A SCHOOLMAN UPON VICTUALS. 297 



of sweet wine, to which he put an equal, or rather more 

 than an equal, quantity of water. 



Having in his old age told the world these things, 

 Jerome amused himself with the manufacture of a little 

 burlesque sketch of the philosophy of victuals, which 

 may be taken as a satire upon some of his own graver 

 generalisations. " There are," he says, " seven summa 

 genera of things air, sleep, exercise, food, drink, medi- 

 cine, preservatives. And there are fifteen species air, 

 sleep, exercise, bread, meat, milk, eggs, fish, oil, salt, 

 water, figs, rue, grapes, and onions. There are fifteen 

 preparatives fire, ashes, the bath, water, pot, fryingpan, 

 spit, gridiron, knife-back and knife-edge, a grater; parsley, 

 rosemary, and laurel." Here, it maybe observed, the list, 

 made up at random, wants one article more. " Of exer- 

 cises, there are the grinding-wheel, walking, riding, the 

 small pestle and mortar, cart, making of cutlery, riding 

 (this item is repeated), the saddle, navigation, cleaning 

 of platters, friction or lotion; fifteen," adds Jerome, sud- 

 denly counting them up, though they are but a ragged 

 ten, into conformity with his abstruse system of fifteens. 

 " These things," he adds, writing no doubt after supper, 

 with a twinkle in his eye, "I have reduced to a com- 

 pendium, after the manner of the theologians, not with- 

 out exercise of profound thought, and a great display 



