633 



than the ordinary undivided form. This is curious, as many have 

 denied its being anything but a garden variety. The variety of Po- 

 lystichum to which I first drew your attention has, 1 stated before, 

 continued constant under cultivation. It has not, however, produced 

 any trace of fructification, though this year some of the fronds show 

 a tendency to produce germs in the axils of the pinnae. In conclu- 

 sion, I beg leave to draw your attention to these fine specimens of 

 Asplenium marinura, some fronds of which are twenty-four inches in 

 length, bearing on them pinnae of two inches dimensions, which far 

 exceed any I have met recorded in either this country or England. 

 They were obtained at Foxe's Cove, Ballymacarte, county Waterford, 

 in holes in the sea-cliffs, and when growing furnished one of the most 

 beautiful examples of vegetable beauty I ever saw." 



Three Days in TUgate Forest : a Botanical Ramble. 

 By Messrs. John Lloyd and McEnnes. 



Starting from Croydon by the train, shortly after 7 o'clock on the 

 morning of June 14, with the rain falling in torrents (a beautiful pros- 

 pect for enjoyment amid the wilds of Tilgate), which continued till we 

 had passed the tunnel at Merstham, we then found the sun tipping the 

 hills with its splendour, and the Gatton Woods looked magnificent. 

 On all sides vegetation looked" luxuriant, and fast recovering from 

 that torpidity with which it had long been struggling, from the past un- 

 usual season. A few observations upon the geology of the line may 

 be not unacceptable to those unacquainted with the district. 



How well the geological formations are defined and characterized 

 between Croydon and the Three Bridges Station of the Brighton Rail- 

 road (the termination of our distance by rail), those only can ap- 

 preciate who may have traversed that portion of the line. Starting 

 fi-om Croydon, the tertiary formation is somewhat level ; and then the 

 first appearance of the great chalk range does not call for any parti- 

 cular remark. The plants noticed there are only of the commonest 

 kind, as Daucus Carota &c. Upon issuing from the tunnel cut 

 through the chalk, the great escarpment appears very conspicuous. 

 Many parts are clothed with a vegetation peculiar to the dry 

 subsoils. Witness the fine, undulating appearance of the woods at 

 Gatton, seen upon the right hand of the line as soon as you pass 

 VOL. IV. 4 M 



