BOHN'S ILLUSTRATED LIBRARY.

PICTORIAL HANDBOOK

LONDON.

The former editions of this comprehensive volume were pubhshed by Mr. Weale ; the first (an edition of five thousand) under the title of " London and its Vicinity exhibited ;" the second (likewise five thousand) as " A new Survey of London." The work is now merely reproduced under a title more in accordance with the series of which it is made to form part, and published at a considerably lower price.

THE

PICTORIAL HANDBOOK

OF

LONDON

CO.MPKISING

ITS ANTIQUITIES, ARCHITECTURE, ARTS,

MANUFACTURE, TRADE, SOCIAL, LITERARY, AND

SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS, EXHIBITIONS,

AND GALLERIES OF ART;

TOGETHER WITH SOME ACCOU^"T OF

THE PRINCIPAL SUBURBS AND MOST ATTRACTIVE LOCALITIES.

ILLUSTRATED WITH

TWO HUNDRED AND FiVE ENGRAVINGS ON WOOD,

liY laiANSTON, Jl.WiiT, AND OTHKKS ;

AND A NEW AND COMPLETE MAP.

BXCiKAVEl) BY LUWUY.

L 0 N D O N :

liaKRV i^. BOHN, YORK STKEET, COVENT GARDEN. 1851.

513^-ZS^S

GIFT.

18'SY /vy f^ IN

LONDON AND ITS VICINITY.

NDON is the largest and wealtliiest, as well as the most populous

f the cities of the world. It is at once the centre of liberty, the

3f a great imperial government, and the metropolis of that great

whose industry and practical application of the arts of peace are

1 every clime, while they exert an almost boundless influence over

loral and political destinies of the world. About to become the

re of an event of the highest moral importance, it is desirable that

trangcr in our giant city should be made acquainted with its

lization and structure — with its trade and commerce — with the

es of its social and political greatness — with its many treasures

n from the eye of the superficial observer. The aim of the present

le is to endeavour to effect this object — and in such a manner as

Illy to satisfy the mind of the learned and scientific inquirer, but

)rd to the man of business and the sight-seer the advantages of

k of reference to those numerous depositories of art and science

1 abound in the metropolis, and which render such eff*ectual aid

•ds the refinement of domestic life, by furnishing alike the means

•itruction and amusement. The work — which is accompanied by

) scientifically laid down from the meridian of St. Paul's — will be

. to contain valuable information on the following subjects : —

ouse3. I Breweries,

ecture of London, ancient and mo- Canals.

1. I Cathedrals and Churches,

ects : the great men, Jones, Wren, ! Cemeteries. Chambers, who have contributed , Charitable Institutions, t to the architecture of London. Climate of London. Manufactures, and Trades. ' Club-houses,

mces, ms.

— Bank of England, and \N'ashhouses.

Colleges,

Corporations,

Customs Duties,

Docks, Commercial and Royal,

ical Features and Landscape of the ' Ducal Residences.

ghbourhood of London. | East India House and Institution.

533

B

LONDON — CONTENTS.

Education. Electric Telegraphs. Engineering Workshops, Exchanges : Royal Exchange^ Coal Ex- change, Corn Exchange. Galleries of Art. Gardens, Conservatories, &c. Geology. Halls.

Horticulture. Hospitals. Inns of Court. Institutions. Learned Societies. Legislation and Government. Libraries. Lunatic Asylums. Markets.

Mediaeval Antiquities and Tudor Art. Mercantile Marine. Military Appointments. Mint and Monetary System. Model Lodgings. Municipal Law. Music. Museums.

Natural History.

Observatories.

Palaces,

Panoramas.

Parks.

Patent Offices.

Physical Geography of the Basin of the

Thames. Pleasure Grounds. Police.

Port of London. Postal Arrangements. Prisons. Public Schools. Public and Private Buildings, Railway Stations. Sewers.

Spirit of the Public Journals. Squares. Statuary.

Steam Navigation. Thames Tunnel. Theatres.

Trips in search of Refinement and Taste. Water Supply.

&C., &.C., &c.

Before proceeding with this task, we shall offer some preliminary and general observations necessary to explain to the reader the natural situation and structure of our metropolitan city; with essays on those regulations which are connected with our political organi- zation and constitution, our domestic habits and the working of our social system ; after which the several distinct subjects are treated of, and our rapid intercommunication, our inland navigation, and examples of the fine and useful arts in their application to purposes of utility and grandeur are exhibited : nor would such a picture of our organization be complete^without a descriptive account of those accumulations of the wealth of nature and art in museums, which combine the treasures of the natural history of man with the fossil remains of a previous age and a former world. These the philosopher, the historian, and the sIght-seer will find abundantly illustrated in this great metropolis.

" It is a fact not a little interesting to Englishmen, and, combined with our insular station in that great highway of nations, the Atlantic, not a little explanatory of our commercial eminence, that London occupies nearly the centre of the terrestrial hemisphere." — Sir John Herschel's Nahi,ral Pkiloso])hy.

LONDON PRELIMINARY.

ON THE PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY OF THE BASIN OF THE THAMES.

Section 1. Hydrography. — The liydrograpliical basin of tlic Thames is formed by a valley of deiuulatioii, ratlidr irregular in its form, but Avliose main direction is from west to east, witli a sub- sidiary valley, that of the Lea, running nearly north and south. Tlie length, from the Isle of Grain and Shoebury Ness to the sources of the river, is about 230 miles; the breadth is less easily defined. In no case, however, does it much exceed GO miles ; and its average width may be taken as being about from 2G to 30 miles. The area thus drained is supposed to be 6027 square miles, though some geogra- phers estimate it at 0500 square miles. For 188 miles of its course the river is navigable; no less than 70 miles being under the influ- ence of the tides. The commercial importance of the river as a means of transport is, moreover, much increased by the canalization of several of its affluents ; and by the execution of numerous arti- ficial canals, which place it in connection, by water, with almost every town of importance in the south of Great Britain.

Course. — Geographers are not unanimous in deciding upon any particular spot as the source of the Thames. Indeed, the streams which dispute the honour of giving rise to it are so equal in their insignificance that the decision is of little moment. Four of them, the Leech, the Colne, the Churn, and the Isis, which rise in the Cots- wold range of hills, unite near Lechlade, fiom which point the liver becomes navigable, and is known for a considerable portion of its course by the name of the Isis. Lechlade is about 146 miles from London, and 204 from Sheerness; its elevation above low- water mark at London Bridge is 258 ft., thus shoeing the average fall of the river from that point to be 21 in. per mile, or about 1 in 3017.

At Lechlade, the Thames and Severn Canal locks into the Isis, thus puttmg the south-east and south-west coasts of England in con- nection with one another. This canal is 40 ft. wide on the water line, 30 ft. on the floor, and 5 ft. deep ; it is navigable by boats of 70 tons burthen. The navigation of the Isis was intended for boats of 100 tons, so that it is often necessary to tranship goods passing fron.i the river to the canal, or vice versa.

After passing Lechlade, the Isis follows a circuitous course : leav- ing Farringdon on the south, and Hampton on the north, it runs through the grounds of Blenheim to Oxford, having received, near Woodstock, the Evcnlode. At Oxford, the Charwell falls into the river; it is a stream of some importance, which rises near Culworth in the Buckinghamshire hills, and receives, at Islip, a stream from the neighbourhood of Grandborough. The Oxford Canal joins the Thames here also, opening a ■\^ ater-carriage to Birmingham and Warwick, bv means of a canal of small section, 28 ft. wide on the

i\ 2

4 LONDON — GEOGKAPHY.

ivater-Hne, IG ft. on the floor, and 4 ft. 6 in. deep; the locks being only 74 ft. 9 in. long^ by 7 ft. wide. The Isis then con- tinues its course southerly, through Nuneham Park to Abingdon, ^yhere it receives the Windrush, and near whicli town also the Wiltshire and Berkshire Canal locks into it at a point where the river is 180 ft. 4 in. above the mean level of the sea at the Nore. This also is a canal of small section. The course of the river thence be- comes more circuitous, with a general inclination towards the south- east (in the course of which the Ock, from the vale of White Horse, joins the main stream), to near Dorchester in Oxfordshire, where it joins the Thame, and from this point the united streams take the definite name of the Thames. The Thame rises in the same range of the Buckinghamshire hills from whicli the Charwell takes its source; it winds through the vale of Aylesbury, and receives at Wendover its most considerable affluent.

The Thames thence runs southerly through a gorge in the Chil- tern Hills, which slojie down abruptly towards' the narrow valley of the river; it passes Bensington, Wallingford (where it receives a small stream), Pangbourne (where another joins it), Streatley, Ma- ple Durham and Purley Hall to Henley. Near Reading, it receives the Kennet, which is formed by the meeting of two rivulets at Marl- borough, and is augmented by subsidiary streams at Ne^v^berry and at Upton, before it joins the main river. The town of Reading itself is situated upon the Kennet, at a distance of 1| mile from the junction with the Thames. This portion of the river is ren- dered navigable for boats 109 ft. long, by 17 ft. wide, and 4 ft. draught of water. Above Reading, the Kennet is canalized for a distance of 1 8| miles, at which point the Kennet and Avon Canal locks into it. Boats of from 50 to 70 tons navigate on this canal, for the width of the water-line is 44 ft., of the floor-line, 24 ft., with a minimum depth of 5 ft. ; the locks are 80 ft. long between gates, by 14 ft. in width. The Kennet and Avon Canal joins London directly with Bath and Bristol.

At Maidenhead the Loddon, which rises near Basingstoke and Odiham in the chalk-hills of Hampshire, joins the Thames. That river then passes round the Castle Hill to near Woburn Park and Ham, by Datchet, Staines^, and Chertsey. At Staines the Colne, from the neighbourhood of Watford, falls into the Thames ; and at Hani it receives the Wey, whicli rises near Alton, in Hampshire, runs througli Farnham, and, at Guildford, receives a stream taking its source in the Bramshot Hills near Horsham, and passing through Godalming. About 1| mile from the embouchure of the Wey in the Thames, the Basingstoke Canal locks down into the former. The Wey itself, and its tributary from the Surrey Hills, is rendered navigable as far as Godalming ; at M'hicli town a canal commences, joining the Wey and the Arun, and placing London in connection,

LONDON — GEOGRAPHY. 5

bv water carriage, ^vitll Portsmontli and tlie south coast. The locks in the Wey arc 81 ft. long b}' 14 ft. wide; those on tlie Basing- stoke Canal are 72 ft, long by 13 ft. wide, and are designed for boats of 50 tons burthen ; the Wey and Arun Canal is of about the same dimensions.

The Thames then takes an easterly course through Hampton Court to Thames Ditton ; thence rather northerly to Kingston and Richmond, where the Mole falls in. Lower down, at Brentford, it receives the Brent, flowing from the Hertfordshire Hills, and forming the connecting link between the upper part of the Thames and the Grand Junction Canal. This main artery of the system of English artificial navigation places London in connection with all the im- portant canals in the midland counties. Its width on the water-line is 43 ft., its depth 5 ft.; the locks are 82 ft. long by 14z} ft. wide, and usnally of 7 ft. lifts.

The Wandle falls into the Thames at Wandsworth, and several small streams join the river between Brentford and the metropolis; some even, formerly of note, do so in the very heart of the town. Rivers have their fortunes, like nations, and at times small ones dis- appear before the progress of civilization, or at least become con- verted to most base uses. Thus we now can only trace such streams as the Bayswater Brook, the Fleet, Wall Brook, and the other rivulets of ancient London, in the modern scAvers.

On the east of London, a little below Blackwall, on the northern shore, the Lea falls into the Thames. This affluent rises in the hills of Hertfordshire, and flows through Puckcridge and Welwyn. At ^^'are, it receives several minor streams, and near Hertford, at 26 miles from its outfall into the Thames, it is rendered navigable for boats not exceeding 40 tons. The course of the river Lea is southerly from Hoddesden to the outfall, and it divides the counties of Hertfordshire and Middlesex. At Hertford the navigation com- mences at a point 111 ft. 3 in. above the sea; and there is also, near the same city, a canal 5 miles long, by means of which the Lea navigation is connected with that of the Stort. A short distance from the embouchure a canal, called Sir George Duckett's Canal, connects the Lea with the upper part of the Regent's Canal ; and, nearer still to the embouchure, the Lea Cut, of 1^ mile in length, enables barges to gain the upper part of the Thames without passing round the Isle of Dogs. The Regent's Canal is, in fact, the termina- tion of the Paddington branch of the Grand Junction Canal. The Paddington branch begins at a point near Uxbridge, 90 ft. above low water at Limehouse, and runs a distance of 14 miles to Pad- dington. There the Regent's Canal joins it, and is continued round the north of London to Limehouse, a distance of 8^ miles, with a fall of 90 ft., gained by 12 locks.

On the southern shore, a little higher up than Blackwall, the

6 LONDON — GEOGRAPHY.

Deptford Creek forms the embouchure of the Ravenshourne, which flows from tlie Surrey Hills in the neighbourhood of Hays Common and Addiscomb. It is navigable for a very short distance mland, during the remainder of its course it is but a small mill-stream.

From Blackwall to the sea, the only affluents of importance are, on the northern shore, the Roding, which falls into the Thames at Barking Creek, and is navigable as far as that ancient town. In Dagenham Marsh, a stream from the hills round Havering-atte-Bower falls in; at Rainham, the Ingerburn discharges itself; and at Pur- fleet, a small stream from Childerditch Common is swallowed up in the continually increasing river. On the south side, in the marshes of Dartford, the Darent and the Cray, from the Kentish Hills, join shortly before falling into the Thames. Their united stream is na- vigable with the tide as far as the town of Dartford. In the last 20 miles of the course of the Thames it does not receive any affluent worth notice ; and, in fact, may rather be considered an arm of the sea than a river.

At a very earl}^ period of English history, the Thames appears to have been considered as a political boundary of great importance. The division of the country into shires is supposed to have been established on its present basis by King Alfred ; and we therein find that the Thames w^as adopted as the boundary of many of these districts at an inconsiderable distance from its source. A little be- low Lecblade, in fact, the river Isis separates the counties of Berk- shire and Oxfordshire ; it then forms the line of demarcation, either under the name of the Isis or the Thames, between Buckingham- shire and Berkshire ; then between Surrey and Middlesex ; and finally betv/een Kent and Essex. But, long before the time of Alfred, the river was adopted as the political limits of the Roman provinces of Britannia Prima on the south, and of Flavia Csesariensis on the north. In the seventh century also it formed one of the boundaries of the Saxon kingdoms of Mercia and West Seaxe, in the middle of England ; and of those of East Seaxe, South Seaxe, and Cantivare, on the eastern coast.

Volume. — The volume of the Thames, in the parts unafl'ected by the tide, is, as might be expected, from its comparatively insignifi- cant basin, not very considerable. Mr. J. Rennie's observations at Windsor, during the dry month of June, 179i, only gave a volume equal to 961 cubic feet per second. ]\Ir. G. Rennie's observations, in the year 1835, showed, that at Laleham the volume was 1153 cubic feet per second; and at Kingston, IGOO. After a heavy fall of rain, the volume at the latter point was augmented to 1800 cubic feet per second; but in this case the river was 18 in. above its summer level. Mr. Anderson found, in the month of December, 1830, that the volume at Staines was 2050 ft. per second, the river then standing 4 ft. above the summer level. At Teddington, Mr. An-

LONDON — GEOGRAPHY. 7

(lcr?oii calculated that, AA'itli an IS-iii. overfall at the locks, tlic volume was 700 ft.; and with a 24-in. overfall, it Avas 12G0. Taking a mean of these tlu-ce last mentioned volumes, we may as- sume that the Thames, in the parts removed from the influence of the tides, on the average, lias a volume equal to 1357 cubic feet per second, or 115,510,800 ft. per day, and 42,163,032,000 cubic feet ]^er annum. Now Dr. Halley, assuming the average rain-fall of the whole basin to be 24 in., calculated th.at its total amount would be 280,259,555,200 cubic feet per annum. The loss by evaporation and absorption would then constitute about ^ths of the total rain- fall ; — certainly a very small portion, when compared with the same loss in other hydrographical basins. It may be accounted for either by the highly retentive nature of the bed of the river, or by the moisture of the atmosphere. Dr. Halley calculated the loss by evaporation at only -ith of the total rain-fall ; but this is evidently exaggerated.

The numerous works connected with the navigation of the upper part of the Thames, together M'ith the weirs and dams of the M'ater- mills, interfere so much with the flow of the water as to render its velocity very diflferent from that which Avould result from its different inclinations. Mr. J. Rennie assumed it to be on the mean 2 miles per hour ; in some cases it is as much as 2 J miles ; and at Windsor, in 1794, he found it to be '2^ miles per hour.

Tides. — Below Teddhigton the river is exposed to the action of the tides, which, from a peculiar combination of causes, act with great force in the Thames. The tide wave from the Atlantic divides at Land's End into two streams, one of which runs up the British Channel and enters the Thames round the North Foreland ; the other passes along the Avest coast of England and Scotland, and returns southward bv the eastern shore, and enters the Thames also, after passing the Yarmouth Roads. The tide in the river is then com- ])osed of two tidal waves, distant 12 hours from each other, so that the day and night tides are equal; the tides meet between the Foreland and the Kentish Knock. The velocity of the wave from the North Foreland to London is very great, being about 50 miles per hour ; above the bridges, from the resistances it meets, the velocity is so much diminished that the wave is not propagated more rapidly than 12 miles an hour on the average. The diflerencc of time of high water between London Bridge and Richmond is 1 hour 18 minutes.

The same resistances which retard the flow of the tidal wave affect the duration of its rise. Thus at London Bridge we find that the flood tide runs for 5 hours, and the ebb tide for 7. At Putney Bridge the flood only lasts for 4 hours ; at Richmond for 2 ; and at Tedding- ton only for If hour. The rise of the tide at Deptford is in the 5>pring tides 19 ft. 2 in., in the neaps, 15 ft. 3 in. At the London

8 LONDON — GEOGRAPHY.

Docks it is, on the average of the spring tides, 18 ft.; at Putney, ]0 ft. 2 in.; at Kew, 7 ft. 1 in.; at Richmond, 3 ft. 10 in.; and at Teddington, 1 ft. 4^ in. Professor Airy observed, that the rise of the water in the Thames, at a given interval from low water (in half an hour, for instance), is considerably more than its descent in the same interval before low water. There exists, in fact, the rudi- ment of a bore. The duration of slack water, or the interval between the change of direction of the stream, is 40 minutes during the spring tides, and 37 minutes during the neaps, at Deptford.

The vulgar establishment is the interval by which the time of high water follows the moon's transit on the day of new and full moon. What Sir John Lubbock calls the corrected establishment, or the lunar hour of high water freed from the semimenstrual irregularity, is found to be, at the London Docks, 1 h. 20 m. The interval of the high tide and moon's transit is, however, affected by a considerable inequality, which goes through its period t"\\ice in a month, depending on the moon's distance from the sun in right ascension, or on the solar time of the moon's transit. Its value is two hours.

The direction of the winds has a great influence on the tides of the Thames^ not only as to the height they attain, but also as to their duration. Thus with north-westerly gales they do not rise so high, nor docs the flood run so long, as with the wind in any other quarters. With south-westerly gales, however, and with those from the east, the tides often rise even as much as 4 ft. above their usual levels. The demolition of the old London Bridge is also said to have pro- duced an increase of the height of the tide to the extent of 2 ft. ; whilst it is very certain that the bed of the river and the low-water mark have been considerably lowered, by the same cause. This lowering of the bed is regularly distributed over the whole length of the river, from the bridge to Teddington ; and it appears to be not less than 2 ft. at the former, and about 10 in. at the latter.

The recent movements which have taken place near Blackfriars Bridge would induce us to believe that the depression of the river bed is much greater than even this quantity.

The velocity of the current created by the tidal wave is between 3| and 2^ miles per hour ; 3 miles being the average, and also the velocity most suitable to the navigation carried on in the upper parts. At the ebb the greatest velocity appears to be between the bridges, as follows : —

From Westminster to Waterloo Bridges 2*27 miles per hoiu'. „ Waterloo to Blackfriars „ 2-854 „

„ Blackfriars to Southwark „ 3*70 „

55

Southwark to London „ S'dOl

The areas of different portions of the river at high water at the following points between the above limits being —

LONDON — GEOGRAPHY. 9

Whitehall 23,500 feet superficial.

Hiingerford Market . . . 22,000 „

Waterloo Bridge .... 21,000 „

Opposite Boiivcrie Street . . 18,000 „

Southwark Bridge .... 1 7,000 „

London Bridge .... 17,000 ,,

This irregularity in the area fully accounts for the formation of the loathsome beds of mud which disfigure the river at low tide, and de- monstrates painfully the defective state of the regulations connected with the formation and maintenance of the course of the river.

Banks of Lower Thames. — The banks of the lower part of the Thames are marked by the same want of a definite plan which renders the upper part of the stream less usefid than it might he made. The period at which they were first formed is very remote, being by some supposed to date as far back as the time of the Romans. This, in- deed, seems very probable, for the manner in which the banks are executed, though eminently successful, is marked by all the clumsiness of a first essay. The marshes they protect from the river are some- times (as at Woolwich) not less than 4 ft. 3 in. below the level of the high water in spring tides. Those of the Isle of Dogs are now being enclosed by an embankment ujion piles, with a superstructure in brickwork, executed in conformity M'ith a plan prepared by Mr. Walker, under the direction of the Navigation Committee ; thus indicating that the attention of that body has been fairly called to the necessity of co-ordinating all encroachments upon the channel of the river to one general system. The result of the several works upon the bed of the Thames, and the demolition of the old bridge, has been hitherto to lower the bed, and to compromise the safety of several of the bridges in the stream, and of some of the buildings on the shore. It is to be hoped that the legislature will take some mea- sures to remedy the dangerous and defective state of the present organization of the conservancy of the river.

Moreover, in the lower Thames, that is to say, in those parts of its course below London Bridge, numerous shoals exist, which are highly prejudicial to the safety- of the navigation, whilst at the same time there is no reason why they might not be carried further out towards the embouchure if the course of the river were regularised, and the dredging operations made to conform to the necessities of the port. These shoals exist in the parts of the Thames in which the deep sea navigation terminates, ^^•llere, in fact, from the more energetic action of the tides, the fioods from the upper country begin to deposit the matter they hold in solution.

The force with which the tidal wave enters the mouth of the Thames prevents the detritus borne down by the upper stream from being carried sutficicntly far towards the embouchure to form a Delta.

B 3

10 LONDON — GEOGRAPHY.

It is therefore deposited at those points of the course of the river at which the propulsive power of the land waters is counterhalanced by that of the tide wave, which tends to force the detritus back again. The still water thus produced is exposed to great changes in its po- sition and extent from an infinity of local and accidental causes ; so that the shoals vary very frequently without any apparent cause. Their real origin, however, may be attributed to the interferences with the regularity in the flow of the river by natural deviations of the line of the banks, or by the execution of ill-contrived, ill-planned works.

For instance, we find that a shoal exists on the north shore, op- posite to the recesses formed by the east entrance of the London Dock on the north, and the St. Saviour's Dock on the south ; these give rise to reaches of still water, in which the detritus from the ui^tper })art of the river can be deposited. A similar shoal is formed opposite to the Lime Kihr Dock ; another in a wide reach a little above the Greenland Docks ; a fourth near the embouchure of the Ravensbourne in the Thames, which may be attributed to the di- rection in which it falls into the main stream, precisely the reverse to what would be required in the interest of the navigation. Opposite Saunders Ness are shoals on each side of the river, owing to the retardation of its velocity from the abrupt bend it here forms ; a small shoal in the mid stream, a little lower down than these side ones, appears to owe its origin to the interference they produce on the direction of the currents. Another small shoal is produced by the still water opposite the entrance of the West India Docks. At the embouchure of the Lea, owing to the interference of the upland waters of that river with those of the Thames, two shoals are formed near Bugsby's Hole. It is probable that the effectual removal of these two may be attended with considerable difficulty; but all the others might easily be remedied.

Estuary. — Below this point the river begins so distinctly to assume the characteristics of an estuar}^, that it is almost impossible to define Avith certitude the position of the shoals, still less would it be pos- sible to prevent their formation, or effectually to combat them. At Woolwich the water becomes brackish at spring tides, and the greater specific gravity it thence attains modifies the conditions of the depo- sition of the matter it holds in suspension. The difference between the lengths of time during which the flood and the ebb tides prevail, also diminishes as the river approaches the sea. Moreover, the action of the current upon the shores of the embouchure, at the same time that it removes the land on both sides, and thus changes the form of the outfall, so also does it carry into those portions of the estuary where still A\ater is to be met with, the materials result- ing from the degradation of the shores. The variations of the tides from the neap to the spring, the changes in the force and direction of

LONDON GEOORArilY. ] 1

the deep sea current, posM'bly from the effects of storms in very ditferent and distant latitudes ; tlie irregularities of tlie volume of fresh water brought down from the upper regions of the Thames, combine to render its " regime " in the lower and wider portions of its course very irregular and ca])ricious. The sands of the Nore vary often in their outline, and their distance from the surface of the water; the erosive force of the current upon the banks also varies in intensity according to the action of the causes shortly enumerated above.

The erosions of the sea upon the shores of the estuary of the Thames are very rapid, both upon the Essex and Kentish coasts. The cliffs of Walton-on-the-Naze are rapidly disappearing; the j\Iaplin Sand, near Shoebury Ness, may, perhaps, be considered as having formed part of the main land in former times. The Isle of Sheppey, and the coast near Heme Bay, are being swept away in a gradual but inevitable manner; nor is the land forming the pro- montory between the embouchures of the Thames and the Medway removed from the same cause of destruction. All the materials thus removed, combined with the detritus brought down by the fresh water, are deposited in, or near, the estuary of the Nore, Avhere they form the extensive banks, or shoals, visible at Ioav water. It is extremely difficult to ascertain the amount of sediment carried down by the river itself; but from the nature of the formations it tra- verses in the latter portion of its course, and the comparatively feeble inclination of its bed, the proportionate amount of matter in mecha- nical suspension, in all probability, is very considerable.

In the section of the Physical Geography of the Basin of the Thames, in which we treat of the geology of the district, will be found the areas occupied by the different formations which constitute it, and through which it travels. These influence the hydrography of a district to a very great extent, not only in consequence of the different capacity of the strata for the absorption of water, but also in consequence of the manner in which they furnish the materials held either in mechanical or chemical solution, or suspension, in the stream. Thus it must be evident that the water flowing from the oolitic and the cretaceous formations is more likely to be charged with the carbonate of lime than that which drains from such portions of the surface as are covered by the London clay. These, again, from the nature of the veizetation they nourish with the greatest pro- fusion, are likely to communicate to the waters they furnish the germs of animal and vegetable organization. The open, spongy nature of the two former classes of formation must, moreover, make them more retentive of water than the comparatively speaking impermeable strata of the London clay. The greater number of the affluents of the Thames, it is true, take their rise in the oolites and in the chalk ; but their volumes are comparatively less than those which are fur- nished by the London clay, especially when we compare the re- *^pective lengths of the streams.

12 LONDON GEOGRAPHY.

In the same section will also be found the heights of some of the most important elevations of the district under our examination. They also have considerable influence upon the hydrography of the basin, both by their action in determining a greater or less amount of rain-fall, by attracting and condensing the moisture suspended in the atmosphere, and by affecting the rate of discharge of the surface water.

Matter in Si(spensio7i. — The positive quantity of extraneous matter contained in the Thames water does not seem to have been ascer- tained with any degree of certainty ; nor does the range of tidal action upon suspended matter in it appear to have been made the subject of direct experiment. Dr. Bostock is reported to have esti- mated the proportion of solid matter in suspension in the river water as being -7^^ oth of the weight ; Mr. Kerrison's experiments would show it to be ^-Jj-yth ; and in all probability this estimate is a low one. The calculation of Dr. Bostock was made before 1828, that of Mr. Kerrison in 1834. Since then the nature of the river water has been modified by the incessant wash of the steamers ; but we must also observe, that if the continual agitation produced by them pre- vents the deposition of the mud, yet at the same time, from the increased and increasing scour of the river, the bed is considerably cleaner than it used to be, especially in the parts above bridge. The evidence given before some of the Parliamentary Committees Avould lead us to infer that the greater part of these impurities are derived from the upper parts of the river and from its affluents. At Rich- mond the Thames is as foul as in the heart of the town, according to the engineers examined. The Wey, and the Mole especially, bring down very turbid waters, as does also the Colne, near Isle- worth, after heavy rains. It is to be observed, however, that the modifications of the bed of the river from the removal of London Bridge are far from having yet produced their full effect. Neither the river itself, nor the banks in the embouchure, nor the bed in the upper portion, have yet assumed the definite regime that absurdly- delayed measure seems likely to produce.

Floods. — Floods occur in the valleys of the Thames and the Lea occasionally. They arise entirely from the surface waters, hardly ever from the meltins^ of snow, or ice, in the hiijhlands near their sources. Indeed, the climate of this part of England, and the feeble elevation of its hills, does not admit of the duration of frost for a sufficient length of time to affect the sources of the river supply. Under these circumstances, the floods are found to occur in the rainy seasons, in November and December, in April and in May, without, however, being in any manner peculiarly confined to those months. The flood waters brought down to the rivers are highly charged with earthy matter and the germs of organized life ; they, in fact, ma- terially influence the formation of the alluvial deposits of the river. Ehrenberg mentions a fact of considerable importance in the dis-

LONDON — CLIMATE. 13

cussion of questions affecting the relative purities of river water. It is, that in all the rivers which fall into the German Ocean the microscopic animals of the sea extend up rivers as far as the ebh and flow of the tide extend. His researches show that the flood tide even A^hen the surface waters have no taste of salt, does not so much depend upon an accumulation of river water from its outflow being checked as it does upon the introduction of sea water under the river Avater, owing to its greater specific gravity. Ehrenberf^ found that the remains of the microscopic sea animals constituted no less than Tv'oth of the solid matter found in the banks of the estuary.

List of Authors consulted. G. Ronnie. — Reports to British Association.

Lubbock, Whewell, Aiiy, — On Tides. Philosophical Transactions. Lloyd. — On Difference of Levels between Sheerness and London. Ditto. Tage, Telford, Anderson, Mills, &c.— Evidence before Parliamentary Committees,

principally subsequent to 1828. Quarterly Journal of Greological Society. Priestley's Account of Navigable Rivers. Knight's London.

Cruden's History of Gravesend, &c. M'Culloch's Geographical Dictionary. Johnston's National Atlas. Ordnance Survey. Feamside's Thames. Beardmore's Tables. Leslie's Evidence before Parliamentary Committees.

Section 2. Climate. — London itself is situated in 51^31' of north latitude ; and the line passing through its eastern extremity of Greenwich has been adopted by the Anglo-Saxon race as the zero of longitudinal distances. The length of the continuance of the sun above the horizon is 7 J hours on the shortest day; and 16^ hours on the longest. The mean temperature of the rural district" round the metropolis is 48°-o0; that of the city itself is 50°-50; the mean of the whole district being 49°-65. The variations in the temperature recur with Avhat appears to be tolerable regularity after a cycle of 17 years; during which the coldest falls at the 10th from the first year; the warmest at the 7tli from the coldest; the first } car, marking the cycle, being usually of the mean temperature.

The greatest heats known have not exceeded 96° in the shade and in the open air; the cold sometimes descends as low as 5° below zero; the range being 101° Fahrenheit. When the temperature exceeds 80°, thunder storms usually clear the atmosphere and reduce the heat. As a general rule also, the frosts do not last through the 24 hours, and a continuance of them for any length of time is quite exceptional. The upper part of the Thames \\as blocked up by the frozen ice in 1840, and to a somewhat greater extent in 1826'. With these exceptions, however, the ice has not seriously impeded

14

LONDON — CLIMATE.

the navigation since the years 1814 and 1815. In former times the river was frozen over more frequently than it has been of late years, thus confirming the opinion that the progress of civilization tends to modify and improve the climate. In the works upon Physical Geo- graphy, London is placed on the 64th degree of the isothermal range'; and on the 38th of the isokemenal divisions.

Thermometrical Ohsercations. — The monthly averages of tempera- ture, taken over a range of 20 years, show that the warmest months only differ from the coldest hy 2Gi°, and that the temperature of the city differs 2^° from that of the^ country. This local difference is greatest in winter, as might naturally he expected fi'om the more sheltered position of the metropolis, and the artificial elevation of the temperature produced hy the immense number of factories and domestic fires. In the spring, the heat of town and country ap- proaches equality; the difference becomes again perceptible in summer, owing to the reverberation from the narrow streets, and the want of air ; in autumn again the equality is resumed. Thus, between the years 1807 and 1816 included, we find the mean tempera- tures of the different months to have been as follows, viz. :

Months.

January . February . March . April . . May . , June

July . . August September October November December

Country,

3416 39-78 41-51 46-89 55-79 58-66 62-40 61-35 56-22 50-24 40-93 37-66

London.

36-20 41-47 42-77 47-69 56-28 59-91 63-41 62-41 58-45 52-23 43-08 39-40

Difference,

2-04

1-69

1-26

0-80

0-49

1-25

1-01

1-26

2-13'

1-99

2-15

1-74

The mean temperature, as shown by an examination of the tables of observations extending over 35 years, assumes a rate of increase in the different months which may be represented by a curve nearly equal to, and parallel with one representing the progress of the sun in declination.

The greatest number of the extremes of heat and cold occur in

* There appears to be some error in the mean quoted for the month of September ; in the previous decade the difference was considerably less, and it appears usually to be only l°-77.

LONDON CLIMATE.

15

tlic first month of the year. On an average of 10 years only two occurred in tlie twclftli month, and one in tlie second. Tlie extremes of heat are more diffused through the remaining months; five nsually fall in tlic seventh month ; the others arc distributed, in a diminish- ing proportion, over the months carher or later in the summer. Tiiere are thus only two s])ring and two autumn months, which are not exposed to great varieties of temperature. The ranges of the therniometcr in the day-time, for the years between 1807 "and 1816, are thus given by Mr. Howard in his admirable ^\ork upon the climate of London, from Avhich in fact we have extracted nearly all we give upon the subject.

Years.	Highest, i Lowest. Eange.	Medium.
1807 1808 1809 1810 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 1816	o 87 96 82 85 88 78 85 91 80 81	13 12 18 10 14 18 19 8 17 5	o 74 84 64 75 74 60 66 83 63 86	o 50 54 50 47-5 51 48 52 49-5 48-5 38
Averages .	85-3	12-4	72-9	48-85

The mean of the daily extremes having been . 48°-79

Ditto of the monthly ditto . , . 48°-34

Ditto of the years, as above . . . 48°'85

Between the years 1817 and 1831 the examination of the tables

gave the mean of the daily extremes . . . 49°*649

That of the months * 49^*651

That of the years 49°-721

Perhaps from 90° to 20^ may be i-egarded as the extreme ranges in the day-time. At night the temperature has descended below zero ; but so very rarely as to make such an occurrence phenomenal.

In London the mean variations between the temperature of the day and the night are ll°-37; in the country they are 15°-41, Li the former, tlie mean height during the day being (according to the observations made lietween 1816 and 1817) 56''-17; during the night 4-1- ''•80. In the latter it was during the day 5G*''-51, during the night 41''-10. The extreme range appears to be in the sixth month, in which it has been kno^vn to attain from 35° to 37°. During the

16

LONDON — CLIMATE.

period between the years 1817 and 1823, the difference appears to have been greater ; for the mean of the greatest heat in the country was 57°-926, at night it was 40°-614, the difference being 17°-312. It is remarkable that this difference corresponds, to the fraction of a degree, with that which prevails between the temperature of summer and winter.

The temperatures of the different months were ascertained from a series of observations, extending over the years from 1805 to 1830 inclusive, to be on the average as follows : —

Months.

January . February . March . . April . . May . . June . July . . August September October November December

Mean. Variation.

35-140 38-997 42-030 47-567 54-937 59-613 63-190 57-187 50-123 42-432 41-950 38-343

13-95

12-26

11-20

8-64

11-99

9-36

8-68

8-89

9-80

12-88

10-19

12-40

Finally we may observe, that hoar frosts occur when the thermo- meter is about 39° ; and that the dense yellow fogs so peculiar to London occur the most frequently in the months of November, December, and January, whilst the thermometer ranges under 40°.

Baro7netrical Pressure. — The barometer is subject to variations of a similar nature to those of the thermometer; that is to say, they are frequent and unexpected, but rarely of any great amount. Durino- the years between 1807 and 1816 the mean of the twelve greatest elevations was 30-305 in. ; that of the twelve greatest de- pressions was 29-188 in.; the medium of the elevations and of the depressions was 29*746 in. The highest observations during that period were 30-71 in., although subsequently they have been made at 30-89 in., during the prevalence of north-easterly breezes. The lowest observations were at 28-22 in. with southerly winds; the greatest range being thus 2-67 in. ; the average range 1-998 in.

Between 1815 and 1830 similar observations gave as the mean of the twelve greatest elevations 30-356 in., and of the twelve greatest depressions 29-075 in. ; the medium of the elevations and depressions bein"- 29-715 in. The highest annual mean was in the year 1825,

LONDON — CLIMATE.

17

-when the twelve greatest elevations gave an average of 30-82 in. ; the lowest '\^'as in 1831, when the twelve greatest depressions gave a mean of 28-2G in. In the year 1821, the variation even extended to 3 in. ; hut over the period from 1807 to 1831 the mean range was only 2-07 in.

The monthly variations may be represented as follows : —

Months.	Maximum.	Minimum.	DilT. or mean.	Greatest elevation.	Greatest depress".	Full range.
	0	o	o	0	o	o
January . .	30-515	28-937	1-578	30-82	28-69	2-13
February .	30-459	28-824	1-435	30-80	28-45	2-35
March . .	30-417	28-895	1-522	30-75	28-35	2-40
April . .	30-330	29-042	1-282 30-57	28-50	2-07
May . . .	30-307	29-262	1-045 30-61	29-06	1-55
Jnne .	30-282	29-335	0-947	30-54	29-12	1-42
Jnly . . .	30-21 G	29-375	0-841	30-57	28-99	1-58
August . .	30-262	29-235	1-027	30-57	28-75	1-82
September .	30-292	29-207	1-085	30-50	28-52	1-98
October . .	30-346	29-009	1-337	30-67	28-52	2-15
November .	30-377	28-970	1-407	30-65	28-30	2-35
December .	30-449	28-820	1-629	30-80	27-80	3-00

Wi?ids. — The direction of the winds appears to be principally from the south and the west, over the district formed by the basin of the Thames. Starting from the north, we find that the winds blew during 74 days in a year, on the average of the years between 1807 and 1816 inclusive, from points varying from that point towards the east ; the extreme numbers of days during which they thus blew from points between the north and the east being 96 and 58 re- spectively. The average number of days they blew from between the east and the south was 54 ; the extremes being 72 and 34 respectively. From between the south and the west the average number of days was 104; the extremes being 123 and 78. From between the west and the north the average was 100 days; the extremes being 124 and 83. The variable winds blowing 33 days on the average, between the extremes of 51 and 17 in the course of the year.

If the winds be only grouped under the denominations of easterly and westerly, it would be found that the former prevailed during 140, the latter during 225 days. If they be grouped under the denominations of northerly and southerly, the former would be found to have prevailed during 192 days, the latter during 173.

During the several months of the years between 1807 and 1816

18

LONDON— ^CLIMATE.

the winds varied as follows : the table having been calculated for the years mentioned above. The variations between 1817 and 1823 cor- responded so closely with the average results deduced from this table, that it may be considered as a very correct representation of the actual state of the case for that subsequent period.

Months.	N.&E.	E.&S.	S.&W. j	W.&N.	Variable.	Total.
January February .	Days. 6-8 3-2	Days. 5-3 4-0	Davs. 7-0 11-7	Days. 9-1 7-4	Days. 2-8 1-7	Days. 31 28
March ....	9-8	5-4	6-6	6-5	2-7	31
April ....	8-3	5-6	6-0	6-4	3-7	30
May ....	5-9	6-5	9-0	5-6	4-0	31
June ....	7-1	3-0	7-2	9-1	3-6	30
July ....	4-5	2-5	9-5	11-0	3-0	31
August . . .	3-5	2-9	10-2	12-9	1-5	31 1
September October . . .	6-4 5-2	6-0 5-0	8-0 10-5	7-4 7-4	2-2 2-9	30 31
November . .	7-8	3-1	8-8	8-4	1-9	30
December .	5-0	4-6	9-9	9-7	1-8	31
Monthly average, ) 1807 to 1816 j	6-0	4-5	8-7	8-45	2-65
Monthly average, ) 1817 to 1823 1	6-14	4-9	8-5	9-45	1-41

Mr. Daniell observes that the force of the winds does not always decrease as the elevation above the ground, increases ; but on the contrary is often found to augment rapidly. More than two currents may often be traced in the atmosphere at one time by the motion of the clouds. The land and sea breezes of morning and evening do not recur with sufficient regularity in these latitudes to be appreciable in their influence upon the results of the tables.

Northerly winds almost invariably raise the barometer, while southerly winds as constantly depress it. The most permanent rains in this cHmate come from the southern regions. The least rain falls when the winds range from the north to the east.

Eoaporation. — The evaporation which takes place near London was calculated by Mr. Daniell to be on the average 23*974 in. in a year. This result was obtained from a series of observations made by the means of an hygrometer of that gentleman's invention. Mr. Howard's observations gave results which substantially confirmed, those made by Mr. Daniell, for he found that with a gauge placed at a height of 43 ft. from the ground, exposed to the south-east, and subject to the action of the winds, he obtained a mean total of

LONDON — CLIAfATE. 19

37'8.jin. upon tlic years 1807, 1808, and 180.0, whicli vcre very dry warm yeary. In the years 1810, 1812, witli a fall of rain considerably above the average, the evaporation gange, placed at a lower level and less exposed, only showed a mean of 33"37in. In the years 1813 and 18] 5, which again were dry years, the gange placed imme- diately npon the gronnd and sheltered, showed a mean evaporation of 20'28 in. My. Howard suggests that probably the rate of 33'37 in. may represent the rate of evaporation which takes place from running streams in exposed situations ; the rate of 2028 in. may also repre- sent that of canals and reservoirs of still water,

Mr. Howard also gives a condensed tabular statement of the mean evaporation coiresponding with the different seasons, and their mean temperatures, as follows : —

I"- Winter . . 3-587 Evaporation. 37-20 Temperature.

„ 4806

GO-80 49-13

This is considerably in excess of Mr. Daniell's total evaporation, but that may be accounted for by the different conditions under which the observations were made.

]\rr. Danicll estimates the rate at which this process proceeds near London during the several months of the year as follows : —

Spring	8-856
Summer	. 11-580
Autumn	. 6-440

	Inches.		Inches.
January .	. 0-413	July .	. 3-293
February	. 0-733	Augnst	. 3-327
March \	. 1-488	September .	. 2-620
April	. 2-290	October	. 1-488
May	. 3-286	November	. 0-770
June	. 3-760	December	. 0-516

The smallest quantity of water is therefore lifted into the air during the month of January, and the greatest in June. The mean quantity held in solution in a cubic foot of air is said to be 3*789 gr.

IMr. Leslie invented an instrument for the purpose of measuring the exhalation from a humid surface in a given time, which he called an atmometer. He estimated that the daily exhalation from a sheltered surface of water, in the neighbourhood of London, would, at the mean dryness of winter, lower it 0-01 8 in. in 24 hours; and at the mean dryness of summer as much as 0-048 in. The effect of the winds upon the amount of evaporation is, however, a very important element of all such calculations ; it is sometimes augmented five or even ten times. In general, this augmentation is proportional to the sv,iftness of the wind; the action of still air itself being reckoned equal to that produced by a speed of 8 miles an hour.

20

LONDON — CLIMATE.

The greatest known evaporation in a month bas attained as mucb as 6 inches ; the least 0'21 in. In the month of March, 180.9, during 3 days a very extraordinary evaporation took place. On the I7tli it was 0-39; on the 18th 0*28 ^ and on the 19th 0-14 in.

Bain. — The quantity of rain which falls near London is dif- ferently stated by Mr. Daniell and Mr. Howard. The former states that the average is 23^^^ inches in the year ; the latter, that the average from his observations between 1797 to 1819, or 23 years, was 25*179 in. The latter quuantity is usually considered correct. The years which gave the greatest amount of rain were 1816, when it amounted to 32*37 in., and 1797 when it was equal to 29*996 in. Those which gave the least were 1807, Avhen it was 18*01 in., and 1802, Avhen it was 18*428 in. Subsequent observations made at Greenwich have shown that in the year 1841 the rain-fall was not less than 33*26 in. ; in 1840 it was 16*43 in. only, and in 1847, 17*61 in. The mean of these observations at Greenwich made be- tween the years 1838 and 1849 was, however, 24*84 in., approaching sufficiently near to the mean given by Mr. Howard from his ob- servations made at a lower level ; for it is a well-known law of the fall of rain " that smaller quantities have been observed to be deposited in high than in low situations, even though the difference of altitude should be considerable."

The quantity of rain which falls in the different months is calculated by Mr. Daniell, and was observed by Mr. Howard, to be as under ; the third column contains the number of days during which the rain fell in each month, as given by Mr. Howard : —

Montlis.	Daniell.	Howard,	Days.	No. of days' rain in six months.	Quantity of rain in six months.
January . . .	1-483	1-907	14-4
February . . .	0-746	1-643	15-8
March	1-440	1-542	12-7
April .... May ....	1-786 1-853	1-719 2-036	14*0 15-8
June ....	1-830	1-964	11*8	84*5	10*811
July ....	2-516	2-592	16-1
August . . .	1-453	2-134	16-3
September October	2-193 2-073	1-644 2-872	12-3 16-2
November	2-400	2-637	15-0
December . . .	2-426	2-489	17-7	93-6	14*368
Totals . .	22-199	25*179	178-1	178-1	25*179

LONDON — CLIMATE. 21

There is a little discrepancy between the total resiiltinc: from tlic subdivision of Mr. Daniell's calculations and the average total of 23 ,\,th he gives elsewhere. But the two sets of observations agree iu this — that the month of February is the driest, because the shortest perhaps, in the year, and that the month of July is the wettest. In fact, Mr. Danicll s calculations were far from having been made with the care of the more veteran observer,. Mr. Howard : we find that the former states the mean rain fall, as obtained from seventeen years' records at Chiswick, to be different from both the quantities he had previously given, for he quotes it at 24*1 Gin., and he makes the mean evaporation equal to 29"o98 in. in the same epoch.

The greatest quantity known to have fallen in twenty-four hours is 2-05 in. The proportion of what falls when the sun is above the horizon is only f rds of that which falls when it is below it.

Mr. Ho^^'ard states that the quantity of rain which falls in the different seasons is as follows : —

	Eain.	Mean Temp.
Winter .	5-808 inches.	37-20°
Spring	4-813 „	48-06
Summer .	G-682 „	GO-80
Autumn .	7-441 „	49-13

The same author observed that one year in five is exposed to the dry extreme, whilst one year in ten is exposed to that of wet. The warm years are generally dry ; the cold ones damp.

Fogs. — The local phenomenon of the frequence of fogs in the dis- trict of the immediate neighbourhood of London appears, firstly, to be owing to the presence of the river; and, secondly, to the fact that the superior temperature of the town produces results precisely similar to those we find to occur upon rivers and lakes. The cold damp cur- rents of the atmosphere, which cannot act upon the air of the country districts, owing to the equality of their specific gravity, when they encounter the warmer and lighter strata over the town displace the latter, intermixing with it, and condensing its moisture. Fogs thus are often to be observed in London, whilst the surrounding country is entirely free from them. The peculiar colour of the London fogs appears to be owing to the fact that during their prevalence the ascent of the coal smoke is impeded, and that it is thus mixed with the condensed moisture of the atmosphere. As is well known, they are often so dense as to require the gas to be lighted in midday, and they cover the town with a most dingy and depressing pall. They also frequcntlv exhibit the peculiarity of increasing density after their first formation, M'hicli appears to be owing to the descent of fresh currents of cold air towards the lighter regions of the atmo.sphere.

They do not occur when the wind is iu a dry quarter, as for in- stance when it is in the east ; notwithstanding that there may be

22 LONDON CLIMATE.

very considerable difference in the temperature of the air and of the water, or the ground. The peculiar odour which attends tlie London fogs has not yet been satisfactorily explained, although the uniformity of its recurrence and its very marked character would appear to chal- lenge elaborate examination. In all probability it arises from some modification of the atmosphere, which must have considerable in- fluence upon the sanitary state of the metropolis. It is possible tliatj to a certain extent, it may be attributed to the chemical nature of the strata upon which the town is built. At least this is certain — that in many isolated cases wells, formed through the London clay, give forth a very considerable amount of the sulphuretted hydrogen gas, which seems to produce the characteristic odour of the fogs in question.

Dews. — Dews exercise a considerable influence on the state of the atmosphere with respect to the amount of evaporation, or rather to the balance of the hygrometric causes. In our latitudes they are supposed to yield as much as 5 in. per annum, or a quantity equal to nearly li\\ of the total rain fall. Mr. Howard noticed that in one night as much as 7 jjth of an inch was collected in a rain gauge.

The greatest quantity of dew falls from a little before sunset to a little after sunrise, its proximate cause depending on the diminution of temperature between those periods, which acts to cause the atmosphere to deposit the moisture it holds in suspension. The difl'erence in the temperature which produces this effect is greatest in the day and night seasons of spring and autumn, when as much as from 20 to 80 degrees are often found to exist between them in the neighbourhood of London. A calm clear atmosphere is necessary for the deposition of dews, which in this differ from mists (whose origin is nearly the same), for they deposit at all times of day or night, and in all states of the atmosphere. The abundance of dew depends on the large quantity of moisture suspended in the atmosphere at the moment of the action of the immediate causes. Hence it is most copious on calm clear nights, succeeded by misty and foggy mornings. In England, heat and dry weather are rarely accompanied by dews ; the greatest amount falls after rain in cool summer nights, generally with southerly and easterly winds, with a depression of the barometer. Hoar fiost, the ice of dew, is common in the winter months, and it is regarded as a sure sign of "wet weather.

Mr. Daniell calculated the mean dew point at 44°'31 from the average of a series of observations made between the years 1826 to 1842 at Chisvv'ick, where they were carried on at a height of 14 ft. above high-water mark. The range of the dew point was between 79° and 0^. The mean elastic force of the vapour was 0*342 in., varying between 0-973 and 0051 in.; a cubit foot containing on the average 3"80G grains of moisture at that position.

The dew point Mas lowest with northerly and easterly winds ; highest when they were southerly. It Avould also appear that a differ-

LONDON CLIMATE. 23

IS ol)serval)lc wlien they Llew from tlic sea or from the land, her of ohscrvatioiis of the relation between the direction of the lud the deu" point gave the following resuUs; the first nnmbers lose upon A^hich the mean was based, the last the mean dew

87 North	. 40-1	113 North-east	. 40-7
^0 East	. 42-3	111 South-east	. 45-G
70 South	. 48-7	225 South-west	. 48-0
15 West	. 44-8	174 North-west	. 41-3

frical Phenomena. — Electrical phenomena act constantly, but

, with much energy, in the latitude of the London basin.

Ihuuder storms occur in the warm summer months, re-establishing the balance of the electrical states of the moisture suspended in the atmosphere. But, as they take place usually with a feeble tempera- ture, they are seldom violent, nor are they accompanied by the terrific hail which desolates warmer countries. They usually are accompanied bv copious rains in summer ; when they happen in winter they are often accompanied by the nearest approaches to hurricanes we are I ted with. The Aurora Borealis occasionally visits the neigh- ed of London, but seldom lasts for any great length of time. , >\ — Storms and heavy gales of wind are principally confined u inter months. When they arise from the north-east they are aiiuost exclusively confined to the time during which the sun is above the 1.! rizon. When they arise from the south-west, they occur whilst he IK i elow it. Hurricanes able to root up trees, blow dov.n houses, '■oil ' ■ lead, and in fact to exercise the full power of those tremendous ons, hajipen very rarely, but they are by no means unknown in mate. Their recurrence does not seem to be more frequent once in ten years.

-ingular connection has been observed between the direction of

lid and the chemical action going on in the strata composing

ndon basin, to which we have alluded in the previous part of

'(■r. The sulphuretted hydrogen they give forth is found to

\\ the greatest abundance in wet Aveather, when the wind is

ritni \hQ south and the west ; it is the least when the wind is from

lie nOB'th and the east, and con.sequently the driest.

• tr. Daniell observed very justly, and the observation may well

[^de the remarks on our climate, that "' the British islands are

5d in such a manner as to be subject to all the circumstances

can possiblv be supposed to render a climate irregular and

le. Placed nearly in the centre of the temperate zone, where

ige of temperature is very great, their atmosphere is subject on

side to the impressions of the largest continent in the world,

the other to those of the vast Atlantic Ocean. Upon their

the great stream of aqueous vapour, perpetually arising from

24< LONDON — GEOLOGY.

the western waters, first receives the influence of the land, whence emanate those condensations and expansions which deflect and reverse the grand system of equipoised, currents. They are also within the filgorlfic eflfects of the immense harriers and fields of Ice which, when the shifting position of the sun advances the tropical climate tow^ards the northern pole, counteract its energy, and present a condensing surface of enormous extent to the Increasing elasticity of the aqueous atmosphere." When causes so numerous and so powerful act to produce Irregularities, it is Impossible to do more than state the laws which act over long periods of time. They have only been care- fully studied of late years, so that it is probable that many of the generalizations given above may hereafter be considerably modified. But " amidst all the uncertainty and seeming confusion arising from these complications general principles may still be recognised, and it Is believed that the more they are studied the more obvious they will appear."

List of Authors consulted.

Luke Howard. — Climate of London. 3 vols. 8vo. Lond. 1833.

„ A Cycle of Eighteen Years in the Climate of Great Biitain, &c.

8vo. Lond. 1842. Daniell, J. F. — Elements of Meteorology. 3 vols. 8vo. Lond. 1845. Leslie, Professor. — In Encj'clopajdia Britannica. British Almanac and Companion from 1830 to 1850 jjassm.

Section 3. Geology. — The Thames, from its source to its out- fall, traverses the series of formations which lie upon the oolites of central England, following In its course a valley which, in its present configuration at least. Is, comparatively speaking, modern. Within the historical periods no change appears to have taken place, beyond those produced by the gradual contraction of the width of the stream, especially towards Its embouchure ; but modern works have brought to light traces of what would Induce us to believe that partial modifi- cations had taken place subsequently to the peopling of the Island. The configuration of the strata in some of the lower portions of the hydrographical basin, however, indicate that this district must, at a remoter geological epoch, have presented nearly similar outlines to those It does at the present day, although at a much lower level^. in comparison with that of the ocean. The present course of the Thames, in fact, appears to have been as it were traced out for It, before the surface of the main land assumed Its present form.

GeGlogy of the Ridge hounding the Thames. —"Ihe outline of the basin may be described thus, commencing from the south-eastern extremity. In the portion between Gravesend and the valley of the^^ Darent, the basin of the Thames is separated from that of the Med- * way by a ridge of chalk hills, capped by the middle tertiary strata of the eocene formations, which occupy so large a surface round Lon- don. The valley of the Darent is, for the lower part, entirely In

LONDON — GEOLOGY. 25

tlic clialk, altliongli the river itself rises in an elevated ridge of the lower green sand, which continnes the line of demarcation between the two rivers just mentioned. In all probability the tertiary strata were continued across the valley during the epoch of their deposi- tion ; and they were carried away by the current which formed the actual watercourse of this transverse valley. The sources of the Darent are near Godstone, and it traverses narrow beds of the gault clay, and of the upper green sand, before entering into that portion of its course where it iiows only through the clialk. The ridge of the Thames basin continues to be formed by the subcrctaceous forma- tions until we arrive at the neighbourhood of lleigate, where they arc capped by the Weald clay, and even for a short distance by the beds of the Hastings sand. One of the branches of the Mole takes its origin from these beds ; and they divide its A^'atershcd from that of the Ouse.

The ridge of the basin then abruptly bends in a direction north- Mcst by west, and is covered by the Weald clay and the lower o-rcen sands, which formations prevail in those portions of the district through which runs the affluent of the Wey, passing near Godalming. This portion of the boundary ridge divides the watershed of the Wey from that of the Arun, and pours its waters towards the north in rather a less degree than to the south.

The upper green sands form the houndary of the basin in that portion drained by the branch of the Wey which runs n^ar Guild- ford, through Farnham, from near Alton. Near Alton they appear to have been removed, for we again find the chalk, which continues to form the surface of the hydrographical basin, with an elevated rid<>-e of an irregular outline, and a direction nearly due west, through Whitchurch, Marlborough, &c., to near Calne, in Wiltshire. The affluents of the Thames we have mentioned as flowing from the subcretaceous formations in this southern part of its basin, are obliged to find their outlet into the main stream through narrow gorges in the chalk formation, which exhibits in this part of England very distinct traces of great and regular disturbances. An inspection of any geological map will show that at some antecedent epoch the clialk must have formed the boundary of two estnaries, situated on what now constitute the eastern and the south-eastern shores of England, with a third basin towards the south. The outlines of these estuaries are formed by very distinct ridges in the chalk, one of which, bounding the basin of London clay, know^n specifically by the name of the London basin, crosses England in nearly a straioht line from Dover to near Devizes, running due east and west. It then turns off at an angle of about 3.5'', and runs again noarly in a straight line, in a direction about north-easterly, to the sea shore, between King's Lynn and Cromer; forming the two sides of a tri- angle, now filled in bv the London clav. The other basin on the

26 LONDON — GEOLOGY.

south is nearly parallel to tins, or at least tlie outline of tlio clialk ridge, which bounds it to the north, is parallel to that of London. It begins on the sea shore near Eastbourne, runs through Winchester, Shaftsburv, to near Bcaminster, and then returns at a sharp angle towards the sea near Dorchester, inclosing the narrow basin of the eocene formations, known as the Hampshire basin. The south- eastern basin, or ancient estuary, appears to have been filled up under different cosmical circumstances, and to have owed its separate existence to movements in the chalk which took place in a different direction to those forming the outline of the eocene tertiary basins. The antiquity of the Wealdean formation is supposed to be greater than that of the London clay ; and on the south-eastern coast of England it occupies the region between the two parallel ridges of the chalk above mentioned, being bounded on the west by a transverse ridge joining those running from the east to the west.

Kesuming our description of the boundary of the basin of the Thames, we find that it is formed near Calne by the lower green sands, and that soon afterwards the middle oolite rises to the surface, giving place to the lower division of that series which continues as far as the head of the Colne near Brock worth. The direction of this ridge is nearly north ; thence it diverges towards the east to the sources of the Charwell, continuing in the district of the lower oolite. From the sources of this river the ridge bends in a southerly direc- tion to the neighbourhood of Twyford in the middle oolite ; thence it runs easterly round the sources of the Thame, passing through the upper oolite, and the lower green sand. The clialk formation then again forms the bounding ridge, which separates the valley of the Thames from tliat of the Ouse and its affluents. It continues in an easterly direction, bearing rather towards the north to beyond Bunt- ino-ford, bendin"; round the sources of the Lea, and the Stort. 'J'he direction of the ridge then becomes southerly, and is entirely formed by an elevation of the London clay, passing through Dunmow, Great Waltham, Chelmsford, Biliericay, to near Grey's Thurock, where the chalk reappears.

Areas. — In so irregularly defined an area it is almost imposs'ble to ascertain with precision the relative surfaces occupied by the different formations. The difiiculty is increased by the number of the strata which outcrop in some portions of the district, and the very narrow zones they occupy in regions where the perfect cultiva- tion of the soil renders it impossible to make very accurate investi- gations. If, however, we assume the total surface of the hydro- graphical basin of the Thames as being 6025 square miles, we may calculate that the oolitic formations occupy 2000 of them ; the cre- taceous formations 102.5; and the tertiary formations 2100 square miles. In this calculation we have neglected the subdivisions of the different groups, for the reasons above stated.

LONDON GEOLOGY. 27

Gcoloijif of the ^Vatc}'CO^(rscs. — Following the coiiv.-cs of tlic afllu- cnts of the Tliaiiics, wo find tliat the rivers which rise ahove Lech- lade take their source in the lower oolite of the Cotswold Hills; ex- cepting the Key, which rises in the Oxford clay, and the Cole, which is furnished from the impcraieahle strata of the ganlt. From Lech- lade the course of the river is in the Oxford clay, to a point near the junction of the Char\\'ell, A\hich, after rising in the lower, traverses the middle oolite for a short distance, and then joins the Isis, after traversing, like it, the Oxford clay. The Isis thence continues in the upper oolite, or the Kinimeridge clay, for some distance; then it winds its way through the gault to a point at Shillingford near Dorchester, ^\here the Thame, whose origin and course are nearly all in the upper oolite, falls in. The Ock has its course entirely in the upper oolite.

The Thames then flows through the suhcretaceous green sand formations as far as Goring ; and there it traverses a gorge in the chalk, and continues at the bottom of a valley in that formation to Bray, near Windsor, receiving in its way the Kennet, whose origin is entirely in the chalk, and whose valley is covered by a red clay, ]irobablv derived from the destruction of the strata which occupied the position of the existing valley, or from the drift to be noticed hereafter.

The course of the Thames thence to its embouchure is entirely through the tertiary formations. The alluvial deposits, however, assume, near Fulham, so great importance as almost to be entitled to be considered a distinct formation. Before arriving at that point, liowevcr, the Loddon, whose entire course is in the London clay, falls in ; then the Colne, from the chalk, traversing near its junction the lovver tertiaries; then the Brent, from the blue clay only; the Wey and the Mole fi'oni the suhcretaceous foraiations, and which, as said before, force their streams through gorges in the chalk into the tertiary valley ; then the Wandle, which flows entirely through the clay ; bear down to the Thames the 'waters which flow from their respective districts. The Lea rises in the chalk, but the more im- portant part of its course is in the tertiary formations ; the Ravens- bourne, the Ptoding, the Ingerburn, and the eastern aftiuents on the north banks of the Thames, are entirely furnished by the London tertiaries. The Daren t, and its confluent the Cray, traverse that formation only for a very short distance after leaving the valleys in the chalk through which they flow from the bounding ridge.

The parallelism of the more ancient strata in their course from sea to sea is very remarkable, although theie necessarily exist very great flexures, and irregularities in the details of their outlines. Their re- currence in the opposite portions of the European continent has also an interest to the geological observer, as indicating the outlines of the ocean, at whose bottom the cretaceous formations were quietly

c 2

28 LONDON GEOLOGY.

deposited during the countless aires necessary for tlie development of such extensive phenomena. The alternations of chemical and me- chanical action evinced by the diiferent natures of the strata, the traces of frequent changes of level both by elevation and subsidence, render the examination of this branch of the science of the highest interest.

Oolitic Formations. — The district which forms the hydrographi- cal basin of the Thames does not in any part touch upon the main division of the secondary strata knowTi as the lias, although in many cases it approaches it very closely, and a detached outlying patch of the lias occurs not far from the head of the Evenlode. The eleva- tion of the oolites is not very great, and the outlines of the hills (wherever they do exist) are rounded, with a gentle inclination to- wards the valleys, especially on the eastern side. The highest point in the Cotswold range, near the sources of the Colne, is 1134 ft. above the mean level of the sea. The Broadway Beacon is 1086 ft. ; the ex- treme height of the spur which divides the valley of the Windrush from the Evenlode is only 883 ft. high. The range of hills known as the Edge Hills, between the heads of the Evenlode and the Charwell, does not exceed 686 ft.; and the central table land forming on the north the watershed of the Nen, and that of the Charwell on the south, is only 366 ft. above the sea. From this cause the execu- tion of the navigable canals between the various basins of central England was rendered comparatively speaking easy, and free from expensive works.

The strata of the oolitic series are worked to some extent for the purpose of supplying building stone, and lime for local demands ; the qualities of those found in the precise localities comprehended in the basin of the Thames are not, however, such as to cause them to be much sought after for the use of the metropolis. The only stones, in fact, which are known in the London market as coming from this geological district, are the Painswick and the Ketton stones, although the Bath and the Portland oolites are both furnished from other j^ortions of the oolitic formations. In the Oxford clays the se2:)taria are met Avith in considerable quantities, but hardly under the ccii- ditions requisite for their being profitabl}- converted into cement. Hydraulic limes might be obtained from some of the argillaceous beds in the proximity to the Oxford and the Kimmeridge clays ; but sufficient attention does not yet appear to have been devoted to this branch of economic geology.

The fossil remains contained in the oolites of central England are so thoroughly described in the scientific treatises upon geology, that it would be presumptuous to endeavour to condense what has been written on the subject, in our necessarily imperfect sketch. The oc- currence of the jaw-bones of the Didelphys in the Stonesfield slates is, however, of too great interest not to be mentioned. These speci-

LONDON — GEOLOGV. 2i)

mens arc tlic onlv aiUlicntlc ones known by Avliicli tlic existence of viviparous mammalia, during the secondary periods, is demonstrated ; and tlicv arc the more remarkahle that, altliough five jaw-bones have been discovered, no other remains of the animals arc to be met with. In the formations of a more recent date, also, tliere is a complete absence of mammalian remains until mc arrive at the tertiary epoch. Tlic jaw-bones alluded to are found in the Stoneslield slates worked near Oxford, in the Cotswold Hills.

Subcretaccous Formations. — The oolitic strata dip in all directions, in a kind of basin-like form, immediately covered by the cretaceous formations, divided by geologists into the subcretaccous deposits and the chalk proper. The former outcrop, as ^^c have seen, over con- siderable areas of the district under our notice, being separated from the oolites by the Weald clay and the Kirameridge clay. These beds, being impermeable, hold up the waters which filtrate through the exposed surfaces of the subcretaccous formations, constituting these latter into subterranean reservoirs of ^vater, from which, as IMr. Prestwich justly observes, it is very probable that a large supply might be obtained by means of artesian wells. Geologists classify the subcretaccous beds as follows : — Firstly, and immediately upon the upper members of the oolitic series, vre find the lower green sand of very variable thickness. Secondly, the ganlt clay, interposed be- tween tbe upper and lower green sand, Avhich last forms the third member of the series, and immediately underlies the chalk.

Mr. Prestwich describes the lower green sand as consisting of a series of beds of loose sands and soft sandstones, with subordinate beds of clav, and groups of argillaceous strata ; the sands, however, on the whole predominate largely. It thins out from east to west; for at Hvthe, according to Dr. Fitton, it is 40G ft. thick, whereas at Devizes it is only from 13 to 20 ft. thick. At this latter place its superposition upon the Kimmcridge clay and the oolite may be dis- tmctly observed.

Wherever the gault outcrops between the sands of the subcre- taccous formations it forms valleys which, when uncultivated, are covered by rushes and plants affecting low and damp situations. It is sometimes laminated, and often the planes of its deposition are traceable by interposed beds of sand, or by courses of small nodules. Its mineral ogical composition may be regarded as being a calcareous loam usually of a blue colour ; sometimes it attains a thickness of about 100 ft. In the basin of the Tbames it does not appear to be worked for the purposes of commerce.

The upper green sand, in this differing from the lower, augments in volume as we proceed from east to west. At the first points where its thickness has been ascertained, viz., at Godstone, it is from 20 to 30 ft. thick; at Farnhani it is nearly 100 ft.; near Walling- ton 70 ft.; at Wantage 100 ft.; in the vale of Pewscy, and at

30 LONDON— GEOLOGY.

Devizes, 140 ft., according to the researches of Mr. Prestwich. It is very uniform in its lithological structure : the upper division con- sisting of sands, occasionally mixed with clay; the lower, of soft, thin-hedded, or fissile calcareous sandstone. At Godstone this is quarried to a considerahle extent, and used under the name of fire- stone, in the construction of such works as are required to resist a moderate open fire. At Mitfield and at Reigate are outlying deposits of fullers'- earth, varying from 7 to 17 ft. in depth, and which have been worked for many years. They contain occasionally crystals of the sulphate of harytes. Near Farnham the upper green sandstones are quarried for building purposes ; but it is to be observed that they assume there the character of argillaceous limestones. Near the same town of Farnham the green sands and the gault, ^^'here it appears, contain nodules of phosphate of lime, which are sometimes used in agriculture as a substitute for bone-dust.

The characteristic fossils of the subcretaceous formations are, the Exogyra sinuata, the Nucula pectinata, Inoceramus concentricus, Pli- catula placunea, the Scaphites, species of Turrilites, Baculites, and the Ammonites monile. The teeth of sharks are also of frequent oc- currence.

At Woburn there is also a detached outlier of fullers' earth, which is worked to a considerable extent. Rather to the north-west of Thame is a pit from ^A'hich ochre is obtained ; and at Croydon, in the same geological division, is a quarry from ^^hich a kind of fire- clay is obtained.

Chalk. — The chalk formation is superposed on these beds of sand, from which the main body of the chalk is separated by a bed of chalk-marl, of a light gray colour, inclining to brown, frequently stained by the presence of oxide of iron. It is usually soft and friable ; and it consists principally of carbonate of lime and alumina, with an intermixture of silica. A small proportion of iron, and oc- casionally of oxide of manganese, are also present. Sulphuret of iron and spicular crystals of carbonate of lime are also frequently to be met with.

The chalk-marl is extensively quarried for the purpose of supply- ing the London market with lime. The quality it produces is, on the average, a moderately hydraulic lime, of which that furnished by the neighbourhood of Merstham and Dorking are characteristic sam- ples. Smeaton mentions that he employed, in some of his canal works, a lime, from his description, far superior to those just men- tioned, obtained by the burning of a variety of the chalk-marl found near Guildford, and known by the local designation of clunch. With the present facilities for its transport offered by the railways and canal, it were to be desired that attention were again called to it.

The chalk itself is somewhat arbitrarily divided by the geological WTiters into the upper, middle, and lower chalk ; although it is ex-

LONDON — GEOLOUy. 31

trcmely difficult to say decidedly ^vlierc tlic one Logins or tlic others end. The most natural division seems to be, that of the chalk with- out flints, the lower and harder beds, which are also less white, and sometimes varied by green or red grains ; and of the chalk Mitli flints, the upper and softer series. The latter is of a purer white and of a softer texture than the inferior strata, but in other respects presents no sensible difference. It is regularly stratified, and sepa- rated by horizontal layers of silicious nodules into beds, that vary from a i'cw inches to several feet in thickness, and which are tra- versed by obliquely vertical veins of tabular flint, that may be traced for many yards without interruption. These are sometimes disposed horizontally, and form a continuous layer of thin flint of considerable extent. To continue the description so elegantly given by Dr. Mantell, '• The nodular masses of flint are very irregular in form, and variable in magnitude — some of them scarcely exceeding the size of a bullet, Mhile others are several feet in circumference. Although thickly distributed in horizontal beds or layers, they are never in contact with each other, but ever}'' nodule is completely surrounded by chalk. Their external surface is composed of a white opaque crust ; in- ternally they are of various shades of gray inclining to black, and often containing cavities lined with chalcedony and crystallized quartz."

The minerals of the chalk are confined entirely to isolated speci- mens of quartz and chalcedony, with occasional nodules of the sul- phuret of iron. The animal remains, on the contrary, are very numerous. They consist of zoophytes ; bones, palates, and scales of fish; not less than 300 species of shells, mostly pelagian; traces of confervse and fuci ; water-worn and worm-eaten fragments of dico- tyledonous wood ; bones and teeth of several oviparous quadrupeds, but none of mammalia. Commercially, the chalk is quarried for the purpose of making lime, the qualities of which, as is well known, are only adapted for internal works. Occasionally the chalk becomes harder and denser in its grain, and is then used as a building stone in the localities in which it is found. The conversion into lime is, however, the principal use to Avhich chalk is turned in our country, for which its superior adaptation to agricultural j^i^n'P^^^^ renders it a highly important mineral production.

The hills of the chalk are not very lofty, and they are easily dis- tinguishable in a landscape by the rounded form, and the absence of abrupt escarpments in their outlines. The greatest elevations they attain in the vallev of the Thames are, in the Chiltern range, at Kensworth Hill, of 904 ft., and at Nettlebed Hill, of 820 ft. above the sea, respectively. In the North Downs, Inkpen Beacon attains a height of 1011 ft.; Hind Head, of 923 ft.; and Leith Hill, 993 ft.

From the peculiar mechanical structure of the chalk, in such

32 LONDON — GEOLOGY.

places as it is exposed, if the rain-water is not immediately thrown off by the declivity of the valleys, it is rapidly absorbed into the body of the formation. Wherever, then, the chalk is not covered with beds of drift clay, the streams it furnishes are few, and insignificant in volume. Compared with the other formations, certainly the chalk, area for area, yields less to the river than they do. The af- fluents of the Thames which arc furnished by it, we also find to run through valleys in which the drift clay occurs to a great extent, as in the case of the Kennet, the Colne, and the Lea. In the valley of the Kennet, we may also mention that large beds of peat are met with, and that they are worked to some extent near Newberry.

The existence of the impermeable bed of chalk-marl under the main body of this formation also has a considerable influence on tlie formation of springs in the valleys where it is exposed. In the cases in which the marl outcrops on the hill sides, the waters, filter- ing through the superincumbent mass of the chalk, work their way through the portions immediately upon the marl ; for the nature of that stratum opposes itself to their further descent, and the hydro- statical pressure upon the upper vv'aters forces them to flow away at the points in which there is no counteracting resistance. We thus find in many of the chalk valleys that copious perennial springs are to be met with; even though the hills which surround them become perfectly dry immediately after a fall of rain, however copious.

London Clay. — The chalk formation is immediately covered, in the basin of the Thames, by a considerable deposit, classed by mo- dern geologists in the eocene tertiary series. It is of very con- siderable thickness, and, as we have before seen, it performs an important part in the hydrography of the district, from the extent of country it covers, and the manner in which it throws off the surface waters. The name of the London clay has been applied to the whole division, which is capable of subclassification into, firstly, the plastic clays; and secondly, into the London clay proper.

The plastic clays immediately overly the chalk, and are met with in various thicknesses, M'herever that formation outcrops from under the tertiaries. The character of the plastic clays is not uniform, for, again to quote the words of Mr. Prest^vich, " it exhibits in many places variations in its structure and fauna." In the neighbourhood of Newberry and Reading are mottled clays, interstratified with beds of sand, and generally underlied by a bed abounding with the Ostrea bellovacina. At Woolwich, Charlton, and Bromley, the chalk is overbed by unfossiliferous sands, succeeded by a mixed series of clays and sands M-ith flint pebbles, and containing many organic re- mains of fresh water and estuary origin. At Heme Bay and in the Isle of Thanet there exists a thicker and more important series of sands, sometimes in part very argillaceous, at others much mixed with green sand, and many of the beds of which abound with marine

LONDON — GEOLOGY. S3

fossils — tlic flnviatilc beds of Woolwicli, aiul tlic mottled clays of tlic Avcstcrn districts, having in these places completely disappeared.

The plastic clay formation is most largely developed in the eastern portion of the basin of the Thames. In passing under London its composition changes very materially from what it is in the north-east of Kent, and its united thickness diminishes until it arrives at the extreme western outcrop. The greatest thickness in the portion first named is about 120 ft.; under London it is 75 ft.; at Claremont 60 ft. ; and finally, at Hungerford, 48 ft. It is from the beds con- stituting this formation that the artesian wells of the metropolis derive their supplies ; but Mr. Prcstwich accounts for their small value by the fact, that the uninterrupted flow of the water is pre- vented by two lines of disturbance, or faults, which traverse the dis- trict nearly at right angles one to another.

The fossils of the plastic clay consist of numerous species of testacea and occasionally the bones of vertebrated animals, such as reptiles or fish. In the London basin no traces of mammalia arc to be met with, though in the Isle of Wight bones of the Anoplotlierium have been found. Fossil plants, in the form of lignites, are sufficiently common.

Commercially, the plastic clay formations furnish earths admirably adapted for the manufacture of pottery ; and it is to their adaptation to such purposes that the whole series owes its name. The sandy loams, also, are much used by iron-founders, for the purpose of making the moulds into which the iron is run from the furnaces. The plastic clay does not offer any hills worth our notice.

Upon the beds of the plastic clay those more particularly known by the designation of the London clay are deposited, in a manner usually conformable. It may be defined as a mass of dark -bluish clay occasionally brown at the outskirts, evidently of an origin similar to what we can now trace in estuaries ; of very great extent and con- siderable thickness. Some of the lower beds assume at times dif- ferent characters, and are yello^^ish-white, or variegated, unctuous, laminated, and in their chemical position partake of the nature of calcareous marls. The upper beds arc most frequently brown, and near the top mixed with light-coloured sands, in sufficient quantities to form a good brick earth A\ithout mixture, the middle beds being mostly bluish-gray, as before said. Green sands are occasionally- interspersed, at others rounded fiint pebbles also, in these lower parts of the formation. The colour of the main body of the clay often becomes brown, with an appearance of being bedded, and with nodules of scptaria dispersed in layers over a considerable extent. The fossils contained are very numerous and beautiful, especially near the Island of Sheppey, where the continual inroads of the sea expose them in great abundance. Sir C. Lyell states that as many as from 300 to 400 species of testacea arc found in the London clay;

c 3

34 LONDON — GEOLOGY.

an immense number of tlie ligneous seed-vessels of plants, of species now confined to tropical regions, and the bones of crocodiles and turtles, are also found in it, but no remains either of mammalia or of birds were discovered until of late years. Professor Owen has, however, recognised the bones of Quadrumana in some positions of the clay. The nodules of septaria are collected to a very great extent upon the shore of the Isle of Sheppey, for the purpose of making the Roman cement so much used in engineering and architectural works. Mineralogically, the septaria may be defined as being an argillaceous carbonate of lime, traversed by veins of crystallized carbonate of lime ; it is either of a bluish or an ochreous-brown colour, according to the strata in which it occurs. Crustaceous fossil remains are often inclosed in the nodules.

The Island of Sheppey also yields large quantities of the proto- sulphate of iron, or the absurdly-named copperas of commerce. It is used principally in the manufacture of ink and of prussian-blue. The sulphuret of iron is also found in the London clay, but hardly in sufiicicnt quantities to render its extraction of commercial value. Crystals of the selenite, or the starry gypsum, frequently occur, but that mineral is also very irregularly distributed, nor is it met with in such proportions as to be of use. When the London clays are of a red colour, from the presence of ochreous iron, they are used for the manufacture of bricks.

The elevations of the hills in the London clay of the basin of the Thames in no case exceed G20 ft., which is that of Langdon Hill in Essex. In Epping Forest there is also a hill 390 ft. high ; and at Highgate the clay, capped by the Bagshot sand, attains a height of 450 ft. above the mean level of the sea. The outlines of these hills are even more rounded than those of the chalk, and the valleys are also less precipitate in their falls. The effect of these conditions of form, combined with the retentive nature of the material, is to render the London clays more adapted to furnish the supplies of water they derive from the rain-fall to the rivers. It is indeed cha- racteristic of this group, that it throws oflf a greater number of streams in proportion than any other. But, at tlie same time, we must observe, that if no outfall be given to the surface water, and it cannot escape through the land, but lies upon it, the London clay is marshy and unhealthy. The extreme thickness of this formation is supposed to be about 620 to 650 ft.

The London clay is covered in some portions of its area by a series of beds called the Bagshot sands, which lie conformably upon it in the district beginning near Esher and Claremont on the east, to Heckfield and Strathfieldsaye on the west. They extend from near Farnham on the south, to Wokingham on the north, with outliers on the top of Hampstead Hill, Harrow, Highgate, as also near Eppiug, Havering-atte-Bowcr, Brentwood, Langdon, and in the neighbour-

LONDON — GEOLOGY. 35

liood of Raylcigli, near Soutliciul. This scries consists of a mass of unfossilifcrous silicious sands, with occasional subordinate beds of fossiHfcrous green sands and marls at their base. They usually form barren sandy districts, rising over the greater part of the area they cover into ranges of moderately-elevated heath-covered hills. At the outcrop of some of the clays and marls of the lower division, and also at the outcrop of the green sands and argillaceous marls of the middle division, the country is, however, remarkably fertile. These portions arc, however, very limited in their area, when compared with the sm-face of the sands.

The area of these formations has been stated lately, by the very e(piivocal authority of the Board of Health, to be 150 superticial miles ; the best geological maps make the area much less, even including the great outlier of Hampstead and Highgate. The total thickness ranges between 400 and 500 ft., but it is hardly ever found to exist in its full extent.

I\Ir. Prestwich divides the whole formation into the three following groups ; viz. : —

Istly. The lower Bagshot sands, varying from 100 to 150 ft. in thickness, which occur near Woking, Weybridge, Virginia Water, Clarcraont, Cobham, Ripley, Ascot, and at the bottom of Hampstead Heath. They are composed of whitish and light-yellow fine silicious sands, frequently micaceous, occasionally argillaceous, with a few seams of pebbles, and mere traces of organic remains.

2ndly. The middle Bagshot sands, from 40 to 60 ft. thick. They are most extensively developed near Addlestone and Chertsey, at Shaplev Heath, Swinley, Bagshot, Chobham, Ascot, and covering the top of Hampstead Heath, ike. They consist of a few beds of dif- ferent coloured sands and clays, ■svith one or two beds of green sand containing lignite in the lower beds.

3rdly. The upper Bagshot sands, from 200 to 300 ft. thick, which are met with near Chobham Place, Frumley Heath, Bagshot, Hartford Bridge, and Sandhurst. They consist of irrcgularlv-bedded sands of a light-yellow colour, occasionally tinged with shades of green, red, and ochre.

The rare fossils contained in this bed led Mr. Prestwich to assign it a date posterior to the London clay, but anterior to the pleistocene drifts, which cover that formation in other places.

These pleistocene drifts, or, as they used to be called, diluvial deposits, are dispersed irregularly over the valley of the Thames throughout nearly the whole of its course, and were apparently brought from some elevated region towards the north and east. They are found at Maldon, Kelvedon, Braintree, Ilford, Gray's Penney, Stratford, Lcighton Buzzard, Finchley, and Muswell Hill, the Isle of Dogs, Erith, Brentford, and at other points in the upper valley of the Thames. Sir C. Wren, in his " Parentalia," describes

3G LONDON— GEOLOGY.

a set of beds existins: under the foundations of St. Paul's of precisely the same nature. They consist of a light clayey sand and ferru- ginous gravel, with boulders of quartz and granitic rocks ; portions of all the rocks of the secondary strata, with their characteristic fossils; boulders of the London clay septaria, bored by teredinse. These beds are not present in all cases, in others they are replaced by those which cover them when the series is complete, and which consist of a set of beds of sands and light-coloured clays and gravel, con- taining bones and shells ; the whole being often covered by a bed of brick earth about 4 ft. in thickness. It is to be observed that the bones and shells are far from being confined to any one of the mem- bers of the series, though they appear to be most numerous about the centre. They are highly interesting, inasmuch as they contain the remains of elephants, mammoths, aurochs, elk, reindeer, rhino- ceros, hippopotamus, tiger, &c., in connection with a large number of our present indigenous fiuviatile and terrestial mollusca.

In some localities the fossil remains of the period of deposition are wanting, and the drift consists entirely of the debris of the more ancient strata. Thus, at Muswell Hill, we find masses of chalk, chalk flints, primary and secondary rocks, and fossils of nearly every formation. In others the drift consists chiefly of stiflT blue and yel- low clay; in others it contains or rests on beds of sand and gravel, and is often overlied by a deposit of sand, gravel, and chalk flints, exceeding 50 ft. in thickness. The district over which this drift extends comprises not only the main valley of the Thames, but also the subsidiary valleys of its affluents, such as the Wey and the Mole.

The heights attained by these more recent deposits are inconsider- able; the highest points being near Winchfield, Avliere the Bagshot sands are 250 ft. above the sea; at Bagshot Heath, the most ele- vated portion of which is 463 ft. ; and, as said before, Highgate Hill, 450 ft. high.

The banks of the Thames immediately upon the present course of the river, after passing Fulham, and continuing thence to the Nore, are formed in the alluvial mud of the existing era in geology. There would appear to be strong reasons for believing that the relative levels of this portion of the river have been considerably modified, either by the subsidence of some portion of the ancient river bed, or by the rapid elevation of it ^\ithin the period in which the human race have occupied the island. We find that subterranean forests exist at Purfleet, Grays, Dagenham Marsh, and Tilbury Fort. In the Isle of Dogs a forest of this description was found at 8 ft. from the grass, consisting of elm, oak, and fir-trees, some of the former of which were 3 ft. 4 in. diameter, accompanied by human bones, recent shells, but no metals or traces of civilization. The trees in this forest were all laid from the south-east to the north-west, as if the inundation which had overthrown them came from that

LONDON — NATUI5AL HISTORY. 37

quarter. At the mouth of tlic Tlmmcs ^vc also find the sinijulnr hed apparently due to tlie accumulation of aquatic plants and the exuviic of marine infusoria wliicli Ehrenher^ calls thcDarjr.

List of Aiithors considted. LycU's Principles of Geology, Mantell's Geology of the South East Coast. Conybeare and Philipps. De la Bcche. — How to Observe, Philipps, J. — Geology. Lardner's Cycloposdia. Greenough's Map and Explanation.

Prestwich, Morris, Warburton, Mitchell, Austen, Wetherell, Ehrenberg, Buck- land. — Papers in Transactions and Journal of the Geological Society. Report of Board of Health on Water Supply, Knipe, Philipps, Betts.— Geological Maps. Malcolm's London.

Section 4. Natural History.— The Flora and the Fauna of a country like England, which has been for so many years the scene of the persevering exertions of perhaps one of the most energetic races which have figured upon the globe, must necessarily have suffered modifications so great as almost to defy our attempts to ascertain M hat they were originally. New races of plants and animals have been introduced; old ones have disappeared; according to the wants or the whims of men. Indeed, to such an extent has this been the case, that the parent stocks have either been lost altogether, or so much modified as hardly to be recognisable in many instances, or their places have been supplied by more productive varieties from other climes. The changes in the Flora are perhaps the most extra- ordinary; we will then examine them in the first instance, especially as the other divisions of organized life are so intimately connected with it.

The Flora. — According to Vlv. Loudon's summary, given in his very beautiful and elaborate work upon the Arboretum and Fruti- cetnm Britannicum, " the indigenous plants which might be classed as trees or shrubs consisted of 71 genera and 200 species. Nearly 100 of these are willows or roses; and the whole number of species are capable of being comprised in 37 groups or natural orders." In detail, they consist of —

27 deciduous trees, including 4 species of mah.s, from 30 to 60 feet high on the

average.

28 deciduous trees, whose height varied from 15 to 30 feet. 1 evergreen, the Scotch pine, from GO to SO feet high.

3 ditto, the box, tlie yew, and the holly, from 15 to 30 feet high. 65 deciduous shrubs and very low trees, from 5 to 18 feet high, including 21 roses

and 32 willows. 26 deciduous shrubs, from 1 to 5 feet, including 6 roses and 10 willows.

38 LONDON— NATURAL HISTORY.

5 evergreen shrubs, from 5 to 15 feet high.

7 ditto ditto, from 1 to 5 feet high. 1 evergreen climber, the ivy.

1 deciduous climber, the clematis vitalha.

2 deciduous twiners, the honeysuckles.

8 evergreen twiners, the brambles.

3 deciduous shrubs, the rosa arvensis, solanum dulcamara, and ruhus cceshis,

from 6 to 12 inches high. 13 evergreen shrubs, from 6 to 12 inches high. 10 deciduous shrubs, from 3 inches to 1 foot.

In the Avliole range of the native Flora, it is believed that no less than 3300 to 3400 species are to be found, of which 1437 are of the cotyledonoiis tribes, and 1893 of the acotyledonous. The former are comprised in 23 classes and 71 orders, the latter in 8 classes and 121 orders. Amongst the cotyledonous plants, in addition to the 200 species of trees and plants above mentioned, there Avere 855 perennials, 00 biennials, 340 annuals.

Amongst the perennials there were 83 grasses, principally belonging to the second division of the order graminece^ characterised by a panicled inflorescence ; the graminese also form a very considerable proportion of the biennials and of the annuals.

Amongst the acotyledonous plants it is supposed that the native Flora included 800 fungi; 18 algag; 373 lichens; 85 hepaticse ; 460 musci; 130 filices.

There were 18 sorts of edible wild fruits in the island at the period of the Roman invasion; 20 sorts of culinary plants; 20 sorts of spinaccous plants ; 3 fungi ; 8 species of algee, even now eaten occasionally ; with 6 sorts of wild flowers retained in the cultivated Flora of the present day. The cultivated corns of the present day are nearly all of foreign introduction ; for although we possessed several species of the barley {hordeum\ and the oats {civeyia)^ they Avere not such as were adapted for food.

The Romans carried into Britain, as they did into all the other countries they subjugated, an improved system of agriculture, and a vast accession to the Flora. It is to that wonderful nation that we are indebted for the plane tree, the lime, the elm, and several species of the poplar. Apples were grown in Britain before their arrival, but they introduced the pear, the damson, the cherry, peach, apricot, quince, mulberry, fig, medlar, walnut, sweet chestnut, the true service tree, many varieties of the rose, the rosemary, thyme, and arbutus and sweet bay. The greatest advantage our islands derived from their occupation is, however, without doubt, the introduction of the wheat (Jriticum hyherninii)^ which appears to have followed their progress throughout the world.

In the dark ages of the Saxon period, the British Islands, like the rest of Europe, unfortunately only retained such traces of the Roman civilization as the monks could preserve under their protection.

LONDON— NATUKv\L HISTORY. 39

Agriculture suffered like all other brauches of refinemcut. The luouks appear, however, to have cultivated nearly all the trees and plauts the Romans had introduced, and they are known to have been acquainted with the following trees and shrubs: — the birch, the aldci-, the oak, the wild or Scotch pine, the mountain ash, the juniper, the elder, the sweet gale, the dog rose, the heath, the St. John's wort, and the mislctoe.

The introduction of foreign plants seems to have taken place very slo\\ly for many years after the Conquest, for in the 16th century we find that only 89 foreign woody plants were known to be cultivated in Britain, exclusive of two varieties of laurustinus. In the ITtli century, the example set by Sir Walter Raleigh and Gerard appears to have produced some effect, for about 131 woody plants were introduced. In the 18th century greater progress was made, for 44:5 trees and shrubs were added to our arboretum; and in the first thirty years of the 19th century, not less than C99 were introduced. The efforts of Tradescant, Ray, Bishop Compton, and Evelyn, in the 17th century, contributed to these results, whilst in the 18th, Par- kinson, Sutherland, and others, laboured heartily in the cause. Their efforts were assisted by the formation of the magnificent gar- dens of Chelsea, Syon, Fulham, Kew, Woburn, Chiswick, Mount Edgecomb, and many others dispersed over the country. But about one-half of the foreign trees and shrubs which now appear in the lists of our arboretums, have been introduced within the present century, and they are nearly all natives of North America. Amongst them not more than 300 attain the dimensions of timber trees, and of these the larch is by far the most valuable. A few of the trees came from Europe, but the bulk of them were furnished by the North American continent, which has been perhaps more thoroughly explored than the other thinly inhabited parts of the globe. The Duke of IMarlborough appears to have aided the progress of our botanical acquisitions more than any other patron of the science, by the princely scale upon which the gardens at White Knights and at Blenheim were conducted. At the former establishment, near the town of Reading, that nobleman had collected an inestimable series of magnolias; the largest assemblage of the genus pinus in England; many species of the acer; fine specimens of the arbutus, tesculus, pavia, kolreuthia, &c. The other amateur botanists followed eagerly in the path thus traced for them, and it is principally owing to the exertions made since the beginning of the century, that we are in- debted for the unrivalled collections at Dropmore, Hylands, Bishop's Stoke Vicarage, Cheshunt, Cobham Hall, Barton Hall, Bagshot Park, Oakham Park, and Deepdene. The botanical gardens at Chiswick and in the Regent's Park ; the establishments of such eminent horti- culturists as the Loddiges, at Hackney; Donald's, near Woking; Buchanan, at Camberwell ; Lees, at Hammersmith ; Osborne, at Ful-

40 LONDON — NATURAL HISTORY.

ham; Kniglit, in the King's Road, Chelsea; Young, at Epsom; &c., have aided to naturalize an immense number of the new plants thus introduced.

The results obtained from the combined efforts of all these labourers in so good a cause, have been to augment the artificial Flora of the British Islands to such an extent, that the combined numbers of the native and artificial Floras ars not less than from 17,000 to 18,000. It has been ascertained by Mr. Loudon, that of the additions to the collection, the sources of supply might be grouped as follows ; —

From the European continent

„ „ Asiatic ......

„ ., African .....

„ „ North American ....

,, „ South American .... Native countries unknown ....

Total . . 13,140

in -which number are included 370 different sorts of hardy trees, supporting the vicissitudes of our climate; 100 of that number being trees from 30 to GO ft. liigh, and the remainhig 270 trees from 10 to 30 ft. high. Four hundred hardy grasses are also included in the above total.

Of course, in so lar^je a collection of foreign plants, it is not to be expected that all would thrive equally well. It is supposed, in fact, that no more than the following numbers of the different divisions can be procured in the nursery gardens : —

Hardy plants 4,580

Green-house plants . . . . 3,180

Hot-house plants .... 1,463

Annuals 820

4,169	species
2,365
2,639
644
2,353
970

Total . . 10,043

counting all the species and varieties. These include 1906 varieties of fruit trees, 154 species and 337 varieties of esculent herbaceous plants, and 2666 species and varieties of flowers.

Now, if we proceed to examine in detail the Flora of the district round London, we may consider it, firstl}', as regards the production of human food ; secondly, as regards the forest trees ; and, thirdly, as regards the wild flowers, grasses, mosses. Sec.

However v\'e may classify the separate kinds of plants, it cannot be denied that, to us at least, the production of either the grain we eat or the grasses necessary for the support of the cattle we consume, is the most important function of the vegetable world ; and it is for this reason that we consider such plants before the others. We find thus that, in the agricultural district of the valley of the Thames,

LONDON — NATURAL HISTORY. 41

tlic corns grown consist of seven species or varieties of wheat: viz., tlic iriticuui a's(iv?im, or spring corn; the t. h/jhernum^oY winter corn; t. coniposihtm; t.hirgiiunn; t. polonicum ; t.spdta; t. mono- coccum. Originally, as has been before observed, wq were indebted to the Romans for this inestimable grain; many new sorts have been tried of late years, bnt those above ennmerated are the most es- teemed. Of the ryes, supposed originally to have come from Crete, only one variety, the secale cereale^ is cultivated. Six varieties of barley are planted: the hordeum vidcfare^ common spring barley, supposed to be a native of our islands; the hordeum celeste^ or Siberian barley; //. hexastichon^ the winter barley; h. distichon^ the conmion long- cared barley; the h. distichon midurn^ the naked-cared barley; and the //. zcQcriton^ the sprat barley. Amongst the oats the avena saliva^ or the \\liite oats, are those most raised. Attempts have been made to introduce the zea mays^ or the maize, but they do not appear to have succeeded well in our climate, Avhich hardly attains a sufficiently elevated temperature to ripen it, as was predicted that it would. In the Isle of Thanet, the canary corn, or phalaris ccmaric?isis, is largely grown ; the millet, or panicum^ is also raised. The white and black mustard, the sinapis cdha and nigra; the buckwheat, or polycjo- num fagopyrum ; and the rape seed, or hrassica napus^ complete the list of the grains usually produced in the valley of Thames.

In the upper valley of its affluent the Wey, the hop, or hnnidus h/pulus, is cultivated to a great extent near Farnham, as it is also near ]\IaIdstone and Canterbury, in Kent. There are four varieties : the Flemish, Farnham, Goldlngs, and Canterbury, which are the most esteemed, besides several other local varieties.

Amongst the leguminous field plants, those principally cultivated are, the field pea, or p)i8um savitiun; the common bean, or vicia faha; the tares, or vicia sativa; lentils, or erviim lens; and phaso- lus vidgaris^ or the kidney bean. Amongst the roots cultivated in fields we may cite the potato, solanum tuhercidum; the red beet, ceta indgaris ; the mangult wurtzell, beta civa; the indigenous common turnip, or hrassica rapa^ and its variety the swedes, or hrassica rapa riitahaga; the indigenous carrot, or daucus carota; the indigenous parsnip, or jyasiinaca sativa; the cabbage, or hrassica oleracea.

The tall hay grasses most commonly cultivated are the varieties of the lolum pererine, and its congeners ; of the dactylis^ or cocksfoot ; of the holcus, or the woolly soft ; the fesiuca loliacea^ or fescue grass ; i\ic anthoxandium vernum^ or vernal grass; alopecurus pratensis^ or meadow fox-tail grass; the pca/erdlis ami trivialis^ or meadow grass; the cynosurus cristatus, or crested dog-tail grass; the lolium perenne^ or rye grass; the agrostis stolonifera^ or bent grass; the pJdeum pratense^ or cat's-tall grass ; and the avena p)uhescens^ or the wild oat; being the species most esteemed. The trifolium pratense ; the

42 LONDON — NATUKAL HISTORY.

t, medium; and t. repens ; or the red, cow, and white clover, of which the latter is indigenous; the hedymrumonohrychis^ or sainfoin; and the medicago sativa, or lucerne; are also grown largely for the purpose of feeding horses and other cattle. Many other varieties of the trifoliu77i, of the hedysarum, and of the medicayo, not only grow wild, hut are also cultivated ; the ahove named are, however, those most frequently grown near London.

Some other plants, such as the poteriuyn sanguinisorha, or the hurnet ; the plantago lajiceolata^ or ribwort plantain ; the idex Europcea^ or gorse ; the speryula arvensis, or spurry ; and the apium peiroselinum^ or parsley, are also occasionally grown in large quan- tities in fields.

In gardens, according to the popular statement of Mr. Loudon, the following plants and trees are cultivated for food, namely, of the cabbage tribe (hramca qu. oleracea ? ) seven varieties, the white, the red, the savoy, the Brussels, the borecole, the cauliflower, and the brocoli. Of the leguminose plants ; the pea, the kidney bean, and the garden bean, with their endless sub-varieties. Of esculent roots; the potato, Jerusalem artichoke, turnip, carrot, parsnip, red beet, skirret, scorzonera, salsafy, and the radish. Of the spinaceous plants; the spinach, the orache, white and sea beet, the wild spinach. New Zealand spinach, the sorrel, and herb patience. Of the alliaceous roots; the onion, leek, chive, garlic, shallot, and rocambolle. Of the aspa- raginous tribe ; the asparagus, scakale, artichoke, cardoon, rampion, and alisander. Of the acetarious tribes ; the lettuce, endive, succory, celer}^, mustard, wood sorrel, corn salad, garden cress, American cress, water cress, and the small salads. Amongst the potherbs and garnish- ings, are the parsley, purslane, tarragon, fennel, dill, chervil, horse- ladish, nasturtium, marygold, borage, &c. Amongst the sweet hci-bs, are the thyme, sage, clary, mint, marjoram, savory, basil, rose- mary, lavender, tansy, and cotsmary, or alecost. For the uses of confectionery, or medicine, the following plants are cultivated : the rhubarb, gourd, angelica, anise, coriander, caraway, rue, hyssop, cha- momile, elecampane, liquorice, wormwood, and balm ; the love apple, or tomato, the eg^^ plant, capsicum, and samphire, are also sometimes groAvn.

The kei-nel fruits grown are the apple, pear, quince, medlar, and the true service. The stone fruits are the peach, nectarine, apricot, almond, plum, and cherry; the county of Kent having possessed from time immemorial the reputation of producing the best fruits of the latter description. Amongst the berries may be reckoned the berberry, the elder, gooseberry, black currant, red ditto, cranberrv, strawberry, and raspberry; the two latter attaining their greatest perfection near London. The nuts grown are the walnuts, chestnuts, and filberts, with all their sub-varieties : the counties of Kent and Hants ap- pear to produce the best filberts.

LONDON — NATURAL IIISTOKV. 43

111 frames or in ]iot-lioiiscs arc produced pines, grapes, figs, cucum- bers, and melons in some abundance; and occasionally a few oranges, pomogranates, olives, and Indian tigs. Of the fungi only three sorts are consumed in cookery, viz., the mushroom, the trutiie, found under the beech trees of Berksliire, &c., and the morel, found under nearly analogous circumstances.

The list of hardy ornamental tlowering shrubs is very extensive, and it receives additions almost every year. The principal ones grown near London are the hyacinth, tulip, ranunculus, iris, pink, dahlia, auricula, primula, carnation, chrysanthemum, rose, pansy, petunia, anemone, crocus, narcissus, fritillary, poeony, camellia, fuchsia, calceo- laria, verboua, lily, amaryllis, ixia, gladiolus, rhododendrons, gcraniacese, &c. Many of these are indigenous, but they have been considerably modified by cultivation. For instance, the primu Ice, or primrose tribe, the ramincuU, or buttercup tribe; the crocus tribe; the fritillaria meleagris, which grows wild on the banks of the Thames, near Kew and Mortlake ; the convaUaria majalis, lily of the valley, this lovely liower grows wild near Hampstead and Duh^■ich. Many varieties of the iris are also derived from the indigenous wild plants ; as are also the cheiranihus cheiri, or the common wallflower ; the convolvuli, pinks, poppies, eglantine, honeysuckle. Many of the foreign plants of this class have become acclimatised to such an extent as to grow freely without cultivation, the most delightful of which is the mignonette.

The forest trees grown in the valley of the Thames have, like all the other divisions of the Flora, received immense accessions to their numbers of late years. Of the total number of 370 given previously, the greater portion are, however, trees which are only grown in orna- mental parks, or in positions where they must be considered to be artificially cultivated. Perhaps that maybe the case with all the trees near London to a certain extent ; for as there are no woods of suffi- cient size to superinduce the natural regime of a forest, all our trees must be modified by their comparative isolation. The largest woods are in some parts of North Kent and Surrey ; Buckingham- shire and Oxfordshire can produce some tolerably large woods also ; but in the other counties included in the basin of the Thames, with the exception of Epping Forest and Windsor, there are few assem- blages of trees Avorthy of more than the name of copses.

The most common forest trees usually grown are, firstly, the lime, or tilia Eiiropea, said to have been introduced by the Romans ; there are three varieties to be found near London, which thrive well in rich clayey loams, low-lying meadows, and on the banks of rivers. The varieties are the t. Europea, t. jjlaii/phi/Ua, and t. microplvjlla ; they frequently attain from 80 to 100 ft. in height. In the sooty atmosphere of London they soon loose their leaves ; and, moreover, as they flower late, they are not much planted near the town. The

44 LONDON — NATURAL HISTORY.

iilia Americana has been planted very successfully at White Knights, M-here it has grown to about 60 ft. in height within a very few years.

The acer j^s^udo platanus^ or common sycamore, is of an origin which seems involved in some obscurity. If it be not indigenous, at any rate it ripens its seed in exposed situations, and may on tliat account be said to be naturalized at least. It is a fine full-sized tree, which reaches its full growth in GO years, improves to 80 or 100, and decays before attaining 200 years. Some examples have been known whose circumference has not been less than 22 ft. near the ground, and M'hicli are supposed to have contained 327 cubic feet of timber. The sycamore is one of the few trees which support the atmosphere of the interior of London. The deciduous bark always looks clean, and the bright colour of its beautiful leaf makes it a deserved favourite in the gardens of the murky town. There are four varieties cultivated in the south of England.

The acer platanoides^ or Norway maple, and the acer macrophijlla^ from North America, have been introduced of late years.

The acer campestre^ or common field maple, is usually treated as a bush in the southern counties ; but when allowed to grow it is a rather fine tree ; it is indigenous. The misletoe is sometimes found upon this species of the maple.

The €escidus hippocastanurn^ or horse chestnut, a foi'cign tree, introduced about 1550, grows with extraordinary beauty in some situations in the valley of the Thames. It requires a deep fine loam and a sheltered position ; and, under favourable circumstances, attains from 80 to 100 ft. in height, with a diameter of from 5 to 9 ft. In Kensington Gardens some very fine specimens are to be found ; and in Bushy Park is one of the most magnificent avenues of horse- chestnut trees in the world.

The ilex ce qui folium^ the common or green holly, is an indigenous plant which generally takes the form of underwood to trees of more rapid growth, but at times it attains from 40 to 50 ft. high, with a diameter of from 2 to 4 ft. Evelyn planted it as a close hedge, and attended to it with such care, that at Saye's Court he suc- ceeded in obtaining a hedge 400 ft. long, by 8 ft. high, and 5 ft. broad. It grows well in Buckinghamshire and Kent, in gravelly soils on a substratum of chalk.

The Tobinia jjseudo acacia^ or false acacia, is the tree Cobbett endeavoured to bring into fashion under the name of the locust. It grows rapidly in the first ten years of its existence ; after that period its development is very slow. Several varieties of the pseudo-acacia are grown as ornamental trees ; but like all the real acacia tribe they are late in leaf, and the period of fall is early.

The cerasiis sylvestris^ or wild cherry, or gean, is supposed to be an indigenous tree, which in a tolerably dry soil rises to 60 or 70 ft. in height. In woods it is the favourite resort of the thrush and blackcap.

LONDON — NATURAL HISTOUY. 45

The crafayus oxyacantha^ white tliorii, or luuvtlioni, an imIigcnon>; tree, or one natnrahzcil at least from the time of the Komans, is at the present day only allowed to grow as a hedge plant. In dry, loamy, and slightly gravelly soils, however, it attains the dimensions of a tree if left without heing clipped. The tribe of crrt^fl?^/«^5 appears to support the London atmosphere tolerably well, and they are on this account often planted in the interior of the town.

The pi/rus ancuparia^ or mountain ash, and the pyrus cdha^ or the ■white bean, grow well in some positions near London; but arc rarely planted otherwise than for ornamental trees.

The fraxinus excelsior^ or common ash, grows to a very great dimension at Woburn, attaining 90 ft. in height, with a circum- ference of 22i ft. at the ground. It comes late into leaf, and is therefore only grown in coppices, or in such places as allow of its being made a commercial tree. The best ash timber grows in free, loamy soils, with a mixture of gravel. In rich soils it is luxuriant, but the wood it produces is shorter and more brittle in grain ; in cold wet clays it never attains any size. Some American varieties of the fraxinus \\Vi\e heew introduced; but they do not support the spring frosts of our climate.

The iihims campestris^ or small-leaved elm, gro\\'s to a high degree of perfection in the south of England, and is usually planted as a hedge-row tree in the valley of the Thames, rising to from 70 to 90 ft. high, with a diameter of from 4 to 5 ft. We are indebted for this beautiful tree to the Romans; and it was a deserved favourite with the Anglo-Saxons. It comes into leaf early, keeps it late, and stands the smoky atmosphere of our large towns. It will grow upon soils of an inferior descrijition, and of various characters, in light as well as heavy soils, and often best In strong clayey loam, too stiif and adhesive for the ulmiis montana^ or Scotch or wych elm. There are eight varieties of the small-leaved elm in cultivation near London ; besides the distinct species of the ulmus siilerosa^ or cork-barked elm, and the ulmus montana.

There are only four or five species of willow which attain to the dimensions of trees, out of the 70 species cultivated. A few others attain from 20 to 30 ft. in height; but the bulk of them arc only grown under the name of osiers on the river banks. Of the forest trees the most Important are the salix fragilis^ the salix Russelliana^ the salix alba, and salLvcaprea, which attain from GO to 80 ft. in height. The osier beds of the Thames and the Cam, however, offer a wide field of observation to the botanist, on account of the extraordinary number of these indigenous plants they contain. On the islands of the Thames, between London and Reading, there are many of these osier plantations ; but the greatest number, as Mell as the most per- fect specimens of this system of CLdtivation, arc to be found at Reading itself.

46 LONDON NATURAL HISTORY.

The poplar tvlbe floiirlsli best in moist ricli soils, and in the neigli- hourliood of running waters ; in marshes, and soils rendered con- stantly damp by stagnant waters, they do not thrive so well. There are many indigenous varieties, the most important of which are the popidus canesceyis^ or gray poplar ; the popidus tremula^ or aspen ; the p. alba or ahele. The jo. grcEca^ or Athenian poplar ; the populus nigra^ or black poplar ; the p. monilifera^ or black Italian ; the 7^. fustigata^ or Lombardy poplar; the j)- balsamifera^ or tacamahac; are foreign varieties which have speedily adapted themselves to our climate. The black poplar yields the best timber ; the Lombardy poplar attains the greatest height. It grows occasionally, within 50 years, to as much as 120 ft. in height.

The alnus glutinosa is one of our indigenous trees, which grows on the margins of rivers and running streams, and in marshy and damp lands, even in morasses and swamps of the wettest descriptions. A variety called the a. lanceolata^ or cut-leaved alder, attains frequently 70 ft.* in height.

The betida cdba., or white birch, grows in hilly districts, commons, and wild tracts, where the soil is of a light and sandy nature. The mountain variety, or the weeping birch, grows the fastest, and there- fore is the most esteemed. It is planted near London as an orna- mental tree in the parks ; but is only prized inasmuch as it forms a variety in the landscape ; the foliage is very poor and thin, nor does it last as long as many others.

Of the quercus robiir there are two indigenous species cultivated as forest trees throughout the southern counties, the q. robur pedun- cidata and sessiliflora. Botanists are, however, far from being agreed as to the persistence of the specific differences of these divisions. The oak grows best in strong adhesive loams, or good clay soils, more particularly when the substratum is of the latter nature, and the sur- J'ace M-ater is not allowed to stand at the foot of the tree. The age of the oak is proverbial for its great length ; but in the valley of the Thames it is found to be most profitable to cut them at 90 years, although the trees continue to increase in value until they are 120 years old. Celebrated trees of this class have been noticed at Bod- diiigton, in Gloucestershire, of 54 ft. circumference ; at Hempstead, in Essex, of 53 ft. circumference ; at Merton, in Norfolk, of 63 ft. circumference ; at Woolton, Michendcn, in Buckinghamshire ; at Pansangher, in Hertfordshire. In fact, hardly any county in southern England is without its celebrated representative of the monarch of the woods. Formerly it was much more common ; and even so lately as the days of Henry VII. no less than the one-third of England was covered by forests in which the oak predominated. The only foreign variety wliich appears to accommodate itself to our climate is the q. cetris, or Turkey oak, of Avhich a very beautiful sub-variety was obtained from seed at Fulham.

LONDON — NATURAL HISTORY. 47

Oiilv one of tlio evergreen oaks, tlie qucrcus ilcx^ Las Leen culti- vated to anv extent ; for the q. suher and g. escidus^ though they aio grown with tolerable success in the south of England, are too delicate to support onr more rigorous winters. The querciis ilex was intro- duced about tlie middle of the IGth century; and is only planted in ornamental gardens or parks.

The common beech, y)-^//?/^ sylvatica.^ a tree of the first magnitude, rivalling the oak, ash, or chestnut, is one of the four great indige- nous trees of the island. It is supposed to have been originally con- fined to the chalk districts of the midland counties, or the dry calcareous regions, in which it often occupies extensive forests to the exchision of other trees. In Windsor Park are to be found magnifi- cent representatives of the class ; but it is not common in the parks or pleasure grounds near London. Some tolerably fine specimens are to be seen in Kensington Gardens. The dimensions the beech attains on dry calcareous soils are 100 ft. high by 12 to 20 ft. cir- cumference of the stem at about one foot from tlie ground.

By some botanists the castanea resca, or sweet chestnut, is consi- dered indigenous ; the more general opinion, however, attributes its introduction to the Romans. In suitable soils near London, it grows more rapidly than the oak, for in from 50 to GO years it attains a height of GO to 80 ft. ; but after that period the timber begins to get shaky at heart. The chestnut thrives for centuries, however, after the interior has entirely decayed, for many of the historical trees arc entirely hollo^\'. It requires warm and sheltered positions to attain its full development in our climate, with a soil of a loam of tolerable quality. Very fine samples are to be found in Cobham and Green- wich Parks, and in Kensington Gardens.

The common hornbeam, or carpinus betidus^ is an indigenous tree of tlie second class, principally grown as an underwood. It abounds in Essex, Kent, and Norfolk, Avhere it affects cold, stiff, clayey soils, and grows sometimes to 50 ft. in height, with a circumference of from 6 to 8 ft.

At Lee Court, Kent, and in some pleasure grounds near London, are some fine specimens of the plaianus orienialis ; and in good allu- vial soil on the banks of the river, as at Fulham, i\\c platamisocciden- falis also is found. At Lambeth Palace, and in Chelsea Gardens, arc remarkably fine specimens of the latter.

The common yew tree, or taa;ics haccafa^ is an indigenous tree, affecting rocky and mountainous districts, in soils of a stiff calcareous nature, kept moist by the peicolation of water, or by shade. The yew is of very slow growth, but it attains great age ; as, for instance, the Ankerwyke yew, in sight of the place ^vhere Magna Charta was signed, and where Henry VIII. made a]i])ointmcnts with Anne Boleyn, is supposed to be 1000 years old. In Ifiey churchyard is a yew tree with a hollow trunk, but a flourishing head, \\hich is supposed to date

48 LONDON — NATURAL HISTORY.

prior to the Conquest. The species of superstitious affection witli mIucIi the yew tree is regarded, is perhaps increased by its being the favourite resort of the missel thrush and the Uackbird.

Of late years it has become fashionable to establish pinetums or collections of ahietince. Amongst the most celebrated of these may be cited the pinetum of Dropmore, near Windsor, and FlitVvdck House, Bedfordshire, to which \\q are indebted for the naturalization of many foreign varieties of the pine tribe. Those most usually planted near London are the common pine, pinus si/lvestris, an indigenous tree, rising to 80 or 100 ft., with a diameter of from 2 to 4 ft. in favour- able situations ; the Corsican variety in Kew Gardens is 90 ft. high. At White Knights, also, it thrives equally well. The pinus pinaster^ or cluster pine, grows on sandy soils and upon the sea shore, in exposed positions. The jnniis strobus, or Weymouth pine, has produced some fine trees, near Strathfieldsaye ; as also has the pmus chnhra at Dropmore. In the pleasure grounds of Kent and Sussex, it has been long the custom to plant the ahies excelsa^ or Norway spruce, as an ornamental tree. At Strathfieldsaye and Sion House, are many fine hemlock spruces (ahies Canadiensis ) ^ and at the latter are several specimens of the ahies iiigra^ the lower branches of which have taken root Vvdiere they touch the ground. Tlie silver fir, pinus picea^ has been planted as an ornamental tree since the commence- ment of the ITtli century; but of all the pine tribe introduced of late years, without exception, the larch, pinus larix^ is the most remark- able both for its beauty and its utility. It does not, however, grow well near London, but requires a mountainous situation. The p>inus cedrus^ cedar of Lebanon, has been planted as an ornamental tree for many years, for which purposes its grand, picturesque mass renders it peculiarly fitted. The largest specimens of the pinus cedrus^ in the valley of the Thames, are at Strathfieldsaye, where one has attained a height of 108 feet; and at Syon House, where there is a tree mea- suring 72 feet in circumference, at three feet from the ground, and 117 feet is the diameter of the head.

At White Knights and Clareraont, and at several places in Kent and Essex, the magnolia has been planted as a tree with great success. The varieties which have stood our climate the most perfectly are the magnolia acuminata^ in. cordata^ and m. conspicua. They require a little care ii;! the early stages of their growth, but they thrive well near London.

The enonpyius Europffiis^ or common spindle tree, is an indigenous tree of the second order in Scotland, where it attains from 25 to 30 feet in height. Near London, the finest specimens are in Kensington Gardens, whore they do not exceed 15 feet.

The cerasus. Lusitanica^ or common Portuguese laurel, has attained at Syon, Charlton, Cobham, and Claremont, the dimensions of a tree of the second class, reaching 40 feet occasionally. It stands

I

LONDON — NATURAL IIISTOUV. 49

expo.-^iirc to oiir oidiiuirv ^\ inters; but it is often killed down to tlie ground bv severe frosts. The counnon box-tree, or buxiis sempervireu?., is one of those about whose origin tlie frreatest doubts exist. It is vulgarly supposed to be indigenous, and the early botanists gave as its habitat^ Boxhill, Surrey. It is true that it attains there a develop- ment in a wild state, which seems to warrant the supposition that it is a native of our islands. But histoiical evidence is far from con- firming tlie tradition which makes it to be so. On the dry clialky soil of Boxhill this tree attains 30 feet in height, but it is generally known as a shrub.

There arc of course many other trees and shrubs cultivated for use and ornament near London, such as the lilac, the laburnum, the acacias, the bay, laurustinus, privet, arbutus, rhododendrons, &c. To enume- rate all would lead us beyond the bounds of this notice ; the reader is therefore referred for more ample details to the works enumerated at the end of this section. To such as are desirous of studying in j)erson this interesting brancli of botany, we recommend an examina- tion of the woods near Cray, in Kent, Epping Forest, Greenwich Park, Kensington, Windsor, Claremont, Strathfieldsaye, White Knights — no longer in its glory — Fulham, Ken Wood, Syon House, Kew, and the woods near High Clere, and many other places in Buckinuhamshire and Oxfordshire, and Cheshunt in Plerefordshire.

The v.'ild fio-\^'ers, grasses, mosses, algae, &c, are most favourably studied in such places as bv prescription, or on account of the unpro- ductive nature of the soil, liave been left in a state of nature. We may cite Wimbledon, Putney, Wandsworth, andStreatham Commons; Norwood, Croydon, ]\litcham, and Battersea Fields; the river side between Hammersmith and Kew, Eslier, Thames Ditton, Woking Common, Bagshot Heath, Hampstead, Epping Forest, Blackheatli, and Charlton, and the marsh districts. Every one of these localities possesses its cliaracteristic Flora, and would amply repay a visit from the botanist. Cooper's Flora Metropolitana contains in detail the list of plants to be found at each place, arranged upon the natural system; Curtis's Flora Londinensis, and Smith and Sowerby's English Botany, contain the same information classified according to the Liimeau system. Amongst the most interesting plants may be cited the Veronica tribe, which are very common about Hampstead and Charl- ton ; the iris pseudacorus and foetidissima ; the valerina officinalis^ growing wild near osier grounds; the scahiosa ; the uigina crecta^ at Blackheatli; the jndmonaria maritima ; \\\e lonicera j^ericli/menum^ or woodbine; the p?-//7?«/<5P, acaillis^ officinalis and farinosa., or primroses; the campamda:^ or heath-bell flowers; the fritillaria meleagris^ from Kew and Mortlake ; the convallaria majalis^ or lily of the valley, already mentioned as a native of Hampstead, Ken\\ood, and Dulwich ; several varieties of the rumex^ or dock ; the epilohiuin^ or willow herbs ; the crica^ 2)ol^goninm^ saxifragaj nud sedum ; the

D

LONDON NATURAL HISTORY.

saponaria officinalis^ from Combe Wood ; many species of the ceras- tium and the ranunculus digitalis, antirrhinum, malva, vicia ervium^ medicago, hypericum, leontodon, carduus, chrysanthemum, centaurea, viola, orchis, and orphys ; tlie arum maculatum, or cuckoo's pint ; besides an infinite variety, whose ennmeration would swell our notice to an unlimited extent. The great number of the graminecB is perhaps one of the characteristics of the alluvial plains by the river side. The leguminosce prevail to a great extent on the gravelly soils of the more elevated heaths. Of these the cytisus scoparius, of Wimble- don and Putney, is renowned for the enthusiastic admiration it is reported to have excited in the celebrated Linnteas.

Of the Algce the British Flora is supposed to possess about from 300 to 400 species of the marine, and so immense a number of fresh- water species of algse that we are induced to question the correctness of the classification. In the London Basin, of course, the marine algse are few, being solely confined to the embouchure ; and even there rarely passing into ^hat may strictly be called the river itself. If we adopt the classification according to the colour of the series, we find that our British marine algtis consist of A of the olive, -jl of the red, and i of the green series, with about -i- of the diatomaceng. Of the fresh water algc^, it appears that there are 20 families, consisting of about 170 genera, with nearly 1000 species according to the latest author upon this branch of botan}^, the greater number A which ai-e to be found near Chcshunt, and in the valleys of the Thames and the Lea.

The Fauna. — li the Flora of England has been modified by the progress of civilization, the other regions of the organized kingdom bear equal marks of its effects. Thus, amongst the animals formerly found in our country, we find that the Ii-ish elk has disappeared since our island was inhabited by the human race, though before any his- torical records were kept, the beaver hardly seems to have existed during the civilized era. The Scottish bear Martial alludes to (the ursus arcfos) is not mentioned subsequently to 1072; the wolf was extirpated from Scotland about 1577, and from Ireland in 1710; it had long befoi'e ceased to infest England. The wild boar, the M'ild bull, and wild cat used, in the time of Fitz Stephen, to haunt the forests of Highgate and Hampstead ; all have been swept away by the advancing stream, with the exception of a few wild cats left in the North ot^England.

The list of British quadrupeds, then, is very limited ; as they are all found in the valley of the Thames it is inserted i)i extenso.

Cheirojjtero!, Bats . 12 species of the family VespertUionidce. 2 ;, „ ,, Plecoius.

1 „ „ „ Barhastellus.

2 „ ., „ Rhinolphus.

Eranaceus, Hedgehog 1 „ Eranaceus Eiiro2mnis. \

Talpa, Mole . . 1 „ Talpa vxdgaris. \

LONDON — NATURAL HISTORY.

51

Soricidcr, Shrews

rrsulte, Bear . Mvstelidce, Weasel

Felldce, Cat i'anidce, Dog

Fhocidie, Seals

SciuHdw, Squirrel Mxiridce, Mice .

CaxtoridfV, Beaver Lti^orldcB, Hare

Pachydermata .

Cervlda:, Stags .

Bovldcv, Bulls .

Capridcp, Goats

CetacecB, Whales i i Delphinidic

3 species. aS'ojv.t flrt'nrt?-e!f5, Shrew Mouse.

„ fodiens, Water Shrew. Essex. „ remifer, Oared Shrew. Norfolk. 1 „ Melestaxus, the Badger. 5 ,, Lutra vidyaru, Otter.

Muztela vidgarU, Weasel. „ erminea, Stoat. ,, ^j2<^oriHs, Polecat. „ f^'.ro, Ferret. Maries foina, Beech Martin. „ ahietum, Pine Martin.

1 „ Fells catKs, Wild Cat.

2 „ Canis familiaris, Dog.

Vuljies vidgaris, Fox.

5 ,, Phoca vitidina, 1 o rt ir • ^i,

" / < 7 / • Sea Calf, rare in the

,, (jiyce aland tea, I ^, ' .. r ^i

" 7 , , > southern parts of the

TT I- J 7 British islands.

Trichecus Posrnariis, Walrus, very rare.

2 ,, Sciuriis Vidgaris, Squirrel.

Mijoxus avellanarius, Dormouse, 5 „ 2Ius messoruis, Harvest Mouse.

„ st/haticus, Long-tailed Wood Mouse.

„ ruuscidas, Common Mouse.

,, rattus, Black Rat.

„ decumans, Norway Rat.

3 „ Arcicola amplubus, Water Rat.

„ agrestis, Field Mouse. „ pratensis, Bank Vole.

4 „ Lejms timid us, Hare.

„ variabilis, Alpine Hare. ,, cunicv.lus, Rabbit. Cavia aperea, Guinea Pig. 3 families. Siis scrofa, Common Boar. EqvAis cahallus, Horse. Asinus vulgaris, Ass. 3 species. Cervus elephas, Red Deer. New Forest. „ dama, Fallow Deer. „ capreolus. Roe Buck. 2 ,, ? Bos taurus, with varieties.

Urus Scotticus, Chillingham Cattle. 2 „ Capra hircus, Common Goat. Oiis aries. Common Sheep. . These mammalia are sometimes stranded in the

Thames. , Delptkinus delphis, Common Dolphin.

„ tursio. Bottle-nosed Dolphin. PhocanOj corariuinis. Porpoise. ,, Orca, Grampus. „ mela. Round-headed Porpoise. Beluga lucus. White Whale. Hyperoodon Butzkopf, Bottle-headed Whale. Diodon Sozcerbii, Sowerby's Whale. Monodoii Monoceros, Norwhal. Physeter macrocephalu.", Cachalot.

„ torsio, High-finned Cachalot. Balcciia mysticeius, Common Whale. D 2

52 LONDON — NATURAL IIISTOP.Y.

Amongst the reptiles we only find, in our islands, of the —

Tesiudinata . . 1 species, Chelonia imhricala, Hawk's-bill Turtle. Lacertidcs . . 2 ,, Lacerta agilis, Sand Lizoa-d.

Zootica vivipara, Viviparous Lizard. Anr/aidce . . . 1 ,, Angmsfragilis, Blindworm. ColubridcB . . 2 ,, Natrix torquata, Ringed Snalce.

Peluts Bents, Viper, or Adder. Ranidts . . . 2 „ Rana tem-poravia, Common Frog.

,, escidenta, Edible Frog. Bvfonid(B . . 2 „ Bu^o vidgaris, Common Toad.

„ calamata, Natterjack. Scdamandridcs . . 4 „ Triton cristatus, Newt.

„ Bihronii, Straight-lipped Newt. Lissotnton jmnctattis, Eft,

„ palmaUts, Palmated Eft,

Crustacea. — Without entering into details upon the crnstaceEe of our shores, we will content ourselves by remarking, that in the valley of the Thames, both in the salt and fresh water divisions, the greatest number of that class of animals belong to the order Decapoda. Thus we have the lobster, the prawn, shrimp, crayfish, of the section Macroura ; and the common crab of the section Brachyura. The reader who desires more detailed information upon this subject is referred to Bell's " British Crustacea," or Dr. Fleming's works.

Mollusca. — The conchology of the basin of the Thames is not very clearly defined, in tlie portion of its estuary, owing to the violence of the tides and currents which prevail there. Specimens of many genera and species foreign to our islands are therefore often met with, but there is a necessary degree of uncertainty attached to any classification of them as connected with our country under these circumstances, which induces us to hesitate before including any definite list. We content ourselves, then, by observing that it is common to find on the shores of the Kentish and Essex coasts of the Thames, bivalve shells of the ostrea, ovicula, orhicula, crania, terehratula, haliotis, pecten, area, macira,p)holas, cardium, teredo, solen, cytherea^mytillus, modiola, mya and anatina. Of the univalves, we find the jjatella, chiton, murex, echini, cowry, mitra,voluta, oliva,ovidce, cyprcEa, hidla, jdearotoma, Sfc.

The land and fresh water mollusca present, necessarily, greater fixity of character, and are found in considerable numbers. The bivalves consist of seven species of the cyclas, principally in the upper parts of the Thames, the anodon cygneus, of large dimensions, on Hampstcad Heath, and two species of mysca. The univalves com- prise the limacellus, testacellus, vitrina; 18 species oUielix, carocoUa, clausula (5 species), hulimus (4 species), halcea, achatina, succinea, cyclostoma, carychium, piipa, vertigo; 10 species of planorbis, seg- mentina; 9 ^])ec.\e^ o'i limneus,physa,valvata; S s\^eciefi of pahidina, heretiria, ancylhts. There are in all 85 species belonging to 20 genera of this division of the testacea.

Fishes. — The fishes which inhabit the Thames and its affluents

LONDON — NATURAL IIISTOUV. 53

liavc not c.-capecl tlic influence of tlio progress of civilization, and of the ei Tors committed in the disposal of the refuse of our overgrown mctropoHs. In former times salmon, shad, and tlie lamprey were frequently caught in the river, but they have long ceased to inhabit It, unless occasionally. The fish to be caught at the present day may be briefly enumerated as follows, — bearing in mind that those ahove- mcntioned are only occasional visitors, as is also the sturgeon, that even eels are becoming rare in the districts aflfected by the sewer- age, and that the only members of this division which seem to thrive in the present filthy state of the Thames are the M'hite bait. Wc find the salmon, sturgeon, tench, barhel, roach, dace, chub, bream, rulHe, gudgeon, perch, eels, smelts, flounders, lamprey, shad, pike, trout, white bait, and the ciusian and sticklebacks, the minnow, carp, gold fish, iS:c., in the upper parts of the river. The estuary is some- times visited by the blue shark, sea-fox, dog-fish, conger-eel, cod- fish, haddock, whiting, hake, ling, doree, halibut, plaise, soles, turbot, mackarel, bass, mullet, sprat, anchovy, but the presence of these fish is becoming more and more rare. Of those which appear to affect certain localities, we may cite the flounders and. white bait of the Thames (jlessus and cephahis cdhurmis)^ the trout (scdmo/urio) of the Wandle and the Wey ; the grayling [sabiio thi/mallus) of the Thame near Ludlow; and the rwA (^cifprinus Jinsccde) of the Cher- well ; the pike {csox hicius) is also common in the side streams.

Infusoria. — The animalculse in the Thames water only begin to a])pcar in a sensible proportion, according to the researches of Dr. Angus Smith, at Windsor, where it contains many rather large hidatince. At Oxford, it is true, we find some of the smaller green namciila^ and several other smaller gvecw bacdlaria ; but the river appears to purify itself in its course, for at Reading these ani- malculse do not appear in such numbers. From Richmond down- wards, the case is much altered ; at such places as Chelsea, Hunger- ford I\Iarkct, ^c, the deposit from the water contains many animals, large and gelatinous looking; the vibrio jluviatiUs^ about J-^ of an inch long, is very common, as are also many polygastric animalculce, chiefly of the navicula fidva, which appear to thrive upon the abund- ance of silica brought down by the sewers and house drainage. The season of the year must doubtless affect the relative numbers of these animalculte, for we find that the Thames water is much harder at certain periods than at others.

Birds. — Improved cultivation has affected the habits of the feathered tribes which frequent our shores. From their organization these are fiee to migrate according to the adaptation of any parti- cular country to the supply of their wants. As the primceval forests have been cleared, the heaths cultivated, and marshes and lowlands drained, the birds they were wont to nourish have been forced to seek elsewhere the conditions most favourable for their subsisteu ce

54 LONDON — NATURAL HISTORY.

The s])ecies of the falconidcE ., for instance, which frequented tlie valley of the Thames, are far from being as numerous at the present day as they wei-e formerly; the tctraonidcE, are more rare, some even (such as the Great Bustard, otis tarda,) have entirely abandoned us ; the gruidcB are now met with less frequently, although some of them still remain ; the ardeidce have left many of their ancient habitats ; the natatores^ although they still visit our shores, are not to be found in many places they used formerly to visit in great numbers.

Amongst the birds admitted into the catalogues of the visitors or natives of our isles, there are perhaps as many as 237 species ; but as the list comprehends many which are evidently nothing more than stray wanderers, we may perhaps consider that number to be some- what exago-erated. Some of the most remarkable of those found in the district in the immediate proximity of the valley of the Thames are the following: — ■

Falconidce. — The aqv.ila chryscetos, or golden eagle, is sometimes found near Bexhill, and south of London ; but very rarely. The haliaHv.s albicilla, or white- tailed eagle, is occasionally met with in Epping and the New Forests. The ^;a«f//o}(, halkeius, or osprey, is found in Sussex, and near Selborne in Hampshire, The species of falco indigenous to our islands are the peregrinus (or peregrine), cesalon (the merlin), tumimcidus (kestrel) ; the visitors in the south are the falco suhheto (hobby) and rujisses (red-footed). The accipiter nisus (sparrow-hawk), milvns vul- garis (kite), huteo vulgaris (common kite), circus ceruginosus (marsh-harrier), and circus cyaneiis (hen-harrier), are common in Kent, Hertfordshire, Essex, Hampshire; Cambridgeshire, &c. The astar palurnlarius (goshawk), nauclerus furcatus (swallow- tailed kite), hvteo lagopus (rough-legged buzzard), ^?e?'?«'5 apivoroiis (honey buzzard), are more rare in that district,

StrigidcB. — The hiiJjo maxira-us, scops aldrovancU (scop-eared owl), otus vulgaris and otus brachyotis (long and short-eared owls), the surnia myctea and funerea, and the nociua tenginalini, are visitors near London at intervals. The strix flammea (barn owl), syrnium stridula (tawny owl), and the noctua ptC'Sserina (little owl) are rather common,

Laniadce. — The visitors are the lanius (xculitor (great gray shrike), /, collurio, I. rutilus, which are rather common.

Nuscicapidce. — These are summer visitors. Amongst them we may mention the Tiiuscicapa gnsola, and atricajnlla, the spotted and pied fly-catchers ; the latter rare, Ilerididce. — This well-known family is common in the southern parts of England. The species met with are cinelus aqv.aticus (common dipper), turdus viscivorus (missel thrush), t. pilaris (fieldfare), t. imisic^is (song thrush), t. merida (blackbird), 2)etrocinela saxatilis, or rock thrush. More rarely we find the turdus Whitei, t. iliacus (or redwing), t. torqv.atus (ring ouzel), and the oriolus galhxda (golden oriole), found near London,

tSylviadce. — The residents or common visitors are the accentor raodidaris (hedge accentor) ; erytliaca ruhecida (redbreast) ; p]ia2nicura suecica (blue-throated warbler) ; p>. ruticilla and tithyx (redstart) ; saxicola ruhicola (stonechat); s. rnletra, cenantke; and locustella (species of chats) ; salicaria p)hragnitis (sedge warbler) : philomela luscima (nightingale) ; curruca atricapilla (blackcap warbler), c. hortensis, c. cinerea, c. sylviella ; sylvia sylcicola (wood warbler), s. trochillus, Idppolaris ; regulus crisiatiis (golden-crested warbler), r. modestus. Occasionally may be seen the accentor alpinus ; salicaria luscinoides; salicaria arundinacea, most common in Romney Marsh and on the banks of the Thames ; the melizophilus Dartfordiensis is common near Bexley Heath ; the regulus ignicapillus is rare.

Paridcv. — These birds seem to prefer the neighbourhood of London, for we find near it the parns major, or great tit ; p>- cceruhis ; afer cristatus, palustris and

LONDON — NATURAL HISTORY. 55

caudaliis ; tli e ^arj^.? cm7a<?« being the most rare. The calamiphilus liarmicus (bearded tit) is found in Barking Creek occasionally.

ArnpeUid'r. — The homhycilla garrula, or Bohemian wax -wing, is but a rare visitor in this countr}'.

MotacilladiT. — The constant visitors of this family are the motadUa Yarrellii (pied wagtail) ; m. boarula ; m. Jlava ; the more rare visitors are the viotacilla alba and m. neglccta.

Anthidce. — The anthus arlonus {ivcc pitpit) is a common summer visitor near London ; a. j^mffnais is nearly a resident; a. ricardi is rare.

Alaudidie. — The rarest of the lark tribe are the alaud.a alpestris (shore lark); a. cristaia, and a. h)ar/t//dac(i//a. The alauda arvensis (skylark) is more common, and is met with in great numbers in the corn lands near London; the a. arhorea (woodlark) is also common.

Emherizida;. — It is not often that the 'i)leciro]-)hanes Laj'ij^omca (or Lapland bunt- ing), the p. nivalis (snow bunting), or the emheriza schoeniculua (black-headed bunting), visit the southern parts of England. It is more common to find plcdrojifianes milaria (common bunting), emberiza cilrindla (yellow hammer), and e. hortulana (ortolan bunting), near London.

Frinrjillida;. — This numerous family in the vicinity of the metropolis comprehends most commonly \\\g fringilla cahbs and montifi-ingilla (the chaffinch and bramble- finch) ; the 2^(^sser montanus and clomesticns (the tree and house sparrow) ; cocco- thvaiisUis chloris (greenfinch), c. vulgaris (hawfinch) ; found in great numbers in Epping Forest ; cardnelis elegans (goldfinch) ; linota cannabina (common linnet). /, linaria and /. montiv.m, whh. jyT/rrlmta vulgaris (bullfinch). The more uncommon members in this country are — cardnelis sjyin if s (siskin), and linota canescens ; pyr- rhula mucleator (pine grosbeak) is a very rare visitor; lo.via ciirvirosira (common crossbill) is found in Sussex and Essex ; /. pifgo2nt(acns and /ei«co^;^(;ra are extremely rare.

Sturnidc€. — The stnrnv.s vulgaris (common starling) is the member of this family most frequently met with. The agelaiiis 2)li-(':7iicus and imstor roseiis are only occa- sional visitors.

Corvidce.— These comprise, near London, the f rcg ill us gracuhis (chough) ; corvKs coj'o.r (raven), c. corone, comix, frugileg^s (rook) ; raonedida (jackdaw) ; pica ca\t- do.ta (magpie) ; garridus glandarius (jay) ; and the nv.cifraga caryotactes (nut- cracker).

liicidce. — Pici'.s martins (black woodpecker) is rare ; jncus viridis is more common ; J), major and ^. minor are also frequent'y to be found near London.

Cerl/iiadce. — Yiinx torquilla (wryneck) is common in the south-east of England; certhia familiaris (common creeper) ; and (roglodyfcs vulgaris (or wren) are also fre- quent. The beautiful vpupa epop has been frequently caught at Fvdham, and the Sitta Europa^a (or nuthatch) in Kensington Gardens.

Cucidonidcc. — Cticnlus canorus is a well-known spring visitor ; the coccyzus Americanus, or yellow-billed cuckoo, is very rare.

Meropidte. — The Alcida hisjnda (king-fisher) is the most common bird of this tribe; occasionally we are visited by coracias garrxda (roller), and merops apiasttr (beo-eater).

Hirundince. — These visitors consist of the hirundo rustica (swallow), h. nrbica (martin), /<. riparia (hank martin), h. apus (swift), clypiselns (white-bellied swift).

C'ajjrimnlgid^. — The caprimulgus EuropcExis is the only member of this tribe which visits us constantly.

ColumbidcE. — In the woods near London we find in considerable numbers the cohimba jmlnmbus (cushat) ; the c. cenas (stock-dove) ; c. livia (rock-dove) ; c. turiur (turtle). The latter is most common in Kent and Hertfordshire. Occasionally the North American Passenger Pigeon (cohimba migratoria) has been found in this neighbourhood.

PhasianidcB. — "We only find wild near London the 2^f^o'-sianns colchicus (common pheasant).

56 LONDON — NATURAL HISTORY.

Tetraonidcc. — This tribe is more mimerous in Scotland than it is in the south, for it is only at rare intervals that the greater number of its species are found with us. The British birds are ietrao uroffallus (capercaille), t. tetrix (black grouse), t. Scoticus (red grouse), t. Icif/oj^ns (ptarmigan), which rarel}- are seen near London. Perdix cinerea, j). ritfa (common red-legged partridge), and j^erf^^.v coturnix (quail), are common. As was said before the otis tard, formerly common in Suffolk and Norfolk, has nearly abandoned our shores ; whilst otis fetrax (the small bustard) is also rare.

Ckaradridce. — The birds of this family found in the south-east of England are the citrsorius Europcem (cream-coloured courser) ; otis ccdicnemns (great plover) ; charadrias 2'>luvialis (golden plover), clc. mormellus, c. hiaticula, c. cantiana, c. minos. Trinrja squatarola (graj^ plover), t. vandlus (lapwing), t. interpres (turnstones). Hcematopus ostrcdegus (sea pie), and charadrius calidris (sanderling plover), are found on the shores of the estuary of the Thames and the sea-coasts.

GrinidcB. — \Ye have before observed that these were more rare in former times than at the present day; for the ardea grus (common crane) was a frequent visitor, though now rare. The ardea cinerea (heron) is still connnon in Lincolnshire ; a. caspica, a. alba, a. garzetta, a. cequinoctiaHs, a. comata, are met in sufficient numbers in the fen districts to warrant their being classed as British birds. Ardea minuta (little bittern), a. stellaris (common bittern), are more frequently met with. The ardea leniiginosa, a. nydicorax, a. ciconia (white stork), a. nigra, p)lateala leihcorodia (white spoonbill), and tantalus falcinellus (glossy ibis), are more rare. The birds of this tribe are by some ornithologists separated from ardea gr^is and its congeners under the name of the Ardeidcs.

Scoloimcidce. — Of this family we have the mimeiiius arquatar (common curlew), n. 2)h(Xopus ; scolopax totamis, kwA. s. caladrix (redshanks); tringa ochropus, t. glareola, t. hypolencos, t. riiacdaria (sand pipers), tringa glottis (green shank) ; recur- virostra avosetta (avoset formerly common in Romney Marsh, but now rare) ; chararditLs M(,mantop)us ; scoloj^ax Lapponica and cegocepltala ; tringa pugnax (ruff), t. rustica (woodcock), t. major (snipe), t. galimda, t. islandica, t. p>usilla, f. alpina, t. pucilla, t. maritima (sand piper), and oiumenius pygmeus (curlew sand piper).

RallidcE. — This famil}'- is represented by the Gcdlinula crex (land vva\),g. piorsana, g. minuta ; rallus aqnaiicus (water vaW), gal liriula chloropns (moorhen), and/«^/ct6 atra (common coot).

Analidce. — This member of the division of the iiatatores is represented by

numerous species at the present day, although from the causes alluded to more

effectually acting upon their means of subsistence, namely, the reclaiming of marsh

lands, they are more rare than formerly. Amongst the most remarkable varieties are

the anas anser, a. segetlna, a. p)h()emcopif,s, a. alhifrons, a. erythropus, a. vernicla,

a. rvficollis, a. JEgyptiaca, a. (jiamhensis, a. Canadensis, of what are vulgarly called

the geese. Anas cygnvs (wild swan), ane(,s olor (mute swan of the Thames), and «.

ivimatahilis (Polish swan), represent that division. Anas clypeata, a. streperei, a.

aciUa, a. glocitans, a. hoschas, a. crecca, a. Penelope, a. Americana, a. moUissima, a.

sjjectahilis, a. fnsca, a. nigra, a. persjncillata, a. ferina, a. ferrugina, a. onarila, a. fidgilla, a. clang id a ; fidigida rvfina and /. dispar ; mergus alhelhis, m. serrator,

m. merganser, ctr, ; represent the tribes of wild ducks, teals, eider ducks, widgeons,

scoter, smews, &c., Avhich continue to visit us.

Colymhidce. — Of this division we possess the following varieties. Podiceps

cristatus, j)- rxdjicollis, p. cornidm, paaritxis, p. minor ; colymhxis glacialis, c.

arcticus, c. sejHentrionalis.

AlcadcB. — The sea-shore frequenting birds of this division are the ?crm troile, u.

Irunoiichii, ti. grylle ; alea alle, a. ardica, a. torda.

Pellicanida;. — These are rare visitors; nor do we find any but the Pelicanus

carho, p. hassanus ; the j;. cristatus (shag) is common on our shores.

Laridcc. — Of the Terns of this family, we find most commonly the s^er?ia /«ritJic?o

and s.Jissipes, the latter principally in Cambridgeshire; more rarely we meet with

LONDON NATURAL IIISTOHY. 57

s. caspia, s. haysii, s. anglica, s. minnta. Of the laridcc, or gulls, we have larus minnhis, l. (ridacti/hcs, l. comu.t (common gull), /. marinns, I. caiarades (common skua of Suftblk and Norfolk) : /. cataractes poiuarimis glacialis, and i-)roceUci.ria jxliKjica (storm petrel), sometimes are seen in the Thames.

In England we arc comparatively free from insect plagues. Occa- sionally a gardener suffers no little M-ratli and vexation from the unceremonious and effective way in wliicli whole roMs of cabbages, tJvrc., are entirely consumed by the larvre of the common white butterfly, and our fruit trees are often despoiled both of beauty and crop by the attacks of many of the smaller species ; but still, with a ^Q\\ exceptions, insects here rarely cause more than damage to individuals. On one very celebrated occasion, however, in the year 1S25, a very fine row of elm trees, in Camberwell Gi-ove, were suddenly found to be blighted, and many of them utterly destroyed. As no cause was apparent for this, many of course were conjectured; the air and smoke of London were pretty generally believed to be unfavourable to elms, and the inhabitants of the vicinity actually brought an action in Chancery against the proprietors of some neigh- bouring gas works, as the originators of the evil ; whereas, a more minute examination of the trees themselves traced the whole damage to the ravages of a small beetle (scol?/tiis destructor)^ which, by boring its holes and innumerable passages under the bark, had quite desti'oyed the trees. This insect is well known abroad ; France and Brussels have severely suffered from its ravages. The above- mentioned incident caused a great sensation at the time, and en- tomology for some years was a rather fashionable study.

The turnip-fly, too (Jialtica nemorum)^ will frequently destroy whole fields of young turnips, and, for the first few days after the seedling leaves have appeared, these small animals occupy a large share of the agriculturist's mind; but as soon as the rougher leaves of the plant are thrown out the danger from this cause ceases. This beetle may ahvays be found in some abundance in nearly every rough hedge-row or waste, where they shelter themselves all the A\intcr, only leaving them for the more tempting turnip seedling. It would be as well perhaps, therefore, if the farmer would add this argument to the many others for diminishing the enormous liedge- rows we so frequently see.

The hop fly (ap/ns humuli) is by far the most important of these little pests; it is a small fly, which appears devoted exclusively to this plant, and by its abundance or scarcity affects not only the crops and pockets of separate cultivators, but does so to such an extent as to be felt by the I3ritisli Exchequer to the amount of some £100,000 to c€ 150,000 per aimum. The common lady-bird, in its larva state, devours immense quantities of these insects, hence they should be tended with the greatest care ; yet, on one occasion, when these little red insects appeared in great numbers in the hop grounds of Kent, the growers, regarding them with great horror as an ag2:rava-

58 LONDON— NATUBAL HISTORY.

tion of the evil tliey were sent to cure, actually collected them by bushels and destroyed them.

But, still we must congratulate ourselves on our exemption from great evils, as with the above exceptions, cleanliness of person, or of house, will generally guard us sufficiently against the principal other entomological torments to which Britons are liable.

Owing to our moderate climate we have very few insects of large size, yet the dampness and length of twilight render our fauna somoAvhat peculiar and interesting. The great comparative abund- ance of the moth tribe may be attributed to this, as we have about 1700 species of this night and twilight class, to only 100 species of butterflies, or day-flying lepidopiera. The number of species found in Great Britain, by Stephen's Catalogue, is as folloAVS : —

Coleoptera ..... about 3300 species.

Lepidoptera ...... 1838 „

Hymenoptera . . . . „ 2054 „

Diptera „ 1671 „

Heraoptera ...... 605 ,,

Other insects . . . . „ 544 „

making in all about 10,000 species. Of these, a very large propor- tion may be found in the neighbourhood of London. The woods near Daitford, and the crags in Kent, may be searched with profit by the collector; he will here find the large and rare moth the Kentish glory, endromis versicolor^ which is seldom found else- where; the nolodonto zigzac^ a moth so named from the extraordi- nary shape of its larva, stamopiisfagl; several local butterflies, such as the chalk hill blue, tlie dark brown and duke of Burgundy frittil- laries, the scarlet and wood tiger moths, and several beautiful beetles.

As near as GreeuAvich Park, in the summer months, the great stag beetle {hicanus cerous) may frequently be found in abundance, though it is rare in England save in Kent.

The osier grounds near the Thames will supply some rare insects, the lesias, and troc/tilhim, moths of some scarcity; while in Essex and Hertfordshire may be found the purple emperor butterfly, the brown frittillary, and white admiral butterflies, the death's-head and parrot-hawk moths, and many other interesting species; while if we go towards Cambridge, which is now but a few hours from London, we come to an entirely different fauna; here Ave find the beautiful papilio machaon^ a swallow-tail butterfly, still keeping up an unavailing struggle with the progress of agriculture; the splendid large copper butterflies and beetles of great beauty, the ceramhyx^ septiira^ charcharias^ &c. But all this abundance of knowledge of species is OAving, perhaps, as much to the greater care that has been bcstOAved on the study near the resorts of civilization than to any other cause, for there is no locality Avhere a plant groAVS in AA'hich the devotee of the sister study, entomology, Avill not meet Avith objects both of pleasure and instruction.

LONDON — STATISTICS.

59

List of Authors consulted.

Curtis's Flora Londincnsis. Sol by 's Forost Trees. Newman's British Ferns. Hassel's British Alg.x. Harvey's Britisli Alga;. Loudon's. Arboretum Britannicum.

,, EncyclopiBdia of Farming, and all his other works. Lauder's Gilpin's Forest Scenery. Evelyn's Sylva.

AVestwood's Arboretum Britannicum. Grcville's Cryptogamic Flora. Andrews On Heaths. Lindley's Synopsis of British Flora. „ Introduction to Botany, and all his other works.

,, Guide to Orchard and Kitchen

Garden. Cooper's Flora Metropolitana. Johnson's Farmer's Dictionary, 5:c. Agricultural Surveys of Counties. Keports of Agricultural Society. Magazine of Natural History. Reports of British Association.

Hooker's British Flora.

New ]3otanist's Guide.

Manning's Surrey, kc.

And the County Histories of the Dis- tricts traversed by the Thames.

Turton's British Shells.

YarreJI's Birds.

Bell's Quadrupeds and Beptiles.

Yarrell's Fishes.

Pennant's British Zoology.

Quarterly Journal of i\griculture,

M'Gillivray's History of Jlollusca, &c. „ Manual of British Birds.

Kirby and Spence's Introduction to En- tomology.

Westwood's Butterflies and Moths.

"Wood's and Curtis's works on Ento- mology.

Burmeister's Manual, by Shuckard.

Shuckard's British Coleoptera.

Stephens' Systematic Catalogue.

John Eennie's Alphabets of Botanj-, En- tomology, and other works.

Section 5. Statistics. — As London is not confiired by natural bounds nor by walls, has no octroi, and no general municipalorganiza- tion, its statistics are far from complete, and in many cases it is impos- sible to give any definite information.

Boundaries and Extent. — This basis of calculation cannot be de- fined, as every day some new street takes the place of the green field, and it is therefore only possible to adopt a general idea of the giant city.

It has its heart in the county of the city of London, and is chiefly in ]\Iiddlesex; on the east it spreads into Essex, on the south into Surrey, and on the south-east into Kent. It is crossed by the Thames from Hammersmith to Woolwich, passing under eleven great brido-es and winding in a length of about twenty miles, but not alwavs with houses on its shores. On the north bank there How the navi"able Roding and Lea, the Fleet, and many small brooks and creeks; and the metropolis nearly touches the mouth of the navigable Brent, as in the north it does the sources. On the south bank the Kavensbourne and the Wandle flow within its bounds. On these many streams some of which are now buried under houses or in sewers, the fleets of the Northmen once sailed, and battles were fought, and in later times mills were worked.

60 LUNDON — STATISTICS.

On the north of the Tlianics London crosses the range of hills nnd reaches Edmonton and Finchley; on the west it reaches Acton, Hammersmith, and nearly joins on to Brentford and Kew ; on the east it reaches Layton and Ham. On the south of the Thames London emhraces Wandsworth, Streatham, Dulwich, Lewisham, Woolwich, and Phmistead. To each of these points continuous streets of houses reach; but the solid mass of London lies within narrower bounds, with these several long arms extending from it. The greatest length of street, from east to west, is about 14 miles, and from north to south about 13 miles. The solid mass is about 7 miles by 4 miles, so that the ground covered with houses is not less than 20 square miles.

London has now swallowed up many cities, towns, villages, and separate jurisdictions. The four commonwealths or kingdoms of the Middle Saxons, East Saxons, the South Eick, and of the Kentwaras, once ruled over its surface. It now embraces the county and episco- pal city of London, the episcopal city of Westmhister, the boroughs of South wark and Greenwich, the towns of Woolwich, Deptford, and Wandsworth, the M'atering places of Hampstead, Highgate, Islington, Acton, Kilburn, the fishing town of Barking, the once secluded and an- cient villages of Ham, Hornsey, Sydenham, Lee, Kensington, Fulham, Lambeth, "Clapham, Paddington, Hackney, Chelsea, Stoke Newington, Newington Butts, Plumstead, and many others, the jurisdiction and lieutenancy of the Tower and Tower Hamlets, and of the Hospital of St. Katharine's, and the lordship of the Duchy of Lancaster in W^estminster.

Population. — In 1841 the population of the metropolis was taken as 1,998,455, and it is now about 2,250,000, being the city of the greatest ascertained population and greatest number of houses in the world. The return of 1841 is thus made up : —

London City, within the Roman walls 54,626

„ ,/ without the Eoman walls .... 70,382

Finsbniy Borough 265,043

Tower Hamlets Borough and Liberty 419,730

Essex Division ....••••• 23,954

Marylebone Borough 287,465

Marvlcbone Parish 138,164

St. Pancras „ 128,479

Paddington „ 25,173

Westminster City 222,053

Kensington Division ........ 109,625

Lambetli Borough 197,412

Greenwich and ^Yoolv>■ich Borough 72,748

Total .... 1,998,455

LONDUX STATISTICS. (Jl

Eecapitiilation. — London in Middlesex 1 475 2S9

»^ y> l^ssex '40o!309

,, „ Surrey 98,903

•' V Kent 23,954

The number of males capable of bearing arms in the metropolis is about half a million.

For the purposes of the registration of births, deaths, and marriages, London is reckoned as one of the eleven great divisions of England, and the population at successive periods is thus taken to enable^'com- parison to he made : —

1801 .... 958,863 1811 .... 1,138,815 1821 .... 1.378,947 1831 .... 1,654,994 1841 .... 1,048,369 In 1841 the number of males was 912,0. il, and of females, 1,036,368.

The births, deaths, and marriages in the metropolitan district stand thus : —

Births. Deaths. Marriages.

1S38 .... — ... 53,546 ... —

1839 .... 53,575 ... 46,100 ... 18,384

1840 .... 56,751 ... 47,156 ... 18,530

1841 .... 58,362 ... 46,292 ... 18,246

1842 .... 61,381 ... 46.242 ... 17,826

1843 .... 62,134 ... 49,477 ... 18,669

1844 .... 64,329 ... 51.109 ... 20,126

1845 .... 65,884 ... 48,318 ... 21,770

1846 .... 69,882 ... 49,450 ... 22,272 The number of births and deaths do not include the still-born. The number of deaths occurring daily is 125.

Houses. — The number of houses in the registration district in 1S41 was 278,093, whereof inhabited, 2G2,737, uninhabited, 11,324, build- ing, 4032. The number of houses now is above 300,000, and the number of streets, alleys, &c., above 10,000.

Einploi/ment. — An analysis of the employment of the population, from the ^- Post Office London Directory" and the " Useful Knowledge Geography of England and Wales," gives the number of persons em- ployed in the chief trades of London as follows : —

Millinery .... 40,282 | Machinery .... 5,615

Clothes aud Slops . . . 28,848 Plate and Jewellery . . 5,561

Boots and Shoes . . . 28,574 Coachbuilding . . . 4.434

Books, Prints, kc. . . . 14,563 AVatch and Clockmaking . . 4'290

28,848	Plate and Jewellery
28,574	Coachbuilding
14,563	AVatch and Clockmakin
14,563	Coopering
12,419	Leatherworking
6,305	Brassworking
5,787	Hatmaking .

Silk weaving .... 14,563 , Coopering .... 4,002 Cabinet making, kc. . . 12,419 \ Leatherworking . . . 3,932 Shipbuilding .... 6,305 | Brassworking . . . 3^591

Painting and Sculpture . . 5,787 | Hatmaking .... 3,506 Of most of these trades London is a chief seat. Other considerable trades are. Saddlery, 2626 ; Cartmaking, 2635 ; Carving and Gilding, 2181 ; Brush and Broom- making, 2155; Pianos, Organs, and other instruments, 1886; Tinplate working 1419; Toys, 1298; Brewing, 1274 ; Rope, 1262; Fur, 1236 ; Glass, 1230; Iron, 1176; AVax and Tallow, 1130; Guns and Pistols, 1113; Mathematical Instru-

62

LONDON— STATISTICS.

ments, 1076; Artificial Flowers, 1025 ; Stained Paper, 966 ; Cutlery, 905; Baskets, 881 ; Bricks and Tiles, 840 ; Umbrellas, 831 ; Sailmaking, 713 ; Sugar refining, 645 ; Paper, 625 ; Chemicals, Dyes, Varnishes, &c., 617 ; Cork cutting, 576 ; Chair- making, 1700; Combs, 464; Goldbeating, 378; Hair working, 367; Ivory, 311; Type founding, 452.

Other employments are, —

Provision Trades, 52,761. ! Metal Trades, 33,308,

Bakers .

Butchers

Fishmongers

Grocers .

Buttermen

Publicans

Milkmen

J,110 ! 6,450 I Smith 1,866 i 4,986 ;

7,481

. 1,732

. 6,061 . 2,764 Clothing and Leather Trades, 126,508.

Tailors .

Shoemakers

Drapers

23,517

28.574

3,913

27,049

3,282

Carrying and Shippini} Trades, 52,660.

' Professional Persons, 28,318.

Schoolmasters and Teachers . 9,244 : Ecclesiastics .... 1,271 I Medical Men .... 4,972 I Lawyers .... 2,399

Engineers and Architects . 1,379 ! Artists 4,431

Accountants .... 1,108 ' Public Servants, Policemen, i and Soldiers

j Merchants, Pawnbrokers, and I Auctioneers

I Clerks

! Labourers .... I Omnibus and Cab Drivers j Male Servants ! Female Servants and Nurses

19,240

8,389 20,932 50,279 10,000 39,300 138,917

Dressmakers and Seamstresses Bonnetmakers

Spinning, Braiding, Plaiting, and

Weaving Trades, 27,960.

Building and Furnishing Trades,

85,292.

Carpenters, &c. . . . 18,321

Bricklayers .... 6,743

Painters, Plumbers . . . 11,507

Masons 3,471

Sawyers . . . .2,978

The number of Irish in London in 1841 was about 70,000 (this is besides Irish born in London); of Scotch and Highlanders, 25,000; and of foreigners, 20,000. The rest of the metropolitan population is English, of whom about 1,200,000 at least are born in London.

Police. — The whole body of police is about GOOO. The number of persons taken into custody yearly is G0,000 (males 40,000, fe- males 20,000), of whom half for drunkenness, 10,000 for assaults, 15,000 for stealing, and 3000 for wilful damage. 5000 are yearly sent for trial to the superior criminal courts. Of those taken into custody 20,000 can neither read nor write ; 35,000 read, or read and write imperfectly ; 4500 read and write well ; and 500 have superior instruction. Of those convicted by the superior courts only about 240 can read and write well, and 17 have superior instruction. The number of persons and children yearly reported to the police as lost is about 2500, of whom above 1000 are reported found by the police. The number of suicides committed is IGO, and at- tempted 110, being less than the number in the smaller population of Paris. The number of fires is nearly 500. The cost of the police is about 400,000/. yearly; and this is besides prisons and jiKlicial establishments.

LONDON — STATISTICS. 63

Trade of London	— Tons of shi	pping yearly en^^apied in trade a\ itli
the port of London	: —
Coasting trade .	,	. 3,000,000	Ireland	.	100,000
Newcastle	1,300,000		Sweden and Norway .	100,000
Sunderland .	1,000,000		France		90,000
Stockton	<	00,000		Prussia		70,000
English colonies .	.		650,000	English Africa		60,000
East Indies	,		200,000	Guernsey, &c.		50,000
English North America		2(10,000	Denmark .		40,000
"West Indies			150,000	Flanders .		40,000
Eussia	.		150,000	Portugal .		35,000
Holland .			120,000	China		30,000
United States .	.		100,000

Education. — \uOW([or\ is tlic seat of a university, and has five colleges, faculties, and superior schools for old classic and modern languages; 1 for women, 2 for East Indian studies, 2 for HebreAv (besides 3 chairs), 11 for medicine, 1 for the veterinary art, 1 for jiharraacy, 17 for chemistry, 3 for geology and metallurgy, 4 for law, 3 for civil engi- neering, 5 for military engineering, 1 for music, 2 for the fine arts, G for teaching schoolmasters, 5 for teaching schoolmistresses, 2 for Episcopalian theology, 1 for Baptist ditto, 1 for Independent ditto, 1 for Unitarian ditto, 1 for Jewish ditto.

There are special schools for design, singing, church music, navi- gation, botany, horticulture, the blind, deaf and dumb, and idiots.

The University of London consists of a chancellor, vice-chancellor, and senate, appointed provisionally by the secretary of state for the Home Department, and of graduates. The university is solely an examining body ; instruction is given in the colleges recognised by it, which are all the medical schools in the empire, and the colleges in London, and elsewhere in these islands, for superior instruction, not belonging to the other universities, and including most of the col- leges of the Roman Catholics, Baptists, Independents, and Wes- leyans. In London the colleges are University, King's, New, St. Bartholomew's and St. Thomas's, and the medical schools of St. George's, London, Charing Cross, Guy's, Westminster and Middlesex Hospitals, and the Hunterian School of Medicine. These give cer- tificates of the students having passed through the required courses in the faculties of arts, medicine, and law. Those of engineering and architecture are not yet fully organized. The university has no theological character. For the matriculation, examination, or pre- liminary examination on admission to the university, no college cer- tificate is necessary. The senate appoints examiners in the branches of the several faculties, and the examination, which is private, is as far as possible in writing, or of a practical character, oral examina- tion being avoided, unless indispensably necessary. The examinations are of two classes, at the option of the candidate, an ordinary exa- mination, in two classes, and an examination of a higher character

04 LONDON — STATISTICS.

for honours. To those passing this latter examination are alone given the scholarships and medals of the university. The examina- tions are very severe, and few go np for them ; hut those who do are generally young men of great abilities, and a large proportion pass in the superior classes. There are a general matriculation exa- mination, examinations for Bachelor and Master of Arts, Bachelor and Doctor of Civil Law, two for Bachelor of Medicine, and one for Doctor of Medicine. The graduates possess very few privileges, hut the degrees are highly valued. Latterly the degrees are given in public hy the chancellor, in the presence of the graduates.

Superior instruction is given in London hy the three colleges of University (for all sects). King's (for Church of England men), and New College (for Lidependents). The latter teaches only humanity and theology ; but the others teach humanity, philosophy, medicine, law, engineering, and architecture, and have a full body of professors. The professors are chiefly paid by a proportion of the fees from pupils. The instruction is given by lectures, and weekly and ses- sional examinations are held. At the end of the session a grand examination and distribution of prizes takes place. The students are not obliged to be matriculated in the University of London, and many of them proceed to Oxford and Cambridge, in order to carry off the emoluments of those rich foundations. No system of moral discipline prevails in these colleges, the members of which reside ^^'here they list. These colleges are not under the control of the government, and belong to private subscribers, who appoint a council for their management, though the real administration is vested in the senate of professors.

Of public grammar schools for boys there are about twenty-five. The chief are Westminster, University, and King's Colleges, Mer- chant Tailors, St. Paul's, Charterhouse, Christ's Hospital, City of London, Mercers, the Philological.

The grammar school answers to the College Royal and Gymna- sium of the continent. The endowed schools are not under the control of the government, and there are many private schools. The endowed schools have exhibitions or scholarships attached to them for the maintenance of pupils in the universities of Oxford, Cam- bridge, and London, and the fees are generally low, and in some cases the education is gratuitous. At Westminster, the Charter- house, and Merchant Tailors, many of the wealthy classes are brought up, and most of the schools have produced many eminent scholars. Li the grammar schools the basis of instruction is a hard and close training in the Latin grammar and rudiments, as a means of securing habits of attention, industry, and perseverance, and whatever may be the opinion as to the form of education, the result, by which we are to judge, and not by the form, proves that Englishmen, in their minds and in their habits of mental, political, and social discipline are as well

LONDON — STATISTICS. (,'5

trained as men of any Enropcan nation. Besides Latin, instrnction is given in Greek, Ficneli, German, and other branches of cdncation. In nianv of the large schools the lads at the option of their parents receive less classical instruction, and their education is of a more commercial cliai-acter. As a general practice the minds of the younger boys are not quickened, but they are in preference kept to those studies which Avill train them in habits of industry. The boys of sixteen and seven- teen arc encouraged to a greater exertion of the bigher faculties, and are allo\\ed to compose themes, orations, and verses in English, Latin, Greek, French, German, and Hebrew. Each school has a yearly display of its more promising ])npils on a speech day, and at West- minster a Latin play is performed at Christmas. It is considered the development of the powers of imagination and of judgment can best take place at an advanced age, and the cultivation of these, as well as the acquisition of languages and other accomplishments, is left for the period of university study.

Beneath the grammar schools arc the boarding schools kept by private persons, and which are seldom on a par with the National and British and Foreign Schools, unless those of a higher class, where every branch of education can be obtained on making extra payment for it. The society schools generally labour under a want of teachers, and much of the instruction is given by pu]ul monitors. The teaching embraces reading, writing, spelling, English history, geography, lessons from objects, drawing, and an extensive course of theology in the form of hymns, prayers, catechisms, bible readings, and bible geography.

Of lower schools for boys and girls there are about 50 foundation schools ; TOO national and parish schools ; and 200 British and Fo- reign schools. Many of these have infant schools attached to them, and are of a larger class. Of Sunday schools there are about TOO belonging to the church. The number of Bagged schools is 90. The number of children in the church day-schools is G.>,000, and in the church Sunday-schools only 9000. The number of children in the British and Foreign day-schools is 30,000. The number of pupils in the Bagged day-schools is 1G,000. The whole number of other Sunday schools is about TOO, with 12,000 teachers and 180,000 pupils.

The schooling of a great part of the population ceases at fourteen or fifteen, and the counting-house, warehouse, or shop, becomes the school of mental discipline. The Literary or IMechanics' Listitution alTords in its evening classes the means of continuing cheaply scholastic instruction, and provides classes of French, German, Latin, Italian, natural philosophy, drawing, singing, recitation, music and dancing. The abundance of books in private hands and in the libraries of the institutions, and the requirements of instruction for the discharge of political duties, are great encouragements to reading among the youths and young men, and many avail themselves fully of the opportunities at their disposal. With many defects in English institutions the prac-

66 LONDON— STATISTICS.

tical and working results will be found by the careful observer highly favourable when compared with those obtained else^A'here.

The schooling of girls is almost without exception very expensive and very bad. Music, drawing, dancing and French are professed to be taught in all schools of any pretension, and are seldom learnt, and even if any proficiency be acquired in the ordinary requisites of school instruction, no care is taken for the discipline of the mind. Among the wealthier classes the girls are almost universally taught at home by governesses.

As a general fact it may be noticed that the industrial education of the girls has fallen off of late vears among all classes.

Special education is provided for very extensively in London. The medical schools are numerous, and compete with each other. A sup- ply of subjects for anatomical dissection is providedfrom the unclaimed bodies of those dying in hospitals, workhouses, or prisons. The Col- lege of Physicians examines for physicians; that of Surgeons for sur- geons; the Society of Apothecaries for general practitioners of medicine and surgery; and the Royal Veterinary College for veterinarists. No course of study is required for lawyers, but solicitors have to pass an examination. There are some optional examinations for barristers and professorships of several branches of law. Engineering is pro" vided for in numerous colleges so far as scholastic instruction goes ; architecture in the Royal Academy, University, and King's and Putney Colleges ; the arts in the Royal Academy and some smaller schools ; music is the worst cultivated, and is in a low condition.

Miscellaneous. — The amount of customs duties paid by London is nearly 11,000,000/.; of postage, about 900,000/. The yearly value of house property is about 8,000,000/., and the amount of poor rates about 650,000/. The amount invested in savings banks was, in 1850, about 4,500,000/.

Cliariiies. — The provision made for the general relief of the poor is described under Poor Law. There is besides an unexampled number of institutions, founded by private benevolence for the relief of distress in almost eM^vy form. Many of these are described under the title of Asylums. Of the remainder it is impossible here to give an enumeration. We must refer to a most valuable woi-k, " The Charities of London," by Sampson Low, jun.

The hospitals may be fii'st named. They include St. Bartholomew's, St. Thomas's, Westminster, Guy's, St. George's, London, Middlesex, Charing Cross, University College or North London, King's College, and Marylebone. All these are medical schools. There are further, the Free, Seamen's (in the Dreadnought ship on the Thames), Jews, and German. Besides the above, for general diseases, there are spe- cial hospitals, as Lying-in (5), Lisane (several). Ophthalmic (2), Small Pox and Fever, Fistula, Orthopoedic, Consumption (2), and the Lock. All these are under the management of subscribers, who, as governors.

LONDON — STATISTICS, 67

ap])oint tlic medical and other officers, and when tlicy think fit recom- nieiid patients. Throughout the London charitable institutions the medical officers are unsalaried, but sometimes they derive emoluments as medical teachers. Admission to sec the hospitals is readily given to strangers on application.

Beside'^ the relief given by these hospitals to the immense number of out-patients, and exclusive of their in-door patients, are numerous smaller local institutions for out-door relief, including 89 dispensa- ries; and further, sanatoriums, sea-bathing institutions, lying-in, oph- thalmic, aural, glandular, and truss or rupture relief institutions. The Humane Society keeps up a police and medical staff for the relief of persons found in the water and in danger of drowning.

The model dwellings for the poor, the baths and washhouses, and emigration funds, are provided by private benevolence -'^

Ten institutions are provided for the reformation of unfortunate females, three for female and juvenile criminals, and one for the relief of discharged criminals. An hospital maintains natural children to re- licA^e the mothers fi'om further temptation. A society procures the discharge of persons imprisoned for small debts.

Miscellaneous institutions detect vagrancy, provide nightly shelter for the houseless in Avinter, give away coals, bread, and soup, and visit the necessitous in their abodes. The General District Visiting Society is a kind of propaganda society for converting the working classes to Christianity.

Benevolent establishments succour distressed needlewomen, dress- makers, and female servants.

The aged, the blind, the deaf and dumb, the insane, and the idiot, are well provided for. Several societies give pensions to tlie decayed mem- bers of the respectable classes. Each of the city corporations devotes large funds to charity, and each trade has its benevolent or pension society.

For orphans and for education the provision is large. Several great societies cause reading and writing to be taught to the Englisb people, for whom no education is provided as a right by the state, and there- fore it is thus afforded as an alms. These school-societies are the National for the Church, the British and Foreign for Dissenters, the ^Veslevan, the Congregationalist, the Roman Catholic, the Jewish, and the Infant. The schools are supported by the payment of a penny or twopence weekly from each child, the subscription of neighbours, a slight grant from the society, and a gratuity from the government. The government now gives aid for building schoolhouses, and main- taining the normal colleges. Of these there are several in London. The National Society in 1847 had G798 schools and 520,754 scholars, besides 237,848 Sunday scholars. The British and Foreign School Society likewise carries on its operations on a large scale. Several societies publish school-books and maps.

* vSee post, article I3aths and Washhouses and Houses for the Labouring Poor.

G8 LONDON — STATISTICS.

The Ragged scliools are for tlie poor cLilclren wlio can iieitlicr dress decent]}'-, nor pay tlie weekl^y penny. These schools, formed within the last three or four years, have heen the means of reclaim- ing many outcasts. Some of these schools are largely frequented bv young thieves. The times of teaching are suited to the irregular habits of the inmates, and the endeavour is to give them a moral and industrial training. Some of the boys have been fitted to be emi- grants. These schools are likewise open for adults, and generally they labour among those classes who, from the neglect of the state, are brought up to a life of vagabondism, and to prey upon the rest of the community. These schools receive no help I'rom the state, but are wholly dependent upon voluntary contributions. There are nearly a hundred of these schools, and in which a thousand teachers gratuitously labour.

The Sunday schools are another great monument of voluntary exertion. In every one of the Society-schools, and in every dis- senting chapel, a Sunday school is held, the teachers in Avhich are volunteers. Throughout England there are 70,000 of these schools, with about 2,000,000 of scholars, of wliom a large proportion are in the metropolis. In these schools tlie defective instruction in the Society-schools is partly supplied.

All these charitable institutions are regularly organized, and if they afford occasion for ostentation and display, at any rate they are the means of awakening the apathy of the community to the discharge of the social duties. The anniversary dinners and meetings become as much the holidays of the better classes, as occasions for beneficial exertion, and thus the co-operation and good feeling of all ranks of the common\A-ealtli are engaged, from the prince to the beggar. That there are evils attendant on such a system, all will expect who know that human nature has imperfections ; but none who think rightly can see its working and fail to acknowledge the vast amount of good. The burthen is, of course, unequally divided, and those most willing have the greatest share. The same benefactors con- tribute to every charity ; the same devoted men and women are teachers in the Sunday-school, the ragged school, and district visitors; and those who give their mite, will, at the same time, be found work- ing-up clothing, or providing comforts for the sick.

Poor Law. — In the vast nation of London there must be, from many causes, a large number of poor for whom a provision becomes necessaiy. The aid of various charities is afforded to a great extent, and there is an ample public provision. The stranger, who sees the squalid Irish and other beggars who infest the streets, might doubt this, but on no subject is it necessary for him to be so cautious in trusting to appearances. For every one food, shelter, and clothing are provided, and the law prohibits begging; but there will always be some who prefer begging to work, the more particularly when begging is a lucra-

LONDON — STATISTICS. GO

tivc trado. As tlic bcirgai' Itikcs care not to })ly Lis vocation in tlic licaring of the policeman, and the private person addressed is eitlicr unAvilling, or has not tlic time to canse tiie criminal to be taken into custody, the army of beggars carries on its operations with little inter- ruption, or an occasional imprisonment in the House of Correction is only treated as a slight evil attendant on a life of sensual indulgence. The Irish, from preference, are clad in tatters, and walk barefoot; the smaller number of English beu'gars arrav themselves expresslv for their performance, and if they have not some deformity assume it. They likewise hire infant children at a considerable expense. They prey, in particular, upon the mechanics and. their wives, who, occasionally subjected to real jirivations, benevolently say that perhaps they them- selves may some day be brought to wretchedness, and that the beggars may truly be in want, and. if not, a penny will do no harm. To im- pose upon the mechanics the sham Lancashire weaver, with his large household, makes his regular round of the courts and alleys, proclaim- ing in a loud voice and with rhetorical skill the circumstances which prevent him from earning a livelihood by work, and a shower of half- pence ansucrs his appeal. On Saturday nights he, his wife, and children are dressed up cleanly and neatly, with faces well washed and hair well combed, holding boxes of matches in their hands, and with down- cast looks, as if ashamed to beg.

To every beggar, however urgent his appeal, and whatever guarantee lie may offer of its truth, the stranger must tlioroughly shut his ears and liis pockets. If he is in doubt lest he should turn away any case of real distress, let him subscribe to the Mendicity Society in Red Lion Square, who will supply him with tickets, to be given as relief in- stead of money, and \^lio give food only to those who are found to be deserving. The beggars have been known and seen to give these Mendicity tickets to the really poor. The police, too, can be called ii})on to take charge of a beggar, and to see him on his way to the poorhouse or the House of Correction.

The whole of London is divided into large districts for the relief of the poor, called unions, consisting of a single large parish or of several small parishes. Each of these is goveined by a Board of Guardians, chosen by the ratepayers. Each union has a large building, called a workhouse, which provides for aged men and women, sick and disabled men and women, wives deserted by their husbands, single ■women lying-in, orphans and illegitimate children, and all persons nnable to obtain work and destitute of the means of subsistence. A department called the casual or vagrant ward is for the relief of wanderers, who either have not or say they have not means of finding food and shelter for the night. This is a right which can be enforced at once on application before the nearest civil magistrate. For the children separate establishments are now being formed in the neigh- bom-liood of London, with suitable schools, workshops, and play-

70 LONDON — STATISTICS.

grounds, where they may be brought up industriously. The insane poor are sent to the County Lunatic Asylums, established expressly for them, and where every care is taken for the restoration of their minds. The asylums for the county of Middlesex are at Hanwell and Colney Hatch.

The aged poor are provided for comfortably, but not luxuriously, as it is not the intention they should enjoy the same advantages as the fru<^al and industrious. Able-bodied men and women are only provided with such a quantity of coarse and unsavoury food as is sufficient to sustain life, as it is not desired to encourage them to remain without work or in a state of dependence. It is sometimes made a means of misrepresentation that the prisoner and the convict are better fed than the pauper, whereas the larger allowance made to criminals is only enough to maintain life under the depressing influence of imprisonment. It is therefore perfectly preposterous to compare the conditions. The work to which paupers are put is such as docs not interfere with the labour market, chiefly stone-breaking, and it is a matter of course that workhouse labour affords little or no re- venue towards meeting the expenses. The discipline of these large establishments is necessarily simple and strict. The inmates are re- quired to stay within the walls, are dressed for cleanliness in the workhouse dress, and are separated into various classes, though not always to such an extent but that the evil influence of idlers, drunkards, convicts, vagrants, beggars, thieves, prostitutes, and other bad cha- racters, is strongly felt. When a person applies for relief to a board of guardians, if he is only a casual sojourner in their district, it is their duty to cause him to be conveyed to his birthplace, a change which by no means suits the Irish vagrants, who make their reap- pearance at as early a date as possible. The Irish reaper, however, remits his earnings to Ireland by post-office order, and gets a free passage as a pauper.

The regular vagrants frequently take advantage of the casual wards of the workhouses in turn to get their night's lodging free, going forth in the morning to get their food by begging or thieving. As they wander about the union officers and police can seldom get a case against them to secure their punishment ; and though they are searched to find their money they generally manage to hide it suc- cesfully.

In some cases relief is given out of doors, but to as small a degree as possible, the object being by the restraint of the workhouse to debar persons from seeking help unnecessarily, and even the pittance of two or three shillings a week is sufficient to tempt an Irisli family to live in idleness. In each subdistrict of the union is a relieving officer, whose business it is to examine the claims and circumstances of all applicants for relief within and without the union house. He visits the poor in their abodes, and in cases of utter illness or other need provides food and medical attendance.

LONDON — STATISTICS. 71

The infirmaries of the Marylebone, St. Pancras, LaniLctli, ami otlier large unions, constitute large hospitals, and it is in these establishments tlie ihnesses of the lower chisses are really treated. The patients in tlie regular hosi)itals include i'cw paupers, except for accidents or ex- traordinary diseases, but are many of them mechanics and domestic servants.

Although a warning has been given against beggars, and the sys- tem of relief has been described, yet there is often a large amount of sutfering iu London. The working population subject themselves to great privations to keep out of the woikhouse, and sometimes the re- lieving orticer, warned by neighbours of the necessity, is repulsed when offering help. Some from false shame Avhcn in need ])refer living by begging to taking from the public fund, to which they have contri- buted, and which is provided for them. Sometimes the outcasts of crime pine away in their abodes; sometimes the victims of sensualitv drop in their career of dissipation. Hence cases of utter wretched- ness, and even of death from want of food, do, notwithstanding every care, sometimes harrow the minds of the public. These are not, however, to be taken as instances by A\'hich to measure the con- dition of the population.

Public Journals and tlie Tunes. — London, as compared with Paris and New York, is less distinguished for the number of its journals and their special distribution, than for the completeness of the journals themselves and the efficiency of their establishments. It is this which gives them a distinctive character and importance, and makes them a feature of metropolitan greatness particularly worthy of the examination of the stran<;er. The branch of literature whicli is styled the press is known under two heads, as ne\vspapers and periodicals, between which the line cannot in each case be accurately defined, but which nevertheless have considerable distinctness of character. To the first class belong the daily and weekly newspapers, to the second the weekly, monthly, and quarterly publications, of which original dissertations form the chief feature.

The periodicals range from the volume review of the Edinbur"h and Quarterly to the penny weekly sheet of the Family Herald, and in one shape or another they embrace the representation of every profession, parly, sect, and shade of opinion. In the quarterly and monthly periodicals, Edinburgh shares with London, but with regard to both towns the contributors are not local, but drawn from all jiarts of the country. The whole mass of periodicals may therefore be considered together without di^^tinction of origin.

The quarterly reviews consist solely of dissertations by men of eminence in their respective branches on important topics. The Quarterly, the Edinburgh, and the Westminster, represent the Tory, the Whig, and the Radical ])artics, and others less known the several religious sects ; and there arc special rcvic\\'s for medicine and law.

72 LONDON STATISTICS.

Tlie nioiitlily publications consist princl]ially of Avliat are called the magazines. The nnmhers of a magazine bind up in the course of a year into two volumes, and contain chiefly portions of novels continued in series or short sketches, with poems and an occasional ])olitical article. There are besides special monthly publications for the navy, army, civil engineers, surgeons, veterinarists, pharmaceutists, chemists, naturalists, artists, antiquarians, bankers.

The political reviews rank among their contributors statesmen, historians, and the elite of science; the magazines, the poets and novelists. Some of the works of Dickens, Bulwer, and other novelists of universal popularity, have first appeared in the magazines.

Of the weekly periodicals it is more difficult to give a brief sketch. The Athen^um and the Literary Gazette are journals for the criticism of literature, science, and art, in all their branches, and the communication of information regarding them. Then there is a lono- series of journals for medicine, law, architecture, and music.

A class of publications, which may be represented by Chambers's Journal and the Family Herald, is published at a cheap price to supply the public appetite for wholesome reading. Beneath these come' the penny sheets of novels, written to pander to the passions of the lower classes.

Each of the various publications we have named has its editor, and those requiring such assistance a sub-editor, and all give em- ployment to a staff of contributors and translators, artists and engravers. The translations are chiefly of scientific and professional news; the literary publications, except those of the lowest class, who republish the common French novels, rarely employ translators.

A class of periodicals not before enumerated arc the transactions and journals of the various scientific institutions. The several religious tract and temperance societies likewise issue numerous publications.

The newspaper press in its constitution differs much from that described.

The daily journals are those most important. The weekly journals reprint the news of the daily journals in a compressed form, and their distinctive character is derived from political articles, criticisms on literature and art, and occasional special communications. Several, as Sunday papers, give the news later than the daily papers of Saturday. In the weekly papers the sections of society unable separately "to maintain the vast establishment of a daily paper have their special organs, and here we find the representatives of Absolutists, Tories, Conservatives, Protectionists, Whigs, Radicals, Republicans, Democrats, Jacobins, Economists, Sociahsts, High Church, Low Church, Roman Catholics, Presbyterians, Wesleyans, Reform Wesleyans, Inde- pendents, Unitarians, Jews, Deists, Pantheists, and Atheists. It is by this latitude of discussion that conspiracy and revolution are superseded, and each party hopes to conquer its adversaries by the overwhelming

LOXUON STATISTICS. 73

truth <)F its doctrines, and not by tlic exertion of physical power. Hero tlie Celt abuses Enghsh domination, and the colonist advocates the dis- solution of the imperial connection. The influence of these organs is great, and the ministry of the day has usually more than one re- ])resentative among them. Many classes of the population have neither time nor money for daily publications, and the weehlv paper is sought on the Sunday and carefully read. This class of publica- tion has therefore large resources at its command, and is enabled to enlist men of great attainments among its contribntors.

A weekly newspaper is managed by an editor and sub-editor, with several assistants for the Saturday's transactions, and there are usually regular correspondents or contributors for particular depart- ments, for a ])olitical article or letter, for theatrical and musical ciiticism, and for sporting communications. Many of these parties hold other engagements on the press.

One weekly publication, the Illustrated News, keeps a staff of artists and engravers to supply the materials for tlie expensive woodcuts appearing in its pages.

The evening papers, since the establishment of the morning mails enables the morning papers to reach the country districts, are of diminished importance. They give the news from the morning papers ^^'ith occasional additions, and some regular information of the day, and in periods of great excitement their exertions then keep pace ^^■ith the public requirements for news. The ministry has al\A-ays an organ, occasionally its chief organ, in this department of the press. The evening ]xapers now publish about 4 o'clock, in time for the afternoon post, and during the sitting of parliament tliey give the debates up to a late hour in an after edition. They have their staff of editor and sub-editor, city correspondents, and in the session a corps of j^arliamentary reporters. The evening papers are the Globe, Sun and Express (liberal), and the Standard (conser- vative). There is likewise a shipping paper.

The morning papers are now six in number : the Times, Morning Chronicle, j\lorning Herald, and Morning Post, all representing various sections of the conservative party ; the Daily News, wliich is the representative of the liberals, and the Morning Advertiser, likewise