168 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



The Preservation of Epping Forest.— Naturalists, especially those 

 living in and around London, will rejoice at the collapse of the Great 

 Eastern Railway Company's scheme in regard to Epping Forest. The 

 Directors of this Company, ignoring the Epping Forest Act, 1878, and 

 ignoring also the fact of there being already thirteen railway- stations in 

 proximity to the Forest, not one of which is distant from it more than two 

 miles, have been for some time endeavouring to persuade the public that 

 another station is needed, and in a Bill introduced into Parliament for an 

 extension of their line, calmly proposed to cut through the Forest in a 

 direction from Chingford to High Beech, erecting an unsightly viaduct hy 

 the way, and an equally objectiouable public-house at the terminus, in one 

 of the most beautiful parts of the Forest. The most extraordinary circum- 

 stance in connection with this scheme is that the Directors of the Company 

 not only ignored entirely the provisions of the Epping Forest Act of 1878, 

 but actually persuaded the Conservators of the Forest, appointed under 

 that Act, to do the same ! The 7th section of this Act provides that " the 

 Conservators shall at all times keep Epping Forest uninclosed and unbuilt 

 on, as an open space for the recreation and enjoyment of the public ; and 

 they shall by all lawful means prevent, resist, and abate all future inclosures, 

 encroachments, and buildings, and all attempts to inclose, encroach, or build 

 on any part thereof, or to appropriate or use the same, or the soil, timber, 

 or roads thereof, or any part thereof, for any purpose inconsistent with the 

 objects of this Act." Further that " the Conservators shall not sell, demise, 

 or otherwise alienate any part of the Forest, or concur in any sale, demise, 

 or other alienation thereof or of any part thereof," and tbat " the Con- 

 servators shall at all times, as far as possible, preserve the natural aspect 

 of the Forest." The duties of the Conservators are therefore perfectly 

 clear, and it is inconceivable that they should have so far ignored the very 

 object which the Legislature had iu appointing them as to give their 

 consent iu the way they did to the Railway Company's scheme. The 

 adoption of such a course can only be explained on the assumption that 

 the probable development and improvement in value of properties adjacent 

 to the proposed new line, and belonging to the Conservators or some of 

 them, caused them to thiuk more of private interest than of public trust. 

 Fortunately for those who regard the Forest, or what is left of it, in a true 

 li<'ht, and appreciate the boon which was conferred on the public by the 

 Act of 1878, there were not wanting champions to do battle with the 

 Company, and to recall the Conservators to a sense of duty. Foremost 

 amongst those who came forward in this behalf were the members of " The 

 Essex Naturalists' Field Club," who by means of deputations to the county 



