74 Mr. J. E. Harting on Forest Animals.
shown some flowers preserved by a new process. The
method was very similar to mine, but in place of plaster
sifted lime was employed, and petroleum was not used. I
have tried lime, but I think it will prove to be too caustic,
and it is difficult to rid the plant of the dust. However, I
think it would be well to give it another trial, and perhaps
it may be worth while experimenting with mixtures of lime
and plaster.
Mr. Saward has been following me in the same direction,
and has helped me in working out the process with equally
good results, as his specimens will prove.
J. E.
September 25th, 1880.
Forest Animals.
By J. E. HARTING, F.L.S., F.Z.S., &c.
(A Lecture delivered to the Club November 10th, 1880.)
A modern writer, whose felicitous descriptions of rural life
have latterly become familiar to us—I refer to the author
of "Wild Life in a Southern County"—has remarked that
"one might begin to write a book about a hedgerow when
a boy, and find it incomplete in old age." What would he
say of a forest? Whatever his reply might be, it is obvious
that, in the limited time at my disposal this evening, it
would be impossible for me to furnish anything like a com-
plete account of all that may be seen in a forest by those
who know how to observe. Were time of no importance, I
might give you some description of the former situation
and extent of the vast forests which at one time clothed
this island, and of the various wild animals which once
inhabited them, but which are now extinct. I might dis-
course to you of localities where forests of pine have been
replaced by trees of a different growth, thus inducing the