412 
POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
BURNHAM BEECHES.* 
A NOTHER volume from the pen of Mr. Heath, the writer of several 
hooks on trees and ferns, which have been at different times noticed in 
our pages, has lately reached us, of which at least it may he said that “ it is 
only a very little one,” although we fear it can hardly hope for a much longer 
ife than the unfortunate infant for whose appearance in the world the same 
excuse was made. It is indeed far from being one of the author’s happiest 
efforts, and though we are assured that it has been written con amore, it 
seems to lack the freshness of his earlier works. Mr. Heath had, however, 
some claim to be heard on the subject, as it was through his representations 
to the Corporation of the City of London, that “ the Beeches ” were preserved 
from the inroads of suburban villa builders, and have now become for all 
time the property of the inhabitants of London. In the “ Keepsake ” of 
1829, Henry Luttrell wrote of Burnham Beeches — 
“ 0 ne’er may woodman’s axe resound, 
Nor tempest making breaches, 
In the sweet shade that cools the ground 
Beneath our Burnham Beeches ! ” 
to which Mr. Heath appends a note : — “ 0 prophetic soul ! a nineteenth-cen- 
tury population has re-echoed your wish, and a nineteenth-century Corporation 
of London has struck the woodman's axe from the woodman’s hands. May 
the ‘ tempest ’ be equally merciful ! ” This is all very well, but we would 
venture to suggest that this verse contains no prophecy ; and it is sincerely 
to be trusted not only that this charming spot will be spared by the tempest, 
but that it will also escape that utter desecration at the hands of a rabble of 
holiday-makers to which unfortunately some other recreation grounds for 
London are regularly subjected. Half the charm of rural and especially of 
sylvan scenery arises from the sense of comparative quietude and seclusion ; 
and if swings, roundabouts, and donkey drivers once gain a footing in the 
Burnham Paradise, most of us will be inclined to echo the closing words of 
the “poet” just quoted, and say 
“ Farewell to Burnham Beeches ! ” 
Mr. Heath’s little volume is very prettily illustrated, chiefly with wood- 
cuts from his namesake’s beautiful photographic views. He also gives an 
outline map of the locality. 
* “ Burnham Beeches.” By Francis George Heath. 8vo. London : Samp- 
son Low, Marston & Co., 1879. 
