200 THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
"superb Statuary Chimney Piece, beautifully sculptured " . . . .
and an "ornamented Ceiling, pleasingly Painted in Compart-
"ments." Other rooms on this floor include a Library "corre-
"spondently fitted up and finished."
To make quite certain that I was correct about the house
being Livingstone College, I called there and found the ceiling
attributed to the brothers Adam still in splendid condition and
the library with two alcoves for statues. The mantel-piece, also
to-day spoken of as "the Adam mantel-piece," is now at
"Underhills," having been removed there by H. A. Barclay,
his first "married" home in Norfolk.
These two rooms are in the "bow" portion of the house, and as
there is the date 1791 cut on one of the exterior bricks it shows
that this part must have been added by Gilbert Slater.
In this connection it is of interest to note that about this
time there is a sudden jump in the assessment of the house in the
rate books from £75 to £109.
Other additions were made by different members of the
Barclay family, the most important in 1854, by J. G. Barclay.
The glory of the old house has not entirely departed, though
the greater part of the grounds has been built upon.
A fine "Judas" tree came to grief within recent years, but
there still remain an old Cedar, an old Plane tree and an Elm,
which 5ft. up, is 22ft. in girth. There is also a flourishing
Wistaria.
As regards the plants introduced by Slater I have listed 17,
and there may be others; they mainly come from China. There
is also Slateria Japonica, of a genus dedicated by Desvaux in
honour of Gilbert Slater.
The Hortus Kewensis, and the illustrated botanical
periodicals of the beginning of the 19th century, refer to both
Gilbert Slater of Leyton and John Slater of Leytonstone. I have
little doubt these two persons are identical, for, after exhaustive
investigation, I cannot find that the latter ever existed, though
the second edition of A Biographical Index of deceased British
and Irish Botanists, 1931, refers to John as brother of Gilbert.