Journal of Proceedings. lxxxvii
aberration of Lycaena arion (the " Large-blue " butterfly), the underside
of which corresponded with that figured by Newman in his ' British
Butterflies' from Mr. Bond's collection. The upper side had a silvery
"sheen," and differed somewhat from the usual type in other respects.
He also exhibited a "preserved" larva of an Eupithecia mounted on
heath, as a reproduction of the specimen found by Mr. Robarts in
Epping Forest [ante, p. lxxviii.], and which he thought was E. nanata.
He wished to ask if it were generally known that the species occurred
in the Forest, as both Stainton and Newman spoke of it as a North
British species, although the latter added that it had been taken in
Suffolk.
Mr. W. Cole remarked that E. nanata was a common species on
Shirley Heath, Surrey, where he had often " swept up " the larva in the
early summer, and his brother, Mr. B. G. Cole, had taken the imago in
Epping Forest in 1878, the specimen being in their cabinet. He thought
the moth was by no means a northern species, and that it occurred
wherever its food plant, the Common Ling (Calluna), grew abundantly.
Mr. N. F. Robarts, F.G.S., read a paper entitled " Notes on the
London Clay and Bagshot Beds at ' Oakhill Quarry,' Epping Forest."
[Trans., vol. iii.] The author observed that no apology was necessary
in bringing the subject before the Club, one of whose aims certainly
ought to be to describe local sections as they are exposed, and thus
preserve a record of them for the use of geologists generally, even if no
new facts were to be learned from their examination. The paper was
illustrated by sectional diagrams and maps, and the following
specimens:—
London Clay, Sharks' teeth, Theydon Mount.
,, ,, Septaria, Brentwood Brick Pits.
,, „ Iron pyrites and decayed ditto, Oakhill Quarry.
„ ,, Ironstone nodules, „ „
,, ,, Cast of shell in sandstone, ,, ,,
,, ,, Cast of shell in iron pyrites, ,, ,,
Bagshot Beds, Sand from altered Bagshot Pebble Beds, Oakhill Quarry.
Professor Boulger, after thanking Mr. Robarts for his paper, said he
had been especially interested in the general observations with which it
was introduced, with reference to Mr. Searles Wood's theories. He was
very reluctant to assume the existence of disturbances from mere surface
features, as Mr. Searles Wood did. He should be much more inclined
to adopt Mr. Robarts's suggestion that the steeper slope of the western
sides of the elevations depended on the increased rainfall on the western
sides, on account of the prevalent wind.
A short discussion ensued, in which the President, Mr. Wire, the
author, and others took part.
The following paper by Mr. John Gibbs, of Chelmsford, was read by
Professor Boulger, who lucidly explained the various points in it by iva
voce expositions and by drawings on the black board ;—