344 BOTANICAL SKETCHES FROM CHESHIRE. [AugUSt, 



there was a gutter leading from the pan or salt-hrine tank to the 

 river, there the vegetation was entirely destroyed with the ex- 

 ception of what is called Spergularia marina, a maritime form 

 of S. rubra, if not a genuine species. But salt brine is too pre- 

 cious to be wasted either in destroying the native vegetation or 

 in encouraging a race of plants differing in habits and proper- 

 ties from the common productions of the soil, and consequently 

 these examples are like angels^ visits. 



The saline springs and the solid salt rock lie several hundreds 

 of yards under the surface, and their effects on the vegetation 

 cannot be perceptible. Yet marine plants may grow there. In 

 the " Flora of Clent," published in the April, 1858, number of the 

 ' Phytologist,' there is an account of one marine plant, Erodium 

 maritimum, which was observed in a solitary spot at the base 

 of the Clent Hills, near the church. Clent is eight miles from 

 Droitwich, where there is a salt spring. But as I did not find 

 any saline or maritime species near the salt springs and mines of 

 Cheshire, I cannot give any account of them. 



There is, however, a very remarkable phenomenon which has 

 been known for years, and is still going on, viz. the subsidence 

 of large portions of the earth, and the formation of large de- 

 pressions which either become marshy spots or are, when near 

 the river, converted into large pools, which give a lacustral cha- 

 racter to the aspect of the country. On the Weever, above 

 Winsford, not far from Darnhall, there is a lake called the Flash, 

 formed not less than a mile long, perhaps more, and in some 

 parts as much as several hundreds of yards in width. 



Subsidences are reported from other parts of the salt-producing 

 districts, and subscriptions are made among the owners and oc- 

 cupiers of saltworks to compensate the unfortunate sufferers by 

 such casualties, if the operation of natural laws may be so called. 

 These depressions or sinkings appear to be the consequence of the 

 removal of what the upper strata rest on, viz. the saline aquatic 

 reservoirs. 



Our first expedition was to the vicinity of the salt-pans and 

 brine-pits of Winsford, in order to ascertain the effects of the 

 saline incrustations, etc., on vegetation. As already stated, these 

 were inappreciable. Where the waste brine was strong, it had 

 entirely destroyed the grass and everything else, except in one 

 puddle, where the sooty bog was bordered by thriving plants of 



