CORRESPONDENCE 645 



on "A Flaked Flint from the Red Crag," which specimen was found by 

 me and presented to Prof. So Has. As your reviewer states, the latter 

 investigator regards the flint as having been flaked, not by man, " but by some 

 sub-human tool-making animal." This, however, in view of the remarkable 

 and skilful manner in which the sub-Crag implements were fashioned, appears 

 to me to be improbable. But I appreciate, nevertheless. Prof. Sollas's 

 true scientific attitude in accepting as artificially made certain flaked flints 

 which he formerly claimed as of natural origin — and especially his generous 

 references to my work which appear in the footnote to his paper. 



J. Reid Moir. 

 February 3, 192 1. 



II. From A, G. Thacker, A.R.C.Sc. 



Sir, — In regard to Mr. Reid Moir's comments on ray notes in Science 

 Progress for January 1921, dealing with the correlation of British glacial 

 and interglacial deposits with Penck's well-known scheme, I beg to state that 

 my omission to refer to the correlation pubUshed by Mr. Moir in January 1920 

 was due to an oversight. Mr. Moir published this correlation at the end of an 

 article dealing with another (and less general) subject, and I had not noticed 

 that he had dealt with this question of correlation. If I had noticed it I 

 should certainly have referred to his scheme. My attention had been 

 especially directed to Professor Marr's and Mr. Burkitt's articles. Both these 

 writers refer with just appreciation to Mr. Moir's work in East Anglia, but 

 Professor Marr refrains from making a detailed correlation between the British 

 and Continental Strata, and, although Mr. Burkitt publishes such a detailed 

 scheme, he happens not to refer to the earlier and totally different scheme 

 published by Mr. Moir. Attempts have, of course, been previously made to 

 construct Pencko-British correlations, notably by Professor James Geikie. 

 And the suggestion made by Mr. Moir that the Chalky Boulder Clay is of 

 " Riss " age is also not new — the dating of the Chalky Boulder Clay being the 

 chief key to the whole problem. But Mr. Moir's scheme is based upon the 

 most recent work — very largely his own work — and is very detailed ; and he 

 is entitled to claim originality for it. 



I am, sir. 



Yours faithfully, 

 February S, 1921. A. G. Thacker. 



THE BRITISH COMMITTEE FOR AIDING MEN OF LETTERS 



AND SCIENCE IN RUSSIA 



Sir, — We have recently been able to get some direct communication from 

 men of science and men of letters in North Russia. Their condition is one 

 of great privation and limitation. They share in the consequences of the 

 almost complete economic exhaustion of Russia ; like most people in that 

 country, they are ill-clad, underfed, and short of such physical necessities as 

 make life tolerable. 



Nevertheless, a certain amount of scientific research and some Uterary 

 work still goes on. The Bolsheviks were at first regardless, and even in 

 some cases hostile, to these intellectual workers, but the Bolshevik Government 

 has apparently come to realise something of the importance of scientific and 

 literary work to the community, and the remnant — for deaths among them 

 have been very numerous — the remnant of these people, the flower of the 

 mental life of Russia, has now been gathered together into two special 

 rationing organisations, which ensure, at least, the bare necessities of life 

 for them. 



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