Douglas Alexander Allan,C.B.E., LL.D., D.Sc., Ph.D., F.R.S.G.S., F.R.S.E., F.H.W.C., F.M.A.

The function and expansion of skiing in Scotland are discussed in relation to the changing climatic conditions of the last few decades.     

A first fossil record for Scolytus scolytus (F.) (elm bark beetle): its occurrence in elm decline deposits from London and the implications for neolithic elm disease

A problem which has arisen in discussions of an elm-disease explanation for the Neolithic elm decline has been the lack of fossil records of Scolytus scolytus (F.) (elm bark beetle), which is the main carrier of the fungus which causes the present epidemic of Dutch Elm Disease. Now, the discovery of wing cases of two individuals from elm decline deposits at Hampstead Heath, London, proves that the beetle was present in Britain during this episode. The deposits in which it occurs are described, and the various implications for elm disease causing, aiding or at least occurring during this stage of the early Neolithic are discussed.     

In Memoriam: Philip Mainwaring Johnston,F.S.A., F.R.I.B.A.

Abstract

It is increasingly recognised that religion was the mainspring of pre-Reformation domestic ritual in royal as well as episcopal and archiepiscopal households. This article sets out to examine the architectural consequences of this. It argues that from the mid-15th century a small group of high-status residential buildings was planned around the need for lavish liturgical display, particularly the introduction of a cloister. The patrons of such buildings were churchmen of the highest rank such as Henry Beaufort and Thomas Wolsey who, it is argued, had special requirements for their principal residences. These requirements subsequently went on to influence the plans of early Tudor royal palaces, culminating in the reconstruction of Whitehall Palace by Henry VIII in the 1540s.     

Professor Andrew Charles O'Dell,M.Sc., F.R.S.E.

Regional

The Economic Geography of France. By J. N. Tuppen. 22 × 14, 383pp. 66 tables, 40 figures, bibliography, index. Croom Helm, Beckenham, 1983. £16.95.

Urban France. Ian Scargill, 22 × 14, 186pp. Croom Helm, Beckenham, 1983. £14.95.

Transport Geography

Transport Geography. By H. P. White &; M. L. Senior. 28 × 15.5, 224pp., figures, tables, bibliography, index. Longman, Harlow, 1983. £6.95.

Transport for Recreation. Ed. D. A. Halsall. 22 × 14, 231pp. Inst. Brit. Geogrs., 1983.

Mobile Services in Rural Areas. By M. J. Moseley and J. Packman. 225pp. University of East Anglia, 1983. £8.

Educational

The Fabric of Geography. By W. Farleigh Rice. 24 × 18.5, 288pp. plus worksheets. Longman Harlow, 1983, £4.95.     

Dieu et les dieux chez F. Creuzer et F.G. Welcker

In the first half of the 19th century some German classical scholars tried to understand the pagan religions of antiquity as genuine religions, containing an intuition of the truth. F. Creuzer regarded popular beliefs and cults of all ancient peoples as a “religion of the imagination”;, a “pantheism of the imagination”;, but thought that, besides that popular religion, there existed a much deeper, esoteric pantheism, which was passed on from one generation to another and from one country to another by priests‐sages. In Greece, according to him, popular religion became more superficial than anywhere else; its religious content was to a large extent substituted by poetic and artistic beauty.     

PLANNING: LESSONS FROM THE U.S.S.R.

Evaluation of the success of a plan requires the collection of statistics and indicators for monitoring purposes. In the health care field, outcomes are notoriously difficult to measure. To the extent that a successful program of prevention should result in providing less of a service, a conflict exists between planning and prevention: in the absence of outcome measures, success will be indistinguishable from failure, as in both cases, planned targets would not be met. To avoid this dilemma, an indicator-oriented planning system would be predicted to operationalize prevention in countable terms requiring increased inputs, or increased numbers of processes, regardless of the payoffs in health benefits. Screening, check-ups, and one-on-one contacts with health professionals would be emphasized at the expense of group-oriented activities or societal changes. Planning can thus have counter-productive policy implications. This theory is illustrated by reference to the current health care system in the U.S.S.R., including their anti-smoking and anti-alcoholism programmes.     

Francis Weston,F.S.A.

Abstract

The subject of tile-tombs is one not often discussed in archaeological journals. From time to time amongst the quantities of tiles which are excavated, enigmatic fragments are found which can be interpreted as grave markers, in the manner of a memorial brass. Sometimes referred to as ‘tile-tombs’, the available evidence indicates that such memorials were a part of the floor, not raised above it. This factor, and also the inherent fragility of the tile-tombs themselves, has meant that only a very few such monuments have survived in any reasonable state of preservation. Owing to their scarcity they have often been denied a place within a general monumental history of the medieval period, let alone that of later times. A major exception to this is a study published in this Journal of the collection of tile-tombs once at the abbey of jumièges (Seine-Maritime), France, which have been convincingly attributed by Christopher Norton to the abbacy of Guillaume III de Rauçon (1213–39). Dr Norton places this cohesive series of tombs within the context of technical and stylistic developments of the floor-tile industry of Normandy, drawing parallels in Britain. The concentration of such tile-tombs is overwhelmingly medieval. In this paper the chronology of tile-tombs is enlarged by studying two recently noted early modern examples, also in the département of Seine-Maritime. In addition, the paper supports Dr Norton's study, in that he assesses the jumièges tile-tombs to ‘stand at the start of a tradition which was to continue in Normandy for a period of some five centuries.’