344 
[June, 
Epping Fovest 
between a gentleman who signs himself “ Lepidopterist ” 
and the Superintendent employed by the Conservators. The 
reply of the latter, who sneers at “ sentimental ” considera- 
tions, is not very reassuring. He informs the public that 
the Conservators are aCting under the advice of one of the 
most experienced foresters in the United Kingdom. But 
what is a forester ? Simply a person who understands the 
culture of trees so as to obtain from a given area of land 
the greatest amount of saleable timber. Such a man will, 
of course, be able to give valuable advice as to the manage- 
ment of a park. But it is no part of his studies, no part of 
his duties, to preserve woodlands in a state of Nature. The 
brushwood, the climbers, and the herbaceous plants he re- 
gards simply as weeds which interfere with the growth of 
his trees. Now, if the Forest is to be kept in its natural 
condition, I scarcely see that the advice of such a man can 
be very much needed. The Conservators ought to consult 
an experienced botanist, well acquainted with the life-condi- 
tions of the British flora, and able to point out the circurn- 
stances favourable to the growth of all such plants as could 
find in the Forest suitable localities. 
The Epping Forest and Essex Naturalists’ Field Club, 
who are well aware of what is going on around them, have 
taken the alarm, and have issued a very able circular point- 
ing out the mischief which must arise if the park scheme is 
carried out. They show that the woodland pools which are 
being drained were important nurseries of many species of 
inserts and of microscopic animalcules. If the soil is laid 
dry a considerable number of vegetable species which haunt 
swampy ground must perish. If the brushwood and the 
herbaceous plants disappear a profusion of inserts must go, 
and with them the insectivorous birds. Hence the Forest 
will cease to afford, as heretofore, opportunities for the quiet 
study of bird- and inseCt-life. Scarcely any better arrange- 
ment could be devised to secure a rich flora and fauna than 
what exists ready made to our hands, and which merely 
wants — letting alone ! 
I am happy to say that the Council of the Entomological 
Society have added their signatures to the Memorial drawn 
up by the Essex Field Club, and I hope that other societies 
interested in the study of Natural History in its various 
branches will see the wisdom of doing the same. The 
Superintendent may, if he think proper, call all this mere 
“ sentiment.” But is not the preservation of the Forest 
altogether a matter of sentiment ? It is not a commercial 
speculation, seeking to extract the greatest amount of profit 
