A Comparison It is interesting to compare this extraordinary spring
with that of 17o years ago, for which Gilbert White kept a naturalist's calendar. This can be done by taking White's dates for the first appearance of certain common flowers. The year 1768 was the only one for which White kept a detailed record of flowering plants, and the year is known to have been backward. Even so the differences in the dates are very interesting. White reported blackthorn on April 7th and cowslip on April 3rd ; this year the first was out by the middle of March, the second by March 25th (I hope this will be read by that hair-splitting critic who once admonished me for daring to describe them in flower together) ; he reported spurge-laurel and golden saxi- frage on March 25th and March 27th ; both were in full bloom before the middle of this March ; he did not record ladies' smock until April 6th, whereas this year it was feathering every ditch and marsh, prolifically, a good three weeks earlier ; he says nothing about dog's mercury until April 5th, a surprising date, since one began to look for it successfully by the end of February ; and it was not until April 23rd that he observed the wild strawberry, yet I am confident of a recollection of finding it in February. I cannot find his reference to pink campion, which was fully in flower here on or about March 23rd, but his wych elm was a good month late. There were points on which, however, I think that White did score. I like his Brimstone butterfly on February 13th, his small tortoiseshell on January 27th, and his " gossamer floats " on February 4th.
H. E. BATES.
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