348 Notes and Comments. . 
in use among most of the northern tribes of North America 
when that continent first became known to European voyagers, 
and it survived among the Assinneboins and. other primitive 
peoples down to the early nineteenth century. The boiling- 
vessel was a cauldron-shaped hole in the ground, lined with 
a raw hide; or a hide suspended like a hammock; or a 
large wooden box, trough, tub, or bowl; or a closely-woven : 
basket of vegetable fibre. Captain Cook found the process 
in use among the Polynesian islanders, and other travellers 
have witnessed it, e.g., among the New Zealanders in 1816 ; 
among the Esquimaux in 1826; in Australia in 1856; and 
also in Kamschatka and South America. A summary account 
of these extra-European methods was published in 1865 by 
E. B. Tylor, who pointed out that several limited applications 
of the principle in comparatively modern times had been 
recorded in Europe also, viz., in the Hebrides by George 
Buchanan in 1528; in Ireland in 1600; in East Bothland 
by Linné in 1732; and in Carinthia by Morlot. Throughout 
the British Isles few ancient sites have been’ explored that 
have not yielded occasional burnt stones, which have no 
doubt rightly been regarded as pot-boilers, or as heaters 
employed in some form of oven. In Great Britain a growing 
volume of evidence supports the view that the practice of 
stone-boiling once ranged from the Shetlands to the English 
Channel.’ It is of interest to remember that the late J. R. 
Mortimer found many such burnt stones in various sites on 
the wolds, and they are also recorded for Holderness. 
THE; INFLUENCE OF RIVER DEVELOPMENT ON PLANT- 
DISTRIBUTION. 
Mr. A. R. Horwood read a paper on this subject in which 
he stated :—‘ Little attention has been drawn to the influence 
of rivers on plant dispersal. Primarily plants depend upon 
soil, altitude, and climate for their distribution or occurrence 
in natural plant formations. Now, in an area where the 
“ solid’ rocks are entirely or largely covered by glacial boulder 
clay, this development is of great importance, for if the 
streams had not cut their way down to the solid rocks below, 
and deposited alluvium, etc., in their course, the flora would 
have been much more uniform. The flora of the boulder clay 
is composite, and though certain differences can be noted 
between the different types it includes, it is, as a whole, 
commonplace. That of such a formation as the Lower Lias 
can be distinguished, and even made use of, to determine 
the junction between the outcrops of the two. The slope, 
aspect, and relative moisture, etc., imposed on a valley by 
river development have also all an effect on plant distribution.’ 
The preceding seems to be a summary of fairly well-known - 
Naturalist, 
