220 REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE.—1917. 
because they did not understand us. They could not go very far, even in the 
pursuit of science, before they found it necessary to begin to talk to the 
politicians, 
The Srcrerary, speaking as Secretary of the Selborne Society, added his 
testimony to that of the others as to the pleasure he had received from hearing 
Mr. Hopkinson’s address. 
With regard to Arbor Day, the Society for the Protection of Birds had 
for some years had an Arbor Day. It was also a matter not entirely lost 
sight of in this country by individuals, such as Mr. Till, of Eynsford, but 
it should be instituted by the State or as it was in America. The ordinary 
landowner was supposed to be in difficulties when he cut down the trees, but 
this was not always the case. One of Lord Yarborough’s ancestors looked at 
the bare hills round his house, and thought it would be a very good idea to 
plant trees, and he planted hundreds and hundreds of acres. The present Lord 
Yarborough came to the conclusion that it would be a rather good idea to treat 
the trees as if they were corn, and cut down a number of acres every year; but 
he planted several times as many trees as he cut down. Speaking of a visit 
paid to Lord Yarborough’s estate, Mr. Webb said the forester told him that 
instead of having a difficulty to part with timber he had a regular market 
every year for the best; the poorer wood they kept and creosoted for their own 
use. This was a sort of thing that might be done all over the country. 
The President had said that one of the difficulties was that children could 
not handle things in museums. He (Mr. Webb) had the pleasure a year or two 
ago of devising a museum which might be made for the use of children, and 
he had shown one at the Children’s Welfare Exhibition. The exhibits which 
were not living were changed according to the season and time of the year, and 
there were specimens that anybody could pick up and examine, specimens 
chosen because they could not be easily damaged. 
If Mr. Bevan would give them a resolution with regard to Kent’s Cavern, 
asking them to go forward, he would, as the Secretary of the Corresponding 
- Societies Committee, see what he could do in the matter. He did not think 
they could appoint, as Mr. Oke suggested, a definite committee, because it was 
not within the power of the Conference, but they might nominate representa- 
tives to serve on any outside committee that could be brought into existence. 
Mr. Henry Barnes (Worcester Naturalists’ Club), speaking on the subject 
of museums and their educational value, said this was very much weakened 
by reason of there being no guide, either in the person of the curator or some 
assistant, who could point out to the many persons visiting them the various 
objects and their classification and relation. People wander in the vaguest way 
through a museum, not knowing what they are looking at. If the curator 
observed an interested visitor who did not appear to know much about the 
object he was looking at, and could just put in a word and give some informa- 
tion which would arouse interest and curiosity, the educational value of museums 
would be very much enhanced. If there were anyone present belonging to 
the Museums Association, a suggestion in that direction would not do any 
harm. 
The Presrpent, replying on the debate, said: I was very pleased to hear 
what Mr. Whitaker said about Ordnance maps. I was not at all aware that 
maps could be had at less than the published price, and I hope that that fact 
will be made widely known, so that local societies can get them at a very 
greatly reduced rate. 
A society’s journal is an encouragement to members to contribute papers 
to the society. I have been editor of one since 1875; members have given 
us good papers who had never written anything before, and probably never 
would have written anything had it not been for the society. I have found 
that members who had never had any previous scientific training and had 
not had a college education have written better English than some highly 
educated scientific men. : 
As to meteorology being almost ignored in the Association, I have a 
personal experience of the difficulty of bringing forward meteorological papers, 
finding that they are nearly always relegated to the very last place, when there 
are only two or three minutes left. 
™ ae 
