322 CUMBRIAN BOTANY. [November, 



a foretaste of what he may expect further up the valley. But 

 whether the tourist be a botanist (by w^hich, I mean, a plant col- 

 lector like myself) or not, he will certainly find this an advan- 

 tageous starting-point. The hotel is separated from the shore 

 only by the railway, and, parallel with this on the shore side, a 

 belt of densely-tufted vegetation, amongst which, now in the 

 middle of June, grows the beautiful Geranium sanguineum ; here 

 also is the delicate Convolvulus Soldanella, with the somewhat 

 forbidding Glaucium luteum for its nearest neighbour. A slight 

 search will reveal Anthyllis vulneraria, Veronica Beccabunga, and 

 Erodium cicutarium, the segments of whose awns it is curious to 

 watch, as they curl up into a spiral form when meddled with. 

 Lotus corniculatus, with its golden petals, is conspicuous every- 

 where. Ascending the first hill, on the road to Drigg, Anagallis 

 tenella and A. arvensis are soon met with, the latter being not 

 yet generally in flower. Here also are Bartsia Odontites, and 

 what I take to be Habenaria bifolia and Orchis latifolia ; then 

 there are Pinguicula vulgaris, Pedicularis sylvatica, and Polygala 

 vulgaris, with its ordinary varieties ; Viola tricolor is also fre- 

 quently met with. I also observed on this road, — which is bor- 

 dered on each side by a belt of green, backed by a hedgerow, — 

 the following Perns : — Lastrea Filix-mas, Athyrium Filioo-fcem.; 

 and, nearer Drigg, Blechnum boreale, several of the last-men- 

 tioned being two feet long from the ground to tip of the frond ; 

 and one monstrosity had two fronds on a common rachis ; Las- 

 trea dilatata very fine, Lastrea Oreopteris, and Osmunda regalis, 

 which is so plentifully distributed over the district that the na- 

 tives may, for a long time to come, continue to cure their sprains 

 with its healing roots. Of this Fern I saw some fronds upwards 

 of four feet high. 



Both on the Osmund Royal and on the Lady-fern I observed 

 numbers of a species of Beetle (locally termed Bracken-clock, 

 and a favourite bait for trout) very busily employed ; so numer- 

 ous were they that, on the tufts being shaken, they tumbled off, 

 with the helplessness they are accustomed to feign when mo- 

 lested, like drops of rain after a heavy shower. By keeping my 

 eye upon individuals at work, and examining the places they 

 quitted, I found they had actually been feasting on the Ferns, 

 the epidermis being apparently quite eaten through on one side. 

 I mention this the rather as I have heard that insects rarely at- 



