FOOD AND FEEDING 215 



practical result of centuries of experience in this direction ; 

 the final flower of a^'es of evolution, devoted to the equalisa- 

 tion of flavours in all human food. Think of the genera- 

 tions of fruitless experiment that must have passed before 

 mankind discovered that mint sauce (itself a cunning com- 

 pound of vinegar and sugar) ought to be eaten with leg of 

 lamb, that roast goose required a corrective in the shape 

 of apple, and that while a pre-established harmony existed 

 between salmon and lobster, oysters were ordained before- 

 hand by nature as the proper accompaniment of boiled cod. 

 Whenever I reflect upon such things, I become at once a 

 good Positivist, and offer up praise in my own private 

 chapel to the Spirit of Humanity which has slowly perfected 

 these profound rules of good living, 



