• Facts and Fancies. By C. C. Bombaugh, A.M. (J.
B. Lippincott. 10s. 6d. net.)—Here is a book out of which a diner-out may well supply himself with materials for conversation. The first two chapters, it is true, are American; after this the contents are more or less cosmopolitan. And they offer a choice between the serious and the comic. In "First Things" we hear who first used petroleum, who was the original "John Bull," who was "Boycott,"
who made the first thimble and the first bank-note, and many other things. In course of time we come to a collection of things curious and humorous, "comical blunders," "misquotations," " falsities," and so forth. The collection is large and varied, and the "chestnut" is not more frequent than one would expect. Such books as this are not easy of appreciation, for, to be frank, they are tiresome to read continuously. Still, they have their uses. We may suggest to Dr. Boinbaugh that " plagiary " is the man who plagiarises, not the dishonesty which he commits.
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