Claeke and Eoebuck : Washburndale : 



11 



Galium saxatile, and the embankments of the reservoirs with those of 

 oxeye. But there is plenty of scope for the botanist nevertheless, 

 and by the river side there is diversity and abundance of floral wealth. 



So far the district is almost virgin ground for the naturalist, and 

 has hardly yet received attention, doubtless in consequence of its 

 secluded nature and the difficulty of access to its upper and middle, 

 or even to its lower portions. So complete has been the neglect that 

 the present article may be regarded as almost entirely based upon the 

 observations of not more than five individuals. Mr. Henry Brown, of 

 Otley, who was an enthusiastic collector of lepidoptera some twenty 

 years ago, extended his researches to Fewston and Dob Park Wood. 

 Later still, Lord Walsingham, so well known as a lepidopterist, and 

 the owner of extensive estates at Blubberhouses, made notes of the 

 lepidoptera which, in a single season, he and his collector, Mr. Eedle, 

 had observed in that vicinity. Beyond this, and with the exception 

 of our own and a few scattered observations, we are not aware of any 

 available information on the subject. 



It is much to be regretted that all our information dates subse- 

 quently to the construction of the reservoirs, for there can be no 

 doubt that these extensive sheets of water have materially altered the 

 climatology of the valley, and it would have been interesting to have 

 noted any change in the natural history resulting therefrom. The 

 inhabitants bitterly complain that the mean temperature of the valley 

 has been very considerably reduced ; and the very stability of the 

 ground has been affected, the village of Fewston having been ruined 

 by land-slips, said to be accelerated if not caused by the water of the 

 upper reservoirs. 



FLOEA. 



With regard to the flora we are in possession of no information 

 additional to that given at pp. 314 and 315 of " West Yorkshire," 

 where Mr. F. Arnold Lees gives a list of the rarer plants, and refers 

 to the abundance of the daffodils. 



FAUNA. 



The materials upon which the following lists are founded are the 

 observations of ourselves and the gentlemen to whom we have already 

 referred. They cannot, however, .be regarded as much more than 

 casual observations ; and no branch of the fauna can be said to have 

 been systematically investigated. 



3IAM3IALIA, 



No attention has been paid to the mammalia of the district, but 

 Clarke has noted the following species : — 



