Very little now remains of the old Fen by which an idea can be formed of its former appearance, and it is only when in a state of flood that one of its aspects can be fully realized. Nothing can be more dreary and depressing than crossing the dead level of black sodden soil in winter or early spring; but in summer or early autumn, when the fields are one blaze of brilliant yellow from the blossoming Mustard and Cole-seed, and the deep rich green of the Mangolds and Turnips, or the sombre patches of Beans are lighted up by fields of ripening corn, glowing like richest gold, the whole canopied by a lofty sky of almost Italian depth of colour, then it must be admitted the prospect is one of great beauty, and the wealth of colour extending as far as the eye can penetrate, before blending with the blue distance, closes in a landscape such as only the "golden plain" can present. But if (in the words of Kingsley),* "they have a beauty of their own, these great Fens even now when they are dyked and drained, tilled and fenced, a beauty as of the sea, of boundless expanse and freedom. Much more had they that beauty eight hundred years ago, when they were still, for the most part, as God had made them, or rather was making them even then." Very beautiful is the whole passage, but too long to quote.

Far away in the old Fen stretched the boundless levels of stately Reeds bending their purpled crowns to the passing breeze, ever and anon revealing brief glances of the silver waters beyond-or, the rolling sea of sedge, flecked by the shadows of the passing clouds, spread out like the sands of the shore. Here the green turf was decked with the brightness of a thousand flowers, and the air,— heavy with the fragrance of the stately Meadow-sweet, was gay with the beauteous forms of the lovely Butterflies, which flitted from flower to flower; the voices of the numerous water-fowl, swimming in and out amongst the Reeds, adding the charm of life to a scene almost perfect in its beauty; whilst over all floated a drowsy hum, far off, and indistinct :

"And the wavy swell of the soughing Reeds,
And the wave-worn horns of the echoing bank,
And the silvery Marsh-flowers that throng

The desolate creeks and pools among,
Were flooded over with eddying song."

*Hereward the Wake,' vol. i. pp. 16-18.

VII.

ON RECENT ADDITIONS TO THE FAUNA AND

FLORA OF THE CROMER FOREST-BED.

BY CLEMENT REID, F.G.S.

Read 26th February, 1884.

SOME additions have been made to the list of fossils from the Cromer Forest-bed since the Memoir was published ;* but, as the cliff sections have lately been very obscure, my two visits during the past year have only yielded a few fresh forms. From the Mundesley Unio-bed I obtained the following unrecorded Plants and Entomostraca.

PLANTS.

(Determined by James Britten, F.L.S.)

BIDENS TRIPARTITA.

EUPHORBIA?

ENTOMOSTRACA.

(Determined by G. S. Brady, M.D., F.R.S.)

CYPRIS OVUM, Jurine.

CYPRIS GIBBA, Ramdohr.

CYRINOPSIS OBESA, B. and R.

CANDONA CANDIDA, Müller.

CANDONA LACTEA, Baird.

DARWINELLA STEVENSONI, B. and R.

Apparently this is the first occurrence of the genus Darwinella in a fossil state. It is at present confined to a few British localities, and Belgium, and has also been found in a sub-fossil state in the bed of Whittlesea Mere.

* See 'Geology of the Country around Cromer,' pp. 62-80.

The following species of Mammals can also be added:

*

CERVUS TETRACEROS, MACKIE (Bravard MS.).

This was determined by Professor Boyd Dawkinst from a specimen found by me in the estuarine Forest-bed at East Runton. The species, though new to England, was already known from the Pliocene Beds of Peyrolles, in the Puy de Dôme.

OVIBOS MOSCHATUS, BLAINV.

Determined by Professor Boyd Dawkins from a specimen in the possession of Mr. A. F. Buxton, believed to have been found at Trimingham. Through the kindness of Mr. Buxton, I have had an opportunity of examining the skull, and feel no doubt that it is a genuine Forest-bed specimen. It is certainly not dredged, for the angles are unworn; there are no marine organisms on it, and the loose sand inside is not sea-sand. Under the microscope the sandy matrix is exactly like the coarse quartz-sand of the Forest-bed, and not like the sand of the Glacial deposits or shore. A quartzite pebble impacted in a cavity also agrees with the peculiar pebbles found in the Forest-bed.

HYENA CROCUTA, ZIMM., var. SPELEA, GOLDF.

Determined by Mr. E. T. Newton from a specimen found at Kessingland, and subsequently from another obtained by Mr. A. C. Savin in the estuarine Forest-bed at Overstrand.

* 'Geologist' (vol. iv. 1861, p. 465), and re-described by Professor Boyd Dawkins, in Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxix. p. 575.

+ Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. xxxiii. p. 416.

Geol. Mag. dec. ii. vol. x. p. 404.

VIII.

PLANTS NEW TO NORFOLK, WITH NOTES ON

OTHER SPECIES.

BY ARTHUR BENNETT, F.L.S.

Read 26th February, 1884.

THE year 1883 did not pass without the County Flora being added to; and when I say that two species were so added, and both these also additional British plants, it shows that the careful investigation of its broads and coasts will repay examination, for there are still several other West European plants that may well be expected in East Anglia, both from the distributive and climatal point of view.

If there are any of our members who would undertake this search, I shall be pleased to give the names, probable dates, and most likely places to search in, or any other information I am able to afford.

The first to be named is

ONONIS REPENS, LIN., var. HORRIDA, LANGE. For the last three or four years I have known that the Ononis of the coast sand-hills represented a plant not mentioned in our Floras; but the want of access to authentic specimens of Dumortier's maritima, and the verdict of M. Crepin, of Brussels (to whom I sent specimens) that "Dumortier's plant, so named, was unarmed," made me hesitate what to call it, until I came across the description of O. repens, var. horrida, Lange, in Wilkholm's and Lange's 'Prod. Flor. Hispanica.' With this my specimens seemed to agree so well, that, to make sure, I sent some to Professor Lange, of Copenhagen. His reply was very satisfactory. It was: "The specimens you kindly send of Ononis are exactly what I do mean by O. repens, var. horrida.” He also kindly sent me a paper on it, published in the Copenhagen 'Oversigt d. k. D. Vidensk. Selsh. Forhandl.' for 1873. There I find this var. horrida was (then) only known from Spain, all the others being the type "var. inermis, Lange." Dumortier's maritima

VOL. III.

U U

he identifies with this type, and says that Ray and Dillenius record the type from "Yarmouth, Deal, and Cornwall." I have not found this, as yet, at Yarmouth; as, although the young ones are unarmed, all have spines by the third year's growth.

Last-year specimens of the Cornish Ononis were sent to the Exchange Club, and when I saw them I at once identified them as Lange's inermis. Probably the Lowestoft Denes Ononis belongs to one of these forms; but I have only seen a scrap, sent me by a lady at Reigate, Surrey, too immature to safely determine.

LATHYRUS PALUSTRIS, LIN. As the Rev. E. F. Linton has observed, it will be well to note the present existence of this rare, and, I fear, decreasing species.

Potter Heigham, July, 1883. Arthur Bennett.

Mr. H. G.

Near Acle, with Peucedanum palustre. July, 1883. A. B. CALLITRICHE OBTUSANGULA, LE GALL. Ormsby. Glasspoole. An addition of a sub-species to the Flora.

SENECIO PALUSTRIS, LIN. I am glad to say that not only is this plant still existent, but "holding its own." Last July, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. F. Hanbury, I had the pleasure of pointing out five specimens in flower, and about twenty not flowering, near Filby. About nine miles from this station it also occurs, and again on the Suffolk border.

CUSCUTA EPILINUM, WEIHE.

I have specimens gathered at Welney, in 1853, by Mr. E. T. Bennett; an additional locality to those given by the Rev. Kirby Trimmer.

Still grows at Roydon. In great
Geldart's district "E." Messrs.
For obvious reasons, the

STURMIA LOESELII, REICH. abundance in a Fen in Mr. Hanbury and Holmes, July, 1883. locality is not given nearer.

POTAMOGETON PLANTAGINEUS, DU CROZ. Sparingly in a ditch between Acle and Halvergate. Arthur Bennett, July, 1883. A rare plant in Norfolk.

POTAMOGETON (MUCRONATUS, AUCT.) FRIESII, RUP. Acle, in great abundance. Messrs. Hanbury and Bennett, July, 1883.

It may be interesting to note that I found a specimen of this in the Herbarium of the Rev. Hugh Davies, author of 'Welsh Botanology,' labelled "Yarmouth, 1800. D. Turner."

NAJAS MARINA, LIN., p. p. Hickling Broad, and extending into Heigham Sounds in fair quantity. 21st July, 1883. M. and