1 90 2 Correspondence 327 



pelling persons to carry out a national wish, — it is done every day in all 

 courts. — Ed.) 



" I have long held the notion, imparted to me sometime in childhood, 

 that the law of entail, in Scotland at least, compelled an entailed-estate 

 owner to plant three trees for every one cut down. Perhaps some other 

 reader of the F. N. Q. will confirm or dissipate this idea for me. The 

 general trend of Mr Haines' article on Arbor Day in your last issue 

 must, I think, appeal to every balanced mind, whether naturalist or 

 not. The devastation of our hills, even from a commercial standpoint, 

 is regrettable and imprudent, while from the aesthetic, sanitary, and 

 economic views it is madness. A very apt quotation from ' Rodney 

 Stone ' contains a working suggestion. ' Collingwood took a little black 

 bag out of his pocket and shook it. "What do you suppose I hold in 

 this bag?" "Bullets," said Trowbridge. "Something that a sailor 

 needs more than that," answered the admiral, and turning it over he 

 tilted a pile of acorns on to his palm. " I carry them with me in my 

 country walks, and where I see a fruitful nook I thrust one deep with 

 the end of my cane." ' " — Rusticus. 



The Adder- S%uallo'wing Question. — "Although I do not pretend to be 

 an anatomist, I do read all that I can find on the vexed question of 

 the adder mother and her young. Moreover, I have heard a good 

 many lectures on the structure and development of these reptiles. I am 

 utterly puzzled to know how it is possible for young adders 5 inches 

 long to be found in " the ovary " of the mother, as stated in the ' Field ' 

 for August 30. Also, I always understood that there was no direct 

 communication between the blood-vessels of the young and the mother. 

 I should be glad if you would clear up these points in the F. N. Q., 

 for myself and others whom I know are likewise puzzled to understand the 

 article in question. I enclose my card." — " Ophis." 



( " Ophis " and other correspondents will find this matter dealt with 

 in another page of this issue. He is perfectly right in saying that 

 there is no direct communication between the blood-vessels of the embryo 

 and those of the mother. The embryonic blood-vessels extend only into 

 the yolk mass in the ^^%., not beyond the egg-membrane or shell, as 

 the case may be. This is one of the arguments used by those who 

 deny the possibility of the transmission of acquired characters in the 

 parent to the offspring. — Ed. F. N. O.) 



Adders Swimming. — -" Before it could be killed, an adder, 26^ inches 

 long, swam 200 feet across the river Shin, near Inveron Bridge, Suther- 

 landshire. — ' Daily Mail,' August 26, 1902. 



" When I read the above I called to mind your remarks in the May 

 number of the F. N. Q. (pp. 81, 82) on the question of whether the 

 adder takes to water or not. I enclose the paragraph in case you have 

 not seen it." — Ruth Smith, Hove, Sussex. 



(The same statement from various papers was sent to us by corres- 

 pondents, whom we beg to thank. From the instances which have this 



