HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



159 



the rock-rose {HeUaiithcinuin caiiuni), Thalictrinu 

 alpmum. Geranium sangjiincum, Hicracucm macn- 

 laturn, &c. ; and the "World's End " is the habitat 

 of Asplcnium viridc, Cystoptcris, Polypodiitm cal- 

 careum (also to be found all over the Eglwyseg rocks), 

 the oak-fern {P. Dryopteris, in the woods), the beech- 

 fern {P. phegoptcris), the holly ferns, &c. 



On the breezy hills, on both sides the valley, 

 the naturalist will find freedom and paradise. He 

 may walk up Barber's Hill, and get knee deep in 

 heather almost immediately ; and, if he chooses, he 

 can walk thus until he drops down on the other side 

 the billowy table-land, near Bala, at the end of a 

 long summer day. Or, should he prefer the other 

 side he clambers up the limestone ridge behind 

 Trevor and makes his way over wild moorland as far 

 as Wrexham, none daring to make him afraid. On 

 these swampy moorlands he will find the bearberry, 

 (Arctostaphylus iiva-ursi), the crowberry (Vac- 

 cinium) ; particularly on the slate-hills. 



Geologically, the rambler soon finds abundant 

 materials to fill a bag. Rock and mineral specimens 

 abound ; the fossils both of the Silurian and Lower 

 Carboniferous formations are numerous. On climbing 

 Dinas Bran, the loose upper Silurian slates near the 

 top yield him Rhynchonella, &c. The small quarries 

 opened out by the canal near Glyndyfrdwy station, 

 abound in orthis, trilobites, and other fossils. The 

 walls by the roadside contain abundant casts of the 

 tapering OrtJioccras primcva, a well-known cephalopod, 

 always associated with those of the bivalve Cardiola 

 interritpta. Should the pedestrian climb up to Moel 

 Gamelin, or any of the near hills, he will find the 

 refuse of the quarries abounding in these fossils ; and, 

 mayhap, he will also meet with beautiful casts of 

 entire encrinites, such as Actinocrimis pulcher. The 

 slates are seen in the quarry standing vertically, and 

 their upper, turned over, edges, indicate the direction 

 of the flow of the ancient ice-sheet which once 

 masked all the hills hereabout. 



On the other side, after walking up Barber's Hill, 

 we drop into the Glen Ceirog Valley. It is a lovely 

 and quiet spot, little visited or invaded by civilisation, 

 although a tramway runs up it from the quarries. 

 The geologist soon iinds evidence of ancient volcanic 

 action in the ash-beds and traps ; and, when he 

 begins to ascend the hills on the other side, the little 

 lime kilns will tell him where the Bala limestone 

 crops out, and there he may settle himself down for 

 a little hammering. The debris around are a perfect 

 museum, full of fossils of all the kinds common to 

 this formation ; trilobites, corals, brachiopods, mol- 

 lusca, occ. 



But time is short, and geology is long. The 

 Carboniferous limestone of the Eglwyseg rocks is 

 sure to attract the geological student. All the way 

 from beyond Trevor to "The World's End," it is 

 worked for lime-burning, and fossils are abundant in 

 it. The upper part is crowded with fossil corals, in 



a marvellous state of preservation, especially Lonsdalia 

 ri/gosa, Lithodendron basaltiforme, Lithostrotion jun- 

 cenrn, Amplexus coralloidcs, Zaphrentis, &c. The 

 limestone generally abounds with Productus Llangol- 

 Uciisis (which appears to compose a good part of 

 the rock), with Productus cora, P. gigantcus, P. 

 scabriculiis, P. piatctatits, Terebratula hastata, Rhyn- 

 chonella pleiirodon ; Trilobites such as Phillipsia ; 

 Euomphalus, Goniatites, Nautilus, &c. Many pleasant 

 days collecting might be spent here, as the visitor 

 has time and opportunity. 



Or, if he chooses to go further afield, he will find 

 an outlier of the Carboniferous limestone at Hafod, 

 two miles beyond Corwen, perhaps the richest fossili- 

 ferous spot in Great Britain, abounding in fossil corals 

 most beautifully preserved, and some of which will 

 tax the visitor's strength to remove, owing to 

 their huge size. Notable among them is the pretty 

 creeping coral Phillipsastrea. The fossil shells are 

 coated over with bryozoa, especially with Retepora 

 plebeia, in every stage of growth and development ; 

 and many others of these beautiful, lace-like fossils 

 may be found investing shells, corals, &c., all 

 silently testifying to the quiet life of the ancient 

 Carboniferous seas. 



How the time flies when every dewy morning 

 ushers in a bright day's work in Nature's laboratory ! 

 A week is all too brief, but it brings with it thankful 

 relief, and as near an approach to boyhood's joviality 

 as one's commencing grey hairs can expect. 



I was delightfully located at the Royal Hotel (so 

 called because Queen Victoria staid there on her 

 visit to Wales many years ago). The Iron Duke 

 accompanied Her Majesty, and the principal dining- 

 room still goes by the name of the ' ' Wellington 

 Room." The splendid billiard room is not without 

 archasological interest, for one of the finely carved 

 tables was made from the timber which once formed 

 part of Val Crucis Abbey. Under the solicitous care 

 of the kind host and hostess (Mr. and Mrs. Hardy) the 

 wayfarer need feel no anxiety about his inner man, 

 A more comfortable home, away from home, he 

 could not find throughout the length and breadth of 

 his native land. In the pleasant gardens of the 

 hotel he may rest his tired limbs and smoke his pipe 

 of peace, whilst he watches the salmon and trout 

 anglers making their casts in the rushing river which 

 flows within a few feet where he sits ; and the soothing 

 roar of the waters is like music to a town-dweller. 



Nightingales in York.— It may interest readers 

 of Science-Gossip to know that two nightingales 

 have been in this neighbourhood for the past fort- 

 night, one at Crimple, the other in the Spa grounds 

 at this place, where they may be heard in full song 

 after dark. It is more than twenty years since similar 

 birds were in this district. — H. Newman Pullan, 

 Harrogate, 



