"GOUT" OF HORSE-FLESH. 11 



ders of Alexandria, and the isolated troops in the isle 

 of Lobau. The conclusion of the distinguished Parent- 

 Duchatelet, the highest authority in all that affects the 

 public health, is in these words : " This kind of food 

 was very good and much sought after in ancient times. 

 It has not changed its nature, and it is as suitable for 

 modern stomachs as it was for those of our ancestors ; 

 for stomachs strong and healthy, but also for the sick 

 and wounded, whose strength it restores, and whose 

 convalescence it confirms. And it is not necessary that 

 the animals should be fat, or that they should have never 

 suffered, as some may suppose ; for beneficial effects may 

 be obtained from horses extremely emaciated by famine." 

 So that we are not amusing our readers with the un- 

 profitable talk of a mere litterateur, but communicating 

 the knowledge of facts, by the application of which the 

 wants of the poor may be supplied, the sick and debili- 

 tated restored and invigorated, the health of armies 

 maintained, great battles won, and prolonged sieges 

 endured. 



But "what is the gout of horse-flesh?" Have pa- 

 tience, courteous readers, and we shall make your teeth 

 water 1 Horse-dinners vulgo (banquets hippophagiques, 

 in Parisian phrase) have been quite the vogue of late 

 in Paris, Kcenigsbaden, Wirtemberg, Weimar, Munich, 

 Vienna, Dresden, and many other places ; many of 

 those in Germany being by public subscriptions. Those 

 in Paris have been especially recherches, and attended 

 by such a variety of distinguished guests as to elevate 

 them to the rank of scientific experiments. Though in 

 possession of the culinary triumphs of the German 

 Hippophagij we shall spare our readers the recital, and 

 give them instead an account of a Parisian "horse- 

 dinner," from, the graceful pen of the witty M. le Doc- 

 teur Amedee Latour, who takes care to inform us that 

 it was not written on his rising from table, but twenty- 

 four hours after, when, he solemnly depones, he was 

 suffering not the least digestive remorse. " The expe- 



