trees of the forest. The chase was their only industry. After having
surprised or captured by quickness a timid animal, they devoured
that prey still palpitating.

"They also fed on the flesh of their companions and infirm
relatives; the first sepulchres of human beings were living graves,
famished and insensible intestines. After long fierce centuries a
divine man made his appearance: the Greeks call him Prometheus. It
cannot be doubted that this sage had intercourse in the homes of the
Nymphs with the Salamander folks. He learnt of them and showed to
the unhappy mortals the art of producing and conserving fire. Of all
the innumerable advantages that men have drawn from this celestial
present, one of the happiest was the possibility of cooking food,
and by this treatment, to render it lighter and more subtle. And
it's in a large part due to the effect of a nourishment submitted to
the action of the flame that slowly and by degrees mankind became
intelligent, industrious, meditative and apt to cultivate the arts
and sciences. But that was only a first step, and it is grievous to
think that so many millions of years had to pass before a second
step was made. From the time when our ancestors toasted beasts'
quarters on fires of brambles in the shelter of a rock, we have not
made any true progress in cooking, for sure, gentlemen, you cannot
put a higher value on the inventions of Lucullus and that gross pie
to which Vitellius gave the name of Shield of Minerva than on our
roasts, patties, stews, our stuffed meats and all the fricassees
which still suffer from the ancient barbarity.

"At Fontainebleau, the king's table, where a whole stag is dished up
in his skin and his antlers, presents to the eye of the philosopher
a spectacle as rude as that of the troglodytes, cowering round the