CiRC. 159. 



jMr. F. Arnold Lees wiiles that litile, if anything, new will be found in the very 

 tract to which the investigations of the day is limited. It was exhaustively worked 

 for years by the late and greatly lamented John Emmet, of Boston Spa, and for 

 four years by Dr. Wesley, by himself and ^Ir. John Jackson from 1878 to 1884. 

 The last-named local observer discovered a then new Pondweed {Potaviogeton per- 

 foliattis var. facksoni) in a pool near Linton. In hedges below the same place he 

 ■also found the Liquorice Milk Vetch (Astragalus glycyphyllos^ — its only station for 

 many miles. In the rough fields at Linton going to Woodhall Genista tincioria 

 occurs, an-d at the Collingham end tlie Squinancy-wort (Aspentia cynanchica) used 

 to be fine and abundant, with — later on in the year — Spiranihes atitnuinalis. In the 

 Stockeld demesne Dorom'citui Pardalianches flourishes, with Aspidhtm angiilare — 

 a rather rare fern herealjouts. Above Collingham and by the Wharfe at Woodhall 

 banks Thalictrzau inajiis and TrolUits occur. About Linton Spring several 

 xerophiles are found, Li/hospermuin officinale and Bryo7iia, the best, with (in 

 "Collingham river-bank scrub) a little Bilberry (rare hereaway) by the Spaw Well, 

 Rhammn catharticiis and Hinniilus Liiptil/is — the ? fruiting plant. By a brook, 

 ■warping Wharfewards, in a marshy field below Linton grow Ginanfhs Jistulosa, 

 Sciipits aciciilaris and Cat-ex aaila. By a pond Ijetween the cemetery and Wether- 

 by station Lysiuiachia thyrsi flora occurred in small quantity in 1880; liut seemed 

 •on its last stems, in danger of being choked up l)y an extending mattress of Reeds, 

 Reedmaces, and Carex palttdosa. Marking the junction of limestone and sand at 

 Flint Mill, further west, grows the arenophile Geranium columbinnin; and on shady 

 ■clay banks by the Wharfe in many spots l^etween the termini of the day's riparial 

 Daphne Laiireola, GEnantlie crocata, and Ploughman's Spikenard [Inula Conyza^ 

 should be observed. They severally were there, but really the actual florula of 

 To-Day is very much a matter of conjecture. A river-banlc tract is one peculiarly 

 favourable for demonstrating the Changes which even so short a period as twenty 

 years work insensibly, and almost unbelievably, where no set records have been 

 kept. Soil slips, is washed away, is replaced by natural warp-silt from higher up 

 the stream ; thickets deepen, woods extend, umbrage increases liere, cataclystically 

 vanishes there, in some spring flood, leaving a surface not bared liefore for a century 

 perhaps; and with such alterations, shade-loving plants encroach, and gradually 

 ■eliminate prior holders of the soil ; or Pyrola minor or Parnassia never there before 

 may delight Ijy their rampancy on some lately bared slope. CEnanthe fistulosa 

 <quickly goes as a field is drained, a field-brook straightened l)y a farmer or a bend 

 in a stream cut through and obliterated ; even Heather, Ling and Bilberry grow 

 more tenuous in persisting, deepening shadow. So, on the Day take full and precise 

 record of what Is, for comparison with lists of what Were, and from the results an 

 unexpected Truth of Conclusion may be reached. Such is the only scientific way 

 to the end botanists have in view. Their quarry can neither run nor fly away, but 

 must either have been there (in the soil) or have been brought in some manner to 

 where now found growing. 



Mosses. — The lists by Mr. J. S. Wesley and Mr. !•'. Arnold Lees quoted above 

 should be referred to. 



Fungi, Lichens, Algae. — The lists in the ' Flora of West Yorkshire ' give 

 many localities for these lliree classes of plants. 



VERTEBRATE ZOOLOGY.- 



Mr. Kenneth McLean writes that the district is one of tlie best lie know.i in 

 ^'orkshire for observing vertebrate animals. 



Mammals. — The Otter inhabits llie Wliaife, and the Badger and Stoat also 

 occur. 



Birds. — Amongst others Mr. McLean has noted the following as having bred 

 in the district : — Tawny, Barn and Long-eared Owls, Kestrel, Sparrowhawk, King- 

 fisher, Dipper, Jay, Magpie, Sandpiper, (greater and Lesser Spotted and (Ireen 

 Woodpeckers, Turtle Dove, and Tree Creeper ; and he has also noted the occurrence 

 of the Merlin and the Short-eared Owl, and Geese and Ducks of various kinds are 

 frc<juent)y seen on the River Wharfe, especially below Woodhall Hridge. 



Amphibians. —The Creat Crested, Palmate, rnd Comnvjn Newts are known 

 <o occur. 



Fishes. — Tiie list of fishes includes Trout, Fcl, Pike, Dace, etc. 



