The Physiology of Taste by Anthelme Jean Brillat-Savarin

examples.
    Already the Drs. Janin and Manjot burn up the sidewalks of the capital. Dr. Manjot (39, Rue du Bac) devotes himself particularly to childhood illnesses; his theories are excellent, and before long he will surely become well known to the public because of them.
    I hope that any courteous reader I may have will forgive the meanderings of this oldster, whose thirty-five years in Paris have not yet made him forget either his own country or his compatriots. It has been hard indeed for me to stay silent about many doctors whose names are still venerated in Belley, and who, although they did not have the chance to shine on the great stage of the capital, still had no less training, no less worth, than these others.
    * I smiled when I wrote this, for it reminded me of a renowned and lofty academician, whose funeral oration was delivered by Fontenelle. The departed had never done any more than play skilfully at the serious pursuits of life, but nevertheless the permanent secretary managed to deliver with great talent an impressive and even a lengthy panegyric. (See, further, the Meditation on the pleasures of the table, in which Dr. Dubois appears in action.)

THE AUTHOR’S PREFACE
    IT HAS NOT meant a great deal of work for me to prepare this book which I now offer to the public’s kindness. I had only to put in order the material I had spent so long in collecting: it was an entertaining task, and one which I did well to save for my old age. 1
    I soon saw, as I considered every aspect of the pleasures of the table, that something better than a cook book should be written about them; and there is a great deal to say about those functions which are so ever-present and so necessary, and which have such a direct influence on our health, our happiness, and even on our occupations.
    Once I realized this basic fact, all the rest swung into focus. I looked about me. I made notes. Often, in the midst of the most luxurious festivities, the pleasure of observing my fellow banqueters saved me from my own possible boredom.
    Of course, in order to carry out my plans, I needed to be doctor, chemist, physiologist, and even something of a scholar. But I became all these without the slightest pretensions to being a writer as well. I was carried along by a laudable curiosity, by a fear of lagging behind the times, and by a desire to be able to hold my own with the men of science with whom I have always loved to associate. *
    I am above all a lover of doctors. It is almost a mania with me, and one of the happiest moments of my life was when, as a guest, I entered the amphitheater with the judges to listen to Dr. Cloquet’s presentation of his prize thesis, and heard a murmurof curiosity run through the audience. The students had mistaken me for a distinguished foreign scientist, honoring the gathering with his presence!
    There is another memory almost as dear to me, of the day when I demonstrated to the administrative board of the Society for the Encouragement of National Industry my IRRORATOR, 4 an instrument of my invention which is nothing more nor less than a compression pump for perfuming the air.
    I had brought, in my pocket, one of the well-primed machines. I turned the cock. With a hissing whistle there rose, straight to the ceiling, an odorous vapor which rained down in tiny drops upon the scientists and their papers.
    Then I saw, to my inexpressible delight, the most learned heads in all Paris bow under my IRRORATION , and I complimented myself wholeheartedly when I noticed that the most thoroughly besprinkled were also the most pleased …
    Sometimes as I have considered the solemn meditations into which the breadth of my subject has drawn me, I have sincerely feared becoming boresome, for I myself have yawned, now and then, over other men’s works.
    I have done everything in my power to avoid this danger: I have barely touched on the many subjects which might have become dull; I have sown my book with anecdotes, some of them