70 
REPORTS OF SOCIETIES. 
Mar., 1889. 
eight brilliant eyes. Mr. Cuming Walters then read his paper on 
“ Tennyson’s Country.” He said that his object had been to examine 
the localities amidst which the poet had been born, and where he had 
laid the scenes of his earlier poems. Lord Tennyson was above all 
an English and an English-loving poet. The tone of his poems was 
essentially that of Lincolnshire, sombre in hue, but possessing quiet 
beauties of its own. The best time to see Lincolnshire was in the 
autumn, which was also the poet’s season. The writer described 
Tennyson's birth-place at Somersby, and quoted references to it from 
“ In Memoriam ; ” also the farmhouse close by, called a “ grange ” in 
Lincolnshire, which was inhabited by the original of the “ Northern 
Farmer,” and was itself Mariana’s Moated Grange; ” and Holywell 
Glen, a gloomy hollow which was the scene of the “ Lover’s Tale,” 
and doubtless suggested to .the poet the dismal story of “ Maud.” He 
also spoke of the Lincolnshire characters who are pourtrayed by 
Tennyson :—his mother, described in the “ Princess,” the originals of 
Lady Clara Vere de Yere, Sir Harry Vane, and others. Tennyson’s 
sea-pictures—even those of the “ Lotos Eaters”—are mainly such as 
can be seen on the Lincolnshire and Norfolk coasts ; his wild flowers 
and his garden flowers are those of Lincolnshire, and the influence of 
the county can be traced through all his early work. Mr. W. R. Hughes 
pointed out the Sociological importance of the subject, which was a 
particularly striking instance of the influence of the environment 
upon the organism, and thus Mr. Walters had perhaps been talking 
Evolution without knowing it.— Sociological Section, Supplementary 
Meeting, Jan. ‘24th. Mr. W. R. Hughes, F.L.S., in the chair. Mr. 
Hughes announced that he had received a post card from Mr. Spencer 
in reply to a letter in reference to Prof. Pcynting’s, in which he said that 
he had not read the article but could add nothing further to his reply to 
Moulton, published in the third volume of Essays. Also, that he had 
received a few copies of the “ Modern Science Essayist,” the organ of 
the Brooklyn Ethical Association, and suggested that some marks of 
sympathy should be sent to them from the Section. Mr. Stone gave his 
exposition of the eleventh chapter of Herbert Spencer's “First 
Principles,” entitled “ Recapitulation, Criticism, and Recommence¬ 
ment,” in the absence of Mr. Grove, who was unable to attend. 
After which, he read extracts from Mr. Spencer’s “ Replies to 
Criticism,” dealing with the points disputed by Prof. Poynting.— 
General Meeting, Jan. 29th. The President, Mr. W. B. Grove, 
M.A., occupied the chair, and there was a large attendance 
of members. Mr. W. P. Marshall, M.I.C.E., gave an interesting 
account of the masses of rock that fell recently at Niagara Falls, 
and exhibited a sketch showing the outline of the “Horseshoe” 
Falls previous to the fall of rocks and also of their present form. 
Mr. J. E. Bagnall, A.L.S., exhibited for Miss Gingell (who was present) 
Hypnum Sommerfeldtii , H. abbreviatum, H. triquetrum in fruit, H. brevi- 
rostre in fruit, and other rare mosses from Dursley, Gloucestershire. 
Mr. C. Pumphrey and Mr. C. J. Watson exhibited by the aid of the oxv- 
hydrogen lantern a large number of photographic views of objects and 
placesof interest in Switzerland, Italy, the Channel Islands, Weymouth, 
Bath, and of the recent beautiful hoar frost on leaves and trees in 
this district, which were much appreciated by the meeting, and a 
hearty vote of thanks was passed to them. —Annual Meeting, February 
5tli. Mr. W. B. Grove (president) in the chair. There were also 
present Messrs. W. P. Marshall and W. H. Wilkinson (secretaries), 
J. Rabone (treasurer), J. Levick, R. W. Chase, J. F. Goode, Herbert 
Stone. W. R. Hughes, J. E. Bagnall, J. Edmonds, J. Udall, Kineton 
