* * * t Caterpillar Years Considerable publicity has been given to the march of the caterpillars across the green places of Scotland. It is a recurrent event in most countries....

The Ethics of Oology What verdict is to be passed on a great collection of eggs such as that which was visited last week by half the naturalists in the country? The eggs are...

r Cuckoo Myths No ambition has been entertained to make the collection at Buiwell Park exhaustive. It is essentially scientific. It illustrates even such unexpected facts as...

* * * * An Ideal Sanctuary Preservers of Devon, who naturally, as the beauty of the place demands, are many and eager, are distressed at a new threat to a piece of land unique...

Varied Victims A great many birds are victimised by the cuckoo, though meadow pipit, hedge-sparrow and wagtail are preferred; and the preference for the hedge-sparrow is hard...

Urban Squirrels On the list of animals meet to be expurgated as far as possible the Ministry of Agri.ulture has formally placed the grey squirrel. The ban will not much affect...

COUNTRY LIFE A Country Market If anyone should wish to contrast the husbandry of the West and East of England he could hardly do better than visit the enclosed market of...

CURRENT LITERATURE MY IRELAND By Lord Dunsany As befits its title, this is a book (Jarrolds, 7s. 6d.) of personal impressions, and Lord Dunsany engages the reader's attention...

MY MIS-SPENT YOUTH By Henry Fitch Under an ambiguous title Mr. Fitch narrates his experiences during twelve years (1909-21) in the Navy (Macmillan, 7s. 6d.). He was paymaster...

THE JULY MAGAZINES The Fortnightly Review has a very instructive and timely article by Mr. Claud Mullins on " Conciliation in Divorce Cases." From his own magisterial...

H. W. FOWLER'S ENGLISHMAN [To the Editcr of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,-Mr. Kenneth Stiles might care to hear of the weapon which used to be drawn (I am told) on Mr. H. W. Fowler by...

THE GREATEST VICTORIAN [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,-If the greatest Victorian is one who most has helped humanity and one whose name will live through the ages,...

"999,, [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] Sm,-I am rather puzzled by the Postmaster-Generalrs.choice of the figures " 999 "-the new emergency signal for subscribers on automatic...

CHANGING IRELAND [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] I . .. a, . . . . SIR,-If your correspondent Mr. B. J. A. Brooke is an Ulsterman he seems to be singularly misinformed...

SCIENCE AND THE SNAKE [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,-Mr. F. Sherwood Taylor says that in Brazil alone some four thousand lives have been saved by the use of serum after...

SENIOR SCHOOLS IN [ To the Editor of THE RURAL AREAS SPECTATOR.] SIR,-Mr. Rowland's letter in your last issue does not, I think, reveal any cause for complaint, provided that...

CHEMISTRY AND DISEASE By F. SHERWOOD TAYLOR THE division of Science into sharply separated departments T is rendered necessary by the limitations of human taculty, but is a...

[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,-Mr. Douglas Jerrold's letter on the bombing of Guernica in your issue of July 2nd reveals him as once more infelix opportunitate...

GUERNICA [To the Editor AND of THE BADAJOS SPECTATOR.] fI - . __ SIR,-The following notes may perhaps be read with advantage in conjunction with Mr. Douglas Jerrold's letter in...

CHRISTIANITY IN KENYA [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,-Mr. Tempest Reilly's suggestion that the place of clergy can be filled by lay readers, by whatever name we call...

For the past nine months the operation of the Means Test has not been a burning political issue. This is cdue to the fact that whereas, under the I936 Regulations, increases...

On Tuesday the House listened to a comprehensive review of the work of the Ministry of Labour. Mr. Ernest Brown spoke for an hour and twenty-five minutes and sat down with...

* * * * When the Government have just announced a substantial fall in unemployment, and when even in the Special Areas the number of unemployed has dropped in twelve months...

The Week in Parliament Our Parliamentary Correspondent writes: No one thought it worth while to divide against the Agriculture Bill, which introduces two new forms of subsidy....

The " Kulturkampf " in Germany On Sunday, in the course of another vigorous attack on the Nazi authorities, Cardinal Faulhaber, Archbishop of Munich, declared that their policy...

Unemployment The Ministry of Labour's returns for employment and unemployment in June show that, despite the May figures, -which were affected by the Coronation, economic...

- Clockwork over the Atlantic The Atlantic has been flown so often that it is easy to forget that only eighteen years ago no one had flown it at all. The latest crossing by the...

A SPECTATOR'S NOTEBOOK JANUS was the oldest Latin deity, the god of all begin_ nings in public and in private life, in war and in trade. His eponymous representative in this...

The Archbishop of York told the Church Assembly last month that " the logic of the totalitarian State is necessarily hostile to any religion based supposedly upon a Divine...

The predominant German view is clear. " God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the prophets," as the Hebrews were told, does so...

We heard much not long ago of the doctrine or policy of "collective security." Recent inquiries into the beginnings of the slogan, set on foot by the Disarmament Section of the...

The War Office is finding it increasingly difficult to secure recruits. The shortage of officers is over a thousand and reaches 20 per cent. in many units, but the deficiency...

TUE NURSE'S TRAINING: I. THE CASE FOR REFORM By A MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT IN 1932 an influential Commission, appointed by The Lancet, under the chairmanship of the Earl of...

GUIDES TO THE FUTURE Christianity, Communism and the Ideal Society: A Philosophical Approach to Modern Politics. By James Feible- man. (Allen and Unwin. 12S. 6d.)...

HOLLAND HOUSE The Home of the Hollands, 1605-1820. By the Earl of Ilcheste. (John Murray. i8s.) CERTAINLY no house in England has figured more largely in literary history, and...

QUEEN VICTORIA AND MR. GLADSTONE [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,-Tn your issue of, July 2nd Mr. H. M. Walls referring, as the context shows, to Gladstone's Home Rule...

'I' "THE RUSSIANS IN 1914 " [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,-Mr. Douglas Jerrold, under the heading " Guernica and Badajos " in your issue of July 2nd, mentions the story...

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [Correspondents are requested to keep their letters as brief as is reasonably possible. The most suitable length is that of one of our " News of the Week...

PROVISION GROUP PROSPECTS The International Tea Stores figures present a sorry picture. There is no longer room for doubt that competition in the provision trade is intense....

WISE INVESTMENT CEASELE repetition that the undertone of stock markets is firm may seem ominously akin to whistling to keep one's spirits up, but it is still not merely the...

* * * * SOME SAFETY-FIRST STOCKS The slithering tendency of the gilt-edged market has induced several readers to enquire for a list of stocks with definite and fairly early...

A HOME RAILWAY ANALYSIS Quiet markets can usually be relied upon to bring a crop of elaborate statistical surveys. Among the best of recent products is an analysis of the home...

Venturers' Corner Events have moved quickly since I outlined the merits of D. and W. Murray preference shares in the early spring. The directors have announced that trading...

NEWS OF THE WEEK THE Royal Commission on Palestine, whose Report was T issued on Thursday, and broadcast from Jerusalem on Wednesday, must be congratulated both on having come...

I India ' The decision of the Congress Working Committee at Wardha on Wednesday, that Congressmen should be permitted to accept office when invited, registers what is perhaps...

The War in Spain The prolonged resistance of the Basques before Bilbao undoubtedly put General Franco out in his calculations; and now the slowness of the advance on Santander...

THE CHURCH AND THE STATE By THE BISHOP OF CHICHESTER THERE is a movement in the Churches today which has become more and more insistent since the War. It is a world movement,...

FINANCE THE FRENCH CURRENCY CRISIS THE outcome so far of the currency crisis in France has been not a further immediate devaluation of the Franc, but a complete severance of...

Commonwealth and Foreign__ JAPAN'S NEW COALITION CABINET By WILLIAM HENRY CHAMBERLIN Tokyo. s a 1 _ _ r boj THERE are several reasons why Japan's latest change of Cabinet,...

HARES AND TORTOISES Round the World with Tom Clarke. By Tom Clarke. (Gollancz. 12S. 6d.) The Happy Hobo. By Harry Clouston. So Far So Good. By Leonard Mosley. Zulu Journey....

NOT YET HUMAN I England: Heute und Morgen. By Kurt von Stutterheim. I (Ber~i-: Herbig. RM. 6.80) HERR VON STUTTERHEIM has written a most interesting book. It is not always...

HOLIDAYS FOR LONDON'S POOR CLERGY .[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,-May we be allowed to bring before your readers the work of the London Poor Clergy Holiday Fund? This...

MURDER STATISTICS AND. FREE WILL [To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR.] SIR,-I am obliged to Mr. Rogers tor his reterence to Lord Acton, but I do not agree that the adoption of a...

SOMMERTHEATER IVon eftienl deutschen Korrespondentenj GLEICH hinter dem Alexanderplatz beginnt der Osten Berlins. In der Grossen Frankfurter Strasse erhebt sich ein einfaches...

NEW NOVELS The Last Romantic. By William Orton. (Cassell. 7s. 6d.) Neptune Beach. By Daniel Fuchs. (Constable. 7s. 6d.) A Murder in Sydney. By Leonard Mann. (Cape. 7s....

FINANCIAL NOTES MARKETS IN THE DOLDRUMS. UNTIL this week's rally, markets seemed quite incapable of shaking off the malaise with which they have been affected ever since the "...

G.E.C. PROGRESS. I The view that the country's period of prosperity has not yet ended received support from Lord Hirst of Witton, the Chairman and Managing Director of the...

COMPANY MEETING LOBITOS OILFIELDS INCREASED PRODUCTION THE twenty-ninth annual ordinary general meeting of the Lobitos Olfields, Limited, was held on July 6th, at Winchester...

LORD CLIFFORD Clifford of the Cabal. By Cyril Hartmann. TR ACd ) (Hein-mann. EVERYBODY knows of the Cabal, not because it was the first or last of such things, but because by...

WORLD POLITICS AND THE PAPACY The Pope in Politics. By William Teeling. (Lovat Dickson. 7s. 6d.) MR. TEELING dedicates his new book "to those Catholics who have faith in the...

BOOKS OF THE DAY The German Universities (E. L. Woodward).. . . 66 Clifford of the Cabal (Bonamy Dobree) ... .. .. 67 The Pope in Politics (W. T. Wells).. .. .. .. 67 Guides to...

General Hertzog's Protest General Hertzog has raised once again the question of the transfer of the native territories of South.Africa to the Union, asserting that further...

The Amur Incident The Japanese and Soviet Governments are to be congratulated on the compromise which has been reached after the serious clash which occurred last week between...

Mr. Chamberlain at Birmingham In the speech which he made to the Birmingham Conservative Association last Saturday Mr. Chamberlain spoke of his determination to press forward...

A Policy for Iron and Steel The careful and very full report which has just been published on the iron and steel industry will have for the general public a special interest...

-Mr. de Valera's Position The elections in the Irish Free State have ended in a deadlock, with Fianna Fail winning the same number of seats as have been gained by the other...

MARGINAL COMMENTS By CHRISTOPHER SYKES I THERE are many thousands of little books in the world entitled " Fathercraft or the Proper Way to bring up your Boy" or some such, and...

MADMAN SINGS DEEP in my sleeping mind that phantom wakes, The smotherer, the creeping adversary; Nightly uncoils its stealthy length, Silently moves until it is upon me...

NEW ZEALAND EXPERIMENTS. I A reference to the introduction of new ideas into the economic organisation of New Zealand formed one of the most notable parts of the speech of Sir...

THE OUTLOOK FOR PETROLEUM. I Mr. H. C. R. Williamson, the Chairman of Lobitos Oilfields, speaking at this week's annual meeting, made some instructive comments regarding the...

Hovis DIVIDEND POLICY I That the N.D.C. contribution can have a very definite influence on dividend policy was evident from the remarks of Mr. A. H. Dence at the Hovis meeting....

BRITISH FILMS AND QUOTA By BASIL WRIGHT IT is not easy for the ordinary cinema-goer to understand the variegated politics and the complicated finances of the Film Business. It...

IS CMUSTIANITY LOSING GROUND ?-m By KENNETH INGRAM IF the sixteenth century is to be regarded as offering any analogy to the present period of history, and if we are to assume...

ALBANIA AND ABYSSINIA Half a Life Left. By James Strachey Barnes. (Eyre and Spottiswoode. ios. 6d.) Half a Life Left is a double-decker sandwich. After an introductory credo...

NON-INTERVENTION? FOR a week Germany and Italy -have been embarF rassed in their Spanish policy, and palpably at a loss as to the next step they should take to extricate...

STAGE AND SCREEN THE BALLET Fantastic Symphony MASSINE has revised his choreographic version of Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique, and by so much he has improved it. But it...

THE CINEMA "Black Legion." At the New Gallery-"Kid Galahad." At the Gaumont THERE has been this week something of a Humphrey Bogart Festival in London, three Bogart films...

HER LAST TEARS By T. 0. BEACHCROFT AT Villa Garcia our boat took emigrants on board. It was about twelve o'clock at night. We nosed in among the islands and moored a mile or...

IRON, HONEY, GOLD The Collected Works of Isaac Rosenberg. Edited by Gordon Bottomley and Denys Harding. (Chatto and Windus. I2s. 6d.) ROSENBERG is sometimes called a '; war...

SOLDIERS OF THE CROSS The Crusade. By Hilaire Belloc. (Cassell. i2S. 6d.) . 1. . -, _. The Knights Templar. By G. A. Campbell. (Duckworth. i5S.) MR. BELT oc once laid it...

CHANGING GERMANY By HEINRICH PETERS EVEN in Germany, after four years of the Hitler regime, E w.with its apparently complete suppression of public opinion, criticism cannot be...

COMPANY MEETING THE GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, LIMITED FRESH RECORDS ESTABLISHED IMPORTANT CONTRACTS EXECUTED - | TmE annual general meeting of the General Electric Co., Ltd.,...

MR. BEVIN AND THE UNIONS THE conference of the Transport and General Workers Union this week debated, behind closed doors, a question which is of fundamental importance for the...