SEL BORNE SOCIETY NOTICES gq 
others, are represented, while on no account to be missed is Honthorst’s 
realistic painting, “Christ Before Caiphas.” 
The private rooms downstairs overlook the Mall and St. James’s Park. 
These rooms, too, contain notewoithy pictures. In the far room, under glass 
shades, are some beautiful Sevres cups, hand-painted with portraits of notable 
or beautiful women, such as Joan of Arc and various beauties of the Prench 
Courts, while on the walls are some family pictures by Lawrence, Reynolds, and 
others. Over the doorway of the morning room is a white marble medallion 
with a bust of Garibaldi in a//o relievo. He was a guest here on the occasion of 
his visit to England. It is said that his host wished to present him with some 
memento of his stay at Stafford House, but the old patriot refused to take any- 
thing of value. In the end he was persuaded to accept some spades and garden 
tools, as they would be useful in the rural life at Caprera, to which he had retired 
after his strenuous exertions in the cause of Italian independence. 
NEWS FROM THE BRANCHES. 
Bath. — The following is the summer rota of excursions : — 
.April 28. — Botanic Gardens. Conducted by Mr. Milburn, 
May 14. — Natural History Sections. Excursion to Wick Rocks. Conducted 
by Rev. H. H. Winwood, M.A., F.G.S. 
May 28. — Lacock Abbey. Conducted by Mr. M. II. Scott. 
ftine 1 1.— Caerwent. Conducted by .Mr. A. Trice .Martin, M.A., F.S.A. 
June 23. — .\nnual Meeting, at Warleigh Manor, by kind invitation of Col. 
and Lady .Mary Skrine. 
July 16. — Cheddar. 
September 3. — Camerton Court, by kind invitation of Miss Jarrelt. 
September 10. — Stanton Drew and Sutton Court, by kind permission of .Sir 
Edward .Strachey, M.P., D.L. 
Birmingham and Midland. — The Annual Meeting was held on 
February 12, when the Lord Mayor was elected President and a very satis- 
factory Report was presented. It showed a large increase in the number of 
members, and a balance in hand of over ;^i5, and recorded the distribution of 
1,300 copies of the leaflet, “Spare the Birds and the Flowers,” in connection 
with the Children’s Country Holiday Society, a Selbornian walk with some of 
the girl holiday-makers of that Society, a lecture by Mr. Kearton to 1,400 
children, and the first of a series for members. The loss, by death, of Mr. 
Winkler Wills, a former President, has already been recorded in the Magazine. 
Brighton. — In response to an invitation by the Brighton Branch, over two 
hundred persons assembled at Steine House on April 16 to hear a lecture by 
Mr. Enock. Amongst the audience were some masters and mistresses of ele- 
mentary schools with some selected pupils. The Chair was taken by Mr. J. L. 
Otter. The Chairman, before introducing Mr. Enock, explained the reasons 
for the choice of Gilbert White as the e.xemplar of the Society. White 
was a close observer of Nature with a sense, perceptible throughout his 
writings, of fellowship with all forms of created life. The purpose of his 
walks was not to gather spoils, but to gain knowledge of the modes of life of 
animal and plant. It is also worthy of remark that he cannot be accused of 
sentimentality in the depreciatory sense of the word. He intended when he had 
the opportunity to dissect a hen cuckoo in the breeding season for a specific 
scientific purpose. The boys present would perhaps learn that evening for the 
first time that insects have their own objects in life, and their own proper business 
to transact in this world as well as men. We often hear some insects called 
horrid, ugly, nasty, or odious, but the Chairman wished the boys to understand 
that the Selborne Society does not recognise such epithets as applicable to any 
natural species. They should be reserved for the corrupted tastes of the human 
race. 
Mr. Enock then delivered his lecture. His subject was the life-histories of 
ome well-known insects, the green fly, the wasp fly, the saw fly and the devil’s 
coach-horse. Some of the illustrative lantern-slides, which were plainly the 
the result of extraordinary patience and skill, were loudly applauded, and the 
whole lecture was listened to with the attentive interest which Mr. Enock always 
engages. 
