by the Rev. J. O. Bevan; another on "Grayling in the River Monnow," by the Rev. Morgan G. Watkins; and a third on "The correlated variation of the larva of Arctia Caia," by Dr. Chapman, of Burghill, but want of time unfortunately precluded their being read. It is, however, hoped that they will all appear in the Transactions of the Club.

At the luncheon your President introduced the subject of a united meeting of the Cardiff and Woolhope Naturalists' Field Clubs, which was reciprocated by the members of the Cardiff Club; and it was arranged that as the Woolhope Club contemplated visiting Caerleon-upon-Usk, that interesting antiquarian locality would be a fitting spot for such united gathering, and would tend to cement the two Societies, and stimulate the students of natural history and archæology in their respective pursuits.

The third Field Meeting was held on the 26th of July, at Church Stretton, and was intended for the re-union known as the "Ladies' Day," when upwards of 100 ladies and gentlemen left Hereford by the 9.20 train, arriving at Church Stretton at 10.47. Here the party were met by Mr. E. S. Cobbold, Honorary Secretary of the Caradoc and Severn Valley Field Club, who had kindly consented to act as Director for the day, and whose exertions to render the meeting a success cannot be too highly praised. The first object of visit was the Parish Church, which presents features of various dates from the Norman period, and consists of a nave and chancel with a tower surmounted by a spire rising from the centre. Thence the party walked through the little town of Church Stretton to Brockhurst Castle (distant about a mile and a half), where a paper was to have been read on this Anglo-Saxon edifice (of which now nothing remains except a mound recording the site), by Mr. William Phillips, of Shrewsbury. Mr. Phillips was unfortunately unable to attend, but Mr. Cobbold gave a very lucid description and history of the Castle to such of the party as were sufficiently courageous to ascend to the summit of the hill.

From this spot the excursionists wended their way towards the Longmynd, and, continuing their course up the Ashes Valley, eventually gained the moorland on the summit, where it was arranged to bivouac. There being no formal lunch provided by the Club, the tourists had to make their own arrangements for refreshments, and they presented a very amusing spectacle as they camped in a circle upon the hill-top. After lunch, several members walked to the Pole-about half-a-mile distant-the highest point of the Longmynd, adjudged under the recent Ordnance Survey to be 1,696 feet. Several papers had been promised, which were to be read after lunch, as well as the business of the Club transacted, but time was only allowed for the latter. The papers were as follows::"Scientific Reflections on the neighbourhood of Church Stretton," by the President; 'Brockhurst, the site of a Saxon Castle," by Mr. William Phillips; "On Sponges" by the Rev. J. E. Vize; "Three New Bramble Forms," by the Rev. Augustin Ley; and "Additions to the Flora of Herefordshire," since the publication of the volume in 1889 by the Rev. Augustin Ley. These papers will all appear in due course among the Transactions of the Club. Leaving the summit of the Longmynd, the party continued their course over the moorland to the

Light Spout Waterfall, where a photograph was taken by Mr. Ernest Davies, architect, Hereford, and thence continuing down the path through this picturesque brook glen, by the Carding Mill, reached Church Stretton in time for the evening trains. The neighbourhood of Church Stretton cannot be too highly praised, as may be evidenced by the circumstance that this was the sixth meeting of the Club in that locality. The succession of hill and dale, the geological, botanical, and archæological associations, will amply repay repeated visits to a spot so highly favoured by Nature and connected with the history of mankind.

The Fourth Field Meeting was arranged for the 28th of August, to visit Usk and Caerleon in Monmouthshire. Upwards of 50 members and visitors left Hereford by the 9.15 train, and arrived at Usk about half-past eleven. Here they were met by the Rector of Usk, who accompanied them to the Church, where a very interesting and lucid description of the edifice (written by Mr. Stephen Williams) was read by the Honorary Secretary of the Woolhope Club, after which Mr. F. Kempson, at the request of the President, kindly added some remarks on the details of the Church, which were well appreciated, and provoked considerable discussion upon some of the more prominent features and characteristics. From the Church the party proceeded to the Castle, where a short paper was read by the President, upon the Roman Station of Burrium, which was in or near the town of Usk, as well as of the history of the Castle, which was intimately connected with royalty during the dynasty of the Houses of Plantagenet, Lancaster, York, and Tudor. As this paper will appear in the Transactions, further notice here would prove tedious. Since the meeting your President has received a communication from Mr. F. J. Mitchell, of Llanfrechfa Grange, that in digging the foundations for a New Court House near the Usk Prison, a large quantity of pottery and other Roman remains were found, and afterwards collected together by Mr. A. B. Berrington, of Pant-y-Goitre. They will be deposited in the Museum at Caerleon, for which there will be provided a special compartment.

Retracing their steps to the Railway Station, the party proceeded to the ancient town of Caerleon-upon-Usk, an early British, as well as a Roman Station, and the chief city in the province of Britannia Secunda. At Caerleon Railway Station they were met by Mr. Mitchell, who conducted the party round the walls of this ancient city, and pointed out step by step the leading features, more particularly the Roman brickwork, and the supposed site of the Roman bridge over the River Usk. The party then proceeded to an elevation, or rather a small hill, known as "The Tump," respecting which there was much speculation and discussion as to its origin and purpose. Here they were met by the members of the Cardiff Naturalists' Society, under their President, Mr. Edwin Seward, F.R.I.B.A., including a large number of ladies, thus forming, as it were, an united meeting of the two Clubs, and which, it is hoped, will be followed by similar re-unions.

Upon "The Tump," which is situated in the grounds of Mr. Alfred Williams, who kindly opened them to the visitors, two papers were read-one on "The Wolf in Britain," by Mr. Thos. Hutchinson, and another entitled "Caerleon and Caerwent," by the President; from this spot the tourists proceeded to the

Museum, which is an appropriate building, and contains a large quantity of Roman remains found at Caerleon and the immediate neighbourhood, and which will well repay a visit. Many thanks were due to Mr. Mitchell for his devotion to the members, which added much to the enjoyment of the walk over this Roman soil, and to Mr. Williams for allowing so large a party to visit his beautiful grounds, which contain the curious antiquarian remains known as "The Tump "-and also to the respected Rector of Caerleon, who invited to tea as many of the party as were able to avail themselves of his kind offer of hospitality.

At the General Meeting of the Club on the 12th April, 1894, it was resolved that one of the excursions should be a visit to Cwm Elan, near Rhayader, to inspect the works in progress in connection with the Birmingham Water Scheme. It, however, transpired that the train service of the Midland Railway would not admit of a return journey during the day, and the excursion to Cardiff, which was one of those that were suggested at the meeting, was substituted by the Central Committee. As several members expressed a desire to visit Cwm Elan, while the valley existed in its natural state, and previously to the inundation of this romantic glen by the huge reservoirs for the supply of water to the large population of Birmingham, a special limited Field Meeting was arranged. The members were met by Mr. Stephen Williams, of Rhayader, the architect and local engineer, who accompanied them, and very kindly afforded every information respecting this gigantic water scheme for the supply of the inhabitants of one of the largest and most populous cities in the kingdom. Your President was unable, through other engagements, to join the party; but your Hon. Sccretary has furnished a detailed statement of the Rhayader Excursion, which will prove interesting to those who were not present, and shall be given in his own words. He writes as follows:-On Monday afternoon, August 20th, a small party met at Rhayader. Early next morning, in a conveyance under the guidance of Stephen Williams, Esq., F.S A., and after a drive of about four miles, they reached the place where the village for the accommodation of all workmen connected with the Birmingham Water Supply, from the rivers Elan and Claerwen, has been recently built, and was being extended to accommodate 1,500 men. The system of water supply, hospitals, provision for the comfort of the little colony by means of a canteen, reading room, and chapel have been most admirably carried out. From the village the party walked up the valley to the proposed site of the first dam at Caban Coch, called The Caban Dam, across the river Elan, over which the daily compensation of twenty-seven million gallons of water will be poured into the river Wye.

Mr. G. N. Yourdi, the resident engineer of the works, here pointed out how the dam would be wedged below the bed of the river to a depth of from twenty to thirty feet into the solid rock, and wedged also into solid rock on each side of the valley, forming a mass of masonry, when completed, one hundred and twenty feet high, and at the top about two hundred yards in length, enclosing a reservoir capable of containing seven hundred million gallons.

The party ascended the steep incline on the left of the valley, and on arriving at the Stone-dressing Yard, were interested in finding several large

boulders with distinct striation observable, the effect of glacial action. Walking about a mile beyond the Caban Dam, the river Claerwen was crossed by a frail and quivering wire-swing footbridge, after which the house "Nantgwilt" was reached. This was formerly the residence of the Poet Shelley, and recently that of Mr. Lewis Lloyd.

After a short rest here for luncheon the return route was directed across the river Elan by a substantial stone bridge, a short distance from the place where it unites with the Claerwen. The wooden huts of the offices of the department were passed, and the walk was extended to the proposed site of the submerged dam in the Caban Reservoir, a few yards above which the culvert for twenty-seven million gallons of water per day, for the supply of Birmingham, will take its origin-seven hundred and eighty feet above the Ordnance Datum. The submerged dam is about one mile distant from Nantgwilt. A walk of about half a mile further brought the party to Cwm Elan. Both these residences will be submerged in the Caban Coch Reservoir, as also a Baptist Chapel, the small Church of Nantgwilt, and a few small farms and homesteads.

From Cwm Elan the party retraced their steps for the return journey, and, their carriages having met them punctually at the proposed rendezvous, returned to Rhayader, where they arrived at five p.m. and were hospitably and agreeably entertained by Mr. Stephen Williams.

The Watershed is about 12 miles long from north to south, and 7 miles from west to east. The mean annual rainfall at Nantgwilt is 68 inches.

A practical remark may be added to Mr. Moore's very interesting account of the Rhayader excursion. When the Birmingham water scheme was contemplated it was feared that the supply of water to the city of Hereford would be endangered; but a very slight calculation will evince how unnecessary was the alarm. Taking the length of the river Wye, from Chepstow to the mouth of the Elan, at 150 miles, and allowing an average width of 50 yards, with the recognized quantity of 6 gallons to a cubic foot, or 2774 cubic inches to a gallon of water, it will be found that if the 27 million gallons of water required for the daily supply of a portion of the population of Birmingham were spread over the surface of the bed of the river Wye from Rhayader to Chepstow, it would present a sheet of water of less than half an inch in depth; so that the abstraction of water would be infinitesimally small at the lowest water mark, whilst the continuous floods, to which the river Wye is subject from the Welsh Hills, would render the diminution still more inappreciable. Such a flood as occurred in the recent winter, when the water of the river rose 16 feet, would have supplied the daily grant of 27 million gallons for twelve months.

A very important incident in connection with the fauna of England, and equally interesting to the ornithologist and the agriculturist, is that the reduction of wild birds, as well those of prey as of a smaller species, has occasioned a very marvellous increase of vermin, not only in the shape of rats and mice and similar small animals, but of insects and flies, which in places have proved destructive to vegetation. To endeavour to remedy this evil a statute was passed in the last session of Parliament for the purpose of extending the Wild

Birds Protection Act, 1880, and giving power to the Secretary of State, upon the application of the County Council, to prohibit the destroying of wild birds' eggs in any place, or destroying the eggs of any specified kind of wild birds within the county, as well as to extend the provisions of the earlier statute to any wild bird which may not be included in the schedule to that Act. At the Quarterly Meeting of the Herefordshire County Council on the 12th January last, a communication on the subject from the Home Secretary was referred to the Agricultural Committee with the view to preserve in this matter what may be styled the compensation of Nature.

The main objects of such a Society as the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club is, doubtless, the advancement of science in the various branches which fall under its cognizance, but we must attach to the name a far more extended meaning than is generally allowed. It does not consist in mere book study, but in a practical development of the knowledge gained by that which lies externally around us. The mechanical genius, the chemist, the architect, the mining engineer stand side by side with the geologist in providing for our homes and domestic comforts, and are necessary helps in their several spheres.

The manufacturer has to call in the aid of practically developed science in the acquisition of wealth, and the observation of nature has greatly assisted in the rules of ecclesiastical as well as naval architecture.

There are other subjects too numerous to be noticed. The multiplied number of elements, the atomic theory, the doctrine of gases, galvanism, and electric current, present an interesting field of research, which will well repay the students of science in their several vocations where applied knowledge is necessary. To the man of seventy winters the rapid advance in the various branches of science is truly astounding.

In astronomy the discovery of new asteroids and comets forms a very important chapter. In geology there has been much developed during the last half century-since a period when it was comparatively in its infancy. In botany, zoology, ornithology, ichthyology, entomology, archæology, and kindred subjects, we have seen the same rapid strides, until the student can well realise the feelings of one of old, "Of making many books there is no end, and much study is a weariness of the flesh." It is gratifying to know that the Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club has done its share, and the Transactions form a most valuable cyclopædia upon a variety of subjects. Many of the authors are still amongst us to pursue their labours. Others have gone to their rest, and it may be truly said, when we read their memorials in our published transactions, that "their works do follow them."

But in addition to the papers read at the Field Meetings, many of our members have published independent volumes, of much permanent value as scientific records. Amongst these may be well noticed "The Herefordshire Pomona," by Dr. Bull, "The Flora of Herefordshire," by the Rev. Augustin Ley; "The Birds of Herefordshire," contributed by members of the Club, and collected and arranged by Dr. Bull: "A Handbook to the Geology of Shropshire," by the Rev. J. D. La Touche; "Herefordshire Words and Phrases, Colloquial