Although the lakes and larger tarns of the English Lake District have been the subject of much discussion and have given rise to a very voluminous literature, comparatively little has been written on the smaller tarns, and especially on those of the very smallest size, which are so abundant in many parts of the district. It seems to us, however, that the smaller ones are quite as deserving of consideration as the larger, since they present similar phenomena, and their interpretation gives rise to similar difficulties.