22 JANUARY 1927, Page 18

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] SIR,—As Sir Hercules Read

has paid Miss Rout the compliment of advising her on the character of obsidian artifacts, I now, at his suggestion, venture to tell her that the images of and from Rano Raraku are sculptured from an aerial deposit consolidated by pressure. The material has never been plastic. All carving in stone on Easter Island has been done

• with tools of basalt, samples of which may now be seen in the British Museum. Where wrought surfaces have been inhumed excavation shows the bite of the tool still sharp and clear.— I am, Sir, &e.,

SCORESBY ROUTLEDGE.

4 Hyde Park Gardens, W. 2.