265 



Captain Lysag^^t said the Chinese medlar in the Park had stood 

 better than the common laurel. 



Mr. Ekin thought the maturing of the wood had a good deal to 

 do Avith the hardiness of a plant. In Cornwall the frost had 

 played great havoc, especially with the magnolias ; further east, 

 where they stood better, the atmosphere was probably drier and 

 the wood matured more before winter. 



Mr. Broome then read a paper in continuation of his previous 

 valuable contributions on " The Mycology of the Neighbourhood." 

 The family of Hyphomycetes was described on this occasion 

 (vide p. 181). 



The meetmg -was brought to a conclusion by a verbal communi- 

 cation from the Secretary, the Eev. H. H. WiNWOOD, on 



" BITTON sawyers" — A PETROLOGICAL PROBLEM. 



These were very hard siliceous pebbles found in the gravel jjits in 

 the neighbourhood of Bitton, and called by the inhabitants " Bitten 

 Sawyers." Whence the name, he asked, and whence their origin ? 

 As to the name, it seems to be connected with the muscular power of 

 a travelling conjuror who in the memory of by no means the youngest 

 inhabitant was wont to try his fists successfully upon these pebbles, 

 and by a series of measured blows break them in pieces. When the 

 extreme difficulty of making an impression upon these very tough 

 pebbles even with a hammer is considered, the blow of this man was 

 well worthy of note. As to their origin ; this to a geologist was not 

 quite so difficult to find out as the meaning of the name, for tracing 

 the course of the small stream called the Boyd northwards it would be 

 seen from the geological map that it flowed past some exposures of 

 Coal Measure Sandstone and Millstone Grit at the Wick Bocks. Carry 

 your imagination back to the time when the Boyd, at this day a mere 

 rivulet, flowed an imijetuous torrent, and deposited the gravels now at 

 some considerable distance from its bed, and you have at once an agent 

 sufficient for the purpose. Another source may even be found some- 

 what closer at hand, for the Kingswood anticlinal has many bands of 

 Coal Measure Sandstone cropping up to the surface very similar in 

 texture to the Millstone Grit, and in a hand specimen scarcely dis- 



