XXXII. 



MISCELLANEOUS NOTES AND OBSERVATIONS. 



Bead at Watford, I7(h April, 1883. 



Meteorology. 



T/ic River Bonrnc. — The intermittent streamlet known as the 

 Hertfordshire Bourne has been admirably described by Dr. Evans 

 in a paper read before the Society on the 8th of June, 1876; its 

 source was inspected by several of our members on the 7th of June, 

 1881 ; and it is proposed to visit it for the second time on Saturday 

 next, the 21st inst. 



Assuming- that the Bourne rises in a field just above the Harratts 

 End lane, it covers a distance between that spot and its outpour 

 into the Bulbourne of almost exactly 2f miles. I have obtained 

 from Dr. Evans a few particulars respecting it, and at the request 

 of our Secretary I have prepared the following record : — 



1853 — March 23. Source at upper end of field above Harratts End lane. 



1873 — February 16. Source at bottom of third field beyond Harratts End 

 lane. 



1876 — June 8. Soiuxe 70 yards east of lane ; flow not continuous ; said to 

 have commenced flowing in April. 



1877 — January 7. Commenced to flow at Boiirne End during the night of 

 January 6th. 

 ,, — January 28. Source at bottom of third field beyond Harratts End lane. 



1879 — February 16. Source close to Harratts End lane, but flow not con- 

 tinuous. Ceased nmning at Bourne End on May 21st; commenced 

 again on May 28th ; and ceased finally on December 19th. 



1881 — May 7. Source 50 yards east of Harratts End lane ; water standing 

 in field west of lane. 



1883 — January 9. Commenced to flow at Bourne End ; continued to increase 

 in volume until the beginning of February. 



I may mention that during thirty years prior to 1860, the 

 Bourne only overflowed its banks in the garden through which it 

 passes opposite the Bourne End mill on one occasion. The unusual 

 downpour of recent years has very naturally told its tale in the 

 little streamlet; in 1879 it burst up the culvert close to the road 

 and covered that side of the garden with water. The culvert was 

 restored with almost double its former capacity, but, notwith- 

 standing this precaution, the force of the water was so great during 

 the latter part of last January that it again burst its bounds, and a 

 portion of the garden was once more submerged. — John E. Littlehoy, 

 Himton Bridge. 



Botany. 



Flowering Plants and Ferns observed in Hertfordshire in 1882. — 

 The following is a list of plants observed in Hertfordshire during 

 the past year which are of interest from their comparative rarity or 

 from their not having previously been recorded as growing in the 

 localities in which they have now been observed. Lists of plants 

 have been communicated by Mr. A. S. Eve of Berkhampstead and 



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