agreeable companionship during meal time is a most decided advantage if one is in the habit of eating in the usual rapid manner; for, diversion of this nature compels one to eat more slowly, forces him to linger more over the various dishes, and holds him back from hurrying through the meal by the gorging process, adopted by so many persons when eating alone, with appetite, or merely from a sense of duty. As stated before, the all absorbing pleasure of eating, of gratifying the sense of taste, should command the entire attention during a meal. You should make a business of enjoying this particular pleasure in the greatest possible degree, and if this is done properly there will be no chance for the introduction of "table talk."
It is not absolutely necessary that one eat alone. No objection can be made to companions who do not insist upon diverting the attention from the main object of the moment, but it would be well to remember that, the commendable rule of "doing whatever you may be engaged in with all your powers," ap-
