* * * * *

To the list of biographies of the PRIME MINISTER already published or in contemplation there remains to be added one by an author who veils his identity under the pseudonym of “Mount Carmel.”  It will bear the title, Lloyd George—­Saint or Dragon? and will be prefaced by an introduction by Mr. Stickham Weed, in which that eminent publicist discusses the antagonism of the Celtic temperament to Jugo-Slav ideals.  The book will be published at Fontainebleau.

* * * * *

The new Cardiff firm of Jenkins and Jones announce a novel from the pen of Mr. Caradoc Blodwen, who had to fly from his native village last year owing to the realistic picture he gave of local life in The Home of the Squinting Widows.  It is to be called Taffy was a Thief; and those who have had the privilege of seeing early copies of the book, which Mr. Blodwen wrote during his seclusion amongst the Hairy Ainus, describe it as lurid in the extreme.

* * * * *

Mr. Cuthbert Skrimshanks’s new novel is being looked forward to expectantly by those who admire the vital and distinguished artistry of his work.  The author, it will be remembered, was employed in a firm of ginger-beer bottlers before he took to literature, and Mr. WELLS, who contributes a Preface, dwells happily on the stimulating and phosphorescent quality which his literary work owes to his employment, and contrasts it favourably with the flatness of Eton “Pop.”

* * * * *

Yet another Shakspearean volume, which promises to be of engrossing interest, has been written by Lord BLEDISLOE.  It is to be called Bacon and Hamlet, and Sir THOMAS LIPTON has contributed an Introduction, in which the organisation of the food supply in the Elizabethan age is exhaustively described.  This exhaustive work, which is dedicated to General STORRS, the Governor of Jerusalem, will be published by Messrs. FORTNUM and MASON.

* * * * *

[Illustration:  Nurse (reproachfully). “WHO DIDN’T FOLD UP HIS TROUSERS WHEN HE WENT TO BED?”

Tony.  “I KNOW.  ADAM.  I CAN ALWAYS GUESS THESE SUNDAY RIDDLES.”]

* * * * *

“C’EST LA GUERRE.”

A brace of chemists’ labels:—­

    This preparation is issued in amber glass pots, as a War Emergency
    Measure, when white glass is not available owing to shortage.”

    “War Bottle.  Amber glass is not obtainable just now, so we have to
    use white glass.  May we ask you to grant us your kind indulgence
    under the circumstances?”

* * * * *

    “A bullet fired at a pig from a humane killer, struck the wall
    of a Merthyr Tydvil slaughterhouse, ricochetted and wounded a
    butcher’s manager.”—­Daily Paper.