Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-01-28
ART OF COOKING.
Progress of Human Race Closely AL.
lied to 1t.

FROM the Medical Record
- may well be said that the developn,ent
OF the art OF cooking is closely connectod
49, Inward progress of the human
&C. Az the prehistoric cave jewellers knau,
HotIhns or the uses to which fire might La
put thelr gastronomic abilities were nToha
, ply on a par with those of the beasts OF
prey with which they competed for fbeir
daliy supply of food. The earliest nationa
OF whom we possess historic records recoe1
nized the value of foods properly Prepared
ana we ma that the science of cookinr
gradually attained the height of ire da,et
opment during the reign Of the great Ro-
man emperorS of the Augustintan neriod
w die APT 10 look upon the banquets OF
TIC oiu Romans as orgies, and in some de-
gree they undoubtedly We're and Vet we
nave abundant evidence that the Romans
were cognlzant OF the fact that the proper
preparation and seasoning of the food con-
trlbuted, in large measure to an imnrovad
appetite and better digestion We must
therefore, credit them with a knowledge OF
these physiological necessities even yybfIa
CONCERNING them for their Irxurtous re
pasts They also realized that a pleasant
frame or mind had a great and important
t isnuence on the digestive processes, and
therefore provided amusements of various
KINDS during the meal The inroads of the
northern barbarians caused the highly de-
seioped arts and sciences of the Romans
anu culinary perfection must be included
among them-to be plunged into the long
period OF darkness which marked the mid
die ages.
civilization We owe to the many mona stio
ofders or Europe, whose members pre-
served and cultivated, among other things
the traditions of the culinary art until the
renaissance, in the reign of Louis XIV OF
France and his SUCCESSORS. The influence
OF France on the menus of the world has
continued unfnterruptedly down to the
present day The principles of cooking
speaking of the latter in a general sense
were developed by the early Romans in a
purely. empirical fashion. Now they have
been made the subject of scientific inyesti-
cation and found to rest a firm and
sound basis. The Russian psychologist
searches On digestion, that the ingestion OF
substances with a purely nutrient value
does not sufficiently satisfy the demands OF
the body-taste and appetite must also be
taken into consideration These are salts
fed only by the addition to the food OF
spices and salt, and 1t is largely due to the
influence of these condiments that the
by the mucous membrane Of the stomach
The action upon the stomach of refex
stimuli Is shown by the favorable erect on
the flow OF the gastric secretions made by
mental Impressions induced by the mere
sight and odor Of a well prepared dish. In
xeiger, No. 10, 1850 leads up to the broad
claim that the proper preparation OF an
food as demanded by the essential reQuirep
rnents OF the culinary art, Is not q luxury
but physiological necessity. and to deveas
OPP and disseminate this knowledge Is an act
happily an increasing interest taken by
physicians to dietetics and cooking. for
tnese two subjects go hand IN hand, and
this interest Il should be the aim OF the
medical man to transmit to his patients or
to thoss who have oare Of them