NOTES — ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. 



Silene Conica. Lin. — I found this plant growing freely in a field of crim- 

 ;< clover {Trifolium incartiatiim, Lin) near this town. I believe this is the first 

 ii that this plant has been recorded in this county. It is a rare plant, found 

 )i7 in the Eastern counties, and occasionally in ballast hills further north. Pro- 

 jly it has only recently been introduced into this locality, but seed vessels 

 1 Ing been freely formed it may become established. — J. C. Shenstone, Col- 

 iliter. [In Gibson's "Flora of Essex" it is stated that " D. French has a 

 ij:imen of this species gathered near Harlow Bury House, in 1858. It was 

 y,\l once found." — Ed.] 



lA Remarkable Meteor. — A meteor of great brilliance was observed at 

 Cilmsfordon Sunday evening, April 22nd, at 7.35. The evening was fine and 

 : .r, and it was still almost broad daylight, the sun having set at 7.5. The 

 D eor appeared near the zenith, and took a course a little to the east of south, 

 e tting a dazzling greenish light, and leaving behind a number of sparks. About 

 I above the horizon it suddenly " went out," but for a short distance it was 

 5 visible as a red hot ball before finally disappearing into space. — Thomas S. 

 I viOND, Chelmsford, April 24ih, 1894. [This meteor appears to have been seen 

 i: arious parts of England. The Hon, R. Russell recorded it as seen at Hasle- 

 n e, in "Nature" (April 26th), and at Williton in Somersetshire. It " broke 

 5 ienly into view at thirty-seven minutes past seven, about 50" above the 

 b zon, and gradually very steadily fell towards the earth, a high range of hills, 

 t Quantocks, torming the eastern boundary. A very large elm-tree standing 

 a ut a quarter of a mile from us, the meteor became hidden by the tree, so that 

 V could not see its contact with the ground. It was of as bright a light as the 

 s at midday. We should much like to know if it was seen by parties the other 

 S'i of the hill. It fell just as steadily as a spent rocket-stick, leaving for some 

 llle distance a tail of sparks. Apparently the meteor was about two and a hal^ 

 r 63 from us, the Quantocks being three miles." Another observer, writing 

 f n Margate, noted it at tw'enty-five minutes to eight, its direction being " from 

 rth-west to south-east, the altitude 45" to 30°, in view about thirty seconds ; 

 c )ur a brilliant green, and apparent dimensions about the volume of a Roman 

 cdle." From Guildford it was noticed at exactly the same time, falling "in a 

 c;ct line to the earth, leaving behind a magnificent tiain of blue. After 

 t/elling to within, apparently, a very short distance of the earth, it broke into 

 tee pieces, something like the bursting of a sky-rocket, the lower portions being 

 Eutthe size of a breakfast cup. The sight was the more remarkable, there 

 Ing no star visible in the clear light of day." — Ed. 



Mammoth Tusk near Chelmsford. — Under the heading "Mammoth 

 Irn," the "Essex Weekly News" of Nov. loth, announced that the "men in 

 t] employ of Mr. James Brown at his brickfield, near Lower Anchor Street, 

 rently found a portion of a mammoth horn lying on the top of the white 

 cy at a depth of between 12 and 14 feet. The portion of the horn measures 

 <|t. 3 in. in length, and at one end is as large as a man's thigh." We have 

 li:n unable to obtain any further information as to this find, but just as we go 

 1 press we learn that Mr, Brown has kindly presented the specimen to our 



iseum. — Ed. 



