s worthy only of witches. We will leave to Aelian his herb
hanea and to Sterne the purslane and cucumber which indicate too plainly
his antiphlogistic purpose.

You should let your wife recline all day long on soft armchairs, in
which she sinks into a veritable bath of eiderdown or feathers; you
should encourage in every way that does no violence to your conscience,
the inclination which women have to breathe no other air but the scented
atmosphere of a chamber seldom opened, where daylight can scarcely enter
through the soft, transparent curtains.

You will obtain marvelous results from this system, after having
previously experienced the shock of her excitement; but if you are
strong enough to support this momentary transport of your wife you will
soon see her artificial energy die away. In general, women love to live
fast, but, after their tempest of passion, return to that condition of
tranquillity which insures the happiness of a husband.

Jean-Jacques, through the instrumentality of his enchanting Julie, must
have proved to your wife that it was infinitely becoming to refrain from
affronting her delicate stomach and her refined palate by making chyle
out of coarse lumps of beef, and enormous collops of mutton. Is there
anything purer in the world than those interesting vegetables, always
fresh and scentless, those tinted fruits, that coffee, that fragrant
chocolate, those oranges, the golden apples of Atalanta, the dates of
Arabia and the biscuits of Brussels, a wholesome and elegant food which
produces satisfactory results, at the same time that it imparts to a
woman an air of mysterious originality? By the regimen which she chooses
she becomes quite celebrated in her immediate circle, just as she would
be by a singular toilet, a benevolent action or a _bon mot_. Pythagoras
must needs have cast his spell over her, and become as much petted by
her as a poodle or an ape.

Never commit the imprudence of certain men who, for the sake of putting
on the appearance of wit, controvert the feminine dictum, _that the
figure is preserved by meagre diet_. Women on such a diet never grow
fat, that is clear and positive; do you stick to that.

Praise the skill with which some women, renowned for their beauty, have
been able to preserve it by bathing themselves in milk, several times
a day, or in water compounded of substances likely to render the skin
softer and to lower the nervous tension.

Advise her above all things