THE science of cookery may very properly be classed among the fine arts, and certainly it is by no means the least among them; for, in the nature of events, a practical knowledge of scientific cooking touches more intimately our homes and home comforts, and influences the masses of the people as no other art, however lofty in its conception, or elevating in its results, may hope to do. The culinary art may truthfully be said to pave and prepare the foundation of all aesthetical arts; for, as a man is inevitably what he eats, so the characteristics of the cookery presented to his palate, are almost invariably reproduced in his life and works.

"Good Cookery," says a contemporaneous writer, "is the foundation of good digestion; and good digestion is the foundation and first factor in sound thinking. The grain and wheat springing green, and ripening under favoring sunshine and showers, > produce not only a certain portion of food for the stomach, but also a certain amount of mental energy, from which result thoughts, clogged and bound, or free and soaring, according to the form that food has taken." Hence the responsibility of the cook, who sees in her work not only food for the body, but inspiration for the mind, becomes weighty and far-reaching in its possibilities. Proper care and attention, however, will be found necessary in order to secure the best results from a given amount of raw material; neither will the moments thus spent be time wasted; for, according to an eminent physician, "every young housewife who loves her household, and every young maiden who hopes to have a household to preside over, should study the best works on culinary subjects, just as they study grammar, arithmetic, geography, and other elementary branches of education in the schools".

That this theory is gradually making its way into the minds of the people, is evidenced by the schools of cookery and books devoted to this science that are springing into existence on every hand; and not without reason, for a new cook-book is needed very much in the same manner that a new fashion magazine is required from time to time.

Every day newer, more healthful, more delightful dishes are invented for the delectation of the palate, and more economical methods are continually being sought out for their concoction, so that the possession of one cook-book in a household should not be urged as a reason why another work on the culinary art should not be purchased also.

Economy and pleasure alike demand chat we should acquire the easiest and most skillful methods of steering the domestic ship safely and smoothly on its way. System is the pivot upon which all good housekeeping turns. A careful study of the "Household Department" of this book, the "Laun-dry, House Cleaning, Papering" and kindred arts, will give the unskilled beginner a clear conception of the practical details of home duties as accomplished by their own hands, or superintended in an assistant.

In the "Cooking Department" no pains have been spared to collect from every source recipes combining healthfulness with palatableness, and daintiness with economy. The extravagant cuisine of the wealthiest homes has been catered for, while the more moderate, households, and the small economies appertaining thereto, have all been consulted; friends far and near, east, west, north and south, notable housekeepers, and skilled in every department of housewifery, have contributed their mite to the general whole, with the result now before you.

The "Bills of Fare "herewith given will meet almost every occasion that may arise, while the "Etiquette of the Table," and the "Laying of the Table," for almost any imaginable emergency will be found so complete, that a novice need not fear to attempt the most minute details.

The "Dainty Desserts," the "Summer Desserts," the "Hasty Desserts," the preparation and serving of "Fresh Fruits," the different methods of preparing "Remnants" for the table (Hash, Croquettes, etc.), the art of "Carving, Marketing,"and many other departments, are recommended to the reader's notice.

And last, but by no means least, the "Toilet Department" is brought prominently before the ladies. It is a lamentable fact, as remarked by a recent writer on "Beauty," that "the women of to-day preserve their youth longer than they do their beauty." That they may study this department closely, practice its teachings faithfully, and that their beauty may outlive their youth, is the fervent wish of THE AUTHOR.

We may live without poetry, music and art;

We may live without conscience, and live with out heart.

We may live without friends, we may live without books;

8ut civilized man cannot live without cooks.

He may live without learning, - what is knowledge but grieving? He may live without hope, - what is hope but deceiving? He may live without love, - what is passion but pining? But where is the man that can live without dining?"

- Owen Meredith.