A FIELD CLUB RAMBLE 
2 I I 
berries, formed a considerable portion of the hedges on both 
sides. The roses were brilliant with their scarlet hips. On the 
leaves were seen numerous pea-like insect-galls, the work of 
Rhodites eglanteriee, which in some cases had been formed on the 
very edge of the green part of the leaf. The beautiful bedeguar 
gall of the rose (. Rhodites vosce) was also frequently found, and in 
some of these the filaments were branched, and bore a resemblance 
to the sepals of the dog-rose. The gaudy berries of the lords-and- 
ladies ( Arum maculatum) were now and again seen peeping from 
beneath the hedge-rows, whilst the hedges were covered by 
Wild Clematis, in that stage jn its life which is known by the 
appropriate title of “old man’s beard.” On the Heath were 
found numerous lengthy stems of Dyer’s Rocket, full of seed, 
whilst here and there the presence of the Harebell betokened 
the hurrying-on of the seasons. Crossing the Epsom Downs 
railway near the golf-links, a path was taken across the fields to 
Banstead village. One of these, a neglected potato-field, yielded 
two specimens of a white knapweed of the greater kind. Whilst 
tea was being prepared at the coffee tavern, some members 
visited an interesting gully-shaped path which led due north 
out of the village. Two summers ago this was really a lovely 
footpath. Its beauty has unfortunately been quite marred by 
the deposition at its commencement of all the broken pots and 
pans of the neighbourhood, and this in spite of a warning, 
deterrent notice exhibited by the District Council. After the 
party had partaken of tea, the route was resumed, in the bright 
moonlit evening, to Chipstead station, which gave an oppor- 
tunity to those astronomically inclined to study the firmament 
of heaven, and to discuss the display of the Northern Lights of 
Friday, September 9. The 7.39 train was taken to Purley, 
Croydon, or London. The meeting was a representative one. 
The ramblers present included members from Yorkshire, Wool- 
wich, Hackney, Norwood, Croydon, Barnes, Clapton, and 
Thornton Heath. From a geological point of view, it may be 
added that when starting from Cheam the road beneath the 
railway was cut deeply into the chalk, which, however, was 
capped by beds of the Reading series. The sands of these 
beds were seen in the route to the Heath, the road being covered 
by dry loose sand which made the walking somewhat fatiguing. 
At Epsom Waterworks a well, made in 1889, was bored through 
nineteen and a half feet of the Reading beds, and thirty-one feet 
of Thanet sand. These Tertiaries appear in patches at various 
places on the North Downs, and are probably present on Ban- 
stead Heath. 
Thornton Heath. Edward A. Martin. 
