Review of the First Lampoon

It is to be hoped that the first issue of the Lampoon at least in so far as the "jokes" are concerned, is not a promise of the standard which we may expect in subsequent numbers. Conceivable as it is that at the beginning of the year, good material should be hard to obtain, this excuse scarcely serves to explain away the general mediocrity of the contents of the number. The illustrations, almost without exception, are good and seem to indicate sufficient care in execution, particularly the frontispiece, "Dea ex Machina", the center-page, "What will it bring forth", and the head-piece to "By the Way", all excellent work. "By the Way" itself, however, offers serious ground for the suggestion, already often made, that this column be definitely done away with. All the possibilities of this department seem to have been exhausted long ago. The jokes are mainly of the pun variety, in general of the poor pun variety, and the verse, excluding perhaps that on the last page, hardly justifies its selection for printing. The Lampoon is always so well supported by undergraduates that it owes them the best of which it is capable. And surely, when "Lampy" does his best, his standard is higher than this number seems to set.