318 WOODRUFFE-PEACOCK : LINCOLNSHIRE NATURALISTS. 
At 12 o'clock all reassembled on the lawn at Holbeck, where 
they found laid out under the shade of the trees a most acceptable 
and handsome al fresco luncheon, which was greatly enjoyed by all. 
After partaking of this refreshment a vote of thanks was proposed 
by the Treasurer, Mr. F. M. Burton, to the Rev. A. B. Skipworth 
and his friends, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, for their generous hospitality ; 
and a paper was read by the Rev, Conway Walter, on ‘ Brinkhill 
Gold,’ a calcareous ironstone concretion. He exhibited specimens 
which had been analysed by a professional, and found to consist 
largely of silicate of ammonia. 
e party then started for Somersby, some walking and others 
going in the conveyances, headed by Mr. Conway Walter. On 
arriving at Somersby, the Rectory, the birthplace of Tennyson, was 
visited; also the adjoining house, the original of his ‘Moated 
Grange,’ and the church with very interesting cross. The party 
then spent the afternoon in rambling through the woods and_ by the 
Somersby Beck, in search of objects of interest. ‘They then walked 
to the White Hart Inn, at Tetford, where a substantial meat tea was 
provided. 
After this meal the Rev. Conway Walter read a paper on 
‘ Hybrids,’ which created great interest, exhibiting a case containing 
two stuffed specimens of a cross between Fox and Dog, bred by 
Mr. Stafford Walter, of Horncastle. This paper is given below in — 
extract. He also exhibited several fossils found in the neighbour- 
hood, and an ancient mall, or Roman iron hammer-head, dug up in 
Horncastle. The most interesting object shown by him was 4 
specimen of the ‘Resurrection flower’ (Azastatica hierochuntina) 
from Palestine, which had been in the possession of himself and his 
father more than 50 years; when handed round at the beginning of 
the repast it looked like a withered ball-shaped bud, on a dead stalk 
some two inches long. He then put it in a saucer of water, and by 
the time the tea was finished it had opened out into a beautiful 
flower, something like a small brown aster. This is a provision of 
nature in the desert, the flower closing after rain, to retain 1ts 
moisture, and not opening till rain falls again. ' 
The Vice-President, Mr. John Cordeaux, F.R.G-S., M.B.O.U- 
then gave an address on the finds of the day. He stated that, 
owing to the long spell of hot weather, wild flowers were prematurely 
‘over,’ and consequently those found were not so numerous 4 
would have been the case in an ordinary season. Amongst the . 
most interesting found were otentilla argentea, Filago minima, 
and Malva moschata, Among birds the least common which had 
been observed were the Wood Wren and the Turtle Dove, the last 
aturalist, 
