THE 
NATURAL HISTORY OF SELBORNE, 
LAR IeA BRL 
TO THOMAS PENNANT, ESQ. 
THE parish of Selborne lies in the extreme eastern corner of the 
county of Hampshire, bordering on the county of Sussex, and not 
far from the county of Surrey ; is about fifty miles south-west of 
London, in latitude fifty-one, and near mid-way between the towns 
of Alton and Petersfield. Being very large and extensive it abuts 
* The first series of Mr. White’s Letters are addressed to Pennant, and run over a 
period of several years, during which that gentleman was engaged in writing his British 
Zoology ; whether they were originally commenced as real letters between friends and 
naturalists, and were afterwards brought together for publication, we are unable to say. 
Some bear the stamp of replies to actual letters, but when the idea of publication was 
fixed upon, it is probable that others may have been introduced, and such as this first one 
written as introductory to his parochial history. Mr. White tells us that they are pub- 
lished with the view of ‘‘ laying before the public his idea of a Parochial History, which 
he thinks ought to consist of natural productions and occurrences as well as antiquities.” 
(See Advertisement.) It is from such materials and records as these that the most 
complete County Histories might be drawn, and he remarks that such are still wanting in 
several parts of the kingdom. In 1853 the same remark would continue to apply. ‘The 
parish registers do not always go so far back, and have not always at an early period been 
kept with that exactness which White would have recommended, and it is often difficult 
to trace the origin of some old custom or pastime, or the etymology of some of the 
apparently now meaningless names of places, farms, or villages. Accordingly, in this his 
first letter, he at once goes into the necessary, though to some the dry and more tedious, 
information, of the boundaries and situation of the parish ; some of its statistics, produce, 
springs, with a light sketch of its geology and physical character. 
This is one of the few letters where the geology of the district is touched upon, and 
in only one of the numerous editions has this been explained ; Mr. Bennet is the only 
editor who seems to have examined it for himself, and to him, as others have done, we 
must apply for information. This is necessary, as upon the explanation depends the 
proper understanding of several of White’s remarks and expressions in the other parts of 
his work. Mr. Bennet writes in his note to page 5 of his edition; ‘‘ The parish of Selborne 
is situated in the lower part of the chalk formation, and embraces within it the upper mem- 
bers of the Weald. These are well displayed as they occur in succession, forming strips 
which run along the parish from north to south: in crossing it from east to west each of 
the strata is visited in the order of their superposition. ‘They are four in number; com- 
prising the chalk, the upper green-sand, the gault, and the lower green-sand. The chalk 
B 
