52 Peacock : Lincolnshire Naturalists at Horncastlc. 



then to be seen. A large consignment had just been sent to town. 

 The party then turned back to the park, woods, and lakes of 

 Stourton Hall, where they worked as long as the rain kept off. 

 The Red Lion Inn at Baumber proved a welcome refuge during 

 a very heavy shower. At Edlington Grange on the way home, 

 the Rev. J. Conway Walter pointed out the site where till 

 recently a large boulder stood. It was 10 feet high, 4 feet wide, 

 and 3 feet thick, and consisted of Neocomian limestone. Its 

 weight was estimated at 10 tons. Two years ago it was 

 destroyed as being a nuisance in ploughing. 



The geology of this district is not of a very interesting type. 

 The Kimeridge clay is almost wholly buried by boulder clay, 

 which, at Thimbleby and Langton, is again overlaid by plateau 

 gravel and sand. Along the river Bain, which flows through 

 Horncastle, patches of ancient gravel of the old river are to 

 be found at a higher level than the modern river gravel and 

 alluvium. 



The flora was the usual boulder clay species, if anything 

 rather poorer than usual. I make the following selection from 

 notes taken by Mr. J. S. Sneath and myself: — Silene cucubalus 

 (on gravel patches), Trifolium medium, Geum intermedium, 

 Viburnum Opulus, Cnicus acaulis, Linaria minor (here a native, 

 with us it is generally an alien), Galeopsis Tetrahit, Polygonum 

 amphibium, Avena pubescens, Ophioglossum vulgatum, Viola 

 ericetorum (in Hungram Gorse ; not quite typical). A Mentha, 

 from the same spot, not in flower, I could make nothing 

 of. I sent it to Mr. F. A. Lees, who replied : — ' The Mentha 

 is also new to me. If an arvensis form it is most likely 

 the lost pratensis Sole. It has a saliva smell, not arvensis, 

 however. It may be a very good find indeed.' It has been 

 sought for again in vain by Revs. J. Conway Walter and J. A. 

 Penny. 



Mosses were difficult to find. At Thimbleby I took Pleuropus 

 sericeus, at Hungram Gorse Hypnum purum, at Hatton Brick- 

 yard Hypnum cuspidatwn, and at Stourton Wood Poly trie hum 

 formosum and Orthotrichum affine.. A poor lot for such a wide 

 sweep. 



The Rev. A. Thornley, F.L.S., F.E.S., reports: — The day 

 was too cool and cloudy and gave us a wet afternoon. In 

 Hungram Gorse a nice bug, Piezodorus lituratus, was beaten 

 from broom, with a few very common beetles. From birch 

 another bug, Acanthosoma inter stinc turn, was obtained. At the 

 Hatton Brick Pit, that pretty little dragon-fly, Ischnura elegans, 



Naturalist, 



