Article—Impressions of Edinburgh and the Festival

plants to make them more disease resisting, and the identification of flowers and plants from the colossal herbarium, was also described. The second film was entitled "The Conquest of the Dry Lands", and it described how the Punjab had been converted into fertile and productive land within fifty years. Irrigation had provided water for the crops and hydro-electric power had made possible industries such as cotton and steel factories.

The second meeting was held on 14th May, and an excursion was made to Askham Bog, a natural swamp, the only remnant of a much larger one, which in recent years has been bought and preserved by the Yorkshire Naturalists' Trust, of which the School is a member. After Mr. Crews' introduction we split up into House groups and each group went where it wished. There was not much time to go far, and most members studied parts of the Further Jungle and Far Wood. Several things of interest were seen, including a fox and a linnet's nest containing five eggs.

On 21st and 28th May, and 4th June, general meetings were not held, but all those who were keen to be actively interested, or who were interested in some aspect of Natural History, came along. Half the members stayed in the Physics laboratory, either helping Mr. Crews to re-arrange the large collection of insects, both British and foreign, which the School possesses, or helping to sort out the egg collection, while the other half went to the Biology laboratory to set up aquaria, clean the hampster's cage, etc.

The last meeting of term was on 25th June, when Mr. Farnsworth, A.R.P.S., gave an illustrated lecture entitled "The technique of the Natural History Photographer". He began with a short introductory talk and went on to show a series of slides, all taken by himself, most of which were hand coloured with Japanese tints. He showed over sixty slides, mostly of birds and their nests, although a few animals, flowers, insects and reptiles were shown.

"IMPRESSIONS OF EDINBURGH AND THE FESTIVAL"

Edinburgh is the ideal festival city. It is a city of marked contrast. The splendour of the New Town (of which Princes Street is worldfamous) and the squalor of the Old afford excellent opportunities for sight-seeing. The whole city is gay (even the shops are imbued with the festive spirit and gaily flout their tartans for all but Scotsmen to buy). It has been called "theatrical", and is particularly so when floodlit, and the Castle—the inevitable Castle—looking like the backcloth for a medieval pageant, overlooks the lights from the shop windows and trams of Princes Street. And it is a city of magnificent views; but, while I was there, they were blotted out by mist—the natives call it a "haar"—and the observatories on Calton Hill and in the High Street had their "visibility nil" boards out.