210 
NATURE NOTES 
of great saltmarshes which have been entirely removed. Such 
a marsh (in 1700) extended between Wharton Scar and Hest 
Bank. No signs of this now exist. Near Aldingham several 
villages have been entirely swept away. For generations the 
Leven flowed past Bardsey, and in 1807 a great expanse of 
sandy marsh was reclaimed (on the opposite shore) and two 
farms built, the land providing thirty-eight fields, being pro- 
tected from the sea by dykes. In 1828 the river rapidly crossed 
the estuary and removed the whole of West Plain. It then went 
away again. 
When the railway was built 20,000 acres were reclaimed. 
For many miles the line is carried on great stone dykes which 
divide the sea from the reclaimed land. Before the railway 
came the only communication between the south was by the 
“ Ten Mile Sands ” to Lancaster. The crossing was frequently 
attended by loss of life. A Roman army under Agricola crossed 
in 79 A. D. Quicksands have claimed many victims, but they can 
always be recognized by their smooth shiny appearance and 
absence of ripple-marks. Heavy vehicles, coaches and motor 
cars have been caught and sometimes lost. Accidents with the 
tide up have been rare. In 1894 the “Matchless” yacht 
foundered and about twenty-eight lives were lost Ten years 
after to a week there occurred the Sandside Ferry disaster. 
A few years ago a south-westerly gale broke through the dyke 
near Arnside and the land for a mile inland was totally wrecked. 
Shortly afterwards the mail train was overturned by the force 
of the wind on the Leven Viaduct, but fortunately fell on to the 
other rail. Every evergreen tree turned brown and the salt 
spray was carried far inland. It is some months since the 
last gale. 
Grange-over-Sands. R. C. Lowther. 
SELBORNIANA. 
Gilbert White and Sussex. — We have much pleasure 
in directing the attention of our members to an elaborate paper 
with this title, by Major W. H. Mullens, M.A , LL.M., illus- 
trated with nine plates, which appears in the volume of The 
South-Eastern Naturalist for tliis year. It was read at the Con- 
gress of the South-Eastern Union at Hastings, on June ii, and 
in its wealth of information, hitherto unpublished, is to any 
lover of the naturalist of Selborne well worth the price (2s. fid.) 
of the whole volume. It is published by Mr. Elliot Stock. 
The Brent Valley Bird Sanctuary. — The Committee of 
the Brent Valley Bird Sanctuary are now making arrangements 
for putting up a large number of nesting-boxes, as those which 
have already been in use have been most successful. Members 
are invited to send boxes to the Honorary Secretary of the 
Branch, Mrs. Wilfred Mark Webb, at Odstock, Hanwell. If 
it is preferred, a shilling may be sent, which will insure the 
