A third section of Mr. Tom Harrisson's notes deals with
rumours. His observers have supplied him with 30o dif- ferent rumours, with details of the words used, as of the time, place and person. From an analysis of these 300 rumours he has come to certain tentative conclusions. The most prevalent type of rumour is the " informative " type, the rumour which comes from a person " who knows someone who knows." Men, he notes, spread rumours twice as often as women. Most of the rumours in circula- tion are perfectly reasonable rumours, and the fantastic seldom occurs. Spy-rumours only account for one per cent. of the total, but the wholly incorrect rumour that a person caught without his gas-mask is fined 15s. is immensely popular. On the whole, he concludes, these rumours are not particularly foolish and some of them even do good. But what startles me is that they should be so moderate and so calm. It was very different in the opening months of the last War.
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