The Discovery of the Old
[X]
Pliny on Pisé de Terre
Now for something which I have kept as the bonne bouche of my earthy story. At the end of my researches and experiments I found that Pliny has got it all in his Natural History in six lines! There is no need for more words.
“Have we not in Africa and in Spain walls of earth, known as ‘formocean’ walls? From the fact that they are moulded, rather than built, by enclosing earth within a frame of boards, constructed on either side. These walls will last for centuries, are proof against rain, wind, and fire, and are superior in solidity to any cement. Even at this day Spain still holds watch-towers that were erected by Hannibal.”—Pliny’s “Natural History,” Bk. XXXV, chapter xlviii.[A]
J. St. Loe Strachey.
Newlands Corner, Surrey.
[GENERAL SURVEY]
Always necessity has been the mother of invention. The war has proved her prolific indeed, and her teeming offspring are seen in the multiplicity of war contrivances and the bewildering array of substitutes for the once common things of our daily life. Where necessity has been most dire, there invention has unfailingly come to the rescue with the most amazing “Ersatz” products to replace the vanished originals.
At any rate it pleases us to attribute the truly astonishing feats of the Germans in this direction to their greater need rather than to any superior ingenuity or enterprise on their part.
That their success was often no more than moderate will be readily admitted by anyone who, for instance, has made trial of their “Ersatz” cigars or ration coffee.