50 Years Ago

The problem of the 'Abominable Snowmen' is discussed by S. V. Obruchev ... beginning with Waddell's report of 1898 about the hairy wild man called 'Yeti' by the Tibetans. In the Soviet Press during 1957–59 there appeared a number of articles on this subject, especially on the possible presence of the 'Snowman' in the Pamirs. In 1958 a special expedition sent to the Pamirs to study this problem reported negatively ... At the same time, numerous recent finds of teeth of a huge anthropoid ape—Gigantopithecus—in China suggest that the Tibetan 'Yeti' and the legendary 'Snowman' of the Pamirs and Mongolia may all refer to the former, or present-day but rare, presence of this type of ape in the high-altitude regions of the Himalayas and the Pamirs.

From Nature 13 August 1960.

100 Years Ago

'Wild plants on waste land in London' — The waste ground between Aldwych and the Strand has been colonised by a variety of plants, most of which show luxuriant growth. Many of the colonists have fruits or seeds adapted to wind distribution, as in the case of the winged fruit of the sorrel (Rumex acetosa), and of the plumed seeds of the hairy willow herb (Epilobium hirsutum) and French willow, or rose bay (E. angustifolium), by far the most conspicuous plant on the ground. It is of interest that E. angustifolium, which is absent in many of the waste places of London, occurs in the garden of Fountain Court, near the Strand ... A probable auxiliary exists in the sparrow, through the alimentary canal of which various seeds and fruits no doubt pass, and it is not unlikely that others become attached to its feet by means of the sticky London mud. It will be remembered that Darwin in the “Origin of Species” describes eighty-two plants as springing from the feet of a single partridge ... The above list is by no means exhaustive.

From Nature 11 August 1910.