i88 
NATURE NOTES 
The Disfigurement of the Country. — The Chairman of 
the Council, Dr. Dudley Buxton, contributed a letter on this 
subject to the Times of September i8, in which, after alluding to 
Sir Harry Johnston’s address at our conversazione, he con- 
tinues : — 
“ It is right and fitting that town dwellers, and especially children, should 
see the country and get refreshment for mind in pure air, but it is equally right 
that those who plan these expeditions and are responsible for the picnics 
or beanfeasts should study the amenities of the country. To tear up every 
flower and fern, to rifle birds’ nests, to scatter soiled papers and broken bottles 
in places of grazing and common resort, are some of the abuses which holiday- 
makers commit, and these in themselves go far towards spoiling the country. 
The heedlessness of such acts punishes not only those who live in the districts 
which are thus invaded, but the town pleasure-seekers themselves. Many parks 
and private grounds which owners are wont to throw open to visitors are now 
closed, as a protection against the damage which town trippers have ruthlessly 
done to the grounds. It is very easy to teach children and to appeal to the 
better instincts of their elders, and induce them to respect and protect Nature’s 
wonders, but those whose duty it should be to inculcate this respect are silent, if 
they do not even themselves set a bad example and do sacrilege in the very shade 
of the aisles shaped by the trees. 
“It is with a hope that the Times will lend its valuable aid to check such 
evils that I crave the indulgence of your columns, since I am convinced that the 
clerg)', school teachers, and those benevolent persons who organize country 
rambles could do much if their eyes were once opened to the amount of harm 
to which their apathy in such matters leads. The Selborne Society seeks to 
inculcate the spirit which made Gilbert White an ideal nature-worshipper ; its 
president. Lord Avebury, is fighting for the preservation of wild birds, and the 
rank and file of the Society strive for the protection of all those unconsidered 
trifles which go to make a country-side a thing of beauty, and to awake the 
better nature of all who may use but should not abuse the hospitality which the 
country extends to them.” 
The National Trust. — We have received a very interesting 
and beautifully illustrated Report of this body for 1907-8. It 
announces the complete purchase of the Grey Wethers, of 
which a picture appeared in Nature Notes; and since it was 
printed Coleridge’s cottage at Nether Stowey has been trans- 
ferred to the Trust. The indefatigable Miss Octavia Hill has 
secured the addition of eight acres to the three and a half 
already held at Crockham Hill. Other important acquisitions, 
especially near Hindhead and Derwentwater, are nearly com- 
plete ; but considerable sums of money are required for these 
and for the general purposes of the Trust. We hope shortly 
to be able to reproduce one or more of the illustrations of this 
Report. 
Report of the Committee of Ancient Earthworks and 
Fortified Enclosures.- — This useful Committee has suffered 
an irreparable loss in the death of its first Honorary Secretary, 
Mr. Chalkley Gould, who was the life and soul of its work. 
Mr. A. G. Chater, of 41, Porchester Square, W., has consented 
to act as Honorary Secretary, but modestly wishes that the 
Report presented to the Congress of Archaeological Societies 
on July 8 should be looked upon as merely an interim one. 
