By degrees things that had been rarities became common--Indian-corn, the potato, the turkey, and, conspicuous in the long list, tobacco.

Forks, an Italian invention, displaced the filthy use of the fingers.

It may be said that the diet of civilized men now underwent a radical change.

Tea came from China, coffee from Arabia, the use of sugar from India, and these to no insignificant degree supplanted fermented liquors.

Carpets replaced on the floors the layer of straw; in the chambers there appeared better beds, in the wardrobes cleaner and more frequently-changed clothing.