252 



HARDWICKK S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



which consequently would not be more than 1,200 

 years old. This seems a solitary and perhaps not 

 altogether satisfactory "find," as by far the greater 

 proportion of Moddings have as yet yielded only 

 such weapons, etc., as would lead to the opinion that 

 their formers were scarcely more than acquainted 

 with the art of flint polishing, while their pottery was 

 of the very rudest kind. Of the metals and their 

 uses they were probably quite ignorant, employing 

 instead the flints and bones which came so readily to 

 their hands. From the absence of wood and stone 

 in the mounds, except where the latter has been 

 used as a hearth, we are led to believe that the 

 middeners dwelt in tents made of skins, only slightly 

 elevated from the ground. Though the transfer of 

 the edible portions of the mollusca upon which they 

 lived, from the shell to the stomach, would be ac- 

 complished without any very great regard for culinary 

 preparation, yet the presence of a dark-coloured 

 carbonaceous substance found diffused among the 

 debris, and the marks of burning left upon many of 

 the bones, point to the cooking of such larger fishes 

 and birds as came in their way. 



They do not appear to have had any knowledge of 

 agriculture, not a single instance being known of any 

 variety of grain having been found in the mounds. 

 Even the shells and bones which they threw away 

 bear witness that this early people had not the means 

 of obtaining for themselves a very diversified meal. 

 All the species of shells, with one or two rare excep- 

 tions, found at Inchkeith are such as may be gathered 

 between high and low water mark, while the remains 

 of the porpoise and seal are readily accounted for by 

 assuming these creatures to have been caught in the 

 various shallows and pools left by the receding tide. 

 No human bones have yet been discovered in any of 

 the shell-mounds, so that we are quite unable to form 

 any definite opinion either as to the physique of this 

 ancient race or their methods of disposing of the 

 dead. 



The Flora of Inchkeith is not very extensive, a 

 circumstance fully accounted for by the exposed 

 situation and the limited extent of the island, a strip 

 of land about half a mile long by a quarter broad not 

 affording very great scope for the growth of many 

 varieties. No account of Inchkeith could be con- 

 sidered anything like complete which did not contain 

 some reference to the zoology of the Forth in its 

 immediate neighbourhood. A few hours' energetic 

 dredging just off its rock-bound shores will yield 

 quite a bountiful array of Estuarine Fauna. Large 

 specimens of the beautiful sea-urchin, {Echina 

 sphara), numerous starfishes and crustaceans, many 

 varieties of bivalves, and quite a host of the lowly 

 but equally beautiful and interesting anemones, 

 sponges, corallines, and seaweeds ; these and many 

 others abound in the adjacent waters. 



It may fairly be questioned whether there is any 

 spot in the kingdom of such limited extent, which is 



more replete with interest and instruction, more 

 capable of yielding food for reflection and pleasure to- 

 the mind, more favourably situated for the study of 

 the past and present of the great world of which this 

 "green little isle" forms such an insignificant 

 portion. If, as Bacon has enunciated, study is to be 

 valued more as a discipline of humanity than as an 

 exercise of the intellect, here then is a fitting place 

 in which to put the aphorism into practice, and 

 while we look into the beautiful and harmonious 

 world of nature and life before and round us, let u& 

 dispel those lofty ideas of ourselves, and remember 

 that we, like the ground below us, are but small 

 fractions of this great and glorious universe. This 

 done, and we shall then be able to substitute greater 

 and more just views of the grandeur of creation and 

 the perfections of its infinite Author. 



THE BARNACLE GOOSE. 



" As barnacles turn Poland geese 

 In th' ibiands of the Orcades." 



Hiidibras. 



Caliban. 



"We shall lose our time, 

 And all be turned to barnacles." 



Tempest, Act IV. sc. i. 



SOME years ago I was spending the Long Vaca- 

 tion at Eastbourne. It's an ill wind that blows 

 nobody any good, and so it proved in this case. On 

 the morning after the storm I noticed, while strolling 



Fig. 2IO. — Bernicle Tree. 



along the beach at an early hour, a large piece of 

 wood cast up on the shore. Wondering whether it 

 would prove to be a tree-trunk or only one of the 

 timbers of some ill-fated ship, we drew near and 

 examined it. To my great surprise and delight it 

 was the former and nearly covered with patches of 

 acorn shells (balamis) and barnacles {Lepas anatifera). 

 My delight may be imagined, as this was ^my first 



