June 17, 1922] 



NA TURE 



785 



tror 



town, and acquired the site from the monks of Meaux, 

 from which date it became Kingston-on-Hull, and he 

 L^ave a charter granting a fair (which is still held) and 

 other privileges, which are yet preserved. Formerly 

 a walled town, it played an important part in the Civil 

 War in 1642, and still retains a number of buildings 

 prior to that date which exhibit architectural features 

 of interest. 



To-day the city has nearly 300,000 inhabitants, many 

 of whom obtain their livelihood from the fishing, 

 ^hipping, and ship-building industries, and from the 

 _;reat works and mills connected with the production of 

 oil, cattle food, flour, cement, black lead and blue, tar, 

 paints, etc. There are also important fruit and wool 

 markets, and many acres of timber yards. Enormous 

 docks extending for miles accommodate shipping 

 from all parts of the world, and in connexion with 



em are great warehouses and important railway 



d canal communications. In recent years, the King 



orge Dock, one of the most up-to-date in the country, 

 been opened, a fine river-side quay has been 

 «rected, and there are elaborate appliances for the 

 prompt handling of coal and for the storage of mineral 

 oil. All this means that there is much of interest in 

 the city to scientific workers. 



Situated at the foot of the Yorkshire Wolds, Hull 

 enjoys the position of being surrounded by a thinly 

 populated area and has no other large town within 

 many miles. It has special rail facilities for access 

 to Scarborough, Filey, Flamborough, and other charm- 

 ing parts of the Yorkshire coastline, second to none 

 in the country for variety of scenery and grandeur of 

 cliff. Similarly the fine cathedrals and churches at 

 York, Beverley, Selby, Patrington, Bridlington, How- 

 den, and Iledon, well known throughout the country 

 for their architectural charms, can easily be approached. 



The plain of Holderness, with its cliffs of glacial 

 sands and clays, provide problems for the glacial 

 geologists, and rarely does it happen that so extensive 

 and varied sections are available for study. The chalk 

 wolds form a prominent feature, and quite apart from 

 their geological and artistic attractions, were formerly 

 thickly peopled by Briton, Roman, Saxon, and Dane, 

 whose earthworks, burial mounds, and other remains 

 still form attractive features in the landscape. During 

 half a century the late J. R. Mortimer excavated most 

 of these sites, and gathered together the contents of more 

 than 350 burial mounds in his museum at Driffield, 

 which has since been purchased for the Hull Corpora- 

 tion. 



The Humber area itself has many problems of interest 

 to the engineer, botanist, geologist, zoologist, and 

 antiquary ; while Spurn Point, with its questions of the 

 <ites of the lost towns of the Humber and of the coast, 

 is of more than ordinary general interest. 



During the Hull meeting special trains and other 

 facilities will enable members to visit the various and 

 numerous attractions in the East Riding and in North 

 Lincolnshire ; and already arrangements have been 

 made for visits to be paid to places likely to interest 

 the members. 



In Hull itself, besides the fine old buildings already 

 referred to, there is the Holy Trinity Church, one of 

 the largest parish churches in the country, and 

 certainly one of the oldest brick buildings still extant. 



NO. 2746, VOL. 109] , 



In recent years the town has been entirely re-planned 

 and largely rebuilt, fine wide thoroughfares having 

 been cut through slum property, and these are lined 

 with magnificent shops and public buildings. Of 

 special interest to the visitors will be the old Trinity 

 House and its Museum in Trinity House Lane ; the 

 birthplace of William Wilberforce, an Ehzabethan 

 mansion in High Street, now Hull's Historical Museum ; 

 the Museum of Natural History and ArchjEology at the 

 Royal Institution, Albion Street ; the Museum of 

 Fisheries and Shipping at the Pickering Park ; the 

 Art Gallery in the City Hall ; the Central Public 

 Library in Albion Street, the Art School, and Technical 

 Schools, and the old Grammar School (dated 1584) 

 in the market place, all of which will be available to 

 the visitors. 



The city, being built on alluvium, is remarkably flat ; 

 its. many miles of roads are excellently paved with 

 wood blocks or asphalt, which, with the wide streets 

 and fine buildings, give an appearance of cleanliness 

 which is the envy of many larger cities. Hull is the 

 only city in the country with its own telephones ; its 

 water supply is of the best, being drawn from chalk ; 

 and through the generosity of various benefactors and 

 municipal enterprise, the city is well provided with 

 public parks. 



The various large engineering and manufacturing 

 firms in Hull and district are taking keen interest 

 in the meeting, and invitations to visit their works 

 have been received. The Yorkshire Literary and 

 Philosophical Society, at York, is issuing invitations 

 for the members to visit its museum and grounds, and 

 will provide afternoon tea, while the Lord Mayor of 

 York will give a special welcome and has invited the 

 members to visit the Guildhall and Mansion House. 

 Hearty invitations have also been received from the 

 Mayors of Scarborough, Bridlington, and Beverley to 

 visit their respective towns, and each is doing his best 

 to enable members to view the town's attractions, 

 and refreshments will, in each case, be provided. The 

 North Eastern Railway Company is taking exceptional 

 pains to provide special trains, reduced railway fares, 

 and late train facilities, in order to give the members 

 every possible opportunity of visiting different places 

 in East Yorkshire. 



The local programme is a particularly attractive one, 

 and the various lectures and addresses have an im- 

 portant bearing upon the district. For his presidential 

 address Sir Charles Sherrington will take as his subject 

 " Some Aspects of Animal Mechanism." 



During the week the addresses of the sectional 

 presidents will be delivered as under : " The Theory 

 of Numbers," Prof. G. H. Hardy ; " Research Problems 

 in the Sugar Group," Principal J. C. Irvine ; " The 

 Physical Geography of the Coal Swamps," Prof. P. F. 

 Kendall ; " The Progression of Life in the Sea," Dr. 

 E. J. Allen ; " Human Geography : First Principles 

 and Some Applications," Dr. Marion Newbigin ; " Equal 

 Pay to Men and Women for Equal Work," Prof. F. Y. 

 Edgeworth ; " Railway Problems in Australia," Prof. 

 T. Hudson Beare ; " The Study of Man," Mr. H. J. E. 

 Peake ; " The Efficiency of Man and the Factors which 

 Influence," Prof. E. P. Cathcart ; " The Transport of 

 Organic Substances in Plants," Prof. II. H. Dixon ; 

 " The Proper Position of the Landowner in Relation 



