46 
Proceedings of the Society. 
July 17th.—The members had an evening ramble for the sake 
of those to whom it is inconvenient to attend in an afternoon. 
They went by train as far as West Wycomsg, where they alighted 
and commenced exploring. Mr. Britten joined them here, and 
showed a bunch of Cuscuta Trifolit, a vegetable parasite on clover, 
cordially detested by farmers; also some Self Heal (Prunella 
vulgaris), with pink flowers. In the yard by the station, a con- 
siderable quantity of Vervain (Verbena officinalis) was growing ; 
this is the sole British representative of the gay verbenas of our 
gardens. Haveringdon Hill was then ascended, and the Mauso- 
leum and old British earthwork examined. On the walls of the 
former were some well-developed specimens of Asplenium ruta- 
muraria, the Rue-leaved Spleenwort; it also grows on the walls of 
the church, but does not there reach such perfection. The view 
from this hill, both east and west is exceedingly beautiful, and to 
the geologist, particularly interesting, the high yet gently sloping 
hills pointing out in an unmistakeable way the shores of an 
ancient sea. The south side is almost covered with numerous 
very old Yew trees, which appear to have been planted here 
many years ago. The Stemless Thistle ( Carduus acaulis) is plen- 
tiful on the slopes, and Calamintha officinalis—the Common Cala- 
mint in the ditch at the summit, and on the banks at the foot. 
Underneath the hill is an artificial cave cut in the chalk, for a 
length of about a quarter of a mile: into this the members de- 
scended, and were much gratified. No traces of fossils could be 
detected anywhere, but a ‘‘fault’’ was noticed in one place where 
there had been a slip of ahout a couple of feet or more. On an old 
piece of wood was found a quantity of microscopic fungi. The 
cave is a great resort of bats in the winter, among which has been 
found the Lesser Horseshoe (Rhinolophos hipposideros); but of 
course none were ‘‘at home” now. The members returned on 
