To the Editor of the CRIMSON:

My long interval of silence has been due to important discoveries which our excavators have made near the site of Inca University, but which it has taken time to correlate and interpret. The result is an enlightening account of the refectories and outside caravansaries where the students ate their meals. Unbelievable as it may seem, it is an established fact of physiology that a man's mental capacity is vitally affected by his diet. From a survey of the restaurants, dining-halls, and food-shops in the vicinity, even in their present ruined condition, we can glean some significant facts about the student life, and the probable physique of the men at the university.

Our first clue came when we unearthed a barren-looking, square brick building, somewhat resembling a prison, which was attached to the large club-building previously mentioned. The only ornaments on the walls were ideographs representing the famous Inca sport of Rolo. From this we gathered that the building had been a dining-hall for athletes. In the kitchen were found the remains of elaborate ovens, and neatly tabulated parchment list of food. These menus showed that the service here was of the best, and that the food was fit for the palates of royalty. In fact it seems to have been the custom for the athletes to chew on thongs of leather just before a contest, and to eat quantities of raw meat after their exertions in the games.

But the ordinary dining places were not so well provided. They ranged all the way from luxurious halls of marble to dark, narrow mud-huts. The most imposing one we took at first to be a great temple, but on closer inspection of the floor and walls we found stains of Inca coffee and condor-eggs, unaccountably thrown there by careless eaters. A number of these places, that seem to have been especially popular with the students, had curious Inca names over their portals, such as "Gualdophi" and "Karelos", which are untranslatable, but seem to have been proper names. "Gualdophi", strangely enough, was also the name of an exclusive inn in the nearby city of Machu Picchu. One of the more unusual places of this kind was a sort of underground cave, below a curious structure that seems to have been a temple to the God of wine.

This cave had been closely blocked during the course of the ages, and when we entered we heard reverberating in it the echoes of strange Inca sounds that were the names of the dishes served there. It is a reasonable assumption that the custom was for each patron to shout aloud the name of his desired dish, and it would be hurled deftly out at him from an auxiliary cave in the rear. One peculiarity common to many of these food-shops was their small size; so small were most of them that there could scarcely have been room for the men to be seated while eating their repasts. In fact no chairs have been found, but only long, narrow tables like counters. This would seem to indicate that the students lived at an advanced stage of civilization, in which food was looked on merely as a necessity to be acquired as rapidly as possible. The society of the convivial board must have been unknown, at least to the more earnest and stole of the students.

Two other types of dining places may be mentioned. One of these types consisted of isolated buildings, small but comfortable and neatly furnished, at a considerable distance from the college buildings. One of these, which we found in a remarkable state of preservation, had its walls ornamented with gorgeous decorative tropical birds; another had scenes from rural life as ornaments. These places had individual names, such as "Cabaloqui"--(little pony), "Tanjuga", (a kind of pottery); and "Piaquiquu", the name of an eccentric character in Inca fiction. These establishments seem to have been patronized by a mixed clientele. Their food was reputed to be the best, but to judge from the handful of coins found near them, the prices corresponded. The student societies, which I have discovered elsewhere, also had their living rooms, but most of these have been found in an unrecognizable condition of decay.

Lastly I must mention the dining halls in the basements of the sleeping quarters which I described in an earlier letter. These quarters, as I said, were of an unbelievably crude sort, and the food corresponded. Weeds, volcanic fish, and a conclusion of wild rice were the chief articles noted in their parchment menus. Oddly enough, we have one piece of concrete evidence--a petrified cake, apparently as fresh as on the day it was served. Cordially yours,   J. BEATH-DUNCAN,   With the University of Nueva Barcelona Peruvian Expedition,   Near Machu Picchu, Peru, January 15, 1922.