come in the mail each day. For example, one of these was a beautifully and expensively printed annual report from an international philanthropic organization that reached my desk a decade ago and contained this thought- provoking opinion, and I quote: "The birth of the baby gorilla was, of course, the most important event of 1973." Close quote. I was willing to accept the report's conclusion that this event did surpass the discovery detailed in the same report that, as manure, the droppings of the Cape Barren Goose were much maligned and really were not as damaging as farmers had contended. But personally I could not then - and cannot now - place the birth of the baby gorilla ahead of other events of that dramatic year, for 1973 was the year of Watergate, the Middle East War, the oil embargo, Henry Kissinger's amazing shuttle diplomacy, double-digit inflation, and even the prospects of a fascinating sex life for Secretariat. If you reflect upon it, much of the ills that have plagued us these past ten years and even today had their origins in these developments in 1 973 but the birth of the baby gorilla was not one of them. Knowing of the aforementioned weaknesses, my friends prey upon me by giving me books to read, coupled with the threat that they look forward to discussing the book with me once I have read it. So far this procedure has proved that, for the most part, my friends and I have different tastes in literature. But recently a friend older than I must have felt that I looked a little peaked. He put in my