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THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 
ORDINARY MEETING (THE 453rd MEETING). 
SATURDAY, 3.OTH OCTOBER 1915. 
The first meeting of the Winter Session was held at the Technical In¬ 
stitute as usual, Mr. S. Hazzledine Warren, F.G.S., President, in the chair. 
New Member. —Mr. W. H. Ault, 18, Alloa Road, Goodmayes, Essex, 
was elected a member. 
It was announced that Mrs. Corcoran, formerly a member, desired, in 
consequence of the lamented death of her husband, Mr. Bryan Corcoran, 
to resume her membership in his place. The meeting elected Mrs. 
Corcoran a member by a special resolution, and without the usual form of 
proposal. 
Colour Printing from Wooden-Blocks. —Miss Mary Champness 
exhibited examples of silk handkerchiefs on which a design in colour was 
printed from wooden-blocks. It was given to her mother by her grand¬ 
father, Charles Champness, having been printed by him at Littler’s Silk 
Mills, Stratford, some time between 1812 and 1835. Miss Champness 
remembered him telling how the printing was done from the blocks, en¬ 
tirely by hand. The water of the River Lea was then considered remark¬ 
ably pure, and well suited for colour work. 
Sound of Gun-fire. —Mr. Miller Christy gave viva voce some particulars, 
from his own experience and that of others, of the ease with which the 
sound of the guns of the fighting in Flanders could be heard in Essex. 
They were heard very distinctly at his house at Chignal St. James, and 
consequently the sound must have travelled at least J25 miles. 
Mr. Warren said that the sounds had been heard at Loughton, and 
that, at Frinton, on the coast, he had heard sounds of explosions. 
Observations were also made by Mr. Whitaker, Mr. Cole, Mr. Shenstone, 
and Mr. William Marriott, late secretary of the Royal Meteorological 
Society. 
Growth of Lichens. —Miss A. Lorrain Smith gave an exposition of the 
Structure and Growth of Lichens, which was illustrated by a long series of 
excellent lantern-slides. 
Notes on Birds. —Mr. F. J. Stubbs gave the substance of two 
brief papers detailing ornithological observations made by himself in the 
County—(1) “ Notes on certain Breeding Habits of the Snipe,” and (2) 
“ On a Blue Egg of the Lapwing ” (see ante , pp. 105-110). 
Cordial votes of thanks to the exhibitors were passed, and the meeting 
adjourned. 
ORDINARY MEETING (THE 455th MEETING). 
SATURDAY, 27TH NOVEMBER 1915. 
This was held in the Physical Lecture Theatre of the Technical Institute 
Stratford, at 3 o’clock p.m., Mr. Hazzledine Warren, F.G.S., President, in 
the chair. 
In the circular for the meeting, the Council announced that they had 
decided to hold the Stratford meetings at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, instead 
of 6 o’clock, during the ensuing winter months, as a measure of precaution 
against possible suspension of train service in the evening. The particular 
