27 
BOTANICAL NOTES—BY Mr. A. E. GOODMAN. 
The exceptionally cold and wet July and August of 1900, followed by 
the much warmer autumn, had a curious effect upon a great many plants. 
They seemed to have been completely deceived in the seasons, and behaved in 
September and October as though it were April or May, bursting their 
winter buds, and clothing themselves in an array of young shoots, leaves, and 
in several cases even flowers. A few of the more remarkable cases I noted 
with the dates, which I give below :— 
September 2nd, 1900 —Larches, in most localities near Chester, with well- 
developed young shoots and leaves, 
September 7th—A plant of the Clematis (C. jacobea) in front of my own 
house had commenced growing new shoots, which later on bore 
buds, two of which eventually expanded feebly. 
September 22nd —Found common Bryony (2. dioica) and many Hollies 
in flower, 
October 18tkh—Saw plant of Daphne mezereon bearing large numbers of 
flower buds, which never expanded. 
November 28th—Laurustinus and Jessamine in full bloom in several 
localities. 
December 16th —Sweet Violets in full flower; they were growing in a 
neglected garden and somewhat protected by long grass. 



SNOW CRYSTALS—BY Mr. A. E. GOODMAN. 

On January 8th and 9th, 1901, during the falls of snow, I noticed several 
showers where the snow fell in single crystals. On the 8th, the crystals were 
unusually large, and their beautiful hexagonal forms were plainly visible to the 
naked eye. Several I measured were one-twentieth of an inch in diameter, 
On the 9th, the shower of crystals was soon after noon, and again they 
were abnormally large, two or three being one-fifth of an inch; whilst the 
average of some twenty-four taken at random was slightly over one-tenth of 
an inch. The crystals were not, however, so beautiful as those which fell on 
the previous day, their delicate forms being masked by an enveloping deposit 
of what appeared like hoar-frost. The hexagonal form was distinct, however, 
in every case. The large size of the crystals was, no doubt, due to the 
deposition of hoar-frost. I endeavoured to make photo-micrographs of some 
of these crystals, but was not very successful ; the chief difficulty being to get 
the microscope and other accessories sufficiently cold to keep the delicate 
crystals from thawing. 


The Permo-Carboniferous Boundary, and what we learn about 
it from the Sealand and Thnrgarton Boreholes, 
By Mr. W. J. CLARKE. 

Tue difficulty of drawing a dividing line between the Permian and 
Carboniferous formations has for some years occupied the attention of 
geologists, but has come into especial prominence lately, owing to the 
remarkable amount of fresh information recently collected by the officials of 
the Geological Survey—notably by Mr. Gibson and colleagues in North 
Staffordshire, and Mr. Cantrill in the Forest of Wyre Coalfields. 
Professor Hull, in his celebrated memoir on the ‘ Permian and Triassic 
Rocks of the Midland Counties,” had recognised that the strata of this 
Midland region, which lay between the coal-bearing beds and over-lying 
Trias, were not of the same type as the true Zechstein Permian Rocks of 
