nted out in the following story,
which is related by a French writer:

The Abbe Cosson, professor in the _College Mazarin_, thoroughly
accomplished in the art of teaching, saturated with Greek, Latin, and
literature, considered himself a perfect well of science: he had no
conception that a man who knew all Persius and Horace by heart could
possibly commit an error--above all, an error at table. But it was not
long before he discovered his mistake. One day, after dining with the
Abbe de Radonvilliers at Versailles, in company with several courtiers
and marshals of France; he was boasting of the rare acquaintance with
etiquette and custom which he had exhibited at dinner. The Abbe
Delille, who heard this eulogy upon his own conduct, interrupted his
harangue by offering to wager that he had committed at least a hundred
improprieties at the table. "How is it possible?" exclaimed Cosson. "I
did exactly like the rest of the company."

"What absurdity!" said the other. "You did a thousand things which no
one else did. First, when you sat down at the table, what did you do
with your napkin?" "My napkin! why, just what everybody else did with
theirs. I unfolded it entirely, and fastened it to my button-hole."
"Well, my dear friend," said Delille, "you were the only one that did
_that_, at all events. No one hangs up his napkin in that style; they
are contented with placing it on their knees. And what did you do when
you took soup?" "Like the others, I believe. I took any spoon in one
hand and my fork in the other--" "Your fork! Who ever ate soup with a
fork? But to proceed: after your soup, what did you eat?" "A fresh
egg." "And what did you do with the shell?" "Handed it to the servant
who stood behind my chair." "Without breaking it, of course?" "Well,
my dear Abbe, nobody ever eats an egg without breaking the shell."
"And after your egg--?" "I asked the Abbe Radonvilliers to send me a
piece of the hen near him." "Bless my soul! a piece of the _hen_! You
never speak of hens excepting in the barn-yard. You should have asked
for fowl, or chicken. But you say nothing of your mode of drinking."
"Like all the rest, I asked for _claret_ and _champagne_." "Let me
inform you, then, that persons always ask for _claret wine_ and
_champagne wine_. But tell me, how did you eat your bread?" "Surely I
did that properly. I cut it with my knife in the most regular manner
possible." "Bread should always be broken, not cut. But the coffee,
ho