126 Proceedings of the Royal Physiccd Society. 



probable it was not indebted to either, but to an independent 

 restoration. (See under Ayrshire.) 



There is no mention of squirrels in North Lanarkshire 

 made by Ure in his account of the animals of East Kilbride ;* 

 nor in the " Old Statistical Account " is any notice taken of 

 the species in the county. 



North-west of England : 

 Dumfriesshire and South-iuest of Scotland.-^- 



There was an early introduction of the squirrel at South- 

 wick, in Wigtownshire, about fifty years ago (but the exact 

 time is uncertain), as I am informed by Mr Service. Mr 

 Stewart, of Southwick, brought a number of squirrels from 

 some part of England, and turned them out at Southwick. 

 It seems that in that part of the country, they became dis- 

 persed for a time, but ultimately died out, no doubt from a 



* "History of Rutherglen and East Kilbride." Glasgow, 1793. 



f Since this paper was read, Professor Duns, of Edinburgh, has informed 

 me of an earlier date for Dumfriesshire. He writes : "In 1843, I saw one 

 cross the road near Springkell, Dumfriesshire. An incident occurred which 

 makes this quite sure. " 



On the other hand, Mr Scot-Skirving assures me that he ^^ knows there 

 were no squirrels in Kirkcudbrightshire when he was a boy," which would 

 date about the same time as Professor Duns' note above in the adjoining 

 county. 



If, as Professor Duns considers, "the Cheviots could be no bar to its spread 

 from Eoxburghshire or Berwickshire, by the banks of the Tweed from the one 

 county, or by the woods at the top of the Merse in the other, it could easily 

 find its way by Coldstream, "Wooler, etc., into Northumberland ; then there 

 seems an equal probability that it would press its way westwards into Kirk- 

 cudbright and Dumfriesshire, but I have shown that these are the points of 

 greatest resistance to waves of distribution from Minto, and that, according to 

 natural laws, in my opinion, the strongest waves would flow more to the 

 north-west. 



I am borne out in this view by Mr Robert Service, than whom I believe 

 there is no better authority for the south-west of Scotland. He writes (Feb. 

 22, 1880) : " I am still of opinion that most of the Dumfriesshire squirrels 

 originated from Cumberland. Springkell is only about ten miles north-west 

 of Houghton House" (elsewhere mentioned in this essay), "in Cumber- 

 land, where I told you they were abundant in 1855, and had been so for, 

 at all events, a good many years previously. Once on the move, there is 

 nothing to prevent squirrels spreading all over Dumfriesshire, from north- 

 west Cumberland, and, of course, the Kirkcudbrightshire squirrels could only 

 come naturally from Dumfriesshire." 



