THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 



27 



Mr. J. Chalkley Gould exhibited an exchequer note relating to the paj'- 

 ment of the salaries of the keepers of Epping Forest, which had been pre- 

 sented to the Epping Forest Museum by Mr. Brown, through Mr. C. 

 Davies Sherborn. The document was similar to that presented to the Club 

 by Mr. Gould in March, 1S95, and which was printed and described in the 

 Essex Naturalist for i8g6, vol. ix., p. 73. i\Ir. Gould made some remarks 

 on this document which are embodied in his notes to be printed in the 

 Essex Naturalist. Mr. Walter Crouch also made some observations on the 

 document. 



Mr. Sewell exhibited a piece of a tree from the forest, which on being 

 split open for making firewood, showed the blade of a razor embedded in the 

 wood. 



Mr. Cole said that instances of the kind were not very uncommon, and 

 referred to the case reported by Mr. C. E. Benham in the Essex Naturalist, 

 vol. viii., p. 88. 



Thanks were voted to the exhibitors, and to Mr. Brown for his gift of the 

 forest document alluded to above. 



In the absence of the author, Mr. W. Cole gave a resume of a paper 

 entitled " British Well-worms {Phreoryctcs) with especial reference to a unique 

 specimen from Chelmsford," by the Rev Hilderic Friend. Mr. Friend's 

 paper is printed in the present part of the Essex Naturalist. 



Mr. Cole remarked that considering the number of shallow wells in 

 Essex, there ought to be no difficulty in obtaining further specimens, when 

 the proper methods of searching for the Phreoryctcs had been ascertained. 



Tlie President thought that from a sanitary point of view, considering the 

 dangerous quality of water from most shallow wells, it would be consoling to 

 know that the Phreoryctean fauna of Essex remained scarce. 



The Secretary also gave an abstract of an important paper by the Rev. 

 J. W. Kenworthy, Vicar of Braintree, entitled " Notes on a Neolithic 

 ' Fascine ' Lake Settlement at Skitt's Hill, Braintree, Essex," and exhibited 

 on behalf of Mr. Kenworthy a selection of the specimens obtained. The 

 paper will appear in full in the Essex Naturalist. 



A discussion ensued, in which the President, Prof. Meldola, Mr. Chalkley 

 Gould, Mr. T. V. Holmes, and others took part. Cordial recognition of the 

 interest of Mr. Kenworthy 's observations was given by all the speakers. 



Mr. T. V. Holmes said that in the case of valley deposits like those in 

 which the Braintree articles were found it became of the greatest importance 

 that the exact spot should be registered on a 6-inch Ordnance Map of the 

 district. For with a little stream like that at Braintree, 50 yards here or 

 there may imply a totally different age. But when the exact position and 

 nature of the section in which the objects are found are given, the record of a 

 find must be valuable whatever alteration in the name given — Neolithic, &c., 

 &c. — to denote the age of the specimens, may eventually be resolved upon. 

 Of course it is comparatively easy to get the specimens themselves determined 

 by some expert, but uniess the geological age of the deposits in \\hich they 

 are found is also settled, much of their interest is gone. Most of the endless 

 and unsatisfactory disputes aboiit objects found in the most recent beds result 

 from the position being not indicated with sufficient accuracy. Mr. Holmes 

 concluded by saying that it would be a good thing if we had explorers like 



