THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 26l 



Entomostracan from Epping Forest Exhibited.— Mr. D.J. Scouifield 

 F.R. M.S., cxliibited under the microscope a livin_<j; specimen oi Dinptomiis castor. 

 He remarked that it was not a very common species, but occurred in several 

 places in the Epping Forest District. It Avas the largest of the British species and 

 usually very beautifully coloured, the male being especially brilliant. Unlike 

 the very common D. oraci'lis, which occurs practically in all ])ieces of water, 

 except the smallest, Z>, castor only lived in very small pools, such as those found 

 on the Levtonstone Flats, for instance. 



A Supposed Pile-Dwelling at Woodham Walter, Essex. — Mr. 

 Miller Christy, F.L S., exhibited some flints ciacked and calcined from hre, 

 and some sandstone pebbles, soft and friable, from similar exposure to intense 

 heat. These were from a deposit in a valley at Woodham Walter, and Mr. 

 Christy gave some details which in his opinion indicated the former existence of 

 iin ancient pile-dwelling at this spot. The full account of ]\Ir. Christy's 

 observations appears in the present part of the Essex Naturalist (pp. 280 — 2). 



Mr. F. W. Reader and Mr. Kennard made some remarks on this subject. 

 " Pin-polishers." — Mr. Wilfred ]\Iark Webb, F.L.S., exhibited two or three 

 bone implements, commonly known as " Pin-polishers," and made some remarks on 

 the same. Mr. Reader in his paper on " Pile Structures in the Walbrook" 

 {Archceol. Jour. Ix., pp. 137 — 204) gives figures and particulars of these 

 implements, which have been found in some numbers in London. General Pitt- 

 Rivers assigned them to the Roman level, but Mr. Reader has obtained 

 specimens from Finsbury Square, associated with Tudor objects. Mr. Reader 

 observes: "There seems no reason to doubt the use that has been assigned to 

 these objects, as the grooves would serve well to hold a wire, and they all bear 

 file-marks across the facets containing the grooves ; some are filed down right 

 into the internal hollow of the bone. At the present time the working jeweller 

 uses a slab of wood upon Avhich he holds the pins while filing them to a point. 

 The edge of this slab is grooved in a similar manner to the squared portion of 

 these bone objects. In nearly all instances the projecting processes at the 

 natural end are knocked off, perhaps to allow of their being fixed in some manner." 



Thanks were accorded for these exhibits. 



Paper Read. — Mr. T. S. Dymond, F.C.S., read a short paper entitled "A 

 Disappearmg Industry : Charcoal Burning in Essex." The paper was illustrated 

 by some lantern slides of photographs of Charcoal Burners at work. 



A discussion took place on the paper, carried on by the President, Mr. 

 Barnard, INIr. Shenstone, Mr. Christy, and others, and a cordial vote of thanks 

 was accorded to the author. The paper will appear in the Essex Naturalist. 



Lecture. — Mr. F. W. Reader then gave a lecture on "Recent Obsenw 

 tions and Discoveries concerning London City Walls, the Walbrook and 

 Moorfields." The lecture was mainly a summary of Mr. Reader's two papers in 

 the Arch ecological Journal, and one by Mr. A. S. Kennard, who was Mr. 

 Reader's coadjutor in these investigations.! 



The Lecture was illustrated by about 50 lantern slides of old maps, engrav- 

 ings, objects of interest, and of the recent work carried on by Mr. Reader and 

 Mr. Kennard at the site of the Walbrook, etc. 



I " Pile Structures in the Walbrook near London Wall," and " Remarks on the 

 Primitive Site of London." By F. W. Reader. Archal. Joutn., lx., No. 238, pp. 137— 

 204. " Observations on the Organic Remains and the Nature of the soil associated with the 

 Pile Structures." By A. S. Kennard, ib., No. 239, Appendix to paper. 



