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the shades began to fall, and the air became cooler, a mist 

 arose from the surface of the water, and slowly moved along 

 in the nearly motionless air, setting off by contrast the dark 

 water, and the dense growth of alder that lined the opposite 

 bank, and looked like a mangrove swamp by the side of 

 some tropical river. The slender crescent of the moon, as it 

 neared its setting, was just visible above the trees, and if the 

 sad moaning of the night-jar was heard on the left hand, the 

 sweet song of a nightingale, sweeter perhaps by contrast, 

 issued from the trees on the right. No wonder that under 

 these circumstances all were loath to turn their back on 

 nature, and make for the railway station, and all the other 

 common places of a work-a-day world." 



Mr. Adkin read a Report of the Field Meeting held at 

 Chalfont Road, on July ist. 



" The third field meeting of the season was held at 

 Chalfont Road, on Saturday, July ist. In an address 

 which it was my privilege to read before the Society some 

 little time since, I suggested that the chief factors in the 

 successful carrying out of a field meeting were thorough 

 organization and fine weather. On the occasion now under 

 notice, the former, I willingly admit, may have been at 

 fault, but however bad the organization may have been, the 

 weather with which we had to contend was decidedly worse. 

 Nearly half-an-inch of rain in the twenty-four hours (or to be 

 exact 0*48 inch) and a fresh north-west breeze were enough 

 to damp the ardour of any but the most enthusiastic, and 

 there is little wonder that the ten members who had sig- 

 nified their intention of being present, had dwindled to a 

 bare half dozen at the time a start was made. These 

 venturesome spirits had, however, no reason to regret their 

 rashness ; and although insect life was conspicuous by its 

 scarcity than otherwise, some other orders were plentiful 

 enough, and the delightful freshness of the woods and pas- 

 tures after the heavy rains was in itself an ample reward. 

 Nor did a couple of sharp showers that fell during the 

 afternoon cause any inconvenience, indeed, so complete a 

 covering did the heavy foliage of the beech-woods provide, 

 that, had it not been for the pattering of the rain-drops 

 on the canopy overhead, they might well have passed by 

 unnoticed, and it was with feelings that so pleasant an 

 outing had been all too short that at about 7 o'clock the 

 party adjourned to the 'White Lion,' Amersham Common, 

 where tea awaited it. 



