ATDTDA (33) - p. 935-9 Coombs De Bottle

[kelber at mindspring.com]

Who is Coombs De Bottle?  Comes the battle?

We've met him twice before (thanks to Pynchon wiki):  pages 234 and 691.

Lew consults Dr. De Bottle during his investigation of the Gentleman Bomber.  When we first meet De Bottle, he's an eccentric working for the Foreign Office (precursor to the White Visitation).  He's an expert on phosgene, and a little overly concerned with the safety of anarchist bomb-makers.  Now we learn he's been sacked by the F.O. for trying to instruct anarchists on Bomb Building Safety.



He shows Y-C-R a map printed in violet ink (presumably the score-card/map of Bosnia Ratty produced in the last section).  Not only is this a map of many wedge-shaped places, it's also a map of the future.  

(p. 936):  "You'll note a bold horizontal line, along which certain disagreeable events, attributed to 'Germany,' are scheduled to occur, unless someone can prevent them."

In following e-mails, some issues this pithy little section brings up.