the ground which made the windows rattle in their 
frames as in a gale of wind. 


Then came a very considerable lift of the ground—the true earthquake wave 
—and, with the shock, a crash of subterranean thunder, resembling the firing of 
a battery of heavy guns underfoot. Immediately afterwards the sound was 
heard dying away in the distance. 


According to Daubeny, all earthquake movements, when they are anything 
more than mere tremors, may be divided into three kinds—‘“ the undulatory, the 
succussive, and the vorticose.” 


“‘ Of these three kinds of earthquake shocks, the first is the most common 
and the most harmless. From the second, that of succussion, more is to be 
apprehended ; but the vorticose movement is the one which has been felt in the 
most violent and disastrous catastrophies on record.” (Daubeny on volcanoes, 
C. 32.) 


The earthquake of 1863 was one of the first kind ; theundulation “ proceeded 
onward in a uniform direction”? ; * and thus although the shock, in this neigh- 
bourhood, at least, was very considerable, no serious mischief followed the 
movement. 


The exact direction of this shockis still a matter of dispute. Indeed it isno 
easy thing to determine the course of an earthquake; for the best constructed 
seismometers have a serious difficulty to contend with, which is this,—there is 
no fixed point to start from; everything in an earthquake being alike in 
motion. 


We must be satisfied, I think, with a rough approximation to the truth, 
trusting almost entirely to our own feelings and those of others. 


My house faces E. S. E., the back, therefore, is turned to W.N. W. Now, 
according to the feelings of the members of my family, the shock struck the 
back of the house first and passed away by the front. 


Two policemen, standing at the moment of the shock at the junction of 
Blue School and Widemarsh Streets, felt satisfied that the sound rolled towards 


* Daubeny. 


349 


them “down Wall Street,” that is from W. by S. Others, again, are confident 
that the shock came from the N.W. 


It is now of course impossible to determine this point, and therefore I prefer 
to use the term Westward, leaving the exact point of the compass an open 


question. 


The duration of an earthquake, like the direction, is a point difficult to 
determine. Probably the sound and movement which caused so much dismay 
only lasted four or five seconds ; but from the report of county policemen, game- 
keekers, and others, I am inclined to think that slight tremors ofthe earth took 
place at intervals during the whole of that night. The game in preserves was 
said to be disturbed in a remarkable manner when there was apparently no 
movement whatever; at other times a slight motion appears to have been per- 


ceptible to man. 


Few visible effects were left by the earthquake: some glass and china 
articles were thrown down and broken, ceilings were cracked, and so wasa strong 
garden-wall at Holmer. The arched roof in the corridor of the City Prison, on 
the female side, was cracked to some extent; and inthe County Gaol the arched 
roof of the corridor on the female side was so shaken that a fissure which had 
been closed was re-opened and carried to the length of twenty-seven yards. One 
of the chimney-pots belonging to the matron’s apartments was thrown down, 
with some bricks, and the iron braces which tie the sides of the corridor together 
were so moved, that it seems probable the whole corridor would have fallen if it 
had not been recently repaired and braced with iron. 


Few clocks appear to have been stopped by the shock: I have only been 
able to satisfy myself respecting two pendulum timepieces; and it is curious 
that the pendulums of these clocks swung in different directions. 


The barometer was not, I believe, affected by the shock, but it was very 
unsteady immediately before and after the 6th of October, as the following 
readings will show :— 


Sept. 29th—29°85 Sept. 30th—29'10 
Oct. 1st—29°39 Oct. 2nd—29°69 
nA 3rd—29°66 os 4th—z29'89 
nA 5th—29°78 - 6th—29'71 
7% 7th—z29-55 > 8th—29°41 
5 gth—29°32 i roth—29°45 
3 exth—29742 = r2th—29'12 


The reading of the exposed minimum thermometer on the night of the earth- 
quake was (at Hereford) 34°75° 


For some days before the 6th the wind had been W. and S.W. On the 6th 
it changed to E., and the weather became exceedingly wet and unsettled. Early 
on the morning of the 8th a heavy thunderstorm took place near [Hereford ; the 
lightning being very vivid and the rain heavy. 


350 


This earthquake appears to have been felt chiefly in the Midland counties, 
and its greatest force was probably experienced in the Golden Valley and in this 
neighbourhood. The shock was certainly a very severe one; and the under- 
ground sound was loud and appalling. Those who were awake at the time, and 
especially those who were out of doors, were far more powerfully affected by the 
sound and movement than those who were roused from their sleep by the com- 
motion. A very intelligent policeman told me, about ten minutes after the 
event, that he heard the sound approaching before the shock reached the place 
where he stood, and felt a strange kind of terror come over himself. ‘It was,”— 
to use his own words—‘‘more dreadful to hear it coming than to feel it when it 
came.” 


When the wave passed, the rocking of the earth was so violent that this 
policeman and a companion found a difficulty in keeping their footing, and were 
obliged to hold each other to prevent themselves from falling. Immediately 
afterwards they heard the sound passing away in an easterly direction. 


Was this movement the effect or shock of some distant earthquake, or was 
it central with us; caused by an explosion in the earth’s crust directly under this 
island? 


Two men highly distinguished by their scientific attainments are now 
engaged in investigations which may throw much light on this subject. The 
question will be, doubtless, fully discussed at the next meeting of the British 
Association. 


EDWIN JAMES ISBELL. 


To face page 350. 


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352 


HEREFORD RAINFALL DURING 14 YEARS; REGISTERED BY THE 
LATE HENRY LAWSON, Esq. 


1826 ss oe ox an 20 -. 23°378 inches. 
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1834 «-. S06 50 a5 én Ae (lost) 
1835 5 ois oe 50 AS 5.0 29°276 =, 
1836... ac ae 56 oe nip. GASACISS y, 
1837 ne 3c a0 aS 30 ac 20°207) 455 
1838 =e. at oC 5c ele vies 1275043, 1, 
1839 —Cti- 3c S08 50 are EGA OAM EE, 
TSAO} sie of an a5 fe Ae Pee 
383°039 


Mean of 14 years, and average for Hereford 27°145 inches. 


Reprinted from the fourth Annual Report of the ‘Herefordshire Natural 
History, Philosophical, Antiquarian, and Literary Soctety.” 


353 


Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


First FIELD MEETING, THURSDAY, MAy 26TH, 1864 
JOINT MEETING WITH THE CARADOC CLUB- 


The First Meeting of this Club for the season took place at Kingsland on 
Thursday, May 26th, when the following Members and visitors were present : 
Rev. J. F. Crouch, President ; Mr. Robert Lightbody, Rev. Chas. Smith, and Mr. 
Elmes Y. Steele, Vice-Presidents; Mr. R. M. Lingwood, Hon. Secretary; Hon. 
Member, Rev. F. Donald Carr, Hon. Secretary of the Caradoc Field Club ; H. G. 
Bull, M.D., Mr. John Edward Lee, Mr. J. G. Morris, D. M. McCullough, 
M.D., Rev. T. W. Weare, and Mr. Arthur Thompson, Treasurer, &c. 
Visitors: Rev. Edward Cunningham, Rev. Edmund DuBuisson, Messrs. Gregg 
and Charles Merewether, and Master Bull. The party, after leaving Kingsland 
Station, walked to Croft Castle, where a Sweet-Chestnut was measured 21 feet in 
girth, and one of its boughs g feet, and several other Sweet-Chestnut trees 18 
and 19 feet in girth; an Oak tree in front of the house 33 feet, and one at the 
back 26 feet in girth. Thence the party passed up the dingle, examining a quarry 
of Aymestrey Limestone on their way to Bircher Common; then on to Whiteway 
Head quarry of Ludlow rock, where the President shortly described the general 
geological features of the district. They then ascended Croft Ambury, and 
reached Mortimer’s Cross Inn about 3 p.m. for lunch, inspecting Aymestrey 
Church on their way. 


The statement of accounts for the year ended March 17th, 1864, audited by 
Dr. Bull and Mr. Thomas Cam, showed a balance in hand in the National Pro- 
vincial Bank of £50 16s. 4d. 


At the request of Mr. E. J. Isbell, the Meteorological observer, an Ozono- 
meterjwas sanctioned to be purchased for 8s. 6d. 


354 


Woolbope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


2ND FIELD MEETING, JUNE 21ST, 1864. 
HAY. 


The Second Field Meeting in 1864, was held at Hay, on Tuesday, June azst. 
The following were present :—Mr. Chandos Wren Hoskyns in the Chair, in the 
absence of the President, Rev. J. F. Crouch, Mr. Elmes Y. Steele, vice-president, 
Dr. McCullough, Mr. C. G. Martin, Mr. J. G. Morris, and Mr. Arthur Thompson, 
with Rev. W. L. Bevan, T. C. Porter, and Mr. — Roberts as visitors. 


The following candidates were elected members :—Rev. Edmund DuBuisson, 
Breinton; Rev. John Capel Hanbury, Hereford; Mr. R. Greenhow, Commercial 
Street, Hereford; and Mr. C. G. Martin, Bridge Street, Hereford. 


The members travelled from the Barton Station at r1-30 a.m., stopping 
between Eardisley and Hay to inspect the old Castle and Gravel Drifts at 
Clifford, and the Railway Cutting. 


At 4 p.m. dinner was served at the Rose and Crown Inn, Hay. Members 
left Hay at 7-15 p.m. 


Copies of the “‘ Transactions of the Woolhope Club,” No. 5, were presented. 


At the meeting, particular attention was called to the following Bye-law 
proposed and carried unanimously at the Annual Meeting of the Club in 1863. 
The Bye-law was printed upon the circular— 


“That each Member not answering the Secretary’s circular within four clear 
days of the Meeting, shall be presumed to intend to be present at the Meeting, 
and shall be held liable for his share of the expenses, dinner, &c. And each 
Member signifying to the Secretary his intention of attending, shall pay his 
share of the conveyance and dinner, whether he avails himself of them or not, 
unless he shall have signified to the,Secretary his intention to the contrary.” 
Honorary Members not included. 


355 


GHoolkope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


Tuirp FietpD MEETING, THURSDAY, JULY 21ST, 1864. 
GOODRICH—SYMONDS YAT. 


The Malvern, Woolhope, and Cotteswold Field Clubs met at Ross, on 
Thursday, July 21st, and went uponan exploring trip down the river to Goodrich 
and Symonds Yat. There were about 70 Members of the different Societies 
present. In the business transactions, Mr. Marcellus Newton, of Panson Cottage, 
Hereford, and Mr. T. Clarence Porter, 20, King Street, Hereford, were elected 
Members of the Club. 


Unfortunately the rain prevented the Rev. W. S. Symonds, of Pendock, 
from delivering on Symonds’ Yat, a lecture, as stated in the programme, and 
also rendered the intended visit to Goodrich Court impracticable. 


After a pleasant excursion, the Naturalists returned to Ross, and dined at 
the Royal Hotel, under the Presidency of Major Guise, of the Cotteswold Club. 


At the dinner, the only matter of public interest was the address on the 
Geology of the district, by Rev. Wm. S. Symonds, F.G.S., President of the 
Malvern Field Club. 


GEOLOGY OF THE ROSS DISTRICT. 
By Rev. W. S. Sywuonps, F.G.S. 


I do not know whether my brother naturalists of the assembled field clubs, 
who expressed a wish that I should give them a brief résumé of the Geology of 
the Ross District at this meeting, have reflected on the great changes that must 
have affected the county and neighbourhood since that period when the records 
of history enable us to obtain a few glimpses of the ways and doings of our 
forefathers. 


I hoped to have obtained the assistance of Dr. Strong, who has so ably 
edited the ‘‘ Handbook to Ross and Archenfield,” to elucidate the various sub- 
jects of archzological lore, which makes the Ross district of such great interest 
to the antiquarian, but I regret to say that Dr. Strong was prevented from 
attending our gathering, and I can only refer my friends to his handbook, which 
is published by Mr. Powle, who lives where lived ‘“‘ye Man of Ross.” A perusal 
of the archzological notes contained in this little work will convince you that 
there are few districts in Great Britain more full of records, respecting what we 
denominate as the historical period, than are the ancient highways and byeways 
of beautiful Ross. 


356 


In these days of the ‘‘iron horse,” the electric telegraph, and the many 
wonderful appliances of science, men live so fast, travel so fast, and think so 
rapidly, that it is extremely difficult to realise the almost miraculous changes 
which the lapse of a few hundred years have brought about in the characters, 
the habits and intelligence of the human inhabitants of Great Britain; and yet 
it is so. 


What changes have occurred since the days of Queen Anne, and Alexander 
Pope penned his celebrated poem on the good deeds of John Kyrle, in an arbour 
at Pengethley; and Dean Swift, whose ancestors were Vicars of Goodrich, 
wandered about the ruins of the Castle which his grandfather saw demolished. 
What changes have passed since the garrisons of Wilton and Goodrich Castles 
fought like lions for King Charles, and those noble buildings were laid in ruins 
by the winners in that great struggle between the supporters of the King and 
the men who fought for the Commonwealth! But there is more, far more, to 
interest the lover of olden times and old histories with the historical and 
legendary lore of these ancient homes of some of England’s noblest men. 


Goodrich Castle was a stronghold in the days of Edward the Confessor, and 
Wilton dates from the Conquest; so that the antiquarian hasmuch to tell of the 
Marshalls . and Strongbows, and the Talbots, at Goodrich, and of the Grey de 
Wiltons, of Wilton, the ancestors of the present well-known geologist and 
paleontologist, Sir Philip de Grey Egerton. Nor is it only among the castellated 
ruins that the antiquarian searches for the records of other days. There is 
scarcely a village round Ross that does not possess some relics of those early 
ages. Edward Ironsides left the manor of Ross to the Bishops of Hereford. In 
the N.E. corner of Ross Churchyard there stand the ruins of a Cross which was 
probably erected by Bishop Betun, who lived in the time of the first Henry, 
days of cruelty and wrath, the days of the tragedy at Cardiff Castle, and the 
loss of the White Ship. We learn from Dr. Strong, that Bishop Betun after- 
wards obtained a grant from Stephen to hold at Ross a weekly Market. 


The Church of Brampton Abbots dates from the times of the early Normans, 
the manor having been given to the Abbots of Gloucester by the Conqueror 
himself. Bridstowe (dedicated to St. Bridget), long the residence of the Rev. 
T. T. Lewis, one of the first and ablest of Silurian geologists, was consecrated in 
the days of King Harold, and before the battle of Hastings. Again, the 
Churches of Hentland and Whitchurch have Dubritius for their patron, and it is 
said that this St. Dubritius founded a college at Hentland, in the days when 
“Good King Arthur ruled this land.” 


There is ‘fold Ariconium,” also, which is said to have been swallowed by an 
earthquake (a progenitor, perhaps, of the earthquake which awoke Ross last 
year), and hills which are said to have been defended by the legions of the heroic 
Caractacus. In short, I doubt very much if there is more satisfactory ground in 
England for the searcher into human antiquities than 1s the border country 
around Ross. 


357 


Yet what has the antiquarian been able to do beyond rescuing the merest 
relics ot a few hundred years? And it is here that the geologist steps in with 
evidence that the archeologist would without his aid have been unable to unfold. 
The Wye, which now rolls along so steadily, is one of the many witnesses we 
summon for our geological evidence of the antiquity of the past. There is no 
geologist, who has studied the alluvial deposits of the Wye as it flows in its 
present geological position, who can doubt for one moment that it has flowed 
within its present rock boundaries for unnumbered ages. It has altered its channel 
since the days of Wilton Castle, no doubt, as suggested by Dr. Strong. In the 
course of ages, it has deposited and destroyed and reconstructed its alluvium 
over the alluvial plains again and again ; but I finally agree with Mr. Richardson 
that there is every proof, from the study of the alluvial deposits of this river, 
that it has flowed for unnumbered ages between its present boundary of the Old 
Red rocks of Ross and the Mountain Limestone gorges of Symonds Yat. 


And yet there was a time, remote, indeed, as far as our human capacities of 
time reckoning aid us, but recent in a geological sense, when the Wye flowed at 
a far higher level than at present, and deposited its beds of gravel and shingle 
far above the deposits of alluvium laid down by the existing river. The old 
Castle of Clifford, near Hay, stands, and has stood for centuries, upon one of the 
old river beds. ‘An ancient Castle on a hill,” the hill consisting of the débris 
washed down by a Wye which flowed sixty feet above the plains the present 
river washes. It was, probably, in this period when the old rivers of Hereford- 
shire flowed at these higher levels, that the ancient human race existed, whose 
implements were deposited in the drifts of the Somme Valley in France, and 
Bedford and other localities in England, a time when man was contemporary 
with numbers of extinct quadrupeds, the mammoth, the rhinoceros, the hippo- 
potamus, and the cave bear; a period when England was a part of the continent 
of Europe, and before the island configuration of Great Britain was accomplished 
by the denudation of the boulder clay and silts which must have once filled our 
straits, and constituted the lands over which the extinct animals and ancient men 
once crossed, and recrossed long, long ago. 


And here it may be asked whether the geologist possesses any evidence as 
to ‘he time or period when the great gorges of the Wye between Symonds Yat 
and the Great Doward were excavated. In replying to this question, I must 
carry you back to a still more remote epoch in geological time. 


There was a period well known to geologists as the glacial period, when by 
far the larger portion of Great Britain was submerged beneath the sea. During 
the maximum of this epoch, all the highest hills of Herefordshire were, without 
doubt, submerged, and over their summits floated ice rafts and icebergs, bearing 
burdens of rifted masses of rock, which were dropped, as the ice bearers melted, 
on the sea rocks and beds over which they floated. 


I have seen numerous examples al] around Herefordshire and South Wales, 
which I have not time to mention now; it must suffice to say that everywhere I 


358 


have detected proofs of the transport of great masses of rock to places and 
situations to which they do not belong, and where they rest on rocks of an en- 
tirely different character to their own. 


Let us reflect then upon our country as submerged beneath an ice traversed 
sea, and gradually lifted by forces acting from beneath through currents assisted 
by ice action, and earthquake movements acting on certain points and localities 
with more force than at others. 


Let those who doubt go to the valleys of the Usk and Wye, and observe the 
upheaval ‘which has there taken place since this period, as evidenced by the 
boulders, and there will be little difficulty in accounting for the rifting of the 
rocks of Symonds Yat along the fault of the Wye Valley, or the perching of rock 
masses on the external flanks of the Forest of Dean. 


It is difficult to imagine the great denudation and wearing away of rock 
masses that took place during that long epoch which geologists call the glacial. 
It was a period that lasted, without doubt, for a long series of ages, and I much 
suspect that it was during this period that the older (Palaeozoic) deposits, such 
as the Coal Measures, the Carboniferous Limestone, and the Upper Old Red 
Sandstone were denuded over those large tracks of Herefordshire, Shropshire, and 
Monmouth, which are occupied by the Lower Old Red, or the Silurian rocks. 
The rock masses in the immediate neighbourhood of Ross consist of the Upper 
Old Red Sandstone and the Carboniferous rocks. The rocks that crown the 
summit of the Scyrrid, the Sugar Loaf, and even the lofty Vans of Brecon, are 
the equivalent beds of those deposits which underlie the Mountain Limestone of 
the Ross district. It is interesting to work out the problems of faults and 
upheavals which enable us to comprehend this history; but it requires study, 
and a personal inspection of the geology of a large district. 


The Carboniferous deposits, such as the Limestone shale, the Carboniferous 
Limestone, the Millstone Grit, and the Coal Measures, are all present in Dean 
Forest, and may be all recognised if the different sections displayed in various 
localities be studied with care. The beds observed to-day are the Old Red Con- 
glomerate and the Mountain Limestone, the intermediate beds—the yellow sand- 
stone,and the limestone shale—being masked by débris. These are the rocks 
which underlie the regular coal seams, sandstones and clays of Dean Forest, and 
the South Wales coal-field. 


It is impossible on an occasion of this kind to enter into details, or do more 
than make very broad and general statements. Enough, however, has, I trust, 
been said to convince the naturalist and archaeologist that there is a large field 
for research in the neighbourhood of Ross. If there are any present who have 
not hitherto made themselves acquainted with the history of the rocks, let me 
advise them to work out the physical geology comprehended within a few days 
walk or drive from Ross. I have long been an explorer of the geology of Great 
Britain ; but I do not know any neighbourhood where so much may be learned 


359 


of the marvellous history of days long past, of the elevation of hills, and the 
denudation of valleys, of changes in river-beds and the silting up of lakes, of the 
carrying of boulder-rocks and the rending of cliffs, of the changes in the animals 
that lived in the different epochs, and of the evidence of the lapse of unlimited 
ages—of unnumbered ages occupied by different changes in the physical 
geography of ancient lands and seas, than is to be gathered by one willing to 
learn and work from the geology of the Rocks of Ross. 


360 


Woolhope Naturalists Field Club. 


Fourtu Fietp MEETING, THURSDAY, AuGusT I8TH, 1864. 
LEDBURY. 


The Fourth Field Meeting of 1864 was held on Thursday, August 18th, 1864, 
at Ledbury. 


Rev. Charles Smith, of Tarrington, Vice-President, acted in the absence of 
Rev. J. F. Crouch, President for the year. The following Members attended :— 
Mr. Arthur Armitage, Mr. Philip Baylis, Rev. J. H. Jukes, Rev. Thomas King, 
Mr. Marcellus Newton, Rev. B. L. S. Stanhope, and Mr. Arthur Thompson. Mr. 
King, junior, came as a_ visitor. 


The ‘following candidates were elected Members:—Mr. Arthur Armitage, 
Dadnor, Ross, and Rev. Joseph H. Jukes, of Preston Wynne. 


® 


361 


Woolhope Naturalists Field Club. 


ANNUAL MEETING, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY I4TH, 1865. 


The Annual Meeting of the Members of the Club was held on Tuesday, 
February 14th, at the City Arms Hotel, in this City. In the absence (through 
indisposition) of the President, the Rev. J. F. Crouch, of Pembridge, the Rev. 
Charles Smith, of Tarrington, one of the Vice-Presidents, occupied the chair. 
The officers were elected for the ensuing year as follows:—President, Mr. E. Y. 
Steele, Abergavenny ; Vice-Presidents, Dr. G. P. Bevan, Llanelen ; Mr. C. W. 
Hoskyns, Harewood ; Mr. R. M. Lingwood, Lyston; Rev. H. C. Key, Stretton ; 
Hon. Secretary, Mr. R. M. Lingwood ; Treasurer and Secretary, Mr. Arthur 
Thompson, Hereford. 


The Meetings were fixed as follows :—First : Friday, May rgth,* at Builth ; 
second: Friday June 23rd, at Crickhowell; third: July; date and place left open 
to make arrangements for joining with any other Club; fourth: Friday, August 
25th,t at Usk. 2 


After the Meeting, the Members dined together at the City Arms, and in the 
evening attended the soirée of the Herefordshire Philosophical, Antiquarian, and 
Natural History Society, where, under the presidency of Mr. Wm. Aston, the 
following papers were read :—‘“‘ An Hour in the South Wales Coal Field,” by Dr. 
G. P. Bevan, and “A Visit to some Extinct Volcanoes on the Continent of 
Europe,” by Mr. Edwin Lees, Honorary Member of the Woolhope Club. 


The statement of accounts ending February 14th, 1865, showed a balance in 
hand at the Bank of £30 2s. 8d., and in hands of the Treasurer £3 1os., with 
investments in the Hereford Savings Bank of £37 6s. 7d. It was resolved to 
invest a further deposit of £20. 


Mr. Edwin J. Isbell presented his Meteorological Report for 1864, and gave 
the following list of instruments under his charge.—Barometer, Rain Gauge, 
Wind Gauge, Ozone box, Sun-thermometer, the latter instrument perfectly 
useless. 


METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR THE YEAR 1864 


The year 1864 was remarkable for its dry atmosphere and the number of its 
fine bright days. The dryness, indeed, during: the Months of April, May, June, 


* Afterwards altered to May 26th. 
+Afterwards altered to Monday, August 28th. 


362 


July, and August, was so excessive as to becommonly spoken of as “‘ the drought.’ 
During this period, the difference of reading between the dry and wet bulb 
thermometers was commonly ro or 12 degrees, sometimes 14, and, occasionally 
16; a very extraordinary difference for this climate. 


During the year 238 days were registered as fine or dry. 


The heat from May to August was at times very great. On the 18th of May 
the thermometer in the shade rose to 81°75 degrees, and on the 5th of August to 
81 degrees; but the highest reading for the year (83 degrees) was registered on 
the roth of July. 


Only one thunder-storm of any importance occurred at Hereford during the 
whole year: this storm took place on the 3rd of September, and lasted only 
three-quarters of an hour, in which space of time 0°785 of an inch of rain fell, 
the greater portion in the first twenty minutes. 


The coldest weather occurred in January and February. In January the 
frost was severe, day and night, from the 2nd to the 9th. In February the 
frosts were severe at nights from the 5th to the 11th. The lowest reading of the 
thermometer (17°75 degrees) was registered during the January frost, and again 
in February. 


The mean reading of the barometer for 1864 is high. The mercury rose 30 
inches, or higher, on r11 days, and fell below 29 inches on 12 days only. The 
greatest range of the barometer took place in November: on the 6th of that 
month the mercurial column was 30°503 inches in height, and on the 14th the 
reading at 9 a.m. was 28°497 inches. 


These readings, it must be observed, are not reduced to sea-level, but they 
are corrected for temperature, index-error, and capillarity. 


Assuming the late Mr. Lawson’s estimate of the mean rainfall for Hereford 
to be correct (27°145 inches) we are this year about 7 inches short of our average 
supply ; the amount measured being only 20°146 inches. 


Observations with the dry and wet bulb thermometers were not commenced 
until February, and this registration being necessarily imperfect, the results are 
not included in the table for the year; but I have made up a table showing the 
degree of humidity for each day of the month from April to August, together 
with the rain-fall. 


Ozone registration was commenced much later in the year, and several 
places were tried before a satisfactory spot could be found. Scarcely a trace of 
ozone could be discovered in the Hereford atmosphere, but at last the Ozono- 
meter was placed on Eign Hill, with very satisfactory results. In commencing 
this class of observations, I have had the advantage of Dr. Kemp’s advice and 
assistance. The Doctor found the Bartonsham a better station for ozone obser- 
vations than the City, but Eign Hill—already mentioned—has proved infinitely 
superior to either. 


303 


Correct records of the velocity and pressure of the wind are very desirable, 
and in a practical point of view, second to none in importance. We have at 
present no wind-gauge in Hereford which can be depended upon; a fact much to 
be regretted; I therefore strongly recommend the setting up of a Robinson’s 
Anemometer, and feel assured that the Governors of the Infirmary would readily 
admit such an apparatus to be placed on the roof of that building. A better 
situation could not be desired. 


EDWIN J. ISBELL 


364 


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365 


THE DROUGHT. 


Amount of rainfall measured at 9 


a.m., and mean degree of humidity for each day. 


ee ee ee a Res TGl 


| 


APRIL. MAY. | JUNE. JULY. 
2 ee 
D. RH, D ga |p.| R | # p.| ® H. 
050 | 67 I 65 I |"030 | 54 % 
070 | 66 2 |\7075 | 76 2 55 2 
045 | 85 3 |7033 | 60 |) 3 59 || 3 |°093 
74 4 |'245 | 70 || 4 58 || 4 \035 
280 | 94 5 |"094 | 66 5 60 5 
*450 | 93 6 74 || 6 52 |} 6 
o60 | 91 7 \"400 | 59 7 66 7 
o12 | 72 8 60 8 | s2 8 
030 | 89 || 9 79 || -9 |'220.; 83 || 9 
977 \\ 10 |'023 | 57 || 10 |"x20 | 59 || 10 
54 || II 75 \| II 70 || II 
62 || 12 73 \| 12 |"ogo | 71 || 12 
59 || 13 |022 | 59 || 13 |7038 | 57 || 13 
56 || 14 55 || 14 |'039 | 73 || 14 
85 || 15 55 || 5 |'ror | 65 || 15 
-282 | 67 || 16 52 ,| 16 69 || 16 
7045 | 59 || 17 51. || 17 |'050 | 74 || 17 
63 || x8 57 || 18 |*2zx9 | 59 || 18 
56 || 19 58 || 19 68 || 19 
57 || 20 |'210 | 57 || 20 7X || 20 
AS aeZd 61, || 21 60 || 21 
51 || 22 67 || 22 70 \| 22 |"025 
48 || 23 73 || 23 "135 | 72 || 23 
7X || 24 53 || 24 73 || 24 
64 || 25 62 || 25 |7025 | 67 || 25 
68 || 26 55 || 26 57 || 26 |075 
67 || 27 51 || 27 52 || 27 
‘oro | 76 j| 28 53 || 28 70 || 28 |\"120 
60 || 29 61 || 29 |7023 | 65 || 29 |"005 
62 || 30 52 || 30 |‘oro | 55 || 39 
31 webe 84 31 |028 
I’ Mean 1°162 |Mean |, 1’og1 |Mean 1°381 |Mean 
ite 68. Inch.| 62 Tach 62 | Tact 60 


D. 


AUGUST. 


R. | H. 


OW ON AUFWNHH 


Explanation, D. day, R. rainfall, H. mean degree of humidity, complete saturation 
being 100, 45 extraordinary dryness. 


EDWIN J. ISBELL 


Ist 
2nd 
3rd 
4th 
5th 
6th 
7th 
8th 
oth 
roth 
11th 
12th 
13th 
14th 
15th 
16th 
17th 
18th 
19th 
2oth 
21st 
22nd 
23rd 
24th 
25th 
26th 
27th 
28th 
29th 
30th 


a 


NOVEMBER. 


9 a.m. 


5 


oe se, 2 


ao oO 


. 
. 
. 

n 


OZONE TABLE, 


. 
- N nn 


366 


DECEMBER. 
9 a.m. 9 p-m. 

Ist 4 ° 4 

2nd I 2 

3rd 7 6 

4th 7 5 

5th 

6th to) 2 

7th 8 P 8 

8th 9 3 

gth 5 : 2 
roth 6 5 
r1th 6 4 
t2th 9 4 
13th 9 8 
14th 6 2 
15th 4 I 
16th I 6 
17th fo) fo) 
18th fo) (o) 
tgth I I 
2oth I fo) 
21st fe) fe) 
22nd 5 7 
23rd 4 3 
24th 4 3 
25th 2 3) 
26th 4 2 
27th fo) fo) 
28th fo) fo) 
29th fo) fo) 
30th I o 
31st eo. O ate fe) 


oe . 
um 


In this table the amount of Ozone in the Atmosphere is expressed by the figures 0 to ro according 
to a given scale, 


367 


Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


First Frerp MEETING, Fripay, May I9gTH, 1865. 
BUILTH. 


By a requisition, signed by the President and five members of the Club, the 
date for this meeting was altered from May 26th to May roth. 


No record can be found of the proceedings of the day. The minutes of the 
Club show that Mr. Isaac Davis, C.E., of Brecon, and Rev. F. J. Eld, of Wor- 
cester, and Rev. Wm. J. T. Llanthomas, of Hay, were elected members of the 
Club. 


Letters were read from the Caradoc Club and from the Dudley Club, pro- 
posing a joint meeting of the Clubs on 18th and roth July at Ludlow. 


The meeting was attended by Mr. Elmes Y. Steele (the President), and Dr. 
G. P. Bevan, R. M. Lingwood, and Rev. H. C. Key (Vice-Presidents), and by 
the following Members:—Mr. Arthur Armitage, Mr. R. W. Banks, Mr. T. Cam, 
Rev. G. Cornewall, Rev. E. Du Buisson, Dr. W. L. Giliiland, Rev. J. H. Jukes, 
Mr. C. G. Martin, Mr. Marcellus Newton, Rev. H. W. Phillott, Mr. Alfred 
Purchas, Rev. Charles Smith, Rev. Thos. Woodhouse, and Mr. Arthur Thompson 
(Treasurer and Secretary) ; and_by the following visitors :—Mr. Henry Blashill. 
Mr. Alfred Kent, Mr. Southall, and Rev. Wm. J. T. Llanthomas, of Hay, from 
whom permission was granted to visit the quarries on the Wellfield estate. Some 
local geologists and others interested joined the party on their arrival at Builth, 
namely, Mr. D. Griffiths, Rev. — Jenkins, Mr. Jones, Rev. — Powell, Rev. — 
Price, Dr. James Sherlock, and Rev. R. H. Williams. 


A letter was read from Mr. E. J. Isbell notifying his intention 01 leaving 
Hereford, and consequently his desire to deliver up the meteorological instruments 
of the Club in his possession. 


368 


LIST OF FOSSILS FOUND IN THE BUILTH DISTRICT. 


By MEssrs. POWELL AND GRIFFITHS. 


LLANDEILO FLac. 


Ogygia Buchii. 
Portlockii. 
Asaphus tyrannus. 
Trinucleus fimbriatus 
concentricus. 


Gwernyfydd. 


Calymene duplicata. 
Euomphalus perturbatus. 


Lingula Davisii, in addition to 


the above Wellfield. 


Trinucleus Lloydii. 


Theca triangularis. Wellfield Lodge. 


Lingula attenuata. 
Ampyx nudus. 
Diplograpsus pristis. 
Agnostus Mc’ Coyii. 


Pen-cerig. 


Gilwern Hills, near 
Llandrindod. 


Didymograpsus Murchisonii. 
Ogygia Corndensis (A. Powisii.) ? 


| 
| 
! 
| 
! 


VoLcanic Grit OvERLYING LLANDILO. 


Asaphus tyrannus. Western flank of the 
Orthis flabellulum. i Caerneddau Hills. 


Uprer LLANDOVERY. 


Pentamerus oblongus. 
Petraia subduplicata. 
Orthis radians. 


WENLOCK SHALE. 


Cyathophyllum. . 

Acidaspis Jamesii. | f 

Graptolites Ludensis. | Oncor 
ae Sedgwickii. 


Cardiola interrupta. 
Pterinea Sowerbyi. 

Lingula plumbea. Builth Bridge. 
Rhynchonella. 

Orbicula. 


369 


Phacops caudatus. 

Calymene Davisii. 

Orthoceras bullatum. Near Aberdthonow. 
Theca Forbesii (rare). 

Lituites cornu-arietis (rare). 


Cardiola fibrosa (rare). River-bed, near Aberdihonow. 


Orthoceras (new). 
> canaliculatum. | 


id angulatum. Banks of Irvon near 
Phragmoceras intermedium. Builth. 
Lituites Ibex. 

Calymene Blumenbachii. 


Uprer LupDLow. 


Orthoceras distans. 


Ff dimidiatum. 
BS Ludense. 
Ecculiomphalus Bucklandii. 
Orthonota (several sp.). 
Rhynconella. 

Orbicula rugata. Aberedw and Erwood. 
Lingula Lewisii. 

Homalonotus Knightii (rare). 

Encrinurus punctatus (rare). 

Serpulites longissimus. 

Holopella conica. 

Tentaculites annulatus. 


Lowest Beps oF OLtp RED SANDSTONE. 


Orthoceras tracheale. : 

- semipartitum. | 

op filosum. 
Modiolopsis loevis. 
Holopella obsoleta. 
Trochus helicites. 
Leptcena lata. 
Cypricardia cymbzformis. 
Bellerophon striatus. 

% carinatus. 
Turbo Williamsii ? 
Illanus Davisii? 


Gwenddwr, 


~ 


370 


Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


SECOND FIELD MEETING, FRIDAY, JUNE 23RD, 1865. 


CRICKHOWELL. 


After breakfast at the Angel Hotel, Abergavenny, the members proceeded 
by omnibus to Crickhowell, whence they ascended The Daren, and on up the 
hill to Pen-cerig-calch, returning to Abergavenny for dinner. 


In consequence of Mr. Isbell leaving Hereford, Mr. Wm. Cooke who had 
assisted Mr. Isbell, was requested to continue his services. 


A letter was read from Rev. P. B. Brodie asking for a paper from any Member 
to be read at the proposed meeting at Birmingham, in next September, of the 
British Association for the Advancement of Science. The following attended 
this Meeting: Mr. Elmes Y. Steele, President; Dr. G. P. Bevan, Vice-President : 
Mr. Thomas Blashill, Dr. Bull, Mr. Cam, Mr. T. Curley, Rev. E. J. Eld, Mr. 
Richard Hereford, and Rev. R. Hereford, Rev. J. Capel Hanbury, Rev. J. H. 
Jukes, Mr. C. G. Martin, Rev. Charles Smith, and Mr. Arthur Thompson, Secretary. 


371 


WMoolhope Naturalists’ Field Club. 


THIRD FIELD MEETING, TUESDAY, JULY 18TH, AND WEDNESDAY, JULY I9TH, 1865. 
LUDLOW AND CRAVEN ARMS. 
Jotnt MEETING WITH THE CARADOC AND THE DUDLEY CLUBS. 


There is no full account to be found of the proceedings of thesetwo days. The 
President, Secretary, and a few others, in awaiting for some time the arrival of 
the members of the Dudley Club, the remainder of the ‘party proceeded on their 
route, and remained divided from the others of the party. 


The President’s party after examining the Bone-bed in Ludford Lane, Upper 
Ludlow quarries on the Whitcliffe range, and faults letting in Aymestry Lime- 
stone, and quarries along the Wigmore road by Mary Knole, crossed through the 
Downton grounds to Bow Bridge (Aymestry Limestone), thence through Down- 
ton Castle grounds (Upper Ludlow, Bone-bed, and Old Red) to the Forge Bridge 
and Tin Mills (Passage Beds) to the Downton Arms Inn, where, in consequence 
of its being the Election-day at Ludlow, refreshments had been prepared for them. 

The following attended the meeting :—Mr. Elmes Y. Steele, President ; Rev. 
George Cornewall, Rev. E. Du Buisson, Mr. T. Curley, Rev. J. D. La Touche, 
Mr. R. Lightbody, Mr. C. G. Martin, Rev. H. W. Phillott, Col. Scudamore, and 
Mr. Arthur Thompson. Visitors: Master Lightbody, Mr. Soper, and Mr. Wilson. 


372 


Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Olub. 


FourtH FIELD MEETING, Monpay, AuGUST 28TH, 1865. 


USK. 


No record can be found of the proceedings. By the minutes of the Club a 
large party of visitors, including ladies, joined the party. Of the members of the 
Club there were present: Mr. Elmes Y. Steele, President; Rev. H. C. Key, Vice- 
President; Rev. J. H. Jukes, Mr. J. E. Lee, Mr. M. Newton, Mr. W. Nicholls, 
and Mr. Arthur Thompson, Secretary. 


373 


Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club 


THE ADDRESS 


Of the retiring President, ELMES Y. STEELE, Esg., read at the Annual Meeting 
of the Woolhope Naturalists’ Field Club, held at Hereford, February 22nd, 
1866. 


GENTLEMEN OF THE WOOLHOPE Cus, 


I return you my sincere thanks for the honour you have done me in appoint- 
ing me your President for the past year, and for the courtesy and kindness you 
have shown me, as well as for the indulgence you have so freely extended tomy 
inefficient performance of the duties of that office. Seeing that I cannot lay 
claim to more than a very superficial acquaintance with the sciences we cultivate, 
I feel that your considerate and very flattering treatment is solely attributable 
to your kindly feeling towards a fellow-student, who was thought to take a 
sincere interest in the welfare of the Club, and to be disposed to promote the 
success of its operations to the best of his ability. 


On reviewing the past season I think I may, upon the whole, congratulate 
you on the success of our field days. We had the benefit of a Summer remark- 
able for its almost unprecedented number of fine days, and, although on two 
occasions our perambulations were somewhat impeded by heavy showers of rain, 
we had not one absolutely bad day, and our energies proved equal to every 
occasion. 


Our First Meeting on the 19th May, at Builth, was a remarkably successful 
one, and was graced by a considerable phalanx of members and friends. The 
District into which we travelled opened up new ground, and that circumstance 
of itself would account for much of the interest we derived from it ; but we were 
highly favoured in all other respects. The Rev. Jones Thomas kindly met us at 
the Three Cocks Junction, and throughout the day exerted himself in doing 
honour to the Club, in a manner so courteous and genial, as to deserve a grateful 
recognition of his kind services. He undertook the duty of leader, on the march, 
and nothing could exceed the care he bestowed in pointing out the many scenes 
and objects of interest to be met with, in the well selected line chosen by him 
for our excursion. In the name of the Club I had the pleasure to present to him 
the cordial thanks due to his kind and hospitable exertions. We were also 
favoured with the company of several local Geologists, who have done excellent 
work in the surrounding district ; under their guidance some interesting fossils 
were obtained, amongst them the following :— 


At Gwernyfydd. (Llandetlo flag.) 
Ampyx nudus. Calymene duplicata. 
Ogygia Buchii. Trinucleus fimbriatus. 
Ogygia Portlockii. Trinucleus concentricus. 
At Wellfield. (Llandeilo flag.) 
Ogygia Buchii. Siphonotreta micula. 
At Pen-cerig. (Llandeilo flag.) 
Ogygia Buchii. Siphonotreta micula. 
Ampyx nudus. Diplograspsus pristis. 
(Upper Llandovery.) 
Pentamerus oblongus. Orthis radians and a Petraia. 


(Wenlock Shale.) 
Graptolites Ludensis. 


fi Sedgwickii and an Orthoceras. 


Some interesting plants were found, amongst them conspicuously and 
abundantly Trollius Europzus, Allium Schcenoprasum. Also a few specimens of 
Botrychium lunare, and several choice species not sufficiently rare to require 
special mention. Every member who had the good fortune to attend that meet- 
ing, must have been impressed with the beauty and variety of the striking 
scenery which had been spread out before him on all sides; and must have 
brought away with him a delightful impression of a day most agreeably and 
profitably spent. In company with some friends I remained behind, to make 
further acquaintance with the locality, and this afforded me the opportunity of 
seeing a very fine collection of Silurian fossils, obtained in the district, by Messrs. 
Powell and Griffiths, of Builth, who have kindly furnished me with a List, a 
copy of which I now present to you. I cannot leave the subject of the Builth 
meeting, without congratulating you on the opening out of so fine a field for 
your future operations. 


Our Second Meeting took place on the 23rd of June. It was well attended 
and passed off satisfactorily. The members assembled at Abergavenny, and 
travelled by omnibus up the lovely vale of Usk, to Crickhowell; there we took 
to our legs and made excellent use of them in ascending by the Darren, to the 
Pen-cerig calch, or Table Mountain ; returning by the Crughwel, which gives its 
name (conspicuous heap) to the Village at its foot—at the Darren we had in 
view a very bold escarpment of the uppermost beds of the Old Red, with its 
pale yellow Sandstone and purple shaly beds, in both of which we searched, but 
in vain, for the celebrated Holoptychius scales; higher up we crossed the 
Carboniferous Limestone, and at the highest point stood on a platform of Mill- 
stone Grit, which remains a relic of ancient beds of the Carboniferous series, 
long since washed away from the mountainous district which stretches towards 
the North, the East, and the West, for a considerable distance. Immediately 
facing us, in a southerly direction and across the lovely Valley of the Usk, rose 
up the fine bold escarpment of Carboniferous Limestone which forms the 


375 


northern edge of the Monmouthshire Coal and Iron basin. All the points of 
interest I have mentioned were displayed from the summit of the Pen-cerig calch, 
and if we were not rewarded for our exertions by the discovery of any rare 
fossils or plants, those who stood on that famous outlier for the first time must, 
think, have felt themselves repaid for the toil of the ascent. 


On the 18th and roth July, we met at Ludlow, and at the Craven Arms 
several members of the Dudley and Caradoc Clubs. The first day’s operations 
were somewhat impaired by the weather. However, under the guidance of our 
excellent and scientific associate Mr. Lightbody, who appears to know intimately 
every rock and every fossil of the district, we traversed a very beautiful and 
interesting line of country, and found many objects worthy of our hammers, 
over which we had the advantage of all the scientific assistance we could require 
from our learned associates at Ludlow. 


On the second day we started from the Craven Arms up the Onybrook. We 
lingered for a considerable time at the well-known Caradoc Shale Bank, where 
innumerable specimens, none however quite perfect, of Trinucleus concentricus 
were obtained, besides other interesting Fossils. We then walked on to Horderly, 
and were well rewarded for our search in the interesting strata met with on the 
line of march. After this we all re-assembled at Stokesay Castle, where we 
found ample and much needed refreshment, and where Mr. La Touche exhibiteda 
beautiful model constructed by himself of the Geological features presented by 
the surrounding country. 


On the 26th July, at the kind invitation of the Malvern Club, I had the 
pleasure of a delightful field day in the Malvern Hill District. The points of 
Geological interest were: to receive from Dr. |Holl, a demonstration of the 
Laurentian or Pre-Cambriam Rocks, discovered by his most able and extensive 
researches; and to visit some very interesting excavations in the Drift Beds 
near Clencher’s Mill, made by the Malvern Club, under the supervision of their 
learned and indefatigable President, Mr. Symonds. On that occasion the Cottes- 
wold Club was represented by its President, Sir William Guise, and your Society 
was represented by Mr. Lightbedy, by our excellent and painstaking Secretary, 
Mr. Thompson, and by your President. We had a delightful day; Dr. Holl 
most efficiently and satisfactorily explained the very interesting and conclusive 
views he had been able to take of the Geology of the Malvern District, and 
exhibited the unmistakable evidences of the existence of the Laurentian Rocks, 
near the Wind’s Point, and at Midsummer Hill. I/shall not dwell upon these 
discoveries, as Dr. Holl has been so kind as to send me a copy of his admirable 
paper on the subject, published by the Geological Society. That pamphlet I 
have now the pleasure of offering to the perusal of any member of the Woolhope 
Club who may feél interested in it. Our party, which was numerous, and graced 
with the presence of many ladies, met to dinner at the Eastnor Arms. I re- 
turned thanks in your name for the toast of ‘‘ Prosperity to the Woolhope Club.” 
After Dinner we proceeded to inspect the excavation in the Drift Bed, near 
Clincher’s Mill. Many Fossil remains of an interesting character, principally 


376 


bones of the Elephas primigenius (Mammoth) and Rhinoceros tichorrhinus were 
there exhibited. Mr. Symonds favoured us, in his usual kind manner, with observa- 
tions on the history of the Drift, and its evidences of early life. We then ad- 
journed to Bromesberrow Rectory, where we concluded the operations of a most 
agreeable day in doing justice to the refreshing hospitality of Mr. Hill, the Secre- 
tary of the Malvern Club. 


Our last Meeting was fixed for the 28th of August, at Usk, and as generally 
happens to us in that locality, our operations were seriously interfered with by 
rain. We found much to interest us in the railway cutting, at the mouth of the 
tunnel ; thence we proceeded to view the valuable collection of Fossils, from the 
district, kindly offered to our inspection by Mr. William Nicholl. We saw a 
great variety of specimens, including many capital Trilobites, some rare Brachio- 
pods and Corals, and many of the Pteraspis and Cephalaspis, fishes of the Old 
Red Sandstone. Amongst the Trilobites, conspicuous was Homalonotus, at first 
supposed to be Delphinocephalus, but recently defined as a new species, which, 
as far as I know, is peculiar to the Wenlock shale forming the bed of the Usk, 
near Graig-y-Garcoed. This Fossil has been named by Salter, Homalonotus 
Johannis, after the christian name of Mr. John Lee, of the Priory, Caerleon, one 
of our Woolhopian Geologists, who with Mr. William Nicholl, first discovered 
this interesting crustacean. Dr. Grindrod, of Malvern, attended our Field-day, 
and brought with him from his own unrivalled collection, a splendid and perfect 
specimen of the H. delphinocephalus, which we were thus enabled to compare 
with the new species. After inspection of Mr. Nicholl’s Silurian and Devonian 
Fossils, we proceeded, despite of the falling rain, to a small quarry at Llanbad- 
dock, where innumerable Ludlow Fossils were found, amongst them many 
specimens of Phacops caudatus and longicaudatus ; thence, along the railway 
through a cutting in the Wenlock-shale, where Atrypa reticularis is most abun- 
dant, we made our way to Garcoed. In the river bed, although the water was 
too deep, from recent rains, for a good search, we were able to find Homalonotus 
Johannis, and in the bank higher up the stream, many other fossils of the Wen- 
lock series. On our return to Usk, we dined together at the Three Salmons. 
Dr. Grindrod’s beautiful specimen of the Homalonotus delphinocephalus was 
passed round the table, and I had the pleasure to thank that gentleman in the 
name of the Club, for his kindness in joining our party and giving us the oppor- 
tunity of seeing so fine a Fossil. Mr. Lea, of Caerleon, was our guide on the 
excursion, and his knowledge of the locality and of its points of scientific 
interest, was of the greatest service to us. 


There is a point which I desire to press upon your notice in connexion with 
our Field-days, and I do so because I am quite convinced by my own experience, 
that much of the comfort, and more still of the benefit to be derived from these 
meetings, greatly depends upon a careful attention to it. I suggest that it will 
be advisable in future to make it an invariable rule of the Club that, the 
Itinerary for each day, shall be arranged beforehand, printed in the programme, 
and rigidly adhered to on all occasions. Gentlemen arriving from a distance, 
being strangers to the district, will naturally place themselves under the guid- 


377 


f ance of their local associates whose help they look for. All who may happen to 
stray will, by reference to the printed route, be enabled to strike the line of 
march without difficulty. Alternative routes are, I think, very objectionable, as 
tending to separate the party and dislocate the arrangements made for the plea- 
sure and enjoyment of all. I think it very important, also, that whoever may be 
good enough to set out an Itinerary, should limit the proposed operations within 
moderate bounds ; for it is far more satisfactory and profitable in the end to 
examine one or two localities thoroughly, than to hurry over interesting objects 
for want of time to devote to them. 


There is one more suggestion I would offer for your consideration, in the 
hope that it may lead to the better accomplishment of one of our main objects, 
which I take to be to improve the general stock of information on all matters of 
scientific interest belonging to our district. I would urge the Club to impress 
upon every member the propriety of communicating any discovery that may 
fall in his way in Geology, Botany, or Zoology, to some central authority, to 
whom the charge would be entrusted to report thereupon to the Club. The 
best mode of carrying this into effect would, of course, be matter for your 
discussion. 


Last summer, Dr. Bull was kind enough to transmit to me a specimen of a 
very singular plant found by him near Hereford, the Xanthium spinosum ; in 
return I sent him a curious plant found by myself near Abergavenny, the Blitum 
virgatum. TI shall not now describe these interesting plants, because I hope Dr. 
Bull will kindly favour the Club with an account of them at his convenience. 


It now only remains for me, Gentlemen, to perform the sad task of re- 
minding you of the loss we have sustained by the death of one of our oldest 
members, who for many years evinced a deep interest in our prosperity, and 
seldom failed, so long as health and strength permitted, to join our Field 
Meetings, at which his cordial manner and polished conversation contributed 
materially to the enjoyment of all who had the pleasure of his company; I 
allude to our old friend Mr. Bodenham, of Rotherwas. We shall see him no more 
amongst us, Gentlemen, but I am sure we shall long remember him, and regret 
that death should have deprived us of so valued an associate. 


Mr. Lingwood and Mr. Chandos Wren Hoskyns, who have been long promi- 
nent and useful members of the Woolhope Club, have retired to the Continent. 
In their case we may hope that the separation is but a temporary one—I 
earnestly wish, as you all do, that they may speedily return with a renewed zest 
for our interesting pursuits. Mr. Lingwood’s services deserve a special acknow- 
ment from us, for he was at all times most cheerfully willing to assist any of us, 
from the stores of his extensive information, on all subjects of Natural Science. 


With warmest wishes for the success and prosperity or the Club through 
many future years, I now retire from a post of honour which I owe to your kind 
indulgence, and from which I have derived unmixed pleasure and enjoyment. 


378 


METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS FOR THE YEAR 1865. 


The most remarkable Meteorological fact in 1865 was the almost entire 
absence of rain during the month of September; twenty-eight days were 
registered fine, and on the other two days ‘o4 of an inch of rain fell, or in 
plainer figures only x, of an inch; the months of April and June were also very 
dry, there being twenty-four fine daysin the former, and twenty-five in the latter 
month. The rainfall in April was very much below the average, but not so 
much in June, as on the two last days of the month there fell 1°07 inches. The 
month of August was remarkable for its being the wettest, owing principally to 
the thunderstorms which were so frequent ; October was the next wettest month ; 
these two months form a striking contrast with September. January and 
February are noticeable for heavy falls of snow. The most remarkable fall we 
have had for some years commenced on the night of the 25th January, and con- 
tinued more or less until noon on 27th, when the average depth was taken and 
found to be 104 inches; in places where it had drifted it was from 8 to ro feet 
deep, and it had not disappeared when there was another heavy fall on 16th 
February, when it averaged 5 inches deep, and continued on the ground till the 
end of the month. 


There were several thunderstorms worth mentioning ; {the first occurred on 
May oth, when °82 of an inch fell in two showers between the hours of 5 and 11 
a.m. There was another storm on the 6th July, -7z of aninch falling at intervals 
during the morning; the next was a hail storm on the gth July, on this occasion 
4 of an inch fell in 12 minutes; there were also two heavy storms on rath and 
23rd of August, both falls amounting to ? of an inch each. 


The Thermometer was unusually high in April, on the 26th and 27th it rose to 
72'9 and 72°6 respectively, the mean temperature was 5 degrees above the average. 
June was the hottest month in the year, on the 22nd the thermometer rose to 
87°6 ; it was above 80° on six days and above 70° on twenty days. September 
was almost as remarkable for the height of the temperature as for the extreme 
dryness ; the thermometer was above 70° on nineteen consecutive days; on one 
occasion it rose to 780, and once to 77°0, the mean temperature was considerably 
above the average. 


January was the coldest month; frost on seventeen nights; on the 29th the 
thermometer fell to 3°6, the lowest reading since December, 1860. February 
and March were also two very cold months; there were fourteen frosts in the 
former and thirteen in the latter month, the mean temperature in both was 
was several degrees below the average. 


There were 193 days registered as fine. The rainfall 25°005 inches is, ac- 
cording to Mr. Lawson, 2 inches below the average. 


379 


The Barometer was a very fair height, nearly as high as in 1864; the greatest 
range took place in January, it rose to 30°143 and fell to 28°295 within ten days; 
the highest reading occurred on 15th December, 30°577, and the lowest on 14th 
January, 28°295- 


Ozone observations have been carried on at Hampton Park, there was less 
in September than any other month, and it was most abundant in January and 
February. 


WILLIAM COOKE. 


380 


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381 


MEETINGS. 


1852. 


13.—First Meeting of the Club—as on the Minutes Book 

18.—Stoke Edith for Woolhope Valley .. ae a6 aia 
20.—Whitchurch z 

21.—Aymestrey and Mortimer’ s oe A0 


1853. 
24.—Annual Meeting se == ae 
7.—Eastnor—J oint Meeting with the Esra and ‘ive Field 
Clubs. . se are os ata 
26.—Leintwardine for aie and Wiemoes He ava AS 


23.—Kington for Presteign and Stanner Rocks 


1854. 
24.—Annual Meeting aie 
13.—Forest of Dean Spocdh ifdube: “raid "wndating with the 
Cotteswold and Malvern Clubs Ac ae AG 
18.—Leominster for Puddlestone - 
22.—Monmouth Cap, Garway and Grosmont sc 
10.—Worcester, to meet the neighbouring Field Clubs ae ée 
1855. 
23.-—Annual Meeting as - ae ee oe 


12.—Malvern—Worcestershire Beacon. = Jatat Meeting with the 


Cotteswold, Malvern, Warwickshire and Worcester Clubs .«- 

July 24.—Eardisley aie se ae us a 

Aug. 14.—Ludlow ne we =E, Sa sc aie 
1856. 

Jan. 22.—Annual_ Meeting 

June 3.—Bromyard ae 

July 29.—Kington a aie 

Sept. 16.—Abergavenny .. ae Be - 
1857. 

Jan. 19.—Annual Meeting : Pr ie ate 

ae 2.—Tarrington.—J oint Mesting with the Malvern Club .. ae 

July 21.—Ludlow os ° te Ls is ae 

Aug. 25.—Westhide, Shucknall, Hagley Dome, and Bartestree ..- ae 


46 
79 
82 


105 
109 
I2I 
132 


138 


145 
I5r 
153 


156 
164 
166 
168 


174 
190 
196 
199 


382 


MEETINGS (Continued). 
1858. 


Jan. 26.—Annual Meeting 

June 3.—Ledbury.—Joint Meeting with the Malvern saa Worcesterhant 
Clubs 

July 20.—Bromyard 

Aug. 17.—Usk 


1859. 
Jan. 25.—Annual Meeting 
May 31.—Church Stretton 
June 29.—Ledbury 
Aug. 22.—Usk 
Sept. 8.—Mordiford 

1860. 
Feb. 28.—Annual Meeting a0 : 


May 15.—Eastnor, Dog Hill, Ledbury. _with the Melven and Woe 
shire Field Clubs 

June 5.—Lyston : ; AG 

July 24.—Ludlow, for Downton #e Leintwardine 

Aug. 7.—Presteign, Evenjob Hill . 


1861. 


Feb. 7.—Annual Meeting hot ars ac 40 oe 
May 23 & 24.—Ludlow, Mocktre, Leintwardine.—With the Malvern Club .. 
June 21.—Tarrington 

Aug. 9.—Abergavenny—Scyrryd- fae 


1862. 
Feb. 20.—Annual Meeting ve oie oe oe ote 
May 22.—Ledbury.—With the Malvern Club ots 3) 33 


June 12.—Usk 

Aug. 14.—Holme Lacy 

Sept. 18.—Church Stretton.—With the Dudley and Midland Gealouinal 
Society, and the Oswestry Field Club 


1863. 
Mar. 12.—Annual Meeting 40 re Sn : sie 
June 9.—Forest of Dean, Lea Bailey, Wigpool, and Chidenond? ae 
July 7.—Craven Arms.—With the ‘“‘ Oswestry and Welshpool ”’ and the 
Caradoc Field Clubs .. ats 30 


Aug. 18.—Pontrilas, for Rowlestone, Abbey Dore, ei rae Harold 50 
Sept. 7.—Malvern Link. (Joint Meeting of United Field Clubs) 50 


PAGE. 
212 


220 
222 
224 


229 
243 
244 
245 
246 


247 


248 
250 
251 
253 


254 
277 
280 
281 


283 
291 
293 
294 
295 
295 


297 
298 


299 
300 
301 


383 


MEETINGS (Continued). 


1864. 
PAGE. 
Mar. 17.—Annual Meeting + mie ate a sy. 303 
May 26.—Kingsland, Croft Ambrey, and Aymestrey .. oc w= °353 
June 21.—Hay .. ac ar on ate Se ae 354! 
July 21.—Ross. (With Cotteswold and Malvern Clubs) 20 Jn A355 
Aug. 18.—Ledbury =e dc se a os =. — 360 
1865. 
Feb. 14.—Annual Meeting one Ap Sa Js ae, GOx 
May 19.—Builth ae x = “ <5 a2, 367 
June 23.—Abergavenny, for Crickhowell AD Ne ate se. 370 
July 18 & 19.—Ludlow and Craven Arms. (Dudley and Midland Geological 
Society) ate aie Si St ae Ee Swe 
Aug. 28.—Usk .. rs ccs ie ais ‘c ae. ye 
1866. 


Feb. 22.—Annual Meeting ve we 54 Ee 373 to 380 


384 


GENERAL INDEX. 


1852—1866. 


Archeology, Arthur’s Stone, Superincumbent stone of Old Red 
Sandstone, Eight supporters of Cornstone 


Aymestrey ; View from Croft Ambrey is te 
——, Earliest Geological Researches of Rev. T. T. Lewis, 
date from 1827 55 
—, Limestone, its honeycomb structure, its position, and 
its fossils 30 5 
Ballard, Mr. Philip, Mammalian remains Hicteuered: aiwtie the 
formation of Hereford and Gloucester Canal 


Banks, Discoveries at Bradnor in the Tilestones, Drawings of Ptery- 
gotus exhibited 5 
Ivy Chimney Quarry with large todd of Trap Rock aon 
Woolhope Limestones 
Bradnor Hill, Downton Sandstone Gay 
Pterygotus Anglicus, drawing of, at Mr. Banks’ house 
— Annual Address as retiring President for 1860 
List of fossils, with localities where found 
Beetles, found in one day by Captain Guise 
Bevan, G. P., M.D., F.G.S.,The Geology of the South Wales one 
Fields ay ee o0 
, Address as retiring President, January 2 a 1859 
Botany, Reng of Herefordshire, paper by W. H. Purchas, read but 
not printed : ac 
, Herbarium of Wild Flowers .. 
Botanical Report, First excursion, May 18, eae Stoke Edith over 
Adams Rocks to Mordiford 
Botanical Geography, by W. H. Purchas 46 ae ; 
Botany, Exhibition Hereford Horticultural Society, Sep. 11, 1852 
Destruction of Fern and Gorse by the application of Fresh 
Lime, Dr. A. Rowan .. 2 a0 ae 
— .,, Southern extremity of the Malvern Hills i in Herefordshire 


? 


—_ Plants which flourish on Silurian Limestone, by Edwin Lees 


? 


—, Committee appointed to prepare a “‘ Flora of Hereford- 


? 


shire” aXe Sc oe 5° 
—, Plants gathered in ramble Griiaues Leintwardine, Down- 
ton locality 


YEAR. PAGE. 


1855 I51I 
1855 158 
1852 29 
1854 99 
1862 289 
1852 4 
1852 I4 
1856 158 
1856 166 
1856 166 
1856 166 
1861 256 
1861 265 

256 & 264 
1857 182 
1859 230 
1852 3 
1852 3 
1852 18 
1852 37 
1852 25 
1852 43 
1853 53 
1853 BY 
1853 62 
1853 80 


& 

o 

| | 5 
a cal So ab es 


| we | 


we wt hw L : ow wee 


- 


385 


INDEX, 1852-1866 (Continued). 


Colour in plants, its causes and distribution, by Flavell 
Edmunds 

Plants gathered in Nash Woods ; 3 at Tees made F ea 
in the Ripple Gorge, above Kington 

Exhibition of Wild Flowers. Prizes .. 


Plants, Kimbolton and Puddlestone iadiombodd, eh T. 


Hutchinson “4 

Gastridium lendigerum at Hereford 

Edwin Lees on Herefordshire plants near the Roaiaes of 
Worcester 

Epipogum aphyllum, fakes = Mrs. ‘Smith of COS 
Delamere Rectory ae a Bis 

Sudden appearance of Plants in localities, by Flaveli 
Edmunds 

Eardisley and Bredwardine 

Exhibition and Prizes, September 4, 1855 

Plants in Clee Hill district “fe are ss 

Division of County into 14 districts, with separate Records 

Kington District 

Plants discovered by Mr. Flavell Edmunds ci ae Ts F. 
Crouch ote oe 

Tarrington, Dormington, Mordiford, &c. 

Anacharis, in the Hereford Canal 

Hybridised Laburnum, and other plants 

Downton Castle District , 

Anacharis in Lugg Meadows, discov eee at Ni eit abies 
in 1836 

Buried Seeds 

Pear Tree, Remarkable, at Holme aby 

Tarrington, Dormington, Mordiford, &c. 

Bromyard 

“Flora of Herefordshire,” Cauminittes Se the Publication és 

Map divided into fourteen Botanical Districts, £5 voted 
for (see also Footnote) .. At on 

Botanical Committee appointed 


Brodie, Rev. P. B., Remarks ae : a 
Bull, H. G., M.D., Botanical Report, First Field haseety May 18th 


, Anacharis alsinastrum (Canadian water-weed) 


recorded at Northampton as early as 1836 oe 
, Referée for Plants from various Botanical dis- 
ett 


, The Mistletoe in Bieretouiciaia, 1864 


Camp, Croft Ambury or Ambrey, View from de 
Canal, Hereford and Gloucester, Mammalian remains discovered 
Churches, Grosmont, Fine Rows of Early English Windows 45 


YEAR. PAGE. 
1853 84 
1853 gI 
1853 92 
1854 II3 
1854 122 
1854 125 
1854 129 
1855 I42 
1855 152 
1855 155 
1856 159 
1856 160 
1856 167 
1857 180 
1857 193 
1857 194 
1857 195 
1857 197 
1857 201 
1857 204 
1858, 212, 217 
1858 215 
1858 223 
1860 247 
1862 295 
1864 303 
1852 I4 
1852 18 
1857 201 
1862 295 

312 to 347 
1852 29 
1852 4 
1854 123 


386 


INDEX, 1852-1866 (Continued). 
Churches, Westhide 
——, Stanford Bishop .. 
———., Abbeydore 
Clee Hill, Titterstone, View from ae e ‘ Giant? s Chair” Ee 
Clubs, the earliest Field Club established at Berwick (Hugh E. 
Strickland) .. oo ‘ 
Cooke, Wm., Meteorological Ree votions for the Year at Feb. 
22, 1866 
, Meteorological Table Ms Rees 
Crouch, Rev. J. F., Address as retiring President, tae 2end . 
Earthquake on October 6th, 1863, by Edwin J. Isbell 
Edmunds, Flavell, Colour in Plants ; its Causes and Distribution 
, Drifts in Herefordshire, 1854 
, An Incident of Botanical History, 1855 
, Lydian Stone, Felspathic and Cambrian Rocks, 
&c., found in Drifts in Hereford 


Errata—see the very end of the Volume. 
Entomology, Coleoptera, Captain Guise’s List. . 
Fishes of Herefordshire 
Geology, Adams, or Atoms, or Hatton’s Rode, near Backbury 
Bally. a6 4c 

—-——, Backbury, Graptolithus ludensis 

, Bartestree, Trap Dyke fe 

, Barrande, Mons., Ascoceras Bohemicus 

, Bosbury, Mammalian Remains Discovered 

, Bradnor Hill, Downton Sandstone on Top 

, Builth, Igneous ranges in Neighbourhood 
, List of Fossils by Messrs. Powell and Griffiths 
igatanate, Twenty feet high. . - 
, Cephalaspis among the Cornstones, Renkettel 


? 


, Three Specimens at Leysters Pole 
, Clinchers’ Mill, Lickey quartz (pebbles, Syenite, Green- 
stone, &c. 
, Cornstones formation 
, Crustacean, Traces of, in Sandstone at Puddlestone 
; in Upper Cornstones at Rowlestone .. ae 
, Coal Measures, Opinions of Sir Charles Lyell .. 
, Coal, Stages of Conversion from Vegetable Matter, 
1852, 11, and 
, Coal-fields of South Wales, by Dr. G. P. Bevan 
, Denudation, References to Memorials of the Geological 
Survey, Vols. 1 and2 .. ee 4c 
, Dormington, Landslip of March, Bs 
, Downton, Collection of Protasters 
, Drifts of Herefordshire 


see pages 44, 109, II4, I15, 


YEAR. PAGE. 
1857 199 
1858 222 
1863 309 
1855 153 
1852 13 

378, 379 

380 

1856 156 
348 to 350 
1853 84 
1854 128 
1855 I42 
1856 163 


1861, 256, 264 


(ae Ichthyology) 


1857 192 
1852 24 
1857 200 
1856 162 
1852 4 
1856 166 
1854 129 
1865, 368,374 
1856 170 
1854 I22 
1855 140 
1852 49 
140 

I10, 140 
1858 219 
1852 34 
1854 108 
1857 182 
1854 98 
1857 I90 
1857 197 
1854 128 


387 


INDEX, 1852-1866 (Continued). 


; YEAR. PAGE. 
Geology, Drifts of Herefordshire, containing Lydian Stone, Fels- 
pathic Rocks, &c. h a Je) E856 163 
;=™=>- ——_, Postglacial, containing Mam- 
malian Remains sic : 1860 249 
, Drifts of Severn, Wye, and Usk, eee “to SRE CO? 291 
s Classification of and Gravels, by Sir R. Murchison 1852 I4 
, Elms Quarry, Hereford, Talc in the .. - 1852 45 
, Fossils, General list of and localities where iad 1861 265 
, Fossil Flora of Coal-fields, by Dr. G. P. Bevan 1857 187 
——, Fossils, Collection of, R. W. Banks 1856 166 
—_, ——_—____—_——_——_ Dr. G. P. Bevan a 1856 169 
————, —_—_—_—_—_———_ Dr. Grindrod at Malvern 1865 376 
,—— ——— Malvern Club Museum .. 1855 149 
, Geological Flora : sc 1852 36 
, Geological Summary for the Yak 1857 cm ES5S 218 
————,, Graptolites and Trilobites in the Woolhope Limestone.. 1852 18 
———,, On the slope of Backbury Hill, a few hundred yards east 
of Adam’s Rocks 1852 24 
, Gravels, Oolitic remains at Cradley 1852 48 
5 , Beds at Stretton Sugwas a é 1863 297 
Sa , Ross district = +e o pages 355 to 359 
, Hagley Park, Trap Dyke near re sa) L858 217 
—_—, Protruded Ludlow Rocks. References (footnote) to 
the Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society 1854 103 
, Hagley Dome 1858 200 218 
—_—-——, Ludlow fish beds 1852 5, 36 
, Kington, Ivy Chimney Quarry +. 1856 166 
, Landslip in March, 1844, in the parish of anbemiatan Ben pests 190 
, Ledbury, Passage-beds, by Rev. Wm. S. Symonds . 1860 248 
, Lickey quartz pebbles at Clinchers’ Mill co) aLO5Z 49 
———, Llandovery Conglomerate at West Malvern, discovered 
by Miss Phillips 1863 301 
———, Limestone, to asc2rtain percentage of 1858 223 
, Leintwardine, Star Fishes 1856 162 
, Longmynd, Trilobites and Fucoids Pre Se i Mr. 
Salter 4 ae 1856 161 
———,, Lucton and Ludford. Fodelis discovered at 1859 219 
, Leintwardine and Leysters. Fossils discovered at 1856 162 
, Ludlow, Classification of Rocks, by R. Lightbody 1862 288 
, Malvern Hills, Mineralogy, Remarks by Sir Rod. I. 
a Murchison ars Bec ve 1855 148 
——————, ——_———__, Prof. John Phillips 1854 132 
———-, Malvern Tunnel, References to Geology of 1860 248 
————, ———— and Ledbury Tunnels Sections by Rev. w. 
S. Symonds 1861 279 


388 


INDEX, 1852-1866 (Continued). 


YEAR. PAGE. 
Geology, Malvern, “‘ Straits of,”? Sir Rod. I. Murchison .. aah) SESS: I47 
, Mammalian remains, Hereford and Gloucester Canal .. 1852 4, 10 
: on Southern bank of Wye Bridge, 
Hereford, Abergavenny, and Newport Railway; 
recent ; not fossils es 1852 10, 36 
* along the flanks i the Maly ern Hills 1860 248 
in the Drift beds at Clinchers’ Mill 1865 375 
, Old Red Sandstone, Peroxide of Ironinthe .. ae er8R2 20 
, by Rev. Wm. S. Symonds we) G54: II4 
7 , compared with New Red Sandstone 1854 118 
: , Fossils of ae ve ae ese 213 
5 , Conglomerate of, Prof. Melville ae LOSS 224 
, ————_————. See the numerous footnotes in the 
Address of R. W. Banks ot es . 1861, 255 to 264 
, Pendle, Grauwacke and “ Pendle,”’ a local name .. 1859 227 
, Pen-cerig-calch, Geological features of District ser) LOGS 374. 
, Phillips, Miss, discoverer of Caradoc Conglomerate, West 
Malvern 4c 5.0 or = .. 1855 148 
, Plumbago in Worcester and Hereford Railway mucin 1856 158 
, Presteign, Nish Scar, Wenlock limestone at .. sensny  2CIG KS 82 
, Puddlestone, Traces of a Crustacean and Ripplemarks.. 1854 110, 140 
, Pterygotus problematicus, discovered by M. J. Scobie .. 1854 I40 
, Railway, Worcester to Hereford, by Rev. W. S. 
Symonds! .. AG seslope 279 
, Ragged Stone Hill, adarees Hugh E. Strickland Ao | isisi3) 51 
, Ross district, Remarks by Rev. Wm. S. Symonds «+ 1864 358,359 
, Rowlestone, Cornstones at .. 3 1857 219 
, Stretton Sugwas, Gravel beds, piieas by Rae Wm. S. 
Symonds ay af 20 Pint | 28{2K0/5) 297 
, Whitchurch Hetbbouralod ' 3 so we) LOSS 31 
, Woolhope valley .. By ous she ne enS52 14 
: , Remarks by Hugh E. Strickland, Prof. 
John Phillips, and Mr. J. Scobie 30 fet O52 16 
; , Faults in the a 1852 17 
Herefordshire Philosophical, Literary, Antiquarian Si ete 
History Society. Deputations for Union with Wool- 
hope Naturalists’ Field Club... 1862 283 
Notice of Withdrawal of weenie Club an 
the Museum .. . 1864 304 
Hoskyns, Chandos Wren, Address as Retiring ercitiee for ne 1864 304 
Ichthyology of Herefordshire, by Hewett Wheatley ye LOSS 62% 
Influence of light on the colour of fish .. . 1853 90 
Sir W. Jardine. . . . Some provincial and ee 
TLATNES# eect ele ye CCe ens 3 ae -. 1856 I7I 
—_—_———Salmonide of Herefordshire by rT. Jenkins we LO50 172 


389 


INDEX, 1852-1866 (Continued). 
Ichthyology, Hewett Wheatley—Modification of Views in Address 


YEAR. PAGE. 


on page 62 .. cic aie 1857 174,179 
Prizes offered by Mr. Hewett Wheatley Ae sn ie 
Specimens of Fish a= -. r86r 254 
Iron, peroxide of—in the Old Red deine. by Dr. i. Rowan 1852 20 
combined with Carbonate of Lime—Soil for Cider 
and for Hops (Rev. Wm. S. Symonds) 1854 II7 
Iron—the Fracture of, by Dr. A. Rowan : 1854 III 
Isbell, Edwin J. Earthquake of October 6, 1863 348 to 350 
, Meteorological Tables for Hereford, for 1863 1864 351 
——,, I 1865 364 
——.,, The Drought, 1864 1865 365 
, Ozone Table, 1864 1865 365 
Jardine, Sir Wm. Remarks on the Ichthy iced of cheats 1856 I7I 
Landslips—Dormington, 1844—See ‘‘ Hereford Journal,” March 
2oth, 1844 1852 17 
, Adam’s Rocks .. a 1852 17 
, The Wonder, near Putley 1852 17 
, Dormington, 1844 1857 190 
» ——————, Fossils in oe eds of As reste 
Limestone os ©6©F858 214 
Lawson, Henry, Meteorology, Rainfall at Hereford 1826 to 1841 ; 
Mean average of 14 years, 27°145 inches 1860 352 
Lees, Edwin, F.L.S., On the plants which flourish on Silurian bine: 
stone ce ale ats 1853 57 
, Reply to Rev. Wm. S. Symonds ee. E854 I25 
, The discovery in Herefordshire of a new plant 
Epipogum aphyllum . 1854 129 
Lewis, Rev. T. T., Geological excursion to coasts Sept, 2I 1852 29 
“Grandfather of the Silurian System,” Hugh 
E. Strickland a4 «) 2853 54 
, Address of, as retiring Besadeae. ae 24, masa 1854 94 
, Memory of the late, August 17th 1858 226 
Lightbody, Robert, Address as retiring President for 1861 1862 285 
, Classification of Rocks at Ludlow.. 1862 288 
oe, Chas., M.D., Address as retiring President for 1857 1858 213 
Lingwood, R.M., List of Animals, Birds, &c., of Herefordshire 1861 269 
, Periodic Phenomena - r86r 275 
Lyell, Sir Chastas Present at the joint modes of Nahata on 
Worcestershire Beacon, Jan. 12 .. as LOSS 148 
Mackworth, Herbert, Short remarks on the Ventilation of Mines.. 1854 107 
Mammals of Herefordshire, by R. M. Lingwood a 269 
Mammalian Remains Bis : ne (see under Geology) 
Meteorology, Weekly Tables in the H. acs Ti ames supplied by Dr. 
Rowan oa ae Oe Ae era 2 E852 31 


390 


INDEX, 1852-1866 (Continued). 


Meteorology, Observations for the Quarter ended June, 1855 
, Instruments purchased and placed in the hands of Mr. 
Hewett Wheatley 
, Observations, 1857, by J. E. Smith 
, ———————,, 1858, —_—____-_— 
, = — , 1863, by Edwin J. Isbell 
, —————, 1864, ————_____-— 
, Tables aie Ss 
, The Drought, 1864, by Edwin J. Isbell 
+) Ozonetables) |. 
, Observations, 1865, by Wm. aes 
, Tables for 1865 
Merbage, View from the Summit 
Melville, W., Notes on the Paleozoic Rocks, tenet 17, "1858 
—, On the Lyellian School of Physical Geology 
Mistletoe, on Oak Tree, on the Ridgeway, about 300 yards North 
from the Lodge 
See the long paper by Dr. Bull 
Murchison, Sir Roderick I., Remarks on the 36th or Hecterdshice 
Regiment, The 20 


, Reply to Dr. Rowan st 
, Letter, Oolitic remains in the gravels 
Cradley (?)a ae at the period of the “‘ Straits 
of Malvern ” ne Si a 5% 
——__—_—_—_—_———_—, First visit to Herefordshire in July, 1831 
, Letter acknowledging his indebtedness 
to Rev. T. T. Lewis, &c., 1855 
Address, Joint Meeting of Nuburatiets: 
Wace Beacon, June 12 He 
Museum, Value of a Local Collection, Views of Rev. Wm. S. 


Symonds upon 
, Worcester, Slab found near Puddlestone, with Ripple 
marks and traces of a crustacean 56 
, Committee for formation of a Museum devoted exclu- 
sively to the Natural History of the County 
, Worcester, Specimen of Plumbago from the tunnel, Wor- 
cester and Hereford Railway ac 
, Committee formed. Nota general collection .. 
, Local Museum only a 
, ———————_,, Not a General Collection 
, Sum of £15 voted to provide cases 
, Committee appointed 
Ornithology, Cirl bunting, Fern Owl, Nightingale 
——, Birds of Herefordshire, by R. M. Lingwood 


YEAR. PAGE. 
97 

I19 

209 to 211 
235 to 242 
351 

362 

364 

365 

366 

378, 379 

380 

1855 I51 
1858 224 
1858 224 
1853 54 
312 to 347 
1852 II 
1852 23 
1853 49 
1854 99 
1855 135 
1855 145 
1854 IIg 
1855 139 
1855 I40 
1855 156 
1856 158 
1856 168 
1856 Lez 
1856 178,179 
1862 294 
1864 303 
1852 20 
1861 270 


391 


INDEX, 1852-1866 (Continued). 


Periodic Phenomena, 1850 to 1857 - 
Phillips, John, F.R.S., F.G.S., Geological Ra Gaetes 10, Bes 
Purchas, W. H., Abundance of Avena flavescens at Ross, 1852 
Botanical Geography, 1852 oe ae 
, Appointed on the Committee for the prepara- 
tion of the Flora of Herefordshire, June 7.. 
Reptiles 
Rowan, Andrew, M. D., De aeesttita of Sulphuretted. Hy drogen 
by Herefordshire Marl . 
Peroxide of a in the Old Red iSanduiare 
, Meteorological Table in the Hereford Times 
, The Destruction of Fern and Gorse by the 
application of Fresh Lime 
, Talc in the Elms Giarey, Hsien 
—_—_—____________—., The Fracture of Iron .. od 
Salter, J. W., F.G.S., Trilobites and fucoids in C ieee "Rocks Bs 
, Reply to Professor Melville ve Conglomerate 
of the Old Red F 
Scobie, M. J., F.G.S., Paper on the Local edlaey: Mae: 8th, a 
, Geological Report, First Excursion, May 
18th, 1852 
, Report of ‘nie Whitchurch Field Meeting 
July 20, 1852 ed ae f 
, Resolution in reference to his uae death. 
, Pterygotus problematicus, discovery of limbs 
OF ss 5 a ore a8 
Steele, Elmes Y., Address as retiring President of 1865 
Strickland, Hugh E., F.G.S., Geology, Field Meeting at Whitchurch 
—_—__—_—_—_—_——_.,, Remarks in reply to Sir R. Murchison, 
Original Field Clubs of Berwick, Cotteswold, &c.,.. 
—————_——_, Geology, Ragged Stone Hill District 
Sulphuretted Hydrogen, Decomposition by Herefordshire Marl ; 
Dr. A. Rowan ate 
Symonds, Rev. Wm. S., F.G.S., Oolitic remains in the Tereals of 
Cradley, Herefordshire 
, The Study of Natural History 
, The Old Red Sandstone of Here- 
fordshire ae an ri ae 
, Address, Monmouth Cap Meeting 
, Address as retiring President 
, Urges the education of the hum- 
bler classes in the Elements of Natural Science 
, Greenstone, Red Syenite, &c., 
Malvern and Ledbury Tunnels, May 15, 1860; 
various references given xe ae ae 


YEAR. 
1861 


1854 
1852 
1852 


1853 


PAGE. 
275 
132 

19 
37 


62 


(see Zoology) 


1852 
1852 
1852 
1852 
1852 
1854 
1856 


1858 
1852 


1852 


1852 
1853 


1855 
1866 
1852 


1852 
1853 


1852 


1853 
1853 


1854 
1854 
1855 


1854 


1860 


20 
20 
31 


140 
373 


II4 
123 


150 


248 


392 


INDEX, 1852-1866 (Continued). 
YEAR. PAGE. 
Symonds, Rev. Wm. S., F.G.S., Gravel beds at Stretton Sugwas, 


March 12, 1863 ere sc Ad sm) OOR 297 
Trees, Oak, in the grounds of Croft Castle 5 he ss 1852 29 
, Laburnum hybridised oe He as ride | ANSI Vs 195 
——, Elm, Curious growth of, and repair of injuries .. eT LOS 199 
——, Pear tree, very large, at Holme Lacy .. Fic ve O50 212 
——, Laburnum .. ate oye 36 s. L858 216 
——, Pear Tree at Holme iat so ee 1858 217 

Wheatley, Hewett, Remarks on the Ichthyology of ertoraching 
June 7th, 1853 te 30 a6 se 1853 62 
, Meteorological Observations, June, 1855 ae eS 97 

, Modification of some opinions expressed in 
paper on Ichthyology .. 5 se 61857 174.070 
, Address as retiring eat for 1856 Ach fatts}sj7/ 175 

Woolhope “ Valley of Elevation,” H. E. Strickland, F.G.S. ; Prof. 
John Phillips ; M. J. Scobie, F.G.S. Bb se) LO52 16 
 , Faults oe as Se LOSS 17 
Woolhope Club, Rules of, Alteration of in 1860 ed -. 1860 247 
1862 ake -. 1862 282 
, New Bye Laws ae oi so) -LOOe 284 
ao 0 -  DaGe 294 
EO a0 o¥0 <1) OOS 297 
Zoology, Reptiles, Viper .. pd ac 50 «+ O52 Io 
, of Hereford te 50 ote 7 LOOK 274 


PRA TA. 


Page 343. See the Errata upon this page referring to Dr. Bull’s very long 
paper on “The Mistletoe in Herefordshire,” and make the 
necessary corrections upon pages 316, 318, and 323. 


Page 361, line 19. For “May roth” read ‘‘May 26th.” Again, in the Foot- 
note upon the same page, for ‘‘ May 26th” read “‘ May roth.” 


PRESENTED 
15 JAN, 1908 


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