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NATURE 



[February 3, 192 1 



no evidence, past or present, that the green wood- 

 pecker has been a native of Scotland. 



In naming the brown trout Saltno trutta, 1 fol- 

 lowed the considered opinion of such an expert in 

 fish nomenclature as Mr. C. T. Regan, of the British 

 Museum (Natural History); my statement regarding 

 the success of tht- introduction of Loch Leven trout to 

 New Zealand did not pretend to record any first 

 achieved su( i i >s, ,-ind as it stands is correct; and the 

 two "caricatures, and poor at that," specified by your 

 reviewer happen to be reproduced from photographs 

 of specimens mounted by skilled ta.xidermists, and 

 now exhibited in the lioyal Scottish Museum. 



James Ritchie. 



I SHOULD be sorry indeed if, in reviewing his book, 

 1 had given Dr. Ritchie the impression that I under- 

 valued it as a contribution to prehistoric research. 

 I did no more than express difficulty in accompanying 

 Dr. I-iitchie to the full extent of his conclusions, and 

 surprise that, from first to last, he takes no notice of 

 the 25-ft. beach. 



I admit that I expressed myself too positively in 

 saying that it was "clear that the land ice was grind- 

 ing over all after the elevation which formed the 

 younger 25-ft. beach." But many years of personal 

 examination of the features of the Scottish seaboard 

 have left on my mind a strong impression tliat some 

 agent more powerful than sub-aerial denudation has 

 masked or obliterated by far the greater extent of the 

 50-ft. beach. Such an agent may have been sub- 

 sidence, glacial action, or " trail " (earth thawing and 

 flowing after prolonged freezing, as in the "earth- 

 glaciers " of the Rockies). 



Some support to this view may be found in the late 

 Prof. James Geikie's Munro lectures, " .Vntiquity of 

 Man in Europe," 1914: "At the head of Loch 

 Torridon well-formed terminal moraines rest directly 

 upon the 45-50-ft. beach " (p. 273). 



Prof. Geikie considered (p. 279) that the formation 

 of that beach was followed by "partial subsidence," 

 and continued : 



"We cannot actually demonstrate that snowfields 

 and glaciers reaopeared at this stage. . . . Neverthe- 

 less, we are not without evidence suggestive of the 

 appearance at this time of inconsiderable glaciers 

 amongst our highest mountains. .These glaciers un- 

 doubtedly existed at a later date than the glaciers that 

 dropped their moraines on the 45-50-ft. beach. It 

 is therefore only reasonable to infer that the high- 

 level corrie glaciers in question were probably con- 

 temporaneous with the formation of the 25-ft. to 30-ft. 

 beach." 



The occurrence of kitchen-middens on the 50-ft. 

 beach can scarcely be taken to prove the presence of 

 man when the sea stood at that level. On the summit 

 of the Fell of Barhullion in Wigtownshire, 450 ft. 

 above the present sea-level and ij miles distant from 

 the nearest beach, are the remains of a fortified en- 

 closure. The refuse-heap of this encampment con- 

 tains a large quantity of limix-t-shells. Loch Spouts, 

 in Ayrshire, is on high ground two or three miles 

 frorn_ the sea. Dr. Munro has recorded that when the 

 crannog in that swamp was explored, in the midden 

 were found " large quantities of the shells of whelks, 

 limpets, and hazel-nuts " (" Lake-dwellings of 

 Europe," p. 420). 



Prof. Geikie cited the discovery of a canoe near 

 Perth as evidence that Neolithic man was in oi-rupa- 

 tion when the sea washed the So-ft. beach. T have 

 been unable to find anv detailed record of the finding 

 of this canoe, and if, as Prof. Geikie says, it was 

 made of pine. T should hold that to be incomnatible 

 with very high antiquity. Having taken part in the 

 excavation of many crannogs, I have never seen any 

 NO. 2675, VOL. 106] 



submerged timber, except oak and yew, that retained 

 a firmer consistency than cheese. 



Dr. Ritchie expresses the opinion that "there 

 seems to be ... no evidence, past or present, 

 that the green woodpecker has been a native of 

 Scotland." In Wallis's " History of Northumber- 

 land," 1769, vol. i., p. 319, it is stated that 

 this species " has been observed in some of our vale- 

 woods, but is not common. Il was Irequent in Dil- 

 ston Park before the wood was cut down." Two 

 instances of its occurrence in the valley of the Tweed 

 are recorded in .Mr. Evans's ' Fauna of the Tweed 

 .\rea," p. 109. Dr. Ritchie seems to be in error in 

 attributing to Newton and Varrell the use of the 

 name " woodwall " as a generic term for all three 

 British species of woodpecker. Yarrell strictly con- 

 fines it to the green woodpecker, though he admits 

 that Willughby and Ray use the term in a looser 

 sense ("British Birds," th[rd edition, vol. ii., p. 149), 

 while Newton merely mentions it among the popular 

 names for woodpeckers in general. The great and 

 lesser spotted woodpeckers do not utter any song or 

 bell-like note, and it seems fairly clear that it is the 

 green woodpecker that figures in the ballad of Robin 

 Hood (cura Ritson) : 



'J'he Woodwele saiig and would not ceas«, 



Sitting upon a «p.ay, 

 So loud he wakened Kobin Hood 



In the Greenwood where he lay. 



It is jjrobable that the green woodpecker, yaffle, or 

 woodwale disappeared from Scotland with tne forest 

 that sheltered it. The Reviewer. 



Literature for Men of Letters and Science in Russia. 



At the beginning of this year an appeal was issued 

 for funds to enable a certain number of scientific and 

 literary publications to be sent to the House of Science 

 and the House of Literature in Petersburg, where the 

 remnant of the intellectual life of Russia is mostly 

 congregattcl. The British Ccmmictee tor .Aiding Men 

 of Letters and Science in thai country has assured 

 itself th;.t such publications will reach thtir destina- 

 tion, and' has made arrangements ior their transmis- 

 sion. There are probably many authors who would be 

 willing to send copies of their works in the form c, 

 e.xcerpts or otherwise to Russian workers who have 

 been cut off from the outside world since the revolu- 

 tion. The British Committee will be glad to receive 

 any such books or papers of a non-political type and 

 to send them to Petersburg. It cannot guarantee 

 delivery to individuals, but it can ensure that publica- 

 tions will reach the Houses of Literature and Science. 

 Parcels for transmission should be addressed to the 

 above Committee, care of Messrs. Wm. Dawson and 

 Sons, Ltd., Continental Department, Rolls Buildings, 

 Fetter Lane, E.C.4. L. F. Schuster. 



British Science Guild Offices, 6 John Street, 

 .Vdelphi, London, VV.C2, January 26. 



The Mild Weather. 



.Apropos of Mr. Charles Harding's letter (Nature, 

 January 20), one result of the extraordinary weather 

 in the south of England since the third week of 

 December was that on January 24 I saw forty or 

 fifty plants in flower of the minute Crucifer 

 (Hutchinsia petraea) on limestone screes close to 

 Bristol. Some of the seedlings were 2 in. high, with 

 five or six flowering heads and with seed-pods already 

 developed. Last year a few were in flower on 

 February 12, but even this is remarkablv early, for 

 March-.\pril is the usual time in the district for 

 this rare plant, and most of the books give March- 

 May. On January 5 I saw a hazel in full blossom 

 between Gunnersbury and Kew. 



H Stuart Thompson. 



5 Westbourne Place, Clifton, January 30. 



