South-Western Part of Somersetshire, . 381 



In many places, but particularly nearest the blue clay, the brown 

 matter had a strong smell resembling that of bilge water. 



§ 52. In order to ascertain whether the species of any of the 

 plants contained in the brown matter could be made out, I sent 

 specimens of it to my friend Mr. Brown of the Linnean Society, 

 whose eminent skill in botany is so well known, requesting him 

 to examine them. He informs me that the plant which was best 

 preserved was the only one upon which he could pronounce with 

 any degree of probability, the rest being too much decayed. It 

 resembles the common Sea Grasswrack^ but the leaves are so much 

 broader that he considers it more probably the Zostera Oceanica of 

 LinnsEus : it is worthy of remark, that Dr. Smith, in his Flora 

 Britannica, when speaking of this plant, says, " Zostera Oceanica 

 Linnsei, sui generis planta, nostras nunquam oias attigit." 



\ 53. There are several sorts of wood, but it is difficult to 

 say to what species they belong. I was accompanied in my exami- 

 naion of this forest by John Acland, Esq. of Fairfield, and some of 

 his friends, who seemed to agree very generally that some of the 

 trees were distinctly oak and yew. Of these, and particularly the 

 latter, the texture is still entire ; there are others which are soft 

 and easily cut by the spade, but even these when allowed to dry 

 become very tough and hard. The trunks seldom appear more 

 than a foot above the ground, and they seem as if the stem had 

 been broken off. Some of them however are smooth, as if sawed 

 across, which has probably been the case, for a great deal of 

 the timber has been carried away by the country people ; and I 

 was told by a farmer who had lived a gteat many years in the 

 neighbourhood, that he recollects when there were stems standing 

 erect above the height of a man, with lateral branches extending 

 from them. This farmer some years ago ploughed up a part of 



