SPRING AND WINTER PASTIMES 207 



pocket diaries take the form of waistcoat--pocket 

 diaries, half an incjti square, the difficulties of 

 consulting are greatly enhanced by the fact 

 that few men have taken the trouble to supply 

 themselves with the portable microscopes neces- 

 sary to their perusal. 



I once attempted to use a tiny engagement- 

 book of this kind, only to discover the impossi- 

 bility of making legible notes upon the exiguous 

 space provided for this purpose. No one, in- 

 deed, but some expert in micrography (or micro- 

 calligraphy, as modern philologists call it) — one 

 of those meticulous scriveners who waste half a 

 lifetime transcribing the Nicene Creed on the 

 face of a postage stamp — could hope to enter 

 a dinner engagement upon its miniature pages. 



The problem of how to select gifts suitable 

 for our nearest and dearest without incurring 

 undue expense is a cause of annual perplexity. 

 We have learnt by experience that as far as 

 children are concerned the toy that costs eigh- 

 teenpence will often provide quite as much 

 pleasure as its more intricate and elaborate 

 fellow that is priced at half-a-guinea. But it 

 requires courage of no mean order to present 

 one's favourite godchild \vith a sixpenny rag- 



