Dinner parties are the most frequent and most formal entertainments in Germany. They are stereotyped, but the type belongs purely to Germany. When the ladies enter the room, after the introductions they are invited to be seated on the sofa and chairs of the “dress-circle” which we have described. The gentlemen stand around the fair ones, bending or breaking their backs in the effort to talk, or the more unconcerned stand off in groups, learning from the hostess at the earliest moment which ladies they are to escort to the table. The seat on the sofa is the seat of honor, and if a lady of inferior rank has arrived first and occupied that place, she rises immediately and resigns it on seeing her superior enter the room; so that a captain’s wife will offer the seat to a major’s wife, and a major’s wife to a general’s wife, and so on. The white-gloved _diener_ throws open the doors of the dining-room ten minutes after the arrival of the guests, and the guests have the privilege of speaking to each other at the table if an introduction has failed in any case in the _salon_. The dinner is served entirely from the buffet; the snowy damask, flowers and glass are only presented upon the table for the guests to feast their eyes upon. The meats are all carved in the kitchen, and handed around by the servants. A good _menu_ resembles the French taste and order somewhat, although a discerning eye will detect the German element in the following: Bouillon (consommé). Caviar (caviare). Lobster. Salmon du Rhin. Turbot d’Ostende. Poulets Santés aux Truffes. Pâté de Foie Gras. Filet de Bœuf Garni, Remouladen Sauce. Rehbraten, } Salad Compotes. Petit Pois,} Butter und Käse und Radieschen, mit Pumpernickel. Pudding d’Orange. Dessert. Café et Liqueurs.