taking a glass of wine as an interlude, by crunching the neck of the fowl. Next he attacked the thigh, and after eating it with the same self-possession, took a second glass of wine to clear the way for the remainder. Very soon the second wing went the same road, and on its disappearance, the performer, as keen as ever, was taking hold of the only remaining limb, when the unfortunate farmer shouted, in a doleful tone, "Ah! I see very well you'll win; but as I have to pay, leave me at least a small bit to myself."*

Prosper was as good-natured as he afterwards showed himself courageous, and not only consented to his opponent's request, who thus had for his share the carcase of the fowl, still in excellent condition, but paid cheerfully both for the turkey and the necessary accompaniments.

General Sibuet was very fond of quoting this youthful exploit, and used to say that it was merely out of courtesy that he took the farmer into partnership, declaring that without his assistance

* As the farmer speaks in a frightful patois, somewhat resembling our Somerset, dashed with a few words of, say, Welsh, Savarin takes occasion to boast good-naturedly that the specimen proves not only that th is pronounced in France as well as by the English and the Greeks (he might have added the Spanish), but that in such words as praou there is heard a diphthong which exists in no language, and can be represented by no known characters.

he felt himself perfectly able to gain the wager. His appetite at forty, moreover, amply proved the truth of his assertion.

V.

ON FOOD.

WHAT is meant by food? The popular meaning is, whatever yields us nourishment; the Its definiscientific, any substance which, on being being tion. submitted to the action of the stomach, becomes assimilated by digestion, and repairs the losses which, from vital use and action, the human body suffers. Thus, the distinctive quality of food is that it can be assimilated by an animal.

It is from the animal and vegetable kingdoms only that man has hitherto derived his food. Minerals have as yet yielded only medicines and poisons.

Since analytical chemistry was classed among the real sciences, great advances have been Chemical made in gaining insight into the consti- analysis. tuent elements of the human body, as compared with those of the substances evidently intended by nature to repair its losses. Between these two branches of study there must be a close analogy,

since man's body is in a great measure made up of the same elements as the animals he feeds upon, and in vegetables we must look for the affinities which render them capable of assimilation by animals.

I had some intention of here inserting a short treatise on the chemistry of foods, and showing my readers into how many thousandths of carbon, hydrogen, etc., we could reduce them and the dishes on which they feed; but I have refrained, on reflecting that such a task would merely be equivalent to making a copy of the excellent chemical treatises which are already in everybody's hand. Moreover, I was afraid of becoming involved in dry details, and have accordingly limited myself to the use of systematic terms-except, here and there, where some chemical results are stated in words less bristling and more intelligible.

Osmazome.

The greatest service which chemistry has rendered to alimentary science is the discovery, or exact definition, rather, of osmazome. Osmazome is that specially sapid part of meat which is soluble in cold water, and therefore to be distinguished from the "essence," which is soluble only in boiling water. It is osmazome which constitutes the real merit of good soups; which, passing into a state resembling caramel, gives meat its reddish tinge; which forms the crisp brown on roasts;

and which yields a flavour to venison and game. Osmazome is derived principally from full grown animals, with reddish or dark flesh, such as some call fully formed; and it is scarcely ever found in veal, sucking-pigs, pullets, or even the best fed capons. This explains, by the way, why your real connoisseur has always, in poultry, preferred the inner thigh; his taste had instinctively anticipated science.

By a similar unconscious anticipation of this discovery, we can explain the dismissal of so many cooks for having abstracted the first soups; the reputation of the "soupes de primes"; the use of a bason of broth as a restorative after bathing; and Canon Chevrier's invention of having a padlock on the stock-pot. It was this canon, by the by, who never had spinach served up on a Friday unless it had been cooked on the Sunday, and daily replaced on the fire with a new addition of fresh butter.

It was also in order to prevent any waste of this substance, though yet unknown, that the maxim arose: To make good soup, the pot must only simmer

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smile," as the phrase is; and a remarkable

phrase it is, too, considering its origin.

Thus osmazome, discovered after having so long been a source of delight to our forefathers, resembles

E

alcohol, with which many génerations had become tipsy before distillation brought it to light. After osmazome comes the product obtained by treating meat with boiling water, and generally termed the extract or essence; when combined with osmazome, it forms the juice, or gravy.

Of what food is composed.

Fibre is what composes the flesh tissue, and is seen in cooked meat. It can resist boiling water, preserving its form, although deprived of some enveloping substances. To carve well, the blade of the knife should be at right angles to the fibre, because thus the meat not only looks better, but tastes better, and is more easily chewed.

Bones consist principally of gelatine and phosphate of lime. The gelatine diminishes as one's age increases, so that at sixty the bones are merely a kind of imperfect marble. Hence their brittleness in old men, and the rule of prudence which warns them to avoid every chance of a fall. Gelatine occurs in the soft parts as well as in bone and cartilage. Its special property is coagulation at the ordinary temperature of the air; as when infused in water, in so small a proportion as two and a half per cent. It forms the basis of every kind of jelly, blanc-mange, and similar preparations.

Albumen is found both in the flesh and the blood.