^905. 



NOTES. 



BOTANY, 



A Committee for the Survey and Study of British Vegetation. 



[From The Nciv Phytologist, vol. iv., January, 1905]. 



A meeting of British botanists engaged in work on the survey of the 

 vegetation of different areas of the British Isles was held at I^eeds on 

 December 3rd, 1904. The object of the meeting was to discuss the pre- 

 sent position of the vegetation-snrve}- begun' about ten years ago by the 

 late Robert Smith in Scotland, and since continued by others. 



The meeting was only a preliminar}- one, yet it was thoroughl)' repre- 

 sentative. Mr. C. E. Moss (Manchester), Dr. W. G. Smith (lyeedi-), Mr. 

 A. G. Tansley (London), and Mr. T. W. Woodhead (Huddersfield), were 

 present, while Mr. M. Hardy (Dundee). Mr. F. J. Lewis (Liverpool), Mr. 

 R. Lloyd Praeger and Dr. G. H. Pethybridge (Dublin), and Mr. W. M. 

 Rankin (Portsmouth), communicated, expressing sympathy with the 

 general objects of the meeting, and regretting their inability to be pre- 

 sent. The unanimous response from almost all those actively engaged 

 in vegetation-survey in the British Isles indicated the need of some closer 

 co-operation than has hitherto existed. 



It was therefore resolved to form a Committee of those present, to- 

 gether with the other gentlemen mentioned above (with power to add to 

 their number), in order to co-ordinate the work which is being done, to 

 secure uniformity of method so far as it may seem desirable, to have a 

 ready means of discussing various topics that arise in connection with 

 methods and results, and generally to advance the interests of the survey* 

 It is proposed to call the Committee *'The Central Committee for the 

 Survey and Study of British Vegetation." 



The following provisional resolutions, which were adopted, among 

 others, may be of interest to botanists interested in the work. 



Scale of J/a/j-.— The survey of the British Isles should be proceeded 

 with. In those areas where the plant-associations are largely untouched 

 by human agency and extend uniformly over considerable tracts, the 

 scales of one inch to the mile or half an inch to the mile, which have 

 been found suitable in the maps hitherto published should be adopted ; 

 the field work may be carried out on the one inch or six inch Ordnance 

 maps. In regions which are largely agricultural, general topographical 

 maps on a scale of a quarter-inch to the mile are recommended, with the 

 local features of botanical interest marked in some distinctive manner. 

 Maps illustrating these local features, e.g., marshes, commons, natural 

 woods, &c., on a scale of six inches or of twenty-five inches to the mile, 

 or if thought desirable on an even larger scale, should be prepared as 

 opportunity offers. In this way it is hoped to complete a first botanical 

 survey within a reasonable time. 



