THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 45 



Wire, Mr. Elliott, Mr. Sauze, Mr. Avery, Mr. Bevvers, Dr. Pridie, Mr. W. Cole, 

 Mr. B. G. Gole, Mr. A. Sheldon, Mr. S. Foot, Mr. Bruce Cook, Rev. C. G. 

 Savill, Mr. Cornish, Mr Chatfield, Mr. H. A. Cole, Mrs. Yeates, Miss Bentley, 

 Miss Cole, Miss J. E. Cole, Mr. T. Hay Wilson, and many others. 



The Chairman said that the scheme was by no means a new one. Ten years 

 ago several of the gentlemen present that day were invited by Mr. Buxton to go 

 to " Knighton " to talk over a proposal to found a museum in that very room. 

 Various reasons prevented the scheme from being carried out. Most of those 

 reasons had besn removed during the last ten years, and at the present time there 

 seemed to be no difficulty in the way. The Epping Forest Committee had 

 given conditional consent for them to use that room — not in perpetuity, but to 

 allow them to place a local museum there. They could at any time withdraw 

 their sanction, but such a thing was not likely to happen if the museum was suc- 

 cessful. The people who were speciallj' asked to consider and support this 

 scheme were not the scientific people, but people who might be classed as " open-air 

 naturalists ; " they did not pass much time in the laboratory or study in dissect- 

 ing specimens, but observed these subjects in the open air. This would be the 

 line of study taken up, he thought, by those in the neighbourhood who would 

 support that museum. The museum would be managed by the council of the 

 Essex Field Club, who have also the management of the museum at Chelmsford, 

 and specimens would be continually changed from one museum to the other. 

 Most small museums soon become tiresome from their sameness, but in this 

 museum they hoped to have a constant supply of fresh subjects of interest, so 

 that it would never be dull. If the museum met with a good start, and every- 

 thing was carried out properly, there woull be little fear but that the Epping 

 Forjst Committee would give them such support as they could. Mr. Cole had 

 been working very hard in bringing forward this scheme — he had drawn up the 

 proposal and given them the details which were laid before them, and Mr. H. 

 A Cole ha 1 furnished them with capital illustrations. The illustrations of 

 Oueen Elizabeth's Lodge — both inside and out — were pictures which they would 

 all be glad to keep. 



Mr. W. Cole said they propjsei to keep the museum entirely local, to repre- 

 sent, from a geological, antiquarian, and natural history point of view, the 

 Epping Forest district ; and nothing would be taken into the museum except 

 from that district. They also desired that the specimens shoul 1 be exhibited in 

 an educational manner, not merely by a series of cabinet specimens, but by 

 specimens having some teaching purpose, and illustrated by drawings, diagrams, 

 maps, and so on. They proposed to take in antiquities, drawings, and paint- 

 ings, and that the grand staircase should be furnished with movable frames, 

 sj that a constantly changing series of drawings and paintings might be 

 received. As to antiquities the}' already had considerable collections. Two of 

 the most interesting collections they had were the objects obtained during the 

 Club's exploration of the Forest camps. Then they had in their hands at present 

 collections of fungi preserved by Mr. English, and the wild fljwers of the Forest, 

 and insects, and illustrations of the work of prehistoric man, both in the Forest 

 and the Lea valley. All these would form interesting exhibit^asa commencement, 

 and there would be no difficuliy in adding to them as time went on. 



Mr. Cole read letters from Sir Wm. Flower. Director of the British Museum 

 of Natural History and Mr. McKenzie, Superintendent of the Forest, who was 

 prevented from being present, but hoped that th,' meeting would be successful. 

 Sir Wm. Flower wrote : 



