Photography enables us—as nothing else can—to secure truthful and permanent records of the features and fleeting expressions of our fellow-creatures—not the least pleasing among such photographs being pictures of happy childhood. The first time I saw the original of one of my favourite pictures—the roguish, happy-looking little Romany girl of the Illustration, page 128—she was playing in a green lane with a number of youngsters, several of whom were not unlike her, while others were of a quite degenerate type; one or two of them, indeed, tried to rifle my pockets while others engaged my attention; it is, however, but fair to the children to say that this was done at the instigation of the adults, who had called out from the tent on the other side of the hedge— “Chiv tuti’s vast adrey the Rye’s putsi.” My reply—“Mande jinned what you penned”—appeared to surprise them. “So you did, did you?” queried one of the women, and thereupon she looked as it were beyond me, assuming an expression only to be described by an editor’s usual notice to quarrelsome correspondents:— “This discussion must now close.” Later in the day, when we had become better acquainted, this merry youngster, who had kept aloof while the others were intent on my pockets, came to me, and, slipping her hand into mine, said— “My name’s ——, you like me the best.” I confessed that I did. Cretinism—according to one writer—is prevalent among gypsies. I am inclined to think that if this statement be based on statistics, they referred to Chorodies rather than to true gypsies, or at least that Chorodies and Romanies were not differentiated when the statistics were collected. I have lived and wandered among the gypsies of our southern counties for many years, and have yet to find sufficient evidence of cretinism to warrant a statement that it is prevalent. These observations refer to the dark-complexioned, true Romany people and the posh ta posh folk—as the gypsy calls the Romany half-breeds—and not to the Chorodies, who, apart from their wandering habits, have very little in common with true gypsies. Amongst all peoples, examples of deformed humanity are occasionally brought into the world; but the proportion of such among true gypsies would appear to be small, and while Romany folk are notably quick, keen-witted and brainy, I have not observed—even among the very small proportion of deformed—that the idiocy, goitre, or other characteristic features of cretinism exist to any marked degree. [Illustration: METHOD OF CARRYING BABY AND BASKET.]