172 NOTES—ORIGINAL AND SELECTED.
formerly classed with the Noctuae, but now grouped in a special family. Mr.
Raynor's experience was in a wood near Warley, Essex, in April last. Having
caught a female parthenias, his net was soon a centre of attraction for the males,
which continued to come both with the wind and against it. It is very desirable
that such cases should be recorded, so that we may get to know how far the habit
attains with moths, and indeed among insects generally.—WILLIAM COLE, Buck-
hurst Hill, August, 1891.
Hippuris vulgaris, L. (Common Marestail).—I found an abundance of
this singular plant in the Stour river near Sudbury, last June. As it is compara-
tively scarce in our county, the occurrence of the plant may be worth a record.—
J, C. Shenstone, Colchester.
The Highest Land in Essex.—Arising out of a statement as to the height
of Danbury in the programme of the Chelmsford to Maldon meeting of the Club,
some correspondence on the moot point as to which part of Essex stands highest
above Ordnance Datum has appeared in the "County Chronicle." It is very
clear that Danbury must hide its diminished crest, and lose the distinction so long
assigned to it in the local guide-books of being the "highest point in Essex."
We referred the question to our Vice-president, Mr. T. V. Holmes, and he has
furnished us with data, taken from the new Ordnance Sheets, which show that the
highest land in Essex is in the N.W. corner of the county. The following are a
few data :—
Danbury (a mile N. of Little Baddow Road) . . 332 ft.
Road close to Warley Barracks .... 378,,
Langdon Hills........378 „
Epping Forest (a few miles N. of Ambresbury Banks) 379 „
Great Chishall ........ 479 ,,
Between Great Chishall and Langley . . . 485 „
This last spot seems entitled to the honour of being the "highest land in
Essex."—Ed.
John Constable, R.A., and the Valley of the Stour.—In one of the writ-
ings of this delightful nature-artist, he says, "I associate my careless boyhood with
all that lies on the banks of the Stour ; those scenes made me a painter, and I am
grateful." His finest pictures were carefully studied scenes in that neighbour-
hood, in which he was born, and to which he ever and again returned for fresh-
ness and vigour.
An interesting article on "Constable's Country," by Mr, C. L. Burns, has just
appeared in the "Magazine of Art" (June, 1891), which is well illustrated by
several views ; Flatford Lock and Blackwater, the mill at Flatford, where he was
born, and Willy Lott's house, the original of his fine picture, "The Valley Farm,''
are therein depicted. The sketch of East Bergholt church is also of interest to
those who know the old edifice with its ruined foundation of a tower, which never
was (so it is said) erected ; and the peal of bells is housed in the churchyard,
under a massive structure of timber, with red tiled roof.