10
that of his list of forty-one cynipideous oak-galls known as
British, he has found all but six in Essex. In 1868 only four-
teen species were known as British, so that twenty-seven
species have been added in twelve years—a fact which surely
offers encouragement to our workers to pursue further investi-
gations in this direction. The absence of sandy banks will
account for our poverty in fossorial Hymenoptera. Of other
orders of insects, Mr. Doubleday has published a list of thirty
species of dragon-flies (Odonata) as being known to occur in
our Forest, this number being about two-thirds of the British
species.
To the botanist our district offers a fine field—Epping
Forest is indeed regarded as being among the richest localities
for plants in the vicinity of London; but I should be over-
stepping the bounds of all reasonable time did I attempt to
specify any of the rare flowering plants, ferns, fungi, mosses,
and lichens that nature has so lavishly spread through the
county. At present the standard work of reference for our
botanist is Gibson's "Flora of Essex," published in 1862, and
there is an older and now extremely rare book by Richard
Warner entitled "Plantae Woodfordiensis," published so far
back as 1771.*
The outdoor study of the natural history of the county will
of course be conducted as heretofore by our members indepen-
dently, each according to his particular subject, but the for-
mation of this Club will, I venture to think, add greatly to
the zest of their pursuits. The pleasure of adding some new
or rare species to the Essex fauna or flora, or of making some
new and interesting observation, will assuredly be greatly
enhanced by knowing that at the next meeting of the Club
the captor or observer will have an opportunity of making
known his results to those of kindred tastes, and an additional
impulse will thus be given to his work. Such observations as
our members may bring forward, or such specimens as may
be exhibited at our meetings, will be gladly welcomed by the
Council, and will be recorded in our publications.
To many, and especially to our younger members, the new
Club may perhaps be a means of inducement for taking up the
* See Appendix.