True, the oracle of Pergama wrote nearly all this a century later, and yet his medical authority was powerless to persuade, although it may have convinced the obstinate epicureans of his period. In point of fact, whatever Galen may say, what dreadful accidents can a piece of stag properly cooked produce? Moses, so attentive to the health of his people, allows them the use of it;[XIX-50] Solomon, the wisest of men, ate it every day.[XIX-51] Do we find that the Jewish monarch and his people were any the worse for preferring this food? At Athens, at Rome, and in all Italy, whoever possessed the intelligence of appreciating good cheer, took care to offer to his friends the shoulder or fillet of stag.[XIX-52] Nevertheless, gastronomists by profession, who so generously devoted their fortunes to the service of the culinary art, abandoned the whole animal to their slaves, and only reserved for themselves the most tender shoots of the horns. These were for a long time boiled, then cut into very small pieces, and this strange dish, seasoned with a mixture of pepper, cummin, savory, rue, parsley, bay leaves, fat, and pine nuts, sprinkled with vinegar, and fried, passed for an exquisite and dainty treat, worthy of the most flattering praises.[XIX-53] _Quarter of Stag, roast à la Neméenne._--Put into a saucepan pepper, alisander, carrots, wild marjoram, parsley seed, benzoin root, and fennel seed; add garum, wine, cooked wine, and a little oil. Boil over a slow fire, thicken with fine flour, pour on the roast stag, and serve.[XIX-54] _Shoulder of Stag à l’Hortensius._--Cook in a saucepan carrots, alisander, with pepper and parsley seed. Add honey, garum, vinegar, and luke-warm oil; thicken with fine flour, and pour this sauce on the shoulder of stag when roasted.[XIX-55] _Fillet of Stag à la Persane._--Roast it, and at the moment of placing it on the table, cover it with a seasoning of pepper, alisander, scallions, wild marjoram, onions, and pine nuts, previously mixed with honey, garum, mustard, vinegar, and oil.[XIX-56] THE ROEBUCK. The flesh of the roebuck, according to Galen, has none of the bad qualities which he attributes to that of the stag.[XIX-57] Esculapius and Comus for this once agreed--which very seldom happened--in praising the beneficial properties and the delicious odour of these timid quadrupeds. The Greeks thought much of the roebuck; they obtained the best from the island of Melos,[XIX-58] and served them at their most sumptuous repasts.[XIX-59] They were, perhaps, more rarely seen on Roman tables. _Roebuck with Spikenard._--Pound, in a mortar, pepper, parsley seed, dry onion, and green rue; add spikenard, and then honey, vinegar, garum, dates, cooked wine, and oil; mix well the whole, and cover the roast with it.[XIX-60]