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between Seabrook and Hythe was not thought of) ; the slopes of 

 Shorn cliffc Camp were not cut about as they now are ; the Upper 

 and Lower Bandgate Roads and the chff walk were not made as 

 they now are ; the Warren of 1873 was very, very unlike the 

 Warren of to-day — in short, changes have been very numerous in 

 all directions. The neighbourhood is, of course, called a growing 

 and improving one, but it makes all the differeuce who is judge in 

 such a matter. Trim, beautifully-kept roadsides and walks are 

 right enough, no doubt, but they are a sore trial to the man who 

 takes his walk, not to study asphalte, but to learn what wild nature 

 has to say to him of Divine wisdom and power. The pleasure to 

 be had by the man who simply goes for a walk is as nothing by 

 the side of the delight which a student of nature finds in trying 

 to read the story book, as he sits, so to speak, upon the knee of 

 "Nature, the old nurse." It may be that some of you mean to 

 take more notice than you have dona of things that grow about 

 here, and mean to study them more, that you may be able to add 

 to the interest of the meetings of the Folkestone Natural History 

 Society. Let no one think that botany is a dry, unbearable sort of 

 thing — that it is a thing not to be enjoyed until the hedge of long, 

 ugly words and definitions has been broken down. It is a study 

 that should be practical from the very first, no branch of it being 

 attempted unless one hand holds the specimen and the pocket 

 magnifier, while the other holds the book. But these general re- 

 marks must be sufficient, as you will be wanting to hear other 

 things. The late Mr. H. C. Watson, the author of " Topographical 

 Botany " gives us a map of Britain, divided into 18 provinces, 38 

 sub-provinces, and 112 counties and vice counties. Province [II. 

 is the Thames province, of which the sub-provinces are the South 

 Thames, the North Thames, and the West Thames. The vice- 

 counties in the first of these three are East Kent, West Kent, and 

 Surrey. Our concern is, of course, with only a part of East Kent. 

 " Topographical Botany " is a very useful book of reference, as it 

 gives the number of each vice-county in which any species has been 

 reported to grow ; vice-county No. 15, for instance, is East Kent. 

 It is easy to see that in any attempt to put together a list of the 

 plants growing round Folkestone or found in this neighbourhood, 

 some lines must be drawn somewhere, else the word " local " does 

 not apply. How far afield may a botanist or an entomologist 

 travel without getting too far from his starting point ? Now, as 

 the sea on the south says " Thus far shalt thou come " it 

 seems only fair to deal literally with the rambler when he goes 

 forth eastward, westward, or northward. If he should ask you to 

 let Barham be the limit on the north, Dover on the east, and 

 Westenhanger, or a place called Gibbons' Brook, on the west, what 

 will you say ? And will you throw in the sea coast westward as 



