Of our sixth district, that south of Grantham and east of 

 Belvoir, I can tell you little, for excepting in passing through by 

 rail, it is a terra incogniia to me. The chief attraction is Grims- 

 thorpe Park, which contains many fine oaks, hornbeams and 

 hawthorns, and a small herd of red deer — interesting as the only 

 one left in the county, and descendants of those indigenous deer 

 which at one period wandered wild, free and unrestricted 

 through the length and breadth of the land. 



It is customary on these occasions briefly to notice the work 

 done by the Union during the President's year of office. Two 

 meetings have been held, the first at Mablethorpe, on June 12th, 

 about thirty attending, and Professor L. C. Miall, f.r.s., of the 

 Yorkshire College, presiding. The vertebrate section (ornitho- 

 logy) was, perhaps, the most successful. The full report of this 

 very interesting meeting will be found in " The Naturalist " for 

 August and September, this year. 



The Rev. C. W. Whistler found the Natterjack toad [Bufo 

 ealamita) on the sand-hills. This is an interesting reptile and 

 very different from the common toad. It is a light yellow colour, 

 and never leaps nor does it crawl, its progression being more 

 like a run. This toad was first discovered near Revesby Abbey, 

 by Sir Joseph Banks, who made it known to the naturalist 

 Pennant. Its distribution is somewhat remarkable, for it is found 

 not only in England, but also in localities in Ireland, where the 

 common species is unknown. All the Irish snakes and toads, 

 as you know, were turned into stone by St. Patrick, but this 

 seems to have escaped the wrath of the Saint. The inference is 

 that the Natterjack succeeded in reaching Ireland before that 

 distressful isle had become severed from Great Britain, which 

 the common toad did not do, so we must consider the former is 

 the older immigrant of the two, perhaps its particular mode of 

 progress afforded better and more favourable facilities for getting 

 over the ground. 



In our investigation into the natural history of this county, 

 we must remember that at no very distant period Lincolnshire 

 was part of the mainland of Europe, and there was no North 

 Sea as we know it now, and we must therefore expect to find 

 close affinity between the fauna and flora on both sides of the 

 water. Once, no doubt, a great central river, whose debouch- 

 ure was over the Dogger Bank received the waters of the rivers 



