238 The Field Naturalist'' s Q2ta7^terly Aug. 



The Epsom College Natural History Society Report for 1901 gives 

 evidence of much interest taken in the subject, a membership of 104 in 

 the summer term being decidedly encouraging. In the Botanical re- 

 port v^& note the recording of Centaurea calcitrapa^ a plant quite new to 

 the district. Senecio campestris was seen again after disappearing for 

 some years. A very useful feature is the list of plants observ^ed, with 

 dates of first blossoms seen, which serves as a basis of comparison with 

 other seasons. The field work in Entomology resulted in the addition 

 of thirty specimens to the previous lists, the captures including the 

 Camberwell Beauty, the Feathered Dart, and the Lappet. The Meteoro- 

 logical observations are illustrated by monthly charts ; and an unusual 

 section is the record of the weights and measurement of 240 boys, some 

 of the data being very interesting. 



The Third Annual Report of the Northumberland Coast Club finds 

 the club with a membership of 1 03, and it is gratifying to note that this 

 indicates a steady increase. This society has for its objects the study 

 of the Marine Zoology of the county, and also the Archaeology, Folk- 

 lore, History, Geography, and Geology of the coast. The field of work 

 thus ofifered is wide, and as the club gets older much valuable investiga- 

 tion should result. Good work has already been done, and with a view 

 to encouraging the members, prizes are offered in Botany for collections 

 of Seaweeds, in Zoology for the best collection of Echinoderms, and for 

 essays on any subjects within the scope of the club's work. We wish 

 the society a long and prosperous career. 



Correspondence. 



"In 1893, on September 15 or 16, when returning from South 

 Africa in the Doune Castle, just after passing Cape Verde we were met 

 with very strong trade-winds on the port side. They were so strong 

 that the ship was retarded some 70 knots per day, and nothing but 

 crested billows were to be seen. I was in the bows as usual looking 

 over the water, when suddenly close along the top of the water flying 

 with the wind came a butterfly. It looked like a ' Copper ' butterfly, 

 the size of a ' Chalk-hill Blue.' I was amazed to see it actually amongst 

 the spray, but in about twenty minutes I saw a second one. I do not 

 know how they could have come off the shore some fifty miles away 

 against the wind, and can only suppose that they came from the Cape 

 Verde Islands some two hundred miles off. In any case the distance 

 from land was enormous, I should think, for a butterfly, especially con- 

 sidering the weather conditions, and the position of the butterfly right 

 amongst the spray. It only shows how easily Continental species might 

 cross the English Channel, and how some of the doubtful specimens 

 may well have crossed without human agency. 



" Mr H. Rowland-Brown may also like to know that on Peace Day 

 I saw many ' Grizzled Skippers ' up an open lane leading from the 



