He had not, however, been dead very long, before some of his more ardent
disciples took it upon them to better the instruction of their master.
The old prophet had allowed the use of eggs and milk, but his disciples
decided that to eat a fresh egg was to destroy a potential chicken, and
that this came to much the same as murdering a live one. Stale eggs, if
it was quite certain that they were too far gone to be able to be
hatched, were grudgingly permitted, but all eggs offered for sale had to
be submitted to an inspector, who, on being satisfied that they were
addled, would label them "Laid not less than three months" from the date,
whatever it might happen to be. These eggs, I need hardly say, were only
used in puddings, and as a medicine in certain cases where an emetic was
urgently required. Milk was forbidden inasmuch as it could not be
obtained without robbing some calf of its natural sustenance, and thus
endangering its life.
It will be easily believed that at first there were many who gave the new
rules outward observance, but embraced every opportunity of indulging
secretly in those flesh-pots to which they had been accustomed. It was
found that animals were continually dying natural deaths under more or
less suspicious circumstances.
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