Life in a Sussex Windmill. By Edward A. Martin. (Allen
and: Donaldson. 6s. net.)—Mr. Martin took the deserted mill above Clayton, on the Sussex Downs, a. few miles north. of Brighton, and lived in it, so that be might study meteorology and the mysteries of dew-ponds. Despite plagues of earwigs, slugs and mice, as well as of the curious passers-by, he seems to have liked his remote and somewhat inconvenient dwelling, though at night the absolute silence of the Downs was, he says, " almost appalling."' He has much that is interesting to say about the geological formation.of the Downs, noting the valleys— such as that along which the road runs into Brighton—whose rivers have ceased to flow, because their headsprings have been tapped by neighbouring streams. He is chiefly concerned, however, with dew-ponds. He has begun to doubt whether these ponds are mainly filled by the condensation of dew, and suggests that " fogpond " or " miatpond " might be a preferable name: for them. The reason. why so many dew-ponds on the Downs. are dry is, he tells us, that the waterproof 'bed has been worn through by sheep or has been neglected. The clay at the bottom should be thick and well puddled, and should be mixed with chalk to keep worms away. We may add.that the sheep of the South Downs are diminishing in numbers, and that many dew-ponds are neglected because they are no longer needed by the farmers.
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