1923 - The Vasculum

THE VASCULUM.
Vol IX. No. 1.
October, 1922.
EDITORIAL.
The beginning of a ninth volume seems to demand some measure of
grateful recognition of the support which has made the continuance of the
Vasculum a possibility. Born in the midst of war the magazine has since
passed through the stormiest period that the makers of books ever knew, not
without scathe. We are painfully aware that the passage has compelled a
resort to shifts and adjustments which must have tried very sorely the
patience of the friends of the Vasculum; and alas, the end is not yet. If it is
allowable to drop suddenly from figures of speech to figures of currency,
we are obliged to fall back like Micawber on the saving power of the
sixpence.
The present business manager has seen the circulation doubled since his
accession to office; otherwise it would have been impossible to carry on.
But publishing charges are still so formidable that for safety's sake it is
imperative that the annual subscription should be raised to five shillings. In
asking our supporters for this slightly increased payment, we would beg a
further favour which will cost them nothing and relieve us of a considerable
chargenamely that they should forward their five shillings at once and so
save us the expense and trouble of sending out reminders.
In the inevitable moving on of worthy men, two of our staff have passed
beyond the bounds of our geographical sphere, and will no doubt appear
much less frequently at the quarterly "round table." But it is satisfactory to
know that the change is geographical only, and that in every other sense
Messrs. A. Hamilton Thompson and E. Leonard Gill remain with us. The
former, we are assured, will not readily forget the highways and byways of
Northumberland, nor the latter the feathered felicities of Budle Bay.
2
SAMIAN WARE
DONALD ATKINSON.
Continued from Vol. viii., p. 142.
The earliest Samian decoration is almost entirely ornamental, but
though the separate Arretine stamps are often imitated the combination of
them is usually far less imaginativethe work one would say of skilled
craftsmen but not of artists. The history, too, of the shapes of decorated
Samian shows the victory of the commercial over the artistic principle. The
commonest Arretine shape is the goblet with pedestal foot (see Fig., shape
11), but this form, though it does appear among Gaulish shapes, is very rare
and soon entirely ceased to be made. It would be hard to find half a dozen
fragments of it in England. In place of it the Gaulish potters developed
vessels of three types with a low foot, shapes 29, 30 and 37 (see Figs.)more
easily made and more safely packed for export.
Shape 29 is probably a combination of an Arretine shape with one
commonly used for plain pottery by the Celts before Caesars
conquestthough it has its parallel in first century silver wareand its
development is of some interest. The earlier type (see Fig., shape 29 (i) ) is
more rounded than the later (Fig., shape 29 (ii) ), its rim is lower and less
turned out. There is another characteristic also which well illustrates the
freaks of ancient fashion. At first the narrow halfround moulding which
separates the two decorated zones was notched by running a small striated
wheel round it, but in the first years of the reign of Claudius this practice
was entirely given up and never revived, a fact which affords a useful
chronological criterion for these early bowls, and illustrates how purely
inductive is the method employed in the collection of chronological data.
Shape 30, though it lasted almost, or quite, as long as Decorated Samian
was produced, has its own special course of development. It was very
commonly made in the reigns of Claudius and Nero (4168 A.D.) but then
went rather out of fashionit was always made but always in small quantities.
The form of shape 29 had an important effect on its decoration. The
moulding divided the surface to be decorated with two zones and made it
more suitable for ornamental designs then for figures. In the earlier period
the commonest designs are straight wreaths of leaves, but from the reign of
Nero (5468) onwards an undulating scroll more often appears on the lower
zone, and the alternate spaces thus formed are often filled with figures of
animals or, more
3
rarely, human figures. This was the common type of decoration when
somewhat before 60 A.D. the third decorated type, shape 37 (see Fig.)
began to be made. And the
earliest type of decoration on shape 37 is of the same character. It is
arranged in two bands, the types of which are often taken over bodily from
the corresponding zones of
4
shape 29. But within twenty years the opportunity afforded by the
unbroken surface of the hemispherical bowl was utilized for the
introduction of larger figures, and the surface was often divided into panels
each filled with a figure occupying almost the whole width of the decorated
zone. This in turn influenced the decoration of shape 29, which is often
treated in a similar fashion. The decorated zone of shape 37 was bordered
above by the "egg and tongue" pattern familiar in ancient architecture. This
was commonly used on the Arretine goblets and borrowed from them for
the Gaulish shape 30 but never appears on shape 29.
The output of the La Graufesenque factories was greatest during the
Fluvian period (6996 A.D.) but in the last twenty years of the first century
the quality of work very much deteriorated. Moulds were more carelessly
made and used much longer than had previously been the case. In these
circumstances the competition of another group of factories which had been
established further North was rapidly successful. By 110 A.D. the making
of decorated wares had ceased; it is doubtful if plain pottery was made for
ten years more, and certain that it lasted no longer. But from Nero to
Domitian (about 5090 A.D.) the amount of pottery produced at two or three
sites in South Gaul, Moutans, Banassac, and above all La Graufesenque,
was prodigious. From the line of the Forth and the Clyde southward, on
every Roman site in Britain, Gaul, Germany, and Spain, it is extremely
commonit is hard to indicate how common. An incomplete list of potters'
stamps on Samian ware found in Londonall, of course, found by
accidentwhich I once drew up contains about 2,000 examples, of which
threefifths date from 50110 A.D. One potter is represented by about 30
piecesthere are at least 80 of his stamps in Britain altogether. York has
about 500 South Gaulish stamps representing only the thirtyfive years
75110 A.D., and the numbers are even larger in the cities on the
RhineMainz, Cologne, Bonn, and the rest. Another indication is afforded by
a series of sherds found at La Grant among the debris of the factories.
Scratched on them and unfortunately hard to read and imperfectly preserved
are memoranda of what seems from various indications to be single orders
or consignmentsone of them is dated to some day of the month of August.
They contain lists of potters and attached to each is the name of the type of
vessel ordered (?) and the number required. And the number attached to the
name of the potter Mommo is 9,000, while other numbers are 1,400, 1,200,
600, 4,000, 3,250. But in addition to dominating
5
the provincial markets, these Gaulish imitations of Arretine were largely
imported into Italy. In Rome, for example, a considerable quantity was
found in ruins of a house near the Forum which had been destroyed either
by the fire of 64 A.D., or the building operations of Nero which followed it.
Much has been found during the excavations at Ostia, the port at the mouth
of the Tiber, and when the Italians think fit to preserve and record it, the
ware is seen to be common in most parts of Italy.
But our best evidence on the subject is derived from Pompeii, In 1881
there were found in a house there the remains of two wooden boxes
containing ninety bowls of South Gaulish Samian and thirtyseven terracotta
lamps which had never been used. A brief description, too vague to make
detailed study of them possible, was published in the Italian official Report
of Excavations, and they were stored away in the Naples Museum. It was
not until 1914 that they were published in detail, and then not by an Italian.
It seems evident from the account given of their discovery that they
represent a consignment which had recently arrived, perhaps for sale, at
Pompeii, and had not been unpacked on August 24th, 79, when the town
was overwhelmed. If that is so they are the most accurately dated specimens
of ancient pottery that have survived to modern times. They enable us to see
the sort of wares produced by the potters of La Graufesenque between 77
and 79 A.D. It is perhaps of interest that twenty four certainly and ten more
probably came from the factory of that Mommo whose name appears on the
memorandum found at the pottery itself. Another South Gaulish factory is
also represented at Pompeii. At Banassac in Flavian times one or more
firms specialized in a type of decoration rarely found elsewhere. The bowls,
of shape 37, have an inscription in large letters running round the body of
the bowl among the other decoration. Some of the inscriptions show that the
vessels were made for a special market, e.g., TREVIRIS FELICITER or
REMIS FELICITER "Good Luck to the people of the district round Trier or
Rheims." Others, like the one at Pompeii, have friendly greetings, e., g.,
BIBE AMICE DE MEO (Drink of my [wine], my friend) or CERVES A
REPLE (Fill [me] up with beer) or TAM:BENE FICTILIBVS ([Wine
tastes] just as well in clay [vessels]).
This import into Italy was sufficient to cause these Gaulish bowls to be
imitated by Italian pottersat Arezzo of all places. The descendants of an
Augustan firm there made during the Flavian period bowls with the body of
a 37 and the
6
rim of a 29 with designs quite unlike the original Arretine but copied
directly from the South Gaulish Samian. They are on the whole inferior
imitations, and had chiefly a local sale though an odd fragment here and
there outside Italy shows that they were occasionally exported. It would be
hard to parallel such a give and take in trade as this even in modern times. I
have already said that the South Gaul wares ceased to be made very soon
after 100 A.D. And the evidence seems to show that it was the Central
Gaulish Group of factories centring round Lezoux near Olermont Ferrand
that beat them out of the market. Lezoux had been a pottery centre in Celtic
times, and the making of Samian naturally developed there as Romanization
spread northwards. The date of its beginning is uncertain, but the Lezoux
wares were being exported in small quantities to Britain by about 75 A.D.
At first the same shapes of vessels and the same types of decoration
were used as in South Gaul, but apparently the clay was not so suitableat
least Lezoux Samian never shows the same fineness of texture or brightness
of glaze. An interesting feature of the Lezoux factory is that especially in
the earliest period a larger proportion of the potters' names are Oeltio than is
the case in South Gaul. The fact seems to be that the local native potters
moved with the times and provided the newer fashioned wares which the
market demanded. But with the exception of a few rare specimens bearing
Celtic inscriptions, there is no trace of the survival of native elements. The
art, such as it is, of all Samian ware is the cosmopolitan Hellenistic art
which spread all over the Near East after the conquests of Alexander and
dominated Rome and the provinces from the second century B.C. onwards.
The chief distinction between the South and Central Gaulish pottery is
that the latter is technically inferior, the glaze is duller, the clay coarser, and
the proportions of the vessels heavier and clumsier, and that in the
decoration, especially in the second century figures, human or animal
predominates. But there is hardly ever any attempt at intelligent grouping.
The designs consist either of whole and half length panels each containing a
figure chosen entirely at random, often without even maintaining a
correspondence in size, or else there are no divisions at all, and the whole
surface is covered with a confused medley of human figures and animals.
But about the time when the South Gaulish factories ceased to produce, the
Romanization of Gaul had sufficiently developed to bring about a much
greater localization of industry and manufacture, and in the early years of
the second century the making of Samian
7
spread rapidly in a North Easterly direction. New factories were
established in Alsace, Lorraine, and the Palatinate; at Luxeuil, La
Madeleine (Lorraine), and Heiligenberg near Strassburg in Alsace in the
first twenty years of the second century; at Eschivechrhof and Rheinzabern
in the Patatinate and at Trier between 120 and 140 A.D. And some of them
seem to have opened branch establishments elsewhere, in the case of Trier
at Remagen and Sinzig on the Rhine near Bonn. The relation between these
centres is complicated and rather uncertain, but in general it seems that the
East Gaulish onesLuxeuil, Eschivechrhof, Trierare related to Lezoux while
the Rhine ones Huhgenberg and Rheinzabern were more distinctly an
independent development.
This considerable development in the number of centres of production
tended naturally to limit the distribution of the wares of each and there
seems in the second century to be another cause of [imitation also. The case
is clearest in Italy. In Rome only a single Lezoux stamp is recorded, and I
was only able to find one fragment which could be attributed to that
factorypart of a bowl made about 100 A.D. At Ostia none had been
preserved, and the published evidence for all parts seems to tell the same
story. But not only so. After the end of the first century, with the stopping of
the South Gaulish import, Italy ceased to use fine pottery altogether.
Whatever might be the opinion of the potter of Banassac, they did not
believe " tam bene fictilibus," and one can only suppose that metal, silver,
bronze and pewter . or glass was substituted for it. This fashion probably
spread to the upper classes in the provinces, and no doubt partly explains
the obvious deterioration of Samian during the second century. When the
market was confined to the middle and lower classes cheapness became the
main consideration. Another small point seems to me to indicate the same
thing. In the second century many vesselsusually plain ones bear what
appear to be potters' stamps, but which really consist only of unintelligible
strokes and crosses. Was it not that the customer knew that Samian aught to
have a stamp but was too ignorant or too careless to read it? The result was
that the wares of Lezoux are much less widely distributed than the South
Gaulish Samian. It predominated in Gaul (except in the East) and in Britain
throughout the century but from the time of Hadrian onwards it hardly
appears at all in Germany, and for this reason the chronology of it is less
perfectly known. For the various advances made by the Romans East of the
Upper Rhine provide us with a number of sites occupied for short periods at
known dates.
8
It was still being produced at the time of the abandonment of Scotland
c. 180 A.D., but ceased soon afterthere is not a single piece that can be
dated after 200. The East Gaulish and German wares, cruder and rougher
than those of Lezoux, were chiefly used locally. Except in the immediate
neighbourhood of the Rhine, they could not compete in Gaul with the
Lezoux productions, but though far less common, they are all of them
represented in Britain. The matter has never been worked out in detail, but
my impression is that they are commoner in the North than in the South of
England, that is, in the military rather than the civil area. A part of the
reason is perhaps this. The army of Britain was largely recruited from the
Rhine region, and there are some indications that troops sailed direct from
the mouth of the Rhine to the Tyne. A dedication by troops to Oceanus
found at Newcastle suggests a natural thankfulness at the end of a rough
passage. A direct trade between the Rhine and the East coast, with the
Humber and the Tyne seems a natural pendant to this military connection.
The negotiator cretarius Britannicianus (merchant in pottery with a British
connection who dedicated an altar in Holland) may well have had an agent
in the Roman predecessor of the port of Hull. The Lezoux ware, on the
other hand, seems to have crossed the Channelsome of it to the mouth of the
Thames. Off Whitstable is a shoal called the Pudding Pan Rock, and close
to it Plain Samian vessels have frequently been dredged up by the oyster
fishers. A list of about two hundred and fifty pieces has been made, and the
stamps on them are, with one doubtful exception, contemporary. The most
natural conclusion is that a ship carrying a Samian cargo was lost there
some time in the second half of the second century. There is reason to
believe that some was landed at Bitterne, the Roman predecessor of
Southampton.
But as the second century went on, the Lezoux wares steadily grew
worse, shapes became coarser and heavier, the more elegant forms common
in the first century gave place to a smaller number of plainer more easily
made shapes. This may be illustrated from the examples of plain forms in
Fig., shape 18, the typical plate of the first century becomes the coarser and
clumsier plate shape 31. In the first century there was a considerable variety
of small plain cups or bowls of which 24/5 and 27 are typical examples. By
the end of the first century 24/5 had ceased to be made and the simpler form
33 had become more common than 27, and by 150 or very soon after shape
27 also was given up and a rough and clumsy form of shape 33 alone
survived to
9
represent the cup in the Samian series. Similarly the neatly made
Hanged bowl shape 82 ends during the reign of Trojan and its place is taken
by the heavier shape 38. The same decay is still more readily seen in the
Decorated Ware, but without illustrations it cannot be exemplified. A series
of typical decorated Samian bowls of all periods may be conveniently seen
in Mr. James Curle's admirable paper in "Proceedings of the Societies of
Antiquaries of Scotland," 5th Series, vol. iii., pp. 130176.
The East Gaulish and German wares continued to be made and used
locally during the first third of the third century, but gradually the same
process which had closed Italy to Samian in the second century began to
operate also in the provinces, and such finer wares as were used in Britain,
for example, after 200 A.D. were most of them made in the country. But
unfortunately we know as yet very little about the date or the circumstances
which led to the cessation of Samian production. What is certain is that the
German "Proceedings of the Societies of Antiquaries or Scotland," 5th
Series, vol. iii., pp. 130176.
A GRAMMAR OF TYNESIDE.
J. E. HULL.
Continued from Vol. viii., p. 121.
IV. DERIVATIVES AND COMPOUNDS.
1. Compounds of all kinds are readily formed. Prepositions and
conjunctions of compound form have been listed, and samples of the
other parts of speech are subjoined.
(a) Noun. These are of two kinds
i. Patter words, or riming compounds; either imitative or one
element significant, the other riming.
Examples-jukerypackery, horryscorry, criss cross.
ii.Both elements significant.
Noun+noun : dishcloot, jailcrop, waxend, sapwhussle, &c.
Verb+noun: skipjack, hanggallis, &c.
Adjective+noun: monifaads, greedyguts, tarrytowt, &c.
Verb+adverb : Shyekdoon, sitfast, bumpup.
10
(b) Verb. The parts are usually kept separate, so that actual
compound verbs are rare. Examplesslabdash, back kest, broadkest.
(c) Adjectives.
i. Patterwords: e.g. wishyweshy.
ii. Participial compounds, mostly with the past
participle.
Examples-lopsided, pockarred, wetshod, nell kneed,
ill-throven.
iii. Other compounds are rare: e.g.
Verb+adjective: laglast.
Noun+ adjective : dropdry.
2. Derivatives are naturally on the E. model, and are formed by the use
of various English suffixes. NonEnglish suffixes, borrowed from E., are apt
to be corrupted into something like English form. Thus ous is often ish: e.g.
famish (famous).
(a) Noun-forming suffixes.
-y: fondy, liggy, nummy (=numby), fatty, &c., &c. The most
characteristic of the Tyneside suffixes, converting an adjective into
a noun. It appears to be derived from the general Scandinavian
adjectiveending (in Danish e).
-y: moudy, midgy, boory, &c. Diminutive, frequent in L.S., rare in
E. (O.E. ig).
-in : winnin, lonnin, cleckin, &c. Derived from the O.E. verbal noun
in ung. It sometimes takes a plural formleavins, shilvins, &c.
-iok:* kellick, paddick, steerk, &c. Diminutive O.E. uc.
-le : kibble, farneytickle, staddle, strickle, &c. DiminutiveO.E. el.
-er: pluffer, pricker, pinchers, jumper, &c. Agent or instrument,
O.E. (later) ere (originally a).
-erel : tyestrel, gomerel, haverel, &c. A combination of er and el,
the latter adding a note of contempt.
(b) Verbforming suffixes.
-ge : moonge, groonge, whinge, peenge, scroodge. Denoting
repetition or continuance. It appears to be of Celtic origin.
-er: snifter, nicker, scunner, &c. Frequentative
* Pronounced-eeck.
11
-le: joggle, hopple, snaffie, stickle, &c. Frequentative.
(c) Adjective-forming suffixes.
-some: dootsome, flaysome, bothersome, &c. O.E. sum.
-y: clooty, coggly, twiny, &c. O.E. ig.
(d) Adverbforming suffixes.
-ways or wis: endwis, heedwis, crossways, &c. O.E. weg, way.
-lins: pairtlins, which is perhaps L.S.
(e) General note on certain other wordendings.
-in: As pointed out above this suffix (as in hoppin, plantin,
&c.) represents O.E. ung, which added to a verb stem, gave a
verbal noun or gerund. But it is also used in T. to form the present
participle givin, havin, seein, &c., and as a rule these words are
written givin', havin', seein', as if to intimate that a final g is
omitted. And this, as a matter of fact, is what is taught in the
schools; whereas T. has never known a participle in ing, and even
the E. ing is a corruption of O.E. inde, ende.
-like: as in dowleylike, is perhaps best regarded as a sort of
enclitic adverb (=rather), as one says "It luks a bit thunnorylike,"
"he was feelin nobbut dozzenedlike"; for it occurs independently
in much the same sense“She looked a bit doon i' the mooth like."
In fact it answers more or less to the E. phrase" as it were." Quite
different of course is the curious elliptical use of "like""Noo, that's
somethin like! " where the sense requires the addition of "what it
shud be," or an equivalent.
3. Some modifications in the structure of words are due to racial
characteristics of pronunciation, either introduced with the infusion of new
blood or developed by a confirmed local habit or trick of speech. It is never
very clear to which of these causes a particular instance is due.
Probably Scandinavian is the strong tendency to prefix an initial "s" to
certain consonants or combinations of consonants, namely, the explosivesp,
k, t; and the same compounded with r or l. Compare, for example, the Celtic
etymon car (rock) with the corresponding Scandinavian scar. In T. we have
the following:
12
(a) SP. [SPR. SPL).
Spink, finch. Welsh pinc.
(b) SK. SKR. [SKL.].
Scut, rabbit's tail. Welsh cwtog, a bobtail.
Scrush; E. crush.
Scranch, E. crunch.
Scrab, E. crab (apple).
Scroodge, to squeeze. From O.E. crydan, to press.
Squench, E. quench.
(c) ST. STR.
Stramp, E. tramp, trample.
To these may perhaps be added
(d) sw.
Swill, a basket. O.E. wilie.
(e) SL.
Slobber, E. labber, lipper.
Slither, to slide. Welsh llithro, to slip; but this may only be a
cognate word, and slither a direct derivative from slide. Cf.
Scandinavian slethi, sledge
In words adopted from standard E. there is always a tendency to drop an
unaccented initial syllable; e.g. T. gree=E. agree. T.liver=E, deliver: T.
mens=E. amends: T. lastic=E. elastic, &c., &c
PRONUNCIATION.
As the discussion of pronunciation is almost entirely a matter of
discriminating between vowel sounds, it is necessary first of all to provide
one's self with the machinery of comparison; and though several systems of
phonetic symbols are in existence, non will completely meet my present
needs. I, therefore, present on of my own, adapting it to the capacity of the
linotype operator.
SIMPLE VOWELS.
a as in E. bad.
à as in T. wàk (E. walk).
ä as in T. mät (E. mate).
â as in E. father
e as in E. pet.
ê as in E. feet.
i as in E. pit.
o as in E. pot.
ô as in E. doll.
ò as in T. poke.
ö as in E. word.
ə as in E. kitten (kitən).
ú as in E. bud.
u as in E. stood (stud).
û as in E. full.
ù as in E. stool (stùl),
COMPOUND VOWELS.
äê as in E. take.
aê in E. fine (faên).
âu as in E. mouse (mâus)
ei as in T. fein (E. fine).
ie (ye) as in T. tyek (E. take).
iê as in T. miê (E. me).
iû (yû) as in T. myun (E. moon)
iù as in E. few (fiù).
iûû as in T. few (fiûû).
oi as in E. spoil.
oi as in T. spoil.
òu as in E. crow.
ou as in E. out.
ûu (ûw) as in " T. cûw (E. cow).
13
It will be observed that three of the simple vowels are not in use in E.,
and T. examples have to be given; while of the compound vowels no less
than seven are in like case.
The unmarked vowels are practically alike in E. and T., but even where
E. and T. ostensibly coincide (in such words as pat, pet, pit, pot, try, feel)
the actual intonation is different, the T. vowel invariably being produced a
little farther back in the mouth, with a minimum of muscular tension, the
former being in fact a direct result of the latter. It need hardly be added that
these same qualities affect more or less the whole of Tyneside speech, being
characteristics of natural dialects in general. Sustained muscular effort
belongs, generally speaking, to educated or conventional speech since it
requires either conscious or habitual control of the muscles.
The most distinctive quality of Tyneside speech, however, is the mode
of expiration; which is wholly oral, and never in the least degree nasal or
pharyngal except in the case of the essentially nasal letters m and n.
We may now proceed to tabulate the relationship of the other E. and T.
vowels. The correspondence as here shown is fairly general, though of
course not universal; chiefly because a cultured tongue is necessarily more
or less open to foreign influence, and a natural dialect is essentially more
stable.
CORRESPONDING
VOWELS
E.
â
ê
ô
u
ù
ú
aê
oi
òu
ou
äê
ö
ILLUSTRATIVE
WORD
PRONUNCIATION
T.
a(e)
father
E.
fâther
ê
iê
à
û
Iû(yû)
û
ei
ê
i
ôi
ò
à
ou
ù
ûu (ûw)
ie(ye)
ä
ô
a
feel
see
all
look
stool
bud
fine
night
bind
spoil
note
crow
grow
mouse
cow
take
mate
bird
bury
fêl
sê
ôl
luk
stùl
búd
faên
naêt
baênd
spoil
nòut
cru
gròu
mous
cou
täêk
mäêt
börd
börê.
T.
fathôr
(fethôr).
fêl
siê.
àl.
luk.
styûl.
bûd.
fein.
nêt.
bind.
spôil.
not.
crà.
grou.
mûs.
cûw.
tyek.
mät.
bôrd.
barê.
14
Modern "London " English (probably as part of a prevailing servile
admiration of American smartness) is rapidly obliterating r when final or
followed by another consonant. When it is pronounced it sometimes
modifies the preceding vowel. Compare fare with fate. The latter is [fäêt]
but the former is not [fäêr] but [fäər], Theoretically fear should be [fêr]; in
practice it is [fêər], but with the devotees of a certain "culcha" it is [fê-a]!
The "ə" which appears before the "r" is really an "on-glide" (a vocal
transition from one oral position to another) necessitated by the oral
position of the trilled "r." The burred "r" of T. being sub-guttural, affects all
forward vowels in the same way, but the on-glide is broadened, so to speak,
from "ə" to "ô" thus practically making a distinct extra syllable e.g. [feu-ôr],
E. four; [fei-ôr], E. fire; [fä-ôr], E. fair or fare; [pù-ôr], E. poor or power. In
E. -er (and usually also -ir) is pronounced ör; in T. it becomes ôr or as,
occasionally ä-ôr.
There is naturally much less variation in the pronunciation of
consonants, and the differences between E. and T. in this respect are but
few, namely
E.
ngg
w(h)
mb
(l)d
se ce
T.
ng
wh
mm
th
sh
EXAMPLE.
finger
what
tumble
shoulder
scarce
E.
fing-gər
? wot
tumbəl
shòuldər
scärs
T.
fing-ər,
what.
turm-məl.
shùthə
scärsh.
In Tyneside the aspirate is as scrupulously respected as any other letter.
Authentic initial h is never dropped save in certain monosyllabic words-he,
his, him, her, here-and that only when they are unstressed and quasienclitic; a natural kind of elision which is by no means confined to h.
Neither is the aspirate ever wrongly introduced before a vowel, though it is
quite true that the stressed form of the neuter personal pronoun is hit (E. it).
But that was the original O.E. form, which survived till the end of the
Middle English period.
The T. th never really represents E. ld. As a matter of fact the l is treated
as part of the preceding vowel. The correspondence is found in E. itself; cf.
smoulder and smother. The right equation therefore is E. d=T. th; e.g. E.
powder=T. poother. This th is simply aspirated d, and we may have here a
relic of Anglian speech as uttered by Celtic tongues.
T. sh final occasionally represents other E. sounds besides -se and -ce.
For instance E. cabbage=T. cabbesh: E. manage=T. manesh, Also it may be
noted that where the E. j or s is preceded by the obscure vowel (ə) the latter
is lengthened in T. into ê e.g. E. famous=T. fameesh: E. damage (daməj)=T.
damêsh,
15
A STUDY IN PARTHENOGENESIS.
A. D. PEACOCK, M.Sc.
The insect order of Hymenoptera includes the sawflies bees, wasps and
parasitic types such as the ichneumons, the sawflies being classed as a
suborder of their own chiefly because the abdomen is broadly attached to
the thorax instead of by a petiole or waist as in the others. Their larvae bear
close resemblances in form and habit to the caterpillars of butterflies and
moths. In spite of the fact that they are common insects and present
extremely interesting biological features, there are in England few workers
on the group; possibly because the adult insects are not large and showy. As
a result there remain new species to be discovered, modes of life to be
studied, life histories to be worked out, larvae to be linked up with adults
and vice-versa. But apart from these obvious lines of work they form
excellent material for the study of more fundamental biological questions
such as sex ratios, heredity and parthenogenesis. Leaving matters of sawfly
technique for a future paper I address myself here to indicating how certain
of these biological problems have been attacked, the main enquiry relating
to parthenogenesis, that is, the production of offspring by the female
without pairing with a male.
A compilation from the books of Cameron and Enslin shows that forty
nine species are parthenogenetic and, of these, thirty give rise to males only,
thirteen to females only and six to both males and females. But through the
kindness of Miss Chawner, who has spent many years in studying the
group, I am able to state that she knows seventy six species as
parthenogenetic. In addition, I have been able during the last two seasons,
and without special effort, to add another seven to the list. The details and
significance of these results are not worked out as yet, but they show that
parthenogenetic breeding of sawflies is a good vein of entomological
enquiry which probably will prove that most sawflies can reproduce
asexually, i.e. are facultatively parthenogenetic. Certain species, however,
such as Allantus (Emphytus) pallipes, which feeds on violets, reproduce
entirely by parthenogenesis, as no male has been discovered or bred. In my
own experiments I have reared large numbers for six successive generations
without finding a single male, and yet the strain still goes on unabated.
Such phenomena in the animal kingdom, at first sight, appear somewhat
startling and unaccountable, but in their proper setting of cognate facts, they
appear more reasonable.
16
These facts may be briefly outlined to show what range of sexual
relationships occurs in this group in nature. . The females of one of the
commonest types, Athalia lineolata, a pretty study in black and yellow and
fond of frequenting common bugle, I have observed to pair' frequently when
out numbered greatly by the males. Probably also, they pair with more than
one male and so are polyandrous. Another type, one of the less common
gooseberry sawflies, Pristiphora pallipes, produces in England practically
nothing but females (Miss Chawner once reared a solitary male); yet the
male is known in other parts of Europe, albeit extremely rare. Evidently the
species is becoming completely parthenogenetic. Again, Platycampus
luridiventris, one of the commonest alder species, the caterpillar of which
resembles a flattened green woodlouse, shows no unusual proportion of the
sexes, but does show curious sexual behaviour- the female may persistently
ignore the male and lay young- producing eggs without fertilization.
With my mind on these facts I was one day handling the large,
handsome black sawfly attached to Solomon's Seal, Phymatocera aterrima,
after I had obtained several batches of parthenogenetic eggs from it without
the slightest difficulty, the females laying freely in the stem of the plant.
Having a number of males it occurred to me that it seemed a pity to have
such a quantity of virility doing nothing, so, with no other motive than
curiosity, I placed two males with two females which were almost spent
after egg laying. Pairing took place at once but neither female, being too
spent, laid afterwards. These observations suggested that from one female it
ought to be possible to obtain two batches of eggs, one laid before pairing
and the other after pairing. My specimens of aterrima being exhausted I
attempted to use an available alder species, Nematinus luteus. The same
result occurred, and in addition the two hopednfor batches of eggs were
obtained. Unfortunately, owing to difficulties of rearing, I failed to obtain
full grown larvae from each batch. Later in the season, however, by using
the common goose berry sawfly, Pteronidea ribesii; I have repeated the
experiment many times and have several parallel broods of healthy larvae
reared from both parthenogenetic eggs and those laid after the pairing of
individual females.
Next spring should show whether there is any difference in the offspring
of the two broods. Going by previous results the fatherless eggs will give
only sons, whilst the others, being presumably fertilized and sexually
produced, will yield both sexes. Whatever sex ratio is obtained, however,
will
17
be interesting, but until the adults emerge it is premature to prophecy.
The existing facts, however, seem to warrant the following suggestions as to
what occur in nature and the objects of such. The total sexual or partial
sexual indifference of the sexes is a method for regulating that numerical
relationship between the sexes which enables the species to survive. Again,
the female sawfly by this method of refusing or accepting the male achieves
the same ends as the queen bee which accepts the male but afterwards can
regulate inside its body, by some means, the production of two kinds of egg
, one kind the fertilized, producing workers (females) and queens and the
other kind, unfertilized, producing drones (males). Such a comparison of
reproductive methods between two distantly related group is very
interesting. Further, these laboratory observations of sexual behaviour are
backed by a certain amount of evidence from field work and the suggestions
arise that two conditions may obtain in Nature (1) that certain females of a
species may be set apart for the parthenogenetic production of one sex only;
or (2) that one and the same female may produce both asexually and
sexually.
GALLS OF THE TAMARISK IN ENGLAND.
By RICHARD S. BAGNALL, F.R.S.E., F.L.S.
An evergreen shrub, the graceful feathery Tamarisk (Tamarisk gallica),
though well established on the south coast, is not a native of this country. It
is usually found in little plantations or hedges close to the sea, being
peculiarly able to resist the cutting wind, and dashing spray of an
unprotected shore.
From Sowerby's " English Botany," we learn that the name is derived
from a Hebrew word "Tamarik," abstersion, on account of the reputed
quality of some of the species for cleansing and purifying the blood or from
the fact of the branches being used for broom. Another and more generally
accepted derivation is from the name of the river Tamaris (now Tambro) on
the borders of the Pyrenees, where Tamarisk grows in profusion.
The genus is restricted to the Eastern half of the northern hemisphere
and has its greatest representation on the shores of the Mediterranean.
Though preferring the coast, some species occur not uncommonly on the
banks of rivers and also in the desert where the soil is impregnated with salt.
18
I have examined the plant for galls at many points in South Devon and
more recently on the Sussex coast, spending laborious hours for the most
part fruitlessly, as most Tamarisk galls are of an obscure nature which
added to the structure of the plant makes the examination for galls a
difficult task. Of the many insect galls now known from the various species
of Tamarisk in the Mediterranean, the most part are stem galls ranging from
swellings scarcely perceptible to the eye as caused by the midge
Psectrosema provincialis Kieffer (Cecidomyide No. 4227 of Houard) on T.
gallica, to fusiform or spherical swellings up to 40 mm. in length and 30
mm. in diameter, as in the gall caused by a Gelechiid moth (Amblypalpis
olivierella Ragonot) on Tamarix africana.
The fruit capsules of both T. gallica and T. africana are galled by a
weevil (Nanophyes pallidus) the larva of which jerks so strongly and
abruptly within the gall as to cause it to leap. Such is the secret of the
"jumping bean" sometimes sold in shops as a curiosity.
A midge-gall and a mite-gall are here recorded as British.
Fam. Cecidomyidae or Gall midges.
Psectrosema tamaricis Stefani.
On Tamarix gallica. Fusiform swelling of a young twig (5 mm. by 2
mm.) with the surface discoloured, reddish, cavity large containing
gregarious vitelline larvae which pass their life history within the gall.
The species is known from Sicily and Portugal.
DEVON.-Torquay district, twice, Oct., 1918, including an example
extraordinarily like the one figured in Houard (Fig. 1057).
SUSSEX.-Bexhill-on-Sea, December 30th. 1921, two examples, in
each case causing a bend in the young twig.
Fam. Eriophyidae or Gall-mites.
Eriophyes tamaricis Nal.
Affecting the very young twigs and adjacent leaves; well
characterized galls having the appearance of microscopical rosettes.
When I first observed this species it had so affected the whole of two
bushes in a somewhat large plantation at Torquay that they could be
easily differentiated at quite a distance. Some branches were almost
dead whilst the rest of these bushes were of a pale sickly green.
DEVON.-Very local, Torquay, Oct., 1918.
SUSSE£X.-Also very local, Bexhill-on-Sea, Jan. 1st, 1922.
19
BIRDS OF HOLY ISLAND:
August, 1921-March, 1922.
W. G. WATSON.
The following observations and records were made during a stay on
Holy Island from the 23rd August, 1921, to the 27th March, 1922. All
records are from Holy Island and Fenham Flats except where otherwise
stated. During the last season 128 species or subspecies came under
observation as against 111 in 1920-1. The prevailing westerly winds in
September and October would, no doubt, account for the paucity of records
amongst the smaller autumn migrants and might also explain one or two late
dates. My thanks are again due to Dr. W. Eagle Clarke for the trouble that
he has taken in identifying specimens.
HOODED CROW-Corvus cornix.
One arrived on the 24th October; several two days later.
ROOK-Corvus frugilegus.
After some years absence Rooks have again built in the narrow belt
of trees adjoining the Lough. On the 26th March there were eight or
ten nests, one or two containing eggs.
HAWFINCH-Coccothraustes coccothraustes.
A young male was killed in a mousetrap in one of the village
gardens on the 16th November
SISKIN-Carduelis spinus.
One was seen on the 9th October, three on the 11th, one on the 12th
and one on the 13th.
MEALY REDPOLL-Carduelis linaria.
A small flock of ten or twelve arrived on the 19th November,
followed by further flocks during the next few days.
CHAFFINCH-Fringilla coelebs.
Although carefully searched for, I failed to detect a Chaffinch on the
Island until the 30th September, after which date they became more
frequent. They again became numerous in March.
BRAMBLING-Fringilla montifringilla.
Three arrived on the 19th September.
TREESPARROW-Passer montanus.
Present in small numbers during August, September and October.
REED BUNTING-Emberiza schoeniclus.
Reed Buntings were seen regularly from the 31st August, to the
13th October.
SNOW BUNTING-Plectrophenax nivalis.
A single bird on the 10th March was the last seen.
20
TREE CREEPER-Certhia familiaris.
Two appeared in a small wood adjoining the Lough on the 23rd
October. One was obtained and forwarded to Dr. W. Eagle Clark
who pronounced it to belong to the British race.
BLUE TIT-Parus coeruleus.
Examples which occurred from the 16th October onwards, proved
to belong to the British race.
COAL TIT-Parus ater.
A single bird which appeared on the 10th October also belonged to
the British race.
GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN-Regulus requlus.
One appeared on the 17th September, two on the 19th, several on
the 20th, one on the 5th October, two or three on the 10th, a few on
the 23rd, and there remained about five on the 24th.
REDBACKED SHRIKE-Lanius collurio.
An immature male on the 27th August.
WAXWING-Bombycilla garrulus.
One arrived on the 14th November, three on the 20th, one on the
26th, and one on the 29th. They only remained a few hours on the
Island. At Beal I counted ten together on the 23rd November and
these had increased to twenty by the 25th.
PIED FLYCATCHER-Muscicapa hypoleuca.
A female at the Lough on the 20th September.
WILLOW WARBLER-Phylloscopus trochilus.
After the 7th September none were met with until the 30th when
one was seen. On the 8th October a single bird was killed. On the
20th November another single bird turned up, with a slightly
damaged wing, and the next day an uninjured example occurred.
LESSER WHITETHROAT-Sylvia curruca
A single bird in the vicarage garden on the 24th October.
FIELDFARE-Turdus pilaris.
One arrived on the 30th September.
SONG THRUSH-Turdus musicus.
An influx occurred on the 8th October and an example obtained
proved to belong to the Continental race.
REDWING-Turdus iliacus.
First noticed on the 30th September when a few arrived.
RING OUZEL-Turdus torquatus.
One on the 18th September and two or three on the 5th October.
21
WHEATEAR-OEnanthe oenanthe
Last noticed on the 2nd October.
WHINCHAT-Saxicola rubetra.
None seen after the 21st September.
REDSTART-Phoenicurus phoenicurus.
Latest date-23rd September.
SWIFT-Apus apus.
On the morning of the 19th October a single bird was hawking flies
over the village and remained until 2.30 p.m. when it disappeared.
LONGEARED OWL-Asio otus.
One on the 27th August, one on the 21st September, one caught and
released on the 7th October, one on the 5th November and one on
the 18th December.
SHORTEARED OWL-Asio flammeus.
A single bird on the 5th October was the first noticed.
PEREGRINE FALCON-Falco peregrinus.
One was to be continually seen during my stay on the Island from
August to March. It lived chiefly on the Islanders' pigeons but I
have seen it also take a Wigeon and a Curlew. On the 18th March
there were at least three, and each killed a pigeon out of five
released on Holy Island sands.
WHOOPER SWAN-Cygnus cygnus.
Thirty swans which flew up the Harbour on the 20th November
were presumably of this species.
BEAN GOOSE-Anser fabalis.
A female was shot on the 28th January.
PINKFOOTED Goose-Anser brachyrhynchus.
On the 12th November I saw two hundred Geese settle on the sand
bank at Budle Bay which I presume were of this species, as one or
two Pinkfooted Geese were shot there during the next few days.
One shot on Fenham Flats out of seven on the 25th November
showed one or two white feathers above the base of the bill. Six out
of a flock of three hundred were shot on Fenham Flats on the 6th
February and on the 8th one of eight was shot at the Old Law. There
were twenty on the slake on the 9th and one was shot on the 10th.
BARNACLE Goose-Branta leucopsis.
Twenty which appeared on Fenham Flats on the 4th October had all
gone the next day. An adult male out of a flock of fifteen or sixteen
was shot on the 24th October, and the following day an immature
bird was shot out of five or six.
22
BRENT GOOSE-Branta bernicla.
A single bird appeared on the 20th September and another on the 26th
October. On the 9th November five more arrived. From the 25th
December to the 31st January about four hundred had come in, after
which date the arrived in droves and by the 6th February the number
of arrivals was estimated to be at least three thousand. A week later
local experts estimated the numbers on the slakes at from six to ten
thousand but all were agreed that they had never seen so many Brents
in a season before.
PINTAIL-Dafila acuta.
Pintails in small numbers were noticed from the 9th September to the
30th November.
SHOVELER-Spatula clypeata.
A female was shot at Goswick on the 19th September; one of three
was shot on Fenham Flats on the 28th September and an adult drake
on the Island on the 19th November.
POCHARD-Nyroca ferina.
Three adult drakes on the Lough on the 26th March.
SCAUP DUCK-Nyroca marila.
Scaups were unusually numerous. I saw four on the Lough
on the
26th March.
LONG-TAILED DUCK-Harelda glacialis.
First noticed on the 24th October and were still present on the 16th
March.
VELVET SCOTER-Oidemia fusca.
When we were in out a boat off Beadnell on the 3rd October five
Velvet Scoters flew past. No more were noticed until after the New
Year, when small parties, chiefly in pairs, were not uncommon off
Skate Roads.
RED BREASTED MERGANSER-Mergus serrator.
Seven on the slakes on the 26th August.
SHAG-Phalacrocorax graculus.
Now exceedingly abundant around Holy Island, roosting in numbers
on the Heugh and St. Cuthbert's Island. Many were in complete
summer plumage by the 6th February.
MANX SHEARWATER-Puffinus puffinus.
A female was shot on Skate Roads on the 24th September.
WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN SHEARWATER-Puffinus p. mauretanicus.
A male of this recently described race was shot off Bamburgh on the
8th September. Weight: 1 lb. 53/4ozs.; wing: 252mm.; length:415
mm. The only previous record for Northumberland, which occurred
off Cullercoats in September, 1860, was recorded as P. p. yelkouan,
but has now been assigned to this form.
23
RED-NECKED GREBE-Podiceps griseigena.
Previous to the 3rd February I had only come across one Rednecked Grebe, a bird shot in Sandam Bay on the 28th November,
which weighed 2 lbs. 4 ozs. On the former date, however, an
irruption of this species took place. On the 3rd February one was
shot on the Lough and the next day another suffered a similar fate
there. On the 7th several were picked up dead and by the 11th some
twenty specimens had been brought to me, the weights ranging from
2 lbs. 2 ozs: to 1 lb. 11/2 ozs. On the 10th, when out in a boat, I
found that this species far out numbered the Slavonian Grebe
(always the most abundant Grebe here).
EARED GREBE-Podiceps nigricollis.
One on the 7th January.
GREY PLOVER-Squatarola squatarola.
One in complete summer plumage on the 24th August. Two adults,
shot on the 17th September, still retained some black feathers on the
breast.
TURNSTONE-Arenaria interpres.
An adult female in summer plumage was picked up dead on the
24th August and on the next day I saw another accompanied by an
immature bird.
RUFF-Machetes pugnax.
Two at the side of a fresh water pond adjoining Budle Bay, on the
5th September.
KNOT-Erolia canutus.
When out in the punt on the 30th August I watched a Knot in red
dress. It seemed to "keep itself to itself" although there were several
waders, including Knots, in the vicinity.
LITTLE STINT-Erolia minuta.
A single bird on Fenham Flats on the 19th September also refused
to mix with other waders.
AMERICAN PECTORAL SANDPIPER-Erolia maculata.
A female was shot on the 10th October, at the Lough. It was
accompanied by a wader of similar size and some Dunlins. Wing,
144 mm. The only previous record for Northumberland is for June,
1853.
GREENSHANK-Tringa nebularia.
One on Holy Island on the 2nd September and one at Budle Bay on
the 7th.
BAR-TAILED GODWIT-Limosa lapponica.
On the 24th August there were several in red dress on Fenham Flats.
No more were seen in this plumage except a single bird on the 30th.
24
WHIMBREL-Numenius phoeopus.
Remained until the 15th September.
JACK SNIPE-Gallinago gallinula.
One on the 16th September.
WOODCOCK-Scolopax rusticola.
First noticed on the 22nd October.
SANDWICH TERN-Sterna sandvicensis.
None were seen after the 25th September.
COMMON TERNSterna hirundo,
ARCTIC TERNSterna paradisea,
GLAUCOUS GULL-Larus glaucus.
Two or three were seen and a male shot on the 5th January. On the
4th February a second male was shot. All were immature.
ARCTIC SKUA-Stercorarius parasiticus.
Arctic Skuas were noticed from the 7th September to the 29th. An
adult male shot on the 20th belonged to the dark phase.
LITTLE AUK-Alle alle.
On the 8th November, after severe weather, several Little Auks
were driven close inshore. On the 10th over a dozen were picked up
dead on the Island and neighbouring mainland.
PUFFIN-Fratercula arctica.
An adult male killed on the 28th November, weighed 14 ozs. Wing,
158.5 mm.
ADDENDUM.
Notes on birds seen during a visit with Mr. Abel Chapman to Holy
Island from the 10th to 22nd May, 1922.
YELLOW WAGTAIL-Motacilla flava rayi.
A single bird following the plough on the 18th May. I was informed
that two had been seen a week or so earlier.
FIELDFARE-Turdus pilaris.
Two noticed on the 19th May.
SNOWY OWL-Nyctea nyctea.
A single bird which appeared on the 20th May would possibly be an
"escape." It was first noticed on the bents and when disturbed flew
from one eminence to another. When flying it looked almost pure
white, but on examination through binoculars I could plainly see
that it was considerably spotted with brown. By comparison with
Gulls, which mobbed it when on the wing, I judged the
25
wing expanse to be over three feet. I kept it under observation until
9 p.m., when it flew steadily northwards from the Sand Rigg, where
it had settled, with a strong low flight.
WIGEON-Anas penelope.
Two pairs were on the Lough on the 18th May.
SHOVELER-Spatula clypeata.
A pair on the Lough on the 12th May.
VELVET SCOTER-Oidemia fusca.
Two seen on Fenham Flats by Mr. Chapman on the 11th May were
still there on the 20th.
REDBREASTED MERGANSER-Mergus serrator.
One was seen by Mr. Chapman on Fenham Flats on the 11th May. I
saw one at the Snook End on the 20th May.
SHAG-Phalacrocorax garrulus.
Two or three pairs on the Megstone on the 13th May.
MANX SHEARWATER-Puffinus puffinus.
Three or four pairs were seen by us while out in a motor boat on the
13th May.
BLACK-THROATED DIVER-Colymbus arctica.
One, in complete summer plumage, was seen off St. Cuthbert's
Island on the 10th May. Mr. Chapman saw five on the 11th, while I
noticed three on the 16th and a single bird on the 20th.
TURTLE DOVE -Streptopelia turtur.
One or two appeared on the 17th May.
ARCTIC SKUA -Stercorarius parasiticus.
One, in the dark phase, on the 13th May.
BUFFON'S SKUA -Stercorarius longicaudus.
On the 10th May a Buffon's Skua, which Mr. Chapman and myself
watched harrying the Terns and at first took to be parasiticus, flew
so close past the boat that we were able, with the naked eye, to
identify it clearly by the extreme length of the central tail feathers.
W.G.W.
THE CHEMISTRY OF A PLANT.
F. C. GARRETT, D.Sc, F.I.C.
The tissues of a plant are built up almost entirely from carbon dioxide
and water, and there are few problems so fascinating or that have received
so much attention as the question how compounds like the starches and
sugars are built up so rapidly from such simple materials; it is generally
believed that formaldehyde is the first product, and we know that this
substance can be polymerized to carbohydrates, but
26
no one appears to have succeeded in detecting formaldehyde in the
living plant, and speculation has outrun experiment. Of late Baly and
Heilbronn have attacked the problem, and in two papers which will repay
study, they give an account of work which suggests that the solution is in
sight at last.
When a solution of carbon dioxide in water is exposed to ultraviolet
light, in a quartz vessel, no formaldehyde can be detected in it, though a
small amount of some carbohydrate is obtained; if, however, carbon dioxide
is bubbled through the solution during the experiment, formaldehyde is
found to be present; clearly, therefore, it can be synthesized in this way. The
explanation of these contradictory results is simple enough: the newly
synthesized aldehyde is extremely reactive, and under the influence of the
ultraviolet rays condenses to a reducing sugar; these rays, however, are of
short wave length and easily cut off, so that those portions of the aldehyde
which are driven to the back of the vessel by the bubbling in the liquid are
shielded from their action, and can be detected without difficulty. It is
known that carbon dioxide absorbs rays of very short wave length (λ=200
μμ) and formaldehyde those of slightly greater length (λ=290 μμ) glass cuts
off all ultraviolet rays beyond λ=350μμ, and it is found that even very thin
glass screens the liquid, and neither formaldehyde nor a sugar is formed. It
is interesting to learn that ultraviolet light will bring about the synthesis of
formaldehyde and of a sugar from carbon dioxide and water, but it does not
take us much further, for there is very little of such light in sunlight, and
moreover plants will thrive under glass which is quite opaque to these rays.
Now this is where team work is of value, for Professor Baly's spectroscopic
work shows how it may be possible for visible light to be utilized in place
of the ultraviolet rays. In earlier papers Baly has shown "that the
frequencies characteristic of any molecule in the ultraviolet are exact
integral multiples of a fundamental infrared frequency also characteristic of
that molecule," and also that "a definite amount of energy is required to
cause a molecule to undergo a specific reaction, and this energy may be
supplied to that molecule either in the form of one quantum of the
ultraviolet frequency or as a whole number of quanta at one of the infrared
frequencies characteristic of the molecule or its component atoms." In other
words, if a substance X absorbs and is unaffected by light of a certain wave
length (blue, for example) it will radiate energy in the infrared, and this
energy may be taken up by another substance Y, whose infrared frequencies
are exactly the same as those of X. If now Y undergoes a
1
Journ.: Chem. Soc., 1921, 119-1,025, and 1922, 121-1,078.
27
photochemical change in light of a certain frequency, X may supply the
energy needed to bring about the reaction, obtaining it from blue light
which Y itself cannot absorb, and X will be a photocatalyst. "The criteria
defining a photocatalyst are, first, that it has exactly the same infra red
frequencies as the catalyte, and, secondly, that it has a different frequency in
the visible and ultraviolet regions." The oxides of nitrogen furnish a simple
example of this photocatalysis. Nitrogen peroxide absorbs blue light,
nitrogen pentoxide does not, and neither is decomposed by it; but if a little
of the peroxide is added to the pentoxide then the latter is decomposed by
blue light, the peroxide-the photo-catalyst- absorbing the light and handing
the energy on to the pentoxide as waves in the infrared. Photo catalysis
makes possible the synthesis of formaldehyde from carbon dioxide and
water in daylight, for if carbon dioxide is passed through an aqueous
solution of a suitable colouring matter (malachite green, methyl orange,
etc.) formaldehyde is obtained in daylight even if a thick plate glass screen
is introduced. A convenient photocatalyst for the second reaction. the
condensation of formaldehyde to a sugar has not yet been found, but the
following experiments show that it is not impossible to discover one. If a
solution of sodium citrate (17 per cent.) and sodium carbonate (9 per cent.)
is exposed to ultraviolet light aldehyde is formed, and if one per cent. of
copper sulphate is then added and the mixture warmed, reduction occurs,
proving the presence of a sugar; if, however, the mixture is screened by
plate glass no aldehyde is obtained and no reduction, the waves of short
length being cut off. If now the three salts above mentioned are mixed
(Benedict's solution) and the liquid exposed as before, the copper salt is
reduced even behind plate glass, the copper citrate complex absorbing
visible light and photo catalysis ensuing. It seems likely that in the plant
chlorophyll and carotin are the photocatalysts, and this is now being
investigated; the use of these substances introduces complications and was
postponed for that reason. Photo catalysis is thus the key to the mystery; by
its help daylight can bring about the interaction of carbon dioxide and water
with the production of formaldehyde, and the aldehyde is peculiarly
reactive. We usually assign to formaldehyde the formula H2: C: O, but the
aldehyde synthesized by light is so much more reactive than the ordinary
form that it seems that. it must have a different structure, and Baly and
Heilbronn suggest that it is H: C: OH, the carbon being divalent.
28
In addition to carbohydrates the plant produces numerous complex
nitrogen compounds, ammonia or a nitrate being the source from which the
latter element is obtained. Baly and Heilbronn and their pupils are
examining the reactions ot their "activated formaldehyde" with ammonia
and with potassium nitrate, and the information given in their second paper
makes us look forward to a fuller statement. It has long been known that
nitrites are always present in the leaves of a plant in the dark; that they
disappear when the leaf is exposed to light, but only if chlorophyll is
present; and that potassium nitrate is reduced to the nitrite in the roots and
stems of plants. We are now informed that under the influence of ultraviolet
light formaldehyde and potassium nitrite react, the product being
formhydroxamic acid
and that this acid will react with
further quantities of formaldehyde with the production of aminoacids, a
pyridine compound, an alkaloid and a number of other substances. This part
of the work cannot be discussed with profit until the authors are able to give
us further details, but it seems probable that photosynthesis is the key to all
the synthetical work of the plant, and also that these investigations will
answer certain other old questions for us. The plant builds up a host of
chemical compounds, some of which are indispensable to it, while others
(poisonous alkaloids, pleasant flavours, etc.) seem to be quite useless to it,
and ingenious speculators who believe that everything produced in nature
must be of use to the producer, have been hard put to it to account for these
latter. But if Bafy and Heilbronn are right, the matter is simple enough:
under the influence of light certain chemical reactions take place in the plant
for which it is in no way responsible; such of the products as are of use to it
it utilises, and the remainder it must dispose of as best it can.
CONTEMPORARY HAPPENINGS.
Like other magazines The Lancashire and Cheshire Naturalist has felt the combined effect of
bad times and appalling printers' bills, and there was a danger that it might be discontinued. We
are glad to learn that this danger has now been averted, Messrs. Western, who founded it in 1907,
having resumed the control, and we hope that their courage and public spirit will be rewarded by
a satisfactory circulation. The magazine is published bimonthly; and the annual subscription is 8s.
6d. (post free); subscriptions should be sent to Mr. W. H. Western, 108, Greenway Street,
Darwen, Lancashire.
29
The Society of Chemical Industry was fortunate in inducing Professor H. E. Armstrong to
give its first Messel Lecture, and the lecture (J.S.C.I., xli., 1922, 253T) should be read by
everyone who is studying chemistry. Professor Armstrong is as famous for his originality as for
his plain speech, and in this lecture there is no mincing of matters; "we physicians have a long
way to go in healing ourselves before we prate of scientific method to the public. " Theories
which most of us have been taught to regard as perhaps more important than Newton's Laws or
the Decalogue are treated with scant respect; text books are ,
'tomes Of reasoned wrong, glozed on by ignorance. "
Whether he agrees with the lecturer or not every chemist can read this lecture with profit,
and we recommend it to students as the stimulating work of a man who is as original a thinker as
he is a sound experimenter. "C'est abracadabrant. "
We hear of Mr. E. Leonard Gill's appointment to the Scottish National Museum with mixed
feelings, for although we congratulate him on his translation and the governors of the Museum on
their wisdom, we regret that the Northumberland and Durham Natural History Society should
sustain such a loss. During the twenty years he has been there Mr. Gill has done great work at the
Hancock Museum, and has endeared himself to local naturalists by his unfailing readiness to help.
We wish him all good fortune in his new post.
In an interesting letter to Nature (Sept. 9th, 1922) Sir Hubert Maxwell calls attention to the
great difference between the two races of British oak (Quercus Robur, Linn.) in their
susceptibility to attack by the larvae of Tortrix viridana. The durmast oak (Q. sessiliflora, Salisb)
prevails as an indigenous growth in the western and north western parts of Great Britain and in
Ireland, but ripens acorns comparatively seldom, and recent plants are almost always of the other
race Q. pedunculata, Ehrh. There is little to choose between the two except that the durmast
appears to be almost immune from attack by the larvae, careful observation in all parts of the
country proving that it is not unusual to see a sessile oak standing out in brilliant foliage when
every other oak in the wood was as bare of leaf as in winter."
In a letter to Nature (Sept. 16, p. 380) Dr. and Mrs. Garrett give some interesting results of
their experimental rearing of lepidopterous larvae on food treated with various metallic salts. It
would seem that Mr. Wells' "Food of the Gods" is not such a very extravagant fancy after all, and
that lead nitrate is to be regarded as an effective ingredient of any such compound! The use of this
salt increased the average weight by 15 per cent. The concluding paragraph of the letter is worth
quoting, if only for its local interest: "The herbage near the chimneys of lead smelting works
contains appreciable amounts of lead, and cases of lead poisoning have occurred among sheep; in
Weardale, however, it is a common practice to pasture sheep as near as possible to these
chimneys when they are being fattened, as the farmers consider that they fatten much more
quickly than on other parts of the moors. "
NOTES AND RECORDS.
LEPIDOPTERA.BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS.
Colias Edusa, F. Clouded yellow.
66
The recent wave of immigrants of this species reached Durham as I saw a specimen
flying wildly from flower to flower in late spring at Birtley. -CHARLES ROBSON.
Selenia lunaria. Lunar Thorn.
67
A single male specimen came to light in my garden at Hexham. -F.C. GARRETT.
30
Hadena glauca, Hb. Glaucous Shears.
66
This species, although on record, does not appear in Robson's list. The occurrence of a
specimen at Burnhill, therefore, on the occasion of the visit of the Natural History Society
deserves notice.-J. R. JOHNSON.
Nudaria mundana, L. The Muslin.
66
A pair taken on a stone wall near Muggleswiek, July, 1922, are the only representatives
of this species I have seen for years.
Cerura furcula, L. Sallow Kitten.
67
I took one of this species from Salix Caprea at Stocksfield in the first week of July,
1922, and later larvae on Salix Andersoniana at Fallowfield.
Coremia munitata, Hb. Red Carpet.
66
The Coremias generally are so rarely seen with us that the capture of a single male near
Muggleswick must be noted.
Geometra papilionaria, L. Large Emerald.
67
When with the Natural History Summer School from Armstrong College I detected a
female example of this fine insect drying its wings at the foot of a birch near Shotley Bridge.
Larentia salicata, Hb, Striped Twinspot Carpet.
66
Another insect not recorded for many years in our area and likewise taken at Burnhill
when Mr. Johnson secured Hadena glauca. This was a female and from it I have bred over
18 pupae. As these are lying over it is clearly only singlebrooded with us.
Ypsipetes rubernta, Ruddy Highflier.
66
On Salix phylicifolia a somewhat unusual food plant on Falcon Clints and along
Langdon Beck.
J. W. H. HARRISON.
TENTHREDINOIDEA.SAWFLIES.
Pontania femoralis, Cam.
66, 67
Commonly on Salix phylicifolia and S. Andersoniana at Langdon Beck, Falcon Clints,
The Sneap; excessively rare on S. aurita, Stocksfield.
Pontania salicis, Christ.
66, 67
Throughout the Langdon Beck, Widdy Bank Fell area on S. phylicifolia; on S.
Andersoniana, Hexham, The Sneap; on S. purpurea, Ponte land, Hexham, Whitfield; on S.
purpurea and S. viminalis, Birtley.
Pontania vesicator, Bremi.
66
On S. phylicifolia and S. Andersoniana, Upper Derwent and Upper Teesdale.
Pontania proxima, Lep.
66, 67
Everywhere on Salices of the Albafragilis allics; near Chesterle Street on S. aurita, S.
aurita X S. cinerea; Stocksfield on S. cinerea.
Pontania peduscali, Htg.
66, 67
On Salix aurita, Falcon Clints, Waldridge, Fallowfield, ; on S. Caprea, The Sneap, and
Mickley.
Pontania viminalis, Htg.
66
Larvae in rolled leaves of Salix viminalis at Birtley but probably general.
J. W. H. HARRISON.
FLOWERING PLANTS.
Salix Andersoniana, L.
66
Male plant only at Vigo, near Birtley.
Salix auritax S. cinerea.
66
Quite common on Waldridge Fell.
Salix purpurea x S. viminalis.
66
Plentiful on the Vigo Railway and at Portobello, near Birtley, but as with S.
Andersoniana, only male plants.
31
Salix purpurea x S. viminalis x S. cinerea.
66
A triple hybrid occurring with the preceding, in this case only female plants.
Salix daphnoides, vill.
66, 67
An odd plant or two of this alien species grows along the Team between Lamesley and
Bewicke Main; also planted freely near Armstrong College, Newcastle on Tyne.
Prunus spinosa, L. Blackthorn.
66
I think it necessary to draw attention to the presence now on Falcon Clints of many
fruiting examples of this shrub. This is very interesting, not only because Baker and Tate do
not mention it from this altitude, but because the plant never, in my experience, fruits in this
(the Team Valley) district.
J. W. H. HARRISON.
ARACHNIDA.
HYDRACHNIDAE.WA'l'ER MITES.
Panisus michaelii, Koen.
67
West Allendale; margins of ditches, crawling on hepatics, mosses, &c. Not a free
swimmer, and does not hesitate to emerge from the water.
Sperchon squamosus, Kr.
67
West Allendale. Here and there in the streams along with S. brevirostris, Lebertia
porosa and Hygrobates naicus: ranging over the surface of stones where the current is fairly
strong. Smaller and paler than S. brevirostris,
Pionacercus leuckartii, Pg., var. scutatus, Thor.
67
West AlIendale. In peat pools at about 1,700 feet. The male agrees exactly with the P.
scutatus of Sig Thor (Arch. Nation. Christian.; vol., xxi., 5, p. 41) which Piersig regards,
rightly I think, as a variety of P. leuckartii. Hitherto only the type form has been recorded as
British, according to the list kindly furnished to me by Mr. C. D. Soar. In size and colour it
resembles very closely a halfgrown Hygrobates naicus,
var. piriformis, Soar.
67
West Allendale. In peat pools at about the same elevation as the foregoing form but
four miles distant, on another ridge. One male only and the characteristic tarsal setae are six
in number, not five as in Soar's type.
Mideopsis orbicularis, M
67
Allendale. In the Allen just below the Cupola Bridge, Whitfield, along with Lebertia
porosa and Sperchon squamosus; rarer than either and easily distinguished by its dark colour
and its much swifter movements.
Aturus scaber ; Kr.
67
Allendale. Under the Cupola Bridge at Whitfield among the moss clinging to the sides
of the narrow channels of the limestone which forms the bed of the stream. Abundant.
Thyas venusta, C.L.K.
68
Ross links in shallow pools; abundant and very conspicuous by reason of its brilliant
red hue and free swimming in both respects a great contrast to the duller hued and more
sluggish Panisus michaelii which it otherwise closely resembles (to the naked eye). A week
or two on re visiting the spot I found the pools quite dried up, but the mites were still present
in the short damp moss in a torpid state; nor did they recover their activity for some
considerable time after being placed in water. None were present in the more permanent
slightly brackish pools on the links.
Arrhenurus integrator, M
68
Holy Island in the Lough. muddy eastern margin. 68 Both sexes, quite abundant along
the muddy eastern margin.
32
Eylais extendens, M.
68
Holy Island Lough, in the deeper water. Quito as large as the common terrestrial mites
Smaris expalpis and Ritteria nemorum, but of a darker crimson. The red colour soon
disappears after immersion in spirit.
Hygrobates naicU8, Johnston.
68
This species, already recorded as abundant in West Allendale streams, is probably not a
new record for vicec-country 68 as Dr. Johnston 's types were taken somewhere in the
neighbourhood. I have taken it in the streams near Belford, and in ponds at Newlands and
Swinhoe (two miles north of Belford). The specimens from the streams are smaller and
lighter coloured.
NEWS OF THE SOCIETIES.
NORTHERN ENTOMOLOGISTS' CLUB.-In our last issue we referred to the proposed
Entomological Club, and reported the provisional arrangements which had been made.
In spite of the disastrous season these arrangements have worked well: the field days have
usually been wet, but the enthusiasts have turned out, and shared enjoyable outings to
Ravensworth, Prestwick Carr, Blackhalls, etc.
The visit to Blackhalls on July 8th was carried out in spite of its being one of the wettest
days of this rainy year, and a number of specimens were taken under the most adverse possible
conditions. It is probably just as well not to enquire too closely into the condition of the
enthusiasts at the end of the day 's work but their ardour was undiminished, as several of them
were back again on the same ground on the Monday following.
The evening meetings at Armstrong College have given rise to interesting discussions.
Early in October a meeting will be held to discuss permanent arrangements for the working
of the Club, and for its housing.
Local entomologists who wish to know what is being done should write to the acting
Secretary, Mr. William Carter, 13, Kimberley Gardens, Jesmond.
NEW LOCAL SOCIETIES.We are glad to hear that Natural History Societies are about to
be established in Birtley and in Hexham. In both these places there are experienced naturalists
whose help will be of the greatest value to beginners, and we know that in both places it is
possible to do good work. We wish both ventures all success, and hope that they will lead some of
the young not only to collect but to study nature scientifically, and to solve some of the many
problems which await attention.
NOTICE TO SUBSCRIBERS.
The continued high cost of printing has compelled us to raise the subscription for this
volume to five shillings. Subscriptions are due on October 1st, and it will help if readers will
remit to Dr. Garrett without waiting to be reminded. The editors are anxious to procure copies of
part 2 of vol. 3 of the Vasculum; if any readers have copies they do not need we shall be glad to
pay half-a-crown a piece for them.
33
THE VASCULUM.
Vol. IX. No. 2.
January, 1923.
EDITORIAL.
The Business Manager desires me to thank those subscribers who
responded so readily to my appeal and sent in their subscriptions for the
current volume. There are still some, however, who have forgotten to do so,
and I hope this will catch their eye--in which case the issue of postal
demand notes will be unnecessary. It is a pleasure to draw attention to the
accession of a new colleague. Mr. W. Raw, M.B.O.U., has consented to
serve on our staff in place of Mr. E. Leonard Gill, who unfortunately finds
his new environment too strong for him and is compelled to leave us. Mr.
Raw has already proved himself a "live" naturalist, and makes his bow to
the Vasculum circle in this present number.
LARVAL DECAPOD CRUSTACEANS FROM
NORTHUMBERLAND PLANKTON.
OLGA M. JORGENSEN, M.Sc.
During the months May to September of 1921 a series of tow-nettings
were taken at a number of stations off the Northumberland coast. The
catches were made by means of three nets, surface, midwater and bottom,
towed slowly against the current for a definite time, and consisted of
considerable but very variable quantities of plankton-those organisms which
float passively or swim but feebly and are drifted along involuntarily by the
currents.
The plankton catches were suitably preserved in bottles and on
examination were found to contain vast numbers of the more primitive
crustacea known as copepods and, at times, quantities of the arrow-worm
Sagitta and the bell-like Ctenophores, which form an important item in the
food of fishes and whales. Other creatures which occurred in smaller
34
numbers were the eggs and young of fishes, the medusoids or
swimming bells of hydrozoa, larval stages of bristle-worms and molluscs,
and various kinds of crustaceans.
The present article is concerned with only one group of the lastmentioned animals, namely the decapods (crabs, . lobsters, etc.), and as the
adults of these are mostly bottom living forms it is almost entirely with the
young stages that we have to deal.
35
The decapods ensure the distribution of their young by setting them free
in a condition very different from the adult form, and suited to a pelagic
(free-swimming) existence. During the period in which these larvae remain
as members of the plankton and are being carried by the currents to
considerable distance, they undergo a series of ecdyses, or moults, by means
of which they increase in size and progress in the development of their
limbs. Eventually, at one of these moults, a more or less definite
metamorphosis takes place and the pelagic larva becomes more like the
adult in appearance, leaves its former habitat, and begins to seek the seabottom. At the next moult the adult form is completely assumed, though
not, of course, of adult size. This metamorphosis is well illustrated by the
common shore-crab. Here, there are five pelagic stages, each known as a
zoea, followed .by a more developed stage, the megalopa, which is only
partly pelagic. At the next moult this gives rise to a perfect young crab (Fig.
1).
In the samples there are a large number of different larvae, some of
which have been identified, but the determination of the species to which
they belong is in many cases only tentative, or altogether impossible, owing
to the literature of the subject being very inadequate and to the fact that the
larvae, having been preserved for some time before examination, had lost
,their colours.
The results of the examination of the catches have been tabulated
roughly, and although it is too early and the facts are as yet too scanty to
allow of anything in the way of generalization, one or two matters of
interest are emerging already. For example , species new to the district are
appearing; larvae of species hitherto regarded as rare have appeared in
considerable quantities; and the samples yield much information regarding
the hatching season or seasons of the species captured.
Out of the forty-seven samples taken only three from Newbiggin and
Blyth in July contained no decapods. The larvae fall into three groups which
will be dealt with separately.
l.-The Macrura or lobster-like forms.
Of these the commonest forms were prawns of the genera Pandalus and
Hippolyte. More than one species of shrimp were present but they always
occurred very sparingly .. The larvte of the common lobster (Homarus
vulgaris) never appeared in the catches at all.
36
The number of larval stages in members of this group varies
considerably. Some, like the common edible prawn (Nephrops norvegicus),
are freed with thirteen of the nineteen pairs of appendages already
developed, and only three moults are necessary to convert the larva into the
adult condition. Others however, such as shrimps, have five larval stages,
while in the genus Pandalus as many as eight occur.
The last mentioned forms are hatched with only eight pairs of
appendages, so that many more moults are required to attain the adult state
than are necessary in the case of Nephrops,
The most interesting species of which larvae occurred in the plankton
are Nephrops norvegicus, U pogebia sp. and Callianassa subterranea,
Although Nephrops occurs so commonly in the district no larvae seem
to have been taken until we obtained them in the
samples under consideration. Nephrops larvae are recorded by the
International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (1908-1911) from the
N. Atlantic in May and from the Irish Sea in May and August. Also, we
have in the laboratory at Cullercoats eggs and newly hatched larvae taken
from females caught by the Shields boats during the same months.
Our specimens differ from that of G. O. Sars' illustration in having a
spine on the dorsum of the 2nd abdominal segment, and a much longer
median spine in the caudal fork (Fig. 2). Nevertheless two of our specimens
are the stage I. and the other the stage II. described by him. It is possible
that the former were hatched on our local prawn ground
37
which reaches from near the Coquet to Seaham, but it would seem more
likely that these, as well as the older larvae, have been drifted down the
coast from one of the grounds further north-probably from the region of the
Firth of Forth.
Larvae of a species of U poqebia (? U. stellata) occurred in small
numbers in most of the catches from July onwards and were very common
in those taken off Newbiggin in July and off Cullercoats in August. As a
large proportion of these were very young stages this would seem to
indicate that U pogebia is by no means so rare here as the scanty records of
it suggest.
Callianassa subterranea has not been recorded for this coast, yet the
larvae, chiefly in the first stage, appeared in the catches during the whole
period. Generally they occurred in very small numbers, only from one to
seven specimens per bottle, but in July they were very numerous near the
Longstone. They never appeared in the surface samples. Evidently this
species, which has been recorded for the Dutch coast and the Moray Firth ,
is to be regarded as a member of our coastal fauna also. It is not surprising
that we know little of the scarcity or otherwise of the two last mentioned
species as the adults are fossorial in habit and are able to retire to a depth of
two or three feet into the mud of the sea floor so that special apparatus is
necessary to extract them.
2.-The Anomura; hermit-crabs, porcelain-crabs and allied forms.
Larvae of the "squat-lobsters" (Galathea) appeared in all the samples
and were especially plentiful from May to July. Young of the long-armed
Munida occurred sparingly and only in May. Hermit-crab larvae were
present throughout the period, two species being identified, namely, the
common one, Eupagurus bernhardus, fairly abundant in July and August,
and Anapagurus chiroacanthus, of very frequent occurrence in catches all
along the coast in August and September.
The hermit-crabs pass through four larval stages in which the body is
perfectly symmetrical and resembles the orthodox larval decapod shape and
it is only when the fourth stage larva moults into the so-called Glaucothoe
stage that the assymmetry characteristic of the adult begins to make its
appearance. It is at this stage that the creature begins to lose interest in its
planktonic existence and to seek the bottom.
38
3.-The Brachyura, or true crabs.
In this group development takes place as described above for the shorecrab. The plankton samples contained zoeae and megalopa of more than one
species of swimming-crab, (Portunus), of the masked-crab (Corystes
cassivelaunus), of the spider-crab (Hyas araneus), and, much less
frequently, zoeae of Ebalia sp. and of the shore and edible crabs, together
with a number of unidentified larval. The most interesting of these larval are
the zoeae of Ebalia which were taken sparingly over the whole field of
operations between July and September. They are probably E. cranchii and
are of importance in that they furnish material for the study of at least three
stages in the development of this very small larva, of which little seems to
be known.
It would be very instructive in many ways if we could obtain a series of
plankton samples from the same stations during the months November to
March for comparison with the summer catches, that is during the period
when large quantities of northern species of planktonic animals are carried
to our shores-species which are said to appear at no other part of the year.
If the identification of all the species of decapod larvae taken is to be
made with anything like accuracy it will be necessary, in addition to
examining the preserved material, to secure catches of larvae in the living
condition and to obtain berried females of as many species as possible and
carry out hatching experiments in the laboratory. This last, would enable us
to be sure of the first stage larvae at least, and from a record of the colour
markings of these, subsequent stages of the same species obtained alive
from plankton catches could be identified, as the arrangement of the
pigment cells (chromatophores) is constant for each species throughout the
successive stages of the larval period. This method will be absolutely
necessary if the megalopa stages are to be assigned to their respective
species, for while twenty-two species of Brachyura are recorded for the
Northumberland coast, of these only eight megalopa have been
satisfactorily described and figured.
As this is only one example of the numerous gaps in the literature of the
subject, and as only one year's samples have been examined, it is not
possible at present to do more than give this preliminary account of an
investigation' which promises to provide abundant work in nomenclature
and life histories for some time to come. In addition there is the fascinating
problem of the planktonic food of fishes.
39
THE PASSING OF THE FARNES.
W. RAW, M.B.O.U.
The position of the avian inhabitants of the Farne Islands is exercising
the minds of north country naturalists and also of other folk further afield.
No doubt our readers will have read elsewhere something regarding the
effect the coming of the motor-boat and its attendant picnic parties has had
upon the problem of adequate protection of the renowned bird colonies on
the Farne Islands. Certain it is that unless things are altered soon and steps
taken to safeguard the rearing of young birds the heading of these notes will
become an accomplished fact.
The present organisation known as the Farne Islands Association, does
its best with the resources, financial and otherwise, at its disposal, but it is
felt that bigger guns must be brought to bear if the desired object is to be
achieved. The collaboration of all thinking nature lovers should surely not
be impossible, and it is only by means of absolute cohesion and good will
that success will be obtained. Are we to stand by and allow the feathered
multitudes of the Farnes to dwindle away and leave the locality altogether?
Surely not! Yet, given a few more years as disastrous as 1922, that result
will be inevitable. Do you realise that not a single Tern of any species was
reared at the Farnes last season? I am aware that many well-known men say
that such things have happened previously, and hint at an absence of
suitable food; but I would answer that, even granting the first to be accurate
it will also apply to every coming year if things are not altered, and altered
quickly. I make bold to say that without any caprice on the part of the birds
themselves it will be impossible for young to be hatched if picnic parties
and other irresponsibles are allowed to roam promiscuously over the
Islands. I believe that many of the visitors are unaware of the damage they
do but would point out that a succession of individuals keeping the birds off
their eggs are equally as destructive as the persons who actually remove the
eggs. The fact that Terns did commence to lay on the Farnes in 1922 has
been established. Also the fact that Sandwich Terns turned up and bred in
numbers further south as late as August, where they were not in the habit of
breeding previously is also on record. Particulary of yet other new breeding
grounds in my certain possession I do not feel disposed to disclose, but they
are verified by competent men, who, with me are aware that young were
raised very late in the year.
40
Regarding the problem of scarcity of food, or even total failure,
Professor Meek was asked to give his views on the matter and he replied
that so far as he had observed no such scarcity or failure was indicated
during last breeding season. Those interested will be glad to hear that the
Ornithological Section of the N.D. & N.N.H.S. are endeavouring to find a
solution to the problem of the adequate protection of the Farne Islands, and
are trying to enlist the sympathy and assistance of all who are likely to help.
Something will have to be done, and done soon, or these interesting Islands
will become a legend backed up by photographs to hand down to posterity
and thereby give reason for those that come after us to do what we ourselves
are prone to do in other directions, curse those that went before, all
unmindful of the future generations.
PLACE-NAME PROBLEMS.
J. E. HULL.
TWYFORD.-For the historical Twyford-on-Alne our only authority is
Bede, Hist. Eccl., iii, 26 (28)-" juxta fluuium Alne in loco qui dicitur
Adtuifyrdi quod significat 'ad duplex vadum.'" Other references are all
apparently drawn from Bede; for example, we find in the fourteenth century
History of Saint Cuthbert, iv., 6471:
" Twyforde beside Alne flode
Stode some tyme a toune gode."
At this place a Synod was held in 684 in the presence of King Ecgfrid
and under the presidency of Archbishop Theodore. The chief act of the
Synod was the election of Cuthbert as bishop of Hexham; but before his
consecration it was arranged that he should go to Lindisfarne, Eata being
translated to Hexham.
Bede's Adtuifyrdi stands alone; there is no other independent record.
General opinion now places it at the mouth of the Alne, either where
Alnmouth now stands, or on the south side of the estuary on or near the site
of the later St. Waleric. See Mawer's " Place-names, etc.," p. 4, note; New
History Northumberland, Il, p. 439, etc.
Note that the designation is not "at the two fords" but "at the double
ford," which agrees better with two fords over the same stream than with
two fords over adjacent streams; and there were two fords near the mouth of
the Alne. Moreover the usually frequented road seems to have
41
kept near the coast, as one may gather from the itinerary of the bearers
of Cuthbert's body in after years. Possibly also the popular name of St.
Waleric-Neubiginge-may have reference to the fact that the site had been
occupied before; and there appears to have been a church on the south side
long before there was anything of the kind on the north side. For these
reasons I place Twyford on the south side of the estuary of the Alne; and
this is also the natural conclusion to be drawn from Bede's account of the
Synod of 684. It was apparently convened for the purpose of electing a
bishop for the vacant see of Hexham, and with a definite intention of
securing Cuthbert for the office if possible. The river Alne was the
boundary between the sees of Lindisfarne and Hexham, and a place as near
as possible to the abode of Cuthbert and yet within the diocese of Hexham
would be an appropriate meeting-place. As a matter of fact Cuthbert was
elected to Hexham, but before his consecration at York in the following
year it was arranged that Eata should be translated to Hexham and that
Cuthbert should succeed him at Lindisfarne.
CHESTER-LE-STREET.-In the seventh century Life of St. Cuthbert by
the anonymous monk of Lindisfarne, the saint is represented as fording the
Wear on his way to Melrose at or near a place called Leunckcester. The
crossing, I think, must have been made at the ancient Cocken Ford; for there
can be little doubt that Leunckcester is a literal blunder for Cunckcester ,
otherwise Conkchestor, i.e., Chester-le-Street. The initial could easily be
misread, and Lanchester is quite out of the question.
The 14th century Life of St. Cuthbert gives several forms of this nameCunchecestre, iv., 6845; Councchestre, iv., 7294; Conikecestre, ii., 4756according to the source the author is using. For himself he adds (iv. 6845):" Now in the strete it is calde Chestre."
The first element of Conkchester appears again in the adjacent Cong
Burn, both names, as I think, being derived independently from the same
source, most probably the Celtic name for the great bend of the river Wear
(cf. Welsh congl, angle, bend). The same element is found in the Latinized
Celtic name, Congavata, the terminal apparently being "mat" (cf. Welsh
mâth., a flat place or a beaten track).
If Bede's "in cuneningum" be rightly identified with Conkchester, it is
evident that he understood the first element to be Celtic "cwningen" or its
Anglian equivalent
42
(=rabbit). In any case Mawer's attempt to find a personal name is quite
hopeless, resting solely on an isolated record. The case of Consett, to which
he refers for support, is just the same-a single record retains a vowel
between "n" and "k."
" In cuneningum," if really so written by Bede, is a mistake for " in
cuningum," and would seem to apply to some place less familiar to Bede
than Conkchester-perhaps Coniscliffe. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle makes
this Ciningesclif, but in local records the first vowel is always "u" or "o." It
is therefore really Coningesclif. It was obviously understood locally that the
first element was "coning:' because the alternative M.E. form "coni" was
commonly in use. It is difficult to see how Scand. "konung" can normally
become "coni."
AD MURUM.-Bede Hist, Eccl. iii., 21: "in vico regis inlustri qui
vocatur Ad Murum "; and iii., 22: "in villa regia ..... quae cognominatur Ad
Murum. Est enim juxta murum quo olim Brittaniam insulam praecinxere,
xii milibus passuum a mari orientali secreta."
Walbottle (Smith); Walltown (Stubbs). The exact distance from the sea
as the crow flies points to Walbottle; but obviously the figure is a
computation, and the actual place might be anywhere from Benwell to
Heddon-on-theWall. The latter place as early as the Testa de Nevill (say
1250) was Heddon-super-Murum. Walbottle has nothing-neither general
situation nor the proximity of a ford-to recommend it as a royal residence;
and as Bede is probably calculating distance with " Ad caprae caput"
(Gateshead) as a first stage, I conclude that Heddon-on-the-Wall will best
satisfy the conditions. There was an ancient settlement in the
neighbourhood, apparently; for the Celtic name still survives in Hedwin
Streams, well-known as the western limit of mayoral perambulations on
Ascension Day in past years. It was also in use up to the 16th century for
what are now known as East and West Heddon, while Heddon itself has
always been Anglian-the "heath-hill." The summit lies just within the Wall,
a very likely place for a British settlement in connection with the adjacent
Roman station of Vindobala. Hedwin, on the other hand, was beyond the
Wall, probably undisturbed wooded country-the land of the deer, perhaps
(Welsh hiddwen)-altogether quite a likely place for a royal vill in Anglian
times. The only objection is that the name Heddon does not contain in itself
any reference to the designation "Ad Murum"; but probably "-on-the-Wall"
represents it, for it was not
43
necessary to distinguish it from any other Heddon, "super Murum"
being in use while E. and W. Heddon were still called Hedwin. The same
conclusion might be drawn from Bede's "cognominatur," which strictly
speaking, refers to an appendage to a name.
EBCHESTER.-It was a relief to find Mawer breaking the persistent
reference to this name to Aebba of Coldingham, a myth which apparently
had its origin in the Acta Sanctorum. Bede knew nothing of a religious
establishment at Ebchester. But so far as I can see, Mawer's own essay is
exactly on the same plane as that of the Bollandists, resting as it does upon
the fact that there was a man named Ebbi, who may possibly have had some
connection with the place.
It happens, however, to be equally true that the name could be formed
from the Celtic word which is incorporated in the Roman name Epiacum
(often written Epeiacum). It is true that Ebchester has long been identified
with the Roman Vindomora; because, I suppose, that station according to
the Antomne itinerary is nine miles from Corstopitum. But Whittonstall
would fit this condition equally well; and curiously enough the name reads
like an Anglian translation of Vin-dun-or, which is as near as one can get to
the Celtic name behind the Latin Vindomora.
I suggest, therefore, till a good reason be found to the contrary, that
Ebchester is really the Roman Epiacum, the Celtic basis of which may have
been a primitive form of Welsh ebach, an angle or corner-possibly referring
to an angle or bend in the road, supposing that here the Roman road
coincided with an ancient line of communication.
KIRKLEY.-Originally Cricklaw , see Mawer's list of records, and more
especially his quotation from the charter of A.D. 684 relating to Creech St.
Michael, Somerset-"collem qui dicitur brittanica Iigua Cructan apud nos
Crycbeorh." This gives us directly Cruc-tan=Cryc-beorhe=Crick-law. Thus
from Somerset to the Wansbeck we have a Celtic cruc adopted into the
vernacular and compounded with O.E. terminals. This Celtic cruc (Welsh
crwc) is etymologically equivalent to Latin circus and Teutonic hrinc (Eng.
ring). From the last we derive "rank," a line of men, and "harangue" an
address delivered to the "ring," so that the root-word was obviously used of
men assembled in a ring. So also, no doubt, Celtic crwc and Latin circus, As
a matter of fact Celtic cruc is most probably what lies behind the traditional
" Round Table" of King Arthur-a circular
44
place of assembly; a ring of stones which served as seats for the
accredited members, and as a boundary to exclude the unqualified. Hence
Crick-law = Mote Hill. Whether there are any traces of a cruc at Kirkley or
not, I do not know.
The local vernacular "cracket," a low stool or seat, is in all probability a
derivative of cruc, It is not circular but rectangular; a pretty solid, more or
less box-like thing, whose primitive predecessor was no doubt a simple
block of wood or even of stone, reminiscent of the seats in the "cruc."
UNTHANK-Mawer refers this to the more usual meaning of the word"ingratitude," as perhaps indicating the nature of the soil. This, though
unsatisfactory, is much better than highly speculative meanings previously
given. There is, however, another use of "unthank " which meets the case
aptly and naturally. The genitive, for example, is used in the medieval Life
of St. Cuthbert as an adverb meaning "against (her) will," in much the same
way as the genitive "needs" is still used. O.E. gethanc is mind, will
intention. "Unthank," therefore, if applied to property, must mean
something undesired, unsought for, or at least unexpected.
Besides occurring frequently as a place-name (always for a more or less
limited area-a farm or holding, not an estate; and of course never a village
or township) it is found in old township rolls which enumerate the separate
arable holdings of the inhabitants. Thus in Ellingham we find a list of such
lands under the names of North Awards, South Awards, etc., and "Unthank
lands." Apparently these, which were held by men who also had "Award"
lands, were holdings not allotted in the usual way-perhaps assigned to the
holders without being claimed or applied for. Literally, it should mean land
which they were required to cultivate against their will. According to the
schedule the annual payment for "unthank " lands, was much the same as
for the regular "award" lands, so that it would seem that there was no
difference in the value of the land ; indeed, they were parts of the same
"field" as the "award" lands.
The transference of the name to non-community lands was no doubt due
to some similarity of tenure; i.e., they must have been held under some kind
of obligation, perhaps in conjunction with other holdings.
EALS. STEEL.-A study of the various sites bearing these names
inclines me strongly to the opinion that both words are contracted forms
representing respectively "ee-walls"
45
and "stee-wall," the terminal in each being Scandinavian völl(r) which
regularly appears to become "wall" ("walls") or "well." "Ee-walls" = island
or riverside-lands (Scand. ieg, island)-equivalent to Anglian "haugh " and
Celtic "strother." "Stee" in Allendale is the usual name for a ladder, so that
"stee-wall" corresponds more or less to Anglian "clive " or Celtic "esh"
(Welsh esgyn), lands on a steep slope traversed by an ascending road or
path.
"Eals" exists (probably) only in the plural form, and as an independent
word, and, like "steel," must have acquired its special meaning and form at
a very early period. The latter, however, in one or two names is not now
written independently (Whittonstall; Steelrigg, Haltwhistle; Hawksteel,
Allendale). The first element of Steel is found as a terminal in Housty
(Allendale) and Howxty (Wark-on-Tyne), in both cases compounded with
Scand. haug(r), a hill which is perhaps also the first part of Hawksteel.
Steel in Hexhamshire was formerly Rowley Steel. A Hexham charter in
1233 refers to it thus: "in Ruleystal .... inter Deniseburn et Divelis . . . . ad
forestam de Lilleswude." Incidentally this passage identifies the
Denisesburna of Bede (where ended the long pursuit after the battle of
Hefenfelth, with the death of Cadwalla) with the Ham Burn or at least that
part of it below its junction with the Rowley Burn. The form "Stal"
probably indicates that the original Norse word, now pronounced "stee,"
was "sta"-a form which still survives in Staward (Norse stá-varth; where
varth signifies either a defence post or a look-out). This vowel-development
is further exemplified in the common "shiel(d)" of the hill-country-Norse
skal(i), a shepherd's summer hut. Cf." bleeberries" (Norse blá, blue).
FINCHALE.-This is Pincanheal or Wincanheal, where a synod was held
in 788. An earlier record has been sought in Bede's Paegnalaech (Peginaleah
of the Saxon version) because of a certain likeness to the name Pincanheal.
But there seems little doubt that in each case the real initial letter is W, not
P; for where Bede gives Peginaleah, the Saxon Chronicle gives Wagele, and
another form of the word is Vegnalech, i.e., Wegnalech, which is nearly
identical with Bede's form. These all belong to Whalley, near Manchester,
which in Simeon of Durham is Walaleage.
The earliest authentic. form of Finchale is therefore Wincanheal , the
recess of the "winca." The word winca
46
is not found in O.E., but its later form should be "wink" or "winch." The
latter appears in Winch Bridge, on the Tees above Middleton; and there is a
Winch on the Wear near Stanhope. In each case it indicates a swerve or
bend of the river; from which it would seem that "winca" is the word which
gives the diminutive "wincel," an angle or corner. For the F<W we may
compare Fenkle (as in Fenkle Street, Newcastle), which is the same as
"wincel."
As usual, where the final gutturall of healh is dropped, giving the
common terminal hale, * there is no alluvial flat such as is invariably
indicated by the guttural form haugh: In fact, here as elsewhere, hale is a
recess or a place more or less naturally enclosed-which is practically the
original meaning of O.E. healh. The word "haugh," though the phonological
equivalent of "healh," is so different in meaning and so strikingly localized,
both in current dialect and in place-names, that there is quite a strong
probability that its origin is not O.E. at all. Its range of use in N. England
and Scotland is that of a loan-word from the Gaelic. Maclure's reference to a
Gaelic hallech, a flat beach, may therefore be correct.
LINDISFARNE.-The O.E. version of Bede makes it Lindisfearena; the
A.S. Chronicle, Lindesfarena. The second part is the same as Farne; no
other explanation is satisfactory. Simeon of Durham-" vocatur autem
Lindisfarne a fluviolo scilicet Lindis"-takes it for granted that the terminal is
Farne, and though he is wrong about the "lindis," he is probably right in
this, for Bede's Latin adjective is Lindisfarnensis.
Mawer appears to accept Maclure's suggestion that Farne = Celtic
ferann, land-not a very likely appellation for such insignificant rocky islets
as the Farnes. It is true, however, that the traditional pronunciation is
dissyllabic, correctly given in Mawer; but I think it is much more likely to
be formed from the Celtic root mer, a fragment, a piece broken off.
Lindisfearena is an O.E. composition, for the Celtic name appears to
have been Medgoet. Lindis or Lindes is apparently genitive singular of lind,
a word adopted from the Celtic and aptly illustrated by Bede's Lindisse
(now Lindsey, in Lincolnshire), a province in which tidal flats like those of
Fenham are characteristic features. This Lindisse perhaps means the "river
of the linds," the terminal being the Celtic word which gives us Ouse, etc.
One might suppose that Simeon was aware of this, and took
* Not a survival of an oblique case, but a dialectic difference-as the
distribution of the" hale" and" haugh " clearly shows.
47
"Lindis" as identical with" Lindisse;" i.e., " the stream of the flats "which could only refer to the Beal Low. This local word "low" is used
generically of all the streams which run into Fenham Flats, and it is
therefore exactly equivalent to Lindisse, if I have interpreted that word
correctly. It appears to be identical with the vernacular "low," a flame, the
root-meaning being something which alternately appears and disappears.
Of. Welsh llug.
It is evident, however, that the O.E. writers of the 11th and 12th
centuries understood Lindisfarne to be the genitive of "Lindisfaras," fendwellers, and therefore wrote Lindesfarena ee," island of the Lindisfari. So
Bede's "Ingyrvum," in the fens, has been understood as " in (the country of)
the fen-dwellers," i.e., Gyrvii, "Which, like Lindisfari is an East Anglian
tribal name; whereas other Yarrows show that the word is simply the O.E.
gyrwe, fen-land. A close parallel to Bede's "Ingyrvum" is "Inrhypum"
Ripon-which probably. means "on the ridges," taking rhyp as the equivalent
of Welsh crib, a crest or ridge, Anglian "edge."
LEE, LEA, LEES, LEAs.-Mawer has very naturally identified these
with the common terminal, ley ; but it is a mistake. He enumerates the
following under O.E. leah : Brotherlee, Fallowlees, Fawnlees, Garretlee.
Glantlees, Greenlee, Hawkuplee, Karswelleas, Leas and Lee Hall, Lees,
Longlee, Morralee, Raylees, Ridlees, St. John Lee, Stobbilee, Whitelees,
Whitelee. The last he names here only, so that I do not know to what place
he refers; but there is a place of that name in West Allendale. Spartylea is
not included in the list, though present in the general list (without any
reference to the terminal!). Three of the nineteen names Garretlee, Longlee,
Stobbilee-belong to the low country, and no doubt are correctly cited under
leah , as the earliest records indicate; but all the rest belong to the montane
Scandinavian region or the immediate border of it, where, indeed, many
more examples can be found. I could expand the list considerably from the
small dale of West AlIen.
The significance of this distribution is obvious: unless one holds, as
Mawer does, that there is no Scandinavian region. There seems to be no
doubt, however, that "lees" or "leas" represents Scandinavian "lith" a slope,
differing from "shaw" only in being more or less effectively occupied. For
the phonology compare "scree" from the Scandinavian skrith. A good
illustration is afforded by the steep "corkscrew " which descends from
Staward station to the Cupola bridge over the AlIen, well known to
Tyneside motorists. Locally it is always called Staward "lea."
48
THE CATTLE OF THE SAGA TIMES.
W. G. COLLINGWOOD, M.A., F.S.A.
A question has lately been asked about the cattle of the Northern nations
in the Viking age; of what breed they were and whence they came. There
are some hazy ideas that the Norse imported cattle into Britain, especially
the dun cows of which we hear in legends. Those ideas can be set aside, as
to the dun cattle, by remembering that some of the legends are much earlier
than the beginning of the Norse raids in historical times; and perhaps we
can gather a few incidents which will show that the dun cow was as much a
stranger among Northern herds as it was in Britain and Ireland at the dark
period after the Romans and before the Normans.
The chief instance in the sagas is the story of the bull Glaesir (Glossy)
in Eyrbyggja-saga :-How a lame cow at Alptafjord in N.W. Iceland (the
date would be about A.D. 1010-1020) was joined by a strange beast which
nobody knew, and remarkable as apalgrár, " apple-grey"; the cow bore a
big and magnificent bull-calf, which became the terror of the
neighbourhood, and finally disappeared into a bog-hole ever since called
Glossy's Well. This is, of course, a variant of the wide-spread legend,
parallel to the stories about dun water-horse, Kelpies; in Norse, the Nykr or
water-goblin. It may be rash to rationalize a myth, but in the story,
embedded us it is in historical matter, it looks as though we had an account
of a strain of dun cattle, bigger and fiercer than usual, imported into Iceland,
where the ordinary cattle of a thousand years ago were small, and not dun in
colour.
It is pretty certain that there were no cattle indigenous to Iceland, but
that they were brought from abroad. Olaf Tryggvason's saga tells of early
settlers, shortly after A.D. 874, whose cattle died off in the first winter. The
Landnámabók gives several cases which imply bringing cattle in ships:
Hjörleif , one of the first immigrants, had with him Irish slaves and one ox,
about which there is a story (Landn. i., 6); another story, about a mare
which was lost from a cargo of live-stock landed at Kolbeinsá (Landn. iii.,
8), shows that the larger domestic animals were imported in the early
settlement-period. What they were like is suggested by two incidents; a very
strong man named Thorkell, one of the first settlers, swam half a sea-mile to
an island and brought ashore on his shoulders an old ox
49
(Landn. ii., 14), which shows that the breed was distinctly small; and a
certain Thorir, about the same time, was killed in a fight with a neighbour
about a cow and her progeny of forty beasts at Hvammr (N.W. Iceland), the
name of the cow being Brynja (Landn. i., 14). Now Brynja means "coat of
mail," and as a coat of mail was usually more or less rusty, the name
suggests a brown cow, flecked with small spots. The northern Scottish
figures of bulls and cows on carved stones at Inverness, Burghead and
Cossins, probably of the eleventh century, are well drawn and show a shorthorned breed. Further light may arise from examination of bones found at
explored sites in the North, but the available evidence seems to show that
the early Norse cattle were like the early Celtic shorthorn, Bos longifrons;
and that the bigger breed, descended from Bos primigenius, was sparsely or
accidentally introduced. Both breeds already existed in Southern Britain,
and the Norse also knew at least the name of the bison and used the word in
the tenth century.
Legends in N. W. England about the introduction of fresh breeds from
Norse ships apply only to sheep, as far as I know. There is a so-called
tradition that the Herdwick sheep of Cumberland spring from a flock of
forty, which swam ashore from a Norwegian-otherwise reported as a
Spanish-wreck off Drigg. The statement looks like an ex post facto myth, to
explain the hardy variety. But the Vikings do not seem, to have possessed
the material for improving British cattle, though they had ample means for
carriage of live-stock by sea.
Much more, no doubt, could be said upon the subject, and perhaps has
been said. These notes are offered only as a contribution from the point of
view of a stranger to zoology, who is interested in saga history.
THE PRODUCTION OF SUGARS AND ALBUMINOIDS IN
STRAWS.
By S. H. COLLINS.
During the past four years a considerable number of samples of oat
straw have been examined at Armstrong College, in the effort to find out the
relationship between the feeding value of oat straw and the conditions under
which the straw has been grown. One of the most important points noted
has been the prevalence of laevulose or fructose in oat straw. This sugar
occurs in considerable amounts in honey,
50
but is otherwise not very common. It is especially sweet to the taste, and
therefore has a high value in making the straw agreeable to the animals.
During the growth of a cereal plant, carbohydrates are produced in the
leaf by Photosynthesis1 and in all probability cane sugar is the form in
which the carbohydrate is transferred to the stem, and thence to the growing
grain. The grain deposits starch which is formed from dextrose or glucose.
Cane sugar, when acted upon by certain enzymes in the plant, yields detrose
and laevulose, the former of which is used up by the grain in producing
starch, the latter, not being required by the grain, accumulates in the straw.
Plants have the power to convert one sugar into another, but doubtless time
at least is consumed in the process and perhaps some matter as well. The
formation of matter in the ripening grain lags behind the production of
matter in the leaf and the straw which is intermediate in position contains
what the leaf has made and the grain has not used. The finished straw
therefore contains the surplus laevulose or sugar of honey.
A further important point discovered was that the albuminoids of flesh
formers in the straw were all of a high feeding value2. It is common in crude
plant material to find that the nitrogenous substances are by no means all in
the albuminoid or protein form, but that some considerable fraction consists
of nitrates, alkaloids, amides and other substances of small feeding value. In
oat straw it has been found that most of the nitrogenous substances are
albuminoids. On the other hand, some sorts of straw are so harsh and
fibrous that they are too indigestible to be of much use for feeding. During
the growth of any cereal the nitrogen needed for the elaboration of protein is
absorbed by the roots in the form of nitrates, which are in time elaborated
into more complex substances. The ripening grain absorbs these and stores
them up as compounds resembling albumen or white of egg. The residues
remain in the straw, but apparently, under ordinary conditions of growth,
the supply of nitrogen is well worked up into protein, since in the straw very
small amounts of crude nitrogenous compounds remain. The cereals are not
as heavily manured as root crops, and at least part of the reason why turnips
and swedes contain so much non-protein nitrogen and cereals so little, is
that difference of practice. Cereals soon reach the limit of application of
nitrogen since the straw will not hold them up, but no such difficulty occurs
with root crops.
1
Garrett, this volume p. 25.
CoIlins & Thomas, J. Agric. Sci. 1922, p. 280.
2
51
These changes in composition are much influenced by the conditions of
growth. Organic manures tend to give a large crop which exhausts the straw
of its sugar, but leaves a large amount of protein in the straw. Sulphate of
Ammonia gives more grain and straw, but does not change the composition
of either to any marked extent. Climate has much to do with the
composition, The further north we go, the more albuminoids do we find in
the straw; wet districts give more albuminoids than dry ones. Much of this
change is due to the period of actual growth and exhaustion of straw by the
grain. Cold and damp give long periods of root-action, but slow grainripening, hence albuminoids accumulate in the straw. Bright sunshine gives
much carbohydrate to the plant. and hastens ripening of grain, hence the
straw becomes rich in sugar; but wet harvest conditions give poor
photosynthesis, and slow ripening; such sugar as is left in the straw begins
to ferment away.
The extreme extent of the variation in composition is very marked, the
albuminoids have been as high as 8 per cenr , and as low as 1 per cent .. the
sugars3 a. high as 9.7 per cent. and as low as 0.3 per cent., so greatly is the
composition of the oat straw modified by the conditions under which the
plant has to live. Where plants grow under natural or wild conditions the
variations in composition will he at least as great.
The amount of organic nitrogenous matter, in the soils on which the
experimental oats have been grown, had depended on old grass turf
ploughed in, or farmyard manure applied. Wild forms growing in old pond
mud or bottoms of ditches, full of decaying vegetable refuse, will have their
roots growing in soils far richer in organic nitrogen than the soils of these
experimental oats. It is, therefore highly probable that wild forms would
sometimes be richer in albuminoids than those straws containing as much as
8 per cent. of albuminoids. Although in a few cases the experimental soils
were only poor sand, yet a farmer could never afford to cultivate these
extremely poor soils which in nature will contain a few struggling forms of
plant life, Such extremely poor soils would probably produce straws with
less than the minimum of 1 per cent. albuminoids. Further, the samples of
oats were always fairly large and contained probably about 3,000 plants,
sometimes more, sometimes less. Single plants would show much greater
variation in composition than those mass results do. In wild forms of plants
we may therefore expect even greater variations in composition than those
described above.
3
Collins & Spiller, J, Soc, Chem Ind, 1920, p. 66T.
52
SCIENCE AND HISTORY.
R. G. COLLINGWOOD.
The tramp that underlies the civilized surface of an Englishman wakes
up in August, and drives him afield to face the rain and the sun and his
thoughts. He lodges in lonely inns, the lonelier the better, and these he will
revisit till he begins to fancy they are growing fashionable, when he
abandons them for yet remoter haunts. My inn, on the evening of which I
write, must have reached the second phase of this cycle. It stood bleakly,
wrapped in mist, near the edge of a cliff, on an unfrequented road. There
was no village within a mile, nor town within ten; and the only sounds
about it were the voice of the sea against the cliff and the rushing of winds.
But inside I found two other temporary tramps, drinking tea and eating
bacon; and when they had .finished they seemed to resume a long-standing
argument, to which, after the first of my hunger was allayed, I hegan to pay
attention.
"Your scientific methods are all right for stars and electrons and prime
numbers," the younger man was saying, "but they don't seem to fit when
you come to men and women. You can tell exactly what a planet will do
when it comes into a gravitational field, and you gain nothing by watching
to see whether it does it or not. If you do watch, and it doesn't do it, you
only conclude that the gravitational field wasn't there. But if you expose a
man to a temptation, there is no rule that tells you how he will react. If he
resists the temptation, that does not prove it wasn't there. Every fresh person
is a fresh fact, and you have to study him afresh from the very beginning. A
planet isn't a fresh fact in that sense, it is just another instance of a known
law. But there aren't any laws of human conduct; or if there are, they have
so many exceptions that they aren't any use."
The other man had been elaborately cleaning his pipe, and was filling it.
'When it was alight, he said, " Then you don't think there is any science of
man? "
"No," said the younger, "no science, only history. Anthropology and
psychology and economics aren't real sciences-their laws are only rough
generalizations, not the least like the laws of chemistry and physics, which
are absolutely true. I suppose matter is subject to really uniform laws; but
when you get to human beings you get to mind, and every mind is unique
and unlike every other. So types disappear-or at least, if they exist, they are
quite
53
unimportant--and there are only individuals. And where everything is
individual, science has no foothold: you can only observe the fresh facts,
and that is history."
There was a moment's silence, and then the older man asked, "But you
think the astronomer does understand the motions of a planet? "
"Oh yes: he understands it by seeing that it merely exemplifies a
physical law."
" But in that case the historian doesn't understand human actions at all."
" Why do you say that?".
"Because he doesn't reduce them to examples of a law, and that is what
you say understanding means."
"Yes, I suppose that is true. The historian doesn't understand human
actions: he simply records them as facts."
"As unintelligible facts, that is to say. But all facts aren't unintelligible.
The astronomer records facts, and so does every scientist. But he goes on to
discover their laws, and when he has done that he understands them. So far
as each records facts, I suppose there is no difference between a historian
and a scientist. The difference is that one stops short at the bare fact, while
the other goes on to try and understand it. You say human actions can't be
understood, because they are unintelligible. But isn't that the severest
condemnation of history? We have the faculty of reason; and if history
doesn't give us a field for exercising it, so much the worse for history. If you
are right, history is no fit study for it grown man, who wants above all to
think, to understand, to see reason in things, not just to note them down."
"But do you really think that human action is unintelligible? "
" I don't think so: it is you who think that. I am only a poor scientist and
I think psychology and economics and so on really can explain human
actions. The historian, as I look at him, is only a harmless necessary drudge
collecting facts for the scientist. When he has got the facts, the scientist will
produce the theory which makes them intelligible. Meantime, please go on
with your history: it will all come in handy one day-like butterfly-collecting,
you know."
54
The younger man seemed a little ruffled. "Thats all nonsense," he said.
"You talk about this fine future science that is going to be brewed somehow
out of historical facts, when it is settled what the facts are; but there are
heaps of historical facts settled already, quite enough to form the basis of
any science. Newton wanted some celestial motions accurately observed
before he could work out his theory of gravitation, but he didn't say to the
astronomers 'first discover every fact about every heavenly body, and then
I'll tell you why it all happens.' The moon was good enough for him. Why
isn't Julius Caesar good enough for the sociologist, or whatever you are
going to call your scientist of human life? I'll tell you: it is because the
moon faithfully exemplifies the general rule about bodies, but there isn't any
general rule about people, so Julius Csesar can't exemplify it-and neither
would all the facts of all history, past, present and to come."
"I don't think so," said the scientist. "The laws of human conduct are
more complex than those of gravitating bodies, that is all: and it follows that
one needs more data for discovering them."
" What you are really asking for," said the other, " is an infinity of data,
which means that the laws are infinitely complex, which is as good as to say
there aren't any,"
The scientist thought it over, and broke slowly into a smile. "Do you
know, I believe you are right about that," he said. "I have often thought that
people who talked big about the future were trying to cover their inability to
do anything about the present; and now I've fallen into the same pit myself.
Of course this idea of a future sociological science which will absorb
history is just a case in point. But I still say that understanding is a higher
thing than observation: and if we can't hope to understand human action,
that doesrr't absolve history from the charge of being a low type of thought,
because it is exercised on an object which obstructs thought by being
unintelligible."
"I wonder," said the younger man, "whether understanding is
everything. Aren't there puzzles in science? and doesn't all research imply
something unknown, something in the dark, so to speak, some mystery? "
" Now its you that are talking nonsense," said the other. " Puzzlesmysteries if you like-are all very well so long as you regard them as having
an answer. A question that hasn't an answer is one that isn't worth asking.
And by your
55
own showing the problem of human conduct is one without an answer.
It is a nonsense question."
" Then why not stop asking it? " the younger replied. " If there just isn't
any 'why' for human conduct, history has the last word: for history just finds
out what happened, and leaves it there."
There was a pause, and I heard the wind howling in the chimney. "I
sometimes wonder," said the older man at last, rather drowsily, "whether
even science does any more than that. After all, the scientist moves among
facts just like the historian. I've been collecting fossils here; and when I say
I understand the geology of the country I mean I can tell you to what
horizons these formations belong, when they were laid down, and what has
happened to them since. Isn't that the whole of geology-discovering or
rather guessing at historical facts? "
" Yes, there's a lot in that, and of course geology in that sense is just
history. But surely a scientist does try to see why things happen."
" Well, doesn't a historian? I'm not one; but I know they always go on
about the causes of things. We had quite a row the other dav in our
common-room because two of them lost their tempers over the cause of-I
think it was the Peloponnesian War. I pointed out that the real cause of their
disagreement was that they had both been correcting examination papers for
the last ten days: but that only made them worse."
The young man got up, and knocked his pipe out. On the hearth rug he
turned and faced us. "I believe we've been going on the wrong track," he
said. "We both try to find out the why of things, and we are both more
interested in facts than in anything else. It is all nonsense to say that what a
scientist cares for is mere generalities, and what a historian cares for is mere
facts. Neither is any use by itself. Generalizations are ways of grouping
facts, and facts aren't facts at all until they are grouped. All the ordinary talk
about the difference between science and history is on the wrong lines. Still,
I do think there's an important difference somewhere, but I'm too sleepy to
think of it tonight. I've walked thirty miles, and I'm going to bed. You had
better go too: you've been half asleep for the last ten minutes.
" I hadn't walked thirty miles, and their talk had interested me. I sat up
and had another pipe. There is a real
56
difference between the scientific and historical points of view, I
thought, if only one could grasp it: and I felt sure that it was the clue to a
right understanding of human life. The average scientist thinks of man as a
complex machine, evolved by degrees out of other machines as the universe
dances its unceasing and unmeaning dance. Here is a machine which by
some specialized adaptation has become conscious of itself, only to find
itself a machine, to know that its consciousness is a mechanical product
doomed to mechanical extinction. Man is an atom in nature, all his passion
and aspiration is a mere iridescence on the surface of matter-product
perhaps of a peculiar chemical combination, but first and last a product, and
a by-product at that. Lizard or lemur, whatever our immediate parentage,
our ancestry goes back to the dust, and man, who returns to the dust, is at
bottom dust throughout-dust blown into fantastic forms by the desert wind.
History, I thought, valued man differently. Its concern is with seeing
man as he is, in the full flush of his momentary existence; conscious of the
universe and of himself, acting and reacting in a world that is not dust at all
but mind, a world of moral ideals, political systems, scientific discoveries,
hopes and fears. So seen, man is at times dignified, at times contemptible:
good or bad, inspired or deceived. But nature is none of these things, and
has no place for any of them. Except in a fit of idiotic temper or idiotic
idolatry, no one regards molecular motion as either a bad thing or a good.
Man, regarded as a part of nature, a product of evolution, is equally devoid
of anything good or bad, admirable or despicable. He is just a fact, to be
accepted without emotion like any other fact.
But man as the historian sees him is quite a different thing. He is not a
mere fact but a drama; by which I mean that he and the things he does are
not merely fresh examples of established laws, but have a unique
importance of their own. It is not that the historian regards man as having a
"free will," while the scientist denies it; neither of these statements is
necessarily true. It is rather that, questions of free-will apart, the historian
regards every man, every act, as having an individual nature and a value not
to be compensated or replaced by the substitution of anything else. The
scientist only cares for fads so far as they exemplify laws, and if one fact
were annihilated he would be perfectly content with another that served as
well; he would feel no deprivation. But for the historian nothing will serve
as
57
well. His business is one in which there is no substitution, because
nothing stands for anything except itself. If Queen Elizabeth lost her temper
on a given occasion, that fact to the psycholgist is just an example; to the
historian it is a unique and irreplaceable possession, infinitely precious
because nothing can atone for its loss. Its value lies in its individuality, its
distinctness from every other fact of the same kind. If the scientist tells the
historian that Queen Elizabeth's fit of temper was merely one form of that
consciousness which itself is merely one form of physical energy, the
historian will reply, "Well, but what form? You boil everything down to its
elements, as if all that mattered was what a thing was made of; now to me,
all that matters is what the thing is. Man, you say, is merely a product of
nature. Well, I ask, what sort of a product? What is he like when you come
to him? "
The scientist may reply to that "Of course he has a nature of his own,
Just as I can offer you a distinct scientific account of carbon, and do not
merely say that carbon is a kind of matter, so in psychology I offer you a
specific account of man as a special kind of natural being." But this will not
satisfy the historian; for though he may be told that man has this or that
faculty, his problem remains the same: how have these faculties actually
been used on special occasions? And you may subdivide species for ever
without getting to the individual.
The historian is concerned with the individual, with the wholly real. All
generalization is abstract, and to that extent arbitrary and partly untrue; the
concrete individual alone is real. Queen Elizabeth's fit of temper is ultimate
reality, and we travel further and further from the truth when we
progressively generalize it into a fit of temper, a state of consciousness, a
thing that happened. Thus, the least true thing that can be said about a man
is that he is a product of nature, the latest fruit of evolution, a fleeting shape
in the dust. "Is it true?" Yes, it is true: but it is so little of the truth that if it
is presented as the whole truth it turns into a great bouncing lie. "What then
is the whole truth about man?" Well, a truer truth would be to describe what
this natural product, man, is in general like: to leave vague metaphysics and
plunge into comparative anatomy, physiology, psychology. But that would
still be mere abstraction, truth mutilated and falsified. At most it would be
about ten per cent., instead of about one per cent. of the facts. The whole,
final and ultimate truth about man is this or that historical fact. Here, in the
concrete acts and achievements
58
of man, we really for the first time know him as he is, and in knowing,
understand. My friends I reflected, had agreed that historical fact was
unintelligible, yet at the end of their argument they found that history and
science both dealt with historical fact and both in some sense understood it,
As I now saw their conclusion its meaning became plain. History and
science both deal with reality-the only reality in existence-concrete fact.
Now to understand a fact is simply to see it in its true perspective, in its
connexion with other facts; and this is what both history and science attempt
to do. But the scientist tries to understand the facts by building up round
them a network of abstractions and generalizations, which come between
him and the facts, and lead him to fancy that what he is really studying is
not the facts at all but the generalizations. Hence he misunderstands his own
purpose, and comes to believe that the object which he is investigating is the
"system of laws of nature," a system which does not exist at all in the real
world and is only a metaphysical name for an error in logical analysis.
Now the historian is really doing the same thing as the scientist, that is,
trying to understand the facts. But he differs from the scientist in realizing
what he is doing. He knows that the object of his investigation is no abstract
"law of nature," but the facts, and that the generalizations which he uses are
only a scaffolding of thought round the object, not the object itself. But this
difference of point of view has important consequences. It leads the scientist
to think that he has given us the ultimate truth when he has really given us
the ultimate abstraction; to aim at exhausting all the reality from the object
and reducing it to a mere formula, which, as a half-truth masquerading as a
whole truth, becomes a positive falsehood. The general formula, the law of
nature, which is indifferently true of a number of things, is not adequately
true of anyone of them; and a formula that applied to all reality, if one could
be found, would have precisely no meaning at all. A really adequate, really
true account of anything cannot be an account of anything else except that.
Hence, I concluded, science, even at its best, always falls short of
understanding the facts as they really are; for it treats them as mere
examples of a law, which implies leaving out of them some of their concrete
reality, and taking account, for example, of those features in Queen
Elizabeth's fit of temper which are common to all fits of temper, thus
passing over what makes it unique and giving up the attempt to
59
understand the whole fact. Now when this abstraction, this killing and
dissection of the facts, is consciously done, it need not bring us into positive
error: it merely precludes us from reaching the positive truth: but if we think
we are understanding the fact as it really is, instead of the fact as we have
distorted it, then our science becomes a tissue of errors, approximations to
the truth which can never reach the truth and are naively taken for the whole
truth. This is a familiar thought, and has led people into saying that truth is
unknowable and that all thought is falsification. But that is the wrong
conclusion. The right conclusion is that there must be, in existence or to be
discovered, a method of thought which does not falsify, because it does not
treat the facts in this arbitrary way; a method which recognizes every fact to
be no mere instance of a law, but a unique individual reality, to be studied
in its unimpaired concreteness. And this method can only be history.
So the historian is in the right about man. To call him the product of
nature, the toy of time, is at best a half-truth, at worst a lie. The final,
ultimate truth about him is that historical truth which shows him as he was
and is at the various unique moments of his single history, triumphant over
nature in his action and over time in his thought; no mere figure traced in
the dust but a living spirit, immortal even, if the absolute and irreplaceable
value of the individual fad can be called immortality.
I began to wonder in a sleepy way whether mankind was not beginning
to show some sort of corporate realization of this truth, the relation of
science to history. I remembered that modern science was the creation of
the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, while modern historical method
was not born till late in the eighteenth. And was not the greatest scientific
discovery of the nineteenth century a discovery which tended to remove
biology from the sphere of science altogether and hand it over to history?
What was the doctrine of evolution except the discovery that the method of
history gave the true solution of problems which had baffled the methods of
science? I seemed to see the human mind wandering in its search for
knowledge from one resting-place to another, from magic to religion, from
theology to science, and now, its latest migration, from science to history.
It struck me that the house was very quiet. My pipe was out, and the fire
had burnt low. As I creaked upstairs to bed, I saw that the mist had gone and
the sky was full of stars.
60
CURRENT HAPPENINGS.
The Liverpool Scientific Societies are to be congratulated on their
enterprize in arranging for an "associated soiree" and on its great success.
The affair was held in the public museum on November 4th, each of the
twelve societies concerned arranged its own exhibits, no less than nine
lectures were given on subjects ranging from "Chemistry as a World force"
to "Why we butter our bread," and the attendance was very large. We
understand that the societies will benefit financially as well as in more
important ways by this venture. Cannot Newcastle do something of the
kind?
We are glad to hear that the Lent term course of University Extension
Lectures arranged by the Literary and Philosophical Society of Newcastleupon-Tyne is to be on "The Natural History of Northumberland and
Durham," and that they are to be given by well-known local naturalists. As
seven of the ten lecturers are members of The Vasculum committee modesty
prevents us from saying much in their praise, but there is no doubt that the
lectures will be of value to every north-country naturalist, and we hope that
the attendance will be worthy of the theme. The lectures will begin at 7.30
p.m. and each of them except the first will be preceded by a class which will
meet at 6.30; the class will be directed by Dr. J. W. H. Harrison, but the
speaker of the previous week will be present to answer questions. The
programme runs as follows:
Jan. 4.-" Pioneers and Builders." Rev. J. E. Hull.
“ 11.-" Geology." Dr. D. Woolacott.
“ 18.-" History and Geography of the Flora and Fauna." Mr. A. D.
Peacock.
“25.-"Characteristic features of the Botanical Field." Rev. J. E. Hull.
Feb. 1.-" Agricultural Conditions and Problems." Prof. D. A. Gilchrist.
“ 8.-" Insect Life." Dr. J. W. H. Harrison.
“ 15.-" Marine Biology." Mr. F. W. Flatteley.
“ 22.-" Fisheries." Prof. A. Meek.
Mar. 1.-"Bird Life." Mr. E. L. Gill.
“ 8.-" The Wild Beasts." Mr. G. Bolam.
" 15.-" Northumbrian Ethnology." Mr. A. Hamilton
“ 22.-" General survey of local Biological Research." Mr. A. D.
Peacock. Thompson.
Tickets for the Course, 5s.; Single Admission, 1s .
61
The U.S. Chemical Warfare Section is busy looking for peaceful uses
for the various gases manufactured for war purposes; among other things it
finds that cyanogen chloride can conveniently replace prussic acid as a
fumigant, and that poison gas can be employed effectively against swarms
of locusts. It is endeavouring to find a gas suitable for dealing with the
cotton boil-weevil.
Having resumed control of the Lancashire and Cheshire Naturalist, Mr.
W. H. Western has contrived both to improve the quality and to lower the
price; the annual subscription is now only seven shillings (post free). Part I.
of Vol. 15 contains many valuable notes and records, and a particularly
interesting article by Mr. F. Williamson on "Lancashire Working-men
Naturalists." Lancashire working-men have a remarkably good record, but
we suspect that Northumbria could make as good a show if someone would
only write up the case.
NOTES AND RECORDS.
INSECTA
LEPIDOPTERA.-BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS
Xanthia citrago, L. Orange Sallow.
66
I listed this recently from the Derwent Valley and can now extend it
to the Team Valley as my brother, Mr. E. M. Harrison, captured a male
specimen at Birtley in September. Very probably it will be found
wherever lime grows freely.
Bryophila perla. W. V. Marbled Beauty.
67
Quite common at Hexham in 1921 and 1922, thereby verifying
Robson's surmise.
Zygaena filipendulae, L. Six spot Burnet.
66,67
As this species seems to be getting quite rare, and indeed has
completely vanished from its best locality, Seaton Sluice, its occurrence
at Stocksfield, Hexham, and the Black Hall Rocks in 1922 must be
noted.
Oporabia autumnata, Bk. November Moth.
67
Taken by both Mr. Nicholson and Mr. Johnson at Prestwick Carr so
that only careful search in October seems necessary to prove that it can
be found in any patch of old established birches in the two counties.
62
O. dilutata var. regressa mihi. November Moth.
67
Occurs commonly enough at Ravensworth.
Tephrosia bistortata, Goez. The Engrailed.
66
Quite rare at Gibside.
Asthena luteata, Sch. Small Yellow Wave.
67
A pretty little moth with but few localities assigned to it on
Robson's list; nevertheless it occurs not uncommonly at Chopwell,
Stocksfield and Corbridge where its larvae feed on alder.
Eupithecia innotata, Hub. Mugwort Pug.
66
I found a single larva here at Birtley in October, 1922, feeding on
the petals of the Alpine Poppy, Papaver alpinum, a curious departure
from its natural diet of Artemisia.
Panagra petraria, Nb. Silver Lines.
66
In spite of the paucity of the records for both countries, this moth
abounds on Waldridge Fell among bracken.
Hydrocampa nyphoeata, L, China Mark.
66
Not at all rare on the swamp south of Birtley.
H. stagnata, Don. Beautiful China Mark.
66
With the last species but distinctly rarer.
Nepticula argyropeza, Zell.
66
Common enough on aspen near Stanley.-J. W. H. HARRISON.
Odontosia carmelita, Esp. Scarce Prominent.
67
Near Corbridge-a welcome record and the first for this rare insect in
our area.-G. NICHOLSON.
PSOCIDAE.
Leptella fusciceps, Rent.
66
A form, closely related to the so-called mite of insect cabinets,
found on Pleurococcus and Lichen-clad beech and sycamore trunks at
Gibside and Ravensworth. Paler forms are undoubtedly the Reuterella
helvimacula of Enderlein. This forms the first and second record for the
British Islands. At Gibside both males and females were taken but at
Ravensworth diligent search was productive only of males.
APIDAE.-BEEs.
Psithyrus rupestris , L.
66
The red-tailed parasitic humble bee was recorded by Bold fifty
years ago but seems to have escaped notice since then. That its absence
was real and not due to the small number of observers is proved by the
fact that it has escaped the sharp eye of Mr. Chas. Robson, during that
period, I had the pleasure of seeing it here (Birtley) quite recently.
63
CECIDOMYIDAE.-GALL-GNATS.
Misopatha baccarum, Wachtl.
66
Exceedingly common just on or above the ground on Mugwort
(Artemisia vulgaris) In berry shaped galls often forced into shapeless
masses by their great numbers at Lamesley. Rare a mile and a half away
in Birtley Parish and there forming quite typical galls often enough half
way up the stems. Gnats bred with crowds of hymenopterous parasites
in October. In spite of careful examination this insect has not been
detected elsewhere in localities apparently much more favourable to it.
New to the British Fauna.-J. W. H. HARRISON .
FLOWERING PLANTS.
Rosa Sabini, Sm. Hybrid Downy Rose.
66
This hybrid rose occurs in a form practically identical with that
growing on the Slaley Road, not far from Stocksfield station on the
border of a large colony of Rosa pimpinellifolia, L.
Primula veris x P. acaulis . Oxlip.
66
The plant with the cowslip as pollen parent has only attracted
attention recently in Chopwell woods.
Primula acaulis x P. veris. Oxlip.
66
The second false Oxlip occurs freely on fields bordering Cbopwell
and Ravensworth woods. Similar plants and back crosses of varying
degrees of complexity abound on the sea banks at Black Hall Rocks.-J
W. H. HARRISON.
NEWS OF SOCIETIES.
ORNITHOLOGICAL SECTION OF THE NORTHUMBERLAND,
DURHAM, AND NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE NATURAL HISTORY
SOCIETY.-Signs are not wanting that this organisation for promoting the
study of Ornithology is likely to prove successful. A blow has been received
in the departure of Mr. Leonard Gill to his new post in Edinburgh, and his
great knowledge of the Birds of the North and in general is bad to replace.
Last winter three meetings were held in connection with the new section
and, as they were thrown open to the public, were excellently attended. In
the first, held on February 3rd, Mr. Geo. Bolam introduced an interesting
discussion on the changes in the Bird Life in this district, during the last
fifty years. Many others took up the thread and an interesting and
instructive discussion ensued.
The second meeting on March 3rd, taxed the accommodation of the
Library at the Hancock Museum when Mr. W. Raw spoke on "British Birds
of Prey." This was illustrated by a series of beautiful lantern slides of the
"Home Life of the Osprey," kindly loaned by Major P. H. Mauson-Bahr,
D.S.O., and other slides loaned by the R S.P. Birds.
64
The third meeting was devoted to a paper by Mr. Isaac Clark on "Birds'
Eggs." His extremely well thought out method of introducing his subject
gave his large audience something to think about; and doubtless many
present went home with a feeling that the study of Oology had more in it
than they had supposed. A splendid exhibition of specimens helped Mr.
CIark to press home his facts and arguments.
When the Committee of the Section had the question of winter work for
1922-23 under discussion, it decided that it would be more advantageous to
have private instead of public meetings, thereby allowing the introduction
of more scientific details. The result has been that smaller but more
enthusiastic meetings have been held.
The first, on October 20th, was devoted to "Records and Reports." Mr.
J. Bishop of Stockton-on-Tees evidently a very keen and well-informed
member, sent in a resume of his experiences in a letter to the Secretary; and
this and others of a similar character led to an exchange of views on local
distribution. Mr. F. W. Rich recorded the breeding of the Lesser Blackbacked Gull on the Fells, near Rothbury, for the first time within his fifty
years experience in the district. (Is this the result of persistent interference at
the Farnes, and do "coming events cast their shadows before"? ) An
interesting discussion turned on the question of the alleged diminishing of
the Lapwing as a breeding species. Most of those present agreed that it was
decreasing, but Mr. Isaac Clark saw no change in its relative numbers.
On November 17th Mr. Geo. Bolam again visited the Section and spoke
learnedly upon the Muscicapidae and Phylloscopi. Those present obtained a
good insight into the making of a species and enjoyed an interesting
discussion concerning sub-species and the rights and wrongs of the recent
drastic changes in scientific nomenclature. It is indeed unfortunate that Mr.
Bolam cannot be with the Section more frequently.
Other meetings for this session are earmarked for discussions on "Game
Birds"; "Moults and other Plumage Changes"; and "Swans, Geese, and
Ducks." The Hon. Sec., Mr. W. Raw, 12, Side, Newcastle, is eager to
extend his Section numerically and also to receive notes of observations,
records,
etc.,
from
any
readers
of
The
Vasculum.
THE VASCULUM
Vol. IX. No. 3.
April 1923
THE SYMPHYLA OF NORTHUMBERLAND AND DURHAM.
RICHARD S. BAGNALL, F.R.S.E., F.R.M.S., F.L.S.
Members of the order Symphyla are white centipede-like creatures with
11/12 pairs of legs and ranging- from 1.5 to 8.0 millimetres in length. They
also-but for the large number of legs-closely resemble the well-known
wingless insect Campodea and are regarded by same zoologists as a
connecting link between the Thysanura and Myriapoda (A. S. Packard,
1873, Proc, Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 16, p 111). The embryology is
virtually new ground for research, but important contributions towards a
knowledge of the life of these creatures have been made by S. R. Williams
(1907, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist. vol , 33, pp. 461-485, pl. 36-38; and
1910 Proc. Seventh International Zool. Congress, pp. 1-4 figs.) and F. Muir
and J. C. Kershaw (Quart. Journ; Micr, Sci., vol , 53, pp. 741-745, figs. 15).
Although Scutigerella immaculata has long been regarded as a type of
classical importance it was only in 1903 that Hansen made a study of the
species; whilst in this country zoologists have paid no attention whatever to
the order until 1911, when the present writer drew attention to the subject.
This was followed by a monograph of the British species and, later, by a
revised classification which has been accepted by other authorities.
Other types have since came to hand, notably Geophilella Ribau, from
the Pyrenees, Tasmaniella Chamberlin from Tasmania, and a curious scalecovered, woodlouse-like creature (not yet described) from Australia.
The present contribution simply deals with the Symphyle fauna of
Northumberland and Durham. Although thousands of specimens from all
over the country have passed through the writer's hands only one further
new species has been discovered-a, species taken by Mr. Ruskin Butterfield
in the
66
Hastings district where it is plentiful. It is possible that further additions
may be made; however that may be, it is the writer's hope that some zealous
zoologist win seriously follow up the study, more particularly as regards the
embryology and biology. Some of the species are moderately plentiful and
are not difficult to keep under observation whilst, with practice, the nesting
chambers and egg clusters are not difficult to locate.
The brief list of references at the end simply refers to works dealing
with classification and systematics wherein are described all the known
British species excepting the new one from Hasting which is not yet
described. This discovery brings the number of known British species to
fifteen, of which thirteen have been found locally. The somewhat lengthy
lists of records, although incomplete, are sufficient to show the wide and
general distribution of many of the species.
FAMILY SCOLOPENDRELLIDAE.
1. Species. usually Iarger and more robust, with the first pair of legs
always. well-developed and more than half the length of the
following pair; the exopods well-developed and
conspicuous, Posterior margins of all the dorsal scuta. but
the last slightly rounded or emarginate, with angles
generally broadly rounded, rarely angular (but when angular
each lobe is several times broader than long). Dorsal
surface, of the hind pair of legs usually furnished with
numerous setae. Cerci simple, that is, without striped
terminal area or transverse lines at apex.
Sub-family Scutigerellinae.
2. Species smaller and more slender with the leg of the first pair
rarely more than one-half the length of the following pair (S.
notocantha is the only exception) and more usually
vestigial; none of the exopods well developed. Posterior
margins of all the dorsal scuta but the last one produced into
a pair of triangular plates. Dorsal surface of the hind pair of
legs furnished with very few setae. Cerci usually with a
striped terminal area and often, in addition, with raised
transverse lines on the most distal part outside the area.
Sub-family Scolopendrellinae.
67
SUB-FAMILY SCUTIGERELLINAE BAGNALL.
1. Last dorsal scutum with a very deep and somewhat large cavity overlapped
anteriorly and situated in the middle of the posterior margin. No long outstanding
setae on lateral margins of scuta.
Genus SCUTIGERELLA Ryder.
Last dorsal scutum without such median cavity.
2.
2. All setae on scuta excepting an antero-marginal pair on the first scutum short,
blunt and fusiform.
Genus NEOSCUTIGERELLA Bagn.
All setae normal. The second scutum (and certain others) furnished
with at least one pair of longer, forwardly or laterally directed, lateromarginal setae.
Genus HANSENIELLA Bagn.
(a) The last scutum slightly depressed posteriorly along the
middle. The exopods of posterior legs well- developed. The setae
on the inner side of the proximal antennal joints directed obliquely
forwards and, at most, about one and one-half .times as long as the
setae on the other side.
Subgenus HANSENIELLA s. str.
(b) The last scutum with a deep postero-median depression.
The exopods of posterior legs short, at most much shorter than the
depth of tarsus. Some setae on the inner side of the proximal
antennal joints nearly vertical to the longitudinal axis of the
antennae and unusually long, the longest at least two and one-half
times as long as the setae on the outer side.
Subgenus SCOLOPENDRELLOIDES Bagn.
It is only necessary to give a table of the species of the first named
genus as our single representatives of the genera Neoscutigerella and
Hanseniella are evidently introduced. Scutigerella is essentially a
palaearctic genus but the known species and relatives of the other genera
and undescribed material in my possession are widely distributed and
chiefly sub-tropical or tropical.
GENUS SCUTIGERELLA. RYDER.
1. Setae on legs more numerous, smaller, and less
2.
conspicuous; a series on inner side of metatarus of
hind leg present. Setae on cerci rarely more than
0.18 to 0.2 mm. as long as the depth of cercus.
Setae on legs fewer, longer and more conspicuous ;
3.
the metatarsus of hind leg with only one longish
seta on the inner side at distal angle. Setae on cerci
0.38 to 0.4 mm. as long as the depth of cercus.
Length 3.0 to 3.5 mm.
2. Size larger and more robust. (4.5 to 8.0 mm.).
Tibiae of front pair of legs unarmed.
S. immaculata Newp.
68
Size smaller. Tibiae of front pair of legs each armed with a
distinctive appendage on the inner margin near middle (known from
Algeria only).
S. armata Hansen.
3. 13th scutum normal. 14th scutum sparsely set with minute dorsal
setae. Setae on legs longer; tibia. metatarsus and tarsus of hind leg
with 1, 3 and 4 (or 5) setae on outer margin respectively. Leg not so
stout. S. spinipes Bagn.
Posterior margin of 13th scutum with a pair of flap-like
processes ; dorsal surface of 14th scutum devoid of setae. Hind leg
at least stouter and their setae shorter. Cerci shorter, broader and
more sparingly setose ; tactile hairs unusually long and strong. S.
biscutata Bagn.
1.S. immaculata (Newport).
66, 67, 68.
The largest British species; not uncommon, and widely distributed.
LOCAL RECORDS. 66. Not uncommon in the Derwent Valley at Axwell, Winlaton,
Gibside, and in the higher reaches at Edmondbyers, Buckshot Moor and
Hunstanworth. Common in woods on the banks of the Wear between Leamside
and Durham, more rarely in a dene at Fencehouses and in the neighbourhood of
Penshaw, Washington and Hylton; on the higher reaches at Harperley, Stanhope
and Wolsingham; Killhope Moor, Shildon, Wrekenton, North Bank of the Tees
at Barnard Castle, Egglestone, and Middleton-in-Teesdale. Coast between
Hartlepool and Horden, Ryhope, Whitburn.
67. Ovingham, Wylam, Riding Mill and Stocksfield-on-Tyne, Newcastle,
Earsdon, Tynemouth, Seaton Delaval, Plessey, Nunnykirk, Long-witton
Dene and Hartburn, Ninebanks.
68. In a dene between Blacklaw and Wooler Moor, Wooler and Westwood
Moor near Wooler ; Humbleton Hill, Skirlnaked, Langleford and the slopes of
Cheviot, Bamburgh, Budle Bay, Edlingham.
BRITISH DISTRIBUTION: General.
2.S. spinipes Bagnall.
66, 67, 68.
Originally described from four specimen taken with S. immaculata, S.
biscutata and Scolopendrellopsis minutissima on the Durham banks, of the
Tees at Barnard Castle, June 6th, 1911. The species has recently turned up
in Algeria and is probably of wide European distribution.
LOCAL RECORDS.
66. Barnard Castle, Gibside, Winlaton, Penshaw, Hylton, Whitburn, Blackhall
Rocks and Horden.
67. Stocksfield-on-Tyne, Ovingham, Haddrick's Mill and Gosforth Park,
Newcastle.
68. Langleyf{)rd, Bamburgh, Budle Bay.
BRITISH DISTRIBUTION: Apparently general.
69
3.S. biscutata Bagnall.
66, 67, 68.
Originally described from specimens taken in a dene at Fencehouses
(where it occurs sparingly) early in 1911. The species, is known from
Southern Germany and is also probably of wide European distribution.
LOCAL RECORDS. 66. Dene at Fencehouses, old quarries in the Sunderland.
Hylton and Penshaw districts, Wrekenton, Gibside, Winlaton, Blaydon, Barnard
Castle, plentiful; sea banks at Hart, Blackhall Rocks and Whitburn.
67. Haddrick's Mill and in a Newcastle garden, Stocksfield (H. S. Wallace)
Earsdon, Matfen.
68. Wooler and Westwood Moor near Wooler, Bamburgh.
BRITISH DISTRIBUTION: Apparently general.
GENUS NEOSCUTIGERELLA BAGNALL.
4.N. hanseni Bagnall.
66.
Described from a single adult example taken with S. immaculata in a
quarry, Axwell Park, County Durham, and not met with since. I have seen
examples belonging to the same genus amongst material sent me from India
and Ceylon whilst a very closely allied genus, Tasmaniella. has recently
been described from Tasmania. In view of this I think that the species is
probably introduced.
LOCAL RECORDS.
66. As above.
BRITISH DISTRIBUTION: As above.
GENUS HANSENIELLA BAGNALL.
5.H. caldaria (Hansen).
66,67.
A hothouse species, firmly established in European botanic gardens and
private hothouses. Numerorus species of the genus are known and are
almost entirely dwellers of tropical or sub-tropical countries. Mr. Gilbert
Archey, 1915, records what he believed to be H. caldaria from New
Zealand, but his figures show that it is another species.
LOCAL RECORDS.
66. Ravensworth and Victoria Park and Winter Gardens, Sunderland;
67. Leazes Park, Newcastle.
BRITISH DISTRIBUTION: In hothouses, probably general. Those taken by Mr.
Ruskin Butterfield in the Hastings district are referahle to another species.
SUB-FAMILY SCOLOPENDRELLINAE BAGNALL.
1. First pair of legs well-developed, of normal shape and more than two-thirds
the length of the following pair. Hind margin of each scutum with a distinct
longitudinally striate belt between the pair of triangular processes. Cerci without the
raised transverse lines at the most distal part. Central cephalic rod interrupted before
the middle and there branching shortly to either side.
Genus SCOLOPENDRELLA Gervais.
First pair of legs reduced in size or (more usually) obsolete. Hind margins of
scuta without striate belts. Cerci with raised
70
transverse lines at the most distal part opposite to the terminal area. Central
cephalic rod interrupted before the middle, but not branched laterally.
2
2. First pair of legs present, not more than one-half the length of
the
following- pair.
Genus SCOLOPENDRELLOPSIS Bagn.
First pair of legs obsolete, represented by a pair of rudimentary wart-like
protuberances, without claws even.
Genus SYMPHYLELLA Silv.
Scolopendrella notacantha is very rare in Britain and has not boon
found locally.
GENUS SCOLOPENDRELLOPSlS BAGNALL.
6.S. subnuda (Hansen).
A. minute species, but evidently of wide distribution. Almost certainly
the same species as that described by Silvestri under the name of pygmaea
in which case Hansen's species would have to be reduced as a synonym.
LOCAL RECORDS. 66. Sea Banks at Hart, Feb., 1911 (first British record),
Blackhall Racks, Easington, and Whitburn, banks of the Wear at Leamside,
Penshaw, Washington, Coxgreen and Hylton and in the Derwent Valley at
Winlaton Mill, Gibside and on Buckshot Moor.
67. Corbridge, Stocksfield, Ninebanks, Matfen, Ovingham and Newcastle.
68. Skirlnaked and Langleyford in the Cheviot district and on the coast at
Bamburgh and Budle Bay.
BRITISH DISTRIBUTION: General.
GENUS SYMPHYLELLA SILVESTRI.
1. Size usually larger and some-what more robust.
Last pair of legs. with two or three long protruding
setae on the metatarsus and 4 or 5 in the anterodorsal series of the tarus. Cerci rather large and
densely clothed with both moderately long and
short setae.
2.*
Size usually smaller and more slender. Last pair of
legs with two long protruding setae on the
metatarsus and two or three in the antero-dorsal
series of the tarsus. Cerci not so long and less
closely furnished with setae.
4
2. Two setae in metatarsal and four in tarsal series;
cereal setae somewhat fewer and distinctly longer;
scuta with several long bristles on the lateral
margin and on the inner margin of processes also.
S. jacksoni Bagn.
Three setae in metatarsal and 4 or usually 5 in
tarsal series; cereal setae shorter and lightly more
numerous,; scuta with fewer long bristles on the
lateral margin and none on the inner margins of
processes.
3.
*Mr. Butterfield's new species comes near here.
71
3. 10 or 11 setae on lateral margin of 2nd scutum,
including 2 longer ones between the anterolateral and apical setal.
S. isabellae Grassi.
Only 7 or 8 such setae, including 3
S. dunelmensis Bagn.
prominent ones the third coming next to the
apical setae.
4. Lateral margins of 2nd scutum angulate at about
anterior third; inner margin of process with one
or two setae between the apical seta and the one
at basal angle.
5.
Lateral margins of 2nd scutum arcuate; inner
margin of process without any setae between
those above named.
6.
5. Cerci without long outstanding setae. Setae of
scuta long, as long or almost as long as the length
of processes; 2nd scutum with 5 setae on lateral
margin between the antero-lateral and apical
setae and 1 on inner margin of process. More
S. horrida Bagn.
slender.
Cerci with a few long outstanding setae on lower
margin only; setae on scuta, excluding the
antero- lateral pairs, short and more numerous. 3
tarsal setae on hind leg. Less slender.
S. vulgaris Hans.
6. Size c. 2.5 mm. Cerci with a few long outstanding
setae on both lower and upper margin. Setae on
scuta including the antero-lateral pairs, very
weak and minute, only 4 on the lateral margin of
2nd scutum between the antero-lateral and apical
setae. Two setae on tarsus of hind leg. Very
S. delicatula Bagn.
slender.
Size c. 1.5 mm. Cerci with fewer and longer setae
and without any long outstanding setae, Setae on
scuta well-developed; lateral margin of 2nd
scutum with 3 long and 2 short intermediate
setae, Three setae on tarsus of hind legs. Very
S. minutissima Bagn.
minute.
7.S. isabellae (Grassi).
66, 68.
I have only a few British records of this comparatively large species
which is not uncommon in Southern Italy, while I have myself taken it in
Belgium (Tervueran, near Brussels).
LOCAL RECORDS.
66. Penshaw, one example taken April, 1911.
68. Coast at Bamburgh, June 13th, 1917.
BRITISH DISTRIBUTION: Very local.
72
8.S. jacksoni (Bagnall).
68.
A very local species originally described from Saltney Ferry, and since
recognised from several districts, appearing in plenty on the South coast.
LOCAL RECORDS.
One example, Saltmarsh at Warkworth, June, 1917.
BRITISH DISTRIBUTION: England, local and scattered.
9.S. dunelmensis (Bagnall).
66, 67, 68.
Originally described from Gibside, where the species occurs in numbers
at two or three localities.
LOCAL RECORDS.
66. Gibside, plentiful, June, 1911, and succeeding years; Penshaw Hill, several,
1916.
67. Corbridge-on-Tyne. 2 examples only. Ovingham, October, 1917; Haddrick
Mill, Newcastle, viii. 18.
68. Wooler.
BRITISH DISTRIBUTION: Local.
10. S. horrida (Bagnall).
66.
Originally described from a single example found under a stone
embedded in clayey soil on the sea banks near Hart. . Another example,
unfortunately immature, was recently sent to me from South Wales where it
occurred with S. jacksoni (Bagn.). More recently found in the South of
England.
LOCAL RECORD.
66. As above
BRITISH DISTRIBUTION: As above.
11. S. vulgaris (Hansen).
66, 67, 68.
A somewhat common and widely distributed species. My first British
example were taken at Wylam, in Northumberland, and Axwell Park,
County Durham, in 1907.
LOCAL RECORDS.
66. Not uncommon in the Derwent Valley and in the Weal' Valley, and
Weardale; Durham, Piercebridge, Barnard Castle and Middleton-in-Teesdale and on
the coast at Hart, Blackhall Rocks and Whitburn.
67. Corbridge, Ovingham, Wylam, Stocksfield, Matfen district, Newcastle-onTyne, Warkworth, Holywell Dene.
68. Langleyford, Skirlnaked, Wooler, Warkworth, Bamburgh and Budle Bay.
BRITISH DISTRIBUTION: Everywhere.
12. S. delicatula (Bagnall).
66, 67, 68.
An apparently well-distributed species originally described from
examples taken in a dene at Fencehouses in June, 1911. It rarely occurs in
even moderate numbers, often not more than one but two or three as a rule.
LOCAL RECORDS.
66. Several examples from Fencehouses; Houghton-le-Spring (H. Egglishaw),
Penshaw and Hylton in quarries and gardens and at South Biddick. Fellside in the
Derwent Valley and later in Axwell Park (H. S. Wallace) 1 only ; Winlaton Mill,
plentiful under stones on damp clayey soil.
73
67. Leazes Park, Hancock Museum grounds, Fenham and Haddrick's Mill,
Newcastle, Ovingham (1 only), Ninebanks.
68. Alwinton (1), Skirlnaked (a few), near Wooler and Humbleton Hill;
Bamburgh (1 only).
BRITISH DISTRIBUTION: Widely distributed.
13. S. minutissima (Bagnall).
66, 67.
A very minute form originally described from two speci-mens taken on
the Durham banks of the Tees near Barnard Castle in June, 1911.
LOCAL RECORDS.
66. Barnard Castle.
67. On the sea banks near Whitley Bay, one example with ten pairs of legs, and
Haddrick's Mill, Aug., 1918.
BRITISH DISTRIBUTION: Scotland (Forth Area), Northumberland, Durham
and Yorkshire (Whitby), Hastings.
CHIEF LITERATURE.
1902. H. J. Hansen. The Genera and Species of the Order Symphyla.
Quart. Journ, Micr. Sci., vol. 47, N.S. pp. 1-101, pl. 1-7.
1910. R. S. Bagnall. A Contribution towards a knowledge of the British
species of the Order Symphyla. Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Northd.,
Durham and Newcastle-on- Tyne. N.S., vol. iii., pp. 646-653. pl.
xix., figs 1-10.
1911. R. S. BagnalI. A synopsis of the British Symphyla, with
descriptions of new Species. l.c., N.S., vol. iv., pp. 17-41, fig .
1-4 and pl. 1.
1913. R. S. Bagnall. Further Records of some British Symphyla, with
descriptions of a ew Species, l.c., N.S., vol. iv., pp. 171-176,
figs.
1913. R. S. Bagnall. On the classification of the Order Symphyla. Journ.
Linn. Soc., Zoology, xxxii., pp. 195-199.
ANIMAL PARTHENOGENESIS.
A. D. PEACOCK, M.Sc.
Parthenogenesis is the production of offspring from the eggs of the
female without the concurrence of the male. The phenomenon was known,
or at least suspected, in ancient times as witness this quotation, the earliest
known extant, from Aristotle: (1) "all persons are not agreed as to the
generation of bees, for some say that they neither produce young, nor pair;
but that they bring their young from other sources; and some say they
collect them from the flowers of the calyntrus (honeysuckle), and other
from the flower of the calamus (reed) . . . . other persons affirm that they
collect the young of the drones from any of the substances we have named,
but that the rulers (queens) produce the young of the
74
bee (2) There are two kinds of rulers, the best of these is red and the
other black and variegated; their size is double that of the working bees; ...
by some they are called the mother bees as if they were the parents of the
rest; and they argue, that unless the ruler is present, drones only are
produced, and no bees. Others affirm that they pair , and that the drones are
males and the bees females." (Hist. Anima., Bk. V., Ch. xviii.) Serious
scientific work on the subject dates from 1701 when Albrecht recorded the
appearance of caterpillars from an imprisoned female moth. Work on
silkworms followed and, much later, 1835-45, Dzierzon in Germany
worked out the reproduction of the honey-bee. Since then a host of Workers
have recorded various aspects of the phenomenon among animals and
plants, while to-day efforts are directed to studying the inner hidden springs
of its mechanics.
OCCURRENCE OF PARTHENOGENESIS IN ANIMAL KINGDOM.
As a common natural process parthenogenesis occurs only in the
invertebrates and restricted there mainly to three groups, viz. , the wheel
animalcules (Rotifers), the more primitive of the crustacea and the insects.
Isolated instances, however, are known in the flat-worms and molluscs.
Among vertebrates, and, curiously enough, only in the highest group, the
Mammals, a recent discovery shows the interesting fact that in the watervole, Microtus amphibius, the unfertilised egg still in the ovary may
segment to a four-celled condition.
The commoner conditions of animal parthenogenesis may best be
understood by reference to the following examples. Among green-fly
(Aphididae), waterfleas (Daphnia) and wheel animalcules (Rotifera)
variable parthenogenesis occurs in which there may be a succession of
female generations before the advent of a generation containing a certain
proportion of males. There appears no stringent rule in regard to the
alternation of the uni-sexual and bi-sexual generations. This is in contrast to
conditions obtaining in gall-wasps (Cynipidae) where there is a regular
alternation of a-sexual and sexual generations in this wise. In the species
Neuroterus lenticularis observations prove that in the early Spring two
kinds of females emerge from the spangle galls of the fallen oak leaves.
They lay their eggs in the buds and catkins of the oak and there the
developing larvae produce round pea-shaped galls. The offspring from one
kind of female are all sons and those from the other kind of female are all
daughters. The offspring pair and sexually-produced eggs are laid in the
75
oak-leaves and provoke the formation of the spangle-galls which last
over the winter. Facultative parthenogenesis occurs in the honey-bee where
the queen-or mother-bee, after receiving its complement of sperms from the
male, is able to control the fertilisation of its eggs and give offspring of
different constitution, fertilised eggs giving rise to females, either queens
and workers, and unfertilised eggs to males, the drones. Another possible
method in controlling fertilisation and regulating the production of the sexes
I have recently recounted in Nature (Aug. 12th, 1922) and The Vasculum
(Vol. IX., No. 1), where I showed that certain female sawflies may accept or
refuse pairing but still lay eggs which, whether parthenogenetic or sexual,
may develop into adults. In obligatory parthenogenesis we have cases
where insects reproduce by a-sexual methods only because no males of the
species exist. As an instance there is Emphytus pallipes, a sawfly attached to
violets, of which the male has never been found wild or reared in the
laboratory. I myself have reared hundreds during six successive a-sexual
generations without obtaining the male or debilitating the race. I am
informed also, that a species of water-flea (Daphnia) has been reared
experimentally from females only for seventeen years. A further
development occurs in the gall-fly Miastor where young are a-sexually
developed in the larval form of the insect, such a phenomenon being called
paedogenesis.
EVOLUTION AND PURPOSE.
The most primitive methods of reproduction in animals are fission and
budding which consist essentially of the parent producing, and also often
liberating off-spring, formed in its own image, from a larger or smaller
portion of its own body. An advance was the specialization of a region of
the body for the production of special cells, unlike the parent in appearance
but capable of developing like it.
It is here we encounter a difficulty when we ask the question-which
method, sexual or parthenogenetic, is fundamentally the more primitive? At
first sight one would think that the parthenogenetic was the more primitivewhy go to the trouble of elaborating two sexual elements when one may
serve the purpose?
But what is the evidence? The most primitive animals which exploit
parthenogenesis are the Rotifers and this is worthy of remark because these
animals are formed on a simple and generalized model, one from which
many higher animals, e.g., thread-worms, molluscs and articulates are
76
supposed to have originated because their young stages conform to the
rotifer plan. Hence, in the very groups which have exploited
parthenogenesis so well, the crustacea and insecta, it is reasonable to
conclude that, among other characters inherited from rotifer-like ancestors,
is the faculty for parthenogenetic development.
But ancient as this method is, it is not so ancient as sexual reproduction,
because clear cases of such exist in the plant- like Coelentera, which are
lowlier animals than the Rotifers.
Generally speaking, the crustacea and insects, just as they have
specialized in other directions such as instinctive behaviour and social life,
have developed the specialization of parthenogenesis to a very high degree,
and more so than any other group of animals except the more primitive
Rotifer. But, even so, they have not forsaken the sexual, which still remains
the principal method.
However, bearing in mind the artificial parthenogenesis of vertebrate
eggs and the discovery regarding the water-vole, the evidence indicates that
parthenogenesis is a fundamental property of living matter, well developed
in certain lowlier groups, but lingering and reduced to impotence in higher
types. It has been but a tentative manoeuvre on Nature's part-a very
successful manoeuvre, too, on a limited front- but the main advance has
proceeded and is still proceeding, according to a prior plan, the exclusively
sexual.
Reproduction has for its aim the continuance of the species, hence
parthenogenesis is a special plan for the same end. Secondarily, as we have
seen, it is a device among certain species for the production of the sexes in
suitable proportions.
Without following up the idea it may be suggested that, just as the
marvellous social life of insects is extremely stereotyped, a-sexual
propagation in insects leads to stereotypy of form and habit. Surely two
parents, each contributing a distinct and characteristic patrimony are better
than one for the production of rich variety.
MECHANICS.
The mere production of an egg in parthenogenesis is not the mystery, as
witness the production of unfertile eggs in birds and man, which are bisexual animals. The questions for address are: firstly, how is the male
dispensed with? and the corollary, what causes the quickening, the
activation, of the egg? and, secondly, how are both sexes produced by one
female alone?
77
The best line of approach is the understanding of what happens in
sexual reproduction-what role does each parent play or, better still, what is
the role of each sexual element, egg or sperm? It will be well, therefore, at
this stage to describe briefly what knowledge we have of the three impor
tant processes involved in normal reproduction, namely (1) the production
of the sexual element, (2) the activation (quickening) of the egg, (3) the
development of the activated egg.
RECENT WORK ON THE VALLUM.*
F. C. GARRETT.
Less striking than its companion, Hadrian's Wall, the Vallum is no less
important a monument and presents a much more difficult problem for
solution. Starting at Newcastle, it ran roughly parallel to and a little to the
south of the Wall , as far as Dykesfield, beyond Carlisle; taking usually a
rather easier route than the more imposing structure, it is generally within
one hundred yards of it, and very rarely strays more than five hundred yards
away. Though it has been studied much less than the Stone Wall it has
given rise to much speculation, and many theories have been advanced
which are now seen to be incorrect. Probably the oldest is that this was the
original wall of Hadrian, the stone wall being the work of Seyerus, but this
has long been abandoned, and the view most popular during the last half
century is that it was designed for defence against attack from the south by
rebellious Brigantes. This notion does not seem to have had the support of
any soldier, and it is not likely that it would, for the Roman military
engineers were master of their craft, and, regarded as a defensive work, the
Vallum is as badly designed as it is stupidly sited. It consists essentially of a
great, flat- bottomed ditch 25 to 30 feet across, and about 6 feet deep, with a
large earth mound on each side of, and some 25 feet away from it, though
the measurements and design vary in certain place. If it was intended as a
defence, one cannot see the reason for two mounds, for if the southern one
was held the ditch and northern mound were worse than useless, while if the
northern mound was defended the southern one provided good cover for the
assailants, and put them as nearly as possible on a level with the defence!
Which is absurd, as friend Euclid has it.
*"The Purpose and Date of the Vallum and its Crossings." By F. Gerald
Simpson and R. C. Shaw, M.R.C.S. Transactions of the Cumberland and
Westmorland Archaeological Society, Vol. 22, Art. 27. Sold by Titus
Wilson, Highgate, Kendal, 2s. 8d. post free.
78
And the siting of the work is just as faulty. The Wall goes out of its way
to occupy the strongest position available: not so the Vallum. Running
generally on easier ground, its builders' aim was to make it as short as
possible, and so we find it, west of Harlow Hill, running in a straight line
for five miles, entirely disregarding those irregularities of the ground which
the soldier uses so well. Nowhere does it change its course to find a stronger
position, though it does swing southwards to keep clear of the forts; for it
had no connection with them. In a modified form it crosses morasses where
it could never have been attacked, while beyond Housesteads it seems to go
out of its way in order to traverse a defile, where it is commanded at short
range both on the south and the north. If this was intended as a defence
work it shows such incompetence as is found nowhere else in the Roman
Empire, and is an extraordinary contrast to the Stone Wall.
But if the Vallum was not a military work, it must have had a civil
purpose, as Professor Haverfield suggested in 1896. In early days a Roman
frontier was defended by a chain of forts, connected by a good road, and in
the Stanegate and its forts we have evidence that this plan once obtained in
the North. The Emperor Hadrian, however, went further, delimiting his
frontiers in the clearest possible fashion, as we see in that nine-foot palisade
(also not a defensive work) which he constructed in southern Germany. So
defined there was less risk of "regrettable incidents" on the frontier, and the
work of the troops would be lightened materially. Mr. Simpson agrees with
Professor Haverfield that in the Vallum we have the boundary of the
province of Britain, the mounds being spoil heaps, but serving also to
emphasise the Ditch.
The old controversy as to the relative ages of the two works seem to be
decided by the authors' important discovery that in some places the Military
Way is on the top of the north mound. Presumably, therefore, the Wall was
later than the Vallum, and it is agreed that it was completed by A.D. 127.
Evidence is produced (p. 392) to show that the Vallum cannot have been
begun before A.D. 118, so the two works must have been completed in less
than ten years!
But these are, perhaps, the least interesting of the facts published in this
very important paper. Two centuries ago Horsley noticed that in the north
mound there were, in some parts, gaps c, within thirty or forty yards
(sometimes more,
79
sometimes less) one of another," but his successors overlooked them. In
1908 Mr. W. Hepple, while working under Mr. J. P. Gibson and Mr.
Simpson, discovered that these gaps were not irregularly distributed but
regularly spaced, and since that date the last named has been following up
this discovery. The work has been interrupted by calls to other places, but it
has gone on, and the results are so striking that we hope that this master
digger will soon be able to complete it. The authors find that soon after the
Vallum had been completed it was modified, gaps being cut through the two
mounds, and crossings constructed by filling in the ditch opposite each pair
of gaps. Some of these crossings they have cut through, and the thinness of
the layer of black soil underlying the clay, etc., of which they are
constructed, shows that the ditch must have been quite new. Later, but not
very much later, the ditch was cleared out, and the dirt thrown up along its
southern edge, forming the marginal mound which is a conspicuous feature
in many places to-day. Along considerable lengths the crossings were
removed also, in others they were left but blocked by the building of an
earthen mound across the southern end. As a rule, the gaps were left, but in
a few stretches those in the north mound were filled in and the Military Way
constructed on top of it. These gaps have already been proved along about
half the length of the Vallum; they are usually about 45 yards apart, and the
deviations from this interval are only such as one would expect if the
distances were paced, and the work carried out by unskilled surveyors.
Probably, almost certainly, it was done by the troops on the Wall, each
commanding officer being responsible for his own sector.
It is interesting but not surprising that great differences exist between
different parts of the line. In one place the gaps have never been finished, in
another the crossings have not been removed, but it only shows that the
Roman was not so very unlike the British Army. The plan was doubtless
prepared at G.H.Q., and orders for its carrying out sent down to the units
concerned. Now G.H.Q. often has large ideas (as illustrated by the order for
a crossing every 45 yards), and the men who have to carry them out do not
always agree. A punctilious C.O. says " it is an order" and carries it out
precisely, even though he thinks it a waste of labour; others, more
independent or less energetic, say something quite different, and do just as
much as they think necessary. Inspecting officers come round but every old
80
soldier is expert in the art of distracting the attention of the great ones
from anything that might annoy, or if that is impossible of demonstrating
that there is really no irregularity, but that everything is in accordance with
the latest A.C.I.; and the general usually meets one half-way. If the work is
once passed as finished, so it will remain; a new Tribune taking over a
section of the Wall would not enquire why there were crossings in his area
and none in his neighbour's, though he would probably vote the latter "a bit
slack." I have been a soldier. The history of the Vallum is now clear. Soon
after it had been completed it became necessary to remove the obstacle, and
therefore its banks were cut and the ditch bridged. This condition in turn did
not persist, and it was decided to reinstate the barrier; the crossings were
ordered to be removed, the ditch cleaned out and repaired, and the marginal
mound appeared. In some sectors the work was done thoroughly, in others
perfunctorily; and we find the Vallum in every possible condition. Those
who have had the good fortune to go over the ground with Mr. Simpson will
agree that there can be no question as to the facts. To find an explanation for
these facts is, perhaps, less easy, and the only one advanced as yet is that of
the authors -that the crossings were made to facilitate the building of the
Stone Wall. It is objected that they are unnecessarily numerous, but the
objection is not weighty, for the engineer in charge may have thought
otherwise. Moreover, the commander of the covering troops would
probably expect the Caledonians to harass the workers, and have demanded
plenty of passages so that his men might not be hampered by working
parties or material. The Wall being finished, the need for the crossings
disappeared, and it was decided to re-instate the Vallum as the boundary of
the civil province, leaving all beyond to the military authority. It was not
desirable that the civil population should have undisturbed access to the rear
of the defences, and therefore the crossings were removed or blocked by a
solid traverse. Once more the great Ditch became the boundary line, and a
clear intimation to all that the country beyond was out of bounds, and to be
visited only at their peril. The suggestions are valuable, and the further work
planned by the authors may throw light on them; we hope it will soon be
done.
In a short review it is impossible to do justice to so interesting and
important a paper, and it should be studied with care by all students of
Roman Britain.
81
BASIC SLAG: ITS RISE AND FALL.
A. A. HALL, M.Sc., PH.D.
Perhaps the greatest romance of scientific agriculture is the story of
basic slag, an excellent account of which is given in Dr. Scott Robertson's
new book.* Before 1878 the steel manufacturer could only use iron which
had been prepared from phosphorus free ores, because of the injurious
effect of that element on the steel; in that year, Snelus, Thomas and
Gilchrist introduced the basic Bessemer process for the conversion of pig
iron into steel. In that process the Bessemer converter was lined with ignited
dolomite instead of silica, and lime was added during the "blow"; in this
way the phosphorus was removed from the iron, and passed into the slag as
a mixture of compounds of lime, phosphoric acid, iron and silica together
with some iron phosphide. This process was first carried out at Messrs.
Bolckow, Vaughan & Co.' s Easton works. in 1879 and it was found that the
phosphorus content of the iron fell from 1.52 to 0.18 per cent., while the
phosphorus content of the slag (reckoned as P 2O5) was 10.78 per cent. This
"basic slag" was a waste product at first, as it was thought that the
insolubility of the phosphates in water and the amount of ferrous salt
present would make it of little value as a fertiliser; attempts were made to
dissolve the phosphates in acid as in the manufacture of superphosphate, but
these were not successful. Later it was found that the phosphates in the slag
were fairly soluble in weak acids such as carbonic, and Wrightson and
Munro showed that when finely ground it had very considerable fertilising
value. These experiments were quickly followed by a more complete and
searching series by Sir J. A. Dobbie and Professor D. A. Gilchrist, and in
1896 Professor Somerville started the historic experiments at Cockle Park,
the Northumberland County Council's experimental farm. These
experiments-continued and developed by Sir T. H. Middleton and Professor
Gilchrist -have now been carried on for over twenty-five years, and show
not only that basic slag has a high fertilising value but that under the
condition existing at Cockle Park, it is more 'effective' per unit of
phosphorus than is "superphosphate." and this. is confirmed by Dr. Scott
Robertsort's experiments in Essex. Some idea of the effect of the Cockle
Park experiments may be gathered from the fact that the consumption of
basic slag for manure grew from 148,000 tons in 1903 to 500,000 tons in
1918.
*Basic Slags and Rock Phosphates, by George Scott Robertson,
Cambridge University Press
82
Now unfortunately for agriculture, important changes have in recent
years been made in the manufacture of steel. Economic conditions, and, to a
certain extent, the working out of the high grade ores, have made the
Bessemer process uneconomical and it has been replaced by the open hearth
process. This differs from the Bessemer in that most of the oxygen required
for the oxidation of the non-metal is supplied by oxides of iron instead of by
the air blast. The process yields a much larger quantity of slag per ton of
iron than the Bessemer, and naturally the slag contains a smaller percentage
of phosphoric acid. Moreover, a large quantity of lime being used the slag
produced is difficultly fusible, and the addition of fluorspar is the method
generally adopted to render it fluid, with the unfortunate result that the
phosphate is largely transformed into apatite-a substance which is almost
insoluble in acids. Whereas, a good sample of basic lag formerly contained
about 18 per cent. P2O5, of which 80 per cent. would be soluble, nowadays
it, will contain some 15 per cent. of which only 13 per cent. is soluble.
Experiments are in progress to see how far this has affected the
fertilising value of the slag-; it is certainly not so quick in action as the old,
and so it is probably of less value, but we are not yet in a position to express
any decided opinion as to how much it has depreciated. Basic slag being
only a bye-product the steel manufacturer is not likely to make any great
change in his methods in order to improve it, and therefore experiments are
being made to see if there are not other phosphatic substance which, by
grinding more finely, may be substituted for it. Some considerable success
has been attained particularly with rock phosphates.
Some interesting work has been done by Professor Truog* at the
Wisconsin Agricultural Station. He finds that it is not always the plant with
the most acid sap that take up phosphates most readily and he explains this
by a new theory. He considers that the reaction making the phosphorus of
phosphate available to plant is one between carbonic acid and tricalcium
phosphate:Ca3(P04)2 + H2C03 = Ca2H2(P04)2 + CaH2(C03)2
In order that the velocity of the reaction should keep pace with the
growth of the plant. both the product of the reaction must be removed in
something like, the proportion in which they are produced. This is the
condition which exist with plants which use a large amount of calcium and
it is these plants which derive benefit most from rock phosphates.
*The Feeding Power of Plants," by Dr. E. Truog, Science, LVI., Sept.
15th, 1922.
83
MARINE BIOLOGY AT BLACKHALL ROCKS.
H. PRESTON, B.Sc., A.I.C.
Considerable attention has been paid to the plants and insects of the
cliffs and denes near Blackhalls and the pages of The Vasculum contain
most of the records made. Marine life has received little attention for
beyond a short note appearing in The Naturalist for November, 1914,
nothing seems to have been written, at any rate of late years. The short
account given below does not contain a very long list of species-many
common creatures are not listed-but there are sufficient examples
mentioned to show that the district is worth studying. The Magnesian
limestone rocks, which extend over a large area, are divided by long
channels along which the tide swirls with great force. As one must get out
as far as the rocks bearing Laminaria in order to find objects out of the
common, considerable wading is necessary as well as leaping from one
mussel covered rock to the next. The channels are full of deep holes and
when the tide is receding the depth falls rapidly; thus at spring tides it is
possible, to get well out to sea, although constant watch for the turn of the
tide must be kept. One's attention being divided must mean that many
species are passed over. The use of a boat is out of the question.
On the furthest rocks the lovely Dahlia anemone (Actinoloba dianthus)
is found in abundance, beautiful when expanded but as unattractive as the
Mermaid's gloves (Alcyonium digitatum), when hanging limp at low tide.
The undersides of the overhanging rocks repay careful search, for here are a
considerable number of finds in the way of sponges and hydroids. The
former are green and yellow varieties of the Crumb of Bread sponge
(Halichondria panicea) and very large examples of the Branching sponge
(Chalina oculata). Great numbers of "Purse" sponges are interspersed
chiefly Grantia compressa. At Blackhall the Tubularian hydroid is
Tubularia indivisa, here in great abundance but on the smaller rocks,
opposite the dene leading to the village, Tubularia larynx is most numerous.
While examining the usual fringe of contracted "Sea-firs," chiefly
Sertularia pumila, I was greatly amused by the motions of large numbers of
spectre shrimps. These hung head downwards from the "zoophytes" and
swayed to and fro while the hindmost pair of limbs kept hold. I collected
numbers of these crustaceans and found that most of them were Caprella
linearis et C. lobata but without doubt several were Caprella aequilibra as
figured in Bate and Westwood's "Sessile-eyed Crustacea." Another common
crustacean in similar places to
84
the last was the Sea Spider Nymphon gracile which climbs very slowly
chiefly among the smaller red seaweeds and the "Bristle coralline"
(Plumularia setacea). Under stones nearer the beach I took one or two
specimens of Pycnogonon littorale. The bottoms of the pools are covered
with a grey slime and after the tide has ceased to churn it the mud soon
settles and then it is that a most interesting phenomenon occurs. Rising
lowly from the mud are dozens of the spider crab (Hyas areneus) and the
"protective" resemblance of their carapaces to the grey colour of the mud is
remarkable. The crabs, too, have attached to the numerous hooks on their
"shells" various seaweeds and hydroids, polyzoa, etc. It is curious that
certain of the hydrozoa not common on the rocks are frequently found on
the crabs (I refer especially to Sertularella rugosa). Hermit crabs
(Eupagurus bernhardus) are scarce but edible crabs abound and are much
sought after by local miners.
On the shore at Blackhalls I have never seen large masses of washed up
seaweeds such as one meets with at Redcar but last August the thong weed
(Himanthallia lorea) was remarkably abundant. From the odd scraps of
Fuci, I have obtained exceedingly good colonies of the hydroids Coryne
pusilla (with gonophores) and Campanularia flexuosa. Here it might be
well to give a list of other hydrozoa. The commonest is Obelia peniculata;
and then we have the" Sea firs" Sertuiaria abletina, S. pumila, S. operculata
et : S. filicula; Plumularia pinnata (gonophores in July) and Diphasia.
rosacea. Sertularia pumila is mostly green due to the presence of cells of an
alga.
The common rock pool fishes are the usual ones on our coast, viz., the
Butter fish or Gunnel (Gunellus vulgaris), the Father Lasher or Sting Fish
(Cottus bubalis) a handsome though formidable fellow, and one of the
sucker fishes (Lepidogaster Montaguii). This interesting small fish has one
pair of fins modified to form a sucker with which it strongly adheres to
stones.
The above notes refer to observations made on several occasions. In
spite of the unpleasant conditions met with on this collecting ground one
hopes in the future to revisit it and make further search there.
I should like in conclusion to draw attention to the fad that the fine fern
the Marine Spleenwort (Asplenium marinum) is abundant on the cliffs at
Blackhalls, fortunately in positions out of reach.
85
“PRINTED MATTER”
LOCAL GEOLOGY.
In the February number of The Geological Magazine, Dr. Woolacott
describes the rocks brought up by boring at Roddymoor Colliery, Crook,
near Darlington. This is one of the deepest borings in the North of England;
it was begun at the bottom of the Emma Pit, 289 feet below surface level,
and 191 feet below the Brockwell Seam, and penetrated 2,622 feet of the
strata. Specimens of the whole of the Lower Carboniferous beds were thus
brought up to view, and the thickness of the sub-divisions proved in the
section is: Millstone Grit, 459 feet; Yoredales, 1375 feet; Melmerby Scar
Limestone series, 553 feet; Basement Conglomerate beds, 82 feet. The
unconformity was clearly marked and 83 feet of the Lower Palaezoic rocks,
having all the characters of the Skiddaw Slates, were pierced.
The object of the boring was to test whether the coal seams of the
Carboniferous Limestone series, which are of considerable commercial
importance in Northumberland, and not without value in the Alston District,
were present in Weardale in workable quantity. This has been shown not to
be the case, for the only coals encountered were three thin seams (about 1
inch thick) in the Millstone Grit, and two others (2 to 3 inches thick) near to
the Great Limestone. The Bernician coals of Northumberland thus thin out
when traced to south and east.
Many interesting stratigraphical conclusions follow from the data
supplied by this boring, for the details of which the original paper must be
consulted. The Great Limestone in the section is 60 feet thick, as at Alston.
The Great Whin Sill was encountered in the Scar Limestone, which is at a
much higher horizon than at Alston, where it rests just below the Tyne
Bottom Limestone. It is 187 feet thick, which is much above the average,
though less than the maximum of 240 feet recorded from Upper Weardale
(Burtree Pasture mine). The latter case is, however, exceptional, since the
mass is dome-shaped and appears to have suffered local thickening during
the movement attending the formation of the Burtreeford fault. There is no
trace of the Little Whin Sill, which is so conspicuous in the Wear above
Stanhope and in the Horsley and Rookhope burns. In the middle of the sill
the rock is beautifully crystallised and, in the coarseness of its grain and
gabbro-like appearance, resembles the Whin of Caldron Snout, Tynehead
and Gilderdale.
86
NORTHUMBRIA'S BACKBONE, OR THE GREAT WHIN SILL.-By the
REV. W. THORP, M.A.
This little pamphlet of about 20 pages is the summary of a lanternlecture delivered recently in Chatton Hall, under the chairmanship of the
Duke of Northumberland. The author has evidently a good, topographical
knowledge of the northern portion of the outcrop of the Great Whin Sill,
which stretches from Greenhead to the Kyloe Hills, and he discourses
pleasantly, and with a touch of humour, on the history and antiquities of the
Camps, Castles, Churches and Mansions which are built on, or near, this
great formation. Botany, Geology, Ornithology, Agriculture, Etymology
and Folk-Lore are all, in turn, pressed into the service of the lecturer, and
there can have been few interests of the audience to which an appeal was
not made. We miss, however, any reference to the inns and the quality of
their commodities, which are all-important factors to the explorer of these
natural beauties.
The author disclaims pretensions to expert geological knowledge, so
that it would be ungracious to criticise in detail this large section of his
theme. Some comment on this portion of the subject is, however, called for,
in the interests of those who may possibly seek geological guidance and
have not the knowledge and daring to question the author's involved
statements. To speak frankly, most of the geological information in the
pamphlet is grotesque in its inaccuracy. The conception of the mechanism
of intrusion of the molten rock is unintelligible, and it is clear that the
author does not distinguish between intrusion and extravasation. Such
statements as "when it [the magma] did not rise to the surface, it. frequently
thrust itself in between the strata are meaningless. The author evidently does
not recognise that the land-surface has been moulded by the agency of
denudation, for he assumes that crags of the Whin Sill mark the places
where the magma "has broken right through the earth's crust."
The classification of Trap rocks is scarcely informing. There are said to
be three kinds of these: Dolerite (seen in the Cheviots ), Anamesite (details
of which are lacking), and Basalt or Whin. This basalt "is formed by the
pressure of numerous spheroids on one another, like a heap of cannon- balls
compressed."
In the long list of the "principal effects of the Whin" are the giving of its
name to hills and houses, forming good sites for churches and castles, and
not least, giving
87
sturdiness of character to those who live in its neighbourhood." This
last effect lands us in the regions of mysticism, in which the author revels.
The sturdiness of Ulstermen (presumably in opposing Popery) finds now a
facile explanation in terms of geology, and Stanhope owes its distinction in
breeding eminent churchmen to the neighbourhood of the Little Whin Sill.
The crucial point of the theory is the position of Alnwick Castle and "it
would be very gratifying to the writer if he could claim the noble family
who own it, as sons and daughters of the Whin Sill." Should, however,
which is highly probable, the facts be not in accordance with the theory, the
author is ready to fall back on a second vera causa, the" intermingling of
Scots blood."
On page 19 of the pamphlet, there is a curious statement, which seems
to throw some light on this great theory and to give a peep into the author's
principles and mentality. After describing the village of Embleton, the
author states (the italics are our own): "Is it too much to suppose that the
famous W. T. Stead, a native of this district, and the no less famous Mandell
Creighton, both drew some of their hardihood and strength from the water
of this whin-founded village? "
WILLlAM MAYNARD HUTCHINGS, 1849-1923.
Though born in Sheffield, Mr. Hutchings spent most of his working life
in Northumberland., and as a petrologist and a metallurgist he increased the
fame of the county he loved so well. Receiving his earlier education at
Neuwied he acquired a thorough scientific training at Freiberg-in-Sachsen,
and at the University of Leipsic, before going into business as an assayer in
Liverpool. Next he became assistant manager of the Potusola Lead Works,
Italy, then manager of the Deebank Lead Works in N. Wales, and in 1889
came to Newcastle as chief metallurgist and technical manager for Messrs.
Cookson , Ltd. with which firm he was connected until his death. Mr.
Norman Cookson selected him as the best man available to carry out
extensive schemes of reconstruction and his confidence was well placed, for
in addition to constructing a plant for the Parke process which served as a
model for many other works, Mr. Hutchings erected the first plant, for the
manufacture of white lead by the chamber process in this country, and made
many valuable contributions to metallurgical science. Though he was so
closely occupied with technical matters he was able to turn in his leisure
moments to other scientifie pursuits, and for many years he devoted his
88
attention to petrology. His work throughout demonstrates the
thoroughness with which he carried out all he undertook. His earliest work
was on the altered igneous rocks of Tintagel (Geol. Mag, 1889), but he
turned to local material immediately he came to Newcastle, his first sections
being of some concretions in the sandstone of the Ouseburn, near Crag Hall,
South Gosforth. This was followed by work on the shale of Seaton Sluice,
Aspatria, Shap, etc., which entitle him to full consideration as a north
country naturalist.
The period of his greatest activity in petrology was from 1889 to 1902,
and throughout one sees the fine combination of chemical and petrological
skill, At a time when practically all petrologists confined their attention to
igneous rocks he struck out a new line in the most difficult of the
sedimentary rock, the clays, shale, and slates, and was singularly successful
their interpretation. This brought him in contact with problem of a
fundamental nature, about which there is much written at the present day
which betrays ignorance of his discoveries. The one great theme running
though his work is metamorphism, and he did much to clear away the
obscurities surrounding that subject. His study of the nodular shale under
the Whin-sill at Falcon Clints (Teesdale) is particularly interesting in that he
gives evidence of the influence of alkaline liquors, derived from the igneous
intrusions, upon the sedimentaries which they traverse.
Many of his papers are modestly termed "note," but in the aggregate
they furnish over 150 pages of close printing, packed with the most original
observations, founded on the study of hundreds of sections and elutriationfractions, and bearing on the mineral structure of the rocks and the
interpretation of the phenomena. In 1902 he was awarded the BarlowJameson Fund of the Geological Society “as a mark of appreciation of his
contributions to petrological science and as an expression of the hope that,
in the future, as in the past, he will be able to carry on the researches which
have thrown so much light on the natural history of our sedimentary rock."
A distinguished metallurgist and a famous petrologist, Hutching was
equally great as a man. Gifted with extraordinary power in handling men,
never afraid of speaking the truth, his grim humour neutralised the sting of
any criticisms and all who enjoyed intimacy with him coveted his friendship
as they admired his work he has gone, and we are the poorer.
F.C.G.
89
MINERALS OF THE NORTH COUNTRY.
GALENA.
J. A. SMYTHE.
Galena, the natural sulphide of lead, PbS, is one of the most important
and, perhaps, the best known or all the minerals of the North Country.
Specimens of it abound among the "boodies" which grace the cottage
window-sills in the more remote dales of the South Tyne, Wear and Tees,
and are to be found in profusion on the unsightly spoil-heaps around the old
workings and even in the sparry road-metal by the way-side. It is easily
recognised by its bluish-black, lustrous appearance, its cubic or octahedral
crystals, its high specific-gravity and its remarkably good cleavage, in virtue
of which it breaks up, under the hammer, into multitudes of glistening
cubes; from the last-named circumstance, it acquires its common name of
Dice Ore.
This mineral is found in veins or rakes and in the flats connected with
these, and as it is associated with several of .the spars already described in
this series of articles, much information have already been given concerning
its mode of occurrence. It is most abundant in the rocks of Lower
Carboniferous, or Mountain Limestone, age, which, indeed, are frequently
spoken of as the Lead Measures, just as the upper beds of the same great
formation bear the name of the Coal Measures, from the mineral which
characterises them.
The Lead Measures consist of alternations of limestone, sandstone and
shale, with a few thin coal seams of little value and one seam (the Little
Limestone Coal) of fair constancy and considerable importance, and it is
more particularly in the limestones of this series that the lead ore is met with
in quantity, the thickest limestone (the Great) being the most prolific of all.
Fairly low down in the series, the Great Whin Sill an intruded igneous rock,
is encountered. The position of this varies, but over a large area of the
mining district it lies just under the lowest limestone exposed in South
Tynedale, in the bed of the Tyne, and known as the Tyne Bottom limestone.
In the Whin Sill, the mineral veins are usually pinched out and, as a
consequence, mining is only profitable in the beds between the Tyne
Bottom limestone and the highest of the thick limestones (the Little
limestone), which gives a total thickness in Alston Moor of 575 feet. This
disposition represents, in broad outline, the state of affairs in the chief leadmining districts which we shall consider here, namely, in South Tynedale
(Alston Moor), Allendale (Coldcleugh and Allenheads), and Wear dale
(Stanhope,
90
Rookhope, Middlehope, Sedling Burn). Somewhat similar relations
hold for Teesdale and the Pennine Escarpment.
The association of the lead ore with igneous rock is so close, in these
districts, that a genetic connexion may be surmised and this is strengthened
by the sporadic appearance of galena in the neighbourhood of the Whin Sill
and the igneous dykes in other parts of the country, remote from the great
mining centres. Thus, lead mines, some of them mall, occur at Grottington ,
Fallowfield and Great Bavington, all in positions near to and above the
Whin Sill, and the ore occurs close to the whin dykes at Hartley, Shilbottle,
Rothbury Forest, Beadnell, Elwick, and Holy Island. The igneous intrusions
of the Lake District are also accompanied by important lead deposits, as, for
example, above the Saddleback and Skiddaw massif, Newlands and
Helvellyn (Greenside). The Cheviots, however, are remarkably free from
metallic ores, though one vein, to be described later, is known. Small veins
and pockets of galena are frequently encountered in the coal mines,
sometimes indeed in the coal seams themselves, when the absence of
cooking affords evidence of the low temperature of deposition of the
mineral. One case which is worthy of mention , is the occurrence of galena
in Ryhope Colliery, under Warden Law, at a depth below the surface of 365
fathoms. Small quantities of galena are sometimes encountered in the
Magnesian Limestone, as at Blackhall Rocks, and at one time a lead mine
was worked in this formation near Castle Eden, by a drift from the beach.
Those who set out to discover and examine veins of lead me in the field
will probably meet with disappointment at first. Many of them have been
worked out at the outcrop; much of the fruitful terrain is thickly covered
with peat and glacial drift, and veins laid bare in the streams are often
barren at the exposed parts. Thin strings of ore may frequently be observed
in limestone quarries. The two best natural exposures known to me are in
the Cheviots and on the South Tyne. The former is at the Raven's Heugh,
north of Alwinton, and is a remarkably fine, but narrow vein of galena,
occurring in a fault-breccia in the porphyrites. In the bed of the South Tyne,
about 100 yards below Garrigill Bridge Old Carr's vein is splendidly
exposed at low water. It cuts through the Tynebottom limestone and is
about 5 feet wide showing a gangue of quartz and calcite, brangled rider and
large pockets of pyrites and galena.
The galena in such positions as the last-named, acquires a dull blue
patina, which makes it rather difficult to distinguish
91
from the surrounding limestone, but its true nature is easily discerned by
breaking it. Pebbles of galena (float ore) derived from exposures of this sort,
as well as from mine refuse, are abundant in some of the burns and undergo
a natural concentration in the pot-holes. Though they become rounded, the
surfaces remain rough, since each blow they receive during their passage
downstream knock out little cleavage cubes; the appearance thus resembles
that of etching figures and in light of a particular incidence the
crystallographic continuity of the material is often apparent, owing to
reflection from multitudes of small parallel cleavage faces. Fluorspar,
though possessing similar cleavage to galena, is much harder and becomes
well rounded by stream-action, Pebbles of mixed galena and fluorspar or
quartz always show a recessed surface of galena, owing to the greater
hardness of the accompanying spar. The dull bluish coating observed on the
surface of galena, which has lain open for a long time to the weather, show
the reactions of lead sulphate, but to what extent this change may be due to
the formation of sulphuric acid, by the oxidation of admixed pyrites, it is
difficult to say. When embedded in peat, galena becomes coated with the
white carbonate of lead. This compound, which constitutes the mineral
cerussite, has been met with in quantity in several lodes, but on the whole, it
is a very subsidiary ore of lead and is found, naturally, only near the
outcrop. The sulphate of lead, anglesite, is rare in these parts. The ores have
all their local names and there is great wealth of naming of the various
grades of the same mineral species, which are separated in the washing
process. I am not aware whether a full list of these has been compiled for
this district, but J. Farey did this long ago for Derbyshire (General View of
the Agriculture and Minerals of Derbyshire, 1815) and his list is worth
quoting, as many of the names are common to both districts. The
Derbyshire names, referring to "size, purity, structure or kind" of lead ore,
are :-Belland, Bing, Blue, Fell, Glance, Goods, Green, Hillock, Lead
Glance, Leaf, Peasy, Pippin, Potter's, Scrogs, Smitham, Steel-Grained,
Tag'd, Toots, White, Wicks, Yellow.
There is no proof such as exists in Shropshire, Derbyshire,
Cardiganshire and other parts of the country, that the Romans mined lead
ore in Alston Moor or Weardale, but it is presumed by some that they did
so, for the mining field is bounded on the north by the Roman Wall and one
of their important roads, the Maiden Way, passes over the flank of Cross
fell , on the west of the field, and through the Roman
92
camp at Whitley, near Slaggyford. Leaden objects have been found at
this camp, though it cannot be proved that the lead is of local origin and the
same remark applies to the diverse objects (steles, dishes, reels, net-sinkers,
vases, seals, weights, etc.) assembled in the Chesters .Museum. The heaps
of old scorisa found at the Bayle Hill, many of which are somewhat remote
from known veins, point to a remote date of mining and smelting, though
again there is no evidence that the Romans were responsible for them.
Records only go back about seven centuries. One of the earliest dates
from 1475 (Edward IV.) and is a charter, granted to Richard, Earl of
Warwick, and John, Earl of Northumberland, to work "the mines of Blanchlands called Shildon, in Northumberland, and the mine of Alston Moor,
called Fletchers, the mine of Keswick, in Cumberland, and the copper mine
near Richmond, in Yorkshire, from Lady day next, for fifteen years, paying
the King the eighth part, to the lord of the soil the ninth, and to the curate a
tenth." Great development took place in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, who
brought over from Germany many miners, led by Thomas Thurland and
Daniell Houghstetter. In a short time, these miners controlled all the mines
of Great Britain, except those of Cornwall and Devon. In this connexion, we
may note the suggestion, first made by Swan (See W. Wallace, Alston
Moor, 1890, pp. 99, 174) and fairly widely quoted since, that the names
Bla(e)gill and Blaydon bear witness to German settlement and influence. I
have sought the opinion of Prof. Mawer on this point, and his verdict is
definitely against the association of these words with the German Blei
(Iead).
There is little direct evidence of the early methods of smelting in this
district, but it is generally agreed that the furnaces were built loosely of
stones and placed in a position favourable to the prevailing winds. The fuel
was wood and peat and the ore, sprinkled on the surface, was reduced and,
trickling through the fire, was collected in the ashes. The ore-hearth, built
somewhat like a smith's forge, supplanted this, and has proved its great
utility for the extraction of lead in remote districts, where peat or coal is
available. It gives a quick return of pure lead and, though its capacity is not
great it is easily built and soon started and blown out. The rich lead slags
from this furnace were smelted in a small blast furnace, termed the slaghearth, and yielded an impure metal.
The reverberatory furnace, invented at the end of the 17th century, was
introduced into Kalstedge, Derbyshire,
93
from Wales, in 1747. Its success for smelting lead ore in that county
was phenomenal. Farey states that, whereas at the time of its introduction
only the ore-hearth was in use, there were only a few furnaces of this type
left in 1789. In Alston Moor, the reverberatory was never much favoured
for smelting, though its use for roasting ores, which were afterwards to be
smelted in the ore-hearth, was introduced in 1810 and survived until quite
recently. In the same year, granulation and washing of slags to recover shots
of metal was also put in operation. With the decay of mining. there has been
little or no development of modern methods of blast- roasting and blastfurnace smelting, which have revol tionised the industry in America and
Australia and other countries. (To be continued.)
NEWS OF THE SOCIETIES.
THE HEXHAM FIELD CLUB.-A meeting- was held on March 26th at which
this club was formed and its objects defined as the study and investigation of the
Natural History and Antiquities of Hexham and the neighbourhood, the establishment
of a library and of a museum. Rules were adopted, and the annual subscription fixed
at five shillings. The following officers were elected, and a number of vacancies were
left to be filled later :-President, Mr. W. W. Gibson; Vice-President, Dr. F. C. Garrett:
Hon. Sec., Dr. F. W. Ritson, Hencotes, Hexham. The first field meeting is to be held
on April 14th, when the club hopes to be able to visit Housesteads and Crag Lough.
CARLISLE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.-F. B. DAY, F.E.S., Hon. Sec.
This Society has had a successful winter session, holding six ordinary meetings and
giving two public lectures, and winding up its activities with an exhibition of
specimens and lantern slides on March 15th. These were all well attended, the hall
being crowded for both lectures, Eleven new members have joined during the session,
but the Society's membership still stands in need of additions, especially. of fieldworkers.
The first authentic breeding of the tufted duck in Cumberland was established by
two of the members last summer, and photographs of the nesting sites were shown at
the November meeting.
In December, Mr. G. B. Routledge read a paper on the" Geometrae of
Cumberland;" and dealt with 200 species which had occurred in the county. In
January Mr. F. H. Day read the concluding part of his paper on the" Coleoptera of
Cumberland," and remarked that 1,797 species had been recorded up-to-date.
In February, Mr. L. E. Hope read a paper on "Lakeland Birds," being a
supplement to Macpherson's "Vertebrate fauna of Lakeland." These three papers are
being published by the Society as vol. iii of its Transactions. Exhibits of insects were
on view at each meeting and numerous records and observations on local birds
contained much of interest.
94
LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY .-The last
meeting was held on 20th February, 1923. Mr. J. W. Griffin, F.E.S., presided.
Three new members were elected; and a resolution was passed admitting Junior
Members to the Society at a reduced subscription in order to encourage beginners.
Unfortunately, Professor Newstead was unable to deliver his lecture, being called
away through sickness in his family. We hope perhaps to hear his lecture at the April
meeting. The Annual Dinner has been postponed until the Autumn. We were
fortunate in having Mr. Mansbridge to exhibit and explain a beautiful collection of
about 70 lantern slides which he had on loan from Mr. Hugh Main. We certainly
always will welcome such beautiful work as Mr. Main's whenever we have the
opportunity of seeing it.
Mr. Mansbridge then exhibited a single specimen of a species of Lepidoptera
new to Britain called Auximobasis normalis (Meyr.), which he found on the dock
wall, Liverpool, in September, 1921. It was probably imported as a larva or pupa. Mr.
Edward Meyrick has a series from Ecuador and Columbia. Twenty-five species are
known belonging to the genus Auximobasis. The larval habits of normalis are not yet
known. It is probably a seed eater. He also showed a series of Peronea hastiana from
the Isle of Wight, comprising various divisana, radiana, centrovittana, combustana
and brunneana, with corresponding varieties from Lancashire localities for
comparison. It was seen that the Lancashire specimens were all very much darker
than the parallel forms from the Isle of Wight. Mr. Tyerman also exhibited a very
variable series of the same species which he had bred from Lancashire Iarvai last
year.
ORNITHOLOGICAL SECTION: NORTHUMBERLAND AND DURHAM
NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.-On February 14th, Mr. W. Raw, M.B.O.U.,
lectured at the Hancock Museum on "Bird Life in Egypt." His remarks were based
upon four years residence in Egypt and were illustrated by a nice range of lantern
slides.
On February 16th, a meeting of the members of the Ornithological Section had a
profitable discussion on "Moults and Other Plumage Changes." Twelve members
attended, Mr. W. E. Beck presiding. These sectional meetings are proving- very
interesting, and the Hon. Secretary would welcome a larger attendance.
Mr. Raw exhibited specimens from his collection showing the vast difference
between winter and summer plumage, the white-winged Black Tern being a fine
example.
NOTES AND RECORDS.
BIRDS.
Tringa ochropus. GREEN SANDPIPER.
A fine specimen was shot at Catterick, Yorks., on January 27th, by Mr.
Gracie, and sent to the Hancock Museum for preservation. The date is somewhat
unusual for this handsome wader to be seen hereabouts, although it occurs
annually on migration.-W. R.
Larus ridibundus. BLACK-HEADED GULL.
Several people have remarked specimens during the month of January with
full spring plumage. Whilst not unprecedented this is most interesting.-W. R.
95
As illustrative of the mildness of the winter of 1922-23, the following notes
are interesting (Mid. Tyne District) :Feb. 4.-Skylarks began to sing.
" 11.-Chaffinches began to sing.
" 12.-A few Yellowhammers began to sing.
" 27.-Five Curlews seen flying south. A Goosander seen on the river.
Mar. 4.-A Raven had laid one egg. One Curlew in residence.
" 12.-Curlews flying over at night.-J. G. B.
(See below under Flowering Plants)
ARACHNIDA.
CHELONETHI.
Chernes dubius.
68.
Two or three years ago Mr. R. S. Bagnall turned up this rather rare
false-scorpion in the neighbourhood of Budle Bay. Until then a single
specimen taken by me in West Allendale was the only local record. I now
find that it is quite plentiful at the foot of the whin crags from Bamburgh to
Kyloe, under the stones of the talus. -J.E.H.
FLOWERING PLANTS.
Some "first appearances" (see under" Birds" above).
Jan. 17.-Galanthus nivalis.
“ 22.-Potentilla fragariastrum.
“ 24.-Mercurialis perennis.
Ranunculus ficaria.
“ 26.-Corylus avellana.
Feb. 2.-Myosotis arvensis.
“ 13.-Tussilago farfara.
Mar. 2.-Lamium album.
Primula vulgaris.
Viola odorata.
“ 7.-Chrysosplenium oppositifolium.
Draba verna.
Cardamine hirsuta.
“ 11.-Adoxa moschatellina.
Myrrhis odorata.
About a score of others-not spring flowers-bloomed all the winter
through.-J. G. B.
96
CURRENT HAPPENINGS.
Mr. E. Ernest Green has been elected President of the Entomological Society of
London; we congratulate our colleague on the honour he has received.
The third part of Professors Baly and Heilbronn's study of Photo-catalysis
appears in the Journal of the Chemical Society for January (vol. 123, p. 185). Starting
with carbon dioxide and ammonia the authors produce good evidence to prove that
they have synthesised methylamine, pyridine and coniine!
Mr. F. Littlewood has studied the forcing of the Fox moth (M. rubi), and finds
that it is not necessary to expose the caterpillars to frost. By judicious use of heat he
has persuaded them to pupate early in November, and has had moths out in January
(Entomologist, vol. 56, p. 28).
We hear with pleasure of the establishment of the Wallis Club in Newcastle, and
hope that it will cause a great increase in the amount of scientific work done by local
naturalists. The Northumberland and Durham Natural History Society plays an
important part in this district, and by inviting- the new club to hold its meetings in the
Hancock Museum it has given valuable help to its young companion. Co-operation is
usually a source of strength.
The Hexham Field Club is another addition to the working strength of
Northumberland, and we hope to receive long lists of records from its members. We
wish the venture all success.
The Carlisle N.H.S. offers surplus copies of vol. ii. of its Transactions at 3s. post
paid. The volume can be obtained from Mr. F. H. Day, 26, Currock Terrace, Carlisle,
and as it contains large instalments of Mr. Day's list of Coleoptera, Mr. Routledge's
Lepidoptera, and Mr. Britten's Arachnida of Cumberland, and other articles, it is very
good value.
As an indication that the Board of Trade are actively enforcing the recently
passed Plumage Bill, it is interesting to note that the Master of a British vessel was
prevented from landing a skinned specimen of the American Horned Owl at
Liverpool recently. The authorities refused permission to land the bird unless some
public institution agreed to receive it as a specimen. In these circumstances it was
offered to the Hancock Museum, and has been gratefully accepted.
THE VASCULUM
Vol. IX. No. 4..
July, 1923.
THE PINE MARTIN AT HOME.
W. RAW.
I have received so many enquiries from North Country naturalists
regarding my good fortune in seeing a Pine Martin in its native habitat, that
I have thought it might be of interest to place the circumstances on record.
Along with a party of ornithological friends I had been exploring some of
the crags on one of the mountains in the Lake District, and fell in with our
interesting friend in a larch plantation on the slopes coming down. We were
examining this for possible Buzzards' or Owls' nests, and were knocking all
the trees containing nests for the purpose of flushing any inhabitants.
Something quite unexpected put its head over the edge of an old nest near
the top of a tree and immediately had us all guessing. At first we thought it
to be a Long Eared Owl, and then I was reminded of a small species of
monkey I once discovered peering down at me from a tree in the jungle of
West Africa. Once I got my glasses on it its identity was easily made out, as
a very good view of the animal presented itself. The brown coat with its
creamy white breast, size and thick set body instantly recalled stuffed
specimens seen in museums. After watching it for a considerable time one
of the more adventurous of the party essayed to climb the tree. The Martin
stood its ground until he was nearly up. Then to our great surprise up it
jumped and leapt into the next tree with the agility of a Squirrel. A small
dog which accompanied us had by this time become an interested onlooker
and joined in a hunt which followed. I early discovered that the Martin was
in no danger, as when it jumped from tree to tree it always immediately
made for the trunk up which it ran to regain any height it had lost. The
rapidity of its movements was, to us, amazing. After perhaps ten minutes of
being hunted from tree to tree our furry friend began to be bored and
decided to make for the safety and cover of a smaller plantation. We then
saw just how quickly it could stir and a headlong descent from branch to
branch commenced, terminating in a tremendous leap into a heap of dead
leaves out of which it quickly scrambled and after a few yards run it gained
its objective in safety. Very much to my surprise it appeared to be much
quicker in its movements in the branches than on the ground.
98
From subsequent enquiries I found that a pair had been trapped in
another locality some miles away last year, but the presence of Pine Martins
where we saw ours had not been suspected. I later asked the gamekeeper
upon whose beat the plantation is situated if he had ever seen one. He was
emphatic in denying all knowledge of the presence of the species-and I did
not enlighten him. One wonders how long the Pine Martin will maintain
itself in England. Sure I am that if gins and guns were eliminated as factors
in its threatened extinction it would look after itself in no uncertain fashion.
I will conclude with the remark that an investigation of the old nest in which
we discovered the animal showed that in all probability it had made its
home there.
A STATE OF SUSPENSE.
J. E. HULL.
The old saw divides human life into three equal daily sections allocated
to work, play, and sleep. It is an approximation to the truth which may serve
our turn; and we may take it that any considerable deviation from it is more
or less pathological. Rip Van Winkle, the Ephesian Sleepers, the Sleeping
Beauty, Clark Russell's Frozen Pirate-these were by no means normal
people, but victims of disease, witchcraft, magic, climate; no man expects to
repeat in himself the experience of anyone of them. Yet there are many men
who have a dread of being buried alive; and I understand that the fear is
insistent enough to have driven some of them to make provision in their
wills or otherwise that they may be certified to be very decidedly dead
before being finally entombed.
So great a bugbear to the ordinary man is that suspension of animation
which is called a trance; which indeed may be sufficiently death-like to
deceive the most experienced physician. Fortunately it is not, like sleep, a
necessary part of human life; and sleep is only a sort of relaxation, not a
suspension; a rest, but not an arrest. And neither sleep nor trance have any
direct relationship to growth or development.
Both in the animal world and in the plant world, however, there are
myriads of species whose life-cycle includes one or more stages in which all
vital functions are totally suspended. Resumption is sometimes due to an
undetermined law of periodicity; sometimes it is a response to external
influences: but in the latter case it is most probable that the periodicity
factor is never altogether wanting, though it may not be able to act normally
in the absence of the right external conditions.
An egg or a seed is perhaps the most familiar example of this kind of
thing; also bulbs, tubers, &c., and many trees, in their winter state. But the
most striking instances are those which
99
belong to the metamorphoses of insects, because they are associated
with such remarkable transformations.
Let us set aside for the present the embryonic pause of the egg (or seed
or spore), and consider the inert stage which so many Arthropods pass
through on their way from youth to maturity. It is most conspicuous among
butterflies and moths, and because Lepidopterous pupae are so familiar to
most naturalists, even of the most amateurish type, I pass on to ground
better known to myself but little explored by students in general-that section
of the Arthropoda now systematically separated from the Insecta under the
name of Arachnida.
Of these eight-legged creatures we have four British orders-Aranere
(spiders), Chelonethi (False Scorpions), Opiliones (Harvestmen), and Acari
(Mites). The elementary text-books will set forth that these proceed from
the baby-creature as hatched from the egg to full maturity through a series
of "moults" or sloughing of the skin. The number of moults is two or three
in the Acari, but is usually more in the other orders; and in the latter there is
no transformation of any kind except the final development of the sexual
organs. But with the Acari things are considerably different, bearing a
certain resemblance to the course of development found in some Insecta
with imperfect metamorphoses. For this reason the pre-adult forms of the
Acari are called nymphs, the first being further distinguished as the larva or
larval nymph.
This first stage is invariably six-legged, one of the posterior pairs of legs
being lacking. In a few cases the larva is parasitic, while the succeeding
stages are not. It is always soft-bodied, and if the chitinous cuticular plates
of the adult are represented at all, they are usually broken up into segments.
The succeeding nymphal stages resemble the adult stage except for the lack
of fully developed sexual organs. Yet even here we find a departure from
the normal; for it is now known for certain that many mites pair before the
final moult (of both sexes, or of one of them). The precocious party is
generally the female, and she is then known as a nubile nymph. But that is
another story; at present we have to do with resting stages.
Some years ago I wrote in these pages concerning "Eyeless Migrants"
(Vasculum, vol. iii. p. 102)-the case of Acarid nymphs which practise
"phoresy," i.e. attaching themselves to other creatures, parasite-fashion, in
order to be conveyed from one feeding ground to another. With very rare
exceptions this method of travelling is resorted to only in one of the
immature stages, and it is more general among the Gamasidae than in any
other family. In the nature of the case the habit is confined to species
frequenting
100
a special habitat, and they make use of creatures which need the same
and are endowed with the ability to find it without difficulty.
Dung-beetles-especially Geotrupes, Spp.-are among the most familiar
examples; hence one of the popular names applied to them, "Lousy
Watchman." The infesting" lice" are really young Gamasid mites, which
often swarm in the grooves of the beetle's thorax. In like manner, certain
Gamasids which frequent carrion make free use of sexton beetles. Next to
these, so far as familiarity is concerned, we may place the mites which
travel on bees and ants. These also are mainly Gamasids, whose home is in
the nests of their hosts, where for the most part they live as scavengers. The
scarlet mites so often found clinging to dragon-flies are larval nymphs of
Hydrachnidae, a fact which helps to explain how isolated pools of water are
peopled with aquatic mites.
In every case above mentioned, the travellers are ordinary nymphs,
sometimes larval but usually sub-adult. Nevertheless this migratory stage is
exceptional. The travelling mites are quiescent, as long as they are
undisturbed. They do not necessarily dismount when their bearer conveys
them to a habitat of the kind required. That happens only in due course of
time. Meanwhile, feeding is suspended, and presumably growth and
development also. It is obvious that the natural close of the resting period
and the return of appetite will not necessarily coincide with arrival at the
desired feeding ground, but in the case of beetle-borne mites the
compulsory extension of the fast can never be very long. As for others,
passengers on bees, ants, flies, &c., investigation is not easy, and reliable
observations have not been made. Having laid out a dead bird as a sort of
trap, I found three sexton beetles busy on the third day, and the Gamasid
nymphs were also exceedingly busy. Twenty-four hours later, there were
only two or three nymphs; the rest were all adult, some of them evidently
just through their moult. In this species, therefore, the final feeding of the
nymph and the subsequent ecdysis can be accomplished very rapidly, and
probably this quick development is the general rule, since the whole of the
adult life would appear to be confined to the one corpse.
From these non-feeding, semi-torpid migratory nymphs to other
migrants specially fitted for this particular phase in the cycle of life is but a
short step. The feeding apparatus is superfluous, so it may be either very
feebly developed or there may be no visible mouth at all. Legs, especially
the two posterior pairs, are scarcely needed; consequently the third and
fourth pairs may be little more than rudimentary, though the two anterior
pairs are robust enough, and may even be endowed with stronger
101
claws than usual or more powerful tarsal suckers. What is required is
not so much the faculty of getting about as power to stick to a chosen spot,
after the manner of a limpet, with perhaps some dorsal protection to prevent
them from being forcibly swept off. The group of Gamasids known as
Uropidae or Uropods are peculiarly adapted for this, because the general
form of the creatures is not unlike that of a limpet. The dorsum as a matter
of fact, is shaped something like a shallow dish-cover, oval or round, and
the whole body and limbs can be entirely concealed underneath. The
protective form, being ready to hand, the mode of secure attachment is all
that is required; and this is supplied by a viscid secretion from the anus
which hardens in the air and forms a kind of stalk, firmly cemented to the
smooth surface of a beetle's elytrum. Hence the name Uropod-i.e., tail-foot;
for the immature form found thus attached to various beetles was the only
form originally known.
These Uropod migrants are however destitute of any other special
adaptation; both mouth and legs are normal, though not very strong. One
does not find anything like atrophy among the Gamasidse. For that we must
turn to the "lower" groups-Tarsonemidae, Tyroglyphidae, and the parasitic
families. Here on the negative side, one finds non-development of the
mouth-parts and partial development of the hinder legs; on the positive side,
a special group of suckers in the anal region; also the dorsum is often
winged, so that the animal when firmly attached to its host by means of the
ventral suckers, is securely sheltered under a kind of domed shield.
Where these special structural features are present, the mite in this form
is called a hypopus (so called, I suppose, because the reduced posterior legs
are usually tucked up underneath, out of sight) or hypopial nymph. The
hypopus is an intermediate stage between two normal nymphs. It has been
asserted that under favourable circumstances it may be omitted-that a given
nymph may proceed by an ordinary moult to the next nymphal stage if
migration be not necessary. In all my experience I have never seen anything
whatever which would support this view, though I have seen myriads of
hypopi with apparently not the slightest chance of finding a means of
transport to another feeding ground.
Still, I am speaking of matters which are very imperfectly known;
problems which are crying out for solution, while scores of "naturalists"
mark time on the old familiar parade grounds, laboriously tabulating
varieties and aberrations and what-not. Not that such nature-lovers are to be
blamed; they know best what they are capable of doing-let them do it, by all
means. All facts, even the apparently trivial, are just the right material
when the master-mind comes along and puts them to use.
102
ANIMAL PARTHENOGENESIS.
(Continued).
A. D. PEACOCK, M.Sc.
Gametogenesis-the production of the sexual elements or "gametes." The
reproductive tissue is composed mainly of "mother cells," oogonia or
spermatogonia, which, according to the sex of the animal, give rise to eggs
or sperms after a wonderful series of evolutions has occurred in their nuclei.
Briefly, these changes first result in the nuclear material being aggregated
into separate masses called "chromosomes." According to species each
organism has typically a definite and specific number of chromosomes in all
cells of the body and, further, the chromosomes of the sex cells are believed
today to be the main carriers of the hereditary characters, i.e. they are the
physical basis of heredity. The chromosomes, after their formation, next
separate into two groups, each lot, together with a certain amount of the
surrounding cell protoplasm, going to compose a new cell. Each of these
daughter cells contains, therefore, half the number of chromosomes of the
original mother cell. This phenomenon is known as the "reduction division."
Each daughter cell again divides into two but at this "equational division"
the chromosomes are not halved in number but each is halved in amount by
a splitting along its length. So there are obtained four daughter cells from
one mother cell and each contains half the original number of chromosomes
of the mother cell. In egg-formation, "oogenesis," only one of these
daughter cells becomes the egg while the other three, which are called
"polar bodies," degenerate; in sperm-formation, "spermatogenesis," each
daughter cell becomes a sperm. To recapitulate the essential point
technically, the ripe cells of the sexual organs or germ tissue, have half the
chromosome complement of the body tissue cells or soma. It should be
understood that sometimes the order of events varies, but space forbids
further elaboration; nevertheless, the general argument holds good.
Recent work reveals that, according to the organism, the sperm and egg
from the same species have not necessarily the same number or kind of
chromosomes. The sperms of man, mammals and most insects have been
found to be of two kinds, while the eggs are of one kind; on the contrary, in
birds and moths the eggs are of two kinds and the sperms of one kind. This
variation depends upon the presence or absence of special chromosomes "idiosomes" which are different in appearance or differ in behaviour from
the other chromosomes-" autosomes."Certain idiosomes are associated with
sex production and are designated sex or X chromosomes. An example will
explain. The chromosome constitution of the body cells of the male bug
Protenor belfragei is 12 autosomes
103
plus 1 idiosome, which may be written 12+X; that of the female is 12
autosomes plus 2 idiosomes, i.e. 12+X+X. Spermatogenesis produces
sperms of two kinds, one kind having a chromosome complement of 6
autosomes plus 1 idiosome, 6+X, and the other kind 6 autosomes only, 6. In
the female only one kind of egg results, one having 6 autosomes plus 1
idiosome, i.e. 6+X.
Fertilisation.-Here the course of events is as follows :-A sperm enters
the egg, the egg responds by producing a membrane which excludes other
sperms, the nuclei (the chromosomes) of each sexual element co-mingle and
development proceeds. To take the simple case of Protenor belfragei the
results of fertilisation may be set out thus:
One kind of sperm, 6+X, uniting with egg, 6+X, gives a zygote
12+X+X=a female.
The second kind of sperm, 6, uniting with egg, 6+X, gives a zygote
12+X=a male.
This shows how the original specific and parental number of
chromosomes is restored in the organism and also how the sexes are
engendered.
Now what happens in parthenogenesis? As an example let us consider
an insect, Phyllaphis coweni, related to the green-fly. Certain individuals of
this species are known as stem-mothers for a reason which will disclose
itself presently. Their chromosome constitution is 4 autosomes and 2
separate idiosomes, i.e. 4+X+X. They have arisen from fertilised eggs, but
they themselves lay parthogenetically and yield eggs of two kinds. From
one kind of egg develop males with a chromosome constitution of 4
autosomes and 2 idiosomes which latter, however, behave as a single
chromosome; graphically expressed we have 4+XX; the sexual elements
contain 2 autosomes and 1 idiosome =2+X.* From the other kind of egg
develop females with a chromosome complement of 4 autosomes and 2
idiosomes 4+X+X. These females are likewise parthenogenetic, but they in
turn produce eggs of two sorts, viz., (1) parthenogenetic eggs with the same
nuclear constitution and (2) sexual eggs, which require fertilisation, having
a chromosome constitution of 2 autosomes and 1 idiosome=2+X, similar, it
will be observed, to the male element; the normal number of polar bodies,
of course, is produced here. All this may be shown diagramatically as
follows :
104
We reach now a critical point in the argument-observation shows that
the chromosome complement of parthenogenetic eggs, 4+X+X, is
maintained unreduced in the nucleus because in the maturation of the egg
only one polar body is produced instead of the usual two or three, i.e. there
is no reduction of the somatic number of chromosomes. Obviously, the eggs
of parthenogenetic females could not go on halving their chromosome
complement ad infinitum: that way the heritage would soon dwindle to
vanishing point. Hence, by this specialised type of nuclear behaviour
females may go on reproducing a-sexually without any loss in chromosome
complement. So the question may now be posed, "What has caused these
critical and important modifications in nuclear behaviour? "
This is but a single example of the mechanics of parthogenesis out of
the many, varied and complicated conditions which exist; but sufficient has
been shown, however, to illustrate how the activities which go on in the
nucleus, this play upon the chromosomes, are correlated with the
production of sex. One might pay tribute, too, in passing to the exquisite and
delicate technique of the researchers who have revealed these cryptic and
fascinating phenomena.
We still are confronted with the two questions,
1. What activates the parthenogenetic egg in the absence of sperms;
2. What determines and controls the behaviour of the egg nucleus-the
chromosomes-after activation.
At the outset it may be stated that complete answers are still being
sought and the partial answers which have been made have depended upon
a curious and extraordinary technique which savours of wizardry. A few
salient facts may be summarised thus: Bataillon in France pricked
parthenogenetic frogs' eggs with a hot needle and obtained young stages as
far as tadpoles ready for metamorphosis; Hertwig in Germany shook
starfish eggs and obtained young stages; Loeb in America put Epsom salts
into water containing frogs' eggs and obtained seven males and two
females; Delage, in France, using tannin and ammonia, reared young sea
urchins, and one which could be pronounced a male. In short, by distilled
water, salts, mechanical shocks, electric shocks and a variety of other
chemical and physical agents parthenogenetic eggs of frogs, certain starfish,
sea urchins and marine worms can be activated and even developed to larval
and adult stages.
But whatever method succeeds, the initial step is the production of the
fertilisation membrane-a relatively thick, jelly-like layer around the
fertilised egg. Loeb suggests that the activator, be it sperm or salt,
introduces two substances into the egg, one which
105
breaks the outer surface of the egg and a second which limits or controls
the action of the first. Lillie, another American worker, suggests that
something in the egg determines the initial stage. The most recently
expressed view of Gray suggests that the common feature of all
experimental observations, whether chemical or physical, is electrical as the
great activity of the sperm and the strength of the surrounding chemical and
the mechanical shocks all incite an electric condition in the egg which is
sufficient to activate it.
Again, development in sexual reproduction is regarded as dependent
upon or intimately correlated with the presence in the egg of two star-like
appearances, asters, one produced by the egg and one introduced by the
sperm. It has been shown that the second aster can be produced in the egg
by the same chemical means which produce activation.
Hence it would seem that the sperm has a double role-one chemical or
physical and the other hereditary: an activatory function and an ancestral.
With these facts and views let us put ourselves a few critical problems :1. Are sawfly eggs activated by the fluid or moisture diffusing from the
plant in which they are laid, through the egg shell or by the mere action of
diffusion. That is-is activation due to environment ?
We don't know.
2. How are parthenogenetic moth eggs able to develop which may be
laid either on the natural food plant or in a box away from the natural food
plant? Surely this is not environmental. The easier explanation would be
that the faculty is hereditary.
In this indeterminate fashion we must leave one of our questions and
proceed to the next-what are the influences which determine the production
of both sexes from a parthenogenetic mother; in other words what
influences chromosome behaviour ?
As far back as 1874 Kurz, by slowly evaporating water containing
female Daphnia, induced the appearance of males. Issakowitch in 1901
obtained a like result by starvation and low temperature. Among certain
rotifers it has been shown that increase in the oxygen of the water increases
the production of male forms and that increase in the alkalinity causes
diminution. Using other species another worker was unable to demonstrate
any such results. Hence, as far as we can state, the parthenogenetic
production of both sexes in certain animals depends upon environmental
factors in the widest sense, or heredity factors, or both.
106
MINERALS OF THE NORTH COUNTRY.
GALENA.
J. A. SMYTHE.
Continued from page 93.
Mining is proverbially a speculative business. It is, perhaps, a
melancholy satisfaction for us, even though we are not miners, to recall the
good fortune which has waited upon others in the palmy days when mining,
in our district, offered great prizes. Some examples may prove of interest.
The Hudgill Burn Mine was for long worked without success, but in 1814
good ore was struck by John and Jacob Walton, and there were mined, in
one year, from this mine, 12,000 bings (1 bing=8 cwts.) of ore, and the
profit for many years was £30,000 a year. At Allenheads, 6 miners raised
800 bings of ore in 9 weeks. The Crossfell mines, discovered in 1810,
yielded 5,000 bings a year, worth £51/2 a bingo. From the manor of Alston
Moor, which covers 45 square miles, no less than 24,000 bings of ore,
worth £8,000, were raised in the year 1767. Brekon Syke, in Weardale,
produced 10,000 bings of ore in the year 1809.
It should be mentioned that all lead ore contains some silver, which
passes into the metal when the ore is smelted and is recovered therefrom by
cupellation. About a century ago, lead extracted from the ore of Hudgill
Burn mine contained 13 ozs. of silver per fother (1 fother=21 cwts.); that
from Thortergill vein, 21 ozs. of silver per fother. These are extreme cases,
and naturally the value of the ore is greatly enhanced when so rich in silver.
Thus in 1820 the Hudgill Burn mine yielded 9,000 bings of ore, from which
32,000 ozs. of silver, worth £8,400, were extracted. In general, the silver in
the lead averages, for this district. 5-5 ozs. per ton. In the days we are
speaking of the recovery of the silver in lead was only profitable when the
silver content exceeded 6 ozs per ton. When Pattinson introduced his worldfamous desilverising process, in 1833, the Alston output was 22,000 tons of
lead, of which 6,000 tons contained less than 6 ozs. of silver, and, as a
consequence, this lead was not cupelled and the silver contained in it was
lost. It was one of the great merits of this process that it enabled the silver in
poor lead to be recovered.
In the early decades of the last century, Britain was the most important
lead-raising country in the world, and the contributions of the northern
counties were largely responsible for that pre-eminence. The output of lead
(and silver
107
derived chiefly from lead) for the years 1850-1862 was fairly constant,
and this period marks the high-water level of production. Some statistics for
the year 1861 and for a recent year, 1917, will illustrate the former
productivity of these districts and the serious falling-off in recent times.
Thus in 1861 the five northern counties contributed 42 per cent. of the
whole British output of lead and a substantial portion of the world's output,
which was about 200,000 tons. At the later date the relative position of the
northern counties, so far as Britain is concerned, is still strong, thanks
largely to the Wear dale production, which is at present about one fourth
that of the whole of Britain; but the total shows a great reduction, being
only 15 per cent. of its former amount, and its proportion to the world's
output, about one million tons, is almost negligible. Concurrently with these
changes, and closely related to them, is the rapid rise in the imports of pig
lead to the Tyne. At first these consisted chiefly of hard Spanish lead from
Linares, and later of leads from Mexico, Australia and America. Of these,
213 tons entered in 1844, and the import rose rapidly to 7,287 tons in 1850,
12,459 tons in 1862 and 186,000 tons in 1885. With the decay of the local
lead-mining industry, therefore, the great Tyne industries, which use the
crude pig-lead as their raw material, namely, lead softening or improving,
the making of piping and sheets, desilverisation of the soft argentiferous
lead, manufacture of litharge, red lead and white lead, underwent a rapid
expansion, under the stimulus of cheap imported lead, richer in silver than
the local metal.
At the present time, some large, well-equipped mines, with elaborate
washing plant, are still in operation, and there are several small ones, where
two or three men spend laborious days, with little mechanical aid beyond a
winch and picks and shovels. On all sides are the marks of former activityheaps of old scoriae which, when broken, reveal
108
pellets of the metal; old smelting mills, as at Tynehead and
Edmondbyers; great water-wheels, as at Ayle Burn (Alston) and Brandon
(Rookhope), and deserted mining shops, often in the bleakest and most
exposed parts of the country. Many of the old adits are broken down, others,
as at Ashgill and Clargill, still in a good state of preservation. Much labour
has been expended in providing water-supply, and this has been attained
sometimes by tapping a neighbouring valley, or by grading the channels so
that water from the lower part of a valley is brought to the upper part. Old
dams, like Perry's, on Alston Moor, or Corbitmere, at the head of
Rookhope, now that time has softened their outlines, are not an unpleasing
feature in a country devoid of natural lakes. The release of pent-up waters in
the operation of flushing has in places scored the hillsides with gorges,
which might be mistaken by the uninitiated for natural cleughs. The use of
old smelting appliances as drinking troughs is an interesting relic of past
smelting activities. The hemispherical tapping pots are most favoured; but
on Pikeman's Hill, Cross Fell, the curiously-shaped fore-hearth, used in
conjunction with the old slag-hearth, fulfills this purpose.
The effect of the industry on the country has been very detrimental from
a scenic point of view. Some areas resemble wastes, and when lead-mining
has been combined with coal-mining, as in the Nent and Coldcleugh, the
result is appalling. The lead fume and oxides of sulphur from the smelting
mills have a very injurious effect on vegetation. There is a tract, possibly a
mile in area around the Rookhope chimney, from which all plant-life has
disappeared, and which exhibits only a black peaty surface, seamed with
channels and in an advanced state of demolition. This patch is
unsymmetrical about the chimney and shows well the influence of the
prevailing winds. It is, however, only fair to say that black areas of eroded
peat are encountered elsewhere on the fells, for example, at the Grossgill
Pants and on Mickle Fell, in positions remote from smelting chimneys; also,
that such land may soon recover its fertility, for the growth around the old
Derwent smelteries is, if anything, more profuse than elsewhere. It will be
interesting to see how long it takes the blasted Rookhope area to recover,
for smelting there ceased only 2 or 3 years ago.
The washing and dressing of ores has a bad effect on the streams,
charging them with fine mud which, besides being offensive to the eye, is
injurious to the fishes. The water of the South Tyne above Black Burn
(Shield Water) is dark and peaty, but clear, like that of the North Tyne. Here
it
109
receives the white fluorspar mud from the Rotherhope mines, and, a few
miles lower down, the Nent adds its yellowish, muddy waters, discoloured
from the washing-floors at Nent Head and by the drainage o£ a large area
which has been dug over in mining operations. The effect of this is so
persistent that Hexham residents can often tell whether a flood on the Tyne
proper is derived mainly from the north or the south feeder.
ANOTHER ABNORMALITY IN CARDAMINE PRATENSIS.
Since the "Notes on Peculiarities in the Cuckoo-Flower" appeared in the
Vasculum (vol. viii., No. 4), I have discovered some strange flowers of this
plant in two marshy places near Haltwhistle.
At first sight the plants did not seem unusual, but a more careful
examination showed that the normally slender ovary was distorted by a
large swelling, usually in its upper half. (Compare figure A, normal, with
Fig. B, showing swelling).
I took this to be a gall structure but on cutting it open there was no
insect larva visible but instead it appeared that the ovules were more or less
completely changed into petal-like structures. Not only this, but whereas
many of these were green, some in each ovary were of the lilac shade
assumed by the petals of the flower (Fig. C). One ovary examined at a later
date showed the lower ovules petaloid and mauve, but above these one
perfect anther was developed in each loculus (Fig. D). In other specimens
the structures found were monstrous-half stamen half petal-and all were
green except for the yellow of the stamen loculi. In fact these abnormal
ovaries contained anything rather than ovules.
K. B. BLACKBURN.
110
FORCING NOCTUID CATERPILLARS IN THE WINTER.
FRANK LITTLEWOOD.
Although these notes refer particularly to the moth Agrotis saucia, the
Pearly Underwing, the methods adopted will prove successful for 95 per
cent. of the British Noctuids with hibernating caterpillars, and are therefore
set out here in the hope that amateurs may profit from my experience. Even
fairly advanced workers utterly refuse to touch such larvae because "they
hibernate" and thus many invaluable opportunities of increasing one's
knowledge are lost.
I have to thank my friend Mr. John E. Eastwood for the nice batch of
sixty young larvae which formed the basis of the experiment. These came to
hand on the evening of October 30th, 1922, and were then just half an inch
in length.
I fed them on dock* in closed tins, which were placed in a corner beside
the hot water cylinder, where the temperature ranged from 70° F. to 82° F.
Some dry granular peat put in the bottom of each of the tins served a
threefold purpose, (1) absorbing the rather considerable condensation of
moisture from the food; (2) "wrapping up" the frass immediately it was
voided, so that the tins never became dirty; (3) and providing a much
appreciated "cover" for the very retiring larvae. Fresh pulled dock was
given twice a day, but the greater part of the food was consumed during the
night.
Never, in my thirty years experience of larvae-rearing, have I seen
caterpillars grow so quickly; each day when I looked at them they seemed
almost "twice as big" as they were the day before! And they did eat! On
November 6th, just one week after they came to me, they were beginning to
burrow for pupation, in some deeper peat-mould, in a flower pot. This peat
was damped when put in, and retained some of its moisture until it was no
longer needed. At this stage the caterpillars were about 13/4 inches long and
in every way strong and healthy. They changed quickly and the pupae lay in
a simple cavity hollowed out of the light soil. I left them undisturbed, but
removed the pot to a somewhat cooler position in the same cupboard (60° F.
to 70° F.). In the very early morning of November 28th, three moths had
emerged, for I found them flying about in their confined quarters at 7-30
a.m. After that I placed the pot containing the pupae, uncovered, inside a
large gauze covered pupae-cage, where there was ample room for the
"morning exercises"! Although all the larvae had gone down within a period
of three days, the emergences spread over nearly three weeks. Only two
died in the
* They will eat sliced carrot, turnip or potato when snow prevents
access to green food (J.W.H.H.)
111
pupal state and I have now on the boards a grand series of this variable
species. Nearly half the total number are of the dark vinous-red form, one or
two being prettily mottled. The remainder have the inner-marginal area
ochreous-grey, and the costa sooty black. None have the pale costa which is
a form I have taken here, though not by any means frequently, for A. saucia
is only a casual visitor in this county.
22, HIGHGATE, KENDAL.
December 20th, 1922.
SOME NOTES ON THE BIRD LIFE OF RAVENSWORTH
PARK AND THE LOWER TEAM VALLEY.
GEORGE W. TEMPERLEY.
In view of the fact that the Wallis Club has decided to undertake a
systematic zoological and botanical survey of a portion of the lower Team
Valley in the county of Durham, the following notes may be of interest to
those who intend to take up the study of the bird life of that area. The
district covered by these notes is restricted to Ravensworth Park and its
immediate environs, including the "Fish Pond" and the fields lying in the
Team Valley between the" Coach Road" and Low Fell.
The features of the district which, in the past, probably had the greatest
influence in determining its avifauna were the presence of much old and
decaying timber, attracting such birds as Tits, Creepers, Owls and
Woodpeckers, the abundance of undergrowth, designed for the shelter of
pheasants, but incidentally providing cover for various species of Warbler,
the three small artificial lakes, the marsh-lands in the Team Valley and the
heather-moor on the hill top. Some of these features remain; but many
changes have taken place during the last few years. Owing to the growth of
population in Gateshead and neighbourhood the amount of trespass on the
outskirts of Ravensworth estate has increased steadily with the years, so that
areas which were once the secluded haunt of birds are now the devastated
camping grounds of boy scouts and their many imitators. Fields where the
Lapwing and the Lark nested in peace are now the resort of football players
and picnic parties. The cessation of pheasant rearing has been followed by
the withdrawal of keepers and watchers, and much more licence is enjoyed
and abused by visitors to the district. Only the private portion of the Park
itself remains a bird sanctuary.
Other changes which have unfavourably affected the bird life of the area
are the partial silting up of the "Fish Pond," the increased pollution of the
river from colliery pumping, the better
112
draining of portions of the valley, and the ploughing out of the heather
on Tinkler Fell. Among the changes favourable to bird life may be
mentioned the improvement in atmospheric conditions due to modifications
in the chemical manufacturing processes carried out on Tyneside. The
fumes, which were carried by the prevailing north-east winds and were
responsible for the extensive damage caused to the trees on the upper slopes
of the Park, have now lost their virulence and the rate of decay has
slackened considerably, thus prolonging the life of the woodlands and their
under-growth. The abandonment of game preserving, already referred to,
has been a boon to such species as the Hawks, Crows and their relatives-" it
is an ill wind that blows nobody any good."
The Park itself is very varied in character, consisting as it does of
stretches of open grass-land, wild woodland, young plantations in different
stages of growth, cultivated gardens and an extensive arboretum. The superabundance of yews and rhododendrons give a gloomy aspect to the scene,
but the plentiful fruit of the former attracts a large autumn immigration of
Misselthrushes, Fieldfares and Redwings, while the latter provide early
nesting sites for hosts of Song-thrushes and Blackbirds. The most abundant
finches resident in the Park are the Chaffinch and Greenfinch. The Bullfinch
visits the young larch plantations in early spring and the birches in autumn,
but is never very much in evidence. The Hawfinch is present in small
numbers in autumn, winter and early spring and probably resides all the
year round in the Park, but as it is the quietest and shyest of birds the writer
has, as yet, failed to detect its presence later than the end of April when the
foliage on the tree tops which it frequents becomes so thick as to obscure it
completely from view. The Linnet is a regular resident in suitable localities,
and the Lesser Redpole, sometimes accompanied by the rarer Siskin, visits
the birches and alders in winter. The trees bordering the wagon-way near
the Tile Sheds are a much favoured haunt of both species of Linnet, as is
well known to the bird catcher who sets up his decoy and limed twigs on the
old shale heaps near the Fish Pond and does not wait in vain for his victims.
A winter visitor in varying numbers is the Brambling. A fine clump of
beeches, standing in a field near Old Ravensworth, has a special fascination
for these birds and on an autumn day a few may often be observed there in
company with flocks of Chaffinches. The Reed-bunting is a resident; but
extremely local and almost confined to the osier-beds near Lamesley.
Among common residents which call for no special comment are the ever
present Robin, the noisy little Wren, the Hedge-sparrow, and the
113
YellowHammer. The fields in the valley are still the home of many
joyous Larks and active Meadow Pipits. Since the ploughing out of Tinkler
Fell the number of Pipits on the hill top has sadly decreased. The Starling
and the House Sparrow are ubiquitous; the Common Bunting a very scarce
resident.
In summer the woodlands are full of the music of the Warblers. The
Willow Warbler is everywhere; the Wood Warbler likes the plantations
where the trees are not too old and the sunlight filters through the leaves;
Blackcaps and Garden Warblers delight in the shrubberies and copses;
while Whitethroats prefer the tangles of rose and briar along neglected
hedges. Until last year the Sedge Warbler was always to be found at the
Fish Pond, but the continual trespass has become too much even for him.
Another of his haunts is the Lamesley osier bed. The Chiffchaff is always
scarce-not more than one or two pairs breed in the whole of the area. Other
summer visitors are the Redstart-never plentiful in spite of the many
suitable nesting sites provided by the decaying timber-the Cuckoo, the Treepipit, the Whinchat and the Spotted Flycatcher. The Pied Flycatcher and the
Grasshopper Warbler, though nesting in the neighbouring vale of Derwent,
have never been seen in Ravenaworth by the writer.
Contrary to experience in some other parts of the county the House
Martin shows no sign of diminution in number. Every autumn a large
contingent of locally bred birds assemble on a convenient series of wires
preparatory to their southward migration. The Swallow is also plentiful. The
Castle provides excellent nesting-sites for both these species. Only the Sand
Martin is threatened with extinction. Each year it returns to the polluted
Team, diligently tunnels into the stiff clay banks, only to have its nest dug
out by the small boys who swarm along the riverside every Saturday and
Sunday afternoon.
The Swift spends its short summer soaring high over the tree tops and
the Castle towers or hawking flies above the Fish Pond.
At least two pairs of Great Spotted Woodpeckers inhabit the more
secluded woods. They are naturally shy birds and may easily be overlooked
except in spring when their weird tapping calls attract attention, but even
then they are difficult to locate.
Of the Wagtails the Grey is usually resident on the Team or one of its
small tributaries. The Pied comes in small flocks to the ploughed fields in
early spring and roosts regularly in the Lamesley osiers. Only an odd pair
remains to breed about some farm yard or outbuilding. The Yellow Wagtail
is a rare accidental visitor to the valley fields in early summer.
114
All the commoner species of Tit are much in evidence. In winter the
woods often appear to be alive with them. The Blue and Great Tit are the
most abundant, but the Cole and Marsh are quite plentiful. Small flocks of
Long-tailed Tits are often seen associated with them. All five species
remain to breed. The Cole and Marsh Tits are commoner here as breeding
species than in most other districts in the neighbourhood, but Long-tailed
Tits are scarce in summer. Like the Tits the Gold Crest and the Treecreeper
are common in winter. In summer they are less easily observed, but quite a
number of pairs nest in the woods.
As already stated the cessation of Pheasant-rearing has favoured the
increase of Crows and Hawks of various species. Time was when only the
Rook and a restricted number of Jackdaws were tolerated. The raucous call
of a Carrion Crow would give the keeper sleepless nights until the vermin's
black carcass dangled from the rack among decaying weasels, innocent
owls and the countless tails of marauding cats. Now the Carrion Crow flies
unmolested through the woods; the Hooded Crow visits the district in
winter; the Jay boldly takes toll of the acorns and intrudes everywhere-even
taking up residence in the arboretum. The handsome Magpie flocks in the
Park and several pairs stay to nest. Jackdaws are everywhere. The Tawny
Owl blinks peacefully in the aged trees; Kestrels multiply apace and even
the Sparrowhawk nests unmolested. The sight of a pair of Sparrowhawks
boldly soaring over the trees or dashing headlong through the glades is
worth more to the bird-lover than all the Pheasants in the world. They are
birds which the owner of an estate might well be proud to harbour and
protect.
In spite of the above formidable list of feathered "vermin" and a
corresponding increase in the number of stoats and weasels, the Park is still
well stocked with Pheasants. The pampered hand-reared bird of yesterday
might require preserving from vermin, but the race has now become strong
and virile enough to take care of itself. The Pheasant can protect its eggs
and young from feathered foes and its own neck from the human poacher.
As a matter of fact poaching has almost ceased-the birds are too wary to
make it worthwhile. The Partridge is also holding its own successfully and
the estate still provides excellent shooting for the true sportsman. One of the
most plentiful birds on the estate is the Wood-pigeon, while the Stock Dove
is restricted to a few pairs.
The Fish Pond as a bird-sanctuary is a thing of the past. Not many years
ago it offered considerable attractions to passing duck and it was no unusual
thing to see small flocks of Wigeon and Pochard .associating in winter with
the normal inhabitants-
115
Mallard and Teal. Now only the two latter species are ever seen there.
The Water Hen is the chief resident, and the Coot, always a regular winter
visitor, remains to nest. The Dab-chick annually attempts to breed on the
pond, but apparently with small success.
For many years a pair of Heron nested in the Park and were regularly
seen at the Fish Pond-sometimes, though rarely, accompanied by a juvenile
or two. The nest was repeatedly robbed and of late years no birds have even
attempted to carry on the tradition. Nevertheless a solitary Heron may often
be seen flying over the Park, or be disturbed at one or other of the small
ponds in the arboretum.
The Peewit may still be reckoned a breeding species in the area, though
it has much to contend with. Year by year it returns to certain selected
fields. Its earlier clutches of eggs are either stolen or disturbed by the
harrow. Later layings may escape a like fate, but growing crops mercifully
conceal the nests from egg-stealers and bird-observers alike and their
further history cannot be recorded. Winter finds varying flocks of Peewits
on the grasslands in the valley, and in some years Golden Plover are also
present. The meadows near Lamesley appear more attractive as feeding
grounds for these two species than those lying nearer to Gateshead.
The Corncrake is a regular summer visitor to the meadows, its numbers
varying from one year to another.
As the fields and marsh lands become better drained the Snipe decreases
in numbers. Certain damp spots and runnels of water which a few years ago
invariably harboured Snipe are now untenanted. The Redshank is now only
known in one field where it endures a much persecuted existence. The
Woodcock alone seems unaffected by these changes. It seeks the seclusion
of the damp woods in the Park, and on summer evenings in the gloaming,
when loving couples from Gateshead pace the "Coach-road," the
Woodcocks, all unobserved, enjoy their crepuscular flight overhead.
That other birds were wont to dwell in the area may be gathered from
their appearance at certain seasons. In spring the Sandpiper visits the river
and the Fish Pond-but not to stay. It leaves the polluted waters and passes
up stream to pleasanter places. The Kingfisher is another occasional visitorits calls unhappily becoming rarer as the years go by.
The list of species closes with the Seagulls. They are occasional visitors
to the fields-usually in autumn. The Black-headed Gull regularly follows
the plough; Herring Gulls come drifting up the valley from the Tyne; Lesser
Blackbacks, usually solitary
116
come in after a heavy rain has flooded the fields; while small flocks of
Common Gulls may rest occasionally on the meadows.
Counting such passing visitors as the Wheatear and the Curlew and such
mere accidental stragglers as the Waxwing and the Shore Lark the writer's
list of species observed by him in this limited area totals 87.
The species may be classified as follows :
Residents
51
Regular summer visitors
17
Regular winter visitors
5
Occasional visitors ....
8
Rare stragglers
6
Total
87
Now that the members of the Wallis Club are to devote their attention to
the Team Valley this list will doubtless receive many additions. As it stands
it is merely the record of one observer. Meanwhile, however, it may be
found of interest to those who are as yet unacquainted with the bird life of
the area described.
HONEY AND SCENT. A CHAPTER IN FLORAL
DEVELOPMENT.
J. E. HULL.
Botanists are now, I think, pretty well agreed that the part played by
insects in the development of floral form and colour has been magnified far
beyond the warrant of direct and conclusive evidence; but that they have
been a considerable factor in the production of certain forms, if not in
anything else, can hardly be denied. I shall assume that no one now
seriously accepts the colour-attraction theory, since I have already had
something to say on that subject in criticizing Grant Allen's "Colours of
Flowers" (Vasculum III, p. 118). This leaves me free to consider the
attractions which are in no sense theoretical but unquestionably real.
The first and chief of these is honey, which is secreted in the floors by
specialized portions of the surface of the floral receptacle or of members of
the floral whorls; occasionally borne on special outgrowths, or associated
with peculiar developments such as spurs or scales. It is to be noted,
however, that the honey-glands or nectaries are not confined to the floral
parts, but are frequently to be found on the vegetative organs, particularly
on the petiolar portion of the leaf. * Thus in Passiflora and Acacia they
appear on the upper
* Or the adjacent leaf base, as in Prunus (e.g., plum, cherry).
117
surface of the petiole itself, and in Impatiens and Vicia (e.g., V. faba) on
the stipules.
From the variety of positions which they occupy, it is quite evident that
their primary function had no direct relation to the process of fertilization.
Some botanists have been satisfied that they have been able to trace a
definite adaptation of their relative position-when, as is usual, they occur
within the flower-to the sexual organs, so as to favour insect-fertilization.
But bearing in mind that when they are found on the vegetative organs they
normally appear on the petiolar region of the leaf, and more particularly on
the stipules, strict homology would place them precisely where they usually
occur within the flower; that is, in the basal region. Besides, if one is to look
for adaptation, it would be most natural to expect a special disposition of the
sexual organs themselves, not of the honey which insects come to seek. The
legitimate reasoning would be-granting in a given case that inter-crossing is
advantageous-that in a honey-bearing species those plants which varied in
the disposition of the sexual organs so as to favour insect pollination would
predominate in the long run. Many Labiates and Orchids, as well as other
plants with irregular flowers, would seem to support this view.
The argument for the adaptative disposition of the nectaries rather than
of the sexual organs (or in addition to it) might appear to be strengthened by
the frequent occurrence of special structures containing the honey-glands.
Familiar examples are the so-called nectaries of certain Ranunculaceae,
which are of course really petals; and it must be remembered that in
Ranunculus the honey-gland is normally situated at the base of the petal, so
that when the honey is borne in the "nectaries" of Helleborus (and allies) or
in the spurs of Aquilegia, it is the form of the leaf which is altered, not the
position of the honey-gland. Honeyspurs are found also among the
Scrophularineae, Violaceae, Geraniaceae, and Orchidaceae, and are
sometimes simulated by a gibbosity of the basal part of the tube in tubular
flowers. The nectarie of Parnassia appear to be enations of the petals, and it
is to be noted that the honey is secreted on the inner base of them, not on the
terminal globules; so here also the disposition is perfectly normal.
The honey itself is usually considered as a simple solution, from 4 to 10
per cent. in strength, of glucose or sugar, elaborated from the starch
contained in the plant cells; and no doubt that is a fairly accurate account of
its composition in the main. But we ought almost certainly to regard it
118
as a product of the sap proper to the honey-bearing plant with the
saccharine matter added thereto; for it is well-known that the quality and
character of the honey of hive-bees depends upon the flowers from which it
has been procured, heather honey being held in high esteem, while there is
strong reason to believe that honey drawn from certain plants (e.g.,some
Ranunculaceae) may partake in some degree of their poisonous or acrid
nature.
The fact that the honey is a sap-secretion accounts very naturally for the
usual situation of the honey-glands, which are always to be found in close
connection with the main sap-canal of the nectar-bearing organ, whatever
that organ may be. Hence the common position at or near the base of the
foliar organ. Whenever there is a deviation from this arrangement, the gland
will still be found seated on the main vein of the organ; as, for example, in
Gossypium (the cotton plant) where the position is quite unusual, being on
the mid-rib of the under or outer face of the sepal.
How did honey-glands originate? Henslow's theory deserves first
consideration. Beginning from the position that specialized organs, like the
sense-organs of animals, must have been developed by response to external
stimuli, he concludes that in the case of nectaries the external stimulus has
been supplied by insects searching for liquid food. Local outgrowths may be
induced by such external irritation, as galls, climbing organs, etc.,
abundantly testify. It is assumed accordingly that an insect-presumably
visiting the flower in quest of pollen begins to search in the inner parts of
the blossom for sweet juices, sucking naturally at the fleshier surfaces. It is
quite conceivable that much repetition of this probing might bring about the
development of a honey gland.
This theory commends itself in that it seems to furnish a fairly adequate
account of the initial stages of the special variation, a thing which most
speculations concerning the origin of particular structures utterly fail to do.
But even in this it is unsatisfactory, and difficulties multiply as one
proceeds. In the first place it is necessary to assume a certain degree of
concentration of the stimulus on the sites of the future glands, and for that
there must be a reason; either these sites make some kind of special appeal
to the insect-in which case the external excitation is merely accessary to a
development already begun; or the position is fixed by the relative structure
of flower and insect. The second alternative disappears because, among
other things which are adverse, many nectaries are in such an open
119
situation that the suggested form of guidance is impossible. The former
alternative leaves the initiative with the plant, and thus merges into the
popular" advertisement" theory, adding nothing but a suggestion that the
activities of the insect visitors may accelerate development.
There is moreover a fundamental defect in the general hypothesis; for
there is no clear proof that a local growth provoked by an external stimulus
has in it any element of permanence. Always the exciting influence must be
present before any growth takes place. The ivy does not normally produce
aerial rootlets unless it be in contact with a suitable surface for climbing.
The petioles of Clematis do not thicken until something is clasped. And
here again the external factor is a means rather than a cause; it originates
nothing, but merely makes an opportunity. The development in which it is
concerned exists potentially beforehand; if it does not there is no response,
and where there is a response each plant responds after its kind.
Henslow's theory therefore fails for want of the usual "missing link" -a
proof of the inheritance of acquired characters. The fascinating "mnemic"
theory professes to do something towards the bridging of the gap, but rests
entirely on the assumption that evolution proceeds gradually and
continuously and not per saltum-a postulate which cannot possibly be
granted at the present time. For the rest it calls individual response to the
influence of environment "consciousness" and its transmission to the next
generation "memory." The environment and its influence remaining
constant, you get in time a mnemic aggregation or fixed" habit" ; which is
simply the assertion that acquired characters can be transmitted to the
progeny after being educed in a sufficient number of successive
generations. If there is anything new in this, it is the assertion that though an
acquired character is not hereditary at its first appearance, some factor or
function of it is hereditary; the bar to transmission has not been removed,
but it has been appreciably weakened if the same character be acquired in
the succeeding generation. Obviously the acquired character increases in
hereditability with each repetition until finally the limit is reached and it
becomes truly hereditary.
This is plausible enough and wears an indisputable air of sweet
reasonableness. Nevertheless it has no foundation whatever in observed
fact; it is sheer theory from beginning to end. One says: "It is true that a
newly acquired character is not hereditary, but perhaps if the acquisition be
indefinitely repeated it may become so." And there is really nothing to carry
us beyond that "perhaps."
120
So we return to the unassailable fact that an external influence cannot
originate anything; it can only at the most stimulate. Such a stimulus can no
more cause a plant to produce a nectary, a special organ for the secretion of
honey, than it can cause the plant to produce the honey itself-and that in the
nature of the case is quite impossible. Again, so far as is known, a honeyproducing plant will of necessity have honey-glands or nectaries; a honeyless plant will be destitute of them. It would be just as reasonable to suppose
that hungry sheep called the pastures into being as to lay it down that thirsty
bees originated floral nectaries. A world without herbage knew no sheep;
where no honey was on tap there were no honey-feeding bees.
Nectaries, then, like petals and stipules, are integral parts of the plants
which possess them. If absent, it is not known that any external influence
can cause them to appear, even temporarily. Their origin, therefore, cannot
be ascribed to bees or any other insects; but ultimate detail of form, even to
the degree of partial atrophy, is another matter. Here variation, and
consequently any adequate theory of evolution has its legitimate sphere. But
adaptation of position and form of nectaries is far to seek. It is actually
discounted by known facts; since it is notorious that hidden honey stores in
quite a large number of species are systematically rifled by forcible means,
the robbers never entering the flower at all.
Still, in the immense majority of cases the flower must be entered, and it
is the result of the entry which may be reckoned as a possible influence in
the evolution of floral form and arrangement. The likelihood of any
adaptive variation in the nectary itself seems so hopelessly remote that it is
hardly worth while to consider whether any such variation might be educed
by stimulation or simply produced spontaneously. Its position or
accessibility might conceivably suffer modification on the assumption that
the visits of the honey-seekers were beneficial in some way. But there is no
proof that the removal of the honey is a benefit to the plant; and the
advantage, if it exists, must affect some other part of the flower. Thus the
inquiry merges into the threadbare question of adaptations for
crosspollination.
The question now is concerning the form and disposition of the various
floral whorls. If these favour cross-pollination the benefit is conceivable; if
not the whole case collapses-there is nothing for natural selection to work
upon. But if the floral arrangement does favour cross-pollination the
adaptation exists already; the visiting insect is in no way
121
concerned in its evolution. Again the case collapses, unless we suppose
casual variations make the cross-pollination more certain. Hence the
combined operation of insect-visits (causing cross-pollination) and natural
selection to produce an " adaptation" of a flower to the visiting insect, can
only come into play when the plant has already by natural variation made
some advance in the direction of that adaptation, and at the same time
provides a sufficiency of the right kind of provender for the right kind of
insect-i.e., an insect which visits the flower habitually in adequate number,
and is of the right size and form; without taking into account the antecedent
necessities that the range of plant and insect must more or less coincide, as
also the an thesis of the one and the period of activity of the other!
Obviously, the evolution of a particular adaptation makes an immense
demand upon the "long arm of coincidence." If we are right in supposing
that we see genuine examples of it, they must be exceptional; since the
demand made upon a plant must fall within the limits of its capacity for
variation, and the process of evolution cannot begin unless the plant has in
some degree anticipated its favoured visitor.
Though honey (and pollen) is the real object of a bee's visit to a flower,
there can be no doubt the attracting medium is its odour. This is the sense in
which I have used the word "scent" at the head of this paper; whether or not
the characteristic perfumes which do not belong to the honey have any
appeal for insects, I do not know. It seems very likely that they are attractive
to some, indifferent or repellent to others. What is known is that the honeyfeeding insects are very sensitive to odours, and lepidopterists make full use
of the fact. It is not a matter which calls for demonstration as does the
alleged colour-preference of insects, bees in particular. It is most natural to
suppose that the honey of every plant has its distinctive odour, as the plants
themselves apparently have. That these characteristic scents-whether
general of the plant, or proper to the honey-are for the most part beyond the
range of human appreciation, signifies nothing. The familiar dodge of the
moth-catcher which is known as "assembling" depends on the existence of
such a scent. Moreover it seems fairly certain that an egg-laying female
depends upon it for guidance in choosing a site for her eggs.
Even the coarse adjustment of human sense of smell helps us to realize
that insects do discriminate between one odour and another; for in a general
way we are well aware that fetid odours will draw flies and sometimes
wasps, but not bees.
122
Thus in the honey itself and its own distinctive odour we have all the
apparatus necessary for determining the visits of insects to flowers.
Accidents of colour, size, and shape are unnecessary as well as unnatural. It
may be objected that the alleged distinctive odour of honey is a sheer
assumption. Not quite; though it might be called a presumption. There is a
very strong presumption that no organic substance can be quite odourless;
least of all when it is imperceptible to every other known sense. And what
about the insects which bite a hole in the honey-bearing spurs of flowers to
get at the honey? Since there are no Darwinian "honey-guides" what is the
guide? If it is any known sense at all, it is the sense of smell.
MORE PLANTS FROM THE BLACK HALL ROCKS.
J. W. H. HARRISON, D.Sc., F.R.S.E.
After a lengthy absence one looks eagerly forward to revisiting our
Magnesian Limestone area with its flowery banks and their wealth of
insects. Disappointment, however, marked our pilgrimage this summer, for
the insects were gone and many of the plants blasted. Year by year the coast
denes have been used as tips for shale from the collieries, but even at the
worst one realised that this would spare the grassy hollows facing the sea as
well as their tenants. Now, unfortunately, the ballast in the richest dene at
the Black Halls has caught fire, and the low lying rolling fumes have
produced the result stated. Not a single Castle Eden Argus gladdened our
eyes, and only one Green Forester and half a dozen blues served to remind
us of the crowds we used to stir up from rush, trefoil and rockrose. Still,
whether because of the dwarfing effect of the stifling vapours or in spite of
them, several new plant records were made, and these form the basis of the
present paper.
Orchis incarnata, L.
66
About half a dozen plants precisely like those found at Bellingham
in flower form, but of a slightly more delicate colour, were noted.
Orchis purpurella, Step.
66
Two specimens of this newly discovered segregate of the latifoliaincarnata group still lingered.
Salix Andersoniana, Srn. Dusky Sallow.
66
I was staggered to find that the sallows passed over casually later in
a normal season as Salix caprea were nearly all this species-a form
proper to more upland localities.
123
Salix phylicifolia, L. Tea-leaved Willow.
66
Another willow even more disconcerting in its presence than the
preceding; one links this species in one's mind with Langdon Beck and
Falcon Clints; rarer than S. Andersoniana.
*Salix Andersoniana x S. repens.
66
A hybrid between the Creeping Sallow and the Dusky form; very
rare.
*Salix Andersoniana x S. Caprea.
66
Also a hybrid, but involving the Goat Willow; rare.
Serratula tinctoria, L. Sawwort.
66
This with its distinct variety integrifolia were very common both
below and above the Hotel although never noted in this locality
previously.
* Erythraea littoralis, Fr. Coast Centaury.
66
Although on record for Ross Links, Holy Island and Bamburgh, this
provides the first record from Durham; rare south of the Hotel.
Primula farinosa, L. Bird's Eye Primrose.
66
This rarity was distinctly commoner than is usually the case and
amongst the forms seen was a beautiful specimen with its flowers
arranged in tiers like the Primulas of the japonica-Bulleyana group.
Several other plants bore umbels with the individual florets on pedicels
over five centimetres long.
Plantago media, L. Plantain.
66
Several unisexual female flowering spikes of this plant were
gathered.
NEWS OF THE SOCIETIES.
DARLINGTON AND TEESDALE NATURALISTS' FIELD CLUB.-The eighth annual
meeting was held in April under the presidency of Mr. Walter Hodgson, The Secretary, Mr. J. E.
Nowers, reported that during the twelve months there had been eight Saturday excursions
(average attendance, 22), and also evening meetmgs (average attendance, 18). Seven popular
lectures were given in conjunction with the Mechanics' Institute and were fairly well attended. A
number of specimens had been added to the Club's collection; books had been added to the
library, and a new book-case purchased. Twenty-six new members had been elected to the Club,
but a few had left. The present membership was 133.
Mr. W. R. Wool r was elected President for the current year, and the following were
appointed sectional leaders :-Mr. H. D. Pritchett, archaeology ; Mr. R. H. Sergent, botany; Mr. W.
Hodgson, zoology; Mr. J. B Ord, geology; and Mr. T. Sinclair, photography.
124
CARLISLE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY.-The Transactions of the Carlisle Natural
History Society do great credit to its members, and Part Ill. (1923) will further enhance its
reputation.
The late Eric B. Dunlop and Mr. Linnaeus Hope write in most interesting fashion of the birds
of Lakeland, and in the first 40 pp. of this number give many notes, including a full account of the
doings of a certain "foul-fiend usurper "-a Buzzard whose eccentric behaviour alarmed visitors to
a certain fell for a number of years. Mr. G. B. Houtledgp's list of the Lepidoptera of Cumberland
is one of the most satisfactory of local lists; his present contribution deals with the Geometers (30
pp.) and is up to the standard of the instalments which have preceded it. Mr F. H. Day gives the
final chapter of his" Coleoptera of Cumberland" (38 pp.) and brings the total number of species
recorded to 1,797; a particularly good result when one knows the extent and diversity of the
ground to he covered, and the small number of workers available. Ths Transactions can be
obtained from Mr. F. H. Day, 26, Currock Road, Carlisle, price 3s. 6d. post free.
NOTES AND RECORDS.
BIRDS.
[Holy Island Notes by Mr. W. G. Watson. Period, 15th August, 1922, to 31st March,
1923.] During the above period 126 species were noted. Except in one or two cases where
the locality is expressly stated, all records are from Holy Island and the surrounding sea.
From the 18th September to the 2nd October, Dr. W. Eagle Clarke stayed on the island and it
is during this fortnight that most of the more interesting observations were made. He, also,
again kindly identified for me all the birds obtained.
Corvus cornix. HOODED CROW.
Four arrived on the 2nd September and odd birds were noticed until the 11th October,
when a large influx took place.
Carduelis spinus. SISKIN.
Three or four on the 29th September, a few on the 30th, one on the 1st October, one on
the 5th, six on the 17th, and several on the 18th.
Fringilla coelebs . CHAFFINCH.
Two males and a female on the 26th September. The following day many arrived and
others were noted up to the third week in October. A single male re-appeared on the 27th
March.
Fringilla montifringilla. BRAMBLING.
One on the 27th and 28th September, a few on the 6th and 17th October, and large
numbers on the 18th.
Passer montanus. TREE-SPARROW.
I only noticed Tree-Sparrows on the 6th October.
Emberiza citrinella. YELLOW BUNTING.
Although abundant on the mainland opposite, Yellowhammers appear to be scarce on
Holy Island. Two occurred on the 17th October I have only one record for the previous year.
'
Emberiza schoeniclus , REED-BUNTING.
From August to the end of October, Reed-Bunting-s occurred in small numbers, never
more than three being seen in a single day.
Plectrophenax nivalis. SNOW-BUNTING.
First noticed on the 30th October.
Anthus trivialis. TREE-PIPIT.
Only seen. on three occasions :-single birds on the 23rd and 25th August and three on
the 2nd September.
Motacilla flava rayi. YELLOW WAGTAIL.
An immature female on the 14th September.
125
Parus coeruleus. BLUE TIT.
One on the 23rd October.
Regulus regulus. GOLDEN-CRESTED WREN.
One on the 29th September, two on the 1st October, one on the 4. h , one on the 7th,
three on the 17th, three or four on the 18th, and a few on the 19th.
Lanius excubitor. GREAT GREY SHRIKE.
One on the 6th October, a female was killed on the 17th October, and two were seen on
the 4th November.
Muscicapa striata. SPOTTED FLYCATCHER.
Only two noticed; one each on the 23rd and 31st August.
Muscicapa hypoleuca. PIED FLYCATCHER.
One on the 30th August, one on the 31st, several on the 2nd September, one on the 5th,
two or three on the 6th and 7th, one on the 11th, one on the 24th, and one on the 6th October
..
Muscicapa parva. RED-BREASTED FLYCATCHER.
A male on the 26th September and a male and female on the following day. These
constitute the second, third and fourth records for Northumberland.
Phylloscopos collybita. CHIFFCHAFF.
A male on the 29th September and a male and female on the 7th October.
Phylloscopus trochilus. WILLOW WARBLER.
Willow Wrens occurred from August until the 8th October when a single bird was
noticed.
Phylloscopus humei praemium. YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER.
Single birds on the 29th and 30th September, and 7th October. All were males. There is
only one previous record for Northumberland. dating as far back as 1838.
Acrocephalus schoenobaenus. SEDGE-WARBLER.
A male at the Lough on the 29th August.
Sylvia borin. GARDEN WARBLER.
A female at the Lough on the 2nd September.
Sylvia atricapilla. BLACKCAP.
A male on the 29th September, a female on the 30th, a female on the 10th October, and
an adult male on the 12th.
Sylvia communis. WHITETHROAT.
Last noticed on the 28th September.
Sylvia curruca. LESSER WHITETHROAT.
A male on the 28th September.
Turdus pilaris. FIELDFARE.
A single bird appeared on the 4th October.
Turdus iliacus, REDWING.
One or two arrived on the 28th September.
Turdus torquatus. RING-OUZEL.
Ring-Ouzels occurred regularly from the 4th September to the 17th October.
OEnanthe oenanthe. WHEATEAR.
Last noticed on the 9th October. Several males and one female arrived on the 26th
March.
Saxicola rubetra. WHINCHAT.
Latest date-6th October.
Phoenicurus phoenicurus. REDSTART.
Several between the 2nd September and the 7th October.
Luscinia svecica. BLUETHROAT.
I saw a single bird on the 18th October. On the following day it was in the same place
and, although shot, I failed to recover it from the undergrowth.
Erithacus rubecula, ROBIN.
A large influx on the 6th October. Two obtained belonged to the British race.
126
Delichon urbica. MARTIN.
After a lapse of three weeks one turned up on the 18th October, two on the 26th and one
on the 20th November.
Apus apus. SWIFT.
Last noticed on the 7th September.
Jynx torquilla. WRYNECK.
An adult male and female were shot on the 2nd September. Three others were seen at
the Snook End on the same day.
(To be continued.)
Eudromius morinellus. DOTTEREL.
67
When visiting Mr. Proudlock, the well-known local naturalist at Holywell I was shown
a splendid pair of this species which were shot near Newcastle, on May 17th this year. It was
said that five birds were seen together and one wonders if they were potential British
breeders on their way to the mountains, or merely migrants passing through on their way
north.
Falco peregrinus peregrinus. PEREGRINE FALCON.
Corvus corax corax. RAVEN.
Buteo vulgaris vulgaris. COMMON BUZZARD.
It does not often fall to the lot of an ornithologist to see these three breeding
successfully in one crag, but that pleasure was mine as the result of a long and arduous day
in the English Lake District during May this year. An aerie of the first-named containing four eggs within a very few yards of a Raven's nest occupied by three beautiful fully fledged
youngsters; whilst within half a mile a Common Buzzard's nest con taming three eggs, just
hatching-and a three-quarter grown rabbit-could be seen, and reached without the aid of a
rope. A pair of Dunlins in a moss near by, and Ring Ouzels at the foot of the crag completed
an unusually rich ornithological feast.
Phylloscopus sibilatrix. WOOD WREN.
The Tyne Valley has ever been noted for its numbers of Wood Wrens, but surely this
season has produced more than ever! Without much effort or special pains the writer has
seen into teens of ness. First eggs on May 25th, and the last well into June.
Scolopax rusticola, WOODCOCK.
It will interest many local naturalists to know that a woodcock reared a brood of four
young ones this year within thirty yards of a main road from which the strains of a band in a
local park could be heard. They were hatched on May 13th. Another pair had fresh eggs on
April 18th in the same locality.
Spatula clypeata. SHOVELER DUCK.
66
Mr. J. Bishop reports the breeding of this species in the county of Durham.-W. RAW.
MOLLUSCA.
[These notes by the Rev. E. Percy Blackburn, refer to the neighbourhood of Haltwhistle
and the period September, 1922, to June, 1923.]
Agriolimax agrestis.
67
This common and very variously coloured slug is found everywhere and hides under
stones.
Arion ater var. plumbeus. This pretty variety was found near Wydon.
Arion fasciatus var circumscriptus, Johnston, and
Arion hortensis, Ferussac, are common on roadsides.
Euconulus fulores , Muller. A single specimen was found under a stone at Riggbottom.
Vitrea radiatula, Alder, was found in a marshy meadow.
127
Vitrina pellucida, Müller.
67
Too fragile almost to touch and transparent as glass this shell needs little seeking and is
plentiful in woods.
Vitrea crystallina, Müller.
67
This dainty minute shell is common in the same places as Vitrina pellucida.
Vitrea cellaria, Müller.
67
This snail is found in Bellister Wood.
Vitrea alliaria, Müller.
67
Common in woods and damp places, this lively snail has a pungent garlicky smell.
Vitrea nitidula, Drap.
67
This is very common here.
Pyramidula rotundata, Müller.
67
This is found everywhere-one interesting specimen was slightly scalariform.
Hellicella caperata, Montagu.
67
This small shell loves limestone and chalk. Found on Shields Hill.
Hygromia hispida, L.
67
Is fairly common. One specimen is as var conica and others var hispidosa. The younger
the animal the more hairs there are on the shell.
Vallonia pulchella, Müller.
67
Found in Bellister Wood and on roadside, but not common.
Hellicegona arbustorum, L.
67
The specimens found in Bellister wood were the small type, deep in colour and
beautifully mottled.
Helix nemoralis and hortensis, L.
67
Several thrush eaten specimens have been found. The thrush takes the shell in its beak
and hammers it on a stone and then eats the luscious snail.
Ena obscura. Müller.
67
Found on the roadside on the Carlisle road.
Cochlicopa lubricans, Müller.
67
An elongated horn-coloured glossy shell, fairly common, but usually found singly.
Azeca tridens, Pult.
67
Azeca is somewhat like Cochlicopti but is a more barrel shaped shell with a toothed
aperture. It is comparatively rare but where it is found it is very plentiful as it lives in groups.
Northumberland is its most northern limit. It is found in Bellister Wood.
Jaminia muscorum, L.
67
A compact little cylinder shaped "pupa" with a horse-shoe shaped mouth having one
tooth. Found on Walls on Shields Hill.
Carychium minimum, Müller.
67
This delicate white spindle shaped shell is one of the smallest of our snails and is found
in Bellister Wood.
INSECTA.
LEPIDOPTERA.-Butterfiies and Moths.
Apocheima hispidaria, F. SMALL BRINDLED BEAUTY.
66
A male taken in Chopwell Woods in February, 1923, affording welcome confirmation
of Mr. Johnson's record from the same habitat thirty years ago and of Dr. Harrison's captures
in Gibside in 1919.
PETER CHARLTON, Chopwell.
Boarmia consortaria, F. PALE OAK BEAUTY.
67
Another species rejected by Robson in his list as unlikely for our area, but occurring at
Hexham
128
*Xanthia citrago, L. ORANGE SALLOW.
67
Already listed for the Derwent and Team Valleys in Durham; now recorded for the
Tyne Valley at Hexham. (This and the preceding are due to the energies of Master E. H.
Garrett, aged 5, and show that even yet something can be done with the lepidoptera in the
two counties; and further that there is something in beginner's luck !-J. W. H. H.).
Plusia bractea, F. GOLD SPANGLE.
67
In different years in the garden at Hexham.-F. C. GARRETT.
Brephos parthenias, L. ORANGE UNDERWING.
66
Considered by Robson a rare species but now known from several localities; put on
record here from Gibside.-J. W. H. HARRISON.
FLOWERING PLANTS.
Salix aurita X S. repens.
66
A female plant found with the two parent species on the edge of the Lily Pond at
Gibside.
Primula veris x P. acaulis.
66
Two plants with this parentage occur with us as indicated in the January Issue.
Although, in general, it is safe to assume that hybrid plants growing in fields with cowslips
have the primrose for pollen parent, and those in woods the cowslip, they can be separated
otherwise. The Primula veris ♀ x P. acaulis ♂ plant is generally exactly intermediate; the
other of parentage P. acaulis ♀ X P. veris ♂ is very much more like a cowslip. It may be
stated that back-crosses of these plants on both parents were shown at the last Wallis Club
Meeting.J. W. H. HARRISON.
Corallorrhiza innata, Br. CORAL-ROOT.
Two Northumbrian records of this interesting orchid have been published for Newham,
where it has been known to a few botanists for something like fifty years; and for Belsay,
where the discovery was much more recent. In both cases, fortunately, the unscrupulous
collector is hardly likely to come upon it except by sheer accident. There is, however, a third
colony within the county more vigorous than either of the two named. For the purpose of
continued observation by responsible botanists, I propose to deposit at the Hancock Museum
an exact indication of the spot. !
Saxifraga granulata, Linn. MEADOW SAXIFRAGE.
I do not remember any local note of the form which this plant assumes when growing in
dry soil among short turf such as is found on the basalt ridges of North Northumberland.
With shortened stem and scape, and tufted habit, the appearance of the plant is very different
from the taller form usually found in meadows and woodlands.
Radiola millegrana, Srn. ALL-SEED.
Recorded for Ross Links by members of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club. It is quite
plentiful in suitable places on the links at Ross; that is, on the sunny slopes of the
depressions, and of course well above the bog-level. It exhibits the usual features of the more
impressionable link plants, which while retaining their vitality undiminished are dwarfed in
size and show little or no branching of the stem.
Montia fontana, Linn. BLINKS.
I name this as an example of the features referred to above among plants inhabiting the
saturated areas on Ross Links. In habit it is short (hardly exceeding an inch in height), erect
and comparatively rigid: and the individual plants are quite solitary.-J. E. HULL.
129
INDEX TO VOLUMES VIII. AND IX.
The page figures in italics refer to Volume IX.
Abnormalities of Plants, 133, 109.
Acari, Hypopial State, 98; with ants, 126.
Albuminoids in Straws, 49.
Ants, Guests of Local, 126.
Argus, Brown, 37.
Barium minerals (North country), 113.
Basic Slag, its rise and fall, 81.
Bat, Natterer's, 43.
Beetles, of Cumbrian Coast, 84.
Biology-Summer School, 25;
Marine, 83.
Birds-Catcleugh and Redesdale, 93.
Earliest Nesting, 99.
Holy Island,19, 124.
Ravensworth, 111.
See Farnes .
Black Bryony, Insects of, 83.
Blackhall Rocks, Marine biology, 83; More Plants, 122.
Brady, G. S., Obituary, 97.
Breeding of Grass Snakes, 47.
Brown Argus, 37.
Catkins, Mixed, 13l.
Cattle of .the Saga Times, 48.
Chemistry of a Plant, 25.
Cuckoo Flower, Abnormalibies, 133, 109.
Cumbrian Coast Beetles, 84.
Current Happenings, 28, 60, 96.
Documentary Forms and Names, l.
Editorial, 1, 33.
Eel-worm Galls, 17.
Egg-laying Instinct of Rhodites rosae, 33.
Entomology, a chapter in Medical, 9.
See also Beetles, Insects, Noctuids, Egg-laying.
Farnes, Passing of, 39.
Forcing Noctuids, 110.
Galena, 89, 106.
Galls, Eel-worm, 17;
Tamarisk, 17.
Gardner, John; Obituary, 27.
98
Geology, Current Papers, 122, 85.
See Minerals.
Grammar of Tyneside, 55, 105, 117, 9.
Grass Snakes, Breeding of, 47.
History, Science and, 52.
Holy Island Birds, 19, 124.
Honey and Scent, 116.
Hutchings, W. M., Obituary, 87.
Insects-of Black Bryony, 83.
Mounting for Microscope, 135.
See Entomology.
Lake District, Mosses, 65.
Larval Crustaceans from Plankton, 33.
Lice and Trench Fever, 9.
Martin, Pine, 97.
Medical Entomology, 9.
Minerals, North Country, 19, 90, 113, 89, 106.
Mosses of Lake District, 65.
Mounting Insects, 135.
Natterer's Bat, 43.
Nesting, Earliest, 99.
.Noctuids, Forcing of Larval, 110.
Notes and Records, 30, 62, 111, 29, 61, 94, 124.
Obituary-G. S. Brady, 97.
J. Gardner, 27.
W. M. Hutchings, 87.
Parthenogenesis, 15, 102.
Passing of the Farnes, 39.
Pine Martin, 97.
Place-name Problems, 40.
Plankton, 123, 33.
Plant Chemistry, 25.
" Printed Matter" (Geological), 85
Ravensworth Birds, 111.
Review, 143.
Rhodites Rosae, Egg-laying, 33.
Roman Wall, its purpose, 4.
See Vallum.
Roman Ware, 136, 2.
Saga Times, Cattle of, 48.
Samian Ware, 136, 2.
Science and History, 52.
Snakes, Breeding, 47.
99
Societies, News of, 29, 60, 107, 144, 32, 63, 93, 123.
State of Suspense (Acari), 98.
Straws, Sugars and Albuminoids of, 49.
Symphyla, Northumberland and Durham, 65.
Tamarisk Galls, 17.
Trench Fever and Lice, 9.
Tyneside Grammar, 55, 105, 117, 9.
Vallum, Recent Work on Roman, 77.
Wall. Roman, 4, 77.
Wireless Telegraphy, development, 49.
York and Durham, Ecclesiastical Relations, 52, 102.
CONTRIBUTORS TO VOLS. VIII. AND IX.
ATKINSON, DONALD.
BAGNALL, R. S.
BINSTEAD, C. H.
BLACK BURN , K. B.
BOLAM, G.
BOLAM, H. G.
CARTER, W.
COLLING WOOD, R. G.
COLLINGWOOD, W. G.
COLLINS, S. H.
DAY, F. H.
FAID, W.
GARRETT, F. C.
GREEN, E. E.
Samian Ware, 2.
Eel Worm Galls, 17.
Insects of the Black Bryony, 83.
Galls of the Tamarisk in England, 17.
Symphyla of Northumberland and
Durham, 65.
Mosses of the Lake District, 65.
Some Observations on Mixed Catkins,
13L
Notes on Pecularities found in
Cuckoo-flower, 133, 109 .
Natterer's Bat, 43.
Which is our Earliest Nesting Bird?
99.
Some Notes on the Breeding of Grass
Snakes, 47.
The Brown Argus, 37.
The Purpose of the Roman Wall, 4.
Science and History, 52.
Cattle of the Saga Times, 48.
The Production of Sugars and
Albuminoids in Straws, 49.
Some Beetles of the Cumberland
Coast, 84.
The Development of Wireless
Telegraphy, 49.
The Chemistry of a Plant, 25.
Recent Work on the Vallum, 77.
On a Method of Mounting Insects for
100
GRIFFITHS, B. M.
HALL, A. A.
HARRISON, J. W. H.
HULL, J. E.
JORGEKSEN, O. M.
LITTLEWOOD, F.
MEEK, A.
PEACOCK, A. D.
PRESTON, H.
RAW, W.
SMYTHE, J. A.
TEMPERLEY, G. W.
THOMPSON, A. H.
WALTON, J. S. T.
WATSON, W. G. H.
the Microscope, 135.
Plankton, 123.
Basic Slag : its Rise and Fall, 81.
The Egg-laying Instincts of Rhodites
rosae, 33.
Grammar of Tyneside, 55, 105, 117, 9.
Some Guests of Local Ants, 126.
Place-name Problems, 40.
State of Suspense (Acari, the Hypopial
Stage), 98.
Honey and Scent, 116.
Larval Decapod Crustaceans from
Northumberland Plankton, 33.
The Forcing of Noctuids, 110.
George Stewardson Brady, 97.
A Recent Chapter in Medical
Entomology, 9.
Parthenogenesis (Animal), 15, 73, 102.
Marine Biology at Blackhall Rocks,
83.
The Passing of the Farnes, 39.
Minerals of the North Country, 19, 90,
113, 89, 106.
Current Papers on Local Geology,
122.
Birds of Ravensworth, 111.
Documentary Forms of Personal and
Place Names, 1
Some Notes on the Relations between
the Archbishop of York and the See of
Durham, 102.
Bird Behaviour, 101
Birds of Holy Island, 19, 124.