The Ergates; the Cossus 



at least to keep them in excellent condition. 



Enough of the Cossus and my crazy 

 skewers. If I have studied the question so 

 closely, it ceitainly has not been with .the 

 hope of enriching our bills of fare. No, that 

 was not my object, even though Brillat- 

 Savarin^ has said that "the invention of a 

 new dish is a greater benefit to humanity 

 than the discovery of an asteroid.". The 

 scarcity of the pine-tree's plump inhabitants 

 and the repugnance with which the vast ma- 

 jority of us view any sort of vermin will al- 

 ways prevent my new comestible from becom- 

 ing a common article of diet. It is probable 

 even that it will remain a mere curiosity, 

 which people will take on trust without veri- 

 fying its qualities. Not everybody has the 

 needful independence of stomach to appre- 

 ciate the merits of a worm. 



Still less, so far as I was concerned, was 

 the bait of a dainty dish the motive. My 

 sober tastes are not easily tempted. A hand- 

 ful of cherries is more to my Hking than all 

 the preparations of our cookery-books. My 

 sole desire was to throw light upon a point of 



lAnthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826), the famous 



French gastronomer, author of La Physiologie du gout. — 

 Translator's Note. 



183 



