13 



plate to follow, say, of bacon and beans, of suet pudding 

 or sausage roll, or of a fruit tart with substantial crust, 

 will at once supply the elements which an ordinary dish 

 of fish fails to offer ; while a pleasant sense of satisfaction 

 will follow, and no complaint of void will be heard until 

 the accustomed period of time has elapsed. 



On the other hand, for those whose physical labour is 

 light, other products of a less substantial kind may furnish 

 the indispensable adjunct ; and thus we become acquainted 

 with the fact that the very sauces which long usage has 

 decreed shall accompany fish at our tables, .consist precisely 

 of those materials which science has proved to be essential 

 in order to render the dish not merely acceptable to the 

 palate, but a perfect and harmonious combination of the 

 very elements which man requires for all the purposes of 

 life. The Hollandaise sauce, the Mayonnaise, the melted 

 butter, with their innumerable variations, all composed 

 more or less of olive oil, yolk o.f egg and butter, afford the 

 exact complementary material in which the fish is naturally 

 deficient. 



I cannot help adverting to the curious fact, which I 

 have no doubt arises from the physiological law I have 

 been illustrating, that at a Greenwich fish dinner from time 

 immemorial, however profuse and varied the service of fish 

 has been, at the end of it appears a fat ham or a hand- 

 some piece of Hampshire bacon, surrounded by broad 

 beans. Clearly the dish is not really wanted in such 

 luxurious circumstances, but it is beyond doubt a survival 

 of the practice founded on a natural want, and discovered 

 empirically ; and the bacon makes its appearance because 

 experience had ages ago taught mankind that after fish 

 or with fish a portion of fat is demanded. 



There is no doubt that the obvious and admitted value 



