Journal of Proceedings. xxix
last few centuries. Possibly the box may be, like the so-called Roman
snail, which we also saw to-day, and like some of our cultivated grasses,
native and introduced as well.''
In proposing a vote of thanks to Mr. Boulger, Mr. Britten pointed
out how much might be done by local workers in botany in such
matters as recording the times of leafing and flowering of common
trees and plants, in noticing their local distribution and frequency, and
the like. The approach of the train put a stop to further speaking,
and the members proceeded on their homeward journey.
Saturday, July 28th, 1883. Field Meeting.
A meeting was held this afternoon for a field-path and green-lane
ramble to Lambourne, and to visit the remnants of the once grand
Hainault or King's Forest, a portion of which still remains, albeit dis-
figured by the ruthless habits of "lopping" which have done so much to
ruin the woodlands of Essex. A very fair number of members and
friends, about thirty in all, assembled at Theydon Bois Station, from
whence Mr. J. W. Kemsley acted as guide, while Mr. Henry Walker,
F.G.S.*, pointed out and explained points of geological interest, and
Professor Boulger devoted himself to the botanical section.
The route from Theydon Bois to Abridge, a distance of somewhat less
than two miles, took the party across one of the patches of the great
Chalky Boulder-clay of the South of England. In Essex these remains
of the once continuous upper glacial beds are found at a height of 250 to
350 feet above the Thames river. The patch in question extends from
Theydon Gernon on the north to Bois Hall on the south (one mile), and
from Hyde's Farm on the east to some three-quarters of a mile west-
ward, where its margin is traversed by the main road from Theydon
Station to Abridge. At the summit of the gently swelling hill, Mr.
Walker pointed out a number of surrounding hills of like elevation—
Theydon Mount, Stapleford Tawney, and Lambourne—where the same
geological structure is repeated, the intervening valleys of denudation
telling to the mind's eye the story of the landscape and the physical
origin of the hills and dales. At the slope of the ground near Hyde's
Farm a small exposure of the Boulder-clay was seen on the removal of
the turf, the usual pellets of chalk putting in an appearance. Correlated
with the chalky nature of the soil hereabouts, our botanists quickly
found plants like Linum catharticum, which flourish best in such situa-
tions. Pursuing their course towards a more eligible spot for excava-
tion, the party crossed the Boding Valley, at Abridge—just getting a
sight of the middle glacial sands and gravels coming out from below the
margin of the Boulder-clay—and ascended to Lambourne Church on the
far side of the Boding, where the Glacial hill features are repeated.
* The editor is much indebted to Mr. Walker for supplying the notes from which the
geological portions of this report are compiled.