Athothis : a satire on modern medicine / by Thomas C. Minor.

confess that I observe not the resemblance in flavor of oysters and fungi. Avicenna claims that truffles cause paralysis ; oysters on the half-shell do no such mischief. Rhazes insisted that oysters should be cooked in oil and seasoned with assafcetidae, and knew not the dainty things were most easily digested when raw. Juvenal says of Montanus : " 'And in my time, none understood so well The science of good eating. He could tell At the first relish, if his oysters fed On the Rutupian or the Lucerne bed.' " " What a clever thing of old Baron Cuvier to steal his classification from Aristotle—the oavpaxodepfia. But notice these two gentlemen with whom we are dining; they are following the advice, laid down by Galen, and eating young radishes before commencing solid food. Ah ! what a magnificent fish !" " I detest fish I" exclaimed Athothis, as a cover was removed, revealing a splendid specimen of the finny tribe. " So far I have not relished this repast. Such fish were not eaten in my day, as they were supposed to contain the evil spirit of Typhon." " Yet, like the modern Jew, you seem to enjoy oysters," observed Paulus Androcydes, tauntingly. " I would fain declaim against your Egyptian prejudices as Anaxandrides, saying : " You worship an ox; I sacrifice him to the Gods. You consider an eel a demon; we think it by far the best of fish. You do not eat swine's flesh; I am passionately fond of so doing." " But what was esteemed by Grecians was despised by other races," retorted Athothis; " for your fastidious Romans, like the Egyptians and Jews, held eels in con- tempt, while all ancient races detested the frog, which