354 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



its wandering far from the banks of streams, where alone it 

 has hitherto been held to live. 



Some years ago my attention was called to two young 

 apple trees, in the Newington district of Edinburgh, which had 

 begun to wither after showing full healthy blossom buds. 

 Close by the surface of the soil the bark had the appearance 

 of a ring of rottenness, and the only explanation thought of 

 was the unsatisfactory one of the presence of some element 

 on the surface of the ground injurious to the bark, or the ravage 

 of some vegetable feeding grub. Since that time I have had 

 clear proof that the field vole (Arvicola agrestis) attacks sap- 

 lings, and gnaws the bark in a ring so regular, that one 

 would be inclined to believe a saw had been passed round 

 the stem by a skilful workman. May not the larger form 

 attack trees in the same way ? This question seems to me to 

 be answered in the Proceedings of the Berwickshire Naturalists' 

 Club, Vol. viii., p. 189, 1877. Mr Hardy reports instances, 

 on the authority of Eev. J. F. Bigge, Stamfordham, and Mr 

 Hughes of Middleton Hall, of damage done to young trees by 

 the water vole. In both cases, however, the damage was 

 done to plants in close proximity to what has ever been held 

 the usual and natural habitats of the animal. " Last year," 

 says Mr Bigge, "I planted some sycamore trees, about one 

 inch in diameter, up a bank side here ; and late in the autumn 

 in taking hold of them to see that they were firm in the 

 ground they came up. . . . About a month ago, I saw a 

 willow tree, about eight feet high, lying on the ground by the 

 side of the same bank ; I pulled it across, and, to my sur- 

 prise, I found that the roots had been gnawed in two ; the 

 roots were three inches in diameter. This, no doubt, was the 

 work of the water rat. I then went to the sycamore trees, 

 and found they had been cut by the same agents." At 

 Middleton Hall they had cut through several young 

 ornamental oaks planted near a pond much frequented by 

 them. In this case, it is to be regretted, we are not informed 

 whether it was the root or the stem which had been cut. 

 These instances, however, again show that this form is not 

 dependent for food on succulent water plants alone. 



I have referred to the field vole. It has been long known 



