38 



delicate white flowers. Rush order : Juneus 



hu/onius, the toad rush, and Jtincus glaucus. 

 Water plantain order : Alisma plantago, the g^i'^'at 

 water plantain. Arrow tjrass order : Triglochin 

 palustre, the marshy arrow grass. Reed mace 

 order : which is illustrated by the ^reat reed 

 mace or cat's tail, six or eight feet high, or even 

 ten. found in ponds, sometimes incorrectly called 

 bulrushes. Spharganium, raniosuni, the burr reed. 

 Duck weed order : Lemna minor, the common 

 lesser chiekweed, the minute little plant which 

 often covers the surface of stagnant water, with 

 the insects which it harbours, and is greedily 

 devoured by ducks. All the British plants of this 

 order were found, viz ; L. Gibba L. Polyrhiza, L. 

 Trisulca. Pond weed order : Zannichellia palu-itris, 

 large horned pond weed ; Potamogeton natans 

 per/oliastris, and others, plants remarkable for 

 their thin, almost transparent leaves, which when 

 dried, have the appearance of gold-beater's skin, 

 and are so sensitive of moisture that they will 

 curl up when laid on the palm of the hand, like 

 the gelatine fish and other advertisements one 

 sees at the chemist's. Butomus umhellatus, the 



lovely flowering rush, one of our most striking' 

 wild flowers. 



The water also abounded with innumerable 

 multitudes of brilliantly coloured beetles and 

 insects of all descriptions, and various interesting 

 algae were found, including Spirogyra, Oscillaria, 

 Ophicyiiuin, etc. Many Desmids, iocluding 

 Cosmasia, Periastrium, Closteriutn, and numbers of 

 diatoms, including Synedra, Nitzschia, Navicula, 

 Cocconeina, Gomphonema. The entomologists pre- 

 sent noted three species of the Vanessidae, viz : — 

 V. io the peacock, V. atalanta the admiral, and 

 V. itrticx the small tortoiseshell. Colias hyale, the 

 pale clouded yellow, the last is sporadic in its 

 appearance, and until last summer had Jot been 

 seen for many years. THh numbers of V. urtiae 

 were truly remarkable, and every bed of nettles 

 bore marks of their ravages when larva; Two or 

 three of the Geometers of interest were also seen, 

 but of no particular ri*rity. In one of the ditches 

 was noticed a specimen of the deadly black adder. 

 This rare variety of the viper has the reputation 

 of being more vicious and more poisonous than 

 the comrnoner coloured viper. 



FIFTH SUMMER EXCURSIOIV, 



THURSDAY, AUGUST 1st, 1901.— RECULVER. 



Members and friends met at the Beaney Insti- 

 tute on Thursday, August 1, and then proceeded 

 by brake to Reculvers. Thp pirty included the 

 President (S. Horsley, Esq.) and Mrs. Harvey, 

 Miss Holmes, Miss Phillpoit:?, Miss Sworn. Mrs. 

 Fletcher, Mrs. Stevens, Mr. A. Sworn, Mr. A. 

 Lander ( ffon. Sec.) and Mrs. Lmder, Mr. C. Buck- 

 ingham, Mr. J. C. Snell, Mr. and Mrs. Austin, and 

 others. Many interesting photographs were taken 

 of the curious old towers and the lovely beach. 

 S>me of the party secured several interesting 



plants, many of which only grow on the salt 

 marshes fringing the sea, such as balsola ka,li 

 (prickly saltwort). Saliconia herbacea (jointed 

 glasswort), Betn niaritima and other allied plants, 

 Statice limonium (sea lavender). 



Owing to many people being away f jr holidays 

 it was again found impossible to make up excursion 

 parties during the holiday rauntbs. and therefore 

 the following excursions fell through : — August 

 loth, Cranbrook ; August 29th. Selling; and 

 September 12th, Lympae aad Hythe. 



LAST SIMMER EXCURSION, 



THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26th, 1901.— WHITSTABLE. 



On Thursday, September 26, a party of about 20 

 members and friends proceeded by the 2 10 train 

 to Whit&table. where they were met by Mr. Sibert 

 Saunders, one of our best local authorities on 

 marine zoology. Among the partv were Mr. 

 S. Harvey. F.f.C. F.O.S. (President). Captain 

 Stead, Mr W. P. Minn, B,A., and Mrs. Mano, Mr. 

 W. G. Austen and Mrs. Austen, Miss Sworn, Miss 

 Boyden, Miss Hurst, Miss Abbott, Miss Cole, Miss 

 Brown hill, Messrs. W. Cozens, W. Brownhill, 

 F. M. Argrave, and A. Lander (Hon. 

 Sec.) The day was a perfect one tor the 

 time of the year ; overhead the sun shone in a 

 cloudless sky, and not a bieath of air disturbed 



the smooth mirrorlike surface of the sea as the 

 party proceeded in boats to the far end of the 

 " Street " where they arrived shortly Defore low 

 tide. Here abundance of marine life was found 

 and numbers of interesting organisms were ciught 

 and placed in bottles and their peculiarities 

 pointed out by Mr. Saunders. The sea-weeds were 

 covered with lovely zoophyte?, which, when 

 e.xamined with the various lenses, looked like 

 veritable crystal palaces full ot lile and activity. 

 The tiny creatures were seen to move about and 

 extend their tiny delicate teutaclps in search of 

 food aad then when something was discovered 

 they would suddenly seize it and curl up until 



