22 THE PKOGEESS OF HIPPOPHAGY. 



that we ought not to covet it, though it is said not to 

 be so desirable for food as his ass ! But we have com- 

 punctious visitings qualms of the inner man when 

 we think of our dear old mare appearing at table to be 

 eaten like roast beef. And, even in our most hippo- 

 phagous mood, we never thought of feeding our house- 

 hold and friendly guests on horse-flesh, regularly sup- 

 plied gratis through the politeness of the proprietor of a 

 slaughter-house. But, apparently with no idea that he 

 had done anything out of the common, M. Decroix 

 informs his refined audience that for two years he had 

 in his own house used only horse-flesh, thanks to an 

 especial authorisation of M. le Prefet de Police, and the 

 obliging generosity of M. Macquart, the chief Parisian 

 knacker. And then, by way of a clencher to his philo- 

 sophical argument, he looks them in the face, compla- 

 cently remarking " And I am quite well/' 



He finds it necessary, however, to admit that the 

 mental state of those eating horse-flesh, and the condi- 

 tions under which it is presented, must be taken into 

 account. People do not make sufficient allowance for 

 the manner in which it has been kept, and, above all, 

 prepared. A bit of beef may be tender or tough 

 according as it has been cooked immediately after the 

 slaughter of the ox, or kept for several days, and 

 according to the way in which it has been well or ill 

 treated. It is the same with horse-flesh. 



As to the mental state of the consumer, in perverting 

 his judgment, we must let M. Decroix " give one proof 

 out of a thousand : " 



"A month ago I went to spend a few days in the 

 Pas- de-Calais, at the country-house of the Countess 

 Clerambault. I had taken with me a stew from a 

 horse distributed to the poor. The day after my 

 arrival at Ligny there was a great dinner. The time 

 for serving up my dish of horse was favourable ; and 

 the cook, being let into the secret, presented it with an 

 appropriate sauce. (I knew the guests too well to be 



