96 SOAR : WATER MITES OF EPPING FOREST.
death I have been unable to ascertain, but I believe it was in
or about February 1892. His end was a sad one for a man of
his tastes and attainments.
Gibbs formed a somewhat striking figure, well known in
Chelmsford in his day, chiefly because of his tallness and spareness
and the fact that he was dressed always in frock-coat and tall
silk hat. The accompanying portrait of him (for which I am
indebted to Mr. Mothersole) was taken in 1888 during a
summer outing of the Chelmsford Odd Volumes.
Though probably self-educated, Gibbs was a man of real
ability. His letters to me might have been written by some
learned professor, so far as anyone could infer from their diction
and hand-writing. Of botany, his knowledge was very far from
superficial, though confined in the main to the structure and
classification of plants. Other branches of the science interested
him, I fancy, but little. Astronomy was also a study which
fascinated him, and (to quote his own words) he took "delight
in contemplating the heavenly bodies." The fine collection
of Essex books brought together by our member, Mr. John
Avery, contains a complete series of all the booklets and pam-
phlets published by Gibbs of which I know anything.
Of Gibbs, as of so many such men, one may say that, given
a more favourable up-bringing and environment, he might
have attained distinction.
THE WATER MITES (Hydracarina) OF
EPPING FOREST.
By CHARLES D. SOAR, F.L.S., F.R.M.S.
With Illustrations.
[Read 25th November 1916.]
ONE of the most delightful and profitable of the naturalist's
collecting grounds near London is that part of Essex known
as Epping Forest. It has been worked by several well-known
writers on Natural History, and lists have been published giving
all the known species in several branches of Zoological and
Botanical study. In Mr. E. N. Buxton's Guide to the Forest
(1898), we find lists of all the Vertebrates, Birds, and Flowering
plants ; also some interesting notes on the Fungi and Pond
life, by Dr. M. C. Cooke. Elsewhere, the Entomostraca has
been very fully treated by Mr. D. J. Scourfield.