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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/5434.txt b/5434.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..1d83c67 --- /dev/null +++ b/5434.txt @@ -0,0 +1,10162 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Physiology of Taste, by Brillat Savarin + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Physiology of Taste + +Author: Brillat Savarin + +Release Date: April, 2004 [EBook #5434] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on July 18, 2002] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE PHYSIOLOGY OF TASTE *** + + + + +Steve Harris, Charles Franks and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + +THE PHYSIOLOGY OF TASTE; + +OR, + +TRANSCENDENTAL GASTRONOMY. + + +ILLUSTRATED BY ANECDOTES OF DISTINGUISHED ARTISTS AND STATESMEN OF + + +BOTH CONTINENTS. BY BRILLAT SAVARIN. + + + + +TRANSLATED FROM THE LAST PARIS EDITION BY FAYETTE ROBINSON. + + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + + +APHORISMS of the Professor to serve as Prolegomena to his work, +and Eternal basis of the Science, + +DIALOGUE, between the Author and his Friend, + +BIOGRAPHY, + +PREFACE, + + +MEDITATION I. +THE SENSES, + + Number of the Senses, + + Action of the Senses, + + Perfectness of the Senses, + + Powers of the Taste, + + Object of the Action of the Senses, + + +MEDITATION II. +TASTE, + + Definition of Taste, + + Mechanism of Taste, + + Sensation of Taste, + + Flavors, + + Influence of Smelling on the Taste, + + Analyses of the Sensation of Taste, + + Order of the Impressions of Taste, + + Enjoyments due to the Taste, + + Supremacy of Man, + + Method of the Author, + + +MEDITATION III. +GASTRONOMY, + + Origin of Sciences, + + Origin of Gastronomy, + + Definition of Gastronomy, + + Different objects of Gastronomy, + + Utility of Gastronomical Knowledge, + + Influence of Gastronomy on Business, + + Gastronomical Academy, + + +MEDITATION IV. +APPETITE, + + Definition of Appetite, + + Anecdote, + + Great Appetites, + + +MEDITATION V. +FOOD IN GERMS--Section First, + + Definitions, + + Analyses, + + Osmazome, + + Principle of Aliments, + + Vegetable Kingdom, + + Difference between Fat and Lean, + + Individual Instance, + + +MEDITATION VI. +FOOD IN GERMS--Section Second, + + Specialities, + + I. Pot-au-feu, Potage, etc., + + II. Bouilli, + + III. Fowls, + + IV. The Turkey, + + Dindoniphiles, + + Financial Influence of the Turkey, + + Exploit of the Professor, + + V. Game, + + VI. Fish, + + Anecdote, + + Muria--Garum, + + Philosophical Reflection, + + VII. Truffles, + + Erratic Virtue of Truffles, + + Are Truffles Indigestible, + + VIII. Sugar, + + Indigenous Sugar, + + Uses of Sugur, + + IX. Origin of Coffee, + + Different Modes of preparing Coffee, + + Effects of Coffee, + + X. Chocolate--its origin, + + Properties of Chocolate, + + True Method of preparing Chocolate, + + +MEDITATION VII. +THEORY OF FRYING, + + Allocution, + + I. Chemistry, + + II. Application, + + +MEDITATION VIII. +ON THIRST, + + Varieties of Thirst, + + Causes of Thirst, + + Example, + + +MEDITATION IX. +ON DRINKS, + + Water, + + Quick effect of Drinks, + + Strong Drinks, + + +MEDITATION X. +AN EPISODE ON THE END OF THE WORLD, + + +MEDITATION XI. +ON GOURMANDISE, + + Definitions, + + Advantages of Gourmandise, + + Sequel, + + Power of Gourmandise, + + A Lady Gourmand, + + Anecdote, + + Are Women Gourmands? + + The effects of Gourmandise of Sociability, + + Influence of Gourmandise on Conjugal Happiness, + + Note of a Patriot Gastronomer, + + +MEDITATION XII. +GOURMANDS, + + All who wish to be are not Gourmands, + + Napoleon, + + Gourmands by Destiny, + + Gourmands by Profession, + + Financiers, + + Physicians, + + Objurgation, + + Men of Letters, + + Devotees, + + Chevaliers and Abbes, + + Longevity of Gourmands, + + +MEDITATION XIII. +GASTRONOMICAL TESTS, + + First Series--Income of 5,000 francs, + + Second Series--Income of 15,000 francs, + + Third Series--Income of 30,000 francs, or more, + +MEDITATION XIV. ON THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE, + + Origin of the Pleasures of the Table, + + Difference between the Pleasures of Eating and the Pleasures + of the Table, + + Effects, + + Accessories, + + The 18th and 19th Century, + + Summary, + + +MEDITATION XV. +HALTES DE CHASSE, + + Ladies, + + +MEDITATION XVI. +ON DIGESTION, + + Ingestion, + + Duty of the Stomach, + + Influence of Digestion, + + +MEDITATION XVII. +REPOSE, + + Time of Rest, + + +MEDITATION XVIII. +SLEEP, + + Definition, + + +MEDITATION XIX. +DREAMS, + + Nature of Dreams, + + System of Dr. Gall, + + First Observation, + + Second Observation, + + Result, + + Age, + + Phenomena of Dreams, + + First Observation, + + Second Observation, + + Third Observation, + + Do as you will be done by, + + +MEDITATION XX. +INFLUENCE OF DIET ON REST, SLEEP AND DREAMS, + + Effects of Diet on Labor, + + Dreams, + + Consequence, + + Result, + + +MEDITATION XXI. OBESITY, + + Causes of Obesity, + + Sequel, + + Sequel, + + Anecdote, + + Inconvenience of Obesity, + + Examples of Obesity, + + +MEDITATION XXII. +PRESERVATIVE TREATMENT AND CURE OF OBESITY, + + Generalities, + + Sequel of the Regimen, + + Dangers of Acids, + + Antiobesic Belt, + + Quinquina, + + +MEDITATION XXIII. +THINNESS, + + Definition, + + Varieties, + + Effects of Thinness, + + Natural Predestination, + + Fattening Regimen, + + +MEDITATION XXIV. +FASTING, + + Definition, + + Origin, + + How people used to Fast, + + Origin of the removal of Restriction in Fasting, + + +MEDITATION XXV. +EXHAUSTION, + + Treatment, + + Cure by the Professor, + + +MEDITATION XXVI. +DEATH, + + +MEDITATION XXVII. +PHILOSOPHICAL HISTORY OF THE KITCHEN, + + Order of Alimentation, + + Discovery of Fire, + + Baking, + + Oriental Entertainments--Grecian, + + Roman Festivals, + + Resurrection of Lucullus, + + Poetry, + + Irruption of the Barbarians, + + +MEDITATION XXVIII. +RESTAURATEURS, + + Establishment, + +PHYSIOLOGY OF TASTE--Part Second, + +TRANSITION, + +VARIETIES, + I. L'omelette du Cure, + + Omelette au Thon, + + Observations, + + II. A National Victory, + + III. Mystification of the Professor and Defeat of a General, + + IV. The Snare, + + V. The Turbot, + + VI. Pheasants, + + VII. Gastronomical Industry of the Emigres, + + VIII. Recollections of the Emigration, + + The Weaver, + + The Starving, + + Sojourn in America, + + Asparagus, + + Fondue, + + Recipe for Fondue, Copied from the Papers of M. Trollet, + Bailli of Mondon in Berne, + + Disappointment, + + Wonderful Effects of a Classical Dinner, + + Effects and Danger of Strong Drinks, + + Chevaliers and Abbes, + + Miscellany--Wine, + + Strawberries, + + Judgment, + + Raisins, + + A Day with the Bernardines, + + Prosperity en route, + + H. ... DeP ..., + + Conclusion, + + + +BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. + +The excellent man to whom we are indebted for this book has +described himself, with so much charm, nature and truth; the +principal events of his life have been recorded in such an +agreeable and faithful manner that very few words will suffice to +finish the story. + +Brillat Savarin (Anthelme) Counsel of the Court of Cassation, +member of the Legion of Honor, member of the Society for the +Encouragement of National Industry, of the Antiquarian Society of +France, of the Philoselic Society of Bourg, &c., &c., was born, +1st of April, 1755, at Belley, a little Alpine city, not far from +the banks of the Rhine, which at this place separates France from +Savoy. Like his forefathers, who had been for several generations +devoted to the bar, the profession which pleased him, in +consequence of his possession of great eloquence, he practised +with great success. + +In, 1789, the unanimous vote of his fellow citizens deputed him +to the Constituent assembly, composed of all that was most +brilliant in the youth of France at that day. Less attached in +practice to the philosophy of Zeno than that of Epicurus, his name +does not figure very conspicuously, but always appears at epochs, +which show that he acted with the good and moderate. + +His legislative functions being determined by the expiration of +the Constituent Assembly, he was first appointed President of the +Superior Civil court of the Department of Ain, and subsequently a +Justice of the Court of Cassation, newly instituted; a man of +talent, perfectly incorruptible and unhesitating in the discharge +of his duty, he would have been precisely calculated for the place +to which he had been appointed, had the warmth of political +discussion made practicable the advice either of moderation or of +prudence. In 1793, he was Mayor of Belley, and passed in anxiety +there, the season of the reign of Terror; whence he was forced to +fly to Switzerland for an asylum against the revolutionary +movement. Nothing can better man, without a personal enemy, should +be forced to pass in a foreign land the days he purposed to devote +to the improvement of his country. + +This is the point when the character of Brillat Savarin assumes +its grandest proportions; proscribed, a fugitive, and often +without pecuniary resources, frequently unable to provide for his +personal safety, he was always able to console his companions in +exile and set them an example of honest industry. As time rolled +on, and his situation became more painful, he sought to find in +the new world a repose which Europe denied him; he came from +Europe, and in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Hartford passed +two years teaching the French language, and for a time playing the +first violin in the orchestra of the Park Theatre. Like many other +emigres, Brillat Savarin ever sought to make the pleasant and the +useful coincide. He always preserved very pleasant recollection of +this period of his life, in which he enjoyed, with moderate labor, +all that is necessary for happiness, liberty sweetened by honest +toil. He might say all is well, and to be able to enjoy the breath +of my native land would alone increase my happiness; he fancied +that he saw brighter days with the commencement of Vendemiaire +year 5, corresponding to September, of 1796. Appointed by the +Directory, as Secretary of the General in Chief of the Republican +armies in Germany, then Commisary of the government in the +department of the Seine and Oise, (this appointment he held at the +epoch of the 18th Brumaire, in which France fancied she exchanged +liberty for repose,) sustained by the Senate and the Court, +Brillat Savarin passed the remaining twenty-five years of his life +respected by his inferiors, loved by his equals, and honored by +all. A man of mind, a pleasant guest, with a deep fund of humor, +he delighted every body. His judicial labors did not at all +interfere with the composition of this book, which he esteemed the +great one of his life. + +To the very facility of its composition, the "Physiology of the +Taste," owes its success; one would form a very erroneous opinion +of it, were he to estimate it at all as we do Montaigue's writings +on the Gueule. Savarin was naturally a thoughtful man, the +simplest meal satisfied him, all he required was that it should be +prepared artistically; and he maintained that the art of cookery +consisted in exciting the taste. He used to say, "to excite a +stomach of Papier Mache, and enliven vital powers almost ready to +depart, a cook needs more talent than he who has solved the +INFINTESIMAL CALCULUS." + +The world was much surprised by finding in a book by Brillat +Savarin, a man it had always looked upon as simply a very pleasant +person, such a vast collection of general information; after his +laborious profession he had always seemed to expend the rest of +his time with the muses and graces, and none could divine where he +obtained so much information, as almost to recall the story of +some gray-haired sage of Greece. He had however already composed +more than one work unrecognised, if we except the two opuscula +"Critical and Historical Essay on Duel, with Relation to our +Legislation and Morals," and a work on judicial practice. They +were successful, but he was just then attacked by a violent cold, +contracted by being present at the annual ceremony, [Footnote: Not +only Brillat Savarin, but Robert De St. Vincent, and Attorney +General Marchangy, contracted their death in consequence of the +same ceremonial.] the 21st of January at the Church of St. Dennis. +In spite of every care and attention, on the 2d of February, 1826, +he died. For many years gifted with robust health and athletic +constitution, made the more remarkable by his tall stature, +Brillat Savarin had a presentiment of the approach of death; this +feeling, however, did not influence the tenor of his life, for his +habitual gaity was maintained unimpaired. When the fatal point was +reached, he died tanquam convivia satur, not without regret, +certainly, for he left many kind friends to whom his memory could +not but be dear. + +APHORISMS OF THE PROFESSOR. + +TO SERVE AS PROLEGOMENA TO HIS WORK AND ETERNAL BASIS TO THE +SCIENCE. + +I. The universe would be nothing were it not for life and all that +lives must be fed. + +II. Animals fill themselves; man eats. The man of mind alone knows +how to eat. + +III. The destiny of nations depends on the manner in which they +are fed. + +IV. Tell me what kind of food you eat, and I will tell you what +kind of man you are. + +V. The Creator, when he obliges man to eat, invites him to do so +by appetite, and rewards him by pleasure. + +VI. Gourmandise is an act of our judgment, in obedience to which, +we grant a preference to things which are agreeable, over those +which nave not that quality. + +VII. The pleasure of the table belongs to all ages, to all +conditions, to all countries, and to all aeras; it mingles with +all other pleasures, and remains at last to console us for their +departure. + +VIII. The table is the only place where one does not suffer, from +ennui during the first hour. + +IX. The discovery of a new dish confers more happiness on +humanity, than the discovery of a new star. + +X. Those persons who suffer from indigestion, or who become drunk, +are utterly ignorant of the true principles of eating and +drinking. + +XI. The order of food is from the most substantial to the +lightest. + +XII. The order of drinking is from the mildest to the most foamy +and perfumed. + +XIII. To say that we should not change our drinks is a heresy; the +tongue becomes saturated, and after the third glass yields but an +obtuse sensation. + +XIV. A dessert without cheese is like a beautiful woman who has +lost an eye. + +XV. A cook may be taught, but a man who can roast, is born with +the faculty. + +XVI. The most indispensable quality of a good cook is promptness. +It should also be that of the guests. + +XVII. To wait too long for a dilatory guest, shows disrespect to +those who are punctual. + +XVIII. He who receives friends and pays no attention to the repast +prepared for them, is not fit to have friends. + +XIX. The mistress of the house should always be certain that the +coffee be excellent; the master that his liquors be of the first +quality. + +XX. To invite a person to your house is to take charge of his +happiness as long as he be beneath your roof. + + + +DIALOGUE between the author and his friend. (after the usual +salutations.) + +FRIEND. As my wife and myself were at breakfast this morning, we +came to the conclusion that you should print, as soon as possible, +your Gastronomical Observations. + +AUTHOR. What the wife wishes God wills. In six words that is the +charta of Paris. I, though, am not subject to that law, for I am +an unmarried man. + +FRIEND. Bachelors, though, are as subject to the law as others +are, sometimes much to our injury. Single blessedness here, +however, will not save you. My wife says she has a right to order, +because you began your book at her country-house. + +AUTHOR. You know, dear Doctor, how I defer to the ladies; more +than once you have found my submission to their orders. You also +were one of those who said I would make an excellent husband. I +will not, however, print my book. + +FRIEND. Why not? + +AUTHOR. Because being devoted, from the nature of my profession, +to serious studies, I fear that those who only know the title of +my book will think that I devote myself to trifles. + +FRIEND. A panic terror! Thirty-six years of constant toil and +labor for the public, have made you a reputation. Besides, my wife +and I think every body would read you. + +AUTHOR. Indeed! + +FRIEND. The learned will read your book to ascertain what you have +to tell. + +AUTHOR. Perhaps. + +FRIEND. Women will read your book because they will see--- + +AUTHOR. My dear friend, I am old, I am attacked by a fit of +wisdom. Miserere mei. + +FRIEND. Gourmands will read you because you do them justice, and +assign them their suitable rank in society. + +AUTHOR. Well, that is true. It is strange that they have so long +been misunderstood; I look on the dear Gourmands with paternal +affection. They are so kind and their eyes are so bright. + +FRIEND. Besides, did you not tell me such a book was needed in +every library. + +AUTHOR. I did. It is the truth--and I would die sooner than deny +it. + +FRIEND: Ah! you are convinced! You will come home with me? + +AUTHOR. Not so. If there be flowers in the author's path, there +are also thorns. The latter I leave to my heirs. + +FRIEND. But then you disinherit your friends, acquaintances and +cotemporaries. Dare you do so? + +AUTHOR. My heirs! my heirs! I have heard that shades of the +departed are always flattered by the praise of the living; this is +a state of beatitude I wish to reserve myself for the other world. + +FRIEND. But are you sure that the praise you love so, will come to +the right address? Are you sure of the exactness of your heirs? + +AUTHOR. I have no reason to think they will neglect a duty, in +consideration of which I have excused them the neglect of so many +others. + +FRIEND. Will they--can they have for your book the paternal love, +the author's attention without which every work always comes +awkwardly before the public? + +AUTHOR. My manuscript will be corrected, written out distinctly, +and in all respects prepared; they will only have to print it. + +FRIEND. And the chapter of events? Alas! such circumstances have +caused the loss of many precious books,--among which was that of +the famous Lecat, on the state of the body during sleep, the work +of his whole life. + +AUTHOR. This doubtless was a great loss; but I anticipate no such +regrets for my book. + +FRIEND. Believe me, your friends will have enough to do-to arrange +matters with the church, with the law, and with the medical +faculty, so that if they had the will, they would not have the +time to devote them-selves to the various cares which precede, +accompany, and follow the publication of a book,--however small +the volume may be. + +AUTHOR. But, my friend, what a title! Think of the ridicule! + +FRIEND. The word Gastronomy makes every ear attentive; the subject +is a la mode, and those who laugh are as great votaries of the +science as any others are. This should satisfy you. Do you +remember too, that the greatest men have sometimes written books +on very trivial subjects,-Montesquieu, for example. [Footnote: M. +de Monjucla, known as the author of an excellent history of +mathematics, made a Dictionary of Gourmand Geography; he showed me +portions of it during my residence at Versailles. It is said that +M. Berryat-Professor of legal practice, has written a romance in +several volumes on the subject.] + +AUTHOR. (Quickly.) On my word, that is true. He wrote the Temple +of Gnidus, and it would not be difficult to sustain that there is +more real utility in meditating on what is at once a necessity, a +pleasure, and an occupation every day of our lives, than in +telling what was done and said a thousand years ago by two mad +people, one of whom pursued through the woods of Greece the other, +who had not the least disposition to escape. + +FRIEND. Ah! ha! Now you yield? + +AUTHOR. Not I. The ass's ear of the author only was shown; and +this recalls to my memory a scene of English comedy, which amused +me very much; it is, I think, in the play called the Natural +Daughter. You shall see, however, for yourself. [Footnote: The +reader will observe that my friend permits me to be familiar with +him, without taking advantage of it. The reason is, that the +difference between our ages is that of a father and a son, and +that, though now a man of great note and importance in every +respect, he would be completely overcome with grief if I changed +my bearing towards him.] The subject relates to the Quakers, that +sect which uses "thee" and "thou" to everybody, which dresses +simply, never go to war, never swear or act with passion, and who +never get angry. The hero of this piece is a young and handsome +Quaker, who appears on the scene in a brown coat, a broad-brimmed +hat, and slick hair! All this, though, does not keep him from +being in love. + +A fool who is his rival, emboldened by his exterior, ridicules and +outrages him so that the young man gradually becoming excited, and +finally made furious, gives his assailant a severe thrashing. + +Having done this he at once resumes his habitual deportment and +says, sadly, "Alas! the flesh is too mighty for the spirit." + +Thus say I, and after a brief hesitation resume my first opinion. + +FRIEND. That is impossible. You have shown your ear; you are a +prize, and I will take you to my bookseller. I will tell you who +has gotten wind of your secret. + +AUTHOR. Do not; for I would speak of yourself, and who knows what +I would say? + +FRIEND. What could you say? Do not think you can intimidate me. + +AUTHOR. I will not say that our native city [Footnote: Belley, +capital of Bugey, where high mountains, hills, vines, limpid +streams, cascades, dells, gardens of a hundred square leagues are +found, and where, BEFORE the revolution, the people were able to +control the other two orders.] is proud of having given you birth. +At the age of twenty-four you published an elementary book, which +from that day has become a classic. A deserved reputation has +attracted confidence to you. Your skill revives invalids; your +dexterity animates them; your sensibility consoles them. All know +this; but I will reveal to all Paris, to all France, the sole +fault of which I know you guilty. + +FRIEND. (Seriously.) What do you mean? + +AUTHOR. An habitual fault which no persuasion can correct. + +FRIEND. Tell me what you mean! Why torment me? + +AUTHOR. You eat too quickly. + +(Here, the friend takes up his hat and leaves, fancying that he +has made a convert.) + + + +BIOGRAPHY + +The Doctor I have introduced into the dialogue we have just read, +is not a creature of imagination like the Chloris of other days, +but a real living Doctor. Those who know me, will remember +RICHERAND. + +When I thought of him I could not but have reference to those who +preceded him, and I saw with pride that from Belley, from the +department of Ain, my native soil, for a long time physicians of +the greatest distinction had come. I could not resist the +temptation to erect a brief monument to them. + +During the regency Doctors Genin and Civoct were in full +possession of practice, and expended in their country a wealth +they had honorably acquired. The first was altogether +HIPPOCRATITE; he proceeded secundum artem; the second was almost +monopolized by women, and had as his device, as Tacitus would have +said, res novas molientem. + +About 1780 Chapelle became distinguished in the dangerous career +of a military surgeon. About 1781 Doctor Dubois had great success +in sundry maladies, then very much a la mode, and in nervous +diseases. The success he obtained was really wonderful. + +Unfortunately he inherited a fortune and became idle, and was +satisfied to be a good story-teller. He was very amusing, and +contrived to survive the dinners of the new and old regime. +[Footnote: I smiled when I wrote the above, for it recalled to me +an Academician, the eulogium of whom Fontenelle undertook. The +deceased knew only how to play at all games. Fontenelle made a +very decent oration, however, about him.] About the end of the +reign of Louis XV., Dr. Coste, a native of Chatillon came to +Paris; he had a letter from Voltaire to the Duc de Choiseuil, the +good wishes of whom he gained as soon as he had seen him. + +Protected by this nobleman, and by the Duchess of Grammont, his +sister, young Coste advanced rapidly, and in a short time became +one of the first physicians of Paris. + +The patronage he had received took him from a profitable career to +place him at the head of the medical department of the army which +France sent to the United States, who then were contending for +their independence. + +Having fulfilled his mission, Coste returned to France, and almost +unseen lived through the evil days of 1793. He was elected maire +of Versailles, and even now the memory of his administration, at +once mild, gentle and paternal, has been preserved. + +The Directors now recalled him to the charge of the medical +department of the army. Bonaparte appointed him one of the three +Inspectors General of the service; the Doctor was always the +friend, protector, and patron of the young men who selected that +service. He was at last appointed Physician of the Invalides, and +discharged the duties until he died. + +Such service the Bourbons could not neglect, and Louis XVIII. +granted to Doctor Coste the cordon of Saint Michel. + +Doctor Coste died a few years since, leaving behind kind +recollections, and a daughter married to M. Lalot, who +distinguished himself in the Chamber of Deputies by his eloquent +and profound arguments. + +One day when we had dined with M. Favre, the Cure of St. Laurent, +Doctor Coste told me of a difficulty he had, the day before, with +the Count de Le Cessac, then a high officer of the ministry of +war, about a certain economy which the latter proposed as a means +of paying his court Napoleon. + +The economy consisted in retrenching the allowances of hospital, +so as to restrict men who had wounds from the comforts they were +entitled to. + +Doctor Coste said such measures were abominable, and he became +angry. + +I do not know what the result was, but only that the sick soldiers +had their usual allowances, and that no change was made. + +He was appointed Professor of the Faculty of Medicine. His style +was simple and his addresses were plain and fruitful. Honors were +crowded on him. He was appointed Physician to the Empress Marie +Louise. He did not, however, fill that place long, the Emperor was +swept away, and the Doctor himself succumbed to a disease of the +leg, to which he had long been subject. + +Bordier was of a calm disposition, kind and reliable. + +About the 18th century appeared Bichat, all of the writings of +whom bear the impress of genius. He expended his life in toil to +advance science, and joined the patience of restricted minds to +enthusiasm. He died at the age of thirty, and public honors were +decreed to his memory. + +At a later day came Doctor Montegre, who carried philosophy into +clinics. He was the editor of the Gazette de Sante, and at the age +of forty died in the Antilles whither he had gone to complete his +book on the Vomite Negro. + +At the present moment Richerand stands on the highest degree of +operative medicine, and his Elements of Physiology have been +translated into every language. Appointed at an early date a +Professor of the Faculty of Paris, he made all rely fully on him. +He is the keenest, gentlest, and quickest operator in the world. + +Recamier, a professor of the same faculty, sits by his side. + +The present being thus assured, the future expands itself before +us! Under the wings of these mighty Professors arise young men of +the same land, who seek to follow their honorable examples. + +Janin and Manjot already crush the pavement of Paris. Manjot +devotes himself to the diseases of children; he has happy +inspirations, and soon will tell the public what he has +discovered. + +I trust my readers will pardon this digression of an old man, who, +during an absence of thirty years, has neither forgotten his +country nor his countrymen. I could not however omit all those +physicians, the memory of whom is yet preserved in their birth- +place, and who, though not conspicuous, had not on that account +the less merit or worth. [Footnote: The translator thinks several +have made world-renowned names.] + +PREFACE. + +In offering to the public the work I now produce, I have +undertaken no great labor. I have only put in order materials I +had collected long ago. The occupation was an amusing one, which I +reserved for my old age. + +When I thought of the pleasures of the table, under every point of +view, I saw that something better than a common cookery book could +be made out of it, and that much might be said about essential and +continuous things, which have a direct influence on health, +happiness, and even on business. + +When I had once gotten hold of the idea, all the rest came +naturally. I looked around, took notes, and amidst the most +sumptuous festivals looked at the guests. Thus I escaped many of +the dangers of conviviality. + +To do what I have undertaken, one need not be a physician, +chemist, physiologist, or even a savant. All I learned, I learned +without the least idea that I would ever be an author. I was +impressed by a laudable curiosity, by the fear of remaining behind +my century, and by an anxiety to be able to sit at table on equal +terms with the savants I used to meet. + +I am essentially an amateur medecin, and this to me is almost a +mania. Among the happiest days of my life, when with the +Professors, I went to hear the thesis of Doctor Cloquet; I was +delighted when I heard the murmur of the students' voices, each of +whom asked who was the foreign professor who honored the College +with his presence. + +One other day is, I think, almost as dear to me. I refer to the +meeting of the society for the encouragement of national industry, +when I presented the irrorator, an instrument of my own invention, +which is neither more nor less than a forcing pump filled with +perfumes. + +I had an apparatus fully charged in my pocket. I turned the cock, +and thence pressed out a perfume which filled the whole room. + +Then I saw, with inexpressible pleasure, the wisest heads of the +capital bend beneath my irrigation, and I was glad to see that +those who received most, were the happiest. + +Thinking sometimes of the grave lucubrations to which I was +attracted by my subject, I really as afraid that I would be +troublesome. I have often read very stupid books. + +I did all that I could to escape this reproach. I have merely +hovered over subjects which presented themselves to me; I have +filled my book with anecdotes, some of which to a degree are +personal. I have omitted to mention many strange and singular +things, which critical judgment induced me to reject, and I +recalled popular attention to certain things which savants seemed +to have reserved to themselves. If, in spite of all these efforts, +I have not presented to my readers a science rarely understood, I +shall sleep just as calmly, being certain that the MAJORITY will +acquit me of all evil intention. + +It may perhaps be said that sometimes I wrote too rapidly, and +that sometimes I became garrulous. Is it my fault that I am old? +Is it my fault that, like Ulysses, I have seen the manners and +customs of many cities? Am I therefore blamable for writing a +little bit of autobiography? Let the reader, however, remember +that I do not inflict my political memoirs on him, which he would +have to read, as he has many others, since during the last thirty +years I have been exactly in the position to see great men and +great things. + +Let no one assign me a place among compilers; had I been reduced +thus low, I would have laid down my pen, and would not have lived +less happily. + +I said, like Juvenal: + +"Semper ego auditor tantum! nunquamne reponam!" + +and those who know me will easily see that used to the tumult of +society and to the silence of the study I had to take advantage of +both one and the other of these positions. + +I did too many things which pleased me particularly; I was able to +mention many friends who did not expect me to do so, and recalled +some pleasant memories; I seized on others which would have +escaped, and, as we say familiarly, took my coffee. + +It may be a single reader may in some category exclaim,----"I +wished to know if----." "What was he thinking of," etc., etc. I am +sure, though, the others will make him be silent and receive with +kindness the effusions of a praiseworthy sentiment. + +I have something to say about my style, which, as Buffon says, is +all the man. + +Let none think I come to ask for a favor which is never granted to +those who need it. I wish merely to make an explanation. + +I should write well, for Voltaire, Jean Jacques, Fenelon, Buffon, +and Cochin and Aguesseau were my favorite authors. I knew them by +heart. + +It may be though, that the gods ordered otherwise; if so, this is +the cause of the will of the gods. + +I know five languages which now are spoken, which gives me an +immense refectory of words. + +When I need a word and do not find it in French, I select it from +other tongues, and the reader has either to understand or +translate me. Such is my fate. + +I could have acted otherwise, but was prevented by a kind of +system to which I was invincibly attached. + +I am satisfied that the French language which I use is +comparatively poor. What could I do? Either borrow or steal. + +I did neither, for such borrowings, cannot be restored, though to +steal words is not punishable by the penal code. + +Any one may form an idea of my audacity when I say I applied the +Spanish word volante to any one I had sent on an errand, and that +I had determined to GALLICISE the English word TO SIP, which means +to drink in small quantities. I however dug out the French word +siroter, which expresses nearly the same thing. + +I am aware the purists will appeal to Bosseux, to Fenelon, Raceri, +Boilleau, Pascal, and others of the reign of Louis XIV. I fancy I +hear their clamor. + +To all this I reply distinctly, that I do not depreciate the merit +of those authors; but what follows? Nothing, except that if they +played well on an inferior instrument, how much better would they +have done on a superior one. Therefore, we may believe that +Tartini would have played on the violin far better than he did, if +his bow had been long as that of Baillot. + +I do not belong to the neologues or even to the romanticists; the +last are discoverers of hidden treasures, the former are like +sailors who go about to search for provisions they need. + +The people of the North, and especially the English, have in this +respect an immense advantage over us. Genius is never restricted +by the want of expression, which is either made or created. Thus +it is that of all subjects which demand depth and energy, our +translations make but pale and dull infusions. + +Once I heard at the institute a pleasant discourse on the danger +of neologism, and on the necessity of maintaining our language as +it was when the authors of the great century wrote. + +"Like a chemist, I sifted the argument and ascertained that it +meant: + +"We have done so well, that we neither need nor can do better." + +Now; I have lived long enough to know that each generation has +done as much, and that each one laughs at his grandfather. + +Besides, words must change, when manners and ideas undergo +perpetual modifications. If we do things as the ancients did, we +do not do them in the same manner. There are whole pages in many +French books, which cannot be translated into Latin or Greek. + +All languages had their birth, their apogee and decline. None of +those which have been famous from the days of Sesostris to that of +Philip Augustus, exist except as monuments. The French will have +the same fate, and in the year 2825 if read, will be read with a +dictionary. + +I once had a terrible argument on this matter with the famous M. +Andrieux, at the Academie Francaise. + +I made my assault in good array, I attacked him vigorously, and +would have beaten him had he not made a prompt retreat, to which I +opposed no obstacle, fortunately for him, as he was making one +letter of the new lexicon. + +I end by one important observation, for that reason I have kept it +till the last. + +When I write of ME in the singular, I gossip with my reader, he +may examine, discuss, doubt or laugh; but when I say WE I am a +professor, and all must bow to me. + + "I am, Sir Oracle, + + And when I ope my lips, let no dog bark." + + Merchant of Venice. + + + +PHYSIOLOGY OF TASTE. + +MEDITATION FIRST. + +THE SENSES. + +The senses are the organs by which man places himself in connexion +with exterior objects. + +NUMBER OF THE SENSES. + +1. They are at least six-- + +Sight, which embraces space, and tells us by means of light, of +the existence and of the colors of the bodies around us. + +Hearing, which, by the motion of the air, informs us of the motion +of sounding or vibrating bodies. + +Scent, by means of which we are made aware of the odors bodies +possess. + +Taste, which enables us to distinguish all that has a flavor from +that which is insipid. + +Touch informs us of the consistency and resistance of bodies. + +The last is genesiac or physical love, which attracts the sexes to +each other, and the object of which is the reproduction of the +species. + +It is astonishing that, almost to the days of Buffon, so important +a sense was misunderstood, and was confounded with the touch. + +Yet the sensation of which it is the seat, has nothing in common +with touch; it resides in an apparatus as complete as the mouth or +the eyes, and what is singular is that each sex has all that is +needed to experience the sensation; it is necessary that the two +should be united to reach nature's object. If the TASTE, the +object of which is the preservation of the individual, be +incontestibly a sense, the same title must indubitably be +preserved on the organs destined to the preservation of the +species. + +Let us then assign to the genesiac the sensual place which cannot +be refused to it, and let us leave to posterity the assignment of +its peculiar rank. + +ACTION OF THE SENSES. + +If we were permitted, even in imagination, to refer to the first +moments of the existence of the human race, we would believe that +the first sensations were direct; that is to say that all saw +confusedly and indirectly, smelled without care, ate without +tasting, etc. + +The centre of all these sensations, however, being the soul, the +sensual attribute of humanity and active cause of perfectibility, +they are reflected, compared, and judged by it; the other senses +then come to the assistance of each other, for the utility and +well-being of the sensitive; one or individual. + +Thus touch rectifies the errors of sight; sound, by means of +articulate speech, becomes the interpreter of every sentiment; +taste is aided by sight and smell; hearing compares sounds, +appreciates distance; and the genesiac sense takes possession of +the organs of all the senses. + +The torrent of centuries rolling over the human race, has +continually brought new perfections, the cause of which, ever +active though unseen, is found in the demands made by our senses, +which always in their turns demand to be occupied. + +Sight thus gave birth to painting, to sculpture, and to spectacles +of every kind. + +Sound, to melody, harmony, to the dance, and to music in all its +branches, and means of execution. + +Smell, to the discovery, manufacture and use of perfumes. + +Taste, to the production, choice and preparation of all that is +used for food. + +Touch, to all art, trades and occupations. + +The genesiac sense, to all which prepares or embellishes the +reunion of senses, and, subsequently to the days of Francois I., +to romantic love, to coquetry, which originated in France and +obtained its name there, and from which the elite of the world, +collected in the capital of the universe, take their lessons every +day. + +This proposition, strange as it seems, is very susceptible of +demonstration; we cannot express with clearness in any ancient +language, ideas about these three great motives of actual society. + +I had written a dialogue on this subject, but suppressed it for +the purpose of permitting the reader, each in his own way, to +think of the matter for himself. There is enough to occupy the +mind and display intelligence and erudition during a whole +evening. + +We said above, that the genesiac sense took possession of the +organs of all the others; the influence it has exerted over all +sciences is not less. When we look closer, we will find that all +that is most delicate and ingenious is due to the desire, to hope, +or to gratitude, in connexion with the union of the sexes. + +Such is, indeed, the genealogy of the senses, even the most +abstract ones, all being the immediate result of continuous +efforts made to gratify our senses. + +PERFECTNESS OF THE SENSES. + +These senses, our favorites, are far from being perfect, and I +will not pause to prove it. I will only observe, that that +ethereal sense--sight, and touch, which is at the other extremity +of the scale, have from time acquired a very remarkable additional +power. + +By means of spectacles the eye, so to say, escapes from the decay +of age, which troubles almost all the other organs. + +The telescope has discovered stars hitherto unknown and +inaccessible to all our means of mensuration; it has penetrated +distances so great, that luminous and necessarily immense bodies +present themselves to us only like nebulous and almost +imperceptible spots. + +The microscope has made us acquainted with the interior +configuration of bodies; or has shown the existence of a +vegetation and of plants, the existence of which we were ignorant +of. + +Animals a hundred thousand times smaller than any visible with the +naked eye have been discovered; these animalculae, however, move, +feed and multiply, establishing the existence of organs of +inconceivable tenuity. + +Mechanics have multiplied our power; man has executed all that he +could conceive of, and has moved weights nature made inaccessible +to his weakness. + +By means of arms and of the lever, man has conquered all nature; +he has subjected it to his pleasure, wants and caprices. He has +overturned its surfaces, and a feeble biped has become king of +creation. + +Sight and touch, being thus increased in capacity, might belong to +some species far superior to man; or rather the human species +would be far different had all the senses been thus improved. + +We must in the meantime remark, that if touch has acquired a great +development as a muscular power, civilization has done almost +nothing for it as an organ of sensation. We must, however, despair +of nothing, but remember that the human race is yet young, and +that only after a long series of years can the senses aggrandise +their domain. + +For instance. Harmony was only discovered about four centuries +ago, and that celestial science is to sound what painting is to +colors. + +Certainly, the ancients used to sing and accompany themselves in +unison. Their knowledge, however, ended there. They knew neither +how to decompose sounds, nor to appreciate their relations. +[Footnote: We are aware that the contrary has been maintained; the +idea though cannot be supported. Had the ancients been acquainted +with harmony, their writings would have preserved some precise +notion on the matter, instead of a few obscure phrases, which may +be tortured to mean anything. Besides, we cannot follow the birth +and progress of harmony in the monuments left to us; this +obligation we owe to the Arabs, who made us a present of the +organ, which produces at one time many continuous sounds, and thus +created harmony.] + +Tone was only reduced to system, and accords measured in the +fifteenth century. Only then it was used to sustain the voice and +to reinforce the expression of sentiments. + +This discovery, made at so late a day, yet so natural, doubled the +hearing, and has shown the existence of two somewhat independent +faculties, one of which receives sound and the other appreciates +resonance. + +The German Doctors say that persons sensible of harmony have one +sense more than others. + +Of those persons to whom music is but a confused mass of sounds, +we may remark that almost all sing false. We are forced to think +that they have the auditory apparatus so made, as to receive but +brief and short undulation, or that the two ears not being on the +same diapason, the difference in length and sensibility of these +constituent parts, causes them to transmit to the brain only an +obscure and undetermined sensation, like two instruments played in +neither the same key nor the same measure, and which can produce +no continuous melody. + +The centuries last passed have also given the taste important +extension; the discovery of sugar, and its different preparations, +of alcoholic liquors, of wine, ices, vanilla, tea and coffee, have +given us flavors hitherto unknown. + +Who knows if touch will not have its day, and if some fortuitous +circumstance will not open to us thence some new enjoyments? This +is especially probable as tactile sensitiveness exists every where +in the body, and consequently can every where be excited. + +We have seen that physical love has taken possession of all the +sciences. In this respect it acts with its habitual tyranny. + +The taste is a more prudent measure but not less active faculty. +Taste, we say, has accomplished the same thing, with a slowness +which ensures its success. + +Elsewhere we will consider the march. We may, however, observe, +that he who has enjoyed a sumptuous banquet in a hall decked with +flowers, mirrors, paintings, and statues, embalmed in perfume, +enriched with pretty women, filled with delicious harmony, will +not require any great effort of thought to satisfy himself that +all sciences have been put in requisition to exalt and to enhance +the pleasures of taste. + +OBJECT OF THE ACTION OF THE SENSES. + +Let us now glance at the system of our senses, considered +together, and we will see that the Author of creation had two +objects, one of which is the consequence of the other,--the +preservation of the individual and the duration of the species. + +Such is the destiny of man, considered as a sensitive being; all +his actions have reference to this double purpose. + +The eye perceives external objects, reveals the wonders by which a +man is surrounded, and tells him he is a portion of the great +whole. + +Hearing perceives sounds, not only as an agreeable sensation, but +as warnings of the movement of bodies likely to endanger us. + +The sense of touch watches to warn us by pain of any immediate +lesion. + +That faithful servant the hand has prepared his defence, assured +his steps, but has from instinct seized objects it thought needed +to repair losses caused by the use of life. + +The sense of smell explores; deleterious substances almost always +have an unpleasant smell. + +The taste decides; the teeth are put in action, the tongue unites +with the palate in tasting, and the stomach soon commences the +process of assimilation. + +In this state a strange languor is perceived, objects seem +discolored, the body bends, the eyes close, all disappears, and +the senses are in absolute repose. + +When he awakes man sees that nothing around him has changed, a +secret fire ferments in his bosom, a new organ is developed. He +feels that he wishes to divide his existence. + +This active unquiet and imperious sentiment is common to both +sexes. It attracts them together and unites them, and when the +germ of a new being is fecundated, the individuals can sleep in +peace. + +They have fulfilled the holiest of their duties by assuring the +duration of the species. [Footnote: Buffon describes, with all the +charms of the most brilliant eloquence, the first moments of Eve's +existence. Called on to describe almost the same subject, we have +drawn but one feature. The reader will complete the picture.] + +Such are the general and philosophical principles I wished to +place before my readers, to lead them naturally to the examination +of the organ of taste. + +MEDITATION II. + +TASTE. + +DEFINITION OF TASTE. + +Taste is the sense which communicates to us a knowledge of vapid +bodies by means of the sensations which they excite. + +Taste, which has as its excitement appetite, hunger and thirst, is +the basis of many operations the result of which is that the +individual believes, developes, preserves and repairs the losses +occasioned by vital evaporation. + +Organized bodies are not sustained in the same manner. The Author +of creation, equally varied in causes and effects, has assigned +them different modes of preservation. + +Vegetables, which are the lowest in the scale of living things, +are fed by roots, which, implanted in the native soil, select by +the action of a peculiar mechanism, different subjects, which +serve to increase and to nourish them. + +As we ascend the scale we find bodies gifted with animal life and +deprived of locomotion. They are produced in a medium which favors +their existence, and have special and peculiar organs which +extract all that is necessary to sustain the portion and duration +of life allotted them. They do not seek food, which, on the +contrary, comes to seek them. + +Another mode has been appointed for animals endowed with +locomotion, of which man is doubtless the most perfect. A peculiar +instinct warns him of the necessity of food; he seeks and seizes +the things which he knows are necessary to satisfy his wants; he +eats, renovates himself, and thus during his life passes through +the whole career assigned to him. + +Taste may be considered in three relations. + +In physical man it is the apparatus by means of which he +appreciates flavors. + +In moral man it is the sensation which the organ impressed by any +savorous centre impresses on the common centre. Considered as a +material cause, taste is the property which a body has to impress +the organ and to create a sensation. + +Taste seems to have two chief uses: + +1. It invites us by pleasure to repair the losses which result +from the use of life. + +2. It assists us to select from among the substances offered by +nature, those which are alimentary. + +In this choice taste is powerfully aided by the sense of smell, as +we will see hereafter; as a general principle, it may be laid down +that nutritious substances are repulsive neither to the taste nor +to the smell. + +It is difficult to say in exactly what the faculty of taste +consists. It is more complicated than it appears. + +The tongue certainly plays a prominent part in the mechanism of +degustation--for, being endued with great muscular power, it +enfolds, turns, presses and swallows food. + +Also, by means of the more or less numerous pores which cover it, +it becomes impregnated with the sapid and soluble portions of the +bodies which it is placed in contact with. Yet all this does not +suffice, for many adjacent parts unite in completing the sensation +--viz: jaws, palate, and especially the nasal tube, to which +physiologists have perhaps not paid attention enough. + +The jaws furnish saliva, as necessary to mastication as to the +formation of the digestible mass. They, like the palate, are +gifted with a portion of the appreciative faculties; I do not know +that, in certain cases, the nose does not participate, and if but +for the odor which is felt in the back of the mouth, the sensation +of taste would not be obtuse and imperfect. + +Persons who have no tongue or who have lost it, yet preserve the +sensation of taste. All the books mention the first case; the +second was explained to me by an unfortunate man, whose tongue had +been cut out by the Algerines for having, with several of his +companions, formed a plot to escape from captivity. + +I met this man at Amsterdam, where he was a kind of broker. He was +a person of education, and by writing was perfectly able to make +himself understood. + +Observing that his whole tongue, to the very attachment, had been +cut away, I asked him if he yet preserved any sense of taste when +he ate, and if the sense of taste had survived the cruel operation +he had undergone. + +He told me his greatest annoyance was in swallowing, (which indeed +was difficult;) that he had a full appreciation of tastes and +flavors, but that acid and bitter substances produced intense +pain. + +He told me the abscission of the tongue was very common in the +African kingdoms, and was made use of most frequently to punish +those thought to be the leaders of any plot, and that they had +peculiar instruments to affect it with. I wished him to describe +them, but he showed such painful reluctance in this matter, that I +did not insist. + +I reflected on what he said, and ascending to the centuries of +ignorance, when the tongues of blasphemers were cut and pierced, I +came to the conclusion that these punishments were of Moorish +origin, and were imported by the crusaders. + +We have seen above, that the sensation of taste resided chiefly in +the pores and feelers of the tongue. Anatomy tells us that all +tongues are not exactly alike, there being three times as many +feelers in some tongues as in others. This circumstance will +explain why one of two guests, sitting at the same table, is +delighted, while the other seems to eat from constraint; the +latter has a tongue but slightly provided. These are recognized in +the empire of the taste--both deaf and dumb. + +SENSATION OF TASTE. + +Five or six opinions have been advanced as to the modus operandi +of the sensation of taste. I have mine, viz: + +The sensation of taste is a chemical operation, produced by +humidity. That is to say, the savorous particles must be dissolved +in some fluid, so as to be subsequently absorbed by the nervous +tubes, feelers, or tendrils, which cover the interior of the +gastatory apparatus. + +This system, whether true or not, is sustained by physical and +almost palpable proofs. + +Pure water creates no sensation, because it contains no sapid +particle. Dissolve, however, a grain of salt, or infuse a few +drops of vinegar, and there will be sensation. + +Other drinks, on the contrary, create sensation because they are +neither more nor less than liquids filled with appreciable +particles. + +It would be in vain for the mouth to fill itself with the divided +particles of an insoluble body. The tongue would feel by touch the +sensation of their presence, but not that of taste. + +In relation to solid and savorous bodies, it is necessary in the +first place for the teeth to divide them, that the saliva and +other tasting fluids to imbibe them, and that the tongue press +them against the palate, so as to express a juice, which, when +sufficiently saturated by the degastory tendrils, deliver to the +substance the passport it requires for admission into the stomach. + +This system, which will yet receive other developments, replies +without effort to the principal questions which may present +themselves. + +If we demand what is understood by sapid bodies, we reply that it +is every thing that has flavor, which is soluble, and fit to be +absorbed by the organ of taste. + +If asked how a sapid body acts, we reply that it acts when it is +reduced to such a state of dissolution that it enters the cavities +made to receive it. + +In a word, nothing is sapid but what is already or nearly +dissolved. + +FLAVORS. + +The number of flavors is infinite, for every soluble body has a +peculiar flavor, like none other. + +Flavors are also modified by their simple, double, or multiple +aggregation. It is impossible to make any description, either of +the most pleasant or of the most unpleasant, of the raspberry or +of colocynth. All who have tried to do so have failed. + +This result should not amaze us, for being gifted with an infinite +variety of simple flavors, which mixture modifies to such a number +and to such a quantity, a new language would he needed to express +their effects, and mountains of folios to describe them. Numerical +character alone could label them. + +Now, as yet, no flavor has ever been appreciated with rigorous +exactness, we have been forced to be satisfied with a limited +number of expressions such as SWEET, SUGARY, ACID, BITTER, and +similar ones, which, when ultimately analyzed, are expressed by +the two following AGREEABLE and DISAGREEABLE, which suffice to +make us understood, and indicate the flavor of the sapid +substances referred to. + +Those who come after us will know more, for doubtless chemistry +will reveal the causes or primitive elements of flavors. + +INFLUENCE OF SMELLING ON THE TASTE. + +The order I marked out for myself has insensibly led me to the +moment to render to smell the rights which belong to it, and to +recognise the important services it renders to taste and the +application of flavors. Among the authors I have met with, I +recognise none as having done full justice to it. + +For my own part, I am not only persuaded that without the +interposition of the organs of smell, there would be no complete +degustation, and that the taste and the sense of smell form but +one sense, of which the mouth is the laboratory and the nose the +chimney; or to speak more exactly, that one tastes tactile +substances, and the other exhalations. + +This may be vigorously defended; yet as I do not wish to establish +a school, I venture on it only to give my readers a subject of +thought, and to show that I have carefully looked over the subject +of which I write. Now I continue my demonstration of the +importance of the sense of smell, if not as a constituent portion +of taste, at least as a necessary adjunct. + +All sapid bodies are necessarily odorous, and therefore belong as +well to the empire of the one as of the other sense. + +We eat nothing without seeing this, more or less plainly. The nose +plays the part of sentinel, and always cries "WHO GOES THERE?" + +Close the nose, and the taste is paralyzed; a thing proved by +three experiments any one can make: + +1. When the nasal membrane is irritated by a violent coryza (cold +in the head) the taste is entirely obliterated. There is no taste +in anything we swallow, yet the tongue is in its normal state. + +2. If we close the nose when we eat, we are amazed to see how +obscure and imperfect the sense of touch is. The most disgusting +medicines thus are swallowed almost without taste. + +3. The same effect is observed if, as soon as we have swallowed, +instead of restoring the tongue to its usual place, it be kept +detached from the palate. Thus the circulation of the air is +intercepted, the organs of smell are not touched, and there is no +taste. + +These effects have the same cause, from the fact that the sense of +smell does not co-operate with the taste. The sapid body is +appreciated only on account of the juice, and not for the odorous +gas which emanates from it. + +ANALYSIS OF THE SENSATION OF TASTE. + +Principles being thus determined, I look on it as certain that +taste has given place to sensations of three different orders, +viz: DIRECT, COMPLETE and REFLECTED. + +Direct sensation is the first perception emanating from the +intermediate organs of the mouth, during the time that the sapid +body rests on the tongue. + +Complete sensation is that composed of the first impression which +is created when the food abandons this first position, passes into +the back of the mouth, and impresses all the organ with both taste +and perfume. + +Reflected sensation is the judgment which conveys to the soul the +impressions transmitted to it by the organ. + +Let us put this system in action by observing what takes place +when a man either eats or drinks. Let a man, for instance, eat a +peach, and he will first be agreeably impressed by the odor which +emanates from it. He places it in his mouth, and acid and fresh +flavors induce him to continue. Not, though, until he has +swallowed it, does the perfume reveal itself, nor does he till +then discover the peculiar flavor of every variety. Some time is +necessary for any gourmet [Footnote: Any gentleman or lady, who +may please, is at perfect liberty to translate the word gourmet +into any other tongue. I cannot. As much may be said of gourmand.- +-TRANSLATOR.] to say, "It is good, passable, or bad. It is +Chambertin, or something else." + +It may then be seen that in obedience to principles and practice +well understood, true amateurs sip their wine. Every mouthful thus +gives them the sum total of pleasure which they would not have +enjoyed had they swallowed it at once. + +The same thing takes place, with however much more energy, when +the taste is disagreeably affected. + +Just look at the patient of some doctor who prescribes immense +doses of black medicine, such as were given during the reign of +Louis XIV. + +The sense of smell, like a faithful counsellor, foretells its +character. The eyes expand as they do at the approach of danger; +disgust is on the lips and the stomach at once rebells. He is +however besought to take courage, gurgles his throat with brandy, +closes his nose and swallows. + +As long as the odious compound fills the mouth and stuns the organ +it is tolerable, but when it has been swallowed the after drops +develop themselves, nauseous odors arise, and every feature of the +patient expresses horror and disgust, which the fear of death +alone could induce him to bear. + +If the draught be on the contrary merely insipid, as for instance +a glass of water, there is neither taste nor after taste. Nothing +is felt, nothing is experienced, it is swallowed, and all is over. + +ORDER OF THE IMPRESSIONS OF TASTE. + +Taste is not so richly endowed as the hearing; the latter can +appreciate and compare many sounds at once; the taste on the +contrary is simple in its action; that is to say it cannot be +sensible to two flavors at once. + +It may though be doubled and multipled by succession, that is to +say that in the act of swallowing there may be a second and even a +third sensation, each of which gradually grows weaker and weaker +and which are designated by the words AFTER-TASTE, perfume or +fragrance. Thus when a chord is struck, one ear exercises and +discharges many series of consonances, the number of which is not +as yet perfectly known. + +Those who eat quickly and without attention, do not discern +impressions of the second degree. They belong only to a certain +number of the elect, and by the means of these second sensations +only can be classed the different substances submitted to their +examination. + +These fugitive shadows for a long time vibrate in the organ of +taste. The professors, beyond doubt, always assume an appropriate +position, and when they give their opinions they always do so with +expanded nostrils, and with their necks protruded far as they can +go. + +ENJOYMENTS DUE TO THE TASTE. + +Let us now look philosophically at the pleasure and pain +occasioned by taste. + +The first thing we become convinced of is that man is organized so +as to be far more sensible of pain than of pleasure. + +In fact the imbibing of acid or bitter substances subjects us to +sensations more or less painful, according to their degree. It is +said that the cause of the rapid effects of hydrocyanic acid is +that the pain is so great as to be unbearable by the powers of +vitality. + +The scale of agreeable sensations on the other hand is very +limited, and if there, be a sensible difference between the +insipid and that which flatters the taste, the interval is not so +great between the good and the excellent. The following example +proves this:--FIRST TERM a Bouilli dry and hard. SECOND TERM a +piece of veal. THIRD TERM a pheasant done to a turn. + +Of all the senses though with which we have been endowed by +nature, the taste is the one, which all things considered, +procures us the most enjoyments. + +1. Because the pleasure of eating is the only one, when moderately +enjoyed, not followed, by fatigue. + +2. It belongs to all aeras, ages and ranks. + +3. Because it necessarily returns once a day, and may without +inconvenience be twice or thrice repeated in the same day. + +4. It mingles with all other pleasures, and even consoles us for +their absence. + +5. Because the impressions it receives are durable and dependant +on, our will. + +6. Because when we eat we receive a certain indefinable and +peculiar impression of happiness originating in instinctive +conscience. When we eat too, we repair our losses and prolong our +lives. + +This will be more carefully explained in the chapter we devote to +the pleasures of the table, considered as it has been advanced by +civilization. + +SUPREMACY OF MAN. + +We were educated in the pleasant faith that of all things that +walk, swim, crawl, or fly, man has the most perfect taste. + +This faith is liable to be shaken. + +Dr. Gall, relying on I know not what examinations, says there are +many animals with the gustatory apparatus more developed and +extended than man's. + +This does not sound well and looks like heresy. Man, jure divino, +king of all nature, for the benefit of whom the world was peopled, +must necessarily be supplied with an organ which places him in +relation to all that is sapid in his subjects. + +The tongue of animals does not exceed their intelligence; in +fishes the tongue is but a movable bone, in birds it is usually a +membranous cartilage, and in quadrupeds it is often covered with +scales and asperities, and has no circumflex motion. + +The tongue of man on the contrary, from the delicacy of its +texture and the different membranes by which it is surrounded and +which are near to it announces the sublimity of the operations to +which it is destined. + +I have, at least, discovered three movements unknown to animals, +which I call SPICATION, ROTATION and VERRATION (from the Latin +verb verro, I sweep). The first is when the tongue, like a PIKE, +comes beyond the lips which repress it. The second is when the +tongue rotates around all the space between the interior of the +jaws and the palate. The third is when the tongue moves up and +down and gathers the particles which remain in the half circular +canal formed by the lips and gums. + +Animals are limited in their taste; some live only on vegetables, +others on flesh; others feed altogether on grain; none know +anything of composite flavors. + +Man is omnivorous. All that is edible is subjected to his vast +appetite, a thing which causes gustatory powers proportionate to +the use he has to make of them. The apparatus of taste is a rare +perfection of man and we have only to see him use it to be +satisfied of it. + +As soon as any esculent body is introduced into the mouth it is +confiscated hopelessly, gas, juice and all. + +The lips prevent its retrogression. The teeth take possession of +it and crush it. The salva imbibes it; the tongue turns it over +and over, an aspiration forces it to the thorax; the tongue lifts +it up to suffer it to pass. The sense of smell perceives it en +route, and it is precipitated into the stomach to undergo ulterior +transformations, without the most minute fragment during the whole +of this escaping. Every drop every atom has been appreciated. + +In consequence of this perfection, gourmandise is the exclusive +apanage of man. + +This gourmandise is even contagious, and we impart it without +difficulty to the animals we have appropriated to our use, and +which in a manner associate with us, such as elephants, dogs, +cats, and parrots even. + +Besides taste requiring to be estimated only by the value of the +sensation it communicates to the common centre, the impression +received by the animal cannot be compared to that imparted to man. +The latter is more precise and clear, and necessarily supposes a +superior quality in the organ which transmits it. + +In fine, what can we desire in a faculty susceptible of such +perfection that the gourmands of Rome were able to distinguish the +flavors of fish taken above and below the bridge? Have we not seen +in our own time, that gourmands can distinguish the flavor of the +thigh on which the partridge lies down from the other? Are we not +surrounded by gourmets who can tell the latitude in which any wine +ripened as surely as one of Biot's or Arago's disciples can +foretell an eclipse? + +The consequence then is that we must render to Caesar the things +which are Caesar's and proclaim man the great GOURMAND OF NATURE, +and not be surprised if the good Doctor does sometimes as Homer +did:--"Much zumeilen ichlafert der gute." + +METHOD OF THE AUTHOR. + +As yet we have treated the taste only from the physical point of +view, and in some anatomical details which none will regret, we +have remained pari passu with science. This does not however +conclude the task we have imposed on ourselves, for from its usual +attributes especially does this reparatory sense derive its +importance. + +We have then arranged in analytical order the theories and facts +which compose the ensemble of this history, so that instruction +without fatigue will result from it. + +Thus in the following chapters, we will often show how sensations +by repetition and reflection have perfected the organs and +extended the sphere of our powers. How the want of food, once a +mere instinct, has become a passion which has assumed a marked +ascendency of all that belongs to society + +We will also say, how all sciences which have to do with the +composition of substances, have agreed to place in a separate +category all those appreciable to the taste; and how travellers +have followed in the same pathway when they placed before us +substances nature apparently never meant us to see. + +We will follow chemistry to the very moment when it penetrated our +subterraneous laboratories to enlighten our PREPARERS, to +establish principles, to create methods and to unveil causes which +had remained occult. + +In fine we will see by the combined power of time and experience +that a new science has all at once appeared, which feeds, +nourishes, restores, preserves, persuades, consoles, and not +content with strewing handsfull of flowers over the individual, +contributes much to the power and prosperity of empires. + +If, amid the grave lucubrations, a piquante anecdote, or an +agreeable reminiscence of a stormy life drips from my pen, we will +let it remain to enable the attention to rest for a moment, so +that our readers, the number of whom does not alarm us, may have +time to breathe. We would like to chat with them. If they be men +we know they are indulgent as they are well informed. If women +they must be charming. [Footnote: Here the Professor, full of his +subject, suffers his hand to fall and rises to the seventh heaven. +He ascends the torrent of ages, and takes from their cradle all +sciences, the object of which is the gratification of taste. He +follows their progress through the night of time and seeing that +in the pleasures they procure us, early centures were not so great +as those which followed them: he takes his lyre and sings in the +Dorian style the elegy which will be found among the varieties at +the end of the volume.] + +MEDITATION III. + +GASTRONOMY. + +ORIGIN OF SCIENCES. + +THE sciences are not like Minerva who started ready armed from the +brain of Jupiter. They are children of time and are formed +insensibly by the collection of the methods pointed out by +experience, and at a later day by the principles deduced from the +combination of these methods. + +Thus old men, the prudence of whom caused them to be called to the +bed-side of invalids, whose compassion taught to cure wounds, were +the first physicians. + +The shepherds of Egypt, who observed that certain stars after the +lapse of a certain period of time met in the heavens, were the +first astronomers. + +The person who first uttered in simple language the truth, 2 + 2 = +4 created mathematics, that mighty science which really placed man +on the throne of the universe. + +In the course of the last sixty years, many new sciences have +taken their place in the category of our knowledge, among which is +stereotomy, descriptive geometry, and the chemistry of gas. + +All sciences cultivated for a long time must advance, especially +as the art of printing makes retrogression impossible. Who knows, +for instance, if the chemistry of gases will not ultimately +overcome those, as yet, rebellious substances, mingle and combine +them in proportions not as yet tempted, and thence obtain +substances and effects which would remove many restrictions in our +powers. + +ORIGIN OF GASTRONOMY. + +Gastronomy has at last appeared, and all the sister sciences have +made a way for it. + +Well; what could be refused to that which sustains us, from the +cradle to the grave, which increases the gratifications of love +and the confidence of friendship which disarms hatred and offers +us, in the short passage of our lives, the only pleasure which not +being followed by fatigue makes us weary of all others. + +Certainly, as long as it was confided to merely hired attendants, +as long as the secret was kept in cellars, and where dispensaries +were written, the results were but the products of an art. + +At last, too late, perhaps, savants drew near. + +They examined, analyzed, and classified alimentary substances, and +reduced them to simple elements. + +They measured the mysteries of assimilation, and following most +matter in all its metamorphoses saw how it became vivified. + +They watched diet in its temporary and permanent effects, for +days, months and lives. + +They even estimated its influence and thought to ascertain if the +savor he impressed by the organs or if it acts without them. From +all this they deduced a lofty theory which embraces all mankind, +and all that portion of creation which may be animalized. + +While all this was going on in the studies of savants, it was said +in drawing-rooms that the science which fed man was at least as +valuable as that which killed him. Poets sang the pleasures of the +table and books, the object of which was good cheer, awakened the +greatest and keenest interest in the profound views and maxims +they presented. + +Such were the circumstances which preceded the invention of +gastronomy. + +DEFINITION OF GASTRONOMY. + +Gastronomy is a scientific definition of all that relates to man +as a feeding animal. + +Its object is to watch over the preservation of man by means of +the best possible food. + +It does so by directing, according to certain principles, all +those who procure, search for, or prepare things which may be +converted into food. + +To tell the truth this is what moves cultivators, vine-dressers, +fishermen, huntsmen, and the immense family of cooks, whatever +title or qualification they bear, to the preparation of food. + +Gastronomy is a chapter of natural history, for the fact that it +makes a classification of alimentary substances. + +Of physics, for it examines their properties and qualities. + +Of chemistry, from the various analysis and decomposition to which +it subjects them. + +Of cookery, from the fact that it prepares food and makes it +agreeable. + +Of commerce, from the fact that it purchases at as low a rate as +possible what it consumes, and displays to the greatest advantage +what it offers for sale. + +Lastly it is a chapter of political economy, from the resources it +furnishes the taxing power, and the means of exchange it +substitutes between nations. + +Gastronomy rules all life, for the tears of the infant cry for the +bosom of the nurse; the dying man receives with some degree of +pleasure the last cooling drink, which, alas! he is unable to +digest. + +It has to do with all classes of society, for if it presides over +the banquets of assembled kings, it calculates the number of +minutes of ebullition which an egg requires. + +The material of gastronomy is all that may be eaten; its object is +direct, the preservation of individuals. Its means of execution +are cultivation, which produces; commerce, which exchanges; +industry, which prepares; and experience, which teaches us to put +them to the best use. + +DIFFERENT OBJECTS OF GASTRONOMY. + +Gastronomy considers taste in its pleasures and in its pains. It +has discovered the gradual excitements of which it is susceptible; +it regularizes its action, and has fixed limits, which a man who +respects himself will never pass. + +It also considers the action of food or aliments on the moral of +man, on his imagination, his mind, his judgment, his courage, and +his perceptions, whether he is awake, sleeps, acts, or reposes. + +Gastronomy determines the degree of esculence of every alimentary +subject; all are not presentable under the same circumstances. + +Some can be eaten until they are entirely developed. Such like as +capres, asparagus, sucking pigs, squabs, and other animals eaten +only when they are young. + +Others, as soon as they have reached all the perfection to which +they are destined, like melons, fruit, mutton, beef, and grown +animals. Others when they begin to decompose, such as snipe, wood- +cock and pheasant. Others not until cooking has destroyed all +their injurious properties, such as the potato, manioc, and other +substances. + +Gastronomy classifies all of these substances according to their +qualities, and indicates those which will mingle, and measuring +the quantity of nourishment they contain, distinguishes those +which should make the basis of our repast, from those which are +only accessories, and others which, though not necessary, are an +agreeable relief, and become the obligato accompaniment of +convivial gossip. + +It takes no less interest in the beverages intended for us, +according to time, place and climate. It teaches their preparation +and preservation, and especially presents them in an order so +exactly calculated, that the pleasure perpetually increases, until +gratification ends and abuse begins. + +Gastronomy examines men and things for the purpose of +transporting, from one country to another, all that deserves to be +known, and which causes a well arranged entertainment, to be an +abridgement of the world in which each portion is represented. + +UTILITY OF GASTRONOMICAL KNOWLEDGE. + +Gastronomical knowledge is necessary to all men, for it tends to +augment the sum of happiness. This utility becomes the greater in +proportion as it is used by the more comfortable classes of +society; it is indispensable to those who have large incomes, and +entertain a great deal, either because in this respect they +discharge an obligation, follow their own inclination, or yield to +fashion. + +They have this special advantage, that they take personal pleasure +in the manner their table is kept; they can, to a certain point, +superintend the depositories of their confidence, and even on many +occasions direct them. + +The Prince de Soubise once intended to give an entertainment, and +asked for the bill of fare. + +The maitre d'hotel came with a list surrounded by vignettes, and +the first article that met the Prince's eye was FIFTY HAMS. +"Bertrand," said the Prince, "I think you must be extravagant; +fifty hams! Do you intend to feast my whole regiment?" + +"No, Prince, there will be but one on the table, and the surplus I +need for my epagnole, my blonds, garnitures, etc." + +"Bertrand, you are robbing me. This article will not do." + +"Monsigneur," said the artist, "you do not appreciate me! Give the +order, and I will put those fifty hams in a chrystal flask no +longer than my thumb." + +What could be said to such a positive operation? The Prince +smiled, and the hams were passed. + +INFLUENCE OF GASTRONOMY IN BUSINESS. + +In men not far removed from a state of nature, it is well known +that all important affairs are discussed at their feasts. Amid +their festivals savages decide on war and peace; we need not go +far to know that villages decide on all public affairs at the +cabinet. + +This observation has not escaped those to whom the weightiest +affairs are often confided. They saw that a full stomached +individual was very different from a fasting one; that the table +established a kind of alliance between the parties, and made +guests more apt to receive certain impressions and submit to +certain influences. This was the origin of political gastronomy. +Entertainments have become governmental measures, and the fate of +nations is decided on in a banquet. This is neither a paradox nor +a novelty but a simple observation of fact. Open every historian, +from the time of Herodotus to our own days, and it will be seen +that, not even excepting conspiracies, no great event ever took +place, not conceived, prepared and arranged at a festival. + +GASTRONOMICAL ACADEMY. + +Such, at the first glance, appears to be the domain of gastronomy, +a realm fertile in results of every kind and which is aggrandized +by the discoveries and inventions of those who cultivate it. It is +certain that before the lapse of many years, gastronomy will have +its academicians, courses, professors, and premiums. + +At first some rich and zealous gastronomer will establish +periodical assemblies, in which the most learned theorists will +unite with artists, to discuss and measure the various branches of +alimentation. + +Soon (such is the history of all academies) the government will +intervene, will regularise, protect, and institute; it will seize +the opportunity to reward the people for all orphans made by war, +for all the Arianas whose tears have been evoked by the drum. + +Happy will be the depository of power who will attach his name to +this necessary institution! His name will be repeated from age to +age with that of Noah, Bacchus, Triptolemus, and other benefactors +of humanity; he will be among ministers what Henri IV. was among +kings; his eulogy will be in every mouth, though no regulation +make it a necessity. + +MEDITATION IV. + +APPETITE. + +DEFINITION OF APPETITE. + +MOTION and life occasion in the animal portion of all that lives a +constant loss of substance, and the human body, that most +complicated machine, would soon be unfit for use, did not +Providence provide it with a mark to inform it of the very moment +when its power is no longer in equilibrium with its wants. + +This monitor is appetite. By this word we understand the first +impression of the want of food. + +Appetite declares itself by languor in the stomach, and a slight +sensation of fatigue. + +The soul at the same time busies itself with things analogous to +its wants; memory recalls food that has flattered its taste; +imagination fancies that it sees them, and something like a dream +takes place. This state is not without pleasure, and we have heard +many adepts say, with joy in their heart, "What a pleasure it is +to have a good appetite, when we are certain of a good meal." + +The whole nutritive apparatus is moved. The stomach becomes +sensible, the gastric juices are moved and displace themselves +with noise, the mouth becomes moist, and all the digestive powers +are under arms, like soldiers awaiting the word of command. After +a few moments there will be spasmodic motion, pain and hunger. + +Every shade of these gradations may be observed in every drawing- +room, when dinner is delayed. + +They are such in nature, that the most exquisite politeness cannot +disguise the symptoms. From this fact I deduced the apothegm, "THE +MOST INDISPENSABLE QUALITY OF A GOOD COOK IS PROMPTNESS." + +ANECDOTE. + +I will sustain this grave maxim by the details of an observate, +made at an entertainment where I was, + +"Quorum magna pars fui," + +and where the pleasures of observation preserved me from the +anguish of misery. + +I was invited to dine with a high public functionary. The hour was +half past five, and at the appointed time all were present. We +knew he liked exactness, and always scolded the dilatory. + +I was amazed, when I came, at the consternation which pervaded the +party. People whispered together, and looked into the court-yard +through the window--all betokened something extraordinary. + +I approached the one of the guests I thought best able to satisfy +my curiosity, and asked him what the news was. + +"Alas!" said they, "Monsieur has been sent for to the Council of +State; he has just gone, and none know when he will return." + +"Is that all!" said I. "Be of good cheer, we will be detained only +a quarter of an hour; something particular has happened. All know +to-day is his regular dinner, and we will not have to fast." I was +not, however, easy, and wished I was away. + +The first hour passed well enough, and those who were intimate sat +together. Common places were exhausted, and conjectures were +formed as to what could have called the Prince to the Tuilleries + +At the commencement of the second hour there were many signs of +impatience; people looked anxiously at each other and the first +who murmured were three or four guests who, finding no place to +sit in, were not in a convenient position to wait. + +At the third hour, the discontent became general, and every +symptom became exaggerated. "When will he return?" said one. "What +can he be thinking of?" said another. "This is death," said a +third. This question was then put, but not determined, "Shall we +go or not?" + +At the fourth hour every symptom became aggravated. People +stretched out their arms without the slightest regard whether they +interrupted their neighbors or not. Unpleasant sounds were heard +from all parts of the room, and everywhere the faces of the guests +bore the marks of concentration. No one listened to me when I +remarked that beyond doubt our absent amphytrion was more unhappy +than any one of us. + +Our attention was for a moment arrested by an apparition. One of +the guests, better acquainted with the house than the others, had +gone into the kitchen, and returned panting. His face looked as if +the day of judgment had come, and in an almost inarticulate voice, +which announced at once both the fear of making a noise and of not +being heard, "Monsigneur went away without giving any orders, and +happen what may, dinner will not be served until his return." + +The terror caused by what he said could not be exceeded by that to +be expected at the last trump. + +Among the martyrs, the most unfortunate was D'Aigrefeuille, whom +all Paris knew. His whole body seemed to suffer, and the agony of +Laocoon was marked on his face. Pale, terrified, he saw nothing +but sank in a chair, grasped his hands on his round stomach, and +closed his eyes, not to sleep but to die. + +He did not though. About ten o'clock a carriage drove into the +yard. All were on the qui-vive and a arose spontaneously. Hilarity +succeeded suffering, and in five minutes we were at the table. + +Appetite however was gone, all seemed amazed to sit down to dinner +at such an unusual hour; the jaws had not that isochronous measure +which announces a regular business. I know many were sufferers +thus. + +The course to be taken is not to eat immediately after the +obstacle has ceased, but to drink a glass of eau-sucree, or take a +plate of soup to sustain the stomach, and then in ten or fifteen +minutes to begin dinner, to prevent the stomach being oppressed by +the weight of the aliments with which it is surcharged. + +GREAT APPETITES. + +When we see in early books a description of the preparations made +to receive two or three persons, and the enormous masses served up +to a single guest, we cannot refuse to think that those who lived +in early ages were gifted with great appetites. + +The appetite was thought to increase in direct ratio to the +dignity of the personage. He to whom the saddle of a five year old +ox would be served was expected to drink from a cup he could +scarcely lift. + +Some individuals have existed who testified to what once passed, +and have collected details of almost incredible variety, which +included even the foulest objects. + +I will not inflict these disgusting details on my readers, and +prefer to tell them two particular circumstances which I +witnessed, and which do not require any great exertion of faith. + +About forty years ago, I made a short visit to the cure at +Bregnier, a man of immense stature and who had a fearful appetite. + +Though it was scarcely noon I found him at the table. Soup and +bouilli had been brought on, to these two indispensables had +succeeded a leg of mutton a la Royale, a capon and a salad. + +As soon as he saw me he ordered a plate which I refused, and +rightly too. Without any assistance he got rid of every thing, +viz: he picked the bone of mutton and ate up all the salad. + +They brought him a large white cheese into which he made an +angular breach measured by an arc of ninety degrees. He washed +down all with a bottle of wine and glass of water, after which he +laid down. + +What pleased me was to see that during the whole of this business, +the venerable pastor did not seem busy. The large mouthfulls he +swallowed did not prevent him either from laughing or talking. He +dispatched all that was put before him easily as he would have a +pair of birds. + +So it was with General Bisson who drank eight bottles of wine at +dinner every day, and who never appeared the worse for it. He had +a glass larger than usual and emptied it oftener. He did not care +for that though, for after having swallowed six ounces of fluids +he could jest and give his orders as if he had only swallowed a +thimble full. + +This anecdote recalls to me my townsman, General P. Sibuet, long +the chief aide of Napoleon, and who was killed in 1813 at the +passage of the Bober. + +He was eighteen years old, and had at that time the appetite by +which nature announces that its possessor is a perfect man, and +went one night into the kitchen of Genin, an inn keeper of Belley, +where the old men of the town used to meet to eat chestnuts and +drink the new white wine called in the country vin bourru. + +The old men were not hungry and paid no attention to him. His +digestive powers were not shaken though, and he said "I have just +left the table, but I will bet that I eat a whole turkey." + +"If you eat it I will pay for it," said Bouvier du Bouchet, a rich +farmer who was present, "and if you do not I will eat what is left +and you shall pay for it." [Footnote: This sentence is patois, and +the translator inserts the original. "Sez vosu meze, z'u payo, +repondit Bouvier du Bouchet, gros fermier qui se trouvait present; +e sez vos caca en rotaz, i-zet vo ket paire et may ket mezerai la +restaz."] + +They set to work at once, and the young athlete at once cut off a +wing, he ate it at two mouthfulls and cleaned his teeth by gnawing +the bone and drank a glass of wine as an interlude. + +He then went into the thigh which he ate and drank another glass +of wine to prepare a passage for the rest. The second went the +same way, and he had come to the last limb when the unfortunate +farmer said, "alas! I see it is all over, but Mr. Sibouet as I +have to pay, let me eat a bit." [Footnote: This also is patois. +"Hai! ze vaie praou qu'izet fotu; m'ez, monche Chibouet, poez kaet +zu daive paiet, lesse m'en a m'en mesiet on mocho."] + +Prosper was as good a fellow as he was a soldier, and consented. +The farmer had the carcass at spolia opima, and paid for the fowl +with a good grace. + +General Sibuet used always to love to tell of this feat of his +youth. He said that his admitting the farmer to eat was a pure +courtesy, and that he could easily have won the bet. His appetite +at forty permitted none to doubt the assertion. + +Brillat-Savarin, says in a note, "I quote this fragment of the +patois of Bugey with pleasure. In it is found the English 'th and +the Greek 0, and in the word praou and others, a dipthong existing +in no language, the sound of which no character can describe." +(See 3d Volume of the Memoirs of the Royal Society of Antiquarians +of France.) + +MEDITATION V. + +FOOD IN GERMS. + +SECTION FIRST. + +DEFINITIONS. + +WHAT is understood by aliments? + +POPULAR ANSWER. All that nourishes us. + +SCIENTIFIC ANSWER. By aliments are understood the substances +which, when submitted to the stomach, may be assimulated by +digestion, and repair the losses which the human body is subjected +to in life. + +The distinctive quality of an aliment, therefore, is its liability +to animal assimulation. + +ANALYSIS. + +The animal and vegetable kingdoms are those which until now have +furnished food to the human race. + +Since analytical chemistry has become a certain science, much +progress has been made into the double nature of the elements of +which our body is composed, and of the substances which nature +appears to have intended to repair their losses. + +These studies had a great analogy, for man is to a great degree +composed both of the substances on which animals feed, and was +also forced to look in the vegetable kingdom for affinities +susceptible of animalization. + +In these two walks the most praiseworthy efforts have been made +always as minute as possible, and the curious have followed either +the human body or the food which invigorates it, first to their +secondary principles, and then to their elements, beyond which we +have not been permitted to penetrate. + +Here I intended to have given a little treatise on alimentary +chemistry, and to tell my readers, to how many thousands of +hydrogen, carbon, etc., may be reduced the dishes that sustain us. +I did not do so, however, because I remembered I would only have +to copy many excellent treatises on chemistry in the hands of +every body. I feared, too, that I would relapse into very barren +details, and limited myself to a very reasonable nomenclature, +which will only require the explanation of a small number of very +usual terms. + +OSMAZOME. + +The greatest service chemistry has rendered to alimentary science, +is the discovery of osmazome, or rather the determination of what +it was. + +Osmazome is the purely sapid portion of flesh soluble in cold +water, and separated from the extractive portion which is only +soluble in boiling water. + +Osmazome is the most meritorious ingredient of all good soups. +This portion of the animal forms the red portion of flesh, and the +solid parts of roasts. It gives game and venison its peculiar +flavor. + +Osmazome is most abundant in grown animals which have red or black +hair; it is scarcely found at all in the lamb, sucking pig, +chicken, and the white meat of the largest fowls. For this reason +true connoisseurs always prefer the second joint; instinct with +them was the precursor of science. + +Thus a knowledge of the existence of osmazome, caused so many +cooks to be dismissed, who insisted on always throwing away the +first bouillon made from meat. This made the reputation of the +soupe des primes, and induced the canon Chevrier to invent his +locked kettles. The Abbe Chevrier was the person who never would +eat until Friday, lobsters that had not been cooked on the +previous Sunday, and every intervening day placed on the fire with +the addition of fresh butter. + +To make use of this subject, though yet unknown, was introduced +the maxim, that to make good bouillon the kettle should only +smile. + +Osmazome, discovered after having been so long the delight of our +fathers, may be compared to alcohol, which made whole generations +drunk before it was simply exhibited by distillation. + +PRINCIPLE OF ALIMENTS. + +The fibre is what composes the tissue of the meat, and what is +apparent after the juices have been extracted. The fibres resist +boiling water, and preserve their form, though stripped of a +portion of their wrappings. To carve meat properly the fibres +should be cut at right angles, or nearly so, with the blade of the +knife. Meat thus carved looks better, tastes better, and is more +easily chewed. + +The bones are composed principally of gelatine and the phosphate +of lime. + +The quantity of gelatine diminishes as we grow older. At seventy +the bones are but an imperfect marble, the reason why they are so +easily broken, and why old men should carefully avoid any fall. + +Albumen is found both in the flesh and the blood. It coagulates at +a heat above 40 Reaumur, and causes the scum on the pot-au-feu. + +Gelatine is also found in the bones, the soft and the +cartilaginous parts. Its distinctive quality is to coagulate at +the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere; to effect this only +two and a half per cent. are needed. + +Gelatine is the basis of all jelleys, of blanc manges, and other +similar preparations. + +Grease is a concrete oil formed in the interstices of the cellary +tissue. It sometimes agglomerates in animals whom art or nature +has so predisposed, such as pigs, fowls, ortolans and snipe. In +some of these animals it loses its insipidity and acquires a +slight and agreeable aroma. + +Blood is composed of an albuminous serum and of fibrine, some +gelatine and a little osmazome. It coagulates in warm water and is +most nourishing, (e. g.) the blood pudding. + +All the principles, we have passed in review, are common to man +and to animals which feed. + +All the principles we pass in review are common both to man and +animals which he eats. It is not then surprising that animal food +is eminently restorative and invigorating. The particles of which +it is composed having a great similitude with those of which we +are formed may easily be animalized when they are subjected to the +vital action of our digestive organs. + +VEGETABLE KINGDOM. + +The vegetable kingdom however presents not less varied sources of +nutrition. + +The fecula is especially nutritious, especially as it contains +fewer foreign principles. + +By fecula we mean farina or flower obtained from cereals, from +legumes and various kinds of roots, among which the potato holds a +prominent place. + +The fecula is the substance of bread, pastry and purees of all +kinds. It thus enters to a great degree into the nourishment of +almost all people. + +Such food diminishes the fibres and even the courage. [Footnote: +The H. E. I. Co. Sepoys, however, fight well. It may be doubted +though if either Ireland or Italy will be free, until the one +gives up the potato and the other macaroni. The reason why +Irishmen fight better in other countries than their own, is +possibly that abroad they are better fed than at home.] We must, +to sustain this, refer to the Indians (East) who live on rice and +serve every one who chosea to command them. + +Almost all domestic animals eat the fecula, and are made by it +extremely strong; for it is a more substantial nourishment than +the dry and green vegetables which are their habitual food. + +Sugar is not less important, either as a remedy or as an aliment. + +This substance once obtained, either from the Indies or from the +colonies became indigenous at the commencement of this century. It +has been discovered in the grape, the turnip, the chestnut, and +especially in the beet. So that speaking strictly Europe need +appeal neither to India or America for it. Its discovery was a +great service rendered by science to humanity, and furnishes an +example which cannot but have the happiest results. (Vide enfro +Sugar.) + +Sugar, either in a solid state or in the different plants in which +nature has placed it, is extremely nourishing. Animals are fond of +it, and the English give large quantities to their blood-horses, +and have observed that it sustained them in the many trials to +which they were subjected. + +Sugar in the days of Louis XIV. was only found in apothecary +shops, and gave birth to many lucrative professions, such as +pastry-cooks, confectioners, liquourists, &c. Mild oils also come +from the vegetable kingdom. They are all esculent, but when +mingled with other substances they should be looked on only as a +seasoning. Gluten found in the greatest abundance in cheese, +contributes greatly to the fermentation of the bread with which it +is united. Chemists assign it an animal nature. + +They make at Paris for children and for birds, and in some of the +departments for men also, patisseries in which gluten +predominates, the fecula having been removed by water. + +Mucilage owes its nourishments to the many substances of which it +is the vehicle. + +Gum may be considered an aliment, not a strong thing, as it +contains nearly the same elements as sugar. + +Vegetable gelatine, extracted from many kinds of fruits, +especially from apples, goose-berries, quinces, and some others, +may also be considered a food. It is more nutritious when united +with sugar, but it is far inferior in that respect to what is +extracted from bones, horns, calves' feet and fish. This food is +in general light, mild and healthy. The kitchen and the +pharmaceutist's laboratory therefore dispute about it. + +DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FAT AND LEAN. + +Next to the JUICE, which, as we have said, is composed of asmazome +and the extractus, there are found in fish many substances which +also exist in land animals, such as fibrine, gelatine, albumen. So +that we may really say JUICE distinguishes the flesh diet from +what the church calls maigre. + +The latter too has another peculiarity. Fish contains a large +quantity of phosphorus and hydrogen, that is to say of the two +most combustible things in nature. Fish therefore is a most +heating diet. This might legitimate the praise once bestowed on +certain religious orders, the regime of whom was directly opposed +to the commonly esteemed most fragile. + +INDIVIDUAL INSTANCE. + +I will say no more on this physiological fact, but will not omit +an instance which may be easily verified. + +Some years ago I went to a country house, in the vicinity of +Paris, and on the Seine, near St. Denis, near a hamlet composed +chiefly of fishing huts. I was amazed at the crowd of huts I saw +swarming in the road. + +I remarked it with amazement to the boatman who took me across the +river. + +"Monsieur," said he, "we have eight families here, have fifty- +three children, among whom are forty-nine girls and four boys. +That one is mine." As he spoke he pointed triumphantly to a little +whelp, of about five years of age, who was at the bow of the boat +eating raw craw-fish. + +From this observation I made ten years ago, and others I could +easily recall, I have been led to think that the genesiac sense is +moved by fish-eating, and that it is rather irritating than +plethoric and substantial. I am inclined to maintain this opinion +the more, because Doctor Bailly has recently proved, by many +instances, that when ever the number of female children exceeds +the male, the circumstance is due to some debilitating +circumstances. This will account to us for the jests made from the +beginning of time, whenever a man's wife bears him a daughter +instead of a son. + +I might say much about aliments considered as a tout ensemble, and +about the various modifications they undergo by mixing, etc.; I +hope, though, that the preceding will suffice to the majority of +readers. I recommend all others to read some book ex professo, and +will end with the things which are not without interest. + +The first is that animalization is affected almost as vegetation +is, that is that the reparative current formed by digestion, is +inhaled in various manners by the tubes with which the organs are +provided, and becomes flesh, nails, hair, precisely as earth, +watered by the same fluid, becomes radish, lettuce, potato,--as +the gardener pleases. + +The second is that in the organization of life, the same elements +which chemistry produces are not obtained. The organs destined to +produce life and motion only act on what is subjected to them. + +Nature, however, loves to wrap herself in veils, and to stop us at +every advance, and has concealed the laboratory where new +transformations are affected. It is difficult to explain how, +having determined that the human body contained lime, sulphur, and +phosphorous iron, and the other substances, all this CAN be +renewed every ten years by bread and water. + +MEDITATION VI. + +FOOD IN GERMS. + +SECTION SECOND. + +SPECIALITIES. + +WHEN I began to write, my table of contents was already prepared; +I have advanced slowly, however, because a portion of my time is +consecrated to serious labors. + +During this interval of time much of my matter has escaped my +memory, or been wrested from me. Elementary books on chemistry or +materia medica have been put into the hands of every body, and +things I expected to teach for the first time, have become +popular. For instance, I had devoted many pages to the chemistry +of the pot-au-feu, the substance of which is found in many books +recently published. + +Consequently, I had to revise this part of my book, and have so +condensed it that it is reduced to a few elementary principles, to +theories which cannot be too widely propagated, and to sundry +observations, the fruits of a long experience, which I trust will +be new to the majority of my readers. + +Section I. POT-AU-FEU, POTAGE, ETC. + +Pot-au-feu is a piece of beef, intended to be cooked in boiling +water, slightly salted so as to extract all the soluble parts. + +Bouillon is the fluid which remains after the operation. + +Bouilli is the flesh after it has undergone the operation. + +Water dissolves at first a portion of the osmazome; then the +albumen coagulates at 50 degrees Reaumur, and forms the foam we +see. The rest of the osmazome, with the extractive part of juice, +and finally a portion of the wrapping of the fibres detached by +the continuity of ebullition. + +To have good bouillon, the water must be heated slowly, and the +ebullition must be scarcely perceptible, so that the various +particles necessarily dissolved, may unite ultimately and without +trouble. + +It is the custom to add to bouillon, vegetable or roots, to +enhance the taste, and bread or pates to make it more nourishing. +Then it is what is called potage. + +Potage is a healthy food, very nourishing, and suits every body; +it pleases the stomach and prepares it for reception and +digestion. Persons threatened with obesity should take bouillon +alone. + +All agree that no where is potage made so well as in France, and +in my travels I have been able to confirm this assertion. Potage +is the basis of French national diet, and the experience of +centuries has perfected it. + +Section II. BOUILLI. + +Bouilli is a healthful food, which satisfies hunger readily, is +easily digested, but which when eaten alone restores strength to a +very small degree, because in ebullition the meat has lost much of +its animalizable juices. + +We include in four categories the persons who eat bouilli. + +1. Men of routine, who eat it because their fathers did, and who, +following this practice implicitly, expect to be imitated by their +children. + +2. Impatient men, who, abhorring inactivity at the table, have +contracted the habit of attacking at once whatever is placed +before them. + +3. The inattentive, who eat whatever is put before them, and look +upon their meals as a labor they have to undergo. All that will +sustain them they put on the same level, and sit at the table as +the oyster does in his bed. + +4. The voracious, who, gifted with an appetite which they seek to +diminish, seek the first victim they can find to appease the +gastric juice, which devours them, and wish to make it serve as a +basis to the different envois they wish to send to the same +destination. + +Professors of gastronomy never eat bouilli, from respect to the +principles previously announced, that bouilli is flesh without the +juices. [Footnote: This idea which began to make its impression on +bouilli has disappeared. It is replaced by a roasted filet, a +turbot, or a matelote.] + +Section III. FOWLS. + +I am very fond of second courses, and devoutly believe that the +whole gallinaceous family was made to enrich our larders and to +deck our tables. + +From the quail to the turkey, whenever we find a fowl of this +class, we are sure to find too, light aliment, full of flavor, and +just as fit for the convalescent as for the man of the most robust +health. + +Which one of us, condemned to the fare of the fathers of the +desert, would not have smiled at the idea of a well-carved +chicken's wing, announcing his rapid rendition to civilized life? + +We are not satisfied with the flavor nature has given to +gallinaceous fowls, art has taken possession of them, and under +the pretext of ameliorating, has made martyrs of them. They have +not only been deprived of the means of reproduction, but they have +been kept in solitude and darkness, and forced to eat until they +were led to an unnatural state of fatness. + +It is very true that this unnatural grease is very delicious, and +that this damnable skill gives them the fineness and succulence +which are the delight of our best tables. + +Thus ameliorated, the fowl is to the kitchen what the canvass is +to painters. To charlatans it is the cap of Fortunatus, and is +served up boiled, roasted, fried, hot, cold, whole or dismembered, +with or without sauce, broiled, stuffed, and always with equal +success. + +Three portions of old France disputed for the honor of furnishing +the best fowls, viz: Caux, Mans, and Bresse. + +In relation to capons, and about this there is some doubt, the one +on the table always seeming the best. Bresse seems, however, to +have pre-eminence in pullets, for they are round as an apple. It +is a pity they are so rare in Paris! + +Section IV. THE TURKEY. + +The turkey is certainly one of the most glorious presents made by +the new world to the old. + +Those persons who always wish to know more than others, say that +the turkey was known to the ancients, and was served up at the +wedding feast of Charlemagne. They say it is an error to attribute +the importation to the Jesuits. To these paradoxes but two things +can be opposed: + +1st. The name of the bird proves its origin, for at one time +America was called the West Indies. + +2d. The form of the bird is altogether foreign. + +A well informed man cannot be mistaken about it. + +Though already perfectly satisfied, I made much deep research in +the matter. I will not inflict my studies on my readers, but will +only give them the results: + +1. The turkey appeared in Europe about the end of the seventeenth +century. + +2. That it was imported by the Jesuits who sent a large number +especially to a farm they had near Bouges. + +3. That thence they spread gradually over France, and in many +localities a turkey to this day is called a Jesuit. + +4. Only in America has the turkey been found in a wild state, (it +is unknown in Africa.) + +5. That in the farms of North America, where it is very common, it +has two origins, either from eggs which have been found and +hatched or from young turkeys caught in the woods. The consequence +is they are in a state of nature and preserve almost all their +original plumage. + +Overcome by this evidence I bestow on the good fathers a double +portion of gratitude, for they imported the Quinquina yet known as +"Jesuit's bark." + +The same researches informed us that the turkey gradually became +acclimated in France. Well informed observers have told me that +about the middle of the last century of twenty young turkeys +scarcely ten lived, while now fourteen out of every twenty mature. +The spring rains are most unfortunate to them; the large drops of +rain striking on their tender heads destroy them. + +DINDONOPHILES. + +The turkey is the largest, and if not the finest, at least the +most highly flavored of the gallinaceous family. + +It has also the advantage of collecting around it every class of +society. + +When the virgin dresses, and farmers of our countries wish to +regale themselves in the long winter evenings, what do they roast +before the fire of the room in which the table is spread? a +turkey. + +When the mechanic, when the artist, collects a few friends to +enjoy a relief which is the more grateful because it is the rarer; +what is one of the dishes always put on the table? a turkey +stuffed with Lyons sausage and with chestnuts of Lyons. + +In the highest gastronomical circles, in the most select reunions, +where politics yield to dissertations on the taste, for what do +people wait? What do they wish for? a dinde truffe at the second +course. My secret memoirs tell me that its flavor has more than +once lighted up most diplomatic faces. + +FINANCIAL INFLUENCE OF THE TURKEY. + +The importation of turkeys became the cause of a great addition to +the public fortune, and occasioned a very considerable commerce. + +By raising turkeys the farmers were able the more surely to pay +their rents. Young girls often acquired a very sufficient dowry, +and towns-folk who wished to eat them had to pay round prices for +them. + +In a purely financial point of view turkeys demand much attention. + +I have reason to believe, that between the first of November and +the end of February, three hundred dindon truffees are consumed +per diem. The sum total is 30,000 turkeys. + +The price of every turkey in that condition is at least twenty +francs, and the sum of the whole is not less than 720,000 francs-- +a very pretty sum of money. One must add a similar sum for the +fowls, pheasants, pullets and partridges, suffered in the same +way, and which are every day exhibited in the provision shops, as +a punishment for beholders who are too poor to buy them. + +EXPLOIT OF THE PROFESSOR. + +While I was living at Hartford, in Connecticut, I was lucky enough +to kill a wild turkey. This exploit deserves to be transmitted to +posterity, and I tell it with especial complaisance as I am myself +the hero. + +An American farmer had invited me to hunt on his grounds; he lived +in the remotest part of the State, [Footnote: Brillat-Savarin uses +the French words "derrieres de l'etat" and translates them in +English, in parenthesis "Backwoods."] and promised me partridges, +grey squirrels and wild turkeys. [Footnote: He also translates in +the same manner "dindes sauvages" welp cocks.] He also permitted +me to bring a friend or two if I pleased. + +One fine day in October, 1794, therefore, with a friend, I set out +with the hope of reaching the farm of Mr. Bulow, five mortal +leagues from Hartford, before night. + +Though the road was hardly traced, we arrived there without +accident, and were received with that cordial hospitality +expressed by acts, for before we had been five minutes on the +farm, dogs, horses and men were all suitably taken care of. + +About two hours were consumed in the examination of the farm and +its dependencies. I would describe all this if I did not prefer to +display to the reader the four buxom daughters of Mr. Bulow, to +whom our arrival was a great event. + +Their ages were from sixteen to twenty-four, and there was so much +simplicity in their persons, so much activity and abandon, that +every motion seemed full of grace. + +After our return from walking we sat around a well furnished +table. A superb piece of corned beef, a stewed goose, and a +magnificent leg of mutton, besides an abundance of vegetables and +two large jugs of cider, one at each end of the table, made up our +bill of fare. + +When we had proven to our host, that in appetite at least, we were +true huntsmen, we began to make arrangements for our sport. He +told us where we would find game, and gave us land-marks to guide +us on our return, not forgetting farm-houses where we could obtain +refreshments. + +During this conversation the ladies had prepared excellent tea, of +which we drank several cups, and were then shown into a room with +two beds, where exercise and fatigue procured us a sound sleep. + +On the next day we set out rather late, and having come to the end +of the clearings made by Mr. Bulow, I found myself in a virgin +forest for the first time. The sound of the axe had never been +heard there. + +I walked about with delight, observing the blessings and ravages +of time which creates and destroys, and I amused myself by tracing +all the periods on the life of an oak since the moment when its +two leaves start from the ground, until it leaves but a long black +mark which is the dust of its heart. + +My companion, Mr. King, reproached me for my moodiness, and we +began the hunt. We killed first some of those pretty grey +partridges which are so round and so tender. We then knocked down +six or seven grey squirrels, highly esteemed in America, and at +last were fortunate enough to find a flock of turkeys. + +They rose one after the other, flying rapidly and crying loudly. +Mr. King fired on the first and ran after it. The others were soon +out of shot. The most sluggish, of all arose at last, not ten +paces from me. It flew through an opening, I fired and it fell +dead. + +One must be a sportsman to conceive the extreme pleasure this shot +caused me. I siezed on the superb bird and turned it over and over +for a quarter of an hour, until I heard my companion's voice +calling for assistance. I hurried to him and found that he called +me to aid him in looking for a turkey he claimed to have killed, +but which had disappeared. + +I put my dog on the scent but he led us into an under growth, so +thick and thorny that a snake could scarcely penetrate it; I had +then to give up the search, and my companion was in a bad humor +all day long. + +The rest of the day scarcely deserves the honors of printing. On +our return we lost ourselves in boundless woods, and we were in +not a little danger of having to stay out all night, when the +silvery tones of Mr. Bulow's daughters, and the deep bass of their +father, who had come to look for us, guided us home. + +The four sisters were fully armed with clean dresses, new ribbons, +pretty hats, and so carefully shod that it was evident that they +had formed a high opinion of us. I tried to make myself agreeable +to the one of the ladies who took my arm, a thing she did as +naturally as if it had belonged to her jure conjugali. + +When we reached the farm supper was ready, but before we sat down +to the table we drew near to a bright and brilliant fire which had +been lighted for us, though the season did not indicate that such +a a precaution was necessary. We found it very comfortable, +fatigued as we were, and were rested as if by enchantment. + +This custom doubtless comes from the Indians who always have a +fire in their huts. It may be, this is a tradition of St. Francis +de Sales, who said that fire was good eleven months of the year +(non liquet). + +We ate as if we were famished; a large bowl of punch enabled us to +finish the evening, and a conversation, which our host made +perfectly free, led us far into the night. + +We spoke of the war of Independence, in which Mr. Bulow [Footnote: +The M. Bulow of whom Savarin speaks, is none other than Lieut. +Col. Bellows of the Connecticut Line, many of whose relations yet +remain in the Valley of the Connecticut.] had served as a field +officer of M. de La Fayette, who every day becomes greater in the +eyes of the Americans, who always designate him as "the Marquis" +of agriculture, which at that time enriched the United States, and +finally of my native land, which I loved the more because I was +forced to leave it. + +When wearied of conversation the father would say to his eldest +daughter, "Maria, give us a song." She without any embarrassment +sung the American national airs. The complaints of Mary Stuart and +of Andre, all popular in America. Maria had taken a few lessons, +and in that remote country passed for a virtuosa; her singing +though, derived its charm from the quality of her voice, which was +at once clear, fresh and accentuated. + +On the next day, in spite of Mr. Bulow's persuasions, we set out. +I had duties to discharge; and while the horses were being +prepared, Mr. Bulow took me aside and used these remarkable words. + +"You see in me, sir, a happy man, if there be one under heaven; +all that you see here is derived from my own property. My +stockings were knit by my daughters, and my cloths were furnished +by my flocks. They also, with my garden, furnish me with an +abundance of healthy food. The greatest eulogium of our government +is, that in the State of Connecticut there are a thousand farmers +as well satisfied as I am, the doors of whom have no locks. + +"Taxes are almost nothing, and as long as they be paid any one can +sleep calmly. Congress favors national industry as much as it can, +and merchants are always ready to take from us whatever we wish to +sell. I have ready money for a long time, for I have just sold at +twenty-four dollars a barrel, flour I usually receive eight for. + +"All this is derived from the liberty we have acquired, and +established on good laws. I am master of my own house; and you +will not be astonished when you know that we never fear the sound +of the drum, and, except on the 4th of July, the glorious +anniversary of our Independence, neither soldiers, uniforms, nor +bayonets are seen." + +On my way back I seemed absorbed by profound reflection. Perhaps +the reader may think I mused on my host's parting words; I had +very different thoughts, however, for I was studying how I should +cook my turkey. I was in some trouble, for I feared I would not +find all I needed at Hartford, and wished to make a trophy of my +spolia opima. + +I make a painful sacrifice in suppressing the details of the +profound science I exhibited in the preparation of an +entertainment, to which I invited several friends. Suffice it to +say that the partridge wings were served en papillote, and the +grey squirrels stewed in madeira. + +The turkey, which was our only roast dish, was charming to the +sight, flattering to the sense of smell, and delicious to taste. +Therefore, until the last fragment was eaten, there were heard +around the table, "Very good;" "Exceedingly good;" "Dear sir; what +a nice piece." [Footnote: The flesh of the wild turkey is more +highly colored and more perfumed than the domestic fowl. I am glad +to learn that my amiable colleague, M. Bosc, had killed many in +Carolina, which he found excellent, and far better than those in +Europe. He therefore recommends that they be allowed the largest +liberty, that they be driven into the woods and fields, to enhance +the flavor and bring it as nearly as possible back to the original +species.--Annales d'Agriculture cah. du 28 Fevr. 1821.] By game we +mean all wild animals which are fit to eat, and live in a state of +natural liberty. + +We say fit to eat, because many animals which are in a state of +nature are not fit to eat. Such as foxes, crows, pies, wild-cats, +etc. They are called in French Betes puantes vermin. + +Game is divided into three series. + +The first contains all birds, from the grive to the smallest of +the feathered tribe. + +The second ascends from the rail to the snipe, partridge, and +pheasant, including the rabbit and the hare; it is divided into +three categories, of the marsh, hairy, and feathered. + +The third, which bears the name of venison, is composed of the +wild-boar, kid, and all other horny-footed cattle. + +Game is one of the great luxuries of our tables; it is a healthy, +warm, highly-flavored and high tasted flesh, easily digested, +whenever one is hungry. + +These qualities, however, are not so inherent as not to a certain +degree to depend on the skill of the cook. Put some water, salt +and beef into a pot, and you can obtain from them a very good +soup. Substitute venison for the beef, and the result will not be +fit to eat. Butcher's meat, in this respect, has the advantage. +Under the manipulation, however, of a skilful cook, game undergoes +various modifications and transformations, and furnishes the +greater portions of the dishes of the transcendental kitchen. + +Game derives, also, a great portion of its value from the soil on +which it is fed. The taste of a Perigord partridge is very +different from that of one from Sologne, and the hare killed in +the vicinity of Paris is a very different dish from one shot on +the hills of Valromey or upper Dauphiny. The latter is probably +the most perfumed of all beasts. + +Among small birds, beyond all doubt, the best is the "beccafico." + +It becomes at least as fat as the red-throat or the ortolan, and +nature has besides given it a slight bitterness, and a peculiar +and exquisite perfume, which enables it to fill and delight all +the gustatory organs. Were the beccafico as large as a pheasant, +an acre of land would be paid for it. + +It is a pity this bird is so rare, that few others than those who +live in the southern departments of France, know what it is. +[Footnote: I am inclined to think the bird is utterly unknown in +America.--TRANSLATOR.] Few people know how to eat small birds. The +following method was imparted confidentially to me by the Canon +Charcot, a gourmand by profession, and a perfect gastronome, +thirty years before the word gastronomy was invented: + +Take a very fat bird by the bill and sprinkle it with salt, take +out the entrailles, I mean gizzard, liver, etc., and put it whole +in your mouth. Chew it quickly, and the result will be a juice +abundant enough to permeate the whole organ. You will then enjoy a +pleasure unknown to the vulgar. + +"Odi profanum vulgus et arceo." HORACE. + +The quail, of all game properly so-called, is the nicest and the +most pleasant. A very fat quail is pleasant both to eat, see, and +smell. Whenever it is either roasted, or served en papillote, a +great folly is committed, because its perfume is very volatile, +and when ever in contact with a liquid, its flavor is dissolved +and lost. + +The snipe is a charming bird, but few people know all its charms. +It is in its glory only when it has been cooked under the +huntsman's eyes; and the huntsman must have killed it. Then the +roast is perfected according to rule, and the mouth is inundated +with pleasure. + +Above the preceding, and above all others, the pheasant should be +placed. Few mortals, however, know exactly how to cook it. + +A pheasant eaten only a week after its death is not good as a +partridge or a pullet, for its merit consists in its aroma. + +Science has considered the expansion of this aroma, experience has +utilised science, so that a pheasant ready for the spit is a dish +fit for the most exalted gourmands. + +In the varieties will be found a recipe for roasting a pheasant, a +la Sainte Alliance. The time has come when this method, hitherto +concentrated in a small circle of friends, should be made known +for the benefit of humanity. A pheasant with truffles is not good +as one would be apt to think it. The bird is too dry to actuate +the tubercle, and the scent of the one and the perfume of the +other when united neutralize each other--or rather do not suit. + +Section VI. FISH. + +Savants, in other respects orthodox, have maintained that ocean +was the common cradle of all that exists, and that man himself +sprang from the sea and owes his actual habits to the influence of +the air, and the mode of life he has been obliged to adopt. + +Be this as it may, it is at least certain, that the waters contain +an immense quantity of beings of all forms and sizes, which +possess vitality in very different proportions, and according to +mode very different from that of warm blooded animals. + +It is not less true that water has ever presented an immense +variety of aliments, and that in the present state of science it +introduces to our table the most agreeable variety. + +Fish, less nutritious than flesh and more succulent than +vegetables, is a mezzo termine, which suits all temperments and +which persons recovering from illness may safely eat. + +The Greeks and Romans, though they had not made as much progress +as we have in the art of seasoning fish, esteemed it very highly, +and were so delicate that they could even tell where it had been +taken. + +Large fish ponds were maintained, and the cruelty of Vellius +Pollis who fed his lampreys on the bodies of slaves he caused to +be slain is well known. This cruelty Domitian disapproved of but +should have punished. + +There has been much discussion as to which is the best fish. + +The question will never be decided, for as the Spanish proverb +says, sobre los gustos no hai disputa. Every one is effected in +his own way. These fugitive sensations can be expressed by no +known character, and there is no scale to measure if a CAT-FISH +(!), a sole, or a turbot are better than a salmon, trout, pike, or +even tench of six or seven pounds. + +It is well understood that fish is less nourishing than meat, +because it contains no osmazome, because it is lighter in weight, +and contains less weight in the same volume. Shell-fish, and +especially oysters, furnish little nutrition, so that one can eat +a great many without injury. + +It will be remembered that not long ago any well arranged +entertainment began with oysters, and that many guests never +paused without swallowing a gross (144). I was anxious to know the +weight of this advance guard, and I ascertained that a dozen +oysters, fluid included, weighed four ounces averdupois. Now look +on it as certain that the same persons who did not make a whit the +worse dinner, on account of the oysters would have been completely +satisfied if they had eaten the same weight of flesh or of +chicken. + +ANECDOTE. + +In 1798 I was at Versailles as a commissary of the Directory, and +frequently met M. Laperte, greffier of the count of the +department. He was very fond of oysters, and used to complain that +he had never had enough. + +I resolved to procure him this satisfaction, and invited him to +dine with me on the next day. + +He came. I kept company with him to the tenth dozen, after which I +let him go on alone. He managed to eat thirty-two dozen within an +hour for the person who opened them was not very skilful. + +In the interim, I was idle, and as that is always a painful state +at the table, I stopped him at the moment when he was in full +swing. "Mon cher," said I, "you will not to-day eat as many +oysters as you meant--let us dine." We did so, and he acted as if +he had fasted for a week. + +Muria-Garum + +The ancients extracted from fish two highly flavored seasonings, +muria and garum. + +The first was the juice of the thuny, or to speak more precisely, +the liquid substance which salt causes to flow from the fish. + +Garum was dearer, and we know much less of it. It is thought that +it was extracted by pressure from the entrailles of the scombra or +mackerel; but this supposition does not account for its high +price. There is reason to believe it was a foreign sauce, and was +nothing else but the Indian soy, which we know to be only fish +fermented with mushrooms. + +Certainly, people from their locality are forced to live almost +entirely upon fish. They also feed their working animals with it, +and the latter from custom gradually grow to like this strange +food. They also manure the soil with it, yet always receive the +same quantity from the sea which surrounds them. + +It has been observed that such nations are not so courageous as +those that eat flesh. They are pale, a thing not surprising, for +the elements of fish must rather repair the lymph than the blood. + +Among ichthyophages, remarkable instances of longevity are +observed, either because light food preserves them from plethora, +or that the juices it contains being formed by nature only to +constitute cartilages which never bears long duration, their use +retards the solidification of the parts of the body which, after +all, is the cause of death. + +Be this as it may, fish in the hands of a skilful cook is an +inexhaustible source of enjoyment. It is served up whole, in +pieces, truncated with water, oil, vinegar, warm, cold; and is +always well received. It is, however never better than when +dressed en matilotte. + +This ragout, though made a necessary dish to the boatmen on our +rivers, and made in perfection only by the keepers of cobarets on +their banks, is incomparably good. Lovers of fish never see it +without expressing their gratification, either on account of its +freshness of taste, or because they can without difficulty eat an +indefinite quantity, without any fear of satiety or indigestion. +Analytical gastronomy has sought to ascertain what are the effects +of a fish diet on the animal system. Unanimous observation leads +us to think that it has great influence on the genesiac sense, and +awakens the instinct of reproduction in the two sexes. This effect +being once known, two causes were at once assigned for it: + +1st. The different manner of preparing fish, all the seasoning for +it being irritating, such as carar, hering, thon marine, etc. + +2d. The various juices the fish imbibes, which are highly +inflammable and oxigenise in digestion. + +Profound analysis has discovered a yet more powerful cause: the +presence of phosphorous in all the portions, and which +decomposition soon developes. + +These physical truths were doubtless unknown to the ecclesiastical +legislators, who imposed the lenten diet on different communities +of monks, such as Chartreux, Recollets, Trappists, and the +Carmelites reformed by Saint Theresa; no one thinks that they +wished to throw a new difficulty into the way of the observance of +the already most anti-social vow of chastity. + +In this state of affairs, beyond doubt, glorious victories were +won, and rebellious senses were subjected; there were, however, +many lapses and defeats. They must have been well averred, for the +result was the religious orders had ultimately a reputation like +that of Hercules and the daughters of Danaus, or Marshal Saxe with +M'lle Lecouvreur. + +They might also have been delighted by an anecdote, so old as to +date from the crusades. + +Sultan Saladin being anxious to measure the continence of devises, +took two into his palace, and for a long time fed them on the most +succulent food. + +Soon all traces of fasting began to disappear, and they reached a +very comfortable embonpoint. At that time they were given as +companions two odalisques of great beauty, all of whose well- +directed attacks failed, and they came from the ordeal pure as the +diamond of Visapor. + +The Sultan kept them in his palace, and to celebrate their triumph +fed them for several weeks on fish alone. + +After a few days they were again submitted to the ordeal of the +odalisques, and......... + +In the present state of our knowledge, it is probable that if the +course of events were to establish any monastic order, the +superiors would adopt some regimen better calculated to maintain +its objects. + +PHILOSOPHICAL REFLECTION. + +Fish, considered in general, is an inexhaustible source of +reflection to the philosopher. + +The varied forms of these strange animals, the senses they are +deprived of, and the limited nature of those they have, their +various modes of existence, the influence exerted over them by the +medium in which they live, move, and breathe, extend the range of +our ideas and the indefinite modifications which result from their +nature, motions and lives. + +For my part, I entertain to them a sentiment very like respect, +resulting from my belief that they belong to antediluvian races. +The great convulsion which doomed our ancestors, in the eighteenth +century of the world, to fish was a season of joy, triumph and +festivity. + +Section VII. TRUFFLES. + +Who ever says truffle, pronounces a great word, which awakens +eratic and gourmand ideas both in the sex dressed in petticoats +and in the bearded portion of humanity. + +This honorable duplication results from the fact that the tubercle +is not only delicious to the taste, but that it excites a power +the exercise of which is accompanied by the most delicious +pleasures. + +The origin of the truffle is unknown; they are found, but none +know how they vegetate. The most learned men have sought to +ascertain the secret, and fancied they discovered the seed. Their +promises, however, were vain, and no planting was ever followed by +a harvest. This perhaps is all right, for as one of the great +values of truffles is their dearness, perhaps they would be less +highly esteemed if they were cheaper. + +"Rejoice, my friend," said I, "a superb lace is about to be +manufactured at a very low price." + +"Ah!" replied she, "think you, if it be cheap, that any one would +wear it?" + +ERATIC VIRTUE OF TRUFFLES. + +The Romans were well acquainted with the truffle, but I do not +think they were acquainted with the French variety. Those which +were their delight were obtained from Greece and Africa, and +especially from Libia. The substance was pale, tinged with rose, +and the Libian truffles were sought for as being far the most +delicate and highly perfumed. + +...... "Gustus elementa per omnia quaerunt." JUVENAL. + +From the Romans to our own time, there was a long interregnum, and +the resurrection of truffles is an event of recent occurrence. I +have read many old books, in which there is no allusion to them. +The generation for which I write may almost be said to witness its +resurrection. + +About 1780 truffles were very rare in Paris, and they were to be +had only in small quantities at the Hotel des Americans, and at +the Hotel de Province. A dindon truffee was a luxury only seen at +the tables of great nobles and of kept women. + +We owe their abundance to dealers in comestibles, the number of +whom has greatly increased, and who, seeing that their merchandise +was popular, had it sought for throughout the kingdom. Sending for +it by either the mail or by couriers, they made its search +general. As truffles cannot be planted, careful search alone can +obtain it. + +At the time I write (1825) the glory of the truffle is at its +apogee. Let no one ever confess that he dined where truffles were +not. However good any entree may be, it seems bad unless enriched +by truffles. Who has not felt his mouth water when any allusion +was made to truffles a la provincale. + +A saute of truffles is a dish the honors of which the mistress of +the house reserves to herself; in fine, the truffle is the diamond +of the kitchen. + +I sought the reason of this preference; it seemed to me that many +other substances had an equal right to the honor, and I became +satisfied that the cause was that the truffle was supposed to +excite the genesiac sense. This I am sure is the chief quality of +its perfection, and the predilection and preference evinced for +it, so powerful is our servitude to this tyrannical and capricious +sense. + +This discovery led me to seek to ascertain if the effect were real +or imaginary. + +[The Translator here has thought it best to omit a very BROAD +dialogue, which Brillat-Savarin introduced into his book.] + +.......... I made ulterior researches, collected my ideas, and +consulted the men who were most likely to know, with all of whom I +was intimate. I united them into a tribunal, a senate, a +sanhedrim, an areopagus, and we gave the following decision to be +commented upon by the litterateures of the twenty-eighth century. + +"The truffle is a positive aphrodisiac, and under certain +circumstances makes women kinder, and men more amiable." + +In Piedmont white truffles are met with, which are very highly +esteemed. They have a slight flavor, not injurious to their +perfection, because it gives no disagreable return. + +The best truffles of France come from Perigord, and upper +Provence. About the month of January they have their highest +perfume. + +Those from Bugey also have a high flavor, but can not be +preserved. + +Those of Burgundy and Dauphiny are of inferior quality. They are +hard, and are deficient in farinacious matter. Thus, there are +many kinds of truffles. + +To find truffles, dogs and hogs are used, that have been trained +to the purpose. There are men, however, with such practised eyes +that by the inspection of the soil they can say whether it +contains truffles or not, and what is their quality. + +ARE TRUFFLES INDIGESTIBLES? + +We have only to ascertain if the truffle be indigestible or not. + +We say no. + +This decision is ex cathedra, and well sustained. + +1. By the nature of the substance. The truffle is easily +masticated, is light, and has nothing hard nor cartilaginous in +its composition. + +2. During our observations for fifty years, we have never known +any indigestion to result from truffles. [Footnote: The translator +has known several such indigestions. He once nearly became a +martyr to a galatine de Perdrix truffee, at the restaurant of the +late M. Dandurand.] + +3. The attestation of the most eminent of the faculty of Paris, a +city eminently gourmande and trufflivorous, sustains this idea. + +4. From the daily conduct of the doctors of the law, who, caeteris +paribus, consume more truffles than any other class of citizens. +Doctor Malonet used to eat enough to give an elephant the +indigestion. He however lived to be eighty-six. + +We may therefore look on it as certain, that the truffle is a food +healthy as it is agreeable, and that when taken in moderation it +passes through the system as a letter does through the post +office. + +One may easily be indisposed after a great dinner, where other +things than truffles have been eaten; such accidents, however, +only happen to those who, after the first service, were already +stuffed like canons, and who failed in the second, leaving the +luxuries offered them untouched. + +This is not then the fault of truffles, and we may be sure they +had swallowed so many glasses of pure water or eaten the same +number of potatoes. + +Let us conclude by a circumstance which shows how easily we may be +mistaken without careful observation. + +One day I invited Mr. S--, a very pleasant old man, to dine with +me. He was also a gourmand of the highest grade. Either because I +knew his tastes, or to satisfy all my guests that I wished to make +them happy, I was not sparing in truffles, and they appeared under +the egis of young turkeys most carefully stuffed. + +Mr. S--ate with energy, and as I knew he could not injure himself +I left him alone, persuading him not to hurry himself because no +one would attack the property he had acquired. + +All passed off very well, and we separated at a very late hour. +When we reached home, however, Mr. S-- was attacked by a violent +cholic, a disposition to vomit, convulsive cramp, and general +indisposition. + +This state of things lasted some time, and all said he suffered +from the indigestion caused by truffles; at last nature came to +the patient's aid, and Mr. S-- opened his mouth and threw up a +single truffle, which struck the wall and rebounded, luckily +without injury to the by-standers. + +All unpleasant symptoms at once disappeared, tranquility was +restored, digestion recommenced its course, the patient went to +sleep and awoke in the morning perfectly well. + +The cause was easily understood, Mr. S--had been eating a long +time, and his teeth were unable to sustain the labor imposed on +them. He had lost many of those precious members, and those he had +left did not always meet together. + +A truffle had thus escaped mastication, and almost whole had been +swallowed. Digestion had carried it to the pylorus where it was +momentarily detained, and this mechanical detention had caused all +his trouble, as expulsion had cured it. + +Thus there was no indigestion, but merely the interposition of a +foreign body. + +This was decided on by the consulting body, which saw the corpus +delicti, and which selected me as its reporter. + +Mr. S-- did not on this account remain a whit less fond of +truffles. He always attacked them with the same audacity, but was +very careful to swallow them with more prudence. He used to thank +God that this sanitary precaution had prolonged his life and his +enjoyments. + +Section VIII. SUGAR. + +In the present state of science we understand by sugar a substance +mild to the taste, crystalizable, and which by fermentation +resolves itself into carbonic acid and alcohol. + +By sugar once was understood only the crystalized juice of the +cane, (arundo saccharifera.) + +A few pages of old authors would induce us to think the ancients +had observed in certain arundines a sweet and extractible portion. +Lucanus says: + +"Qui bibunt tenera dulces ab arundine succos." + +Between water sweetened by the juice of the cane, and the sugar we +have, there is a great difference. Art in Rome was not far enough +advanced to accomplish it. + +Sugar really originated in the colonies of the New World. The cane +was imported thither two centuries ago and prospered, and effort +was made to utilize the juice which flowed from it, and by gradual +experiments they accomplished the manufacture of all the variety +of its productions we know of. + +The culture of the sugar cane has become an object of the greatest +importance; it is a great source of wealth both to the cultivators +and the vendors, and also to the taxes of governments who levy an +import on it. + +INDIGENOUS SUGAR. + +It has long been thought that tropical heat was not needed to form +sugar. About 1740 Morgroff discovered that many plants of the +temperate zones, and among others the beet contained it. + +Towards the beginning of the nineteenth century, circumstances +having made sugar scarce, and consequently dear, the government +made it an object for savants to look for it. + +The idea was successful, and it was ascertained that sugar was +found in the whole vegetable kingdom; that it existed in the +grape, chestnut, potato, and in the beet especially. + +This last plant became an object of the greatest culture, and many +experiments proved that in this respect, the old world could do +without the new. France was covered with manufactories, which +worked with different success, and the manufacture of sugar became +naturalized; the art was a new one which may any day be recalled. + +Among the various manufactories, the most prominent was that +established at Passy, near Paris, by Mr. Benjamin Delassert, a +citizen, the name of whom is always connected with the good and +useful. + +By means of a series of extensive operations, he got rid of all +that was doubtful in the practice, and made no mystery of his plan +of procedure, even to those who were his rivals. He was visited by +the head of the government, and was ordered to furnish all that +was needed at the Tuilleries. + +New circumstances, the restoration of peace, having again reduced +colonial sugar to a lower price, the French manufacturers lost the +advantages they had gained. Many, however, yet prosper, and +Delassert makes some thousands every year. This also enables him +to preserve his processes until the time comes when they may again +he useful. [Footnote: We may add, that at the session for the +general encouragement of national industry, a medal was ordered to +be presented to M. Crespel, a manufacturer of arrus, who +manufactures every year one hundred and fifty thousand pounds of +beet sugar, which he sells at a profit, even--when Colonial sugar +is 2 francs 50 centimes the kilogramme. The reason is, that the +refuse is used for distillation, and subsequently fed out to +cattle.] + +When beet sugar was in the market, party men, up-starts and fools, +took it into their heads that its flavor was unpleasant, and some +even said it was unhealthy. + +Many experiments have proved the contrary, and the Count de +Chaptal, in his excellent book, Chemistry Applied to Agriculture," +(vol. ii. page 13,) says: + +"Sugars obtained from various plants, says a celebrated chemist, +are in fact of the same nature, and have no intrinsic difference +when they are equally pure. Taste, crystalization, color, weight, +are absolutely identical, and the most acute observer cannot +distinguish the one from the other." + +An idea of the force of prejudice is afforded by the fact, that +out of one hundred British subjects, taken at random, not ten +believe in the possibility of obtaining sugar from the beet. + +USES OF SUGAR. + +Sugar was introduced by the apothecaries. With them it was a most +important article, for when a person was greatly in want of any +article, there was a proverb, "Like an apothecary without sugar." + +To say that it came thence, is to say that it was received with +disfavor; some said that it was heating, others that it injured +the chest; some that it disposed persons to apoplexy. Calumny, +however, had to give way to truth, and for eighty years this +apothegm has been current, "Sugar hurts nothing but the purse." + +Under this impenetrable aegis the use of sugar has increased every +day, and no alimentary substance has undergone so many +transformations. Many persons like sugar in a pure state, and in +hopeless cases the faculty recommend it as a substance which can +do no possible harm, and which is not unpleasant. + +Mixed with water, it gives us eau sucree, a refreshing drink, +which is healthful, agreeable, and sometimes salutary. + +Mingled in large quantities with water it constitutes sirops, +which are perfumed, and from their variety are most refreshing. + +Mingled with water, the caloric of which is artificially +extracted, it furnishes two kinds, which are of Italian origin, +and were introduced into France by Catharine de Medici. + +With wine it furnishes such a restorative power that in some +countries roasted meats taken to the bride and groom are covered +with it, just as in Persia soused sheeps' feet are given them. + +Mingled with flour and eggs, it furnishes biscuits, maccaronies, +etc., etc., ad infinitum. + +With milk it unites in the composition of creams, blanc-mangers +and other dishes of the second course, substituting for the +substantial taste of meat, ethereal perfumes. + +It causes the aroma of coffee to be exhaled. + +Mingled with cafe au lait, a light, pleasant aliment is produced, +precisely suited to those who have to go to their offices +immediately after breakfast. + +With fruits and flowers it contributes to furnish confitures, +marmalades, preserves, pates and candies, and enables us to enjoy +the perfume of those flowers long after they have withered. + +It may be that sugar might be advantageously employed in +embalming, an art of which we know little. + +Sugar mingled with alcohol furnishes spirituous liquors, such as +were used, it is said, to warm the old blood of Louis XIV., which, +by their energy, seized the palate and the taste by the perfumed +gas united to them, the two qualities forming the ne plus ultra of +the pleasures of the taste. + +Such is the substance which the French of the time of Louis XIII. +scarcely knew the name of, and which to the people of the +nineteenth century is become so important; no woman, in easy +circumstances, spends as much money for bread as she does for +sugar. + +M. Delacroix, a man of letters, who is as industrious as he is +profound, was one day complaining of the price of sugar, which +then cost five francs a pound, "Ah!" said he, "if sugar should +ever again be thirty sous a pound, I will drink nothing but eau +sucree." His wishes were granted; he yet lives, and I trust he +keeps his word. + +Section IX. ORIGIN OF COFFEE. + +The first coffee tree was found in Arabia, and in spite of the +various transplantations it has undergone, the best coffee is yet +obtained there. An old tradition states that coffee was discovered +by a shepherd of old, who saw that his flock was always in the +greatest state of excitement and hilarity when they browsed on the +leaves of the coffee tree. + +Though this may be but an old story, the honor of the discovery +belongs only in part to the goat-herd. The rest belongs to him who +first made use of the bean, and boiled it. + +A mere decoction of green coffee is a most insipid drink, but +carbonization develops the aroma and forms an oil which is the +peculiarity of the coffee we drink, and which would have been +eternally unknown but for the intervention of heat. + +The Turks excel us in this. They employ no mill to torturate the +coffee, but beat it with wooden pestles in mortars. When the +pestles have been long used, they become precious and are sold at +great prices. + +I had to examine and determine whether in the result one or the +other of the two methods be preferable. + +Consequently, I burned carefully a pound of good mocha, and +separated it into two equal portions, the one of which was passed +through the mill, and the other beaten Turkish fashion in a +mortar. + +I made coffee of each, taking equal weights of each, poured on an +equal weight of boiling water and treated them both precisely +alike. + +I tasted this coffee myself, and caused others who were competent +judges to do so. The unanimous opinion was that coffee which had +been beaten in a mortar was far better than that which had been +ground. + +Any one may repeat the experiment. In the interim I will tell you +a strange anecdote of the influence of one or the other kind of +manipulation. + +"Monsieur," said Napoleon, one day to Laplace, "how comes it that +a glass of water into which I put a lump of loaf sugar tastes more +pleasantly than if I had put in the same quantity of crushed +sugar." "Sire," said the philosophic Senator, "there are three +substances the constituents of which are identical--Sugar, gum +and amidon; they differ only in certain conditions, the secret of +which nature has preserved. I think it possible that in the effect +produced by the pestle some saccharine particles become either gum +or amidon, and cause the difference." + +This remark became public, and ulterior observations has confirmed +it. + +DIFFERENT MODES OF PREPARING COFFEE. + +Some years ago all directed their attention to the mode of +preparing coffee; the reason doubtless was that the head of the +government was fond of it. + +Some proposed not to burn nor to powder it, to boil it three +quarters of an hour, to strain it, &c. + +I have tried this and all the methods which have been suggested +from day to day, and prefer that known as a la Dubelloy, which +consists in pouring boiling water on coffee placed in a porcelain +or silver vessel pierced with a number of very minute holes. This +first decoction should be taken and brought to the boiling point, +then passed through the strainer again, and a coffee will be +obtained clear and strong as possible. + +I have also tried to make coffee in a high pressure boiling +apparatus; all I obtained however was a fluid intensely bitter, +and strong enough to take the skin from the throat of a Cossack. + +EFFECTS OF COFFEE. + +Doctors have differed in relation to the sanitary properties of +coffee. We will omit all this, and devote ourselves to the more +important point, its influence on the organs of thought. + +There is no doubt but that coffee greatly excites the cerebral +faculties. Any man who drinks it for the first time is almost sure +to pass a sleepless night. + +Sometimes the effect is softened or modified by custom, but there +are many persons on whom it always produces this effect, and who +consequently cannot use coffee. + +I have said that the effect was modified by use, a circumstance +which does not prevent its having effect in another manner. I have +observed persons whom coffee did not prevent from sleeping at +night, need it to keep them awake during the day, and never failed +to slumber when they had taken it for dinner. There are others who +are torpid all day when they have not taken their cup in the +morning. + +Voltaire and Buffon used a great deal of coffee. Perchance the +latter was indebted to it for the admirable clearness we observe +in his works, and the second for the harmonious enthusiasm of his +style. It is evident that many pages of the treatise on man, the +dog, the tiger, lion and horse, were written under a strange +cerebral excitement. + +The loss of sleep caused by coffee is not painful, for the +perceptions are very clear, and one has no disposition to sleep. +One is always excited and unhappy when wakefulness comes from any +other cause. This, however, does prevent such an excitement, when +carried too far, from being very injurious. + +Formerly only persons of mature age took coffee. Now every one +takes it, and perhaps it is the taste which forces onward the +immense crowd that besiege all the avenues of the Olympus, and of +the temple of memory. + +The Cordwainer, author of the tragedy of Zenobia, which all Paris +heard read a few years ago, drank much coffee; for that reason he +excelled the cabinetmaker of Nevers, who was but a drunkard. + +Coffee is a more powerful fluid than people generally think. A man +in good health may drink two bottles of wine a day for a long +time, and sustain his strength. If he drank that quantity of +coffee he would become imbecile and die of consumption. I saw at +Leicester square, in London, a man whom coffee had made a cripple. +He had ceased to suffer, and then drank but six cups a day. + +All fathers and mothers should make their children abstain from +coffee, if they do not wish them at twenty to be puny dried up +machines. People in large cities should pay especial attention to +this, as their children have no exaggeration of strength and +health, and are not so hearty as those born in the country. + +I am one of those who have been obliged to give up coffee, and I +will conclude this article by telling how rigorously I was +subjected to its power. + +The Duke of Mossa, then minister of justice, called on me for an +opinion about which I wished to be careful, and for which he had +allowed me but a very short time. + +I determined then to sit up all night, and to enable me to do so +took two large cups of strong and highly flavored coffee. + +I went home at seven o'clock to get the papers which had been +promised me, but found a note telling me I would not get them +until the next day. + +Thus in every respect disappointed, I returned to the house where +I had dined, and played a game of piquet, without any of the moody +fits to which I was ordinarily subject. + +I did justice to the coffee, but I was not at ease as to how I +would pass the night. + +I went to bed at my usual hour, thinking that if I did not get my +usual allowance, I would at least get four or five hours, +sufficient to carry me through the day. + +I was mistaken. I had been two hours in bed and was wider awake +than ever; I was in intense mental agitation, and fancied my brain +a mill, the wheels of which revolved, grinding nothing. + +The idea came to me to turn this fancy to account, and I did so, +amusing myself by putting into verse a story I had previously read +in an English paper. + +I did so without difficulty, and as I did not sleep I undertook +another, but in vain. A dozen verses had exhausted my poetic +faculty, and I gave it up. + +I passed the night without sleep, and without even being stupified +for a moment, I arose and passed the day in the same manner. When +on the next night I went to bed at my usual hour I made a +calculation, and found out that I had not slept for forty hours. + +Section X. CHOCOLATE--ITS ORIGIN. + +The first visiters of America were impelled by a thirst of gold. +At that time nothing was appreciated but the products of the +mines. Agriculture and commerce were in their infancy, and +political economy was as yet unborn. The Spaniards found then the +precious metals, an almost sterile discovery, for they decreased +in value as they became more abundant. We have other and better +ways to increase wealth. + +In those regions, however, where a genial sun confers immense +fruitfulness on the soil, the cultivation of sugar and coffee was +found advantageous. The potato, indigo, vanilla, guano, cocoa, +were also discovered; these are its real treasures. + +If these discoveries took place in spite of the barriers opposed +to curiosity by a jealous nation, we may reasonably hope that they +will be multiplied ten-fold in the course of the years to come; +and that the explorations of the savants of old Europe will enrich +the three kingdoms with a multitude of substances which will give +us new sensations, as vanilla has, or augment our alimentary +resources, as cocoa. + +It has been determined to call chocolate the result of the paste +of cocoa burnt with sugar and the bark of the cinnamon. This is +the technical definition of chocolate. Sugar is the integral part, +for without sugar the compound is cocoa and, chocolate. To sugar, +cinnamon and cocoa is joined the delicious aroma of vanilla, and +thus is obtained the ne plus ultra to which this preparation can +be carried. + +To this small number of ingredients has been reduced the number of +things sought to mingle with cocoa in the manufacture of +chocolate. Pepper, pimento, anise seed, ginger and others, have +necessarily been tried. + +The cocoa tree is a native of South America, and is found both in +the islands and on the continent. It has been confessed, however, +that the best fruit is produced by the trees which grow on the +banks of Moracaibo, in the valleys of Caracas, and in the province +of Sokomusko. The fruit is larger, the sugar less bitter, and the +taste higher. Since these regions have become accessible, a +comparison may be made every day and the palate will never be +deceived. + +The Spanish women of the new world are passionately fond of +chocolate; and not satisfied with taking it two or three times a +day, have it even sent after them to church. This sensuality has +often drawn down the censure of their bishops, who, however, +gradually closed their eyes to it. The reverend father Escobar, +the metaphysics of whom was subtle as his morals were +accommodating, used to declare that chocolate made with water did +not break a fast; thus for the use of his penitents reproducing +the old adage, "Liquidum non frangit jejunium." + +Chocolate was brought to Spain about the end of the seventeenth +century, and the use became at once common. Women especially +showed great fondness for it. Manners have not changed in this +particular as yet, and now throughout all the peninsula chocolate +is presented on all occasions when it is usual to offer any +refreshment. + +Chocolate crossed the mountains with Anne of Austria, the daughter +of Philip II., and wife of Louis XIII. The Spanish monks also made +it known, by presents to their brethren in France. The Spanish +ambassadors also made it popular, and during the regency it was +more universally used than coffee, because it was taken as an +agreeable food, while coffee was esteemed a luxury. + +Linnaeus calls the cocoa cacao theobroma, (cocoa, the drink of the +gods). A cause for this name has been sought. Some assign his +passionate fondness for it, and the other his desire to please his +confessor; there are those who attribute it to gallantry, a Queen +having first introduced it. (Incertum.) + +PROPERTIES OF CHOCOLATE. + +Chocolate has given occasion to profound dissertations, with the +object of determining its nature and properties, and to place it +in the category of warm, cold, or temperate drinks. We must own +all their lucubrations have contributed but slightly to the +elucidation of truth. + +It was left for time and experience, those two great masters, to +show that chocolate prepared with care is as healthful as it is +agreeable. That it is nourishing, easily digested, and is not so +injurious to beauty as coffee said to be. It is very suitable to +persons who have much mental toil, to professors and lawyers, +especially to lawyers. It also suits certain feeble stomachs, and +has been thought most advantageous in chronic diseases. It is the +last resource in affections of the pylorus. + +These various properties chocolate owes to nothing but an +eloesaccharum. Few substances contain in the same volume more +nutrition. It becomes almost entirely animalised. + +During the war, cocoa was rare and very dear. Substitutes were +sought for, but all efforts were vain. One of the blessings of +peace was that it rid us of all those humbugs one was forced to +taste, but which were no more chocolate than chicory is mocha. + +Some persons complain that they cannot digest chocolate. Others +say that it does not nourish them, and that it passes away too +quickly. + +The probability is that the first have only to blame themselves, +and that the chocolate they use is of bad quality. Good and well +made chocolate can be digested even by the weakest stomach. + +The others have an easy remedy, and they need only strengthen +their stomachs by a pate, a cotelette, or a jerked kidney. Then +let them take a bowl of sokomusko, and thank God for such a +powerful stomach. + +Here I have an opportunity to give two examples, the correctness +of which may be relied on. + +After a good breakfast one may drink a full bowl of chocolate, and +digestion in three hours will be perfect, so that one may dine at +any hour that is pleasant. ... In zeal for the advancement of the +science, I tried this experiment on many ladies who assured me +they would die. They did not, though, and lived to glorify the +professor. + +Those who use chocolate, ordinarily enjoy the most perfect health, +and are the least subject to the multitude of ailments which +destroy life; their embonpoint is stationary. These two examples +any one can verify in society by a scrutiny of those the regimen +of whom is known. + +This is the true place to speak of the properties of chocolate, +which I have verified by many examples and experiments, which I am +delighted to exhibit to my readers. (See varieties at the end of +the volume.) + +Now, then, let any man who has indulged too much in the cup of +volupte; let every man who has passed in toil too much of the time +when he should have slept; let every man of mind, who finds his +faculties temporarily decay; every man who finds the air humid and +the atmosphere painful to breathe; let every man who has a fixed +idea which would deprive him of the liberty of thought; let them +each take a demi litre of chocolate ambre, (sixty grains of amber +to the kilogramme), and they will see wonders. + +In my way of distinguishing things, I have called this chocolate +des affliges; because in all the conditions I have referred to, +there is something very like affliction. + +Very good chocolate is made in Spain; one is indisposed to send +thither for it, for all manufacturers are not equally skillful, +and when it comes it has to be used as it is. + +Italian chocolates do not suit the French, for the cocoa is burned +too much. This makes the chocolate bitter, and deprives it of its +nourishment. A portion of the bean has been reduced to carbon. + +Chocolate having become common in France, all sought to learn how +to make it. Few, however, approximated to perfection for the art +is not easy. + +In the first place it was necessary to know good cocoa and to use +it in all its purity. There is no first quality case that has not +its inferiorities, and a mistaken interest often causes damaged +beans to be put in, which should have been rejected. The roasting +of the cocoa is also a delicate operation, and requires a tact +very like inspiration. Some have the faculty naturally, and are +never mistaken. + +A peculiar talent is necessary to regulate the quantity of sugar +which enters into the composition. It is not invariable and a +matter of course, but varies in proportion to the aroma of the +bean and the degree of torrefaction. + +The trituration and mixture do not demand less care, and on them +depends the greater or less digestibility of chocolate. + +Other considerations should also preside over the choice and +quantity of aromas, which should not be the same with chocolate +made for food and those taken as luxuries. It should also be +varied according if the mass is intended to receive vanilla or +not. In fine, to make good chocolate a number of very subtle +equations must be resolved, and which we take advantage of without +suspecting that they ever took place. + +For a long time machines have been employed for the manufacture of +chocolate. We think this does not add at all to its perfection, +but it diminishes manipulation very materially, so that those who +have adopted it should be able to sell chocolate at a very low +rate. [Footnote: One of those machines is now in operation in a +window in Broadway, New York. It is a model of mechanical +appropriateness.] They, however, usually sell it more dearly, and +this fact demonstrates that the true spirit of commerce has not +yet entered France; the use of machines should be as advantageous +to the consumer as to the producer. + +TRUE METHOD OF PREPARING CHOCOLATE. + +The Americans [Footnote: South Americans.--TRANSLATOR.] make their +chocolate without sugar. When they wish to take chocolate, they +send for chocolate. Every one throws into his cup as much cocoa as +it needs, pours warm water in, and adds the sugar and perfumes he +wishes. + +This method neither suits our habits nor our tastes, for we wish +chocolate to come to us ready prepared. + +In this state, transcendental chemistry has taught us that it +should neither be rasped with the knife nor bruised with a pestle, +because thus a portion of the sugar is converted into starch, and +the drink made less attractive. + +Thus to make chocolate, that is to say, to make it fit for +immediate use, about an ounce and a half should be taken for each +cup, which should be slowly dissolved in water while it is heated, +and stirred from time to time with a spatula of wood. It should be +boiled a quarter of an hour, in order to give it consistency, and +served up hot. + +"Monsieur," said madame d'Arestrel, fifty years ago, to me at +Belley, "when you wish good chocolate make it the evening before +in a tin pot. The rest of the night gives it a velvet-like flavor +that makes it far better. God will not be offended at this little +refinement, for in himself is all excellence." + +MEDITATION VII. + +THEORY OF FRYING. + +It was a fine morning in May; the sun shed his brightest rays on +the smoky roofs of the city of enjoyments, and the streets +(strangely enough) were filled neither with mud nor dust. + +The heavy diligences had long ceased to shake the streets; the +heavy wagons had ceased to pass, and only open carriages were +seen, in which indigenous and exotic beauties under beautiful +hats, cast disdainful looks on ugly, and smiling ones on good- +looking cavaliers. + +It was three o'clock when the professor sought his arm chair to +meditate. + +His right leg rested vertically on the floor, his left formed a +diagonal angle with, and rested on it. His back was comfortably +supported, and his hands rested on the lions' heads which +terminated the arms of the venerable piece of furniture in which +he sat. + +His lofty brow indicated intense study, and his mouth a taste for +pleasant amusement. His air was collected, and any one to have +seen him would have said, "that is a sage of ancient days." The +professor sent for his preparateur en chef, (chief COOK) and that +officer arrived, ready to receive orders, advice or lessons. + +ALLOCUTION. + +"Master la Planche," said the professor with that deep grave +accent which penetrates the very depth of our hearts, "all who sit +at my table pronounce your potages of the first class, a very +excellent thing, for potage is the first consolation of an empty +stomach. I am sorry to say though that you are uncertain as a +friturier. [Footnote: Anglice. Fryer.] + +"I heard you sigh yesterday over that magnificent sole you served +to us, pale, watery and colorless. My friend R. [Footnote: Mr. R-- +-, born at Seyssel, in the district of Belley, in 1757, an elector +of the grand college. He may be considered an example of the good +effects of prudence and probity.] looked disapprovingly of it, +M.H.R. turned his gastronomical nose to the left, and the +President S. declared such a misfortune equal to a public +calamity. + +"This happened because you neglected the theory, the importance of +which you are aware of. You are rather obstinate, though I have, +taken the trouble to impress on you the facts, that the operations +of your laboratory are only the execution of the eternal laws of +nature, and that certain things which you do carelessly, because +you have seen others do so; yet these are the results of the +highest science. Listen to me, therefore, with attention, that you +may never again blush at your works." + +Section 1. CHEMISTRY. + +"Liquids which you subject to the action of fire cannot all +receive the same quantity of heat. Nature has formed them +differently, and this secret, which we will call CAPACITY FOR +CALORIC, she has kept to herself. + +"You may, therefore, with impunity dip your finger in boiling +spirits of wine; you would take it very quickly from boiling +brandy; more rapidly yet from water; while the most rapid +immersion in boiling oil would heat you easily. + +"Consequently warm fluids act differently on the sapid bodies +presented to them. Those subject to water soften, dissolve, and +reduce themselves to boilli. The result is bouillon and its +extracts. Those on the contrary treated with oil harden, assume a +color more or less deep, and finally are carbonized. + +"In the first instance, water dissolves and conveys away the +interior juices of the alimentary substances placed in it. In the +second the juices are preserved, for they are insoluble in oil. If +these things dry up it is because a continuous heat vaporizes the +humid parts. + +"The two methods have different names, and FRYING is BOILING in +oil or grease substances intended to be eaten. I think I have told +you that officially oil and grease are synonymous; heating the +latter being but a concrete oil." + +Section II. APPLICATION. + +"Fritures are well received in entertainments into which they +introduce an agreeable variety. They are agreeable to the taste, +preserve their primitive flavor, and may be eaten with the hand, a +thing women are always fond of. + +"Thus cooks are able to hide many things that have appeared on the +day before, and remedy unforeseen requisitions on them. It takes +no longer to fry a four pound chop than it does to boil an egg. + +"All the merit of the friture is derived from the surprise, or the +invasion of the boiling liquid which carbonizes or burns at the +very instant of immersion of the body placed in it. + +"To effect a purpose, the liquid must be hot enough to act +instantaneously. It does not, however, reach S this point until it +has long been submitted to the action of a blazing and hot fire. + +"By the following means it may be ascertained if the friture be +heated to the wished-for degree, cut a piece of bread in the form +of a cube, and dip it in the pan for five or six seconds, if you +take it out firm and dark put in what you wish to prepare +immediately. If it be not, stir the fire and begin again. + +"The surprise being once effected, moderate the fire that the +action may not be too hurried, and that by a prolonged heat the +juices it contains may be changed and the flavor enhanced. + +"You have doubtless observed that fritures dissolve neither the +sugar nor salt their respective natures require. You should not +fail then to reduce those substances to a very fine powder in +order that they may adhere the more readily, and season the dish +by juxtaposition. + +"I do not tell you about oils and greases for the different +treatises I have put in your library give you sufficient light. + +"Do not forget, however, when you get one of those trout which do +not weigh more than half a pound, and which come from murmuring +streams, far from the capitol, to use the finest olive oil. This +delicate dish duly powdered and garnished with slices of lemon is +fit for a cardinal. [Footnote: Mr. Aulissin, a very well informed +Neapolitan lawyer, and a good amateur performer on the +violoncello, dining one day with me, and eating some thing that +pleased him, said--"Questo e un vero boccone di cardinale." +"Why," said I, in the same tongue, not say "boccone in Re." +"Seignore," said he, "we Italians do nothing; a king cannot be a +gourmand, for royal dinners are too short and solemn. With +cardinals things are very different." He shrugged his shoulders as +he spoke.] + +"Eperlans (smelt or sprat) should be treated in the same manner. +This is the becfique of the water, and has the same perfume and +excellence. + +"These two prescriptions are founded in the very nature of things. +Experience tells us that olive oil should only be used with things +which are soon cooked, and which do not demand too high a +temperature, because prolonged ebullition developes an +empyreumatic and disagreable taste produced by a few particles of +pulp, which can, being impossible to be gotten rid of, carbonize. + +"You tried my furnace, and were the first person who ever +succeeded in producing an immense fried turbot. On that day there +was great rejoicing among the elect. + +"Continue to be coeval in all you attempt, and never forget that +from the moment guests enter the salon WE are responsible for +their happiness." + +MEDITATION VIII. + +ON THIRST. + +THIRST is the internal feeling of a wish to drink. + +A heat of about 32 [degrees] Reaumur, constantly vaporizing the +different fluids the circulation of which sustains life, the +diminution they undergo would unfit them for their purposes, if +they were not renewed and refreshed. The necessity of this renewal +is what we call thirst. + +We think the seat of thirst is in the digestive system. When +athirst (we have often felt the sensation when hunting) we feel +distinctly that all the inhaling portions of the nostrils, mouth +and throat are benumbed and hardened, and that if thirst be +sometimes appeased by the application of fluids to other parts of +the body, as in the bath, the reason is that as soon as they are +absorbed they hurry rapidly to the seat of the evil and become +remedies. + +VARIETIES OF THIRST. + +Looking at the subject in all its bearings we may count three +varieties of thirst: latent, factitious and permanent. + +Latent or habitual thirst, is the insensible equilibrium +established between transpiratory vaporization and the necessity +of supplying what is lost. Thus, though we experience no pain, we +are invited to drink while we eat, and are able to drink at almost +every moment of the day. This thirst accompanies us every where, +and is almost a portion of our existence. + +Factitious thirst is peculiar to man, and results from the +instinct which impels him to seek in drink the strength he needs. +It is an artificial enjoyment rather than a natural want. This +thirst is really governless, because the fluids we take have the +faculty of reviving it, and this thirst becomes habitual, makes +drunkards in every country. The consequence is, that they drink as +long as liquor lasts, or until they are utterly overcome. + +When, on the other hand, thirst is appeased by pure water, which +seems the most natural remedy, we never drink more than we +actually need. + +Hardening thirst is the result of the increase of the want, and of +the impossibility to satisfy latent thirst. + +It is so called because it is accompanied by hardness of the +tongue, dryness of the palate, and a devouring heat in all the +body. + +The sensation of thirst is so intense, that in all tongues it is +synonymous with excessive desire, and irrepressible longing: thus +we thirst for gold, wealth, power, science, &c., expressions which +never would have become common had men not have been athirst and +aware of their vengeance. + +Appetite is pleasant when it does not reach the point of hunger. +Thirst is not so, and as soon as we feel it we are uncomfortable +and anxious. When there is no possibility of appeasing it, the +state of mind is terrible. + +To compensate us for this, the sense of thirst procures us great +pleasure; and when great thirst is appeased, or a delicious drink +is offered to one moderately athirst, the whole papillary system +is aroused, from the tip of the tongue to the extremity of the +stomach. + +We die of thirst more rapidly than of hunger. Men with an +abundance of water, have lived for eight days without bread. +Without water, the system succumbs on the fifth. + +The reason is that in starving, man dies more of weakness; in +thirst of a burning fever. + +People are not always able to resist thirst so long: in 1787, one +of the hundred Swiss of Louis XVI., died from having been twenty- +four hours without drink. + +He was at a cabaret with some of his comrades, and as he was about +to carry his glass to his lips, he was reproached with drinking +oftener than the rest, and with not being able to do a moment +without it. + +He then made a bet of ten bottles of wine, that he would not drink +for twenty-four hours. + +He ceased at once, and sat by, for two hours, seeing the others +drink. + +The night passed well enough, but at dawn he found it difficult to +do without his habitual glass of brandy. + +All the morning he was uneasy and troubled; he went hither and +thither without reason, and seemed not to know what he was about. + +At one o'clock he laid down, fancying he would be calmer: he was +really sick, but those about him could not induce him to drink. He +said he could get on till evening: he wished to gain his bet, and +it is probable also, that some military pride was mingled in the +matter, which prevented him from yielding to pain. + +He kept up until seven o'clock, but at half-after seven was very +sick and soon died, without being able to swallow a glass of wine +which was presented to him. + +I was informed of all these details that very night, by the Sieur +Schneider, the fifer of the hundred Swiss, in the house of whom I +lived at Versailles. + +CAUSES OF THIRST. + +Many circumstances, either united or separate, contribute to +thirst. We shall mention some which are not without influence on +our habits. + +Heat augments thirst. Whence comes the disposition men have always +had to build their habitations near the sea. + +Corporeal labor augments thirst. Persons who employ labourers, +always gratify them by drink--hence the proverb that wine given +them is always well sold. + +Dancing increases thirst, and for this reason the ball-room is +always supplied with invigorating drinks. + +Declamation also increases thirst, which accounts for the glass of +water readers always seek to drink with grace, and which is always +beside the white handkerchief on the desk. + +Genesiac pleasure excites thirst, and accounts for the poetical +descriptions of Cyprus, Amathonte, Gnidus, and other homes of +Venus, in which there are always shady groves and murmuring +streamlets. + +Song augments thirst, and therefore all vocalists are said to be +such huge drinkers. A musician myself, I protest against this +assertion, which has neither rhyme nor reason. + +The artists in our saloons drink with as much prudence as +sagacity; what they lose in this, however, they atone for on the +other side; if not given to drink, they are untiring gourmands, so +much so, that I am told at the Circle of Transcendental Harmony, +[Footnote: A well known "Musical Society."] the festivals of St. +Cecile lasted twenty-four hours. + +EXAMPLE. + +Exposure to a rapid current of air, causes a rapid augmentation of +thirst, and I think the following observations will be read with +pleasure by all the lovers of the chase. + +It is well known that quail are fond of huge mountains, where +their broods are in more safety, from the fact that the harvests +are later. + +When the rye is cut, they go into the barley and oats; and when +the latter is being harvested, they go into that portion which is +less matured. + +This is the time to shoot them; because in a small number of +acres, are found all the birds which a few months before were +strewn through a whole commune and are at that time fat as +possible. + +I went with some friends for the purpose of shooting to a mountain +in the arrondissiment of Nantua, in the canton known as plan +d'Hotonne, where we were about to commence the day's work under a +brighter sun than any Parisian badaud ever saw. + +While we were at breakfast a violent north wind arose which was +much in the way of our sport: we however continued. + +We had scarcely been out a quarter of an hour, when the most +effeminate of the party said he was thirsty. We now, doubtless, +would have laughed at him, had we not all experienced the same +sensation. + +We all drank, for an ass loaded with refreshments followed us, but +the relief afforded was of brief duration. The thirst soon +appeared with increased intensity, so that some fancied themselves +sick, and others were becoming so, and all talked of returning. To +do so was to have travelled ten leagues for no purpose. + +I had time to collect my ideas, and saw the reason of this strange +thirst; and told them we suffered from the effects of three +causes. The dimunition of atmospheric pressure made our +circulation more rapid. The sun heated us, and walking had +increased transpiration. More than all these--the wind dried up +this transpiration, and prevented all moistness of the skin. + +I told them that there was no danger, that the enemy was known, +and that we must oppose it. + +Precaution however was ineffectual, for their thirst was +quenchless. Water, wine and water, and brandy, all were powerless. +We suffered from thirst even while we drank, and were +uncomfortable all day. + +We got through the day, however; the owner of the domain of Latour +entertaining us, joining the provisions we had, to his own stores. + +We dined very well and got into the hay-loft, where we slept +soundly. + +The next day's experience showed my theory to be true. The wind +lulled, the sun was not so warm, and we experienced no +inconvenience from thirst. + +But a great misfortune had befallen us. We had very prudently +filled our canteens, but they had not been able to resist the many +assaults made on them. They were bodies without souls, and we all +fell into the hands of the cabaret-keepers. + +We had to come to that point, not however without murmuring. I +addressed an allocution full of reproaches to the wind, when I saw +a dish fit to be set before a king, "D'epinards a la graisse de +cailles," destined to be eaten with a wine scarcely as good as +that of Surene. [Footnote: A village two leagues from Paris, +famous for its bad wine. There is a proverb which says that to get +rid of a glass of Surene, three things are needed, "a drinker and +two men to hold him in case his courage fail." The same may be +said of Perieux, which people however will drink.] + +MEDITATION IX. + +ON DRINKS. [Footnote: This chapter is purely philosophical: a +description of different kinds of wine does not enter into the +plan I have marked out for myself. If it was, I would never have +finished my book.] + +By drinks we mean all liquids which mingle with food. + +Water seems to be the natural drink. Wherever there is animal life +it is found, and replaces milk. For adults it is as necessary as +air. WATER. Water is the only fluid which really appeases thirst, +and for that reason only a small quantity of it can be drank. The +majority of other fluids that man drinks are only palliatives, and +had he drank nothing else he never would have said that he drank +without being thirsty. QUICK EFFECT OF DRINKS. Drinks are absorbed +by the animal economy with the most extreme facility. Their effect +is prompt and the relief they furnish is almost instantaneous. +Give the most hungry man you can meet with the richest possible +food, he will eat with difficulty. Give him a glass of wine or of +brandy, and at once he will find himself better. + +I can establish this theory by a very remarkable circumstance I +received from my nephew, Colonel Guigard, a man not disposed to +tell long stories. All may rely upon the accuracy of what he has +said. + +He was at the head of a detachment returning from the siege of +Jaffa, and was but a few hundred paces from the place where he +expected to find water, and where he met many of the advanced +guard already dead with heat. + +Among the victims of this burning climate was a carabinier who was +known to many persons of the detachment. + +Many of his comrades who approached him for the last time, either +to inherit what he had left, or to bid him adieu, were amazed to +find his limbs flexible and something flexible around his heart. + +"Give him a drop of sacre chien" said the lustig of the troupe. +"If he is not too far gone into the other world, he will come back +to taste it." + +At the reception of the first spoonful of spirits he opened his +eyes: they then rubbed his temples and gave him a drop or two. +After about an hour he was able to sit up in the saddle. + +He was taken to a fountain, nursed during the night, and carefully +attended to. On the next day he reached Cairo. + +STRONG DRINKS. + +There is one thing very worthy of attention; the instinct which +leads us to look for intoxicating drinks. + +Wine, the most pleasant of all drinks, whether due to Noah who +planted the vine, or to Bacchus who expressed the juice of the +grape, dates back to the infancy of the world. Beer, which is +attributed to Osiris, dates to an age far beyond history. + +All men, even those we call savages, have been so tormented by the +passion for strong drinks, that limited as their capacities were, +they were yet able to manufacture them. + +They made the milk of their domestic animals sour: they extracted +the juice of many animals and many fruits in which they suspected +the idea of fermentation to exist. Wherever men are found, strong +liquors are met with, and are used in festivities, sacrifices, +marriages, funeral rites, and on all solemn occasions. + +For many centuries wine was drank and sung before any persons had +an idea that it was possible to extract the spirituous portion, +which is the essence of its power. The Arabs, however, taught us +the art of distillation, invented by them to extract the perfume +of flowers, and especially of the rose, so celebrated in their +poems. Then persons began to fancy that in wine a source of +excitement might be found to give taste a peculiar exaltation. By +gradual experiments alcohol, spirits of wine, and brandy were +discovered. + +Alcohol is the monarch of liquids, and takes possession of the +extreme tastes of the palate. Its various preparations offer us +countless new flavors, and to certain medicinal remedies, it gives +an energy they could not well do without. It has even become a +formidable weapon: the natives of the new world having been more +utterly destroyed by brandy than by gunpowder. + +The method by which alcohol was discovered, has led to yet more +important results, as it consisted in the separation and +exhibition of the constituent parts of a body, it became a guide +to those engaged in analogous pursuits, and made us acquainted +with new substances, such as quinine, morphine, strychnine and +other similar ones. + +Be this as it may, the thirst for a liquid which nature has +shrouded in veils, the extraordinary appetite acting on all races +of men, under all climates and temperatures, is well calculated to +attract the attention of the observer. + +I have often been inclined to place the passion for spirituous +liquors, utterly unknown to animals, side by side with anxiety for +the future, equally strange to them, and to look on the one and +the other as distinctive attributes of the last sublunary +revolution. + +MEDITATION X. + +AN EPISODE ON THE END OF THE WORLD. + +I said--last sublunary revolution, and this idea awakened many +strange ideas. + +Many things demonstrate to us that our globe has undergone many +changes, each of which was, so to say, "an end of the world." Some +instinct tells us many other changes are to follow. + +More than once, we have thought these revolutions likely to come, +and the comet of Jerome Lalande has sent many persons to the +confessional. + +The effect of all this has been that every one is disposed to +surround this catastrophe with vengeance, exterminating angels, +trumps and other accessories. + +Alas! there is no use to take so much trouble to ruin us. We are +not worth so much display, and if God please, he can change the +surface of the globe without any trouble. + +Let us for a moment suppose that one of those wandering stars, the +route and mission of which none know, and the appearance of which +is always accompanied by some traditional terror; let us suppose +that it passes near enough to the sun, to be charged with a +superabundance of caloric, and approach near enough to us to +create a heat of sixty degrees Reaumur over the whole earth (as +hot again as the temperature caused by the comet of 1811.) + +All vegetation would die, all sounds would cease. The earth would +revolve in silence until other circumstances had evolved other +germs: yet the cause of this disaster would have remained lost in +the vast fields of air, and would never have approached us nearer +than some millions of leagues. + +This event, which in the main, has ever seemed to me a fit subject +for reverie, and I never ceased for a moment to dwell on it. + +This ascending heat is curious to be looked after, and it is not +uninteresting to follow its effects, expansion, action, and to +ask: + +How great it was during the first, second, and subsequent days. + +What effect it had on the earth, and water, and on the formation +and mingling, and detonation of gasses. + +What influence it had on men, as far as age, sex, strength and +weakness are concerned. + +What influence it has on obedience to the laws, submission to +authority, and respect to persons and property. + +What one should do to escape from danger. + +What influence it has on love, friendship, parental affection, +self-love and devotion. + +What is its influence on the religious sentiments, faith, +resignation and hope. + +History can furnish us a few facts on its moral influence, for the +end of the world has more than once been predicted and determined. + +I am very sorry that I cannot tell my readers how I settled all +this, but I will not rob them of the pleasure of thinking of the +matter themselves. This may somewhat shorten some of their +sleepless hours, and ensure them a few siestas during the day. + +Great danger dissolves all bonds. When the yellow fever was in +Philadelphia, in 1792, husbands closed the doors on their wives, +children deserted their fathers, and many similar phenomena +occurred. + +Quod a nobis Deus avertat! + +MEDITATION XI. + +ON GOURMANDISE. + +I HAVE looked through various dictionaries for the word +gourmandise and have found no translation that suited me. It is +described as a sort of confusion of gluttony and voracity. Whence +I have concluded that lexicographers, though very pleasant people +in other respects, are not the sort of men to swallow a partridge +wing gracefully with one hand, with a glass of Laffitte or clos de +Vougeot in the other. + +They were completely oblivious of social gourmandise, which unites +Athenian elegance, Roman luxury and French delicacy; which +arranges wisely, flavors energetically, and judges profoundly. +This is a precious quality which might be a virtue and which is +certainly the source of many pure enjoyments. + +DEFINITIONS. + +Let us understand each other. + +Gourmandise is a passionate preference, well determined and +satisfied, for objects which flatter our taste. + +Gourmandise is hostile to all excesses: any man who becomes drunk +or suffers from indigestion is likely to be expunged from the +lists. + +Gourmandise also comprehends, friandise (passion for light +delicacies) for pastry, comfitures, etc. This is a modification +introduced for the special benefit of women, and men like the +other sex. + +Look at gourmandise under any aspect you please, and it deserves +praise. + +Physically, it is a demonstration of the healthy state of the +organs of nutrition. + +Morally, it is implicit resignation to the orders of God, who made +us eat to live, invites us to do so by appetite, sustains us by +flavor, and rewards us by pleasure. + +ADVANTAGES OF GOURMANDISE. + +Considered from the points of view of political economy, +gourmandise is the common bond which unites the people in +reciprocal exchanges of the articles needed for daily consumption. + +This is the cause of voyages from one pole to the other, for +brandy, spices, sugars, seasonings and provisions of every kind, +even eggs and melons. + +This it is which gives a proportional price to things, either +mediocres, good or excellent, whether the articles derive them out +of, or from nature. + +This it is that sustains the emulation of the crowd of fishermen, +huntsmen, gardeners and others, who every day fill the wealthiest +kitchens with the result of their labours. + +This it is which supports the multitude of cooks, pastry-cooks, +confectioners, etc., who employ workmen of every kind, and who +perpetually put in circulation, an amount of money which the +shrewdest calculator cannot imagine. + +Let us observe that the trades and occupations dependent on +gourmandise have this great advantage, that on one hand it is +sustained by great misfortunes and on the other by accidents which +happen from day to day. + +In the state of society we now have reached, it is difficult to +conceive of a people subsisting merely on bread and vegetables. +Such a nation if it existed would certainly be subjected by +carnivorous enemies, as the Hindoos were, to all who ever chose to +attack them. If not it would be converted by the cooks of its +neighbors as the Beotiens were, after the battle of Leuctres. + +SEQUEL. + +Gourmandise offers great resources to fiscality, for it increases +customs, imports, etc. All we consume pays tribute in one degree +or another, and there is no source of public revenue to which +gourmands do not contribute. + +Let us speak for a moment of that crowd of preparers who every +year leave France, to instruct foreign nations in gourmandise. The +majority succeed and obedient to the unfasting instinct of a +Frenchman's fever, return to their country with the fruits of +their economy. This return is greater than one would think. + +Were nations grateful, to what rather than to gourmandise should +France erect a monument. + +POWER OF GOURMANDISE. + +In 1815, the treaty of the month of November, imposed on France +the necessity of paying the allies in three years, 750,000,000 +francs. + +Added to this was the necessity of meeting the demands of +individuals of various nations, for whom the allied sovereigns had +stipulated, to the amount of more than 300,000,000. + +To this must be added requisitions of all kinds by the generals of +the enemies who loaded whole wagons, which they sent towards the +frontier, and which the treasury ultimately had to pay for. The +total was more than 1,500,000,000 francs. + +One might, one almost should have feared, that such large +payments, collected from day to day, would have produced want in +the treasury, a deprecation of all fictitious values, and +consequently all the evils which befall a country that has no +money, while it owes much. + +"Alas," said the rich, as they saw the wagon going to the Rue +Vivienne for its load; "all our money is emigrating, next year we +will bow down to a crown: we are utterly ruined; all our +undertakings will fail, and we will not be able to borrow. There +will be nothing but ruin and civil death." + +The result contradicted all these fears; the payments, to the +amazement of financiers, were made without trouble, public credit +increased, and all hurried after loans. During the period of this +superpurgation, the course of exchange, an infallible measure of +the circulating of money, was in our favor. This was an +arithmetical proof that more money came into France than left it. + +What power came to our aid? What divinity operated this miracle? +Gourmandise. + +When the Britons, Germans, Teutons, Cimmerians, and Scythes, made +an irruption into France, they came with extreme voracity and with +stomachs of uncommon capacity. + +They were not long contented with the cheer furnished them by a +forced hospitality, but aspired to more delicate enjoyments. The +Queen City, ere long, became one immense refectory. The new comers +ate in shops, cafes, restaurants, and even in the streets. + +They gorged themselves with meat, fish, game, truffles, pastry and +fruit. + +They drank with an avidity quite equal to their appetite, and +always called for the most costly wine, expecting in those unknown +enjoyments, pleasures they did not meet with. + +Superficial observers could not account for this eating, without +hunger, which seemed limitless. All true Frenchmen, however, +rubbed their hands, and said, "they are under the charm; they have +spent this evening more money than they took from the treasury in +the morning." + +This epoch was favorable to all those who contributed to the +gratification of the taste. Very made his fortune, Achard laid the +foundation of his, and Madame Sullot, the shop of whom, in the +Palais Royal, was not twenty feet square, sold twelve thousand +petits pates a day. + +The effect yet lasts, for strangers crowd to Paris from all parts +of Europe, to rest from the fatigues of war. Our public monuments, +it may be, are not so attractive as the pleasures of gourmandise, +everywhere elaborated in Paris, a city essentially gourmand. + +A LADY GOURMAND. + +Gourmandise is not unbecoming to women: it suits the delicacy of +their organs and recompenses them for some pleasures they cannot +enjoy, and for some evils to which they are doomed. + +Nothing is more pleasant than to see a pretty woman, her napkin +well placed under her arms, one of her hands on the table, while +the other carries to her mouth, the choice piece so elegantly +carved. Her eyes become brilliant, her lips glow, her conversation +is agreeable and all her motions become graceful. With so many +advantages she is irresistible, and even Cato, the censor, would +feel himself moved. + +ANECDOTE. + +I will here record what to me is a bitter reflection. + +I was one day most commodiously fixed at table, by the side of the +pretty Madame M----d, and was inwardly rejoicing at having +obtained such an advantageous position, when she said "your +health." I immediately began a complimentary phrase, which +however, I did not finish, for turning to her neighbor on the +right, she said "Trinquons," they touched each others glasses. +This quick transition seemed a perfidy, and the passage of many +years have not made me forget it. + +ARE WOMEN GOURMANDS? + +The penchant of the fair sex for gourmandise is not unlike +instinct; for gourmandise is favorable to beauty. + +A series of exact and rigorous examinations, has shown that a +succulent and delicate person on careful diet, keeps the +appearance of old age long absent. + +It makes the eyes more brilliant, and the color more fresh. It +makes the muscles stronger, and as the depression of the muscles +causes wrinkles, those terrible enemies of beauty, it is true that +other things being equal, those who know how to eat, are ten years +younger than those ignorant of that science. + +Painters and sculptors are well aware of this, for they never +represent those to whom abstinence is a matter of duty, such as +anchorites and misers, except as pale, thin, and wrinkled. + +THE EFFECTS OF GOURMANDISE ON SOCIABILITY. + +Gourmandise is one of the principle bonds of society. It gradually +extends that spirit of conviviality, which every day unites +different professions, mingles them together, and diminishes the +angles of conviviality. + +This it is, which induces every amphitryon to receive his guests +well, and also excites the gratitude of the latter when they see +themselves well taken care of: here is the place to reprobate +those stupid masticators, who with the most guilty indifference to +the greatest luxuries, and who with sacrilegious indifference +inhale the odorous perfume of nectar. + +GENERAL LAW.--Every display of high intelligence, makes explicit +praise necessary. Delicate praise is necessary, wherever a wish to +please is evident. + +INFLUENCE OF GOURMANDISE ON CONJUGAL HAPPINESS. + +When gourmandise is shared with another, it has the greatest +influence on conjugal happiness. + +A gourmand couple have at least once a day a pleasant occasion to +meet, for even those who sleep apart (and there are many) dine +together. They talk of what they have eaten, of what they have +seen elsewhere, of fashionable dishes and of new inventions, etc., +etc. We all know how full of charms this CHIT CHAT is. + +Music, doubtless, has many charms for those who love it; but to +succeed, one must make a business of it. + +Besides, sometimes one has a cold, misplaces the score, has the +sick headache or feels inert. + +One necessity calls each of the couple to the table, where the +same feeling retains them. They exhibit naturally slight +attentions to each other, which evinces a desire to please, and +the manner in which they act to each other speaks loudly of the +manner of their lives. + +This observation, though new in France, has not escaped the +attention of the English novelist, Fielding, who in Pamela gives +the well-known instance of the manner in which the heroine and her +husband lived on the one hand, and the more magnificent but +unhappy life of the elder brother and his wife. + +Honour then to gourmandise as we present it to our readers, +inasmuch as it diverts man neither from occupation nor from duty; +for as the dissoluteness of Sardanapulus did not cause the world +to look on woman with horror, neither did Vitellius' excesses +induce the world to turn aside from a well-ordered entertainment. + +When gourmandise becomes gluttony, voracity or debauchery, it +loses its name and attributes, falling into the hands of the +moralist who will treat it by advice, or the medical man who will +treat it by remedy. Gourmandise, as the professor has described +it, has a name only in French; neither the Latin gula, English +"gluttony" nor German lusternheit, expresses it, and we recommend +all who attempt a translation of this instructive book to preserve +the word, changing the article which produces it only. Thus they +did with coquetterie. + +NOTE OF A PATRIOT GASTRONOMER. + +"I observe with pride, that gourmandise and coquettery, the two +great modifications which society has effected in our imperious +wants, are both of French origin." + +MEDITATION XII. + +GOURMANDS. + +ALL WHO WISH TO BE ARE NOT GOURMANDS. + +THERE are individuals to whom nature has refused a fineness of +organs and a degree of attention, without which the most succulent +food passes unperceived. + +Physiology has already recognized the first of these varieties, by +exhibiting the tongue of those unfortunate men who are badly +provided with the means of appreciating flavors and tastes. Such +persons have but an obtuse sensation, for to them taste is what +light is to the blind. + +The second of these varieties is composed of absent minded men, of +ambitious persons, and others, who wish to attend to two things at +once, and who eat only to eat. + +NAPOLEON. + +Such was Napoleon; he was irregular in his meals and ate quickly. +When hungry, his appetite had to be satisfied at once, and he was +so completely served, that at any hour he could have fowl, game or +coffee. + +GOURMANDS BY DESTINY. + +There is however, a privileged class, which organic and material +organization invites to the enjoyments of the taste. + +I was always a disciple of Lavater and Gall, and believe in innate +ideas. + +As persons have been born who see, walk, and hear badly, because +they are near-sighted, lame, or deaf, why may there not be others +inclined to peculiar sensations. + +To the most careless observer there will ever be presented faces +which bear the undeniable expression of some dominant sentiment, +such as disdainful impertinence, self-satisfaction, misanthropy, +sensuality, &c. A very meaningless face may express all this, but +when the face has a determined expression, one is rarely mistaken. + +Passions agitate the muscles, and often when a man is silent, the +various feelings which agitate him may be read on his face. This +tension, though habitual leave sensible traces, and give the face +a permanent and well defined character. + +SENSUAL PREDESTINATION. + +The persons predestined to gourmandise are in general of medium +stature. Their faces are either round or square, and small, their +noses short and their chins rounded. The women are rather pretty +than beautiful, and they have a slight tendency to obesity. + +Those who are fondest of friandises have delicate features, +smaller, and are distinguished by a peculiar expression of the +mouth. + +Agreeable guests should be sought for among those who have this +appearance. They receive all that is offered them, eat slowly, and +taste advisedly. They do not seek to leave places too quickly +where they have been kindly received. They are always in for all +the evening, for they know all games, and all that is neccessary +for a gastronomical soiree. + +Those, on the contrary, to whom nature has refused a desire for +the gratifications of taste, have a long nose and face. Whatever +be their statures, the face seems out of order. Their hair is dark +and flat, and they have no embonpoint. They invented pantaloons. + +Women whom nature has thus afflicted, are very angulous, are +uncomfortable at the table, and live on lenten fare. + +This physiological theory will, I trust, meet with not many +contradictions: any one may verify the matter. I will, however, +rely on facts. + +I was sitting one day at a great entertainment, and saw opposite +to me a very pretty woman with a very sensual face. I leaned +towards my neighbor and said, that the lady with such features +must be gourmande. "Bah!" said he, "she is not more than fifteen; +she is not old enough--let us see though." + +The beginning was not favorable, and I was afraid of being +compromised. During the first two courses, the young woman ate +with a discretion which really amazed me. The dessert came, it was +brilliant as it was abundant, and gave me some hopes. I was not +deceived, for she not only ate what was set before her, but sent +for dishes which were at the other end of the table. She tasted +every thing, and we were surprised that so small a stomach could +contain so much. My diagnostics succeeded and science triumphed. + +Two years after I met this same lady, who had been married a week. +She had become far more beautiful, was something of a coquette, +for fashion permitted her to exhibit her charms. Her husband was a +man worth looking at, but he was like one of those ventriloquists +who laugh on one side of the face and weep on the other. He was +very fond of his wife, but when any one spoke to her, quivered +with jealousy. The latter sentiment prevailed, for he took his +wife to one of the most remote departments of France, and I, at +least, can write no more of her biography. + +I made a similar observation about the Duke of Decres, long +minister of marine. + +We knew that he was large, short, dark and square; that his face +was round, that his chin protruded, that his lips were thick, and +that he had a giant's mouth. I therefore had no hesitation in +proclaiming him fond of good cheer and of women. + +This physiognomical remark I whispered to a woman I thought very +pretty and very discreet. I was mistaken though, for she was a +daughter of Eve, and my secret was made known. One evening his +excellency was informed of the idea I had deduced from his face. + +I ascertained this the next day, by a pleasant letter which I +received from the Duke, in which he insisted that he had not the +two qualities I had attributed to him. + +I confessed myself beaten. I replied that nature does nothing in +vain; that she had evidently formed him for certain duties, and +that if he did not fulfil them he contradicted his appearance. +That besides, I had no right to expect such confidence, etc., etc. + +There the correspondence terminated, but a few days after all +Paris was amused by the famous encounter between the minister and +his cook, in which his excellency did not get the best of the +matter. If after such an affair the cook was not dismissed, (and +he was not,) I may conclude that the duke was completely overcome +by the artist's talents, and that he could not find another one to +suit his taste so exactly, otherwise he would have gotten rid of +so warlike a servant. + +As I wrote these lines, during a fine winter evening, Mr. Cartier, +once first violinist of the opera, entered my room and sat by the +fire. I was full of my subject, and looked attentively at him. I +said, "My dear Professor, how comes it that you, who have every +feature of gourmandise, are not a gourmand?" "I am," said he, "but +I make abstinence a duty." "Is that an act of prudence?" He did +not reply, but he uttered a sigh, a la Walter Scott. + +GOURMANDS BY PROFESSION. + +If there be gourmands by predestination, there are also gourmands +by profession. There are four classes of these: Financiers, men of +letters, doctors, and devotees. + +FINANCIERS. + +Financiers are the heroes of gourmandise. Hero is here the proper +name, for there was some contention, and the men who had titles +crowd all others beneath their titles and escutcheons. They would +have triumphed, but for the wealth of those they opposed. Cooks +contended with genealogists; and though dukes did not fail to +laugh at their amphitryon, they came to the dinner, and that was +enough. + +Those persons who make money easily must be gourmands. + +The inequality of wealth produces inequality of wants. He who can +pay every day for a dinner fit for an hundred persons, is often +satisfied after having eaten the thigh of a chicken. Art then must +use well its resources to revive appetite. Thus Mondar became a +gourmand, and others with the same tastes collects around him. + +PHYSICIANS. + +Causes of another nature, though far less baneful, act on +physicians, who, from the nature of things, are gourmands. To +resist the attractions set before them they must necessarily be +made of bronze. + +One day I ventured to say, (Doctor Corvisart was at the end of the +table--the time was about 1806):-- + +"You are," said I, with the air of an inspired puritan, "the last +remnant of a composition which once covered all France. The +members of it are either annihilated or dispersed. No longer do we +see farmers general, abbes, chevaliers, &c. Bear the burden they +have bequeathed to you, even if you take the three hundred +Spartans who died at Thermopylae; such a fate should be yours." + +Nobody contradicted me. + +At dinner I made a remark which was worthy of notice:-- + +Doctor Corvisart was a very pleasant man when he pleased, and was +very fond of iced champagne. For this reason, while all the rest +of the company were dull and idle, he dealt in anecdotes and +stories. On the contrary, when the dessert was put on, and +conversation became animated, he became serious and almost morose. + +From this and other observations, I deduced the following +conclusion: Champagne, the first effect of which is exhilarating, +in the result is stupefying, on account of the excessant carbonic +gases it contains. + +OBJUGATION. + +As I measure doctors by their diplomatu, I will not reproach them +for the severity with which they treat their invalids. + +As soon as one has the misfortune to fall into their hands, one +has to give up all we have previously thought agreeable. + +I look on the majority of these prohibitions as useless. I say +useless, because patients never desire what is injurious to them. + +A reasonable physician should never lose sight of the natural +tendency of our inclinations, nor forget to ascertain if our +penchants are painful in themselves, or improving to health. A +little wine, or a few drops of liquor, brings the smiles to the +most hypochondriac faces. + +Besides, they know that their severe prescriptions are almost +always without effect, and the patient seeks to avoid him. Those +who are around him, never are in want of a reason to gratify him. +People, however, will die. + +The ration of a sick Russian, in 1815, would have made a porter +drunk. There was no retrenchment to be made, for military +inspectors ran from day to day through the hospitals, and watched +over the furnishment and the service of the various houses. + +I express my opinions with the more confidence, because it is +sustained by much experience, and that the most fortunate +practitioners rely on my system. + +The canon Rollet who died about fifty years ago, was a great +drinker; and the first physician he employed, forbid him to use +wine at all. When, however, he came again, the doctor found his +patient in bed, and before him the corpus delicti, i.e., a table +covered with a white cloth, a chrystal cup, a handsome bottle, and +a napkin to wipe his lips with. + +The doctor at once became enraged, and was about to withdraw, when +the canon said in a lamentable voice, "doctor, remember, if you +forbade my drinking, you did not prohibit my looking at the +bottle." + +The physician who attended M. Montlusin de Point de Veyle was far +more cruel, for he not only forbid his patient to touch wine, but +made him drink large quantities of water. + +A short time after the doctor had left, Mme. de Montlusin, anxious +to fulfil the requisition of the prescription, and contribute to +her husband's recovery, gave him a great glass of water, pure and +limpid as possible. + +The patient received it kindly and sought to drink it with +resignation. At the first swallow, however, he stopped, and giving +the glass back to his wife, said, "Take this, dear, and keep it +for the next dose; I have always heard, one should never trifle +with remedies." Men of letters in the world of gastronomy, have a +place nearly equal to that of men of medical faculty. + +Under the reign of Louis XIV., men of letters were all given to +drink. They conformed to fashion and the memoirs of the day, in +this respect, are very defying. They are now gourmands,--a great +amelioration. + +I am far from agreeing with the cynic Geoffroy, who used to say +that modern works were deficient in power because authors now +drank only eau sucree. + +I think he made two mistakes, both in the fact and the +consequences. + +The age we live in is rich in talents; they injure each other +perhaps by their multitude; but posterity, judging with more +calmness, will see much to admire. Thus we do justice to the great +productions of Racine and Moliere which when written were coldly +received. + +The social position of men of letters was never more agreeable. +They no longer live in the garrets they used to inhabit, for the +field of literature has become fertile. The stream of Hippocrene +rolls down golden sands: equals of all, they never hear the +language of protection, and gourmandise overwhelms them with its +choicest favours. + +Men of letters are courted on account of their talent, and because +their conversation is in general piquant, and because it has for +some time been established, that every society should have its man +of letters. + +These gentlemen always come a little too late: they are not +however received the most on that account, for they have been +anxiously expected: they are petted up to induce them to come +again, are flattered to make them brilliant, and as they find all +this very natural, they grow used to it and become genuine +gourmands. + + DEVOTEES. + +Among the friends of gourmandise are many very devout persons. + +By the word devotee, we understand what Louis XIV. and Moliere +did, persons the piety of whom consists in external observances; +pious and charitable persons have nothing to do with this class. + +Let us see how they effect this--among those who work out their +salvation, the greatest number seek the mildest method. Those who +avoid society, sleep on the ground and wear hair cloth, are always +exceptions. + +Now there are to them certain damnable things never to be +permitted, such as balls, plays, and other amusements. + +While they and those who enjoy them are abominated, gourmandise +assumes an altogether different aspect, and becomes almost +theological. + +Jure divino, man is the king of nature and all that earth creates +was produced for him. For him the quail becomes fat, the mocha has +its perfume, and sugar becomes beneficial to the health. + +Why then should we not use with suitable moderation the goods +which Providence offers us, especially as we continue to look on +them as perishable things, and as they exalt our appreciation of +the Creator. + +Other not less weighty reasons strengthen these--can we receive +too kindly those persons who take charge of our souls? Should we +not make a meeting with them pleasant and agreeable? + +Sometimes the gifts of Comus come unexpectedly. An old college +companion, an old friend, a penitent who humbles himself, a +kinsman who makes himself known or a protege recalls them. + +This has ever been the case. + +Convents were the true ware-houses of the most adorable delacies: +for that reason they have been so much regretted. [Footnote: The +best liquors in France were made of the Visitandines. The monks of +Niort invented the conserve of Angelica, and the bread flavoured +with orange flowers by the notes of Chiteau-Thierry is yet +famous. The nuns of Belley used also to make a delicious conserve +of nuts. Alas, it is lost, I am afraid.] + +Many monastic orders, especially the Bernardins paid great +attention to good cheer. The cooks of the clergy reached the very +limits of the art, and M. de Pressigny (who died Archbishop of +Besancon) returned from the conclave which elected Pro Sesto, he +said the best dinner he ate in Rome was given by the General of +the Capuchins. + + CHEVALIERS AND ABBES. + +We cannot bring this article to a better end than to make an +honourable mention of two corporations we saw in all their glory: +we mean the Chevaliers and the Abbes. + +How completely gourmand they were. Their expanded nostrils, their +acute eyes, and coral lips could not he mistaken, neither could +their gossiping tongue; each class, however, ate in a peculiar +manner. + +There was something military in the bearing of the Chevaliers. +They ate their delicacies with dignity, worked calmly, and cast +horizontal looks of approbation at both the master and mistress of +the house. + +The Abbes however, used to come to the table with more care, and +reached out their hands as the cat snatches chestnuts from the +fire. Their faces were all enjoyment, and there was a +concentration about their looks more easy to conceive of, than to +describe. + +As three-fourths of the present generation have seen nothing like +either the Abbes, or Chevaliers, and as it is necessary to +understand them, to be able to appreciate many books written in +the eighteenth century, we will borrow from the author of the +Historical Treatise on Duels, a few pages which will fully satisfy +all persons about this subject. (See Varieties, No. 20.) + + LONGEVITY OF GOURMANDS. + +I am happy, I cannot be more so, to inform my readers that good +cheer is far from being injurious, and that all things being +equal, gourmands live longer than other people. This was proved by +a scientific dissertation recently read at the academy, by Doctor +Villermet. + +He compares the different states of society, in which good cheer +is attended to, with those where no attention is paid to it, and +has passed through every scale of the ladder. He has compared the +various portions of Paris, in which people were more or less +comfortable. All know that in this respect there is extreme +difference, as for instance between the Faubourg St. Antoine and +the Chaussee d' Antin. + +The doctor extended his research to the departments of France, and +compared the most sterile and fertile together, and always +obtained a general result in favor of the diminution of mortality, +in proportion universally as the means of subsistence improve. +Those who cannot well sustain themselves will be at least wise, to +know that death will deliver them soon. + +The two extremes of this progression are, that in the most highly +favored ranks of life but one individual in fifty dies, while of +those who are poorer four do. + +Those who indulge in good cheer, are rarely, or never sick. Alas! +they often fall into the domain of the faculty, who call them good +patients: as however they have no great degree of vitality, and +all portions of their organization are better sustained, nature +has more resources, and the body incomparably resists destruction. + +This physiological truth may be also sustained by history, which +tells us that as often as impervious circumstances, such as war, +sieges, the derangement of seasons, etc., diminish the means of +subsistence, such times have ever been accompanied by contagious +disease and a great increase of mortality. + +The idea of Lafarge would beyond a doubt have succeeded in Paris, +if those who had advanced it had introduced into their +calculations the truths developed by Doctor Villermet. + +They calculated mortality according to Buffoon's tables, and those +of Parcieux and others, all of which were based on the aggregate +of all classes and conditions. Those who made the estimate, +however, forgot the dangers of infancy, indulged in general +calculations, and the speculation failed. + +This may not have been the only, hut it was the principal cause. + +For this observation, we are indebted to the Professor Pardessus. + +M. de Belloy, archbishop of Paris, had a slight appetite, but a +very distinct one. He loved good cheer and I have often seen his +patriarchal face lighten up at the appearance of any choice dish. +Napoleon always on such occasions paid him deference and respect. + + MEDITATION XIII. + + GASTRONOMICAL TESTS. + +IN the preceding chapter, we have seen that the distinctive +characteristics of those who have more pretension than right to +the honors of gourmandise, consists in the fact, that, at the best +spread table, their eyes are dull and their face inanimate. + +They are not worthy of having treasures, when they do not +appreciate what is exhibited to them. It, however, was very +interesting for us to point them out, and we have sought every +where for information on so important a matter, as who should be +our guests and our hosts. + +We set about this with an anxiety which ensures success, and, in +consequence of our perseverance, we are able to present to the +corps of amphitryon, gastronomical tests, a discovery which will +do honor to the nineteenth century. + +By gastronomical tests, we mean dishes of so delicious a flavor +that their very appearance excites the gustatory organs of every +healthy man. The consequence is, that all those who do not evince +desire, and the radiancy of ecstasy, may very properly be set down +as unworthy of the honours of the society and the pleasures +attached to them. + +The method of TESTS duly deliberated on, and examined in the great +council, has been described in the golden book, in words of an +unchangeable tongue, as follows: + +Utcumque ferculum, eximii et bene noti saporis appositum fuerit, +fiat autopsia convivoe; et nisi facies ejus ae oculi vertantur ad +ecstasim, notetur ut indignus. + +This was rendered into the vernacular, by the translator of the +grand council, as follows: + +"Whenever a dish of a distinguished and good flavor is served, the +guests should be attentively watched, and those, the faces of whom +do not express pleasure, should be marked as unworthy." + +Tests are relative, and should be proportioned to the various +classes of society. All things considered, it should be arranged +so as to create admiration and surprise. It is a dynameter, the +power of which should increase as we ascend in society. The test +for a householder in La Rue Coquenard, would not suit a second +clerk, and would be unnoticed at the table of a financier, or a +minister. + +In the enumeration of the dishes we think worthy of being +considered as tests, we will begin at the lowest grade, and will +gradually ascend so as to elucidate the theory, so that all may +not only use it with benefit, but also invent a new series +calculated for the sphere in which they chance to be placed. + +We will now give a list of the dishes we think fit to be served as +tests; we have divided them into three series of gradual ascents, +following the order indicated above. + + GASTRONOMICAL TESTS. + + FIRST SERIES.--INCOME OF 5,000 FRANCS. + +A breast of veal baked in its own juice. + +A turkey stuffed with Lyons chestnuts. + +Baked pigeons. + +Eggs a la neige. + +Sourkrout, with sausages dressed with lard, fume de Strasburg. + +EXPRESSION. "Peste; that looks well; let us pay our devoirs to +it." + + SECOND SERIES.--INCOME 15,000 FRANCS. + +A filet de boeuf pique, and baked in its juice, with pickles. + +A quarter of Chevreuil. + +Turbot plain. + +A Turkey Truffee. + +Petits pois. + +EXCLAMATION. "My dear sir, this is pleasant indeed!" + + THIRD SERIES.--INCOME 30,000 FRANCS, OR MORE. + +A fowl weighing seven pounds, stuffed with truffles, so that it +has become a spheroid. + +A patte perigord in the form of a bastion. + +A cask a la Chambord richly dressed and decorated. + +A pike stuffed with craw-fish secundum artum. + +A pheasant dressed a la sainte alliance. + +Asparagus, large as possible, served up in osmazome. + +Two dozen ortolans a la provencale, as the dish is described in +the Cook's Secretary. + +A pyramid of sweet meats, flavored with rose and vanilla. + +EXPRESSION. "Monsieur, or Monseigneur, your cook is a man of +mind. Such dishes we eat only at your house." + + MEDITATION XIV. + + ON THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE. + +MAN of all the animals who live on the earth, is beyond doubt, the +one who experiences most suffering. + +Nature condemned him to suffering by robbing him of hair, by +giving him such a peculiar formation of his feet, also by the +instinct of destruction, and of war which has followed man every +where. + +Animals have never been stricken with this curse, and with the +exception of a few contests, caused by the instinct of +reproduction, harm would be absolutely unknown to the lower +animals of creation. Man, though he cannot appreciate pleasure +except by a small number of organs, may yet be liable to intense +agony. + +This decree of destiny was engraved by a crowd of maladies, which +originated in the social system. The result is that the most +intense pleasure one can imagine, cannot atone for certain pains, +such as the gout, the tooth-ache, etc., acute rheumatisms, +strictures, and many other diseases we might mention. + +This practical fear of pain has had the effect, that without even +perceiving it, man has rushed into an opposite direction, and has +devoted himself to the small number of pleasures nature has placed +at his disposal. + + ORIGIN OF THE PLEASURES OF THE TABLE. + +Meals, as we understand the word, began at the second stage of the +history of humanity. That is to say as soon as we ceased to live +on fruits alone. The preparation and distribution of food made the +union of the family a necessity, at least once a day. The heads of +families then distributed the produce of the chase, and grown +children did as much for their parents. + +These collections, limited at first to near relations, were +ultimately extended to neighbors and friends. + +At a later day when the human species was more widely extended, +the weary traveler used to sit at such boards and tell what he had +seen in foreign lands. Thus hospitality was produced, and its +rights were recognized everywhere. There was never any one so +ferocious as not to respect him who had partaken of his bread and +salt. + +DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE PLEASURE OF EATING AND THE PLEASURES OF +THE TABLE. + +Such from the nature of things, should be the elements of the +pleasures of the table which, where eating is a necessity, of +course takes the precedence. + +The pleasure of eating is a peculiar sensation directed to the +satisfaction of a necessity. The pleasures of the table is a +reflected sensation, originating in various facts, places, things +and persons. + +We share with animals in the pleasure of eating. They and we have +hunger which must he satisfied. + +It is peculiar to the human race, for it supposes a predisposition +for food, for the place of meeting, and for guests. + +The pleasures of the table exact, if not hunger, at least +appetite. The table is often independent of hoth the one and the +other. + +This we may see at every entertainment. + +At the first course every one eats and pays no attention to +conversation; all ranks and grades are forgotten together in the +great manufacture of life. When, however, hunger begins to be +satisfied, reflection begins, and conversation commences. The +person who, hitherto, had been a mere consumer, becomes an amiable +guest, in proportion as the master of all things provides him with +the means of gratification. + +EFFECTS. + +The pleasures of the table afford neither ravishing pleasure, +ecstasy, nor transport, but it gains in intensity what it loses in +duration. It is the more valuable because it exposes us to all +other gratifications and even consoles us for their loss. + +After a good dinner body and soul enjoy a peculiar happiness. + +Physically, as the brain becomes refreshed, the face lightens up, +the colors become heightened, and a glow spreads over the whole +system. + +Morally, the mind becomes sharpened, witticisms circulate. If La +Farre and Saint Aulaire descend to posterity with the reputation +of spiritual authors, they owe it especially to the fact that they +were pleasant guests. + +Besides, there are often found collected around the same table, +all the modifications of society which extreme sociability has +introduced among us: love, friendship, business, speculation, +power, ambition, and intrigue, all enhance conviviality. Thus it +is that it produces fruits of all imaginable flavors. + +ACCESSORIES. + +An immediate consequence of all these antecedents is that human +industry has toiled to augment the duration of the gratifications +of the table. + +Poets complain that the throat is too short for the uses of +degustation, and others lament the want of capacity of the +stomach. Some even regret that digestion is accomplished in a +single act and not divided into two. + +This was but an extreme effort to amplify the enjoyments of taste; +in this respect, however, it is impossible to exceed the limits +imposed by nature, and an appeal was made to accessories, which +offered more latitude. + +Vases and goblets were crowned with flowers; crowns were +distributed to the guests, and dinners served beneath the vault of +heaven, in groves, and amid all the wonders of nature. + +Music and song were made to increase the pleasures of the table. +Thus while the king of the Pheacians ate, the singer Phemius sang +the praises of the wars and warriors of other days. + +Often dancers and pantomimists of both sexes, in all possible +costumes, occupied the attention without injuring the pleasure of +the meal. The most exquisite perfumes were diffused in the air, +and guests were often waited on by unveiled beauty, so that every +sense was appealed to. + +I might consume many pages in proving what I advance. The Greek +authors and our old chroniclers only need to be copied. These +researches, however, only need to be made to be evident, and my +erudition would be of little value + +THE 18TH AND 19TH CENTURY. + +We have adopted to a greater or less degree various methods of +enjoyment, and have, by new discoveries, somewhat enhanced the +number. + +The delicacy of our tastes would not permit the vomitoria of the +Romans to remain. We did better, however, and accomplished the +same object in a more pleasant manner. + +Dishes of such an attractive flavor have been increased that they +perpetually reproduce the appetite. They are so light that they +flatter the appetite without loading the stomach. Seneca would +have called them NUBES ESCULENTAS. + +We have advanced so far in alimentation that if business called us +from the table, or if it became necessary for us to sleep, the +duration of the meal would have been almost indeterminable. + +One must not, however, believe that all of these accessories are +indispensable to the pleasures of the table. Pleasure is enjoyed +in almost all its extent when the following conditions are united: +good cheer, good wine, a pleasant company, and time. + +I have often, therefore, wished to have been present at one of +those pleasant repasts which Horace invited one of his neighbors +to share, viz: a good chicken, a lamb (doubtless fat,) and as a +desert, grapes, figs and nuts. Uniting these to wine, made when +Manlius was consul, and the delicious conversation of the poet, I +fancy I could have supped very pleasantly. + +At mihi cum longum post tempus venerat hospes Sive operum vacuo, +longum conviva per imbrem Vicinus, bene erat non piscibus urbe +petitis, Sed pullo atque hasdo, tum [Footnote: Le dessert se +trouve precisement designe et distingue par l'adverbe TUM et par +les mots SECUNDAS MENSAS.] pensilis uva secundas Et nux ornabat +mensas, cum duplice ficu. Thus it was only yesterday I regaled six +friends with a boiled leg of mutton and a kidney A L'PONTOISE. +They indulged in the pleasures of conversation so fully that they +forgot that there were richer meats or better cooks. + +On the other hand, let persons make as much research as possible +for good cheer; there is no pleasure at the table if the wine be +bad, and the guests collected without care. Faces will then be +sure to seem sad, and the meal will be eaten without, +consideration. + +SUMMARY. + +But perhaps the impatient reader will ask how, in the year of +grace 1825, can any table be spread which will unite all of these +conditions? + +I will answer this question. Be attentive, readers. Gasterea, the +most attractive of the muses, inspires me. I will be as clear as +an oracle, and my precepts will live for centuries:-- + +"Let the number of guests never exceed twelve, so that the +conversation may be general. + +"Let them he so chosen that their occupations may be varied, their +tastes analogous, and that they may have such points of contact +that introduction may be useless. + +"Let the dining-room be furnished with luxury, the table clean, +and the temperature of the room about 16 degrees Reaumur. + +"Let the men be intelligent, but not pedantic--and the women +pretty, but not coquettes. + +"Let the dishes be of exquisite taste, but few in number at the +first course; let those of the second be as pleasant and as highly +perfumed as possible. + +"Let the coffee be hot, and let the master select his own wines. + +"Let the reception-room be large enough to permit those who cannot +do without the amusement, to make up a card party, and also for +little COTERIES of conversation. + +"Let the guests be retained by the pleasures of society, and by +the hope that the evening will not pass without some ulterior +enjoyment + +"The tea should not be too strong, the roast dishes should be +loaded artistically, and the punch made carefully. + +"None should begin to retire before eleven o'clock, and at +midnight all should have gone to bed. + +"If any one has been present at an entertainment uniting all these +conditions, he may boast of having witnessed his own apotheosis. +He will enjoy it the more, because many other apotheosis have been +forgotten or mistaken." + +I have said that the pleasure of the table, as I have described +it, was susceptible of long duration, and I am about to prove it +by the history of the longest meal I ever was present at. It is a +BONBON I give the reader as a reward for patient attention to me. +Here it is:- + +I had a family of kinsfolk in the Rue de Bac, constituted as +follows: a doctor, who was seventy-eight; a captain, who was +seventy-six; and their sister, Jeannette, who was sixty-four. I +used to visit them sometimes, and they always received me kindly. + +"PARBLEU!" said Doctor Dubois, rising on his toes one day to tap +me on the shoulder; "you have a long time been bragging about your +FONDUES, (eggs and cheese,) and you always make our mouths water. +The captain and I will come to dine with you, and we will see what +your famous dish is." (This took place about 1801.) "Willingly," +said I, "and to enable you to see it in all its glory, I will cook +it myself. I am delighted with your proposition, and wish you to +come punctually at ten to-morrow." + +At the appointed time my guests came, clean shaved, and with their +heads powdered. They were two little old men; yet fresh, however, +and well. They smiled with pleasure when they saw the table ready, +set with three covers, and with two dozen oysters by each plate. +At the two ends of the table were bottles of Sauterne, carefullly +wiped, except the cork, which indicated that it had been long +bottled. Alas! I have gradually seen oysters disappear from +breakfast, though they were once so common. They disappeared with +the ABBES, who never ate less than a gross; and the CHEVALIERS, +who ate quite as many. I regret them but as a philosopher. If time +modifies governments, how great must be its influence over simple +usages. After the oysters, which were very good, grilled kidneys, +a PATE of FOIE GRAS with truffles, and then the FONDUE. + +The elements had been put in a chafing-dish, and brought to the +table with spirits of wine. I set at once to work, and my two +cousins watched every motion I made. + +They were delighted, and asked for the recipe, which I promised, +telling them two anecdotes, which the reader will perhaps meet +with elsewhere. + +After the FONDUE we had the various fruits which were in season, +and a cup of real mocha, made A LA DU BELLOY, which was then +becoming fashionable. We ended with two kinds of LIQUEURS. + +Breakfast being over, I invited my two kinsmen to take a little +exercise, and to accompany me through my lodgings, which are far +from being elegant, and which my friends, in consequence of their +size and splendor, prefer to the gilding and OR MOLU of the reign +of Louis XV. + +I showed them the original bust of my pretty cousin, Mme. Recamier +by Chinard, and her miniature by Augustin. They were so much +pleased, that the Doctor kissed the latter with his thick lips, +and the Captain took a liberty with the bust of the first, for +which I reproved him. Were all the admirers of the original to do +as he did, the bust would soon be in the condition of the famous +statue of St. Peter at Borne, which the kisses of pilgrims have +worn away. + +I showed them afterwards, casts of old statuary, some pictures, +which are not without merit, my guns, my musical instruments, and +several fine editions of the French and foreign classics. + +They did not forget the kitchen in their voyage of discovery. I +showed them my economical furnace, my turnspit by clock-work, my +roasting apparatus, and my vaporiser. They were much surprised, as +every thing in their house was done in the style of the regency. + +Just as we were about to enter the room, the clock struck two. +"Peste!" said the Doctor, "the dinner time and Jeannette awaits +us; we must go, not because I wish to eat, but I must have my bowl +of soup like Titus DIEM PERDIDI." "My dear Doctor," said I, "why +go so far? what is here? Send some to my cousin and remain here, +if you will, and accept my apology for a somewhat hasty dinner and +you will delight me." + +There was an ocular consultation on the matter between the two +brothers, and I at once sent a messenger to the Faubourg St. +Germain. I also told my cook what I wished. After a time, in part +with his own resources and from the neighboring restaurants, he +served us up a very comfortable little dinner. + +It was a great gratification to me, to see the SANG FROID and +quiet nerve with which my kinsmen sat down, unfolded their napkins +and began. They met with two surprises which I did not anticipate; +I gave them PARMESAN with soup, and a glass of dry Madeira. These +two novelties had just been introduced by M. De Tallyrand, the +first of our diplomatists, to whom we are indebted for so many +shrewd expressive words, and whom public attention has always +followed with marked interest even when he had retired. + +Dinner passed very comfortably, and as far as the substantiate and +the accessories were concerned, my friends were as agreeable as +they were merry. + +After dinner, I proposed a game of PIQUET, which they refused, +preferring, as the Captain said, IL FAR NIENTE of the Italians, +and we sat around the fireplace. + +In spite of the pleasures of the FAR NIENTE, I have often thought +that nothing enlivens conversation more than any occupation which +distracts but does not absorb all coversation. + +Tea was a novelty to the French at that time. They however took +it; I made it in their presence, and they took it with greater +pleasure, because, hitherto they had only looked on it as a +remedy. + +Long observation had informed me, that one piece of complaisance +ever brings on another, and that after one step there is no choice +but to continue in the same route. + +"You will kill me," said the Doctor. "You will make me drunk," +said the Captain. I made no reply, but rang for rum, sugar, and +lemons. I made some punch, and while I was preparing some, +excellent well buttered toast was also prepared. + +My cousins protested that they could not eat a morsel more; but, +as I was familliar with the attraction of this simple preparation, +I insisted, and the Captain having taken the first slice, I had no +hesitation in ordering more. + +Time rolled on, and the clock was on the stroke of eight. "Let us +go," said the worthies, "for we must eat a salad with our sister, +who has not seen us to day." + +I did not object, and accompanied the two pleasant old men to +their carriage, and saw them leave. + +Perhaps, the question may be asked, if their long visit did not +annoy me. + +I answer, no. The attention of my guests was sustained by the +preparation of the FONDUE, by their examination of my rooms, by a +few novelties after dinner, by the tea, and especially by the +punch, which was the best they had ever tasted. + +The Doctor, too, knew all the genealogy and history of the people +of Paris. The Captain had passed a portion of his life in Italy, +either as a soldier or as envoy to the Court of Parma. I had +travelled much, and conversation pursued its natural bent. Under +such circumstances time could not but fly rapidly. + +On the next day, a letter from the Doctor informed me, that their +little debauch had done them no harm, but that after a quiet +night's rest, they awoke convinced that they could go over the +whole matter again. + +MEDITATION XV. + +HALTES DE CHASSE. + +AMID all the circumstances in life, when eating is considered +valuable, one of the most agreeable is, doubtless, when there is a +pause in the chase. It alone may be prolonged the most without +ennui. + +After a few hours exercise, the most eager huntsman feels a +necessity for rest. His face needs caressing by the morning +breeze: he halts, however, not from necessity, but by that +instinctive impulse which tells him that his activity is not +indefinite. + +Shade attracts him, the turf receives him, the murmur of the +rivulet advises him to open the flask he has brought to revive +himself I with. [Footnote: For such purposes, I prefer white wine; +it resists heat better than any other.] Thus placed, he takes out +the little well baked loaves, uncovers the cold chicken some kind +hand has placed in his havresack, and finds the piece of gruyere +or roquefort, which is to represent a dessert. + +While he makes these preparations, he is accompanied by the +faithful animal God has created for him; co-operation has overcome +distance. They are two friends, and the servant is at once happy +and proud to be the guest of his master. + +It is an appetite equally unknown to the worldly and devotees: the +first do not allow hunger time to come: the second never indulge +in exercises which produce it. + +The repast being prepared, each has its portion; why not sleep for +a while? Noon is an hour of rest for all creation. + +The pleasures are decuples by being shared with friends. In this +case, a more abundant meal is brought in military chests now +employed for both purposes. All speak of the prowess of one, the +messes at the other, and of the anticipations of the evening. + +What if one should come provided with one of those vases +consecrated to Bacchus, where artificial cold ices the madrin, the +strawberry, and pine-apple juice, those delicious flavors which +spread through the whole system a luxury unknown to the profane. + +We have not, however, reached the last term of progression of +pleasure. + +LADIES. + +There are times when our wives, sisters, and cousins are invited +to share in these amusements. At the appointed hour, light +carriages, prancing horses, etc., hearing ladies collect. The +toilette of the ladies is half military, and half coquette. The +professor will, if he be observant, catch a glimpse of things not +intended for his eye. + +The door of the carriages will soon be opened, and a glimpse will +be had of pates de Perigord, the wonders of Strasburg, the +delicacies of d'Achard, and all that the best laboratories produce +that is transportable. + +They have not forgotten foaming champagne, a fit ornament for the +hand of beauty. They sit on the grass--corks fly, all laugh, jest, +and are happy. Appetite, this emenation of heaven, gives to the +meal a vivacity foreign to the drawing-room, however well +decorated it may be. + +All, however, must end; the oldest person present gives the +signal; all arise, men take their guns, and the ladies their hats- +-all go, and the ladies disappear until night. + +I have hunted in the centre of France, and in the very depths of +the departments. I have seen at the resting places carriage loads +of women of radiant beauty, and others mounted on a modest ass, +such as composes the fortunes of the people of Montmorency. I have +seen them first laugh at the inconveniences of the mode of +transportation, and then spread on the lawn a turkey, with +transparent jelly, and a salad ready prepared. I have seen them +dance around a fire lighted for the occasion, and have +participated in the pleasures of this gypsy sport. I am sure so +much attraction with so little luxury is never met with elsewhere. + +Les haltes de la chasse are a yet virgin subject which we have +only touched, we leave the subject to any one who pleases to take +a fancy to it. + +MEDITATION XVI. + +ON DIGESTION. + +We never see what we eat, says an old adage, except what we +digest. + +How few, however, know what digestion is, though it is a necessity +equalizing rich and poor, the shepherd and the king. + +The majority of persons who, like M. Jourdan, talked prose without +knowing it, digest without knowing how; for them I make a popular +history of digestion, being satisfied that M. Jourdan was much +better satisfied when his master told him that he wrote prose. To +he fully acquainted with digestion, one must know hoth its +antecedents and consequents. + +INGESTION. + +Appetite, hunger, and thirst, warn us that the hody needs +restoration; pain, that universal monitor, never ceases to torment +us if we do not obey it. + +Then comes eating and drinking which are ingestion, an operation +which begins as soon as the food is in the mouth, and enters the +oesophagus. + +During its passage, through a space of a few inches much takes +place. + +The teeth divide solid food, the glands which line the inside of +the mouth moisten it, the tongue mingles the food, presses it +against the palate so as to force out the juice, and then collects +the elements in the centre of the mouth, after which, resting on +the lower jaw, it lifts up the central portion forming a kind of +inclined plane to the lower portion of the mouth where they are +received by the pharynx, which itself contracting, forces them +into the oesophagus. + +One mouthful having thus been treated, a second is managed in the +same way, and deglutition continues until appetite informs us that +it is time to stop. It is rarely, though, that it stops here, for +as it is one of the attributes of man to drink without thirst, +cooks have taught him to eat without hunger. + +To ensure every particle of food reaching the stomach, two dangers +must be avoided. + +It must not pass into the passage behind the nose, which luckily +is covered by a veil. + +The second is that it must not enter the trachea. This is a +serious danger, for any particle passing into the trachea, would +cause a convulsive cough, which would last until it was expelled. + +An admirable mechanism, however, closes the glottis while we +swallow, and we have a certain instinct which teaches us not to +breathe during deglutition. In general, therefore, we may say, +that in spite of this strange conformation, food passes easily +into the stomach, where the exercise of the will ceases, and +digestion begins. + +DUTY OF THE STOMACH. + +Digestion is a purely mechanical operation and the digestive +apparatus, may be considered as a winnowing mill, the effect of +which is, to extract all that is nutritious and to get rid of the +chaff. + +The manner in which digestion is effcted has been so long a +question for argument, and persons have sought to ascertain if it +were effected by coction, fermentation, solution, chemical, or +vital action. + +All of these modes have their influence, and the only error was +that many causes were sought to be attributed to one. + +In fact food impregnated by all fluids which fill the mouth and +oesophagus, reaches the stomach where it is impregnated by the +gastric juices, which always fill it. It is then subjected for +several hours to a heat of 30 [degrees] Reaumer; it is mingled by +the organic motion of the stomach, which their presence excites. +They act on each other by the effect of this juxtaposition and +fermentation must take place. All that is nourishing ferments. + +In consequence of all of these operations, chyle is elaborated and +spread over the food, which then passes the pylorus and enters the +intestines. Portion after portion succeeds until the stomach is +empty, thus evacuating itself as it was filled. + +The pylorus is a kind of chamber between the stomach and the +intestines, so constructed that food once in it can ascend only +with great difficulty. This viscera is sometimes obstructed when +the sufferer, after long and intense agony, dies of hunger. + +The next intestine beyond the pylorus is the duodenum. It is so +called because it is twelve fingers long. + +When chyle reaches the duodenum, it receives a new elaboration by +being mingled with bile and the panchreatic juice. It loses the +grey color and acidity it previously possessed, becomes yellow and +commences to assume a stercoral odor, which increases as it +advances to the rectum. The various substances act reciprocally on +each other; there must, consequently, be many analagous gasses +produced. + +The impulse which ejected chyle from the stomach, continues and +forces the food towards the lower intestines, there the chyle +separates itself and is absorbed by organs intended for the +purpose, whence it proceeds to the liver, to mingle with the +blood, which it revives, and thus repairs the losses of the vital +organs and of transpiration. + +It is difficult to explain how chyle, which is a light and almost +insipid fluid, can be extracted from a mass, the color of which, +and the taste, are so deeply pronounced. + +Be that as it may, the preparation of chyle appears to be the true +object of digestion, and as soon as it mingles with the +circulation, the individual becomes aware of a great increase of +physical power. + +The digestion of fluids is less complicated than that of solids, +and can be explained in a few words. + +The purely liquid portion is absorbed by the stomach, and thrown +into circulation; thence it is taken to the veins by the arteries +and filtered by urethras, [Footnote: These urethras are conduits +of the size of a pea, which start from the kidneys, and end at the +upper neck of the bladder.] which pass them as urine, to the +bladder. + +When in this last receptacle, and though restrained by the +spinchter muscle, the urine remains there but a brief time; its +exciting nature causes a desire to avoid it, and soon voluntary +constriction emits it through canals, which common consent does +not permit us to name. + +Digestion varies in the time it consumes, according to the +temperament of individuals. The mean time, however, is seven +hours, viz., three hours for the stomach, and the rest of the time +for the lower intestines. + +From this expose which I have selected from the most reliable +authors, I have separated all anatomical rigidities, and +scientific abstractions. My readers will thence be able to judge +where the last meal they ate is: viz., during the first three +hours in the stomach, later in the intestinal canal, and after +seven hours, awaiting expulsion. + +INFLUENCE OF DIGESTION. + +Of all corporeal operations, digestion is the one which has the +closest connection with the moral condition of man. + +This assertion should amaze no one; things cannot be otherwise. + +The principles of physiology tells us that the soul is liable to +impressions only in proportion as the organs subjected to it have +relation to external objects, whence it follows that when these +organs are badly preserved, badly restored, or irritated, this +state of degradation exerts a necessary influence on sensations, +which are the intermediates of mental operations. + +Thus the habitual manner in which digestion is performed or +affected, makes us either sad, gay, taciturn, gossiping morose or +melancholy, without our being able to doubt the fact, or to resist +it for a moment. + +In this respect, humanity may be arranged under three categories; +the regular, the reserved, and the uncertain. + +Each of the persons who belong to each of the series, not only +have similar dispositions, and propensities, but there is +something analagous and similar in the manner in which they +fulfill the mission from which chance during their lives has +separated them. + +To exhibit an example, I will go into the vast field of +literature. I think men of letters frequently owe all their +characteristics to their peculiar mode of life. Comic poets must +be of one kind, tragic poets of another, and elegiac, of the +uncertain class. The most elegiac and the most comic are only +separated by a variety of digestive functions. + +By an application of this principle to courage, when Prince Eugene +of Savoy, was doing the greatest injury to France, some one said, +"Ah, why can I not send him a pate de foie gras, three times a +week I would make him the greatest sluggard of Europe." + +"Let us hurry our men into action, while a little beef is left in +their bowels," said an English general. + +Digestion in the young is very often accompanied by a slight +chill, and in the old, by a great wish to sleep. In the first +case, nature extracts the coloric from the surface to use it in +its laboratory. In the second, the same power debilitated by age +cannot at once satisfy both digestion and the excitement of the +senses. + +When digestion has just begun, it is dangerous to yield to a +disposition for mental work. One of the greatest causes of +mortality is, that some men after having dined, and perhaps too +well dined, can neither close their eyes nor their ears. + +This observation contains a piece of advice, which should even +attract the most careless youth, usually attentive to nothing. It +should also arrest the attention of grown men, who forget nothing, +not even that time never pauses, and which is a penal law to those +on the wrong side of fifty. + +Some persons are fretful while digestion is going on. At that +time, nothing should be suggested to and no favors asked of them. + +Among these was marshal Augereau, who, during the first hour after +dinner, slaughtered friends and enemies indiscriminately. + +I have heard it said, that there were two persons in the army, +whom the general-in-chief always wished to have shot, the +commissary-in-chief and the head of his general staff. They were +both present. Cherin the chief of staff, talked back to him, and +the commissary, though he said nothing, did not think a bit the +less. + +At that time, I was attached to his general staff, and always had +a plate at his table. I used, however, to go thither rarely, being +always afraid of his periodical outbreaks, and that he would send +me to dinner to finish my digestion. + +I met him afterwards at Paris, and as he testified his regret that +he had not seen me oftener, I did not conceal the reason. We +laughed over the matter and he confessed that I was not wrong. + +We were then at Offenbourg, and a complaint was made by the staff +that we ate no game nor fish. + +This complaint was well founded, for it is a maxim, of public law, +that the conquerors should always live at the expense of the +conquered. On that very day I wrote a letter to the master of the +forests to point out a remedy. + +This official was an old trooper, who doubtless was unwilling to +treat us kindly lest we should take root in this territory. His +answer was negative and evasive. The game keepers, afraid of our +soldiers, had gone, the fishermen were insubordinate, the water +muddy, etc. To all this, I said nothing, but I sent him ten +grenadiers to be lodged and fed until further orders. + +The remedy was effective; for early on the next day after, I saw a +heavily loaded wagon come. The game-keepers had come back, the +fishermen were submissive; we had game and fish enough to last for +a week. + +We had kid, snipe, lark, pike, etc. + +When I received the offering, I freed the superintendent from his +troublesome guests, and during the whole time we remained in that +part of the country, we had nothing to complain of. + +MEDITATION XVII. + +REPOSE. + +MAN is not made to enjoy an indefinite activity; nature has +destined him to a variable existence, and his perceptions must end +after a certain time. This time of activity may be prolonged, by +varying the nature of the perceptions to be experienced, and a +continuity of life brings about a desire for repose. + +Repose leads to sleep, and sleep produces dreams. + +Here we find ourselves on the very verge of humanity, for the man +who sleeps is something more than a mere social being: the law +protects, but does not command him. + +Here a very singular fact told me by Dom Duhaget, once prior of +the Chartreuse convent of Pierre Chatel, presents itself. + +Dom Duhaget was a member of a very good family in Gascogne, and +had served with some distinction as a captain of infantry. He was +a knight of St Louis. I never knew any one, the conversation of +whom was more pleasant. + +"There was," said he, "before I went to Pierre Chatel, a monk of a +very melancholy humor, whose character was very sombre, and who +was looked upon as a somnambulist. + +"He used often to leave his cell, and when he went astray, people +were forced to guide him back again. Many attempts had been made +to cure him, but in vain. + +"One evening I had not gone to bed at the usual hour, but was in +my office looking over several papers, when I saw this monk enter +in a perfect state of somnambulism. + +"His eyes were open but fixed, and he was clad in the tunic in +which he should have gone to bed, but he had a huge knife in his +hand. + +"He came at once to my bed, the position of which he was familiar +with, and after having felt my hand, struck three blows which +penetrated the mattrass on which I laid. + +"As he passed in front of me his brows were knit, and I saw an +expression of extreme gratification pervaded his face. + +"The light of two lamps on my desk made no impression, and he +returned as he had come, opening the doors which led to his cell, +and I soon became satisfied that he had quietly gone to bed. + +"You may," said the Prior, "fancy my state after this terrible +apparition; I trembled at the danger I had escaped, and gave +thanks to Providence. My emotion, however, was so great that +during the balance of the night I could not sleep. + +"On the next day I sent for the somnambulist and asked him what he +had dreamed of during the preceding night. + +"When I asked the question he became troubled. 'Father,' said he, +'I had so strange a dream that it really annoys me; I fear almost +to tell you for I am sure the devil has had his hand in it.' 'I +order you to tell me,' said I, 'dreams are involuntary and this +may only be an illusion. Speak sincerely to me.' 'Father,' said +he,' I had scarcely gone to sleep when I dreamed that you had +killed my mother, and when her bloody shadow appeared to demand +vengeance, I hurried into your cell, and as I thought stabbed you. +Not long after I arose, covered with perspiration, and thanked God +that I had not committed the crime I had meditated.' 'It has been +more nearly committed,' said I, with a kind voice, 'than you +think.' + +"I then told him what had passed, and pointed out to him the blows +he had aimed at me. + +"He cast himself at my feet, and all in tears wept over the +involuntary crime he had thought to commit, and besought me to +inflict any penance I might think fit. + +"'No,' said I, 'I will not punish you for an involuntary act. +Henceforth, though I excuse you from the service of the night, I +inform you that your cell will be locked on the outside and never +be opened except to permit you to attend to the first mass.'" + +If in this instance, from which a miracle only saved him, the +Prior had been killed, the monk would not have suffered, for he +would have committed a homicide not a murder. + +TIME OF REST. + +The general laws of the globe we inhabit have an influence on the +human race. The alternatives of day and night are felt with +certain varieties over the whole globe, but the result of all this +is the indication of a season of quiet and repose. Probably we +would not have been the same persons had we lived all our lives +without any change of day or night. + +Be this as it may, when one has enjoyed for a certain length of +time a plentitude of life a time comes when he can enjoy nothing; +his impressibility gradually decreases, and the effects on each of +his senses are badly arranged. The organs are dull and the soul +becomes obtuse. + +It is easy to see that we have had social man under consideration, +surrounded by all the attractions of civilization. The necessity +of this is peculiarly evident to all who are buried either in the +studio, travel, as soldiers, or in any other manner. + +In repose our mother nature especially luxuriates. The man who +really reposes, enjoys a happiness which is as general as it is +indefinable; his arms sink by their own weight, his fibres +distend, his brain becomes refreshed, his senses become calm, and +his sensations obtuse. He wishes for nothing, he does not reflect, +a veil of gauze is spread before his eyes, and in a few moments he +will sink to sleep. + +MEDITATION XVIII. + +SLEEP. + +THOUGH some men be organized that they may be said not to sleep, +yet the great necessity of the want of sleep is well defined as is +hunger or thirst. The advanced sentinels of the army used often to +sleep though they filled their eyes with snuff. + +DEFINITION. + +Sleep is a physical condition, during which man separates himself +from external objects by the inactivity of his senses, and has +only a mechanical life. + +Sleep, like night, is preceded and followed by two twilights. The +one leads to inertion, the other to activity. + +Let us seek to elucidate these phenomena. + +When sleep begins, the organs of the senses fall almost into +inactivity. Taste first disappears, then the sight and smell. The +ear still is on the alert, and touch never slumbers. It ever warns +us of danger to which the body is liable. + +Sleep is always preceded by a more or less voluptuous sensation. +The body yields to it with pleasure, being certain of a prompt +restoration. The soul gives up to it with confidence, hoping that +its means of fiction will he retempered. + +From the fact of their not appreciating this sensation, savants of +high rank have compared sleep to death, which all living beings +resist as much as possible, and which even animals show a horror +of. + +Like all pleasures, sleep becomes a passion. Persons have been +known to sleep away three-quarters of their life. Like all other +passions it then exerts the worst influences, producing idleness, +indolence, sloth and death. + +The school of Salernum granted only seven hours to sleep without +distinction to sex or age. This maxim was too severe, for more +time is needed by children, and more should, from complaisance, be +granted to women. Though whenever more than ten hours is passed in +bed there is abuse. + +In the early hours of crepuscular sleep, will yet exists. We can +rouse ourselves, and the eye has not yet lost all its power. Non +omnibus dormio, said Mecenes, and in this state more than one +husband has acquired a sad certainty. Some ideas yet originate but +are incoherent. There are doubtful lights, and see indistinct +forms flit around. This condition does not last long, for sleep +soon becomes absolute. + +What does the soul do in the interim? It lives in itself, and like +a pilot in a calm, like a mirror at night, a lute that no one +touches, awakes new excitement. + +Some psycologists, among others the count of Redern, say that the +soul always acts. The evidence is, that a man aroused from sleep +always preserves a memory of his dreams. + +There is something in this observation, which deserves +verification. + +This state of annihilation, however, is of brief duration, never +exceeding more than five or six hours: losses are gradually +repaired, an obscure sense of existence manifests itself, and the +sleeper passes into the empire of dreams. + +MEDITATION XIX. + +DREAMS. + +Dreams are material impressions on the soul, without the +intervention of external objects. + +These phenomena, so common in ordinary times, are yet little +known. + +The fault resides with the savants who did not allow us a +sufficiently great number of instances. Time will however remedy +this, and the double nature of man will be better known. + +In the present state of science, it must be taken for granted that +there exists a fluid, subtle as it is powerful, which transmits to +the brain the impressions received by the senses. This excitement +is the cause of ideas. + +Absolute sleep is the deperdition or inertia of this fluid. + +We must believe that the labors of digestion and assimulation do +not cease during sleep, but repair losses so that there is a time +when the individual having already all the necessities of action +is not excited by external objects. + +Thus the nervous fluid--movable from its nature, passes to the +brain, through the nervous conduits. It insinuates itself into the +same places, and follows the old road. It produces the same, but +less intense effects. + +I could easily ascertain the reason of this. When man is impressed +by an external object, sensation is sudden, precise, and +involuntary. The whole organ is in motion. When on the contrary, +the same impression is received in sleep, the posterior portion of +the nerves only is in motion, and the sensation is in consequence, +less distinct and positive. To make ourselves more easily +understood, we will say that when the man is awake, the whole +system is impressed, while in sleep, only that portion near the +brain is affected. + +We know, however, that in voluptuous dreams, nature is almost as +much gratified as by our waking sensations; there is, however, +this difference in the organs, for each sex has all the elements +of gratification. + +When the nervous fluid is taken to our brain, it is always +collected in vats, so to say, intended for the use of one of our +senses, and for that reason, a certain series of ideas, preferable +to others, are aroused. Thus we see when the optic nerve is +excited, and hear when those of the ear are moved. Let us here +remark that taste and smell are rarely experienced in dreams. We +dream of flowers, but not of their perfume; we see a magnificently +arranged table, but have no perception of the flavor of the +dishes. + +This is a subject of enquiry worthy of the most distinguished +science. We mean, to ascertain why certain senses are lost in +sleep, while others preserve almost their full activity. No +physiologist has ever taken care of this matter. + +Let us remark that the influences we are subject to when we sleep, +are internal. Thus, sensual ideas are nothing after the anguish we +suffer at a dream of the death of a loved child. At such moments +we awake to find ourselves weeping bitterly. + +NATURE OF DREAMS. + +Whimsical as some of the ideas which visit us in dreams may be, we +will on examination find they are either recollections, or +combinations of memory. I am inclined to say that dreams are the +memory of sensations. + +Their strangeness exists only in the oddity of association which +rejects all idea of law and of chronology, of propriety and time. +No one, however, ever dreamed of any thing absolutely unknown to +him. + +No one will be amazed at the strangeness of our dreams, when we +remember, that, when awake, our senses are on the alert, and +respectively rectify each other. When a man sleeps, however, every +sensation is left to his own resources. + +I am inclined to compare these two conditions of the brain, to a +piano at which some great musician sits, and who as he throws his +fingers over the keys recalls some melody which he might harmonize +if he use all his power. This comparison may be extended yet +further, when we remember that reflection is to ideas, what harmony +is to sounds; that certain ideas contain others, as a principle +sound contains the others which follow it, etc. etc. + +SYSTEM OF DR. GALL. + +Having followed thus far a subject which is not without interest, +I have come to the confines of the system of Dr. Gall who sustains +the multiformity of the organs of the brain. + +I cannot go farther, nor pass the limits I have imposed on myself: +yet from the love of science, to which it may be seen I am no +stranger, I cannot refrain from making known two observations I +made with care, and which are the more important, as many persons +will be able to verify them. + +FIRST OBSERVATION. + +About 1790 there was in a little village called Gevrin, in the +arrondissement of Belley a very shrewd tradesman named Landot, who +had amassed a very pretty fortune. + +All at once he was stricken with paralysis. The Doctors came to +his assistance, and preserved his life, not however without loss, +for all of his faculties especially memory was gone. He however +got on well enough, resumed his appetite and was able to attend to +his business. + +When seen to be in this state, all those with whom he ever had +dealings, thought the time for his revenge was come, and under the +pretext of amusing him, offered all kinds of bargains, exchanges, +etc. They found themselves mistaken, and had to relinquish their +hopes. + +The old man had lost none of his commercial faculties. Though he +forgot his own name and those of his servants, he was always +familiar with the price-current, and knew the exact value of every +acre and vineyard in the vicinity. + +In this respect his judgment had be en uninjured, and the +consequence was, that many of the assailants were taken in their +own snares. + +SECOND OBSERVATION. + +At Belley, there was a M. Chirol, who had served for a long time +in the gardes du corps of Louis XV. and XVI. + +He had just sense enough for his profession, but he was +passionately fond of all kinds of games, playing l'hombre, piquet, +whist, and any new game that from time to time might be +introduced. + +M. Chirol also became apoplectic and fell into a state of almost +absolute insensibility. Two things however were spared, his +faculty for digestion, and his passion for play. + +He used to go every day to a house he had been used to frequent, +sat in a corner and seemed to pay no attention to any thing that +passed around him. + +When the time came to arrange the card parties, they used to +invite him to take a hand. Then it became evident that the malady +which had prostrated the majority of his faculties, had not +affected his play. Not long before he died, M. Chirol gave a +striking proof that this faculty was uninjured. + +There came to Belley, a banker from Paris, the name of whom I +think was Delins. He had letters of introduction, he was a +Parisian, and that was enough in a small city to induce all to +seek to make his time pass agreeably as possible. + +Delins was a gourmand, and was fond of play. In one point of view +he was easily satisfied, for they used to keep him, every day, +five or six hours at the table. It was difficult, however, to +amuse his second faculty. He was fond of piquet and used to talk +of six francs a fiche, far heavier play than we indulged in. + +To overcome this obstacle, a company was formed in which each one +risked something. Some said that the people of Paris knew more +than we; and others that all Parisians were inclined to boasting. +The company was however formed, and the game was assigned to M. +Chirol. + +When the Parisian banker saw the long pale face, and limping form +opposed to him, he fancied at first, that he was the butt of joke: +when, however, he saw the artistic manner with which the spectre +handled the cards, he began to think he had an adversary worthy of +him, for once. + +He was not slow in being convinced that the faculty yet existed, +for not only in that, but in many other games was Delins so beaten +that he had to pay more than six hundred francs to the company, +which was carefully divided. + +RESULT. + +The consequences of these two observations are easily deduced. It +seems clear that in each case, the blow which deranged the brain, +had spared for a long time, that portion of the organ employed in +commerce and in gaming. It had resisted it beyond doubt, because +exercise had given it great power, and because deeply worked +impressions hatf exerted great influence on it. + +AGE. + +Age has great influence on the nature of dreams. + +In infancy we dream of games, gardens, flowers, and other smiling +objects; at a later date, we dream of pleasure, love, battles, and +marriages; later still we dream of princely favors, of business, +trouble and long departed pleasures. + +PHENOMENA OF DREAMS. + +Certain strange phenomena accompany sleep and dreams. Their study +may perhaps account for anthropomania, and for this reason I +record here, three observations, selected from a great many made +by myself during the silence of night. + +FIRST OBSERVATION. + +I dreamed one night, that I had discovered a means to get rid of +the laws of gravitation, so that it became as easy to ascend as +descend, and that I could do either as I pleased. + +This estate seemed delicious to me; perhaps many persons may have +had similar dreams. One curious thing however, occurs to me, which +I remember, I explained very distinctly to myself the means which +led me to such a result, and they seemed so simple, that I was +surprised I had not discovered it sooner. + +As I awoke, the whole explanation escaped my mind, but the +conclusion remained; since then, I will ever be persuaded of the +truth of this observation. + +SECOND OBSERVATION. + +A few months ago while asleep I experienced a sensation of great +gratification. It consisted in a kind of delicious tremor of all +the organs of which my body was composed, a violet flame played +over my brow. + +Lambere flamma comas, et circum temporo pasci. + +I think this physical state did not last more than twenty seconds, +and I awoke with a sensation of something of terror mingled with +surprise. + +This sensation I can yet remember very distinctly, and from +various observations have deduced the conclusion that the limits +of pleasure are not, as yet, either known or defined, and that we +do not know how far the body may be beatified. I trust that in the +course of a few centuries, physiology will explain these +sensations and recall them at will, as sleep is produced by opium, +and that posterity will be rewarded by them for the atrocious +agony they often suffer from when sleeping. + +The proposition I have announced, to a degree is sustained by +analogy, for I have already remarked that the power of harmony +which procures us such acute enjoyments, was totally unknown to +the Romans. This discovery is only about five hundred years old. + +THIRD OBSERVATION. + +In the year VIII (1800,) I went to bed as usual and woke up about +one, as I was in the habit of doing. I found myself in a strange +state of cerebral excitement, my preception was keen, my thoughts +profound; the sphere of my intelligence seemed increased, I sat up +and my eyes were affected with a pale, vaporous, uncertain light, +which, however, did, not enable me to distinguish objects +accurately. + +Did I only consult the crowd of ideas which succeeded so rapidly, +I might have fancied that this state lasted many hours; I am +satisfied, however, that it did not last more than half an hour, +an external accident, unconnected with volition, however, aroused +me from it, and I was recalled to the things of earth. + +When the luminous apparition disappeared, I became aware of a +sense of dryness, and, in fact, regained my waking faculties. As I +was now wide awake, my memory retained a portion of the ideas +(indistinctly) which crossed my mind. + +The first ideas had time as their subject. It seemed to me that +the past, present and future, became identical, were narrowed down +to a point, so that it was as easy to look forward into the +future, as back into the past. This is all I remember of this +first intuition, which was almost effaced by subsequent ones. + +Attention was then directed to the senses, which I followed in the +order of their perfection, and fancying that those should be +examined which were internal as well as external, I began to +follow them out. + +I found three, and almost four, when I fell again to earth. + +1. Compassion is a sensation we feel about the heart when we see +another suffer. + +2. Predilection is a feeling which attracts us not only to an +object, but to all connected with it. + +3. Sympathy is the feeling which attracts two beings together. + +From the first aspect, one might believe that these two sentiments +are one, and the same. They cannot, however, be confounded; for +predilection is not always reciprocal, while sympathy, must be. + +While thinking of compassion, I was led to a deduction I think +very just, and which at another time I would have overlooked. It +is the theory on which all legislation is founded. + +DO AS YOU WILL BE DONE BY. + +Alteri ne facias, quod tibi fieri non vis. + +Such is an idea of the state in which I was, and to enjoy it +again, I would willingly relinquish a month of my life. + +In bed we sleep comfortably, in a horizontal position and with the +head warm: Thoughts and ideas come quickly and abundantly; +expressions follow, and as to write one has to get up, we take off +the night cap and go to the desk. + +Things all at once seem to change. The examination becomes cold, +the thread of our ideas is broken; we are forced to look with +trouble, for what was found so easily, and we are often forced to +postpone study to another day. + +All this is easily explained by the effect produced on the brain +by a change of position. The influence of the physic and moral is +here experienced. + +Following out this observation, I have perhaps gone rather far, +but I have been induced to think that the excitability of oriental +nations, was, in a manner, due to the fact, that, in obedience to +the religion of Mahomet, they used to keep the head warm, for a +reason exactly contrary to that which induced all monastic +legislators to enjoin shaven crowns. + +MEDITATION XX. + +INFLUENCE OF DIET ON REST, SLEEP AND DREAMS. + +WHETHER man sleeps, eats, or dreams, he is yet subject to the laws +of nutrition and to gastronomy. + +Theory and experience, both admit that the quantity and quality of +food have a great influence on our repose, rest, and dreams. + +EFFECTS OF DIET ON LABOR. + +A man who is badly fed, cannot bear for a long time, the fatigues +of prolonged labor; his strength even abandons him, and to him +rest is only loss of power. + +If his labor be mental, his ideas are crude and undecided. +Reflection contributes nothing to them, nor does judgment analyze +them. The brain exhausts itself in vain efforts and the actor +slumbers on the battlefield. + +I always thought that the suppers of Auteuil and those of the +hotels of Rambouillet and Soissons, formed many of the authors of +the reign of Louis XIV. Geoffrey was not far wrong when he +characterised the authors of the latter part of the eighteenth +century as eau sucree. That was their habitual beverage. + +According to these principles, I have examined the works of +certain well known authors said to have been poor and suffering, +and I never found any energy in, them, except when they were +stimulated by badly conceived envy. + +On the eve of his departure for Boulogne, the Emperor Napoleon +fasted for thirty hours, both with his council and with the +various depositories of his power, without any refreshment other +than two very brief meals, and a few cups of coffee. + +Brown, mentions an admiralty clerk, who, having lost his +memorandum, without which he could not carry on his duty, passed +fifty-two consecutive hours in preparing them again. Without due +regimen, he never could have borne the fatigue and sustained +himself as follows:--At first, he drank water, then wine, and +ultimately took opium. + +I met one day a courier, whom I had known in the army, on his way +from Spain, whither he had been sent with a government dispatch. +(Correo ganando horas.) + +He made the trip in twelve days, having halted only four hours in +Madrid, to drink a few glasses of wine, and to take some soup. +This was all the nourishment he took during this long series of +sleepless nights and fatigues. He said that more solid sustenance +would have made it impossible for him to continue his journey. + +DREAMS. + +Diet has no trifling influence on sleep and dreams. + +A hungry man cannot sleep, for the pain he suffers keeps him +awake. If weakness or exhaustion overcome him, his slumber is +light, uneasy and broken. + +A person, however, who has eaten too much, sinks at once to sleep. +If he dreams, he remembers nothing of it, for the nervous fluid +has been intercepted in the passages. He awakes quickly, and when +awake is very sensible of the pains of digestion. + +We may then lay down, as a general rule, that coffee rejects +sleep. Custom weakens and even causes this inconvenience entirely +to disappear. Europeans, whenever they yield to it, always feel +its power. Some food, however, gently invites sleep; such as that +which contains milk, the whole family of letuces, etc., etc. + +CONSEQUENCE. + +Experience relying on a multitude of observations, has informed us +that diet has an influence on dreams. + +In general, all stimullkt food excites dreams, such as flock game, +ducks, venison and hare. + +This quality is recognised in asparagus, celery, truffles, +perfume, confectioneries and vanilla. + +It would be a great mistake to think that we should banish from +our tables all somniferous articles. The dreams they produce are +in general agreeable, light, and prolong our existence even when +it is suspended. + +There are persons to whom sleep is a life apart, and whose dreams +are serial, so that they end in one night a dream begun on the +night before. While asleep they distinguish faces they remember to +have seen, but which they never met with in the real world. + +RESULT. + +A person who reflects on his physical life and who does so +according to the principles we develop, is the one who prepares +sagaciously for rest, sleep and dreams. + +He distributes his labor so that he never over-tasks himself, he +lightens it and refreshes himself by brief intervals of rest, +which relieve him, without interrupting its continuity, sometimes +a duty. + +If longer rest is required during the day, he indulges in it only +in a sitting attitude; he refuses sleep unless he be forced +irresistibly to use it, and is careful not to make it habitual. + +When night brings about the hour of repose, he retires to an airy +room, does not wrap himself up in curtains, which make him breathe +the same air again and again, and never closes the blinds so that +when he wakes he will meet with at least one ray of light. + +He rests in a bed with the head slightly higher than the feet. His +pillow is of hair; his night cap of cloth and his breast +unincumbered by a mass of coverings; he is careful, however, to +keep his feet warm. + +He eats with discretion, and never refuses good and excellent +cheer. He drinks prudently, even the best wine. At dessert he +talks of gallantry more than of politics, makes more madrigals +than epigrams. He takes his coffee, if it suits his constitution, +and afterwards swallows a spoonful of liquor, though it he only to +perfume his breath. He is, in all respects, a good guest, and yet +never exceeds the limits of discretion. + +In this state, satisfied with himself and others, he lies down and +sinks to sleep. Mysterious dreams then give an agreeable life; he +sees those he loves, indulges in his favorite occupations, and +visits places which please him. + +Then he feels his slumber gradually pass away, and does not regret +the time he has lost, because even in his sleep, he has enjoyed +unmixed pleasure and an activity without a particle of fatigue. + +MEDITATION XXI. + +OBESITY. + +Were I a physician with a diploma, I would have written a whole +book on obesity; thus I would have acquired a domicil in the +domain of science, and would have had the double satisfaction of +having, as patients, persons who were perfectly well, and of being +besieged by the fairer portion of humanity. To have exactly fat +enough, not a bit too much, or too little, is the great study of +women of every rank and grade. + +What I have not done, some other person will do, and if he be +learned and prudent, (and at the same time a good-fellow,) I +foretell that he will have wonderful success. + +Exoriare aliquis nostris ex ossibus hoeres! + +In the intereim, I intend to prepare the way for him. A chapter on +obesity is a necessary concomitant of a book which relates so +exclusively to eating. + +Obesity is that state of greasy congestion in which without the +sufferer being sick, the limbs gradually increase in volume, and +lose their form and harmony. + +One kind of obesity is restricted to the stomach, and I have never +observed it in women. Their fibres are generally softer, and when +attacked with obesity nothing is spared. I call this variety of +obesity GASTROPHORIA. Those attacked by it, I call GASTROPHOROUS. +I belong to this category, yet, though my stomach is rather +prominent, I have a round and well turned leg. My sinews are like +those of an Arab horse. + +I always, however, looked on my stomach as a formidable enemy: I +gradually subdued it, but after a long contest. I am indebted for +all this to a strife of thirty years. + +I will begin my treatise by an extract from a collection of more +than five hundred dialogues, which at various times I have had +with persons menaced with obesity. + +AN OBESE.--What delicious bread! where do you get it? + +I.--From Limet, in the Rue Richelieu, baker to their Royal +Highness, the Due d'Orleans, and the Prince de Conde. I took it +from him because he was my neighbour, and have kept to him because +he is the best bread maker in the world. + +OBESE.--I will remember the address. I eat a great deal of bread, +and with such as this could do without any dinner. + +OBESE No. 2.--What are you about? You are eating your soup, but +set aside the Carolina rice it contains! I.--Ah: that it is a +regimen I subject myself to. + +OBESE.--It is a bad regimen. I am fond of rice pates and all such +things. Nothing is more nourishing. + +AN IMMENSE OBESE.--Do me the favor to pass me the potatoes before +you. They go so fast that I fear I shall not be in time. + +I.--There they are, sir. + +OBESE.--But you will take some? There are enough for two, and +after us the deluge. + +I.--Not I. I look on the potatoe as a great preservative against +famine; nothing, however, seems to me so pre-eminently fade. + +OBESE.--That is a gastronomical heresy. Nothing is better than the +potatoe; I eat them in every way. + +AN OBESE LADY.--Be pleased to send me the Soissons haricots I see +at the other end of the table. + +I.--(Having obeyed the order, hummed in a low tone, the well known +air:) + +"Les Soissonnais sont heureux, Les haricots font chez eux." + +OBESE.--Do not laugh: it is a real treasure for this country. +Paris gains immensely by it. I will thank you to pass me the +English peas. When young they are food fit for the gods. + +I?--Anathema on beans and peas. + +OBESE.--Bah, for your anathema; you talk as if you were a whole +council. I.--(To another.) I congratulate you on your good health, +it seems to me that you have fattened somewhat, since I last saw +you. + +OBESE.--I probably owe it to a change of diet. + +I.--How so? + +OBESE.--For some time I eat a rich soup for breakfast, and so +thick that the spoon would stand up in it. + +I.--(To another.) Madame, if I do not mistake, you will accept a +portion of this charlotte? I will attack it. + +OBESE.--No, sir. I have two things which I prefer. This gateau of +rice and that Savoy biscuit--I am very fond of sweet things. + +I.--While they talk politics, madame, at the other end of the +table, will you take a piece of this tourte a la frangipane? + +OBESE.--Yes; I like nothing better than pastry. We have a pastry- +cook in our house as a lodger, and I think my daughter and I eat +up all his rent. + +I.--(Looking at the daughter.) You both are benefitted by the +diet. Your daughter is a fine looking young woman. + +OBESE LADY.--Yes; but there are persons who say she is too fat. + +I.--Ah! those who do so are envious, etc., etc. By this and +similar conversations I elucidate a theory I have formed about the +human race, viz: Greasy corpulence always has, as its first cause, +a diet with too much farinacious or feculent substance. I am sure +the same regime will always have the same effect. Carniverous +animals never become fat. One has only to look at the wolf, +jackal, lion, eagle, etc. + +Herbiverous animals do not either become fat until age has made +repose a necessity. They, however, fatten quickly when fed on +potatoes, farinacious grain, etc. + +Obesity is rarely met with among savage nations, or in that class +of persons who eat to live, instead of living to eat. + +CAUSES OF OBESITY. + +From the preceding observation, the causes of which any one may +verify, it is easy to ascertain the principle causes of obesity. + +The first is the nature of the individual. Almost all men are born +with predispositions, the impress of which is borne by their +faces. Of every hundred persons who die of diseases of the chest, +ninety have dark hair, long faces and sharp noses. Of every +hundred obese persons, ninety have short faces, blue eyes, and pug +noses. + +Then there are beyond doubt persons predestined to obesity, the +digestive powers of whom elaborate a great quantity of grease. + +This physical fact, of the truth of which I am fully satisfied, +exerts a most important influence on our manner of looking at +things. + +When we meet in society, a short, fat, rosy, short-nosed +individual, with round limbs, short feet, etc., all pronounce her +charming. Better informed than others, however, I anticipate the +ravages which ten years will have effected on her, and sigh over +evils which as yet do not exist. This anticipated compassion is a +painful sentiment, and proves that a prescience of the future +would only make man more unhappy. + +The second of the causes of obesity, is the fact that farinacious +and feculaferous matter is the basis of our daily food. We have +already said that all animals that live on farinaceous substances +become fat; man obeys the common law. + +The fecula is more prompt in its action when it is mingled with +sugar. Sugar and grease are alike in containing large quantities +of hydrogen, and are both inflammable. This combination is the +more powerful, from the fact that it flatters the taste, and that +we never eat sweet things until the appetite is already satisfied, +so that we are forced to court the luxury of eating by every +refinement of temptation. + +The fecula is not less fattening when in solution, as in beer, and +other drinks of the same kind. The nations who indulge the most in +them, are those who have the most huge stomachs. Some Parisian +families who in 1817 drank beer habitually, because of the +dearness of wine, were rewarded by a degree of embonpoint, they +would be glad to get rid of. + +SEQUEL. + +Another cause of obesity is found in the prolongation of sleep, +and want of exercise. The human body repairs itself much during +sleep, and at the same time loses nothing, because muscular action +is entirely suspended. The acquired superfluity must then be +evaporated by exercise. + +Another consequence is, that persons who sleep soundly, always +refuse every thing that looks the least like fatigue. The excess +of assimilation is then borne away by the torrent of circulation. +It takes possession, by a process, the secret of which nature has +reserved to herself, of some hundredths of hydrogen, and fat is +formed to be deposited in the tubes of the cellular tissue. + +SEQUEL. + +The last cause of obesity is excess of eating and drinking. + +There was justice in the assertion, that one of the privileges of +the human race is to eat without hunger, and drink without thirst. +Animals cannot have it, for it arises from reflection on the +pleasures of the table, and a desire to prolong its duration. + +This double passion has been found wherever man exists. We know +savages eat to the very acme of brutality, whenever they have an +opportunity. + +Cosmopolites, as citizens of two hemispheres, we fancy ourselves +at the very apogee of civilization, yet we are sure we eat too +much. + +This is not the case with the few, who from avarice or want of +power, live alone. The first are delighted at the idea that they +amass money, and others distressed that they do not. It is the +case, however, with those around us, for all, whether hosts or +guests, offer and accept with complaisance. + +This cause, almost always present, acts differently, according to +the constitution of individuals; and in those who have badly +organized stomachs, produces indigestion, but not obesity. + +ANECDOTE. + +This one instance, which all Paris will remember. + +M. Lang had one of the most splendid establishments of the +capital; his table especially, was excellent, but his digestion +was bad as his gourmandise was great. He did the honors with +perfect taste, and ate with a resolution worthy of a better fate. + +All used to go on very well, till coffee was introduced, but the +stomach soon refused the labor to which it had been subjected, and +the unfortunate gastronomer was forced to throw himself on the +sofa and remain in agony until the next day, in expiation of the +brief pleasure he had enjoyed. + +It is very strange that he never corrected this fault: as long as +he lived, he was subjected to this alternative, yet the sufferings +of the evening never had any influence on the next days' meal. + +Persons with active digestion, fare as was described in the +preceding article. All is digested, and what is not needed for +nutrition is fixed and turned into fat. + +Others have a perpetual indigestion, and food is passed without +having left any nourishment. Those who do not understand the +matter, are amazed that so many good things do not produce a +better effect. + +It may be seen that I do not go very minutely into the matter, for +from our habits many secondary causes arise, due to our habits, +condition, inclinations, pleasures, etc. + +I leave all this to the successor I pointed out in the +commencement of this work, and satisfy myself merely with the +prelibation, the right of the first comer to every sacrifice. + +Intemperance has long attracted the attention of observers. +Princes have made sumptuary laws, religion has moralized for +gourmandise, but, alas, a mouthfull less was never eaten, and the +best of eating every day becomes more flourishing. + +I would perhaps be fortunate in the adoption of a new course, and +in the exposition of the physical causes of obesity. Self- +preservation would perhaps be more powerful than morals, or +persuasive than reason, have more influence than laws, and I think +the fair sex would open their eyes to the light. + +INCONVENIENCE OF OBESITY. + +Obesity has a lamentable influence on the two sexes, inasmuch as +it is most injurious to strength and beauty. + +It lessens strength because it increases the weight to be moved, +while the motive power is unchanged. It injures respiration, and +makes all labor requiring prolonged muscular power impossible. + +Obesity destroys beauty by annihilating the harmony of primitive +proportions, for all the limbs do not proportionately fatten. + +It destroys beauty by filling up cavities nature's hand itself +designed. + +Nothing is so common as to see faces, once very interesting, made +common-place by obesity. + +The head of the last government did not escape this law. Towards +the latter portion of his life, he (Napoleon) became bloated, and +his eyes lost a great portion of their expression. + +Obesity produces a distaste for dancing, walking, riding, and an +inaptitude for those amusements which require skill or agility. + +It also creates a disposition to certain diseases, such as +apoplexy, dropsy, ulcers in the legs, and makes all diseases +difficult to cure. + +EXAMPLES OF OBESITY. + +I can remember no corpulent heroes except Marius and John +Sobieski. + +Marius was short, and was about as broad as he was long. That +probably frightened the Cimber who was about to kill him. + +The obesity of the King of Poland had nearly been fatal to him, +for having stumbled on a squadron of Turkish cavalry, from which +he had to fly, he would certainly have been massacred, if his aids +had not sustained him, almost fainting from fatigue on his horse, +while others generously sacrificed themselves to protect him. + +If I am not mistaken, the Duc de Vendome, a worthy son of Henry +IV., was also very corpulent. He died at an inn, deserted by all, +and preserved consciousness just long enough to see a servant +snatch away a pillow on which his head was resting. + +There are many instances of remarkable obesity. I will only speak, +however, of my own observations. + +M. Rameau, a fellow student of mine and maire of Chaleur, was +about five feet two inches high, but weighed five hundred pounds. + +The Duc de Luynes, beside whom I often sat, became enormous. Fat +had effaced his handsome features, and he slept away the best +portion of his life. + +The most remarkable case, though, I saw in New York, and many +persons now in Paris will remember to have seen at the door of a +cafe in Broadway, a person seated in an immense arm-chair, with +legs stout enough to have sustained a church. [Footnote: Many +persons in New York remember the person referred to. The +translator has heard, that as late as 1815, he was frequently to +be seen at the door of a house near where the Atheneum Hotel was. +Brillat Savarin is said scarcely to exaggerate.] + +Edward was at least five feet ten inches, and was about eight feet +(French) in circumference. His fingers were like those of the +Roman Emperor, who used to wear his wife's bracelets as rings. His +arms and legs were nearly as thick as the waist of a man of medium +size, and his feet were elephantine, covered by fat pendant from +his legs. The fat on his cheek had weighed down his lower eye-lid, +and three hanging chins made his face horrible to behold. + +He passed his life near a window, which looked out on the street +and drank from time to time a glass of ale from a huge pitcher he +kept by his side. + +His strange appearance used to attract the attention of passers, +whom he used always to put to flight by saying in a sepulchral +tone "What are you staring at like wild cats? Go about your +business, you blackguards," etc. + +Having spoken to him one day, he told me that he was not at all +annoyed and that if death did not interrupt him, he would be glad +to live till the day of judgment. + +From the preceding, it appears that if obesity be not a disease, +it is at least a very troublesome predisposition, into which we +fall from our own fault. + +The result is, that we should all seek to preserve ourselves from +it before we are attacked, and to cure ourselves when it befalls +us. For the sake of the unfortunate we will examine what resources +science presents us. + +MEDITATION XXII. + +PRESERVATIVE TREATMENT AND CURE OF OBESITY. [Footnote: About +twenty years ago I began a treatise, ex professo, on obesity. My +readers must especially regret the preface which was of dramatic +form. I averred to a physician that a fever is less dangerous than +a law suit; for the latter, after having made a man run, fatigue, +and worry himself, strips him of pleasure, money, and life. This +is a statement which might be propagated as well as any other. ] + +I WILL begin by a fact which proves that courage is needed not +only to prevent but to cure obesity. + +M. Louis Greffulhe, whom his majesty afterwards honored with the +title of count, came one morning to see me, saying that he had +understood that I had paid great attention to obesity, and asked +me for advice. + +"Monsieur," said I, "not being a doctor with a diploma, I might +refuse you, but I will not, provided you give me your word of +honor that for one month you will rigorously obey my directions." + +M. Greffulhe made the promise I required and gave me his hand. On +the next day, I gave him my directions, the first article of which +demanded that he should at once get himself weighed, so that the +result might be made mathematically. + +After a month he came to see me again, and spoke to me nearly +thus: + +"Monsieur," said he, "I followed your prescription as if my life +depended on it, and during the month I am satisfied that I have +lost three pounds and more; but have for that purpose to violate +all my tastes and, habits so completely, that while I thank you +for your advice I must decline to follow it, and await quietly the +fate God ordains for me." + +I heard this resolution with pain. M. Greffulhe became every day +fatter and subject to all the inconveniences of extreme obesity, +and died of suffocation when he was about forty. + +GENERALITIES. + +The cure of obesity should begin with three precepts of absolute +theory, discretion in eating, moderation in sleep, and exercise on +foot or horseback. + +These are the first resources presented to us by science. I, +however, have little faith in them, for I know men and things +enough to be aware that any prescription, not literally followed, +has but a light effect. + +Now, imprimus, it needs much courage to be able to leave the table +hungry. As long as the want of food is felt, one mouthful makes +the succeeding one more palatable, and in general as long as we +are hungry, we eat in spite of doctors, though in that respect we +follow their example. + +In the second place to ask obese persons to rise early is to stab +them to the heart. They will tell you that their health will not +suffer them, that when they rise early they are good for nothing +all day. Women will plead exhaustion, will consent to sit up late, +and wish to fatten on the morning's nap. They lose thus this +resource. + +In the third place, riding as an exercise is expensive, and does +not suit every rank and fortune. + +Propose this to a female patient and she will consent with joy, +provided she have a gentle but active horse, a riding dress in the +height of the fashion, and in the third place a squire who is +young, good-tempered and handsome. It is difficult to fill these +three requisites, and riding is thus given up. + +Exercise on foot is liable to many other objections. It is +fatiguing, produces perspiration and pleurisy. Dust soils the +shoes and stockings, and it is given up. If, too, the patient have +the least headache, if a single shot, though no larger than the +head of a pin, pierce the skin it is all charged to the exercise. + +The consequence is that all who wish to diminish embonpoint should +eat moderately, sleep little, and take as much exercise as +possible, seeking to accomplish the purpose in another manner. +This method, based on the soundest principles of physics and +chemistry, consists in a diet suited to the effects sought for. + +Of all medical powers, diet is the most important, for it is +constant by night and day, whether waking or sleeping. Its effect +is renewed at every meal, and gradually exerts its influence on +every portion of the individual. The antiobesic regimen is +therefore indicated by the most common causes of the diseases, and +by the fact that it has been shown that farina or fecula form fat +in both men and animals. In the latter, the case is evident every +day, and from it we may deduce the conclusion that obtaining from +farinaceous food will be beneficial. + +But my readers of both sexes will exclaim, "Oh my God, how cruel +the professor is. He has at once prescribed all we like, the white +rolls of Limet, the biscuit of Achard. the cakes of ... and all +the good things made with sugar, eggs, and farina. He will spare +neither potatoes nor macaroni. Who would have expected it from a +man fond of everything good?" + +"What is that?" said I, putting on my stern look which I call up +but once a year. "Well, eat and grow fat, become ugly, asthmatic +and die of melted fat. I will make a note of your case and you +shall figure in my second edition. Ah! I see, one phrase has +overcome you, and you beg me to suspend the thunderbolt. Be easy, +I will prescribe your diet and prove how much pleasure is in the +grasp of one who lives to eat." + +"You like bread? well, eat barley-bread. The admirable Cadet de +Vaux long ago extolled its virtues. It is not so nourishing and +not so agreeable. The precept will then be more easily complied +with. To be sure one should resist temptation. Remember this, +which is a principle of sound morality. + +"You like soup? Eat julienne then, with green vegetables, with +cabbage and roots. I prohibit soup au pain, pates and purees. + +"Eat what you please at the first course except rice aux volailles +and the crust of pates. Eat well, but circumspectly. + +"The second course will call for all your philosophy. Avoid +everything farinacious, under whatever form it appears. You have +yet the roasts, salads, and herbacious vegetables. + +"Now for the dessert. This is a new danger, but if you have acted +prudently so far, you may survive it. Avoid the head of the table, +where things that are dangerous to you are most apt to appear. Do +not look at either biscuits or macaronies; you have fruits of all +kinds, confitures and much else that you may safely indulge in, +according to my principles. + +"After dinner I prescribe coffee, permit you liqueurs, and advise +you to take tea and punch. + +"At breakfast barly-bread is a necessity, and take chocolate +rather than coffee. I, however, permit strong cafe au lait. One +cannot breakfast too soon. When we breakfast late, dinner time +comes before your digestion is complete. You eat though, and +eating without appetite is often a great cause of obesity, when we +do so too often." + +SEQUEL OF THE REGIMEN. + +So far I have, like a tender father, marked out a regimen which +will prevent obesity. Let us add a few remarks about its cure. + +Drink every summer thirty bottles of Seltzer water, a large glass +in the morning, two before breakfast and another at bed-time. +Drink light white acid wines like those of Anjon. Avoid beer as +you would the plague. Eat radishes, artichokes, asparagus, etc. +Eat lamb and chicken in preference to other animal food; eat only +the crust of bread, and employ a doctor who follows my principles, +and as soon as you begin you will find yourself fresher, prettier, +and better in every respect. + +Having thus placed you ashore, I must point out the shoals, lest +in excess or zeal, you overleap the mark. + +The shoal I wish to point out is the habitual use made by some +stupid people of acids, the bad effects of which experience has +demonstrated. + +DANGERS OF ACIDS. + +There is a current opinion among women, which every year causes +the death of many young women, that acids, especially vinegar, are +preventives of obesity. Beyond all doubts, acids have the effect +of destroying obesity, but they also destroy health and freshness. +Lemonade is of all acids the most harmless, but few stomachs can +resist it long. + +The truth I wish to announce cannot be too public, and almost all +of my readers can bring forward some fact to sustain it. + +I knew in 1776, at Dijon, a young lady of great beauty, to whom I +was attached by bonds of friendship, great almost as those of +love. One day when she had for some time gradually grown pale and +thin (previously she had a delicious embonpoint) she told me in +confidence that as her young friends had ridiculed her for being +too fat, she had, to counteract the tendency, been in the habit +every day of drinking a large glass of vinaigre. + +I shuddered at the confession, and made every attempt to avoid the +danger. I informed her mother of the state of things the next day, +and as she adored her daughter, she was as much alarmed as I was. +The doctors were sent for, but in vain, for before the cause of +her malady was suspected, it was incurable and hopeless. + +Thus, in consequence of having followed imprudent advice, our +amiable Louise was led to the terrible condition of marasmus, and +sank when scarcely eighteen years old, to sleep forever. + +She died casting longing looks towards a future, which to her +would have no existence, and the idea that she had involuntarily +attempted her own life, made her existence more prompt and +painful. + +I have never seen any one else die; she breathed her last in my +arms, as I lifted her up to enable her to see the day. Eight days +after her death, her broken hearted mother wished me to visit with +her the remains of her daughter, and we saw an extatic appearance +which had not hitherto been visible. I was amazed, but extracted +some consolation from the fact. This however is not strange, for +Lavater tells of many such in his history of physiogomy. + +ANTIOBESIC BELT. + +All antiobesic tendencies should be accompanied by a precaution I +had forgotten. It consists in wearing night and day, a girdle to +repress the stomach, by moderately clasping it. + +To cause the necessity of it to be perceived, we must remember +that the vertebral column, forming one of the walls in the cavity +containing the intestines, is firm and inflexible. Whence it +follows, that the excess of weight which intestines acquire as +soon as obesity causes them to deviate from the vertical line, +rests on the envelopes which compose the skin of the stomach. The +latter being susceptible of almost infinite distention, would be +unable to replace themselves, when this effort diminishes, if they +did not have a mechanical art, which, resting on the dorsal +column, becomes an antagonist, and restores equilibrium. This belt +has therefore the effect of preventing the intestines from +yielding to their actual weight, and gives a power to contract +when pressure is diminished. It should never be laid aside, or the +benefit it exerts in the day will be destroyed in the night. It is +not, however, in the least troublesome, and one soon becomes used +to it. + +The belt also shows when we have eaten enough; and it should be +made with great care, and so contrived as to diminish as the +embonpoint decreases. + +One is not forced to wear it all life long, and it may be laid +aside when the inconvenience is sufficiently reduced. A suitable +diet however, should be maintained. I have not worn it for six +years. + +QUINQUINA. + +One substance I think decidedly antiobesic. Many observations have +induced me to think so, yet I leave the matter in doubt, and +submit it to physicians. + +This is quinquina. + +Ten or twelve persons that I know, have had long intermittent +fevers; some were cured by old women's remedies, powders, etc. +Others by the continued use of quinquina, which is always +effective. + +All those persons of the same category, gradually regained their +obesity. Those of the second, lost their embonpoint, a +circumstance which leaves me to think the quinquina which produced +the last result had the effect I speak of. + +Rational theory is not opposed to this deduction, for quinquina, +exciting all the vital powers, may give the circulation an impetus +which troubles all, and dissipates, the gas destined to become +fat. It is also shown that quinquina contains a portion of tannin +which is powerful enough to close the cells which contain grease. +It is possible that these two effects sustain each other. + +These two ideas, the truth of which any one may understand, induce +me to recommend quinquina to all those who wish to get rid of +troublesome embonpoint. Thus dummodo annuerit in omni medicationis +genere doctissimi Facultatis professores. I think that after the +first month of any regimen, the person who wishes to get rid of +fat, should take every day before breakfast, a glass of white +wine, in which was placed a spoonful of coffee and red quinquina. +Such are the means I suggest to overcome a very troublesome +affection. I have accommodated them to human weakness and to our +manners. + +In this respect the experimental truth is relied on, which teaches +that in proportion as a regime is vigorous, it is dangerous, for +he who does not follow it literally, does not follow it all. + +Great efforts are rare, and if one wishes to be followed, men must +be offered things vacile, if not agreeable. + +MEDITATION XXIII. + +THINNESS. + +DEFINITION. + +THINNESS is the state of that individual, the muscular frame of +whom is not filled up by strength, and who exhibits all angles of +the long scaffolding. + +VARIETIES. + +There are two kinds of thinness; the first is the result of the +primitive disposition of the body, and is accompanied by health, +and a full use of the organic functions of the body. The second is +caused by the fact that some of the organs are more defective than +others, and give the individual an unhappy and miserable +appearance. I once knew young woman of moderate stature who only +weighed sixty-five pounds. + +EFFECTS OF THINNESS. + +Thinness is a matter of no great trouble to men. They have no less +strength, and are far more active. The father of the young woman I +spoke of, though, very thin, could seize a chair by his teeth and +throw it over his head. + +It is, however, a terrible misfortune to women, to whom beauty is +more important than life, and the beauty of whom consists in the +roundness and graceful contour of their forms. The most careful +toilette, the most, sublime needle-work, cannot hide certain +deficiencies. It has been said that whenever a pin is taken from a +thin woman, beautiful as she may be, she loses some charm. + +The thin have, therefore, no remedy, except from the interference +of the faculty. The regimen must be so long, that the cure must be +slow. + +Women, however, who are thin, and who have a good stomach, are +found to be as susceptible of fat as chickens. A little time, +only, is necessary, for the stomach of chickens is comparatively +smaller, and they cannot be submitted to as regular a diet as +chickens are. + +This is the most gentle comparison which suggested itself to me. I +needed one, and ladies will excuse me for the reason for which I +wrote this chapter. + +NATURAL PREDESTINATION. + +Nature varies its works, and has remedies for thinness, as it has +for obesity. + +Persons intended to be thin are long drawn out. They have long +hands and feet, legs thin, and the os coxigis retroceding. Their +sides are strongly marked, their noses prominent, large mouths, +sharp chins and brown hair. + +This is the general type, the individual elements may sometimes +vary; this however happens rarely. + +Thin people sometimetimes eat a great deal. All I ever even talked +with, confess that they digest badly. That is the reason they +remain thin. + +They are of every class and temperament. Some have nothing salient +either in feature or in form. Their eyes are inexpressive, their +lips pale, and every feature denotes a want of energy, weakness, +and something like suffering. One might almost say they seemed to +be incomplete, and that the torch of their lives had not been well +lighted. + +FATTENING REGIMEN. + +All thin women wish to be fat; this is a wish we have heard +expressed a thousand times. To render, then, this last homage to +the powerful sex, we seek to replace by folds of silk and cotton, +exposed in fashion shops, to the great scandal of the severe, who +turn aside, and look away from them, as they would from chimeras, +more carefully than if the reality presented themselves to their +eyes. + +The whole secret of embonpoint consists in a suitable diet. One +need only eat and select suitable food. + +With this regimen, our disposition to sleep is almost unimportant. +If you do not take exercise, you will be exposed to fatness. If +you do, you will yet grow fat. + +If you sleep much, you will grow fat, if you sleep little, your +digestion will increase, and you will eat more. + +We have then only to speak of the manner they who wish to grow fat +should live. This will not be difficult, according to the many +directions we have laid down. + +To resolve this problem, we must offer to the stomach food which +occupies, but does not fatigue it, and displays to the assimilant +power, things they can turn into fat. + +Let us seek to trace out the daily diet of a sylph, or a sylph +disposed to materialize itself. + +GENERAL RULE. Much fresh bread will be eaten during the day, and +particular care will be taken not to throw away the crumbs. + +Before eight in the morning, soup au pain or aux pates will be +taken, and afterwards a cup of good chocolate. + +At eleven o'clock, breakfast on fresh broiled eggs, petit pates +cotelettes, and what you please; have eggs, coffee will do no +harm. + +Dinner hour should be so arranged that one should have thoroughly +digested before the time comes to sit down at the table. The +eating of one meal before another is digested, is an abuse. + +After dinner there should be some exercise; men as much as they +can; women should go into the Tuilleries, or as they say in +America, go shopping. We are satisfied that the little gossip and +conversation they maintain is very healthful. + +At times, all should take as much soup, potage, fish, etc., and +also meat cooked with rice and macaronies, pastry, creams, etc. + +At dessert such persons should eat Savoy biscuits, and other +things made up of eggs, fecula, and sugar. + +This regimen, though apparently circumscribed, is yet susceptible +of great variety: it admits the whole animal kingdom, and great +care is necessarily taken in the seasoning and preparation of the +food presented. The object of this is to prevent disgust, which +prevents any amelioration. + +Beer should be preferred--if not beer, wines from Bourdeaux or +from the south of France. + +One should avoid all acids, except salads. As much sugar as +possible should be put on fruits and all should avoid cold baths. +One should seek as long as possible, to breathe the pure country +air, eat many grapes when they are in season, and never go to the +ball for the mere pleasure of dancing. + +Ordinarily one should go to bed about eleven, P. M., and never, +under any circumstances, sit up more than an hour later. + +Following this regime resolutely, all the distractions of nature +will soon be repaired. Health and beauty will both be advanced, +and accents of gratitude will ring in the ears of the professor. + +Sheep are fattened, as are oxen, lobsters and oysters. Hence, I +deduce the general maxim; viz: "He that eats may be made fat, +provided that the food be chosen correctly, and according to the +physiology of the animal to be fattened." + +MEDITATION XXIV. + +FASTING. + +DEFINITION. + +FASTING is a moral abstinence from food, from some religious or +moral influence. + +Though contrary to our tastes and habits, it is yet of the +greatest antiquity. + +ORIGIN. + +Authors explain the matter thus: + +In individual troubles, when a father, mother, or beloved child +have died, all the household is in mourning. The body is washed, +perfumed, enbalmed, and buried as it should be--none then think of +eating, but all fast. + +In public calamites, when a general drought appears, and cruel +wars, or contagious maladies come, we humble ourselves before the +power that sent them, and mortify ourselves by abstinence. +Misfortune ceases. We become satisfied that the reason was that we +fasted, and we continue to have reference to such conjectures. + +Thus it is, men afflicted with public calamities or private ones, +always yield to sadness, fail to take food, and in the end, make a +voluntary act, a religious one. + +They fancied they should macerate their body when their soul was +oppressed, that they could excite the pity of the gods. This idea +seized on all nations and filled them with the idea of mourning, +prayers, sacrifice, abstinence, mortification, etc. + +Christ came and sanctified fasting. All Christian sects since then +have adopted fasting more or less, as an obligation. + +HOW PEOPLE USED TO FAST. + +The practice of fasting, I am sorry to say, has become very rare; +and whether for the education of the wicked, or for their +conversion, I am glad to tell how we fast now in the XVIII. +century. + +Ordinarily we breakfast before nine o'clock, on bread, cheese, +fruit and cold meats. + +Between one and two P. M., we take soup or pot au feu according to +our positions. + +About four, there is a little lunch kept up for the benefit of +those people who belong to other ages, and for children. + +About eight there was a regular supper, with entrees roti +entremets dessert: all shared in it, and then went to bed. + +In Paris there are always more magnificent suppers, which begin +just after the play. The persons who usually attend them are +pretty women, admirable actresses, financiers, and men about town. +There the events of the day were talked of, the last new song was +sung, and politics, literature, etc., were discussed. All persons +devoted themselves especially to making love. + +Let us see what was done on fast days: + +No body breakfasted, and therefore all were more hungry than +usual. + +All dined as well as possible, but fish and vegetables are soon +gone through with. At five o'clock all were furiously hungry, +looked at their watches and became enraged, though they were +securing their soul's salvation. + +At eight o'clock they had not a good supper, but a collation, a +word derived from cloister, because at the end of the day the +monks used to assemble to comment on the works of the fathers, +after which they were allowed a glass of wine. + +Neither butter, eggs, nor any thing animal was served at these +collations. They had to be satisfied with salads, confitures, and +meats, a very unsatisfactory food to such appetites at that time. +They went to bed, however, and lived in hope as long as the fast +lasted. + +Those who ate these little suppers, I am assured, never fasted. + +The chef-d'oeuvre of a kitchen of those days, I am assured, was a +strictly apostolic collation, which, however, was very like a good +supper. + +Science soon resolved this problem by the recognition of fish, +soups, and pastry made with oil. The observing of fasting, gave +rise to an unknown pleasure, that of the Easter celebration. + +A close observation shows that the elements of our enjoyment are, +difficult privation, desire and gratification. All of these are +found in the breaking of abstinence. I have seen two of my grand +uncles, very excellent men, too, almost faint with pleasure, when, +on the day after Easter, they saw a ham, or a pate brought on the +table. A degenerate race like the present, experiences no such +sensation. + +ORIGIN OF THE REMOVAL OF RESTRICTION IN FASTING. + +I witnessed the rise of this. It advanced by almost insensible +degrees. + +Young persons of a certain age, were not forced to fast, nor were +pregnant women, or those who thought themselves so. When in that +condition, a soup, a very great temptation to those who were well, +was served to them. + +Then people began to find out that fasting disagreed with them, +and kept them awake. All the little accidents man is subject to, +were then attributed to it, so that people did not fast, because +they thought themselves sick, or that they would be so. Collations +thus gradually became rarer. + +This was not all; some winters were so severe that people began to +fear a scarcity of vegetables, and the ecclesiastical power +officially relaxed its rigor. + +The duty, however, was recognised and permission was always asked. +The priests were refused it, but enjoined the necessity of extra +alms giving. + +The Revolution came, which occupied the minds of all, that none +thought of priests, who were looked on as enemies to the state. + +This cause does not exist, but a new one has intervened. The hour +of our meals is totally changed; we do not eat so often, and a +totally different household arrangement would be required for +fasting. This is so true, that I think I may safely say, though I +visit none but the best regulated houses, that, except at home, I +have not seen a lenten table, or a collation ten times in twenty- +five years. + +We will not finish this chapter without observing the new +direction popular taste has taken. + +Thousands of men, who, forty years ago would have passed their +evenings in cabarets, now pass them at the theatres. + +Economy, certainly does not gain by this, but morality does. +Manners are improved at the play, and at cafes one sees the +journals. One certainly escapes the quarrels, diseases, and +degradation, which infallibly result from the habit of frequenting +cabarets. + +MEDITATION XXV. + +EXHAUSTION. + +BY exhaustion, a state of weakness, languor or depression, caused +by previous circumstances is understood, rendering the exercise of +the vital functions more difficult. There are various kinds of +exhaustion, caused by mental labor, bodily toil and the abuse of +certain faculties. + +One great remedy is to lay aside the acts which have produced this +state, which, if not a disease, approximates closely to one. + +TREATMENT. + +After these indispensable preliminaries, gastronomy is ready with +its resources. + +When a man is overcome by too long fatigue, it offers him a good +soup, generous wine, flesh and sleep. + +To a savant led into debility by a too great exercise of his +mental faculties, it prescribes fresh air, a bath, fowl and +vegetables. + +The following observation will explain how I effected a cure of +another kind of exhaustion. [The translator thinks it best not to +translate this anecdote, but merely to append the original.] + +CURE BY THE PROFESSOR. + +J'allai un jour faire visite a un de mes meilleurs amis (M. +Rubat); on me dit qu'il etait malade, et effectivement je le +trouvai en robe de chambre aupres de son feu, et en attitude +d'affaissement. + +Sa physionomie m'effraya: il avait le visage pale, les yeux +brillants et sa levre tombait de maniere a laisser voir les dents +de la machoire inferieure, ce qui avait quelque chose de hideux. + +Je m'enquis avec interet de la cause de ce changement subit; il +hesita, je le pressai, et apres quelque resistance: "Mon ami, dit- +il en rougissant, tu sais que ma femme est jalouse, et que cette +manie m'a fait passer bien des mauvais moments. Depuis quelques +jours, il lui en a pris une crise effroyable, et c'est en voulant +lui prouver qu'elle n'a rien perdu de mon affection et qu'il ne se +fait a son prejudice aucune derivation du tribut conjugal, que je +me suis mis en cet etat.--Tu as done oublie, lui dis-je, et que tu +as quarante-cinq ans, et que la jalousie est un mal sans remede? +Ne sais-tu pas furens quid femina possit?" Je tins encore quelques +autres propos peu galants, car j'etais en colere. + +"Voyons, au surplus, continuai-je: ton pouls est petit, dur, +concentre; que vas-tu faire?--Le docteur, me dit-il, sort d'ici; +il a pense que j'avais une fievre nerveuse, et a ordonne une +saignee pour laquelle il doit incessamment m'envoyer le +chirurgien.--Le chirurgien! m' ecriai-je, garde-t'en bien, ou tu +es mort; chasse-le comme un meurtrier, et dis lui que je me suis +empare de toi, corps et ame. Au surplus, ton medecin connait-il la +cause occasionnelle de ton mal?--Helas! non, une mauvaise honte +m'a empeche de lui fairs une confession entiere.--Eh bien, il faut +le prier de passer cher toi. Je vais te faire une potion +appropriee a ton etat; en attendant prends ceci." Je lui presentai +un verre d'eau saturee de sucre, qu'il avala avec la confiance +d'Alexandre et la foi du charbounier. + +Alors je le quittai et courus chez moi pour y mixtionner, +fonctionner et elaborer un magister reparateur qu'on trouvera dans +les Varietes, avec les divers modes que j'adoptai pour me hater; +car, en pareil cas, quelques heures de retard peuvent donner lieu +a des accidents irreparables. + +Je revins bientot arme de ma potion, et deja je trouvai du mieux; +la couleur reparaissait aux joues, l'oeil etait detendu; mais la +levre pendait toujours avec une effrayante difformite. + +Le medecin ne tarda pas a reparaitre; je l'instruisis de ce que +j'avais fait et le malade fit ses aveux. Son front doctoral prit +d'abord un aspect severe; mais bientot nous regardant avec un air +ou il y avait un peu d'ironie: "Vous ne devez pas etre etonne, +dit-il a mon ami, que je n'aie pas devine une maladie qui ne +convient ni a votre age ni a votre etat, et il y a de votre part +trop de modestie a en cacher la cause, qui ne pouvait que vous +faire honneur. J'ai encore a vous gronder de ce que vous m'avez +expose a une erreur qui aurait pu vous etre funeste. Au surplus, +mon confrere, ajouta-til en me faisant un salut que je lui rendis +avec usure, vous a indique la bonne route; prenez son potage, quel +que soit le nom qu'il y donne, et si la fievre vous quitte, comme +je le crois, dejeunez demain avec une tasse de chocolat dans +laquelle vous ferez delayer deux jaunes d'oeufs frais." + +A ces mots il prit sa canne, son chapeau et nous quitta, nous +laissant fort tentes de nous egayer a ses depens. + +Bientot je fis prendre a mon malade une forte tasse de mon elixir +de vie; il le but avec avidite, et voulait redoubler; mais +j'exigeai un, ajournement de deux heures, et lui servis une +seconde dose avant de me retirer. + +Le lendemain il etait sans fievre et presque bien portant; il +dejeuna suivant l'ordonnance, continua la potion, et put vaquer +des le surlendemain a ses occupations ordinaires; mais la levre +rebelle ne se releva qu'apres le troisieme jour. + +Pen de temps apres, l'affaire transpira, et toutes les dames en +chuchotaient entre elles. + +Quelques-unes admiraient mon ami, presque toutes le plaignaient, +et le professeur gastronome fut glorifie. + +MEDITATION XXVI + +DEATH. + +Omnia mors poscit; lex est, non poena, perire. + +God has subjected man to six great necessities: birth, action, +eating, sleep, reproduction and death. + +Death is the absolute interruption of the sensual relations, and +the absolute annihilation of the vital powers, which abandons the +body to the laws of decomposition. + +These necessities are all accompanied and softened by a sensation +of pleasure, and even death, when j natural, is not without +charms. We mean when a man has passed through the different phases +of growth, virility, old age, and decrepitude. + +Had I not determined to make this chapter very short, I would +invoke the assistance of the physicians, who have observed every +shade of the transition of a living to an inert body. I would +quote philosophers, kings, men of letters, men, who while on the +verge of eternity, had pleasant thoughts they decked in the +graces; I would recall the dying answer of Fontinelle, who being +asked what he felt, said, "nothing but the pain of life;" I +prefer, however, merely to express my opinion, founded on analogy +as sustained by many instances, of which the following is the +last: + +I had a great aunt, aged eighty-three when she died. Though she +had long been confined to her bed, she preserved all her +faculties, and the approach of death was perceived by the +feebleness of her voice and the failing of her appetite. + +She had always exhibited great devotion to me, and I sat by her +bed-side anxious to attend on her. This, however, did not prevent +my observing her with most philosophic attention. + +"Are you there, nephew?" said she in an almost inaudible voice. +"Yes, aunt! I think you would be better if you would take a little +old wine." "Give it to me, liquids always run down." I hastened to +lift her up and gave her half a glass of my best and oldest wine. +She revived for a moment and said, "I thank you. If you live as +long as I have lived, you will find that death like sleep is a +necessity." + +These were her last words, and in half an hour she had sank to +sleep forever. + +Richerand has described with so much truth the gradations of the +human body, and the last moments of the individual that my readers +will be obliged to me for this passage. + +"Thus the intellectual faculties are decomposed and pass away. +Reason the attribute of which man pretends to be the exclusive +possessor, first deserts him. He then loses the power of combining +his judgment, and soon after that of comparing, assembling, +combining, and joining together many ideas. They say then that the +invalid loses his mind, that he is delirious. All this usually +rests on ideas familiar to the individual. The dominant passion is +easily recognized. The miser talks most wildly about his +treasures, and another person is besieged by religious terrors. + +"After reasoning and judgment, the faculty of association becomes +lost. This takes place in the cases known as defaillances, to +which I have myself been liable. I was once talking with a friend +and met with an insurmountable difficulty in combining two ideas +from which I wished to make up an opinion. The syncopy was not, +however, complete, for memory and sensation remained. I heard the +persons around me say distinctly he is fainting, and sought to +arouse me from this condition, which was not without pleasure. + +"Memory then becomes extinct. The patient, who in his delirium, +recognized his friends, now fails even to know those with whom he +had been on terms of the greatest intimacy. He then loses +sensation, but the senses go out in a successive and determinate +order. Taste and smell give no evidence of their existence, the +eyes become covered with a mistful veil and the ear ceases to +execute its functions. For that reason, the ancients to be sure of +the reality of death, used to utter loud cries in the ears of the +dying. He neither tastes, sees, nor hears. He yet retains the +sense of touch, moves in his bed, changes the position of the arms +and body every moment, and has motions analogous to those of the +foetus in the womb. Death affects him with no terror, for he has +no ideas, and he ends as he begun life, unconsciously. +"(Richerand's Elements on Physiology, vol. ii. p. 600.) + +MEDITATION XXVII. + +PHILOSOPHICAL HISTORY OF THE KITCHEN. + +COOKERY is the most ancient of arts, for Adam must have been born +hungry, and the cries of the infant are only soothed by the +mother's breast. + +Of all the arts it is the one which has rendered the greatest +service in civil life. The necessities of the kitchen taught us +the use of fire, by which man has subdued nature. + +Looking carefully at things, three kinds of cuisine may be +discovered. + +The first has preserved its primitive name. + +The second analyzes and looks after elements: it is called +chemistry. + +The third, is the cookery of separation and is called pharmacy. + +Though different objects, they are all united by the fact that +they use fire, furnaces, etc., at the same time. + +Thus a morsel of beef, which the cook converts into potage or +bouilli, the chemist uses to ascertain into how many substances it +may be resolved. + +ORDER OF ALIMENTATION. + +Man is an omnivorous animal: he has incisors to divide fruits, +molar teeth to crush grain, and canine teeth for flesh. Let it he +remarked however, that as man approaches the savage state, the +canine teeth are more easily distinguishable. + +The probability was, that the human race for a long time, lived on +fruit, for it is the most ancient food of the human race, and his +means of attack until he had acquired the use of arms are very +limited. The instinct of perfection attached to his nature, +however, soon became developed, and the sentiment attached to his +instinct was soon exhibited, and he made weapons for himself. To +this he was impelled by a carniverous instinct, and he began to +make prey of the animals that surrounded him. + +This instinct of destruction yet exists: children always kill the +animals that surround them, and if they were hungry would devour +them. + +It is not strange that man seeks to feed on flesh: He has too +small a stomach, and fruit has not nourishment enough to renovate +him. He could subsist on vegetables, but their preparation +requires an art, only reached after the lapse of many centuries. + +Man's first weapons were the branches of trees, and subsequently +bows and arrows. + +It is worthy of remark, that wherever we find man, in all climates +and latitudes, he has been found with and arrows. None can see how +this idea presented itself to individuals so differently placed: +it must be hidden by the veil of centuries. + +Raw flesh has but one inconvenience. Its viscousness attaches +itself to the teeth. It is not, however, disagreeable. When +seasoned with salt it is easily digested, and must be digestible. + +A Croat captain, whom I invited to dinner in 1815, was amazed at +my preparations. He said to me, "When in campaign, and we become +hungry, we knock over the first animal we find, cut off a steak, +powder it with salt, which we always have in the sabretasche, put +it under the saddle, gallop over it for half a mile, and then dine +like princes." + +When the huntsmen of Dauphiny go out in Septemher to shoot, they +take both pepper and salt with them. If they kill a very fat bird +they pluck, season it, carry it some time in their caps and eat +it. They say it is the best way to serve it up. + +If our ancestors ate raw food we have not entirely gotten rid of +the habit. The most delicate palates like Aries' sausages, etc., +which have never been cooked, but which are not, on that account, +the less appetising. + +DISCOVERY OF FIRE. + +Subsequently to the Croat mode, fire was discovered. This was an +accident, for fire is not spontaneous. Many savage nations have +been found utterly ignorant of it. + +BAKING. + +Fire having been discovered it was made use of to perfect food; at +first it was made use of to dry it, and then to cook it. + +Meat thus treated was found better than when raw. It had more +firmness, was eaten with less difficulty, and the osmazome as it +was condensed by carbonization gave it a pleasing perfume. + +They began, however, to find out that flesh cooked on the coals +became somewhat befouled, for certain portions of coal will adhere +to it. This was remedied by passing spits through it, and placing +it above burning coals at a suitable height. + +Thus grillades were invented, and they have a flavor as rich as it +is simple. All grilled meat is highly flavored, for it must be +partially distilled. + +Things in Homer's time had not advanced much further, and all will +be pleased here to read the account of Achilles' reception of the +three leading Greeks, one of whom was royal. + +I dedicate this story to the ladies, for Achilles was the +handsomest of all the Greeks, and his pride did not prevent his +weeping when Briseis was taken from him, viz: + +[verse in Greek] + +The following is a translation by Pope: + +"Patroclus, crown a larger bowl, Mix purer wine, and open every +soul. Of all the warriors yonder host can send, Thy friend most +honours these, and these thy friend." + +He said: Patroclus o'er the blazing fire Heaps in a brazen vase +three chines entire: The brazen vase Automedon sustains, 'Which +flesh of porket, sheep, and goat contains: Achilles at the genial +feast presides, The parts transfixes, and with skill divides. +Meanwhile Patroclus sweats the fire to raise; The tent is +brightened with the rising blaze: + +Then, when the languid flames at length subside, He strews a bed +of glowing embers wide, Above the coals the smoking fragments +turns And sprinkles sacred salt from lifted urns; With bread the +glittering canisters they load. Which round the board Menoetius' +son bestow'd: Himself, opposed to Ulysses, full in sight, Each +portion parts, and orders every rite. The first fat offerings, to +the immortals due, Amid the greedy Patroclus threw; Then each, +indulging in the social feast, His thirst and hunger soberly +repress'd. That done, to Phoenix Ajax gave the sign; Not +unperceived; Ulysses crown'd with wine The foaming bowl, and +instant thus began, His speech addressing to the godlike man: +"Health to Achilles!" + +Thus then a king, a son of a king, and three Grecian leaders dined +very comfortably on bread, wine, and broiled meat. + +We cannot but think that Achilles and Patroclus themselves +prepared the entertainment, if only to do honor to the +distinguished guests they received. Ordinarily the kitchen +business was abandoned to slaves and women, as Homer tells us in +Odyssey when he refers to the entertainment of the heralds. + +The entrails of animals stuffed with blood were at that time +looked on as very great delicacies. + +At that time and long before, beyond doubt, poetry and music, were +mingled with meals. Famous minstrels sang the wonders of nature, +the loves of the gods, and warlike deeds of man. Theirs was a kind +of priesthood and it is probable that the divine Homer himself was +sprung from one of those men favored by heaven. He would not have +been so eminent had not his poetical studies begun in his +childhood. + +Madame Dacier observes that Homer does not speak of boiled meat +anywhere in his poems. The Jews had made much greater progress in +consequence of their captivity in Egypt. They had kettles. Esau's +mess of potage must have been made thus. For this he sold his +birthright. + +It is difficult to say how men learned the use of metals. Tubal +Cain, it is said, was the inventor. + +In the present state of knowledge, we use one metal to +manufacture another. We overcome them with iron pincers; cut them +with steel files, but I never met with any one who could tell me +who made the first file or pair of pincers. + +ORIENTAL ENTERTAINMENTS.--GRECIAN. + +Cookery made great advances. We are ignorant however of its +utensils, whether of iron, pottery or of tin material. + +The oldest books we know of make honorable mention of oriental +festivals. It is not difficult to believe that monarchs who +ruled such glorious realms abounded in all that was grateful. We +only know that Cadmus who introduced writing into Greece, was cook +of the king of Sidon. + +The idea of surrounding the table with couches, originated from +this voluptuous prince. + +Cookery and its flavors were then highly esteemed by the +Athenians, a people fond of all that was new. From what we read in +their histories, there is no doubt but that their festivals were +true feasts. + +The wines of Greece, which even now we find excellent, have been +estimated by scientific gourmands the most delicious that were. + +The most beautiful women that ever came to adorn our +entertainments were Greeks, or of Grecian origin. + +The wisest men of old were anxious to display the luxury of such +enjoyments. Plato, Atheneus, and many others, have preserved their +names. The works of all of them, however, are lost, and if any +remember them, it is only those who have heard of a long forgotten +and lost book, the Gastronomy [Greek word]--the friend of one of +the sons of Pericles. + +Such was the cookery of Greece, which sent forth a few men who +first established themselves in the Tiber, and then took +possession of the world. + +ROMAN FESTIVALS. + +Good cheer was unknown to the Romans as long as they thought to +preserve their independence or to overcome their neighbors, who +were poor as they were. Their generals therefore lived on +vegetables. Historians have never failed to praise these times, +when frugality was a matter of honor. When, however, their +conquests had extended into Africa, Sicily and Hellas, when they +had to live as people did where civilization was more advanced, +they brought back to Rome the tastes which had attended them in +foreign lands. + +The Romans sent to Athens a deputation charged to bring back the +laws of Solon. They also sent them thither to study belles lettres +and philosophy. While their manners became polished they became +aware of the attractions of festivals. And poets, philosophers, +orators, etc., all came to Rome at once. + +As time advanced, and as the series of events attracted to Rome +almost all the riches of the world, the luxury of the table became +incredible. + +Every thing was eaten--the grass-hopper and the ostrich, the +squirrel and the wild-boar--all imaginable vegetables were put in +requisition. + +Armies and travellers put all the world in requisition. The most +distinguished Roman citizens took pleasure, not only in the +cultivation of fruits once known, such as pears, apples, etc., but +sought out things Lucullus never dreamed of. These importations +which naturally had a great influence, prove at least that the +impulse was general, that each one sought to contribute to the +enjoyment of those around him. + +Our drinks were not the object of less attention, nor of less +attentive cares. The Romans were delighted with the wines of +Italy, Greece, and Sicily. As they estimated their value from the +year in which they were made, we may understand Cicero's much +abused line, + + Oh tortuna tam, natura, me consule Roman. + +This was not all. In consequence of an instinct hitherto referred +to, an effort was made to make them more highly perfumed, and +flowers, aromatics, etc., were infused. Such things which the +Romans called condita, must have had a very bad effect on the +stomach. + +Thus the Romans came to dream of alcohol, which was not discovered +until long after they were born. + +RESURRECTION OF LUCULLUS. + +The glorious days of old might arise again, and nothing but a +Lucullus is needed, to bring this about. Let us fancy that any +man, known to be rich, should wish to celebrate any great act, and +give in this manner an occasion for a famous entertainment. + +Let us suppose that he appeals to every one to adorn his +entertainment, and orders every possible resource to be prepared. + +Let him make every imaginable preparation and Lucullus would be as +nothing compared with the civilized world as it is. + +Both the Romans and the Athenians had beds to eat on. They +achieved the purpose but indirectly. + +At first they used beds only for the sacred festivals offered to +the gods. The magistrates and principal men, adopted the custom, +and ere long, it became general and was preserved until in the +beginning of the fourth century. + +These couches were at first, only boxes filled with straw, and +covered with skins. Gradually, however, they became more +luxurious, and were made of the most precious woods, inlaid with +ivory, and sometimes with gems. Their cushions were soft and their +covers magnificently embroidered. + +People only laid down on the left elbow. Three usually slept +together. + +This the Romans called lectisternium. It is not a very bad name. + +In a physical point of view incubitation demands a certain +exhibition of power to preserve equlibrium, and is not without a +degree of pain; the elbow supporting an undue proportion of the +weight of the body. + +In a physiological point of view, something also is to be said. +Imbuccation (swallowing) is effected in a less natural manner. The +food is passed with more difficulty into the stomach. + +The ingestion of liquids, or drinking, is yet more difficult. It +required particular attention not to spill the wine from the large +cups on the tables of the great. Thence came the proverb: + + "Between the cup and lip, + + There is often time a slip." + +None could eat comfortably when reclining, especially when we +remember that many of the guests had long beards, and that +fingers, or at least only knives were used. Forks are an invention +of modern times, for none were found at Herculaeneum. + +Some violations of modesty must also have occurred at repasts +which frequently exceeded the bounds of temperance, and where the +two sexes have fallen asleep, and were mingled together. A poet +says: + + "Nam pransus, jaceo, et satur supinus, + + Pertimdo tunicamque, palliumque." + +When Christianity had acquired some power, its priests lifted up +their voices against intemperance. They declaimed against the +length of meals which violated all prudence by surrounding persons +by every species of voluptuousness. Devoted by choice to an +austere regimen, they placed gourmandise in the list of capital +sins, and rigidly commented on the mingling of sexes and the use +of beds, a habit which they said produced the luxury they +deplored. + +Their menacing voice was heard; couches disappeared, and the old +habit of eating sitting, was restored. Fortunately this did not +violate the demands of pleasure. + +POETRY. + +Convivial poetry then underwent a new modification, and in the +mouths of Horace and Tibullus assumed a languor the Greeks were +ignorant of. + + Dulce ridentem Lalagem amabo, + + Dulce luquentem. + + HOR. + + Quaeris quot mihi batiationes + + Tuae, Lesbia, sint satis superque. + + CAT. + + Pande, puella, pande capillulos + + Mavos, lucentus ut aurum nitidum. + + Pande, puella, collum candidum + + Productum bene candidis humeris. + + GALLUS. + +IRRUPTION OF THE BARBARIANS. + +The five or six centuries we shall run over in a few pages, were +glorious days for the cuisine; the irruption however of northern +men overturned and destroyed everything. + +When the strangers appeared, alimentary art made its appearance, +as did the others that are its companions. The greater portion of +the cooks were massacred in the palaces they served. The +foreigners came and they were able to eat as much in an hour as +civilized people did in a week. + +Although that which is excessive is not durable--conquerors are +always cruel. They united themselves with the victors, who +received some tints of civilization, and began to know the +pleasures of civilized life. + + * * * * * * * + +About the seventeenth century, the Dutch imported coffee into +Europe. Solyman Agu, a Turk, whom our great, great grandfathers +well remember, sold the first cups in 1760. An American sold it in +1670, and dealt it out from a marble bar, as we see now. + +The use of coffee then dates from the eighteenth century. +Distillation, introduced by the crusades, remained arcana, with +few adepts. About the commencement of the reign of Louis XIV, +alambics became more common, but not until the time of Louis XV., +did the drink become really popular. + +About the same time the use of tobacco was introduced. So that +sugar, coffee and tobacco, the three most important articles of +luxury in Europe, are scarcely two centuries old. + +[The translator here omits a whole Meditation. It would now be +scarcely pleasant.] + +MEDITATION XXVIII. + +RESTAURATEURS. + +A restaurateur is one, the business of whom is to offer a dinner +always ready, and with prices to suit those that consume them. + +Of all those who frequent restaurants, few persons cannot +understand that a restorateur is not necessarily a man of genius. + +We shall follow out the affiliation of ideas which has led to the +present state of affairs. + +ESTABLISHMENT. + +About 1770, after the glorious days of Louis XIV., and the frolics +and tranquility of the regency of Cardinal Fleury, foreigners had +few means of good cheer. + +They were forced to have recourse to inn-keepers, the cookery of +whom was generally very bad. A few hotels kept a table d'hote +which generally contained only what was very necessary, and which +was always ready at an appointed hour. + +The people we speak of only ordered whole joints, or dishes, and +consequently such an order of things could not last. + +At last a man of sense arose, who thought that an active cause +must have its effect. That as the same want sent people every day +to his house, consumers would come whenever they were satisfied +that they would be served. They saw that if a wing was cut from a +fowl for one person, some one would be sure to taste the thigh. +The separation of one limb would not injure the flavor of the rest +of the animal. More pay the least attention to the increase of +prices, when one considers the prompt service of what was served. + +This man thought of many things, which we may now easily devise. +The one who did so was the first restaurateur and the inventor of +a business which is a fortune to all who exercise it promptly and +honorably. + +[The translator here omits a whole chapter.] + +From the examination of the bills of fare of different +restaurants, any one who sets down at the table, has the choice of +the following dishes:-- + +12 soups. + +24 side dishes. + +15 or 20 preparations of beef. + +20 of mutton. + +30 of fowl or game. + +16 or 20 of veal. + +12 of pastry. + +24 of fish. + +15 roasts. + +50 side dishes. + +50 desserts. + +Besides the fortunate gastronomer has thirty kinds of wine to +select from, passing over the whole scale from Burgundy to Tokay, +and Constantia, and twenty various kinds of essences, without +taking into consideration such mixed drinks as punch, negus, +sillabubs and the like. + +Of the various parts of a good dinner, many are indigenous, such +as butcher's meat, fowl and fruits. Others for instance, the beef- +stake, Welch rare-bit, punch, etc., were invented in England. +Germany, Spain, Italy, Holland, all contribute, as does India, +Persia, Arabia, and each pay their quota, in sour-krout, raisins, +parmera, bolognas, curacao, rice, sago, soy, potatoes, etc. The +consequence is, that a Parisian dinner is perfectly cosmopolitan. + +[The translator here omits two Meditations, which refer +exclusively to Paris is 1825. Few Frenchmen NOW would understand +them, and none but a Frenchman could.] + +PHYSIOLOGY OF TASTE + +PART SECOND. + +TRANSITION. + +If I have been read with the attention I wished, all must have +seen that I had a double purpose in view. The first was to +establish the theoretical basis of Gastronomy, so as to place it +among sciences where it should doubtless be. The second was to +define gourmandise, and to separate this social character, as free +from gluttony and intemperance, with which it is often confounded. + +This equivoque has been introduced by intolerant moralists, who, +deceived by too much zeal, saw excesses where there was only +innocent enjoyment. The treasures of creation were not made to be +trodden under the feet. It was afterwards propagated by +grammarians who defined it as blind men do, and who swore in verba +magistri. + +It is time that such an error should cease, for now all the world +understand each other. This is true, for there never was a person +who would not confess to some tincture of gourmandise, and even +would not boast of it, none however would not look on gluttony as +an insult, just as they do on intemperance and voracity. + +About these two cardinal points, it seems that what I have +described should satisfy all those who do not refuse conviction. I +might then lay down my pen and look on the task I have imposed on +myself as finished. As however, I approached those subjects which +belong to every thing, I remembered many things which it did not +seem to me fit to write, such as anecdotes, bon mots, recipes, and +other odd things. + +Had they been put in the theoretical portion of the book they +would have taken the connection; place them all together, they +will not be disadvantageous because they contain some experimental +truths and useful explanations. + +I have also inserted personal biography, but when I read them +over, I feel to a degree uneasy. + +This anxiety originated in my last lectures and glossaries, which +are in the hands of every body. I think, however, that I may be +tranquil, having sheltered myself under the mantle of philosophy, +I insist that my enemies have uneasy consciences and sleep badly. + +VARIETIES. + +I. + +L'OMELETTE DU CURE. + +All know that twenty years ago, Madame R---- was the most +beautiful woman in Paris. All know that she was very charitable +and took an interest in the various enterprises, the object of +which was the alleviation of misery, perhaps greater in the +capital than elsewhere. + +Having business with the cure of----, she went thither about five +P. M., and was surprised to find him at dinner. + +She believed that every body dined at six P. M., and was not aware +that ecclesiastics dined earlier, from the fact that they were +used to take light collations. + +Madame R---- wished to retire, but the cure would not permit her +to do so, either because the matter under discussion would not +interrupt conversation, or that a pretty woman never disturbs any +entertainment. + +The table was very well arranged; old wine sparkled in a chrystal +flagon, and the porcelain was faultless. The plates were kept hot +by boiling water, and an old housekeeper was in attendance. + +The meal was half way between luxury and abstinence. A soup of +ecrevisses was removed and a salmon trout, an omelette, and a +salad were placed on the table. + +"My dinner tells you," said the priest "what you do not know, that +to day is a fast day." My friend assented with a blush. + +They began with the trout, the shoulders of which were soon eaten. +The sauce was made by a competent person and the pastor's brow was +irradiated with joy. + +Then the omelette, which was round and done to a point, was +attached. + +As soon as the spoon touched it, the odor and perfume it contained +escaped, and my friend owns that it made her mouth water. + +The curel had a sympathetic movement for he was used to watch my +passions. In reply to a question he saw Madame R---- was about to +ask, he said, "It is an omelette au thon. My cook understands them +simply, and few people ever taste them without complimenting her." +"I am not amazed," said his lady guest, "for I never ate anything +so delightful." + +Then came the salad. (I recommend it to those who have confidence +in me. It refreshes without exciting. I think it makes people +younger.) + +Dinner did not interrupt conversation. They talked of the affair +which had occasioned the visit, of the war, of business, of other +things which made a bad dinner passably good. + +The dessert came. It consisted of septmoncel cheese, of apples and +preserves. + +At last the house-keeper brought forward a little round table, +such as once was called a gueridon, on which was a cup of strong +mocha, the perfume of which filled the room. + +Having sipped it, the cure said grace, and arose, adding "I never +take spirits, though I offer them to my guests. I reserve them as +a succor for extreme old age." + +While all this was progressing, time had passed, and as it was six +o'clock, Madame R---- was anxious to get into her carriage, for +she had several friends to dine with her. She came late, and told +her guests, of whom I was one, what she had seen. + +The conversation passed from subject to subject, but I, as a +philosopher, thought the secret of the preparation of such a dish +must be valuable. I ordered my cook to obtain the recipe in its +most minute details. I publish it the more willingly now, because +I never saw it in any book. + +OMELETTE AU THON. + +Take for six persons the roe of four cash [Footnote: the +translator has followed this recipe with shad, pike, pickerel, +etc., and can recommend it with a quiet conscience. Any fish is a +substitute for tunny] and steep them for a few minutes in salt +water just below boiling point. + +Put in also a fresh tunny about as large as an egg, to which you +must add a charlotte minced. + +Mix the tunny and the roes together, and put the whole in a kettle +with a portion of good butter, and keep it on the fire until the +butter has melted. This is the peculiarity of the omelette. + +Take then another piece of butter and mix it with parsely and +sage. Put it in the dish intended to receive the omelette, cover +it with lemon juice and put it on hot coals. + +Then beat twelve eggs, (fresh as possible), pour in the fish and +roe so that all may be perfectly mixed. + +Then cook the omelette as usual, making it thin and firm. Serve it +up hot. + +This dish should be reserved for breakfasts, where all the guests +are connoisseurs. It is caviare to the vulgar. + +OBSERVATIONS. + +1. The roes and fish should be warmed, not boiled. They will thus +mingle more easily with the eggs. + +2. The plate should be deep. + +3. It should be warm, for a cold porcelain plate would extract the +caloric of the omelette and make it insipid. + +II. A NATIONAL VICTORY. + +When I lived in New York I used every once in a while to pass the +evening in a kind of tavern kept by a man named Little, (the old +lank coffee house) where one could always get turtle soup and all +the dishes common in the United States. + +I often went thither with the Vicomte de la Massue and M. Fehr, an +old broker of Marsailles; all three of us were emigrants, and we +used to drink ale and cider, and pass the evening very pleasantly +together. + +There I became acquainted with a Mr. Wilkinson, who was a native +of Jamaica, and a person he was very intimate with, for he never +left him. The latter, the name of whom I do not remember was one +of the most extraordinary men I ever met. He had a square face, +keen eyes, and appeared to look attentively at everything, though +his features were motionless as those of a blind man. When he +laughed it was with what the English call a horse-laugh, and +immediately resumed his habitual taciturnity. Mr. Wilkinson seemed +about forty, and, in manner and appearance, seemed to be a +gentleman. + +The Englishman seemed to like our company, and more than once +shared the frugal entertainment I offered my friends, when Mr. +Wilkinson took me one evening aside and said he intended to ask us +all to dine with him. + +I accepted the invitation for three o'clock on the third day +after. + +The evening passed quietly enough, but when I was about to leave, +a waiter came to me and said that the West Indian had ordered a +magnificent dinner, thinking their invitation a challenge. The man +with the horse-laugh had undertaken to drink us Frenchmen drunk. + +This intelligence would have induced me, if possible, to decline +the banquet. It was, however, impossible, and following the advice +of the Marshal de Saxe, we determined, as the wine was uncorked, +to drink it. + +I had some anxiety, but being satisfied that my constitution was +young, healthy and sound, I could easily get the better of the +West Indian, who probably was unused to liquors. + +I however, went to see Messrs. Fehr and Massue, and in an occular +allocution, told them of my plans. I advised them to drink as +little as possible, and to avoid too many glasses, while I talked +to our antagonists. Above all things, I advised them to keep up +some appetite, telling them that food had the effect of moderating +the fumes of wine. + +Thus physically and morally armed, we went to the old bank coffee +house, where we found our friends; dinner was soon ready. It +consisted of a huge piece of beef, a roasted turkey, (plain) +boiled vegetables, a salad and pastry. + +Wine was put on the table. It was claret, very good, and cheaper +than it then was in France. + +Mr. Wilkinson did the honors perfectly, asking us to eat, and +setting us an example, while his friend, who seemed busy with his +plate, did nothing but laugh at the corners of his mouth. + +My countrymen delighted me by their discretion. + +After the claret came the port and Madeira. To the latter we paid +great attention. + +Then came the dessert composed of butter, cheese and hickory nuts. +Then came the time for toasts, and we drank to our kings, to human +liberty, and to Wilkinson's daughter Maria, who was, as he said, +the prettiest woman in Jamaica. + +Then came spirits, viz., rum, brandy, etc. Then came songs, and I +saw things were getting warm. I was afraid of brandy and asked for +punch. Little brought a bowl, which, doubtless, he had prepared +before. It held enough for forty people, and was larger than any +we have in France. + +This gave me courage; I ate five or six well buttered rolls, and I +felt my strength revive. I looked around the table and saw my +compatriots apparently fresh enough, while the Jamaican began to +grow red in the face, and seemed uneasy. His friend said nothing, +but seemed so overcome that I saw the catastrophe would soon +happen. + +I cannot well express the amazement caused by this denouement, and +from the burden of which I felt myself relieved. I rang the bell; +Little came up; I said, "see these gentlemen well taken care of." +We drank a glass to their health. At last the waiter came and bore +off the defeated party feet foremost. Wilkinson's friend was +motionless, and our host would insist on singing, "Rule +Britannia." [Footnote: The translator is sorry to say, that at the +time Savarin speaks of, "Rule Britannia" was not written.] + +The New York papers told the story the next day, and added that +the Englishman had died. This was not so, for Mr. Wilkinson had +only a slight attack of the gout. + +III. + +MYSTIFICATION OF THE PROFESSOR AND DEFEAT OF A GENERAL. + +Several years ago the newspapers told us of the discovery of a new +perfume called the emerocallis, a bulbous plant, which has an odor +not unlike the jasmin. + +I am very curious, and was, therefore, induced in all probability +to go to, the Foubourg St. Germain, where I could find the +perfume. + +I was suitably received, and a little flask, very well wrapped up, +was handed me, which seemed to contain about two ounces. In +exchange for it I left three francs. + +An etourdi would at once have opened, smelled and tasted it. A +professor, however, acts differently, and I thought modesty would +become me. I took the flagon then and went quietly home, sat on my +sofa and prepared to experience a new sensation. + +I took the package from my pocket and untied the wrappings which +surrounded it. They were three different descriptions of the +emerocallis, and referred to its natural history, its flower, and +its exquisite perfume, either in the shape of pastilles, in the +kitchen, or in ices. I read each of the wrappings. 1. To indemnify +myself as well as I could for the price I have spoken of above. 2. +To prepare myself for an appreciation of the new and valuable +extract I have spoken of. + +I then opened, with reverence, the box I supposed full of +pastilles. To my surprise, however, I found three other copies of +the edition I had so carefully read. Inside I found about two +dozen of the cubes I had gone so far for. + +I tasted them, and must say that I found them very agreeable. I +was sorry though, that they were so few in number, and the more I +thought of the matter, the more I became mystified. + +I then arose with the intention of carrying the box back to its +manufacturer. Just then, however, I thought of my grey hairs, +laughed at my vivacity, and sat down. + +A particular circumstance also recurred to me. I had to deal with +a druggist, and only four days ago I had a specimen of one of that +calling. + +I had one day to visit my friend Bouvier des Eclats. + +I found him strolling in a most excited state, up and down the +room, and crushing in his hands a piece of poetry, I thought a +song. + +He gave it to me and said, "look at this, you know all about it." + +I saw at once that it was an apothecary's bill. I was not +consulted as a poet, but as a pharmaceutist. + +I knew what the trade was, and was advising him to be quiet, when +the door opened, and we saw a man of about fifty-five enter. He +was of moderate stature and his whole appearance would have been +stern, had there not been something sardonic about his lips. + +He approached the fire-place, refused to sit down, and I heard the +following dialogue I have faithfully recorded. + +"Monsieur," said the general, "you sent me a regular apothecary's +bill." + +The man in black said that he was not an apothecary. + +"What then are you?" said the general. + +"Sir, I am a pharmaceutist." + +"Well," said the general, "your boy--" + +"Sir, I have no boy." + +"Who then was the young man you sent thither?" + +"My pupil--" + +"I wish to say, sir, that your drugs--" + +"Sir, I do not sell drugs--" + +"What then do you sell?" + +"Remedies." + +The general at once became ashamed at having committed so many +solicisms in a few moments, and paid the bill. + +IV. + +THE SNARE. + +The chevalier de Langeac was rich, but his fortune was dispensed +as is the fortune of all rich men. + +He funded the remnants, and aided by a little pension from the +government, he contrived to lead a very pleasant life. + +Though naturally very gallant, he had nothing to do with women. + +As his other powers passed away, his gourmandise increased. He +became a professor and received more invitations than he could +accept. + +Lyons is a pleasant city, for there one can get vin de Bourdeaux, +Hermitage and Burgundy. The game of the neighborhood is very good, +and unexceptionable fish is taken from the lakes in the vicinity. +Every body loves Bresse chickens. + +Langeac was therefore welcome at all the best tables of the city, +but took especial delight in that of a certain M. A. + +In the winter of 1780, the chevalier received a letter, inviting +him to sup ten days after date, (at that time I know there were +suppers) and the chevalier quivered with emotion at the idea. + +He, at the appointed time, made his appearance, and found ten +guests. There was at that time no such A grand dinner was soon +served, consisting of fish, flesh, and fowl. + +All was very good, but the chevalier was not satisfied with the +hopes he had entertained. + +Another thing amazed him. His guests did not seem to eat. The +chevalier was amazed to see that so many anti-convivial persons +had been collected, and thinking that he had to do justice to all +these fasting people set to work at once. + +The second service was solid as the first. A huge turkey was +dressed plain, flavored by salads and macaroni au parmesan. + +When he saw this, the chevalier felt his strength revive; all the +other guests were overpowered, excited by the changes of wines, he +triumphed over their impotence, and drank their health again and +again. Every time he drank their health, he took a slice from the +turkey. + +Due attention was paid to the side-dishes, and the chevalier stuck +to business longer than any one would have thought possible. He +only revived when the becfigues appeared, and became fully aroused +when truffles were put on the table. + +THE TURBOT. + +Discord one day sought to effect an entrance into one of the most +harmonious houses of Paris. A turbot was to be cooked. + +The fish was on the next day to be served to a company of which I +was one; it was fresh, fat, and glorious, but was so large that no +dish in the house could hold it. + +"Let us cut it in half," said the husband. + +"Would you thus dishonor it?" said the wife. + +"We must, my dear." + +"Well, bring the knife, we will soon do it." + +"Wait though, our cousin, who is a professor, will soon be here. +He will relieve us from the dilemma." + +The gordian knot was about to be released, when I came in hungry, +as a man always is at seven P. M. + +When I came in I tried in vain to make the usual compliments. No +one listened, and for that reason no one replied to me. The +subject in discussion was at once submitted to me. + +I made up my mind at once, went to the kitchen, found a kettle +large enough to boil the whole fish, and did so. There was a +procession composed of the master, mistress, servants, and +company, but they all approved of what I did. With the fish we +boiled bulbous root and other vegetables. [Footnote: From the +above it is very clear that Brillat Savarin made what the late D. +Webster called a "chowder."] When the fish was cooked we sat down +at the table, our ideas being somewhat sharpened by the delay, and +sought anxiously for the time, of which Homer speaks, when +abundance expells hunger. [The translator here omits a very +excellent recipe for a fish-chowder. Everybody knows it.] + +VI. + +PHEASANTS. + +None but adepts know what a pheasant is. They only can appreciate +it. + +Everything has its apogee of excellence, some of which, like +capers, asparagus, partridges, callow-birds, etc., are eatable +only when they are young. Others are edible only when they obtain +the perfection of their existence, such as melons and fruits, and +the majority of the beasts which furnish us with animal food. +Others are not good until decomposition begins, such as the snipe +and pheasant. + +When the pheasant is eaten only three days after its death, it has +no peculiarity; it has not the flavor of a pullet, nor the perfume +of a quail. + +It is, however, a highly flavored dish, about half way between +chicken and venison. + +It is especially good when the pheasant begins to be decomposed-- +an aroma and exciting oil is then produced, like coffee, only +produced by torrefaction. + +This becomes evident by a slight smell and change of color. +Persons possessed, however, of the instincts of gourmandise see it +at once, just as a good cook knows whether he should take his bird +from the spit or give it a turn or two more. + +When the pheasant is in that condition it should he plucked, and +not before. + +The bird should then he stuffed, and in the following manner: + +Take two snipe and draw them so as to put the birds on one plate, +and the livers, etc., on another. + +Take the flesh and mingle it with beef, lard and herbes fines, +adding also salt and truffles enough to fill the stomach of the +pheasant. + +Cut a slice of bread larger, considerably, than the pheasant, and +cover it with the liver, etc., and a few truffles. An anchovy and +a little fresh butter will do no harm. + +Put the pheasant on this preparation, and when it is boiled +surround it with Florida oranges. Do not be uneasy about your +dinner. + +Drink burgundy after this dish, for long experience has taught me +that it is the proper wine. + +A pheasant served in this way is a fit dish for angels, if they +visited the world as they did in Lot's day. + +What I say, experience has already proved. A pheasant thus stuffed +by Picard at La Grange [Footnote: Does he refer to La Fayette's +estate?] was brought on the table by the cook himself. It was +looked on by the ladies as they would have looked at one of Mary +Herbault's hats. It was scientifically tasted, and in the interim +the ladies eyes shone like stars, and their lips became coral. + +I did more than this; I gave a similar proof to the judges of the +supreme court. They are aware that the toga is sometimes to be +laid aside, and I was able to show to several that good CHEER was +a fit companion and reward for the labors of the senate. After a +few moments the oldest judge uttered the word excellent. All +bowed, and the court adopted the decision. I had observed that the +venerable old men seemed to take great delight in smelling the +dish, and that their august brows were agitated by expressions of +extreme serenity, something like a half smile hanging on their +lips. + +All this thing, however is naturally accounted for. The pheasant, +itself, a very good bird, had imbibed the dressing and the flavor +of the truffle and snipe. It thus becomes thrice better. + +Thus of all the good things collected, every atom is appreciated +and the consequence is, I think the pheasant fit for the table of +a prince. + +Parve, nec invideo, sine me liber, ibis in aulam. + +VII. + +GASTRONOMICAL INDUSTRY OF THE EMIGRES. + +Toute Francaise, a ce que j'imagine, + +Salt, bien ou mal faire, un peu de cuisine. + +Belle Arsene, Act. III. + +In a chapter written for the purpose, the advantages France +derived from gourmandise in 1815, were fully explained. This was +not less useful to emigres; all those, who had any alimentary +resources, received much benefit from it. + +When I passed through Boston, I taught a cook, named Julien, who +in 1794 was in his glory, how to serve eggs with cheese. Julien +was a skilful lad, and had, he said, been employed by the +Archbishop of Bourdeaux. This was to the Americans a new dish, and +Julien in return, sent me a beautiful deer he had received from +Canada, which those I invited to do honour to it, thought +admirable. + +Captain Collet also, in 1794 and 1795 earned much money by the +manufacture of ices and sherbets. + +Women always take care to enjoy any pleasures which are new to +them. None can form an idea of their surprise. They could not +understand how it could remain so cold, when the thermometer was +at 26 [degrees] Reaumur. + +When I was at Cologne, I found a Breton nobleman, who thought +himself very fortunate, as the keeper of a public house; and I +might multiply these examples indefinitely. I prefer however to +tell of a Frenchman, who became very rich at London, from the +skill he displayed in making salad. + +He was a Limousin, and if I am not mistaken, was named Aubignac, +or Albignac. + +Poor as he was, he went, however, one day to dine at one of the +first restaurants of London. He could always make a good dinner on +a single good dish. + +While he was discussing a piece of roast beef, five or six dandies +sat at the next table, and one of them advanced and said, "Sir, +they say your people excel in the art of making a salad. Will you +be kind enough to oblige us?" + +After some hesitation d'Albignac consented, and having set +seriously to work, did his best. + +While he was making his mixture, he replied frankly to questions +about his condition, and my friend owned, not without a little +blushing, that he received the aid of the English government, a +circumstance which doubtless induced one of the young men to slip +a ten pound bank bill into his hand. + +He gave them his address, and not long after, was much surprised +to receive a letter inviting him to come to dress a salad at one +of the best houses in Grosvenor square. + +D'Albignac began to see that he might draw considerable benefit +from it, and did not hesitate to accept the offer. He took with +him various preparations which he fancied would make his salad +perfect as possible. + +He took more pains in this second effort, and succeeded better +than he had at first. On this occasion so large a sum was handed +to him that he could not with justice to himself refuse to accept +it. + +The young men he met first, had exaggerated the salad he had +prepared for them, and the second entertainment was yet louder in +its praise. He became famous as "the fashionable salad-maker," and +those who knew anything of satirical poetry remembered: + +Desir do nonne est un feu pui devore, + +Desir d'Anglaise est cent fois piri encore. + +D'Albignac, like a man of sense, took advantage of the excitement, +and soon obtained a carriage, that he might travel more rapidly +from one part of the town to the other. He had in a mahogany case +all the ingredients he required. + +Subsequently he had similar cases prepared and filled, which he +used to sell by the hundred. + +Ultimately he made a fortune of 80,000 francs, which he took to +France when times became more peaceful. + +When he had returned to France, he did not hurry to Paris, but +with laudable precaution, placed 60,000 francs in the funds, and +with the rest purchased a little estate, on which, for aught I +know, he now lives happily. His funded money paid him fifty per +cent. + +These facts were imparted to me by a friend, who had known D +'Albignac in London, and who had met him after his return. + +VIII. + +RECOLLECTIONS OF THE EMIGRATION. + +THE WEAVER + +In 1794, M. de Rostaing, my cousin and friend, now military +intendant at Lyons, a man of great talent and ability, and myself +were in Switzerland. + +We went to Mondon, where I had many relations, and was kindly +received by the family of Troillet. I will never forget their +hospitality. + +I was there shown a young French officer who was a weaver, and who +became one thus:-- + +This young man, a member of a very good family, was passing +through Mondon, to join Condes army, and chanced to meet an old +man with one of the animated heads usually attributed by painters +to the companions of the famous Tell. + +At their dessert, the officer did not conceal his situation, and +received much sympathy from his new friend. The latter complained +that at such an age, he had now to renounce all that was pleasant, +and that every man should, as Jean Jacques, says, have some trade +to support themselves in adversity. + +The conversation paused there; and a short time after, he joined +the army of Conde. From what he saw there, however, he saw he +never could expect to enter France in that way. + +Then he remembered the words of the weaver; and finally making up +his mind, left the army, returned to Mondon, and begged the weaver +to receive him as an apprentice. + +On the next day the officer set to work, dining and sleeping with +the weaver, and was so assiduous, that after six months, his +master told him, he had nothing to teach him, thought himself +repaid for the care he had bestowed, and that all he earned +henceforth was his own profit. + +When I was at Mondon, the new artisan had earned money enough to +purchase a shop and a bed. He worked with great assiduity, and +such interest was taken in him, that some of the first houses of +the city enquired after him every day. + +On Sunday, he wore his uniform, and resumed his social rights. As +he was very well read, all took pleasure in his company, and he +did not seem discontented with his fate. + +THE STARVING. + +To this picture of the advantage of industry, I am about to add an +altogether different one. + +I met at Lausanne, an emigre from Lyons, who to avoid work used to +eat but twice a week. He would have died beyond a doubt, if a +merchant in the city had not promised to pay for his dinner every +Sunday, and Wednesday of the week. + +The emigre came always at the appointed time, and always took away +a large piece of bread. + +He had been living in this manner some three months, when I met +him; he had not been sick, but he was so pale that it was sad to +see him. + +I was amazed that he would suffer such pain rather than work. I +asked him once to dine with me, but did not repeat the invitation +because I believe in obeying that divine precept, "By the sweat of +thy brow shalt thou earn thy bread." + +SOJOURN IN AMERICA. + +From Switzerland I went to America. + +* * * * * * * + +ASPARAGUS. + +Passing one day in February, by the Palais Royal, I paused before +the shop of Mme Chevet, the largest dealer in comestibles in +Paris, who always wished me well. Seeing a large box of asparagus, +the smallest of which was large as my finger, I asked the price. +"Forty francs," said she. "They are very fine, but only a king or +prince could eat at such a rate." "You are wrong sir," said she, +"such things never go to palaces, but I will sell the asparagus. + +"There are now in this city at least three hundred rich men, +capitalists and financiers, retained at home by gout, colds, and +doctors. They are always busy to ascertain what will revive them +and send their valets out on voyages of discovery. Some one of +them will remark this asparagus, and it will be bought. It may be, +some pretty woman will pass with her lover, and say, 'what fine +asparagus. How well my servant dresses it.' The lover then does +not hesitate, and I will tell you a secret, that dear things are +sold more easily than cheap ones." + +As she spoke two fat Englishmen passed us. They seemed struck at +once. One seized hold of the asparagus and without asking the +price paid for it, and as he walked away whistled "God save the +King." + +"Monsieur," said Madame Chevet, "a thousand things like this +happen every day." + +FONDUE. + +Fondue is a soup dish, and consists only in frying eggs in cheese +in proportions revealed by experience. I will give the recipe. It +is a pleasant dish, quickly made and easily prepared for +unexpected guests. I refer to it here only for my peculiar +pleasure, and because it preserves the memory of things which the +old men of Belley recollect. + +Towards the end of the 17th century M. Madot became bishop of +Belley, and took possession of the diocese. + +Those to whom his reception had been confided had provided an +entertainment worthy of the occasion, and made use of all the +preparations then known in the kitchen, to welcome my lord. + +There was an immense fondue, to which the prelate paid great +attention; to the surprise of all he ate it with a spoon, instead +of a fork, as people had been used to do. + +All the guests looked at each other with a perceptible smile on +every face. A bishop from Paris, however, must know how to eat. On +the next day there was a great deal of gossip, and people that met +at the corners, said "Well did you see how our bishop ate his +fondue? I heard from a person who was present that he used a +spoon!" + +The bishop had some followers, innovators who preferred the spoon, +but the majority preferred the fork, and an old grand-uncle of +mine used to laugh as if he would die, as he told how M. de Madot +ate fondue with a spoon. + +RECIPE FOR FONDUE, COPIED FROM THE PAPERS OF M. TROLLET, BAILLI OF +MONDON IN BERNE. + +Calculate the number of eggs in proportion to the guests. + +Take one-third of the weight of Gruyere and one-sixth of the +weight of butter. + +Beat the eggs and mingle them with the butter and cheese in a +casserole. + +Put the kettle on a hot fire and stir it until the mixture is +perfect. Put in more or less salt in proportion as the cheese is +old or new. Serve it hot, with good wine, of which one should +drink much. The feast will see sights. + +DISAPPOINTMENT. + +All one day was quiet at the Ecu de France, between Bourg and +Bresse, when the sound of wheels was heard, and a superb English +berline drove up, on the box of which were two pretty Abigails, +wrapped in blue and red cloths. + +At the sight, which announced a nobleman on his travels, Chicot, +that was his name, hurried to the door of the equipage. The wife +stood at the door, the girls near by, while the boys from the +stable hurried forward satisfied that they would receive a +handsome gratuity. + +The women were unpacked and there came from the berline, 1st, a +fat Englishman, 2d, two thin, pale, red-haired girls, and 3d, a +lady, apparently in the first stage of consumption. + +The last spoke: + +"Landlord," said she, "take care of the horses, give us a room and +the women refreshments. All must cost only six francs; act +accordingly." + +Chicot put on his bonnet, madame went into the house, and the +girls to their garrets. + +The horses were, however, put into the stable, the Englishman read +the papers, and the women had a pitcher of pure water. The ladies +went up stairs. The six francs were received as a poor +compensation for the trouble caused. + +WONDERFUL EFFECTS OF A CLASSICAL DINNER. + +"Alas! how much I am to be pitied," said the elegiac voice of a +gastronomer of the royal court of the Seine. "Hoping to be soon +able to return home, I left my cook there; business detains me at +Paris, and I have to depend on an old women the preparations of +whom make me sick. Anything satisfies my wife and children, but I +am made a martyr of the spit and pot." + +Luckily a friend heard the complaint, who said, "You will not, my +friend, be a martyr. Deign to accept a classical dinner to-morrow, +and after a game of piquet we will bury all in the abyss of the +past." + +The invitation was accepted, the mystery was solved, and since the +23d June, 1825, the professor has been delighted at having one of +his best friends in royal court. + +EFFECT AND DANGER OF STRONG DRINKS. + +The artificial thirst we previously alluded to, is that which for +the moment appeals to strong drinks as a momentary relief. It +gradually becomes so habitual that those who grow used to it +cannot do without it even through the night, and have to leave +their bed to appease it. + +This thirst then becomes a real disease, and when he has reached +that point, it may safely be said that he has not two years to +live. + +I travelled in Holland with a rich Dantzick merchant, who had for +fifty years kept the principal house for the sale of brandy. + +"Monsieur," said he "none in France are aware of the importance of +the trade in brandy, which for nearly a century my father and +myself have carried on. I have watched with attention the workmen +who yield to it as too many Germans do, and they generally die in +the same manner." + +"At first they take simply a glass in the morning, and for many +years this suffices. It is a common habit with all workmen, and +any one who did not indulge in it would be ridiculed by his +companions. Then they double the dose, that is to say, take a +glass at morning and night. Thus things continue about three +years, when they begin to drink three times a day, and will only +taste spirits in which highly scented herbs have been infused. +Having reached that point, one may be sure they have not more than +six months to live, for they go to the hospital and are seen no +more." + +CHEVALIERS AND ABBES. + +I have already referred to these categories of gourmandise +destroyed by time. + +As they disappeared thirty years since, few of the present +generation ever saw them. + +About the end of the century they will probably reappear, but as +such a phenomenon demand the coincidence of many future +contingencies, I think few who live will ever witness this +palingenesia. + +As a painter of manners I must give the last touch to my portrait, +and will borrow the following passage from an author, who, I know, +will refuse me nothing. + +"The title of Chevalier was only correctly granted to persons who +had been decorated, or to the younger sons of noble houses. Many +of the Chevaliers of other families would take the title for +themselves, and if they had education and good manners, none +doubted the accolade. + +"They were generally young, wore the sword vertically and kept a +stiff upper lip. They gamed and fought and were a portion of the +train of any fashionable beauty." + +At the commencement of the revolution many of the Chevaliers +joined the army of the emigres, enlisted or dispersed. The few who +survive can yet be recognized by their military air; almost all of +them, however, have the gout. + +When any noble family had many children, one was dedicated to the +church; at first some benefice, barely sufficient to pay for the +expenses of education, was obtained, and ultimately he became +Prince, Abbe, or Bishop, as circumstances dictated. + +This was the real Abbe; but many young men who disliked the perils +of the Chevalier, called themselves Abbes when they came to Paris. + +Nothing was so convenient, for, with a slight change of dress, +they could appear as priests and the equals of anybody. There was +a great advantage in this for every house had its Abbe + +They were generally small, round, well dressed and agreeable. They +were gourmands, active and pleasant. The few that remain have +became very devout and very fat. + +None could be more comfortable than a rich prior or abbot. They +had no superiors and nothing to do. If there be a long peace, the +priors will turn up again, but unless there be a great change in +the ecclesiastical organization, the Abbes are lost for ever. + +MISCELLANY.--WINE. + +"Monsieur," said an old marquise to me one day, "which do you like +best, Burgundy or Bordeaux?" "Madame," said I, "I have such a +passion for examining into the matter, that I always postpone the +decision a week." + +STRAWBERRIES. + +The Count de la Place recommends that strawberries should always +be dressed with orange juice. + +JUDGMENT. + +"He is not a man of mind," said the Count de M---- "Why?" "Ah! he +does not eat pudding a la Richelieu, nor cutlets a la Soubise." + +RAISINS. + +"Take a raisin--" + +"No I thank you; I do not like wine in pills." + +A DAY WITH THE BERNARDINES. + +It was about one A. M., on a fine summer night, and I set out +after having been serenaded by many who took an interest in us. +This was about 1782. + +I then was the chief of a troop of amateur musicians All of whom +were young and healthy. + +"Monsieur," said the abbe of Saint Sulpice to me one day, and he +drew me into a window recess, "you would enjoy yourself very much +if you come some day to play for us at Saint Bernard's. The Saints +would be delighted." + +I accepted the offer at once, for it seemed to promise us an +agreeable evening. I nodded assent, and all were amazed. + +Annuit, et totum nutu tremefecit olympum. + +Every precaution had previously been taken, for we had yet to go +four leagues, a distance sufficient to terrify the persons who had +ascended Mont Martre. + +The monastery was in a valley, enclosed on the west side by a +mountain, and on the east by a hill that was not so high. + +The eastern peak was crowned by a forest of immense pines. The +valley was one vast prairie, and the beech grows much like the +arrangements of an English garden. + +We came about evenfall, and were received by the cellarer who had +a nose very rich-like an obelisk. + +"Gentlemen," said he, "our abbe will be glad when he hears you +have come. He is yet in bed; but come with me, and you will see +whether we have expected you or not." + +We followed him, and besought him to take us to the refectory. + +Amid the display of the table arose a pate like a cathedral; on +one side was a quarter of cold veal, artichokes, etc., were also +on the eastern range. + +There were various kinds of fruits, napkins, knives and plate; at +the foot of the table were many attentive servants. + +At one corner of the refrectory was seen more than an hundred +bottles, kept cool by a natural fountain. We could snuff the aroma +of mocha, though in those venerable days none ever drank mocha so +early in the morning. + +The reverend cellarer for a time laughed at our emotion, and then +spoke to us as follows: + +"Gentlemen," said he, "I would be pleased to keep you company, but +as yet I have not kept my mass. I ought to ask you to drink, but +the mountain air dispenses the necessity. Receive, then, what we +offer you. I must to matins." + +He went to matins. + +We did our best to eat up the abbe's dinner, but could not. People +from Sirius might, but it was too much for us. + +After dinner we dispersed. I crept into a good bed until mass; +like the heroes of Rocroy, who slept until the battle began. + +I was aroused by a great fat friar, who had nearly pulled my arm +out of its socket, and went to the church where I found all at +their posts. + +We played a symphony at the offertory and sung a motet at the +elevation, concluding with four wind instruments. + +We contrived, in spite of the jests usually expended on amateurs, +to get out of the difficulty very well. + +We received with great benignity the praises heaped on us, and +having received the abbot's thanks went to the table. + +The dinner was such as people used to eat in the fifteenth +century. There were few superfluities, but the choice of dishes +was admirable. We had plain, honest, substantial stews, good +meats, and dishes of vegetables, which made one regret they were +not more general. + +The dessert was the more remarkable, as it was composed of fruits +not produced at that altitude. The gardens of Machuras, of +Morflent and other places had contributed. + +There was no want of liqueurs, but coffee needs a particular +reference. + +It was clear, perfumed and strong, but was not served in what are +called tasses on the Seine, but in huge bowls, into which the +monks dipped their lips and smacked them with delight. + +After dinner we went to vespers, and between the psalms executed +antiphones I prepared for the purpose. That style of music was +then fashionable. I cannot say if mine was good or bad. + +Our DAY being over, my orchestra was enabled to look and walk +around. On my return the abbe said, "I am about to leave you, and +will suffer you to finish the night. I do not think my presence at +all importunate to the fathers; but I wish them to do as they +please." + +When the abbot had left, the monks drew more closely together, and +a thousand jokes were told, not the less funny because the world +knows nothing of them. + +About nine a glorious supper was served, long in advance of the +dinner. + +They laughed, sang, told stories, and one of the fathers recited +some very good verses he had himself composed. + +At last a monk arose, and said, "Father Cellarer, what have you to +say?" + +"True," said the father, "I am not cellarer for nothing." + +He left, and soon returned with three servitors, the first of whom +brought some glorious fresh buttered toast. The others had a table +on which was a sweetened preparation of brandy and water--vulgo, +punch. + +The new comers were received with acclamation; the company ate the +toasts, drank the toddy, and when the abbey clock struck twelve, +all went to their cells to enjoy a repose they had richly earned. + +PROSPERITY EN ROUTE. + +One day I rode a horse I called la Joie through the It was at the +worst era of the revolution, and I went to see Mr. Prot to obtain +a passport which, probably, might save me from prison or the +scaffold. + +At about 11 P. M., I reached a little bourg or village called Mont +St. Vaudrey, and having first attended to my horse, was struck by +a spectacle no traveller ever saw without delight. + +Before a fire was a spit covered with cock quails and the rails +that are always so fat. All the juice from the quails fell on an +immense rotie so built up that the huntsman's hand was apparent. +Then came one of those leverets, the perfume of which Parisians +have no faith in though they fill the room. + +"Ah ha!" said I; "Providence has not entirely deserted me. Let us +scent this perfume and die afterwards." + +Speaking to the landlord who, while I was making my examinations, +walked up and down the room, I said, "Mon cher, what can you give +us for dinner?" + +"Nothing very good, Monsieur. You can have potatoes. The beans are +awful. I never had a worse dinner." + +The landlord seemed to suspect the cause of my disappointment. I +said, however, "for whom is all this game kept?" + +"Alas, Monsieur," said he, "it is not mine but belongs to some +lawyers and judges who have been here several days on a business +which concerns a very rich old lady. They finished yesterday, and +wish to celebrate the event by a revolt." + +"Monsieur," said I, "be pleased to say that a gentleman asks the +favor of being permitted to dine with them, that he will pay his +portion of the expense, and also be much obliged to them." + +He left me and did not return, but after a few minutes a little +fat man entered, who hovered around the kitchen, lifted up the +covers and disappeared. + +"Ah, ha!" said I. The tiler has come to look at me. I began to +hope, for I knew my appearance was not repulsive. My heart beat +quickly as a candidate's does after the ballot-box is opened, and +before he knows the result, when the landlord told me the +gentlemen only waited for me to sit down. + +I went at once, and was received in the most flattering manner. + +The dinner was glorious, I will not describe it, but only refer to +an admirable fricassee of chicken not often seen in such +perfection in the country. It had so many truffles that it would +have revived an old Titan. + +We sang, danced, etc., and passed the evening pleasantly. + +[The translator here omits half a dozen songs, which are +essentially French, and which no one can do justice to in another +tongue.] + +H. ... DE P ... + +I believe I am the first person who ever conceived the idea of a +gastronomical academy. I am afraid, however, I was a little in +advance of the day, as people may judge by what took place fifteen +years afterwards. + +The President, H. de P., the ideas of whom braved every age and +era, speaking to three of the most enlightened men of his age, +(Laplace, Chaptal, and Berthollet,) said "I look in the history of +the discovery of a new dish, which prolongs our pleasures, as far +more important than the discovery of a new star." + +I shall never think science sufficiently honored until I see a +cook in the first class of the institute. + +The good old President was always delighted when he thought of his +labor. He always wished to furnish me an epigraph, not like that +which made Montesquieu a member of the academy. I therefore, wrote +several verses about it, but to be copied. + +Dans ses doctes travaux il fut infatigable; + +Il eut de grands emplois, qu'il remplit dignement: + +Et quoiqu'il filt profond, erudit et savant, + +Il ne se crut jamais dispense d'etre aimable. + +CONCLUSION. + +My work is now done, yet I am not a bit out of breath. + +I could give my readers countless stories, but all is now over, +and as my book is for all time, those who will read it now will +know nothing of those for whom I write. + +Let the Professor here end his work. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK, THE PHYSIOLOGY OF TASTE *** + +This file should be named 5434.txt or 5434.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, thphy11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, thphy10a.txt + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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