8 THE BOOK OF HERBS 



highly laudatory and somewhat grandiloquent, comparing 

 the Royal Society to King Solomon's Temple, and declar- 

 ing it established for the acquirement of " solid and use- 

 ful knowledge by the Investigation of Causes, Principles, 

 Energies, Powers and Effects of Bodies and Things visible ; 

 and to improve them for the Good and Benefit of Man- 

 kind. . . . And now. My Lord, I expect some will 

 wonder what my Meaning is, to usher in a Trijle with 

 so much magnificence, and end at last in a fine Receipt for 

 the dressing of a Sallet with an handful of Pot-herbs ! 

 But yet, my Lord, this Subject as low and despicable 

 as it appears challenges a Part of Natural History ; and 

 the Greatest Princes have thought it no disgrace, not 

 only to make it their Diversion, but their Care, and to 

 promote and encourage it in the midst of their weightiest 

 Affairs." This disquisition casts an unlooked-for air 

 of dignity over the Salad-bowl ! The discourse itself 

 is very practical, and begins with the Furniture and 

 Materials of which a Salad may be composed. Eighty- 

 two items are mentioned, but all cannot be called strictly 

 in order, as Oranges, Turnips, Rosemary, and Judas 

 Tree flowers, and Mushrooms are amongst them ! 



In the table at the end of this list Evelyn, "by the 

 assistance of Mr London, His Majesty's Principal Gar- 

 dener, reduced them to a competent number, not exceed- 

 ing thirty-five," though he suggests that this may be 

 " vary'd and enlarg'd by selections from the foregoing 

 list." 



The essay finishes with philosophical reasoning on 

 the subject of vegetarianism. History is called upon 

 to furnish examples of sages, of all times, favourably 

 inclined to it, but Noah is allowed to differ on account 

 of the " humidity of the atmosphere " after the Deluge, 

 which must have necessitated a generous diet. Most 

 people would think thirty-five different kinds a liberal 

 allowance for salad herbs alone, but Abercrombie, writ- 



