SESSION 1896-97. xlix 



Much attention has lately been given to the circulation of under- 

 ground waters in Hertfordshire in consequence of the attempts 

 •which have been made by London Water Companies, and others, 

 to rob our couuty of its water to a greater extent than it is at 

 present being robbed of it, and the subject has been brought before 

 oiu- Society on several occasions. (See 'Transactions,' Vol. VI, 

 p. 136, and Vol. IX, p. 33.) Papers on the depth of water in 

 wells have also been communicated (' Transactions,' Vol. V, p. 20, 

 and Vol. VI, p. 31), and others are promised. 



Ethnographical Survey. — The Secretary of the Ethnographical 

 Survey Committee, Mr. Sidney Hartland, said that he wished to 

 ask for the co-operation of the local Societies in the work of the 

 Committee. Considerable progress had been made since he had 

 asked their aid at Ipswich last year. During the present century 

 the movements of our population had been immensely greater than 

 in previous centuries. Still, there were places where there had 

 been little change in that respect. As it was the object of the 

 Committee to acquire a knowledge of the distinguishing character- 

 istics of the various races of the British Isles, it was important 

 that the measurements, etc., of individuals in any district should 

 be those of persons whose families had lived there during a con- 

 siderable period. There was no department in which it was more 

 desirable to have speedy information than that of folklore. Much 

 had been done with regard to the dialects of the different counties 

 of England by the publication of the English Dialect Dictionary, 

 but in Scotland and Ireland there was still much work to be done 

 both in dialect and in folklore. Education, facilities for railway 

 travelling, and industrial migrations were rapidly destroying local 

 customs, dialects, and traditions, so that it was more important 

 that speedy information about them should be obtained than that 

 there should be an immediate supply of physical measurements. 

 The historic and prehistoric monuments of a locality should also be 

 noted. Mr. Hartland concluded by remarking that he would be 

 glad to furnish any delegates interested in the subject with copies 

 of the Ethnographical Committee's Schedules, or with any help in 

 his power. 



Mr. John Gray, Buchan Field Club, said that in his district they 

 had begun to note the physical characteristics of the inhabitants by 

 placing themselves at the entrance to a field where some sports 

 were being held, and observing the colour of the eyes and hair, 

 the contour of the nose, and other characteristics of people entering 

 the field. They also measured about 200 persons in the grounds, 

 and obtained some very interesting results. In addition they had 

 obtained measurements, etc., of almost all the school-children of 

 the district. 



The Chairman remarked that Mr. Gray's Society was obtaining 

 excellent results, and giving a good example of the work required. 

 As the information asked for by the Ethnographical Survey Com- 

 mittee was of so many different kinds, it appeared to him that the 

 formation of sub-committees by the local societies would greatly 



