"You may look at a thermometer any time during the year and you will find it invariably pointing at fifty units.[2] There is never an excess of humidity in our air and life is made enjoyable for the hard-working city dwellers, thanks to our well-trained weather engineer corps. "During the daytime rain or snow is unheard of. There is continuous sunshine during the three hundred and sixty-five days of the year. Between two and three each morning it rains for exactly one hour. This is done to freshen the air and to carry the dust away. It is the only rain New York ever gets and it seems to be sufficient for all purposes." When it neared noon Ralph escorted his companion to a luxurious eating place, which across its entrance bore the name _Scienticafé_. "This is one of our best restaurants, and I think you will prefer it to the old-fashioned masticating places," he told her. As they entered, a deliciously perfumed, yet invigorating fragrance greeted them. They proceeded at once to the _Appetizer_, which was a large room, hermetically closed, in which sat several hundred people, reading or talking. The two sat down on leather-upholstered chairs and looked at a humorous daily magazine which was projected upon a white wall, the pages of the magazine changing from time to time. They had been in the room but a few minutes when Alice exclaimed: "I am ravenously hungry and I was not hungry at all when we entered. What kind of a trick is it?" "This is the Appetizer," Ralph exclaimed laughing, "the air in here is invigorating, being charged with several harmless gases for the purpose of giving you an appetite before you eat--hence its name!" Both then proceeded to the main eating salon, which was beautifully decorated in white and gold. There were no attendants and no waiters, and the salon was very quiet except for a muffled, far-off, murmuring music. They then sat down at a table on which were mounted complicated silver boards with odd buttons and pushes and slides. There was such a board for each patron. From the top of the board a flexible tube hung down to which one fastened a silver mouthpiece, that one took out of a disinfecting solution, attached to the board. The bill of fare was engraved in the board and there was a pointer which one moved up and down the various food items and stopped in front of the one selected. The silver mouthpiece was then placed in the mouth and one pressed upon a red button. The liquid food which one selected would then begin to flow into the mouth, its rate of speed controlled by the red button. If spices, salt or pepper were wanted, there was a button for each one which merely had to be pressed till the food was as palatable as wanted. Another button controlled the temperature of the food.