Page:The White Stone.djvu/207

Rh "'That's right,' I said. 'I am glad to see that you pay attention to the evils of alcohol.'

"'They have almost ceased to exist,' answered Morin. 'We succeeded in suppressing alcoholism before the end of the closed era. It would have otherwise been impossible to establish the new régime. An alcoholic proletariat is incapable of emancipation.'

"'Have you not also,' I inquired, while tasting a strangely carved bit of food—'have you not also perfected food?'

"'Comrade,' replied Perceval, 'you doubtless refer to chemical alimentation. So far, it has not made any great strides. 'Tis in vain that we send our chemists as delegates into the kitchen.... Their tabloids are of no good. With the exception that we know how to compound properly caloric and nutritious foods, we feed almost as coarsely as the men of the closed era, and we enjoy it just as much.'

"'Our scientists,' remarked Michel, 'are seeking to establish a rational system of food.'

"'That's childishness,' said the young female Chéron. 'No good result will be reached, as long as the big intestine, a useless and harmful organ, and the seat of microbian infection, has not been removed.... This will come in time.'

"'In what way?' I asked.