214 The Meeting of the British Association. 
the Prussian State Commissioner for the Care of Natural Monu¬ 
ments (Naturdenkmalpflege). Professor Conwentz’ address (of 
which some account will be found in Nature, September 26th, 1 
“ Botany at the British Association ” ) should be very useful in 
directing attention to the importance of preserving carefully 
selected samples of characteristic scenery and primitive or 
semi-primitive vegetation from the attacks of building, cultivation, 
etc. Such an address has a two-fold appeal—scientific and 
aesthetic. What has been done hitherto in this country has 
been almost confined to the latter aspect, that is to say the efforts 
that have been made to preserve scenery have been directed by a 
desire to prevent the piece-meal destruction of the beauty of our 
native land. The former aspect, which has been recently brought 
into fresh notice by the creation of such bodies as the Central 
Committee on British Vegetation, should have new emphasis given 
to it by Professor Conwentz’ prozelytizing efforts, which have had 
such remarkable success in Germany. During the short time he 
has been in a position to give official weight to his work in this 
direction, most gratifying practical results have been achieved. 
We understand that Professor Conwentz proposes to publish a 
volume on the subject in English. The question of the best means 
of practical action in this country remains to be settled. 
A joint meeting with the Zoologists to discuss the Physical Basis 
of Inheritance, a discussion opened by Professor Hickson, will be 
found reported in “ Zoology at the British Association ” ( Nature , 
September 19th). The weight of the evidence, developed by the 
various speakers, both from cytology and from the facts of heredity, 
leads to the conclusion that the material of the chromosomes is of 
primary importance in hereditary transmission, though, as was 
pointed out in the discussion, the chromomeres contained by the 
chromosomes are more likely to correspond with the “ primordia ” 
of somatic characters than the chromosomes themselves, and if 
these promordia are to be regarded as the architects of the body, 
yet the nature of the material with which they build, i.e., the 
cytoplasm, necessarily lias an effect upon the nature of the finished 
structure. 
A joint meeting with the Zoologists and Educationists was 
held to discuss the “ Teaching of Biology in Schools.” Attention 
1 A fairly full account will be found of most of the papers read at 
the Meeting in this article, to which we refer our readers. 
In the present notice we shall confine ourselves to com¬ 
menting upon the papers and discussions. 
