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PREFACE.
In the multiplicity of books,treating on every con
ceivable subject—pathetic and bumerous,serious and
comic, religious and secular, philosophical and super
ficial—that have been issued by a prolific and ever-
watchful coterie of publishers in America the past
quarter-century, one would naturally presume that all
ground bad been covered, every want supplied; that
every topic possibly available, whether for profit, pleas
ure or mere glory, bad been exhausted. . But such is
not the case. There are a few"in viting fields yet unex
plored—some bright, blossoming gardens, replete with
fragrant flowers yet unculled. Authors have followed
too much in old beaten paths and left some rich soil
untilled.
The subject I have in mind seems almost entirely
to have escaped their attention, so meagerly has it been
treated. Yet it is very intimately connected with the
sociability, happiness and health of all civilized com
munities. In the cafe, the club, the saloon, and even
in the family,especially among the stylish and wealthy.