Epping Forest

Abstract

THE public generally, and especially the people of London, and those who take some interest in natural history, are to be congratulated on the acquisition of so charmingly complete a little itinerary of Epping Forest as that now issued in a cheaper form by one of the Committee of Conservators, who is a resident on the borders, and an enthusiast as to the attractions of the Forest. It is, as the author observes in his preface, “hardly a desirable state of things” that so small a percentage of the summer visitors to the Forest “ever venture far from the point at which they are set down by train or vehicle;” and, with the choice of a score of beautiful walks, described in Mr. Buxton's book, and the guidance of his six carefully prepared maps, five of which are on the scale of three inches to the mile, there is no longer any reason for their not venturing into those depths of the Forest in which its chief beauties are to be seen. The chapter on the history of the Forest which the author has wisely prefixed to the itinerary, that visitors may be reminded of the events which secured this magnificent playground for their enjoyment, is most complete, though it is to be regretted that the late City Solicitor, Sir Thomas Nelson, is not mentioned by name on p. 22. The practical character of the book may be gauged from the inclusion of railway time-tables, the fact that the distinctive letters of each route have been cut on trees at some points, and from such suggestions as that an east wind is, in Epping Forest, the best for views, because not smoke laden. Personal experience has convinced the present writer of the skill with which the routes have been selected; the “objects of interest within and around the Forest,” and their historical asso ciations, are fully described and illustrated by some excellent drawings, the latter by Mr. Heywood Sunnier; but what must render the work peculiarly gratifying to all lovers of nature, is the ample space—more than half the volume—devoted to the fauna and flora of the Forest. The mammals, reptiles, birds; the chief moths and butterflies; the trees, flowering plants, ferns, fungi, and mosses, are all enumerated, with general, i.e. not too specific, localities; and the notes on the mammals and birds will be of interest to naturalists in other districts. Such lists can, fortunately, never be complete; insects marked as “rare” are notoriously liable at any time to prove common: even since the publication of this work evidence has been produced suggesting the addition of Sparganium neglectum to the list of flowers, and each year's cryptogamic meeting of the Essex Field Club has as yet added several species to the catalogues of the lower plants. There may yet be room for a more pre tentious monograph of Epping Forest, and, of course, from the naturalist's stand-point, so rich a collecting-ground affords material for a library of expository literature—the freshwater algae, for example, call for recognition;—but, for its purpose, the present work could hardly have been executed in a manner more creditable both to author and publisher. Epping Forest. By Edward North Buxton, Verderer. (London: Stanford, 1885.)