6o 
SELBORNE SOCIETY NOTICES. 
Field Club. — A meeting of the Field Club Committee will be held at the 
Society’s Rooms, 20, Hanover Square, W., on Tuesday, the 15th inst., at 6.30 
p.m., to appoint guides and to make preliminary arrangements for the rambles 
during the coming season. Ladies and gentlemen who are willing to conduct any 
of these Saturday rambles are invited to attend the meeting, or if unable to be 
present should notify the Hon. Secretary of the Field Club (Mr. Ernest A. 
Nash), who will send them a list of vacant dates and any desired information. 
Council and Committee Meetings.— The next meetings of the Council 
will be held on Tuesdays, March 1 and April 5 at 5.30: of the Magazine and 
Leaflet Committee on March 15 and April 19 at 5.30; a special Finance Com- 
mittee Meeting will be held on March 1 at 6.30. 
NEWS FROM THE BRANCHES. 
Bath. — On Tuesday, January 25, there was a large gathering at the Museum, 
Terrace-Walk, to hear a lecture by Mr. M. II. Scott, I.C.S., given under the 
auspices of the Selborne Society, on Stonehenge. Mr. Scott’s lecture, which was 
splendidly illustrated, was chiefly historical, and it showed a thorough grasp of 
his subject. Mr. Scott said first impressions of this place were usually dis- 
appointing — it looked so small. Then one saw how grand it was and how 
impressive it must have been when entire. He invited attention to the large 
stone called the Friar’s Heel, and said this, as well as the so-called slaughtering 
stone, were sarsen stones. There were others like them — popularly known in 
Wiltshire as “grey wethers.” The stones forming the inner circle were not 
known, and antiquaries disagreed as to where they came from. In giving the 
history of Stonehenge, so far as it was known, Mr. Scott said it was first named 
in the middle of the twelfth century. There was very little doubt that the Druids 
used them as they used other stone circles in different parts of the country. 
None of these other stone circles, however, possessed the same peculiarities as 
Stonehenge. He suggested that the origin of Stonehenge might be found much 
further back than the Druids. Having quoted, amongst others, the opinion of 
Mr. Story Maskelyne that Stonehenge was erected li.c. 947, and that it was con- 
structed as an observatory — an idea he did not agree with— Mr. Scott dwelt 
upon the history of Britain in its early days, and discussed other theories as to 
the origin of Stonehenge. He thought it was extremely improbable it had been 
built for a crematorium. The place had certainly been used as a consecrated 
spot — probably by the builders. On the motion of the Rev. II. B. Barry a 
hearty vote of thanks was accorded to Mr. Scott, who briefly replied. 
Birmingham. — The annual meeting of members of this branch was held 
at the Council House, Birmingham, on January 18. The Lord Mayor (Mr. 
Beale) presided. The Secretary, Miss I). C. Sturge, read the report. The 
number of members remains about the same as that of last year. Numerous 
Selborne leaflets have been given to the pupils in various schools, and during the 
summer notices to excursionists have been placed in places of popular resort. 
The scheme of offering prizes to children in Board Schools for the best answers to 
set questions has been extended. More than 2,000 papers of answers were 
received, some of which, of course, furnished remarkable information. The 
income was ,£45 15s. 2d., and the expenditure 64 17s. 5d., the deficit being 
j£i9 2 s. 3d. The Lord Mayor moved the adoption of the report. He said in 
the course of an interesting speech that he thought that the work of the Society 
was more beneficial in towns than in the country. From tow ns came the 
“tourists,” whose behaviour generally made it impossible for nature to exist in 
its most luxurious condition in places which they frequented. Half the vandalism 
which occurred was due to ignorance. People had no discrimination between 
what was rare and what was not ; they did not know how to take up a plant, nor 
whether it would grow when transplanted. Those who, like himself, obtained 
their knowledge by being collectors, knew that it was almost necessary to commit 
some destruction in order to get information. He did not suppose that the 
Society aimed at suppressing legitimate work in search of information. If it did, 
then it could not flourish, because it would carry its principles to an absurd 
degree. It could, however, induce people who began as collectors to abandon 
the gun for the field glass. The motion was carried. The Lord Mayor was. 
elected President, and Miss C. I). Sturge, Secretary. 
