In the department of Natural History, this district possesses but little
which is deserving of particular notice.
Of BIRDS there are none which can now be considered peculiar to this
part, the drainage of the fen lands having entirely banished the great
variety of aquatic birds which used, previous to that event, to be found
here.
The PLANTS, indigenous to this district, are very numerous. From a list
of several hundreds which are to be found in the neighbourhood, the
following interesting ones are selected.
_Botanical Names_. _English Names_. _Where found_.
Arabis thaliana Codded mouse-ear Horncastle
Asplenium adiantum Black maiden-hair Tattershall
nigrum
Asplenium ruta Wall-rue Somersby Church
muraria
Atropa belladonna Deadly nightshade Miningsby
Borago officinalis Borage West Ashby
Butomus umbellatus Flowering rush Horncastle, Thornton
Carduus marianus Milk thistle Stovin Wood,
Kirkstead
Chlora perfoliata Yellow centaury Edlington
Chironia pulchella Small chironia Horncastle
Cistus helianthemum Little sunflower Scrivelsby
Comarum palustre Purple West Ashby furze-hill
marsh-cinquefoil
Convallaria majalis May-lily (double Highall Wood
fl. pl. flower)
Daphne laureola Spurge laurel Poolham
Digitalis purpurea Purple fox-glove Holbeck, Salmonby,
Drosera longifolia Long leaved sun-dew Tattershall
Drosera rotundifolia Round-leaved sun-dew Tattershall
Empetrum nigrum Blackberried heath Moor
Erica cinerea Fine-leaved heath Ditto
Erica tetralix Cross-leaved heath Ditto
Galeobdolon luteum Yellow nettle Tetford Wood
Gentiana amarella Autumnal gentian Greetham, Hemingby
Gentiana pneumonanthe Calathian violet Tattershall-park,
Moor
Malaxis paludosa Marsh tway-blade Moor
Nuphar lutea Yellow water-lily West Ashby
Nymphæa alba White water-lily Ditto
Ophrys apifera Bee orchis Mareham-le-fen
Orchis conopsea Aromatic orchis Thimbleby, Edlington
Orobus tuberosus Wood peas Daw Wood
Oxalis acetosella Wood sorrel Tetford Wood
Paris quadrifolia Herb Paris Ditto
Parnassia palustris Grass of Parnassus Horncastle
Pinguicula vulgaris Butterwort Ditto
Polygonum bistorta Greater bistort Horncastle
Sanicula Europea Sanicle Stovin & Tetford
Woods
Saponaria officinalis Soapwort Baumber, Horncastle
Spirea filipendula Dropwort Bridle road to
Hemingby
Turritis hirsuta Hairy tower mustard High Tointon
Vaccinium oxycoccus Cranberry plant Moor
MINERALS occur rarely in this part, and in very small quantities. Lumps
of sulphuret of iron in the oolite stratum; earthy oxide of iron and a
singular blue pulverulent mineral, which is a carbonate of iron
containing some earthy impurities, in a valley at Salmonby; and a
stalactitic oxide of iron in the ferruginous gravel; comprise all the
varieties which have yet been found.
Although ORGANIC REMAINS are to be found in some parts of this district
in considerable quantities, yet they do not include many varieties. The
following list of those now in the possession of the author, comprises
one of almost every species which has yet been found.
_From the Chalk Stratum_. No 2.
Teeth of the Squalus or Shark.
An Impression of a Vertebræ.
A Terebratula subundata.
A Terebratula subrotunda.
A cast within some bivalve Venus.
A cast within a Terebratula semigloboso. _Sowerby’s Mineral
Conchology_, 15.
An Inoceramus Cuvierii.
An Echinus.
_From the Oolite Stratum_. No. 4.
An Ostrea, curious and not named.
A bivalve, not named.
A piece composed of the Serpula auricula.
_From the Sand Stone Stratum_. No. 5.
Ad Ammonites, curious and not named. It is without a keel; else like
Ammonites inflatus.
A Cardita. _Sowerby’s Mineral Conchology_, 197.
An Inoceramus.
An Unio.
A Terebratula approaching glaber.
A Terebratula approaching acerminatus.
A Lucina concentrica.
A cast within a bivalve, not named.
A cast within a Trochus.
A cast within a Trigonia.
A cast within a Venus.
A cast within a Pecten.
A cast within a Cardium.
Several Bellemnitæ.
_From the Shale or Clunch Clay_. No. 6.
An Os Femoris of the Ichthyosaurus or Giant Lizard.
Several Vertebræ of the same animal.
An Ammonites, not named.
A Venus equales. _Sowerby’s Mineral Conchology_, 21.
A Cardita.
An Ostrea crista galli. _Linnæus_.
An Ostrea under valve, with a cast of the inside of the upper valve.