Page:Notes and Queries - Series 9 - Volume 4.djvu/296

 360 NOTES AND QUERIES. [9<"s.iv.oct.28,'99. Bartas, as is but natural, turns up occasionally m the work, in which also there is much concerning Drummond of Hawthornden. On p. 162 there is a reference to Louis IV. where Louis XIV. must be intended. The throwing the stool in St, Giles s is ascribed to Jenny Geddes, without the mention that there are other claimants. There is much m the work that will interest our readers, and the closing chapters are especially fruitful in informa- tion and suggestion. Prehistoric Scotland ccnd its Place in European Civilisation. By Robert Munro, M.A., M.D. (Blackwood & Sons.) Dr Munro's latest volume is avowedly intended as a general introduction to the forthcoming series of "County Histories of Scotland" Looked at in this or any other light, it is sure of a welcome. One of the most brilliantly endowed of archaeologists and anthropologists, Dr. Munro has devoted special attention to the subject of prehistoric man and the Bigns of his present workmanship found in cave dwellings and lacustrine habitations. Between two and three years have elapsed since we dealt see 8th S xi 439) with his ' Prehistoric Problems, in which his essay 'On the Relation between the Erect Posture and the Physical and Intellectual Development of Man,' one of the most important contributions to our knowledge of the processes of physical evolution, has found a permanent home. His present volume is an outcome of his previous labours, shows, like them, much original research, incorporates and turns to practical account the labours of his most distinguished predecessors or associates, and presents to the general and the scientific reader the results of his own labours and discoveries in a form at once trustworthy and popular. The chief difficulty by which he has been beset consists in the task of com- pressing into a volume of comparatively small dimensions the results of inquiries which, though nominally confined to Scotland, deal practically with the whole of the British Isles, and not seldom extend beyond to portions of the Continent which, though once one with this country, are so no longer. In some forms of prehistoric remains Scotland, as her archaeological collections show, is rich As a rule, however, evidence as to the physical qualities of the people is inadequate, and has to be supplemented from collateral sources. Moreover, the earliest inhabitants were themselves immigrants, and the time of their arrival in Scot- land is unknown-points on which Dr. Mur.ro lays weight. He has, none the less, accumulated a vast amount of evidence, and with the aid of very numerous illustrations drawn from objects in museums, or, in a few instances, from works previously published, has made up a learned and useful work, the value of which will meet with general recognition. It is impossible to deal with the questions raised. We notice at the outset that our author agrees with the majority of writers that the "usque ad Taum"of Tacitus, Agncola, ch. xxii., refers to the Tay, and makes no mention of the view, which still finds advocates, that it indicates the Solway. He holds, also, that the British Isles became part of the Continent through the processes of elevation, under the influence of which the land rose much above its present level, and that the Arctic climate gave way to a temperate climate "probably more genial than that of the present day." A good account is naturally given of the MacArthur Cave and Rock Shelter at Oban, discovered so recently as December,' 1894. Many speculations have been based on this discovery, and sixteen harpoons of deerhorn and other bone implements found, together with three hammer stones and a score of flints, mostly unfashioned, though not unique, have great interest. Another discovery, including also a refuse heap of shells and broken bones, with precisely similar remains of human industry, was made at Oban in 1898 in a rock shelter overlooking a marsh in which previously the remains of a rock-dwelling had been found. Tho discovery in the carse lands of canoes is chronicled. Canoes are not common, but they have been found in the great mosses in many places, especially in the neighbourhood of the Solway. A boat 36ft. in length and 4^ in breadth, all of one piece of oak, was discovered in the Carse of Falkirk so early as 1726. We have marked abundant points worthy of being noted, but the limited space at our disposal is prohibitive of entering upon them. We commend specially to our readers chap, viii., on the " Abodes and Memorials of the Dead," and what is said in the following chapter concerning wooden huts, beehive houses, earth houseB, and underground chambers. There is no portion of the work, indeed, that may not be studied with advantage. We have come across but one trivial error, or what we assume to be DUl> oue trivial Dam, Ul wuau wo aaauitic w uc such, in a quotation from Darwin, in which " collec- tion is substituted for collation. On the 29th inst. Mr. W. H. K. Wright, the secretary of the Ex-Libris Society, will lecture at the South Place Institute, for the Free Lectures Association, on Plymouth, of which he is the Borough Librarian. fjtoikes tor <&oxm$Bnbtnts. We must call special attention to the following notices:— On all communications must be written the name and address of the sender, not necessarily for pub- lication, but as a guarantee of good faith. We cannot undertake to answer queries privately. To secure insertion of communications corre- spondents must observe the following rule. Let each note, query, or reply bo written on a separate slip of paper, with the signature of the writer and such address as he wishes to appear. Correspond- ents who repeat queries are requested to head the second communication " Duplicate." H. Andrews. — " Virgults" = tfirffufta (Latin), shrubberies. C. Neate.—G. M. Theal's books on South Africa are as good as any. A. Leeper, Melbourne (" D.S.P.F.C."). — Your ingenious suggestion is anticipated ante, p. 192. NOTICE. Editorial Communications should be addressed to " The Editor of ' Notes and Queries' "—Advertise- ments and Business Letters to "The Publisher"— at the Office, Bream's Buildings, Chancery Lane, E.C. We beg leave to state that we decline to return communications which, for any reason, we do not print; and to this rule we can make no exception.