short it is a known maxim, that _de gustibus non est disputandum_;

And so Horace to the same purpose:

'Tres mihi conviva prope dissentire videntur,
Poscentes vario multum diversa palato.
Quid dem? quid non dem? renuis tu quod jubet alter.
Quod petis, id sane est invisum acidumque duobus.'
Hor. II. Epist. ii.

And our Roll sufficiently verifies the old observation of
Martial--_ingeniosa gula est_.

[Addenda: after _ingeniosa gula est_, add, 'The _Italians_ now eat
many things which we think perfect carrion. _Ray_, Trav. p. 362. 406.
The _French_ eat frogs and snails. The _Tartars_ feast on horse-flesh,
the _Chinese_ on dogs, and meer _Savages_ eat every thing.
_Goldsmith_, Hist. of the Earth, &c. II. p. 347, 348. 395. III. p.
297. IV. p. 112. 121, &c.']

Our Cooks again had great regard to the eye, as well as the taste,
in their compositions; _flourishing_ and _strewing_ are not only
common, but even leaves of trees gilded, or silvered, are used for
ornamenting messes, see No. 175 [59]. As to colours, which perhaps
would chiefly take place in suttleties, blood boiled and fried (which
seems to be something singular) was used for dying black, 13. 141.
saffron for yellow, and sanders for red [60]. Alkenet is also used
for colouring [61], and mulberries [62]; amydon makes white, 68; and
turnesole [63] _pownas_ there, but what this colour is the Editor
professes not to know, unless it be intended for another kind of