the enjoyment of food two things are equally necessary, a healthy and keen
appetite and suitable food; without the first no food, however good and
skilfully prepared, will give satisfaction. The sense of taste resides in
certain of the papilloe of the tongue, and to a much less degree in the
palate. Tastes may be classified into sweet, bitter, acid and saline.
Sweet tastes are best appreciated by the tip, acid by the side, and bitter
by the back of the tongue. Hot or pungent substances produce sensations of
general feeling, which obscure any strictly gustatory sensations which may
be present at the same time. To affect the taste the food must enter into
solution. Like the other senses, taste may be rendered more delicate by
cultivation. Flavours are really odours, and the word smell would be more
appropriate. For example, what we call the taste of an onion, the flavour
of fruit, etc. (independent of the sweetness or sourness of the fruit) is
due to the nose.

Much has been written on the necessity of making food tasty, so as to
stimulate the appetite and digestion. It is urged that unless this is done
food will not be eaten in sufficient quantity. Innumerable receipts (some
very elaborate) have been published for this purpose. All this is supposed
to increase the enjoyment of food. The Anglo-Saxon race--the race whose
dietary is the most elaborate--is especially subject to digestive
derangements, and without good digestion and the consequent healthy
appetite, no food will give full gustatory pleasure. The most wholesome
food, and that which can be eaten most frequently without weariness, is
mildly flavoured and simply prepared. Plain bread is an example; whereas
sweet bread, currant bread, etc., though agreeable in small quantity, or
as an occasional delicacy, soon palls on the appetite. Rice is the poorest
and mildest flavoured of the cereals, it is therefore often, perhaps
generally, made more tasty by the addition of fish, curry, etc. The bulk
of the Chinese live on rice, with the exception of only 3 or 4 ounces of