We had always understood till now that he was one of our dry speakers.

* * * * *

    “Mr. R. M’Neill was surprised that the hon. member should have
    thought it worth while to make a point of that sort.  Surely he
    knew the rule ‘Qui facit peralium facit perse.’”—­The Times.

The maxim seems to have jammed.

* * * * *

“Mr. Bonar Law replied:  ’The Imperial War Cabinet is both executive and consultative, its functions being regulated by the nature of the subject of the Bandman Opera Coy.’”—­The Empire (Calcutta).

As one of the subjects of the Company (according to its advertised programme) is a piece entitled “The Rotters,” we feel confident that Mr. BONAR LAW has been misreported.

* * * * *

TROOP HORSES.

  Through lingering long months idle
    They have kept you ready and fit,
  All shining from hock to bridle,
    All burnished from hoof to bit;
  The set of your silk coat’s beauty,
    The lie of its lightest hair,
  Was an anxious trooper’s duty
    And a watchful captain’s care.

  Not the keenest eye could discover
    The sign of the sloth on you,
  From the last mane-lock laid over
    To the last nail tight in the shoe;
  A blast, and your ranks stood ready;
    A shout, and your saddles filled;
  A wave, and your troop was ready
    To wheel where the leaders willed.

  “Fine-drawn and fit to the buckle!”
    Was your confident Colonel’s pride,
  And the faith of the lads—­“Our luck’ll
    Come back when the Spring winds ride;”
  And, dropping their quaint oaths drolly,
    They dragged their spurs in the mire,
  Till the Western Front woke slowly
    And they won to their hearts’ desire.

  They loose you now to the labours
    That the needs of the hour reveal,
  And you carry the proud old sabres
    To cross with a tarnished steel;
  So, steady—­and keep position—­
    And stout be your hearts to-day,
  As you shoulder the old tradition
    And charge in the ancient way!

  W.H.O.

* * * * *

MORE ZOO NOTES.

Raw sugar, Captain BATHURST states, cannot be sold on account of the presence of the sugar louse.  It is thought that Mr. POCOCK, who has so successfully brought the Zoo’s rations into conformity with war conditions, might probably persuade the animal to live on hemp seed.

* * * * *

“Changes in the Zoo’s dietary,” says Mr. POCOCK, “were effected without difficulty.”  The rumour that the hippopotamus demanded a pailful of jam with its mangel-wurzels, in the belief that they were some kind of homoeopathic pill, appears to have been baseless.