THE CHEMISTRY OF COOKERY, 783 



exposed to all the inclemencies of the seasons. A large and commodi- 

 ous building, fitted up in the neatest and most comfortable manner, 

 was now provided for their reception. In this agreeable retreat they 

 found spacious and elegant apartments, kept with the most scrupulous 

 neatness ; well warmed in winter, and well lighted ; a good, warm 

 dinner every day, gratis, cooked and served up with all possible atten- 

 tion to order and cleanliness ; materials and utensils for those that 

 were able to work ; masters gratis for those who required instruction ; 

 the most generous pay, in money, for all the labor performed ; and the 

 kindest usage from every person, from the highest to the lowest, be- 

 longing to the establishment. Here in this asylum for the indigent 

 and unfortunate no ill-usage, no harsh language is permitted. During 

 five years that the establishment has existed, not a blow has been given 

 to any one, not even to a child by his instructor." 



This appears like the very expensive scheme of a benevolent Uto- 

 pian ; but, to set my readers at rest on this point, I will anticipate a 

 little by stating that, although at first some expense was incurred, 

 all this was finally repaid, and, at the end of six years, there remained 

 a net profit of one hundred thousand florins " after expenses of every 

 kind, salaries, wages, repairs, etc., had been deducted." 



I must not dwell upon his devices for gradually inveigling the lazy 

 creatures into habits of industry, for he understood human nature too 

 well to adopt the jailer's theory, which assumes that every able-bodied 

 man can do a day's work daily, in spite of previous habits. Rum- 

 ford's patients became industrious ultimately, but were not made so 

 at once. 



This development of industry was one of the elements of financial 

 and moral success, and the next in importance was the economy of the 

 commissariat, which depended on Rumford's skillful cookery of the 

 cheapest viands, rendering them digestible, nutritious, and palatable. 

 Had he adopted the dietary of an English workhouse or an English 

 prison, his financial success would have been impossible, and his pa- 

 tients would have been no better fed, nor better able to work. 



The staple food was what he calls a " soup," but I find, on follow- 

 ing out his instructions for making it, that I obtain a porridge rather 

 than a soup. He made many experiments, and says : "I constantly 

 found that the richness or quality of a soup depended more upon a 

 proper choice of the ingredients, and a proper management of the fire 

 in the combination of these ingredients, than upon the quantity of 

 solid nutritious matter employed ; much more upon the art and skill 

 of the cook than upon the sum laid out in the market." 



Our vegetarian friends will be interested in learning that at first he 

 used meat in the soup provided for the beggars, but gradually omitted 

 it, and the change was unnoticed by those who ate, and no difference 

 was observable as regards its nutritive value. 



In 1790 little, or rather nothing, was known of the chemistry of 



