18 



aniOQcr the Dicotyledonous farally that insectivor- 

 ou- plants were met with ; some of them assimilated 

 nitrocjen in the form of liquid mioure from the 

 decomposed bodies of the insects caught by them, 

 while io other cases the sticky secretion gave 

 place to electrical action. In the case of the 

 Venus fly trap, when touched by a nitrogenous 

 body the two halves of the leaves closed up and 

 crushed the captured insect. Secretion was 

 then exuded, and after the juices had been 

 absorbed the leaf again unfolded, permitting the 

 indigestible portion of the body to be blown away. 

 There was a tendency on the part of these plants 

 to become red after the absorption of nitrogenous 



matter, this being attributed to what was known 

 as the aggregation of protoplasm. Milk biscuit, 

 remarked the lecturer, was about the best food to 

 give to insectivorous plants. Professor Boulger 

 dealt at lenarth with the habits of the side-saddle 

 plants, bladderworts, and butterworts. pitcher 

 plants, the sundew family, and other specimens; 

 he apoke of the antiquity of the habit, as evidenced 

 by taxonomy and geographical distribution, its 

 value to the plant, and its bearing on Evolution. 



In conveying the thanks of the gathering to 

 the lecturer, the Chairman said they had had a 

 most exhaustive, instructive, and interesting 

 lecture (hear, hear). 



LAST WINTER MEETING.— APRIL 28th, 1903. 



'BATTLEFIELDS OF KENT."— By Eev. H. HOUSMAN, B D. 



The last meeting of the session was held on 

 April 28 at the Beaney Institute when there was 

 a very fair attendance nf members. 



Mr. W. H. Hammond had a grand exhibit of 

 rare plants including herb Paris, toothwort, snakes 

 head, and several spocies of violets. He also 

 exhibited a robin's nest which had been built in a 

 table lantern, and a stem of hornbeam, which had 

 grown around a honeysuckle, embedding it, also 

 a large number of so-called earstones ot fishes. 

 Mr. b^. Bing sent a most remarkable fuchsia 

 blossom in which the stamens were outside instead 

 of inside the flower. 



Mr. A. Lander reported that Mr. Brian Eigden 

 bad presented a book to the libraty '■ Dove on the 

 distribution of heat on the surface of the globe," 

 an interesting feature of the gift being that it at 

 one time belonged to Admiral Fitzroy aud bore his 

 signature with the date 1854. 



The Kev. W. M. Rodwell had made a second 

 presentation of a number of microscopic slides 

 some of which were very valuable and interesting. 

 The Hon. Sec. read the report of the Society's 

 delegate (Mr. S. W. Harvey) at the annual meet- 

 ing of the Affiliation of Photographic Societies. 

 The report gave some very good suggestions as 

 to the manner in which much useful work might 

 be carried out by the societies. 



The Hon. Secretary reported that a Bill was 

 about to be introd need into Parliament for the pre- 

 servation of the rarer English plants and thus pre- 

 vent their extinction through the manner in which 

 many were dug up and carried away by professional 

 collectors, and he proposed that a resolution be 

 passed by the Society expressing approval of the 

 aim in view. 



This was seconded by Mr. W. H. Hammond who 

 at the same time, did not want the law made as 

 stringent as some asked so as to prevent children 

 gathering a bunch of wild flowers, but simply to 

 prevent the wholesale extinction of the rarer 

 plants. At some of the village railway stations he 



had seen young people with baskets full of our 

 rarer orchids, dug up by the roots. Sucb wanton 

 destruction ought to be put a stop to, otherwise 

 these plants would become extinct. The resolu- 

 tion was carried unanimously. 



The special paper uf the evening was one written 

 by an honorary member of the Society, the Rev. 

 H. Housman, B.D. Rector ot Bradley, Redditch. 

 The Hon. Secretary stated that, unfortunately, 

 the rev. gentleman was unable to be present, but 

 Mr. Cuthbert Gardner had consented to read the 

 paper for him. The rev. gentleman was writing 

 a series of papers on Engli&h battlefields and had 

 commenced with those of the county of Kent. It 

 was suggested that the members of the photo- 

 graphic section might make a pilgrimage to the 

 various sites spoken of and take a series of photo- 

 graphs during the coming summer. 



Mr. Cuthbert Gardner then read the paper 

 which proved very interesting and instructive. In 

 his introductory observations the writer observed: 



"The geographical position of Kent has from 

 earliest times marked it as tempting to the eye of 

 the invader. It is the only county of England that 

 can be seen from the opposite coast, and from the 

 time of Caisar — and doubtless long before — down 

 to that of Napoleon, its white cliffs have awaken- 

 ed the lust of conquest. Heuce the battles 

 that have been fuught on Kentish soils have an 

 especial interest. It was here that the 

 Roman first set his foot; it was here that the 

 Teuton first raised the standard of the horse. It 

 is true that the adjoining county of Sussex 

 witnessed the supreme straggle of all, and that 

 the great historic battles were fought more inland, 

 still the earliest efforts of successive conquerors 

 were made on Kentish soil. How can we forget 

 that a mightier banner than that of the horse 

 and a nobler conqueror than either Roman or 

 Teuton were welcomed to the land of Kent when 

 Augustine and his dauntless companions landed 

 at Ebbsfleet. The following pageswere written, not 



I 



