XXXll PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



The Presidont alluded to the present scarcity of mimiows in the Colnc, though 

 formerly they were so abundant that a minnow feast was held annually at 

 "Watford. He also referred to the absence of any certain knowledge as to the 

 length of life of fishes. 



Mr. Sydney Humbert mentioned having caught a bream in the Gade, near 

 Eussell Farm, four pounds in weight, and stated that he knew the pope to be 

 frequently caught in the Gade. Keferring to the voracity of the pike, he said 

 that he was fishing one day in company with a friend and each hooked a fish 

 almost at the same moment. A single pike had taken both their baits, and was 

 thus doubly caught. 



Niimerous stuffed specimens of the different fish referred to were 

 exhibited, most of which were lent by Mr. Burbidge, Mr. Moon, and 

 Mrs. Moore. 



Oedinaey Meeting, 12th Decejibek, 1878. 

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



The following communications were read : — 



1. ''Notes on the Botany of the Experimental Grass Plots at 

 llothamsted, Herts." By John J. Willis. Communicated by the 

 Honorary Secretary. {Vide p. 140.) 



2. "'Note on Eucalyptus globulosa at Watford." By the Presi- 

 dent. [Vide^. 156.) 



3. "JS'ote on the Fertilisation of Auciiha Japonica.^'' By Eicardo 

 Palmer. Communicated by the President. ( F/r/i? p. 156.) 



4. Extracts from a letter from the Eev. J. C.Clutterbuck, M.A., 

 to the President, on the "Watford Rivers and their Pish. 



Mr. Clutterbuck stated that the heaviest trout he ever heard of was caught in 

 the Colne at Rickmansworth. It weighed 1 1 lbs. and was said not to be in full 

 condition. He referred to the great destruction the pnper mills had wrought, 

 especially the one on Rickmanswoith Conmion Moor. He had observed that, in 

 the Thames, trout were only found where there was a Chalk or Oolite stream 

 which brought them into the main river, and then they were few but generally 

 large. They avoided rivers subject to floods, as the Thames and the upper part 

 of the Colne. He could not understand why the Ver lost its name at its junction 

 with the Colne, which scarcely deserved the name of a river above the junction. 

 Telford, in the plan accompanying his report, called the river the " Verlam " far 

 below the junction. 



5. A letter from Mr. Stephen Austin to the Secretary, on the 

 discovery of remains of a stag f Cervus Elaplms y in a bed of peat 

 in Panshanger Park. 



Mr. Austin stated that a pair of very fine antlers and fifteen pieces of vertebrae 

 had recently been taken from a peaty place in Panshanger I'ark. Some men 

 were cutting a watercress bed and in digging they came upon the point of an 

 antler. The pair of horns which they found in digging further were perfect and 

 very large — 3 feet long and 21 inches spread, and just above the place where 

 attached to the head, 7 inches in circtimference. They were in perfect preserva- 

 tion, and looked as if they might have just been taken from a live stag. From 

 their shape Mr. Austin concluded that they must have belonged to Cervus Elaphus. 

 He had never heard of deer having been kept in Panshanger. 



