122 The hi sh Naturalist, May, 



conclusive disproof of the view that the faculty in question is an inherited 

 one, but it is pushing his argument much too far to claim any such con- 

 clusion ; nor does the interesting but isolated fact that a pair of 

 Chaffinches which had been transported 5'oung to New Zealand built a 

 somewhat abnormal nest at all warrant his trumpeting forth of " the 

 now absolutely proved fact that birds are incapable of building a nest 

 tj'pical of their species without the aid of imitation or experience." By 

 the way, why drag in ''experience" here? If the knowledge is not 

 instinctive, the later efforts of the exiled Chaffinches ought to be no 

 nearer the ancestral type than the first was. But Mr. Dixon's reference 

 to "experience" as an alternative to "imitation" leads us to suspect 

 that his data are not in full harmony with this logical requirement. 



C. B. M. 



NOTES. 



BOTANY. 



Vegetable Bricks. 



I have seen with interest Mr. "Welch's note in the Irish Naturalist as to 

 the use of vegetable bricks in Belfast. He, however, attributes the use 

 of " peat bricks " to jerry builders. I have seen in tbe South of Ireland 

 many walls in the best built houses constructed of such bricks, and have 

 also seen them used in new houses of the present day, and their use is 

 quite intelligible. First, they make a very light wall, and can conse- 

 quently be used in a partition across the floor without much strengthen- 

 ing of the floor, and are much better non-conductors of sound than lath 

 and plaster partitions. Second, they make an excellent lining for an 

 outside wall built of black stone. Their use here is also not only intel- 

 ligible, but might be followed with advantage by modern architects, as 

 they interpose a non-conductor of heat between the warm, damp interior 

 atmosphere of the room and the cold outside wall, thus obviating the 

 condensation of moisture on the wall, and the consequent destruction of 

 the paper-hangings. 



H. Bantry White. 



Dublin. 



Turf walls exist in most of the old houses in this and neighbouring 

 counties, and probably throughout Ireland. It is commonly claimed for 

 the material that it is superior to brick or stone in such qualities as 

 warmth, dryness, elasticit}', &c. 



W. e:. Hart. 



Kilderry, Co. Donegal, 



