widely separated sources ; gneisses, Crystalline schists, granites, and the peculiar 
igneous rocks of Norway being found side by side with local chalk, Oolites and 
Lias. The whin sill and carboniferous series of Teesdale are also well represented, 
and a few types from the Cumberland Hills and the Eden Valley have been 
recognized. Fossils derived from the secondary rocks are also common in the 
clays in the neighbourhood of Aldborough and Hornsea. 
BOTANY.— The Botanical Section will be officially represented by Mr. 
J. F. Robinson. 
Flowering Plants. — Mr. Robinson writes : — Hornsea with its Boulder Clay 
Cliffs and well-known Mere, perhaps the largest lake in Yorkshire — certainly the 
largest in the East Riding — has been fairly well investigated in the past, at least 
so far as the flowering plants, ferns, horsetails, mosses, etc., are concerned, and 
full accounts of these will be found in "The Flora of the E.R. Yorkshire," and in 
Fretwell's "Guide to Hornsea." Since the publication of the former we have not 
learned that anything of importance has been added to what we already know of 
the higher plants, and this makes it all the more needful that still closer investiga- 
tion should be made. Some not very common plants still linger in the waters of 
the mere, along its marshy shores, and on the adjacent terraces. One needs to 
mention only those that may be flowering at this time of the year : — Tkalictrum 
Jlavum, var. ; many of the Batrachian ranunculi, including heterophyllus, trico- 
phyllus and circinatus, but, first of all, the greater spearwort. Ranunculus lingua ; 
Stellaria palustris ; Ceratophyllttm deme7stim, JMenyanthes trifoliaia (buck bean), 
in fine beds near the water's edge; Hoiionia palustris, Orchis incainata, 0. ustulata, 
Pota?nogetons (very well represented and including P. densus, P. luscens, P. per- 
foliaius, etc.) All our British duckweeds {Lefnna) grow in the mere, the minute 
flowers of each species are urgent desiderata. The lesser bulrush, Typha an^usti- 
folia, grows with the greater bulrush and the large clubrush, where the great 
spearwort may be seen. Many sedges luxuriate here, or were said to, formerly, and 
Car ex strict a and C. filiformis should, if possible, be found. In the old Botanist's 
Guide, 1705, a remarkable form of moonwort ( Botrychium lunaria) is said to grow 
near the ' lake at Hornsea.' Moonwort and adder's tongue are still to be found, 
the former on most old gravelly mounds in Holderness, but the remarkable form, 
variety or subspecies, has not recently been observed. Let it be sought for. 
Mosses and Hepatics. — A few only, so far, have been noted. See Appendix 
to " Flora E.R. Yorks. 
Lichens. — Three or four of the commonest lichens are plentifuL enough on tree 
trunks and old, damp earthen fences, but there is room here for fuller observation. 
Algae. — Of the Algge, those of the sea will only appear as rejecimenta of the 
waves, there being no sea-side rocky pools ; but interesting tnings are often cast 
up. Of the freshwater algae no richer ground (or rather, water) can be found in 
Yorkshire. Consult Messrs. West's "Alga Flora of Yorkshire," where very many 
references are made to Hornsea, and we believe still more could be added. With 
a geological bearing it may be noted that the 'hard ' water of the mere has much 
of its carbonate of lime crystallised on the plants belonging to Characecc, of which 
several species abound, and subsequently forms the lacustrine marks so often to be 
seen in old, dried up mere beds as exposed in the sea-side boulder clay cliffs as at 
Atwick gap and several other places in the district. The East Yorkshire marls, we 
believe, owe their calcareous components to these plants (Charas or stoneworts) 
more than to the shells of freshwater molluscs. 
Diatoms. — Mr. H. R. Philip writes : — The Diatoms of Hornsea Mere are very 
interesting. The large and conspicuous forms, Pinmdaria nobilis and rnajor, 
Stranioneis graciiis, Campylodiscus Hibernictcs, Surirella robusta and Cymatopleura 
elliptica should be found in abundance. A small and pretty species Navicula 
scutelloides, curiously resembling in shape and markings the shield on which the 
figure of Britannia on the penny is seated, is almost peculiar to the mere, being 
recorded for no other locality in Yorkshn-e. With luck two rarities might be met 
with, Cyclotella astrcea and Melosira grannlata, both recorded by Norman as found 
in the Hornsea peat deposit. I have found them very rare in living condition in 
the Mere. 
