24 SOME DEW-PONDS IN DORSET. 



the straw is effectively protected by the clay, since if the 

 straw becomes wet it will cease to attract the dew, as ID 

 ceases to act as a non-conductor of heat, and becomes of 

 the same temperature as the surrounding earth. It is certain, 

 however, that many alleged dew-ponds are not formed on 

 this plan. " Dew -pond " has come to be a generic term, 

 and, apart from its original conception, as applied to those 

 ponds formed by the Neolithic People in or near their hill 

 camps for the purpose of watering their flocks and herds, 

 is now applied to the many kinds of ponds, made at far later 

 dates by modern man on the hilltops or other elevated 

 positions for the use of his cattle and sheep such as rain and 

 mist ponds, drip-ponds, catch-ponds, &c. each of which I 

 propose to consider and give examples of later on. 



But to return to our " dew -pond." We have seen that 

 Messrs. Hubbard use dry straw, then prepared clay, and then 

 chalk or stones, or packed flints, and give their reasons for 

 doing so. 



Mr. G. G. Desmond, writing in the Nature Notes Column 

 of the Daily News, gives a different arrangement for the 

 basis of the dew-pond. He first forms his hollow, then lays 

 down a bed of concrete, this is covered with dry straw, over 

 which is placed another bed of concrete. I doubt very much 

 if Neolithic man made his dew-ponds in this way. Mr. H. 

 P. Slade, in a pamphlet on " dew-ponds," written in 1877, 

 discards the term " dew-pond " in favour of " rain-pond," 

 and says that " dew " had little or no part in filling his pond, 

 which he lined first with a layer of clay 12 inches thick, 

 mixed with lime to prevent the working of worms, second a 

 coating of straw to keep the clay moist and prevent the sun 

 from cracking the clay in the event of the pond becoming 

 dry ; and thirdly, a layer of loose rubble to prevent the hoofa 

 of cattle trampling upon and perforating the clay and thus 

 causing the pond to leak. This pond, which had a diameter 

 of some 70 feet and was situate on the Thorpe Downs near 

 Loughborough at a height of 450 feet above sea level, was 

 seldom if ever known to be dry. 



