THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 401
The pumping stations were visited, although not then at work, and
Mr. Ashley demonstrated the action of the Water Meter—very ingenious
and perfect pieces of apparatus. From forty-five to fifty million gallons of
water a day are pumped, the supply being obtained from three sources—ten
millions from the Thames at Sunbury, ten millions from the wells on the
works, and the remainder from the Lea. There are several wells on the
works, each of them 200 feet deep. Chalk is met with at about 150 feet, and
into this the shaft is sunk for 30ft., so that the water derived from these sources
is pure chalk water. Down the whole length of gravel soil the walls of the
wells are lined with iron plates, which form huge protective cylinders
against collapse. The process of filtration was explained. The bottom layer
of the beds consists of a foot of white stones, about the size of hen's eggs.
Above this there is a second layer of the same stones, about half the size,
while the third and topmost layer consists of two feet of fine sand, brought
specially for the purpose from Bedfordshire and Cornwall. There is a
general opinion that this well water is extremely hard, but the idea is some-
what erroneous, as Mr. Ashley explained that at one of the wells on the works
the water only attained seven degrees of hardness.
During the afternoon Mr. T. V. Holmes gave a resume of the geology of
the district, illustrated by maps and sections. It is unnecessary to do more
than refer the reader to the papers above enumerated, as in them will be
found the main facts.
At about 6 o'clock tea was taken at the "Ferry Boat" Inn, presided over
by Mr. Howard, who had then joined the party. And afterwards an Ordinary
Meeting (the 180th) was held.
The following were elected members of the Club:—Mr. J. Oldham
Braithwaite, and Mr. Alexander Scott, M.A., F.R.S,, of the Davy-Faraday
Laboratory, Royal Institution.
It was announced that the site of the Uphall Camp, near Barking, had
been sold the day before by auction. But the President took occasion to
reassure the members by saying that he did not think the present owners
would disturb the camp, inasmuch as he was one of them (see "Notes"ante, P 374)-
Mr. W. Cole called attention to the abundance of the var. b (patens,
Sibthorpe) of the common Symphytum officinale (Comfrey) on the banks of the
navigation cutting of the Lea near Tottenham Lock, about half a mile from
where they were then assembled. He could not claim this interesting form
(with purple flowers) as Essex just yet, inasmuch as the old River Lea divided
the Counties of Essex and Middlesex. He had never found patens in Essexi
where in several places the ordinary yellow-flowered form of the Comfrey
was very plentiful.
A paper by Mr. Worthington Smith on the "Implement made
from a Stag's Antler from Wormingford," exhibited at the meeting on
May 14th, was read by the Secretary (see E. N. ante pp. 310-12 and pp.
351-53)-
A paper on the "Encroaching Sea on the East Coast," by Mr. Percy
Clark, was in the absence of the author, read by Prof. Meldola (ante pp.
297-99)