293 

 NOTES AND COMMENTS. 



THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 



Dundee has demonstrated that, to a large extent, the success 

 of a meeting of the British Association for the Advancement 

 of Science depends upon the way in which it is supported locally. 

 The town itself has nothing like the attractions that many of 

 the towns and cities recently visited have had, and yet the 

 number attending the meeting far exceeded any attained for 

 many years. The amount locally subscribed for entertaining 

 the members was unusually large ; there were over a thousand 

 local members, and probably a greater proportion of the visitors 

 was privately entertained than has been the case for a con- 

 siderable time. When it is remembered that at the York 

 meeting in 1906 (the seventy-fifth anniversary meeting) there 

 were 1972 members ; at Sheffield in 1910, 1449 members ; and 

 at Portsmouth last year only 1241 members present, the 

 Dundee figure of 2500 is very satisfactory. At the previous 

 Dundee meeting in 1867 the membership was 2444. 



THE HANDBOOK. 



The handbook prepared for the use of the members, under 

 the editorship of Messrs. A. W. Paton and A. H. Millar, was 

 all that could be desired, and, in keeping with everything else, 

 was exceptionally well done. It contained 700 pages, a 

 coloured geological map, and an excellent Botanical Survey 

 Map of Fife and Forfarshire, by the late Robert Smith, and 

 W. G. Smith. The volume contains chapters on history, 

 commerce, education, architecture, geology, botany, natural 

 history, art, etc., all, of course, having reference to the Dundee 

 area. Not only were the members provided with this hand- 

 book, but with handbooks on Dundee from the Cars ; Excursions, 

 Local Arrangements, Reports of the Medical Officer, Free 

 Libraries, etc. 



SECTIONAL REPORTS. 



An innovation at this meeting was the fact that it 

 was possible to purchase the presidential address and printed 

 abstracts of the papers read in any section, all stitched to- 

 gether in one cover. Some of these were issued at sixpence, 

 others at ninepence, though we think the former price sufficient 

 for each. As probably each of the members attending the 

 meeting would be glad to get the papers read at the particular 

 section in which he is interested, in this handy form, there 

 should have been a large sale of these reprints. Possibly 

 there was. Personally we don't think they were brought 

 sufficiently before the notice of the members. 



1912 Oct. 1. U 



