146 The Field Naturalist's Quarterly May 



quoted the adage that " a common want creates a common 

 tool " ; yet, as Mr Gatty (who is most non-committal, how- 

 ever) points out, if the truth of that old saw be accepted, 

 how is it that so natural a desire as that of being able 

 to shoot, presumably common to all early nations, should 

 have resulted in the Scunthorpe pigmy inventing an arrow- 

 head, while his Indian cousin's invention fell short of 

 achieving such a weapon ? 



The matter, of course, is still sub judice, and likely to 

 remain so for many years to come ; and with the extra- 

 ordinary visions conjured up by a possible migration of 

 pigmies from India's coral strand to the chalk cliffs of 

 Albion in the dark days of the Stone Age we must leave 

 the subject. 



Before altogether quitting Scunthorpe geologic, it may be 

 of interest to record a few other local curiosities. Roman 

 relics have not infrequently been found, the presence of the 

 stern legions being further vouched for by the remains of 

 an encampment at Alkborough, at the northern (Humber) 

 extremity of the Cliff Hills. Mr Gatty, we believe, possesses 

 a fine Roman fibula, and some Roman coins unearthed in 

 the district. Proceeding backwards, we learn that a very 

 fine spear-head, of the Bronze Age, now in the possession 

 of Canon Greenwell, was taken from the peat, — according to 

 the workman who found it, — though more probably it fell 

 from the sand to the peat. In one of the Scunthorpe inns, 

 however, is to be seen a veritable treasure from the peat — 

 the skull and horns of Bos primigenius, whose bones have 

 likewise therein been discovered. 



Lastly, reference must be made to the "star stones" 

 found in the Kill Well or Kell Well, a tiny little stream 

 (reputed of petrifying qualities) that springs from the hill- 

 side about midway between Scunthorpe and Alkborough, 

 and trickles down the cliff to the Trent below. These 

 " star- stones," flat and five-pointed, are found in the bed 

 of the stream, and were at one time held in great repute 

 by local superstition. They are, indeed, supposed to be 

 identical with the amulets of the Romans and other early 

 inhabitants. To their frequency the present writer can 

 testify, having plundered the stream of several in the 



