Journal of Proceedings. xliii
and in another field, near the hamlet called "Ivy Chimneys," the
equal luxuriance and plenty of the purple flower heads of Scabiosa Succisa,
anent which Old Parkinson sayeth as follows :—"Fabulous antiquity
(the Monkes and Fryers, as I suppose, being inventors of the fable)
said, that the Devill envying the good that this tribe might do to man-
kinde, bit away part of the roote, and thereof came the name Succisa,
Devill's-bit." We recall this fragment of mediaeval phytology as we
surmount the last of a long series of tall and difficult Essex stiles, find
a piece of decent road ahead, and follow our leaders with all speed to
the "Wake Arms." A little damp we may be, spite of waterproofs and
umbrellas, but all disposed to conquer circumstances and be as jolly
in face of discomfort as a field club of Mark Tapleys; even the ladies
"smile a kind of sickly smile," pardoning Jupiter Pluvius; and Mrs.
Gearing's warm tea and excellent providings give us courage soon to
laugh at our misadventures.
Anon comes Professor Boulger's impromptu lecture, "Botanical work
to be done"—problems that is in plant life awaiting solution, and
solvable by amateur botanists when they shall tire of mere collections
of dried leaves, and begin to look upon plants as living forms, of the
nature and structure of which we are, to a great extent, profoundly
ignorant. In his opening remarks, the Professor takes exception to the
word "primaeval" as applied to Epping Forest; in his opinion, the
Forest is, both geologically and botanically, remarkably modern. When
we hear the Essex Forest spoken of as "the forest primaeval," we ask
in what sense the words are to be taken. Are we to go back to
remote geological times—the true primeval forests of the period of the
London clay ? In the Isle of Sheppy abundant evidence may be found
of the existence of a tropical forest at the time the London
clay was deposited. The land was then clothed with a luxuriant flora,
probably resembling that now found on the banks of the Ganges;
since the fruits of the Screw-pines {Nipadites), for example—amongst
the commonest fossils at Sheppy—are there represented by the living
genus Nipa. Then come the forests of the late Eocene, or Miocene,
age; with Tulip-trees, Magnolias, Banksias, Vines, and the Sequoias of
Bovey Tracey—a flora reminding us of California. A colder period
succeeds—the period just before the Glacial epoch ; and at Cromer, in
Norfolk, we have the old forest beds, consisting mainly of Pinus sylvestris
and P. excelsa, representing a climate perhaps very similar to the
northern parts of Scotland. In yet more modern (Post-glacial) times
we have the submerged forests of Oaks and Hazels at the mouth of
the Thames, marking the incoming of a flora contemporary in Denmark
with Neolithic man, and recorded in such names as Thurrock (Thor's
Oak) and Acton (Oak-township). High "Beech" and our finest Elms
probably are post-Roman in date; whilst the Hornbeams, which
"lopping" has rendered so prematurely antique in appearance, are