Daily Yellowstone journal., 1885-02-18
ANCIENT GASTRoNoMY.
How the Heroes Of Mythology and History
Indulged Their APPetites.

Indulged Their APpetites
THE Catersr.l
II has been calculated that rich man
with weakness for good living indulges
in forty times more food than is absO-
lutely necessary for his health. Nothing,
of course, so begets disease as this in
tense plentitude; it reacts on the intelli-
gence. The muses., We know, are
chaste, but they are in addition
sober. The temperance makes the
head cool, the ideas clear and
the Judgment healthy. Life is not long,
when one exists only by indigestions. 1t
is not necessary that each particle of
our food be weighed, each morSel
counted, each drop measured. Nor is 1t
desirable to renew the law of Sparta,
which imposed fine on each citizen,
when certain stoutneSs exceeded a
fixed standard. In Persia, when the
ladies of the palace get beyond a certain
measurement they are compelled to DO
Banting till the lean kind ideal of Pha.
roah be attained. Now, hygiene is a
guide and sage, not tyrant; il has its
special rules that cannot be infrlnged
with impunity. 1t has also its princi-
Piles, the latter very simple and easily
followed.
Appetite or hunger should only be
satisfied, never irritated nor satiated,
and the quaint ~ of food ought TO be in
proportion our digestive powers. The
stomach has its caprices. The less the
mass of food on which digestion has to
operate, the more Perfect will De the di-
gestion. Ever rise from the table with
the sensation that you could eat some
thing more. Unite contentment with
abstention; this may be trying, but it
will be repaid in good health and long
evity. Ii must be borne in mind that
stomachs are not TO be gauged by
any uniformity test, no more
than fashion plate can be a suitable
model for every elegante. Louis Cor
naro lived, at the close Of his life of 95
years, on the yolk Of an egg at each re-
past, and even the half of that occa-
sionally. But that Venetian is an eX-
ceptional case. Two things ought never
to be confounded, viz: The appetite Of
the stomach and the appetite of the pal
ate; tine latter is frequently Fictitious,
and that which flatters the taste may
prove very dangerous for the stomach
An excellent dinner has this of the dan
gerous in it, that it tempts us to eat
oyeImuch.
The first dinner parties were given by
the Greeks; they were not so much din
ners as fetes. The guests reclined, full
length, on couches covered with white
and purple stuffs; the tables were GOV.
cred with the most exquisite taste and
ornamented with gold; from the nature
of the position of the guest, the tables
were necessarily very long. The food
was served very warm, and at the end
of the banquet the tables and oouches
were removed and chairs supplied,
which allowed the company TO draw
closer together for the purpose of con.
versation. The science of table talk is
of Athenian origin.
Byron alludes to that tocsin of the
soul-the dinner bell. In ancient
France, the signal for dinner was given
by means of the hunting horn, as being
the most noble OF all instruments. But
that blast was really to call quests to
wash their hands, as the poets Of the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries attest.
It was only personages of very high dis,
tinction that had the right to employ
the horn for this purpose. Before sit
ting down to table, there was the
ceremony of washing the hands
with the great lords, in perfumed,
or rose water. The tables were in
carved gold or silver works; when in
wood, they were covered with cloths
double folded. Napkins are relatively
modern invention, and date from the
coronation Of Charles VII, at Rheims.
Forks were unknown TO the ancients,
and only came into usage in France at
the end of the fourteenth century; they
appeared during the reign of King
Charles V. Previous to forks, food was
carried to the mouth on knives-as the
Germans do largely to this day-rounded
at the end. When retiring from table,
the hands were washed second time.
The ancients said gastronomy is the
art Of q thousand resources. Now, to
give a good dinner, give your orders
very precise and detailed-leave others
W NAtNult lHtIus DO uOl aim dI 100
much. Let there be few choice dishes,
and all their constituents of the best.
Have a good soup to commence with,
there are at least 500 known to select
from. A light soup is best il the dinner
will be long. And guest ought never
indulge under such circumstances in too
much, as it may prove too heavy for the
stomach and weaken its functions. Par
take Of good plate of soup if it pleases
you, but do not patronize many dishes
afterwards. Taken in small quantities,
soup i, the base of dinner, sufficient
to excite the stomach. II is on soup
that French children, peasants, soldiers
and the working-classes liye-proof that
it is nourishing. Yet there are very
high French physicians who maintain
that soup is not worth much in any
form.
Curious Ocean Phenomena.