l Journal of Proceedings.
neglect, vermin and damp—the company walked to the Museum in Bridge
Street, under the guidance of the Rev. B. E. Bartlett, M.A., the Honorary
Curator, and Mr. Edmund Durrant, the Honorary Secretary. The
Museum contains some interesting objects, notably a general collection of
shells and specimens of Roman and other pottery found in Essex. But
the paucity of local specimens, and the absence of proper labels, detract
very much from the value of the contents of the Museum. Mr. Bartlett
gave a brief but interesting sketch of the history of the institution, and
did all in his power to render the visit a pleasurable one.
Many of the Members of the Club were most hospitably entertained at
luncheon by Messrs. Durrant, Chancellor, Baker, and other townsfolk.
About half-past one o'clock there was again a gathering at the "Saracen's
Head," from whence the party was carried in drags and other conveyances
through pleasant lanes and by smiling corn-fields, past Great Baddow
and Sandon, over Wood-hill, and so to the Bishop's Park. As we rode
through Great Baddow, attention was called to the fine "Copper Beeches"
(Fugus sylvatica var. purpurea), in one of the park-like gardens. Tall
plants of Typha angustifolia were espied in a pond by the roadside, and
the spectacle of large patches of the handsome Lythrum Salicaria gave
rise to a discussion on the tri-morphism in the structure of the flower of
that plant, which was so thoroughly investigated by Darwin. Mr. John
Gibbs (a well-known Chelmsford botanist) remarked that he was sure he
had found all the three forms in his own neighbourhood.*
At Sandon a short halt was made to give an opportunity for the
inspection of the quaint little Church of St. Andrew, which is believed to
be of great antiquity. Here were some gigantic elms by the Church
gate—a row of massive and venerable trees that have skirted "God's-acre"
for centuries. One fine pollarded specimen (Ulmus campestris, With., var.
vulgatissima, Miller) was measured by Professor Boulger, and found to
* On September 3rd, Mr. Gibbs wrote:—" Ou Monday last I took a walk in search of
Lythrum Salicaria, and in a ditch bordering a lane between Chelmsford and Writtle, I
gathered 33 twigs from different plants. On-examining them, I found 12 long-styled, 16
mid-styled, and 5 short-styled, so that I was not after all in error when I said that all
three forms are to be found near Chelmsford."
Mr. Gibbs has also handed to the Editor a list of native flowering plants, observed by
himself in the neighbourhood of Chelmsford, 374 in number, which will best form the
subject of a separate communication. He remarks that "the list does not include
several plants, natives of other parts of England, and in cultivation here, as lucerne
(Medicago sativa). Tragopogon porrifolius is only found on the banks of railways, to
which places the winged monospermous fruits are believed to have been conveyed by
wind. Several species included in my list may have been destroyed by the removal of
woods, of which many acres have been cleared since I observed Epilobium angusyifolium
and Paris quadrifolia growing in them. There are, however, many plants not included,
especially Cyperacea, and probably several species of Potamogeton. OEnanthe Phellan-
drium has been very luxuriant this year in ponds and ditches near Chelmsford, and
being a very poisonous Umbellifer it may possibly cause the death of cattle, who are not
botanists enough to distinguish it from the Water Parsnep, when taken from ponds
and left upon the land by men who are not better botanists than the cattle."—Ed.