There is a chapter concerning the duty of a husband, (De officio Mariti,) in which the author observes, that the errors of a wife are either to be cured or endured: He who extirpates them makes his wife better, but he who bears with them improves himself. Another is inscribed, "You know not what a late evening, or supper, may bring with it," (Nescis quid vesper serus vehat.) In this chapter he remarks, that the number of guests should not be less than that of the Graces, or more than that of the Muses. To render an entertainment perfect, four things must concur--agreeable company, suitable place, convenient time, and careful preparation. The guests should not be loquacious or taciturn. Silence is for the bed-chamber, and eloquence for the Forum, but neither for a feast. The conversation ought not to turn on anxious or difficult subjects, but should be cheerful and inviting, so that utility may be combined with a certain degree of pleasure and allurement. This will be best managed, by discoursing of those things which relate to the ordinary occurrences or affairs of life, concerning which one has not leisure to talk in the Forum, or while transacting business. The master of the feast should rather be neat and clean than splendidly attired; and if he introduce reading into the entertainment, it should be so selected as to amuse, and to be neither troublesome nor tedious(80). A third chapter is entitled, { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}; and treats of the rarer delicacies of an entertainment, especially foreign luxuries. Au. Gellius has given us the import of some verses, in which Varro mentioned the different countries which supplied the most exquisite articles of food. Peacocks came from Samos; cranes from Melos; kids from Ambracia; and the best oysters from Tarentum(81). Part of the chapter { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} { ~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{ ~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} was directed against the Latin tragic poets.