In the seclusion of Maltby Wood, rather more than a mile away from the 
■old village, the Maltby Main Colliery Co. have pierced the Permian strata and 
succeeded in reaching the Top Hard Bed or Barnsley Seam, of the Middle Coal 
Measures, which is now being brought to the surface and sent to the market. 
Railway enterprise has also linked up th'^ several villages of the neighbourhood 
with trunk lines, and these industrial developments, while increasing the 
population of Maltby, have tended to minimise the natural attracti )ns for which 
the locality is justly famous. The spoil heaps at the pit would probably yield 
coal fossils, and application has been made to the authorities for permission to 
examine them, 
ARCH>COLOGY.— The fine Cruciform Church at Rotherham has 
evidences of Norman work of the 12th Century. The Registers date back to 
1540. There is an excellent guide to this Church published locally. The ancient 
Chapel of St. Mary on the Bridge, said to have been built in 1483, is also worth 
inspection. In the Clifton Park Museum are Roman remains from Temple- 
borough. Of further interest is the ancient Cistercian Monastery of Roche 
Abbey, founded in 1147, which stands near the confluence of the streams from 
Maltby and Laughton. 
BOTANY. — The Botanical Section will be officially represented by its 
President, Mr. E. Snelgrove, B.A. 
Flowering Plants. — Mr. Snelgrove writes : — At this early date a long 
list of plants will serve no useful purpose. Generally speaking this is an 
exceedingly good district. The flora is rich and varied, and the following may 
be found in flower : — Gagea luiea, Ornithogalum umbellatiim, Daphne laureola, 
Helleborus viridis, Rihes alpinum. Ruscus aculeatus grows on Maltby Common. 
Erinus alpinus on the walls of Roche Abbey. 
Mosses and Hepatics.— Mr. Wm. Ingham, B.A., writes :— The 
following mosses grow at Roche Abbey. Tovtida pusilla, T. amhi^iua, Barbula 
rigidida. B. convolnta, Torttda intermedia, T. laevipila, Ditricthum fiexicaule, Weisia 
verticillata, Zygodon viridissimus, Ulota intermedia, Orthotnchiim affine, Encalypta 
vulgaris, Bryum pseudo-triquctrum, Mnium stellare, Brachythecium populeum, EurJiyn- 
chium tenellum, Hypnum riparium and H. Schreberi. At Maltby grow Tortula rigida, 
Trichostomun tortuosum, Bryum bimum, Anomodon viticulsus, Eurhynchium Swartzii, 
Hypnum chrysophyllum and Hylocomium triquetrum. 
Hepatics. — A.t Roche Abbey may be found Preissia qiiadrata,, Alicularia 
scalaris, Haplozia viparia, Loptozia Muelleri, L. Excisa, Plagiochila asplenioides, 
Scapania nemorosa, M adotheca platyphylla, Radida complanata, Lejeunea cavifolia and 
Fndlania dilatata. The above Mosses and Hepatics indicate others in association 
but the district has not been well worked to show its capabilities. 
Fungi. — The Yorkshire Mycological Committee will be officially repre- 
sented by Mr. W. N. Cheeseman, J. P., F.L.S., Selby, and Mr. M. Malone, 
Bradford. 
Mr. C. Crossland writes: — Little of anything beyond Micro-spscies will be 
found, but these are of much greater interest than larger kinds. Pyrenomycetes 
may be looked for on fallen branches, also on dead unfallen branches. January 
to April is the best time of the year for this class of fungi. Mycetozoa may also 
be looked for on rotting stumps, and fallen, rotting trunks and branches. A 
lengthy report of the Fungus Foray held in this district will be found in " The 
Naturalist " for 1905, pp. 337-340 and 367-370. The full list of Fungi found on 
that occasion may be consulted in the Transactions of the Y.N.U., Part 34. 
MICRO-ZOOLOGY and BOTANY.— This Section will be officially 
represented by Mr. H. Moore, F.R.M.S., who writes: — The following Rotifera 
and Infusoria have been taken from Laughton Pond, Roche Abbey, and the 
Ponds on Maltby Common during the last ten years. 
Rotifera. — Anuraea actdeata, A. cochlearis, Asplanchna priodonta, Brachionus 
j>ala, Copeus Ehrenbeyghii, Conochilus volvox, Dinocharis pocillum, Euchlanis triqiietra, 
Floscularia ornata, Hydatina senta, Melicerta ringens, M . tubicolaria, Limnias cerato- 
phylli, Notens quadricornis, Notholea acuminate, N. scapha, Notommata aurita, Notops 
■hyptopus, Oeciates crystalUnws, Philodina roseola, Proales parasita, Polyarthra 
piatyptera, Pterodina patina, Synchaeta pectinata, Stephanoceros Eichhornii. 
Infusoria (Flagellata). — Authophysa vegetans, Bods saltans, Englena viridis, 
Dinobryon sertularia, Peridinium tabidatum, Synura uvella, Uroglena volvox, Volvox 
globator. 
Infusoria (ciliata). — Carchesium polypinum, Halteria grandinelia, Nassula 
ornata, Vpercidaria nutans, Stentor polymorphus, Vaginicola crystallina, Vorticella 
nebulifera. 
