JuLirnal of Proceedings. xliii 



and in another field, near the hamlet called " Ivy Chimneys," the 

 equal luxuriance and plenty of the purple ^o^ev heSids oi Scobiosa siiccisa, 

 anent which Old Parkinson sayeth as follows: — "Fabulous antiquity 

 (the Monkes and Fryers, as I suppose, being inventors of the fable) 

 said, that the Devill envying the good that this tribe might do to man- 

 kindc, bit away part of the roote, and thereof came the name siiccisa, 

 Devill's-bit." We recall this fragment of mediaeval phytology as we 

 surmount the last of a long series of tall and difficult Essex stiles, find 

 a piece of decent road ahead, and follow our leaders with all speed to 

 the "Wake Arms." A little damp we may be, spite of waterproofs and 

 umbrellas, but all disposed to conquer circumstances and be as jolly 

 in face of discomfort as a field club of Mark Tapleys ; even the ladies 

 "smile a kind of sickly smile," pardoning Jupiter Pluvius ; and Mrs. 

 Gearing's warm tea and excellent providings give us courage soon to 

 laugh at our misadventures. 



Anon comes Professor Boulger's impromptu lecture, " Botanical work 

 to be done" — problems that is in plant life awaiting solution, and 

 solvable by amateur botanists when they shall tire of mere collections 

 of dried leaves, and begin to look upon plants as living forms, of the 

 nature and structure of which we are, to a great extent, profoundly 

 ignorant. In his opening remarks, the Professor takes exception to the 

 word " primaeval" as applied to Epping Forest; in his opinion, the 

 Forest is, both geologically and botanically, remarkably modern. When 

 we hear the Essex Forest spoken of as " the forest primseval," we ask 

 in what sense the words are to be taken. Are we to go back to 

 remote geological times — the true primaeval forests of the period of the 

 London clay ? In the Isle of Sheppy abundant evidence may be found 

 of the existence of a tropical forest at the time the London 

 clay was deposited. The land was then clothed with a luxuriant /era, 

 probably resembling that now found on the banks of the Ganges ; 

 since the fruits of the Screw-pines (Nipadites), for example — amongst 

 the commonest fossils at Sheppy — are there represented by the living 

 genus Nipa. Then come the forests of the late Eocene, or Miocene, 

 age ; with Tulip-trees, Magnolias, Banksias, Vines, and the Sequoias of 

 Bovey Tracey — a flora reminding us of California. A colder period 

 succeeds — the period just before the Glacial epoch ; and at Cromer, in 

 Norfolk, we have the old forest beds, consisting mainly oiPinus sylvestris 

 and P. excelsa, representing a climate perhaps very similar to the 

 northern parts of Scotland. In yet more modern (Post-glacial) times 

 we have the submerged forests of Oaks and Hazels at the mouth of 

 the Thames, marking the incoming of a flora contemporary in Denmark 

 with Neolithic man, and recorded in such names as Thurrock (Thor's 

 Oak) and Acton (Oak-township), High "Beech" and our finest Elms 

 probably are post-Roman in date ; whilst the Hornbeams, which 

 "lopping" has rendered so prematurely antique in appearance, are 



