162
THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB.
Julius Constantius Chlorus and the Princess Helena, daughter of Coel II., King of
Colchester. He thought it might interest some members of the Club to know of
this recent contribution towards the settlement of a much disputed, but very
fascinating local historical question.2
Dr. Laver read extracts from a paper he had prepared for the Essex Natu-
ralist on "The Fishes of Essex," enumerating many of the more interesting
species, and describing their habits and haunts. Mr. Laver mentioned that a list
of about 80 species of Essex fish had been catalogued, but this list was certainly
not a complete one, and he suggested that members of the Club, when spending
their holidays at Essex watering-places, should pursue the subject, and endeavour
to add to our knowledge of the local fauna in this order.
The President expressed the thanks of the meeting to Mr. Laver for the valuable
addition he had made to the history of their county fauna. It was of the greatest
importance that lists of the fauna and flora in all departments should be published,
even if at the beginning they were confessedly imperfect. All observers would
then have something to work upon, and notable additions would no doubt be
made ; but without lists of the known forms to start with, they would all be work-
ing in the dark. Alluding to the disappearance of salmon from some of the rivers,
he mentioned that five or six had been caught in the Blackwater since 1884.
Referring to Dr. Laver's statement that the Greater Weever or "Viper-fish"
(Trachinus draco), frequently caught in the eel trawls, when touched turned its
head and hit as true as possible with the spines on the upper part of the gill-covers,
Mr. White asked whether the "Viper-fish" was actually poisonous, or was it the
spine that caused wounds which became deleterious from gangrene, apart from any
actual exudation of the fish itself ?
Dr. Laver replied that within the last few months very careful dissections had
been made, and it had been found that the poisonous spines were surrounded at
the base by a set of cells full of organic matter. If this matter were taken away
and put under the human skin, it produced poisonous effects just as the fish stab
did, so that there was no question that the fish had venom secreting powers.
Mr. Shenstone, on behalf of himself and Mr. C. E. Benham, communicated
some "Notes on the Foraminifera and Diatoms from the mud of the Oyster
Beds of the Essex Coast." After some preliminary remarks, Mr. Shenstone con-
tinued :—
" I have here some mud from the oyster pits at Mersea. It has been baked. I
will stir it with water, and when the mud has settled a powdery matter will float
on the water. This, when examined by the microscope, will be found to consist
of the shells of Foraminifera and the silicious skeletons of Diatoms. For the
benefit of those who are not microscopists, I will explain the nature of these low
organisms. To commence with the Foraminifera :—You have probably heard of
the amoeba. It is in structure the simplest of animals. So far as can be judged
by the microscope, it consists simply of a mass of sarcode, or gelatinous matter ;
yet, simple as it is, it can perform the chief functions of animal life. Thus it has
no legs, yet it can produce one or more rounded or pointed lobes, and by means of
them move itself about. It has no arms, mouth, or stomach, but let some tempt-
ing morsel, in the shape of a diatom, or other minute alga, appear within its
reach, and an impromptu arm will be found to grasp the prey, a stomach will be
improvised, and the food digested. Oh, ladies and gentlemen, would that some
2 We report Mr. Currant's remarks, but may be permitted to hint that the very gravest
doubts are held respecting the historical value of the Coel-Helena legend, and indeed it is not too
much to say that the best authorities now view it as altogether apocryphal, much as Essex men,
following Morant, would desire the contrary. For recent discussions of the legend of "Old King
Coel" and his daughter Helena, Saint and Empress, see "History and Antiquities of Colchester
Castle" (Colchester, 1882), pp, 6-8; Mr. J. H. Round's "St. Helen's Chapel, Colchester" pp.
1—4 ; and Rev. E. L. Cutts's "Colchester" pp. 50—53.—Ed.