The New York herald., 1871-11-08

CRITICISMS OF NEW BOOKS.

Cookery nnd Cock Books.
EATING AND DRINEENG. BY George NJ Baird Put
nam Sons Kew York.
l0uNa HousExEEpEHs Friend. BY Mrs. Corne.
hus Tnomps IN. Bgelsw Brown, Boston.
As the leaves fall or the trees, '.seized ana
whirea alolt" "by the stormy blasts OF October
and she people Of the comfortable classes at last
return from their annual pilgrimage to Newport and
Lsng Branch 10 their city homes, we are over
wheImed each autumn bv falling shower OF cook
cry books. Sometimes, indeed. as In bhe present
year. the literature OF eating and drinking falls be-
how It's accustomed volume, and hasty observer
might be tempted disbelleve in its periodic
renee, just as seeptic5 whom we have recently
met affect TO dlspeieve IN the certainty OF the
equinoctlal storms at sprng and fa!l
But even am,d the excitements ana disasters
and wholesale knavery OF this wonderful year OF
grace 1871, the klRd ald genial souls VINO devote
themselves to iniAiing AMI collecting those inter-
esting monographs on creature comforts known as
'recepts" have not been utterly frightened away
from their heroic devotion the needs OF humanity
and tue claims OF advanced Civilization. LOOK,
for example. at the noble works which stand at the
head OF this article An admirable though un9re
tentous book on eating and drinKiag-what we
might call the ethics OF coOkery-and Q neat little
COOKBOOK proper recall Us 10 the amenities OF winter
society, ana thank heaven that it Is at last cold
enough for an appetite to be IN season. The savage
instincts or our remote ancestors wake ~ within
as as we turn over their tOothsome pages, and
we feel as abectly disposed to walow in
glutt0ny rs was Cedric or Athestane or even
King Arthur and his Knights OF the Round Table,
each or whom devoured at least quarter
oil lamb at grand feast, at Astolat.
WHAT glorious vigor OF digestion, by the way, the
men OF that heroic age must have had | Perhaps,
indeed, that was what made. them 30 nohle and
generous ami unselfish. At rate, It s satisiac
tory to ind from the researches OF DR.. Beard tina
guttony is, even In modern tines The frequent, II
not the aRailing, companion of genlus that 1t IS
respectable aad noble vice, II it be vice at oil.
Goethe, for instance, mad an immense appetite"
Even on the days when lie compla ned OF not being
hungry he ate muca more titan most men. Pud-
dings, sweets and cakes were always welcome. He
was fond OF his WINE, and drank daily Two and
three bottles. So with Peter the Great and DIR.
Johnson, anu MANY osaars equally distinguished.
while Charles Lamb says that whenever Wordsworth
dlncd with him ais laIrl!ady charged him slxpence
tor dinner more than for any else, because
the poet was such an enormous feeder Let rs re-
solve, then, a, the coming Thanksgiving and again
ct Christmas and New Years. to do our duty
to ourselves Dy welding mighty knife
anu tork. Especially Is this purpose appli-
cable to brain workers, for, says Dr. Beard,
the diet OF this class OF people 'shoud be OF large
variety, deIcately served, abundanlly nutritious,
OF which fresh meat, lean and fat, should be promt
nent constituent. In vacations, or whenever 1t Is
desired TO rest the BRAIN lsh may, to n certain ex
tent taXe the place OF meat. We should select those
articles that are most agreeable to our individual
tastes, ana far as possible, we should take our
meals amid pleasant social surroundings. In great
crises that call for unusual exertlon should rest
the stomach that for the time the brain may work
the harder; but the deficiency Of nutrition ought
always 10 be supplied the first interval Of repose"
why ore not all doctors equally llberal IN their
notions OF gustal0ry allty M
Turning lazily over the leaves OF these charming
little volumes, we are carried bacE In Imagination
to ali the cookery booAs we nave cssny I'D che
pleasure os coming In the past And what . won
Ssrful one was that which. when Guild, we 6rst
pondered over--the same massive, many paged
hig-typcd volume the "Complete British Housewife"
over whose pages Dora Coppcraelu aud Bella WEfer
both worried their poor brains In valn effort to
extort wise and profitable COUNSEL.
This tsays Mr.. Dickens, .'prlncpally because the
"Complete British Housewife" however sound q
BSn ea was oy M msans an e.
tongue ana sometimes might have issued her d.
IN 20 q n "s Mod sa
denly excaim aloud, ..pn. You ridiculous Old thing,
a0 W made 1Ga s
would Try the Housewife again, with all her dimpes
screwed into an expression OF profound research.
There WAS likewise a coolne3s on the part of the
British Housewife which Mrs. John Rokcsmlth
sa found 7aRss highly she
general should command private to catch q Tar.
tar Or Sanso sas E0a} rasr TaSx
In these-tne Housewives most glaring moments
OF unreason-Bela would shut her up ana
knock her ON the table. apostrophlzing hsr with the
Where am to get 1t, do you thinkrv
Such il an adm irable description OF the cookery
book as 1t was couple OF generations back. Full OF
obsolete receipts many Of Its pages fairly brlstled
with insolube problems But che advance Of clvili-
zation In Difference probably to the definition Of the
difference between human being and brute, rs
the difference between an animal who cooks an
animal who eats his food raw. has introduced
many and salutary reforms In this most necessary
OF the arts. The telegraph and the locomotive have
not yet diverted attention from the grand 1act that
man has stomach as well a. a soul. Perhaps IN
America have not been true IN this regard to our
national characteristic Of being in the front rank Of
progress but we are beginning 60 get sound teach
srs as to the art OF hvlng and the reproac Of ~
people OF dyspeptics'' Will in time pass away. Every
now and then, though STILL alas with sad tnIre-
uuenOy, one finds an American house wife who is y
worthy disciple OF Soyer and Careme. And what
charming and delightful people the dehizens OF
such q home always are We are bv no means sure
that nearly all our drunkards and criminals not
the results Of perverted diet Saeratus bread and
hot biscuit and villanOus coffee aud indlgestibl
masses OF fat bacon are very likely responsible for
che great rebellion. and to misplaced devotion to
pork and beans the wiser philosophy OF the coming
man may attribute the heresies OF w0man's
rights ana free love. Tammany frauds have
possibly been bred In rank luxuriance from the
coarse faro OF an engine house, and from pumpkin
pie In imnoderate doses may have sprung the
doubtful nDancierina OF the Erie ring. There Is no
doubt at any rate, about Spiritualism being an I'm
mediate result OF improper feeding. Let any sane
man attend convention OF mediums and In their
hollow lacklusre eyes, clrc!ed with tell tale Rugs
and In their sunKen cheeks, and lank, attenuatcd
forms he viii find the sad evidences Of impcrfecs
nutrition and an outraged stomach. Foolish was
fnaf man who nrnnnsel To deter nina the character