348 SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— E. 



In the small-scaled landscape of the undulating English plain rural architecture 

 is focal in the view, and in all parts where a definite style of building has been estab- 

 lished in early times it is desirable to build so as to carry on the pattern, or, if this 

 be impossible, to build with unobtrusive form and colour so as not to break the pattern. 



Tree-planting in a city presents no difficulty of design, for the forms of foliage, 

 not being insistent, relieve the austerity of architecture without breaking the pattern, 

 but in the straggUng suburb confusion of forms obliterates both the beauty of the 

 country and the beauty of the town. 



The chief natural pattern in the English plain is provided by the rounded forms 

 of broad-leaved trees, of which one extensive national woodland, the New Forest, 

 still remains. Here it is desirable to discontinue all planting of conifers in order not 

 to break the pattern and thus impair a picture so characteristically English. 



The beauty of trees belongs to the nearer view only, and it would be a mistake, 

 from the pictorial point of view, to plant upon the crests of bare uplands rising above 

 the plain, whose unbroken skyline imparts the sense of magnitude to the view. Downs 

 of the chalk formation have a continuity of undulation, unsurpassed in the world for 

 grace of line, but it is a very vulnerable kind of beauty, soon shattered by hard 

 mechanical forms, particularly when silhouetted on the skyline. 



The great industrial population of the Midlands, Lancashire and West Riding 

 has three regions of wild scenery in which to seek that refreshment of body and soul 

 which is necessary to the welfare of dwellers in factory towns, the Pennine Moors, 

 the mountains of North-West Wales and the English Lake District. The beauty of 

 the Pennine Moors when the heather is out owes much to the circumstance that the 

 warm tone of the flower is complementary both to that of the cloud on dull days and 

 to the shadowed hillside on sunny days, a colour-grouping more efiective than that 

 of any green hill. 



The volcanic formations of Snowdonia present the most arresting form of land 

 relief, the range of mountain peaks and this region of natural beauty, the scene of 

 heroic deeds, whose gates are guarded by ancient castles, might fitly be consecrated 

 by the Welsh people as a national park for the cult of historic piety and the veneration 

 of nature. 



The effect of a lake upon the landscape is so dominant that even mountains appear 

 to have a dependent grouping, and though Cumbria is the only land of mountain 

 peaks in England, we call the mountainous region the ' Lake District.' Here the 

 residents have long pursued the cult of scenery, and the problem of reconciling 

 accessibility with preservation is engaging the attention of energetic organisers 

 and generous donors who deserve the gratitude of the country. 



The change of climate given by sea air determines the direction in which the 

 majority of people seek change of scene, and moreover, the coast provides a greater 

 change in scenery than the varieties of inland view. 



The march of the waves upon the shore is a picture which never palls, and can 

 be watched anywhere on two thousand miles of beach, but access to the splendid 

 aspect of the sea from the clifi, with its vast expanse and unmatched horizon, is 

 being restricted by enclosures which it is impossible to prevent in the present state 

 of the law. Legislation to secure access to the clifi would be justified, for the ou tlook 

 from the cliffs is the national heritage of an island people. 



Mr. F. Debenham. — Problems of the South African Sector of Antarctica. 



The sector defined between 15° W. longitude and 80° E. longitude. 



The General Problem. — Comparative ignorance of the continent in this sector. 

 Reasons for neglect of the sector. Remote from centres of settlement. Scarcity of 

 sub-antarctic islands. Inferences as to coast line from conditions met by early ex- 

 plorers. 



The Meteorological Problem. — General thesis that Antarctic weather affects the 

 Southern Hemisphere. No data available for the sector, but analogies with other 

 sectors permissible. Chief characteristics of Antarctic climate. Possibilities of 

 relations between seasonal variations in the southern continents of Antarctica. 



The Ice Problem. — The nature and rate of discharge of ice from the Antarctic Ice 

 Cap. Possibility of the existence of great ice barriers. General characteristics of 

 inland ice. The problem is of general scientific interest without immediate economic 

 bearing. 



The Geological Problem. — No data whatever available at present. Peculiar interest 



