THE BREAKING OF THE SHROPSHIRE MERES. 
125 
Newton Mere. —Following the high road from Ellesmere 
to the village of Welshampton, barely half a mile beyond Kettle 
Mere, we arrive at Newton Mere, which is, perhaps, more 
subject to breaking than any other body of water in the 
county. It is twenty-one acres in extent. On August 25th, 
1881, Nodularia Harvey ana, Thur., caused the breaking. The 
following year, February 22nd, Mr. Salusbury Mainwaring, on 
whose property this and two other meres are situated, and who 
has rendered much kind help by sending samples of the water, 
wrote as follows :—“ The breaking has nearly disappeared, and has 
not been so bad as it usually is in the summer. My gardener 
thinks that it is owing to the mildness of the season, and that it 
will occur again as usual in the autumn.” On this occasion there 
were two alg83 intermixed, viz., Anabcena Hassallii, Nord. and Witt., 
and Ccelosphcerium Kutzingianum , Nag. Mr. Beckwith saw it in the 
following April, and found it still breaking. On visiting it again in 
August, he wrote :—“ Newton Mere is now becoming clear, but has 
been breaking all the summer.” 
White Mere. —Third in order of size, being rather more than 
sixty-four acres in extent, this mere lies about a mile from Elles¬ 
mere on the Shrewsbury road. It is very much affected with the 
breaking in July and August, Anabana Hassallii being the cause. 
Before disappearing, the dirty green scum is so dense that on 
inserting a stick in the water it becomes covered with the alga, 
which is most offensive. 
Descriptions of the Alg;e and Figures on Plates IV. and V. 
The descriptions of the algae causing the breaking of the Shrop¬ 
shire meres are taken from Dr. Cooke’s “British Freshwater 
Algae,” except that I place Rivularia echinata (English Botany) in 
the genus Glceotrichia, for the reasons given under that species. 
Clathroeystis aeruginosa, Henf., Mic. Journ., 1856, p. 59, t. 4, f. 28-36. 
Fronds floating in vast strata on freshwater pools, forming a bright green 
scum, presenting to the naked eye a finely granular appearance 
when dried appearing like a crust of verdigris; cells minute. 
Size.—Fronds, *03—-13 mm.; cells, '0025—‘0035 mm. 
Rabh. Alg. Eur.,ii., 54 ; Kirch. Alg. Schles, 254. 
Microcystis ceruginosci, Kutz., Tab. 1, t. 8. 
Polycystis ceruginosa, Kutz. Spec., 210. 
On freshwater lakes. 
June, 1893. 
