THE HISTORY OF THE FORK. 833 



court of Byzantium and thence extended to the West. Some hun- 

 dreds of years had still to pass before it could be domiciliated in 

 Europe, for this Byzantine doge's wife lived in the eleventh cent- 

 ury, while the fashion of eating with forks did not become gen- 

 eral till the seventeenth century. 



It was the duty of the waiters to deposit the meats with large, 

 broad carving-knives upon the plate, from which the guest took 

 it and broke it up with his fingers, and with them conveyed it to 

 his mouth. The nails were also sometimes called into requisition, 

 if we may credit the verses which read — 



" Ongle, riche et precieux ; 

 Ongle qui tranche, quand tu veux ; 

 Ongle qui en lieu de forcettes 

 A la belle sert de pincettes." 



[Nail, rich and precious ; 

 Nail, that cuts when you will ; 

 Nail, which, in place of forks, 

 For the fair dame plays at tongs.] 



Meat, when not cut with the carving-knife, was taken up in 

 the fingers. It was the rule with respect to other viands for which 

 the hand had to be put into the dish, to take them always from 

 the same side, so that each guest might have his particular spot 

 to pick from. A polite man should pick meat neatly with three 

 fingers, and should take care in conveying it to his mouth not to 

 touch his nose with it (" Ne louche pas ton nez ci main nue, dont la 

 viande est tenue "). Erasmus, of Rotterdam, who was versed in 

 good manners, said in 1539 : " Take what is offered you in three 

 fingers, or present your plate to receive it. There are people who 

 can hardly wait till they have sat down before putting their hand 

 into the dish ; one must receive on his plate whatever he can not 

 take out with his fingers." Monsignor della Casa, Bishop of Bene- 

 vento, wrote in 1544 a kind of manual of etiquette entitled " Ga- 

 latea/' which was published in a French translation by Jean de 

 Tournay in 1598. Among other things it directs : " One ought not 

 to wash his hands before everybody, but in his room, not in soci- 

 ety. Nevertheless, when one is sitting at table, he should wash 

 his hands in the presence of the others, even if it is not necessary, 

 so that those with whom he puts his hand into the dish may know 

 that it is clean. A well-bred man," continues this author, " will 

 avoid greasing his fingers, lest he soil the table-cloth, which would 

 be disagreeable to those who witnessed it. It is also not proper to 

 wipe the fingers with the bread which one is about to eat." The 

 practice of some persons, of eating only with gloved hands, does 

 not seem strange in the light of these facts. 



As has already been remarked, the change from fingers to forks 

 began to be made at about the end of the sixteenth and the begin- 



vol. xxxv. — 53 



