they disregard your
warnings."

"If they 'have an idea' which runs counter to my warnings and my
penalties, to say nothing of my promises and my rewards, then they can
only get that idea from you, Mr Pseudo-Science, with your theories and
your figures and your long words."

"Why not from your relative, Unnatural Taste? Anyhow, it is my duty to
warn them."

"If they don't heed my warning, they certainly won't heed yours," says
Taste.

"But I can paint such a picture of the trouble they store up for the
future if they persist in excessive fruit eating!"

"Never mind about persisting and storing up for the future. I punish
excess in fruit eating as in everything else by prompt discomfort and
pain."

"But what do you know about oxalic acid?"

"Enough to avoid it. Like every other poison it is repugnant to me."

"Yet fruit which is so nice in the mouth may ferment in the intestines
and form that very poison. Then what are you going to do about it?"

"Take care that not too much fruit is eaten another time."

"But in the meantime the oxalic acid already formed must be
neutralised at once."

"No, no! It would be a pity to do that. Oxalic acid is the latest
fashion. What would your patients do without it? And what would you do
without your patients?"

"It must be neutralised at once. It can only be neutralised at the
cost of abstracting lime from the system. Result: oxalate of lime,
forming calculus, or 'stone,' which you don't want, and tissues
depleted of lime which you do want."

"So you get your patients after all. In fact, having 'neutralised
their oxalic acid' to escape you, they come back to you with two
diseases instead of one. It seems to me you are a very profitable
investment, Mr Pseudo-Science."

"Really, Mr Taste, you would not, I presume, have me suppress the
truth simply because it happens to be profitable?"

"But is it the truth? What proof have you?"

"I presume you are ignorant of the fact that animals have died with
all the symptoms of oxalic acid poisoning, simply through taking too
much sugar."

"What kind of animals? You chose such as are used to taking shop sugar
as part of their ordinary food, of course?"

"Well--no; not in that form. The subjects of the experiment were
rabbits."

"Ah! And from these you draw deductions about man who has been eating
artificial sugar for ages. How like a vivisectionist! But what doses
of sugar did the rabbits get?"

"About one-fortieth of the