In this paper we determine by complex variable methods the distribution of stress in the neighbourhood of a two-dimensional Griffith crack when the pressure varies along the crack. The analysis is extended to deal with problems involving cracks in aeolotropio materials possessing two directions of elastic symmetry. The paper concludes with an investigation of the stress distribution in the neighbourhood of two collinear cracks of equal length, and formulae are found giving the shape of the cracks and the critical tensile stress normal to the cracks which will produce rupture. it is shown that the influence of one crack on the other is very small provided that the distance between the cracks exceeds the length of each crack. The methods of this paper can also be used to solve the problem of the indentation. of the plane boundary of an isotropic or aeolotropic material by a single punch of any shape, or by a fiat-ended double punch.