rt, every thing around him conspires quickly to vitiate
the organs of taste; the palate becomes blunted; its quickness of
feeling and delicacy, on which the sensibility of the organs of taste
depends, grows daily more obtuse; and in a short time the gustatory
nerve becomes quite unexcitable.

"IF YOU FIND YOUR COOK NEGLECT HIS BUSINESS--that his _ragouts_ are too
highly spiced or salted, and his cookery has too much of the '_haut
gout_,' you may be sure that _his index of taste_ wants regulating; his
palate has lost its sensibility, and it is high time to call in the
assistance of the apothecary.

"'_Purger souvent_' is the grand maxim in all kitchens where _le Maitre
d'Hotel_ has any regard for the reputation of his table. _Les Bons
Hommes de Bouche_ submit to the operation without a murmur; to bind
others, it should be made the first condition in hiring them. Those who
refuse, prove they were not born to become masters of their art; and
their indifference to fame will rank them, as they deserve, among those
slaves who pass their lives in as much obscurity as their own stewpans."

To the preceding observations from the "_Almanach des Gourmands_," we
may add, that the _Mouthician_ will have a still better chance of
success, if he can prevail on his master to observe the same _regime_
which he orders for his cook; or, instead of endeavouring to awaken an
idle appetite by reading the index to a cookery book, or an additional
use of the pepper-box and salt-cellar, rather seek it from abstinence or
exercise;--the philosophical _gourmand_ will consider that the edge of
our appetite is generally keen, in proportion to the activity of our
other habits; let him attentively peruse our "PEPTIC PRECEPTS," &c.
which briefly explain the art of refreshing the gustatory nerves, and of
invigorating the whole system. See in the following chapter on
INVITATIONS TO DINNER--A recipe to make FORTY PERISTALTIC PERSUADERS.

[27-*] "She must be quick and strong of sight; her hearing most acute,
that she may be sensible when the contents of her vessels bubble,
although they be closely covered, and that she may be alarmed before the
pot boils over; her auditory nerve ought to discriminate (when several
saucepans are in operation at the same time) the simmering of one, the
ebullition of another, and the full-toned wabbling of a third.

"It is imperiously requisite that her organ of smell be highly
susceptible of the various effluvia, that her