1 Journal of Proceedings. 



neglect, vermin and damp — the company walked to the Museum in Bridge 

 Street, under the guidance of the Rev. E. E. Bartlett, M.A.,the Honorary 

 Curator, and Mr. Edmund Durrant, the Honorary Secretary. The 

 Museum contains some interesting objects, notably a general collection of 

 shells and specimens of Roman and other pottery found in Essex. But 

 the paucity of local specimens, and the absence of proper labels, detract 

 very much from the value of the contents of the Museum. Mr. Bartlett 

 gave a brief but interesting sketch of the history of the institution, and 

 did all in his power to render the %dsit a pleasurable one. 



^lany of the Members of the Club were most hospitably entertained at 

 luncheon by Messrs. Durrant, Chancellor, Baker, and other townsfolk. 

 About half -past one o'clock there was again a gathering at the " Saracen's 

 Head," from whence the party was carried in drags and other conveyances 

 through pleasant lanes and by smiling corn-fields, jjast Great Baddow 

 and Sandon, over Wood-hill, and so to the Bishop's Park. As we rode 

 through Great Baddow, attention was called to the fine " Copper Beeches " 

 {Fanus sylvatica var. purpurea), in one of the park-hke gardens. Tall 

 l^lants of Typha angwtifoUa were esijied in a pond by the roadside, and 

 the sj)ectacle of large jDatches of the handsome Lijthrum SaUcuria gave 

 rise to a discussion on the tri-morphism in the structure of the flower of 

 that plant, which was so thoroughly investigated by Darwin. Mr. John 

 Gibbs (a well-known Chelmsford botanist) remarked that he was sure he 

 had found all the three forms in his own neighbourhood.* 



At Sandon a short halt was made to give an opportunity for the 

 inspection of the quaint Httle Church of St. Andi'CAv, which is believed to 

 be of great antiquity. Here were some gigantic elms by the Church 

 gate — a row of massive and venerable trees that have skhted " God's-acre " 

 for centuries. One fine pollarded specimen [Ulmus ca)npestris, With., var. 

 vulgatissima, Miller) was measured by Professor Boulger, and found to 



* On Septembei- 3rd, Mr. Gibbs wi-ote : — " On Monday last I took a walk in search of 

 Lythnnn Salicaria, and in a ditch bordering a lane between Chelmsford and Writtle, I 

 gathered 33 twigs from different plants. On examining them, I found 12 long-styled, 16 

 mid-styled, and 5 short-styled, so that I was not after aU in error when I said that all 

 thi-ee forms are to be found near Chelmsford." 



Mr. Gibbs has also handed to the Editor a list of native floweidng plants, obsei-ved by 

 himself in the neighbourhood of Chelmsford, 374 in number, which will best foi-m the 

 subject of a separate communication. He remarks that " the list does not include 

 sevei-al plants, natives of other parts of England, and in cultivation here, as lucerne 

 (Medicago sativa). Tragopogon porrifoUus is only found on the banks of railways, to 

 which places the winged monospermous fruits are believed to have been conveyed by 

 wind. Several species included in my list may have been destroyed by the removal of 

 woods, of which many acres have been cleared since I observed Epilobium angustifoUum 

 and Paris quadrifolia gi-owing in them. There are, however, many plants not included, 

 especially Cyperacea, and probably several species of Pofamogeton. (Enantlie Phellan- 

 drium has been very luxuriant this year in ponds and ditches near Chelmsford, and ■ 

 being a very poisonous UmbeUif er it may possibly cause the death of cattle, who are not 

 botanists enough to distinguish it from the "Water Parsnep, when taken from ponds 

 and left upon the land by men who are not better botanists than the cattle." — Eu. 



