of the globe, the northern lands taking the greatest share in fostering it.

Alma Kabir granted this idea, but would not surren-der those countries' priority in the movement... and no wonder — she is Swedish by origin! And Nihad Bishawqi, who works as a secretary at Point Four, gave proof of her practical mind when there sprang to her thoughts the following question, touching whether our Lebanese houses and this furniture can agree! Munsif assured her that these furnishings suit our old houses perfectly — old in years only — except for their high ceilings, of course... and that defect is easily mended by way of colors. Kabir, for her part, voiced her admiration for Lebanon, ever first, to be sure, in adopting everything artistic and going deeply into it... In Beirut you see buildings that represent the very latest that modern architecture has attained on the outside, and the art of decoration on the inside! Then she added that modern furniture suits large houses and small alike, and that the choice of modern furnish-ings and modern colors is purely a matter of feeling, depending on the individual and his state of mind..!

Munsif was nodding his agreement when Layla broke in to ask him how one can furnish a small room without feeling cramped and 'cluttered' in it! His one piece of advice to her was to use a little furniture that performs several functions, and to choose well

those colors whose virtue is to make a room look larger than it is.

There was no avoiding the financial side in our talk. Is the furniture of tomorrow, one wonders, more costly than the old? Our two experts answered at once: No — modern furniture costs far less!! Then Munsif confirmed this truth for us with proofs drawn from his own trials and his personal work. He is at present furnishing two hotels, one in the modern style and the other classical — the first cost roughly half what the second cost! This assurance warmed Layla's heart, she who loves to furnish her house in the modern fashion!!

Edvick Shayboub, for her part, wanted to know whether the raw materials are to be found in Lebanon and the Arab countries, or are imported from abroad. Munsif answered her that all the materials are imported from abroad. But Kabir cut him short, saying that in the work she carries on in Marjayoun she uses none but the raw materials found here — leather, straw, lemon-wood, iron, and rugs — and gets very good results from them, and... At these last words Munsif could only cry out in triumph: but iron is imported from Europe, and rugs from Persia?! ... Yet the last word stayed with Kabir, when she explained that she meant the rugs woven in Marjayoun! Here astonishment showed on every face. Are such rugs