nd, its conical
top and low elevation, it is a degraded cross between a Germano-Tyrolese
cap and a policeman's hat--a bad mixture of both. May it be sent back to
Germany, where the idea came from, and may it be stuffed into a barrel
of sour-crout, not to come out till it is thoroughly rotted.

There is only this choice for the useful and graceful covering of the
foot-soldier's head; either the small slouched hat of the old Spanish
infantry--a hat very liable to be turned into something slovenly and
dirty--or the foraging cap of our undress--a covering most comfortable,
but not quite strong enough for campaigning use, as well as for parade;
or the helmet of antique form, shaped, that is to say, in some
conformity with the make of the head, and more or less ornamented with
crest and plume. We incline on the whole to the latter, and for two
reasons: it is not so liable to get altered in shape by service as the
others; it will wear well for a longer time; it is more useful in melees
and against cavalry; and it is the most becoming of any. In Prussia it
has lately been adopted with great success; and the appearance of the
infantry there is now warlike and graceful in the highest degree. The
helmet need not be made of metal; boiled leather is the proper
material--ventilation and lightness can be easily provided for in it,
and any degree of ornament may be superadded--crest or feathers, each is
becoming.

For Eastern service something lighter than this is of course
necessary--a cap or a broad hat might easily be adopted there; and for
American service another description of covering is also most essential
to the health and comfort of the soldier. We mean the close-fitting and
well-formed fur cap, which can protect the head, neck, and cheeks of the
wearer from the extraordinary rigour of a Canadian winter. The cap worn
by our guards when last on service in these regions, was at once
comfortable, useful, and handsome.

For the cavalry, where ornament seems to be required much more than
amongst the infantry--for they fancy themselves, if indeed they are not,
the top sawyers in all matters of service--the head-dress must be not
only useful, but can hardly be made too ornamental, within the limits of
good taste. And here allow us to say that the infantry shako and the
great grenadier's cap are perfectly absurd and misplaced; the one will
never give a man any chance against a sabre-cut, and the other is fit
only to tumble off wit