THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 221
of this difficult group, together with a selection of drawings, made by Miss G.
Lister and Mrs. F. J. Hanbury, for his proposed new monograph of the genus.
He also showed specimens of eleven plants found during the last two or three
years which were new to Great Britain. Mr. C. A. Wright, F.L.S., exhibited an
almost complete collection of the plants of Devon and Cornwall, gathered by
himself during the present summer. Also fresh specimens of Allium ampelopra-
sum, L. var. babingtonii, Borrer, collected in the only station in which it is known
to grow wild in England, and a Sparganium from the Lizard, Cornwall, collected
in September, 1887, the determination of the species of which presented some
points of difficulty. Messrs. H. and J. Groves brought up an exceedingly
beautiful collection of the characteristic plants of the Scottish Hills, gathered
by themselves with great care, and containing many rare species in the
finest condition and in all stages of flowering and fruiting. Mr. J. T.
Powell had a selection from his herbarium of Essex Brambles, including
the forest species, of which he is now making a special study, and also a
series of plants from various parts of Essex, notable from their rarity or local
occurrence. Prof. Boulger exhibited a collection of Melanospermous and Rhodo-
spermous Alga; ; specimens of Geaster; and an interesting collection of little
known books, including reprints of early botanical works, the Wiltshire weather
and phenological records, and the U.S.A. Agricultural Report, 1885, containing
lists and plate of edible fungi. Mrs. Holland, of Colchester, showed some very-
pretty and original designs for menu cards, programmes, etc., in which the
decorative value of the commonest species of ferns were fully demonstrated ; the
designs were worked out with the dried fronds most charmingly supplemented by
sketches and "touches" in sepia and water-colour. Mr. Walter Crouch's contri-
bution consisted of a large and varied collection of botanical curiosities, including
the seed capsules of Cactus melocactus, called "Turks-caps," from the Nassau
Bahamas ; Briza maxima, from Hog Island, Nassau Bahamas; Anastatica hiero-
ehuntia, L., the "Rose of Jericho" (called in Palestine "Kaf Maryam"=
" Mary's hand '), plants which have the faculty of apparently reviving when
placed in water, after having been long dried ; and portions of seed-capsules, seeds,
and the silky down of Bombax ceiba, the Silk-Cotton-Tree, from a specimen
planted in Nassau 200 years ago by John Miller. The roots grow out like great
buttresses, radiating from the trunk for some 15 yards, and rising some six or
eight feet, so providing pleasant shady nooks of shelter from the sun's heat. Dr.
M. C. Cooke exhibited and presented to the Club's library a series of coloured
plates from his fine work, "Illustrations of British Fungi," comprising all the
Essex species yet figured. Mr. F. W. Elliott exhibited nests of a solitary wasp,
Eumenes coarctata, from Bournemouth. Several microscopes were provided by
the kindness of Messrs. Wire, Sauze, and Paulson, under which local botanical
and other preparations were exhibited.
During the evening an Ordinary Meeting (81st) was held for the proposal
of new members, Mr. T. V. Holmes, President, in the chair.
After some formal business, the Chairman called upon Dr. Cooke, who gave his
usual racy and interesting address on the botanical results of the two days' gathering ;
on mycological meetings in general, and on the conduct and management in the
past, and suggestions for the future, of the Essex Field Club's annual foray in
particular. In the course of his speech the Doctor alluded to the regretable
absence of some well-known botanists, probably owing to the late date fixed for
the meeting. Referring to the dearth of fungi, he said that such had been the