mpenetrable obscurity; and, in general, so
extravagantly fond are the professors of an art of keeping up all the
pomp, circumstance, and mystery of it, and of preserving the accumulated
prejudices of ages past undiminished, that one might fairly suppose
those who have had the courage and perseverance to overcome these
obstacles, and penetrate the veil of science, were delighted with
placing difficulties in the way of those who may attempt to follow them,
on purpose to deter them from the pursuit, and that they cannot bear
others should climb the hill of knowledge by a readier road than they
themselves did: and such is _l'esprit de corps_, that as their
predecessors supported themselves by serving it out _gradatim et
stillatim_, and retailing with a sparing hand the information they so
hardly obtained, they find it convenient to follow their example: and,
willing to do as they have been done by, leave and bequeath the
inheritance undiminished to those who may succeed them."--See p. 10 of
Dr. KITCHINER _on Telescopes_, 12mo. 1825, printed for Whittaker, Ave
Maria Lane.

[32-*] "In the present language of cookery, there has been a woful
departure from the simplicity of our ancestors,--such a farrago of
unappropriate and unmeaning terms, many corrupted from the French,
others disguised from the Italian, some misapplied from the German,
while many are a disgrace to the English. What can any person suppose to
be the meaning of _a shoulder of lamb in epigram_, unless it were a poor
dish, for a pennyless poet? _Aspect of fish_, would appear calculated
for an astrologer; and _shoulder of mutton surprised_, designed for a
sheep-stealer."--_A. C., Jun._

[33-*] See note to No. 59 how to plump the liver of a goose.

[33-+] "It is a curious illustration of the _de gustibus non eat
disputandum_, that the ancients considered the _swan_ as a high
delicacy, and abstained from the flesh of the _goose_ as impure and
indigestible."--MOUBRAY _on Poultry_, p. 36.

INVITATIONS TO DINNER

In "the affairs of the mouth" the strictest punctuality is
indispensable; the GASTRONOMER ought to be as accurate an observer of
time, as the ASTRONOMER. The least delay produces fatal and irreparable
misfortunes.

Almost all other ceremonies and civil duties may be put off for several
hours without much inconvenience, and all may be postponed without
absolute danger. A little delay may try the patience of those who are
waiting; but the act it