Nov. 25, 1886] 



NA TURE 



the great destruction of ancient remains that had been 

 going on for many years. 



The Chairman remarlced that the subject was un- 

 doubtedly one of great importance, and some of the local 

 Societies had already commenced to record the position 

 of these remains on the Ordnance maps. He stated that 

 according to his experience the i-inch map could be used, 

 but the 6-inch map would be found much better. One 

 desideratum in the work was a good system of symbols ; 

 such a system had been employed in a map of ancient 

 remains recently published in France, and he stated that 

 he should be happy to place this system at the disposal of 

 the Committee. He added that he was glad to be able to 

 announce that he had succeeded in getting an Act passed 

 for the preservation of the ancient monuments of the Isle 

 of Man. 



Pi\sen'ation of Stonehenge. — Dr. Garson stated that 

 the Committee of Section H had forwarded a resolution 

 to the Committee of Recommendations with reference to 

 the preservation of .Stonehenge, and, pending its con- 

 sideration by this Committee, it had been suggested that 

 it should also be brought under the notice of the Corre- 

 sponding Societies through their Delegates, with the 

 object of these using their influence, as far as possible, 

 for the preservation of this and other monuments through- 

 out the country. The following is the resolution referred 

 to :' — " That the attention of the proprietor of Stonehenge 

 be called to the danger in which several of the stones are 

 at the present time from the burrowing of rabbits, and 

 also to the desirability of removing the wooden props 

 which support the horizontal stones of one of the trili- 

 thons, and, in view of the great value of Stonehenge as an 

 ancient monument, to express the hope of the Association 

 that some steps will be taken to remedy these sources of 

 danger to the stones.'' 



This resolution had originated last April during a joint 

 meeting of the Geologists' Association and the Hampshire 

 Field Club on Salisbury Plain, when copies were ordered 

 to be forwarded to the proprietor, to the Inspector of 

 Ancient Monuments, and to the Secretary of the Corre- 

 sponding .Societies Committee of the British Association. 

 The proprietor of these valuable remains had hitherto 

 refused to take advantage of the Ancient Monuments .Act, 

 though repeatedly requested to do so, neither had he paid 

 due attention to their proper preservation, so that it had 

 been thought desirable to move the foregoing resolution 

 which had been sent to the proper quarter for confirmation 

 by the General Committee of the Association. 



Election of Corresponding Societies. — At the termination 

 of the Conference, Mr. Davis raised the question whether 

 a Corresponding Society when once admitted by the 

 Association should not always be retained on the list. 



The Secretary explained that the election of Corre- 

 sponding Societies took place annually, and that each of 

 these Societies would be expected to make an annual 

 application for re-election on the printed forms sent out 

 before June. There was no reason why a Society when 

 once elected should not be re-elected every year as long 

 as it kept up its scientific activity. He was of opinion 

 that a failure on the part of a Corresponding Society to 

 send a Delegate to any meeting of the Association should 

 not disqualify that Society for re-election, although it was 

 expected that when a Delegate did attend the meeting of 

 the Association he should be present at the Conferences. 

 Prof. Meldola further stated that some few of the Societies 

 which had been elected last year did not appear in this 

 year's list, the reason being that the Secretaries had not 

 filled in and returned the printed forms sent out at the 

 beginning of the year, nor had any notice been taken of a 

 second application asking whether it was the wish of their 

 Society to be re-elected ; so that, as Secretary of the 



* This resolution was adopted by the Commit 

 confirmed by the General Committee. 



of Recommendations and 



Corresponding Societies Committee, he had concluded 

 that these Societies desired to withdraw, and they had 

 accordingly been removed from the list. 



THE COLONIAL AND INDIAN EXHIBITION 



RESUMING our notes on some of the principal 

 exhibits (NATURE, vol. xxxiv. p. 548), the Court 

 running parallel with and between those of Mauritius and 

 Seychelles on the one side and Cyprus and Malta on the 

 other was that which contained the collection from the 



West Indies. 



Vegetable products, as might be expected, formed the 

 bulk of the exhibits in this attractive Court, which had an 

 air of comfort and finish not excelled in any other part of 

 the building. Entering the Court from the northern end, 

 the fir^t bay on the left hand was devoted to 



Trinidad, an island celebrated both for the quantity 

 and quality of the cocoa grown upon it, which indeed is 

 the staple article of produce. The value of cocoa ex- 

 ported from Trinidad in 1885 is stated in the Official 

 Hand-book to have amounted to 421,974/., and in some 

 "Notes on Trinidad Industries," by Mr. John McCarthy, 

 F.C.S., the Assistant Commissioner for Trinidad, recently 

 published, it is stated that the quantity of cocoa imported 

 into England in 1885 amounted to 10,560 tons, against 

 10,120 tons in 1SS4, and 9986 in 1881. Numerous speci- 

 mens of cocoa seeds are exhibited, as well as prepared 

 cocoa and chocolate. 



Mr. McCarthy describes the cultivation of the cocoa- 

 nut {Cocos nucifera) as a very profitable industry, though 

 the tree does not bear much before it is eight years old. 

 Experiments, he tells us, " are now being tried in Trinidad 

 to make it act as a shade tree to the cocoa {Theobroma) " 

 instead of planting the quick-growing " Bois immortelle." 

 The idea of this planting is to realise from the same land 

 a double crop, namely, that from the TIieobro)na and that 

 from the Cocos. It is estimated that seventy trees planted 

 upon an acre of land would, when in full bearing, yield 

 5000 nuts per annum, which would net, on an average, 

 from 3/. to \l. per thousand in Trinidad. The annual 

 import of nuts into London is said to be about 12,000,000, 

 besides which. New York imports enormous quantities, 

 and they are also used to a very large extent for the ex- 

 pression of oil in Trinidad itself Coffee has also a 

 prominent place in the products of Trinidad, and the 

 plant is stated to thrive well, although it has not yet pro- 

 duced even sufficient coffee for home consumption. More 

 attention has, however, been directed of late to coffee 

 culture in the island, so that it is largely increasing. The 

 cultivation of tobacco is also an industry that promises 

 to become of some importance, and the tobacco is de- 

 scribed as being second only to the finest Havana. There 

 is a good exhibit of cigars, which are said to have met 

 with general favour, so that a demand has arisen for 

 them. 



BahaDias. — In the Official Hand-book, Sir Augustus 

 Adderley gives a very readable sketch of the history of 

 these islands, and briefly refers to the natural products, 

 foremost amongst which are corals and sponges. He 

 describes the " sponging and wrecking vessels " as fine 

 models and fast sailers, built by the islanders of native 

 hard wood known as " horseflesh," and planked with 

 yellow pine obtained from North Carolina. Conch shells 

 are exported in large quantities to the value of about 

 1200/. per annum, and the pale pink pearls which are 

 found in them to the extent of 3000/. per annum. The 

 sponge exports were estimated at 60,000/. for 1885. 

 Mention is made of the abundance of plants valued as 

 medicines, many of which might be further developed by 

 systematic trial of their effects in this country. Perhaps 

 the two best known medicinal plants are the Canella Bark 

 {Canella alba, Murr.) and the Sweet Bark or Cascarilla 



