Cylchgronau Cymru

Chwiliwch trwy dros 450 o deitlau a 1.2 miliwn o dudalennau

The Dyfed Enigma. Randall Jones Pugh and F.W. Holiday, Faber & Faber (1979), pp 186, £ 5.95. This book is a case history of some of the more dramatic "ufological" incidents which were reported in West Wales between 1974 and 1977. The authors reject the idea that UFOs, mysterious grounded objects and humanoid figures are visitors from outer space. Instead it is suggested that they are simply manifestations from the world of nature spirits; their visitations may be due to an increasing concern in the "goblin universe" about the scale of environmental pollution in West Wales. The Milford Haven oil industry has a lot to answer for. B.S.J. FOR YOUNGER READERS Discovering Botany. P. Francis Hunt, Longman (1979), pp 96, £ 4.95. This is a well produced book aimed at whetting the botanical appetite of those in their mid and early teens who may have been persuaded by hirsute, gruff voiced television presenters that the subject is no longer the preserve of tweedy females. Indeed the book skims rapidly and colourfully through plant evolution, their habitats and uses demonstrating the dependency of ourselves and all other living creatures on the plant kingdom. The book would make an excellent present to an aspiring young botanist. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor, Melancholy Thistle Botanists from time to time have informed me that it was a mystery why the above was so called. I have even heard a noted Merseyside botanist state in a lecture that she was at a loss to know the reason. An old Family Herbal came to my possession a little while ago and I found to my satisfaction the following: Melancholy Thistle (Carduus helenioideslheterophyllus) "Medicinal virtues of this plant are not to be despised; for a decoction of this thistle in wine expels superfluous melancholy out of the body, and makes a man as merry as a cricket. Persons troubled with melancholy and depression of spirits may take a decoction of the root a wine-glass full two or three times a day with the greatest advantage". Today of course we take aspirin! 8 Windsor Court, Yours sincerely, Warren Drive, E. Lloyd Jones. Deganwy, LL31 9TN. 24.9.79