special branch of his business for the purpose. Thus, when
wider circles of the population were driven to resort to
substitutes, there was already in existence a State-organised
system to control the output.

Since the war began, sausage has served as a German stand-by from
the time that beef and pork became difficult to obtain. In the
late spring, however, the increased demand for sausage made that
also more difficult to procure, and we often got a substitute full
of breadcrumbs, which made the food-value of this particular
_Wurst_ considerably less than its size would indicate. It was
frequently so soft that it was practically impossible to cut, and
we had to spread it on our bread like butter.

The substitute of which the world has read the most is war bread.
This differs in various localities, but it consists chiefly of a
mixture of rye and potato with a little wheat flour. In Hungary,
which is a great maize-growing country, maize is substituted for
rye.

Imitation tea is made of plum and other leaves boiled in real tea
and dried.

To turn to substitutes other than food, it will be recalled that
Germany very early began to popularise the use of benzol as an
alternative to petrol for motor engines. This was a natural
outgrowth of her marvellously developed coal-tar industry, of which
benzol is a product. Prizes for the most effective
benzol-consuming engine, for benzol carburettors, etc., have been
offered by various official departments in recent years, and I am
told that during the war ingenious inventions for the more
satisfactory employment of benzol have been adopted. Owing to the
increased use of potatoes as food, the alcoholic extract from them,
always a great German and Austro-Hungarian industry, has had to be
restricted.

It is an ill wind that blows nobody good, as I learned from the
owner of a little general shop in a Brandenburg village. He told
me that about twenty-five years ago, when kerosene became widely
used in the village for illuminating purposes, he was left with a
tremendous supply of candles which he could never sell. The oil
famine has caused the substitution of candle light for lamp light
during the war, and has enabled him to sell out the whole stock at
inflated prices. All oils are at a premium. The price of
castor-oil has risen fivefold in Germany, chiefly owing to the fact
that it is being extensively used for aeroplane and other
lubrication purposes.

But it is oil