“…Firstly, if T denotes the homotopy class in fi p of a circle separating {±p} from {z : \z\ -1} , then J-contains a unique hyperbolic geodesic. The length L of this geodesic is the parameter of interest, not only because of its defining geometric interpretation, but also because it is related to trace T, the trace of the hyperbolic covering transformation T of <f> determined by T, according to |trace T\ = 2 cosh ( -As a preliminary result, we remark that Theorem 1 of [2] is equivalent to Although the inverse r = T(Z) of a universal cover of fi p by U is multiple-valued, the Schwarzian derivative {r, z} of T , defined by is a single-valued meromorphic function given by…”