WATFOBD NATTJBAL HISTOEY SOCIETY. XXI 



acceptable, "vrere very kindly provided by Mr. Littleboy, under 

 whose direction the arrangements of the day had been placed. 



The Temple of Pan, perhaps better known among the surrounding 

 agricultural population as " Sheepshead Hall," is a rustic building 

 or summer house, apparently dedicated to the memory of the 

 grotesque Arcadian Deity whose name it bears. It is beautifully 

 situated, being surrounded on all sides by woods, and with wide 

 gi'ass glades, fringed by tall firs and other ornamental trees, con- 

 verging towards it from different directions. The exterior of the 

 building is decorated with a complete cornice composed of the 

 skulls and horns of rams ; and the interior is appropriately orna- 

 mented by drawings of shepherds and shepherdesses, Pandean pipes, 

 shepherds' crooks, and other sylvan appliances. A patch of Solomon's 

 seal {Pohjgonatum mtdtiflorum), the only rare botanical find of the 

 day, and possibly not here truly indigenous, was discovered within 

 sight of the Temple ; and purely white hyacinths, a sport fi'om the 

 common bluebell, were met with in considerable abundance. 



Langleybury, the seat of Mr. William Jones Loyd, was next 

 visited, and by his direction the members were conducted by the 

 gardener through the grounds adjacent to the house. A fine old 

 cedar attracted special attention, and its dimensions were stated 

 to be: girth of trunk, 21 feet 3 inches; height, 105 feet; spread 

 of branches, 106 feet. The yew hedges, the tall hollies in the 

 rookery, and the beautiful beech tree near the Parsonage, were also 

 noticed ; and it was remarked that the cedar, the yew, the holly, 

 and the beech, appeared to find, in the gravels of this district, a 

 very congenial soil. 



Mr. Littleboy then conducted the party across the Canal lock to 

 his residence near Hunton Bridge, and some time was spent in 

 examining his fernery, and in viewing his picturesque garden, 

 through which flows the river Gade, adding not a little to its 

 attractions. 



The members were then entertained at tea by Mr. and Mrs. 

 Littleboy, after which, in the absence of the President, who had 

 been obliged to leave before tea, a vote of thanks to the host and 

 hostess was proposed by the Honorary Secretary and carried by 

 acclamation. The members then left for Watford by the Hemp- 

 stead Eoad. 



Oedinaet Meeting, 9th Mat, 1878. 

 Alfred T. Brett, Esq., M.D., President, in the Chair. 



Miss Johnson, Langley Hill, King's Langley, was elected a 

 Member of the Society. 



The following commimications were read : — 



1. "Meteorological Observations taken at Cassiobury House from 

 January to April, 1876." By the Eight Honourable the Earl of 

 Essex. ( Vide p. 89.) 



