October 12, 1893] 



NA TURE 



577 



were likely to remain unknown or unconsulted. It was most 

 desirable that ihe British Association should be brought into 

 closer communication with the societies. It had been usual 

 hitherto for rrpresentatives from the different Section; to attend 

 the conferences and to mention anything that had been done, 

 such as the appointment of a committee for some special purpose, 

 in which the co-operation of the Corresponding Societies would 

 be advantageous. It would be a good thing that there should 

 be better means of communication between the Corresponding 

 Societies and the secretaries of the various committees appointed 

 by the British Association. A good example of a committee 

 especially needing the assistance of the Corresponding Societies 

 was that appointed by Section H to make an ethnographical 

 survey of the United Kingdom. The first report of this com- 

 mittee had just been presented to the delegates, and Mr. 

 Brabrook, the secretary, would shortly call their attention to it. 

 At their last meeting at Edinburgh some delegates had asked 

 whether the council of the Association might r.ot be able to 

 obtain greater facilities from the railway companies for members 

 travelling to and from these meetings. The council, conse- 

 quently, appointed a committee, of which Sir Frederick Bram- 

 well was an active member, to see what could be done. The 

 result, however, could not be deemed satisfactory. 



The Chairman proposed to take the report, which had been 

 circulated, as read, and would be glad to hear any remarks 

 from delegates regarding the work done during the past year. 



Mileoiological Photography. — Mr. Symons (Section A) was 

 much indebted to the delegates for the number of photographs 

 of clouds sei.t in to him up to the present tiine. He did not 

 press (or more, as the committee appointed by the British 

 Association for the Elucidation of Meteorological Phenomena 

 by the application of photography had the very considerable 

 collection of 1467 to deal with. They proposed to select the 

 typical ones, reduce them to a unif irm scale, and print perhaps 

 joo copies of them. They were hoping to publish the atlas 

 during the year, and would then be glad if the meteorologists 

 would take copies. They would be pleased to have additional 

 photographs of lightning. 



Mr. A. S. Redsaii that the Geological Photo.;raph Com- 

 mit: ee of the Bri'.ish Association were publishing their fourth 

 rej on that year. During the year they had received morj than 

 40 new photographs, making the total collection 846. They 

 were all British. Their appeal to the Correspondini< Societies 

 had been more successful than in any previous year, bat there 

 was still much to be done, and he hoped the delegates would 

 stir up their societies on this point. As to thebe.->t camera, the 

 smallest was to be preferred. He had also to report that many 

 prints had been sent in without the names of the societies send- 

 ing them, that of the photot;rapher, or that of the place photo- 

 (;raphed. They had decided not to lend any more photographs 

 to the societies and 'hey would recommerd the societies to send 

 duplicate copies. Mr. Jeffs the secretary of the Geological 

 Photographs Committee, had unfortunately been ill during 

 nearly the whole of the )ear, and this had seriously hampered 

 their work. 



Mr. P. F. Kendall remarked that not one of the Corre- 

 sponding Societies had given any information to the British 

 As ociation Committee appointed to record the character 

 and position of Erratic Blocks, though appeals for help had been 

 made. There were whole counties strewn with blocks of which 

 not a single report had been sent. 



Mr. Topley inquired whether any society had made researches 

 like those brought before the Conference last year by Mr. Watts 

 in the neighbourhood of Rochdale, as to the quantity of material 

 brought down streams in flood. 



Mr. Watts' work had been confined to the Rochdale district, 

 and it was desiralile that the results in other districts should be 

 noted. Any local society wishing to do similar work should 

 consult Mr. Watts. 



Mr. Slater (Section D) said that it wis an interesting fact 

 that a member of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union recently 

 found the vild maidenhair fern on the northern portion of 

 Morecambe b<?y. It would not be desirable that the exact spot 

 should be given. He would also remark that it was better to 

 obtain seeds from these rare plants than tj take the plant 

 Itself. 



In Section E, Mr. M. H. Mills said that a paper on the 

 subject of ordnance ma^is had been read before the Federated 

 Institute of Mining Engin/^ers by Sir Archibald Geikie, whose 



chief conclusion seemed to be that nothing could be done 

 without increased funds. 



Mr. Eli Sowerbutts said that their member, Mr. Cooke, 

 went before the Departmental Committee, appointed to con- 

 sider the state of the Ordnance Survey, in order to give evidence. 

 He had suggested to Mr. Cooke that he should write a report 

 on what had been done by the Departmental Committee, which 

 might be presented at the next year's meeting of delegates. 

 The examination on geography mentioned in the report of the 

 Conference of Delegates at Edinburgh did not take place. 

 They would, however, conduct some examinations next year, 

 and he would be glad if the delegates would make their inten- 

 tions widely known. It was a curious fact that there was no 

 cheap book in existence giving a fairly good account of York- 

 shire. The examinations were open to all public and private 

 schools. There would be one on Canada for secondary schools. 

 The latter hal been found to know nothing about geography 

 last year, and he looke I for some improvement next time. 



Mr. Hembry said that he had learned that in a certain county 

 children attending schools were not taught geography in any 

 way. He would like to know if this was the case anywhere 

 else. 



Mr. Andrews replied that geography was not a class subject, 

 and was not compulsory. As regards the ordnance maps, the 

 archaeologists of Warwicksaire, acting on the advice of Mr. 

 Whitaker, forwarded a list of thirteen ancient works to the 

 Ordnance Survey Office, Southampton, ten of which had since 

 been inserted in the map. 



Mr. Hembry thought that geography should certainly be a 

 class subject. In secondary schools they a'lsolutely ignored it ; 

 but he had been astonished to find that an immense advance 

 had been made in the teaching of geography in primary schools. 

 In many of the latter, museums of commercial pro lucts were 

 now being formed. 



In Section G, Prof. Merivale had nothing to report about 

 flameless explosives. 



Mr. Brabrook (Section H) made some remarks on the pro- 

 gress made by the committee appointed to make an ethnological 

 survey of the United Kingdom, whose first report was in the 

 hands of the delegates. The committee had, he said, obtained, 

 by communication with the Corresponding Sjcieties, a list of 

 nearly 300 villages, with some account of their leading features 

 and peculiarities, all of which were worthy of special examina- 

 tion by the committee. For this result, which was much be- 

 yond their anticipations, the Ethnographical Committee gave 

 its most htaity thanks to the members of the corresponding 

 societies who had helped them so efficiently. The next step 

 taken by the committee had been to draw up a brief code of 

 directions for the guidance of those who had been kind enough 

 to offer assistance. This code would be found at the end of the 

 report. 



Second Co.vference, September 19. 



The Corresponding Societies' Committee was represented by 

 Dr. Garson (in the chair), Mr. Galton, Mr. Symons, and Mr. 

 T. V. Holmes (secretary). 



The Chairman announced that he had received a letter from 

 the President of the Cardiff Natural History Society, staling 

 that Dr. Vachell was unable to attend as a delegate, and that 

 Prof. Viriamu Jones, Principal of University College, Cardiff, 

 had been appointed in his place. He thought it would be best 

 10 take first any discussions upon the committees appointed in 

 the various sections. 



Mr. Symons (Section A) said that the work of the Earth 

 Tremors Committee was going on under the care of Mr. 

 Davidson, and he did not think that there were other com- 

 mittees connected with Section A that bore upon the work of 

 the delegates. With regard to the report of the Earth- 

 Tremors Committee, he .should like to hold it in suspense for 

 a while, in the hope of co-operation with some of the corre- 

 sponding societies. 



In Section C, Mr. A. S. Reid said he had been asked 

 by the Committee to make some remarks. The Underground 

 Waters Committee would present its final report next year, 

 and would be glad to receive further information up to the 

 date of publication. The Geological Photographs Committee 

 thought that the size of photographs should be lelt to the donors. 

 As to the best camera, further comments from practical pho- 

 tographers were invited ; also remarks as to the best methods 



NO. 1250, VOI 48] 



