538 



NATURE 



[April 9, 1908 



served circles I found a central or ' Gorsedd ' stone, 

 and in one case two central stones." 



Mr. Bolitlio's observations then intensify tfie purely 

 local fashion of the Aberdeen circles. 



One of the associated inquiries to which I have 

 referred will be to trace the existence of recumbent 

 stones in some part of Europe ; anothi^r will be to see 

 if the area of the recumbent stone has also special 

 ethnological or craniological characteristics. 



With regard to the first point, Anderson (" Stone 

 Age," p. 124) tells us that in Norway and Sweden 

 there is no example of a circle with a recumbent stone 

 and supporters. 



With regrard to the second, the paper on British 

 ethnology by Mr. J. Gray {Man, April, 1902) is full 

 of promise. 



A Doint worthy of notice is the great preponderance 

 in the number of circles used to take the time at night 

 over those enabling the seasonal changes and the 

 sun's place throughout the year to be fixed. In Corn- 

 wall both were equally provided for. 



We may, I think, include the circles with' a 

 north alignment with the clock-star circles as used 

 to determine the time at night. They are respectively 

 situated at Dyce, Whitehill Wood, Raes of Clune and 

 Candle Hill (Insch). As before stated, they probably 

 represent a later development when the observer's 

 knowledge was so far advanced that he needed only 

 the cardinal point in order to recognise the clock- 

 stars which it was necessary for him to observe. 



Judging by the trouble taken to determine time at 

 night by the use of special circles in Aberdeen, reli- 

 gious services at fixed hours of the night are 

 suggested to be as early as the time of the circle 

 builders. 



As these night observations were common to the 

 two localities, we may conclude that in both, the 

 circle associated with the via sacra, the chambered 

 cairn, the holy well and the holy thorn, and the sacred 

 festivals, represent the earlier form of the monastery 

 buildings of later times. 



I am anxious to conclude by expressing our deep 

 obligations to many helpers. First of all to Dr. 

 Fraser for his invitation to come and do some more 

 work, his generous hospitality, and the use of his 

 motor-car for the examination of the circles within a 

 radius of twenty miles of the Granite City, some of 

 which we saw under his own guidance. That is the 

 first point ; next comes the local help in four distinct 

 regions — Inverurie, Durris, Buchan and Insch. For 

 the Inverurie district Mr. Ritchie, of Port Elphinstone, 

 gave up two of his precious Saturday holidays, during 

 which he piloted us to many circles which he had 

 most carefully selected from a much larger number 

 as being best worth examining. 



At Durris Mr. Braid and his son took us to the 

 circles at Eslie and the Raes of Clune, and, further, 

 had prepared a careful plan of the latter circle, thus 

 fulfilling a promise made last year. 



On our arrival at Mintlaw for the study of the 

 Buchan circles, we found the Rev. Dr. Forrest, Mr. 

 Ainslie, and his assistant, Mr. Gall, at the station, and 

 with their help several circles near Mintlaw and Lon- 

 may were measured. 



Later on we proceeded to Insch, and passed two 

 nights in the comfortable Railway Hotel there. The 

 obliging landlord, Mr. Haddon, had taken immense 

 pains to secure local information. Colonel Smith, and 

 ^'Ir. J. .Graham Callander who had only returned two 

 days from studying Greek inscriptions in Asia Minor, 

 accompanied us on each of the days, and with their 

 help we were enabled to measure seven circles, some 

 of them many miles from our headquarters. 



Norman Lockyer. 



NO. 2006, VOL. yy] 



TREES. 

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Bark of Cork Oak. P; 



' Trees .^nd the 



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