160 JOURNAL OP THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 
above the ground. The father of the child held the severed parts 
asunder, while the mother passed the child three times head fore- 
most through the slit. The opening was then closed, and fastened 
together with three twisted withies. On examination twelve months 
afterwards, I found the parts had failed to unite, probably owing 
to the slit being too much on one side, which caused the thin 
portion to dry up, and after a time to break through. 
" The operation was therefore a failure, and the boy still suffers 
from the rupture. The tree is preserved, and can be examined by 
the curious. 
"The time of the day when the charm is worked is not here 
supposed to be of any consequence. P. F. S. A." 
TRACES OF THE SCANDINAVIAN ON DARTMOOR. 
BY MR. C. SPENCE BATE, F.R.S. 
(Read March 27th, 1878.) 
The lecturer drew attention to the varying character of the anti- 
quities found upon Dartmoor (which he illustrated by a number of 
sketches), and pointed out that they might be divided, so far as 
their origin was concerned, into two distinct and well marked 
classes. They had in fact in those antiquities the remains of the 
occupation of two races. These he identified with the general 
inhabitants of the country, and with the Scandinavians, who had 
found their way to Dartmoor in search of tin, and had formed 
settlements there to enable them to prosecute their designs. 
A peculiar feature in the early monuments of this country was 
to be found in the stone avenues of Dartmoor, some of which were 
of very great extent, and which were always associated with traces 
of interments. He believed that in these avenues — which were 
found nowhere else — they had the memorials of battles between 
the Scandinavian invaders and the inhabitants, erected on the spots 
where the conflicts took place, and intended to record not merely 
their occurrence but their character. 
