January i, 1920] 



NATURE 



445 



everv normal year, practically the whole surface of 

 the country was flooded, so that both the insect and 

 rat population was swept away and drowned, with the 

 exception of such comparatively small numbers as 

 could survive by taking refuge in villages, in the tops 

 of banks and trees, and on the desert fringes. The 

 conditions within the last century have changed, and 

 are becoming increasingly favourable for the spread of 

 pests of agriculture. But there are serious difficulties 

 to be overcome in certain districts in enforcing the law, 

 as at Damietta, Fuwa, and Rosetta, owing to the 

 "unpatriotic and uncivilised behaviour" of the local 

 authorities. 



Mr. T. Sheppard has reprinted from the Trans- 

 actions of the East Riding Antiquarian Society (vol. 

 xxii.) a paper on Danes' Dyke, the remarkable earth- 

 work stretching across the triangular Flamborough 

 headland from north to south. It is certainly much 

 more ancient than the Danish period. Its shape and 

 mode of construction demonstrate that it is not 

 Roman. But in the same area, and associated with 

 the earthwork, are numerous barrows, the implements, 

 weapons, and ornaments found in them belonging to 

 the Bronze age, though they also contain many fine 

 stone implements, the use of which continued into the 

 Bronze age. The results of some excavations made by 

 .Major-Gren. Pitt Rivers in October, 1879, are pub- 

 lished in the Journal of the Anthropological Institute 

 for 1880. 



Sir W. Ridgevv.w describes in the November issue 

 of yian a remarkable Irish decorated and socketed 

 bronze axe, of which the provenance is doubtful, but 

 it probably came from Co. Westmeath. The axe, 

 60 mm. (2I in.) long, is remarkable because the maker 

 made a careful scheme of ornamentation for the whole 

 of its surface, dividing it into four compartments by 

 means of four fine curved lines in relief, and adding- 

 the main feature, a band or frieze of chevrons, in 

 refined and delicate relief running along the top of 

 each side immediately under the delicate line running 

 below the mouth of the socket. There is no similar 

 specimen in the Irish National Museum or in the British 

 Museum collections, now enriched by that of the late 

 Canon Greenwell, nor does Sir John Evans describe 

 any such in his "Bronze Implements." But Canon 

 Greenwell possessed an Irish socketed axe with ela- 

 borate and refined decoration. This agrees fairlv well 

 with Sir \V. Ridgewdy's specimen, which is said to 

 have come from Rathott'en,' Co. Westmeath, and there 

 is at least some probability that the Ridgewav axe 

 may have been made in that area. 



The progress of boundary delimitation in Europe is 

 the subject of a short article and a useful sketch-map 

 bv Mr. S.. R. Hinks in the Geographical Journal for 

 December (vol. liv., No. 6). The Treaty of Versailles 

 delimited the boundaries of Germany, subject, of 

 course, to the result of the plebiscites in Schleswig, 

 East Prussia, Silesia, and, in fifteen years' time, in the 

 Sarre basin. The Treaty of .Saint-Germain-en-Lave 

 delimited the boundaries of Austria subject to the 

 result of the Klagenfurt plebiscite. The new frontier 

 of Italy is not yet fixed in the north-east; the frontier 

 NO. 26 1 S, VOL. 1 04] 



of Hungary is fixed only in the west. Czecho-Slovakia's 

 and Poland's frontiers are incompletely delimited. In 

 Eastern Europe the frontiers are still vague. It is 

 proposed to revise the sketch-map and reissue it from 

 time to time in the Geographical Journal. 



The Ordnance Survey decided in 191 1 to undertake 

 the levelling of an entirely new network in the British 

 Isles to form the basis for a new series of bench marks 

 and heights shown on the map. Experience has 

 shown that many of the bench marks have altered 

 their heights, either from subsidence or actual displace- 

 ment ; others have disappeared. The instruments and 

 methods decided on for this work were described 

 in a paper on "Precise Levelling" by Major E. O. 

 Henrici read at the Institution of Civil Engineers on 

 December 17. The new lines are laid out so that it 

 is possible to erect special " fundamental " bench marks 

 at intervals of about twenty-five miles. The marks of 

 these will be fixed on solid rock or on concrete 

 founded on rock. These marks have three reference 

 points, one consisting of a metal bolt let into the top 

 of a granite pillar, for general use, and two lower 

 marks which are buried, and are for the use of the 

 Survey only ; they will serve in time to come to check 

 the height of the upper mark. The probable error 

 of the difference of height between any two consecutive 

 "fundamental" marks may be about 001 ft. Inter- 

 mediate bench marks take the form of gun-metal 

 plates let into the surface of walls. 



In his new pamphlet ("The Stanton Drew Stones," 

 Bristol, IS.) Mr. E. Sibree returns to the theme of 

 his former publication (" Stanton Drew : A Calendar 

 in Stone"), treating it in greater detail and with an 

 abundant wealth of literary scholarship and interest- 

 ing folk-lore. The circles of 30, 12, and 8 stones 

 respectively are referred to the days of the month, the 

 months of the year, and the years of the Venus cycle 

 of intercalation. Eight years of 12 months, each of 

 30 days, contain 2880 days; if to these are added 

 12-I-30 days we get 2922 days, very nearly eight 

 solar years. Mr. .Sibree shows that the same number 

 is obtained from the Carnac stone calendar in Brit- 

 tany. He draws the conclusion that the Stanton 

 Drew calendar was erected by Romans or by 

 Romanised Britons in about the fifth century. Some 

 confirmation is afforded by the fact that the diameters 

 of the circles are 375, 150, and 100 Roman feet respec- 

 tively, proportional to the numbers of stones in the 

 circles, and by the presence of the Guild of Calendaries 

 at Bristol in about a.d. 700. Much of the lore of 

 Merlin and of the Welsh mythology is invoked to 

 support this conclusion. It must be urged, however, 

 that the lateness of the author's date is -urprising. 

 The geometrical intorpretation of the construction of 

 the circles is very artificial and too complicated to be 

 accepted as the intention of the erectors; in any 

 case, it is really irrelevant to the main theme cf Mr. 

 Sibrec's pamphlet. 



Mr. a. L. She.«her describes a malaria-like para- 

 site found in the blood of an Indian buffalo. The 

 .inimal suffered from irregular attacks of fever and 

 anaemia, and eventually died. The oarasites occurred' 



