WATFOKD NATUEAL HISTORY SOCIETY. XXIX 



from above. This preliminary process had been given up, and the 

 boring by diamonds had been carried on for some time. The boring, 

 commenced in February, had been carried to a depth of 250 feet — 

 a quarter of the entire distance intended — at an expense in dia- 

 monds alone of over £400 ; for although the diamonds rapidly cut 

 away the hardest rock without showing any signs of wear, they 

 become loose and break away by the wearing of the steel rings 

 in which they are fixed. They are set in rows tangentially at the 

 bottom of a ring of varying dimension (called the " crown "), the 

 larger rings which are first used being made to revolve more slowly 

 than the smaller ones used at greater dejiths where the bore-hole 

 has to be smaller. At the present stage a ring 19^ inches in 

 diameter, making from 100 to 125 revolutions per minute, is being 

 used, the motion being given by a 25-horse-power steam-engine. 

 After explaining the working of the machinery, and showing some 

 of the cores which had been brought up, Mr. Wild, the Resident 

 Engineer, most obligingly set his men to give a practical illustration 

 of some of the processes, and the method of ''drawing the core" 

 and washing-out the " sludge " was duly exemplified. 



The Chadwell Springs, a few fields distant — better known as the 

 !N^ew River Head — were next to have been visited, and the 

 "Ermine Street," an old Roman road, and other indications of 

 olden times, to have been explored, but evening was di'awing near, 

 and the party had to hasten from the boring to Ware Priory, the 

 residence of Dr. J. Gwyn Jeffreys, F.R.S., etc., who had invited 

 the members of the two societies to tea. Here a sumptuous meal 

 was provided, and after full justice had been done to it, Professor 

 Morris, as President of the Geologists' Association, proposed a vote 

 of thanks to Dr. and Mrs. Gwyn Jeffreys for their kind entertain- 

 ment, Avhich was seconded by Dr. Brett, as President of the 

 County Society, and carried by acclamation. 



Dr. Gwyn Jeffreys, in responding, referred to the long and tiring 

 walk his visitors had accomplished, which he was sure was good for 

 them, and for the ladies especially, of whom he was glad to see so 

 many present. He was very pleased to see them at the Priory, and 

 hoped this would not be the last visit they would pay him. 



The party then took leave of their host and hostess and left the 

 Priory for Ware Station, the members of the Geologists' Associa- 

 tion returning to London by the Great Eastern Railway, and most 

 of the members of the Hertfordshire Field Club to Hertford, in 

 the opposite dii'ection, and thence to Watford and elsewhere. 



Field Meeting, 3rd July, 1878. 



MooK Park. 



A large number of members and their friends left Watford for 

 Rickmansworth by the 2"30 p.m. train, to visit Moor Park by 

 the invitation of Lord Ebury, and at the park were joined by 

 others who had driven from Watford and elsewhere. 



