THE GLENCORSE SMOKE CASE. 223 



health, and became brownish, greyish, or yellowish, looking 

 as though they had been scorched. Subsequently these leaves 

 fell off, so that a marked characteristic of the injured trees was 

 their poverty in leaves. Further, in contrast to the ordinary 

 " dying back " of trees, it was noticeable that the browning 

 and withered appearance did not appear at the top of the 

 tree and spread downwards. It appeared at different points 

 in the various trees, so that, in some instances, it was found 

 that the middle branches were practically dead, while those 

 above and below seemed quite sound. These facts could be 

 readily explained if the observed effects were due to injurious 

 vapours, which might be carried by the wind to certain parts of 

 the trees only, but were not easily explicable on other grounds. 



Again, not only were the leaves affected, but also the young 

 shoots, which had a scorched appearance similar to that of 

 the leaves, and subsequently fell off. The scorched appearance 

 began at the tips of the young shoots and travelled downwards, 

 this being stated to be very characteristic of damage by 

 calcining fumes. In the leaves also there was similarly 

 observed a travelling inwards of the damage from the tip 

 towards the leaf-stalk. In addition to the browning, deposits 

 of soot were observed upon the branches and trunks of the 

 trees. Where the damage to the leaves and young shoots was 

 extensive, it resulted in the death of the tree. 



Beginning with the expert botanical evidence brought forward 

 by the respondent, Lord Justice-General Inglis, we may take first 

 the evidence of Prof MacNab, of Dublin. He stated that he 

 found on the leaves of the conifers a deposit of soot, which seemed 

 to have injured the leaves, having in some cases destroyed the 

 green colouring matter. On the leaves he found also a fungus 

 {Torula pinophila), which occurred on both healthy and un- 

 healthy trees, and is harmless. On the roots of some trees 

 fungoid mycelia were found, but no injurious fungus was 

 observed. This mycelium was found both on the roots of 

 healthy and of unhealthy trees. No evidence of any extensive 

 insect attack was observed by this witness, who considered 

 that the evidence showed that the trees were being damaged 

 as a result of the destructive effect of sulphurous acid on the 

 leaves, as proved by their change in colour. 



Mr W. G. Smith, the next witness, also emphasised the bad 

 condition of the leaves. In cross-examination, the opposing 



