86 



Harcourt, by his children, whose French and German was much 

 appreciated by those who were not entirely master of our language. 

 After being shown the various historical paintings and rooms, 

 tea was served in the dining-room, and, this over, the weather 

 having now cleared up, an adjournment was made to the grounds, 

 now in all the full beauty of their summer flowering. Mr. Vernon 

 Harcourt himself led the party, explaining his methods of 

 gardening to the many who for the first time in their lives found 

 themselves on a typical English country estate. About an hour 

 was thus passed, and then it was time to return to Oxford, the 

 gathering having concluded with a warm speech of welcome 

 and farewell by our host, for whom, as the launch was turned 

 homeward, three hearty cheers were given. 



Our Oxford gardens, indeed, appear to have made a special 

 appeal to the minds of the Congress. For example, one of the 

 German delegates, Herr Fritz N. Wichgraf, writing in the 

 Berliner Tageblatt of August 24th, 1912, says : " We can scarcely 

 have a conception of these gardens, or rather parks, of the Colleges. 

 Each might be a corner of ' Sans Souci,' but with ancient trees 

 of every species in an extraordinary state of healthy vitality, and 

 a luxuriance of vegetation which seemed almost tropical. The 

 box becomes a veritable tree, whilst an infinite variety of conifers, 

 notably cedars and araucarias, flourish in profuse perfection. 

 This is accounted for by the richness of the soil and the damp 

 warmth of the climate, for we had heavy showers every day." 

 (Translated in " As Others See Us," Entoviologist, vol. xlv., 

 p. 287.) 



EXCURSION TO BAGLEY WOOD, BERKS, 

 WEDNESDAY, August 7TH. 



At the kind invitation of the President and Fellows of St. 

 John's College, Oxford, a party of about seventy members of the 

 Congress started at 2.30 p.m. in one of Messrs. Salter's steamers 

 from Folly Bridge, to visit Bagley Wood, formerly one of the 

 best-known entomological localities in the Oxford district. 

 The bad weather of the " Congress week " was by no means 

 favourable to an excursion of this nature, but the rain fortunately 

 kept oft" during the trip down the river to Kennington, and the 



