But it has been found by actual experiment, made with the utmost care, in the new kitchen of the House of Industry at Munich, and often repeated, that 600 lb. of Food, (of the Soup No. I. given to the Poor,) may be cooked with the consumption of only 44 lb. of pine-wood. And hence it appears how very great the waste of fuel must be in all culinary processes, as they are commonly performed; for though the time taken up in cooking the soup for the Poor is, at a medium, more than FOUR HOURS AND A HALF, while that employed by the soldiers in their cooking is less than TWO HOURS AND A HALF; yet the quantity of fuel consumed by the latter is near THIRTEEN TIMES greater than that employed in the public kitchen of the House of Industry. But I must not here anticipate here a matter which is to be the subject of a separate Essay; and which, from its great importance, certainly deserves to be carefully and thoroughly investigated. CHAPTER. V. Of the great importance of making soldiers eat together in regular messes. The influence of such economical arrangements extends even to the moral character of those who are the objects of them. Of the expence of feeding soldiers in messes. Of the surprising smallness of the expence of feeding the poor at Munich. Specific proposals respecting the feeding of the poor in Great Britain, with calculations of the expense, at the present prices of provisions. All those who have been conversant in military affairs must have had frequent opportunities of observing the striking difference there is, even in the appearance of the men, between regiments in which messes are established, and Food is regularly provided under the care and inspection of the Officers; and others, in which the soldiers are left individually to shift for themselves. And the difference which may be observed between soldiers who live in messes, and are regularly fed, and others who are not, is not confined merely to their external appearance: the influence of these causes extends much farther, and even the MORAL CHARACTER of the man is affected by them. Peace of mind, which is as essential to contentment and happiness as it is to virtue, depends much upon order and regularity in the common affairs of life; and in no case are order and method more necessary to happiness, (and consequently to virtue,) than in that, where the preservation of health is connected with the satisfying of hunger; an appetite whose cravings are sometimes as inordinate as they are insatiable. Peace of mind depends likewise much upon economy, or the means used for preventing pecuniary embarrassments; and the savings to soldiers in providing Food, which arise from housekeeping in messes of ten or twelve persons who live together, is very great indeed. But great as these savings now are, I think they might be made still more considerable; and I shall give my reasons for this opinion.