564' Natural History in the English Counties : — 



clap of thunder, accompanied with a heavy shower of sleet. 

 The mountain tops and higher grounds were whitened, and 

 it was not till the middle of the day that the snow and hail 

 melted away. Notwithstanding, I went on a piscatory expe- 

 dition, but met with little or no success. About noon, some 

 half dozen of the Vanessa Vo were flying briskly about ; 

 their colours bright and perfect : several were on the banks 

 of the Ehen, the small river I mentioned as flowing from 

 Ennerdale Lake to the sea. On its banks I found a Meloe 

 violaceus, the first I recollect having seen in this county, 

 though I have been told they are not uncommon. Some of 

 the lampreys are dead. There was much lightning at night. 

 30th. In finding the lamprey, I thought I had, like more 

 pretending naturalists, made a grand discovery. On enquiry, 

 I learn they are not uncommon ; and, on recollection, I begin 

 to have an indistinct idea that we are old acquaintances ; a very 

 likely circumstance, as they are easily caught, and therefore 

 likely to become the prey of young anglers. I find they are 

 of the genus Petromyzon. Pennant, in his British Zoology, 

 calls them the lesser lamprey ; they are the Lampetrae medium 

 genus of Willoughby and Ray ; and the Petromyzon fluviatilis 

 of Linnaeus and Fleming. [See figures of a species of Petro- 

 myzon, viz., P. cae^cus May, p. 23.] Here is, one might think, 

 a number of names sufficient to give eclat to a much bigger 

 thing than a small eel-like fish, that seldom reaches the length 

 of ten inches, and is in general but six or seven. Those that 

 J caught were scarcely ^yo, inches. They are tender fishes, 

 several dying in consequence of being struck with the net; 

 and, since their confinement, those put in along with the 

 minnows and sticklebacks have all died. They have been 

 caught in the small river at the head of Ennerdale Lake. I am 

 inclined to think they are not uncommon, being to be found 

 in all rivers, though more plentiful in some than in others. 

 The weather is becoming very cold and unspringly, and I fear 

 there will be nothing for the entomologist till the latter end of 

 next month. — cC/* f-l-t Whitehaven, Cumberland, 



DURHAM. 



Some of the rarer Plants of Teesdale. — Sir, Having lately 

 returned from an excursion into Teesdale, I send you a list 

 of the rarer plants, gathered during a hurried day's journey 

 in tliat rich and interesting district, which will not, I think, 

 be unacceptable to some of your readers. 1 would strongly 

 recommend to every lover of Nature, who has leisure for the 

 investigation of her beauties, to devote a few days to this 

 romantic alpine country; where, though much has already 



