J/ifiiif/nrnl Paper. 3 



niafle serious inroads upon some of our most interesting spots. 

 'J'ho h.andsonio dark purple flowers of the dusky crancsbill liave 

 already vanislicd from the locality where (list 1 found it ; both the 

 round-leaved and the sliar])-])ointed fluellen or toadflax, once 

 grew luxuriantly in a spot hard by, which now is a brick field, and 

 an interesting mound where the Phalaris canariensis, and the Lolinra 

 temulentuni, and other plants were often found, has shared the 

 same fate. Already, too, the mountain speedwell is growing rare 

 hi the soon-to-be-invaded park. We must not conceal from our- 

 selves that the study of natural history will become more difficult 

 at Harrow every year. The objects we set before us, if there is 

 any hope of accomplishing them at all, must be accomj)lishcd as 

 much as possible by the observations of the next two years. 



Nor must we shut our eyes to the fact that the country round 

 Harrow offers comparatively little scope for our enquiries. It has 

 no variety to boast. It is composed almost entirely of a clay soil, 

 and of pasture land, so that one must walk at least a mile or two 

 to get the change of flora introduced by different soils or varieties 

 of cultivation. Then again, the canal offers but a poor substitute 

 for the charm and interest of a stream or river; we have no moun- 

 tain or forest within many miles of us, and even the nearest woods 

 and copses are some distance off. The reservoir, and the Ruislip 

 woods, are indeed just accessible, but they involve, as two or three 

 of us can testif)' from personal experience, the chance of a personal 

 fracas, and they are jealously hedged in by the laws of trespass. 

 Such are the conditions around us, and we must make the best of 

 them, adopting the grand old reminder, Spartam nactus es, hanc 

 exorna. 



As a counterpoise to these considerations I may urge that we 

 really do not know the wealth of nature around us, even under con- 

 ditions apparently the most unfavourable, until we have fairly begun 

 to search. I am convinced that, if we work with any life, some- 

 thing yet remains to be added to the work already done. As an 

 illustration of what I mean I may point to the "Flora of Harrow ;" 

 and I think that any one who reads it will be astonished that we 

 have as much to boast of in the way of butterflies, birds, and plants 

 as that little book proves to be the case. Having examined several 

 local floras I can assure you that ours may take a very respectable 

 place among them ; and yet it is not complete. A stranger wrote 

 to tell me that we had overlooked a very interesting plant, the 

 strawberry-headed trefoil, which grows no farther off than the white 

 palings at the bottom of the hill, and three of us now present, in the 

 course of a single long walk to the Kingsbury Reservoir, added no 

 less than (1 think) six new plants to those here recorded — one of 

 which was the beautiful and interesting Hottonia })alustris. For, 



