178 
NATURE NOTES. 
parishioners of Wallon-in-Gordano are blessed with a common, rising in the- 
niiddle to a breezy hill, the whole covering some sixty-five acres. At one time 
the common was of wider extent, but the local lords of the manor, by means of 
the old game of encroachment, have brought it to its present limits. The subject 
of the recent trial was a determined attempt to annex the remainder, hill and all. 
but we are glad to say that by the aid of the Bristol and District Footpaths Pre- 
servation Society the parishioners have been able to vindicate their rights. A 
feature of the case was the revelation of the methods adopted by the encroachers. 
They set up a wire fence with a diabolical invention described as a “ fish-hook 
barb in the middle of the common, and planted the land with thorns. This was 
annexation with a vengeance, and the jury marked their sense of it by ordering the 
defendants to remove both fence and thorns . — Daily Chronicle, August i6. 
The London Ivory Sales. — There is an interesting article in the Leisure 
Hour on “A London Ivory Sale,” which is crammed full of facts which it must 
have taken a great deal of trouble to collect. In order to replenish the ivory mar- 
ket of England 15,000 elephants have to be killed every year. The annual 
slaughter of elephants amounts to 75,000. As the elephant does not begin to 
breed until it is thirty years old, and the average is one youngster every ten years 
until he is ninety, the extinction of the elephant is within measurable distance. 
The total cash value of the 200,000 elephants in the Congo Basin is only half a 
million sterling, each elephant being supposed to have 50 lb. weight of ivory in 
his jaws. Some tusks weigh as much as 200 lb., but that is very rare. The tusks 
for billiard balls fetch the highest prices, as much as ;^l 10 a cwt. being paid for them. 
Ivory dust and ivory shavings are used by confectioners as stiffeners for jellies. 
Out of every cwt. of ivory, 15 lb. remains as scrapings, which are burned into ivory 
black, worth from ;^l6 to £20 per ton. Hippopotamus ivory is harder than that of 
the elephant. The outer coat is so hard that it resists steel and strikes fire . — Revieio 
of Revie-iUS, July 15. 
How our Ferns are Exterminated. — ^Yhen visiting lately a beautiful 
village in the heart of the Scotch Highlands I was sorry to observe a placard 
posted in a prominent position, stating that the local church was in debt, and that 
it was proposed to lessen this by digging up and selling the choice ferns of the 
neighbourhood. I myself saw offered for sale on a table in front of the principal 
inn, tufts of holl)' fern {Polysticluim Lonchitis), which is now getting extremely 
rare in this country, and also parsley fern, black and green spleenwort, bladder 
fern, and several others. One is almost provoked to say that it would be prefer- 
able not to go to church at all, than to one which is subsidised in this manner. 
E. G. B. 
Children's Country Holidays. — We have received 15s. in answer to our 
appeal on p. 123, from H. G. P., to whom we return thanks on behalf of the 
child thereby made happy. We trust Mr. Cyril Jackson has received many such 
sums through the agency of Nature Notes. 
Pinner Juvenile Branch of the Selborne Society. — This Branch 
has been started for the sake of promoting a love of natural history among 
children, and of widening their knowledge and interest in all natural objects. 
Twelve ladies have kindly promised to lend their houses as centres for monthly 
meetings throughout the year, when fresh information will be given, partly 'by 
addresses on different subjects, partly by discussion and enquiry. The annual 
subscription of 2s. constitutes a family membership, and no other expenses will 
be incurred. Although all members of families will be welcomed at the meetings, 
it is specially hoped that children will join in large numbers. The Rev. C. E. 
Grenside, vicar of Pinner, is the President of the Society, the Hon. Sec. being 
Mr. Louis Davis, of the Cocoa Tree, Pinner. 
The Hilly Fields. — It appears that only about ;,^i,ooo is now needed to 
preserve this open space, the importance of which w.as set forth at some length 
in these pages (Nature Notes, 1S92, pp. 50, 97). The Lewisham District Board 
of \\ orks still perseveres in its discreditable refusal to co-operate with the London 
County Council in purchasing the Fields. It is to be hoped that local public, 
opinion will be brought to bear upon a body which spends public funds upon the 
eating and drinking of its members, but declines to contribute towards so important 
a plan for the public good. 
