■^atfokd natural histoey society. xxv 



Oedinaet Meeting, 13th June, 1878. 



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



Mr. James Vincent Elsden, B.Sc., F.C.S., North Crescent, Hert- 

 ford; Miss Selby and Miss Nellie Selby, Batler's Green, Aldenliam; 

 and Miss Stevenson, Chalk Hill, Bushey, were elected Members of 

 the Society. 



The following communications were read : — 



1. " ISTote on the Eecent Flood at "Watford." By the President. 



Dr. Brett stated that the flood on the Uth of April was the highest in the 

 memory of the oldest inhabitant of Watford. It was remarkable for its rapid 

 increase, rising at the rate of one foot per hour, and decreasing as rapidly. 

 While, also, floods at Watford usually occurred about twelve hours after the rain, 

 this one was much sooner felt. 



2. I^ote on the finding of the Hertfordshire Conglomerate in 

 situ close to Radlett Church. By the Rev. T. Marsden. Com- 

 municated hy the President. 



3. Notice of the occurrence of a Landslip in Rickmansworth 

 Park, in May, 1876. Communicated by the Honorary Secretary. 



4. "On the Fertilisation of Aucuba Japonica.^^ By the Presi- 

 dent. {Vide -p. 111.) 



5. On a Stone found embedded in the Centre of a Beech Tree. 

 By the President. 



Dr. Brett stated that during the storm which sank the " Eurydice " one of the 

 finest beeches in Cassiobury Park, at the principal entrance, was blown down, 

 and that, when the sawyers cut through the tree, about fifteen feet from the 

 ground, they found a stone in the centre. On examining the tree, it was found 

 that three branches had grown together round the stone, which must have been 

 thrown into the fork (or axil) of these branches when the tree was very young. 



6. A letter from " Two Members, " Nutfield, Watford, to the 

 Secretary, on the growth of Mistletoe on the Hawthorn in Cassio- 

 bury Park. 



7. Extract of a letter from Mr. H. George Fordham, F.G.S., 

 Odsey Grange, Royston, to the Secretary, on the Bee Orchis 

 ( Ophrys Apifera) near Odsey. 



Mr. Fordham had recently found several plants of the bee orchis in a new 

 locality on a patch of glacial sand and gravel just within the County of Hert- 

 ford, where the parish of Ashwell adjoins that of Odsey. It was interesting, in 

 this neighbourhood, he said, to observe the complete change in the character of 

 the flora when these isolated patches of glacial drift were met with. 



8. "Notes on the May-fly." By Peter Hood, M.D. {Vide 

 p. 107.) 



9. " On the Otter and Badger in the Valley of the Colne." By 

 the President. 



Dr. Brett said that an otter had been shot by Mr. Ruby at Iver Moor on the 

 Eiver Colne ; and that Mr. Grass, keeper to the Earl of Essex, shot a badger at 

 Long Spring early in May last, being the first badger he had seen during the 

 thirty-six years he had lived as keeper at Watford. 



VOL. II, — PT. IV. D 



