To MARTIN SWAYNE, officer in the R.A.M.C., on his lawful occasions or in the intervals of swatting flies In Mesopotamia (HODDER AND STOUGHTON), there came some thoughts pleasant and bitter, and you can see that he has selected the pleasant and cut out the others, partly because of his loyalty and humour, and partly, no doubt, in deference to the prejudices of censorship.  And he writes his selection of printable remarks in a very agreeable and not undistinguished idiom, pointing the narrative with reflections sane and sage enough.  He has also made some water-colour notes (here reproduced in colour) of things seen; not remarkable, but adequate to convey an impression.  We have all lamented the confusions (shall we call them?) of the medical service, and the trials of our troops in that blessed region entered through Kurna, the Gate of the Garden of Eden, in the early days of the Mesopotamian adventure.  The author reports a radical improvement, and if Eden isn’t exactly the name you’d give to this pest-ridden country at least the fighting men are now backed by the devotion and competence of the healing men, and all goes well for both.  To the bulldog might well be added the retriever as our national emblem.  We are some retrievers.

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[Illustration:  OUR MIXED ARMY.

Refined Ex-Journalist.  “DON’T YOU THINK THAT COOK HAS STRESSED THE ONIONS A LITTLE IN THE STEW TO-DAY?”]

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From an article headed “Outlook for Oil":—­

“It is urged in commercial circles that the Government should secure men with laboratory experience, plus a complete absence of practical knowledge, to report on shale deposits.”—­Australian Paper.

We thought it was only in the Old Country that Governments had any use for that sort of man.