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NATURE 
[June 23, 1923 
South-Eastern Union of Scientific Societies. 
‘THE twenty-eighth annual congress of the South- 
Eastern Union of Scientific Societies was held 
at Maidstone on May 30-June 2 inclusive. Dr. Alex 
Hill occupied the presidential chair, in succession 
to Sir Charles F. Close. The headquarters of the 
Congress were at the Museum, where members were 
given every convenience by the curator, Mr. J. H. 
Allchin, and the assistant curator, Mr. H. J. Elgar. 
The Mayor opened the meetings by welcoming 
members and delegates at the Town Hall, where the 
ancient maces and charters were exhibited and 
described by Mr. W. H. Day, one of the secretaries, 
and Mr. W. Dale. Visits followed to various ancient 
buildings in the town, of which the town possesses a 
large number. All Saints’ Church was visited by 
more than a hundred members, and was described 
by Mr. Dale. The church was built in 1395 by 
Archbishop Courtenay and, although renovated in 
the last century, remains in practically its original 
condition, showing in its fine, delicate and lofty 
columns and its windows the best of the perpendicular 
characteristics. A very fine set of the original 
oaken sedilia, with elaborately carved canopies, were 
seen, and about a score of ancient miserere seats in 
the choir, which when tipped up have a small seat 
beneath, giving a sort of rest for tired singers 
and others. Hard by is the Archbishop’s Palace, 
a stately Elizabethan building, now used as a welfare 
centre, with wainscoted rooms and old carving. 
The interesting building known as the tithe barn, 
with external stone staircase, was also seen. Near 
at hand and completing the group of ecclesiastical 
buildings is the massive gateway to the old monks’ 
college, while all were close to the slope leading down 
to the Medway, much used in early days for travel 
and transit. The refectory of the Guild of Corpus 
Christi, in Earl Street, dating from the fourteenth 
century, was next visited. As a fine piece of 
medieval architecture, it deserves a better fate than 
to be used by a brewery for the making of barrels. 
It is in dilapidated condition, but the fine roof and 
the beautiful windows give an idea of its former 
magnificence. It has a dole window. For nearly 
three centuries it was occupied by the Grammar 
School until 1871. Another party of members 
visited at the same time the bacteriological and 
chemical laboratories of the Kent County Council, 
under the guidance of Dr. C. Ponder and Mr. F. W. 
F. Arnaud. 
Dr. Alex Hill’s presidential address was on 
“Antipodean Flora,’’ and in this he gave some 
interesting facts of the mimicry practised by certain 
plants observed by him during his journey round the 
world. Reference was made to the possibility of the 
isolation of the Australian flora having been accom- 
plished by the dividing-up and the shifting of the 
land-masses of the Indo-Australian continent in 
accordance with what has come to be known as 
Wegener’s theory. The means by which eucalyptus 
and other trees adapt themselves to a rainfall of 
8 or 9 inches were described. Exploring the caves 
at Yallingup, the root of a jarrah tree was met with 
which had gone down 120 feet in search of water. 
The morning session of the second day of the 
meeting was devoted to botanical papers, and Sir 
David Prain spoke on “‘ The Story of some Common 
Garden Plants,” the potato, the artichoke, and others 
being dealt with. A paper by Mr. Robert Paulson on 
the “Fungus Root’ followed. In the afternoon 
three excursions were arranged. Geologists went to 
the Aylesford gravel pits and to a Kentish Rag 
quarry. Botanists followed!Dr. A. B. Rendle on an 
NO. 2799, VOL. IIT] 
enjoyable ramble, while a large party visited Allington 
Castle, by permission of Sir Martin Conway. A 
castle is thought to have ogcupied the site in 
Saxon times, and to have been demolished by the 
Danes prior to their traditional defeat at Aylesford. 
Owned by Harold Godwin’s brother, Ulnoth, it 
passed into Norman hands and was rebuilt. As it 
appears to-day, it is for the most part the work of 
Sir Stephen de Pencester, who fortified it in the 
reign of Edward I., in about 1281. Tudor additions 
were made. The famous Sir Thomas Wyatt was 
once the owner, and as leader of the rebellion to 
oppose the Spanish marriage of Queen Mary, he 
suffered the usual fate on its failure. Tennyson lays 
the first scene of the second act of ‘‘Queen Mary” in 
the court of Allington Castle. In the evening the 
Mayor and Mayoress (Councillor and Miss Wallis) 
received the Union in the Museum. 
The third day was devoted to papers in connexion 
with the Regional Survey Section. Mr. Victor F. 
Branford gave an address on “‘ The Natural and the 
Social Sciences,” a paper which will later be printed 
in full.. A lecture by Mr. F. W. F. Arnaud on 
“Vitamins ’’ reviewed the history of the discovery 
of these elusive bodies and showed the present 
position of our knowledge of the subject. Botanical 
and archzological excursions followed. The famous 
Coldrum burial-place was visited, and a description 
given by Mr. W. H. Cook. Halling burial - place 
followed, where the site was shown from which the 
only Aurignacian skeleton found in this country was 
exhumed, and where true implements of that culture 
were found. In the evening a lecture by Mr. Reginald 
A. Smith, of the British Museum, was delivered on 
“Prehistoric Man in Kent.’ The most ancient re- 
mains, those found by Benjamin Harrison, of Ightham, 
are well represented in the Maidstone Museum. 
On the morning of the last day of the meeting, a 
masterly address was given by Prof. E. B. Poulton 
on “‘ Recent Advances and Discoveries in the Study 
of Entomology.”’ The afternoon was devoted to 
visiting various megalithic remains in the district. 
The ‘‘ Countless ’’ Stones proved of great interest. 
They consist of about twenty large and small stones, 
and appear to be the thrown-down remains of more 
than one dolmen, or, as was suggested, of a double 
row of standing stones. Some of them are sarsens, 
but the majority are apparently Greensand or 
Wealden sandstones. An old record was found, 
showing that they were thrown down by a farmer 
by the aid of gunpowder towards the end of the 
eighteenth century. Kits Coty House was next seen, 
and a description given by Mr. W. Dale. The 
“house ’’ is fenced round and is now safely looked 
after by the Office of Works. The stones are prob- 
ably sarsens and have been shaped to the necessary 
requirements of the builders. Discussion ensued as 
to the origin of the name the dolmen bears. The 
guide-book derivation from Catigern was not thought 
quite satisfactory. It is said that a shepherd named 
Kit made it his dwelling, and it may once have been 
Kit’s Cottage. The so-called White Horse Stone 
was then visited, another sarsen about which some 
fantastic romance has been weaved. A noticeable 
point about these megaliths is that they bear many 
cup-shaped hollows, but geologists agree that these 
may be due entirely to weathering. Helix lapicida 
was found on the White Horse Stone. 
The Congress was very successfully carried through, 
and the local secretaries, Messrs. W. H. Day and J. 
W. Bridge, were congratulated upon the arrangements 
they had made. 
