412 Of Food. 



soldiers, instead of being starved upon their scanty al- 

 lowance, as might have been suspected, I found actually- 

 living in a most comfortable and even luxurious man- 

 ner. I found that they had contrived not only to render 

 their food savoury and nourishing, but, what appeared 

 to me still more extraordinary, had found out the means 

 of increasing its action upon the organs of taste, so as 

 actually to augment and even prolong to a most sur- 

 prising degree the enjoyment of eating. 



This accidental discovery made a deep impression 

 upon my mind, and gave a new turn to all my ideas on 

 the subject of food. It opened to me a new and very 

 interesting field for investigation and experimental in- 

 quiry, of which I had never before had a distinct view; 

 and thenceforward my diligence in making experiments, 

 and in collecting information relative to the manner 

 in which food is prepared in different countries, was 

 redoubled. 



In the following chapter may be seen the general re- 

 sults of all my experiments and inquiries relative to this 

 subject. A desire to render this account as concise 

 and short as possible has induced me to omit much 

 interesting speculation which the subject naturally sug- 

 gested ; but the ingenuity of the reader will supply 

 this defect, and enable him to discover the objects 

 particularly aimed at in the experiments, even where 

 they are not mentioned, and to compare the results 

 of practice with the assumed theory. 



