38 



that they are of that purely technical character which, however valu- 

 able as works of reference, cannot be transferred, even in abstract, 

 to the pages of a popular journal. 



Notice of the ' Transactions of the Tyneside Naliiralisls' Field-Club,'' 



Vol. I., Part 5. 



The 'Phytologist' was the first periodical that invited the attention 

 of naturalists to the published 'Transactions' of this energetic and 

 praiseworthy band of naturalists, and at the same time I ventured to 

 hold up the example to observers in other parts of the kingdom, and 

 to express my humble opinion that it was worthy of all imitation. I 

 have to regret that the ' Parts' of these ' Transactions' have not been 

 regularly transmitted, inasmuch as I have thus been deprived of the 

 pleasure I should experience in noticing them with regularity and ap- 

 probation. The present part contains a hundred and twenty-four pages 

 of letter-press and three admirable plates, but is chiefly devoted to 

 zoological papers. The gleanings in botany which appear below are 

 contained in the President's Address. 



" The first field meeting took place on the 1 8th of May, on the 

 banks of the Wansbeck above Morpeth. The weather at the time of 

 starting, and indeed during the day, being somewhat unfavorable, but 

 few of the members attended. They assembled at Morpeth station 

 and strolled by the side of the Wansbeck as far as Mitford, and after 

 a pleasant ramble of several hours, in which a few plants were col- 

 lected, including Arabis hirsuta, Myrrhis odorata, Arabis thaliana, 

 and several ferns, they returned towards Morpeth. Two of the mem- 

 bers, Mr. Storey and Mr. Burnet, intending to search for Equisetum 

 umbrosum, had proceeded by an early train several miles to the 

 northward of Morpeth. The Equisetum referred to appears to have 

 been first noticed in Northumberland (only the second recorded Eng- 

 lish locality), by Mr. Joseph Sidebotham, who announced this inter- 

 esting discovery in the ' Phytologist ' for 1848. After walking three 

 or four miles, they had the good fortune to collect several specimens 

 of this rare plant on the banks of the Coquet near Felton ; but as the 

 season was somewhat advanced, only two fertile stems were procured. 

 By the side of the same stream Equisetum hyemale and E. palustre 

 were likewise observed. 



" The second meeting was at Dipton and Devil's Water, on the 



