COKRESFONDING SOCIETIES. 547 



Society, so as to enable that Society to offer any co-operation that may be 

 desirable.' This proposal having been seconded by the Rer. J. 0. Bevaa 

 (Woolhope Naturalists' Field Club), was carried nnanimously. 



Mr. Whitaker (Croydon Natural History and Scientific Society), who 

 mentioned that they were not i-epresented on the Committee of Recommendations 

 as a matter of course, then proposed that the Chairman of the Conference should 

 be ex officio on the Committee of Recommendations. This having been seconded 

 by Sir Edward Brabrook, was duly carried. 



Mrs. Mary Hobson (Belfast Naturalists' Field Club) then introduced the 

 following subject : — 



Sanctuaries for our Native Flora and Fauna, 



The present moment seems most opportune to introduce the subject before us, 

 for here in Ireland, where the farms are being purchased from the landlords by 

 the tenants, many spots of value to science, of general interest and beauty, are 

 perhaps in danger of disappearing at the hands of the careless or the over-thrifty. 



Hitherto the owners of the soil have of intent, or from a lack of interest, 

 been the preservers, and superstition on the part of the country people is 

 responsible for the preservation of many prehistoric remains. 



In Ireland the demesnes are to be retained in most cases by the landlords, 

 and it is to the landlords largely we must look for help. 



In England only too many demesnes are kept so absolutely ' tidy ' that wild 

 life has few spots to call its own ; therefore it is suggested that field clubs and 

 other kindred societies should first consider the most likely spots suitable for 

 sanctuaries — say, one in each county or area — and then send a deputation of their 

 members to the owners, asking them to fence them in and guard them from the 

 ravages of intruders, the cost of which would be almost nit. 



It has been suggested that it might be possible for county councils to set aside 

 waste land, but in Ireland their powers are clearly defined and are limited to 

 ancient monuments ; and I am told that rates are levied by the county councils 

 on practically all land, and that in this sense there is no waste ground. 



The Irish Land Act, 1903, sect. 14, says — 



' (1) When any land which is vested under the Land Purchase Acts in a 

 purchaser contains any ancient monument, which in the opinion of the Land 

 Commissioners is a matter of public interest, by reason of the historic, traditional, 

 or artistic interest attaching thereto, they may, with the consent of the Commis- 

 sioners of Public Works in Ireland, by order declare that the property in the 

 monument shall not pass to the purchaser, and may make an order vesting the 

 monument in those Commissioners.' 



It would be useless to ask the Government to help in Ireland, for so much 

 money is wanted urgently for land for relieving congestion, i'orestry, &c. 



Perhaps the English county councils may have greater powers than the 

 councils here. There are certainly common lands in England which might in 

 some cases be available. I advocate the establishment of sanctuaries without 

 knowing all the possibilities of creating them ; knowledge of that kind varies 

 with each district. 



Some sanctuaries already exist in this country. Lambay Island has been 

 absolutely protected by the Hon. Cecil Baring. At Glencar, co. Sligo, is a 

 natural sanctuary, not in the demesne, owned by the Wynne family. At 

 Kuocknarae Glen, in the same county, the hart's-tongue ferns e.vtend for a quarter 

 of a mile; they have the longest fronds in Britain, and measure up to a yard 

 in length. Lord Clonbrock, at Clonbrock Forest, East Galway, has a sanctuary 

 now carefully preserved, and the only one undisturbed since Elizabethan times. 



I do not advocate the preserving of sanctuaries for the shutting out of the 

 ' man in the street,' and admitting solely the man who fondly imagines himself 

 a scientist, because he is making a collection of birds' eggs, plants, &c. 



What as scientific societies we should be strenuous about is the collecting of 

 knowledge rather than specimens, In the case of birds the excuse is always 

 t for identification.' 



N K 2 



