es and chandeliers lighted.

_The Formal Dinner_

The most enjoyable dinner is that with four or six guests, which is
served in a simple and only semiformal way. This enables a hostess to
bring together only congenial people, and the group is small enough
for the talk to be largely general, and thence especially valuable, as
each brings his wittiest stories, his clearest thoughts, and his best
self to the appreciative and inspiring circle.

The formal dinner is usually set for seven o'clock, or half after, or
eight. The elaborate dinner will take from an hour to two hours,
according to the number of courses and the efficiency of the service.
There should be a waiter for every six people, although at a small
dinner an efficient maid may serve eight covers without much delay.

The invitations to a formal dinner are sent out two weeks ahead. No
more people should be asked than can be comfortably seated and
speedily served. Twenty inches at the very least should be allowed to
each cover. Children are never present at a ceremonious dinner.

In choosing guests every effort should be made to have them congenial,
with no glaring divergence of opinions, which would by any means make
any one uncomfortable if the conversation were to become general. In
seating the guests, only congenial people should be placed side by
side. The intellectual harmony of a dinner is as important as the
culinary harmony.

Ladies wear gloves at a formal dinner, and remove them only at table,
resuming them when dinner is over and the guests have returned to the
drawing-room.

The dining-room must be quietly but well lighted. There should be no
glaring lights, but a soft radiance which is so general as to make
everything clear. An electric light hanging eighteen inches above the
table, or a tall lamp whose light is at about the same height, either
of them well shaded, are satisfactory additions to the candlelight.

Sometimes high lights are dispensed with and only candles used.
Candles should always be lighted three minutes before the dinner is
announced. For a dinner of not more than eight covers four candles are
sufficient light.

Relatives are not seated side by side, as the effort is to have a
general mingling of the company. A clever hostess will see that her
guests at a small dinner party are all introduced to each other before
they enter the dining-room.

The table may be round, oval, or rectangular, but if too narrow it
cannot be m