The "Morning Post'? has printed some remarkable figures of French "'best sellers." Rostand's ''Cyrano ~de Bergerac" is now -in its 538th thousand, and his "L'Aiglon" in 4ts 404th thousand. Poetry is evidently not a drug in the market in France. Henri Barbusse's war novel, "Lo Feu" is in its 337th thousand. This book is only a few -years old, and it should be remembered that 20 or 30 thousand is a very large sale for a novel in this country.
Here' are some of the epigrams recently evolved by Mr. Patrick Francis Murphy, the American humourist: "It is not difficult to tell the truth; the difficulty is to get it believed." "Germany is the sonly nation to show the spirit of Christian forgiveness." Once the English flag was the only thing on which the sun never set; it now shares that distinction with the Ford car." "It is two years since the American people assisted at the funeral of John Barleycorn: but he left a large estate, and half the population in America is administering it."
Sir George Newman, chief medical officer of the Ministry. Health and Board of Education, has again produced, in his leisure, very charming, little book. This is "A Century of Medicine at Padua" (British Periodicals, Ld., 170, Fleet Street, London, E.C., Is.). In 1595 Shakespeare made Lucentia say, in "The Taming of the Shrew"
"Since for the great desire I had To sce fair Padua, nursery of arts, I am arrived for fruitful Lombardy, "The pleasant garden of great Italy for Ihave Piso left And am to Padua come, as he, that loaves 'A shallow. plash, to plunge him in the} leep.
And with satiety seeks to quench his sounded the Ave Maria king away i sunset; andi ight through quiet and forsaken streets of the Middle Ages, familiar three centuries ago to' Fabricius and Galilee and Harvey, I listened to the deep sad murmur of voices long dead.'
The German publishers who contracted with the ex-Crown Prince for his reminiscences expected to get £2,000 out of the British serial rights. When they' made careful inquiries they were advised that they were not likely to gob as much for the 20 thousand. words or so which they specified should be taken from the book, and no more. A thousands pounds was suggested to them as a very handsome sum,. and one wonders just what was given for the "serial rights."
The April number of "Discovery" begins with an article of interest to those who are following the fortunes of the Quest, since it deals with the possibility of re-discovering some of the lost islands of the Southern Pacific. Tht writer is Dr. Rud-mose Brown, who has had personal experience of the difficulties of exploration in this quarter of the globe. Horse Racing and Magic under the Roman Empire, contributed by Professor W. A.. Halliday, will appeal to the classical student and Dr, Russell's discussion on Radio-Elements to the Scientist, while Mr. Thouless's article on the Timprovement of the Memory, and Myr. Ellis Barker's paper on Germany's industrial outlook will vinply useful information to those whose interests are centred in the intellectual and_ practical topics of the day. Mr. Moult_ discusses the latest developments in English short story writing, and the usual number of reviews and notes complete a varied number.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.