“And yet you must not jump to the conclusion that we all use restaurants.  We have no such thing as a public eating place.  Or rather,” and here she spoke very carefully, “rather, every place is an eating place.”

The doctor looked Myrin over as though she were a patient with a new kind of disease.  “You do not mean that literally, of course,” said he kindly.

But she nodded gravely.  “You must not misunderstand.  Remember, even on your own planet, the distribution of food is becoming more and more extensive, until you can now buy something to eat at every crossroads.  We have merely carried the idea to its logical end, so that all Venusians can obtain food at any time, and at any spot.”

She turned in her chair—­all the chairs on Venus were pivoted, Estra said—­and touched a button in the wall at her hand.  A panel slid noiselessly aside, and revealed a tiny buffet.  At least, Billie labeled it a buffet, for want of a more accurate term.

For it consisted of a silver bibb, something like the nozzle of a soda-water fountain above which was a board containing a large number of tiny, numbered push buttons.  Below the bibb was a space in which a cup might be set, and projecting from a tube at one side was a solid block of telescoping, transparent cups.

“This,” said Myrin, “is the Venusian Nutrition System.  There is a station like this in every room on the planet.”  And she proceeded to take a cup from the tube, filling each from the silver faucet while she pressed a variety of the buttons.

The four watched in silence, and eagerly took what was given to them.  It comprised liquids entirely; liquids of every degree of fluidity, from some as thin as water to others as thick as gruel.  They varied even more as to color, ranging from actual transparency to a deep chocolate.

“Now, I warn you not to be shocked,” said Myrin, “although I fully expect that you will be.  The fact is that we have no other kind of food than what you see; there are thousands upon thousands of different kinds and flavors, but they are all fluids.  We have nothing whatever in solid form.

“You see,” she explained, “we have no teeth.”

All they could do was to stare at her as, with a return of her smile, she made a sudden gesture across the front of her mouth.  Next instant a set of false teeth lay in her hand!

Estra spoke up.  “We are both obliged to wear them in order that we might use your language.”  He removed his own, to show a mouth as free of teeth as a newborn baby’s.  Both Venusians replaced their sets, and smiled afresh at the explorers’ astonishment.

“Teeth will soon be a thing of the past with you on the Earth, too,” commented Myrin.  “Dr. Kinney will surely testify to that.  Your use of soft, cooked foods, instead of the coarse, hard articles provided by nature, is bound to have this effect in time.  With us, it resulted in having teeth reduced to the standing of your appendix; and, like you, we resort to an operation rather than take chances on trouble.  I may mention that the appendix is totally absent from all Venusians, while we are beginning to lose all traces of either the first or second molars; just as you are beginning to lose your wisdom teeth.