26 JANUARY 1951, Page 16

Enter Reindeer

Sir,—Janus, in your issue of January 19th, has an interesting paragraph on reindeer. As. Chairman of the Reindeer Council of the United Kingdom I can reply at once to his question whether these quadrupeds are to come " as adornments of the countryside or for baser commercial purposes." The Reindeer Council have both objects in mind. Their main purpose is to place themselves in a position where they can accept a generous offer of a specially selected herd of 25 reindeer made by a friend in Northern Sweden. As Janus reports, the matter is now on the table of the Secretary of State of Scotland, and we hope and intend to have further communication with him in the near future.

Reference to the cave paintings at Lascaux in the Dordogne is pertinent ; but then Janus is never impertinent. These remarkable mural paintings are not less than 20,000 years old ; but they show that the reindeer of those years before the Flood bear a remarkable resemblance to the contemporary of Northern Europe. •

Finally, in answer to " Lector's" letter to you in the same issue, asking what he and his 14-year-old daughter should read, I may tell him that one of these days my Reindeer Council may offer him the English translation of the standard Russian work on reindeer. I hope that Janus will not object to securing this reinforcement from behind the Iron Chairman, The Reindeer Council of the U.K.

I Langhain Place, W.I.