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“After reaching such an elevation, Brillat-Savarin wisely follows the dramatic principle of relief, by introducing anecdotes of the halts of a hunting party, and chapters on digestion, rest, sleep, and dreams. His observations and illustrations are always interesting and picturesque, frequently very suggestive, and sometimes strikingly modern—as when he says, ‘Digestion, of all the bodily functions, has most influence on the morale of the individual;’ when he recommends for sleeping an airy room, no bed curtains, and light but warm coverings; or when he discusses foods that produce sleep, and those that induce pleasant dreams.

“The theme of the meditation ‘On Corpulence’—‘The great majority of us eat and drink too much’—is of such general and permanent applicability that it is rediscovered every decade and announced with trumpets. The chapter ‘On the Prevention or Cure of Corpulence’ outlines the diet by means of which for thirty years the author kept that tendency in himself ‘to the limit of the imposing’—a statement that his portrait well bears out. After a counter meditation on leanness, some felicitations over the decline of fasting, and an excursus on ‘Exhaustion and Death’—‘Death itself being not unaccompanied by pleasure when it is natural’—the author is again ready for a higher flight.