REPORT OF THE CLUB'S DELEGATE. 103
Prof. P. G. H. Boswell, F.R.S., dealt with "The Preservation
of Sites of Scientific Interest in Town and Country Planning."
After briefly recounting the important role played in the past
by the British Association, partly at the instigation of the
Conference of Delegates, in calling attention to the necessity
for the more adequate protection of sites of scientific and his-
torical interest, Prof. Boswell proceeded to refer to the position
created by the passing of the Town and Country Planning Act
of 1932, which he held to be one of the most enlightened enact-
ments placed upon the Statute Book for a long time.
The position now is that the Ministry of Health gives oppor-
tunity to, the British Association to advise as to when action
ought to be taken to preserve sites and objects of scientific interest
and natural beauty in cases in which planning schemes
are proposed. The Association, however, must rely very largely
upon the Corresponding Societies for the information necessary
to give such advice. Prof. Boswell therefore invited the delegates
to urge their Societies to begin, if they had not already begun,
the compilation of a list of sites of objects of exceptional botanical
zoological or geological character within their area and to
communicate the results at frequent intervals to the central
office of the Association. In this way a reference list will be
available for consultation as each scheme of planning is brought
forward.
Prof. Boswell also pointed out that features of scientific
interest were frequently associated with some measure of natural
beauty and so could often be used in support of other arguments
for the preservation of particular areas, illustrating his remarks
by reference to the district surrounding Darwin's house at Downe,
which is now owned and maintained as a national memorial by
the British Association. He appealed to all those who appre-
ciated the value of scientific considerations as adjuncts to
aesthetic arguments for the preservation of the countryside to
keep a constant watch on the work of planning.
In conclusion he referred specially to a few of the many sites
of scientific interest in the district in which the meeting was
being held, i.e., in East Anglia, such as the shingle spits of
Blakeney and Orford, the Cromer Moraine, the Breckland, the
Norfolk Broads, the small remaining outcrops of Red Crag,
Norwich Crag, Coralline Crag and Chillesford Crag, the ancient