ÆSTHETE: I did not say that. The cookery is an essential point, of course. VEGETARIAN: But what of the meat—the thing cooked? What _is_ it? What _was_ it? And how did it come to be on your plate? ÆSTHETE: I never think of such questions. So long as it is nice, I am content. It must satisfy my taste, that is all. VEGETARIAN: But are you sure that it _does_ satisfy your taste in the same way that other things do? I think not, for you have never put it to the trial. In no other branch of art do you take things wholly on trust, but you try them by the standard of an independent and educated intelligence. In diet, and in diet only, you "shut your eyes and open your mouth," as the children say, and never distinguish between a real innate liking and the liking that is merely traditional. ÆSTHETE: _De gustibus non est disputandum._ VEGETARIAN: About genuine tastes, I admit, disputation is idle. But the proverb is not true of the sham tastes to which I refer. There is a great deal to be discussed about _them_. ÆSTHETE: But I assure you my liking for a ham-sandwich is a genuine taste. VEGETARIAN: With full knowledge of the pig-sty and the pig-sticker. Do not the antecedents of your ham-sandwich cause you a feeling of disgust? ÆSTHETE: Oh, well, if you persist in thinking about it, _all_ feeding causes disgust. Don't you think there is something gross in the whole process of ingestion? VEGETARIAN: Then why not gorge on carrion at once? The moment you adopt the "in for a penny, in for a pound" attitude, you sacrifice the whole art of living. ÆSTHETE: But what of the processes on which vegetarianism itself depends? You talk of the filth of the slaughter-house; but how about the filth of market gardening? To watch the soil being manured, if we let our thoughts dwell upon it, is enough to spoil all appetite for the produce of the garden. The more delicious the asparagus or the strawberries, the more we ought to loathe them. VEGETARIAN: There I disagree with you entirely. There is nothing in the least disgusting, to me, at any rate (and I speak from personal experience), in the manuring of the soil or in any agricultural process—on the contrary, there is much that is wholesome and cheering in this chemistry of nature. The healthy mind takes a delight in gardening, just as it regards slaughtering with abhorrence. If you want to see the contrast between the effects of the two professions on those who practise them, compare the face of the typical slaughterman with that of the typical gardener. It is as remarkable as the contrast between a butcher's and a fruiterer's shop.