122 THE BREAKING OF THE SHROPSHIRE MERES. 
It will now be necessary to give a detailed account of the 
several meres and pools of Shropshire in which the breaking has 
been observed, specifying the particular species of algae giving rise 
to the phenomenon. It should be borne in mind, however, that 
there is needed a much more extensive and systematic course of 
observation than has hitherto been conducted in order to the com¬ 
plete investigation of the whole subject, and if the present small 
contribution to our knowledge of it will provoke co-operation on 
the part of those who possess the requisite time and ability, the 
object of the writer will be gained. 
Apley Pool, situated in the grounds of Apley Castle, the seat 
of Sir Thomas Meyrick, Bart., near Wellington, was observed to 
break, October 5th, 1881, by Messrs. Beckwith and Blunt, who 
kindly forwarded me a sample of the water ; it contained Osciliaria 
cerugescens, Brum. 
Berrington Upper Pool.— The village of Berrington is four 
miles south-east of Shrewsbury. The pool is a quarter of a mile 
north-west of the village, and is not quite five acres in extent. This, 
with the lower pool and the several bogs adjacent, must have been 
at no very distant period one large mere. It was first seen to 
break July 2nd, 1881, and continued in this state to September 
9th, the algae observed during the earlier part of the time being 
Anabcena HassalLii , Nord. and Witt., and the latter part Ccelospharium 
Kutzingianum, Nag. It occurred the following year, the same two 
algae being intermixed, on the 15th of September, but the time of its 
duration was not noted. 
Betton Pool.— This pool is three miles south-east of Shrews¬ 
bury, and about twenty acres in extent, the property of the Right 
Hon. Lord Berwick. On September 15th, 1882, learning from a 
friend it was breaking, I visited it, and found the water on the lee 
side very turbid, on the windward, less so, and collected a sample 
in which I found Aphanizomenon flos-aquce, Ralfs. 
Blake Mere is one mile south-east of the town of Ellesmere, 
the Shropshire Union Canal running near its southern shore at a 
considerably higher level, and has an area of twenty acres. 
Although, as already mentioned, this mere has the credit of not 
June, 1893. 
