,,:a^fr'0^f^- r^. r^-^ ; w^ . ^ >^^ -Ir^^^A..^- -. ?H t.^ ^Jir.i 11 HARVARD UNIVERSITY LIBRARY MUSEUM OF COMPARATIVE 206L0GY Ho/tcii ^5,1^4^' TRANSACTIONS WATFOED NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. VOLUME TRANSACTIONS OF THE "VVATFORD NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY AND HERTFORDSHIRE FIELD CLUB. EDITED BY THE EONOHAEY SECRETARY. VOLUME I. January, 1875, to June, 1877. WATFORD : SOLD AT THE PUBLIC LIBRARY, QUEEN'S ROAD. LONDON : HARDWICKE & BOGUE, 192, PICCADILLY, W. 1878. nug> HERTFORD : PRINTED BY STEPHEN AUSTIN AND SONS. CONTENTS PAGE 1. The Cretaceous Rocks of England. By J. Logan Loblet, P.G.S., F.R.G.S. (With 5 woodcuts.) 1 2. Notes on the Flora of the Watford District. By Aethiik CoTTAM, F.R.A.S 14 3. Notes on a proposed re-issue of the Flora of Hertford- shire, with Supplementary Remarks on the Botany of the Watford District. By R. A. Pkyob, B.A., F.L.S. 17 4. On the Observation of Periodical Natural Phenomena. By John Hopkinson, F.L.S., F.G.S., Hon. Sec. . . 33 5. Notes on the Plants on which the Meteorological Society invites Observations as to their Time of Flowering. By the Rev. W. M. Hind, LL.D 43 6. Note's on the Observation of Insects in Connexion with Investigations on Seasonal Phenomena. By Authtjr CoTTAM, F.R.A.S 50 7. On the Pleasures and Advantages to be derived from a Study of Natural History, and more particularly from the Observation of Birds. By J. E. Hakting, F.L.S., F.Z.S 52 8. Miscellaneous Notes and Observations 63 9. On the Botanical Work of the Past Season. By R. A. Petor, B.A., F.L.S. (With a Map of Hertfordshire.) 65 10. List of Works on the Geology of Hertfordshire. By W. Whitakee, B.A., F.G.S 78 11. A Few Words about our Local Ferns. By John E. LiTTLEBOT 83 12. The Physical Structure of the London Basin, considered in its Relation to the Geology of the Neighbourhood of Watford. By Professor John Moeeis, F.G.S. (AYith 6 woodcuts.) 89 13. Miscellaneous Notes and Observations 108 14. On the supposed Chalybeate Spring at Watford, and on other Medicinal Waters in Herts. By R. A. Petoe, B.A., F.L.S 109 15. TheRainfaUin 1875 112 16. Anniversary Address. By the President, John Evans, F.R.S., F.S.A., F.G.S., etc 113 CONTKNTS. PAGE 17. The Geology and Water Supply of the ^Neighbourhood of Watford. By the Eev. J. C. Cluttekbuck, M.A.. 125 18. Meteorological Observations taken at Cassiobury House from May to December, 1875. By the Right Hon. the Earl of Essex 1 32 19. Miscellaneous Notes and Observations 135 20. The Hertfordshire Bourne. By Johx Evaxs, F.R.S., V.P.S. A., r.G.S., etc., President 137 21. The Hertfordshire Ordnance Bench Marks, from the ' Abstracts of Levelling ' of the Ordnance Survey. By John Hopkinson, Hon. Sec 141 22. The Polaiisation of Light. By James U. Haefoed. (With a Plate.) 152 23. The Eocenes of England and their Extension in Hert- fordshire. By J. Logan Lobley, E.G.S., F.R.G.S. . . 161 24. Miscellaneous Notes and Observations 172 25. Notes and Queries on the Eiver Colne, Watford. By Alfred T. Brett, M.D 175 26. Fish-hatching and Fish-culture in Hertfordshire. By A. T. Brett, M.D. With Notes on Pisciculture in Hertfordshire, by Peter Hood, M.D 179 27. Anniversary Address. By the President, John Evans, F.B.S., V.P.S.A., F.G.S., etc 187 28. The Fertilisation of Plants. By the Eev. George Henslow, M.A., F.L.S., F.G.S 201 29. Instructions for taking Meteorological Observations. By William Marriott, F.M.S 211 30. Meteorological Observations taken at Holly Bank, Watford, during the year ending 28th February, 1877. By John Hopkinson, F.L.S., F.M.S., Hon. Sec. . . 217 31. Eepoi-t on the Eainfall in Hertfordshii'e in 1876. By the Honorary Secretary 225 32. Notes on a Eeraarkable Storm in Hertfordshire, April 4th, 1877. By Lieut. E. B. Croft, K.N., F.L.S. . . 230 33. On Microscopic Fungi. By E. M. Cuater. (With 3 woodcuts.) 231 34. Notes on the Otter and Badger in Hertfordshire. By Alfred T. Brett, M.D., President 236 35. Miscellaneous Notes and Observations 238 Index, etc , 241 Peoceedings, January, 1875, to June, 1878, pp. ix-lxiv. LIST OF ILLUSTEATIONS. PLATES. I. Map of Hertfordshii'e showing the Districts into which it is proposed to divide the County for the illustra- tion of its Botanical Geography To face p. 65 II. The Polarisation of Light 7b>ce p. 160 WOODCrTS. PAGE Section showing the approximate relative thickness of the British Sedimentary Rocks 3 Map showing the extension of the Cretaceous Rocks in England ; 5 Poraminifera from the Chalk 9 Eoraminifera from the Atlantic Ooze 9 Section across the London Tertiary Basin 11 General Section of the Tertiary Beds at Bushey KilnjWatford 94 Ditto at Watford Heath Kiln 95 Ditto at Hatfield Park Kiln . . .. 98 Ditto at Mr. Lines' Brickyard, near Hertford 99 General Section on Railway, Bushey Cutting 100 "Wheat Mildew — Puccinia graminis 232 Bramble Leaf Brand — Aregma hulbosum 233 Maple Blight — JJncinula hicornis . . . . 234 Dates of publication of the several parts contained in this volume Part 1. Pages:i-32 July, 1875. „ 2. „ 33-64 Nov. 1875. „ 3. „ 65-88, and k-xvi March, 1876. „ 4. ,, 89-112, and xvii-xxiv. June, 1876. ,, 5. ,,113-136, and xxv-xxxii. Oct. 1876, „ 6. ,,137-160, and xxxiii-xl. March, 1877. „ 7. „ 161-200, and xli-xlviii. July, 1877. „ 8. „ 201-216, and xlix-lvi Dec. 1877. „ 9. „ 217-240, and Ivii-Lxiv April, 1878. „ 10. ,,241-248, and i-\-iii August, 1878. PROCEEDINGS OF THE WATFOED NATIIRAL HISTOEY SOCIETY. Meeting to Found the Society, 23ed Januaey, 1875. Alfred T. Brett, Esq., M.D., in the Chair. Present : Dr. Brett, Mr. E. M. Chater, Mr. George Chippindale, Mr. Arthur Cottam, Mr. Thomas Heather, Mr. John Hopkinson, Dr. lies, Mr. J. Logan Lobley, Mr. F. W. Silvester, Mr. W. Lepard Smith, Mr. C. R. Smith, and Mr. J. Watson Walker, jun. The Chairman, having read a notice of the intention to found a Natural History Society for Watford and its neighbourhood (from the 'Watford Observer' of the 2nd of January), stated the object of the present meeting, and the reasons which had induced him, in conjunction with Mr. Cottam and Mr. Hopkinson, to take the initiative in proposing the formation of the Society at the com- mencement of the present year. It was then moved by Mr. Cottam, seconded by Dr. lies, and carried — "That it is desirable to establish a Society at Watford for the promotion of the study of Natural History, to be called the Watford Natiu'al History Society and Hertfordshire Field Club." Moved by Mr. Chater, seconded by Mr. W. L. Smith, and carried — "That the Society be now founded, and shall consist of those ladies and gentlemen who have signified their desire to become members, with power to add to their number." By this resolution the following were elected Members : — Dr. Alfred T. Brett and Miss Brett, Watford House ; Mr. H. W. Bridges, Upper Nascot, Watford; Mr. R. H. Carter, Ashlands, Watford ; Mr. E. M. Chater, High Street, Watford ; Mr. George Chippindale, Rough Down Villas, Boxmoor ; Mr. Alfred J. Cope- land and Mrs. Copeland, Dell Field, Watford; Mr. Arthur Cottam, F.R.A.S., St. John's Road, Watford ; Mr. John E. Dawson, F.R.G.S., F.RM.S., Oak Lodge, Watford; Dr. J. R. Bathurst Dove, Chesnut Cottage, Pinner ; the Rev. C. E. Drew, M.A., Queen's Road, Watford ; the Right Honourable the Earl of Essex and the Countess of Essex, Cassiobury Park, Watford ; Mr. John Evans, V.P.R.S., V.P.S.A., Pres.G.S., etc., Nash MiUs, Hemel Hempstead; Mr. H. Sugden Evans, F.R.M.S., F.C.S., Barham Lodge, Elstree; the Rev. W. Falconer, M.A., F.R.A.S., The Rectoiy, Bushey ; Admiral E. G. Fanshawe, F.R.G.S., Delrow, Aldenham ; Mr. W. M. Fawcett, Wiusmore Lodge, Watford ; Mr. C. E. Fry, The Little Elms, Watford ; Mr. T. Gardner, Queen's Road, Watford ; Mr. George Green, Hyde Lodge, Watford ; Mr. James U. Harford, Upper Nascot, Watford ; Mr. Thomas Heather, X PROCEEDINGS OF THE Queen's E,oad, "Watford ; Mr. Clement Hcaton, Yerulam House, Watford; the Rev. W. Marsden Hind, LL.D., The Parsonage, Pinner; Mr. James Hopkinson and Mr. John Hopkinson, F.G.S., Holly Bank, Watford; Mr. Charles F. Humbert, F.O.S., Little Nascot, Watford; Dr. F. H. Wilson lies and Mrs. lies, High Street, Watford; the llev. 11. Lee James, LL.B., The Vicarage, Watford; Dr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys, F.R.S., F.L.S., Treas.G.S., etc., Ware Priory; Mr. J. Logan Lobley, F.G.S., F.R.G.S., 59, Clarendon lload, Netting Hill, London ; Mr. W. H. Petty and Miss Petty, Lady's Close, Watford ; Mr. George Ryan and Mr. Robert Ryan, Belmont House, Watford; Mr. John Sedgwick, Elmcote, Watford; Mr. Alfred 0. Sedgwick and Mrs. Sedgwick, North End House, Watford ; Mr. F. J. Sedgwick, High Street, Watford ; Mr. F. W. Silvester, Hedges, St. Albans ; Mr. J. J. Smith, Miss Smith, Mr. W. L. Smith, and Mr. C. R. Smith, Lady's Close, Watford ; Mr. George Tidcombe, jun., C.E., Chalk Hill, Bushey ; Mr. William A. Tooke, Pinner Hill ; Mr. George Wailes, Park Road, Watford ; Mrs. Walker and Mr. J. Watson Walker, jun., Fairfield House, Watford; Miss E. S. Wilkie, Bushey Grange; and the Rev. T. Wiltshire, M.A., F.L.S., Sec.G.S., etc., 25, Granville Park, Lewisham. Moved by Mr. Chippindale, seconded by Mr. Silvester, and carried — "That Mr. John Hopkinson be the Honorary Secretary of the Society." Moved by Mr. Lobley, seconded by Dr. lies, and carried — "That the following gentlemen constitute the Provisional Committee, to consider the organization, constitution, and laws of the Society, and to report thereon to the next general meeting : Dr. Brett, Mr. Alfred Copeland, Mr. Arthur Cottam, Mr. C. E. Fry, Mr. Thomas Heather, Mr. C. F. Humbert, Mr. F. W. Silvester, Mr. W. L. Smith, Mr. G. Tidcombe, jun., and Mr. John Hopkinson." A vote of thanks to the Chairman having been moved by Mr. Lobley, seconded by Dr. lies, and carried. Dr. Brett briefly replied, wishing success to the Society. Inaugiteax Meeting, 11th Febeuaky, 1875. Charles F. Humbert, Esq., F.G.S., having first been voted to the Chair, stated that this meeting had been convened by the Pro- visional Committee to elect a President and other oflieers, and to pass the laws. He then proposed the election of 'Mr. John Evans, F.R.S., etc., as the first President of the Society. Dr. Brett seconded, and the resolution was carried unanimously. Mr. Evans, on taking the Chair, said that, owing to his time being so fully occupied, he had with great reluctance consented to accept the office of President : he had, however, been pressed to do so in so kind a manner, that he could not refuse, and would do all in his power to further the objects of the Society. ■WATFOED NATTJEAL HISTORY SOCIETY. XI The following ladies and gentlemen were elected Members of the Society by resolution : — Miss Benskin and Mr. John P. Benskin, High Street, Watford ; Mr. C. A. Booth, Westfield, Watford ; Miss F. Cazalet, St. Albans Road, Watford; Mr. Jonathan Chater, High Street, Watford; Miss Clarke, The Lindens, Watford; Mr. A. Basil Cottam, St. John's Road, Watford ; Miss Ada CottereU, The Stanboroughs, Watford ; the Right Honourable the Lord Ebury, Moor Park, Rickmans- worth; Miss Diggle and Mr. William A. Di2:gle, Queen's Road, Watford; Mr. Robert Etheridge, F.R.S., F.R.S.E., V.P.G.S., Palaeontologist to the Geological Survey of England, Museum, Jermyn Street, London ; Miss Evans and Miss Beatrice Evans, Barham Lodge, Elstree ; Mr. Walter J. Green, High Street, Wat- ford ; the Honourable jforman Grosvenor, Moor Park, Rickmans- worth ; Mr. Edward Harrison, Upper Xascot, AVatford ; Mr. John Hart, Miss Hart, and Miss Fanny Hart, Wansford House, Watford; Mr. J. E. Harting, F.L.S., F.Z.S., 27, Carlton HiU, St. John's Wood, London ; Mr. Charles Henson, Rutland Lodge, Watford ; Mr. Henry Hicks, M.R.C.S., F.G.S., Heriot House, Hendon ; Mr. John E. Littleboy, Hunton Bridge; Mr. Richard Morgan, Clarendon Hotel, Watford ; Mr. Simpson Noakes, Bushey Heath ; Mr. Ber- nard Piifard and Mrs. Piffard, Hill House, Hemel Hempstead ; Mr. R. A. Pryor, B.A., F.L.S., Hatfield; Mr. George Rooper, F.Z.S., Kascot House, Watford ; Dr. Alfred T. Rudyard, St. Albans Road, Watford ; Mr. J. G. Smith, Hamper Mills, Watford ; Mr. W. T. Stone, Watford Heath ; Mr. WiUiam Veiini, The Ferns, Bushey Heath ; and the Rev. W. Walsh, M.A., The Parsonage, St. Andrew's, Watford. The following gentlemen were elected as the Officers and Council for the ensuing year, in addition to Mr. John Evans, ah-eady elected President : — Vice-Presidents. — Alfred T. Brett, M.D. ; the Right Honourable the Earl of Essex-, Charles F. Humbert, F.G.S. ; J. Gwyn Jeffreys, LL.D., F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S. Treasurer. — Arthur Cottam, F.R.A.S. Hon. Secretary and Librarian. — John Hopkinson, F.L.S., F.G.S. Hon. Curator. — W. Lepard Smith. Otlier Members of the Council. — E. M. Chater ; George Chippin- dale ; John E. Dawson, F.R.G.S., F.R.M.S. ; H. Sugden Evans. F.R.M.S., F.C.S.; the Rev. W. Falconer, M.A., F.R.A.S.; Admiral E. G. Fanshawe, F.R.G.S. ; W. M. Fawcett ; Thomas Heather ; the Rev. R. Lee James, LL.B. ; J. Logan Lobley, F.G.S., F.R.G.S. ; John Sedgwick; Frank W. Silvester. The following Laws, proposed for adoption by the Provisional Committee, were then read and passed seriatim : — I. — The Society shall be called the Watford Natural History Societt AND Hertfordshirb Field Club, and shall have for its object the investiga- tion of the Meteorology, Geology, Botany, and Zoology of the neighbourhood of Watford and the County of Hertford, and the dissemination amongst its members of information on Natural History and Microscopical Science. Xll PROCEEDINGS OF THE II.— The Societ)' shall consist of Ordinary and Honorary Members, including Ladies ; the number of Ordinary Members being unlimited, and the number of Honorary Members being limited to twenty. III. — The management of the Society shall be vested in a Council consisting of a President, four Vice-Presidents, a Treasurer, an Honorary Secretary and Librarian, an Honorary Curator, and twelve other members, to be elected annually, by ballot, at the Ordinary Meeting in February, which shall be the Annual Meeting. The President shall not hold office for a longer term than two years, and in each year the senior Vice-President, and the three senior ordinary members of the Council, shall not be eligible for re-election; but the Council shall have power to fill up, from these or other Members of the Society, any vacancy that may occur during the year. IV. — The Ordinary Meetings of the Society shall be held in the rooms of the "Watford Public Library on the second Thursday in each month (except during the months of July, August, and September), at half-past seven o'clock in the evening, the Council having power to alter the day and hour of meeting ; and during the summer months Field Meetings shall also be held at such time and place as the Council may direct. V. — Minutes shall be kept of the Ordinary Meetings of the Society and of the meetings of the Council, and the minutes of each meeting shall be read as the first business of the next ensuing meeting of the same kind. VI. — Members shall have the privilege of attending all the Ordinary and Field Meetings of the Society, and of introducing one Visitor at any such meeting, and shall be entitled to a copy of all Publications issued by the Society during their membership. VII. — The Annual Subscription for Ordinary Members shall be Ten Shillings, payable immediately after their election, and afterwards due in advance on the 1st of January in each year ; and all Members elected after the year of the foundation of the Society shall pay an Entrance Fee of Ten Shillings. No Member shall be entitled to any of the privileges of the Society whose subscrip- tion is twelve months in arrear ; and any Member whose subscription is two years in arrear may be excluded from the Society by the Council. VIII. — Any Ordinary Member may compound for his or her Annual Sub- scriptions by a payment of Five Pounds. IX. — The Honorar)' Members shall be ladies or gentlemen of eminence in Natural Science, or who shall have done some special service to the Societ)', and whose usual place of residence is not in the County of Hertford or within twelve miles of the town of Watford ; and they shall be elected only by the Members upon the recommendation of the Council, not more than five to be elected in any one year. X. — Every Candidate for admission shall be proposed by two or more Members, who shall sign a certificate in recommendation of such candidate, one of the proposers from personal knowledge. The certificate shall be read from the Chair at the Ordinary Meeting following its receipt by the Secretary, and the candidate shall then be balloted for, one black ball in six "excluding. XI. — Members wishing to resign at the termination of any year are required to inform the Honorary Secretary, in writing, of their intention to do so, on or before the 30th of November in that year. XII. — The Accoimts of the Society shall be made up to the 31st of December in each year, and audited by two Auditors appointed at the Ordinary Meeting following ; and the Balance Sheet, together with a Report on the general pro- gress of the Society during the preceding year, shall be submitted to the Annnal Meeting in February. XIII. — The Society shall discourage the practice of removing rare plants from the localities of which they are characteristic, and of exterminating rare birds, fish, and other animals, and shall use its influence with landowners and others for the protection of the characteristic birds of the County, and of the neighbourhood of Watford in particular ; the rarer botanical specimens ((illcctcti at the Field Meetings shall be chiefly such as can be gathered without (listuil)ing the roots of the plants ; and notes on the habits of birds shall be accunuiluttid instead of specimens, either of the birds or of their eggs. WATFORD NATITRAL HISTORY SOCIETT. XIU XIV. — No Law shall be altered except by a majority of votes of the Members present at a Special Meeting called for that purpose. The Council may at any time, and shall, upon a requisition signed by not less than twelve Members, convene a Special Meeting ; and a printed notice stating the objects for which the meeting is convened shall be sent to each Member not less than ten days before such meeting, at which no business shall be considered except that for which it was convened. XV. — A copy of these Laws shall be sent by the Secretary to each Member upon election to membership of the Society. The President then delivered an addi-ess on the work that might be done by the Society in the investigation of the Natural History of the County, treating briefly of some of the most important points for inquiry in the sciences of Meteorology, Geology and Palaeontology, Botany, and Zoology, and of the value of the microscope in scientific investigation. A vote of thanks to the President having been moved by Mr. John Hopkinson, seconded by Dr. Brett, and carried, Mr. Evans briefly responded. The meeting then resolved itself into a Conversazione, at which the following gentlemen exhibited objects under their microscopes : — Dr. Brett, Mr. E. M. Chater, Mr. Arthur Cottam, Mr. A. Basil Cottam, Mr. H. Sugden Evans, Mr. John Hopkinson, and Mr. J. Watson Walker. Ordikart MEETrtfG, 11th March, 1875. John Evans, Esq., V.P.R.S., etc.. President, in the Chair. Mrs. John Evans, Nash Mills, Hemel Hempstead ; Mr. George H. Gisby, Widbury Hill, Ware ; Mrs. James Hopkinson, Holly Bank, Watford; Miss Juliette Scholz, Aldenham Lane, Bushey ; Miss Ethel Sedgwick, Elmcote, Watford ; Mr. C. K. Smith, The Hawthorns, Watford; Mr. John Wilson, 159, New Bond Street, London ; and Miss Mary Wilson and Miss Rose AVilson, Grove House, Bushey, were elected Members of the Society. The following lecture was delivered : — "The Cretaceous Rocks of England." By J. Logan Lobley, F.G.S., E.R.G.S. {Vide -page 1). A discussion ensued, in which Mr. W. Whitaker, of the Geo- logical Survey of England, Mr. James TJ. Harford, Mr. Arthur Cottam, and the President, took part. The following specimens were exhibited : — Fossils from the Cretaceous Rocks, in illustration of his lecture, by Mr. Lobley. Fossils from the Cretaceous Rocks ; and, under the microscope, Foraminifera fi'om the Chalk of Norfolk, and from the Medi- terranean, by Mr. John Hopkinson. Foraminifera from the Chalk of Watford, and from the Red Sea, under the microscope, by Mr. Arthur Cottam. The lecture was also illustrated by numerous maps and diagrams ; the Geological Society's Geological Map of England having been lent for the occasion by the Geologists' Association; a Section PROCEEDINGS OF THE across the AVcaldcn, by the Geological Survey; and Diagrams of Cretaceous Fossils, by Professor Morris. Oedijjaey Meeting, 8th Apetl, 1875. Alfred T. Bkett, Esq., M.D., Vice-President, in the Chair. Mr. Stephen Austin, Bayley Lodge, Hertford ; Mr. "William Barber, M.A., and Mrs. Barber, Wood Hall, Pinner; Major Francis Duncan, Royal Artillery, M.A., D.C.L., LL.D., F.G.S., F.K.G.S., 29, The Common, Woolwich; Mr. Thomas F. Halscy, M.P., Gaddesden Place, Hemel Hempstead; Mr. J. Cardinal Harford, Upper jN'ascot, Watford ; Dr. Peter Hood, Upton House, Watford ; Mrs. Humbert, Little Xascot, Watford ; Mr. J. Henry James, Kingswood, Watford ; Dr. M. ^ Druiy Lavin, Bushey ; Mr. W. Jones Loyd, Langleybury, Watford; the Rev. C. M. Perkins, M.A., Abbey Gateway, St. Albans ; the Rev. Newton Price, Belmont House, Watford ; Mr. Robert Pry or. High Elms, Watford ; Mrs. Ransom, Essex Road, Watford ; Mr. Henrv Rogers and Mrs. Rogers, Portman House, W^atf ord ; Mr. F. 'j. Thairlwall, 169, Gloucester Road, Regent's Park, London ; Miss Ward, Chalk Hill, Bushey ; and Mr. George Waterman, Derby Road, Watford, were elected Members of the Society. George James AUman, M.D., F.R.S., F.R.S.E., Pres.L.S., Emerson Professor of Natural History in the Universitv of Edinburgh; James Glaisher, F.R.S., F.R.A.S., F.R.M.S., F.M.S., Superintendent of the Magnetic and Meteorological Department, Royal Observatory, Greenwich; Joseph Dalton Hooker, M.D., R.N., C.B., D.C.L., LL.D., Pres.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S., Director of the Royal Gardens, Kew ; Sir John Lubbock, Bart., M.P., F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S.; and John Morris, F.G.S., Goldsmid Professor of Geology and Mineralogy in University College, London, were elected Honorary Members. The following communications were read : — 1. A Letter from Mr. H. A. Warne, Oneida, Madison Co., Xcw York, to the Honorary Secretaiy, dated 17th Feb., 1875, offering to exchange North American for Biitish Plants. Mr. Warne wishes to obtain the more stiikinj? and characteristic plants of the British Isles, and " woidd prefer species of llanuncnlactti', llosacea' (only a few Ilubus species), the showier Scrophulariacea', Pdlcmouiacea^, Solanaceic, Gen- tianacea;, Ericaceic, and the most interesting]; Compositic and Liliaceie," not represented in North America. Any peculiarly interesting or striking plants from other orders would be acceptable, and he would be glad to get specially peculiar mosses and all the ferns not found also in America. Parasitic fungi on leaves, and lichens, are also desired. For these lie states that he can return "a large proportion of the species of phirnogamous plants found cast of the Mississijjpi, and a number from Colorado and California," lie lias also many ferns, mosses, liverworts, lichens, and fungi. lie recommends that packages should be sent " by mail." No package should exceed two pounds in weight. "No writing should be put in tlie packages— the specimens must simply be numbered, with a slip of paper attaclied, and the names, with corresponding numbers, sent by letter. This," he says, "will insure second or third rates of postage, and safe delivery." WATFORD NATUEAIi HISTORY SOCIETr. XV 2. " Notes on a Proposed Re-issue of the Flora of Hertfordshire, with Supplementary Remarks on the Botany of the Watford District." By R. A. Pryor, B.A., F.L.S. ( Vide p. 17). 3. "On the Botanical Geography of Hertfordshire." By Arthur Cottam, F.R.A.S. Mr. Cottam stated that the ' Flora Hertfordiensis ' was now very much out of date. It was published in 1849, and had two appendices — one dated 1851, and the other 1859. The boundary lines on the map, dividing the county into districts for botanical purposes, were to a great extent artificial, rendering it impossible to make them out on the ground. On a large map he showed where the natural lines of di\-ision should be, forming the districts from the drainage areas of the diiferent rivers and their tributaries. 4. "!N'otes on the Flora of the Watford District." By Arthur Cottam, F.R.A.S. {Vide^. 14). The Secretary then read extracts from letters he had received, as follows: — (1) from Mr. William A. Tooke, Pinner Hill, offer- ing to render assistance to Members of the Society desirous of examining the flora of the district, as far as his property extends ; (2) from Mr. H. George Fordham, Odsey, near Royston, saying that if at any time an excursion should be made to that neigh- bourhood — to the coprolite pits or other places of interest — he would do what he could to further the objects of the Society ; (3) from Mr. John E. Ingpen, Honorary Secretary of the Quekett Microscopical Club, London, inviting the Members of the Society to join in any of the Excursions of the Club ; and (4) from Mr. Henry Walker, Honorary Secretary of the West London Scientific Association and Field Club, to the same effect as the preceding. A Collection of Mosses was exhibited by Dr. Brett ; collections of Hertfordshire Plants, by Mr. Cottam and Mr. W. L. Smith ; and spore-cases of Ferns, under the microscope, by Mr. J. Hopkinson. Field Meeting, 1st Mat, 1875. Rain was falling heavily, when a train arrived at Watford, conveying about five-and-twenty members of the Geologists' Association, who, in spite of the prospect of a thoroughly wet afternoon, had left London to join in the first Field Meeting of the Watford Natural History Society. The President, the Secre- tary, and several other members received them ; and as there seemed no prospect of anything but a thoroughly wet afternoon — for it had been raining continuously most of the day — the pro- gramme which had been announced was abandoned, and the members of the two Societies assembled at the residence of the Secretary — Holly Bank — where Professor Morris had kindly con- sented to give a lecture on what would have been seen had the day been fine. Soon, however, the rain almost ceased, and it was decided to visit a chalk-pit in Berry Wood, near Aldenham, as being the nearest spot known where an instructive geological section could be seen. XVI PEOCEEDINGS OF THE Crossing the Colne at Bushcy Mill, a gravel-pit near Berry Wood was first examined, and Professor Morris showed that the gravel here was Drift re-arranged and brought down from higher levels ; some of its flint pebbles being slightly rolled ; others more or less angular; and others again, elliptical, kidney-shaped, or round, and perfectly black — these being derived from the waste of beds of Lower Tertiary age. Fragments also of hardened slate, grit, quartzite, and white quartz here were seen — the latter being derived from slaty rocks Avhich do not occur in situ in this part of England, and were most probably brought by the action of ice from Palaeozoic rocks some hundreds of miles north of this spot. The Chalk -pit in Berry "Wood was then visited. Here the Upper Chalk has a very irregular surface underlying a thick bed of gravel, which was shown not to repose now on the surface on which it was originally deposited ; the Chalk ha\'ing been at one time nearly level, and afterwards irregularly dissolved away by the percolation through the gravel and into cracks, or its more pervious portions, of water holding carbonic acid in solution. In the Chalk here are the remains of sponges and ventriculites inclosed in mere shells of flint, containing "spicules," Forarainifera, and even Polyzoa, beautifully preserved ; and amongst others, specimens of Glohigerina haloides were detected by Professor Morris, who stated that a similar form was now lining in the Atlantic, where the chalk now being accumulated frequently contains 90 per cent, of Foraminifera, specimens of wliich he exhibited, and also of the chalk from which they were washed, di-edged from a depth of a mile and a half. The President here, choosing a solid flint with one surface some- what even, showed how by striking the plane surface sharply in a vertical direction with a round-headed hammer, a perfectly regular cone may be produced, the single blow depressing the flint at the point hit, and thus causing an increased density of the slightly elastic particles of which it is composed, immediately under this point, which forms the apex of the cone ; the suiTounding flint being afterwards removed by giving it a few sharp taps with the hammer. The beautiful grounds of "Otterspool," the residence of Mr. S. T. Holland, were by his kind permission next visited. Here there is a remarkable pool, at the bottom of which are several springs Avhich now yield about 300,000 gallons of water a day, and are said at times some years ago to have yielded a million. These springs are part of a series which rise along the valley by lowering the reservoir of water in the chalk, and here seem mostly due to the rain Avhich falls on the adjoining Eocene area, and percolates through the Lower Eocene sands and Drift gravels into tlie Chalk. The pool was by sounding found to be 16 feet deep at the di'cpest ]iart; and the water is so clear that the springs themselves, and the sides of the fissure in the chalk whicli forms the pool, can be dis- tinctly seen, and so cold that wine is iced in it. WATFOKD NATURAL HISTOET SOCIETY. XVU Although this Field Meeting was chiefly devoted to geology, a few plants were collected by the botanists ; and the following list of moUusca collected by one of the party — Mr. H. J. J. Lavis — will show that the conchology of Berry "Wood is also worthy of attention : Clausilia, sp. Berry Wood Chalk-pit, " amongst moss." Cochlicopa (Jeffre)-s), sp. Near Otterspool, Berry Wood, " in some moss around an old tree stump." eantiana{T\ \^'^^'^ Otterspool, Berry Wood, "imder some bricks and ',; nemoralis, ) stones," abundant. Lymnea peregra, "^ ,, stafftialis, I « Jq a pond by the side of the road, just after crossing Fhysafontmahs, ^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ^/^^ „ ,3^^, ^^^s Flanorbts carinatiis, \ o \ j 1 ,, co9-neus, j Zonites glabra, ) Near Otterspool, Berry Wood, " under some bricks and ,, radiatula, ) stones." On their return to "Watford the members of the Geologists' Association had tea at Holly Bank before leaving for London by an evening train, to which the saloon carriage in which they had arrived — kindly provided by the Railway Company — was attached. Oedixahy Meetiis^g, 13th May, 1875. Alfred T, Brett, Esq., M.D., Vice-President, in the Chair. The Honourable Arthur Capel, Cassiobury Park, "Watford ; Mr. William T. Eley, Oxhey Grange, Watford; Mr. John B. Fairman, Aldenham ; the Rev. Canon Gee, D.D., The Vicarage, Abbot's Langley ; Mr. Frank Hollingsworth, The Netherwyld, St. Albans ; Mrs. Jones Loyd, Langleybury, Watford; Miss Willshin, Kings- bury, St. Albans; and Major J. Andover Wood, 11, Princes Square, Bayswater, London, were elected Members of the Society. Letters were read from Professor AUman, Dr. Hooker, and Sir John Lubbock, thanking the Society for their election as Honorary Members. The following papers were read : — 1. "On the Observation of Periodical J^atural Phenomena." By John Hopkinson, F.L.S., F.G.S., Hon. Sec. {Vide p. 33). 2. " Notes on the Plants on which the Meteorological Society invites Observations as to their Time of Flowering." By the Rev. W. Marsden Hind, LL.D. ( Vide p. 43). 3. "Notes on the Observation of Insects in Connexion with Investigations on Seasonal Phenomena." By Arthur Cottam, F.R.A.S. (F?^ep. 50). 4. "On the Pleasure and Advantages to be derived from a Study of Natural History, and more particularly from the Observation of Birds." By J. E. Harting, F.L.S., F.Z.S. ( Vide p. 52). The Rev. Dr. Hind exhibited a number of plants, freshly gathered, in illustration of his paper. Mr. Cottam exhibited a collection of insects. VOL. I. — PT. IV. C XVIU PBOCEEDINGS OF THE Mr. J. Hopklnson oxliibited livinj? plants of Bentaria hulhifera (coral root) from. Hed Heath, in flower ; and also, under the microscope, one of the axillary bulbs which produce new plants by- falling to the ground and there growing — the coral root being usually propagated in this way, as the pod seldom ripens. Living plants of Bentaria hulhifera, from the same locality, were also exhibited by Mr. W. L. Smith. Field Meetixg, 29(rH M.vy, 1875. CoLNE Valley "Wateu "Works, Bushey Kilx, and Watford Heath Kiln. As the weather had prevented the route arranged for the 1st of May being then taken, it was decided upon for this occasion, and a party of about fifty ladies and gentlemen, many of whom were members of the Geologists' Association, who had been invited to take part in this meeting, assembled at Bushey Station at three o'clock. The Chalk-pit near the station was first visited. A good section of the Upper Chalk is here seen, and overlying it a bed of flint- pebbles from the Woolwich and Reading series proved the former presence of this formation. This bed completely thins out in the pit, and is succeeded by clay-drift and sandy gravel (terrace-gravel), which repose, in other parts of the pit, immediately on the Chalk. At the Colne Valley Water Works, adjoining this pit, the party were received by Mr. William Verini, who gave an account of the sinking of the well, which he stated had been excavated to a depth of 70 feet, or to 108 feet above ordnance datum, abundance of water having been obtained. Professor Morris here stated that the Chalk is one of our best reservoirs, when exposed over a con- siderable area absorbing a large amount of rainfall, which, in more impervious rocks, instead of sinking, would at once form rivers on the surface. The water is retained in the Chalk by imper- meable beds of clay — the Gault clay — below it, and in boring an underground channel is sometimes tapped. Leaving the Water Works, — which when complete will supply Bushey, Stanmore, Edgware, and other places, with water from the Chalk, softened by what is called the " lime process," — the party proceeded to Bushey Kiln, where a .section of the higher beds of the Woolwicli and Reading series, and of the basement-bed of the London Clay, is exposed. Crossing then the fields to Watford Heath Kiln, several plants were collected, and the ragged Robin (Lychnis Flos-cuculi J , one of the species in the Meteorological Society's list, was seen to be just coming into flower, fully a week later than usual. At Watford Heath there is a more extensive section of the beds seen at Bushey — the Woolwich series being visible almost to its junction with the ('lialk, and several feet of tlie London Clay, above its basomont-bed, being exposed. Here Professor ^lorris stated that we were just on or near the edge of the London Basin, WATFORD NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. XIX but that we do not get the lowest beds of the Tertiary series immediately overlying the Chalk, thii-ty or forty feet of marine sands known as the Thanet sands, not represented here, being found on the opposite side of the Thames, between the Chalk and the Woolwich and Reading beds, and thinning out under London. Here also, he said, the AVoolwich series consists of marine beds, containing marine shells, while south of London the shells are all of fresh-water or estuarine species, showing that in the old Tertiary times in the south there was land over which rivers flowed, while there was more or less open sea to the north. Over- lying the Woolwich and Reading beds the pebble beds at the base of the London Clay, rounded on an old sea-shore, mark the commencement of a change — a change here from temperate to tropical conditions, as shown by the fauna and flora. Lea\'ing Watford Heath, and descending the steep slope of the Tertiary escarpment, along the edge of which flows the river Colne, the gravel-pits at Colney Butts were soon reached, and afforded evidence of a climate — within comparatively recent times — very different from that of the London Clay period ; for the gravel here is of glacial origin, and pebbles of quartzite and other rocks which could not have come from a nearer point than Charn- wood Forest, and may have been brought by the agency of ice from Cumberland or Wales, were found associated with flints from the Hertfordshire Chalk, and with fi-agments of the Hertfordshire conglomerate. Here the party dispersed, and most of those who' had come from London were very kindly entertained at tea, at Watford House, by Dr. Brett. Field Meeting, 9th June, 1875. Bricket "Wood and Munden Park. As on the 1st of May, rain, though in heavy partial showers instead of as then in a continuous general downpour, threatened to put a stop to the iutended arrangements ; but fortunately it was late in the afternoon when the start was to be made, and the rain liad ceased when the members left Watford for Bricket Wood, where it was proposed to spend most of the evening in collecting plants, insects, and microscojjic objects. Amongst the rarer plants found in flower, Limosella aquatica, and Neottia Nidus-avis (the bird's-nest orchis), may be mentioned ; and several insects of considerable rarity were collected. Here the party separated, — some remaining in the wood to return to Watford by train, and others returning on foot by Bricket Wood Common, Munden Park, and Berry Wood. In crossing the Colne in Munden Park, the yellow water-lily (Nupliar luteaj and the yellow flag firis PseudacorusJ were seen in profusion in full bloom, and in the hedges the dog- wood f Cormis sanguineaj was observed to be just coming into flower. " Otterspool " was again visited, by the kind permission of the proprietor, and the pool, XX PROCEEDINGS OF THE after several trials, was found to be remarkably free from micro- scopic organisms. A little starwort {Callitriche verna), growing in profu.sion and flowering freely, attracted much attention, being seldom found in flower in the ponds in the neighbourhood of Watford. In addition to the plants already mentioned, tlie following were observed in flower in the course of the walk : — * Thalictrum Jlavum (meadow rue). — Bushey Mill. Ranunculus Flammula (lesser spearwort).— Bricket "Wood. Lychnis Flos-cuculi (ragged Eobin). — Otterspool. Orobtts ttcberosus (bitter vetch).— Brieket Wood. Fotentilla Tormentilla (tormentil) . — do. Sanicula europaa (wood sanicle). — do. Viburnum Opulus (guelder-rose). — do. Solanum Dulcamara (bittersweet). — do. Veronica officinalis (common speedwell). — do. Pedicularis sylvatica (lousewort). — do. Rhinanthus Crista-galli (yellow rattle).— do. Melampyrum pratense (cow- wheat). — do. Stachys sylvatica (hedge woundwort). — do. Myosotis palustris (forget-jne-not). — Otterspool . Symphytum officinale (comfi-ey). — Mundeu Park. Lysimachia nemorum (wood loosesti'ife). — Bricket Wood. Orchis macula ta (spotted orchis). — do. Habenaria bifolia (butterfly orchis). — do. Listera ovata (tway-blade orchis). — do. Ordinaey Meeting, 10th June, 1875. Alfred T. Brett, Esq., M.D., Vice-President, in the Chair. Miss Laura Healey, Lady's Close, Watford ; Mr. Arthur Henry Holland, Munden House, Aldcnham ; Mr. W. E,. Masaroon, Bel- mont House, Watford ; Mr. Matthew Moggridge, F.G.S., M.A.I. , Scientific Club, Savile Row, London ; Mr. E. H. Norris, Belmont House, Watford ; and Miss Clara E. Serle, Woodliall, Pinner, were elected Members of tlie Society. The following communications were read : — 1. Reports of the Rainfall for the first quarter of the year: — (1) at Watford House, by Dr. Brett; (2) at Harwood's Farm, Cassiobury, by Mr. S-\vanston ; and (3) at Nash Mills, Hemid Hempstead, by Mr. John Evaus, F.R.S., President ( Vide p. 63). 2. A Letter from Dr. Brett, to the Secretary, dated June 5th, asking for information about a Mineral Spring said to have been discovered at Watford in 1689 ( Vide p. 63). Mr. Henry Rogers mentioned tliiit this spring was alluded to in the ' Post OtKce Directory of Ilertiordshire ' lor 1874. Dr. Brett stated that Mr. J. G. Smith had told him that the water from a well which was dug at Hamper W\\\s some years ago was so impregnated with iron as to be of no use in paper making. 3. Extract of a Letter from Mr. R. A. Pryor, B.A., F.L.S., to the Secretary, datttd Hatfield, 9tli June, 1875, giving some account of his recent work in the investigation of the Botany of Hertfordshire ( Vide p. 63). * From a list kindly furnished by Mr. E. M. Chafer. WATFOED NATTJEAL HISTORY SOCIETY. XXI 4. A Letter from Mr. J. H. James to Dr. Brett, dated Kingswood, "Watford, 23rd April, 1875, on the destruction of an Oak Tree by the Larvse of the Goat Moth, and on the occurrence of the Death's Head Moth at Watford {Vide p. 64). Mr. Arthur Cottam said tliat the larvse of the goat moth usually attacked the elm and willo'w — seldom the oak. They always kept to one tree, and so long as it was in existence would not attack others in the neighbourhood. He had not found them easy to rear beyond the chrysalis state. Mr. C. E. Fry stated that he had reared the death's head moth from the chrysalis state, but they were usually malformed, having a distorted wing. The Eev. C. M. Perkins said that he had had a pear ti-ee completely eaten off by the larvfe of the goat moth, and that it was blown down by the' wind. The tree was eaten all round ; there were three generations in it ; none of the younger larva? lived, but of the thi-ee-year-olds he reared several through the chrysalis state to the perfect moth. Mr. J. Logan Lobley mentioned that he had had poplar and sycamore trees attacked by this moth, and had lost several trees in consequence. Mr. Fry, having been asked to explain the process of " sugaring," said that he used a composition of beer, sugar, and rum, which he smeared in patches on the trees, rough-barked ti-ees being the best for the purpose. The moths became quite tipsy and fell into the collecting boxes. By sugaring at dusk the capture of moths continues all night, diiierent species arriving at different times. Mr. Cottam stated that Mr. Fry begins to sugar when the sallows are in bloom, which he thought accounted much for his success. The composition should be put on the leeward side of ti-ees at dusk, when the dumble-dor beetle was on the wing. The meeting then resolved itself iato a conversazione, and numerous objects, principally collected at the Field Meeting the previous day, were exhibited. A collection of plants from Cannes, France, presented to the Society this evening by the Earl of Essex, was also exhibited. Field Meeting, 19th JuifE, 1875. Aldbuet, Ashridge Park, A2. p. 123. WATFOED NATUHAL HISTOET SOCIETY. XXIU of the lady members, all seemed to thoroughly enjoy their after- noon, spent in as varied and beautiful scenery as any in the county. Oedinaey Meeting, 14th Octobee, 1875. JoHK Evans, Esq., V.P.R.S., etc., President, in the Chair. Mr. Edward H. Ambler, Hemel Hempstead; Mr. R. Russell Carew, F.C.S., P.R.G.S., and Mrs. Carew, Carpenders Hall, Wat- ford ; Mr. George Cawston, P.R.Hist.S., Heathboume, Bushey Heath ; Mrs. George Chippindale, Rough Down Villas, Boxmoor ; Surgeon-Major J. G. Gibbs, Braziers, Chipperfield ; Mr. Charles F. Hancock, jun., Hendon Hall, Hendon ; and Dr. Charles Wotton, King's Langley, were elected Members of the Society. The President announced the discovery of Impatiens fulva on the banks of the canal between Hunton Bridge and JS'ash Mills. An extract was read from a Letter from the Rev. Dr. Hind to the Secretary, asking for any information on the Botany of the neigh- bourhood of Harrow the members of the Society could give, a new edition of the ' Flora of Harrow ' being ready for the press. Mr. Arthur Cottam read a note on the Appearance of Sphinx ConvolvuU ( Vide p. 108). The following lecture was delivered, as introductory to the Second Session of the Society : — "The Physical Structure of the London Basin, considered in its relation to the Geology of the Neighbourhood of Watford." By Professor John Morris, F.G.S. {Vide p. 89). The President, in proposing a vote of thanks to Prof. Morris, made a few remarks on the subject of the lecture. Fossils from the London Clay were exhibited by Prof. Morris ; and Cretaceous and Eocene Fossils by Mr. J. Hopkinson. Maps and Diagrams, in illustration of his lecture, were also ex- hibited by the Professor ; and the Greenough Geological Map of England was kindly lent for the occasion by the Geological Society of London. Oedinaey Meeting, IIth Novembee, 1875. John Evans, Esq., V.P.R.S., etc.. President, in the Chair. Mr. Robert Philips Greg, F.G.S. , F.R.A.S., Coles Park, Bunting- ford, and Mr. Stephen Taprcll Holland, Otterspool, Aldenham, were elected Members of the Society. The following communications were read : — 1. Reports of the Rainfall for the second and third quarters of the year: — (1) at Cassiobury House, by the Right Hon. the Earl of Essex ; (2) at Watford House, by Dr. Brett ; (3) at Harwood's Farm, Cassiobury, by Mr. Swauston ; (4) at Oaklands, Hempstead Road, Watford, by Mr. E. Harrison ; and (5) at Nash Mills, Hemel Hempstead, by the President {_Vide p. 112). XXIV PROCEEDIXGS OF THE 2. Extract of a Letter from the Hon. Norman Grosvcnor to the Rev. Newton Price, mentioning an exposure of the Bugshot Sands and overlying gravels in excavations which are being made for the foundations of some new buildings on Harrow Hill. 3. "On the Botanical Work of the Past Season." By Pt. A. Pryor, B.A., F.L.S. {Vide p. 65). 4. Extract of a Letter from the Rev. Dr. Hind to the Secretary, giving a few notes on the Botany of West Suffolk ( Vide p. 108). 5. "A Eew Words about our Local Ferns." By John E. Little- boy ( Vide p. 83). 6. "Note on the Discovery of Impatiens fidva near Watford." By John E. Littleboy. Mr. Littleboy stated that he was rowing in his boat on the Grand Junction Canal one evening when he noticed in a mass of the yellow flag, between Hunton Bridge and Eussell Farm, a flower that was quite new to him, and which he found on examination to be Impatiens fulva. It was so abundant here that there was no danger of its being eradicated. He found it to be in full bloom about the middle or end of August. The President said that although he had mentioned its occurrence at the last meeting of the Society, Mr. Littleboy had the right of prior discovery. He had found it in one or two places by the side of the Canal, but not in such abundance as where Mr. Littleboy had first discovered it. Mr. John Hopkinson read Mr. H. C. M'atson's account of its distribution, in which he states that the plant is of American origin, and is now perfectly naturalized in England. " Beginning considerably above Guildl'ord, it may be traced," he says, " at intervals along the river Wey, down to its junction \\\i\\. the Thames at "Weybridge. Below this point, localities occur on both sides of the Thames; as at "Walton, Kingston, Barnes, Twickenham, and Isleworth. From Weybridge, again, in another direction, it ascends the course of the Basing- stoke Canal, to Woking Heath, if not farther; probably carried by boats or their towing ropes against the course of the slow stream of the canal."* Mr. Hopkinson also stated that Mr. Pryor had found it at Harefield, extending, he (Mr. Pryor) supposed, into Herts. Mr. Littleboy said that if the plant were of American origin its seeds might have been brought in the American wheat now so largely used, some of which not unfrequently got into the Canal. Mr. Hopkinson mentioned that he had foimd a single plant of CEiwthera biennis (evening primrose) in a field near Langley Road, NVatford. It had been noticed in the county before at Ware, Hertford, and Hitchin. Mr. E. M. Chater said that he had found FutoitiUa argtntea — mentioned in the ' Flora Hcrtfordiensis ' as occurring in a neighbouring district — in two localities, Rouscbarn Lane and the gravel-pit at Brightwell's Farm. He had also foimd there Dianthus armeria, mentioned as occurring at Chorley Wood and the Watford tunnel. Ordixaey Meeting, 9th December, 1875. Alfhed T. Brett, Esq., M.D., Vice-President, in the Chair. Mr. H. George Fordham, F.G.S., Odsey, Royston ; Mrs. Giiffits, Queen's Road, Watford ; Mr. Frank E. Marshall, M.A., Harrow ; Mr. Freeman C. S. Roper, F.L.S., F.G.S., F.R.M.S., Palgrave House, Eastbourne ; and Mr. Charles Snowing, Holywell Farm, Watford, were elected Members of the Society. • Cybcle Britannica, vol. i, p. 298.— 1847. WATFOED JTATTJEAL HISTOET SOCIETY. XXV The following papers were read : — 1. "List of Works on the Geology of Hertfordshire." By William Whitaker, B.A., F.G.S., of the Geological Survey of England. Communicated by the Honorary Secretary ( Vide p. 78). 2. "Note on the Occurrence of Impatiens fulva in Herts." By R. A. Piyor, B.A., F.LS. (Incorporated in the paper "On the Botanical "Work of the Past Season," at p. 71.) A complete Ordnance Survey Map of the solid geology of Hert- fordshire, which had been purchased by the Society, was exhibited, and the Secretary stated that as part of the map was not yet published, he had written to Mr. Bristow, Director of the Survey, asking pennission to have the portion required coloured geologically. He read Mr. Bristow's reply, granting the permission of the Di- rector-General, Professor Eamsay, on condition that no copy of this portion be made before the map of the Survey was published, and stated that the requii-ed half-sheet had been coloured at the office of the Survey by Mr. Best, without expense to the Society. DoN'ATIOIfS TO THE LiBEAET TS 1875. Title. Bentham, Geoege. Handbook of the British Flora. [Illustrated Edition.] 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1865. Birmingham Natural History and Microscopical Society. Annual Eeport for 1874. 8vo. Bir- mingham, 1875 _ . Bristol Naturalists' Society. Proceedings, new series, vol. i. parts 1 and 2. 8vo. Bristol, 187-1-75. Laws. ib. 1875 Annual Report for 1874-75. ib. 1875. CoLEMAN,'W. S. British Butterflies. 8vo. London, 1860. Our "Woodlands, Heaths, and Hedges. 8vo. London, 1869 Cooke, M. C. Our Reptiles. 8vo. London, 1865. . Handbook of British Fungi. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1871 Croll, James. On the Physical Cause of Ocean Currents. {Phil. Mag. 1874.) Crombie, Rev. James. The Geological Relations of the Alpine Flora of Great Britain. {Proc. Geol. Assoc.) Daties, Thomas. The Preparation and Mounting of Microscopic Objects. 2nd edition. Edited by John Matthews. 8vo. London, 1873 . . . . Eastbourne Natural History Society. Proceedings, Session 1874-75. 4to. Eastbourne, 1875 . The Natiu-al History of Eastbourne and its Vicinity. 12mo. ib. 1873 Evans, John. The Ancient Stone Implements, Weapons, and Ornaments of Great Britain. 8vo. London, Geological Society. Abstracts of the Proceedings, Nos. 289-305. 8vo. London, 1874--75 Donor. Mr. W. L. Smith. The Society. Mr. J. Hophinson. Lord Ebury. Mr. A. Cottam. The Author. Mr. J. Sophinson. Mr. A. Cottam. The Society. >» The Author. The Society. VOL. I. — FT. V. PKOCEEDINGS OF THE Title. ' Doxoit. Geologists' Association. Proceedings, vol. iv. Nc 1-4. 8vo. London, 1875 The Associatio) Annual Report for 1874. ib. 1875 IIarting, J. E. The Ornithology of Shakespeare. 8vo London, 1871 The Author. A Handbook of British Birds, ib. 1872 " The Field " Calendar of Ornithology General Eeport for 1872. 2*. 1873 Our Summer Migrants, ib. 1875 . Eambles in Search of Shells, Land and Fresh' ■water, ib. 1875 Heather, J. F. Mathematical Instruments. 12mo London, 1872 Herschell, Sir John F.W. Meteorology. 8vo. Edin burgh, 1861 HoPKiNsoN, John. On British Graptolites. {Joiirn Quek. Micr. Club, 1869.) .... On BexoUtes gracilis, a new Silurian Annelide {Geol. Mag. 1870.) On the Structure and Affinities of the Genus Bicranograptus {ib. 1870.) .... On Bicellograpsus, a new Genus of Graptolites (ib. 1871.) On a Specimen of Biplograpsus pristis -with Reproductive Capsules. {Ann. Nat. Hist. 1871.) On Callograptus radicans, a new Dendroid Graptolite. {ib. 1872.) On some New Species of Graptolites from the South of Scotland. {Geol. Mag. 1872.) The Graptolites of the Arenig Rocks of St David's, South Wales. {Proc. Liverpool Geol. Soc. 1873.) On some Graptolites from the Upper Arenig Rocks of Ramsey Island, St. David's, {^ib. 1874.) . Report of the Proceedings of the Geological Section of the British Association at Edinburgh, 1871. {Froc. Geol. Assoc. 1872.) . . . . Excursion of the Geologists' Association to Watford, AprU 13th, 1872. {ib. 1873.) . Excursion of the Geologists' Association to Eastbourne and St. Leonards, May 23rd and 24th, 1873. {ib. 1874.) . ._ _ . Intellectual Observer. Vols. i-ii. 8vo. London, 1868 Vols, iii-iv. ib. 18G0 . Jardine, Sir William. "The Field" Calendar of Ornithologv for 18 . 8vo. London, 1873 . Johns, Rev. C. A. The Forest Trees of Britain. Vol. 2, 8vo. London, 1849 Johnson, M. H. Flint. 8vo. London, 1871. . The Nature and Formation of Flint and Allied Bodies, ib. 1874 . . . . . . — — — — On the Microscopic Structui-e of Flint and Allied Bodies. {Journ. Quek. Micr. Club, 1874.) Kirby, Rev. W., and W. Si-ence. An Introduction to Entomology. 8vo. London, 187" Lanusborough, Rev. D. A Popular History of Britisl Zoophytes. 8vo. London, 1852 . Larunek, Dr. The Microscope Explained. 12mo. Mr. T. Htather. Mr. J. Hopkinson. The Author. Br. A. T. Brett. Mr. jr. U. Petty. Mr. J. E. Earting. Mr. J. Hopkinsoti. The Author. Mr. J. Mopkimon. Miss BoiKigan. Mr. J. Hopkinson. WATFORD NATTJIIAL HISTORY SOCIETY. Title. Familiar Letters on Chemistry. London, 1851 . School Botany. 8vo. London, LiEBiG, Justus von. 3rd edition. 8vo LiNDLEY, Prof. John 1847 . — Descriptive Botany. 2nd edition, j*. 1860 . LixDSAY, W. Lauder. A Popular History of British Lichens. 8vo. London, 1855 . . . . Lobley, J. Logan. Mount Vesuvius. 8vo. London, 1868 Lubbock, Sir John. On British "Wild Flowers considered in Relation to Insects. 8vo. London, 1875 . liYELL, Sir Charles. The Student's Elements of Geology. 12mo. London, 1871 Mann, Dr. James. Address delivered at the Annual General Meeting of the Meteorological Society, 21st Jan. 187-1. [Jouni. Meteorol. Soc. 1874.) . 20th Jan. 1875. {ib. 1875.) Marlborough College Natural History Society. Report for the half-year ending Midsummer, 1875. 8vo. Marlborough, 1875 Melville, J. C. The Flora of Harrow. 12mo. London, 1874 Miller, Hugh. My Schools and Schoolmasters, or the Story of my Education. 4th edition. 8vo. Edin- burgh, 1855 Xewton, Alfred. On a Method of Registering Natural History Observations. {Trans. Norfolk Nat. Soc. 1871.) Page, David. The Earth's Crust. 4th Edition. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1868 Phillips, Prof. J. Address to the Geological Section of the British Association, Bradford, Sep. 18th, 1873 . PoRTLOCK, Major-General. Rudimentary Treatise on Geology. 4th edition. 12mo. London, 1859 QuEKETT Microscopical Club. Journal, Nos. 28-29. 8vo. London, 1875 Report for 1874-75. ib. 1875 Ramsay, Prof. A. C. The Old Glaciei-s of Switzerland and North Wales. 8vo. London, 1860 ScHLEiDEN, Dr. J. M. Principles of Scientific Botany. 8vo. London, 1849 S.MITH, Sir J. E. An Introduction to Physiological and Systematic Botany. 6th edition. 8vo. London, 1827 SwAiNSON, "William. A Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural History. 8vo. London, 1834 . A Treatise on the Geography and Classification of Animals, ib. 1835 ...... On the Natural History and Classification of Quadrupeds, ib. 1835 On the Natural Histoiy and Classification of Birds. 2 vols. ib. 1836 On the Habits and Instincts of Animals, ib. 1840 Tate, Ralph. The Land and Fresh-water Mollusks of Great Britain. 8vo. London, 1866 Taylor, J. E. Geological Stories. 8vo. London, 1873 Tylor, a. On Quaternary Gravels. {Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. 1869.) Donor. Mr. W. H. Petty. Mr. J. Hopkinson. Mr. E. M. Chaier. The Author. Mr. J. Hopkinson. The Author. The Society. Rev. Br. Hind. Mr. J. Hopkinson. The Author. Mr. J. Hopkinson. Mr. W. Whitaker. Jfr. J. Hopkinson. The Club. Mr. J. Hopkinson. iVr. E. M. Chater. Mr. J. Ho2}kinson. Lord Ehiry. Mr. J. Hopkinson. PEOCEEDINGS OF THE Title. Vauley, D. Eudimentary Treatise on Mineralogy. 4th edition. 12mo. London, 1859 . . . . Walker, Henry. The Glacial Drifts of Muswell Hill and Finchlcy. 12mo. London, 1874 . Ward, J. Clifton. On the Advantages of a Combined Literary and Scientific Education. 8vo. Cocker- mouth, 1874 W.\RiNGTON, George. The Phenomena of Radiation. 8vo. London, 1865 Watson, H. C. The London Catalogue of British Plants. 7th edition. 8vo. London, 1S74 Webb, Rev. R. H., and Rev. W. H. Coleman. Flora Hertfordiensis. 12mo. London and Hertford, 1819-59 Whitaker, William. The Geology of Parts of Middle- .sex, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, and Surrey. 8vo. London, 1864 . . . . On Subaerial Denudation, and on Cliffs and Escarpments of the Chalk and the Lower Tertiary Beds. {Geol. Mag. 1867.) . . On the Connection of the Geological Structure and the Physical Features of the South-East of England with the Consumption Death-rate. {ib. 1869.) On the Chalk of the Cliffs from Seaford to Eastbourne, Sussex, {ih. 1871.) . On the Chalk of the Southern Part of Dorset and Devon. [Quart. Jonrn. Gcol. Soc. 1871.) On the Cliff-sections of the Tertiary Beds West of Dieppe in Normandy, and at Newhaven in Sussex, (/i. 1S71.) On the Occurrence of the " Chalk Rock" near Salisbury. {Mag. Wiltshire Nat. Hist. Sac. 1871.) On the Occurrence of Thanet Beds and of Crag at Sudbury, Suffolk. {Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. 1874.) Guide to the Geology of London and the Neighbourhood. Svo. London, 1874 . White, Rev. Gilbert. The Natural History of Selbome. Edited by the Rev. J. G. Wood. Svo. London, 1853 Wiltshire, Rev. T. On the Chief Groups of the Cepha- lopoda. {Proc. Geol. Assoc. 1869.) Winchester and Hampshire Scientific and Literary Society. Journal of Proceedings, vol. ii. part i. 8vo. Winchester, 1875 Withering, Dr. W. A Svstematic Arrangement of British Plants. Edited" by W. Macgillivray. 4th edition. 12rao. London, 1837 . . " . Woodward, Henry. Man and the Mammoth. {Proc. Geol. Assoc. 1869.) Donor. Mr. J. Hoplcinsoti. Miss Donagan. Mr. W. Whitaker. Mr. J. Hopkinson. Mr. Stephen Ausliii. The Author. Mr. J. Hopkinson. The Society. Mr. J. Hopkinson. watford nattjeal histoey society. xxix Special Meeting, 13th Jantjaey, 1876. Chaules F. Humbert, Esq., F.G.S., Vice-President, in the Chair. The Chairman, having read the circuhir convening the meeting, formally proposed the adoption of the following Law : — " Students of the "Watford Public Library School of Science and Art who have obtained Queen's Prizes, when elected Members of the Society, shall be exempt from the payment of Entrance Fee." A vote was then taken, and the meeting being unanimously in favour of the adoption of the Law, the Chairman declared it to be one of the Laws of the Society. Ordinaey Meeting, 13th Januaey, 1&76. Charles F. Humbert, Esq., F.G-.S., Vice-President, in the Chair. The following communications were read : — 1. Reports of the Eainfall for the fourth quaiier of the year 1875 : — (1) at Cassiobury House, by the Eight Hon. the Earl of Essex ; (2) at Watford House, by Dr. Brett ; (3) at Harwood's Farm, Cassiobury, by Mr. Swanston ; (4) at Oaklands, Hempstead Road, Watford, by Mr. E. Harrison; and (5) at JS^ash Mills, Hemel Hempstead, by the President ( Vide p. 112). The Secretary mentioned that the President's quarterly returns showed that the rainfall at Nash Mills in the year was nearly three inches in excess of the mean of the decade 1860-69, and that this excess was entirely due to the last half of the year, — the fall in the first half being about two inches below the mean, and in the second half nearly five inches above it, the month of July alone giving an excess of three inches and three-quarters. 2. " Meteorological Observations taken at Cassiobury House from May to December, 1875." By the Eight Hon. the Earl of Essex (F/(^^p. 132). 3. " On the Construction, Adjustment, and Use of Meteorological Instruments." By Thomas Heather. 4. "On the supposed Chalybeate Spring at Watford, and on other MecUcinal Waters in Herts." By E. A. Pryor, B.A., F.L.S. {Vide]). 109). Mr. John P. Benskin and Mr. C. F. HoUingsworth were elected Auditors of the Accounts for 1875. ANNUAL MEETING, 10th Febeuaey, 1876. John Evans, Esq., F.R.S., etc.. President, in the Chair. Mrs. C. Heaton, Verulam House, Watford, and Mr. Milton Laurie, 145, Gloucester Eoad, Regent's Park, London, were elected Members of the Society. George James Symons, Secretary of the Meteorological Society, Editor of ' British EainfaU, ' and William Whitaker, B.A., F.G.S., of the Geological Survey of England, Editor of the ' Geological Eecord,' were elected Honorary Members. XXX rKOCEEDINGS OF THE The Report of the Council for 1875, and the Treasurer's Account of Income and Expenditure, were read and adopted. The President delivered an Address {Vide p. 113). A vote of thanks to ^Ir. Evans was moved by Mr. Arthur Cottam, seconded by ^Ir. John E. Littleboy, and carried. The Balloting-glass having been removed, and the lists examined by the Scrutineers, the following gentlemen were declared to have been duly elected as the Officers and Council for the ensuing vear : — President.— John Evans, F.E.S., F.S.A., E.G.S., etc. Vice-Presidents. — Alfred T. Brett, M.D. ; the Eight Honourable the Earl of Essex ; Charles F. Humbert, F.G.S. ; J. Logan Lobley, F.G.S., F.E.G.S. Treasurer. — Arthur Cottam, F.R.xV.S. Son. Secretary and Lilrarian. — John Hopkinson, F.L.S., F.G.S. Hon. Curator. — W. Lepard Smith. Other Members of the Council. — E. M. Chater ; George Chippin- dale; W. M. Fawcett ; J. E. Harting, F.L.S., F.Z.S. ; Thomas Heather; J, Gwyn Jeffreys, LL.D., F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S.; John E. Littleboy ; the Rev. C. M. Perkins, M.A. ; R. A. Pryor, B.A., F.L.S. ; George Rooper, F.Z.S. ; John Sedgwick; F. W.' Silvester. It was then resolved — That the thanks of the Society be given to Dr. J, Gwyn Jeffreys, F.R.S., retiring from the office of Yicc-President. Also that the thanks of the Society be given to Mr. John E. Dawson, ^Mr. H. Sugden Evans, the Rev. W. Falconer, Admiral Fanshawe, and the Rev. R. Lee James, retiring from the Council. Report of the Council for 1875. In presenting their first Annual Report, the Council of the "Watford Natural History Society and Hertfordshire Field Club have the pleasure of congratulating the Members on the prosperity of the Society, and on the progz-ess that has been made in carrying out the chief object for which it was founded — the investigation of the Natural History of the County, and especially of the more immediate neighbourhood of the town of Watford. The first year of the existence of a Society which has, in this brief period, entitled itself to ranJi as one of the chief County Natural History Societies of the Kingdom, must necessarily be an eventful one ; and the number of subjects that have to be men- tioned must be pleaded as an excuse for the brevity with which tliey will be alluded to. During the year 150 Ordinary Members have been elected. Of these, four, who have recently removed from Watford, have resigned ; and the Council much regret that at such an early period in the existence of tlie Society they have to announce the WATFORD NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. XXXI Five members have compoiindecl for their annual subscriptions ; and five Honorary Members have been elected. The census of the Society at the end of the year was therefore : — Honorary Members ., „. 5 Life Members ... ... ... ... ... ... 5 Annual Subscribers 140 Total 150 The rapid growth of the Society during the first few months of its existence was considered sufiicient to justify the commencement of the publication, in a permajient form, of the lectures and papers communicated ; and the first two parts of a volume of ' Transac- tions ' have been printed and distributed to the Members. A third, with a few pages of ' Proceedings,' is now in the j)ress. The following are the principal papers and lectures which have been read, or delivered, at the evening meetings during the year 1875:— Feb. 11. — Inaugm-al AdcU-ess ; by the President. March 11. — The Cretaceous Rocks of England; by J. Logan Lobley, F.G.S.,F.R.G.S. April 8. — Notes on a proposed re-issue of the Flora of Hertfordshire, with Supplementary Remarks on the Botany of the Watford District; by R. A. Pryor, B.A., F.L.S. . On the Botanical Geography of Hertfordshrre ; by Arthur Cottam, F.R.A.S. . Notes on the Flora of the Watford District; by Arthur Cottam, F.R.A.S. May 13.— On the Observation of Periodical Natui-al Phenomena; by John Hopkinson, F.L.S. . Notes on the Plants on which the Meteorological Society invites Observations as to their Time of Flowering ; by the Rev. W. Marsden Hind, LL.D. . Notes on the Observation of Insects in connexion with Investi- gations on Seasonal Phenomena; by Arthur Cottam, F.R.A.S. . On the Pleasures and Advantages to be derived from a Study of Natiu-al History, and more particularly from the Observation of Birds; by J. E. Harting, F.L.S., F.Z.S. Oct. 14.— The Physical Structui-e of the London Basin, considered in its Relation to the Geology of the Neighbourhood of Watford ; by Professor John Morris, F.G.S. Nov. 11.— On the Botanical Work of the Past Season; by R. A. Pryor, B.A., F.L.S. . A Few Words about our Local Ferns ; by John E. Littleboy. Dec. 9.— List of Works on the Geology of Hertf ordshu-e ; by William Whitaker, B.A., F.G.S. Quarterly Eeports of the Eainfall at a number of stations in the vicinity of Watford, and brief notes and observations in various departments of IS'atural History, have also been communicated; and although these are not enumerated above, they are not deemed deficient in value or interest, and have appeared, or will appear, in the ' Transactions.' A considerable number of members have thus, it will be seen, taken an active part in the proceedings of the Society — a number that the Council hope will be largely increased during the present year. XXXU PKOCEEDINGS OF THE Without a considerable accession of members, it will, however, be impossible to record the proceedings of the Society so fully as hitherto ; and the Council hope that the members generally will take a lively interest in its prosperity, by attending the meetings as frequently as possible, and by using their best endeavours to extend the knowledge of the existence and objects of the Society amongst their friends and acquaintances. Owing to the unfavourable weather, the Field Meetings that have taken place have not been so successful as could have been wished. Out of six meetings planned and arranged at a considerable expendi- ture of time by your Secretary, in frequent visits to the proposed places of meeting, of only three were the programmes announced carried out, the others being altered, or abandoned altogether, on account of the rain : one of these — July 1 7, to Pinner — was given up entirely ; and at another — Oct. 2, to liickmansworth — the only persons who assembled at the appointed place of meeting were your Secretary and the Secretary of the Quekett Microscopical Club — Mr. John E. Ingpen. At the Field Meetings which did take place the following localities were visited : — May 1. — Berry Wood. ■ 29.— Colne Valley Water Works, Busliey Kiln, Watford Heath Kiln, and Colney Butts Gravel Tits. June 3. — Bricket Wood and Common, Munden Park, and Berry Wood. 29. — Aldbury, Ashridge Park, and Berkhampstead Common and Castle. The number present at each of these meetings was, as nearly as can be ascertained, as follows: — 1st May — 30; 29th — 50; 3rd June— 18; 29th— 32. At the first meeting, which was arranged in conjunction with the Geologists' Association, there were about twenty-fiA-e members of this Association present ; and at the second, about twenty members of the Geologists' Association availed themselves of an invitation to meet the members of our Society. If now it is taken into con- sideration that the 1st of May and the 3rd of June were wet days, and the 29th of May and 29th of June were fine, the disparity in these numbers will be seen to be fuUy accounted for. The most successful and most enjoyable meeting of the year must now be recorded. Our President invited the members to a conversazione at his house on the 2nd of August, and provided an intellectual treat such as ho alone could give, for the finest private collection of pre-historic implements, weapons, and ornaments, in existence, was displayed and commented upon by him. The kind- ness and hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Evans on this occasion will ever be remembered with pleasure : nothing was wanting on their part to insure the enjoyment of their guests; and even the weather, so fret^uently unpropitious before, seemed to vie with them in making this a red-letter day in the annals of the Society. To our President also the Council desire to express their thanks for the time and attention he has devoted to the attairs of the Society. AVith unusually heavy demands upon his time, as Presi- dent of more than one of the leading scientific societies of Loudon, WATFORD IS-ATTJEAl HISTOET SOCIETY. XXXIU and Vice-President of others, he has yet frequently presided at our evening meetings and accompanied us in our meetings in the field. When other engagements" have rendered it impossible for the President to attend the evening meetings, Dr. Brett has most frequently presided, and to him the thanks of the Society are especially due for the great exertions he has made in its behalf. It would be impossible to mention all to whom the Society is indebted ; but one of our Honorary Members must not be forgotten. In two (*f our field meetings we have had the advantage of the extensive and varied geological knowledge of Professor Moi'ris ; and his expositions of the structure, the physical relations, and the history of the various formations examined, were listened to with the greatest attention by those who were present on these occasions. The Society is also indebted in various ways to several who are not its members : to Professor Ramsay, Mr. Bristow, and Mr. Best, for the portion of the geological map of Hertfordshire not yet published by the Survey ; to Mr. G. J. Symons, Secretary of the Meteorological Society, for permission to print the extracts from this Society's ' Phenological Instructions' in the second part of the ' Transactions ' ; and to Mr. W. Whitaker, Editor of the ' Geological Record,' for information as to the local Natural History Societies for whose publications the ' Transactions ' should be exchanged. The financial position of the Society is satisfactory. JN'otwith- standing the expenses incurred in starting it, the income for the year is slightly in excess of the expenditure ; and the amount re- ceived for life compositions has been transferred from the current account at the Bank to a deposit account, with the intention of investing it should a sufficient number of members compound for their annual subscriptions. A library of works on jS'atural History and the allied sciences is in course of formation, and now numbers more than 50 volumes, all of which have been acquired by donation. To the respective donors the thanks of the Society are due ; and it is hoped that, by the liberality of authors and others, a valuable Natural History Library may in time be formed. Several donations towards a Natural History Museum have also been received, and, when cases are provided for their display, wiU form a not unimportant addition to the proposed Museum of the Watford Public Library. To the Committee of the Public Library the Council desire, in conclusion, to express their thanks for the facilities aff'orded for holding their meetings and the evening meetings of the Society in the building in which we are now assembled. The Council being of opinion that half-past seven in the evening may be somewhat too early for the convenience of some of tho members, propose that in future the evening meetings shall be held at eight o'clock. {The Treasurer's Account is on the next page.') VOL. I. — PT. VI. E PROCEEDINGS OF THE Income and Expendituee During the Year Ending 31st December, 1875. Dr. £ «. d. Subscriptions for 1875 64 liife Compositions 25 Sale of ' Transactions ' 10 Subscriptions received for 1876 8 10 Cr. £ s. d. Books and Stationery 7 9 Advertising 1 11 4 Printing ' Transactions ' 22 8 Miscellaneous Printing 10 12 Reporting I 11 6 Eent — Watford Public Library 5 Attendance at ditto 12 6 Subscription to Ray Society 110 Ditto to' Geological Record' 10 6 Ballot Box 1 5 6 Geological Maps 3 6 6 Postages 6 15 10 Sundry small expenses 19 10 Amount placed to Deposit Account at the London and County Bank 25 Balance „ 16 6 £89 10 We, the undersigned, having examined the above statement of Income and Expenditure, aud the vouchers referring thereto, hereby certify that the said account is correct. 2nd February, 1876. JOHN P. BENSKIX, C. F. HOLLINGSWORTH, Oedinart Meeting, 9th March, 1876. Alfred T. Brett, Esq., M.D., Vice-President, in the Chair. Mr. Robert Clutterbuck, F.G.S , F.ll.G.S., 8, Great Cumberland Place, Hyde Park, London ; Mr. Jonathan King, "Wiggenball, Watford ; Mr. W. McMurray McParlane, Loudwater, Kickmans- ■worth ; and the Rev. R. Holden Webb, M A., Essendon Roctoiy, Hatfield, were elected Members of the Society. L( Iters were read from Mr. G. J. Symons, and Mr. W. Whitaker, thanking the Society for their election as Honorary Members. The following lecture was delivered : — "On some of the Simpler Methods of Microscopical ^Mounting." By Arthur Cottam, P.R.A.S. Mr. Cottam illustrated his lecture practically by mounting objects dry and in Canada balsam. He recommended Mr. Davies' work,* in the Society's libraiy, as the best guide to microscopical mounting. * The Preparation aud Mounting of Microscopic Objects. 2nd edition. WATFORD NATTJEAI, HISTORY SOCIETY. XXXV ORDrN-ARY Meeting, 13th April, 1876. Alfred T. Brett, Esq., M.D., Vice-President, in the Chair. Mr. David Carnegie, Eastbury, "Watford; Lieut. Richard B. Croft, R.N., F.L.S., E.R.M.S., Great Cozens, Ware ; Mr. Charles Durham, Aldenham Abbey, Watford; Miss Littleboy, Huntou Bridge ; Mr. Francis Lucas, Hitchin ; Mr. William Lucas, The Firs, Hitchin ; Mr. Robert McFarlane, Kildare, Rickmansworth ; Miss Marfitt, Aldenham Abbey ; Mr. Joseph Pollard, High Down, Hitchin ; and Mr. Isaac Ridgway, Kytes, Watford, were elected Members of the Society. The following lecture was delivered : — " On the Polarisation of Light." By James IT. Harford. Field Meeting, 29th April, 1876. St. Albans. Rain, which had been falling rather heavily in the morning, still threatened to descend, and the air was damp and chilly, when the President and a small number only of the members met to- gether at St. Peter's Church. Leaving the church at thi-ee o'clock they proceeded direct to the brick-fields at Bernard's Heath. Here there are extensive excavations in the brick-earth and glacial gravels capping the summit of the hill on the side of which St. Albans is situated, and which rises to some 400 feet above the level of the sea. In places the Chalk is reached in the deeper excavations or by shafts, and the Woolwich and Reading beds, an outlier of which rests upon the Chalk on the slightly higher ground towards St. Peter's Church, doubtless extend to the western edge of the biick-fields, and are probably present over some portion of them, for at one spot evidence was obtained that the surface of the Chalk seen was the actual surface upon which, in this neighbour- hood, rests a layer of unworn green-coated flints forming the bottom bed of the Woolwich series. After the examination of these excavations the party returned to St. Albans, again passing St. Peter's Church, and skirting the' ancient eastern boundary of the borough. Then leaving the old boundary- wall on the right, the fields above the ruins of Sopwell Nunnery were crossed, — the ruins of the Nunnery and the old Abbey of St. Alban forming most interesting objects in the land- scape. Unusually fine specimens of Cardamine prafensis were here gathered by the botanists, while the attention of the geologists was directed to a heap of stones by the roadside a little further on, in which were seen pieces of the Hertfordshire conglomerate, and fragments of quartzite and other rocks ice-borne from a distance ; and after inspecting a gravel-pit in the lane leading towards Napsbury Farm, the members passed, by permission, thi-ough Mrs. Worley's Park to a wooded dell formed by an old chalk-pit. The little moschatel {Adoxa MoschateUina) with its pale-green leaves, stems, and flowers, especially attracted attention heie, and in the XXXVl PEOCEEDINGS OF THE copse a little further on in the direction of Hedges Farm several patches of the strange-looking downy flesh-coloured parasite, Lathrcea sqiiamaria, and the equally striking and scarcely more attractive looking honoy-comhed fungus, the morel, were seen. Ascending the hill. Hedges Farm was soon reached, and here the party were courteously received and entertained at tea by Mrs. •Silvester and her famil)', after which Mr. Evans gave a brief resume of the afternoon's proceedings and a description of the geological features of the country traversed. The members then returned to "VVatford and elsewhere from Park Street station. The following plants in the Meteorological Society's list were observed in flower in the course of the walk : — No. 1. Anemove nemorosa (wood anemone). 2. Ranunculus Ficaria (pilewort). 4. Calthn palustris (marsh marigold). 7. Cardamine pratensis (cuckoo flower). 12. Stellaria Solos tea (greater stitchwoi't). 16. Geranium Robertianuni (herb Robert). 20. Vicia sepium (bush vetch). 30. Anthrisciis sylvestris (wild chervil). 53. Veronica hederifolia (ivy-leaved speedwell). 67. Nepeta Glechoma (ground ivy). 60. Ajiiga reptans (creeping bugle). 61. Frimula verts (cowslip). 62. Flantago lanceolata (ribwort plantain). 63. Mercurialis perennts (dog's mercury). 71. Endymion nutans (blue bell). Oedinart Meeting, 11th May, 1876. John Evans, Esq., F.R.S., etc., President, in the Chair. Mr. John Mamham, The Hollies, Boxmoor ; Mr. Charles "W. Nunn, Hertford ; and Miss H. M. King Smith, The Hawthorns, "Watford, were elected Members of the Society. Dr. F. V. Hayden, Director of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, Washington, U.S.A., was elected an Honorary Member. The following paper was read : — " The Geology and Water Supply of the Neighbourhood of Watford." By tlie Ilev. James C. Clutterbuck, M.A. Com- municated by Dr. A. T. Brett, Vice-President {Vide p. 125). Mr. G. J. Symous (Hon. Member) referred to the extreme rapiditv with which the wells in the Chalk of the South Downs responded to the rainfall — the rain- water sinking 200 or 250 feet in a few hours. With regard to the streams of water in the Chalk, he had heard wondrous accounts of the rivers ruuning through the Chalk at Grays, where water w!is found to such an extent that the level could not be reduced by pumping with engines, and the Chalk could not thi'refore be excavated. It was a (luestion whether it might not be that the water of the Thames found its way into the Chalk there. "We had, he said, been told that we were uot to drink 'Fhames water, nor mountain water, nor rain w:it('r, but only water out of wells. ]f we must depend entirely upon well water, we should have to be very economical, for the level ol the water below WATFOED NATTJEAL HISTOEY SOCIETY. XXX\'H London had already been lowered ; and if the water were withdrawn more rapidly, it might disappear altogether. Mr. John Hopkinson mentioned that Mr. Wailes had told him that at the London Orphan Asylum (at Watford), when the pump was worked beyond a certain speed, the level of the water was reduced to below the suction pipe. With regard to Otterspool he thought it very remarkable that the springs which had been known to run a million gallons a day should at any time be so diminished that the water ceased to flow out of the pool. The President said that in all probability the connexion between the springs at Otterspool and the water in the swallow-holes would some day be established. One of the most interesting points in the paper was, he considered, that by measuring the wells Mr. Clutterbuck had been able to give experimentally the level of the surface of the water in the subterranean reservoir. So accurate was this calcula- tion that, on one occasion, when levelling up the valley to ascertain what would be the level of tbe water in a well, he took the recognized calculation and found that it came within a foot of the level ascertained by measurement. The question of the supply of water to be derived from the Chalk was one of such magnitude that he refrained from entering into it. He had entered at considerable length into the question of the supply of water to London in his recent Address to the Geological Society, and any one who wished to see what the probable efiiect of carrying out the suggestions of the Royal Commission would be, could see it in that Address. In years when the rainfall did not exceed twenty-three or twenty- four inches, the area from which the drainage would be required in order to supply London would exceed that of a great many English counties. He should like to see the use of Dalton's gauge extended, as he considered that the ex- periments which had been made required supplementing to a considerable extent. He did not agree with Mr. Symons as to the rapidity of the percolation, unless possibly when the whole body of the Chalk was saturated. Mr. Clutterbuck, in reply, said that he had visited Grays to look into the question of deriving a supply of water from the Chalk there, and had come to the conclusion that when the water was reduced to a certain level, it was dra-mi in from the Thames, and the Thames there was very foul. A friend of his, an engineer having the direction of a Water Company, had also made an experiment at Grays, and foiuid that the water did come in from the Thames. In making the lake in St. James's Park it was found that the level of the water was affected by the tide. So it would be with the well at the Cohie YaUey Water Works. The water would come from the river, and as to trying to keep it out, they might as well try to sweep back the Atlantic with a broom. Field Meeting, 13th May, 1876. Hatfield Park. On this occasion tlie Society, for the second time, met the Geologists' Association of London, and at the place of meeting, the principal entrance to Hatfield Park, at 3 o'clock, a party of at least 130 ladies and gentlemen assembled, — the two Societies being about equally represented. Permission to see over Hatfield House, and to visit the Hatfield Park Kiln, had been kindly granted by the noble owner, the Marquess of Salisbury, and to this the presence of a larger number of members than usual was no doubt due. Hatfield House, which was first visited, is necessarily of greater interest to the antiquary than the naturalist. It is built on the site of the palace of Eishop Morton, which was erected about the end of the fifteenth century, and of which a fragment — examined with much interest by some of the party — still remains ; XXXVIU PROCEEDIKGS OF THE and on its site again, from the commencement of the twelfth century, an episcopal residence had existed. The present mansion was commenced in 1607, and the geologist may be interested in knowing that the materials used in its construction, by its builder and architect, llobert Cecil, the first Earl of Salisbury, consisted chiefly of Caen stone, with stone from Tattenhall in Staffordshire, Worksop in Nottinghamshire, and the quarries of Northampton- shire, and bricks and flints also from the old palace which had fallen into decay. After spending a considerable time in the house and grounds, the party proceeded across the park to the brick-fields, noticing on the way Queen Elizabeth's favourite oak, under which she was sitting when the news was brought to her that she was Queen of England, and the fine less-decayed oaks and other trees for which this park is so justly famed. In the pits here, the Upper Chalk, and all the beds present at the northern outcrop of the London Tertiaries, are exposed, and are overlaid by the high-level gravel of Post-Pliocene age, the outline of which is well defined by the moistness of the surface of the ground around it. The section was described by Mr. Hopkinson, and compared with the sections of the same beds seen in the neighbourhood of Watford and elsewhere, both north and south of the Thames, and the position of the fossiliferous beds was pointed out. As, however, a detailed description of the section, drawn up by Mr. Whitaker, has already been given by Professor Morris in the Transactions of the Society (vol. i. p. 98), the obser- vations that were made need not here be repeated. For informa- tion on the geology of the immediate neighbourhood reference may also be made to a report of an excursion of the Geologists' Asso- ciation to Hatfield, in 1873, given by Mr. Lobley in the Proceedings of the Association (vol. iii. p. 241). In the "basement-bed" of the London Clay a few fossils were collected, and the members of the two Societies then returned to Hatfield across the park in detached parties, and thence, after partaking of tea at the Salisbury Arms, to their respective destina- tions — London, Watford, and various parts of Hertfordshire — by rail or road, having spent a very enjoyable afternoon in one of the most beautiful parks of Hertfordshire, and, for its historical asso- ciations, tlie most interesting in the County. To convey the members residing in the neighbourhood of AVatford a special train was engaged from St. Albans to Hatfield and back, the ordinary trains not running at convenient times. Field Meeting, 3ed June, 1876. Bricket Wood and Common. When a field meeting is chiefly devoted to the collection of microscopic objects, there is little to record of its results, and still less to be said iu the fiehl, for it is impossible to determine on the WATFORD NATTJEAL HISTORY SOCIETY. XXXIX spot the objects collected, and as each, microscopist studies as a rule a particular class of objects — a special department of the animal or vegetable kingdom — it is not an easy matter for the Secretary of a Society to ascertain afterwards what has been found. This is the case with this afternoon's meeting, which took place in conjunction with the Quekett Microscopical Club. The members of the two Societies met at Bricket Wood Station, and formed at once two or three detached parties. One section searched the wood in quest of plants ; another, with buttei-fly nets and collecting boxes, made acquaintance with its insect-inhabi- tants ; while a third — and by far the largest party — started off for the common, to collect, for after-study with the miscroscope, the minute organisms with which its stagnant pools are peopled. After some time spent in collecting these various objects, the members of the two societies again united, and took a south- easterly course across the low meadows through which flow the rivers Ver and Colne, to the Nether Wyld Farm, where they were hospitably entertained at tea by Mr. and Mrs. AVaghom, and Mr. C. F. Hollingsworth, after which they returned by diJferent routes to the Bricket Wood Station. Ordinary Meeting, 8th June, 1876. John Evans, Esq., F.R.S., etc., President,' in the Chair. The Rev. F. W. Goadby, M.A., St. Albans Road, Watford, was elected a Member of the Society. The following communications were read : — 1. " Meteorological Observations taken at Oaklands, Hempstead Eoad, from 1871 to 1875." By Edward Harrison.* 2. " On the Advantage of observing Phenological Phenomena," By Lieut. Richard B. Croft, R.N., F.L.S., F.R.M.S. The Author urged upon the members the advantage, to themselves and to the Society, of observing periodical natural phenomena, pointing out that the position and even the existence of the Society depended upon the work done by it in the cause of Science, and that there could be but few members who could not do some work for the Society by noting at least one or two occm-rences in each month and forwarding their notes to the Secretary. In fact, he said, we all do notice these occurrences, though we may not record them. Who does not listen for the first note of the nightingale ? Who does not look out for the first swallow ? Who can help saying, once a year at least, " There's the cuckoo ! " And it is the same with flowers — the cowslip, the sweet violet, the blackthorn, and many others. It is impossible for the most unobservant person not to notice these on their first flowering, and if noticed, why not noted ? In concluding his remarks, the Author suggested that children should be trained to observe the blossoming of wild flowers, and to look out for the arrival of birds, etc., which observations might be recorded by their parents and sent to the Society. 3. "The Hertfordshire Bourne." By the President {Vide p. 137). * A copy of Mr. Harrison's observations is deposited in the Society's Library. xl PEOCEEDrN'GS OF THE In reply to a question by Dr. Brett, the President said that there were two methods of ascortaining tlie amount of water flowing in a river. One had been tried at Watford, and wa.s by the number of millstones the river was able to drive ; but the ordinary method was for the water to be penned back and only allowed to flow over an orifice of a certain width. The amount of water pa.ssing in a minute was taken, and from that it was calculated what the volume of water was. It was in this manner that Telford gauged the Gade some fifty years ago. 4. "Section of the Strata passed through in boring at the Colne Valley Water Works." By William Verini ( Fide p. 135). 5. "The Ermine Street traced by its Vegetation." By Lieut. R. B. Croft, E.X., F.L.S. {Vide p. 135). The President said that this very interesting Note combined archseology with botany. He had not before known buttercups brought in as indices of Roman roads. Such indications were generally seen in the height of summer, for the soil above the road being only of a moderate thickness, the vegetation then dried up. Stukeley noticed these appearances, and called them umbras strati — the shadows of a street. Mr. E.. A. Pryor having mentioned that buried foundations gave rise to similar appearances, the President said that the theatre at St. Albans was discovered by such appearances. 6. "Note on tlie Larvae of the Goat Moth." By J. Henry James {Vide]). 135). 7. " Kotes on the Cuckoo." By Alfred T. Brett, M.D. ( Fide p. 136). Mr. R. A. Pryor said that he had known a cuckoo lay its eggs for two con- secutive years in the nests which a water wagtail had been for some years in the habit of building in an out-house. Lieut. Croft mentioned that he had seen both robins and greenfinches bring a cuckoo food. 8. Cuttings from ' The Field,' being two Xotes on the Ornithology of Herts. The first of these related to the appearance of the gannet and the little auk in Herts. They had both been picked up alive, but in an exhausted condition, near Baldock, during the latter part of November, 1875. The second extract referred to the destruction of fish by a heron. For several weeks at about the end of the year 187o, a large heron had been seen flying over Bengeo towards Waterford Marsh, near Hertford, and returning towards Ware. On one occasion it had been seen to dart into the river that runs near Waterford Hall, and kill a very fine ti-out. 9. "Description of a new Field-Naturalist's Microscope." By Lieut. Croft, R.N., F.L.S. Lieut. Croft said that he believed this little instrument, which he exhibited, would be found useful not only for work in the field, for which he had specially designed it, but also at other times when it was impossible to use a large micro- scope, or when it might be inconvenient to take such an instrument out of its case ; for although in theory our microscopes ought always to be set up ready for use, yet in practice this seldom was ]i(issil)le. The instrument ciiiiM-tid nt a tili -((.iiic body sliding in a case to which a stage and mirror were attaditd, the wlmlc when packed, together with a live-box, tittiiii;' into a small kallier cast' whiili could be carried in the pocket or slung on till -lidiilder. It was fitted with a 3-inch object-glass, as being the most useful |Mi\\( 1 Inr out-door work, but he also carried in his waistcoat pocket a low-angle iiuli-imli, for which, or even with care for a quarter-inch object-glass, he found the sliding adjustment all that was needed. WATFOED JTATUEAL HISTOIIT SOCIETY. xli Field Meeting, Hth Jtjxe, 1S76, BoxMOOR, Bennet's End, and Nash Mills. Meeting at Boxmoor station at about half -past two, the members, under the guidance of their President, Mr. John Evans, went direct to the Chaik-pit on Rough Down, where there is an exposure of the band of hard, cream-coloured chalk known as the "chalk-rock," which here forms the highest bed of the Lower Chalk, and divides it distinctly from the overlying Upper Chalk or " chalk-with-tlints " This chalk- rock is well known, through the researches of Mr. Evans, as the principal fossiliferous bed of the Chalk in this area. It crops out near the highest part of the pit, which is a hollow cut out of the hill-side. Its thickness is here about 18 inches, — the upper portion, for three or four inches, consisting almost entirely of nodules which contain about 10 per cent, of phosphate of lime. To get at this bed the steep face of the pit had to be scaled, and the bed when reached was found to have so suifered from the re- peated attacks of geologists, that, instead of projecting, as from its hardness it would naturally have done, it was sunk back from the face of the pit, rendering it no easy matter to work at it. A number of fossils were however found,, including an Inoceramus, a Trochus, a Rhynchonella, Terehratida cornea and semi-globosa, Ananchytesovatiis, Spatangics cor-anguinum, and two species of Ventnculites. In addition to these there have been found in the chalk-rock in this pit, almost entirely by Mr. Evans, undetermined species of Bacu- lites, Nautilus, Turrilites, Inoceramus (two species), Micr aster, Parasmilia, Ocellaria, etc., and the following named species : — jiinmonitcs prosperianus. I Spondijlus spinnsus. Scaphites cequalis. Rhyiichonclla Mantelliana. Spondyhis latus. \ Terehratula biplicata. After botanising a little on Eough Down, the members, some walking and others driving, proceeded to the Bennet's End brick- field, noticing on the way the Boxmoor thistle, and other interesting plants pointed out by Mr. Pry or, and a well-marked " pipe " near Bennet's End, to which attention was directed by the President, who explained its formation by the percolation through the Chalk of water with carbonic acid in solution. At the brick-fields Mr. Evans also gave an interesting account of the beds exposed, the conditions of deposition of which, and the fossil contents, are known chiefly through his researclies. These brick-fields are in an outlier of the Lower Tertiaries, which are supposed to have been saved from denudation, partly, by a slight change of dip in the un- derlying Cbalk — a cause to which se-veral lines of similar outliers in this and other Chalk districts are most probably due — but chiefly by a fault in the Chalk, ruuiiiug north and south, against the face of which the London Clay with its basement-bed, and the plastic clay of the Woolwich and Reading Series, abut, and towards which they dip at a slight angle. There are also other minor faults, one of which throws the London Clay against its basement-bed, and another the London Clay and underlying Beading Beds against a VOL. I. — PT. VII. P xlii rROCEEDIXGS OF THE mass of brick-cartli, for which one of the pits is mostly worked. In the basement-bed of the London Chiy a mammal's bone, sharks' teeth, an annelide {Ditrupa /;/«««), wood, impressions of leaves, and the following species of MoUusca, have been found :* — Fitsm, sp. Cytherea orbicularis. Nalica, sp. NucuIcl, sp. Cardium Laytoni. Oslrea Betlovaeina. Cyprina Morrisii, Panopcea intermedia, Cytherea obliqua. Soleii, sp. The meeting terminated at the residence of the President, at Nash Mills, about a mile and a half south of the brick-fields ; and on their arrival here the members were hospitably entertained at tea by Mr. and Mrs. Evans, and for the second time had the ad- vantage of examining a number of carefully- selected examples of the extensive collection of pre-historic implements, and more recent ornaments, coins, and other interesting and valuable objects, which Mr. Evans has formed. Field Meeting, 1st July, 1876. Elstkee Eeservoir and Stanmore Common. To meet again the Quekett Microscopical Club, and to collect microscopic objects, as on the 3rd of June, a few members only of the Watford Natural History Society assembled at Elstree Reservoir on the bridge at its upper end. At first a little collecting was done in the resei'voir itself ; but no objects of special interest finding tlieii- way into the nets and bottles, some small pools near were tried, and here the most in- teresting object obtained was the Vohox globator, a free-swimming microscopic plant, which has been referred as often to the animal as to the vegetable kingdom, but seems now to be generally regarded as one of the confervoid algoe. It is a delicate green globe, which, moving gracefully through the water, revolving as it goes, is just visible to the naked eye, and under the microscope is seen to contain within its transparent membrane other smaller globes, the miniatures of itself, and these again sometimes even a third generation in embryo. By the side of the reservoir several plants of larger dimensions and more steadfast habits were collected ; and in their botanical researches the members of the two societies had the advantage of the presence of two good botanists — Mr. Leo Grindon, author of the well-known 'Field and Garden Eotany,' and Mi-. W. "W. Reeves, Assistant Secretaiy of the Royal Microscopical Society. Mr. Grindon's poetical yet truly philosophical expositions of the structure and uses of the ditfereut organs of various plants met with formed, indeed, a distinctive feature in the meeting ; and when the party arrived at Stanmore Common, it was found that * This and tli.- list of fossils of the chalk-rock aie from Mr. Whitakcr's 'Geology of the London IJasin,' part i., iu which further particulai-s of the Boxmoor and Ueunet's End pits are yiveu. WATFOED NATUKAL HISTORY SOCIETY. xliii SO much time had been expended in listening to his discourses on the -wonderful adaptations of means to ends in the works of the Creator that there was no time to spare to botanise on the Common or to search its pools for their microscopic inhabitants. The two societies here therefore separated, the members of the Quekett Club returning to London by way of Stanmore, and the members of the Watford Society dispersing in various directions. Okdinaey Meetin;g, 12th Octobee, 1876. Alfred T. Brett, Esq., M.D., Vice-President, in the Chair. Mrs. Arnold, Redbourne Bury, St. Albans ; Dr. William Henry Eobson, Berkhampstead ; Mr. George Lambert, F.S.A., Coventry Street, Haymarket, London ; Mr. Oliver Lemon, Langley Hill House, East Langley; Dr. Charles Edward Saunders, 21, Lower Seymour Street, London ; and Mrs. George Tidcombe, Chalk Hill, Bushey, Avere elected Members of the Society, A letter was read from Dr. F. Y. Hayden, thanking the Society for his election as an Honorary Member. The following lecture was delivered : — "The Polarisation of Light." By James TJ. Harford ( Vide p. 152). The lecture was illustrated by a series of diagrams, and by various experiments with polarising apparatus-.* Oedinart Meeting, 9th J^ovembeb., 1876. John Evans, Esq., F.R.S., etc., President, in the Chair. Mr. Eobert Marcus Carew, Carpenders Pai'k, Watford, was elected a Member of the Society. The following communications were read : — 1. "The Hertfordshire Ordnance Bench Marks, fi-om the 'Ab- stracts of Levelling' of the Ordnance Survey." By John Hopkinson, Hon. Sec. {Vide ^. 141). 2. "On some Boulders in the ^Neighbourhood of Buntingford, Herts." By Robert Philips Greg, F.G.S. ( Vide p. 172). 3. "On the Earth Pyramids near Botzen in the Tyrol." By the President, John Evans, E.R.S., etc. Mr. Evans stated that these ppamids, of which he exhibited a photograph, ■were in a valley in the neighboui-hood of Klobenstein, a few miles from Botzen, and at an elevation of 3000 feet above the sea-level. They had been already described by Sir Charles Lyell in his ' Principles of Geology,' and by other authors ; but as they were such striking instances of the effects of sub-aerial denudation, he thought that a few words about them might not be unacceptable to the Society. The pvramids, as might be seen from the photograph, were obelisks of soil thickly clustered together, some of them fifty or sixty feet high, and by far the * The subject was brought before the Society by Mr. Harford for the second time by special request, on account of the small attendance owing to the great storm on the first occasion (13th April). xliv PEOCEEDryGS OF THE gTPiitcr number of tlicm having; a large block of stone upon the top. The question as to the manner in -which they were formed had already been solved by o-eologists, but its solution might probably be unknowii to many of the members of the Society. The valley in -which the pyramids stand is an old valley, probably excavated by a glacier at a time when the temperature of that part of Europe was somewhat odder than it now is, and was partly filled n-ith a thick deposit of moraine matter, consisting in the main of a micaceous sand with a small amount of clay intermixed, derived from the grinding away of red porphyry and granite, with pebbles and large blocks of which, the sand was interspersed. The stream which now runs along the bottom of the valley must, when the glacier first reti-eated and left the moraine matter, have flowed at a much higher level. As it worked its way down through the hard sand, side streams would run in during the heavy rains, which are not unfrequent. The course of these would be guided partly by cracks formed dui'ing the heat of summer, and partly by certain portions of the sand being protected from the action of the rain by the large blocks of stone lying on the surface, or laid bare by the sand above them having been washed away. These side streams in course of time formed deep lateral ravines opening into the main valley ; but as the ridges between each of these lateral ravines were only in places protected from the effects of the rain by the large blocks of stone, they also got cut into so as to form a second series of lateral ravines opening into the first, and thus these irregular lines of columns were left. Although the stones, which acted like umbrellas for the columns, preserved them for a long time, so long indeed that the columns might gradually be de- veloped so as to become fifty or sixty feet high, yet eventually the power of the -weather was too great for them, and their supports were weakened so that they fell. The columns having lost their covering, gradually became pointed like church spires, but eventually were -n^^shed away, as the bottom of the valley to the height of 100 or 200 feet above the stream was now free from columns, which now are only found higher up the slope. The essentials for the formation of such columns, which have been noticed in several parts of the world, seem to be 1. A soil readily acted on by water, but sufficiently hard and compact to carry a great weiglit, and through which a valley has been cut. 2. An admixture in the soil of large blocks to protect it from the rain in certain places only. 3. Occasional rains sufficient to cut deep gullies. 4. A main torrent at the bottom of the valley capable of removing all the sand and blocks washed into it, and of keeping the sides of the valley in which it runs inclined at a high angle. 4. "On the Supposed Recent Extinction of Cyclosfoma eleqans in North Herts." By H. George Fordham, F.G.S. ( Vide p. 172). 5. " On the Anacharis /jlsinai^trum in the River Colne, near Watford." By Alfred T. Brett, ^I.D. ( Vide p. 17.3). 6. A letter from ^\r. 11. A. Pryor, ]?.A., 1\L S , giving a list of plants he has recently discovered in new stations in the neigh- bourhood of Watford, and notes on the blossoming of certain spring wild-flowers during the last fe-n' -weeks ( Vide p. 173). 7. A hitter from ^l\\ ('laronce E. Fry on the recent capture of the oleander hawk-moth ( Chwrocampa Nerii) at Hemcl Hempstead {Vide^. 174). The Secretary recorded the discovery, near St. Albans, by Miss Willshin, of Campanula lafifolia, a species of which the only previous record of the occurrence near St. Albans, many years ago, by Miss HeiLslow, liad been considered doubtful ; and of a new thistle which Mr. Pryor considered to be a hybrid between Carduuft WATFORD XATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. xlv palustris and C. pratensis, and of which he had i)laced a specimen in the Herbarium of the British Museum. Dr. Brett recorded the fact of an unusual number of squirrels having been seen in the neighbourhood of Watford this year. The following objects were exhibited : — Small pieces of the boulders found near JBuntingfoi-d, by Mr. R. P. Greg ; Photograph of the Earth-pyramids near Botzen, by the President ; Shells of Cydostovia elegans from Highley Hill Tumulus, by Mr. H. George Fordham ; Anacharis alsinastrum from the Colne, by Dr. Brett ; and, under their microscopes. Diatoms, by Mr. Arthur Cottam, and living Sertularian Hyclroids, from Tenby, South Wales, by the Secretary. Ordinary Meeting, 14th December, 1876. John Evaxs, Esq., F.R.S., etc., President, in the Chair. The following lecture was delivered : — "The Eocenes of England and their Extension in Hertfordshire." By J. Logan Lobley, E.G.S., E.R.G.S. {Vide p. 161). A discussion ensued in which the President, the Secretary, and Dr. Brett took part. Fossils from the London Clay were exhibited by Mr. Lobley in illustration of his lecture ; and Eocene Fossils from the London and Hampshire Basins, by the Secretary. The Greenough Geological Map of England was also kindly lent for the occasion by the Geological Society of London. Donations to the Library in 1876. Anon. Title. Minstrelsy of the "Woods, - Physiognomy. 2 vols. 8vo. 8vo. London, 1832. Aeago, FRANgois. Meteorological Essays. 8vo. London, 1855 Brande, Prof. W. T. Manual of Chemistiy. 2nd Edition. 3 vols. 8vo. London, 1821 . Chittenham, G. B. Meteorological Ohservations .... in Colorado and Montana Territories. 8vo. Wash- ington, 1874 CoNYBEARE, Ecv. W. D., and "Whliam Phillips. Outlines of the Geology of England and Wales. 8vo. London, 1822 Cooke, M. C. A Plain and Easy Account of the British Fungi. 8vo. London, 1866 Cope, E. D. The Vertebrata of the Cretaceous Forma- tions of the West. {U.S, Geol. Surv.) 4to. Wash- ington, 1876 CouES, Elliott. Birds of the Northwest. {U.S. Geol. Surv.) 8vo. Washington, 1874 . . . , Donor, Mr. J. JEoplm Miss Scholz. Lieut. R. B. Croft. Br. F. V. Bayden. Mr, J. Hopkinson, Br. F. V. Harden. xlvi PROCEEDINGS OF THE Title. Choll, Dr. James. The ' Challenger's ' Crucial Test of the "Wind and Gravitation Theories of Oceanic Cir- culation. {Phil. Mag. 1875.) .... On the Mechanics of Glaciers. {Geol. Mag. 1876.) Curtis, John. Farm Insects. 4to. London, 1867 . CfviER, Bakon. Discours sur les Revolutions de la Surface du Globe. Svo. Dennis, Rev. J. B. P. The Existence of Birds during the deposition of the Stonesfield Slate proved .... {Quart. Journ. Micr. Science.) Dbummond, Dr. James L. First Steps to Botany. 3rd Edition. 12mo. London, 1831 . Etans, John. Address delivered at the Anniversary Meeting of the Geological Society of London, on the 19th of February, 1875. [Quart. Juuru. Gtol. Soc. 1875.) I8th of February, 1876. {ib. 1876.) Fehgusson, Dr. Robert M. Electricity. 8vo. London and Edinburgh, 1868 FoRDHAM, H. George. On the Section of the Chloritic Marl and Upper Greensand on the Northern Side of Swanage Bay, Dorset. {Froc. Geol. Assnc. 1876.) . Gannett, Henry. Meteorological Observations .... in Utah, Idaho, and Montana. Svo. Washington, 1873 _. . ._ _ . List of Elevations .... west of the Missis- sippi River. 3rd Edition, ib. 1875 Geographical Magazine. Vols, ii, iii. 4to. London, 1875-76 Glaisher, James. On the Meteorological and Physical Etfectsof the Solar Eclipse of March 15, 1858. 8vo. . On the Meteorology of England during the Year ending December 31st, 1861 . GossE, P. H. Fishes. 8vo. London, 1851 Greg, R. P., and W. G. Lettsom. Manual of the Minera- logy of Great Britain and Ireland. 8vo. London, 1858 Hayden, Dr. F. V. First, Second, and Third Annual Reports of the United States Geological Survev of the Territories, for the Years 1867, 1868, and 1869. {Reprint.) 8vo. Washington, 1873 . Fourth Report, for 1870. (Wyoming.) ib. 1872 Fifth Report, for 1R71. (Montana) t*. 1872 Sixth Report, for 1872. ib. 1873 Seventh Report, for 1873, (Colorado.) ib. 1875 ' Final Report of the United States Geological Survey of Nebraska, ib. 1872 . IIersckel, Sir John F. W. Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy. Svo. London, 1830 . Mamml of Scientific Enquiry. 2nd Edition. Svo. London, 1851 Familiar Letters on Scientific Subjects. Svo. London, 1866 IIicKs, IIenry. On the Succession of the Ancient Rocks in tlic Vicinity of St. David's,. Pembrokeshire. {(liiart. Journ. Geol. Soc. 1875.) . . . . Donor. The Author. Mr. Chippindale. Lieut. R. B. Croft. Mr. J. Ilopkinson. The Author. Lieut. R. B. Croft. The Author. Br. Hayden. Lieut. R. B. Croft. Dr. A T. Brett. Mr. J. JToplcinsnu. Lieut. R. B. Croft. Mr. R. R Greg. The Author. Mr. J. ITopkimon. Lieut. R. B. Croft. The Author. WATPORD IfATXJKAL HISTORY SOCIETY. xlvii Title. {Geol. Hicks, H. On the Northern Palaeozoic Eocks. Mag. 1876.) HoPKiNSON, John, and C. Lapworth. Descriptions of the Graptolites of the Arenig and Llandeilo Rocks of St. David's. {Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. 1875.) . Johns, Dr. "William. Practical Botany. 8vo, London, 1840 Jukes, J. Beete. The Students' Manual of Geology. 2nd edition. Svo. Edinburgh, 1862 . Leidy, Joseph. Contributions to the Extinct Vertebrate Fauna of the Western Territories. ( U.S. Geol. Surv.) 4to. Washington, 1873 LEsauEREUx, Leo. Contributions to the Fossil Flora of the Western Territories. Part 1. The Cre- taceous Flora. {U.S. Geol. Surv.) 4to. Wash- ington, 1874 ....... LiEBiG, Justus ton. Letters on Modern Agricultui'e. Svo. London, 1859 Natural Laws of Husbandry. Svo. London, 1863 LiNNEAN Society. Transactions. Vol. xxiv, Part 3. Vol. xxviii, Part 1. 4to. London, 1864-71 LoBLEY, J. L. Two days in a Mining District. (Proc. ■Geol. Assoc. 1871.) . On the Stratigraphical Distribution of the British FossQ Brachiopoda. {ib. 1871). On the Stratigraphical Disti-ibution of the British Fossil Lamellibranchiata. {Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. 1871.) ....... Excursion of the Geologists' Association to Malvern. (Proc. Geol. Assoc. 1874.) Marlborough College Natural History Society. Reports for 1869 to 1874. Svo. Marlborough, 1869—1875 Mawe, J. Woodarch's Inti'oduction to the Study of Conchology. 3rd ed. 8vo. London, 1825 . Meek, F. B. Report on the Invertebrate Cretaceous and Tertiary Fossils of the Upper Missoui'i Country. {U. S. Geol. Surv.) 4to. Washington, 1876 _ Meteorological Society. Report of the Council for 1857-58. Svo. London, 1859 . MiALL, L. C. Remains of Labyrinthodonta from the Keuper Sandstone of Warwick. {Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. 1874.) MuDiE, Robert. The Feathered Tribes of the British Islands. 2 vols. Svo. Loudon, 1834 . Newman, E. A History of British Ferns. Svo. London, 1840 Packard, Dr. A. S. A Monograph of the Geometrid Moths or PhalasnidEe of the United States. ( U. S. Geol. Surv.) 4to. Washington, 1876 . Phillips, Prof. John. Treatise on Geology. 2 vols. 12mo. London, 1837—39 . _ ._ . _ . _ . ■ Notices of Rocks and Fossils in the University Museum, Oxford. Svo. Oxford, 1863 . Phillips, William. Elementary Inti-oduction to the Knowledge of Mineralogy. 12mo. London, 1816 Porter, T. C., and J. M. Coulter. Synopsis of the Flora of Colorado. Svo. Washington, 1874 Donor. The Author. The Authors. Mr. J. Hopkinson. Mr. C. E. Fry. Br, F. V. Uayden. Lieut. R. B. Croft. Mr. J. Hopkinson. The Author. Rev. T. A. Preston. Mr. J. Hopkinson. Br. F. V. Hayden. Br. A. T. Brett. Mr. J. H. Kirshaw. Mr. J. Hopkinson. Br. F. V. Hayden. Mr. J, Hopkinson. Br. F. r. xlviii PROCEEDINGS OF THE Title. Powell, Eev. Trof. Baden. History of Natural Philosophy. 8vo. London, 1834 .... Preston, Rev. T. A. Flora of Marlborough. Parts 1-3. 8vo. Marlborough, 1871— 75 . Observations on the Flowering of Plants. {Rep. Marlb. Col. Nat. Hist. Soc. 1873.) Meteorological Observations, 1865 — 72. {ib. 1874) Pkyor, R. a. On the Occurrence of Medicago lappacea, Lamk. , in Bedfordshire {Journ. of Botany, 1876.) Ramsay, Prof. A. C. The Physical Geology and Geo- graphy of Great Britain. 8vo. London, 1863 Redgrave, Gilbert R. A Short Account of Mount- sorrel, and the Working of its Granite Quarries. 8vo. Leicester, 1870 RicHARDSOx, Ralph. The Ice Age in Britain. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1876 RiCKETTS, Charles. The Cause of the Glacial Period with reference to the British Isles. {Geol. Map. 1 875.) Smith, Sir J. E. Introduction to Physiological and Systematic Botany. 6th Edition. 8vo. London, 1827 Somerville, Mary. The Connexion of the Physical Sciences. 5th Edition. 8vo. London, 1840. Symons, G. J. On the Fall of Rain in the British Isles in the Years 1860-63. [Rtp. Brit. Assoc, for 1862 and 1864.) . British Rainfall, 1860—64. 8vo. London. 1862—65 . Tables of the Total Depth of Rain in 1866. 8vo. London, 1867 . On the Distribution of Rain over the British Isles during the Years 1867, 68. 8vo. ib. 1868-69 • Rules for Rainfall Obsen'ers, and Total Amount of Rain recorded during the Year 1870. 8vo. ii. 1871 • British Rainfall, 1875. 8vo. London. 1876 Monthly Meteorological ^Mauazine. Vol xi, Xos. 121-131. 8vo. London, 1876 . Thomas, Dr. Cyrus. Synopsis of the Acridida) of North America. ( U. S. Geol. Siirv.) 4to. Wash- ington, 1873 United Statrs Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories. Catalogue of the Publications. 8vo. Washington, 1874 - Bulletin. No. 2. Second Series — No. 2 and No. 4. 8vo. ib. 1874—75 Ure, Dr. Andrew. Dictionary of Chemistry. 8vo. London, 1821 ....... Woodward. Henry. On a new Species of Rostellaria from the Gray Chalk, Folkestone. (Geot. Mag. 1872.) Further Remarks on the Xiphosura. {Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. 1872.) Donor. Mr. J. Jlopkinson. The Author. Mr. J. Hopkinson. The Author. Lieut. Ji. B. Croft. Mr. J. Ilopkinson. Dr. A. T. Brett. The Author. Br. F. V. Eaijdtn. LietU. R. B. Croft. Mr. J. Ilopkinson. Publications of Societies received ix exchaxoe. Bath Natural IIistouy and Antiquarian Field Cluh. Proceedings. Vol. Nos. 1-3. Svo. Buth, 1874-76. WATFOED NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. xlix Belfast Naturalists' Field Club. Proceecliners. Series 2, Vol. i, Parts 1-3. 8vo. Belfast, 1874-76. Boston (U.S.A.) Society of Natural History. Proceedings. Vol. xvii, Parts 3 and 4. Vol. xviii, Parts 1 and 2. Svo. Boston, 1875-76. Brighton and Sussex Natural History Society. Proceedings for 1874-75. Svo. Brighton, 1875. Bristol Naturalists' Society. Proceedings. New Series. Vol. i. Part 3. Svo. Bristol, 1876. Annual Report for 1875-6. 8vo. ti. 1876. Eastbourne Natural History Society. Papers. Session 1873-4, and 1875-6. 4to. Eastboui-ne, 1874-76. Edinburgh Botanical Society. Transactions. Vol. xii, Part 3. Svo. Edinburgh, 1876. Edinburgh Geological Society. Transactions. Vol, ii, Part 3. Svo. Edinburgh, 1874. Geological Society. Abstracts of the Proceedings. Session 1875-76. Svo. London, 1876. Geologists' Association. Proceedings. Vol. iv, Nos. 5-8. Svo. London, 1876. Annual Report for 1S75. Svo. ib. 1876. Glasgow, Geological Society of. Transactions. Vol. v, Part 1. Svo. Glasgow, 1875. Glasgow, Natural History Society of. Proceedings. Vol. i, and Vol. ii, Part 1. Svo. Glasgow, 1869-76. Glasgow, Philosophical Society of. Proceedings. Vol. ix, and Vol. x, No. 1. Svo. Glasgow, 1875-6. Ireland, Royal Geological Society of. Journal. New Series. Vols, i-iii, and Vol. iv. Parts 1 and 2. Svo. Dublin, 1867-75. Leeds Naturalists' Club and Scientific Association. Annual Report for 1875-76. Svo. Leeds, 1876. Manchester Field Naturalists' and Arch^^ologists' Society. Report for 1875. Svo. Manchester, 1876. Manchester Geological Society. Transactions. Vol. xiv. Parts 1-5. Svo. Manchester, 1876. Manchester, Literary and Philosophical Society of. Memoirs. Third Series. Vols. i-v. Svo. Manchester, 1862-76. Proceedings. Vols, iii-xv. 8vo. ib. 1864-76. Marlborough College Natural History Society. Report for the half-year ending Christmas, 1875; and Midsummer, 1876. Svo. Marlborough, 1876. Meteorological Society. Quarterly Journal. New Series. Vol. iii, Nos. 17-19, Svo. London, 1876. Catalogue of the Library. Svo. ib. 1876. List of the Fellows. Svo. ib. 1876. Norfolk, and Norwich Naturalists' Society. Transactions. Vol. ii, Parts 1 and 2. Svo. Norwich, 1875-76. Quekett Microscopical Club. Journal. Nos. 30-32. Svo. London, 1876. Smithsonian Institution. Annual Report of the Board of Regents for 1874. Svo. Washington, 1875. Somersetshire Akch^ological and Natural History Society. Pro- ceedings. New Series. Vol. i. Svo. Taunton, 1876. "Warwickshire Natural History and Arch^ological Society. Annual Reports for 1874 and 1875. Svo. "Warwick, 1875-76. "West London Scientific Association and Field Club. Proceedings. Vol. i, Parts 1-3. Svo. London, 1876. Annual Report for 1875-76. Svo. ib. 1876. "Wiltshire Arch^ological and Natural History Society. Magazine. Vol. xvi, Nos. 46 and 47. Svo. Devizes, 1876. i peoceedixgs of the Oedinaey Meetixg, IIth Janitary, 1877. John Evans, Esq., F.R.S., etc.. President, in the Cliair. Dr. John Attfield, F.C.S., Professor of Practical Chemistry to the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, Ashlands, Watford, and Mr. Sydney Humbert, Little Nascot, "Watford, were elected Members of the Society. The following papers were read : — 1. " Fish- hatching and Fish-culture in Hertfordshire." By Alfred T. Brett, M.D. With "Notes on Pisciculture" by Peter Hood, M.D. {Vide^. 179). 2. "Notes and Queries on the River Colne, Watford." By A. T. Brett, M.D. {Vide^. 175). Mr. John E. Littleboy gave an account of an attempt he made to rear trout, and stated that only a few out of 300 young fish grew to be of any considerable size. Crayfish, he said, abounded in the stream at Hunton Bridge, and he had often eaten them at tea. Mr. Humbert remarked with regard to the scarcity of fish that men came from London and caught with a net perhaps a bushel of 'fish in a day. He thought they supplied the shops where live bait was sold. The scarcit)' of fish at Mr. King's might be owing to Wiggenhall being below the W^atford Gas Works. The President spoke at some length upon the origin of the word " Colne," which he thought was most probably derived from the Breton word cole», signifying " small," as so many small rivers in this country were called "Colne." The elevation of the banks of the Colne, alluded to by Mr. Clutterbuck in his letter, seemed to show that the mill at Watford was a very ancient one, like many others in the neighbourhood, which date back seven or eight hundred years. The disease among the fish at Cassiobury he considered to be parasitical, and he thought that the absence of trout in the river could be best accounted for by the accumulation of mud at the bottom of the river, trout requiring a gravelly bottom upon which to deposit their ova. Jack he said were very destructive to trout. The following objects were exhibited: — A fish-hatching ap- paratus, and fish-ova, by Mr. Jonathan King ; sketches of trout caught in the Colne, by Mr. King and Mr. H. Howard ; a pike, stuffed, weighing 18 lbs., caught by Mr. W. Rogers, and another weighing HrV lbs., caught at Aldenham Abbey, by Mr. Durham; and salmon, hybrids of salmon and trout, the soy or golden trout from Germany, Swiss trout, pike, roach, dace, bream, and minnows, living, from the Fish Museum, South Kensington, by Mr. Frank Buckland. Dr. Brett, Mr. Jonathan Chater, and the Honorary Secretary, also ex- hibited fish scales under their microscopes. Mr. James U. Harford and !Mr. C. F. HoUingsworth were appointed Auditors of the Accounts for 1876. ANNTJAL MEETING, 9th February, 1877. John Evans, Esq., F.R.S., etc., President in the Chair. Mr. F. J. Marnham, The Hollies, Boxmoor, and Miss Wilson, Nutfield, Watford, were elected Members of the Society. "WATFOED NATURAL HISTOKY SOCIETY. li Charles Darwin, M.A., F.R.S., F.R.S.E., F.L.S., F.G.S., Down, Beckenham, Kent, and the Rev. George Henslow, M.A., F.L.S., F.G.S., Lecturer on Botany at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, 7, Bentinck Terrace, Regent's Park, London, were elected Honorary Members. The Report of the Council for 1876, and the Treasurer's Account of Income and Expenditure, were read and adopted. The President delivered an Address ( Vide p. 187). The Balloting-giass having been removed, and the lists examined by the Scrutineers, the following gentlemen were declared to have been duly elected as the Officers and Council for the ensuing year : — President.— mre^ T. Brett, M.D. Vice-Presidents. — Arthur Cottam, F.R.A.S. ; the Right Honour- able the Earl of Essex; John Evans, F.R.S.,- Y.P.S.A., V.P.G.S., F.M.S., etc. ; J. Logan Lobley, F.G.S., F.R.G.S. Treasurer. — Charles F. Humbert, F.G.S. Honorary Secretary and Librarian. — John Hopkinson, F.L.S., F.G.S., F.R.M.S., F.M.S. Honorary Curator. — W. Lepard Smith. Other Members of the Council. — R. Russell Carew, F.R.G.S., F.C.S. ; E. M. Chater ; George Chippindale; Lieut. Richard B. Croft, R.N., F.L.S., F.R.M.S. ; James U. Harford; J. E. Harting, F.L.S., F.Z.S.; Thomas Heather; J. Gwyn Jeffreys, LL.D., F.R.S., F.L.S., F.G.S. , etc. ; John E. Littleboy; the Rev. C. M. Perkins, MA. ; R. A. Piyor, B.A., F.L.S. ; Frank W. Silvester. It was then resolved — That the thanks of the Society be given to Mr. John Evans, F.R.S., retiring from the office of President; to Dr. A. T. Brett and Mr. C. F. Humbert, retiring from the office of Yice-President ; to Mr Arthur Cottam, retiring from the office of Treasurer ; and to Mr. W. M. Fawcett, Mr. George Rooper, and Mr. John Sedgwick, retiring from the Council. The thanks of the Society were also accorded to the Honorary Secretary. Report of the Council for 1876. In presenting this, their second Annual Report, the Council of the "Watford Ifatural Histoiy Society and Hertfordshire Field Club may again congratulate the members on the prosperity of the Society, both with regard to the state of its finances and the posi- tion it continues to hold as a Society doing work of permanent value in the investigation of the IS'atural History of its county. During the year 27 Ordinary Members and three Honorary Members have been elected ; ten members have compounded for their annual subscription (raising the number of life members from five to fifteen) ; and nineteen members — twelve of whom have removed from the neighbourhood of Watford— have resigned. Hi PROCEEDINGS OF THE The Council have again, with much regret, to record the loss of one member by death. The Countess of Essex, who was elected a member of the Society at its first meeting, died on the 5th of May, beloved and esteemed by all who knew her. The census of the Society at the end of the years 1875 and 1876 was as follows : — 1875 1876 Honorary Members 5 8 Life Members S 15 Annual Subscribers 140 137 Total 150 160 Three parts of the first volume of the Society's ' Transactions ' have been printed and distributed to the members during the year, making in all five parts ; and a sixth is now in the press and will shortly be issued. Arrangements have been made for this and future parts to be published in London, by Messrs. Hardwicke and Bogue, 192, Piccadilly, from whom also any of the parts previously published may now be obtained. They will still be kept on sale as before at the Watford Public Library, and at the printers', Messrs. Stephen Austin & Sons, Hertford. The following are the principal papers and lectures that have been read or delivered during the year 1876 : — Jan. 13. — Meteorological Observations taken at Cassiobury House from May to December, 1875; by the Right Honourable the Earl of Essex. . On the Construction, Adjustment, and Use of Meteorological In- struments ; by Thomas Heather. . On the supposed Chalybeate Spring at "Watford, and on other Medicinal Waters in Herts; by E. A. Pryor, B.A., F.L.S. Feb. 10. — Anniversary Address; by the President, John Evans, F.R.S., F.S.A., F.G.S., etc. March 9. — On some of the simpler methods of Microscopical Mounting ; by Arthur Cottam, F.R.A.S. April 13. — The I'olarisation of Light ; by James U. Harford. (First lecture.) Jlay 11. — The Geology and Water Supply of the Neighbourhood of Watford ; by the Rev. James C. Clutterbuck, M.A. June 8. — Meteorological Observations taken at Oaklands, Hcmpstead-road, Watford, from 1871 to 1875 ; by Edward Harrison. .On the Advantage of observing I'henological Phenomena ; by Lieut. Richard B. Croft, R.X., F.L.S. , F.R.M.S. . The Hertfordsliire Bourne; by John Evans, F.H.S., etc., President. Oct. 12. — The Polarisation of Light ; by James U. Harford. (Second lecture.) Nov. 9. — The Hertfordshire Ordnance Bench Marks, from the ' Abstracts of Levelling' of the Ordnance Survey; by John Honkinson, F L.S., F.G.S., Hon. Sec. Dec. 14. — The Eocenes of England and their extension in Hertfordshire ; by J. Logan Lobley, F.G.S., F.R.G.S. In addition to these papers, several shorter communications, relating principally to the Geology and Botany of the county, have been read, and the Council Avould urge upon the members never to allow any observation, however trivial it might appear, that may in any way add to our knowledge of the Natural History of Hert- fordshire, to pass unrecorded. That an observation of a certain WATFOKD NATUEAL HISTOKY SOCIETY. Hii occurrence has been previously made and recorded is not a sufficient reason for it to pass unnoticed when it again occurs. The visit of a rare bird, the unusual abundance of certain insects, the blossoming " out of season " of a common wild flower — which has happened to several this autumn and winter — and many other phenomena, are worth noticing and recording every time they occur ; and the time of flowering of certain plants, of first appearance of certain insects, and of arrival and departure, etc., of certain birds, should be recorded every year, A report on the observations of the periodical phenomena to which allusion is here made, that have already been communicated to your Secretary, will shortly be presented to the Society ; but the Council cannot but regret that only two members — one at Watford and the other at Ware — have so far carried on these observations. Reports on the rainfall, which were communicated quarterly in 1875, have been discontinued, it being thought that a more com- prehensive annual report would be of greater value. Such a report, embracing returns from about 20 stations in the county, will be presented at the first opportunity ; and the Council desire here to express their thanks to your honorary member, Mr. G. J. Symons, for the facilities he has afforded for these reports to be obtained from observers who are co-operating with him in his system of rainfall registration, and who have forwarded their returns on the application of your Secretary. The Society has already been the means of increasing the number of these observers, one member having started a new gauge at Watford, and another at Odsey. A set of standard meteorological instruments, sufficiently complete for all the usual observations, and verified at the Kew Observatory, has also been obtained by your Secretary, whose daily observations are earned out in accordance with the regulations of the Meteoro- logical Society, to which they are forwarded monthly. A summary of these observations will also be given annually in your ' Transac- tions.' The Field Meetings that have taken place during the year must now be alluded to. They have been more uniformly successful than they were the previous year, the weather having been much more favourable. Of the five meetings arranged the programme announced was in every case but one fully carried out, and this exception relates merely to mode of conveyance. At these Field Meetings the following localities were visited : — April 29.— Bernard's Heath and Hedges, St. Albans. May 13.— Hatfield Park. June 3. — Bricket Wood and Common, and the "Wylde, St. Albans. 17. — Boxmoor, Bennet's End, and Nash Mills. July 1. — Elstree Eeservoir and Stanmore Common. Of these meetings, that at Hatfield Park requires special mention. It is the one alluded to above as having been carried out differently from the announcement, which was that conveyances would be hired from St. Albans to Hatfield, the trains not running at con- venient times. A greater number of members than could be thus liv PROCEEDINGS OF THE provided for having signified their intention of taking part in tliis meeting, it was decided to engage a special train from St. Albans to Hatfield and back. The Great Northern Railway Company ran this train for the sum of £2 beyond the ordinary fares — an expendi- ture the Council are gratified to state was fully warranted by the large number of members who took advantage of the arrangement. Including a few who arrived by different routes, the Society was represented at Hatfield by a party of from 60 to 70 ; and the Geologists' Association, in conjunction with which the meeting had been arranged, was represented by about the same number, making altogether a party of fully 130, to whom Hatfield House and Park, and the Hatfield Park brick-fields, were tkrown open by the kind permission of the Marquess of Salisbury. At the other meetings, of which the thii'd and fifth took place in conjunction with the Quekett Microscopical Club, from about twenty to thirty members were present. For hospitality kindly afforded at the field meetings the Society is indebted to three of its members — Mr. Silvester, Mr. Hollings- worth, and your President. To Mr. Evans the thanks of the Society are also especially due for his invaluable assistance in other ways. He has rendered the field meetings the medium of imparting a knowledge of the geological structure and features of the country traversed ; and at the evening meetings, whatever has been the subject of discussion, and a very wide range has been traversed during the year, he has thrown some new light upon it, or added information which has considerably increased the interest of the meeting and enhanced its value. It is with much regret that the Council have to announce the expiration of the term of his Presi- dency in accordance with your laws — a regret which they feel assured will be equally felt by all the members of the Society. The Council have also to regret that your Treasurer has tendered his resignation, owing to his numerous engagements preventing his regular attendance at the meetings and rendering it impossible for him to devote the time to the afi'airs of the Society that he would wish. To Mr. Cottam, as one of the three who took the first steps towards the formation of the Society, as well as for his valuable services as Treasurer during the first two years of its existence, the Society is greatly indebted. The Society continues to be in a satisfactory financial condition, the balance in hand being considerably larger than at the end of the previous year. The capital account, consisting of the amounts received for life compositions, ha^dng increased from £25 to £75, it has been decided to invest it in the purchase of Consols, and the Council have appointed three life members — Dr. Brett, ilr. John Hopkiuson, and Mr. W. Lepard Smith — Trustees, and in their names the funded and other property of the Society will be hold. Numerous donations to the Society's library have been received during the year, including some very valuable works, of which the pu))lications of the United States Geological and Geographical Survey of the Territories, presented by your Honorary Member, ■WATFORD NATtTEAL HISTORY SOCIETY. Iv Dr. F. Y. Hayden, Director of the Survey, are the most important. Several of the scientific societies with which exchange of publi- cations is made, have presented entire volumes, and a few have most liberally given complete sets of volumes of their publications. A considerable number of books and pamphlets has also been re- ceived from authors and others, both members and non-members of the Society. The books, maps, etc., belonging to the Society in the Watford Public Library have been insured, in the names of the Trustees, in the Liverpool and London and Globe Fire In- surance Office to the amount of £50. A cabinet for microscopic slides has been purchased, and the Council invite donations of slides, which will be gladly received by your Curator. "When a sufficient number has accumulated, it is intended to let them circulate amongst the members, and those who may desire to borrow the slides are recommended to procure, for their safe conveyance, small cases such as are used by the members of the Quekett Microscopical Club for this purpose. In conclusion the Council have again to express their thanks to the Committee of the Watford Public Library, for the facilities aif orded for the holding of the evening meetings of the Society ; and more especially also to their Chairman, Dr. lies, for his kind- ness in inviting the members of the Society to his conversazione on the 27th of October. Income and Expenditure during the year ending 31st December, 1876. Dr. Balance Subscriptions for 1875 „ 1876 Entrance Fees Life Compositions Sale of ' Transactions ' Interest on Deposit (£25).. £ s. 16 6 69 11 10 50 16 6 £138 Subscriptions received 1877 for 6 Cr. £ Books and Stationery 2 Advertising Printing ' Transactions ' 32 Miscellaneous Printing 8 Eeporting 2 Eent — Watford Public Library 5 Attendance at ditto 1 Expenses of Hatfield Meeting 2 Library 5 Microscopical Cabinet 1 Postages 7 Sundry small expenses Amount transferred to Capi- tal Account 50 18 s. d. 3 9 8 9 11 18 1 2 2 6 10 6 7 6 15 4 2 18 3 9 8 £138 9 4 The foregoing account was audited and found correct by us, and we find that the amount of £75 is to the credit of the Society at the London and County Bank, Watford, in addi- tion to the above balance. Zrd February, 1877. JAMES U. HARFORD, j C. F. HOLLINGSWORTH, ' Auditors. Ivi PROCEEDINGS OF THE Ordinaet Meeting, 8th Maech, 1877. Alfred T. Brett, Esq., M.D., President, in the Chair. Mr. G. P. Bernard, Marlowes, Hcmcl Ilompstoad ; Mr. Henry Haynes, Langley lload, Watford; Mr. Henry ^larnham. Beech Lodge, Watford ; Miss S. Pugh, High Street, Watford ; and Mr. H. l)cmain-Saunders, Brickendon Grange, Hertford, were elected Members, of the Society. Letters were read from Mr. Charles Darwin, F.R.S., and the Rev. George Henslow, thanking the Society for their election as Honorary Members. The following lecture was delivered : — *' The Fertilisation of Plants." By the Rev. George Henslow, M.A., F.L.S., F.G.S. {Vide p. 201). A discussion ensued, in which Mr. E. M. Chater, Mr. Arthur Cottam, and the President, took part. Specimens of plants, with drawings of their organs of fructifi- cation, and diagrams, were exhibited by Mr. Henslow in illustration of his lecture. Okdinaet Meeting, 12th Apeix, 1877. Alfred T. Brett, Esq., M.D., President, in the Chair. Mr. J. E. Cussans, 179, Junction Road, Upper Holloway, London, was elected a Member of the Society. The following communications were read : — 1. "Instructions for taking Meteorological Observations." By William Marriott, F.M.S., Assistant Secretary of the Meteoro- logical Society. Communicated by the Honorary Secretary ( Vide p. 211). 2. "Meteorological Observations taken at Holly Bank, 'V\ atford, during the year ending 28th February, 1877." By John Hopkin- son, F.L.S., F.M.S., etc., Hon. Sec. ( Vide p. 217). 3. " Report on the Rainfall in Hertfordshire in 1876." By the Honorary Secretary. 4. " Notes on a Remarkable Storm in Hertfordshire on the 4th April, 1877." By Lieut. Richard B. Croft, R.N., F.L.S., etc. Meteorological Instruments were exhibited, in illustration of these papers, by tlie President, the Secretary, and Mr. Marriott. Mr. J. J. Hicks, of Hatton Garden, London, also exhibited some new meteorological instruments, amongst which was a solar-radi- ation thei'mometer mounted with a radiometer to test the vacuum in its outer jacket, — an invention of considerable interest, being the first application of the radiometer to a practical purpose. WATFOKD NATTJKAL HISTORY SOCIETY. Ivii Field Meeting, 5th May, 1877. Stanmore Common. This meeting having been arranged to enable members to collect microscopic objects for exhibition at the succeeding evening meet- ing (10th May), there is but little to record. The place of meeting was at the corner of the Common, at the junction of the road from "Watford to Stanmore with that to Harrow. Some members arrived here from London, walking from Harrow station by Harrow Weald and Bentley Priory, and others came direct from Watford and from the more immediate neighbourhood. The meeting was under the direction of Mr. Arthur Cottam, and under his guidance the various pools on the Common were searched with more or less success, the most beautiful object found (when viewed under the microscope) being the Rotifer, ConocMlus volvox. After spending some time in collecting microscopic and other plants and animals — for several botanists and entomologists were among the party — the members left the Common, the majority walking to Watford, not however without a rest on the way, for at his residence on Bushey Heath Mr. William Verini most kindly provided tea. Although the weather was cold for the time of the year, the air was dry and the road dusty, making the rest and refreshment especially acceptable. Oedinaey Meeting, 10th May, 1877. Alfred T. Brett, Esq., M.D., President, in the Chair. Miss Lucy A. Gaubert, Chalk Hill, Bushey, and Mr. W. R. Woolrych, Croxley Green, Rickmansworth, were elected Members of the Society. The following papers were read : — 1. " On Microscopic Fungi." By E. M. Chater ( Vide p. 231). The President said that microscopic fungi were most important agents in the great laboratory of nature. They were the innocent cause of more misery and crime, and of more disease of body and of mind in the human race than any other agent ; for fermentation, and therefore the production of alcohol, was their entire work. Fermentation had been well called by Pasteur " life without air." The Torula, if deprived of air, would live by extracting oxygen from sugar in solution, and it thus caused a set of changes one result of which was the produc- tion of wine or alcohol ; and the PeniciUium, if allowed to grow on the surface of a fluid where it could obtain oxygen from the air, would grow rapidly and not produce alcohol, but forcibly submerge the little plant — push it down deep into the liquid where the quantity of free oxygen was insufficient for its needs— it immediately began to act as a ferment, supplying itself with oxygen by the decomposition of the sugar, and producing alcohol as one of the products of de- composition. Other microscopic plants also acted in a similar manner. 2. " Notes on some Hertfordshire Plants." By R. A. Pry or B.A., F.L.S.* * The publication of this paper is unavoidably postponed. VOL. I. — PT. IX. H Iviii PBOCEEDINGS OF THE In illustration of these papers microscopic fungi were exhibited by Mr. Chater and other members under their microscopes, and Hertfordshire plants by Mr. Pryor. Various living objects, collected at the Field Meeting on Stan- more Common, were also exhibited by the members under their microscopes, and Mr. Arthur Cottam described the sti'ucture of Conochilus volvox, of which he and the Honorary Secretary ex- hibited specimens under different powers and different methods of illumination in order to illustrate it in various aspects. Field Meeting, 26th May, 1877. Pinner. Leaving Pinner Station at about three p.m. on the amval of trains from Watford and Euston, the members proceeded first to the lime-kiln and sand-pit between Wood Hall and Pinner Green, known as "The Dingles," where the northern margin of the "Pinner Inlier " of the Woolwich and Eeading Beds is exposed, and a shaft is sunk through them to the Chalk. Here the director of the meeting, Mr. J. Logan Lobley, F.G.S., gave an account of the geology of the neighbourhood, more es- pecially explanatory of this inlier. Outliers, he said, are portions of a formation detached from the main mass and surrounded by lower beds, of which we have an example in the ' ' Harrow Outlier " of the Bagshot Sands. Inliers, on the other hand, are exposures of underlying beds laid bare by the removal of higher ones by which they are surrounded. This Pinner inlier is in the London Clay area, the boundaiy of which is about three miles to the north, and the Woolwich and Reading Series here seen — surrounded on all sides by the London Clay — has been brought up by an upheaval, and the same upheaval to which we are indebted for the hill on which stands Windsor Castle, which is an inlier of the Chalk surrounded by Tertiary beds, and is in a line with the inliers at Ruislip Ilcservoir, Northaw, and here. Tlie London Clay is a few feet to the north of us, so that we are just on the northern margin of the inlier, which includes the village of Pinner and runs west to Ercot. The outlier of the Bagshot Sands at Harrow, he concluded, is the most northern patch of these sands in existence, not only in England, but in the world. After examining the section of the Heading Beds, and noticing the shaft which is sunk forty feet through them to the Chalk, here got at to burn for lime, the members left the pit, and a little to the north, a dyke, known as Oryme's Dyke, was pointed out by Mr. William A. Tooke, who then conducted the party to his residence, Pinner Hill, where tea was kindly provided, after which most of the party ascended a clock tower wliicli he lias recently built. From the summit of tlie tower, which is fifty-five feet high, a good view of the surrounding country was obtained, and Mr. "WATFOED NATURAL HISTOEY SOCIETY. lix Lobley pointed out how different formations are characterised by the physical features and vegetation of the country, — the Chalk usually forming rounded hills without trees, and frequently sheep Avalks called "Downs"; the London Clay, broad valleys and gently rising hills with oaks and elms as its principal trees ; and the Bagshot Sands, broad heaths and barren plains. A very fine lime tree, about 100 feet high, was seen from this tower, and it was noticed that while beeches were growing on the gravels capping the hill, most of the trees around — situated on the underlying London Clay — were oaks and elms. On leaving Mr. Tooke's grounds, a gravel-pit, on the opposite side of the road from Pinner to Watford, was visited, and the gravel was seen to be of glacial age. Some of the pebbles, but not all, were rounded, and they were mostly of flint, but some were quartzite and pebbles from the older rocks. Mr. Lobley stated that there was none of this glacial gravel south of the Thames ; the gravels in the Thames Valley being river-gravels — newer than these — and that between the age of the gravels here and those on Harrow Hill the Alps, Pyrenees, and Himalayas were formed. Here the party took leave of Mr. and Mrs. Tooke, and soon entered the Oxhey Woods, and in walking through the woods, in several places pools of water were seen, some of considerable size, showing that, retaining the water, there was clay under the bed of pebble-gravel on which these woods are situated. The woods were gay with wild flowers, but there was little time to devote to botany, and it was late in the day when Bushey Station, where the party separated, was reached. Okbinary Meeting, 14th June, 1877. Alfeed T. Brett, Esq., M.D., President, in the Chair. Mrs. George Brightwen, The Grove, Great Stanmore, was elected a Member of the Society. The following communications were read : — 1. A Letter from Mr. Robert Clutterbuck, F.G.S., to the Presi- dent, on the Coprolite Beds at Hinxworth, !N"orth Herts ( Vide p. 238). Mr. J. E. Littleboy said that he supposed every one knew there were extensive coprolite beds near Chittenden. The quantity of coprolites got from them was very considerable indeed, and the value was something like £60 per acre. A little further on, in the hamlet of Standbridge, between Leighton and Dunstable, there was a tract of land belonging to his brother, and he let it out for working at £30 per acre. The value of the coprolite beds entirely depended on the depth at which the coprolites were found. At Chittenden they were six or seven feet deep, and at Standbridge rather deeper, and therefore the beds were not so valuable. He should be very much interested to hear a few hypotheses as to their origin. The President said that he must refer the matter to the Secretary. IX PEOCEEDINGS OF THE Mr. Hopkinson said that this was a diflBcult question to give an opinion upon. Geologists were not agreed as to the origin of these beds of phosphate of lime — whether their nodules were partially or entirely coprolitic, or were merely con- cretions formed round decaying sponges and other decomposing animal matter. 2. Notes on the Size and Growth of Trees at Watford. By the President. The following trees were mentioned by Dr. Brett: — 1. The Grimston or Oxhey Oak, supposed to have been planted about the year 1750, on the 28th November, 1876, measured 20 feet in circumference at the base, loft. 4 ins. at 3 feet from the ground, and 12 ft. 10 ins. at 6 feet from the ground. 2. An (Jak at Wiggenhall from an acorn of the Panshanger Oak sown in 1826, on the 2«th November, 1876, measured 7 ft. 11 ins. in circumference at the base, 5 ft. o ins. at 3 feet from the ground, and 5 ft. 2 ins. at 6 feet from the ground. 3. " The Royal Oak," planted at Wiggenhall on the 9th November, 1841, 3 inches high when planted, had attained the height of 33 feet on the 9th November, 1876, and measured 4 ft. 9 ins. in circumference at the base, 3 ft. 6 ins. at 3 feet from the ground, and 3 ft. 4 ins. at 6 feet from the ground. 4. A IFtllingtonia gigantea at the Stanboroughs, planted by Mr. Cottrell on the 9th February, 1859, then under 2 feet high, grew 4 inches in 1859, 12 in 1860, 16 in 1861, and 27 in 1862, and on the 27th March, 1877, had attained the height of 32 ft. 6 ins. 5. A WelHvgtonia gigantea, planted at Cliff Villa by Mr. Savill on the day the Prince of Wales was married — 10th March, 1863 — then 3 feet high, on the 8th December, 1876, was 32 ft. 6 ins. in height, and 4 ft. 10 ins. in circumference at the base, 3 ft. 3 ins. at 3 feet from the ground, and 2 ft. 4 ins. at 6 feet from the ground. 3. A Letter from the Rev. R. H. Webb, M.A., to the Secretary', on the Fertilisation of Aucuba Japonica ( Vide p. 239). 4. Note on the Appearance of the Clouded Yellow Butterfly {Colias Edusa). By Arthur Cottam, F.R.A.S. ( Vide p. 239). The Secretary said that he had heard of another of these butterflies having been seen. The Rev. C. M. Perkins, whom he met at St. Albaus lust Sunday, told him that he had seen one that afternoon. 5. Notes on the Owl. By the President {Vide p. 240). 6. Notes on the Otter and Badger in Hertfordshire. By the President ( Vide p. 236). The Secretary read, from the ' Zoologist ' — the number for the current month — a note, by Mr. George Rooper, F.Z.S., on a cuckoo laying in a swallow's nest, and remarked that although it was mentioned there as being the first known occurrence of the kind, this Society had previously published in its ' Transactions ' a note by Dr. Brett, read last year at the June meeting, in which he recorded the hatching of a cuckoo in a swallow's nest at Wiggenhall in 1874. Numerous interesting objects, illustrative of the Natural History of the neighbourhood, were exhibited, including the following: — An old worn-out watering-pot with the nest of a robin built in it, in which four young ones were hatched ; the nest of a chaffinch ; the nest of a gold-crested wren which was found suspended from the bough of a cedar tree ; the nest of a wren which was built in an elder; the nest of a long-tailed tit injured by the brown owl ; a gold-crested wren (called here the "bee bird"); a wliite owl; and a long-eared owl, exhibited by Mr. Jonathan King. Two green woodpeckers — called in Hertfordshire " whetiles " WATFOED KATITEAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Ixi from the nature of their cry — shot at Edge Grove, Aldenham, 30 years ago ; a black woodpecker ; a black tern shot at Elstree Keservoir ; a waxwing, shot in Mrs. Bailey Smith's garden, "Wat- ford Fields ; the large snowy owl ; an otter killed at Munden; and a badger killed at the Grove, lent by their owners to Dr. Brett for exhibition. Field Meetij^g, 16th June, 1877. HiTCHIN. Having received a kind and pressing invitation from Mr. "William Eansom, of Hitchin, to visit that locality, about 30 of the members of the Society and their friends assembled at the Hitchin railway station on the arrival of the 11 "46 a.m. train from Hatfield. They were met on their arrival by Mr. "William and Mr. Alfred Ransom, and at once proceeded to the chalk-pits, near the station, from which the chalk is derived to supply the lime works be- longing to the latter gentleman. These extensive excavations are in the upper part of the Lower Chalk, of which they have yielded numerous characteristic fossils. At the top of the section the junction of the Chalk at different places with the beds above afforded material for considerable dis- cussion ; and the nature and origin of a large " pipe " of sand and gravel — which measures about six feet in diameter, and which penetrates the Chalk perpendicularly in the form of a well, being readily observable for a distance of about 60 feet from the top of the pit — was lucidly explained by Dr. John Evans, F.E..S The beds of clay and gravel which were seen to overlie the Chalk were next alluded to by Dr. Evans, who considered them to have been foi-med during the Glacial period, and to be most probably due to marine conditions, a large block of chalk in a bed of boulder-clay at the highest part of the pit having, for instance, with little doubt, been brought there and deposited on the spot by an iceberg. The party then wended its way, single file, up some rather steep steps cut out in the Chalk, to the summit of the pit, and thence adjourned to Fairfield, the residence of Mr. "William Ransom. Here a number of flint implements, recently discovered in a bed of clay or "brick-earth" a few miles from Hitchin, at once attracted the attention of Dr. Evans, who determined them to be celts of the Paleolithic Age occurring under conditions which seemed to afford conclusive proof of an almost incon- ceivable antiquity. They were, he said, the earliest traces of the handiwork of intelligent beings which this country had so far afforded. From the top of the bed in which these were found a flint implement of the jS'eolithic Period was shown, together with some Roman urns, coins, and culinary utensils, which were carefully examined by the party. A few minutes were pleasantly spent in this manner, and the company was then summoned to the PEOCEEDINGS OF THE dining-room, where a sumptuous cold luncheon was most hospitably provided. The table was elegantly decorated with wild flowers, amongst which the bee, the ^y, the bird's-nest, and the butterfly orcliis, the white helloborine, and a beautiful little vetch {Lathyrus Nissolia), were specially noticeable. At the conclusion of the repast a few words of hearty thanks were expressed, on behalf of the Society, by the President, Dr. Brett, and were acknowledged in a most cordial manner by the host. Eight carriages were then placed at the disposal of the company, and a drive was taken in the direction of Lilley Hoo, a distance of about five miles. In the course of the drive some remarkable box trees in the Hermitage Road, believed to be of a very great age, attracted general attention; and the " Icknield Way," an old Roman road, was observed with much interest. In the neighbour- hood of Lilley Hoo the geological structure of the district is readily seen, and the Chalk here presents a splendid escai-pment, extending several miles across the country. At the foot of this escarpment the Chalk Maid was seen to present an almost level plain, and just beyond it coprolite works indicated the position of the outcrop of the underlying Chloritic Marl, beyond which again dense woods showed the line of the Gault Clay, while in the extreme distance the lowest formation here seen — the Lower Greensand, or !Xeo- comian — bounded the horizon, its comparative hardness, by better withstanding denudation, causing it to rise above the level of the Gault and to shut out from view more distant formations. At Pegsden Barns a "combe" or "dyke" in the Chalk again afforded Dr. Evans the text for a very interesting address ; and a small torrent afterwards visited, which issues from the base of a picturesque ravine in the grounds of Captain Young, and rejoices in the soubriquet of "Roaring Meg," illustrated in a striking manner the correctness of his views regarding the formation of the adjacent dyke. Some banks profusely abounding with choice orchids, amongst which Orchis iistulata, Orchis pyramidal is, Gymnadenia conopsea, and Ophrys apifera, were conspicuous, were next visited. Two "barrows " or " tumuli," of Saxon or Roman origin, were noticed at a short distance from the road, but time forbade the possibility of a nearer inspection. After driving through sundry meadows and skirting a wood which from its carpet of flowers and delightful shade tempted a closer acquaintance, the party alighted at High Down, the residence of Mr. Joseph Pollard, a member of the Society. Mr. Pollard was unavoidably away from home, but the members and their friends were welcomed by Mrs. Pollard in a most kind and hospitable manner. The house, an excellent specinu'u of archi- tecture of the reign of James the First, was carefully inspected by those interested in the architecture of that period, and after partaking of tea, a most agreeable surprise after the exertion and heat of the day, the members again resorted to their several con- veyances, and arrived at the Hitchin railway station in time for the 5-30 p.m. train to London and Watford. WATFOED NATTJEAL HISTOET SOCIETY. Ixiii Thus ended a very charming day, — the beauty of the scenery, the interesting and instructive geological illustrations, the lovely wild-flowers, and, in an especial manner, the profuse hospitality of the host and hostess of the day, will long be remembered by all who constituted the party. The arrangements were under the direction of Mr. John E. Littleboy, through whom Mr. Ransom's invitation had been re- ceived.* Field Meeting, 30th June, 1877. Cassiobury Park. The members, amongst whom was a large proportion of ladies, assembled at about half-past three at the private entrance to Cassiobury Park, nearly opposite Nascot House. They were here joined by a few members of the Quekett Microscopical Club, and, availing themselves of the kind permission of the Earl of Essex, at once proceeded, along the charming wood-walks that lead by the outskirts of the park, to the house and gardens. A group of magnificent silver firs soon arrested special attention. They are noble trees of unusual gii'th and height, and are fortu- nately sufiiciently isolated to allow of their full proportions being observed. The gardens were next visited, and under the guidance of Dr. Brett the fine conifers and other rare or remarkable trees were successively examined. Dr. Brett stated, on the authority of Lord Essex, that the splendid cedar, which is so conspicuous on approaching the house, was planted in 1683, by Arthur, Earl of Essex, and was one of the earliest cedars introduced into England. It now measures at its base 22 feet in circumference. The ash- leav>^d beech (a very rare variety), the Abies Bouglassi, planted in 1842, the Taxodium sempervirens, planted in 1854, and several other ornamental trees, of which particulars of the date of planting and rate of growth, etc., were contributed by Lord Essex, were also observed with much interest. The party then visited Cassiobury House, and were conducted through the splendid suite of reception rooms that constitute the greater portion of the ground floor. The numerous family por- traits, some of them painted by Vandyke, and several possessing considerable historical interest, were carefully noticed ; three land- scapes by Turner attracted a large share of attention; and the curious in old china found a rich treat a-waiting them. It was stated by Dr. Brett fhat Lord Essex had most kindly proposed personally to conduct the party over the house and grounds, but, greatly to the regret of all present, an attack of indisposition rendered such a course impossible. The picturesque old mill on the Gade near Cassiobury Lock was the next halting-place, and here, through the kindness of Dr. * For a considerable portion of this and the following report I am indebted to Mr. Littleboy. — Ed. Ixiv PROCEEDINGS. Brett, a welcome refresliment, in the form of delicious ices, awaited the party. Had it been possible to carry out the pro- gramme proposed, the fine avenue of limes in the second park, which was stated to have been planted in 1683, by Le IS^otre, gardener to Louis the Fourteenth, House Earn Lane, and Rick- mansworth Common Moor, would now have been visited ; but unfortunately a heavy shower forbade the attempt, and as soon as the rain permitted, an adjournment to the Swiss Cottage was pro- posed. The clouds quickly vanished, sunshine again prevailed, and this lovely retreat was well seen in all the perfection of its quiet and secluded beauty. The picturesque chalet, the woodland walks, the clear water of the Gade, and * ' now and then a lusty trout" as it darted rapidly by the observer, were all objects of special interest. By and by, thanks again to the President, the tables on the lawn were plentifully spread with a most acceptable and refreshing tea, at the conclusion of which a vote of thanks to Lord Essex was moved in highly appreciative terms, by the Rev. Canon Gee, and was warmly responded to. A vote of thanks to Dr. Brett, for his kind attention and hospitality, was then moved by Mr. Littleboy and carried by acclamation. At about half-past six the party separated, a few of the mem- bers exploring the botany of Rouse Barn Lane, others fishing for microscopic objects in the water-cress beds that nearly adjoin the grounds of the Cottage, and some of the more zealous microscopists and botanists proceeding to Rickmansworth Common Moor. The party numbered at least 80, of whom about 10 or 12 were members of the Quekett Microscopical Club. TEAN"SACTIO:^S OF THE WATFOED NATUEAL HISTOEY SOCIETY. VOL. I. 1. — The Ceetaceous Eocks of Engianb. By J. Logan Lobley, F.G.S., F.R.G.S. [A Lecture delivered lltli March, 1875.] Geology is one of the sciences for the promotion of the study of which this Society has been founded ; and the investigation of the geological features of Hertfordshire will doubtless engage a large share of your attention. As a preparation for the due observation of the geological phenomena of the district, I have been requested to bring before your notice the outlines of what is known respect- ing that most interesting group of rocks of which the Chalk, so familiar to the iohabitants of this neighbourhood, is the principal member. Not more than half a century since, the rocks of the earth were thought to be without order or arrangement; but about this time, William Smith, the uncle of a most worthy successor, who died only last year. Professor Phillips, published to the world the great discovery that a certain order of superposition prevailed, and that strata might be identified by the organic remains which they contained. From that time to the present geologists have assiduously explored the rocks in this and other countries, and have carefully studied the fossils which their researches have brought to light. These investigations have revealed the order and method of the formation of the rocks composing the crust of the globe. The most important results of the researches of geologists in our own country are shown by the diagrams and maps now exhibited. Though the geological scale or table of the sedimentary rocks represents a very definite order of arrangement, it must not be supposed that all the steps of the ladder, so to speak, are to be found in all places. Denudation, or the action of the atmosphere, rain, rivers, and ice, through long periods of time, has so worn and removed the uppermost portions of the rocks, and so many movements consequent upon subterranean forces have occurred, that any one of the rocks named in the scale may be found at the surface. Nay more, so many and so great changes VOL. I. FT. I. I ^ J. L. LOBLEY — CRETACEOUS ROCKS OF ENGLAND. have taken place, that a rock maybe wanting though those usualh' found next below and above it are present. The geological scale, however, tells us without doubt the order of superposition of those rocks which we may find at any place. Thus we may certainly predicate the absence at any locality of the rocks which the scale indicates to be above those there exposed. The whole of the sedimentary rocks, or those formed by the consolidation of sediment at the bottom of water, are di^-ided, in accordance with their relative age, into three great groups, com- monly called Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary, or, as they are now more philosophically named, Palaeozoic, Mesozoic, and Cainozoic ; but in this lecture scientific words will be used sparingly. The Cretaceous rocks are the uppermost and the newest of the second of the three great divisions (see Fig. 1), and hence it will be at once seen that enormous thicknesses of rocks had been deposited, and vast periods of time had elapsed, before the Chalk was formed : and when it is remembered that the Chalk itself has been found to have a maximum thickness of 1000 feet, and to consist of material extracted by microscopic animals from clear sea-water, the vastness of the period during which the rocks have been in coui'se of formation must be forcibly impressed upon the mind. As will be seen from the accompanying map (Fig. 2), the Creta- ceous rocks of England extend in a roughly fan-shaped or diverging manner from the coast of Dorsetshire to the north-east of the county of Norfolk, with a further extension forming the "Wolds of Yorkshire and terminating at Flamborough Head. "West of "Weymouth there are merely a few detached outlying beds of Cretaceous age, the remnants of deposits the greater portion of which have been removed by Nature's destroying forces. The Chalk forms by far the most conspicuous member of the Cretaceous groiip as exhibited in England, and the geogi-aphical extension of the Chalk coincides generally with the extension of the Cretaceous rocks considered as a whole, the other members of the system fringing or lying within those gr(>at lines, and for the most part roll-like extensions of Chulk called Downs and "Wolds, which form so marked a feature of the physiography of the southern and eastern parts of our island. Three great ribs, as it were, of Chalk can be clearly traced. One, the southernmost, extending along the coast, forms the coast hills of Dorsetshire, the ridge of high land running through the Isle of "Wight from the " Needles " to Culver Clifi', and further still to the east, the well-known South Downs terminating in Beechy Head. The second branches from the one just described in Hampshire, and though also running east, extends along the northera side of tlie "Weald of Surrey, Sussex, and Kent, and so forms the North Do\vns, which, like the South Downs, terminate only when the sea is reached. The cliflPs from Margate to Kamsgate, and those liold headlands, Dover Cliffs, are the extremities of tlie second rib. The third great line of Chalk gives to England Salisbury Plain, the J. L. LOBLEY— CRETACEOUS ROCKS OF ENGLAND. 3 ■piG. 1. Sectmi showing the approximate relative thickness of the British Sedimentary Racks. Tertiary or Cainozoic Secondary or Mesozoic Primary or Palaeozoic . J Upper Tertiaries. Eocene. Cretaceous. Carboniferous. I ii.'vonian. Cambrian. 4 J. L. LOBLET — CRETACEOUS ROCKS OF ENGLAND. Marlborough Downs, and the Chiltcm Hills, and then extends to the north-east through this county, Cambridgeshire, Sulfolk, and Norfolk, to the North Sea. The Norfolk Chalk, however, gives off, as it were, a branch, which, after running through Lincolnshire, widens into the Wolds of the eastern part of Yorkshire, then contracts, until, at Flamborough Head, it terminates in a point. Thus it will be seen that the Cretaceous rocks of England lie almost wholly on the south-east side of a line drawn from Portland Bill to Scarborough Castle Rock. Though the extension of the Cretaceous rocks is thus limited in England, it must not be supposed that deposits of Cretaceous age are nowhere else to be found. In North America they occur in New Jersey, as stated by Sir Charles Lyell ; and in South America, Charles Darwin considers that they are to be met with in various parts of a region extending from Columbia north of the Equator as far south as Terra del Fuego, and in the Andes, at very considerable elevations, while beds of Cretaceous age are found so far to the East as Pondicherry in India. Deposits of the same epoch were not, however, necessarily of the same sea or ocean ; for at every period of the earth's history there were doubtless large and small seas, as at present, and during each geological epoch a dis- tribution of land and sea prevailed, which was peculiar to that period, and markedly different from that of the preceding or succeeding epoch. The physical geography of the earth varied as the ages rolled on, and became what we now find it only after a succession of changes co-extensive with the age of the earth itself. The Cretaceous rocks, as a system, have been divided into several minor groups of strata commonly called "formations," and named chiefly from their lithological or physical characters. Thus we have the Wealden, the Lower Greensand, the Gault, the Upper Greensand, and the Chalk. The lowest of these great divisions, the "Wealden, is a formation of peculiar interest, constituting as it does a distinct portion of our island, and suggesting to the geologist a distribution of land and sea strikingly different from that which now obtains. Though of great thickness, variously estimated at 1300, IGOO, and 2000 feet, the Wealden group of rocks is of freshwater and estuarine origin, being, in fact, au old delta of a great river which must have flowed over a portion of the earth's surface now covered by the sea. In England it forms the country lying between the North and South Downs, but it is not confined to Avhat is called the AVealden area. The most westerly locality where Wealden beds are seen is Brook Point, in the Isle of Wight ; the most northerly, Shotover Hill, near Oxford ; while on the Continent it is found constituting the country near Boulogne ; and as far south as Vassy, deposits assigned to the Wealden occur. So great a delta as must have existed to leave these wide-spreading remains would bo the ac- cumulated detritus brought down by a great river, and many are therefore led to the conclusion that a continent existed where is now the Atlantic Ocean, and that from this ancient laud came J. L. LOBLEY — CRBTACEODS ROCKS OF ENGLAND. 5 Fig. 2. — Map showing the extension of the Cretaceous Rocks in England. The distribution of the Cretaceous Eocks is shown by the shaded portion of the Map, the darker shading (the lines uncrossed) indicating the Wealdeu. 6 J. L. LOBLEY CRETACEOUS BOOKS OF ENGLAND. the flood of waters which deposited at its mouth the "Wealden formation. It has been, however, suggested that several rivers of moderate or even of small size may have given origin to the "Wealden deposits, even as off the coast of the island of Xew Guinea a mass of sediment is now being formed by rivers, by no means great, flowing fi-om Papua, which, though a large island, can make no pretensions to continental dimensions. Remarkable in origin, the Wealden is remarkable also as a feature of the England of to-day, since it forms the great valley, elevated in the centre, bounded north and south and east by the Xorth and South Downs, and opening out to the sea between Beechy Head and Dover Cliffs. This great vale, of old covered with wood, as its name indicates, is the tract of country known as the Weald, and proverbial for picturesque beauty and exuberant fertility. The dip of the Chalk forming the ranges of hills north and south is so uniformly north and south respectively, and the underlying beds crop out so regularly, that geologists can come to no other con- clusion than that the entire area has been covered by Chalk of great thickness, by Upper Greensand, by Gault, and by Lower Greensand, also of great thickness, all of which groups of strata have been swept away during successive ages by rain and rivers, or by the sea, and that the North and South Downs are but the remnants of what was once a vast sheet of Chalk continuous from the one range to the other. The dome-like centre of this " valley of elevation " plainly speaks of a great uprise, producing fractures of sufficient magnitude to greatly facilitate the subsequent denudation of the surface rocks. The Wealden formation also possesses consid(;rable interest from the character of the organic remains found entombed in its beds. The great reptiles [Iguanodon), forty or fifty feet in length, the bones of which have been disinterred, doubtless lived on the banks of the Wealden river or rivers, and gave after death their skeletons to the stream, by the side of which they had probably tranquilly died. At Brook Point, in the Isle of Wight, a mass of fossil timber, once a raft of inland trees brought down to the Wealden estuary and there stranded or sunk, strikingly illustrates the conditions prevailing during the Wealden epoch. Lying upon the Wealden beds we find a great thickness of sands containing a large amount of iron, with local beds of limestones and clays, to which the name of Lower Greknsand was given, but now frequently called the Neocomian. The name Greensand is so far a misnomer that the bods of sand usually present to the eye a reddish-brown colour. Sometimes, however, the green grains, from the occurrence of which the beds obtained the name of Greensand, are plainly observable. These green grains have been found from microscopical examination to be the casts of minute creatures, of which more will be said when the origin of the Chalk is spoken of. Though green, these grains contain a large amount of iron, but in the form of silicate, while the reddish-brown sands owe their colour to the oxide of the metal. The Lower Greensand, though imme- diately succcetling the Wealden, has had a markedly diff'erent origin. J. L. LOBLEY — CRETACEOUS ROCKS OF ENGLAND. i It is a marine deposit, the fossils shells abundantly found in it being the remains of genera Kving only in salt water, as, for instance, the Trigonia and the Terebratula, both of which now flourish in Australian seas. It will be seen from this illustration how im- portant for the right reading of the history of the formation of the earth revealed by the rocks is a knowledge of their fossils, which can tell us whether the water in which a rock was deposited was fi-esh, or salt, or brackish, or, in other words, whether the deposition took place at the bottom of a lake, a sea, or an estuary. The Lower Greensand is especially well seen in the Isle of Wight, the sea-cliffs east and west of Shanklin presenting a fine section, while the cliffs west of Black Gang Chine exhibit the many beds into which the whole series has been divided, each characterized by peculiar species of fossils. The third great division of the Cretaceous rocks in ascending order is the Gatjlt, an important bed of stiff blue clay that may be studied to advantage at Folkestone, and is also well seen near Cambridge. The thickness of the Gault is perhaps 200 feet, some beds, especially near Folkestone, containing abundant and generally beautifully preserved fossils. Amongst these the Jmmonites are conspicuous. Ordinary univalve shells, or Gasteropoda, are numerous and varied, and the remains of what may be said to be the progenitors of our crabs and lobsters are frequently met with. To the beds of sands succeeding the Gault the name of the Upper Greensand has been given. These sands are generally characterized by the green grains previously mentioned, and seldom display those rich brown colours usually exhibited by the Lower Greensand. These Upper beds are of much less importance than the Lower, being by some considered to be a mere basement bed of the Chalk, and vary greatly in thickness, diminishing northwards from about 140 feet in Wiltshire to not more than two feet near Cambridge, where they form the famous " Coprolite " beds that yield so abundantly those remarkable phosphatic nodules, the high agricultural value of which was discovered by the late Professor Henslow. In addition to the phosphatic bodies, these thin beds contain many fossils, including the remains of most extraordinary creatures which were neither birds nor reptiles, but possessing characters common to both, being in fact flying lizards, and of no inconsiderable size, some having had an expanse of wing of 20 feet. We now approach the most conspicuous, the most important, and in every respect the most remarkable member of the Cretaceous group of rocks, the Chalk, a rock specially interesting to the members of this Society, since the Chalk forms nearly the whole of Hertfordshire, and is the formation underlying the towTi of Watford. This soft white rock, so welcome to the eye of the returning traveller when he sees it forming the sentinel-like "Needles," or the towering bulwarks of the Cliffs of Dover, is as remarkable in its origin as in its aspect, and tells a tale to those who can read the records of the rocks aright of marvellous interest and value. Probably no geological formation so conspicuously affects the a J. L. LOBLEY — CRETACEOUS BOCKS OF ENGLAND. scenery, the agriculture, and the general character of a district as the Chalk, forming as it does those softly-rounded Downs, treeless for the most part, and covered with a springy velvety turf, which give to England her great sheep-grounds of the southern counties. ISo formation affords so striking an example of the importance of the study of the geological structure of a district as a preparation for the proper consideration of its Natural History. An illustration of this is at hand. In the beautiful park of Cassiohury, adjoining "Watford, beeches famed for their beauty abound ; while these trees are not found to flourish nearer London. Geology supplies the reason, for it tells us that though at Cassiohury we have the Chalk, with a thin covering of superficial deposits, the London Clay under- lies the country to the south, and supports elms and oaks rather than beeches, which grow most luxuriantly over the Chalk. Many other facts might be stated to show that T^aturaHsts generally, whether Botanists, Entomologists, or Meteorologists, will be mate- rially assisted in their studies by making themselves acquainted wdth the geological structure of the district which is to become the field of their investigations. The origin of the Chalk must now engage our attention. The aqueous or sedimentary rocks have all been formed by the accu- mulation of sediment deposited at the bottom of water. But the deposition of the sediment which has produced these rocks has been of a threefold character. Sediment may accumulate at the bottom of water from (1) simple mechanical action, or the sinking of particles of solid matter previously held in suspension by the water ; from (2) chemical action, or the precipitation of solid matter pre- viously held in solution by the water; or (3) from organic action, or the formation of solid matter in the form of shell, bone, wood, etc., by animals or plants. The Chalk has been produced by the third of these processes, and is therefore, as geologists say, an organically formed rock. One of the lowest Classes of the Animal Kingdom, called the Foraminifera or hole-beaiing animals, comprises creatures so small that to see them the aid of the microscope is required. These minute animals, although themselves consisting merely of a jeUy- like substance called sarcode, have the power of extracting from the sea- water carbonate of Hme, and of secreting this in a solid form, and so encasing themselves with a thin shell. This shell is perforated by minute canals, through which fine threads of sarcode are protruded, to expand and form other little shells, and so continue growtli. Sometimes the compound animal takes the form of a spiral, whik' sometimes it is elongated, and various modifications of the spiral and of the linear forms constitute the several genera and species which have been described. Of these microscopic shells the Chalk consists. What an expanded view of time, and of the operations of Nature, must be given to any one wlio huinis for the first time that the great South Coast (!lifis, which im])rt'ss(>d our Koman invaders and gave the name Albion to our island ; thaf the great masses of white rock forming the Downs and Wolds of England, and com- J. L. LOBLEY — CRETACEOUS ROCKS OF ENGLAND. if posing whole counties, consist almost altogether of the shells of animals so minute that thousands would be required to form a cubic inch. Yet such is the fact, and not only so, but these humble workers are still at work, and have been working ever since the summit of the highest down in England was a portion of the bed of a deep sea. "We are indebted, however, for this knowledge to researches of but a few years ago. Science produces inventions, and gives to the useful arts most nourishing food. The arts again give rise to research and exploration, which yield to Science its only suitable food — facts. Science has given us the Electric Telegraph, and the Electric Telegraph has required for its due development the exploration of the bed of the ocean. The exploration of the bed of the Atlantic Ocean gave to Science the great fact that there is now forming a deposit precisely analogous to our English Chalk, — that, in short, at the bottom of the Atlantic is a mass of white mud Fig. 3. — Foramiuifera from the Fig. 4. — Foraraiuifera from the Chalk, magnified 50 diameters. Atlantic ooze, magnified 25 dia.* or ooze, of which 95 per cent, consists of shells of the same genus, nay, even of the same species of animal which formed the Chalk in the Cretaceous epoch. This mud or ooze is none other, therefore, than Chalk in process of formation, and we are, by the soundings for the Atlantic Telegraph Cable, shown the origin of our English, our Hertfordshire Chalk. The name of the prevailing species of the modem deposits is Glohigerina huUoides, which closely resembles the most common form in the Chalk, but many others occur, such as those shown in the diagrams on the walls.f The recent investigations of the Challenger expedition have revealed other facts of a deeply interesting character. The white calcareous ooze, composed of the shells of Foramiuifera, though covei-ing an immense area at the bottom of the Atlantic, does not extend the whole length of the Atlantic canal, which at its northern and southern extremities rests on a bed composed of siliceous matter, the accumulated cases of another Class, the Polycistina, * The Foraminifera in these figures are copied from illustrations in Professor Geikie's ' Primer of Geology.' t Some of the forms here alluded to are represented in Figs. 3 and 4. 10 J. L. LOBLEY — CRETACEOUS ROCKS OF ENGLAND. which inhabit northern and southern hititudes, leavinf? the inter- mediate ocean as the habitat of the calcareous covered Foraminifera. Those siliceous nodules, the flints, so abundant in the Clialk, re- mind us that in the ancient waters there was in like maimer a large amount of silica. It was formerly supposed that these marine animals lived and died at the bottom. There now appears good e\'idence for believing that they live near the surface, and that the ooze is formed by the raining down as it were of the shells of the dead animals from the upper stratum of the oceanic waters. This is a fact of great importance in connexion with another now to be mentioned. It has been ascertained that not merely is the calcareous white ooze confined to certain latitudes, but it is confined to certain depths also, and beyond those depths the white ooze is not to be found. Between Africa and South America there is a sub-marine valley of enormous depth, and at the bottom of tliis valley, instead of the white calcareous deposit, there is a red argillaceous mud. Now it has been found that about two per cent, of the material of the Avhite ooze is argillaceous or clayey matter, and it is hence in- ferred that this red mud is the argillaccHJUs portion of the Forami- niferal remains which have rained down over this portion of the Atlantic bed, but of which the calcareous portion has not reached these exceptionally great depths, possibly in consequence of some solvent agency in existence at certain depths. We thus learn that even argillaceous deposits, clays and slates, may be produced by organic agency, and the bold hypothesis of clay rocks generally, as well as calcareous and siliceous, the limestones and the sandstones, being of organic origin, has been enunciated by Professor Huxley. Judging of the past from what we know of the present, as is the wont of geologists, we conclude that a wide-spreading and deep sea has deposited the Chalk of England, and that its present ex- tension by no means marks out the area over which it once spread. The Wealden area has already been mentioned as ha\Tng been at one time covered by the Chalk, and over districts now occupied by sub-Cretaceous formations the great sheet of Chalk once extended, but, yielding to the various wasting, or, to speak more correctly, changing forces of Nature, it gradually diminished and ultimately disappeared, leaving uncovered the rocks on which it had before reposed. Lyell says, " Pure Chalk, of nearly uniform aspect and composition, is met with in a north-west and south-east direction, from the north of Ireland to the Crimea, a distance of about 1,140 geographical miles, and in an opposite direction it extends from the south of Sweden to the south of Bordeaux, a distance of about 840 geographical miles." That the great Chalk bed continues under districts where less ancient deposits occur, is abundantly proved by well-sinking, and thus we know that though we do not find th(^ Chalk at the surface between Watford and Loudon, it (extends southwards from Watford under tlie great bi'd of London Clay forming the Thames Valley, and risi-s again to the surface near Croydon, in Surrey (see Fig. 5). Watford is, therefore, on J. L. LOBLEY CRETACEOrS ROCKS OF ENGLAND. 11 O rt O t- W %% Tring. Watford. Hampstead. Eiver Thames. Crystal Palace. Croydon. North Downs. The Weald. 12 J. L. LOBLEY — CRETACEOUS BOCKS OF ENGLAND. the northern edge of the London Tertiary Basin, and the geology of this neighbourhood is consequently very interesting. Sections showing the Lower Eocene beds reposing on the Chalk are to be found near Eushey, where the Tertiary "Woolwich and Eeading Series, and the lowest or Basement Bed of the London Clay, may be seen lying on the Secondary Chalk ; and nearer "Watford, Glacial and Post- Glacial beds of gravels and sands are displayed, covering the Chalk "without any intermediate Lower Tortiarics. In these exposures, too, may be seen sections of curious lengthened sinkings in the Chalk, filled with sand, which have been called sand-pipes, telling us of the gradual subterranean erosion or dissolving away by cai'bonated water of the Chalk at those points where the water from above has had more ready access. From the sections of the Lower Tertiaries, organic remains, chiefly fish teeth, may be without difficulty obtained, and in the Chalk will be found the more common of the echinoderms which the IJpper Chalk everywhere contains. The great bed of the Chalk and "Upper Greensand underlying the London area forms a vast reservoir for the holding of water, since, lying as it does between the London Clay above and the Gault below, it holds the water which falls where the Chalk or Tpper Greensand forms the surface rock south and north of the Thames Valley. This great reservoir is tapped whenever a well is sunk in the London area to the lower bed of the Chalk. Such Avells are numerous, and give to London a considerable portion of its wator supply, since most of the great breweries and manufactories of London obtain their large supplies of water in this manner. These wells are artesian, since the water rises above the level of the rock which yields it, and even higher than the surface of the ground, con- sequent upon the outcrop of the Chalk at AVatford and Croydon being higher than the top of the wells. Tlie rainfall of tliis district, therefore, contributes in no inconsiderable degree to the water supply of the metropolis. To the south-west, north, and north-east the Chalk constitutes the whole of the country for a long distanc(> from Watford, and foi-ms nearly the whole of the County of Hertford, covered, how- ever, in many places by superficial gravels and sands of glacial and post-glacial age, which diversify the vegetation and contribute greatly to the richly wooded and beautiful aspect of this county. The Chalk has been so repeatedly spoken of as a whole, that it may be thought to be unvaried in character throughout. Tliis is not the case, however, several divisions having been described, three of which are conspicuously observable. Tlie Chalk is usually divided into the Chalk Marl, the Lower Clialk, and the Upper Chalk. The lowest division, the Chalk Marl, is a transition bed from the Upper Greensand to the Chalk, and contains those green glauconitic or chloritic grains which give the nanu> to the underlying beds. Sometimes these lower strata assume an indurated character, and vaiyiug lithologically yield the well-known Firestone of Godstoue, J. L. LOBLEY CRETACEOUS ROCKS OF ENGLAND. 13 in Surrey, and the Tottemhoe Stone of Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire. The Lower Chalk is generally described as the Chalk without flints, though these curious siliceous nodules do occasionally occur in the Lower Chalk, and are occasionally wanting in beds of the Upper Chalk. This division is less brilliantly white than the Upper Chalk, and contains fossils not found in the higher beds. Between the Lower Chalk and the Upper Chalk a hard bed is found at several localities, and has been called by Mr. Whitaker the Chalk Eock. The Upper Chalk or the Chalk with flints, is characterized by its softness, its brilliant whiteness, by its numerous bands of flints, and by its fossils, which are numerous and interesting. This is the Watford Chalk, though it is probable that the Chalk of Norfolk is a higher bed of the same division. The fossils of the Chalk confirm the teaching of the Foraminiferal character of the rock itself, and proclaim the formation to be purely marine. Sponges are numerous, many being inclosed in the flint nodules. Sea-urchins (Echinoderms) — Micraster, Ananchytes, Galerites, Marswpites, abound ; and bivalve shells — Terehratula, lilujnchonella, Spondylus, Pecten, Inoceramus, etc., are common. The discoidal chambered shells called Ammonites, allied to the recent Nautilus, sometimes attain very large dimensions, and are especially interesting since none have since lived in the seas of the earth so far as we know ; while vertebrate animals are represented by the fishes which are frequently found both in the Lower and in the Upper divisions. On the Continent of Europe, Cretaceous beds higher than the Chalk, and containing reptilian remains, are found; but these deposits, called the Maestricht beds, are wanting in England, and nothing but a band of green-coated flints, telling of beds dissolved away, separates the Chalk from the Tertiary beds above. The Cretaceous rocks of England, it will be seen, possess an interest to the student of ]S"ature of no mean order. Various in lithological character, possessing rich stores of organic remains which tell a wondrous story, contributing striking features to the landscape, affecting greatly the botany and zoology of extensive districts, and all easily accessible from this neighbourhood, they strongly invite your attention and study. The Field Meetings of this Society will give you opportunities of obtaining a personal acquaintance with the rocks and the phenomena they exhibit, and of prosecuting the study of geological science in the most agreeable and at the same time most advantageous manner. The knowledge of the Cretaceous rocks will induce the investigation of other groups of strata, older and newer, and you will, I trust, be led on step by step in the great field of geological investigation until you become possessed of a large amount of geological knowledge. 14 2. — Notes on the Flora of the Watfoed District . By Arthur Cottam, F.E.A.S. [Read 8th April, 1875.] The following list contains some of the plants which in two years' not very careful or continuous collecting I have come across in this District. Many others more common are, of course, omitted. I have added in parentheses a few that I believe are, or at least ought, to be found here, but which have escaped my notice. There are some few genera that require careful examination — Viola, for instance. V. hirta grows in the middle of Cassiobury Park ; V. canina, and one or two of its sub-species would, I believe, be found in our woods and lanes, but it is a matter of some difficulty to separate them. Our District docs not contain any of those parts of the County in which Chalk is at the surface, and therefore the exclusively chalk plants, of which many and some very rare ones are in- cluded in the Hertfordshire Flora, are not found here. The number preceding each plant is its number in the ' London Catalogue,' seventh edition, 1874. 6. Thalictrum flavum. — Bushey Mill. 11. Myomncs minimus. — Corn-fields, "Watford Heath; and be- hind the Oi-phan Asylum. 22. Ranunculus sceleratus. — Edge of Haydon Hill Pond, Bushey. 24. R. Flammula. — Bricket Wood; abundant. 27. R. auricomus. — Copse at the beginning of Rouse Bam Lane ; and many other places ; unusually fine. 34. R. arvensis. — Corn-fields ; occasionally. 36. Caltha palustris. — Very common in wet fields. 40. Helleborus viridifi. — Mr. Elcy's (private) wood, Oxhcy ; and in a copse between Watford and Lcavesden. 57. Chelidonium majiis. — Hedge banks ; abundant. 82. Diplotaxis muralis. — Railway banks. 92. Dentaria hdhifera. — Woods at Red Heath. 98. Arahis thaliava. — Arable fields and roadsides. 110. Nasturtium officinale. 112. N. palustre. — River banks. 128. Thlaspi ar reuse. — Fields and roadsides ; occasionally. 205. Stellar ia aqicatica. 206. S. nemorum. 207. S. media. 208. S. holostea. 210. S. graminea. 202. Maha moschata. — Roadsides; not uncommon. 271 . Limim angustifoUum. — One plant near Haydon Hill, Bushey. Geranium. — Of tlu; twelve species of this genus, we have six, and pro])ably a seventh. 277. G. pyrenaicum. — Common ; by the Workhouse ; in Hagden Lane ; and by the Railway Arch in Water Lane. A. COTTAM FLOKA OF THE WATFORD DISTKICT. 15 278. G. molle. — Abundant. 279. {O. pusiUum. — This species ought to be found here, and careful examination would probably be rewarded.) 281. G. dissecttim. 282. G. columhinum. — Gravel-pit by the Workhouse. 283. G. lucidiim. — Hagden Lane ; and in a lane between "Watford and Hamper Mill ; abundant in both stations. 284. G. Rohertianum. 295. Euonymus europmis. — Not uncommon in the hedges. 318. Melilotus officinalis. — Railway banks between Bushey and Pinner. 392. AlehemiUa arvensis. 393. A. vulgaris. — Xear Bushey Mill and Chandler's Cross. 520. Sedum Tehpliium. — Oxhey. 540. Saxifraga tridaetylites. — Tops of old walls ; Loates Lane and elsewhere. 543. S. granulata. — Fields near Hamper Mill. 589. {Silaus pratensis. — Ought to be found.) 596. Pastinaca sativa. — Railway banks. 609. Scandix Fecte?i- Veneris. — Occasionally as a weed of culti- vation. 610. Conium maculatum. — Gravel-pit by the Workhouse. 618. Adoxa moschatellina. — Woods and banks near Hamper Mill, etc. 621. Viburnum Opulus. 622. V. Zatitana. —Brieket Wood. 630. Galium verum. 632. G. Mollugo. 633. G. saxatile. 635. G. palustre. 636. G. uliginosum. 639. G. Aparine. 641. Asperula odorata. — Abundant in Whippingdale and other woods. 645. Valeriatia dioica. — Cas^io Bridge ; Grove Park, by the Canal ; and Bricket Wood. 646. V. officinalis. — Near Bushey Mill. 695. Achillea Ptarmica. — Bricket Wood. 725. Bidens cernua. — Haydon Hill Pond. 726. B. tripartita.— ^ondi on Watford Heath. 736. Erigeron acris. — Railway banks near the High Street Station ; very abundant. 742. Petasites vulgaris. — Cassio Bridge ; and Bushey Mill. 743. Eupatorium canyiahinum. — Cassio Bridge. 761. Lactuca muralis. — Road to Cassio Bridge. 846. {Monotropa Hypopitys. — Said to grow, and likely, at Red Heath.) 850. Vmca minor. — Rouse Bam Lane. 872. Cusciita Trifolii. — Clover-fields at Bushey. 875. Atropa belladonna. — Near Chandler's Cross. 16 A. COTTAM — FLORA OF THE WATFORD DISTRICT. 880. Verhasctim nigrum. — Beyond the "Workhouse; and elsewhere. 900. Limosella aquatica. — Brioket Wood. Veronica. — Ton species, of which 917. V. montana is the rarest. It grows abundantly in the Copse at the beginning of House Barn Lane. 918. V. scutellata. — Bricket Wood. 932. Lathrcea squamaria. — Hunton Bridge. 943. Lyeopus europmus. — Haydon Hill Pond, Bushey. Mentha. — Several species probably. 973. Scutellaria galericulata. — Haydon Hill Pond, Bushey. 989. Lamium amplexicaule. — Near Wiggenhall. 991. L. incisum. — Ditto. 995. L. Galeobdolon. — i!^ot uncommon. 1047. Lysimachia Nummxdaria. — Bricket Wood. 1048. L. nemorum. — Bricket Wood, Bed Heath, etc. 1134. Euphorbia Uelioscopia. 1138. E. amygdaloides. — Woods; abundant. 1144. E. exiyua. — Corn-fields. 1252. Sagittaria sagittifolia. — River Colne, near Wiggenhall, etc. 1257. Butomus umbellafus.—Ba,nk of the Colne near Wiggenhall, and at Cassio Bridge. 1268. Orchis Morio.—Oxhej. 1269. 0. mascida. — Oxhey, etc. 1273. 0. maciilata. — Bricket Wood. 1278. Habenaria chlorantha. — Bricket Wood; and Red Heath Wood. 1289. Listera ovata. — Bricket Wood. 1290. Neottia Nidus-avis. — Bricket Wood. 1311. Narcissus Pseudo-narcissus. — Cassio Bridge ; and elsewhere in meadows. 17 3. — Notes on a proposed ee-isstji; of the Floea of Hertfoed- SHIEE, WITH SUPPLEJIEXTAET ReMAEKS ON THE BoTANY OF THE Watford Disteict. By K. A. Prtor, B.A., F.L.S. [Read 8tli April, 1875.] MoEE than five-and-twenty years have elapsed since the publi- cation of the ' Flora Hertfordiensis.' In the mean time Botanical Science has been continually advancing ; changes have been made alike in nomenclature and arrangement ; and many new forms have been brought into notice. Nor has it been otherwise with our knowledge of the Local Flora. The fresh material that has accumulated during the same period has been in pai-t collected in the various Supplements that have been issued at intervals — an inconvenient arrangement on account of the increased difficulty of reference ; other particulars have from time to time appeared in different scientific periodicals ; but a large proportion, the result of the investigations of the last few years, remains altogether unpublished. The gradual changes that are being effected in the surface of the country through the extended operations and improved methods of the agriculturist, together with the spread of population and great increase in building, have almost, if not altogether, extirpated several of our choicer rarities ; while the same causes have led to the introduction of a considerable number of exotics, for the most part of but very ephemeral duration, but in some cases likely to become permanently established. Questions as to the nativity and distribution of British plants have of late years, owing in a great measure to the writings of Mr. Watson, risen into more prominence ; and all botanists, however much they may differ in their views of specific limitation, will acknowledge the importance of ascertaining precisely what forms are included under the aggregate names of the older catalogues. Unequalled as was perhaps the ' Flora Hertfordiensis ' at the date of its original publication, and excellent as it still remains, there is yet room for addition and improvement. To this end, the sur\-iviag editor, the Rev. E,. H. Webb, has, in the most generous manner, allowed me the use of his manuscript material ; and I am in addition indebted already to the kindness of several correspondents for information of interest ; indeed the last few months have added several novelties to our list. I shall be very grateful for any communications bearing upon the subject ; however few in number, or unimpoifant they may appear by themselves, in combination with other facts of a similar character they have their own value, and may supply the key to some hitherto insoluble problem in our local botany. To make the nature of my especial requii-ements more plain, I have put together the following lists : No. I. — Comprises the segregate forms, of whatever rank, which VOL. I. — PT. I. 2 18 K, A. PRYOR NOTES ON A PROPOSED are known or thought likely to occur within the county, and which are included under the aggregate names of the Flora. It is very desirable to ascertain the distribution of these as completely as possible. jS'o. II. — Consists of those plants which are possibly or very probably extinct. To these have been added a few others, originally recorded for but a very small number of localities, and of which nothing has been heard for many years. No. III. — Contains those which have been introduced into the Flora upon untrustworthy authority, or are on various grounds open to more or less doubt. Some additional species have been inserted, which have been undoubtedly met with at no great distance from our borders, although not actually within the county. It will be seen that in some few instances the same names occur in more than one of the lists. This has been done intentionally : a given plant may, for instance, have become extinct in a locality where it was once truly found, and have been recorded subsequently by error from another station. It is much wished that a fresh specimen should, if possible, in every case accompany any communication. Notes upon the physical geography, or the peculiarities of the general vegetation of a district, will be always acceptable. Any information also as to the vernacular names that are actually in use in the county will be of interest. I. Thalictrum " minus." ,, flavum, varr. Ranunculus fluitans. „ ,, var. Bachii. „ truncatus. „ floribundus. „ penicillatus. „ pseudo-fluitans. ,, submersus. „ radians. ,, Drouetii. ,, tricluipliyllus. „ confusus. „ intermediuB. „ Leuormandi. ,, bederaceus. „ ,, V. horaocophyllus. ,, riammula, v. pseudo-rep- tans. ,, auricomus,v.depauperatus. ,, acris, v. tomophyllus. „ Ficaria, v. incumbens. Caltha palustris, v. Gucranfjerii. Papaver somniferum, v. hispidum. ,, ,, V. glabrum. „ (dubium) liamottei. „ „ Lecoqii. ,, Ilba-as, V. strigosum. Fumaria " capreolata." Cardamiue birsuta. ,, sylvatica. Draba verna, v. bracbj-carpa. Brassica sp. ? Camelina sativa, v. foctida. „ ,, V. sylvestris. Viola sylvatica, v. Riviniana. „ ,, V. ReicbenbacMana. „ canina (vera). ,, tricolor. ,, ,, V. arvensis. Polygala vulgaris. „ oxyptera. „ depressa. ,, calcarea. Silene inflata, v. puberula. Stellaria media, varr. Arenaria serpyllifolia, v. leptoclados. Sagina apetala (vera). ,, ciliata. Spergula arvensis. ,, ,, V. vulgaris. Montia fontana, v. rivularis. Erodiuni cicutarium, varr. Ulcx nanus (verus). „ Gallii. Trifolium pratense, v. sylvestre. RE-ISSUE OF THE FLORA OF HERTFORDSHIRE. 19 Vicia angustifolia, v. segetalis. ,, ., T. Bobartii. Alchemilla vulgaris, v. montana. Rubus fruticosiis, subspp. Geum intermedium. Rosa tomentosa, varr. „ " inodora." „ canina, varr. „ arvensis, v. bibracteata. „ stylosa, varr. CratfegusOxyacantba,v.oxyacanthoide3. ,, ,, v.monogyna. PjTUs " Aria." ,, communis, varr. ,, Malus, V. acerba. „ „ V. mitis. Epilobium angustifolium, v. bracby- carpum. Epilobium parviilorum, varr. „ tetragonum (verum). ,, obscurum. CaUitricbe vernaHs. ,, stagnalis. „ platycarpa. „ hamulata. „ pedunculata. Ribes rubrum, v. sativum. ,, ,, V. sylvestre. Sedum Telepbium, v. purpuraseens, ,, „ V. Fabaria. Helosciadium nodiflorum, v. pseudo- repens. Galium erectum. ,, palustre, v. elongatum. „ ,, V. "Witberingii. Valeriana officinalis, v. Mikanii. „ „ v. sambucifolia. Carduus crispus, varr. ,, (hybrids). Arctium majus. „ minus. „ intermedium. ,, nemorosum. Centaiu'ea nigra, v. decipiens. Filago apiculata. ,, spatbulata. Bidens cernua, v. radiata. Solidago Virga-aurea, varr. Tragopogon pratensis (verus). Taraxacum officinale,v.erytbrospermum, „ ,, V. Ifevigatum. Hieracium " maculatum." „ tridentatum. Verbascum (hybrids). Euphrasia officinalis, v. gracilis. Bartsia odontites, varr. Mentha sylvestris, varr. „ piperita, varr. „ pubescens, varr. ,, hirsuta, varr. ,, sativa, varr. Mentha gentilis, varr. ,, arvensis. ,, ,, V. agrestis, etc. Thymus SerpyUum. ,, Chamaedi-ys. Calamintha Nepeta. ,, menthifolia. Nepeta Glechoma, varr. Galeopsis Ladanum, v. canescens. Tetrahit, v. bifida. Lamium purpureum, v. decipiens. Stachys ambigua, etc. Myosotis palustris, v. strigulosa. ,, arvensis, v. umbrosa. Symphytum officinale, v. patens. Primula (hybrids, etc.). Plantago lanceolota, v. Timbali. Chenopodiumpolyspermum,v.spicatum. ,, „ v.cjinosum. „ album, V. candicans. „ „ V. viride. ,, J) V. paganum. „ urbicum. „ ,, V. intermedium. ,, rubrum, v. pseudo- botryodes. Atriplex " erecta." ,, deltoidea. ,, hastata. Rumex nemorosus, v. sanguineus. „ obtusifolius, V. sylvestris. „ maximus. Polygonum Convolvulus, v. pseudo- dumetorum. Polygonum aviculare, varr. „ Persicaria, v. elatum. „ lapathifolium, varr. „ maculatum, varr. „ amphibium, v. terrestre. Ceratophyllum aquaticum, v. sub- mersum. Parietaria diffusa, varr. Quercus Robur, v. intermedia. Betula alba, v. glutinosa. ,, ,, V. pubescens. Salix fragilis, varr. ,, viridis. „ triandra, varr. ,, purpurea, varr. ,, cinerea, varr. „ repens, varr. ,, (hybrids). Potamogeton natans (verus). „ polygonifolius, v. erice- torum. „ ,, „ V. pseudo- fluitans. ,, luceus, V. acuminatus. ,, flabellatus. Zannichellia palustris (vera). ,, pedicillata. 20 R. A. PRYOR — NOTES ON A PROPOSED Orchis incarnata. „ latifolia (vera). Epipactis latifolia. ,, violacea. Iris pseud-acorus, varr. Allium vineale, v. bulbiferum. ,, „ V. compactum. Luzula multiflora. „ „ V. congesta. Juncus supiiius, varr. „ butonius, v. fasciculatus. Carex muricata, v. pseudo-divulsa. ,, divulsa. „ acuta, varr. ,, fidva, V. speirostachya. „ flava (vera). „ „ V. lepidocarpa. ,, OSderi. Agrostis interrupta. Agrostis pumila. Aira uliginosa. Molinia cccrulea, v. depauperala. Poa subccorulea. Glyceria fiuitans, v. pedicillata. „ plicata. Bromus racemosus. ,, commutatus. Triticum repens, v. nemorale. „ ,, V. littorale. Athyrium Filix-fa'mina, varr. Aspidium lobatum. ,, aculeatum. ,, angulare. Nepbrodium Filix-mas, varr. ,, dilatatum, varr. Equisetum palustre, v. Bubnudum. ,, ,, V. polystachiou. „ limosum, v. fluviatile. Eanunculus Lingua. „ liirsutus. Dentaria bulbit'era. Cardamine amara. Nasturtium sylvestre. Teesdalia nudicaulis. Drosera rotundif olia. Stellaria glauca. Eadiola Millegrana. Medicago falcata. Trigonella ornithopodioides. Trifolium subterraiieum. Astragalus bj-poglottis. „ glycj-phyllus. Vicia gracilis. Latbyrus Apbaca. Sanguisorba officinalis. Comarum palustre. Geum rivale. Lythrum Ilyssopifolia. Sedum dasypbyUum. Cicuta vii'osa. Apium graveolens. Petroselinuin scgetum. Slum latifoliuni. Caucalis latilolia. Smyrnium Olusiitrum. Sambucus Ebulus. Lonicera Xylosteum. Valerianella auricula. Carduus pratensis. Filago gallica. Senecio campestris. Ilypocba'ris glabra. Taraxacum jiiilustro. Ilieraciiiiu inurorum. Vaccinium Myrtillus. Erica cinerea. Erythrsea pulcbella. Gentiana germanica. ,, campestris. Cuscuta Epithymum. Verbascum Lyclmitis. Limosella aquatica. MelampjTum arvense. Orobancbe cccrulea. Mentha piperita. „ pubescens. ,, i-ubra. ,, gracilis. Scutellaria minor. Myosotis repens. Anchusa serapervirens. Cj-noglossum moutanum. Pinguicula vulgaris. Utricularia vulgaris. Anagallis tenella. Centuiirulus miuimus. Littorella. lacustris. Cheuopodium oliduni. ,, nuirale. ,, urbicum. Kumex palustris. Polygouuiii minus. Thesiuni humitusura. Asarum Europu'um. Aristolocbia Olomatitis. Euphorbia Lathyris. Sparganium " nataus." Acorus Calamus. Potamogeton plantagineus. „ rufescens. „ heterophyllus. „ acutifolius. ,, obtusit'olius. Alisma ranunculoidcs. KE-ISSUE OF THE FLORA OF HERTFORDSHIRE. 21 Actinocarpus Damasonium. Aceras anthropophora. Orchis militaris. Herniinium Monorchis. Epipactis palustris. Cephalanthera ensifolia. Polygonatum miJtiflorum. Muscari racemosum. Allium oleraceum. Luzula Forsteri. ,, sylvatiea. Junciis diffusus. ,, squarrosus. SchcBnus nigricans-. Scirpus aciciilaris. „ multicaiilis. „ pauciflorus. Scirpus fluitans. ,, sylvaticus. Eriophorum latifolium. Carex dioica. „■ teretiuscula. „ Boeuninghauseniana. „ stricta. „ acuta. ,, " distans." Phleum Boehmeri. Agrostis spica-venti. Calamagrostis lanceolata. Aira flexuosa. Lycopodium clavatum. Pilularia globulifera. Equisetum sylvaticum. III. Adonis autumnalis. Ranunculus "fluitans," "with ternate floating leaves, with wedge-shaped segments." Ranunculus heterophyllus. Fumaria " capreolata." Arabis hirsuta. Barbarea stricta. Dianthus plumarius. Silene anglica. Sagina maritima. Hypericum montanum. Geranium rotimdifolium. Sanguisorba ofiicinalis. Rosa " inodora." Myriophyllum alterniflorum. (Enanthe crocata. Hj'pochoeris maculata. Tragopogon "pratensis." Hieracium miu-orum. „ " maculatum." „ " sabaudum." Pyrola media. Scrophularia Ehrharti. Myosotis sylvatiea. Primula elatior. Polygonum mite. Daphne Mezereum. Ulmus " glabra." " Hertfordshire Elm." " Wormley Grange or Byford Elm. Salix " HelLs." Sparganium " natans." Polygonatum multiflorum. Carex Itevigata. „ " distans." I do not think that it will be necessary to go through the general lists, which refer rather to the County at large ; bnt, as an application of the same principle to local requirements, I have drawn up a catalogue of all the more important plants of the AVatford district, which, under one or other of the three heads above mentioned, are liable to any degree of uncertainty; and to facilitate their investigation I have added the localities, where such have been specially given. The remarks that I have to submit to you will be thus mainly interrogatory in their scope, and are designed not so much to give — and indeed this would be beyond my power — as to be the means of eliciting information, and of inviting the attention of botanists in this neighbourhood to some of those points which require elucidation, before we can claim to possess an accurate knowledge of the Flora. While thus limited in their purpose, these notes can offer but little that is original. I have, however, availed myself, I believe. 22 K. A. PKYOR NOTES ON A PROPOSED of all sources of inforniation that were at my disposal, and I am especially indebted to the excellent ' Flora of Middlesex ' for a con- siderable portion of my material : at present but very little is known of the Botany of the adjacent districts of Buckinghamshire. I -will now proceed with my enumeration. Anemone Apennina. — Berry Wood, Aldenham. I have seen during the past fortnight the young leaves and buds of this pretty Ajiemone in the Vicarage garden at Aldenham ; into which the roots were introduced fi'om Berry Wood more than thirty years ago by the late Lady Rendlesham. Although I was unsuccessful in finding the Anemone in the wood itself, probably owing to the backwardness of the season, I am assured that it still grows there, although less plentifully than in former years. It would appear to be well naturalized. Anemone rammcidoides. — Both the herbarium specimens that I have seen and the book records are about equally di\-ided between King's and Abbot's Langley ; nor can the locality, " in a field a quarter of a mile south of Abbot's Langley " very well be the same with that more usually given, "under a tree on a lawn." It is curious that there should be so much uncertainty about the precise station of a plant which has long enjoyed a perhaps unmerited degree of notoriety. Ranunculus aquatiUs. — Very little is known about the Batrachian Eanunculi of the Watford district. There is a specimen of R. submersus gathered about ten years back at Cashiobury in Pro- fessor Babington's herbarium, and the same plant is recorded from Harefield, under the name of R. JDroiietii, in the ' Flora of Middlesex.' R. fluitam and R. pseudofluitans both occur in the same neighbour- hood, and this last is not improbably, judging from Mr. Coleman's specimens, which have a hispid receptacle and long stamens, the R.fluitans of the ' Flora Hertfordiensis.' R. pantothrix of the same work, in the absence of the original specimens, must remain quite a doubtful plant. Subject to this uncertainty, they have each been recorded for the district. Both R. truncatus and Jlorihundus will doubtless, as in Middlesex, be found to occur. Ranunculus hederaceus. — Bacher Heath; and between Scott'sBridge and Rickmansworth. One or both of these localities may perhaps produce the floating form, R. Uomceophlhjtcs of Mr. Hiem's paper. Rapavcr duhium. — Watford ? ; wall of Aldenham Churchyard. R. Lecoqii has perhaps occurred at Pinner, but P. Lamottei is the usual Middlesex plant. Dentaria huJbifera. — Loudwater Wood ; near High Wood, Rick- mansworth ; lied H(iath ; Garret Wood ; and probably in other woods in the neighbourhood. Blackstone first discovered the Coral-woi't about Harefield in 1734, but Parkinson liad previously met Avitli it in Sussex. Lunaria redivira, "the second kind of Bolbonac or White Sattin," according to Gerarde, " groweth about Watford." Is it altogether iin])ossible tliat the mistake should have arisen from some confused account of the occiUTcuce of Lentaria in the district ? RE-ISSUE OF THE FLORA OF HERTFORDSHIRE, 23 Cardanwie amara. — Riverside between Harefielcl and Rickmans- worth. First observed by Blackstone, and not noticed since 1822. Specimens from this locality gathered by the late Mr. Cory, in the herbarium of the Eev. A. Bloxam of Twycross, establish the correctness of the name. It might still be re-fonnd. Nasturtium amphihiuin. — Cashio Bridge Waters. Requires con- firmation. Viola syhatica. — V. Riviniana is the Middlesex plant ; V. Reich- enhachiana, however, which is not uncommon in Herts, will almost certainly be found. It flowers earlier than the other form. Poly gala vulgaris. — P. eu-vulgaris has been noticed at Harefield, but P. depressa is the usual plant of Middlesex. It occurs on Stanmore Heath, and Harrow Weald Common. Drosera rotundifolia. — The Bushey Heath station given in the Supplement to the ' Flora Hertf ordiensis ' is perhaps really on Harrow Weald Common, and in Middlesex. Cerastium semidecandrum. — Walls near Watford. Cerastium arvense. — In the chalk cutting near the Watford station. Both these observa- tions should perhaps be received with some degree of reserve. A form of C. triviale, with unusually large flowers, occurs in several places on the newly constructed embankment in the same neigh- bourhood, and something of the kind may perhaps have been mistaken for C. arvense. Arenaria serpyllifolia. — A. serpyllifolia and leptoclados are probably equally common, as in Middlesex ; the latter occurs at Harefield. " Alsine montana minima, Acini effigie, rotundifolia.''^ — "In montosis comitatus Hartfordise ad confinia Bucks prope vicum Chalfont D. Petri dictum. D. Plukenet." Ray, Synopsis, ii. 210. Dillenius conjectured that this was Centunculus minimus, but it seems more probable that it was a variety of some Arenaria. The connexion of Plukenet, one of the most eminent of the botanists of the seventeenth century, with this neighbourhood, through his farm at Horn Hill, will not be altogether without interest to the members of our Society. He has left notes of several other plants that he observed, and his name, with that of Blackstone, will always be associated with the botanical history of the district. Sagina nodosa. — Wall of Rickmansworth Churchyard. Blackstone, Specimen Bot. 3. Blackstone could hardly have been mistaken in this plant, but the station seems improbable. Spergula arvensis. — Watford and Rickmansworth. S. vulgaris, with papillose seeds, is the plant of North Middlesex. Scleranthtis amiuiis. — Watford. "The Harefield plant seems to be S. biennis,'^ with shorter stems, internodes, and calyx-lobes. Montia fontana. — Bacher Heath ; Bushey Heath. This last is perhaps in Middlesex, where M. minor is the commoner form, and occurs on Harrow Weald Common. M. rivularis has, however, been noticed on Stanmore Heath, and both varieties will not im- probably be found in Herts. 24 R. A. PETOE — NOTES ON A PEOPOSED Erodium cicutarium. — Near Sherard's Wood, Watford Heath. This seems to be scarce in the district, as it is also in Middlesex. Ulex ?iamis. — Bacher Heath ; Abbot's Langley ; Chorley Wood Common ; Watford Eoad, St. Albans. There seems to be some doubt about the Chorley Wood plant, and I fear that a weak form of Europceus was mistaken for this near St. Albans. Professor Babington appeared to consider that our plant was U. Gallii, but I have seen only nanus proper in the County. Ononis spinosa. — Watford Heath ; Rickmansworth Common. Both require confirmation. Medicago falcata. — Between Watford and Bushey Hill. This rests on the authority of the accurate Doody, and there can be little doubt as to the coi-rectness of the original record. It has probably, however, long since become extinct. Melilotus alba. — Railway banks north of AYatford. Trifolium ochroleucicm. — Field by West AVood, Grove Park, near Watford. Trifolium filiforme. — AYatford. All three standing in need of confirmation, and the last perhaps only T. minus. Lotus tenuis. — Near AYatford Heath. This also requires con- firmation. Vicia angustifolia. — Watford Eoad, St. Albans; and, apparently, a second station, near Watford. Lathyrus Aphaca. — Near a chalk-pit in a wood at Grove Park. Still there ? Primus domestica. — There is a specimen in the Kew Herbarium, gathered by Mr. Bentham near the farm at Cashiobuiy in 1834. Alchemilla vulgaris. — Eickmansworth Common Moor, and near Bushey. The variety suhsericea or montana is perhaps the com- moner form. Comarum palustre. — Eickmansworth Common Moor. I have no recent notice of this, and it is to be feared that it has perished through drainage. For the last five-and-twenty years but little attention has been paid to the fruticosc Eubi in Herts, and I have unfortunately been unable to meet with any of the specimens collected in the County by the late Eev. W. H. Coleman, to whose exertions almost all that is known about them is owing. Professor Babington has kindly gone through those in his herbarium, but I am quite uncertain how far the names now given can be correctly transferred from the indi- viduals there preserved to those others that had been associated with them in the pages of the ' Flora Hertfordiensis.' The Eev. W. M. Hind, who has contributed much valuable information on this subject to the 'Flora of Harrow,' is, as far as I am aware, the only other person who has atti'inpted any examination of the Brambles of this neighbourhood. Much, therefore, remains to be accom- plished before we can consider ourselves out of the wood ; and the %'icinity of AYatford appears to be so rich in these troublesome but instructive forms, that the labour of investigation is likely to be EE-ISSUE OF THE FLORA OF HERTFORDSHIRE. Jo amply repaid. I will now give the names that have, rightly or otherwise, been hitherto put on record for the district. Ruhus Lindleianus. — On HaiTow Weald Common, just beyond our boundary. R. rhamnifolius. — "With the last. R. leucostachys. — Rickmansworth. R. villicaulis. — Pinner Wood; should probably be added to the list. R. umhrosus. — Woods by Pinner Lane. The carpinifolius of Bloxam and the 'Flora Hertfordiensis.' R. Schlectefidalii and R. Hystrix. — In company with umhrosus. R. rosaceus. — Pinner Hill. R. pygmceus. — Oxhey Wood ; edge of Pinner Wood ; and, perhaps, in other " hedges about Watford." R. rudis. R. Radula. R. Kcehleri. — All in woods by Pinner Lane. R. pallidus. — Harrow Weald Common. R. ''fusciisy — Woods by Pinner Lane. This may be either pallidus, humifusus, or hirtus, and a Middlesex plant in the herba- rium of the British Museum named /iwcMS by Bloxam belongs to macrophyUus. R. diversifolius. — Woods by Pinner Lane. From a specimen in Babington's Herbarium the fusco-afer of ' Flora Hertfordiensis,' but Balfuurianus may also be included under this name. This last has occurred at Pinner. R. Lejeimii. — Edge of wood, Oxhey. R. Guntheri. — Woods near Pinner Lane. R. corylifoUus. — Rickmansworth . R. althmfolius. — Pinner. Rosa "■ inodora.'''' — Oxhey Lane. The R. inodora of the Herts Flora is probably a mere variety of canina. R. Monsonice. — Near Watford. A low bush distinguished from the other forms of R. stylosa by its very large red flowers, and scarcely protmded styles. I have never seen a wild specimen. Cratcegus oxyacanthoides. — Is abundant at Pinner, and will probably be found, when looked for, in Herts. I have seen it already in several of the districts, and although nowhere very common, it is perhaps generally distributed throughout the county. I have noticed several intermediates or hybrids. Pyrics mains. — Both fonns occur about Harefield, and should be looked for in the district. Epilohium angihstifolium. — Copse by the Watford railway tunnel. E. palustre. — Bacher Heath. E. tetragonum. — IS'ear Little Bushey. I have myself seen eu- tetragonum near the Watford station, and it occurs also on Harrow Weald Common. E. ohscurum has also been noticed close to our boundary on Stanmore Heath. Sedum dasyphyllum. — On a wall at Rickmansworth. Pimpinella magna. — Bricket Wood Common, and apparently not 26 R. A. PEYOR NOTES ON A PROPOSED uncommon in the St. Albans district. The form with the leaflets cut into linear segments occurs in the eastern division of the county, as also in Bedfordshire. It was distinguished by Morison and Sherard, but until recently had dropped out of notice. The nan-ow- leaved form of Heradeum also has been observed in several places about Harefield. This is, however, no permanent variety, and has even been seen growing from the same root as the usual form. Shcm latifolmm. — In several parts of the Harefield Eiver. Elack- stone, the sole authority, 1746. (Enanthe crocata. — An immature specimen gathered by the Eev. R. H. Webb near Rickmansworth is the only representative in the county of this poisonous umbellifer, which is so conspicuous in many places by the Thames. It appears, however, to be rightly named, and deserves some further investigation. Valerianella auricula. — Otterspool (Alchome MS.); and near BeiTy Wood, Aldenham ; probably the same station. Carduus pratensis. — Eickmansworth Common Moor; and on Stanmore Heath ; but this last must, I suppose, be in Middlesex. Arctium majus. A. minus. A. intermedium. A. nernorosum. — All four have been noticed at Harefield, and will almost certainly be found in the adjoining district of Herts. Gnaphalium sylvaticum. — Bushey Heath. Possibly in Middlesex. Solidago virgaurea. — A composite, supposed to be this, has been recorded from Pinner Lane, under the name of JErigcron Canadense. The station may, perhaps, be the same as that at Eastbury, where the true Solidago has been since noticed. Petanites vulgaris. — Specimens of the female plant are in the Kew Herbarium, collected at Munden, near Aldenham, by Mr. Borrer in 1844. Hieracium mnrorum. — Eeported to grow on St. Alban's Abbey in company with II. vnlgatum. Something else also has been re- corded from walls at St. Albans as H. tnaculatum. " Sieracii seu Pilosellce majoris species humilis, foliis hngiorihus rarius dentatis plurimis simul, flore singulari nostras. — On a dry bank at the edge of a wood in a lane leading from Horn Hill to Eeickmeersworth in Hartfordsh. I). Plukenet." Eay, Synopsis, ii. 75. From Plukenet's figure (Phytographia, t. 37). This has been identified with H. horeale, of which it is rather a dwarf single- headed monstrosity, with crowded leaves, than a variety properly so called. The recorded stations for H. horeale and sglvnticum (about Eickmansworth ; Bricket Wood Common ; and Woods by Pinner Lane) deserve further examination. H. tridentatum may not impossibly bo found to occur. Campanula rotimdifolia. — The var. montana of Syme, with oblong- lanceolate lower leaves, and subsolitary flowers, was found by Plukenet " about Eeickmeersworth in a dry gravel-pit." Eay, Syn. ii. 158. RE-ISSUE OP THE FLORA OF HERTFORDSHIRE. 27 Campanula Hapunculus. — Croxley Green Lane; between Patchetts Green and the Four Ways, Aldenham. Vaccinium Myrtillus. — Oxhey Woods. Erica tetralix. — Bacher Heath; Bnshey Heath. This last is perhaps the same as Harrow Weald Common, of the ' Flora oi Middlesex.' It occurs also on Stanmore Heath, and at Harefield. Pyrola minor, — Woods at Red Heath ; also in considerable quantity at the Grove, Stanmore Heath, just beyond our borders. Cuscuta trifolii, — Garston, " Scrophularia major caulilus foliis et florihus viridilus ; Figwort icith green Leaves and Flowers, — In the shady woods between Hare- field and ChaLEont St. Peters." Blackstone, Sp. Bot. 91. This, which is Bobart's plant, has been generally identified with Scrophu- laria Fhrharti, Blackstone remarks that "its Leaves are of a pale green, and the whole plant is much smaller than the common Figwort," and Eay (Synopsis, ii. 161) observes that " Common Figwort is called Brownwort from its remarkable brown colour. This hath nothing of brownness in it." The station may very well have been in Herts, Orolanche elatior? — Long Valley Wood, near Eickmansworth. There is some doubt about the specific name. 0. minor. — At Brightwells and Cole Kings. This is entered as 0. major in the Supplement to the 'Flora Hertfordiensis,' but a specimen from "near Brightwell's Farm," collected by Mr. Pidcock, is rightly named 7ninor in the herbarium of the Rev. R. H. Webb. Mentha roiundifolia, sylvestris, piperita, and saliva, have all been reported for Watford, but in each case there is reason to suspect some mistake. The last has however occurred by the canal north of Harefield, a station that is perhaps in Herts. Specimens from the same neighbourhood are in Hill's herbarium. M. rotimdifolia also grew formerly in Harefield churchyard, and might be looked for in similar situations in this county. Thymus Serpyllum and Cham(edrys. — Both sub-species occur just beyond our boundary in Middlesex. Scutellaria minor. — Bacher Heath ; occurs also abundantly on Harrow Weald Common. Galeopsis canescens. — I have gathered this on the railway em- bankment at Watford, and the Harefield plant seems to be the same thing. Cynoglossum montanum. — In a damp wood by the river at Cashio- bury, near the Swiss Cottage. Pinguicula vulgaris. — Watford Common Moor. Lysimachia vulgaris. — With double floAvers ; near King's Langley (How.). Centunculus minimus. — Moor Park. Euphorbia platyphylla. — Near Otterspool. Doody, 1700. This locality, taken from Doody's MS. notes in his interleaved copy of the second edition of Ray's Synopsis, has been erroneously referred by Dillenius to E. hiherna ; but, as observed in the ' Flora of 28 K. A. PRYOR NOTES ON A PROPOSED Middlesex,' the -vrritcr e-\adcntly intended his note to refer to the species opposite to which he wrote it, Tithymalus segetum longifolius, — E. platyphjlla of modern writers. Salix purpurea. — Eickmansworth. S- Lamhertiana occurs north of Harefiekl, and not improhahly in Herts. S. rugosa. — jS'ear Pinchfiekl ; hetween Moor Hall and Hamper Mill. 8. repens. — Bacher Heath; Eickmansworth Common Moor; Bricket Wood Common ; and in the adjoining district of Middlesex, seemingly S. fusca. Sparganmm, sp. — I am informed that a floating Sparganium has been noticed just on our side of the county boundary near Pinner Hill. Potamogeton polygonifoUus. — Bacher Heath. The usual heath form is the var. ericetorum of Syme, but the deep water plant occurs in a ditch on Harrow Weald Common ; either or both may be found in Herts. P. riifescens. — Ditches by the Colne between Eickmansworth and Harefiekl Mill. P. pusillus. — Eickmansworth Common Moor. Something under the name of compres&ua has been recorded fi-om streams at Harrow Weald in Mr. Melvill's 'Flora of Harrow.' P. mucronatus of Schrader, with which P. compresms of Smith has been generally identified, is arranged by Dr. Hooker and others as a variety of pimllus, and our plant may possibly be found to come under the same form. P. pectinatus. — Eickmansworth ; and in the Grand Junction Canal to the north of Harefiekl. P. jiahellatus occurs in the same waters in the neighbourhood of Tring, and will perhaps be found to ac- company pectinatus in this district also. But the great increase of Anacharis has been very unfavourable to the existence of our rarer pond weeds. Zannichellia palustris. — Eickmansworth. Where is this station ? Hijdrocharis Morsm-rana. — Near Watford ; and long ago observed by Blackstono as abundant at Harefiekl, where however it has not, I believe, been met with lately. The Watford locality requires some more precise definition. Orchis militaris. — In a chalky thicket near Comer Hall. This is in the extreme south-western angle of the county, and at no gi'eat distance fi-om, if, as I cannot lielp suspecting, it is not the same place as, " the old chalk-pit near the paper-mill at Harefiekl," where 0. militaris was observed by Blackstone in company with 0. purpurea and ustulata, and Ophrys apifera and muscifera. A larg(t (iialk-pit is marked in tlie Ordnance ^lap in the immediate neighbourhood. There is liowever a specimen of 0. militaris in the lianksian herbarium from a second station near Harefiekl, which is undoubtedly in Middlesex. 0. latifolia. — On the Common ^foor, and other low meadows near Eickmansworth. This will probably turn out to be 0. incarnata. RE-ISSUE OF THE FLORA OF HERTFORDSHIRE. 29 Gijmnadenia Cotiopsea. — Bushey Heath ; Cashio Bridge. There is some doubt about the former of these stations, and it may not improbably prove to be in Middlesex. Epipactis latifolia. — High Wood, Rickmansworth ; Cashiobury Park. Both these are perhaps the same as the E. purpurata of Nanscot Wood. Another form, that is perhaps palustris, has been gathered just beyond our boundary at Pinner Wood. Cephalanthera grandiflora. — Wood near Buck's Hill. Convallaria nuiialis. — Bushey Heath, and near Cashiobury. !N"o recent authority. It occurs however just within our county, near Pinner. FritiUaria meleagris. — In a moist pasture near the Watford railway arches. Field near Bushey Heath. Luzula Forsteri. — Woods by Pinner Lane. Juncus diffusics. — Oxhey Lane. J. supinus. — Bacher Heath. J. squarrosns. — Bushey Heath. Perhaps on Harrow Weald Com- mon an-d in Middlesex. Scirpus setaceus. — Bacher Heath. Friophorum angu&tifolium. — Rickmansworth Common Moor. Carex pnlicaris. — Bushey Heath. Recorded also from Harrow Weald Common, and perhaps the same station. C. stellulata. — ISTewland's Wood ; Bacher Heath ; Bushey Heath. This last perhaps in Middlesex. C. ovalis. — Bacher Heath ; Bushey Heath. C. piluUfera. — Bacher Heath ; and in other places just beyond our boundary. C. pallescens. — Woods by Pinner Lane ; Newland's Wood. C. pendula. — With the last in the former station. C. hinervis. — Bacher Heath. Grows also on Harrow Weald Com- mon and on Stanmore Heath, and as C. Icevigata has been noticed in the same neighbourhood, that sedge also may be found to occur within our limits. C. flava. — Rickmansworth Common Moor. C. (Ederi. — Bricket Wood Common ; Bacher Heath ; Bushey Heath. One or other of these may possibly be C. lepidocarpa, but typical flava certainly occurs in the north of the county. The Bushey Heath station may possibly be the same as the Harrow Weald Common of the ' Flora of Middlesex,' where, however, it is named _/?fli'«. They all require further examination. C. ampullacea. — Rickmansworth Common Moor. I do not believe that this is so common in the county as the Flora would lead one to expect. I have no other station on record for the district. Setaria viridis. — I have noticed this near the Watford station in company with AmarantJius retroflexus, Camelina, Raphanus caudatus, Barharea pracox, Lepidium sativum, and Trifolium hyhridum, with an abundance of Diplotaxis muralis. This last seems to be now thoroughly established, and the Amaranthus is not unlikely to obtain a permanent footing, if not destroyed by the recent alterations. 30 B. A, PRYOR NOTES ON A rROPOSED Calamafjrostis Epigeios. — Copse by the south entrance of the Watford Railway Tunnel. Afjrostis ca7iina. — Chorley Wood Common ; and just beyond our limits on Btanmore Heath ; also on Harrow Weald Common in company with A. jmmila. Aira Jlexuosa. — Woods by Pinner Lane ; J^ewland's Wood ; as also in the adjoining district of Middlesex. Molinia coerulea. — With the last in Newland's Wood. Catahrosa aquatica. — By the Colne, near Bricket Wood. Glyceria plicata. — North of Harefield. Perhaps in Herts, but the plant is pi'obably pedicillata. It has been suggested that G.fluitans feu-fluitansj will probably turn out to be less common in the county than either plicata or fedicillata, and the three forms deserve a careful examination. Festuca sciuroides. — Watford. The station requires more precise definition. F. ovina. — Chorley Wood Common. This andi^. duriuscula stand in need of further observation ; both however occur in the neigh- bouring district of Middlesex. F. eiatior. — Rickmansworth. In the original record, however, Mr. Coleman has added a MS. note, " Probably large pratensis." The two species are not always easy to discriminate. Bromus ereetus. — Under Stocker's Wood, Rickmansworth. B. commutatus. — Rickmansworth. This and racemosus require further examination in all the recorded stations. Triticum caninum. — Rickmansworth. This is not, in my ex- perience, so common in the county as the Flora would lead one to suppose, and I suspect that a variety of T. repeyis, with longer awns, has been in some cases mistaken for it. The true plant occurs near Harefield. Hordeum sykaticum. — Long Spring, Watford ; Hill Wood ; and near Stocker's Farm, Rickmansworth. Nardus stricta. — Bacher Heath. Lomaria Spicant. — Newland's Wood ; Bacher Heath. Recorded also from Jiushey Heath, but the station has been ascertained to be in Middlesex. Anplenium Rida-muraria. — Wall by Moor Park. The only station known to me in the district. Athyrium Filix-fcemina.— 'Berry Grove, Aldenham ; Cashiobury Park, near Rouse Bam. A. rhceticum will probably turn out to be the commoner form, but I have seen incisum in the county. Scolopendn'um vulgare. — Gerarde describes "a kind of feme," pr()I)iil)ly a young state of this species, which is "called likewise Uemionitift dcrilis, which is a very small and base herbe, not above a finger high, having fower or five small leaves of the same sub- stance and colour, spotted on the back part, and in taste like Harts toong ; but the leaves beare the shape of them of Tota Bona, or good Hcurie, which many of our Apothecaries do abusively take for Mercury. The roots are very smooth, black, and threddie, having neither stalk, llower, nor seede. This plant my very good KE-ISSUE OF THE FLORA OF nERTFORDSHIKE. 31 friend Master Nicholas Belson founde in a gravellie lane in the way leading to Oxey Park, neare unto "Watford, fifteene miles from London." I have no other notice of the existence of Scolo- pendriuin in the district, where, however, it will almost certainly be met with. To the observations of the same old herbalist we owe, I believe, the earliest record of the occurrence of Malva moschnta, Alchemilla vulgaris, Carnpamila Trachelium, Lamium Galeoldolon, Butomns umhellatus, and Convallaria maialis in Hertfordshire ; all of which were remarked by Gerarde in the neighboui-hood of Bushey and "VYatford. Aspidium amleatimi. — Near Bacher Heath. This is called lohatum in the ' Flora Hertfordiensis,' but the plant of the immediately adjoining districts of Middlesex appears to be aculeatum, and the two forms were confused by the authors of the Flora. A. angulare, for which I have no stations in the Watford district, may, perhaps, also be occasionally included with it. JSfephrodium sjnnulosum. — Oxhey Woods ; Aldenham "Wood. JSf. dilatatum. — Berry Wood, Aldenham; Newland's Wood. These two are often confounded together, and the Aldenham plant at least requires further examination, as it is possible that the two names may represent one and the same thing. iV. dilatatum was also recorded by Blackstone from a bog near Moor Hall, in company with Saxifraga granulata and Bipsacus pilosus. This may have been at Harefield, but Moor Park was occasionally called by that name, and so Edward Forster seems to have under- stood it. N. oreopteris. — With the last in Aldenham Wood. Eecorded also from Bushey Heath, but it has been ascertained that the station is in Middlesex. Equisetum maximum. — Rickmansworth, by the road to Denham. The only station, and not known to occur anywhere in the neighbourhood. I have put together, as an Appendix, a list of those plants which have been observed in the immediately adjoining portion of Middlesex, but which have not yet been recorded for the Watford district. Some of these, however, rest upon the testimony of the older authors only, and have not been noticed for many years. They are principally from the neighbourhood of Harefield, Pinner and Harrow Weald, and Stanmore Heath, Rammculus parviflorus. Sagina ciliata. Papaver Argemone. Eadiola Millegrana. P. hybridum. Oxalis corniculata. Brassica Rapa (var. sylvestris). Impatiens fulva. Sisymbrium Sophia. Meclicago maculata. Cardamine hirsuta. M. deuticulata. Nasturtium sylvestre. Melilotus arvensis. Lepidium campestre. Trifolium subterraneum. Viola canina (vera). T. fragiferum. Moencliia erecta. T. hybridum. 32 R. A. PRYOR — FLORA OF HERTFORDSHIRE. Vicia lathyroides. Prunus Cerasus. Potentilla argentea. Fragaria elatior. Eosa systyla. Pyrus communis. P. Aucuparia. Myriophylhim alterniflorum. Carum Carui. Bii])leurum rotundifoliun. Chserophyllum Anthriscus. Sambucus Ebulus. Galium saxatile. G. uliginosum. G. "Witheringii. Silybum Marianum. Onopordum Acantbium. Serratula tinctoria. Centaurea Cyanus. C. Calcitrapa. Filago minima. Inula Helenium. Lactuca Scariola. Erica cinerea. Solanum nigrum. Verbascum Blattaria. Limosella aquatica. Mentba rubra. M. gracilis. Salvia Yerbenaca. Lithospermum officinale. Myosotis repens. Anagallis tenella. Plantago Coronopus. Littorella lacustris. Cbenopodium polyspermum. C. olidum. Cbenopodium viride. C. ficitolium. Rumex nemorosus (v. sanguineus). R. pratensis. Populus nigra. Salix pentandra. S. vitellina. S. Smitbiana. Betula glutinosa. Taxus baccata. Tj-pba angustifolia. Acorus Calamus. Potamogeton crLspus. Alisma lanceolata. A. ranunculoides. Actinocarpus Damasonium. Habenaria A-iridis. Narcissus poeticus. Tulipa sylvestris. Juncus compressus. Luzula sylvatica. Blysmus compressus. Scii-pns acicularis. S. ciespitosus. S. fluitans. Carex disticha. C. acuta. C. strigosa. C. paludosa. Alopecurus fulvus. Polypogon monspeliensis. Agrostis Spica-venti. Broraus velutinus. Lolium italicum. Cystopteris fragilis. Lycopodium inxmdatum. Equisetum sylvaticum. Including casuals, and a few doubtfiil plants, not far short of one hundred species — a number that should be some stimulus to further exertion. 33 4. — Ojf THE Obsekvatiox of Peeiodical Nattoal Phenomena. By John Hopkinson, F.L.S., F.G.S. [Read 13th May, 1875.] IlfTRODUCTOKY ReMAEKS. Attextiox has at various times been drawn to the importance of obtaining a record of observations of certain periodical natiu'al phenomena, conducted universally upon some uniform plan. Meteor- ologists have agreed upon an unifonn system of registration of periodical atmospheric changes, as recorded by the barometer, thermometer, and other instruments ; but hitherto, in this country, only here and there, and -without concert, has the naturalist assisted the meteorologist ia climatological investigations by the aid of a mechanism infinitely more refined and more sensitive to atmospheric influences than any instruments man can constmct. Such a mechanism we have in the delicate structure of plants and animals. "With the periodical return of the seasons a series of phenomena takes place, differing in the time of occurrence year by year, but in the same place and under similar conditions usually in the same order. In plants the leaf unfolds, the flower opens, the fruit ripens, and finally the leaf falls. Amongst animals, insects one by one appear, birds arrive and depart, commence and leave off their song, and amphibians, reptiles, and mammals appear and disappear. From observations of these and other similar phenomena several Naturalist's Calendars, as they are called, have been compiled, the best known being perhaps the "Calendarium Florae " of Linnaeus, in the ' Amoenitates Academicse,' 1756 ; the calendar di-awn up by Aikin from the manuscripts of the Rev. Gilbert White, first pub- lished, with other observations in Natural History, in 1795, and usually appended afterwards to the ' Natural History of Selbome ; ' Markwick's calendar of observations made at Catsfield, near Battle, first published in the 1802 edition of this work ; and that given by Jenyns in his 'Observations in Natural History,' the record of notes which he made at Swaffham Bulbeck, a village a few miles beyond Cambridge. The work of which this carefully compiled calendar forms a part was published in 1846. At the meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science held at Cambridge in the previous year, a report of a Committee, " Appointed for the purpose of Re- porting on the Registration of Periodical Phenomena of Animals and Vegetables," was presented, the Report consisting mainly of a translation (revised and enlarged by the Kev. L. Jenyns and M. de Selys-Longchamps) of a series of ' Instructions for the Observation of Periodical Phenomena,' previously prepared at Brussels by M. Quetelet and other Continental naturalists. This report was a most valuable contribution to the subject, but it is only now, after a lapse of thirty years, that it seems likely to VOL. I. PT. II. 3 34 J, HOPKINSON — ON THE OBSERVATION bear fruit in the general adoption of its leading principles, and in the uniform carrying out of investigations to the importance of "which attention Avas then for the first time in this country sys- tematically tlra-Nvn. For this recent attempt to re-awaken an interest in the periodical phenomena of nature we are indebted to the Meteorological Society of London. This Society has within the last few months issued a list of plants, insects, and birds recommended to be observed, and a code of Instructions to observers.* This list I propose to adopt without alteration at present, leaving the question of any extension or modification that may be thought desirable to meet the special requirements of our district to future consideration. In the list as published by the Meteorological Society there are seventy-one species of plants recommended for observation of the time of flowering, this being the most important point to observe and record. Obsei-vations on the time of leafing, fruiting, and shedding of the leaves of trees are also considered useful, provided the same trees are observed every year. Of insects there are eight species of which the first appearance is recommended for registration. Of birds there are seventeen species recommended for notice of their arrival, commencement of song, etc. ; and the last entry we have is that of fi'og spawn, the first appearance of which should be noted, f From these and other similar observations, valuable information, of immediate practical application, as well as of a theoretical nature, may in time be gained. Alone, such observations may furnish climatological data of importance in the operations of the fanner and gardener. The most favourable time for sowing seed, for instance, may be determined by the flowering of some plant, or even by the appearance of some insect ; for, as Quetelct has ob- served, ' ' the phases of the existence of the minutest plant-aphis, of the paltriest insect, are connected with the phases of the exist- ence of the plant which noiuishes it, and this plant itself, in its gradual development, is in some measure the product of all the anterior modifications of the soil and atmosphere." The germi- nation of seed, and the safety of the young shoot afterwards, are as dep(;ndent upon these modifications as upon the time of the year at which it is sown and the state of the weather. Combined with meteorological observations those we are con- sidering may afi'ord valuable assistance in investigations on climate ; * ' Instructions for the Observation of Phenological Pheuomeua, prepared at the request of the Council of the Meteoroloirical Society by a Conferonco con- sisting of Delegates from the following Societies, viz.: — Eoyal Agricuiturnl Society, Royal Botanic Societv, Eoyal Dublin Society, Royal Horticultural Society, Mai'lborough College I^atural History Society, Meteorological Society.' London : "Williams and Strahan. 1875. t It may here be mentioned that it is not intended that these observations should be limited to the species which will be enumerated, nor that observations should be limited to the points alluded to. Notes of observations in any depart- ment of Natural History will be welcome, and however brief may be of value as contributions to the Natural History of our county. OF PERIODICAL NATTOAL PHEXOMEJTA. 35 for these periodical phenomena, both of plants and animals, are all more or less regulated by the laws of climate and the varying influences of the seasons. It is here that union is requii-ed, for it is only by the combination of the records of many observers scattered over a wide area that results of importance can be obtained. That the Naturalists' Calendar for the County of Hertford, which I hope in time will be compiled from the observations of the members of our Society, may be of value in this respect, the list of the Meteorological Society is adhered to. This list is founded upon the more extensive list of Quetelet adopted by Continental observers, and any species it may in time be deemed advisable to add to our list should be selected from this, for by so doing the results we may obtain can be compared with the results arrived at on the Continent of Europe and in other countries. As an example of the information that may be derived from these calendars, it may be mentioned that by comparing the various records of similar observations, made simultaneously upon the species selected at a number of stations in this and other countries, we may distinguish those localities at which the same phenomena occur at the same time, and by drawing lines through these localities we may indicate with clearness the isochronism of the phenomena, and therefore of the climatal conditions upon which they are dependent. It is, however, only by observations extending over a number of years that the mean date of these occurrences for any locality can be determined.* This is what is requii'ed. The average range of variation is about a month, and it has been found to be greater with the phenomena that occur early in the year than with such as occur later. The long and severe winter we have had this year will therefore make the earlier and later phenomena occur nearer to- gether than they usually do, and we may expect the summer to be not nearly so backward as the spring now is, while the autumnal phenomena may not even be appreciably affected. It may be many years before the mean date of each phenomenon for Watford and elsewhere in our county can be determined with any degree of accuracy. Let us then at once commence to record our observations on the species selected, and not be deterred by the thought that it may not be in oiu- time that inferences of high scientific value may be drawn from them. Moreover, without considering the ulterior object we have in view, every accui'ate obseiwation, carefully and faithfully recorded, is at once of value, and available for comparison with others. The cultivation of habits of observing is also in many ways beneficial to ourselves. The more we observe, the more we find to observe, and the more we are capable of observing ; — our senses are sharpened and we see and hear things which, had we not cultivated this habit, would never have been noticed. As Edward Forbes has remarked, " It is sur- prising how little we see until we are taught to observe." * The true mean is not the mean of the extremes, but the mean of all the dates, found by adding them together and dividing by their number. 36 J. HOPKIJfSON — OX THE OBSERVATION- List of the Species eecomhended to be observed. When all the Plants in the list cannot he ohserved, special at- tention should be given to those of which the names are printed in capitals. Plants. Anemone nemorosa ("Wood Ane- mone). Ranunculi's Ficaria (Pilewort — Lesser Celandine). Ranunculus acris (Upright Crow- foot). Caltha palustris (Marsh Mari- gold). Fapaver Rhoeas (Red Poppy). Cardamine hirsuta (Hairy Bitter- cress). Cardaniine pratensis (Cuckoo- flower—Lady's Smock). Br aba verna (Whitlow-grass). Viola odorata (Sweet Violet). Poly gala vulgaris (Milkwort). Lychnis Flos-cueidi (Ragged Robin) Stellaria Holostea (Greater Stitch- wort). Malta sylvesteis (Common Mallow). Hypericum tetrapterum (Square St. John's Wort). Hypericum ptdchrum (L^pright St. John's Wort). Geranium Robertianum (Herb Robert — Stinking Cranesbill). Trifolium repens (DutchClover). Lotus cornictilatus (Bii'd's-foot Tre- foil). Vicia Cracca (Tufted Vetch). ,, sepium (Bush Vetch). Zfl<^?/»-«/«ji;>'flif«/«/« (Meadow Vetch- ling — Meadow Pea). PnuNus spiNOSA (Sloe — Black- thorn). Spircea Ulmaria (Meadow-sweet). Potentilla anserina (Silver-weed). „ Fragariastrum (Barren Strawberry) . Rosa canina (Dog Rose). Epilobium Jiirsutum (Great Hairy Waiow-herb). Epilobium montanum (Broad Willow-herb). Angelica sylvestris (Wild Ange- lica). Aniliriscns sylvestris (Wild Cher- vil — Cow Parsley). Hedera Helix (Ivy). Galium Aparine (Cleavers — Goose- grass). Galium veniiu (Yellow Bedstraw). 34 . Bipsacus sylvestris(Common Teasel) 35. Scabiosa succisa (Devil's-bit). 36. Petasites vulgaris (Butter-bur). 37. TussiLAGO Farfara (Coltsfoot). 38. Achillea Millefolium (Milfoil — Yarrow). 39. Chrysanthemum Leucanthemtim (Ox-eye Daisy — Dog Daisy). 40. Artemisia vulgaris (Mugwort). 41. Senccio Jacobaa (Ragwort). 42. Centaurea nigra (Black Kjiap- weed— Hardheads^. 43. Carduuslanceolatus(^T^e^xTh\%i\ei). 44. ,, arvensis (Field Thistle). 45. Sonchtis arvensis (Corn Sow-thistle) 46. Hieracium Pilosella (Mouse-ear Hawkweed). 47. Campanula BOTUTNDiFOLiA (Hair- bell). 48. Gentiana campestris (Field Gen- tian). 49. Convolvulus sepium (Greater Bindweed). 50. Symphytum officinale (Comfrey). 51. Pedicularis sylvatica (Red Rattle). 52. Veronica Chamadrys (Germander Speedwell). 53. Veronica hederifolia (Ivy-leaved Speedwell). 54. Mentha aquatica (Water ilint). 55. Thi/mus Serpyllum (Wild Th^Tne). 56. Prunella vulgaris (Self-heal).' 57. Nepeta Glechoma (Groimd Ivy). 68. Galeopsis Tetrahit (Hemp-nettle'). 59. Stachys sylvatica (Hedge Wound- wort) . 60. Ajuga reptans (Creeping Bugle). 61. Primula veris (Cowslip). 62. Plantago lanceolata (Ribwort Plan- tain). 63. Mcrcurialis pcrennis (Dog's Mer- cury). 64. Ulmns montana (Wych Elm). 65. 8ali.r caprea (Great Sallow — English Palm). 66. Corylus Avellami (Hazel). 67. Orchis maculata (Spotted Orchis). 68. Iris Pseudacorus (Yellow Iris — Flag). 69. u^'arcixsus Pseudo-narcissus (Daf- fodil). 70. Galantbus nivalis (Snowdrop). 71. Endi/mion nutans (Blue-bell). of peeiodical natueal phenomena. 37 Insects. 72. Melolontha vulgaris (Cock-chafer). 76. Pieris Rapw, I show, or manifest ; and \6yos, logos, a discourse. t The forms, when filled up, may for the present be sent to me, and at any future time to the theti Secretary of our Society, and the insects and plants to Mr. Arthur Cottam, who has kindJy consented to undertake theu- examination. 38 J. noPKiNsox — OS the obseevatiox necessary or interesting." In obserring any fact connected \dth birds, the most important point insisted upon is that the observer " should set down the exact locality at which it occurred, even if it be but a few miles distance from his oy^a station, and if possible again record the fact when it recurs there, or vice versa." There are many valuable suggestions, in addition to the above, in the excellent code of Instmctions to wliicli reference has so frequently been made. C.AXENDAE OF PHENOMENA TO BE OBSERVED. The accompanying Calendar may be found useful as indicating the phenomena which should be observed in the species enumerated, and the probable dates of their occurrence. It is compiled from the record of ten years' obsei*vations at Marlborough, given in the ' Instructions ' of the Meteorological Society, and of twelve years' (1820-1831) at Swaffham Bulbeck, near Cambiidge, fi'om the Ilev. L. Jenyns' ' Observations in Natural Histoiy.' This double record may be instructive as showing the difference between two localities, one of which is about the same distance to the south-west of Watford as the other is to the north-east ; but in comparing them it should be borne in mind that the Cambridge calendar is of a period forty years before that of the Marlborough calendar. It may also be mentioned that the former is not uniformly a continuous record, some of the phenomena having been only occasionally observed during the twelve years, while others have been observed eveiy year during that period. The number of years each obsei-vation was made is given in the original calendar, which is prefaced by some very valuable remarks on the subject of this inquiiy. It may be noticed that the order adopted in our calendar is not exactly in accordance with the mean dates of cither the jMarl- borough or the Cambindge calendar. In com]nling it, both these records have been taken into consideration, and in some cases the calendars of White and Markwick have also been consulted. Ex- tended observation may possibly clear up such discrepancies as are shown (taking two of the earlier occurrences as examples) in the recorded times of flowering of the hazel and the ivy-leaved speed- well, of which the mean date of coming into flower is about the same at Marlborough, and yet differs by six weeks at Cambridge. Although a greater in-ogularity than is even here shown m-ai/ be introduced by observations in this neighbourhood, there are doubt- less various causes, afl'ecting diff'erent species in different ways, to the discoveiy of which these apparent discrepancies may eventually lead. OF PEEIODICAL NATTJUAL PHENOMENA. 39 p 1 K P rt ^ a o d s M o' p^pqpqpnFxi &1 a; — . (M tot^>o O 05 WI 00 40 J. HOPKINSON — OX THE OBSEHVATION 1 i4 Mar. 29 :\Iar. 21 Mar. 25 Apl. 10 Apl. U IM CI << 1^ << .>;•> 1 lO >o ^ C5 OO CO rM Ci «0 — ' ■* c^ ^ ^ ^ c^ ■ 'p-'H-^ 'ph'E.'p.'H.^ -^ <; S --<;<;<; g • >> 1 J ^ J 'H.'S.'B-'a'a g S g <5 -< >< <1 -< .""" ''^<< OC 00 <; -< <5 <: <; <5 <; S CO — -r : « t: - coco rH OOCS t^O <5«-<; <.<,< <<■ fccS ! « *. I g S ^ iU s-s. V2 Jr ^ _ ij- o .?> ics-g^-s _£ c^ cc g g -^ ^ i- 3 . j^WO^oSoQ ^cSoajJ^^^ScsSoPMo^of^^ OF PEEIODICAL NATUEAX PHENOMEKA. 41 S g^^g^g, l-Sh-5l-5l-5 "El '■ May 6 Apl. 14 May 12 May 9 May 13 May 3 May 16 May 17 May 10 May 22 May' 30 June 9 June 12 June 1 May 31 May 23 June 7 June 1 -5 June 25 June 30 (P) July 1 June 30 (?) July 10 00 < 1 i rH lO 05 t^ C> ct rt ci rt ci ci cS .-( cq May 22 May 26 May 13 May 31 3 3 June 2 May 17 June 8 May 26 June 10 US CO . m :a It? ^^ fi^Sc»P^«5^PHH>-igJ 05 "o 05 r- CO CO c<) 1 OBSEEVATIOX OF PEEIODICAL NATUEAL PHEKOJIEIfA. M CO ; &C be t-H ) s^s o o oo ;ss?5"-^ Cl '-O 2S .a 1 1 H^H^ CZ2 0Q ii ■ 00 CO >o o O C5 t^ ;;^22 ss is S '3 ^3 '11 II = hJ n § tf : 1 i • i i ■ : ■ i !!;!:! i i i = i S s s P4 p g a c3HcacsaJc:.r-^rt3 jtHm officinale, comfrey, is a coarse plant growing at THE TIME OF FLO'SVEKING SHOTJXD BE OBSEETED. 47 the edge of pools and streams ; it has large hairy leaves, which taper at both ends ; the flowers are borne in double racemes, which gi-adually unfold like the fronds of a fern ; they are drooping in habit, cream-coloured ; or, in the variety patens, pale purple. 51 to 53, Pedicularis sylvatica, red rattle, Veronica ChamcBdrys and hederifolia, Germander and ivy-leaved speedwell, belong to the Scrophularia family. The rattle is found in wet pastm-es, growing close to the ground ; the leaves, with the exception of those close to the ground, are pinnate and lobed, usually pale green ; the flowers are rose-coloured, protruding from a five-lobed calyx. There is a larger plant growing in the marshes, with a stem 6 to 12 inches high, leaves fi-equently tinged with brown, and having crimson flowers. This is the Pedicularis palustris, or marsh lousewort. The Germander speedwell is one of the most attractive of our spring plants, decking our hedgerows and the borders of oiu* fields with its racemes of bright blue blossoms. The leaves are broad, nearly heart-shaped, saw-edged, and strongly veined ; the stem has a line of soft haii-s ruiming up each side of it. The ivy-leaved speedwell generally occui's as a weed of cultivation in gardens, fields, and on banks. It grows close to the ground, and its pale blue stalked flowers grow in the axils of the leaves. It is easily distinguished from the other speedwells by the shape of its leaves. 54 to 60 belong to the Labiates. Mentha aquatica, water mint, may be discerned from the other mints by the fact that it bears its flowers in a terminal blunt head, as well as in axillary clusters. This separates it from one-half of the British species. It diff'ers from the remaining species in its stalked ovate leaves. The triangular teeth of the calyx, and its coarser peiiume, further dis- tinguish it from M. piperita, peppermint, to which it is the nearest. Thijmus Serpyllum, wild thyme, will be known by its trailing habit, its tiny fringed leaves, its perfume, and its whorls and heads of red gaping flowers. It is however believed that our British plant has been wrongly named ; it ought to be set down as T. Chamcedrys. Prunella vulgaris, self-heal, may be easily known by its short, blunt, somewhat quadrangailar spike of purplish blossoms. Nepeta Glechoma, ground ivy, is a trailing plant of our woods and hedgerow bottoms. It comes into flower early in spring, and bears three or four flowers in a cluster. Its leaves are roundish kidney-shaped, with crenate or scolloped edges. The whole plant has a strong, peculiar, and not unpleasant perfume. Galeopisis Tetrahit, hemp-nettle, is a coarse plant of our corn-fields, with a square bristly stem, swollen at the joints, and having small pui-plish flowers flecked with white. Stachys sylva- tica, hedge woundwort, is a still larger plant with large cordate leaves, and frequent whorls of reddish-purple flowers ; it grows in woods and waste places. Ajuya reptans, bugle, is a spiing flower, appearing in our moist meadows and woods. Its shoots spread on the ground, and its blue flowers are borne in a short, stiff, pyramidal spike. 62, Plantago lanceolata, ribwort plantain, is common in all mea- dows and pastures. Its short cylindrical spike of unattractive flowers is borne on a long fuiTowed scape. 48 REV. DR. HIXD — NOTES ON THE PLANTS OF AVniCH 63, Mercurialis perennis, dog's mercury, is one of the earliest plants of our hedgerows and woods. It bears its green flowers in lax spikes ; the male and female on different plants. Its fresh green leaves form the first furnishing of oui' hedgerows. 64, Ulmus montana, wych elm, is of rare occuiTenoe in this neighbourhood. It is of more branching habit than the Ulmus suberosa, common, or cork-bark elm. It has also larger, rougher, and more acuminate leaves, and its fruit grows in hop-like clusters. 65, Salix caprea, great sallow, may be known from the other members of this large genus by its large, broad oval, or rounded leaves. As it bears its catkins before its leaves, it is not so easily recognised when in flower. 69, Narcissus Pseudo-narcissus, daffodil, locally called Lent-lily. I need not point out any distinguishing features of this well-known gay flower. Though it occurs so plentifully in this neighbourhood, I fear that in none of the places where I have found it, it can prefer a claim to be considered indigenous. 71, Endymion nutans^ bluebell, is one of the best known plants of our country, coming into flower with the advancing spring, just as our primroses and earlier flowers are beginning to wane, and adorning our copses and hedge banks with its nodding spikes of bright blue blossoms. This closes the list. Scientific botanists will, I trust, excuse me for having added nothing to their previous knowledge. Learners and non-botanists will, I hope, kindly accept the few meagre hints which I have given them to enable them to recognise the plants with respect to which their observations are invited. There is no part of our published Floras that I so much distrust as the recorded times of flowering ; and it is at least desirable that these should be stated as exactly as possible. It is obvious, however, that this gain would not satisfy the Meteorological Society. In ascertaining and recording the local phenomena of the vegetable and animal kingdom throughout this country, and the differences of the same from year to year, they are laying the foundation of a more accurate know- ledge of the climate of this country, and of its relation to animal and vegetable life. This is a matter in whicli all are directly interested, and in carrying out which all should be ready to lend a hand. Surely the Watford Natural History Society will not be the last to help on so good a work ! In the Instructions of the Meteorological Society the following remarks are contributed by the llev. T. A. Preston, ^I.A., and as the species of which he treats are not referred to above, are here appended. 1, Anemone ncmorosa. When it first comes up the flower is bent downwards, and tlie stamens are visible long before tlie plant can be fairly said to be in lluwcr. Perhaps no specimen should be con- sidered to be in flower till the flower is turned upwards. 3, Ranunmlus acris. There are three plants very similar to one THE TIME OF FLOWEEIIN-G SHOULD BE OBSERVED. 49 another as regards the flowers. This species is kno-mi at once by its round flower-stalks (the other two have them channelled). 5, Papaver Rhoeas. Known by the hairs on the flower-stalk spreading at right-angles to it, not pressed close. It is not the first poppy in flower, and hence care must be taken to observe whether any particular specimen belongs to this species or not. 9, Viola odorata. Care must be taken to observe truly wild specimens, as it is in flower, when under cultivation, long before its wild brethren. 20, Vicia septum. Xot to be confounded with Vicia sativa, which has the flowers solitary, or rarely two together, whilst V. sepium has the flowers three or four together. 22, Primus spinosa. There are three species, united by some persons into one under the name of P. commtmis. As a general rule P. spinosa flowers before the expansion of the leaves. It has not unfrequently been confounded with the hawthorn ( Cratcegus Oxya- canthaj, and it will be well for intending observers to understand the numerous and obvious differences between the two. 25, PotcntiUa Fragariastrum bears some resemblance to the strawberry (Fragaria vescaj. It flowers very much earlier (though some specimens of F. vesca are occasionally found at the same time). The most obvious characteristic between the two is the fact that the sepals of P. Fragariastrum close over the fruit after flowering, whilst they remain expanded in F. vesca ; it is also a much more delicate plant than F. vesca, but a comparison of the actual spe- cimens will alone enable beginners to discriminate between the two. 42, Centaiirea nigra. Large specimens are not, at first sight, very dissimilar from those of C. scabiosa : C. nigra has the leaves lanceolate ; C. scaliosa has them deeply divided in a pinnate manner. 63, Mercurialis pere)inis ; 65, Salix caprea ; 66, Corylus AveUava. The opening of both the barren and the fertile flowers of these three should be noted. 67, Orchis macidata. jSTot to be confounded with 0. mascula, the early pui-ple orchis. This species has pale lilac flowers, and comes into flower when 0. mascula is very nearly over. 70, Galanthus nivalis. In warm gardens this comes oiit early ; hence locality must be noted, as well as the fact whether plants are generally coming into bloom elsewhere. It may be considered to be in flower when the heads hang down. VOL. I. — PT. II. 50 6. — !N'oTES ON THE Observation of Insects in Connexion with Investigations on Seasonal Phenomena. By Arthur Cottam, F.E.A.S. [Read 13th May, 1875.] The Ecport prepared by Mr. K. McLachlan, F.L.S., for the Meteorological Society, as to insects proper to be observed in connexion with seasonal phenomena, temperature, etc., is so excellent that there is but little I can add to it. The selection of insects made by Mr. McLachlan as suitable for the purpose appears to me a veiy judicious one, and although the number is small — eight only — I believe these will be found to be amply sufficient. They are all insects that will be known to most persons who are at all in the habit of observing natural objects, or which can, at all events, be readily identified by any one desirous to make them out. There is just a possibility, but hardly a probability, of making a mistake between the two white cabbage butterflies. It is not always safe to trust to the difference in size, as I have often seen specimens of the large one as small as, or even smaller than, normal specimens of the small white cabbage butterfly. There is a greater likelihood of mistaking the green-veined white for the smaller cabbage white, unless the markings on the underside are carefully examined. The colour and markings of the two cabbage butterflies are somewhat similar, but the underside of the green-veined white is quite distinct. The green- veined white often appears quite as early as the small cabbage, is as nearly as possible the same size, and it also feeds upon one of the cabbage tribe — Brassica Napus, after which it is called Puris Napi. The meadow-brown butterfly is at the time it makes its appearance, towards the end of June, very much the commonest of all the brown butterflies. There are one or two other species out at the same time, but they have to be sought for in woods, or, at all events, are not to be found in every meadow, and in fact everywhere, as the moadow-broAvn usually is. Mr McLachlan suggests that occasional appearances in unusual numbers of any insects should be noted. These occasional appear- ances are one of the greatest puzzles to entomologists, and at present are not in any way satisfactorily accounted for. One of the butterflies referred to, the pale clouded yellow, was very abundant in 1846, and scarce from that year till 1868, when it was positively commoner than almost any other butterfly all along the south coast. At Margate and Westgate I saw it flying twenty or thirty at a time, and I could without difficulty have taken a couple of hundred in the course of a week. Probably not one in twenty of all that there were, were taken, and yet hardly a specimen has been seen since. Vanessa Cardui was also common that year; and in 1872, Vanessa Anfiopa, the rare C'amberwell beauty, was tolerably abundant, but only one or two stray speci- mens have been seen or taken since. A. COTTAir OBSEEVATION OP INSECTS. 51 The Entomology of "Watford and its neighbourhood has never, that I am aware of, been worked, or if it has, there is no record of our fauna, so that there is an excellent field for work here ; and I would ask the lady members of our Society to help us in this matter, for so many insects are entirely day-fliers, and can only be observed or taken in the mid-day sunshine, when com- paratively few gentlemen have leisure or opportunity to be out in the country, that, with the butterflies especially, we shall have to trust very much to our lady friends to look out for their appearance. I append the remarks of Mr. McLachlan, given in the Meteoro- logical Society's * Instructions. ' The time of first appearance of any particular species sliould be carefully noted, as also the time when it becomes common. This is especially necessary -with the two white butterflies, for, as certain larvae of these often enter houses and other buildings in order to undergo their transformations, it foUows that these will necessarily be developed before the main body of individixals that pass through their transformations out of doors. Notes on the species here follow : — '^'^ 72. The appearance of the cock-chafer may be taken as an indication of the near approach of summer. 73. The fern-chafer is a beetle much like the cock-chafer in appearance, but very much smaller. It flies in swarms in the evening round any object (trees, the observer, etc.), and indicates that summer has fairly set in. 74. The honey-bee need not be observed after the end of March in spring, or before the end of October in autumn. 75. 76. The Uvo white cabbage-butterflies need only be noticed in their vernal broods. F. Rapce always appears before P. Brassicce, and care must be taken to avoid mistaking for the latter, hybernated females of Gonopteryx Rhatnni (the brimstone butterfly) , which appear in fine sunny weather from the earliest advent of spring or the end of winter. [Records of the first appearance of this butterfly will, however, be useful.] 77. The meadow-brown butterfly may be taken as indicating summer. 78. St. Mark's fly is a large intensely black hairy dipterous insect with rather long legs, appearing generally about St. Mark's Day (April 2oth), and lasting for a very short time. 79. The winter-gnat dances in the air (singly or in little swarms) throughout the winter, excepting during the hardest frosts. A continuous record of its ap- pearance shoxild be kept from Christmas to the end of March. Occasional appearances in unusual numbers. — It is well known that certain insects appear occasionally in enormous numbers, and then are comparatively rare, or disappear altogether, for a series of years. Vanessa Cardui (the painted lady butterfly), Colias Edusa and Sijale (the clouded-yellow butterflies), Sphinx Con- volvuli (the convolvulus hawk-moth), are familiar examples. Such exceptional occurrences should be carefully noticed. Meteorologists may thus possibly throw light upon phenomena that have never been satisfactorily accounted for by natiiralists. * The numbers prefixed to these notes refer to the list of the species, which will be foimd at page 37. 52 7. — On the PLEAsruES and Advantages to be deeited feom a Study of Natueal Histoey, and moee paetictjiaelt feom the Obseevation of Bieds. By J. E. IIakting, F.L.S., F.Z.S. [Eead 13th May, 1875.] TiiEEE are few studies better calculated to expand the mind and gratify our natural thirst for knowledge than the study of IS'atural History. The relation between organized beings and the circum- stances by which they are surroundc>tl ; the structure of certain organs which necessitate a modification of others, and fix the mode of existence ; the varieties produced by accident, and the species designedly preserved distinct ; in fine, the astonishing results of that mysterious cause termed instinct; all these are surely subjects of the highest interest, and constitute the peculiar charm of Zoo- logy. And yet, how few there are, comparatively, who perceive any interest in the study ! When conversing with persons who have resided in the country all their lives, it has frequently been a matter of surprise to me to observe how little information they possess, even as regards the commonest objects which surround them, and which contribute so much, either dii'ectly or indirectly, to their happiness. The most ordinary plants which grow in the hedgerows, the commonest bii-ds and insects which cross their path, are daily passed unheeded and uncared for, and are scarcely even known by their proper names. Should you venture to point out to them that a particular plant is of use as a medicine, that another produces a beautiful dye, or that a third, which is very troublesome as a weed, fonns the chief food of certain small birds which they thoughtlessly destroy, they appear quite astonished. Should you call their attention to a beetle, and inform them that its larva, or grub, is one of the farmer's worst enemies, while another, to be seen further on, is of great service in burying decayed animal substances, and in preying upon refuse of all kinds, they express surprise that they shoiild never have made that discovery before. It is to bo regretted that these persons make so little use of their eyes, and profit so little of the advantages by which they are surrounded. With many, probably, this proceeds from a misapprehension of the term "Zoology," or "Natural History." They consider the subject, as they say, "too scientific for them," and imagine that it necessitates a great amount of wliat is called "book learning." But this is a mistake. All that is required is a con-ect eye, a good memory, and a method of study, all of which can be wonderfully improved by practice. It is simply the want of attention which makes the discrimination of objects appear difficult; for no sooner do we become acquainted with the trivial distinctions, than we are surprised to find how easy it is to recollect tliem ; and things which appeared Avrapt in mystery then become obvious and familiar to us. J. E. HASTING — STUDY OF NATITKAX HISTOEY. 53 Or possibly their indifference may proceed from a contemptuous opinion of what they are pleased to term a childish pursuit. But here again how mistaken is their idea. It surely cannot be childish to labour at acquiring knowledge, and we know from experience that the application of knowledge is power. The author of that pleasant little book, ' Glaucus ; or, the "Wonders of the Shore,' says: — "Let no one think that Natural History is a pursuit fitted only for efi'eminate or pedantic men. We should say rather that the qualifications required for a perfect naturalist are as many and as lofty as were required by old chivalrous writers for the perfect knight-errant of the middle ages ; for our perfect naturalist should be strong in body, able to haul a dredge, climb a rock, turn a boulder, walk all day, uncertain where he shall eat or rest ; ready to face sun and rain, wind and frost, and eat or drink thankfully anything, however coarse or meagre ; he should know how to swim for his life, to pull an oar, sail a boat, and ride the first horse which comes to hand ; and, finally, he should be a good shot and a skilful fisherman, and if he go far abroad, be able on occasion to fight for his life. ' ' For his moral character he must, like a knight of old, be first of all gentle and courteous, ready and able to ingratiate himself with the poor, the ignorant, and the savage ; not only because foreign travel will be often otherwise impossible, but because he knows how much invaluable local information can be only obtained from fishermen, miners, hunters, and tillers of the soil. !Next, he should be brave and enterprising, and withal patient and undaunted — not merely in travel, but in investigation. He must be of a reverent turn of mind also ; not rashly discrediting any reports, however vague and fragmentary ; giving man credit always for some germ of truth, and giving Nature credit for an inexhaustible fertility and variety, which will keep him his life long always reverent, yet never superstitious, wondering at the commonest, but not surprised by the most strange. " Moreover, he must keep himself free from all those perturbations of mind, which not only weaken energy, but darken and confuse the inductive faculty ; from haste, and laziness ; from melancholy, testiness, pride, and all the passions which make men see only what they wish to see. Of solemn and scrupulous reverence for truth ; for without truthfulness, science would be as impossible now as chivalry would have been of old. And last, but not least, the perfect naturalist should have in him the very essence of true chivalry, namely, seK-devotion ; the desire to advance, not himself and his own fame or wealth, but knowledge and mankind. The spirit which gives freely, because it knows that it has received freely ; which communicates knowledge without hope of reward, without jealousy and mean rivalry, to fellow-students and to the world." This is but an ideal sketch, but nevertheless one worthy of se- rioiis consideration ; for although it be impossible and absurd to wish that every one should grow up a naturalist by profession, yet this 54 J. E. nARTING — STUDY OF XATUEAL niSTOKY age offers no more wholesome training, both moral and intellectual, than that which is given by a taste lor outdoor physical science. HaA-ing learnt, then, what are the requirements of a naturalist, let us proceed to consider the pleasures and advantages which proceed from such a profession. How many there are who take a walk as they would take a draught or a pill, merely for the benefit of health ; and how many others there are who refrain fi'om walking altogether, because, as they say, "there is nothing to go out for — nothing to see!" Truly, a walk without an object, unless in the most lovely and novel of sceneiy, is a poor exercise, and as a recreation utterly nil ; but having once an object in view, as those have who take up any particular branch of Natural History, they derive a positive pleasure from their walks, and a gain in mind as well as in body. Anon, when viewing new scenes, and new objects which compose them, comes the pleasure of discovery, the pleasure of finding sometliing which they have never seen before — a pleasure which is so delight- ■ful, and yet so difficult to define, but one which leaves a lasting impression upon the memory. Then, too, may be considered that pleasure which results from a feeling of complete rest, when the mind is diverted for a time from the more serious duties and cares of life, and we experience a benefit as regards the mind analogous to that resulting from change of air to the body. Who is there who has not experienced the delightful sensation of having left for a while the City and its tumult, to see the country and inhale its purer air ? Many of you will, no doubt, remember those beautiful lines of Longfellow : — " If thou art worn and hard beset With sorrows that thou -woukl'st forfjet, If thou would'st read a lesson that will keep Tliy heart from fainting- and thy soul from sleep, Go to the woods and hills ! Xo" tears Dim the sweet look that Nature wears." Tennyson, also, in his 'TwoYoices,' alludes to the elevation of soul which follows from a contemplation of Nature : — " I wonder'd while I paced along : The woods were filled so full with song, There seem'd no room for sense of wi'ong, So variously seem'd all things wrought I marvel'd how the mind was brought To anchor by one gloomy thought." In close attendance upon this last-named pleasure is that feeling of reverence and inward satisfaction, arising from a con-viction of the superintendence exercised by the Creator over all His creatures, and of His goodness and bounty in our regard. Surely these are pleasures sufficient to tempt the most indifferent to investigate His marvellous Avorks ! Linnaous tells us that ho who does not make himself acquainted Avith (Jod from a consideration of Nature, will scarcely acquire^ a knowledge of Him from any other source ; for if we have no faith in the things which are seen, how shall we believe those things which are not seen ? AND THE OBSEEVATION OF BIEDS. 55 As we come to understand the relations and mode of existence in the varioiis organisms by which we are surrounded, and observe the wonderful adaptation of structure to habits, we are compelled to admit that one of the chief advantages of the study is our great gain in knowledge. The number of new facts which may be daily acquired by practical outdoor observation is almost incredible. Consider for a moment the extent of the Animal, the Vegetable, or the Mineral Kingdom. Consider what a world in itself is each of these, and what a multitude of facts may be gathered concerning a single class in any one of them ; nay, concerning even a single species. An eminent statesman,* in a speech delivered some time since at the opening of a School of Science, aptly showed that amongst the advantages resulting from a contemplation of natural objects were the triumphs of science which had been effected by the application of experience thereby gained. " The shell of the lobster suggested the strong tube to Watt ; the earthworm the tunnel to Brunei ; the bii-d's wing produced the oar; the gyrations of a hawk the wheel; while the plough was founded on intelKgent observation of certain practices of the pig." Be this as it may, there can be no doubt that a correct knowledge of natural objects is of very great assist- ance to us when endeavouring to delineate them, and many of the improvements observable in painting, sculpture, and other arts, is, in a great measure, attributable to a more truthful representation of Nature. The occupation which a study of Natural History gives to the mind is a further advantage, not only to ourselves, but to others, and cannot be too highly estimated ; for while it diverts the mind from what is sensual and degrading, and induces a greater tone of reverence, it at the same time suggests practical results beneficial to our fellow-creatures. It only remains for us to consider, then, in what way we may gain the object in view, and derive the pleasures and advantages of which I have spoken. In the first place, the art of seeing is indis- pensable, and this, coupled with a good memory and a method of study, will form the basis of operations. It is chiefly because people neither use their eyes sufficiently, nor exercise their memory, that they remain so long in ignorance of important truths. It is wonderful how sharp the sight may become by practice, and the close observer of Nature will detect the most beautiful though minute objects, which a casual observer would pass unnoticed. To all of us this faculty is a natural gift, but how few, alas ! exercise it. It is true, with some it is ever active, and increases in proportion as it is called forth. With others it lies dormant, and is only aroused when they are convinced that some advantage will follow from its exercise. * The Right Hon. "W. E. Gladstone, Speech delivered at the opening of the School of Science, Liverpool, Octoher, 1861. 56 J. E. HAETIXG — STUDY OF XATUEAL niSTORT It is to the latter class that I propose chiefly to address myself, and to point out to them certain land-marks, as it were, in the wide field of Oniitholog^y, -which may guide them to a discoveiy of pleasures as yet unknown, and enable them to reap the advantages of which I have spoken. Our first difficulty in commencing the study of Ornithology, and, indeed, any branch of Natural History, is the vastness of the subject, and hence, to avoid confusion, and to reduce our daily observations to order, some method of study is absolutely necessaiy. It is desirable in the onset to make oneself acc^uainted with certain general, well-defined characters, which in every Order of Birds arc found to connect all the families, genera, and species in that Order. When we are able to state from an examination of any particular species to what Order it belongs, we have already made a step in advance. The consideration of other characteristics will enable lis to point to a particular family in the Order to which the species in question must be rofeiTcd ; and as we become acquainted with more minute details of form and structure, we can fix with tolerable certainty even the genus to which the individual belongs. Having thus narrowed the limits of our inquiry, it is not difficult at length to identify the species itself. And then the real pleasure in the study begins. So soon as we have acquired a knowledge of the outward form and appearance of a species, we are in a position to observe and appreciate its modification of structure in accordance with its habits, its peculiarities of carriage and gait, its mode of flight, method of nesting, number and colour of its eggs, its manner of feeding, the nature of its food, the character of its song or cry, and many other interesting details concerning it. Let me illustrate my meaning by pointing out that in the Order Raptores, or Birds of Prey, all the species are characterized by their possession of a strong hooked bill, the edges of the upper mandible being notched or indented and very shai-p, to enable them to kill and cut up the living animals upon which they feed. The legs and feet are strong, the latter armed with long, curved, and sharp claws to grasp and fii-mly hold the resisting prey. The legs are bare as in the hawks, or feathered as in the owls. The wings are long and pointed as in the true falcons, or short and rounded as in the owls. The flight is rapid and capable of being long sustained. In the Order Insessorcs, or Perching Birds, the bill is short and comparatively straight, and either conical or wedge-shaped for splitting seeds, nuts, and other hard food, or weak and slender where the food consists of insects or tender shoots and buds of various kinds. The legs are short, with toes and claws well formed for grasping and securing a hold amongst the branches, where most of their time is spent. The wings are short, rounded, and com- paratively feeble, not being required for such active employment or speed as in the Birds of Prey. In the Order Rasores, or Scrapers, amongst which are included the pigeons and game birds, the bill is short, robust, and specially adapted for seizing grain and culling the tops and shoots of various AJfD THE OBSEKVATIOX OF BIEDS. 57 plants upon wMch these birds subsist. The legs and toes are short, admirably adapted for -walking and running upon a plane surface, the claws reduced to mere nails, which are useful in scraping and clearing away the surface soil in a search after fallen seeds or lurking insects. The wings, comparatively short and rounded, are capable of moderate and tolerably well-sustained flight. In the Order Grallatores, or Wading Birds, the long and slender legs enable their owners to wade in shallow water and marshy places, where they seek the food which their long bills enable them to seize below the surface, while their long toes, which in many species are semi-palmated or partially webbed, support them with ease upon the yielding mud or ooze upon which they walk. In most species the bill is longitudinally grooved for a considerable portion of its length, and in some, as in the true snipes, the extremity is dilated and sensitive. The Natatores, or Swimming Birds, are characterized by their webbed feet, and in most cases by having the bill compressed vertically instead of laterally, without any of the longitudinal grooves or furrows in it which are observable in the bills of the Grallatorial Birds. The feet, as a rule, are placed far back, which gives the owners a somewhat awkward appearance and waddling gait on land, although their actions are graceful enough when in the water, their natural element. On observing a species for the first time, there ought to be no great difficulty in assigning it a position in one or other of these large groups, or Orders as they are termed; and the process of narrowing the limits of this position is, as I have pointed out, gradually effected as we become acquainted with the various modi- fications of structiu'e upon which families and genera have, for the sake of convenience, been based. "A good ornithologist," says Gilbert "WTiite, "should be able to distinguish birds by their air as well as by their colours and shape ; on the ground, as well as on the wing ; and in the bush, as well as in the hand. Por though it must not be said that every species of bird has a manner peculiar to itself, yet there is some- what, in most genera at least, that at first sight discriminates them, and enables a judicious observer to pronounce upon them with some certainty. Put a bird in motion, ' et vera incessu patuit .' "Thus kites and buzzards sail round in circles with wings ex- panded and motionless ; and it is from their gliding manner that the former are still called in the north of England ' gleads, ' from the Saxon verb glidan, to glide. The kestrel or wind-hover has a peculiar mode of hanging in the air in one place, his wings all the while being briskly agitated. Hen-harriers fly low over heaths or fields of com, and beat the ground regularly Like a pointer or setting dog. " Owls move in a buoyant manner, as if lighter than the air ; they seem to want ballast. There is a peculiarity belonging to ravens that must di'aw the attention even of the most incurious. They 68 J. E. HARTIXG — STUDY OF N^ATtTEAX HISTOET spend all their leisure time in striking and cuffing each other on the wing in a kind of playful skii'mish ; and when they move from one place to anotlicr, frocjuently turn on their- backs -with a loud croak, and seem to be falling to the ground. AVhcn this odd gesture betides them, they are scratching themselves with one foot, and thus lose the centre of gravity. Eooks sometimes dive and tumble in a frolicsome manner ; crows and daws swagger in their walk ; woodpeckers fly volatii undoso, opening and closing their wings at every stroke, and so are always rising or falling in curves. All of this genus use their tails, which incline downward, as a support while they run up trees. Parrots, like all other hooked-clawed birds, walk awkwardly, and make use of their bills as a third foot, climbing and descending with ridiculous caution. " All the Gallince parade and walk gracefully, and run nimbly, but fly with difficulty, with an impetuous whirring, and in a straight line. Magpies and jays flutter with powerless wings, and make no dispatch ; herons seem encumbered with too much sail for their light bodies ; but these vast hollow wings are necessaiy in carrying burdens, such as large fishes and the like ; pigeons, and particularly the sort called smiters, have a way of clashing their wings the one against the other over their backs with a loud snap ; another variety, called tumblers, turn themselves over in the air. Some birds have movements peculiar to the seasons : thus ring-doves, though strong and rapid at other times, yet in the spring hang about on the wing in a playful manner; thus the cock snipe, forgetting his former flight, fans the air like the wind-hover ; and the greenfinch, in particular, exhibits such languishing and faltering gestures, as to appear like a wounded and dying bii'd ; the king- fisher darts along like an arrow ; fern-owls, or goat-suckers, glance in the dusk over the tops of trees like a meteor ; starlings, as it were, swim along ; while missel-thrushes use a wild and desultory flight ; swallows sweep over the surface of the ground and water, and distinguish themselves by rapid turns and quick evolutions ; swifts dash round in circles ; and the bank-martin moves with frequent vacillations like a butterfly. Most of the small birds fly by jerks, rising and falling as they advance. Most small birds hop ; but wagtails and larks walk, moving their legs alternately. Skylarks rise and fall perpendicularly as they sing ; woodlarks hang poised in the air ; and titlarks rise and fall in large curves, singing in their descent. The whitethroat uses odd jerks and ges- ticulations over the tops of liedges and bushes. All the duck kind waddle ; divers and auks walk as if fettered, and stand erect on their tails ; these are the compedes of Linnaeus. Geese and cranes, and most wild fowls, move in figured flights, often changing their position. Dab-chicks, moorhens, and coots fly erect, witli their legs hanging down, and hardly make any dispatch ; the reason is plain, their wings are placed too forward out of the true centre of gravity, as the legs of auks and divers are situated too backward. "From i\\c motion of birds, the transition is natural enough to their notes and lanc;ua";e The notes of the eagle kind are AKD THE OBSEETATIOJf OF BIEDS. 69 shrill and piercing, and about the season of nidification much diversified The notes of our hawks much resemble those of the king of birds. Owls have very expressive notes ; they hoot in a fine vocal sound, much resembling the vox hiimana, and reducible by a pitch pipe to a musical key. This note seems to express com- placency and rivahy among the males ; they use also a quick call and a horrible scream, and can snore and hiss when they mean to menace. Eavens, besides their loud croak, can exert a deep and solemn note that makes the woods to echo ; the sound of a crow is strange and ridiculous ; rooks, in the hatching season, attempt sometimes, in the gaiety of their hearts, to sing, but with no great success ; the parrot kiad have many modulations of voice, as appears by their aptitude to learn human sounds ; doves coo in a mommful manner, and are emblems of despairing lovers ; the woodpecker sets up a sort of loud and hearty laugh ; the fem-'Owl, or goat- sucker, from the dusk till daybreak, serenades his mate with the clattering of castanets. All the tuneful Passeres express their complacency by sweet modulations, and a variety of melody. The swallow, .... by a shrill alarm, bespeaks the attention of the other Hirundines, and bids them be aware that the hawk is at hand. Aquatic and gregarious birds, especially the nocturnal, that shift their quarters in the dark, are very noisy and loquacious, as cranes, wild-geese, wild-ducks, and the like ; their perpetual clamour prevents them from dispersing and losing theii- companions." In so extensive a subject, as Gilbert White says, sketches and outlines are as much as can be expected, for it would be endless to instance all the infinite variety of the feathered nation. The number of species which have more or less claim to be in- cluded in a list of British Birds is 395. Of these, in round numbers, 130 are Residents ; 100 Periodical Migi-ants; and 30 Annual Visi- tants ; the remainder being Rare and Accidental Visitants. By Residents I mean those species which rear their young annu- ally in the British Islands, and are to be found in some part or other of the United Kingdom thi-oughout the year. Of these many, like the kestrel, song thrush, linnet, and pied wagtaU, are par- tially migratory. Nevertheless, as specimens of all may be obtained in some locality or other during every month in the year, they may be regarded for all practical pui-poses as residents. Periodical Migrants are those which visit us annually and regu- larly at particular seasons, and whose advent and departure may be dated in advance with considerable precision. Of these we have familiar examples in the swallow and nightingale, which come here for the summer, and the redwing and fieldfare, which spend the winter with us ; whilst others, like most of the sandpipers, perform a double migration, and pass thi'ough the country twice a year, viz. in spring and autumn. The Anmial Visitants comprise those which occur in some part of the British Islands annually, but comparatively in very limited numbers, and at irregular and uncertain intervals. The month in which some or one of them may be expected may be named ; but 60 J. E. HARTINO — STUDY OF NATUEAL inSTOEY the uncertainty of their arrival in any particular county precludes their being placed with the Periodical Migrants, Amongst these may be mentioned the golden oriole, the hoopoe, the waxwing, the Lapland bunting, and others. The Rare and Accidental Visitants form a large proportion of the total number of species in the British list, being at present 135 out of 395, or rather more than one-third of the whole. If from these we exclude the gulls, tems, and petrels, many of which are almost cosmopolitan in their distribution, it will be found that of the remainder 48 are European, 14 Asiatic, 11 African, and 42 American in their origin. I need not dwell longer upon this portion of the subject, although of considerable interest, for I have discussed it at some length in the Introduction to my ' Handbook of British Birds,' which may be found in the Library of this Society. You are no doubt aware of the steps which have been taken by the Meteorological Society to obtain a record of periodical natural phenomena ; and you have probably already perused the published observations by Professor Newton addressed to that Society, and entitled, " Suggestions as to the Acts of Biixls most proper to be observed by Meteorologists." These suggestions are excellent in their way, and I do not know that I can do better than enumerate the species of birds which he recommends to be observed, and refer you to his remarks under the head of each. The birds named by him are the Tawny Owl, Spotted Flycatcher, Song Thrush, Fieldfare, IVightingale, Wheatear, Willow "Wren, Chiff Chaff, Skylark, Chaffinch, i-!ook, Cuckoo, Swallow, Swift, Turtle Dove, Partridge, Woodcock. The connexion between the habits of birds and meteorological conditions has been insisted on by many authors, but few have brought forward any facts in support of their assertions. The subject is one which members of a Society like this may well in- vestigate ; and, indeed, it is desirable that as many as can do so should co-operate with the Meteorological Society in carrying out the object in view. The birds recommended to be observed are all of well-known species, and are either pretty widely distributed Lq these islands, or excite pretty general interest ; while the peculi- arities recommended to be observed in them are of a kind that may be readily noticed by persons who possess no special knowledge of ornithology, but are nevertheless accustomed to walk about with their eyes and ears open. The class of birds, however, to which, at this season of the year, I would especially direct your attention are the Periodical Migrants. All our summer birds have by this time arrived, and when I state that they belong to some tliirty ditt'eri'nt species at least, it will be reatlily understood how mucli their presence or absence must add to, or detract from, tlie appearance and beauty of a landscape. There is sometliing almost mystei-ious in the Avay in which we find numbers of these small and delicately formed birds scattered AND THE OBSEEYATION' OF BIKDS. 61 in one day over a parisli where, on the previous day, not one was to be seen ; and the manner of their arrival is scarcely more re- markable than the regularity with which they annually make their appearance. The subject of migration, as I have elsewhere pointed out, is a curious one, and the laws which govern it are yet imperfectly understood ; but to advance here all that might be said in regard to it would be beyond the limits of the present paper. It appears highly probable from their constitution that most birds incline to remarQ as much as possible in the same temferature throughout the year, and hence their gradual movements north and south as they feel the effects of heat and cold. If a sudden change comes, like a sharp frost, we find birds lying dead under the hedges. This is a proof of their sensitiveness. Some species, better able to endure cold, but still averse to it, if they do not die, disappear suddenly, and we are often surprised at the extraordinary scarcity of a species one day which on the previous day was plentiful. I have always attributed the cause to sudden change of weather. JVo doubt the abundance or scarcity of food has some influence upon bii'ds in their migration, but not to the same extent, I conceive, as change of temperature. By wonderful instinct birds will follow cultivation, and make themselves denizens of new regions. The crossbill has followed the introduction of the apple into England. Glenco, in the Highlands of Scotland, never knew the partridge till its farmers of late years introduced corn into their lands ; nor did the sparrow appear in Siberia until the Eussians had made arable the vast wastes of that part of their dominions. For those who reside in the country, and have both taste and leisure to observe the movements and habits of birds, I do not know a more entertaining occupation than that of noting the earliest arrival of the migratory species, the haunts which they select, and the proportions in which they are distributed. In 1872, through the medium of the Natural History columns of 'The Field,' I distributed a number of copies of a 'Calendar of Ornithology,' and invited the co-operation of naturalists in different parts of the country in collecting and arranging statistics, from which I hoped to derive some very interesting results. Eeferring to the utilization of such observations, I remarked that upon various points some addition to our knowledge seemed desirable. Amongst other interesting facts, for example, might be ascertained the precise line of dii'ection in which various species migrate ; the causes which necessitate a divergence from this line ; the relative proportions in which different species visit us ; the causes which influence the abundance or scarcity of a species in particular locali- ties ; the result of too great a preponderance of one species over another, whether beneficial or otherwise to man as a cultivator of the soil ; the simultaneity or otherwise of their departure from this country in autumn ; the causes operating to retard such departure, and so forth. All these are matters of interest, especially to those 62 J. E. HAKTING SirCT OF NATUEAL HISTOllY. who reside in the countiy and have leisure to inquire into the subject. Of the calendars which I distributed, twenty-six were filled up in dififerent parts of the countiy and returned to me ; and I thereupon prepared a report upon the results obtained, which was published in the Natural Histoiy columns of 'The Field,' and subsequently reprinted at my request for private distribution. It seems to me that this Society may assist veiy materially in carrying out such a scheme, and I have accordingly handed copies of the ' Calendar ' and of the ' Eeport' to our Secretary for the Library, and I shall be happy to distribute further copies to such of our members as may feel disposed to take up the subject. To those who, like our- selves, reside in the country, and have leisure to observe and to note their observations, the practice of keeping an annual record or register especially commends itself ; for besides being an agreeable occupation, it sooner or later furnishes the means for drawing important conclusions from trustworthy data. Nor need it be con- sidered a selfish gratification, when we remember that one of the most delightfiil books ever published upon Natural History owed its origin to the author's habit of systematically noting eveiy natural occurrence or phenomenon which seemed worthy of futm-e consider- ation. So important did such a practice appear to him tliat he remarked : "If stationary men would pay some attention to the districts in which they reside, and would publish their thoughts respecting the objects that surround them, fi'om such materials might be drawn the most complete county histories, which are still wanting in many parts of the kingdom." In this respect the historian of Selborne set an excellent example in liis own district, which we in ours would do well to follow, though we can scarcely expect to do so with a like result. The secret of success consists in knowing "how, when, and where to observe," — a knowledge which all may attain, but which can be acquired only by method and by practice. If the foregoing remarks should tend to remove some of the difficulties which seem at starting to beset the path of would-be observers (but which difficiilties indeed are more apparent than real), it will be a gratification to me to have acquiesced in the request of our Secretary by submitting them for your consideration. 63 8. — MlSCELLAJTEOFS InToTES AOT) ObSEKVATION'S. [Read 10th June, 1875.] METEOROLOGY. Rainfall at Watford and Kernel Hempstead. — The following reports of the rainfall at "Watford House, Cassiobmy, and Nash Mills, Hemel Hempstead, for the first quarter of the present year, have been received : — Localities. Watford House. Cassiobury. Nash Mills. Observers. Dr. Brett. Mr. Swanston. John Evans, Esq. January February March 3-68 0-62 1-05 In. 3-90 0-56 1-19 In. 3-13 1-03 0-68 Totals 5-35 5-65 4-84 From the 1873 Report of the Rainfall Committee of the British Association we are enabled to compute the monthly fall of rain at Nash Mills in the decade 1860-1869, the mean annual fall for this period, and the monthly per-centage of the annual fall, being given ia this report. It will be found to be as follows : — January, 2-88 ; February, r58 ; March, 2-03; giving a total for the quarter of 6*49 inches. The rainfall (at Nash Mills) in the first three months of this year was, therefore, rather more than an inch and a half less than the average in the ten years referred to, the difference being due to the small amount of rain that fell ia March. — Ed, GEOLOGY. Mineral Spring at Watford. — In the ' National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland,' under the head of "Watford, in vol. xi., I read, " In 1689 a mineral spring was discovered here, the water of which becomes as black as ink when mixed with nut-galls." I should be glad if you would inquire of the members of the "Watford Natural History Society if such a spring now exists, and where, and its properties, and the analysis of the water. If the spring no longer exists, what is the history of it ? — A. T. Brett, M.I). Botany of Hertfordshire. — During a short excursion in East Herts, in company with Mr. Britten, of the British Museum, I have found the true Myosotis sylvatica in profusion in several localities. This is as good as new to our Hst, as a former record could not be relied on. Poterium muricatu7n, another novelty, Alopecurus fidvus, and other good things, were met with. I have also been able to expunge a good many species from my list of extincts, nearly all of which I have seen growing myself. Lepi- dium Draha and Silene conica have both occurred as casuals, but the former will, as elsewhere, in all probability become established. 64 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES AND OBSEETATIONS. I have been able to extend the range of Carutn Bulho-castanum considerably to the westward, and am not without hope that it may yet be found in the Tring district. — R. A. Fryor, JJ.A., Hatfield. ENTOMOLOGY. Destruction of ati Oak-tree by the LarvcB of the Goat Moth. — For the last three years I have observed with vexation that a tine oak- tree upon my farm, fit to square twenty or twenty-two inches and to live another centiuy or two, has shown strange signs of prema- ture decay. Knowing that there was no reason to suppose that the roots could have tapped any substrata calculated to injure the vitality of the timber, I recently made a careful examination of the trunk. The bark was withered and split in three or four places, as if the tree had been struck by lightning, but as the splits were not vertical or continuous, I could not look on lightning as the real cause. Careful search led to my noticing some small round holes, two at the base and one nearly up at the fork, about the size of a moderate bullet, round the oiifices of which was a kind of black fetid oil, as if a greased and nisty auger had been driven in. From the appearance I assumed that the larva? of the goat moth ( Cossus ligniperda) had taken possession of the tree, and that its days were numbered. Accordingly, on Wednesday the 21st [April] I had it felled, and found that the east side of the bole was riddled by innumerable families of larvae. Many dozens Avere killed on the spot, more withdrew into the trunk and cannot now be reached until the timber is broken up, and I have captured a number which I shall endeavour to rear through the pupa stage to the perfect moth. I fear that nearly all of them, however, are too young for successful operations ; but should I succeed, I will send some specimens properly set up to the Society. It may not be generally known that this insect remains an exceptionally long period (three years) in the larva state, and that only three year olds are easily reared artificially. In this tree there must have been contemporaneously three generations, some specimens being less than half-an-inch long, and of the diameter of the smallest wire, others upwards of two inches, and as substantial as my little finger. The west side of the tree seems curiously free from the honey-combing operations of the grub. Can any members of the Society give me a reason for this ? — /. H. James, Kingswood, Watford. The BeatWs Head Moth at Watford. — The neighbourhood of "Watford is singularly prolific of that fine insect the death's head moth {Acheroniia Atropos), and search in any large potato field towards the end of July will i)robably be successful. AVith perhaps the exception of tlie poi)lar hawk moth [Smerinthus PopuU), none of the larger of our indigenous moths are so easily reared from the larvae as the death's head. — /. If. James. i:/J/.t'.KII' Trans. Watford Nat. Hi.it Soc, Vol.1 fit _, A IHLAP OF ShovdngtlipBistiirts mto whicli is jjj'oposoil divide the Coram' far the iHiistratioii of its BOTANICAL GEOGRAPHY. RUI^uarB.MF.L.S. ISl ^a.ita>te.D?*SoDi 65 9. — On the Botanical "Wokk of the Past Season. By R. A. Pryor, B.A., F.L.S. [Read 11th November, 1875.] (Plate I.) Aftee a good deal of consideration I have found it necessary to make some material alteration alike in the number and limits of the botanical districts into which Hertfordshire has been divided, and to extend the system of river-basins, originally proposed by the late Mr. Coleman, to its fullest and most legitimate develop- ment, by adhering strictly to the natural drainage, and by making the tract of country drained by each stream a separate and in- dependent division. The number of districts thus arrived at will perhaps be con- sidered too large ; but although at first sight the arrangement may appear somewhat cumbersome, it will be found that the practical results more than counterbalance any seeming inconvenience ; nor can there be any real disadvantage in carrying out what is believed to be a sound principle, to its furthest application. The primary separation of the county is, of course, into the two basins of the Ouse and Thames — districts which, in the Floras of the future, will probably be entirely dissociated from each other, and united respectively to those portions of the same river- system with which they are naturally connected, but which are now scattered among the southern and eastern shires. Beginning with that part of the basin of the Ouse which is included in Herts, and which, however, comprises little more than one-eighth of the county at large, we shall find that its western and larger portion is drained by several small streams, which com- bine to form the Ivel, and "move slowly together to Biglesivade, thence to Temsford, and there are united to the great Oivse,'"'^' a short distance below Bedford. The drainage of the other and smaller portion of this division, from Ashwell to Eoyston, is received by the feeders of the Cam, the principal of which, the Rhee,f "comes from a Source of Springs, which spin from small Veins out of a Eock of stone, on the East side of Ashwell^ and joyning together in the space of two Furlongs, make a Torrent that drives a Mill, and on the sudden swells to a fair Eiver, and overtaking the Cam leadeth to Cambridge,'''' % and is soon after- * Chaimcy, Hist. Antiq. Herts, pp. 2, 3. t The names Rliee or Rhe, and Cam, seem to be applied indifferently to the Ashwell and Quendon streams, the two principal of those which unite to form the Graunt, as the Cambridge river is perhaps most properly called. The name Rhee is also, I believe, sometimes given locally to the stream which rises at Baldock, which is generally supposed to be the true Ivel. The words are said to mean in the Celtic respectively " swift" (Rhe) and " crooked or meandering " (Cam). If any weight is to be attached to this etymology, the Ashwell stream should be the true Cam. Cf. Babington, ' Flora of Cambridgeshire,' p. rxii. X Chauncy, I.e. VOL. I. — PT. III. 5 66 E. A. PEYOR — BOTANICAL WOEK OF THE PAST SEASON. wards lost in the ancient channel of the Ouse at a spot formerly called Harrimere, a little to the south of Ely. It will be seen that the two districts thus defined do not cor- respond precisely with those of Messrs. Webb and Coleman. Their floras should be compared with those of Bedfordshire and Cambridge respectively.* By far the larger portion of the county, however, belongs to the basin of the Thames, and is drained entirely by four of its affluents — the Thame, the Colne, the Brent, and the Lea. Our connexion with the first of these is but slight. The waters of a small district to the north of Tring, which are mostly inter- cepted by the reservoirs that supply the Grand Junction Canal, unite in the Thistle Brook, in its present state an insignificant tributary of the Thame, but at one time perhaps a stream of greater importance. Prompted no doubt by some sort of patriotic enthusiasm, our great county historian saw in this petty streamlet one of the principal sources of the Thames itself. "The Thame,'''' he says, "the most famous River of England, issues from three Heads in the Parish of Tring ; the First rises in an Orchard, near the Parsonage house, the second in a place called Dundell, and the other proceeds from a spring named Bulbourne ; which last Stream joyns the other Waters at a place called Neiv Mill, whence all gliding together in one Current thro' Puttenham in this County, pass by Aileshury .... to Thame . . (which borrowed its name from this River), hastneth away to Dorchester . . and then con- gratulates the Isis ; but both emulating each other for the Name. and neither yielding, they are complicated into that of Thamisis.^'j Apart from the direction of the drainage, the physical and geo- logical features of this outlying tract confer upon it an interest quite disproportionate to its actual extent. Its botanical import- ance may be readily anticipated. The Colne, which receives the drainage of the whole of the western division of the county, with the exception of the Tring peninsula, divides in the lower part of its course into numerous irregularly anastomosing channels, and "serving the Town of TJxbridge, it denominates that of Colnbrook, and . . disembogues itself into the Thames"! by several outlets in the neighbour- hood of Staines. * Of several interesting plants which are peculiar to the Ouse division, three — QSnanthe Lachenalii, Grael , Samolus Valeraiidi, L., and Cnrx (iisfntis, L. — arc especially deserving of notice, as being the only representatives in the countj' of that type of vegetation which is most at home in the neighbourhood of the sea, although not always necessarily exposed to its immediate influence, and which may be conveniently called semi-maritime. It would perhaps hardly be safe to conclude that their presence in this instance was connected with some former submergence of the fens. Canz dist glycijphyllus, L. Folygonum minus, Huds. Potentilla Comarum, Nestl. Thesium humifusum, DC. Geum rivale, L. Potamogeton rufescens, Schrad. Sedum dasyphyllum, L. „ obtusifolius, Koch. Smyrniuin Olusatrum, L. Juncus diffusus, Hoppe. Valerianella Auricula, DC. Ekocharis acicularis, 11. Br. Filago gallica, L. Scirpus sylvaticus, L. Senecio eampestris, DC. Carex acuta, L. Gentiana eampestris, L. Aira Jiexuosa, L. Myriophyllum alterniflorum, DC, was inserted in the list of doubtful plants on account of its having been queried in 'Topo- graphical Botany.' I have observed it this year in many of the localities assigned to it in the 'Flora Hertf ordiensis, ' and there can be no doubt that the name was correctly given. So much for the county at large. "With regard to our own district, as limited above, the follow- * This is, however, in all probjil)ility " M. Aqwitica y. glahrata, Kocli," of Fl. Ilts. p. 220, if the spcf^inieu was correctly referred to Koch's phiut. Cf. ' Synops. Flo. Germ.' p. 350 (ed. i.). E. A. PRYOB — BOTANICAL WORK OF THE PAST SEASON. 75 ing species, sub-species, or varieties have not previously been put on record : — Ranunculics floribundus, Bab. ,, peltatus, Fries. ,, pgeudo-jiuitans, Synie. Papaver Lamottei, Bor. Cardamine hirsuta, L. Lepidium ruderale, L. „ eampeslre, L. Viola Riviniana, Reich. Silene puherula, Jord. Arenaria leptoclados, Guss. Sagina ciliata, Fr. Spergula arvensis, L. „ vulgaris, Boenn. Scleranthus biennis, Eeut. Eubm rhamnifolius, W. «fe N. ,, Lindleianus, Lees. „ corylifolius, Sm. „ pallidus, "Weihe. Poterium muricatum, Spach. Rosa dumalis, Bechst. ,, urbica, Leman. ,, tomentella, Leman. Cratcegus oxijacanthoides, Thuill. Seditm Fabaria, Koch. Callitriche pedunculata, DC. Epilobium obscurum, Schreb. Galium elongatum, Presl. Valeriana sambucifolia, Mikan. Arctium majus, Schk. „ minus, Schk. Nardosmia fragrans, Eeich. Filago spathulata, Presl. Lactuca virosa, L. Ramex puMier, L. „ pratensis, M. & K. Atriplex deltoidea, Bab. Salix Woolgariana, Borr. Fotamogeton flabellatus, Bab. Carex acuta, L. ,, paludosa, Good. Glyceria pedicdlata. Towns. ,, plicata, Fries. B ramus racemosus, L. Among the Rickmansworth plants that were mentioned in my previous paper as requiring examination — Potentilla Comarum, Nestl, is still to be found on the Common Moor in some plenty. Ruhus leueostachys, Sm., the true plant, occurs at Rickmansworth. Limosella aqiiatica, L., is still to be found at Elstree, besides the new station at Bricket Wood given in Mr. Cottam's paper in the first part of our 'Transactions.' In the former locality it is accom- panied by Eleoeliaris acicularis, E. Br., and Alopecurus fulvus, Sm. Festuea elatior, L. The Rickmansworth plant is correctly named. Very characteristic specimens occur by the side of the railway on the Common Moor. While we may thus perhaps congratulate ourselves on the results of the work of the past season, some of which I have endeavoured, however imperfectly, to lay before you, it will be seen that much more remains to be accomplished. I venture therefore earnestly to invite your co-operation, in the hope that amidst the various claims upon your attention, the in- vestigation of which is amongst the objects of this Society, the Botany of the Watford District may not be forgotten. I have now only, in concluding, to apologize for having so long trespassed upon your kindness, and to express a regret that I have not had anything more worthy to place before you. Considerable progress has been made in working out the distri- bution of the more recent segregates {vide 'Transactions,' vol. i. pt. i. 76 R. A. PEYOR — BOTANICAL WORK OF THE PAST SEASOX. p. 18). Since the date of the Rev. E. H. Webb's conchiding paper on " Additional Species and Localities," originally published in the 'Herts Mercury,' but reprinted in the 'Journal of Botany' for June, 1872 (vol. i. n.s. p. 182), the following sub-species, varieties, etc., which were not previously on record for Hertford- shire, have been noticed by different observers in the county. Some few have appeared in subsecjuent numbers of the same Journal, but the majority are now published for the first time. Ranunculus peltatits, Fr. „ radians, Eev. ,, submersus, Godr. „ pseudo-Jluitans, Syrae. „ trichophyllus, Chaix. „ Brouetii, Schultz. ,, hederaceus, L., v. homoeophyl- lus, Ten. „ Ficaria, L., v. incimihens, F. Schultz. Caltha Guerangerii, Bor. Papaver Lamottei, Bor. Fumaria Borcei, Jord. Erophila brachycai-pa, Jord. Viola hirta, L., v. calcarea, Bab. „ permixta, Jord. „ sepincola, Jord. „ Eiviniana, Eeich. ,, Reichenbachiana, Jord. Polygala vulgaris, L. (vera). „ oxyptera, Reich. „ depressa, Wend. Arenaria sphasrocarpa. Ten. „ leptoclados, Guss. Spergula arvensis, L. „ vulgaris, Boenng. Scleranthus biennis, Rent. Erodium commixtuin, Jord. „ triviale, Jord. Rosa canina, L., v. lutetiana, Leraan. „ ,, dumalis, Beckst. „ „ tomentella, Leman. CratcRgus oxyacanthoides, Thuill. „ laciniata, Ster. Callitriche hamulata, Kuetz. Epilobium tetragonum, L. (verum). „ obscurum, Schreb. Apium nodijlorum, Reich., v. longipe- dunculatum, Schultz. Galium pahistre, L. (verum). „ elongatum, Presl. ,, Witherhigii, Sm. Valeriana Mikanii, Syme. ,, sambucifolia, Mikan. Arctium majus, Schk. „ nemurosum, Lej. Arctium intermedium, Lange. ,, minus, Schk. Taraxacum erythruspermum, Audrz. Crepis agrestis, W. K. Symphytum officinale, L., v. patens, Sibth. Odontites verna, Reich. ,, serotina, Reich. Tltymus Serpylluin, L. (verus). „ Chamcedrys, Fries. Galeopsis canescens, Schultz. „ bijida, Bffinn. Polygonum amphibium, L.,v. terrestre, Auct. „ biforme, Wahl. ,, aviculare, L. (verum). ,, arenastrum, Bor. „ microspermum, Jord. „ rurivagum, Jord. ,, ConvolvHlus, L., v. pseudodu- metorum, "Wats. Chenopodium polyspermum, L., v. acutifolimn, Sm. „ rubrum, L., v. pseudobo- tryodes, "Wats. Atriplex hastata, Huds. (vera). „ deltoidea, Bab. Salix purpurea, L., v. ramulosa, Borr. Orchis latifolia, L. (vera). „ incarnata, L. Epipactis latifolia, Auct. ,, media, Auct. „ Violacea, Dur. Iris Bastardi, Bor. Alisina lanceolatum, With. Potamogeton lucens, L., v. acuminatus, Schum. Carexjlava, L. (vera). „ lepidocarpa, Tausch. Phlenm pracox, Jord. Agrostis pumila, I.ightft. Glyccria pedicillata, Towns. Asplenium Filix-fwmina, Bernh. (verum). ,, rhceticum, Roth. PEYOR — BOTANICAL WORK OF THE PAST SEASON. 77 The following introduced plants, aliens, casuals, waifs from cultivation, etc., which, have been observed for the most part during the same period, are also new to the county list. Adonis autumnalis, L. Eruca sativa, Lamk. Lunaria biennis, Moench. Camelina sylvestris, Wallr. Lepidium rude) ale, L. „ sativum, L. ,, Draha, L. Neslia paniculata, Desv. Raphanus sativus, L. ,, Cauda tus, L. (?). Erucaria latifolia, DC. Rapistriim. rugosum. All. Silene conica, L. ,, dichotoma, Ehrh. „ quinque-vulnera, L. Hypericum datum. Ait. Malva parviflora, L. Geranium striatum, L. Impatiens fulva, Nutt. ,, parviflora, DC. TIlex Gallii, Planch. Medicago maculata, Sibth. „ denticulata, Willd. ,, apiculata, Willd. Melilotus parviflora, Desf. Trifolium incarnatum, L. „ hybridum, L. Lathyrus sphcericus, Retz. „ latifolius, L. Poterium muricatum, Spach. Epilobium brachycarpum, Leiglit. ChcerophyUum sativum, Lamk. Coriandrum sativum, L. Centranthus ruber, DC. Valerianella eriocarpa, Desv. Bipsacus Fullonum, L. Carduus temiiflorus, Curt. Nardosmia fragrans, Eeich. Helianthus annuus, L. Anthemis tinctoria, L. Doronicum plantagineum, L. Senecio viscosus, L. Barkhausia taraxaeifolia, DC. Campanula Medium, L. ,, rapunmloides, L. ,, pa tula, L. Symphytum, sp, Asperngo procumbens, L. Omphalodes verna, Moench. Plantago Timbali, Jord. Linaria purpurea, L. Salvia sylvestris, L. ,, verticillata, L. Galeopsis latifolia, Hoffm. Cyclamen hedercefolinin, Willd. Rumex sylvestris, Wallr. Salsola Kali, L. Spinacia spinosa, Moench. Mercurialis annua, L. Cannabis sativa, L. Panicum miliaceuni, L. ,, capillare, L. There are a few other species which have been observed by- different botanists in the county, and of which specimens are pre- served in the public herbaria, or which have been mentioned as Hertfordshire plants by some standard authority on British botany, but which are unnoticed in the writings of Messrs. Webb and Coleman. Such are — Cuscuta hassiaca, PfeifF. Mentha pubescens, Willd. Amaranthus retroflexus, L. Chenopodium glaucum, L. Papaver Lecoqii, Lamot. Rubus pygmmis, Weihe. Galium approximatum, Gr. & Godr. Picris stricta, Jord. Xanthium spinosum, L. Papaver Lecoqii is not uncommon in the chalky parts of the county. The others are mostly rare and critical forms, or have no claim to be reckoned as natives. 10. — List of Works on the Geology of Hertfordshire. By William Whitaker, B.A., F.G.S., Of the Geological Survey of England, Editor of the ' Geological Record.' Communicated by J. Hopkinson, Hon. Sec. [Read 9th December, 1875.] The following list is one of a series, the corresponding lists for Cambridgeshire, Cornwall, Devonshire, the Hampshire Easin, "Warwickshire, and Wiltshire having already been published by local societies, besides some others in Geological Survey Memoirs, etc. It is for the greater part selected from that in vol. iv. of the ' Memoirs of the Geological Survey,' which refers to a much larger area. There may be other works named in the latter, how- ever, which refer in some measure to Hertfordshire, besides those here given, but which could not be fairly entered without a re- examination of their contents, a task involving great labour. Some additions have been made to the older list, bringing it up to the end of 1873, after which year the newly established 'Geo- logical Kecord' will give full information of works on English Geology, rendering needless any further efforts of my own. Although a small county, and with a small range of formations, yet a good deal has been written on the Geology of Hertfordshire. The chief interest perhaps is centred in the Lower Tertiary beds, for our detailed knowledge of which we are so largely indebted to the papers of Professor Prestwich, published in the ' Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society.' The Geological Survey in its progress through the London Basin has indeed, as far as general conclusions are concerned, done little more tlian register the accuracy of Prof. Prestwich's observations and the soundness of his views, filling in of course a vast amount of detail and correct- ing some doubtful points. The Glacial Drift is another interesting feature of the county, and all who have studied that wonderful and varying series must bear witness to the good work done in its minute investigation over the whole East of England by Mr. Searles V. Wood, jun. Having been to a great extent brought up in Hertfordshire, at the St. Albans Grammar School, it has always been a pleasure to me to have had a share in the Geological Survey of the county, and this pleasure is increased when I am able in any way to help the study of my science therein. 1756. 1. Parsons, Dr. J. Remarks upon a petrified Echinus . , . found at Bunnan's Land in the parish of Boviugdon in Hertfordshire. Fhil. Trans, vol. xlix. p. 155. 1804. 2. YoTJNO. A. General View of the Agriculture of Hertford- sliire. (With a Map and an Account of the Soils.) 8vo. Loud. W. WHITAKER — WOEKS ON THE GEOLOGY OF HERTFOEDSHIEE. { M 1819. 3. Smith, 'W. Geological View and Section in Essex and Hertfordshire, and of the Country between London and Cambridge- shire. 1822. 4. SowEEBY, J. On a Fossil Shell of a fibrous structure, the fragments of which occur abundantly in the Chalk Strata and in the flints accompanying it. (Eoyston.) Trans. Linn. Soe.xol. :Kin. p. 453. 1836. 5. Mitchell, Dr. J. On the Beds immediately above the Chalk in the Counties near London. J'hil. Mag. ser. 3, vol. ix. p. 356. 1837. 6. Mitchell, Dr. J. An Account of a "Well at Beaumont Green in the County of Hertford. Proc. Geol. Soc. vol. ii. p. 551. 7. MoEEis, J. On the Strata usually termed Plaistic Clay. (Section at Northaw.) Proc. Geol. Soc. vol. ii. p. 450. 1838. 8. Mitchell, Dr. J. On the Drift from the Chalk and the Strata below the Chalk in the Counties of Norfolk, Sufl^olk, Essex, Cam- bridge, Huntingdon, Bedford, Hertford, and Middlesex. Proc. Geol. Soc. vol. iii. p. 3. 1840. 9. Stephenson, E. London and Westminster Water Company. Report (Watford, etc.). 8vo. London. 1841. 10. CLtTTTEEBiJCE, Rev. J. C. A Letter to Sir J. Sebright on the injurious consequences likely to accrue to a portion of the County of Hertford if the London and Westminster Water Company should carry into effect their project of supplying the Metropolis with water from the valley of the River Colne. 8vo. Watford and London. 11. Stephenson, R. London, Westminster, and Metropolitan Water Company. Second Report (Watford, etc.). 8vo. London. 1842. 12. Cltjtteebuck, Rev. J. C. Observations on the Periodical Drainage and Replenishment of the Subterraneous Reservoir in the Chalk Basin of London. Proc. Lnst. Civ. Eng. vol. i. p. 155. 13. Cltjtterbtjck, Rev. J. C. Supply of Water to the Metropolis from the Valley of the Colne. A few words in answer to Mr. Stephenson's Second Report. 8vo. Watford. 1843. 14. Clutterbijck, Rev. J. C. Continuation of the paper of the year before (No. 12). Proc. Inst. Civ Eng. vol. ii. p. 156. 15. Stocken, W. On Drifted Remains found in Gravel, near Radwell, Herts (K. of Baldock). Geologist, p. 64. 80 W. WHITAKEE — LIST OF W0BK3 1847. 16. Ibbetson, Capt. L. L. B. Sections shown by the cuttings on the London and Bii-mingham Eailway. No. 10, Chcddington to Northchurch; No. 11, Northchurch to Watford. 2IS. Drawings in the Mining Record Office. 1850. 17. Clxjtteebuck, Eev. J. C. On the Periodical Alternations and Progressive Permanent Depression of the Chalk Water-level under London. Proc. Inst. Civ. Eng. vol. ix. p. 151. 18. Paten, R. Appendix on the Bushey Well in Mr. S. C. Homersham's ' Report to the Directors of the London (Watford) Spring- water Company.' Ed. 3. 8vo. London. 19. Peestwich, J. On the Structure of the Strata between the London Clay and the Chalk. Part I. The Basement-bed of the London Clay. Quart. Journ. Oeol. Soc. vol. vi. p. 252. 20. Peestwich, J. On the Geological Conditions which deter- mine the Relative Value of the Water-bearing Strata of the Tertiary and Cretaceous Series, and on the Probability of finding in the Lower Members of the Latter, beneath London, Fresh and Large Sources of Water-supply, etc. Trans. Roy. Inst. Brit. Architects. 4to. 1851. 21. Peestwich, J. A Geological Inquiry respecting the Water- bearing Strata of the Country around London, etc. 8vo. Lond. 22. Tkimmee, J. On the Agricultural Geology of England and Wales. Journ. Roy. Agric. Soc. vol. xii. p. 445. 1854. 23. Peestwich, J. On the Structure of the Strata between the London Clay and the Chalk. Part II. The Woolwich and Reading Series. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. x. p. 75. 1855. 24. Baelow, p. W. On some peculiar features of the Water- bearing Strata of the London Basin. Rroc. Inst. Civ. Eng. vol. xiv. p. 42. 25. HoMEESHAM, S. C. Tlic Chalk Strata considered as a source for the supply of Water to the Metropolis. Journ. Soc. Arts, vol. iii. No. 115, p. 168. 26. Peestwich, J. On the Origin of the Sand- and Gravel-Pipes in the Chalk of the London Tertiary District. (With a Section from the Hills south of High Wycombe to the Chalk-pit at Hare- field Coppei'-mills, near Rickmansworth.) Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xi. p. 64. 1856. 27. HuGUES, S. A Treatise on Waterworks for the su])ply of Cities and Towns, with a Description of the principal Geological Formations of England as influencing the supplies of AVater. 8vo. London. 1858. 28. Dkmton, J. B. Hinxwortli Drainage. (Analyses of Soils.) Journ. Roy. Agric. Soc. vol. xx. p. 273. ON THE GEOLOGY OF HEETFORDSHIRE. 81 29. Peestwich, J. On the Occurrence of the Boulder Clay, or Northern Clay Drift, at Bricket "Wood, near "Watford. Geologist, vol. i. p. 241. 1861. 30. Seeley, H. Notes on Cambridge Palaeontology. 1. Some new Upper Greensand Bivalves. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. ser. 3, vol. vii. p. 116. [Ashwell, pp. 118, 119, 121, 122.] 2. Some new Gasteropods from the Upper Greensand. Ihid.-p. 281. [Ash- well, p. 282.] 3. Some new Upper Greensand Echinoderms. Jbid. vol. viii. p. 16. [Ashwell, pp. l'7, 20, 23.] 31. "Whitaker, W. On the " Chalk-rock," the Topmost Bed of the Lower Chalk, in Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, etc. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xvii. p. 166. 32. Whitaxer, W., and E. Trench. The N.E. part of Sheet 7 of the Map of the Geological Survey of England ; scale one inch to a mile. (Berkhampstead, "Watford, St. Albans.) New Edition, with Drifts added, by H. "W. Bristow, "W. "Whitaker, H. B. \VooDWARD, F. J. Bennett, "W. A. E. Ussher, and J. H. Blake, in 1872, but dated 1871. 1862. 33. "Whitaker, "W. On the Westerly End of the London Basin ; on the "Westerly Thinning of the Lower Eocene Beds ra that Basin ; and on the Greywethers of "Wiltshire. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xviii. p. 258. [Herts, pp. 269, 271, 272.] 1864. 34. Clutterbtjck, Rev. J. C. Agricultural Notes on Hertford- shire. (Physical Geography, Swallow-holes, the "Water-level in the Chalk, etc.) Journ. Hog. Agric. Soc. vol. xxv. p. 302. 35. EvERSHED, H. Agriculture of Hertfordshire. (Sketch Geo- logical Map and Account of Soils.) Journ. Hog. Agric. Soc. vol. xxv. p. 269. 36. Whitaker, "W. The Geology of Parts of Middlesex, Hertfordshire, etc. Memoir on Sheet 7 of the Geological Survey Map. 1865. 37. Baijeeman, H., and "W. "Whitaker. The S.E. part of Sheet 46, S.W. of the Map of the Geological Survey of England. Scale, one inch to a mile. (Tring.) 38. Clutterbuck, Eev. J. C. "Water Supply. (Notes of wells, etc.) Journ. Hog. Agric. Soc. ser. 2, vol. i. p. 271. 39. Latham, B. On the Supply of Water to Towns. (Well- sections.) Trans. Soc. Eng. vol. iii. p. 199. 40. Prestwich, J. Part of the South-eastern Sheet of the " Greenough Map." Geol. Soc. 41. Seeley, H. On Ammonites from the Cambridge Greensand. Ann. and Mag. Nat Hist. ser. 3, vol. xvi. p. 225. [Ashwell.] 42. Wood, S. "V., jun. A Map of the Upper Tertiaries in the Counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Middlesex, Hertford, Cam- bridge, Huntingdon, and Bedford (with Sections and Remarks in 8vo . ) . Privatelg printed. VOL. I. — PT. III. 6 82 W. WHITAKEE — WORKS ON THE GEOLOGY OF HERTFORDSHUIE. 1866. 43. Green, A. H. On Supposed Faults in the Diift-gravel at Hitchin. Geol. Mag. vol. iii. p. 572. 44. Salter, J. W. On the Faults in the Drift-gi-avel at Hitchin, Herts. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soe. vol. xxii. p. 565. 1867. 45. Salter, J. W. (Letter on) Faults in the Drift at Hitchin. Geol. Mag. vol. iv. p. 40. 46. Whitaker, "W. On Subaerial Denudation, and on Cliffs and Escarpments of the Chalk and the Lower Tertiary Beds. (Part 2.) Geol. Mag. vol. iv. p. 483. [Tertiary Escarpment, etc., in Herts, pp. 486, 487.] 47. Whitaker, W., and F. J. Bennett. Part of Sheet 46, N.E. of the Map of the Geological Survey of England. Scale, one inch to a mile. (Baldock, Hitchin.) 48. Whitaker, W., T. McK. Hughes, A. H. Green, W. ToPLEY, and R. H. Tiddeman. Sheet 46, S.E. (all hut N.W corner) of the Map of the Geological Survey of England. Scale, one inch to a mile. (Hatfield, Hertford, Stevenage.) 49. Wood, S. Y., jun. On the Structure of the Post-Glacial Deposits of the South-east of England. Quart. Journ. Geol. Sac. vol. xxiii. p. 394. 50. Wood, S. V., jun. (Letter on) the Faults in the Drift at Hitchin, etc. Geol. Mag. vol. iv. p. 37. 1868. 51. Hughes, T. McK. On the Two Plains of Hertfordshire and their Gravels. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxiv. p. 283. 52. Whitaker, W. The N.W. corner of Sheet 1, N.W. of the Map of the Geological Survey. Scale, one inch to a mile. (Hoddesdon.) 53. Whitaker, W. Sheet 79 of the Horizontal Sections of the Geological Survey of England. Scale, 6 inches to a mile. Across the London Basin from Beddington ... to ncjar Hcmel Hempstead. 54. Wood, S. V., jun. On the Pebble-beds of Middlesex, Essex, and Herts. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxiv. p. 464. 1871. 55. HoPKiNsoN, J. Excursion to AVatford, June 23rd, 1870. Froc. Geol. Assoc, vol. ii. No. 2, p. 43. 1872. 56. Walker, H. On the Glacial Drifts of North London. Froc. Geol. Assoc, vol. ii. No. 7, p. 289. 57. Whitaker, W. The Geology of the London Basin. Part 1. The Chalk and the Eocene Beds of the Southern and Western Tracts. Mem. Geol. Survey, vol. iv. 1873. 58. HoPKiNsoN, J. Excursion to Watford, April 13th, 1872. Proc. Geol. Assoc, vol. iii. No. 2, p. 65. 83 11. — A Few Woeds about ofe Local Fekns. By John E. Littleboy. [Read llth November, 1875.] Of late years no branch of Botany has been more popular, I might almost say fashionable, than the study of Ferns. I do not know that the Fern mania rages quite so determinately at present as it did some ten years ago, but it is yet impossible to visit either Wales or Scotland without meeting, at almost every turn, enter- prising ladies, trowel in hand, laden with baskets containing their favourites, intent, no doubt, on the creation of charming little ferneries in certain garden corners far off in England. It is rather amusing to notice how carefully the very commonest varieties arc not unfrequently bought from the fern-women at Llandudno and other popular Welsh watering-places, and brought home with con- siderable trouble, to be planted in garden ferneries, when they might have been procured far more readily, and certainly at con- siderably less expense, in the nearest lane or hedgerow. After all, it matters but little. To those who are unable to dis- tinguish the different varieties, the commonest fern that grows is just as beautiful as the rarest, and when once a taste for the culti- vation of ferns is thoroughly acquired, a knowledge, more or less perfect, of the different species is almost certain to follow. I am sorry that I can lay but slight claim to the name of "Botanist," so far as its scientific attributes are concerned, but I have been a collector of ferns from my school-days to the j)Z'esent time, and it is impossible for me to exaggerate the pleasure that I have derived fi'om the pursuit. There is scarcely an English fern that is not intimately associated with some pleasant episode in my past life, — some mountain scramble, some walking tour, some rugged sea-girt rock, or possibly some companionship ever to be remembered with pleasure. I shall only attempt to notice this evening those varieties of our ferns that I have, at different times, collected on this side of Hert- fordshire. There are, in all, between forty and fifty pretty distinct species of British ferns. I have had about thirty-eight of these growing successfully under cultivation ; but as far as I am aware, only about eighteen are indigenous in Hertfordshire. I will briefly notice each species and variety that I have met with seriatim. 1. Asplenium Adiantum-nigrum. — This ornamental little fern, tolerably common in Hertfordshire, is one of the species eagerly collected by amateurs. It is to be found generally in dry sheltered lanes ; it springs up very frequently from under some old stump, or from between stones slightly separated by loamy soil ; it re- quires considerable shade, and the size of its fi'onds is principally dependent on the conditions under which it grows. Under favour- 84 J. E. LITTLEBOY — OUR LOCAL FEKNS. able circumstances the frond itself will measure six to eight inches, and its almost black stipes nearly as much. The Aspleniutn Adiantum-nigrum is extremely abundant wherever the sandstones of the Coal-measures, or the rocks of the Silurian formation, are prevalent, and it hangs in graceful sprays on the northern side of old stone walls or ruins. 2. Asplenium Ruta-muraria. — This is the smallest of our local ferns, and might readily be mistaken by the uninitiated for a moss. In this district it grows, as far as I am aware, exclusively from among the mortar in old walls. I have found it in several locali- ties, and I am inclined to think that it is more generally distributed than it is frequently supposed to be. It finds its most congenial home among the rocky hills of Wales and Scotland : its tiny fronds peep out from the fissures of the roeks, and often defy the most determined etforts of the collector to remove them. It is com- monly known as the "rue" fern, from the great similarity of its fi'onds to the leaves of that plant. 3. Asplenium Trichemanes. — The maidenhair spleenwort, as this beautiful little fern is frequently called, is found but rarely in our district ; it has, however, its established habitats, and is unquestion- ably indigenous. Like the two preceding species, it thrives most luxuriantly on the rocks of the Coal-measures. It festoons with its ornamental clusters the sides of most of the stone walls that prevail so universally in the Coal-districts, and lends not un- frequently a pleasing charm to many a forsaken building or other- wise unsightly engine-house. 4. Athyrium Filix-foemina. — The beautiful " lady-fem " may fairly be considered the Queen of British Ferns. It is perfectly distinct, and readily distinguishable from all others by the veriest novice in fern-culture. Its peculiarly graceful and feathery fronds, always of the palest green, spring up in charming clusters and in profuse abundance beside the hill-sides and rivulets of many of our English counties. On this side of Herts it occurs but rarely, but it grows in tolerable abumlaucc; in the neighbourhood of Wig- ginton Common. There is a deserted lane crossing the table-land between Tring and Chesham, which is peculiarly rich in the pro- duction of ferns. Not only are two varieties of the lady-fern to be found, in close proximity, in this favoured spot, but BJecJntum Spicant, Lastrea spinulosa, Lastrea dilatata, and Lastrea Orropfcn's, are all more or less abundant. The soil is of rich loam, and 1 believe that most of the varieticis mentioned will only be found where a loamy soil prevails. Like most of its family, the lady- fern delights in a damp shady situation. " "Where the morning dew lies longest, There the Lady Fern grows strongest." 5. Athyrium Filix-foemina, var. convexum. — This is a distinct variety of the lady-fern, with purple stipes, and generally of more rigid appearance, that is tolerably common, and wliich, as 1 have already stated, is to be found near "VVii J. E. LITTLEBOY — OITR LOCAL FERNS. 85 6. Lastrea Filix-mas. — The L. FiUx-mas is the commonest of all our ferns; scarcely a hedgerow can be found where its strong vigorous fronds are not discernible. It flourishes alike in shady- woods or on open heaths. Its fronds often attain to the height of three or even four feet. Its colour is of a darker green than that of the species last described, and the lower portion of its stipes or stalk is profusely clothed with dark shaggy scales. 7. Lastrea Filix-mas, var. Borreri. — This variety is distinguished by its yellow hue, and also by the fact that its rachis is more or less scaly throughout its entire length. It is exceedingly abundant in some parts of Scotland, where it imparts a rich golden colour to many a mountain side, and is readily observ- able by the passing tourist. I have gathered it near Wigginton Common. 8. Lastrea dilatata. — This is one of the largest of our British species. On this side of Hertfordshire it is uncommon, but it grows very luxuriantly in moist sheltered woods throughout many of our English counties, and still more so in Wales. The crown of the caudex, or root, is densely covered with large brown scales. Its fronds are of a rich dark green, and under favoui'able circumstances they will attain to a length of four or perhaps five feet. Its growth is graceful in the extreme, and it constitutes one of the most ornamental species for garden culture. I have ah-eady mentioned one of its local habitats. 9. Lastrea spinulosa. — I need say but very little of this species. It is closely allied to L. dilatata, but is mu<5h smaller, and its colour is a dull light green. It grows, I believe, almost ex- clusively in moist woods, and often by the side of stagnant pools when completely surrounded by trees. It succeeds well under cultivation, and is by no means uncommon. 10. Lastrea Oreopteris. — I have no reason to suppose that the heath or mountain fern, as this is frequently styled, is particularly scarce in Herts, but I have only been successful in finding it in two localities. It will only fiourish on our higher table-lands, and prefers a loamy soil. I have again and again transplanted it, in its own soil, to my fernery at Hunton Bridge, but it will not survive beyond one or two seasons. 11. Polystichum angulare. — 12. PolystieJmm uculeatum. — I will take these two species together. They are closely allied, and yet readily distinguishable the one from the other. Both are ever- green. The P. angulare is a large and peculiarly handsome fern. It vies in graceful beauty with the lady-fern, and is most effective in cultivation. Its fr-onds are soft and drooping, are generally of a dull green, and vary from two to four feet in length. The beauty of this fern in the early spring, when first unfolding its young fronds, is very remarkable, and cannot fail to attract the attention of those who watch its growth. All the fronds are symmetrically arranged round the crown of the caudex, and are literally covered with silvery brown scales. The P. aeuleatum may be distinguished by its thick leathery 86 J. E. LITTLEBOr — OUE LOCAL FEEXS. dark green fronds ; they are more or less ri,2:id, and are not nearly so largo and handsome as are those of P. angulnre. Its pinnae are packed much closer together, and it possesses a bright burnished appearance peculiarly its own. There is said to be an intermediate species, sometimes described as P. lohatum. Mr. Newman considers that it does not differ suflSciently from the two last mentioned to claim distinctive notice, and as far as I have been able to judge I concur in his opinion. I have frequently planted specimens apparently perfectly distinct, but in the course of a few years tlicy have varied so considerably under cultivation as to be hardly distinguishable from each other. 13. Scolopendrium vulgare. — No fern is more universally known or more readily distinguished than the hart's-tongue. Its long ribbon-like fronds, so strikingly different from those of every other species, are eagerly sought after by all who attempt the formation of garden ferneries. It is very generally distributed over this side of Hertfordshire. It grows, for the most part, on damp banks, by the side of streams and deep ditches ; not unfrequently around the upper portion of wells or pits, and on the underside of arches or culverts through which water passes. It is extremely ornamental, and when found in profusion, especially on old walls or ruins, cannot fail to excite general admiration. 14. Polypodium vulgare. — This, like the preceding, is a perfectly distinct species. It abounds in every lane and copse throughout our district. Mr. Newman remarks — "Just as the common brake seems to shun man and to seek the forests and the wilds and heaths, where his implements of husbandry offer it no disturbance ; so does the polypody appear to affect the companionship of man, to shun the waste, and to claim the shelter of the hedgerow ; it for- sakes the common and establishes itself on the church-tower or the church-yard wall."* I have seen the thatched roofs of cottages completely covered with it, its roots creeping along the surface in entangled horizontal masses. It is emphatically a parasite, and appears to flourish just in proportion as decay progresses. Its bright gi-ecn fronds, on the back of which a beautiful golden fructi- fication is very conspicuous, crown with a profusion of beauty a large proportion of the decaying stumps and old timbers so common in our country lanes. 15. Bleehnum Spicant. — The only habitat for tliis fern with which I am acquaint(>d, througliout this district, is tlie deserted lane near Wigginton Common, to M'hich I have already several times alluded. Formerly it was to be found here in considerable abundance, but when last I visited the locality the operations of of the spade were very apparent, and many clumps had evidently been carried away. It generally abounds on heatlis and along the sides of damp woods. Its fertile and barren fronds are entirely distinct, and display a pleasing contrast : the fertile fronds always rise from the centre of the plant, and the barren ones form a riih * British Ferns (1854), p. 43. J. E. LITTLEBOY OUR LOCAL FERiyS. 87 border of green foliage all round tliem ; it is nearly, if not quite, an evergreen. 16. Ceterach officinarum. — I do not feel quite certain that this comparatively rare fern is thoroughly naturalized in. this district. I have met with it in two perfectly distinct localities ; one of them being the outside ledge of a garden wall about half a mile fi'om Hunton Bridge, and the other an old wall forming a portion of a terrace in some grounds near Kickmansworth. I have recently been informed that it has also been found in the neighbourhood of Hemel Hempstead. It is a charming little fern, possessing, during the early summer, a soft downy appearance. It grows freely and without difficulty under cultivation, if supplied with a sufficiency of leaf-mould. 17. Pteris aquilma. — The common brake is probably well known to every individual present, and needs but little notice from pen of mine. It abounds in our parks and commons ; it forms a ready shelter for the deer, and adds a picturesque beauty to our wood- land landscapes. Under favourable circumstances it will attain the height of six or eight feet, but, more generally, it varies from two to five. Its long dark roots, or rhizomes, are about the thickness of one's finger, and penetrate the soil for several feet ; when cut transversely, they display with extraordinary exactness the appearance of an oak tree. This freak of nature has been described as follows : — " Have ye to learn, how the Eagle fern Doth in its heart enshrine An oak tree like that which the hunter Hearne Haunted in days " lang sjTie " ? An oak tree small is repeated all Complete in branch and root. Like the tree whereunto King Charles did flee When pressed by hot pursuit." 18. Ophioglossum vulgatum. — The curious little plant, well known as the " adder' s-tongue," is found in great abundance in many of our damp pastures. It abounds in the Grove Park, and may be gathered in almost every meadow in the valley extending from Berkhampstead to Cassio Bridge. The frond of the adder' s-tongue is first observable in May ; it is composed of a long pale-coloured stipes and a deep green leaf, from the base of which an erect spike issues. This spike is distinctly stalked, its upper portion being composed of two series of crowded capsules : when ripe, these capsules burst open and discharge their contents on the turf around. The appearance of the adder' s-tongue is very pecuKar; in shape and style it somewhat resembles the Arum maculatum — the lords and ladies of our hedges — but is infinitely smaller. I believe that I have now mentioned the leading characteristics of most, if not all, of our local fems. I feel very certain that no phase of botanical research will be found more replete with gratification to those who follow it than is the study and cultiva- tion of this delightful group of cryptogamic plants. 88 J. E. LITTLEBOY — OUR LOCAL FEENS. To lovers of the graceful and beautiful in nature tlicy present varied and manifold attractions, and I wannly commend them to the careful attention and study of all our members. Perhaps I may be allowed to conclude by quoting a few quaint lines, in the sentiment of which I entirely and heartily concur, although I cannot vouch for their antiquity. " The greene and graceful! Feme, How beautiful! it is ! There's not a leafe in all the lande So wonderful] I wis — Have ye ever watch'd it budding, "With eche stemme and leafe wrapp'd smalle, Coyl'd up within eche other Like a rownd and hairie balle ? Have ye watch'd yt balle unfolding Eche closelie nestling curie, And its fayre and featherie leafeletts Their spreading formes unfurle r" Oh y» most gracefullie they wave In y"^ forrest like a sea ; And deare as they are beautifull Are those Ferne-leaves to me." 89 12. — The Physical Structure of the London Basin, considered IN ITS EeLATION to THE GeOLOGY OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF "Watford. By John Morris, F.G.S., Professor of Geology and Mineralogy in University College, London. [A Lecture delivered 14th October, 1875.] I HATE been requested by your Secretary to give to the Society, in the form of a short lecture, some general observations on the physical features of the London Basin, and I hope this evening to lay before you some of those conditions under which the various strata which constitute that basin were deposited, with the view of attempting to explain the formations existing in the neigh- bom-hood of Watford, and the adjacent parts of Hertfordshire. It is well known that when the physical structure of any district has been carefully worked out, as this has been by the assiduous and ardent labours of Mr. Whitaker and Mr. Prestwich, it is com- paratively easy for an ordinary geologist to say under what condi- tions the various strata were formed and modified. In entering on the consideration of the physical structure of the London Basin, we should regard it in several diiferent aspects : Firstly — Its general physical features. Secondly — The nature of the materials of which it is composed. Thirdly — The conditions under which these materials were probably accumulated. Fourthly — The evidence afforded by the fossil remains as to the climatal character of its several periods. Lastly — The successive and subsequent changes by which the physical features of the district have been produced. Already you have had laid before you, in the perspicuous and very interesting lecture by Mr. Lobley, the subject of the Chalk formation. He has pointed out the conditions under which that remarkable deposit of the British Islands was accumulated, and informed you that that White Chalk, so marked a feature in British geology, formed the last great group of the Secondary period. It is true that the Upper White Chalk, as known in England, is on the Continent overlain by a somewhat higher series than is represented in this country, as the Maestricht beds, Faxoe limestone, and probably the pisolitic limestone of France ; for these strata repre- sent certain deposits towards the close of the Cretaceous era not fairly represented in the British Islands. It will be well, however, to take our basis from the Chalk formation, described by Mr. Lobley ; and, commencing from that, we have a series of formations which constitute that third group in British Geology known as the Tertiary series, or Caenozoic period. This is subdivided into three or four groups, dependent partly upon the nature of their fossil contents — in ascending order, the Eocene, Miocene, Pliocene, and Pleistocene. They were long 90 PEOF. MOERIS — GEOLOGY OF THE LONDON BASIN ago -worked out by Sir Charles Lyell and M. Deshayes, and con- stitute an important feature in the physical structure of modem Europe. In the area of the London Basin we find two or three of these divisions more or less regularly developed. In the immediate neighbourhood of AVatford there arc only two repre- sentatives of these di^-isions, the Eocene and Pleistocene, — one belonging to the lower and older portion of the Tertiary series; and the other to the far higher and more modern one. In the lower formation the rocks follow each other in stratified order and regular sequence. The other, or upper, is part of a wide- spread group, the Boulder-clay and Glacial beds, without any regular stratification, covering, without order, all preceding for- mations. It is these latter I shall mention in referring to the Glacial Period. The lower period, or the Eocene, supplies some of the most marked features of the London Basin. It is divided into a series of groups somewhat remarkable, and variable in their lithological and paloeontological character. These are, in descending order: — o j Bembridge beds Fluvio-manne.' _al j Osborne and Headon series Fluvio-marine. „• / Upper Bagsbot Sands Marine. ^ \ Barton beds Marine. ^ j Bracklesbam beds Marine. ^ \ Lower Bagsbot Sands and pebble-beds Marine. i London Clay. Marine and Estiiarine. Oldhaven and Blackheath beds Marine and Estuarine. Woolwicb and Beading beds Estuarine. Tbanet Sands Marine. All the above divisions arc not represented in the London Basin, but only those belonging to the middle and lower divisions, witli the exception of the Barton clay, — the Upper Bagshot Sands lying directly on the Bracklesham beds, as near Chobham. The upper, or fluvio-mariue series, is fully developed in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, and is well represented in the Paris Basin. The celebrated gypsum beds of Montmartre with their rich mammalian fauna belong to this division. The so-called London Basin constitutes a somewhat triangular area, which is bounded north and south by the Clialk treated of in the previous lecture, and shown in the figure ('Trans.' vol. i. p. 11); therefore it looks like a basin-shaped arrangement in which the later materials of the Tertiary beds were deposited. That these are posterior to the Chalk there is no doubt, but tliey do not really assume the basin-shaped form known popiilarly as a basin. The Chalk, although much eroded, was not scooped out before the • Tbe Ilempstead beds of tbe Isle of Wigbt overlying tlic Bcnibridge, some- times classed with the Eocene (Jukes, 1872), arc considered to belong to the Lower Miocene, and arc represented by tbe llupclmonde and Tongrian beds of Belgium, and tbe Valcaire de la Beauce and Gres de l'ontai>icbleau in France. A>fD OF THE J^EIGHBOUEHOOD OF AVATFOED. 91 Tertiary series was laid down upon it, but the latter extended over a large jwrtion of the Chalk, and was subsequently let down by the same distiu'bance which affected the Chalk formation. I mention this that you may get a clear idea of the term "basin"; because, if it were simply a basin scooped out of the Chalk, in which the strata were successively deposited, we should naturally imagine that the oldest groups, as this basin was filled up, would have gradually succeeded each other in a more or less horizontal order, so that the newest, or last formed, would occur in the centre as well as on the margins of the basin. This is not the case. When we examine a geological diagram, as the one above alluded to, we find, in proceeding from the margins on each side towards the centre, a series of beds of similar kinds successively cropping out or exposed on each side, except where concealed by superficial gravels, thus showing that they are continuous beneath, and are limited within the basin. Hence you see that the trough-shaped arrangement was formed, not by the deposition of successive strata in a basin of the Chalk previously cut out, but that the newer beds were depo- sited over a broad and level surface, and have partaken of the movements to which the Chalk has been subjected. This we know from the study of the general geology of southern England. If we made a traverse from this district or the Hert- fordshire Chalk hills over the London Basin to the North Downs, and again across the Yalley of the Weald to the South Downs, we should find the Wealden area a raised dome, occupying part of a great vault or anticlinal fold, the London Basin lying in what is called a synclinal trough to the north. If we continued the section across the Channel into the French area, it would be seen that the Chalk re-appears both north and south of Paris, forming another trough, in which are inclosed Eocene strata similar to those of the Isle of Wight, and thus forming the so-called Paris Basin. Hence the Paris and London Basins with their Eocene strata occupy two synclinal folds, the result of one or more movements by which the anticlinal axis of the Wealden area, and similar parallel ones in the south of England and part of France, have been produced.* In fact, the general teaching is, that after the * M. Ch. Barrois has published some interesting papers (' Ann. Soc. Geol. du Nord,' tomeii. p. 85; 'Ee\iie Scientifique,' 1875, pp. 1070, 1192J on the undula- tions of the Chalk in the south of England, and their probable continuation with similar folds and faults in the north of France. M. Barrois recognises three great anticlinal lines or axes of elevation : — 1. The axis of Kingsclere, in an east and west direction, has separated the basin of London from that of Hamp- shire, and the movement which determined it took place between the Chalk with Marsupites and that with Belemnitella, and more slowly towards the end of the Eocene period. The axis of Artois is considered to be" a continuation of that of Kingsclere. 2. The axis of "Winchester. This axis is parallel to the preceding, was formed dm-iug the same period, and is thought to be a prolongation of the axis of the Bresle. It is probable, however, that this axis, as well as that of Artois, underwent the last movement during the Upper Eocene. 3. The axis of the Isle of Wight and Pm-beck. This axis is parallel to the two preceding, and its elevation and that of Kingsclere has given the basin-shaped arrangement to the Chalk of Hampshire. Its last movement was about the period of the Barton 92 PROF. MOEEIS — GEOLOGY OF THE LONDON BASIN deposition of the Cretaceous and certain overlying strata, the beds underwent plications and foldings, in consequence of subterra- nean movements, by which they partly received their present configuration ; since, however, considerably modified by denuding agency, which has swept olf the beds from the anticlinal folds, and allowed their edges to be exposed at the margin of the basin, the older strata occurring at the margin, and the younger succes- sively appearing towards the centre. The Tertiary strata of the London Basin are but partially repre- sented in the vicinity of Watford. Aiter the close of the Chalk period a limited area was probably submerged beneath the waters of the ocean. Not improbably this district of Hertfordshire was not so much submerged as to be covered by the earliest Tertiary stratum, or the Chalk was not subjected to much erosion and destruction; for, as shown by Prestwich and others, by comparing the thick- ness of the Chalk strata in Kent and Surrey with that of Hertfordshire, we find that the Chalk in the latter district attains a far greater thickness — about 1000 feet — than in the area to the south of London, where it is in some places but 300 or 400 feet thick.* Hence, therefore, it is not improbable that, through the physical changes which caused so marked a feature between the Secondary and Tertiary periods, there was at the commencement of the Tertiary period a movement of the water which scooped out and destroyed the Chalk bed in one district more than in another. Upon the Chalk was deposited the first of the series of the Tertiary strata.f These are called by Mr. Prestwich the Thanet Sands, from their constituting an important feature in the physical geology of the Isle of Thanet and its neighbourhood. They have beds, and it is considered to be a continuation of tbe axis of the Pays de Bray. But, as M. Barrois remarks, it is very difficult to follow these lines of elevation with exactitude, as the forces which produced them have acted with var)'ing intensity from one point to another, and with different effects. — See also papers by MM. Hebert and Mercey, in the 'Bull. Geol. Soc. France,' ser. 2, tome xx. pp. 615, 643. * " But in Suffolk and Xorfolk, the upper part of the Chalk is, like the lower part, nearly destitute of Hints. This portion of it I believe to have been denuded at London, and cousequently the thickn(\ss of the mass has been much diminished. Thie may have arisen from a greater ril;iti\ e tlcvatiou of the bed of the sea to the south at the conclusion of the Cr^■t;l^(l.ll^ |i( riod, in conseciuence of which the earlier Tertiary seas planed down its \mn-v exposed and elevated surface; and thus the upper beds of the Chalk, whicli to the northward, owing to their greater depth from the surface, escaped tliis denudation, may have been removed by it in proportion as they trended southward. Hence there would result a gradual decrease in the thickness of the chalk as it ranges from north to south." — Prestwich, ' The Water-bearing Strata,' 1851, p. 139. See also ' Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.,' vol. viii. p. 257. t Overlying the Chalk, however, and separating it from the Thanet Sand above, there occurs a bed of green-coated flints, known as the BuH's-head Bed; these unrolled and uiuuoved flints formed one of the original zones of tlint in the Chalk, from whicli the latter has been removed by chemical action either before, but more jjrobably suhsecpiently to, the deposition of the Thanet Sand, during which they also ac(iuired tlie green coating of silicate of iron. This bed is well seen at Grays, Eritn, Charlton, and Croydon. ATfD OF THE KEIGHBOUEHOOD OF -WATFOED. 93 a somewhat limited extension, for we find them apparently de- posited in an area scooped out of the Chalk. They are of marine origin. They extend from a little westward of London to the Isle of Thanet, where they are largely developed; but they do not terminate there, for we find in the old Tertiary times, when the Straits of Dover did not exist, that the seas which deposited the sands in the Kentish and Surrey area ex- tended over the Paris Basin and over part of Belgium. Similar strata, or strata of the same age, occur both in the Belgian and Parisian areas, and are known by difi^erent names according to the district in which they are found. In Belgium they are termed the Systeme Landenien, and in the Paris Basin are represented by the sands of Bracheux and Abbecourt. These Thanet Sands thicken eastwards, and thin out west- wards, and partly extend under London, but do not reach this district, although found north of the Thames at Purileet and Grays, in Essex. They are (or were) the means by which London is partly supplied with deep and pure well water from what are known as artesian wells. It is the permeable nature of the sands, allowing them at their outcrop to receive the rain, kept in by the impervious nature of the London Clay above, and the satm'ated Chalk below, which causes them to form part of the stores of the deep well supply of the London area.* The Thanet Sands indicate moderate climatal conditions, and, according to Mr. Prestwich, were formed in a sea of a somewhat temperate climate, inasmuch as the nature of the shells found in them fAstarte, Cyprina, TrophonJ would scarcely indicate a sea of a tropical character.! * " The Chalk is the chief source of water-supply for the deep wells in the London district. IV ot very many years ago the overlying Thanet Sand was the great water-bearing bed, but its limited outcrop and small thickness soon caused it to be unable to bear the greatly increasing drain on it, and most London wells were then deepened, new wells being almost universally carried into the Chalk." — Whitaker, ' Guide to the Geology of London,' p. 20. t " It was, probably, on the shores of the dry land of this period (the Thanet Sands), that the innumerable flint pebbles so perfectly rounded — a process indicating a vast lapse of time — which we find in higher portions of the Lower Tertiary strata, as at Blackheath and Addington, were formed; these accumulations of shore-pebbles having been spread out over the Thanet Sands at that next succeeding Lower Tertiary period. After the period of the Thanet Sands a further subsidence of the northern part of the southern continental area took place, and the sea then spread itself over the greater part of the Isle of Wight and Paris Tertiary districts, leaving some of the higher lands as islands. One of these islands occupied probably the area now forming the Weald of Kent and Surrey, then not denuded of all its chalk dome. It was during this second period that the strata of the Woolwich and Reading series were formed." — Prestwich, ' The Ground Beneath Us,' p. 73 ; see also ' Quart. Jom-n. Geol. Soc.,' vol. x. p. 135. M. Elie de Beaumont, also, suggests that probably, at the Lower Tertiary period, an island extended somewhere in the present position of the Wealden and part of the north of France, and a smaller one of the elevated land, the Pays de Brny. See his memoir " Sur I'Etendue du Systeme Tertiaire inferieur," in the ' Mem. Soc. Ge'ol. de France,' ser. 1, vol. i. pp". Ill, 112, and pi. 7, fig. 5. 94 PROF. MOREIS — GEOLOGY OF THE LOXDOX BASIN Fk;. 1. — General Section at Bushey Kiln, near Watford.'^ I" (n /3 ww§Mm< (Scale, 8 feet to an inch.) i Drifted clay, in parts sand}', with fliut-pebbhs, I * thickness variable. FEET. "(«) Browii Clay. f (f) " Pebble-bed ; I some of the pebbles large \ (or London i t> ^ I more) ^^^^^m^ Clay. il^~^*^(rf) Brown sandy Eeading Beds, 35 or 36 feet. -^^SSIIl ^:'"" --' 1 I 'f \ clay ; " large oyster-shells at the bottom " L (R. Trench)... about 6 ^(/l) Green clay, with^ " race " (irregular cal- careous concretions)pass- ing into the bed below . (/ 2) Greenish and brown clayey sand 1 _ (/3) Clay. > "'^"^ ' At the eastern part of the yard these three beds are so full of race that they be- come a marl J ((-/) Lijz;ht-coloured false- bedded sand about 12 The beds below this were not to be seen, but Mr. Trench was told that they were as follows : — (//) Pebble-bed about .5 (0 Sand 4 (/■) Loam 5 (/) Flints in saud 2 Chalk {»,). ♦ Whitaker, Mem. Geol. Surv. vol. iv. p. 222, fig. 55. AND OF THE KEIGHBOTJEHOOD OF WATFORD. 95 &ygs\ ^IG. 2.— General Section at Watford Heath Kiln.^ J d' London Clay, 21 1- ieet. (Scale, 8 feet to an inch.) {a) Brown clay with selenite, f passing into the bed below {b) Brown sandy clay, with a fewverybadly- p r es erved shells {Cythe- rea obiiqua, Panopcea) , and small pieces of se- lenite {c) Flint-pebbles, with oyster- shells and shark's teeth . {d) Brown sandy , clay, more ( p„. ^ sandy than the upper bed,with iron-sandstone and a little ironstone at the base [d"). At the top here and there a bed of soft clayey sand- stone, bored by Lithodomi, from 6 inches to a foot thick {d') (e) Flint-pebbles, with oyster- shells and shark's teeth . Basement Bed. Eeading Beds, about 37 feet. Chalk («)• (/) Grey and mottled clay, with a few flint-pebbles over 3 (.9) Light-coloured sand . . 16 {h) Sand, with beds of flint- pebbles 9 {i) Mixture of sand and clay, light-coloured .... 3 Not shown (to the Chalk) 6 ^ * Whitaker,Mem.Geol. SurT.vol.iT.p.223,fig.56. 96 PEOF. MORRIS GEOLOGY OF THE LOXDOX BASIN Overlying the Thanet Beds occiirs an important and interesting group, showing still more marked changes in the physical condi- tions of the period. This group is generally known as the Wool- wich AXD Eeadi>"g Beds, which were deposited under very different conditions from those of the pre-existing marine beds below. They present two distinct local facics ; hence the term "Woolwich and Eeading Series," given by Prof. Prestwich. In the western and northern area they are more marine, in the central and eastern more fiuviatile and estuarine.* It was to the south or to the south-west that there must have existed a considerable extent of land consisting of the Chalk and Wealden rocks, through which rivers flowed, bringing down a vast amount of sediment, to be deposited over a considerable portion of the southern part of the London area, as marked by the deposits at Woolwich, Lewisham, Peckham, and in other districts. These indicate old river-courses flowing into an estuary, from what is known of the shells found in them. These shells, such as Unio, Pahidina, Neritina, only exist in rivers, or some at least, at the mouths of rivers, where brackish water prevails ; for many of them, such as Cyreyia, Melania, Melanopsis, Ostrea, Cerithium, are brackish-water forms. But what is understood in relation to this and other localities is, that a far larger area of country was then submerged or covered by deposits than at the preceding Thanet Sand period ; for these beds can be traced from beyond Hungerford in Wiltshire towards the eastern part of Kent, and also on the northern side of the Thames into Suffolk. In the western area they consist of a series of clays and muds deposited in a comparatively deep sea, showing very little life except a few oysters ; but towards Reading there is evidence of different conditions. Here occur plants, and plants of such a character as are known only to grow upon land, and which must have been carried on to the old sea bed. Further eastward are seen the formations indicating the great series of fi*esh-water and brackish deposits, evidence of rivers draining themselves from a southern land. Wlien, however, we trace them over a still more eastern area, we find them becoming more marine in their character. Just as wc should expect to find in any large tidal river a scries of fluviatile, estuarine, and marine deposits, some- times intercalated, or with the mollusca partly intermixed ; so the respective deposits of the Woolwich beds, as seen at Dulwich. Charlton, and Upnor, seem to indicate a slight difference in their faunas, which may have resulted from their having been accumu- lated at a greater or less distance from the ancient cstuary.f * Prestwich, Quart. Journ. Oeol. Soc, vol. x. p. 78. t At Peckham and Dulwich I\iludina and Unio arc abundant, with somo plants and also mammals, as Cori/phodon, etc. At Upnor Ci/thfrea and JWtitii- ci'.lus are common, associated with Ci/rena ; at Charlton the chief brackish or marine form is Ostrea, mixed with Cyrena and Mtlania. AND OF THE NEIGHBOTJEHOOD OF WATFOED. 97 It is these beds on the northern parts of the Thames that are more interesting in relation to the geology of "Watford ; for they are the fii'st of the Tertiary series here overlying the Chalk. If you examine the sections at the Bushey Kiln, at the "Watford Heath Kiln, at Chorley Wood and Woodcock Hill in the neigh- bourhood of Eickmansworth, at Hatfield Park, and near Hertford (Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4), you will find that there are certain strata imme- diately overlying the Chalk, which are referred to the Woolwich and Reading series. They are almost unfossiliferous, or indi- cate that they were not deposited under fresh-water conditions, for the remains found in them are only a few Ostrem. Hence, therefore, you will see the necessity of carefully working out the characters and contents of deposits in order to learn the conditions under which they were formed.* It is not improbable that while to the southern side of the Thames, rivers existed, as before men- tioned, on the northern side there was more or less open sea in which marine sand or mud accumulated. But these beds have equivalents in the western area of the London Basin, and also in the Hampshire Basin, where the red clays which lie against the Chalk in Alum and White Cliff Bays are the representatives of the beds in the neighbourhood of Watford. In the Paris or Belgian area at this period marine conditions partly prevailed, but around Epemay are found similar fresh- water strata to those in the neigh- bourhood of Woolwich. Hence you see a great physical change must have taken place in the geography of the period during the deposition of the Woolwich series.f Perhaps it might be interesting to notice that if we compare the fertility of the Chalk hills of Hertfordshire with that of the Downs south of the Thames, it will be found that a great part of the fertility of the Chalk district is due to the spreading over it of more or less of these Woolwich clays or sands, and hence, there- fore, the difference in the wooded and agricultui-al character of the * " In Surrey, west of Croydon, and along the north-western outcrop in Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire, the other or Eeading tj-pe occiu's exclu- sively. It is unfossiliferous (?), and characterized by the presence of soapy mottled plastic clay, of various and often rich colours, some shade of red gene- rally showing ; but sand is mostly present also, and sometimes with pebbles ; at the northern margin of the district, between Aldenham and Shenley, there is a regular pebble-bed, hardened into stone of just the same kind as the blocks of the well-known ' Hertfordshire pudding-stone,' which are found so commonly over the Chalk-ti-act beyond, and were indeed most likely derived from this bed." — Whitaker, 'Guide to the Geology of London,' p. 31. t " The reasons for believing that the temperature of the sea at the ' Thanet sands ' period was lower than that which prevailed during the period of the London Clay, apply in some measnre probably less forcibly to this intermediate epoch of the "Woolwich and Eeading series. The general character both of the fauna and flora shows a preponderance of forms such as, on the whole, we might expect to meet with at present in more moderate climates than the one in which the more tropical-seeming vegetation and animals of the London Clay could have flourished." — Prestwich, 'Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc' vol. x. p. 136. See also Dr. Hooker's Note on the Fossil Plants fi'om Reading (vol. x. p. 163), in which he states that they " represent a vegetation diflering in no important respect from that at present inhabiting the north temperate zone." 98 rUOF. MOEEIS — GEOLOGY OF THE LONDOU" BASIN Fig. 3. — General Section of the Tertiary Beds at Hatfield Park Kiln.'^ d 1 d 2 d 3 d 4 d 5 d 6 U^:^ about 7 (Scale, 8 feet to an inch.) 'I Gravel, composed of various sized peb- ; bles of fiint, Avhite and pink quartz, quartz-rock, and some other rocks, and subangular flints, in coarse whitish sand, in parts as much as . . / («) StifE brown clay, more sandy towards the base ' / {d 1) Brown loam, with \ green grains {d 2) Thin bed of broAvn ! clay i {d 3) Olive-green and dull I brown sand j o I '» (^'*) Dull brown sand, with 1 green grains and perished shells \ [d 5) Brown loam, with / small nodules of stone pq and perished shells . . . {d 6) Finely bedded alter- nations of olive-green and dull brown sand, with perished shells (f) Thin bed of flint- pebbles, mostly small . . (ff) "White and light-coloured sand with layers of grey laminated clay ; at parts some veiy small pieces of ironstone, and here and there a flint-pebble ; for the most part regularly bedded, but a little false bedding in the lower part about 23 (/) Bottom-bed. Flint-pebbles and subangular flints, very dark green (almost black) outside, in sand ; the upper part ironshot, the middle grey and greenish- yellow, the base ironshot ; srreatest thickness about 2 {m) Chalk-with-flints. with a dip about S.E. Junction even, and * " At Hatfield Park Kiln, at the eastern edge of the park, the pits give a very good section from the high-level gravel down to the Cb;ilk. On the eastern side of the road, the higher pit shows the former over liOndun Clay, and the lower, 1,(111(1(111 Cliiy and its bas(iiiint-li(d over the Reading Beds; whilst on the other side the lii-iiir |)it .'ilsd >li..ws London Clay with a little gravel, and the lower oin- all the licds iroin the liascnn'nt-hed to the Chalk."— Whitaker, ' Mem. Geol. Sniv.' vol. iv. p. 22G, lig. o7. !See also Prestwich, 'Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc' vol. vi. p. 270. AND OF THE IfEIGHBOUKHOOD OF WATFORD. 99 Fig. 4. — General Section at Mr. Line's Briehjard, near Hertford.'^'' ''^mM (Scale, 8 feet to an inch ) 'i1^m3:'^rh^^i". - ('^ [a) Small pipes of gravel, iu parts. {J)) Tliiu wash of Loudon Clay, vdih. flints and pebbles, chiefly at the N.W. end. ( {c) Dark brown clay ; very little, and at j the S.E. end only. ^ (d) Basement-bed. Brown bedded sandy ^ clay and (in lower part) clayey sand, £ with thin layers of clay. Green grains here and there, and small fer- ruginons concretions, in one of which I found an impression of a bivalve. At the bottom a laver of black flint- V pebbles (t) ' about \'2k [The above is a long section ; its con- tinuation downwards is from smaller pits just below.] ^{f) Pale grey and brownish sand and clay, irregularly resting on, or passing down into, very pale greenish ochreous clay {/') 2 to 3 {g) Pale lilac firm fine sand (rather like the purplish saud of East Kent) thin- ning out at the N.W 1^ to [h) Purple grey red and brown mottled clay, in part sandy ; passing into the bed below 2 to 3 (i) Pale grey sandy clay with some small flint-pebbles; passing into the bed below nearly 2 (k) Light-grey sand streaked with brown, false-bedded; with an intei'- rupted layer of small flint-pebbles close to the top 16 (or more). (/) Flints (some large) and flint-pebbles . in sand, touched at bottom. * " For some way east of Hatfield Kiln sections of any sort are rare However, there is a clear spot at the kiln half a mile south-west of Eush Green near Hertford. In an old overgrown pit close to and east of the house there is London Clay. The present pits (1869) are north-west of the house, and give the only good section in the neighbourhood." — "Whitaker, ' Mem. Geol. Surv.' vol. iv. p. 227, fig. 58. 100 PROF. MOEEIS — GEOLOGY OF THE LONDON l^ASIN northern Chalk lands compared with the open downs of uncovered (Jhalk on the southern side of the Thames.* Overlying the Woolwich beds in some parts of the London Basin, but apparently not found in this district, are pebble beds and sands, of variable thickness. Tliese have been termed by Mr. Whitakcr the Oldhaven and Blackheath Beds ; their molluscan fauna is both estuarine and marine, and is somewhat related to the beds below and the London Clay above, of which latter forma- tion these beds have been considered the base. These perfectly rounded pebbles, like those of the Woolwich beds below, are so well marked that they can be readily detected amongst the mass of superficial gravels of later age spread over the district. Their nature and form indicate that they were derived from the Chalk, and rolled upon some shore for ages, having been subsequently spread over a larger area (far perhaps from their parent source) by the changes to which the sea or estuarine bed was subjected. Fig. 5. — General Section on Raihvay, Bushey Cutting. (") London Clay feet. \b) Basement-bed of the London Clav, with numerous fossils 5 ? / [g) Sands " 3 ? \ {h) Mottled clays with a few beds of sand 35 Rnadinr^ Beds, i («) Saud nearly white, with a few layers and patches of flint-pebbles 10 \ (/) Shingle bed of Hint-pebbles in ochreous sand ... 15 («)) Chalk. After the deposition of these estuarine bods, the gc^ology of the TiOndon area shows that another physical cliange took place, pro- bably of still greater interest. The Woolwich Beds indicates mode- rately temperate conditions ; but the overlying stratum — that wliich is known as the London Clay — presents a very diil'i'rent character : firstly, with regard to its mode of accumulation ; and secondly, as * "The chalk hills which bound the T.'rtiary area on the north, unlike tli chalk of Salisbury I'lain, present but a snudl extent of open downs, aiul ar well wooded on tiieir summits. This arises in part from a eovering of cla AND OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF WATFORD. 101 to the nature of its fossil contents. The lowest beds of this clay are those which are exposed in the neighbourhood of Watford. Eeferring to the sections south of the Bushey Station (Fig. 5), the brick-kilns at Watford Heath and Bushey, and near Hertford, at Woodcock Hill, and at Hatfield Park kiln, we shall find, overlying the Woolwich beds, layers of pebbles, sands, and loam, with some marine remains, forming the base of the London Clay proper. It is these which Mr. Prestwich calls the " Basement Bed." See Pigs. 1, 2, 3, 4. There are traces of the London Clay in Hertfordshire, but it is of no great thickness — in the northern district it is almost wanting,* — but it attains the thickness of four or five hundred feet in some parts of the London Basin, and consists of a brownish or bluish clay, quietly but successively deposited in a comparatively deep sea, and that sea to some extent open to the north. The fossil forms are of a tropical character ; yet there are indications also of a moderately temperate condition, and this thick deposit of the London Clay, forming one of the chief features of the London Basin, shows us therefore that it was accumulated in a tolerably deep sea, with adjacent land, as is evident from the plant and mammalian remains found in it. This Clay is not restricted to the present London Basin area. It occurs in the Hampshire Basin ; but, singularly enough, the sea does not appear to have covered any considerable portion of the Paris Basin. There are traces of it in the neighbourhood of Dieppe and Dunkirk, but considerably more is spread over a por- tion of Belgium, where it is known as the Systeme Tpresien. Possibly, says Mr. Prestwich, the London Clay may have been formed during a period unrepresented, or only very partially re- presented, in the French series. When we consider the nature of the Fauna and Flora — the animal and vegetable life which existed at the time — we shall find a very instructive lesson. There are, so far as at present known, between four and five hundred species of animal remains. These belong to nearly all the divisions of the animal kingdom, — the largest number being the MoUusca, of which there are be- tween 200 and 250 species. But all the other departments are drift and in part from thin cappings of the lower Tertiary beds, the hitter being especially frequent to the north and north-west of Reading, and again around Beaconsfield, Penn, and Amersham. They are also found to some extent near St. Albans, Welwyn, and to the north of Hertford, and between Ware and Bishop's Stortford." — Prestwich, ' Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.,' vol. x. p. 19.— " In the north-western corner of our district, in Bucks and Herts, there is absolutely no downland, and the greater part of the tract consists of ploughed land diversi- fied by woods and parks." — Whitaker, ' Guide to the Geology of London,' p. 21. * " The London Clay forms the greater part of the London Tertiary district, stretching eastward from the neighbourhood of Hungerford to that of Canter- bury on the south, and to that of Bishop's Stortford on the north, and having a breadth therefore of twenty miles and more at London : on the west, how- ever, where the succeeding series is in force and the dip high, and as the formation gets thinner, the outcrop is comparatively narrow, less than a mile wide sometimes." — Whitaker, ' Mem. Geol. Survey,' vol. iv. 1872, p. 9. 102 PEOF. MORETS — GEOLOGY OF THE LONDON BASIN represented. Amongst the Vcrtebrata we have each class repre- sented — Fishes, Reptiles, Birds, and Mammals. Amongst the most numerous are some very curious forms of fish. The fish of the London Clay period indicate to us a great Natural History fact — that whereas, of the fish in the Chalk period most of the forms are now extinct, or belong to the shark and ray tribe, and there Avere only a very few species related to the present most abundant fish-life forms, in the London Clay there were not only sharks and rays, as shown by their well-preserved teeth and palates, but a great number of forms allied to those which constitute the larger portion of the existing fish fauna, the Cycloid and Ctenoid, or Teleostean fishes. This therefore shows that, in one group at least of fishes, — the Teleostei, there has been a gradual increase from the Chalk period to the present time ; and the phsenoga- mous plants exhibit a similar increase. Besides the fish, there are numerous forms of reptile life — the Crocodiles, and also the Ophidia (snakes), which here appear for the first time ; for no traces of this order have been noticed before. In the London Clay also is found another interest- ing order — the Chelonia or group of turtles. No less than nine different species of turtle occur, whereas at the present time in all the seas of the globe there are only five known living species, and they are widely distributed. These indicate warm conditions ; and with them are found river turtles and tortoises. Many species of Crustacea, Xanthopsis, Hoploparia, etc., some Echinodermata, numerous Foraminifera, and Entomostraca, also occur. Of the more remarkable Mollusca is the Nautilus, with eight or ten fossil species, although there are only two living ones ; and there are also numerous species of Volufa, Fusus, Cyprcca, Pleurotoma, which afford another indication of comparatively tropical conilitions. But besides the crocodiles and turtles as e\idence of rivers and shores, we find imbedded in the clay of Sheppey and other dis- tricts remains of certain Mammalia of curious forms [Hyracothe- rium, FUolophus) — not of existing genera, but related to existing genera — which must have lived on the land of that period ; and still more interesting, in the neighbourhood of Sheppey and else- where are found abundant traces of vegetation of large growth and of different characters : fruits and seeds, which by a careful comparison of existing forms indicate the very singular fiora which grew upon tlie high and low lands of the London Clay period, and some curious forms of Coniforai which yielded the Highgate resin or fossil amber, and of Proteacea!, a family almost only represented at the present day in the arid forests of Australia, Fruits related to the Acacia, Gourd, Melon, and Custard- apple families are associated with a largo number of so-called "fossil figs" {Xipadites), which bear a close resemblance to the remaikal)U! gcTius -N^ipa, growing so abundantly in the ^Molucca Islands and the region of the Ganges, and wliich fre(iueiitly come down the river in such numbers as almost to stop the navigation. AND OF THE NEIGHBOTIRHOOD OF WATFOED. 103 Hence it will be seen that a careful study and comparison of present forms with those of past times, yields us evidence that the London Clay was deposited under tropical conditions, or in a climate very different from that at present prevailing in the same area. The London Clay, as I pointed out to you, is but little spread over the area of Hertfordshire.* "What remains of the Tertiary series is that which belonged to the Woolwich beds and the basement bed of the London Clay, with only a small portion of the Clay itself. One interesting point which some of the members of the Society may have noticed is that in some parts of Hertfordsliire, as near Radlett, there occur masses of rounded pebbles frequently cemented together into hard stone. These plum-pudding stones, as they are called, are merely the consolidated pebble-beds of the Woolwich series. These pebbles were not only rolled upon some shore where they were deposited, but were subsequently cemented by infiltration of siliceous matter, so as to form a solid rock. These old conglomerate masses were formerly made into querns or hand-mills for grinding com, having been so used because, probably, the softer parts between the pebbles more readily give way than the harder, hence forming a continued roughened surface. Besides the characteristics which I alluded to in the London Clay, there is another interesting point bearing upon the life of the period. Many of you may probably have observed in your visits to some of our sea-shores, pieces of wood, or sometimes pieces at the bottom of old piles, bored by a kind of shipworm called the Teredo. Other specimens, which are not at all uncommon in the London Clay, tell a somewhat similar story. The wood which, from its structure, is known to be coniferous, grew upon land, and was subsequently di'ifted into the sea; during the drifting it became the home of the Teredina, and ultimately becoming water- logged, sank to the bottom. This and other facts noticed, there- fore show that the London Clay was formed not only in a deep sea and gradually accumulated, but that there was contempo- raneous land on Avhich vegetation grew and animals lived whose remains were washed down by the streams and imbedded in the accumulating mud. This Clay period at last terminated, and the other Eocene deposits newer than the London Clay are not represented in Hertfordshire. The next formed beds were sands (the Lower Bagshot), and are still found capping as outliers the London Clay of Harrow and Hampstead Hills, and are remnants of similar strata which * " Along the northern boundary the escarpment (of the London Clay) is again conspicuous for the most part, as on the south of "Windsor, and along the valley of the Coins : Stanmore Heath, indeed, with its capping of pebble- gravel, being the highest ground in Middlesex." — Whitaker, 'Geology of London,' p. 42. 104 PROF. MORRIS GEOLOGY OF THE LONDON BASIN constitute the fine and extensive lieaths of Pirbright, Frimley, and Jki^^sliot; these may formerly have extended over the area of Hertfordshire, but have been subsequently washed away by the denuding agencies to which the county has been subjected. Between the London Clay period and the next overlying forma- tions in this district, there is a great hiatus — a great geological break— during which extensive and different accumulations of strata took place {i.e. the Middle and Upper Eocene, Miocene, and Pliocene), not only in England, but also on the Continent, such as those which now constitute a considerable portion of the rocks forming some of the higher parts of the Pyrenees, Alps, and Himalaya ; for those mountains, high as they are, have been considerably elevated since the London Clay period. Most of the chief cities of Europe are built either upon the Eocene or Miocene strata. In this neighbourhood the next scries of strata are those which I alluded to in the former part of the lecture as belonging to the Pleistocene period, and the agencies concerned in their formation have partly tended to modify the features of the district. In descending order they have been divided as follows: — ^'•' Alluvium (recent river deposits). Old m,er Drift,P„st.glacial... { S™^»il£">- Plateau gravel (of doubtful age) . Surface deposits on the Chalk- I Brick-earth (and pebbly loam). tract ( Clay with flints (of doubtful age). r,, ■ ^ ts -i, ( Boulder-clay. Glacial Drift J j^^^,^^^^ „^^^^;^j^ ^^^ ^^^^^ ? Tre-glacial Pebble gravel. Those members of the Society who have attended the field meetings which have been held in the neighbourhood of "Watford, have been shown that there are certain accumulations of gravel and clay spread over the district, which do not present any regular stratified appearance. These are referred to what geo- logists call the Glacial Period, and they are of dilferent kinds and ages. Firstly, there are the gravels which are found at Stanmore Heath. If we examine a section from the neighbourhood of Pushey Grove to Stanmore, we observe a little escarpment of the Clialk, covered, as we ascend, by the "Woolwich beds, and these again by the London Clay, until we reach the gravel of Stanmore Heath, as well shown in Mr. "Wliitakcr's diagram (fig. G). These gravels are the first of the series referable to tliis period. They are appa- rently due to the spreading by the wat(>r at the first commencement of, or previously to, the Glacial Period. Py ]\lr. AVhitaker they * Whitakcr, Geology of l.ondon, p. 3. AND OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF "WATFORD. 105 C5 M ^ bo H^ o "S O 3 o so o 53 o „ fee's g 106 PROF. MORBIS — GEOLOGY OF THE LONDON BASIN are supposed to be pre-glaciul, and are known as the pebble-gravel in this district, and similar gravels are found at Ilemel Hemp- stead and other places.* Secondly, of later date than these pebble- gravels are still more instructive beds, and which afford far better indications of great physical and climatic changes. Hertfordshire presents us with some marked features of the Glacial Period ; for in certain districts occurs a deposit of sand and gravel, with foreign rocks not belonging to the present County of Hertford, as in the gravel-pits west of "Watford, the chalk-pit near to Bushey Station, and the pit on the hill east of the railway, at Radlett near Watford. Overlying that again, as at Bricket Wood, is a more or less thick accumulation of clay, known as Boulder-clay. f The lower sands are of middle glacial age ; where they are wanting, the Boulder-clay rests directly on the older Tertiary beds. This clay presents some remarkable features, and the study of its origin may assist in explaining the causes by which the present contour of the country has been partly produced. Some of you have pro- bably read of the " Great Ice Period," and geologists refer this superficial covering spread over some portion of Hertford.shire, and other parts of England, to that earlier period of the earth's history when higher mountains existed in Wales and Scotland, down which large glaciers moved, and probably extended as a great ice-sheet, like that of Greenland, over the lower land to the border of the old icy sea. From the margin of this old shore, masses of ice loaded with their debris of earth and stones protruded into the sea, and becoming detached as icebergs, di-ifted away, and when melted deposited their earthy burden over the old sea-bed in the more temperate region to the south. For in the north-east of Hertfordshire are found boulders of limestone, which cannot have come nearer than from the Derby- shire hills, and also other rocks from still further north. It is evident, therefore, that these superficial coverings indicate a very different period from that of the London Clay, — one of intense cold, when there existed to the north large glaciers and snowy moun- tains, from which were derived the materials of the wide-spread deposits and far-brought boulders found over parts of the present area of Hertfordshire. | * " On the whole, it seems safer to conchide that this trravel is the oldest Drift of the district, and is a bed of somewhat local occurrence. The chief localities are Stanmore Heath, from Shenlcy south-eastward, west and north of IJarnet, and at Totteridge, in Middlesex ; at IIi,2:hbeach, Jack's Hill, and Gayne's Park, east of Eppinj?, in Essex; and at Shooter's Hill, in Kent." — Wliitaker, 'Geology of London,' p. 51. t I'restwich, The Geologist, vol. i. p. 241. J "The chief tracts of Boulder-clay in our area are on the north-east of "Watford, our most westerly patch ; at Finchley, its most southerly point, where it ends off at the northern slope of the ridge that bounds the valley of the Thames ; and in Essex on the north and north-west of Urentwood, wiience it spreads over a very large district, beyond our bounds." — "NVhitaker, I.e. p. 64. — " From an examination of tlie sections tliat have been exposed during tlie last seven years, in making the double line of the Loudon and A' orth- Western AXD OF THE NEIGHBOITRHOOD OF WATFOED. 107 It will be observed, from the few brief observations I Have made, that the formations in Hertfordshire are of different kinds, and belong to different periods. If the beds remained as originally- formed, and horizontal, the same stratum probably would only have been exposed over the area ; but you must remember this fact as taught by geology — that the physical features of the district are due to two primary causes : firstly, to the disturbance which the strata of the neighbourhood have undergone, by which undulations of the surface were occasioned, and hence brought up this or that rock to the surface ; and secondly, to the great planing agency, acting differently on the hard and soft materials, partly due to the effects of the great Glacial Period, but probably more largely to the action of rain and rivers, ice and snow, modifying those undulations produced by primary disturbance, and thus pre- senting us with the varied physical features which contribute so much not only to the picturesque beauty of this neighbourhood, but to that of all districts where glacial effects and other meteoric actions have operated. Although the geology of the vicinity of "Watford shows only the remnants of strata which in other districts are much thicker and occupy far larger areas, still it affords evidence of considerable change of land and sea, of the life of the period, and of climatal conditions ; and the more we study the JS'atural History of these formations, and of the others which constitute the crust of the globe, the more we shall find indubitable evidence of the harmony and unity of design in a Creative intelligence, which, as at the present, so in all past time, has adapted the animal and vegetable life to the existing inorganic conditions. Whilst the broader characters of a district (geologically speaking) are known, it should not be forgotten that local and working Natural History Societies have their duties and utility. If pre- vious workers have sketched out the larger natural features, still there remain many minute points for iuvestigation by the local naturalist ; and therefore it will be well for us to remember, that by detailed work in the field — by carefully examining the pebbles, rocks, and fossils, which apparently seem to teach us little unless we read them rightly — we may all perhaps add something additional to the facts which previous geologists have taught us, as well as to our knowledge of the great physical changes the earth has under- gone. Railway, between Hertfordshire and Lancashire, I have been led to believe that the sands and overlj-ing Boulder-clays are of the same age in the one County as in the other ; but whether this be so or not, it is certain that these deposits re- present the close of the Glacial submergence, and that this submergence of the land lessened in extent southwards, so that the whole of the country south of the Thames was a long island, as suggested by Mr. Godwin-Austen." — C. E. De Ranee, On the Relative Age of some Valleys in the Xorth and South of England, ' Proc. Geol. Assoc.,' vol. iv. p. 242. 108 13. — Miscellaneous Notes and Obseevations. entomology. [Read 14th October, 1875.] Appearance of Sphinx Convolvuli. — The Meteorological Society having requested that occasional appearances in considerable numbers, of insects usually scarce, should be noted with a view to the elucidation of " seasonal phenomena," it is proper to record the capture during the past few weeks of several specimens of Sphinx Convolvuli (the convolvulus hawk-moth), an insect not usually by any means common. I have heard of seven specimens having been taken in Watford, and of an eighth having been seen since, which has as yet escaped capture. Of the seven which have been taken, two or three were found at rest in early morning upon door-knockers. One, a very fine male, so taken by Mr. Hodgson, one of our letter-carriers, has been very kindly presented to me by the captor. Mr. Hodgson took two others, one of which is in his own collection, and the other in that of Mr. Jonathan Chater, who has two more captured this year. One, which flew into a florist's shop, is in Dr. Brett's possession; and Mr. Clarence Fry has captured one flying over some petunias in his garden, and has seen another, but at present has failed to take it. Mr. Lawford has taken three at Hitchin hovering over flowers at dusk, and Mr. Fry has had two sent to him from ^Norfolk. Probably the next issue of the Entomological Journals will con- tain records of captures of this insect in many other parts of the country, as it is one of those that is usually scarce, but in some years appears in abundance over a large district. These occasional appearances are at present quite unaccounted for, and I am inclined to doubt whether any connexion will be discovered between them and seasonal phenomena. — Arthur Cottam, Watford. [Read 11th November, 1875.] Botany of Wed Suffolk.— I find the Botany of West Suffolk very different from that of Middlesex. I have not yet met with any- thing that is specially rare. I have, however, in a small area, marked down upwards of 500 plants — among them several of con- siderable interest, as IFolfonia palusfris, Ifi/drocharis Jforsus-nina, Parnassia palusfris, Anf/rrhinu»i Oroi/fii/i/i, Sisf/i/ihrium Sophia, Iberis amara, Thlaspi arvense, Turritis glabra, Scleranthus perennis, Nepeta Cataria, and Rtimex pulcher. — \_Rev.'] W. M. Hind, Honing- ton Rectory, Bury St. Edmunds. 109 14. — On the supposed Chalybeate Spring at "Watfoed, and on OTHER Medicinal Waters in Herts. By R. A. Pryor, B.A., F.L.S. [Read 13th January, 1876.] At page 63 of the second part of our ' Transactions ' there is an inquiry as to a mineral spring, which, on the authority of the 'National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland,' is supposed to have existed at Watford. I cannot help suspecting some error, probably from careless copying, on the part of the topographer quoted. Sir Henry Chauncy, in the ' Historical Antiquities of Hertford- shire' (p. 6, — 1700), in his account of the " Waters in this county that are physical," mentions a spring at Watton that was "dis- covered about the year 1682, and by some experiments found of very good use. It is of the nature with the waters of Timbridge, but some think stronger ; it yields a very black tinctui-e with galls, and will, if close stopped, do so after it hath been four days from the spring; it is very useful to create an appetite," with other beneficial effects, into the exact details of which it is not now necessaiy to enter. The account in the ' Gazetteer ' is so evidently taken from the passage just given, that there can be little doubt that the confusion has arisen from the similarity of name of the two places. The Watton chalybeate does not appear to have attracted much public attention, and I am not aware that its properties have been subjected to any further analysis. There were, however, other waters in the county of a medicinal character, one at least of which enjoyed for some time a considerable notoriety. Three such are noticed by Chauncy.* The most celebrated was that "in the Common, near Barnet." Of this the first mention is, I believe, to be found in Fuller's ' Worthies of England,' published posthu- mously in 1662. It had about that time " lately been discovered in a Common, as generally sanative springs are found in such places, as if Nature therein intimated her intention, designing them for pubKque profit, not private employment ; it is conceived to run through veins of alotne by the taste thereof. It coagulateth milk, and the end thereof is an excellent plaister for any green wounds, besides several other operations. But," he goes on to observe, "as Alexander was wont to applaud Achilles, not as the most valiant, but the most fortunate of men, having Homer to trumpet forth his actions ; so are these waters much advantaged with the vicinitie of London, whose citizens proclaim the praise thereof. And indeed, London in this kind is stately attended, having three Medicinal Waters (Tunbridge, Epshom, Bamet) within one dayes journey thereof. The catalogue of the cures done by this spring,^'' he continues, " amounting to a great number, insomuch that there * Hist. Antiq. Herts. 110 E. A. PETOR — MEDICINAL WATERS IN HEETS. is hope, in process of time, the water riaing here will repay the hhod ahecl hard by, and save as many lives as were lost in the fatal battel at Ikvrnet betwixt the two houses of Yorhe and Lancaster,^''* an anticipation that was hardly, I fear, destined to be fully realised. Four years afterwards it was again noticed by Merret in his 'Pinax,' where, however, he wrongly places the " fontes purgantes ad Barnet " "in Middlesexia." f In such repute was it now held, that in 1677 Mr. Alderman Owen left the sum of £ 1 per annum to keep the well in repair "as long as it should be of service to the parish." :J: The same benefactor added £8 per annum to the endowment of Queen Elizabeth's Free School at Barnet, to be paid by the Fishmongers' Company. § It is possible that the Company were trustees of tho other bequest also, and that their records may be able to furnish additional particulars. I have been able to glean nothing as to the subsequent history of the trust. At no great distance, but of secondary importance, were the wells " in the common at Northal,''^ now Northaw. These are alluded to by Doody, the botanist and correspondent of Eay, in his notes in the appendix to the second edition of the 'Synopsis,' where he speaks of " Belbar" as '■'■ haud procul ah aquis medicatis Northal- lensibus." || Another spring in the same parish is, I believe, mentioned only by Chauncy ; it was at the place called Cuffely, now Coffleys.^ In each case, according to the last-named writer, " The Mineral that they are impregnated with is supposed to be Allom, but most certainly a mixt fixt Salt, of which 'tis hard to determine,"** an explanation that does not throw very much light on the matter. He goes on, however, to describe their medicinal virtues at con- siderable length, and there can be no doubt that the Barnet waters at all events were at one time extensively in use. To much the same effect is the account given a few years later by Salmon in his ' History of Hertfordshire' (in 1728). "There are," he tells us, " Mineral Waters of the Epsom kind at Northall and Barnet, of the Tunhridge Sort at Wehvyn and Watton.\\ Tlicy arc known by their Effects, but 'tis hard to say with what impreg- nated." XX The Welwyn chalybeate is noticed also by Gough in his addi- tions to Camden's 'Britannia' (vol. i. p. 34o) in 1789, where he * Fuller, Worthies, p. 18. t Mcrrct, Pinax Rcr. Nat. Brit. p. 220.-1666. X Lysoiis, Envir. Loud. vol. iv. p. 8. § Salmon, Hist. Herts, p. 66. II Riiy, SjTi. ed. 2, p. 334.— 1696. II In the neighbourhood of North Mims and Hatfield, there are many springes " of a sulphureous or ferruginous nature." — Encyd. Brit. ed. 7, vol. xi. p. 284. ** Chauney, 1 c. tt " In a Miller's Garden of this ("Watton) Parish, just by the Beano, is a "Well of tho Tuiibridge Kiud, which hath a higher Chalybeate Taste than that of "Welwyn." — Salmon, I.e. p. 211). JJ Salmon, I.e. p. 1. R. A. PEYOE MEDICINAL WATERS EN HERTS. ^ 111 localises it " at the corner of the rector's garden." I am not aware of any other particulars as to its history.* Coming clown to more recent times, we find Clutterbnck also in his 'History' making mention of mineral springs " in the parishes of Chipping Barnet, Northaw, and Watton,"f adding further that "the waters of the two first were analysed some years since [_i.e. previous to 1815] by Dr. Rutty of Dublin. A gallon of the Barnet water, according to his analysis, yielded, upon evaporation, 323 grains of sediment, consisting of 297 grains of saline, and 26 of earthy matter, mostly calcareous. The same quantity of ^Nor- thaw water yielded 250 grains of sediment, consisting of 225 grains of saline, and 25 earthy matter, mostly calcareous." J A still later, but perhaps not altogether trustworthy, authority goes into more detail as to the Barnet water, which is said to contain "a considerable portion of calcareous glauber, with a small portion of sea-salt," § a description that would perhaps hardly satisfy the requirements of a modem analyst. Besides the above, there were also, according to Chauncy, "petrifying Springs in the grounds of Broadfield, and in the Parish of Clofhall.^'' II These, however, can hardly be reckoned among medicinal waters. I do not find mention of them in any other writer. So much I have been able to gather as to the past history of the mineral springs in this county ; their present condition I must leave to the investigation of others. All alike have now di'opped out of general notice, but of several the local tradition must yet survive ; and analyses of theii- properties might not unusefully be undertaken by those who have the requisite facilities. * There was also "a chalybeat -water" at Hitchin, " in the Sun inn yard." — Gough, I.e. p. 342. t Clutterbuck, Hist. Herts, vol. i. p. 3.— 1815. X G. Monro, Mineral "Waters, vol. i. p. 148. I Lewis, Topog. Diet. vol. i. p. 86.— 1831. || Chauncy, I.e. 112 15. — Thr Rainfall in 1875. [Summary of Quarterly Reports read 10th June and llth Nov. 1875, and 13th Jan. 1876 ] The following table shows the monthly fall of rain, in 1875, as recorded at Watford House by Dr. Brett, at Har wood's Farm by Mr. Swanston, at Cassiobury House by the Earl of Essex,* at Oaklands, Hempstead Iload, by Mr. Edward Harrison, and at Nash Mills, Hemel Hempstead, by the President, Mr. John Evans, F.ll.S. The localities are grouped, firstly, under the river-basins, in accordance with the botanical districts into which Mr. 11. A. Pryor has divided the county ;f and secondly, according to their distance from Watford and their proximity to each other, — an arrangement the advantage of which will be more apparent if reports are received from more distant parts of the county. The reports for the first quarter of the year, previously published in the ' Transac- tions,' J are incorporated, and the mean monthly fall at Nash Mills in the decade 1860 — 69, computed as before, is given in the last column. RIVER DISTRICTS. Lower Colnk. BULBORNE. LOCALITIES. Watford House. Har- wooa's Farm. Cassio- bury. Oak- lands. Nash Mills, Ileiuel Hemp- stead. OBSERVERS. 1 D.. BllKTT. 1 Mr. Swans- ton. Lord ESSKX. Mr. E. Harri- son. Mr. John Evans. Height of ( Above Groun a. 1 ft. 3 in. 1ft. Sin. 5 ft. 6in. 2ft. 9 in. Mean Fall 1860-69. Rain Gauge ( Above Sea-le\ el. 250 ft. 258 ft. 273 ft. 237 ft. January . . . . 3-68 3-90 [3-91] 3-92 3-13 2-88 February . 0-62 0-56 0-84] h-02i 1-13 1-03 1-58 March 1-05 1-19 0-85 0-68 2-03 April . May . 1-62 1-45 fl-46' 1-47 1-48 1-45 2-03 2-17 2-17 2-05 2-11 2-27 June . 2-89 2-13 3-00 3-09 2-35 2-48 July . 6 48 6-08 6-43 6-63 6-58 1-85 Auf;-ust 1-22 1-78 1-56 1-34 1-25 2-59 September 2-25 1-58 2-49 2-10 2-23 2-61 October 3-80 3-80 4-39 4-18 4-92 2-35 November 3-28 3-40 3-86 3-89 3-66 2-08 December 1-16 1-03 0-75 0-88 0-93 2-22 Totals . ' 3008 2907 31-88 30-53 1 29-35 26-39 *Absence from home havinj^ prevented the Earl of Essex furnishinf^ returns for the first four mouths in the year, the means of the amounts recorded at IJarwood's Farm and Oaklands for these mouths are inserted in brackets. t Transactions, vol. i. p. G7. See also plate 1. + ib. p. 03. Ill 16.— A^^NIVEESAEY ADDEESS. By the President, JOHN EVANS, F.R.S., F.S.A., F.G.S., etc, [Delivered at the Annual Meeting, 10th February, 1876.] Labies and Gentlemen, — It now becomes my duty, as President of this Society, to offer you a few remarks by way of address, and I must express niy regret that, owing to other occupations, I have really not had time to prepare anything that will be worthy of your acceptance. I must therefore beg of you to excuse me if in the remarks I address to you I seem to repeat observations I have already made at the opening meeting of this Society. Before proceeding further, I must congratulate the Society upon its successfid entry into life and into business. "We number some- thing like 150 members, and our finances are in a satisfactory con- dition. It is true that our income is not much in excess of our expenditure, but still you must bear in mind that in the fii'st year of the existence of any society there are a certain number of expenses which are not Kkely to be repeated at subsequent periods, and I therefore think the position so far as regards the pecuniary con- dition of our Society is good. We have held nine evening meetings since our commencement, and have also attempted to hold a fair number of field meetings, which, owing to the unfortunate weather that prevailed upon the days selected, we were not in all cases able to carry out. The papers on various subjects which have been read during the past year have already been enumerated in the Eeport of the Council. We have had, in the fij-st place, geological papers from Mr. Lobley, Professor Morris, and Mr. Whitaker. That from Mr. Lobley was an interesting account of the "Cretaceous Eocks of England," in which we are here more especially interested; and that of Professor Morris was on the " Geology of the London Basin," also one of our neighbours. Mr. Whitaker' s paper was " A List of Works on the Geology of Hertfordshire," and therefore of great value to those who are likely to investigate what has been written on the subject. In Botany, we have had some valuable papers from Mr. Cottam, on the "Flora of the Watford District;" and from Mr. E. A. Pry or, " Notes on a proposed re-issue of the Flora of Hert- fordshire," and also on the "Botanical Work of the past Season." VOL. I. — PT. V. 9 114 ANNIVEBSAKY ADDRESS Mr. Littleboy, also, has given us a very interesting paper, " AFew Words about our Local Ferns," and we have further recorded in the pages of our ' Transactions ' the discovery of two or three plants which are new to Hertfordshire — Myosotis stjkatica, Poterium mtiricatum, and Impatiens fulva. In Meteorology and Botany com- bined, showing the relationship of one to the other, we have had papers, — from Dr. Hind, " Notes on the Plants on which the IMeteor- ological Society invites Observation as to their Time of Flower- ing; " and from Mr. Hopkinson, "On the Observation of Periodical Xatural Phenomena." Mr. Cottam has also given us some " Notes on the Observation of Insects in Connexion with Investigations on Seasonal Phenomena." "With regard to Meteorology, we have had meteorological observations taken at Cassiobury by the Earl of Essex, and I believe we shall also have a report from Dr. Brett at Watford House. We have also had reports of the rainfall from several observers, and Mr. Heather has just given us a paper " On the Construction, Adjustment, and Use of Meteorological Instruments." In Natural Histoiy generally we have had a paper from Mr. Harting on the study of Natural History, relating more particu- larly to the observation of the migration and habits of birds ; and in Entomology two notices from Mr. J. H. James, on the "De- struction of an Oak-tree by the Larvse of the Goat Moth," and on " The Death's Head Moth at Watford ; " while Mr. Cottam has given us a notice relative to the appearance of Sphinx Conrolvuli. We have also had, from various authors, several minor notices on Botany, etc., and at our evening meetings some very interesting microscopical exhibitions. We may therefore look back with satisfaction on the work of the past year, and I think, judging from what has already been communicated here, we may fairly hope for the future that those gentlemen who have so readily given us so much will give us more ; and others will no doubt follow the good example set them, especially when they come to consider how much lies within our reach, and comes within our area of observation. Up to the present time our papers seem to have been mainly devoted to geology, botany, and meteorology ; but our area is suffi- ciently wide to embrace the whole field of Natural History. We have only at present extended our investigations to two or three departments, while the whole of that vast area of Natural History is open before us ; and it has occurred to me that on the present occasion it might be well if I were to call attention to a few of tlie BT THE PEESIDEXT. 115 subjects which strike me as being such as would interest the members of the Society, and which lie within easy reach of nearly all of us, especially of those, of course, who have paid any particular attention to the departments of Natural History under which each subject lies. In Geology we have had, as I said before, Mr. Lobley's paper on the Chalk, and Professor Morris's paper on the London Basin. Mr, Lobley, in his very interesting paper, gave us some account of the method in which the Chalk had probably been deposited, and you will find in the illustrations of his paper some of those minute organisms which have been washed out of the Chalk placed side by side and compared with other organisms of a similar character which have been dredged up from the deep sea in the course of the expedition of the Challenger. That expedition of the Challanger will, I think, throw a very material amount of light upon the origin, not only of the Chalk, but of various other rocks ; for it is found in the course of their soundings that they have brought up, at the very least, four different kinds of sea-bottom. In shallow water they brought up something, which to all appearance was sand of a greenish colour, but which, after close examination under the microscope, proved to be casts of small animals of the Fora- minifera class, which had been converted into a mixture of flint, clay, and iron, which has this greenish appearance. Chemically it is spoken of as glauconite, or silicate of iron and alumina. This foraminiferal sand is characteristic of some of the beds at the base of the Chalk, what we call the Greensand consisting to some extent of similar fossiKzed organisms converted in the same manner. There is a point which, I think, might very well be investigated by members of this Society, by examination under the microscope, as to whether in the Leighton sands, which are frequently brought into this neighbourhood for building purposes, they could not find some of those organisms which have been con- verted into this peculiar greensand or glauconite. But at greater depths the soundings have brought up a white ooze, consisting mainly of the same shells, but mixed also wdth the spikes of very minute organisms which seem to live on the surface of the sea, — little animals like sea-urchins, with spines all over them ; the spines of which fall to the bottom of the sea, and fill up the spaces left by the larger, but still very minute organisms. Similar remains are to be found in the Chalk, and there again is a subject that some of our microscopists might take in hand. But going to 116 .VXXIVEESAET ADDRESS a greater (lei)th, some of those organisms from the bottom of the sea, which, when taken from a depth of about two thousand fathoms, appear to be white and moderately firm, assume a rotten appearance, and become grey ; and at still greater depths they gradually turn into a red clay. The curious feature is this — that it would appear as if this red clay consisted mainly of the remains of organic life. Whether there is in the shells of these minute organisms a sufficient portion of aluminous matter to constitute this red clay, when all the chalk is dissolved away, is somewhat disputed between Professor Wyville Thomson and Dr. Carpenter. Professor Wyville Thomson is of opinion that two per cent, of the otherwise calcareous shells is insoluble, while Dr. Cai-penter thinks that the appearance is not due to the presence of clay itself, but rather to the disintegration of the greensand, which itself is due to the decomposition of the fleshy matter, the sarcode of the animals. It has long been known that over various portions of the Chalk area and various limestone districts we have red clays, and in all probability these red clays are in a similar manner due to the solution of the lime — the chalky matter — from the original chalk or limestone, leaving this insoluble portion on the top of the rock. In the same way, it is supposed that at the bottom of the sea there is a current of cold water, not improbably the result of ice melting at the poles, containing a sufiicient quantity of car- bonic acid to dissolve away the lime and leave the insoluble portions at the bottom. No doubt these discoveries would tend to throw some light on the cx>nditions under which our Chalk has been deposited. But what I would call attention to is the desira- bility of making some experiments with our chalk, in order to ascertain by actual investigation what portion remains insoluble when exposed for a length of time to water charged with carbonic acid. I think we have some chemists among our body, and that there would be no difiiculty in carrying out experiments which will be not only of local but general interest. Another (juestion to which the attention of the members of the Society miglit well be directed is that of the origin of flint. In certain portions of the sea at the present time there are a vast number of those minute organisms, the diatoms, which have the power of secreting a flinty instead of a calcareous shell from the water of the sea, which contains not only lime, but a certain amount of flint in solution. Sponges have tlie same peculiarity of BY THE PEESIDENT. 117 constructing their skeletons of flint, and the spicules in the interior of white flint are very beautiful objects under the microscope. They also testify to the probability of a great portion of the flint in chalk having been originally organic. I think some investiga- tions might be carried on to ascertain how far any of these diatoms may be traced in our flint, and also to ascertain how far the dissolution and formation of flint may be going on at the present day ; for water has the power of dissolving a very minute amount of flint, and under certain circumstances of parting with that flint. If, for instance, water, with a certain amount of flint in solution, gets into the interior of a flint, there seems a difiiculty in its getting out with the flint in solution, and therefore it deposits it in minute layers in the interior. I have no doubt you have noticed in the interior of hollow flints those beautiful pieces of chalcedony like bunches of grapes, and if you examine them under the micro- scope, you will find that they have been deposited in layers by the infiltration of water containing flint in solution. In some cases, instead of the flint being deposited in thin films, it has been deposited in crystals, and there is a curious change observable occasionally, in which the flint, having been deposited in crystals, after a certain length of time seems to change its character, and is deposited in films over the original crystals, and on breaking the chalcedony the crystals are seen like radii through the circular protuberances. There are various pieces of geological work which may be done in the neighbourhood. There is one interesting deposit in the Chalk to which Mr. "Whitaker has given the name of the " chalk rock." It comes about the middle of the Chalk, midway between the Upper and Lower Chalk, and consists of a very hard rocky stone, which may be seen on the railway in the neighbourhood of Berkhampstead projecting from the sides of the cutting in large blocks, and it is often met with in sinking wells a little to the north of Watford. The shells of the organisms in it are distinct from those in the chalk above and below it ; so that it seems to have been deposited under somewhat different conditions. It would be interesting to you to find how far the chalk rock extends, at what depth it is, and to examine the organisms to be found in it. The best locality is the pit on Rough-down in the neighbourhood of Boxmoor Station, where I have found the greater number of the shells characteristic of this chalk rock. Another geological subject which lies before us is to form some 118 AXXITEESAEY ADDRESS idea as to the distribution of the drift or gravels of the neighbour- hood ; for we have here two different kinds, if not more, of this series of drifted rocks. "We have what is known as the Glacial Drift, and we have along our valleys the Eiver Drift ; the Glacial Drift being probably due to the last submergence of the countiy below the sea, and the River Drift to the excavation of the valleys by the rivers themselves or by rivers running in much the same course. All those members of the Society who have paid any attention to geology are perfectly aware that at the time the glacial drift was deposited, there is every probability that the climate was much colder than it is at present, and that those clays in which we find small fragments of chalk, and foreign pebbles, were either brought by icebergs or formed by the action of a large coating of ice on the surface of the country. It is an open question, whether to a certain extent the valleys in the Chalk have not been excavated by large local glaciers ; whether we have had here at some time or other a thick coating of ice, which, working towards the sea, ploughed out a portion of our valleys ; but. whether this is the case or not, we have evidence, in the gravels, of rocks having been brought here from a very considerable distance. I think it would be worth the attention of any of us to form a collection of the different pebbles found in the Watford gravels, with the vie\\^ of ascertaining the general proportion of each, and then of tracing the countries fi-om which they came ; for many of the stones must have been brought, probably by the action of floating icebergs, fifty, a hundred, and in some eases some hundreds of miles. In the valley gravels you find some of the remains of the older gravels mixed with the flints washed out of the chalk by the rivers. It is therefore rather difficult to distinguish between those gravels which are of marine origin and those of fresh- water origin. But still, if you flnd in the gravels the remains of the animals which must have lived on land, the probability is that those gravels were deposited by the action of streams running through the land, and not by the sea. In some cases the remains of the large mammotli — the large hairy elephant — have been found in these valleys. On one occasion the tooth of an elephant was found at Bricket Wood ; and in the vaUcy of the Gude, at Two Waters, an elephant's tooth was dug up in the gravel, in the excavation for the Canal. In the* valley of the Gade I have myself found one or two instruments of flint, which bear testimony to the fact of man living in this country at tlie same time as the animals of what is known as the Quatemaiy fauna. BY THE PRESIDENT. 119 The Brick Earths of the neighbourhood would also repay inves- tigation. In some of these there are laminated beds of clay between which impressions of leaves may be found ; they are extremely rare however, and it is difficult to say whether those beds containing leaves belong to Tertiary times, or to a period when the brick earth itself was deposited. There is only one other geological point upon which I will ad- dress you ; and I hope you will excuse me for dwelling more on geology than other parts of Natural History, as I feel myself more at home in that domain than in some of the others. There is a geological deposit essentially known as belonging to Hertfordshire — the Hertfordshire plum-pudding stone. At the present time there are not more than one or two places known where it can be met with in the actual position in which it has been formed. There is one place near Eadlett where you will find the Woolwich and Reading beds (which are below the London Clay) cemented together with flinty cement into a band of pudding stone. This is in its original position, with the upper portion worn away as if by the action of ice or some strong abrading material over it. It would be interesting to see if we could find upon any rock of that character in position, those striations or ice-markings which are so characteristic of local glaciers. With regard to Botany, I must at the outset say that I know very little about it. But there are several points which it appears to me may be very well investigated by those better acquainted with the subject than myself; and one of these is the connexion of the geology of the country with the plants found on its surface. Mr. Pryor has made some suggestions with regard to dividing the county into certain districts, more especially according to the river- basins ; but I think it also desirable for botanists to notice, not only the nature of the sub-soil as shown on the geological map, but the drift, or sui-face soil that comes above it. There is no doubt that there is a very intimate connexion between the Botany of a district and its geological formation ; in fact, geologists not unfrequently are led to discover outliers of clay from the woods growing upon them. In olden times the London Clay was not so easily di'ained as at present, and in consequence portions of it existing in Chalk areas, being too heavy for cultivation, were left as sites for woods. It is generally the case that wherever there is a Tertiary outlier, there is a wood upon it ; and thus the outlines of the countiy are such as in many cases to suggest to geologists the spots where Tertiary outliers may be looked for. 120 ANNIVEESAEY ADDRESS The ferns of our county, which everybody admires so much, have already been brought under our notice by Mr. Littleboy, and I imagine there will not be many additions to the list with which he has furnished us ; but I think the mosses of the district have not been touched upon, and that they would be an exceetlingly interesting subject of study to anybody who will take it up. The fungi, also, appear to me to be very worthy of observation, and I hope we may have some communications on the subject of these lower plants in the course of our next session. But even without going into the fields to botanize, there are other subjects which you may observe at home; and I think anybody who has read those interesting books of Darwin's, on climbing plants, for instance, must feel how many objects of interest there are for those who only have a few flower-pots or the smallest portion of garden ground. It is interesting to observe the almost instinctive properties of certain plants. Whether in twisting round so as to obtain a support on which to rest, or in turning to the light, they seem in some instances to approximate to the instinct of animals. The carnivorous plants, as to whose flesh-eating habits Darwin has also written, might possibly be experimented upon ; and I am sure the members of this Society will be extremely indebted to any one who will bring before them the results of their experiments, illus- trated by the plants themselves. As to Zoology, we have had no papers on the higher animals. There are in this district a fsiir number of wild MammaKa still in existence — the badger, the hedgehog, the mole, and various other animals, as to whose habits observations may bo directed, which would be of interest to the Society. "We have also not heard much of Ornithology, though we have had one paper on the seasonal migration of birds ; but any one who has read Gilbert White's * Natural History of Selborne ' must have seen how extremely interesting are observations in con- nexion with the habits of birds. Whether it is with regard to the question of the food on which they live ; whether it is the con- nexion which exists between the birds, the insects, and the fruit of ft district; or whether it is with regard to their habits of migration, they are among the most interesting subjects of observation which the naturalist can have. If, in addition, some meteorological obser- vations, as to the season, the temperature, and other probable causes which bring the birds amongst us, are made, some special interest will be given to the subject. BY THE PEESrOENT. 121 "We have done nothing either with the reptiles, the fishes, or the land and fresh- water shells of the county. All of them are fitting subjects for investigation, and I hope we shall find among us some who will take these questions up. Fresh-water shells are, I think, as abundant in this county as in any other part of England, and their collection and classification would be an interesting employ- ment, especially for our younger members, during the ensuing summer. Nor have we done much in the matter of Entomology, though Mr. Cottam has contributed one paper with regard to the observation of insects, and another on the appearance of the convolvulus hawk-moth in our neighbourhood. There is a very popular though scientific book, a translation from the Erench, by Professor Duncan, on the ' Transformations of Insects.' If it is not in the library, I would recommend any one interested to pro- cure the book, and he will find in it a vast number of subjects, which may induce him to bring observations before us of interest to the Society. Even the common cabbage butterfly, if traced up from its birth, will fill a long chapter in the history of insects — its struggles to escape fi'om some of its clothing, the manner in which it ties itself up, and other matters, are as interesting as the events in many a novel. With regard to the habits of bees, wasps, and ants, anybody who has noticed those very remarkable papers by my friend Sir John Lubbock, will see a field of observation open for all of us. The way in which ants have actually contrived to have, one may say, domestic cattle among them — the way in which they employ other insects for certain purposes, leads one to regard them as possessing a greater amount of intelligence than we are naturally inclined to assign to them. Probably the habits of bees and wasps are rather indicative of acquired instinct than of reason, but they are such as to repay the amplest amount of attention that can be directed to them. "With regard to Meteorology, we have already in the district several rain-gauges kept, and I am glad to hear that one or two other observations are likely to be taken within the county. I hope we shall have the stations extended at which proper meteor- ological observations will be taken, and the results communicated to us. In addition to the ordinary rain-gauge, the firm of which I am a member has been in the habit for a considerable number of years 122 ANNH-ERSAEY ADDRESS of keeping; gauges which ascertain not only the amount of rain which falls from the heavens, but the rain which finds its way- through a certain amount of soil. These observations have been extended over a period of upwards of thirty years, and I am sorry to say that but few other observations of the kind have been made. I should be glad if some member of the Society, taking up meteoro- logy, would also have a certain number of gauges of this kind, and carry on observations simultaneously with ourselves, so that we may have some means of comparing our results with those of others, and be able to place a greater amount of reliance upon them. The instrument is of the simplest kind. In consists of a cast-iron cylinder turned to a knife edge at the top, and with a pipe from the bottom leading to a gauge like an ordinary rain- gauge. The cylinder is sunk so that its top edge is nearly level with the ground, and it is filled with soil, the surface of which is sown with grass, so that it does not appear in any way different from the field or piece of ground in which it is buried. The results of the measurement of the amount of rain which percolates through the soil in the gauge are very different from what might have been supposed. I will not go deeply into the subject, but it appears, generally speaking, that of the whole amount of rain which falls from April to October, in the ordinary soil of this district, hardly a di'op finds its way to a depth of three feet from the surface. A greater amount finds its way through the Chalk in summer, though often not one inch, although seventeen or eighteen inches of rain may fall. In the winter months, when the growth of vegetation is not going on to the same extent, and there is less evaporation, a greater amount finds its way down, and percolates to the springs which feed our rivers ; but stiU, in different years it varies from two or three inches to as much as fourteen or fifteen inches. It is a question which throws a very considerable amount of light on the nature of the streams which flow through the country, and indirectly upon the general water supply. If any one is inclined to take up the subject, I shall be only too happy to put him in the way of carrying out his experiments. With regard to microscopic investigations, a considerable number of our members have taken up that branch of study, and anything more interesting than the revelations of the microscope it is certainly impossible to imagine. We find organisms so minute tliat we can hardly conceive the possibility of their existence. "We are able to truce the conditions under Avhicli life is carried on, BY THE PEESIDEXT. 123 and almost to see the process of digestion going on. "We find, even in the smallest things, the most wonderful perfection. It calls to my mind a passage of one of the oldest writers on Natural History, Pliny, who says that ''the nature of things is never more complete than in the smallest" — '■'■Cum natura rerum nusquam mag is quam in minimis tota sit.'''' " Xature hath made no thing so base but can Eead some instruction to the wisest man." And it is, I think, by means of the microscope that we can form the best idea of the marvellous power of the Creator. I have now just touched upon some of those subjects which fall within our domain. Our field meetings unfortunately were not so successful last year as could have been wished, but I hope may during the ensuing season be more prosperous. It seems to me that in planning these expeditions it is desirable not to make them cover too large an extent of country ; it is much better to make our excursions short, and to explore the country we intend to examine, well, rather than find ourselves compelled to hurry and neglect some interesting point to catch a train or to return home by daylight. In planning our excursions no doubt it is very desii'able, as far as possible, to make the objects varied, so that on one occasion the botanist may find something more especially to interest him, on another the entomologist, and on another the geologist — but it is impossible to take an excursion of the kind without finding some objects for all. "We have around us in this county, and in the neighbouring counties, a sufficient field for us to be able to make interesting excursions during a long series of years. "We are well placed, with regard to railway communication, for exploring what lies more immediately in our own neighbourhood, or for varying expeditions in the neighbourhood with those to a greater distance. "We may, I think, occasionally venture to explore some new districts where we shall find a new soil, new plants, new animals, and new insects. It will be a matter for our excellent Secretary to consider. I am sure, if the Society has in any way been successful, it is in great measure to the efforts of our Secretary it is due. The pains which he has taken in organizing our excursions have been enormous, and I can only regret that on one or two occasions, owing to unfavour- able weather, they have been in vain. I have now given you at greater length than I intended, but I 124 THE PRESIDENTS ADDRESS. hope at no greater length than has been sufficient to interest you, some slight account of what I consider the general objects of our Society, and what remains for us to do. We have the whole domain of Ilatural History before us, and in tracing the marvellous inter-connexion of the whole of the phenomena of animated nature, I think we shall feel how wonderful are those links which seem to exist between every variety of living beings. Whether we regard each form of being as the result of special creation, or whether we take the more modern view of development — the theory of their springing from second causes — the whole seems to form one chain : " Each moss, Each shell, each crawling insect, holds a rank Important in the plan of Him who framed This scale of heings : holds a rank which lost "Woiild break the chain and leave behind a gap "Which Nature's self would rue." The whole fabric testifies indeed to the infinite power of the one First Cause, and we shall, as Milton says, "in contemplation of created things, by steps ascend to God." 125 17. — The Geology and "Water Supply of the Xeighbotjehood OF Watioed. By the Eev. James C. Clutterbuck, M.A. Communicated by A. T. Brett, M.D., Vice-President. [Read Uth May, 1876.] The Geology and AYater Supply of any district are so inseparably connected, that it needs no excuse for considering them together. It is proposed in the following paper to consider the one with special reference to and as depending entii'ely on the other. In attempting to describe the geology of the immediate neighbour- hood of "VVatford, it will not be necessary to enter into minute details, but to take a general view of the subject. First as to the extent of the area which may be considered the immediate neigh- bourhood of Watford. Taking the Parish Church as a well-defined centre, a circle with a radius of five miles will include examples of the characteristic features of the geology of the greater part of Hertfordshii'e, which may be described as forming a portion of the northern limb of the Chalk basin of London. The river Colne in its course from north-east to south-west divides the district into two nearly equal parts ; that to the north-west to be accounted as Chalk, that to the south and south-west presenting a band or belt of the Chalk bounded on the north by the river Colne and on the south by the Tertiaiy beds which overlie the Chalk ; this band varying fi'om a mile to two miles and a half in width. The physical featui'es of the district are to a certain extent indexes of its geological conditions. The centre of the northern portion of the district is intersected from north to south by the river Gade, the north-western limb by the river Chess, — two rivers characteristic of their origin from the Chalk, which run in deep valleys, by which the otherwise slightly undulating surface of the district is furrowed. The Chalk, whether to the north or south of the river Colne, presents little if any exposed surface, being covered by beds of flint-gravel, sand, or loam, vaiying in thickness ; with the excep- tion of certain isolated and outlying patches of Tertiary clay and sand, in situ, which again are frequently covered with beds or traces of the higher level gravel. To the south the Chalk, except the belt or band before men- tioned, is covered by the Tertiary strata. These rise in ill-defined escarpments at their junction with the Chalk. The highest levels are at Bushey Heath and Stanmore Common, being capped by traces of the Bagshot sands and gravel in beds of considerable extent. Such is a somewhat rough description of the leading geological featui-es of the immediate neighbourhood of Watford. The cuttings of the London and Xorth Western Ilailway furnish well-defined sections of the strata more or less exposed to view. Beginning with that at the southern end of the tunnel, the Chalk is exposed with very remarkable undulations of surface ; the cavities (sometimes called pipes) being filled with sand or gravel. 126 HEX. J. C. CLrTTEEBUCK GEOLOGY AND WATEE SUPPLY It may be remarked that on the immediate surface of the Chalk there is usually a thin band of dark red clay, called by Dr. Buck- land a "pargetting," said often to contain traces of manganese. Passing over the valley of the Colne by the lofty "saaduct, the Chalk and Tertiary beds may be seen in a chalk pit to the east of the line, and on the entrance of the cutting on the London side of the Bushey Station. The first partly exposed bed consists of sand sometimes intermixed with rolled pebbles, sometimes coloured, sometimes of a singular purity and brightness, known as silver sand, and quai'ried for household, trade, or horticultural purposes. Above the sand beds are the clays formerly bearing the term "plastic," as indicating their nature. They are of various and beautiful colours and consistency. A good exposed section may be seen in Mr. Blackwell's brick field. Immediately resting on the clay in the cutting is a bed of black silt in which sharks' teeth are found. This is capped by an outcropping bed of the London Clay, which here completes the series, the whole dipping towards and passing under London and finding its outcrop in the bed of the Thames above "Woolwich, which gives a name to some of these Tertiary beds. The silt bed seems to crop out in the river about the spot where the tunnel was made, and it is believed that much of the difficulty encountered in its construction was due to the fact that this bed being of the nature of quick or running sand, the water of the river thereby found a too ready access to the works, hence their consequent serious hindrance. This is con- firmed by the fact that a recent subway has been constructed near the Tower of London with little difficulty, where the stiti' London Clay was pierced, and the ingress of water thereby prevented. It is now to be considered how the geological condition of the district will account for the presence or absence of water. To begin with the upper beds — those found on the higher levels. It may be sufficient to speak of these as beds of sand and gravel resting on clay. It may be remarked that such spots were fixed on of old for habitation ; a rule which will extend to cities and towns as well as country villages. The site of ancient London is nearly if not entirely co-extensive with beds of gravel resting on the London clay. Hampstead, Highgate, Harrow, Hendon, and other towns were placed where there is a certain amount of water, though the increase of population has required additional (quanti- ties to be obtained often at groat trouble and ex])ense. The water in such places is easily reached ])y sinking shallow wells into the gravel or sand, the water being upheld by the clay beneath. AMierc there is only a thin bed of gravel or sand, ponds are sunk, Avliich, if they receive the drainage of a considerable area, will sometinu^s furnish a supply through the year. These sources of water when they show themselves above ground are usually called land s])rings ; they will run till the bed of water in the sand or gravel is exhausted or reduced to so low a level that the pressure of the water is not sufficient to force it to the stiri'ace. The decj^er or more abundant sources of water are usually called main si)rings. OF THE XEIGH130IJEH00D OF WATFOED. 127 There is a considerable amount of water in the gravel or sand in the district known as Bushey Heath, or Stanmore Common ; hence of late years the population there has increased, and seems to have outrun the natural water supply. The site of the village of Abbot's Langley, with its hamlet Eedmont, presents a different feature. The Chalk here rises to a considerable elevation — about 450 feet above the level of the sea. It is capped by an outlying bed of the "plastic clay," in situ, which may be seen cropping out on the road- side bank between Trolly Bottom and the village. This is covered by a bed of gravel in which the water accumulates. If, in sinking a well, of which there are many, as well as open ponds, the clay is pierced till reaching the chalk beneath, the Water will disappear. At Bedmont, on one occasion at least, in order to clean out a large pond fed by the natural supply from the gravel, the head or stank of the pond being cut for that purpose, the water which imme- diately found its way into the Chalk sensibly augmented the supply of water in the wells near at hand, though at least 170 feet below. To return to the district east and south-east of the Colne. Where the London Clay is not covered by beds of sand or gravel, the water is thrown from the surface sometimes augmented in its passage to the river by artificial agricultural drainage ; these waters flow in open water courses, which here and there furrow the escarpment which overhangs the Colne. When it arrives at the junction of the clay with the sand outcropping beneath it, the water wholly or in part sinks into the earth through natural apertures usually called swallow-holes, descends into the subjacent chalk, and is added to the water in that so-called water-beaiing stratum by which the river is augmented and maintained. As the water which finds its way into the chalk by these swallow-holes is derived from the surface drainage of the Tertiary clays, and as their surface miist not only be saturated but flooded before the water will be discharged from the surt'ace, the supply from this source must necessarily be irregular and periodical. In some years there are no such floods ; in others, such as 1875-6, the quantity of water must in many cases be more than the swallow-holes can take in. Among the most remarkable are those found in the carrier which conveys the water from the Elstree reservou' to the river, which must be plugged when the water is discharged, to prevent the waste of a greater part if not the entire volume. At another, near Letchmore Heath, in the parish of Aldenham, where a large body of water sinks in a deep depression or pit into the earth, at the junction of the sand of the Tertiary beds and the Chalk, this sand may be seen cropping out close at hand. It has been supposed that there is some connexion between this irruption of water and the well-known copious issue of water at Otters- pool. There are stories of ducks having found their way thither by some subterranean passage ; and measurements of the level at which the water stands in the wells thereabout and in the direction of the pool, show an irregularity not easily accounted for but by 128 RET. J. C. CLrXTERBUCK — GEOLOGY AND WATEE SUPPLY the existence of some fault or fissure in that direction. After heavy rain the pool becomes slightly turbid, and in a chy season it has been known to cease liowing over the dam by which it is con- fined and over which the water usually falls. There are other swallow-holes to the north and south of Bushey Grove, in the direction of Hillfield Lodge, and Cold Harbour ; in the latter the overflowing water might be seen this year running to waste in augmentation of the floods in the rivers across the park. Again there is a remarkable instance in a meadoAV through which the footpath runs from ('rook Log to Bushey Church, the orifice some- times being insufficient to take in all the water flowing down the watercourse. "When the water thus finds its way through the sand, or in some cases direct into the chalk, it here as elsewhere causes a rise in the water in the chalk sometimes of 20 feet at a distance of say half a mile from the river or outfall. By the slow discharge of these waters that of the river is augmented, though from the uncertainty due to the confined area of the chalk which can receive the rainfall south of the river, the perennial flow cannot be great. The amount to be calculated on as delivered fi'om this source might be to a certain extent estimated by the measure- ment of any wells in a line between the swallow-holes and river; the wells near the river will not only rise with the irruption of the water at the swallow-holes ; but whether they be shallow or deep shafts sunk into the chalk, or deep borings, they will, if near the river, rise and fall as the river may be flooded, or in diy seasons be reduced in volume or level. It is well known that the Chalk and Tertiary strata, such as they are seen in the district under consideration, dip towards London, that their outcrop is in the bed of the Thames above Woolwich, and that the lieight to which water will rise between "Watford and the Thames mean tide level would be described by a line di-awn from a point about 20 feet above the River Colne to mean tide level in the Thames, or an inclination of about 13 feet per mile, and that within a certain range near London the deep wells are reduced 60 feet at the point of greatest depression, by the aggregate pumping from the wells sunk into the sand of the Tertiary beds and the Chalk beneath, and that when there is a rise in the wells which receive the drainage of the Tertiary clay through swallow-holes, the deep wells in London are also found to rise. The depression of the water-level under London 60 feet below Trinity high-water mark among other things shows clearly the fallacy of the assertion that the water in the Chalk might be aiTcsted in its passage to the sea by deep wells sunk near Watford, whereas under London the drainage is absolutely reversed. Kow to turn to the district north of the Colne. The Chalk district within the limits assigned by this paper forms but a small part of an extensive area which reaches from the Colne to the range of the Chilteni Hills. Though only a part of this area, the water falling on its surface and given out in rivers is regulated by the same laws and presents the same natural phenomena as the OF THE IfEIGHBOURHOOD OF WATFOED. 129 wider and entire district. The Chalk is often spoken of as a water- bearing stratum. That it is the great source of water to the Thames and its tributaries is beyond all doubt, and this, because it receives the rainfall on an extended siu'face, and a certain portion of that rainfall sinking into the earth forms an extensive reservoir, whence the Thames and most of its tributaries derive their waters. That the subterranean water in the Chalk stratum is due to the rainfall on its surface needs no argument. It has been calculated that after the summer months, when generally there is no percolation of water to the subterranean reservoir, it requires at least three inches of continuous rainfall to replace the evaporation from the soil. When the soil is saturated, a consider- able per-centage sinks into the earth and an accumulation of water takes place ; and as the water moves, by natural gravitation, towards its vent or outfall — the rivers which run in the lowest valleys — in its passage thither it encounters a resistance which so retards its progress that it assumes an inclined surface, which is the balance between this resistance in the medium in which the water flows, and the hydrostatic force by which its progress towards its vent is quickened. This inclination of surface varies with the presence or absence of cracks, fissures, and orifices, through which alone the water in the Chalk can flow. The distance from the outfall regulates the amount of storage in this subter- ranean reservoir in the Chalk. The whole average inclination of the surface of the water, from the Chiltern Hills to the Colne, is 13 feet in the mile. Besides this, which may be called the longi- tudinal, there is a lateral adjustment of inclination of sui'face rising from the river on either side to the centre between two rivers, flowing in parallel lines towards the south. Thus the river Gade, at or about Cassio Bridge, and the River Colne, at some points between Watford Mill and the site of the old Bushey Mill, will be found on a level. Draw a line connecting these two points, and take the four cross-roads as a centre between them, and it will be found that the water there is never less than 10 feet above the rivers, and that this height decreases progressively towards the rivers, and, moreover, that in very wet seasons there will be an additional rise of about 10 feet at the top of Watford, varying with the amount of rainfall percolating to the water-level in the Chalk. Take a third line following the course of the High Street of Watford, and this will be found to agree with the other Hues. At one time the Chalk under Watford was perforated with wells ; they are now mostly, if not all, filled up, but the measurements of the varying level of the waters have been retained, as well as those from the top of Watford to Cassio Bridge. The way in which the water-level in the Chalk maintains its regularity, and its ratio of rise and fall, may be deemed an interesting phenomenon of natural geological hydraulics. It is by the replenishment and exhaustion of the rain-water sinking into the Chalk that the rivers are fed and maintain their volume, the water in wells following the same natural law. There VOL. I. — PT. V, 10 130 EEV. J. C. CLrXTEEBTJCK — GEOLOGY AND WATEE SUPPLY are several methods by -which attempts have been made to measure the amount of the storage and discharge of the -svater in tlio Chalk. Any mere average of rainfall is no certain guide ; it depends more on the conditions under which the rain falls, than on the amount falling. The heaviest summer rain will scarcely replace that evaporated from the surface, whereas a moderate rainfall in the winter, when the soil is wet, will descend to augment the stock of water in the Chalk. This is clearly shown by the records of a rain gauge bearing the name of the great Dalton, kept for more than a generation by the late Mr. John Dickinson, and now by Mr. John Evans, which registers the rainfall percolating three feet of earth, and thereby indicates the amount which sinks to the level of the subterranean Chalk water. Some have contented them- selves with the measurement of wells, a somewhat troublesome process, but where a conveniently situated line of wells can be found, being well worth the while of those who take an interest in such matters. The wiiter of this paper has always — in these days when the water-supply question increases in interest and importance — protested against abstracting large quantities of water from the Chalk as the great water-bearing stratum, and he ventures to quote what he said in evidence when examined before the Royal Commission, and which was quoted with approval by the Ministers of the Crown in both Houses of Parliament : — " Take the water as it flows above ground, but do not tamper with it below." It may be asked what effects will be produced by pumping water at the Colne Valley Water Works. I have heard Mr. Bateman distinctly disclaim any particular knowledge of water supply in the Chalk districts, when examined before the Committee of the House of Lords ; and in a discussion on a paper by the late Mr. F. Braithwaite, on the rise and fall of the Wandle, he said that he was but slightly acquainted with the question of water supply in the Chalk districts. I venture to claim some knowledge on the subject, especially in the immediate vicinity of the spot where the Water Works are placed. I have a record of the rise and fall of the wells near at hand for the years 1841-2, the winter of the former being a very wet season with a rainfall of 12-68 inches in the months of September, October, and November, with a per- colation in Dalton's gauge of 10-86 in those months, therefore specially favourable to observation on the alternations of the Chalk water-level, and the effects of the irruption of water by swallow- holes, and the coincidcnit rise and fall of the river and wells. I am informed that the well is made water-tight to the depth, I think, of 60 feet, with a -view of excluding the water of the river. It will be found that the water in the well rises and falls with the water in the river. Therefore this so-called precaution is quite unnecessary. Tlie well would of course be " steined " till it reached the solid Chalk, but beyond this any money so expended would be simple waste. Proof of tliis may be found in the record of an experiinent made by the Grand JuiU'tion Ciinal Company, when the late Mr. John Diikinson opposed the sinking a well at the head of the Bulborue. OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF WATFORD. 131 An experimental well was steined and puddled by the workmen of the Canal Company, pumps were worked before and after this process, and in both cases the eiiects of draining the stream were the same. And so it would be at the new Water Works. I am informed that in sinking the Water Works well the water came in greater volume from the side away from the river. This is easily explained by the fact that the water in the Chalk to the east received through the swallow-holes in one of the wettest seasons on record stood at an inclination rising from the river of from 40 to 50 feet in the mile, hence the greater pressure and con- sequent more rapid flow into the well. When the exhaustion of water by pumping is daily carried on, the water in the Chalk to the east will, naturally in dry seasons, and artificially by pumping, be gradually reduced, the pressure from that quarter will be lessened, the level of water in the well will be lowered, and the abstraction of water from the river increased in proportion to the amount of water pumped. If that quantity amounts to, say, 2,000,000 gallons per day, the power of the mills below will be sensibly diminished. The natural effect of the rise and fall of the surface of the water in the river will be like that of tidal wells on the sea-coast, where the Chalk waters outfall into the sea, the alter- nation of level of water in the wells within a certain range being regulated by the height of the tide. At Liverpool, under the direc- tion of the late Mr. Eobert Stephenson, an experiment was made, to test the possibility of supplying the town with water from the Red Sandstone formation on which the town stands. Large quantities were obtained from several wells. At length, when the level of the wells was red