When does a copse become a wood, and a wood become a forest?

A copse (also known as a coppice) derives from Latin colpaticium meaning “having the quality of being cut”. This is a small wood or thicket, consisting of underwood and small trees grown for periodical cutting. Once this is “taken on board”, it cannot be confused with a forest nor a wood.

A forest is slightly more complicated to define numerically. It derives from the French forêt, (Old French forest), deriving in turn from the mediaeval Latin forest-um (silvam), the outside wood, lying beyond the walls of a park, ie. not fenced in (foris = out of doors). In Great Britain, it refers to trees brought, more or less, under cultivation, such as Ashdown, Ettrick, Sherwood or Wychwood forests. In law, it referred in the past to a forest, usually belonging to the King, saved for hunting wild beasts and game, with special laws and officers of its own. There is also an association with names of living creatures, such as those inhabiting or haunting a forest. See Shakespeare’s Henry VI part three, Act 2, scene 2: “Whose hand is that the Forrest Beare doth licke?”.

Simply put, a wood is defined as a collection of trees growing naturally, more or less thickly together, of considerable extent, smaller than a forest. Nevertheless, one may be utterly lost in the woods, but you will surely find your way out of a forest. Otherwise, perhaps, you were not able to see the wood for the trees.

Gerald Stonehill, Denham, Bucks

How are bar codes allocated and what are the odds against the same bar code being issued twice?

Bar codes can be raised by anyone, but to ensure the system doesn’t descend into chaos, for example by issuing duplicates, they are controlled and laid out according to a protocol specified by the e.centre in London — a body formed by the merger of the Article Number and Electronic Commerce Associations. To ensure global compatibility the e.centre operates within a framework known as EAN.UCC, managed by EAN International. This work now extends to electronic coding of the type used in radio frequency identifying tags (RFID), which may one day replace bar code labels.

Leon Pollock, Sutton Coldfield

The coastline of the British Isles features points, heads, nesses and forelands galore. Why do we have so few capes?

A cursory survey of Collins Road Atlas produces coastline counts of: “point” 222, “head” 158, “ness” 110, “mull” 4, “cape” 2, “bill” 2, “end” 2. “Odd” seems to have got lost, but “tail”, “hoe”, “brig” and “spit” share the same endurance as foreland. So, while a closely low count, “cape” appears not to be our rarest coastal promontory name. Recorded from 1475 onwards, “point” has a good spread across Britain. From 1527 onwards “head” is much more prevalent in the north.

The answer may lie in the surprising endurance of the Old English “ness”. Found mostly in the East but particularly among the northern isles, “ness” strongly shows its Nordic origin. While “cape” is younger, it is older than “head” and “point”, with all of the rarities appearing no later than the 14th century.

Paul Hughes, Howden, Yorkshire

When California joined the United States in 1850, how did its elected representatives travel to Washington DC?

Overland travel in 1850 was arduous. Stagecoach services did not start until 1858. California’s two representatives and two senators would have left California by sea. The voyage via Cape Horn took four months, so for speed they would have travelled first to Panama City, then part of what is now Colombia. A ten-mile mule journey over the mountains would have taken them to the Chagres River and a 45-mile trip by dugout canoe would have brought them to the port of Chagres on the Atlantic side. From there the sea voyage to New York would have taken two to three weeks and the road trip to Washington a few more days, giving a total journey of between five and six weeks.

Russell Vallance, London, SE16

Why is it that the tea in my teapot gets stronger with each cup, even though the tea bag had been removed before pouring the first?

Michael Walters, Portrush, Co. Antrim

When and where did the practice of the bent arm with fingers to the temple supersede the Roman straight arm salute?

K. J. Wood, Exeter

In my young days, suffering with boils was not at all uncommon. Nowadays one rarely hears of this complaint. Why?

Robert Hill, Haslemere

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