7 FEBRUARY 1925, Page 15

OXFORD READING GLASSES

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sia,—In your issue of January 24th, Mr. Denis Mackail, in his article on "The Cross-Words Mania," says, "Like the cocktail, the foxtrot and the horn-rimmed spectacle, the Cross-Words Puzzle has come to us from the United States of America." In the light ot this, it amuses me to reflect that back. about 1914, when horn-rimmed spectacles first showed signs of becoming fashionable in America, they were known as Oxford reading glasses. It was assumed then, and is by many still assumed, that their origin was England. Indeed, this assumption may have been partly responsible for the rise of the fashion. Here, then, is yet another bond between the great English-speaking peoples !—I am, Sir, &c., J. B.