^'^.'^wm' ,>^^ v,^ J: #'<^ ^w^ ^ '^ k$i £>> A O \. ,/> ^ ^J^'#^^.^ ^ ^ ^'^'^^ .o<> .,^!^^^.% v^ .v^' .; .^wW". ^/ c>^ P^ o •n^ v^ "oo^ ^ ^-^ V ■»■ r%'.yw > V xOo, A " s ^xu,^y>Ks. HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD; OB, HYGIENIC COOKERY. BY ^Jp- SUSANNA W. DODDS, M.D *'iVb spice hut hunger ; no stimulant hut exercise.'''' FELIX L. OSWALD, M.D. Jjlh '(^ NEW YORK : FOWLEE & WELLS, PUBLISHERS, No. 753 Beoadwat. 1884 COPYRIGHT, 1883, BY FOWLER & WELLS EDWARD O. JENKINS, Printer and Stereotyper^ North William Street, New York. TO ALL WHO LOVE GOOD HEALTH AS WELL AS GOOD EATI NG, IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED PEEFACE The object of this work is to enable health- seekers to furnish their tables with food that is wholesome, and at the same time palatable. The writer claims that the food prod- ucts of the earth, properly gTOwn and prepared, should be not only healthful, but to the unperverted palate, relishable, in the highest degree. Foods, as ordinarily cooked, are robbed of their own luscious flavors and rich juices by all manner of wasteful or injudicious processes ; by soaking, by parboiling, by evap- oration, by under-cooking, and by burning ; after which one tries in vain to compensate for these defects, by adding butter, pepper, sugar, salt, and other seasonings, ad infini- tuTfh, Nature is prodigal of her fine flavors, furnishing them in infinite variety and choice abundance ; and all wo have to do is to produce them from the soil by proper cult- ure, and save them with frugal care. How to grow the best grains, fruits and vegetables, belongs not to the art of cookery, but to the department of agriculture and horti- culture. How to prepare these products for the table, get- ting all the good there is in them, and adding nothing harmful thereto, is the thing sought after in the following pages. It has often been urged against cook-books, that the very items one needs most to know, are not in them ; the quan- tities, proportions, etc., t'ogether with the smaller details, being usually left out. In the present volume the author (vii) Vlll PREFACE. has endeavored, even at tlie expense of brevity, to avoid falling into a like error. The recipes claim to be suiSciently explicit, and as far as is possible, accurate. Some of them are wholly original, others are not ; many valuable hints have been derived from books ah^eady published on hygienic cooking. In preparing Part II. the following works have been consulted freely, and in some instances quoted verba- tim ; viz.: The Hygeian Home Cook-Book, by the late R. T. Trail, M.D.; the Health Beformefs Cook-Book, Battle Creek, Mich.; and How to Prepare Food^ by Mrs. Lucretia E. Jackson, Dansville, N. Y. For the benefit of those who are beginning to try hygienic cookery, but whose families and friends are not thoroughly converted to the system. Part III. has been written, with directions for preparing foods, not strictly in the hygienic way, but in such a manner as to render them relatively plain and healthful. An urgent call having been made for a work of this kind, the suggestion has been acted upon to bind it and the hygienic cook-book in the same volume. In the preparation of Part m. the author is greatly in- debted to several writers, among whom are Catharine Beecher, Marion Harland, Emma P. Ewing, and the author or compiler of the Buckeye Cookery. S. W. DODDS. St. Louis, Mo., Sept. 21, 1883. TABLE OF CONTENTS. PART I. THE REASON WHY. Constituents of food, . . . . . . • 11 Tables (from Pavy), 11 Food and physical development, 15 AVheat and other cereals, 20 Wheaten vs. white flour, 27 The fruits, 33 The vegetables, ........ 38 Meat as an article of diet, ....... 42 Pork-eating, 48 Milk, 53 Butter and eggs, 55 Sugar, 57 Salt, 61 Pepper and other condiments, 71 Drinking at meals, ........ 72 Tea, coffee, etc., 75 Food, intellect and morals, 79 " combinations, etc., 84 Two meals or three, 92 Dietetic rules, . . . . . . . . .'93 Hints on cooking, 95 PAET IT. THE HYGIENIC DIETARY. Unleavened bread, 101 Leavened and other bread, 119 Plain fruit cakes, , . . . . . . . 143 (ix) X CONTENTS. Steamed grains, 145 Mushes, 151 Pastries, 154 Vegetables, 1G9 Soups, 197 Fruits and fruit juices, 197 Brinks for the sick, . . 224 Foods " '' " . . . ... . . 229 " infants, 232 Preserying fruits and vegetables, . . . . • . 2:4 Canning fruits, etc., . . . . . . . . 238 Miscellany, 250 PAKT III. THE COMPROMISE. Steamed bread, Corn cake, muffins, etc., Griddle-cakes, Cake-making, Pies, etc., .... The grains, Mushes, .... Puddings, '' selection of, '^ other, Plain desserts. Pudding sauces, creams, etc., Custards, blanc-manges, etc., Moulded farinacea, Other dishes, Jellies, jams and syrups. Pipe fruits for desserts. Vegetables, . . Soups, .... Meats, etc.. Beef, mutton and lamb, The ^ ' porker," 260 265 271 275 288 301 802 302 805 837 853 860 863 383 886 391 3'kS 407 436 449 453 470 CONTENTS. XI Venison, . . . 470 Poultry, ... ....... 472 Wild birds and other game, , 488 Fish, 497 How about oysters ? . 505 Meat pies, etc., 506 " stews, etc., 518 Hashes and toasts, 530 Eggs, 540 Practical hints, 544 Addendum, 580 INTRODUCTORY. The question is often asked, "What is this hygienic diet ? " and it would be well for its advocates, if a correct answer were always given. This food differs so materially from that in common use, that persons who have simply heard of it, are apt to form erroneous ideas in regard to it. For example, if you state that a hygienic breakfast-table furnishes neither coffee nor tea, no beefsteak, butter, nor hot biscuits, you are met with the question, " What do they eat ? " And before you can begin to reply, the conclusion is reached that the table must be wof uUy bare, and the food on it lacking in wholesome variety and good flavor (since there are no seasonings), and also in nutritive quaUties. In other words, that it is a sort of starvation diet, which sensi- ble people would at once reject. Now, nothing could be farther from the truth than such an inference ; and patients at our table have often remarked that if people only understood the real character of the hygienic diet, they would think more favorably of it. In the first place, the hygienic table admits of as great a variety as any other ; and once the palate adapts itself to the change — ^which requires but a short time — the food is quite as keenly relished as that prepared in the ordinary way. In the next place, one does not tire of it ; even in warm spring mornings, when other people feel the need of a fo7iic to give them an appetite, the sound of the breakfast-bell in hygienic households is always welcome. The presence of natural hunger makes the food taste good, while at the same time it is the best possible aid to digestion. The fresh ripe fruits, 'A HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. the crisp little rolls, twenty minutes from the oven, the well- cooked oatmeal, and the luscious stewed fruits — ^to say nothing of good baked potatoes, and other side dishes that find their way to the table — all are enjoyed with a zest that rarely belongs to steak, biscuit and coffee. But a more important point to the physiologist is, that the food eaten is far more healthful and nutritious than the aforesaid articles ; from the simple fact that it contains a much larger per cent, of those substances that are necessary to form bone, teeth, muscles, tendons, and the other tissues of the body. This is why one can work longer and with less fatigue on hygienic food than on any other ; it nourishes better. Were proof needed on this point, the tables in Part I., giving the constituents of food, ought to furnish it. Still another virtue belonging to this diet is, that it con- tains no stimulating or abnormal substances, to tax the vital powers in getting rid of them ; no salt, pepper, sj)ices, or other irritating condiment ; everything is usable, in one way or another. Neither is there an excess of oily or saccharine matter, to clog the digestive or the excretory organs. But, to get at once to the root of the matter, we will take up the a, b, c, of the hygienic dietary ; resting assured that if our premises are correct, the conclusions will take care of them- selves. All persons who are thorough hygienists, according to the teachings of the late E. T. Trail, M.D., believe that inorganic substances are incapable of nourishing or building up the vital structures of our bodies. To begin with first princi- ples, we hold that vegetable organisms are fed by inorganic substances, and by these alone ; that animal organisms are fed by organic substances, and by these only. We also maintain that, other things being equal, the products of the vegetable kingdom are better suited to man's needs than are those of the animal kingdom ; and that out of the fprmer, those products are best suited for foods which most INTRODUCTOEY, 3 nearly supply tlie waste of the various tissues. There are, no doubt, many varieties in the vegetable kingdom which €an be and sometimes are used for foods, but which rank low in nutritive value, and are otherwise inferior in quality ; these, if eaten, are recommended only as occasional dishes. If wo follow scientific analysis, we must place first in the rank of nutritious foods, the various preparations of wheat ; then the other grains, some of which are better adapted to our wants than others. Fruits, as a class of foods, are ranked higher than vegetables by hygienists, and some fruits higher than others ; while among the vegetables proper, there are certain kinds that are better suited for human food than othera The flesh of animals, as will hereafter be shown, does not begin to compare with the whole grains — or even with some vegetables — -in the quantity of nutritive matter contained ; so that if used, it must fall below the latter in respect to nutrition. Besides, it carries with it a certain amount of substance that can not be utilized by the 'vital organs ; whence it follows that these organs must do extra work in expelling this substance from the vital domain. All animals, however healthy, ai^e every moment of their lives throwing off a large per cent, of worn-out or effete matter ; many times larger than that which is expelled from the surfaces of fiuits or vegetables. This matter is in every tissue, and in every drop of blood or other fluid in the tissues ; nor does the act of killing the animal improve the condition of things. On the contrary, the moment that life is extinct decomposition begins, and the waste is much more rapid ; hence the use of antiseptics, as salt, soda, saltpetre, etc., to arrest decay. Animal foods therefore are exceedingly unstable, not to say impure, in their best estate ; whence their character as inflammatory food. AH animal products, as butter, eggs, cheese, etc., partake of this character, in a greater or less 4 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. degree. Beef and mutton are perhaps the best of the flesh foods. Fish, fowls, oysters, etc., belong to lower orders of animal life, some of which are infested with vermin or animalculae,* and all of which feed upon less inyiting food substances than do the nobler animals. A further objection to the use of meat is found in the fact that many animals are afflicted with acute or chronic dis- eases, and are often rushed into market in that condition. This is particularly true of swine, and often indeed of cattle. Were the actual statistics given in all their loathsome de- tails, of scurvy in swine, of ulcerated livers, of deaths from trichinse, of beef discolored from venous blood, and often from semi-putrefaction, it would be enough to paU the keenest appetite, even though it failed to convince the most perverted judgment. In the following pages the subject will again be adverted to, and reasons given why hygienists regard meat, the best of it, as second-rate food : and salt, its usual condiment^ — which is a metallic, inorganic substance — as no food at aU. Some hints will also be given as to the relative merits of the various food products, both in regard to health, and also to their nutritive value. It will likewise be shown, that so far as the quality of the hygienic diet is concerned, the resources of nature, as weU as of art, are not by any means exhausted. Indeed, the hygienists themselves have scarcely more than commenced to study the matter. The place to begin, of course, is in the department of agricuiture. It is well known that grains, fruits and vegetables, are capable of improve- ment by culture, to an almost unlimited extent ; and there is little if any doubt that nearly all fruits fully ripe, and in their finest development, would be exceedingly palatable as nature furnishes them. It is much to be hoped that an enlightened public sentiment, on this subject as on others. •*Tbe liquor of oysters is said to be filled with infusoria or animalculse. INTEODUCTORY. D mil help to bring about a liiglier culture of all tiieso prod- uctSj and esx^ecially of fruits. Some dietetic reformers, in their eagerness to gratify a perverted palate, have fallen into tlie habit of mixing various foods together, indiscriminately, in the preparation of a single dish. Such admixture, if confined to one class of products, for instance the grains, v^ould not be amiss ; but the plan of putting together in the same dish, fruits and vegetables (say cabbage, beans, beets, squashes, etc., with raw or cooked fruits), is a practice that can not be too strongly condemned. Sound stomachs might be able to manage these conglomerations, but weak or diseased ones would certainly be the ¥/orse for it ; and it is a question whether even the best digestion, under* such treatment, would not finally be impaired. This brings us to the subject of the dietetic classification of foods. It also suggests a reason far some slight depart- ure in this book from the ordinary grouping of food products. For example, under the head of " Vegetables," only such products are named as seem to be dietetically allied to each other ; no attention being paid to scientific technicalities. In like manner, tomatoes and melons are classed with vegetables, because they are intended to be eaten with them. And it might be added, that meats, if eaten, are thought to digest better taken with vegetables, rather than v/ith fruits. There is no doubt that very oily sub- stances eaten with fruits, make rather a bad mixture ; and it ought to be thorouglily well known that the large amount of sugar ordinarily cooked in the latter, renders them diffi- cult to digest, and often causes pain in the stomach, or cholera morbus, particularly if they are eaten with vegetables. The trouble is not with the fruits, but v/ith the sugar, and the bad combinations that are made. The subject of food combinations — whether cabbage and raw apples vrill digest well together, or strawberries and b HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. cucumbers, or grapes and Lima beans, etc., etc. — is a topic that in the main has been quite oyeiiooked. In the last few years, hoY^^ever, some careful observations have been made by hygienists, in the management not only of very sensitive stomachs, but also those of ordinary strength ; and the con- clusion has been reached, that here as elsewhere, there are certain general principles underlying the whole subject, which, if properly understood, would be of much value. Certain physicians, among them the writer of this book, believe that (for feeble stomachs at least) fruits and vege- tables do best when taken at separate meals ; that vege- tables, when eaten, should be taken at dinner ; and that disregard of these rules often leads to indigestion. " It is a question, then, whether with care in these respects, there would be that difficulty which some persons experience in eating fruits, and others in eating vegetables. In the management of patients with even a moderate amount of vitality, the writer has found no difficulty in enabling them to eat fruits in abundance, and without the slightest inconvenience; and to a certain extent the same is true as respects the use of vegetables. A very good rule for general observance, is to make the breakfast of bread and fruit, and perhaps some grain preparation; the dinner of bread, vegetables, etc.; and the supper of bread and fruit only, or bread and fruit juice. It is also a good plan, if ray/ apples, peaches, or grapes are eaten, to take them at break- fast, and by all means at the beginning of the meal. Let the fine sub-acids touch the bottom of the stomach, so to speak. If melons are eaten, they should be taken at or before the dinner; if at the meal, they should be served at the com- mencement of it, not at the close. These rules have been found to work Avell with persons who are sick, and they can hardly work ill with those who are in good health. Or, as it is sometimes said, '•'What ^^vill make a sick m^an well, will also keep him well." INTRODUCTORY. Y The question is frequently asked, whether the hygienic diet is to be recommended from an economic stand-point. So far as the table itself is concerned, the one v/ay of living is probably about as expensive as the other ; in other words, the iRonej that is usually spent for tea, co^ee, sugar, butter, meat, condiments, etc., is laid out for choice grains, ripe, diied or canned fruits, and the best of vegetables. But if there is a saving of time and money in the enjoyment of uninterrupted good health, then indeed, there is economy in hygienic living. A lady who has tried both ways, and who was formerly a patient and boarder in our house, gives her testimony as follows : " My husband and I have been married twelve years ; and it is only since leaving your house, two years ago, that we have ever been able to save a cent. Doctors, medicines, and what we then supposed to be the ^ best of living,' viz., meat three times a day, and beef-tea between meals for strength (?), ate up the small salary. Last year we bought a lovely little home, and on a salary of fifteen hundred dollars, we saved five hundred to pay on the place. And the diet — why, we never Kved so Avell ; good bread of Akron Graham flour, fresh vegetables, and the best of fruits and grains. We kept a horse, and hired a man to work the garden. We feel that we have only just begim to live. In health I am better ; more like my real self ; more sunshine, contentment, and happiness — all owing to a good, X3ure diet, fresh air and exercise." To those who may desire to understand more fuUy the Eeasons why hygienists depart somewhat fromx the ordi- nary methods of preparing foods, the chapters in Part I. may be of interest. And should the reader find in these more or less repetition of what has been stated elsewhere in the work, the simple fact that it has all been written piecemeal may in part account for it. The items have been jotted down from time to time, as the writer could note 8 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. them ; and in tlie end there was very little chance to re- write, or even rearrange the matter in hand. Another six months would have made a more orderly work, but it would not ha^ silenced the clamor for the hook at all hazards. There ! nov/, good friends, take the volume just as you find it ; and if you can write a better, the author of this wiH gladly help you to sell it. But one thing — do not decline the present one, and then come to us with inquiries of this sort : " How do you steam these choice grains ? " " TeU me how you make your cream biscuits ? " " What are your rules for preparing those fine fruits?" "How do you manage to cook vegetables so nicely?" "What ails my little Graham rolls that they never look like yours ? " etc., etc. Take the book, follow its directions, and you will find out all about it. NOTICE In a work of tMs kind, it is hardly to be supposed that all the dishes described have had the personal supervision of the author. A large per cent., however, of the recipes in Part II. belong to this class, and since they can readily be vouched for, they will, as a matter of convenience, be desig- nated thus : =1= Not that the ones so indicated are all of the same value ; on the contrary, some dishes will be in much greater demand than others. For example, the hard Graham rolls are — or ought to be — on the table daily ; cream biscuits come only once or twice a week, and currant scone not much oftener ; while strawberry shortcake makes its appearance only a few times in the whole year. In Part m. there are many recipes that the writer has not been able to test, even indirectly ; a large number, how- ever, have been put into experienced hands, and (from the compromise stand-point) have been heard from favorably. These recipes will be known to the reader by the follow- ing sign : #. (9) PART I. THE REASON WHY. CONSTITUENTS OF FOOD. The following tables, giying tlie composition of tlie various grains, together witli that of beans, peas, lentils, potatoes, beef, mutton, eggs, milk, and cream, are taken from Pavy, that well-known authority on Food and Dietetics. TABLES. Varieties of Wheat iit the dryr^ .f/^/^.— (Payen.) I Hard wheat. {Vertezu- ela) ■ Hard wheat. {Africa.''^ Hard wheat. {Tagan- rog.) 20.00 63.80 8.00 3.10 2.25 2.85 Seini- hard wheat, {Brie.) White or soft wheat. {Ttizeile.) Nitrogenous matter . . . Starch Dextrin, etc 22.75 58.62 9-50 3.50 2.61 3.02 19.50 65.07 7.60 3.00 2.12 2.71 15.25 70.05 7.00 3.00 1.95 2.75 12.65 76.51 6.05 2.80 Cellulose . » Fatty matter 1.87 Mineral matter 2.12 I 100. TOO. 100. 100. 100. In an ordinary state, grain contains from 11 to iS per cent, of water. (11) 12 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART I. Varieties of grain in the dry state, — (Pa yen.) Rye. Barley. Oats. Maize. Rice. Nitrogenous matter . . . Starch 12.50 64.65 14.90 3.10 2.25 2.60 12.96 66.43 10.00 4.75 2.76 3.10 14.39 60.59 9.25 7.06 5.50 3.25 12.50 67.55 4.00 5.90 8.80 1.25 7.55 88.65 I 00 Dextrin, etc Cellulose 1,10 Fatty matter 0.80 Mineral matter 0.90 100. 100. 100. 100. 100. Composition of Buckwheat. — (Payen.) Nitrogenous matter 13. 10 Starch, etc 64.90 Fatty matter 3.00 Cellulose 3. 50 Mineral matter 2. 50 Water 13.00 100. Composition of Beans. — (Payen.) Horse Bean. Nitrogenous matter 30.8 Starch, etc. 48.3 Cellulose • 3.0 Fatty matter 1.9 Saline matter 3.5 Water 12.5 100. Broad or Windsor bean.^ dried in the green state .^ and decorticated. 29.05 55.85 1.05 2.00 3.65 8.40 100. French or Kidney Bean. — (Payen.) Nitrogenous matter 25 Starch, etc _..,., , 55 Cellulose / 2 Fatty matter ., 2 Mineral matter. 3 Water , n 100. PAET I.] CONSTITUENTS OE FOOD. 13 Dried Peas, — (Pa yen.) Nitrogenous matter 23.8 Starch, etc eg. 7 Cellulose 0*5 Fatty matter 21 Mineral matter 2.1 Vv^ater g*^ Lentils, — (Payen.) Nitrogenous matter 25.2 Starch, etc 56^0 Cellulose 2.4 Fatty matter ^ , 2.6 Mineral matter 2.3 Water 11.5 100. P^/^/^.— (Payen.) Nitrogenous matter 2.50 Starch .„..,., 20.00 Cellulose 1.04 Sugar and gummy matter 1.09 Fatty matter o. 1 1 Pectates, citrates, phosphates, and silicates of | ^ lime, magnesia, potash, and soda \ Water 74.00 100. Sweet Potato. — (Payen.) Nitrogenous matter i. 50 Starch 16.05 Sugar 10.20 Cellulose 0.45 Fatty matter 0.30 Other organic matter i- 10 Mineral salts • 2.60 Water 67.50 Leait ^f^/.— (Letheby.) Nitrogenous matter ^ I9'3 Fat 3.6 Saline matter 5 • i Water, 72.0 100. 14: iiEi\XTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART I. Lean Mutto7i. — (Letheby.) Nitrogenous matter 18.3 Fat 4.9 Saline matter 4.8 Water 72.0 100. White FishJ^ Nitrogenous matter - 18. i Fat 2.9 Saline matter i.o Water __ 78.0 100. Eggs . — Entire contents, f Nitrogenous matter 14.0 Fatty matter 10. 5 Saline " 1.5 Water 74.0 100. Egg — White of. Nitrogenous matter 20.4 Fatty matter Saline " 1.6 Water 78.0 100, Egg-- Yolk of. Nitrogenous matter 16.0 Fatty matter 30. 7 Saline '* 1.3 Water 52.0 100. Milk {Cow's), — (Letheby.) Nitrogenous matter 4. i Fatty matter. . , 3.9 Lactin 52 Saline matter 0.8 Water , 86.0 100. * From Pavy's " Food and Dietetics," p. 171. f lb., p. 182. PAKT I.] FOOD AND PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT. 15 Cream.— (Liltheby), - Nitrogenous matter. ... 2.7 Fatty matter 26.7 Lactin . 2.8 Saline matter , 1.8 Water 66.0 100 Food and Physical Development. The food question is one of tlie most important, not to say the most difficult, that the physiologist has to handle ; and with all the experience of bygone ages, we have not as yet been able to fully unravel the mysteries of this many- sided problem. What products to select and the best methods of growing themj how to prepare the food and how often to partake of it, what quantity is necessary to supply the waste of the tissues, what variety is needed, and what combinations produce the best digestion — all these, and more, remain to be studied in the light of known facts and of physiological science. As regards, the nature or quality of foods, it n^ust be con- ceded that that food is best which most nearly supplies the natural ivaste of the tissues. And those articles which con- tain the largest amount of the materials necessary to build up the body, these being in the required proportions, would rank higher in value than other articles which are poor in this respect. Nature has given us a bountiful supply of food products, some rich in quantity and variety of nutritive elements, and some containing an abundance of certain food principles, with rather a meager supply of others ; while there are many that yield only a limited amount of nutrient matter. Thus, the lavish profusion that is furnished to our hand gives room for the exercise of judgment in selecting foods, as well as skill in preparing them. The results of chemical analysis, as given by Liebig, 16 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PAET I. Boussingault, Payen and others, place the grams at the head of all nutritive substances, as will be seen by the tables at the beginning of this chapter. And while it does not follow that we must, as a rule, use the more nutritious articles of diet to the exclusion of the others, it would seem to be in accordance with reason that the former should occupy a more prominent place in the food list than the latter. For example, wheat, which contains 85 per cent, of soHd matter, would be better suited to sustain life than turnips, that have only 11 per cent. ; and better also than meat, that has but 36 per cent. In so far, therefore, as chemical analysis can give us any light, the grains rank highest as foods. But it is sometimes said that the relative value of the different food products can be better determined by experi- ence than by chemical analysis ; and as there is not space in this short chapter to investigate the latter, let us give a passing thought to the former. Experience, to be of value, must be derived from the observation of a sufficient number of individuals to give us something like a rule, deduced from facts which these individuals can furnish. What, then, are the facts ? Looking over the nations of the earth, savage and civiUzed, we find great disparity among them as to the physical development of their inhabitants ; some are well proportioned, with good bones and muscles, sound teeth, robust bodies, and all the other evidences of fine growth and excellent general health. Others are small in stature, Hi-proportioned, wanting in muscular development, and otherwise inferior in physique ; and while it must not be taken for granted that food alone is responsible for these several results, still it can not be denied that it is an important factor in the case. Comparing the dietetic habits of the people of these nations, there has been found to exist a very striking correspondence between the quality of the food they eat, and the size, strength and symmetry PART I.] FOOD AND PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT. 17 of their bodies. It lias also been noted by travelers tliat in those countries, in Europe and elsewhere, in which the people Avere remarkable for long life, strength of body and fine proportions, combined with rare personal beauty and good complexions, their dietetic habits have been relatively simple, and the food itself restricted for the most part to the products of the soil. The peasantry of Europe furnish examples of whole nations of people living almost exclusively on a grain and vegetable diet, with perhaps a moderate supply of milk. They use coarse bread, and an abundance of cereals, va- riously prepared. They eat very little meat, and their food as a whole, contains few condiments. It is likewise worthy of remark, that among these simple rural people, who can not afford either the rich dietary or the sparkling wines and other stimulating drinks used by the wealthy, there is a smoothness of skin and purity of complexion that is quite the exception among the upper classes. This is particularly noticeable in England and Scotland ; and it is said to be the same in Germany. There is a certain wholesome come- liness among the peasant lads and lasses that does not quite belong either to the people of rank (who, having every f acihty for mental and physical culture, ought to look well), or to the denizens of cities, whose habits of eating and living are less simple than theirs. According to Felix L. Oswald, M.D., " The strongest men of the three manliest races of the present world are non-carnivorous : the Turanian mount- aineers of Daghestan and Lesghia, the Mandingo tribes of Senegambia, and the Schleswig-Holstein Bauern, who fur- nish the heaviest cuirassiers for the Prussian army, and the ablest seamen for the Hamburg navy." The following item from the San Francisco Chronicle, is another bit of evidence showing that the best of muscle can be made from a diet that is simple and sparing, and that contains very little animal food : 18 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART I. " Yokohama, July 1, 1882. — Japan f umislies an example tliat tells largely in favor of a vegetarian diet. That the Japanese are a people of muscle and great physical endur- ance is apparent on every hand. The specimens of muscu- lar development shown in the build and structure of the working classes, are evidences of great strength and hardi- ness. The diet of these men is entirely of vegetables and fish, and they are very economical feeders at that. The quantity of food they require, or at least the quantity they eat, is astonishingly small when compared with the food de- voured by the meat-eaters from the Western world. The amount of manual labor they perform is simply prodigious. The coolie, who takes the place of^ and who does the work for which oxen and horses are utilized elsewhere, is about as strong, and can accomplish about as much heavy work as the animals themselves. They are possessed of immense power of limb, being able to pull loads that would be con- sidered as much as any other draft animal could draw. It is wonderful to see them walking away with the heavy loads they easily move ; and as carriers of burdens upon the shoulder they are capable of startling achievements. Seemingly their frames are as tough as steel, not suscepti- ble of cold or intense heat — going thinly clad in freezing weather, and not shrinking from the sun in its most oppres- sive season." There are also abundant statistics, and some of them from excellent authorities, showing that among the savage tribes there exist the most startling contrasts in respect to longevity, beauty of form, and strength of muscle. And the travelers who have made note of these facts, and who in all probability cared nothing whatever for dietetic rules or theories, tell us that the meanest and most hideous forms of human life (as the Calmucks) were found among those people who subsist almost exclusively upon animal food, and this often of a very low order. On the other handj PAET I.] FOOD AND PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT. 10 tliose races tliat are celebrated for their beauty of form and complexion (as the Circassians), are an agricultural people, drawing their subsistence chiejiy from the soil. But leaving the Europeans and Asiatics to v5?"ork out their own destinies, may we not venture to inquire whether cer- tain physiological defects among our own people, defects so pronounced as abeady to be considered national, may not in some degree be traceable to their dietetic habits? Is there not some error, which if corrected, would lead to more beneficent results? There must be a reason why sound teeth are the exception ; why natural dentine gives place to porcelain ; why the teeth that remain are ill-shapen, loose in their sockets, and covered with scurvy. There must be a reason why heads are bald so early ; why heavy tresses of beautiful hair, even on youthful brows, are so rare ; why the few thin, straggling locks that remain, are harsh and faded, and the scalp covered with a scurvy dan- druff. There must be a reason why firmly knit muscles, giving to the human figiu^e a beauty and loveliness of form almost divine, have left in their stead, loose, flabby tissues, with very little muscular fiber in them. There must be a reason why the rose tints fade so early from the cheeks of the young ; why healthful boys and giiis are converted into little, spindling, wizen-faced creatures, looking more like old men and women of diminutive stature, than Hke thriving, grovdng children. There must be a reason why even in in- fancy the spine so often refuses to hold the body erect, and disease and deformity ensue. There is a beason, and it is our duty to find it. If the food we eat does not contain the elements out of which dentine is made, how can we expect to have good teeth ? If it is defective in nutritive quality, having a lack of those m.aterials which make fibrin, by what process can we hope to clothe the bones with muscles? If it has a meager supply of the '' salts " which enter into the forma- 20 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PAET I. tion of the bones, wliy should not the little children (and those of larger stature) be limp and rickety ? If the nu- tritive substances that are found in hair are wanting, is it noi reasonable that the middle-aged, and even our young people, should have bald heads ? If our tables do not sup- ply the elements vv^hich go to make up our bodies, and therefore to form the blood corpuscles out of which the various tissues are made, then indeed we must be content to have faded cheeks, flabby muscles, sunken eyes, weak backs, toothless gams, and bare scalps. Nor is it at aU strange that what we have left is little more than a " bundle of nerves," since we have lavishly parted with all besides. "We deserve our fate, if we do not mend our ways. Wheat axd other Cereals. Old mother earth has given to man the very thing he needs, to keep him in perfect health. First among these gifts are the golden grains ; they contain in great abun- dance and weU-suited proportions, those substances in organic combination that are required to build up the body, as its tissues are spent from day to day. Nature furnishes us in the organic kingdom, not " proxi- mate principles " as such ; not fibrin, albumen, or casein ; not starch, sugar, or fat ; not chlorides, carbonates, or phos- phates ; these latter, if obtained from the food products, come only through destructive analysis. Out of her own ample storehouse she gives us those wonderful products of the soil suited for human food. Nor must we fail to note the fact, that it is these, untouched by the hand of the chemist, that are received and appropriated by animal organisms. Trees may grow and thrive upon inorganic foods — in the aqueous or gaseous form — ^but animals never. The human animal, in common v/ith the others, would very soon starve to death on these substances. Neither will the proximate principles of food, support animal life ; not even PART I.J WHEAT AND OTHER CEREALS. 21 if we select those that are strictly of organic origin, as starch, sugar, oil, fibrin, albumen, etc. The vital instincts reject those products that do not come directly from Nature's own laboratory. The tables from Payen at the head of these chapters, ^nU give a fair idea of the relative nutritive values of the dif- ferent grains. It will be seen that the saccharine element is most abundant in rye, the fatty in maize and oats, and the starchy in rice ; we observe, moreover, that oats are rich in mineral or saline matter (good for teeth and bones), and also in nitrogenous substances. The human body is known to be composed of some fifteen ultimate elements (the older authorities give thirteen), as shown by chemical analysis, all of which are supphed in common wheat. It is not strange, therefore, that this grain is a staple among food products throughout the civilized world, the fact being founded in the physiological needs of the human race. But it is strange, yes, marvelous, that this same wheat, which a beneficent Creator furnishes to our hand for the renevdng of our bodies, should be largely stripped by man of its nutritive materials before he eats it. There is more than a grain of truth in the saying, that " the principal article of human food in America is a robbed, depreciated substance, incapable of sustaining human life." That " the human animal in America is drenched with starch " (in the use of white fiour), " and destroj^ed by it.'' That " the ten thousand mUls in America which are to-day engaged in pulverizing wheat, and sifting from it its gray matter," ought to be classed with the " distilleries of the land/' as shorteners of human life ; and that the " exter- mination of the one is not more to be desired, than the annihilation of the other." "What stupidit}^ (shall we call it madness?) that in the flour of commerce we should take away from the wheat — ■ in a large degree, certainly — no less than twelve of the 22 HEALTH IH THE HOUSEHOLD. • [PART I. fifteen elements that belong to it, and without wliicli the growth of the human body can not be maintained! In other words, the wheat, with its fifteen elements, which are nearly or quite identical with those of the human body, is reduced for the most part to a white, starchy substance, containing only three of the ultimate elements, carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. The rich supplies of silica, sodium, sulphur, phosphorus, calcium, nitrogen, and other elements that are found in the bones, teeth, hair, nails, muscles, and in the blood, are gone! And the self-defrauded people, instinctively aware, as it were, that they are perishing for lack of those life-giving products, are now attempting to supplement the loss in a way that is none the less ridiculous and fooHsh. Vainly endeavoring to compensate for the things wasted, they betake themselves to the swallowing of certain substances which are little else than proximate ele- ments or principles derived from the foods proper. "Why this roundabout process ? Why separate these vari- ous substances from the grains, doing violence to their organic structures, and then eat them individually rather than take them in organic combination, as Nature has pro- vided them? The idea is entertained by some, that in selecting and combining certain^ar^s of the grains, a food can be prepared that wiU not only supply some special need in the system, but that it will afford nourishment to a particular organ or part of the body. Following this theory there are persons who delight to sup on cooked gluten, to eat wheatena, " diabetic bread," " brain food wafers," or any of the " food preparations," as they are called, rather than to take the food itself. Nor is it at aU uncommon to see per- sons wet up wheat bran, coarse, flaky stuff, hardly fit for horses, and swallow it as a '' medicine,", and then sit down at meal-time, and eat white flour bread in jyrefei^ence to that made from the whole wheat ! Any way but the right way ; particularly if it be fashionable, or in seeming accord with the old-time custom of " taking something." PAET 1.1 ^ WHEAT AND OTHER CEEEALS, 23 ■J T.jsa Coming fairly and squarely to tlie point, the trutli of tho whole matter is simply this : What is best suited to the nourishing or building up of the body as a whole^ is also best adapted to the proper gTOwth of its individual members- The late E. T. Trail, M.D., has very justly remarked that " Those who would prepare healthful food, and those who desire to ' eat to live/ should ever bear in mind that no one of the alimentary j^nnciples is capable in ifcseK of properly nourishing the body. Neither of them, in the proper sense, is food, but merely a constituent part of food. And almost all the aliments or substances used for food, contain very nearly, and some of them quite aU of these proximate ele- ments. Hence the futihty of all the multitudinous experi- ments, in feeding human beings or animals on a constituent part of an aliment, instead of the aliment itself. Such experiments only show the physiological ignorance of the experimenters." Those constituent parts of food which are known to phys- iologists as proximate principles of the " second class " (oil, sugar, starch), are purely of organic origin. And the same is true of those of the third class, as fibrin, albumen, casein, etc. These two classes differ widely, both in their nature and origin, from those inorganic substances which are des- ignated, proximate principles of the Jirst class. The latter — most of them metallic — though obtainable by destructive analysis from organic products, are also found elsewhere, some of them existing largely in the surface of the eaiih. Now, if the proximate elements of the second and third classes can be shown to be incapable of suppoiiing animal life, what shall we say to those of the first class? If dogs staiwe to death on starch, sugar, oil, fibrin, etc., would they thrive well on chlorides, carbonates and phosphates ? And yet there are people who do not hesitate to recommend even these- They imagine that if magnesia, sulphur, soda, etc., are lacking in the bones and other tissues, they can eat 24: HEALTH IN THE H0USEH05:.D. [PAUT I. magnesia, soda, sulpliur, etc., or the carbonates, phosphates, etc., which contain them — quite ignoring the fact that these substances are simply earthy or inorganic materials, and as such, utterly incapable of supporting animal life. They seem not to understand that the only possible way in which human (or animal) beings can make these substances avail- able, is to take them, not as inorganic matter, but fresh from the hand of Nature, as part and parcel of the food products, in a state of perfect organization — ^before the chemist has laid his finger upon them. It has been truth- fully said, that where chemistry begins, organic life or structure ends. If lime is a necessary constituent in our bones, we can easily supply the system with the needed " salts " by eating wheat, not lime, or other calcareous substances. If sulphur is required in the hair, we shall obtain it from the grains ; not by taking the crude article. If sodium is called for in the formation of the different structures, let us look to the wheat and other cereals for that ingredient ; not to soda, or chloride of sodium. Had God or nature intended that we should eat inorganic substances, or even made it possible for us to subsist upon them, what need would there be to till the earth ? If, like trees, we can live upon gases, or derive nourishment from phosphates, etc., why turn the furrow, or put in the seed ? These materials abound in the crust of the earth, and are in no sense the products of agriculture. But why debate this question ? It has been shown again and again, that so far from man's being able to subsist upon inorganic matter, neither he nor the lower animals can get nourishment out of them ; they can only live upon the natural, organic products of the earth. It has been repeatedly demonstrated, that even those proximate principles which are strictly of organic origin, as oil, sugar, starch, fibrin, albumen, casein, etc., can not sustain animal life ; both dogs and men would ^tarye to PAET I.] WHEAT A^D OTHER CEREALS. 25 death on any one of them, or all of them put together. For example, wheat alone, with water (the latter as a carrier of nutrient material), will support human life for an indefinite length of time. But if we separate the wheat into gluten, starch, sugar, etc., and attempt to live upon these, with or without the water, certain death wiU in a few weeks or months repay us for our folly. And yet, weU as these facts are known among physiolo- gists and scientists, people still persist in eating white flour bread, which is mostly starch, actually preferring it to bread made from the flour of the whole wheat ! Eeally, is it not high time that we ceased to eat, and feed to our children, an article of food that dogs can not live upon ? In speaking of this subject. Dr. Trail remarks : "All of these proximate constituents vary exceedingly in their ability to sustain the prolonged nutrition of man or animals ; but neither of them alone can supply perfect nutrition, nor sustain the organism for a great length of time. Their power to do so is in the ratio of their complexity. Thus, gluten, which combines in itself a greater number of ele- ments, or in other words, is a more complex substance in its chemical composition than any other ahmentary prin- ciple, is capable of sustaining the nutrition of animals longer than any other." Dr. Graham is even more explicit on this important sub- ject. He says: "Can any inorganic compound of oxygen, hydrogen, carbon and azote, be made to answer as a substi- tute for animal or vegetable food ? Certainly not ! And the reason is exidently not because any particular chemical character or property is wanting in such a compound, but because such a compound has not the constitutional nature which adapts it to the constitutional nature and functional powers of the living animal organs." lie further adds: "A single pound of good wheat contains about ten ounces of farina, six drachms of gluten, and two drachms of 2 28 HRcVLTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART I. and a robust laboring man maybe healthfully sustained on one pound of good wheat per day, with pure water, for any length of time he chooses, without the least physiological inconven- ience; but let him attempt to live on ten ounces of pure farina, six drachms of gluten, and two drachms of sugar per day, with pure water, either taken separately or mixed together, and he will soon find his appetite and strength and spirits failing, and his flesh forsaking him; and death will terminate his experiment in less than a year. Can chemistry teU us why this is so ? Indeed she can not ! But physiology tells us with promptitude and accuracy, that wheat, in its whole substance, is constitutionally adapted to the anatomi- cal structure and physical powers of the alimentary organs of man; but that farina and gluten and sugar, in their con- centrated forms, are not; and therefore that the wheat, while it affords healthful nourishment to the body, also sus- tains the organs in digesting and appropriating that nourish- ment; but that the farina, gluten and sugar, though purely nutrient principles, break down the alimentary organs, destroy their functional powers, and cause the whole system to perish." Now, either Dr. Graham is correct in these statements, or he is not. If incorrect, it would be the easiest thing in the world to demonstrate the fact, by a few simple experiments upon dogs. If Dr. Graham is right, v/e ought to credit his statements, and have the benefit of his teachings. What has been said in this connection in regard to wheat, is in nomse limited to that grain — it applies with more or less force to rye, oats, barley, and the grains in general. If we want the best that there is in them, we must neither reject nor destroy any of the nutritive substances vv^hich they con- tain. Even the woody fiber which forms the outer coating of the grain, when properly cleaned and cut sufficiently fine, serves its purpose in the intestinal canal — on the same prm- ciple that straw is needed for horses, when they are fed too PART l] WHEATEN VS, WHITE FLOUR. 27 exclusively on oats or other grains. Yv^e need bulk as well as nutrition, in the foods we eat; were this not the case, what would be the use of all the varieties of fruits and vege- tables, many of which, in one sense, serve to " fill up " with fluid or solid materials, rather than to supply large quanti- ties of strictly nutritive substances ? Indeed, we can scarcely commit a greater mistake than to conjine ourselves to the use of the very nutritious or concentrated foods. To present this whole theme in a nutshell, the reader is referred to the following chapter, which gives the testimony of Dr. Calvin Cutter, that well-known physiologist of V/arren, Massachusetts. Wheaten vs. White Flous. The idea is sometimes entertained that bread made from wheaten meal (usually called Graham flour), is less nutritious than that made of the ordinary white flour; and that the persons who eat it are simply subjecting themselves to a " starvation diet," which does not suppoii life properly. Let those who cherish such \T.ews read Dr. Cutter's statements, and then decide for themselves ivhich of the two kinds of bread lacks the elements of nutrition that the system re- quires. First, however, let us hear, in a few words, what a well-known divine has to say. Eev. J. F. Clymer, of Auburn, N. J., has given a discourse to his congregration on " Food and Morals,'' in which he goes straight to the root of the matter.^ In speaking- of the white flour of commerce, he says: "The process of bolting or refining takes from the wheat most of the phosphates and nitrates, the elements that are chiefly required for mak- ing nerves, muscles, bones, and brains. The phosphates and nitrates being removed by bolting, very little remains in the flour except the starchy carbonates, the heat and fat- *Tbis discourse has been published in pamphlet form, and is for sale by Fowler <& W^ells, New York. 28 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART I. producing elements. Tlie use of fine flour bread as a staple article of food, introduces too mucli heat and fat-producing elements into the system; and where there is too much car- bon or heating substance, it tends rather to provoke the system to unnatural and abnormal action, and instead of serving as an element to warm the body, its tendency is to burn or consume, heating and irritating all the organs — getting one into that state which is properly known as ^ hot- blooded.' " The fine w^hite flour ordinarily used has two-thirds of the nitrogenous and mineral nutriment that God put in the wheat, taken out. Unless these deficiencies are made up by some other foods, the exclusive use of fine flour bread will leave the nei^es and bones poorly nourished, producing in some systems nervousness, dyspepsia, and all the physical ills that follow these diseases, together with impatience, fretfulness, and irratibility. God intended that all the nutritive properties He put in the wheat should stay in it for purposes of symmetrical nourishment. Fine flour bread may be used for purposes of producing heat in the system, but it does not feed hungry nerves or starving bones. " One reason why children fed chiefly on white bread feel hungry nearly all the time, and demand so much food be- tween meals, is found in the fact that their bodies are in- sufficiently nourished. Their bones and nerves not receiv- ing the nitrates and phosphates they need, are suffering from, hunger." Now v/e will hear from Dr. Cutter. He says : " 1. Flour is the only impoverished food used by mankind — impover- ished by the withdrawal of the tegumentary portion of the wiieat, leaving the internal, starchy or white portion. See the facts : In Johnson's ' How Crops Grow ' you find that in 1,000 parts of substance, wheat has an ash of 17.7 parts ; flour has an ash of 4.1 parts — an impoverishment of over PAET I.] WHEATEN VS. WHITE FLOUB. 29 tliree-fourths. Wheat has 8.2 parts pliosphoric acid ; flour has 2.1 parts phosphoric acicl — an impoverishment of about three-fourths. "Wheat has 0.6 lime and 0.6 soda ; flour has 0.1 Hme and 0.1 soda — an impoyerishment of five-sixths each. Wheat has 1.5 sulphur ; floui^ has no sulTDhur. Wheat has sulphuric acid 0.5 ; flour has no sulx)huric acid. Wheat has silica 0.3 ; flour has no silica. "2. Flour is mostly starch — 63. 7 per cent. Its formula, chemical composition, is C 10, H 12, O 12 — three elements ; carbon, hydrogen, oxygen. The human body contains at least twelve elements besides those of starch. How, then, can flour be nutritious with about three elements, when it should contain fifteen elements, in order to properly nourish and sustain the human body ? " 3. Flour has less gluten than wheat. Gluten is the al- buminoid principle corresponding to the albumen, fibrin, and gelatine in the human body. "4. Dogs fed by Magendie {videKixke & Paget's ^Physi- ology ') on flour bread, died in f oiiy days ; other dogs, fed on bread from whole-wheat meal or flour, flourished and throve. The three-fourths impoverishment of the mineral ingredients proved fatal to the first. Why should not man- kind suffer in some manner from living on impoverished food? "5. The history of the Eoman Empire in the time of Juhus Cs8sar shows that wheat, as an article of food, com- bined with fresh outdoor-air life, is capable of producing and sustaining the highest type of physical manhood the world ever saw. The empire was built up and maintained by soldiers whose main article of food was wheat. '' 6. There is every probability that the present prevalence of late erupting and easily-decaying teeth is due for one cause to the use of flour as food. In eight hundred and eighty of the school children in Woburn, Lexington, and Bedford, Massachusetts, in 1874, under twelve years of age^. 30 HEALTH m THE HOUSEHOLD. [PABT I. two-tiiirds had decayed teeth. See ^Eeport State Health Board of Massachusetts, 1875.' " 7. There is every prohahility that the prevalence of pre- mature grayness or baldness, is partly due to the present ex- clusive and universal use of white flour. Hair contains ten per cent, of sulphamid (N H 2 S). — Mulder. But there is no sulphur or sulphuric acid in flour. A flour, to be food, must contain in proper quantities all ingredients found in the tissues, hair, teeth, etc. If it does not, then impairment of vigor, decay, and f aUing off must be expected as a natural consequence. " 8. Flour for half a century has been regarded as one cause of constipation. It has been proved that whole- wheat meal (or flour) regulates the bowels by giving the system nerve food to 'run,' so to speak, the digestive functions and promote healthy peristaltic motions. Nearly all our functions are sustained by nerve-force ; hence the importance of having the nerves receive their full amount of phosphoric acid, which is the great pabulum of the nerve tissue. " 9. It is probable that the use of flour may be the cause of the change of the type of disease from strong (sthenic) to weak (asthenic).* "10. Why should mankind, then, use flour and render themselves liable to disease^ because flour is impoverished food? Eemember Megendie's dog that died from eating ^ " The mineral iagredients of food for plants, contained in fertllizsrG, if withdrawn seven t3^-live per cent., would entail vegetable growths of very feeble vitality and the resistance to the causes of disease. No farmer would think of manuring his vesretables with one-fourth the fertilizers ordinarily deemed necessary ; or if he did, he would get a miserable and weak crop, if he got any at all. Now it is asked, May it not be possible that the present type of asthenic disease is partly due to the use of an im- poverished food like flour ? The answerins: of this must be made by the organized medical societies, although there is every probability that the reply will be in the aSrmative." PART I.] WHEATEN VS. ¥/KITE FLOUK. 31 wliite-flonr bread exclusively! How can parents expect tlieir children to grow up with strong teeth, nerves, eyes, hair, etc., on flour ? In children every tissue and organ is growing, increasing in size, and developing. Every element which belongs to those tissues and organs should be con- tained in the food or alimentary substances, and in normal proportions, as provided by the Creator in the natural sub- stances designed and proved by history to be perfect food. "Wheat is such an article ; but vv^hite flour made from it is a substance weakened, deteriorated, and impoverished ; and history shows that people eating it are more subject to tissue- wasting disease (consumption, etc.) than ever before. "Why, then, not use the whole of the original wheat, ground or re- duced to a uniform condition, without loss or injury to the food elements, with its native normal balance of quantity of mineral ingredients in a soluble assimilable form, as Liebig and others advocate ; and such as it is demonstrated undeni- ably and incontrovertibly, by facts of history, to be capable of producing the highest type of manhood the world ever saw ? Why raise a pale, feeble, nervous, and smaU-sized race of people on flour because flour-bread looks white and light, and therefore is considered nice? What principle of esthetics is it that confers such a pre-eminent place upon the color of white ? Why not bro-wn or bronze ? What is more gTateful to the senses than the complementary colors of landscape ? If it were aU white, it would be both re- pulsive and injurious. This preference of white over yel- low or brown, or any other color, is not based upon the truth of existing facts, else it would be inferred that a white statue is preferable to a bronze. The fact is, the elevation of white bread into the highest place of preferment is altogether unfounded and unwarrantable. The white color comes from starch ; and the whiter the bread the more starch it contains, and of course the less nutrition, as starch has only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen to make tissue, 32 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART I. which would contain fifteen elements. The whiteness of flour is, in fact, an ont^v^ard sign of the starvation and death within. Indeed, the present universal use of white flour is one of the most remarkable facts in the history of civiliza- tion — remarkable, because it is the only impoverished food upon the diet list. Over-boiled meats and vegetables are the only approach to impoverished food. People know enough not to eat them. But that they should love to eat white flour is certainly very remarkable indeed, and almost an evidence of a fallen nature, as there is nothing like it in the whole history of eating. " 11. What is wanted is a wholesome, healthful, nourish- ing wheat food — a whole-wheat flour in the fullest and broadest sense of the term — containing every one of the fifteen elements in their normal proportions, and reduced to an entire evenness of condition, which is most favorable to digestion and assimilation. It is a common practice, to a large extent, to grind the finest and soundest wheat into fine flour, and the poorest into what is called ' Graham flour.' This term ^ Graham flour ' ought no longer to be used ; it is a kind of general name given to mixtures of bran, and poor and often spoilt flour, to a large extent unfit for human food. We must have a thoroughly pure, sweet, and nutri- tious whole-wheat flour, made from the choicest and ripest wheat, wholly (bran, or cortical portion, and all) reduced to a uniform fineness of quality, and well put up for family use ; and whoever will give his earnest and honest efforts to furnishing such a flour, and keep its manufacture up to this high standard all the time, will confer a lasting benefit upon his race and generation, and find a remunerative market for all he can produce. The brown loaf is to our eye as handsome as the white, and in it we secure all the important nutritive principles which the Creator for wise reasons has stored up in wheat." As respects the relative values of white flour and that of PAET I.] THE FKUITS. 33 tlie whole wlieat, the following table, if even proximately correct, ought to be of especial interest. It was submitted by a Mr. Johnson, some years ago in Blackwood's Idagazine : hi i,ooo Ihs, Whole Wheat, Fi7ie Flour, Muscular matter 156 lbs. 130 lbs. Bone:? and saline matter 170 " 60 " Fatty matter 28 ^' 20 " Total in each 354 " • 210 ** The Feuits. Fruits are almost as indispensable to a healthful dietary as the grains, particularly in the summer season, and in warm chmates. They supply those delightful acids that are not only agreeable to the palate, but specially suited to the needs of the vital organism. They cool and refresh us in the heat of summer ; they supply organic fluids to the system, replacing those that are lost in perspiration from day to day ; and they keep the vital machinery in good working order. If no other proof were furnished of the natural requirements of the human system for fruits, a very broad hint is given in the fact that they are capable of being grown in nearly every quarter of the habitable globe ; throughout the temperate zones, as well as the tropics, we find them in great abundance. Another evidence in the same direction, is the fact that in the course of the season the di:Serent varieties of fruits follow each other in close succession, so that one is hardly gone till another is ready. And, as if to supply any defect that may arise from negligence on our part, or from climatic causes, one quarter of the globe supplements an- other to such a degree, that any local failure in the fruit crop is largely made up by an over-abundant yield in some neighboring locality. So that if apples fail us in the Middle States, they are directly shipped from the North ; or if the supply from that quarter is short, there are peaches 34 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PAET I. and oranges in the South. And yet, how much more com- plete would this arrangement be, if the soil were so culti- vated from year to year as to yield its largest product! Anything like a complete failure of the fruit crop, were such a thing possible in this country, would be nothing short of a great national calamity. Next to the grains, therefore, in dietetic importance, we must place the fruits ; they minister alike to the pleasures of the appetite, and to the actual wants of our bodies. The sour fruits, especially, are the best of " cholagogues," doing away with all need of " bilious remedies," so called ; they stimulate the liver to its normal activity, and prevent that " clogging up " of the organ which causes retention of bile, thickening of the blood, and other derangements conse- quent upon non-performance of functional action. And it will be observed that those which have keen acids, come in great profusion just at the time we need them most ; viz., after the long winter, when both fruits and vegetables are necessarily scarce. Fruits are the natural correctives for disordered diges- tion ; but the way in which many persons eat them, con- verts them into a curse rather than a blessing. Instead of being taken on an empty stomach, or in combination with simple grain preparations, as bread, they are eaten with oily foods, with meat and vegetables, pungent seasonings, or other unwholesome t^ondiments ; or they are taken at the end of the meal, after the stomach is akeady full, and per- haps the whole mass of food " washed down " with tea, coffee or other liquid ; or they are eaten at all hours of the day ; or late at night, with ice-cream, cake or other rich desserts ; and a few hours after, when there is a sick patient, and the doctor has to be sent for, the innocent fruits get the blame of all the mischief, when really, their only sin was in being found in l^ad company. Fruits, to do their best v/ork, shoiilJ be eaten either on an PAET I.] THE FKUIT3. 35 empty stomach, or simply with bread — never with vegeta- bles. In the morning, before the fast of the night has been broken, they are not only exceedingly refreshing, but they serve as a natural stimulus to the digestive organs. And to produce their fullest, finest effect, they should be ripe, sound, and every way of good quahty ; moreover, they should be eaten raw. What is better than a bunch of luscious gTapes, or a plate of berries or cherries, on a sum- mer morning the first thing on sitting down to breakfast ? Or a fine ripe apple, rich and juicy, eaten in the same way ? In our chmate apples should constitute not the finishing, but the beginning of the meal, particularly the breakfast, for at least six months in the year ; and fruits, raw or cooked, should make a part of the morning and evening meal (pro- vided suppers are eaten), during the entire year. The good effects that would follow the abundant use of fruits are often more than counterbalanced by the per- nicious habit of completely saturating them with sugar. Very few fiTiits, if thoroughly ripe and at their best, require any sugar, particularly if eaten in the raw state ; but un- happily it is a fact, that what was intended and prepared for us as a great good in the matter of diet, should be trans- formed into just the opposite. It is also a misfortune that people in this country should so habituate themselves to " sweet things " (foods prepared with sugar), that almost ever}i;hing in the line of fruit acids "tastes sour"; so that what would otherwise be a pleasant acid flavor, must be covered with or cooked in sugar, before it can be relished. The taste can be educated in this direction, as in its opposite, to an almost unlimited extent. This is seen in comparing the dietetic habits and tastes of the people of this country with those of Great Britain ; the former use perhaps five times the amount of sugar that would suffice for the latter. And cooked fruits that are " plenty sweet " for an Englishman or Scotchman, would not be touched by 86 HEALTH i:^ THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART I. the average American witliout the saccharine condiment. It is worthy of remark, moreover, that those who are excessively fond of sweet fruits or condiments, rarely fail to call for the intensely sour, as lemons or pickles. This, indeed, is a neces- sary consequence ; for when the liver is badly congested from the use of sugar, the vital instincts naturally caU. for the keen acids, in order to empty out the bile ducts, set them in good working order, and get rid of the debris. "Whoever can induce our people to turn their attention more largely to the cultivation of fruits, and then show them the necessity of making them a staple on their tables, to the exclusion of so much animal and fatty foods (particularly butter), wiU confer upon them an incalculable blessing. Such a change would save the lives of thousands of children — to say nothing of those of a larger growth— and it would make the ones that survive better worth the saving. Many persons, with rather feeble digestive powers, can not manage raw fruits, as apples, at the evening meal ; and some, who can eat them with impunity at the beginning of the breakfast or diimer, can not digest them weU at the end of the meal. One reason for this is, that after taking warm food into the stomach, its nerves are to a certain degree re- laxed, and that organ is no longer able to do its best work. And just here we have the explanation of another fact, viz., that if the meal is simply a cold lunch, raw fruit can gener- ally be eaten at the beginning, middle, or end of it, without the shghtest inconvenience. Sylvester Graham, M.D., furnishes still another reason, which is probably a good one, why raw fruit is usually better digested in the earlier than the later hours of the day. He says : " But it should always be remembered that fruit of every description, if eaten at aU, should be eaten as food, and not as mere pastime, or merely for the sake of gusta- tory enjoyment ; and therefore it should, as a general rule, be eaten at the table, or constitute a portion of the regular PART I.] THE rPvUITS. 37 meal. I do not mean as tlie dessert of flesli-eaters, after they have eaten ah-eady enough of other food ; but I mean as a portion of the regular meal of vegetable-eaters, taken with their bread, instead of flesh and butter ; for their break- fast and their dinner, but more sparingly at their third meal or supper, especially if this meal be taken late in the day. The truth is, that all cooked food, even under the best regulations, impairs in some degree the power of the stomach to digest uncooked substances ; and therefore, so long as we are accustomed to cooked food of any kind, we must be somewhat more careful in regard to the times when we eat fruit and other substances in their natural state. The digestive organs always in health partake of the general vigor and freshness of the body, and always share with it also in its weariness and exhaustion. Hence, as a general rule, so long as we are accustomed to cooked food, the stomach will always digest fruit and other sub- stances in their natural state better in the early than in the latter part of the day. Moreover, it is a truth of considerable importance, that fruit and other substances in the natural state are digested with more ease and comfort when taken alone, at a regular meal-time, than when taken with any kind of cooked food, except good bread. While, therefore, human beings, and especially in civilized life, v/holly disregard these physiological principles, and eat fruit with anything and everything else, and at all hours of the day and night, they ought not to be surprised, and still less should they complain, if they suffer from their erro- neous habits. But nothing is more certain than that if human beings will in a reasonable degree conform to the physiological laws of their nature, the}^ may eat almost every variety of esculent fruits which the vegetable king- dom produces^ with entire safety and comfort." 38 health in the household. [pabt i. The Vegetables. Vegetables, while they must rank second as compared with fruits, have a greater value, dietetically considered, than is generally accorded to them. In the first place, they give hulk to our food, which is a matter of more importance than is commonly supposed ; and in the next place, they furnish a large amount of organic fluids, which are digested and assimilated by the system. It is a mistaken idea which some persons have, that those foods are necessarily best which contain a large amount of nutrition in small hulk. They seem to forget that food, to be properly digested and appropriated by the organism, must contain something more than the mere nutritive particles ; there must be certain indigestible materials supplied to the intestinal canal, else the bowels, having little to do, would lose their natural tone, and shrivel up, as it were, from mere inac- tivity. This is what actually happens, to a certain degree, when persons live too exclusively on white crackers, or fine flour bread, and other highly concentrated forms of food. G. Schlickeysen, a German writer, in treating of this subject, says : " The value of the various articles of food consists not, as is generally supposed, in their chemical con- stituents, but in a variety of other conditions, which we shall here mention. In the first place, the food must con- tain the necessary anaount of water to maintain the excre- tory processes through the breath, perspiration, and other- wise. Fruits contain an abundant supply of water, so that when they are eaten freely the drinking of water is almost entirely unnecessary ; and the vegetarians are really justifi- able when they say, 'We drink fruit'; and they might also add, 'We eat water.'" Horses, it is well known, can not live exclusively on grains ;. they need straw as well — and even wood-shavings have been successfully substituted when straw could not be PART I.] THE VEGETABLES. 39 had.* On the same principle, if not to the same extent, human beings thrive best on a diet that contains a certain per cent, of coarse material. For example, the grains, as wheatj rye, etc., which are excellent in themselves, are not the best by themselves. Nor must we overlook the fact that our bodies are made up of both fluids and solids — about one-fourth of the latter to three-fourths of the former ; or, as some one has stated it, in rather general terms, the human body is so many pounds of salts, etc., and a " few pailf uls of water." Now, when we consider that the fluids of the body are the first to waste, either in sickness or health, it will be seen that in order to supply that waste, liquids as well as solids are required in the food. The potato, which is 75 per cent, water, and which many call poor in nutritive value, will of itseK sustain life for an indefinite length of time. Indeed, if we had to choose a single article, and Hve on it exclu- sively, the potato would come nearer meeting the wants of the system, so far as its fluids are concerned, than the grains, which contain so large a proportion of solid matter. Pavy, in his treatise on Food and Dietetics, very justly * The following paragraph is from Dr. Gratiam's *' Science of Human Life": "About thirty j^ears a 20/' says Governor William King, of Maine, *'I went to the West Indies, and during my voyage became acquainted with the following fact, which may be relied on as strictly true. A vessel from New England, with a deck load of horses, bound to the West Indies, wss overtaken by a violent gale, which swept away all the hay on board, and carried away the mast8. The captain was obliged to feed his horses on corn. After a while they began to droop and to lose their appetite, and at length wholly refused to eat their grain, and began to gnaw the scart- lings and spars within their reach, and to bite at the men, and ever3^thir!g else that came in their way. The captain threw pieces of wood before them, which they immediately began to eat. After this, he re2;ularly sup- plied them with a quantity of cedar shingles, whicli they eagerl}^ ate as (hey would hay, and soon recovered their appetite for their grain, and improved in health and sprightliness, and continued to do well on their food of corn and cedar shingles till they got into port.*' 40 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PAKT I. remarks that, physiologically, " the separation of the ingesta into * food ' and ' drink ' is unsuitable ; that the tv/o factors of life ^XQ food and air''\ and that the former "embraces both solid and liquid matter." It is, indeed, a nice point to determine just what propor- tion of our food should be fluid and what sohd, to say nothing of the indigestible matter, as bran in wheat, which is necessary to the normal or healthy action of the intestinal canal. One thing is certain : in warm weather, when there is much waste of the fluids of the body through the skin, the supply of liquid material must be correspondingly large. Here is where the juicy fruits, and even the vegetaUes, sup- ply a great want in the vital economy ; they give us a large amount of fluid matter, in an organized state. Indeed, we have a most beneficent arrangement in the relation of sup- ply and demand ; when our needs are greatest and most urgent, the stock of supplies from Nature's storehouse is most abundant. In the early spring, when we have grown tired of " last year's leavings," the tender vegetables fill our markets and delight our eyes in glad anticipation of a change in the repast. The young beets, the spinach and asparagus, the early cauliflower, and even the lettuce and onions, have charms for us then. As summer draws nigh, the varieties of choice vegetables multiply, giving us green peas, toma- toes, string beans, summer squashes, and a^n almost endless variety of products. Then come the autumn days, and with them the great Lima beans, the Hubbard squashes, and the sweet potatoes. Nor does the supply fail us when winter approaches ; there are still turnips, potatoes, cabbage, win- ter squashes, and other good things. Eeally, it is little less than wonderful what varieties of vegetable products there are, even in a single latitude or climate. Another feature in regard to vegetable foods, is the strong contrast that exists in the flavors of the several products. PART I.] , THE VEGETABLES. 41 There are " families/' it is true, the members of which show their kinship by a similarity of flavor and textui'e ; but out- side of these the differences or individualities are strongly marked. For example, what is more unlike in appearance and taste than a cabbage and a sweet potato, or a beet and a butter bean ? Some of these vegetables are of less value as foods than others, their dietetic importance seeming to consist more in the individual constituent that is added to the general food product, than to the merit that belongs to them separately considered. To illustrate : common lettuce does not seem to possess any extraordinary dietetic properties ; but after a long winter, when everybody has tired of bread, beans and potatoes, to say nothing of " beef, mutton and ham," a fresh bunch of tender lettuce with a dressing of lemon juice, is to most persons really inviting. So is a dish of young peas, cauliflower or spinach. Something green is wanted after the old sameness of dry dishes, and it would be a great misfortune if, for even one season, the gardens should fail us. Vegetables and fruits are so unlike in their individual flavors and characteristics, that they should not, as a rule, be eaten together, or at the same meal. A good plan is to confine the vegetables to the noon-day repast, letting the morning and evening meal be made of fruits and cereals variously prepared. Ordinarily, these latter are quite suffi- cient for breakfast, though a dish of baked potatoes would not be a bad accompaniment. The potato is so unobtrusive in its nature, that it rarely creates disturbance eaten with any other food. Like the grains, it "goes well" vdth either fruits or vegetables, and it is about the only vegetable of vv^hich as much can be said. Not that well people, who scarcely know they licve a stomach, might not manage a meal very weU with miscellaneous combinations, but feeble stomachs must either discriminate, or suffer. For a fuller 42 ---^ HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PAET I. elucidation of this subject, the reader is referred to the chapter on Food Combinations. Meat as an Article of Diet. The flesh of healthy animals, as beef or mutton, is neither the best nor the worst of foods. In actual nutritive value, so far as either quality or quantity of nutrient material is concerned, the grains wiU always stand at the head of the food products. In respect to variety, we have but to add to these the various fruits and vegetables, each in its season and in its highest state of culture, and we have, as many believe, all, and the best, that is needed for the sustenance of our bodies. But such are the customs in modern cook- ery, and such the arts and inventions of civilized life, that these things, naturally good, are often transformed into any- thing but wholesome foods. It is, therefore, a common remark, made even by those who do not approve of eating the flesh of animals, that meats, prepared in a plain way, are far less injurious than many other articles that are often found on our tables ; such, for example, as fine flour bread, ordinary cake, picMes, pungent sauces, preserves, jellies, the usual pastries, etc., etc. At the same time the question remains, whether any of the meat dishes can hegin to com- pare with a fruit and bread diet (using bread made from the flour of the whole wheat), either in nutritive value, or in respect to health. In the first place, every particle of animal flesh (including the human), is, to a certain extent, laden with effete, worn- out material that is making its way out of the vital domain. It is that kind of material out of which are formed the bile, perspiration, and other excretory products, the bare mention of which would be unsuitable in a work of this kind. These products are the results of a transformation in the downward grade — sometimes called destructive assimi- lation — ^by which the ingredients of the animal tissues are PART I.] MEAT AS AN ABTICLE OF DIET. 4tO decomposed, and converted into waste substances. In the language of the physiologist, they represent the " physio- logical detritis of the animal organism/' Every drop of venous Mood is laden with it ; so much so, that if an animal is not well bled when it is killed, the meat is actually poi- soned by it. It is the presence of these waste products in meat, that renders it so quickly putrescent after life is eximct— unless some antiseptic is employed, which shall so change the nature of the meat itself as to render it no longer the same, even in nutritive value. It is the presence of these that causes the chyle formed from a diet of meat, and taken from the hving vessels, to putrefy in a few hours ; while that which is elaborated from grains and other vegetable products, will keep for weeks with no material change. It is due to the presence of these that the perspiration, and indeed all the excretions of meat-eaters, are more offensive than those of persons living upon fruits and grains, and other products of the soil. And just here we have an ex- planation of the fact that the flesh of most carnivorous animals is so disgustingly filthy and putrescent, that it is utterly unfit for human food. Their bodies are filled with this waste matter, working its way a second time out of the domain of animal life, and this time laden with still another portion of " physiological detritis." Persons who live upon animal foods have need to pay special attention to bathing, change of underwear, and other habits of cleanliness, else their very presence will reveal the character of the materials out of which their tissues are made. This is particularly true in the case of individuals whose sedentary habits prevent them from throwing off the waste matters fast enough to keep the body in a pure, whole- some condition. But there are reasons of a moral nature why meat is not the proper food for man. The habit of murdering animals 44 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART I. is of itself degrading; eveii beef -loving England will not, it is said, allow a butcher to serve on a jnry, particularly if the case to be tried is one involving liuman life. One of the foulest mui'ders that ever disgraced a peaceful commu- nity, was committed some years ago in Ohio, by a man (supposed by his neighbors to be a peaceable citizen) who had spent the day in killing hogs; he pursued his victim, a young woman, to the village church-yard, and there stabbed her with the very knife with which he had cut the throats of the swine. As to the actual necessity for a meat diet, it is not true, as some suppose, that vigorous health can not be maintained without it. On the contrary, "four-tenths of the human race," according to Yirey, subsist exclusively on a vegetable diet, and as many as seven-tenths are practically vegeta- rians.* Then, there is an argument outside of physiology — one that soonej: or later will have to be considered— why the flesh of animals should not form a part of the diet of human beings. At the present rate of increase of the human fami- ly, the surface of the earth will, in a few centuries, be far too densely populated to admit of the raising of animals to be used as food. For it has been .shown that it would require more than forty times as much land to feed a man on meat, as it would to feed him on grains.f It follows, therefore, that when land is scarce, as it wiU be when the earth is many times more thickly populated than at present, the acres will have to be utilized in the way that is most profitable; not in the raising of hogs, cattle and sheep, but in the cultivation of grains, and other products of. the soil. Keturning to the sanitary argument against the use of '-^See *' Physical Education," by Felix L. Oswald, M.B., published by D. Appleton & Co. t See essay on " The Influence of Food on Civilization," by Pachard A. Proctor, in the North American Review for December, 18S2. PAST I,] MEAT AS AN ARTICLE OF DIET. 45 animal foods, it is proper to remark tliat so long as there are persons wlio, from life-long habit or otherwise^ think they " must have it/' they should at all events beware of dis- eased meats. The cattle that are shipped into New York for the market, have many ot them come hundreds of miles in ill-ventilated cars, often in hot weather, and are stowed into fiiem almost as closely as they can stand; here they are sur- rounded with a stifling, filthy atmosphere, and frequently they have not a di^op of water on the whole journey. A large per cent, are disabled from being trampled underfoot; and by the time they reach the city some of them are sick or dying with typhoid or other putrid fevers, and all are in such a feverish condition that their bodies are poisoned, through and through. Nor must it be forgotten that all stall-fed or sty-fed ani- mals are, to a certain extent, diseased; in fact, the fattening process is of itself nothing more nor less than the progress of disease, Wlien an animal ceases to take exercise, as in a stall, it also ceases to throw off excretory matter promptly; its liver becomes engorged, the lungs are pressed upon, the blood can not be properly aerated, and loads of carbon retained excretion) in the shape oifat, are impacted between the once healthy muscles, which are now every day getting smaller and smaller. Fat people, as well as fat animals, have small, weak muscles — a fact well understood by the medical student. The presence of certain parasites in animal foods, is another strong objection to their use. It is a well-known fact that the ova of trichina are taken into the human sys- tem by eating pork, and especially raw pork; and it has been questioned whether any moderate degree of heat would be sufficient to kill them. It is also perfectly well known that the larvae of the tapeworm may exist in oxen, sheep and swine; and that those who eat of the flesh of these ani- 46 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PAET I. mals, particularly if it be not well cooked, are more or less exposed to the tapeworm malady.^ Animals that are to be eaten should be fed on the cleanest of food, and should have plenty of pure water to drink; they should never be kept in confined places, or with filthy surroundings. In fact, they need at least a ten-acre field to run in, and get plenty of exercise and fresh air, as well as fresh grass. " But how can they have this," you ask, " when the country becomes densely populated all through ? It will take more room for the animals, than the people have for themselves and their children." Very true; and when this is the case, the people will then be obliged to live upon fruits and grains, and the products of the garden, which will be infinitely better for them. Meat is an expensive diet, every way you take it; but the expense in actual dol- lars and cents, is the least part of it. Used three times a day, as it is by very many of our people, it is anything but health-producing; and the doctors' bills often exceed those at the meat market — to say nothing of the time lost the suffering endured, and the actual impairment of the general health. It is the duty of the butcher, as well as of those who pur- chase the meat, to see that no animal is kiUed in an angered condition, as the blood is actually poisoned by the mental excitement thus produced. Neither should it be overheated by running ; this sends the blood to the capillaries ; and the flesh which is filled with it is not only much darker from the superabundance of venous blood, but the meat is ren- dered putrescent by ii Butchers have sometimes been obliged to throw away a whole beef, from its having been killed after severe racing ; the flesh being not only unfit to eat, but commencing to putrefy very soon after life was extinct. *See lecture on '* Worms," by E. Spencer Cobbold, M.D., published in London, in 1872. PART I.] MEAT AS AN AETICLE OS' DIET. 47 It will readily be seen, by glancing at the tables given at the head of these chapters, that all meats fail far below the grains in nutritive value. Some of the field vegetables, as sweet and Irish potatoes, artichokes and winter squashes, contain nearly or quite as much solid matter as meat, and considerably more than milk ; while beans, peas and lentils contain about three times as much as ordinary meat. Some years ago, great importance was attached to the fact that meats contain a large per cent, of nitrogenous sub- stances, these being considered by Liebig and others as highly essential to the production of muscular force. This theory, however plausible, has of later years been disproved by able authorities, as Frankland, Traube and others. In- deed, Liebig himseK, who was the originator of the doctrine, has abandoned it altogether. In like manner, other pet theories, as what were supposed to be the " elements of res- piration," the " heat-forming principles/' etc., have fallen to the ground, or at least lost much of their former signifi- cance. The more rational view is now somewhat favorably entertained, that whatever is best suited to the building up of the various structures of the body, or in other words, is capable of replax'ing that which is lost, must necessarily be pro- ductive of vital heat and vital force, these being generated in the normal quantity. The late E. T. Trail, M.D., in speaking of the doctrine advanced by Liebig, remarks : " The theory has no practical value in dietetics, for the reason that all the elements of nutrition, whether heat-forming, or flesh- forming, or bone-forming, are sufficiently distributed, and nearly equally so, throughout all those portions of both the vegetable and animal kingdom that man ever does or can employ as food." AU domestic animals, either from the ignorance or negli- gence of those who keep them, or from other causes, are liable to be diseased ; this is particularly true in those stock- raising districts that are adjacent to cities. The animals are 48 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PAUT I. largely swill-fed from breweries ; and owing to the increased value of land in these vicinities, they have less territory to roam over or feed upon. By a careful perusal of the Eeports made to the Department of Agriculture at Wash- ington, it is easy to arrive at the following facts, viz. : That all domestic animals^ as horses, cattle, hogs, sheep, and even poultry, are subject to disease, those in some localities being freer from it than others. That next to hogs, fowls are most liable to be affected. That there are various diseases among hogs, the most fatal being that of hog~cholera. That the mortality from this cause alone is enorm.ous, some counties in certain of the States losing as high as 80 per cent, per annum. That the value of farm animals lost to the United States in a single year (1879) exceeded $16,000,- 000. That about two-thirds of this loss was due to diseases among swine. That these diseases prevailed more exten- sively in the Middle, Southern and Western States than in the Northern or Eastern. Improper food, insufficient housing, and lack of clean surroundings, seem to be the chief causes of disease among animals. Pork-Eating. If there is a practice in all Christendom that deserves the censure of this enlightened age, it is that of eating swine's flesh. Away back in the twilight of the ages, before Chris- tianity had been dreamed of, there were people upon the earth who, for sanitary reasons, if for no other, declined to touch the unclean thing. But we, who live in the light of the nineteenth century, who boast of our refinement, our intuitive perceptions, and our clear-headed forethought, who have all the wisdom of the centuries behind us, — we do not hesitate to take into our stomachs that which the Hebrew shoved from his table thousands of years ago, banishing its very presence by the strong arm of the law. We, forsooth, are a wise people ! PART I.] PORK-EATING. 49 V/hat care we for certain legal enactments enforced by tlie Jewish leader, far back in history? True, our children die of scrofula, entire families having often been swept off with consumption ; erysipelas apiDears in divers forms, and diphtheria (the legitimate result of foul feeding or foul air) is growing more and more common every year. Not only so ; there are every now and then sudden and almost tragic deaths from trichinosis, whole families being the victims. But so far, these things fail to alarm us ; and though statistics show that diseases are multiplying among the swine them- selves, killing them annually by the hundreds of thousands, we take comparatively little heed. Of the twenty million dollars' worth of hogs in the United States that were sick in 1877, about 59 per cent. died. Has any one thought to inquire what became of the 41 per cent that recovered ? If, in the olden time, swine's flesh in its normal con-. dition was not fit for a Jew, can we, in these days, make that which has survived the ravages of hog-cholera, hog- fever, etc., suitable for a Christian? It is said that Dr. Adam Clarke — who evidently had an antipathy to pork-eat- ing — having once been called upon to say grace at a barbecue, bowed his head reverently, and uttered these words : " O Lord, if Thou canst bless under the Gospel what Thou didst curse under the law, do Thou bless this pig." The hog is a scavenger by nature, and by practice ; it is his proper mission on this earth, not to be eaten, but to eat up that which the nobler animals disdain to touch. Indeed, he adapts himself to circumstances, devouring whatever comes in his way. He is equally well pleased with the clean ears of corn, or the seething contents of the svv^ill-pail ; he will dine on live chickens, or devour carrion. Nothing is too fine or too foul to suit his un discriminating palate ; he has been called "the scavenger-in-chief of all the back-boned animals.'* Traly he is ovinworoiis. And yet, bad as the hog- is, it is not absolutely impossible to improve his condition. 3 50 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART I. Put liim where he can not get refuse matter, where he will have only nuts, grains, etc., to feed upon, and he will readily conform, for the time being, to his better surroundings; and in process of time his flesh would be improved in quality. But his nature no man can change ; give him his former haunts, and he will at once fall into his old ways. You can not educate him. Will any one give a reason why intelhgent people should eat him, and from choice ? If we must dine on our f ellovv^- creatures below us, are there not decent, clean-feeding animals, as the ox, and the sheep, that we could take in preference ? In a sanitary point of view the condition of the hog, in his best estate, is not flattering. His scurvy hide (which is perhaps the cleanest part of him), his foul breath, and his filthy feeding habits — are not these enough to bar him from our tables ? Or must we wait for such logical sequence as is sure to follow the violation of physiological law ? Wait till diseases are multiplied in kind, and intensified in char- acter, till we are fairly driven from the no longer question- able provender? Wait till our nearest friend is stricken with supposed typhoid fever, and dead of veritable trich- inosis? There can be no doubt that many persons have sickened and a number died, of what was thought to be typhoid fever, when really the disease was due to the presence of these parasites (the trichingg)^ in the system ; for the symptoms in the two diseases are quite similar. As stated in the last chapter, one of the principal objec- tions to the use of anim^al flesh as food, is the fact that it is filled with the debris of the vital organism, working its way through the capillaries into the various excretions, and out of the domain of life. Now, if this effete matter is objec- tionable, even in clean-feeding animals, what must be its TrichinsB are said to be found in the ox and sheep, as well as in the hog. PAKT I.] POEK-EATING. 51 condition as it is tlirown off from the tissues of scav- tengers? And what the nature of the tissues themselves, when they are not only made out of, and nourished by a diet of garbage, but are thorougiily saturated with the almost putrescent ma^tters Yfith which the venous blood is laden ? It is a fact which we seem rather slow to recog- nize, that the quality of aU animal tissues partakes of the character of the materials out of which they are made. In other words, if we expect sound bodies with good firm tissues, we must look to the nature of the food we eat. Animal foods, of all others, should, if eaten, be selected with the utmost care ; the animals themselves should be well fed, well housed in winter, and allowed to graze from open pastures in summer. No animal or fowl should ever be staU-f ed, or sty-fed ; and none with carnivorous or om- nivorous habits, should be used as food. The creature whose characteristics we are at present discussing, combines in his personality too many bad qualities to give him a decent passport to our tables. He is of low organization, and naturally filthy in his ha;bits ; he is desperately foul in his feeding, is often kept and fattened in a close, dirty pig-sty, and as might be expected, he is specially subject to disease."^ And yet the hog is found in every market in this country, and in Europe ; though recently the German and Austrian markets have forbidden American pork ; and other nations, it is said, have the matter under advisement. Nor must it be supposed for a moment that the use of pork is at all limited to the few, or to the very poor among our people. There is scarcely one family in twenty tha,t does not partake of it in one form or another. The hams, the shoulders, the side-meat, the pickled souse (head-cheese), * Dr. das. C. Jackson makes the etateraent "based, lie says, on information derived from the pork-dealers of Cincinnati, Ohio, that '' ninetj-'five hogs in one hundred have ulcers on their livers from the size of an ounce bullet to a hen's egg." 62 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART I, the stuffed sausages — every part is in demand. Pickled pigs' feet are considered a rare delicacy; and hogs' brains make another " dainty dish." But it is left for the very bon-ton of society to sit down to v/hat is called beef a-la-mode; which is simply a beef roast plugged full of fat pork, along v/ith innumerable spices, etc. Nor is it enough that we devour the several parts of the animal, even to his liver and kidneys; we strip the intestines of their fat, melt it down, and use it in the form of lard. This latter is the very quintessence of the swine; it is the diseased product of all his filthy feeding; and it is this arti- cle that forms a staple in almost every American family. It shortens the biscuits, the plain cakes, and the pastries; and it even finds its way into the loaf bread ! It oils the bake- pans, it fries the drop-cakes, the doughnuts, the Saratoga potatoes, and all the other " fried things," or nearly aU. In short, there is neither breakfast, dinner nor supper without it, in some form or other. Do the people wonder that they are aifiicted with scrofula; and that it crops out, full-fledged, in a single generation ? Oh for a Moses among the Gentiles, to forbid them, by legal enactment, the use of this vile thing, swine's flesh ! The late E. T. Trail, M.D., in discussing the quality of animal foods in his Hydropathic Encyclopedia, says: "Of the hog, whose filthy carcass is converted into a mass of disease by the ordinary fattening process, I need only ex- press my abhorrence. Although swine's flesh and grease, under the names of pork and lard, are staple o.nd favorite articles of food throughout Christendom, common observa- tion has long since traced the prevalence of scrofula, erysip- elas, and a variety of glandular and eruptive diseases resulting from impure blood, to their general employment. If there are any animals which should be exterminated from the earth, mad dogs and fatted hogs are among them." PAUT I.] milk:. 53 Milk. Many persons who discard meat^ do not hesitate to par- take freely of milk, eggs, sugar, butter, etc., and to use pastries, cakes and puddings, that are little else than a com- bination of these, with the addition, it may be, of spices and other seasonings. Now, a plain diet of G-raham bread with beef or mutton, roasted or boiled, and a fair allowance of fruits and vegetables, would be much more wholesome than the above articles, or the dishes that are manufactured out of them. As to milk, it is the natural diet for the young. But for grown persons, and especially for those who live in cities, or who incline to sedentary habits, it is not the best, or one of the best articles of diet. Before arguing the question, however, let us make a note of the fact that milk is one of those secretions that is readily affected, not only by the food the animal eats, but by the conditions, physical or mental, of the creature itself. If the health of the cow deviates from the normal standard, the character of the milk is im- mediately changed; if she is mentally disturbed, as by anger or fright, the mammary glands will secrete, not a whole- some, but a poisonous fluid. A mother not unfrequently kills her child, or throws it into spasms, by nursing it after she has been badly frightened, or after a violent fit of anger; and many a child has been " salivated, purged and narcotized, by mercury, drastic purgatives and opiates, respectively administered to the mother." ^ But the question is asked, " Suppose the animal is kept in the best possible condition, every way; would milk be objected to as an article of diet ? " Most assuredly not — for young calves. Nature has provided the very food that is needed, for all her babes. The milk of the cow, like that of other mammals, including the human, is intended for the Pavy's *'Food and Dietetics. 54 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PABT L nourisliment of the infant; and as soon as tlie calf is able to take more solid food, the maternal supplies, where nature is not j)erverted, are dried up. Bat the unnatural practice of milking cows has distended the milk glands, and thus converted them, in a large measure, into depurating organs; and the milk supply is not only increased, but prolonged beyond the period that nature intended. Add to this the improper foods, as swill-feeding, the confined air, and other unhealthful conditions with which the animal is surround- ed, particularly in large cities^ and we have not only a pro- lific source of disease, but an explanation, in part at least, of the enormous death-rate among young children; this, it will be noticed, is always largest in cities, where the milk used is poorer in quality than country milk. But returning to the dn*ect question^ suppose we have the best of milk, from perfectly healthy cows, what is the real objection to its use ? To this question there are two answers ; the first is founded on experience, and may be stated as follows : It is the almost universal testimony of persons of sedentary habits, dark complexions and " bilious temperaments," that millv, even of good quality, does not agree with them ; and where there is torpor of the liver, or other dyspeptic conditions, it usually causes distress. The reason of this will directly appear. As already stated (and herein is the second answer), milk is designed by nature for the young of all mammals ; it contains a small per cent, of solid substances, but enough for the needs of the infant ; and these substances are just the elements, and in the right proportions, to make those soft, fatty tissues which the little creature needs for the protection of its small bones and delicate organs. As the child or young animal grows, and the teeth develop, other and more solid materials should take the place of the milk ; this change must, of course, be gradual. Many mothers do their babes harm, and in fact make them sick, by giving them solid food before they are PABT I.] BUTTEE AND EGGS. 55- able to masticate ifc properly. And no less detriment is done to tiie full-grown child, when we give him an ahment that requires no mastication with the teeth, and whic.h is designed only to make soft, " baby tissue." Such food is now needed as will make good, firm muscles, sinewy ten- dons, strong bones, and all the other tissues that belong to the adult man or woman. " But how about cream ? " "Well, cream, if used to the Bame extent, would perhaps be more injurious than milk ; it contains an abundance of fatty material, and if habitually taken is a ]D-^olific cause of bihousness. Young children that are fed largely upon cream — or butter, or meat, par- ticularly fat meat — become gross and plethoric, and are apt to break out with boils, or "scald-head"; or if a nursing mother uses these articles to excess, her child will suffer in consequence. Ordinarily, cream does less harm than milk, from the simple fact that it is served in a very limited quan- tity ; that is, as a condiment, rather than a beverage ; and it is less employed than milk, even as a mixing material in breads, puddings, etc. For grains, mushes, plain puddings, etc., the juices of fruits ma.ke a far more wholesome dress- ing than cream ; and were we in the habit of using finiits in this way, the palate would not only tolerate readily the new combination, but we should come to like it. Milk, if used, should be taken, not as a beverage, but as a condiment, and then very sparingly, particularly by those persons who live in cities and whose work is indoors and of a sedentary character ; while invahds, as a rule, would cer- tainly be better without it. BuTTEn AND Eggs. If we dispense with milt — that is, leave it to the calf, for whom nature intended it — there will, of necessity, be no butter ; and, in a sanitary point of view, the absence of it would perhaps be no great loss, it being by no means as 56 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART I. wholesome an article of diet as either milk or cream. Like other oils, it is, to a certain degree, indigestible ; not that it gives a "pain in the stomach/' as a general thing, but it does not enter into those vital changes y^hich are necessary to convert food into chyle proper. It mixes with the pan- creatic juice in the form of an emulsion simply, and goes into the blood in that crude condition ; and being carried through the system by the capillaries, it is deposited as fat in the various tissues, and largely in the skin. From the very nature of its constituents, butter has little nutritive value in it ; it usually contains 3 to 5 per cent, of casein (due to the presence of milk), and about twice that amount of water ; the other substances are oils, fixed and volatile. These readily decompose on exposure to the atmosphere, and butyric and other fat acids are set free. Persons who live largely upon butter emit a strong odor from the skin, very perceptible to those who do not use animal foods. The salt which has to be mixed with it to make it " keep," is not, to the hygienist, a desirable addition, for reasons which will hereafter be stated. Pereira says : " Fixed oil or fat is more difficult of digestion, and more obnoxious to the stomach, than any other alimentary prin- ciple. Indeed, in some more or less obvious or concealed form, I believe it will be found the offending ingredient in nine-tenths of the dishes which disturb weak stomachs. Many dyspeptics who have most religiously avoided the use of oil or fat in its obvious or ordinary state {as fat meat, marrow, butter and oil), unwittingly employ it in some more concealed form, and as I have frequently witnessed, have suffered therefrom. Such individuals should eschew the ijolks of eggs, livers (of quadrupeds, poultry and fish), and brains, all of which abound in oily matter. Milk, and es- pecially cream, disagrees with many persons, or, as they term it, ' lies heavy at the stomach,' in consequence of the butter it contains. Bich cheese, likewise, contains butter, and on that account is apt to disturb the stomach,'^ PAST I.] SUGAE. 57 ScMickej^sen, in speaking of the use of butter, eggs and cheese, remarks : " These cause an excess of fat in the system^ and an o:Sensive5 slimy condition of the mucous secretions in the mouth and nose, quite apparent to those who, contrary to their usual habit, eat of them. Their ejects are often apparent also in eruptions upon the skin, especially upon the face.'' Eggs are pretty generally conceded to be a " bilious diet "; and if eaten freely at each meal for a few weeks, the whites of the eyes usually show the presence of bile. The albu- men (whites of the eggs) cooked soft, would be less objec- tionable than the yolks, which contain about 30 per cent, of oil. If eggs are eaten they should be fresh, their use not too frequent, and confined to cool weather. The fowls should be allowed plenty of clean territory to roam over, and an abundance of fresh water, pure air, and good grains. Unfortunately, the habits of the bird are none the cleanest ; it will pick up and eat almost anything that comes in its way. This is why country eggs and country fowls (pro- vided there are good and healthful surroundings), are always to be preferred. In towns and cities, the chickens are necessarily confined to the house and yard ; whereas, in the country they have access to the open fields, and feed largely on grains. Persons who are subject to torpor of the liver, would do well to refrain from the use of either eggs or butter ; and those who have sound livers — and desire to keep them so — can take a hint. Sugar. Hygienists have no objection to the use of saccharine matter, all that the vital economy requires, provided it is taken in the natural way ; that is, in organic combination with the other food principles,— not separated as a proximate element. In othex' words, the saccharine substances con- 3% 58 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART I. tained in fruits, grains and vegetables, are tlioroughly wliole- some, so long a-s we get them simply by eating these natural products. But when we separate them into starch, sugar, oil and the other proximate principles, and think to take these as foods proper, or in combination with them, we make a serious mistake. And were we to reduce all our foods to their proximate elements, and then try the experi- ment of living upon them, we should in the end meet the fate of " Megendie's dog." " But," say you, " we do not wish to confine ourselves to these things — the proximate elements— we only desire to use them in combination with other substances." Very true ; but the point is just here : if the proximate elements, taken collectively (after they have once been separated from the alimentary substances to which they belong), are in- capable of supporting animal life, then they must be worth- less individually, no matter how small the quantity in which we use them. If the proximate principles of food, combine them as we may with each other, lead to certain death, then it is plain that we must look for sustenance, not from these, but to those organized materials known to be capable of replacing the wasted tissues. And if any one desires a test in this matter, let him try the experiment of making, say half his meals for three weeks, provided he can hold out so long, out of as many of the proximate principles of food as he may select, and see how he thrives during that period. Before the time is one-quarter expired he will be tired enough of starch, sugar, oil, fibrin, albumen, casein, etc., and he will long for the foods proper, in undisturbed organic combination, in place of the miserable trash which he has been attempting to hve upon. Since, then, these proximate principles can not support animal life, may we not reasonably expect that any consid- erable proportion of one or more of them, taken habitually with the food, would produce abnormal conditions of the PART l] sugab. 59 body ? What are the facts in the case ? Tate, if you please, the article under consideration, viz., sugar ; and let us select the pure white crystals, in order to have as little organized or extraneous matter in it as possible. Try aking a heaping tablespoonful of this each night on going to bed ; and if you wish, you may repeat the " dose " in the morning on rising. How long, think you, will it require to create a " bad taste " in the mouth, cause soreness in the liver, and constipation of the bowels ? Try it A teaspoon- f ul of white sugar put into enough milk or water to dissolve it, and given to a young babe, the quantity being repeated two or three times each day, would very soon derange its digestion, causing severe constipation. Another experiment easily tried, is to double or treble the amount of sugar usually taken in the food, and note its- effects. It will be seen that the increased quantity creates thirst, or in other words, slight inflammation of the mucous sui'f aces of the alimentary canal ; and if the digestion is ordinarily none too good, the sugar will most likely cause headache, and other symptoms of indigestion. Now, any substance that can not be taken habitually, in the small quantity of say half a gill — not even on an empty stomach — without causing abnormal conditions of the body, must, to say the least, be set down as of little value, dietet- ically considered ; and it is pretty safe to conclude that the less one uses of such an article, the better. No family of ordinary size can consume "barrels of sugar" in a year, nor half barrels, without detriment to the stomachs of its individual members ; the difficulty, however, is usually traced to any but the right cause. It is quite common for persons who suffer, for instance with periodic sick-head- ache, to affirm that what they eat has nothing whatever to do with it ; that the headache is inherited from father or mother. Did they ever think to inquire what gave it to the father or mother ? So much easier is it to put the causes 60 HEAXTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART I. behind us, out of our reacJi, tlian to correct our own bad habits. " But liow can vv^e do -witliout sugar ? " you asli. "Why, easily enough, at least as a rule ; even the acid fruits, as strawberries, cherries, etc., if folly ripened, are sv/eet enough for the unperverted palate. And if these fruits come to our markets a little green, we can at least be con- tent to add only so much sugar as will make them as sweet as fuUy ripened fruit ; this amount you will find to be very little. Some hygienists cook sweet and sour fruits together ; preferring to make the one kind sweeten the other, rather than to use sugar. "Whether this plan is at all times practi- cable, is a question elsewhere considered in this work. The fact that much of the sugar of commerce is largely adulter- ated, is another argument against its use ; a great deal of what is sold in the market under that name, is glucose. Whether this substance is more or less injmious than cane sugar (it is certainly less sv^eet), might be a matter of some importance, dieteticaUy considered. One thing is sure, both are proximate elements, and as such are incapable of sustaining animal life. The habit which some have of. sweeteninsf cooked cfrains and breadstuff s, is a foolish and most unnatural practice; they are sweet enough of themselves; and if we were to train our children to eat these foods without sugar, they would not want it.* The fact is, we like the saccharine con- diment in just those dishes in which we have been taught to eat it, and in no others. For example, we do not want sugar in mashed potato, cauliflower, or string beans, any more ^ ''Sir Anthony Carlisle relates an anecdote frona his experience among the Arctic inhabitants : * The most northern races of mankind,' he says, * were found to be unacquainted with the taste of sweets, and their in- fants made wry faces, and sputtered out sugar with disgust ; but the little urchins grinned with ecstasy at the sight of a bit of whale's blubber.' •' — Pavy's '' Food and Dietetics," page 4l2. PAET I.] SALT. 61 than we would relish salt or pepper in strawberries, stewed plums, or apple sauce. In other words, habit enables us to relish what we would otherwise barely tolerate. Salt. The fact that chloride of sodium, or common salt, is ordinarily found in the secretions and excretions of the human body, and also in the blood, has given rise to the belief that it is a necessary constitueiit in human food. And some physiologists have gone so far as to make the state- ment that it must be eaten, or the general health will suffer. Admitting, for the sake of the argument, that salt is one of the proximate principles legitimately obtained from the tissues of the human body, and that it is therefore indis- pensable in the vital economy, the question arises, why we should eat it, any more than that we should eat chloride of potassium, or carbonate of lime, or phosphate of magnesia. They, too, are found in the bones, and are obtainable from them; then why not eat these? The reply is, that there is no need; that the grains and other food products of the earth contain all the elements necessary to make these several constituents. This is very true; and it is equally true that the products named contain the othei^ proximate principles — all of them — ^that are found in the human body in its normal condition. In dealing with this, the physiological argument, we may as well recognize the fact that the chloride of sodiam found in the j)erspu^ation or other excretions, and also in the saliva, milk, tears, and other secreted fluids, as well as in the blood, is largely if not whoUy due to the presence of the salt taken with the food; and the fact that it is found in these fluids is no proof whatever that it belongs there. We can easily put into the stomach, whiskey, sulphur. Iodine, strychnme, almost any thing, and afterward find these sub- stances in the blood, and in most or all of the secretions or 62 HEALTH IN THS HOUSEHOLD. [PABT I. excretions of the body. Persons Avho live without salt find that the perspiration, tears, saliva, and also the blood, lose their saline taste, even in a few weeks or months. And if we were to select for experiment those wild animals known to live without salt, as rabbits, squirrels, etc., it might be a question whether anything short of a destructive analysis of their tissues would reveal the presence of actual chloride of sodium. But suppose we should find it ; what would this prove? Simply that the vital organism has the power to create out of the foods furnished from the natural products of the soil those substances which it needs in the vital economy ; and if it has this power in the wild animals, the presumption is that the same power is not wanting, either in domestic animals or human beings. But it has been said that experience is, after all, the best test in these matters ; and that it is well known that not only human beings, but the domestic animals, require salt to keep them in healthful conditions. This latter statement is pure assumption — nothing more — the facts being on the other side. And the still more extravagant assertion, viz., that disease and death will follow the leaving off of salt is with- out a shadow of truth in it. There probably never was a time in the world's history when there were not people who lived and thrived without it, and also without meat. Certain it is, that there are such at the present day, both in savage and civilized life. But so much has habit to do with our opinions, that there is perhaps not one person in ten v/ho does not believe that salt is absolutely essential to the health, and even comfort, of the domestic animals.* The * Dr. Graham, in his " ScieDce of Human Life," says : " It is a little re- markable that some have contended for the necessity of salt as an article in the diet of man, to counteract the putrescent tendency of animal food or flesh-meat, when there is not a carnivorous animal in nature that even uses a particle of it ; and few, if any, of the purely flesh-eating portions of PART I.] SALT. 63 fact in the case is simply this : nearly all these animals — at least in the United States — have been trained to the use of it (as will presently be shown), just as human beings have been ; and the probability is that not one of them would touch the ai-ticle if its taste had not been already perverted. Any American who has visited the rural districts of Scot- land for the first time, will at once remark that the horses, cattle and sheep, are among the finest that he has ever seen ; the cattle and sheep especially are far superior to the average of them in this country. No doubt something is due to the better and more humane treatment in feeding and housing them ; these fine cattle, sheep and horses, how- ever, are never given salL The only cattle in the Cheviot Hills that ever taste it (and no doubt the rule is general throughout the country), are those that are fattened for the market. And just here are two important facts to be noted. "^ One is, that these cattle at first refuse the salt, but by sprinkling it lightly over the food, they will, rather than starve, eat the latter with the sprinkle of salt on it ; and finally they come to hke the thing itself. The other fact to make a note of is this : their owners give it to the cattle for the purpose of making them eat more turnips. In other words, by creating a feverish or inflamed condition of the stomach (which salt will do — and aU the more if the animal is unused to it), the cattle gorge themselves vdth the juicy turnips to quench their thirst ; they also drink more water, as a matter of course. This increased feeding causes them to lay on adipose tissue rapidly ; or in other words, it pre- pares them more quickly for the market. the Iraman familj^ ever use it in aay measure or manner ; and most por- tions of ibe human family who subsist mostly on vegetable food, wholly abstain from it." ''^' These facts were obtained from a native of Scotland, who was familiar with the raising and breeding of cattle, and other farm stock. 64 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PAKT L The horses and sheep, as before stated, never taste salt ; in fact, the sheep are far too numerous and too frisky, as they run over their native hills, ever to be " salted '' by the shepherds ; and they are perfect paragons in physical pro- portions, as well as in muscular activity. " But," say you, "they get it, from living so near the sea ; from the grass, and the air" Ridiculous ! The air of Scotland is as free from saline properties as it is in this country ; and so is the grass on the Cheviots. The salt in the sea is not " evap- orated " into the air ; neither is it " deposited " in the soil that covers those great masses of uplifted rock, known as the " hills of bonny Scotland." It has been stated that the farmers in Kentucky who raise fine horses, made the dis- covery years ago, that by leaving off the use of salt their horses thrived better, and had finer, sleeker coats in conse- quence. It now remains to account for the fact that, as a rule, the horses, cattle and sheep, in this country show no antipathy to it, but on the contrary, seem to rehsh it. The question is easily answered ; they nurse it in, with their mothers' milk, which is already impregnated with it, owing to the habit of "salting" among farmers. So that the calf, like the young child, gets the taste of salt with its nutriment from the hour of its birth. " But what about the wild animals that go to the salt licks ? " is the next question. This might be answered by asking another : " What of the wild animals that do not go to the licks ; if salt is necessary for some, why not for all ? " And we know that wild animals, as a rule, never taste it. We also know that it is positively injurious to some of them. It is a well-known fact that salt fed to birds, and even chickens, will kill them ; and a good supply of it about the roots of trees will destroy them. Of the deer that are said to go to the licks. Dr. Graham says : " As to the instinct of the lower animals, it is not true that there is any animal in PART I.J SALT. 65 nature, whose natural history is known to man, which in- stinctively makes a dietetic use of salt. It is true that some herbivorous animals, such as the deer, when they are dis- eased by worms, grubs, or bots, in the alimentary cavity, v/iU instinctively go in pursuit of salt, not as an article of diet, not as a seasoning to their food, but purely as a medi- cine, to destroy the animals in their stomachs ;* and they never instinctively use it at any other time, nor for any other purposes." It is often asked whether any immediate pathological effects follow the use of salt. Let the person who asks this question, try taking double the usual quantity of this condi- ment,at dinner ; in less than an hoirr there wiU be a burning in the stomach (local inflammatory action) which wiU call loudly for water ; this feverish condition may last a good part of the afternoon, or it may pass off as the salty sub- stance is carried out of the stomach. A better test is to take the salt itself, undiluted except with a little water ; try a tablespoonf ul if you Hke, on an empty stomach. (This amount of a food proper, as rice, oatmeal mush, or good apple sauce, taken by a hungry man, ought not to cause any unpleasant sensations.) If you are not a most inveterate salt-eater, the quantity named wiU produce nausea, and per- haps vomiting. But to save the trouble of so unpleasant an experiment, suppose we take the testimony of Dr. Graham. He says : " Salt is a mineral substance, and is whoUy innutritions and indigestible. If a tablespoonful of it be dissolved in half a pint of water, and introducft into the human stomach, it is immediately perceived by the organic sensi- bilities of that organ as an offending or disturbing substance ; great irritation is produced ; the vital forces, if not exceedingly impaired react with energy ; mucous ■" Dr. Graham, who did not believe much in medicine, was evidently will- \\.g to give the worms the benefit of the " art killative." 66 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PAET L and serous secretions are rapidly increased in ttie gastric cavity, to protect the mucous membrane from its acrid and irritating qualities ; much distress is experienced by the individual, and nausea and vomiting generally succeed, as an instinctive means of expelling the offending cause from the vital domain ; and in all cases, considerable por- tions of it are driven through the pyloric orifice in the intestines, where great irritation is also produced by it, and it is soon expelled from the bowels, with large quantities of serum secreted from the blood to dilute and flood away the irritating substance, and thus protect the living parts on which it acts, and the vital interests of the system generally, from its pernicious effects. When salt is taken into the stomach in small quantities with food, the result is somewhat different. If the stomach is perfectly healthy in aU its properties and powers, however small the quan- tity of salt, it is immediately detected by the undepraved sensibilities of the organ, and a vital reaction takes place corresponding in energy and extensiveness with the quan- tity and strength of the offending substances, and by the mucous and serous secretions which are promptly pro- duced, the parts are protected, and the salt is so diluted as to be rendered no longer very dangerous to the delicate vital properties of the tissues on which it may act. It is therefore not expelled from the alimentary cavity by vomit- ing nor purging, but is taken up in a state of solution by the absorbents of the stomach, and mingled with the blood of the poi^l veins ; not in any case nor degree, however, to supply the wants of the vital economy, but to be expelled from the vital domain tlirough the kidneys, lungs, skin and other depurating organs of the system, as a foreign substance. By the long and habitual use of this substance, however, the organic sensibilities of the stomach, and of all the other parts of the system, become so much impaired by its qualities, that they no longer make PART I.] SALT. 67 SO energetic a resistance to it as when they are healtliy and undepraved, and the salt is gradually permitted to pass more and more freely into the general circulation, and be diffused throughout the whole vital domain, peryading the minute vessels of the glands and other parts, and becom- ing so permanently a quality of the serum of the blood as to be regarded by many as an evidence of the necessity for its dietetic use." " The facts in regard to the dietetic use of salt, then, are these : — ^^1. Salt is wholly innutritions — it affords no nourish- ment to any structure or substance of the human body. 2. It is utterly indigestible — it enters the body as a mineral substance — it is absorbed unchanged as a mineral substance — it goes the rounds of the general circulation as an unas- similated mineral substance — and is finally eliminated from the body through the kidneys, lungs, skin, etc., as an unas- similated mineral substance. 3. Its acrid quality is offen- sive to the vital sensibilities of the organs, always causing vital reaction or resistance, and this vital reaction constitutes the only stimulation ever produced by salt, and is therefore always attended with a commensurate degi'ee of irritation and vital expenditure, and followed by a correspondent degree of indirect debility and atony ; and consequently it always and inevitably tends to produce chronic debility, preternatural irritability, and disease ; the stomach, intes- tines, absorbents, veins, heart, arteries, and all the other organs of the system, are always irritated, exhausted and debilitated by its presence. 4. It never in any measure promotes digestion nor any of the assimilating functions of the system ; on the contrary, it always retards those functions, and is unfavorable to aU the vital changes. Where a stomach has been greatly debauched and its energies T)rostrated, the sudden and entire abstraction of salt and all other stimulants from the food would undoubtedly leave that organ in a temporary state of atony or depres- 68 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART I. sion, whicli would unfit it for the performance of its function. But it is entirely certain that, in a stomach whose powers and sensibilities are unimpaired and healthy, salt always retards digestion and embarrasses the function and diminishes the functional powers of the organ ; and the impaired stomach receives tone from it only upon a prin- ciple which is always and inevitably unfriendly to its own physiological interests, and to those of the system in generaL And this is all true of every other assimilating function and process of the vital economy ; and hence it is a well-ascertained truth in the science of physiology, that the dietetic use of salt is unfriendly to all the processes of assimilation, nutrition and secretion, in the vital economy. 5. It always, in proportion to the freedom with which it is used, diminishes gustatory enjoyment. It is true that there are some substances eaten by man, whose qualities are such that they are rendered more tolerable by the use of salt than they would be without it ; but it is neverthe- less true that the use of salt with those substances always and necessarily impairs the nicely discriminating power of the organ of taste, and takes away the delicate perception of the agreeable qualities of more proper food, and thereby on the whole immeasurably diminishes the amount of gus- tatory enjoyment in the course of an ordinary life. In- credible as this may appear to many, every intelligent in- dividual may demonstrate its truth by three months' fair experiment." Now comes the query, how it came about that whole nations of people took to the use of salt, and continued it through successive ages. The reason is obvious : it was no doubt a necessity, after the introduction of animal foods ; for in order to keep these from putrefying, particularly in warm climates and on long journeys, an antiseptic was indispensable. A suitable substance for preserving meats from decay, was found in common salt ; and though it so PART I.] SALT. 69 changed the nature of the meat as to render it harder to digest, and very much less nutritious,"^ still, it kept it from going to total destruction. Then, as the flesh-eaters partook of the salted meat they not only came to like it, but they also rehshed the vegetables that were cooked with it. To be brief, one can learn to eat and like almost anything, by sim2Dly continuing the use of it; and the fact that it pleases the palate^ is no proof either of its wholesomeness. or of its relative nutritive value. But if there is any one article of food or drink that we can not leave off, even for a day, without great discomfort (as wine, tea, coffee or a good salted beef-steak), we may rest assured that that article is doing us harm ; or in other words, that it is not simply a food, but to a greater or less degree a stimulant ; and just to the extent that we are enslaved by it, to that extent are we already injured. A diet of salted meats, as almost every one knows, pro- duces scurvy, the disease being caused by the combined effects of salt and grease. Eichard T. Colburn, of New Tork,|^ho is a hygienist, has written a small work on " The Salt-Eating Habit," from which the following quotations are taken : " I am told by an Italian who has lived among them, that the Algerines do not eat salt"; neither do the Indian tribes on the Colimibia Eiver, and Puget Sound— among whom the writer has traveled. " I am assured by many of the great herders in Texas, Colorado and Califor- nia, that the native cattle are not fed salt, never see it, and * Pavy says : "The effect of a saline is to depreciate the nutritive value of the article by extractlni,^ the soluble constituents, and by also hardening the texture, so as to render it difficult of digestion." He also says : " The analysis of brine shows that the process of salting must materially diminish the nutritive value of meat, for it is found to contain a lar2:e portion of the ingredients of its juice. Liebig estimates the loss of nutritive value as amounting to one-third, or even one-half. Soaking salted meat in water removes its saltness, but can not, of course, restore the nutritive principles that have been lost."— i^ood and Dietetics, 70 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PAKT I. will not eat it if offered." " I have both horses and cows that do not and will not eat salt if offered to them. The parents, when I cut off the supply, did not suffer percepti- bly, and in a short time unlearned the habit. Neither the old ones nor their progeny will touch it now." " A hungry cow will eat what is called ^ salted hay,' whereon the brine of the sea has crystallized ; but invariably the same cow will turn from it to good, well-cured meadow hay." "The whole of the birds avoid salt. It is fatal to chickens and tame birds, as every housewife knows." Chicken-cholera, this writer thinks, is caused in part by the salted food given the fowls from the table, wild birds not being subject to disorders of this kind. He further adds, "I believe it is well ascertained that when hogs get a moderate amount of brine, or picMed salt meat, it is impossible to save them." Mr. Colburn is firmly of the belief that the use of salt is a prohfic cause of impaired digestion, owing to the unnatural flow of saliva and other digestive fluids which it stimulates. He also thinks that by causing indigestion, it to some extent injures the teeth. ^ All hygienists who have totally abstained from the use of salt, even for a few months, lose their relish for it, and after a time it becomes positively distasteful. And to illus- trate the force of habit — even in leaving it off — it is a matter of common observation that unsalted foods which only come to the table occasionally, are less relished than those that are eaten daily. Another experience, which every one has to find out for himself, is this : salt when taken by any one not accustomed to its use, invariably creates thirst ; and where there has been chronic inflammation in any part of the alimentary canal, and it has disappeared, owing to stiicL hygienic living, salt food, used even for a short time, gener- ally causes its reappearance. paet i.] pepper and othes condiments. 71 Pepper and other Condiments. Pej)per is not, like salt, a mineral substance : it is a vege- table poison. Flies will not toucb it, neither will they eat salt. Black pepper, if taken on an empty stomach in the moderate quantity of a teaspoonful, will either be promptly ejected, or it will cause great disturbance in the stomach and bowels, and also in the heart's action after it enters the cii'culation. It is in no sense a food, but in every sense a stimulant, which is but another name for a substance non- usable by the vital organs, and therefore to be thi*own out of the vital domain. Eed or black pepper is a prohfic cause, as are all stimulants, of enlargement of the blood- vessels, and ultimately of disease of the heart. Its imme- diate effect upon the tongue, throat, stomach and bowels is to create increased action, not only of the capillaries, caus- ing temporary congestion and even inflammation of the mucous surfaces, but also of the organs which secrete the digestive fluids. Its ultimate effect is to weaken and deaden these organs, by repeated stimulation to abnormal action ; it also impaii'S or destroys the nerves of taste in the mouth, together with the gastric or other nerves which aid in the process of digestion. "When these are weakened by stimu- lants, the functions themselves are necessarily impaired ; and confirmed dyspepsia, with its attendant train of bad S3^mptoms, brings up the rear. It is needless to say, that ginger, spices, nutmeg, cinna- mon, and all that class of condiments, however much they may vary in quality, are stimulating to a greater or less de- gree, and must be put into the list of " things forbidden," in the hygienic dietary. The habit, every year increasing, of using spices and condiments in almost every article of food, and in such large quantities, can not be too severely condemned. The end must be hoxDeless indigestion, v/ith prostration of the nerves which supply the digestive organs, 72 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART I. and detriment or ruin to the entire system. In tlie language of Sylvester Graliam, " The stern truth is, that no purely stimulating substance of any kind can be habitually used by man, without injury to the whole nature." Nor does Dr. Graham stand alone in his views on this subject. Pereira says : " The relish for flavoring or seasoning ingredients manifested by almost every person, would lead us to suppose that these substances serve some useful purpose beyond that of merely gratifying the palate. At present, however, we have no evidence that they do. They stimulate, but do not seem to nourish. The volatile oil they contain is ab- sorbed, and then thrown out of the system, still possessing its characteristic odor." Dr. Beaumont is essentially of the same opinion. He remarks : " Condiments, x^^^'ticularly those of a spicy kind, are non-essential to the process of digestion in a healthy state of the system. They afford no nutrition. Though they may assist the action of a debiU- tated stomach for a time, their continual use never fails to produce an indirect debility of that organ. They affect it as alcohol and other stimulants do — ^the present relief af- forded, is at the expense of future suffering." In doing away with spices and condiments, we must also dispense with pickles ; there is nothing in a pickle to redeem it from hopeless condemnation. The spices in it are bad, the vinegar is a seething mass of rottenness, full of animal- culse, and the poor little innocent cucumber, or other vege- table, if it had very little "character" in the beginning, must now faU into the ranks of the *' totally depraved." Drinking at Meals. Among the other " odd things " that hygienists believe in, is to abstain from drinking at meals. In the first place, we do not see any necessity for it ; if the horse or ox can eat dry grain without stopping between mouthf uls to take a PAET I.] DRINKING AT MEALS. 73 sip of water, whj should not we manage to swallow our foods, which are much more moist, without resorting to the " washing-down " process ? Like the habit of taking only soft foods, that of drinking at meals is exceedingly detrimental to good digestion. The evils it brings are manifold. In the first place, it in- clines one to taking too large mouthf uls, and this, added to the fluid poured down with the food, interferes with thorough mastication. " Food weU chewed is half digested." But suppose we " bolt " it in ten to fifteen minutes, as is the usual custom : instead of its being divided as finely as possible, and time given for the flow of the saliva whose ofiice it is to dissolve the nutrient particles, and otherwise prepare them for the next stage in the process of digestion, the food enters the stomach, not only in a crude state mechanically, but without undergoing that first step in the vitalizing process which is ultimately to transform it into a constituent part of the blood. If the ill effects stopped here, it would not be so bad ; but they do not. The moment the gastric juices begin to flow from the follicles in the stomach, they are met, not by the smooth pulp of finely masticated and insalivated food, but by a crude, half -ground sort of "fodder," wet ujd with a slush of hot coffee, strong tea, greasy cocoa, ice-water, or some other liquid, each as foreign in its nature to that vitalizing solvent which the stomach itself prepares, as it is possible to conceive. And if the drink taken is very cold, it wiU check or prevent the flow of both the gastric and the salivary juices, and thus cripple digestion at every stage, from the lack of vitalized material to carry on that process. If hot drinks are indulged in, the opposite effect foUows, viz., an over-stimulation, and therefore exhaustion of the glands and follicles that secrete the digestive fluids. The next injury sustained is in the duodenum and small intestine ; the food, ox that part of it which reaches these, 4 74 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART L is not in a condition to be properly acted on by the intes- tinal juices. The consequences are, first, that the digestive function in this part of the alimentary canal is overtaxed ; in other words, the chyme can not be made into chyle with- out an extra drain upon the digestive supplies in that quarter. Second, that the chyle formation is not as finely elaborated and vitalized as it would have been had the mouth and stomach digestion been complete. Third, that the chyle is too crude in quality to be fully absorbed by the lacteals, and carried into the blood. Now, if the mastication of the food has been imperfect, the formation of chyme interfered with, and the chyle not of the best quality, what shall we say of the residual matters in the large intestine ? If the elaborated material has fallen below the normal standard, the residue will most assuredly be in anything but the proper condition. If there were crude qualities in the chyme and chyle, there is crudeness -intensified here ; the half-digested foods which could not undergo absorption in the small intestine are carried along the alimentary canal, and there is not a sufficient quantity of intestinal juices to moisten the mass properly. Instead of the normal condition of plastic matter, there is " chaff and water," so to speak, ^the latter being absorbed in the intestinal canal. Then comes irritation of the mucous sur- faces, engendering heat (feverishness), and all those dis- agreeable symptoms which betray the presence of undigested matter. In other words, we have constipation, which is one of the forms of indigestion. A result somewhat similar follows, when too much food has been eaten ; instead of being vitalized and appro- priated, it rots or decomposes in the alimentary canal, and gases are given off. But by far the greatest detriment of all is in the bad blood that follows imperfect digestion. If the chyle is not properly elaborated, every tissue in the body must PART I.] TEA, COFFEE, ETC. 75 suffer for lack of the regular supplies of nutrition. The muscles shrivel up, the brain is not furnished with good pure blood, and the latter itself becomes thick and turbid, or poor and impoverished. In short, the whole being- suffers from top to toe ; and ovv^ing to disuse, the very teeth become covered with scurvy, and decay or fall out. Let us then masticate our food properly, and abandon the pernicious habit of washing it down ; it will take a little longer time, but we shall save it all back again from sick beds, headaches, and bad feelings generally. We shall also have better bodies, and clearer brains with which to work. Tea, Coffee, etc. Not believing in any drink at meals, it is hardly to be supposed that hygienists could recommend tea or coffee. If, as some think, a fluid " must be taken " with the food, the best is water or gruel, at about blood heat ; a drink warmer or colder than this, habitually indulged in, leads to evil consequences, as already shown. Tea and coffee are injurious, not merely because they are taken at meal-time, but because they are stimulating, and in fact, poisonous. The water in which unparched coffee is steeped is of a greenish color, and will kill flies ; nor does the parching of the bean remove all its noxious qualities. To test this matter, try making coffee two or three times the usual strength ; then drink a pint of it on an empty stomach, eating nothing after it, and note the results. You Avill do well to try the experiment on some one accus- tomed to its use, or you might have to order the undertaker. The question is often asked, "Which is the more in- jurious, tea or coffee ? " — to which the answer may well be given, -"Both!" The late E. T. Trail, M.D., makes the fol- lowing statement: "Tea possesses strong nervine and moderate narcotic properties, and considerable astringency, due to the presence of tannin." And Prof. C. A. Lee, New 76 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART L York, remarks, " A very strong decoction of green tea, or the extract, speedily destroys life in the inferior animals, even when given in very small doses/' Of coffee, Dr. Trail, after speaking of its nervine and narcotic qualities, says : " From all the testimony I can gather from medical and dietetical writers, coupled with some degree of per- sonal observation, I should judge it to be more directly injurious to the digestive process, and more exhausting to the general nervous energy than tea, and less injurious to the kidneys and pelvic viscera. '^ To the unperverted palate, coffee has a bitter, unpleas- ant taste. " Not so," says the reader ; " I relished it from the time I was a babe.'' Quite likely ; and in aU proba- bHity you nursed it in with your mother's milk. Besides, very young babes will swallow from instinct almost any- thing that is given them, even to castor oil. If any one really wishes to find out whether tea and coffee are doing him an injury, let him totally abstain from both for a few months ; then let him take a good strong cup or two of either beverage, and retire for the night. If he does not lie awake part or all of that night, he will have better nerves than a good many others who have tried the experiment, and tossed on sleepless pillows tiU morning. What a blessing it is that " strong " toast-water, oat meal gruel, or fruit juice, even when taken by one wholly unused to it, has no such unpleasant effect ! One can often teU a tea-toper at sight, particularly if the stimulant has so far done its work as to affect the general health ; the individual has frequently a shrunken, shriveled appearance that is unmistakable. And the tobacco-using habit, even in a young man, is sometimes detected by simply shaking hands with him. After the nerves are par- tially shattered there is no longer the firm grasp, but an unsteady motion, a half tremor in the hand, not unlike the shaking gait of a dog that has had a slight under-dose of PART I.] TEA, COFFEE, ETC. 77 strychnine — enougli, not to kill him, but to affect the muscles permanently, and produce something like " shaking palsy/'' Poor creature I one always wants to end his misery as soon as possible — not the young man's, but the dog's. " But how," it is asked, " are we to replace the waste fluids of the system, if we do not drink at meals ? When nearly three-fourths of the human body is water, how is this to be supphed ? " The question is not hard to answer. In the first place, nature has provided an abundance of juicy fruits and vegetables, some of them having, as shown by analysis, as high as 80 to 90 per cent, water ; and it is our own fault if we do not furnish our tables with these products. People are apt to forget that their bodies are nourished by the organized fluids in fruits and vegetables, as well as by the more solid materials. Some writers, as SchUckeysen, have placed fruit before bread, as an article of diet. The solid constituents of food, it is true, are found chiefly in the grains ; but the fluids, which make so large a per cent, of the body, are more abundantly supplied from the juicy fruits. As to drinking " for the love of it," it is a fact worthy of note that if we live on fruits, grains and vegetables, reject- ing animal foods and the various seasonings, as sugar, salt, pepper, spices, etc., we shall care very little for drinking, even between meals. It is the presence of stimulants in ordinary foods, that creates thirst ; do away with these, and the thirst is gone. As if it were not possible in the very nature of things, to eat a meal without something to drink, the question is frequently asked, "How would chocolate do ? " — quite forgetting that no one would care for choco- late, if it were not for the quantities of milk and sugar that ai^e used in it as seasonings. Moreover, it is j)repared from the oily seeds of the Theobroma Cacao, and is, therefore, a greasy substance, not at all fit to moisten the food prepara- tory to its being received into the stomach. 78 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PAP.T I. After wliat has already been said in regard to stimulants and stimulating drinks, it is hardly necessary to add, that the whole family of alcoholic beverages, even to the " lighter drinks," can find no favor with hygienists. They are all detrimental. Beer, for example, contains by volume, 5 to 8 per cent, of alcohol, sometimes a httle more than this, and sometimes a little less. " Adopting mean numbers, a pint (20 ounces) of beer will contain about an ounce of alcohol (Parkes.)" ^ Wine usually has 18 to 22 per cent. ; sometimes as high as 30 per cent. The habitual use of beer inclines to a plethoric habit, and the formation of loose, flabby tissue, with very little muscle. Moreover, the supposed good effect of all stimulating drinks, comes from the rally- ing of the system to get rid of the alcohol, which is a poison, an anti- vital or life-destroying substance. After the excite- ment or stimulation is over, there is a corresponding de- pression of the system, showing that vital force has been expended in the effort made to expel the offending thing. The stronger the beverage taken, or in other words, the larger per cent, of alcohol in it, the more marked wiU be the effects. It is sometimes asked, whetlier new cider is injurious as a beverage ; to which it must be replied, that the adjective " new " is rather indefinite. Kight from the press, the juice is almost as bland and unstimulating out of the apple, as in it; but in a few hours there is a "smack" to it, and a foam, that tell of something stronger. Many a poor fellow has again been led into the downward path, simply by a drink of cider. The safe way, is to take the juice and the flesh of the fruit together. Any drink that contains even a small per cent, of alcohol, injures the blood ; it affects the red corpuscles, causing them to part with a portion of their water. When a large quantity of alcohol is present, these Pavy's "Food and Dietetics,'' page 364. P.^T I.J FOOD, INTELLECT AND MOBALS. 79 corpuscles shrivel up into corrugated discs, and often adhere together, creating obstruction in the blood-vessels, and to a certain extent cutting off the nutritive supplies from those -paxts through which these vessels ramify. It also affects the fibrin of the blood, causing it to coagulate or form into clots, and in some instances producing paralysis, or even death. i Food, Intellect and Moeals. That the character of the food we eat bears a very close relation to the quality of tissues made from it, is a fact which has been frequently stated in these chapters ; it seems indeed to be fairly well understood, that in order to develop strong, firmly-knit muscles, the food eaten must not only be simple, but sparing. But that the dietetic habits of a people have anything to do with theii' intellectual and moral powers, is a very important fact which we seem con- tinually to lose sight of. It can not be denied, however, that the history of the human race, from the earliest to the latest times, furnishes the best of evidence on this point ; and the relation holds, not merely with respect to indi- viduals, but to nations. Following out the history of the latter, we find them in the zenith of their power at a time when for successive generations the habits of the people, dietetic and otherwise, had been simple and healthful. On the other hand, the decline and downfall of these nations came not until after they had departed from their plain and frugal ways. And were we to trace the career of individuals eminent for learning or power, we should find a like correspondence to exist ; men as well as nations reach the acme of their strength, intellectually and morally, before their minds are clouded, and their bodies plethoric by fuU feeding and other voluptuous habits. Those who are born in the lap of luxury rarely attain to any considerable prominence, either 80 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PAKT I. as thinkers or workers. It is also well known that the greatest philosophers, and the most profound scholars, both in ancient and modern times, have been men of temperate and abstemious habits. In the light of history, therefore, there is but one conclu- sion to be draAvn in the matter ; viz., that in order to make the best use of our minds, or to develop them to their greatest capacity, the food we eat must be proper in quality and moderate in quantity. Indeed, how could it be other- wise, when we consider that the brain, which is the organ of the mind, is constantly supplied with blood for its special growth and nourishment, and that this blood is made out of the things eaten ? If, therefore, the quality of the food is bad, or if any substance deleterious to the vital organism is taken with it, the brain will immediately suffer ; and when this organ is not in its normal condition, how can we expect it to do good work? In other words, bad food, or too much of it, makes bad blood ; bad blood causes a disordered brain ; and a disordered brain can not do first-class think- ing. The ill effects of stimulants in food, are manifold ; they send an increased quantity of blood to the base of the brain, causing congestion of the cerebellum. This congestion creates excitement or preternatural action of the animal j)ropensities, inducing in the individual a desire to fight, commit murder, and do all sorts of immoral or unlawful things. But the evil does not stop here ; the habitual tak- ing of stimulating substances, even in limited quantity, causes an increased growth of those organs that are located in the base of the brain ; and this, with the greater activity that necessarily follows, leads to intense passional emotions, and excesses of every description. So that murder, theft, and all manner of evil doings, are the legitimate results of the introduction into a community of stimulating foods and drinks. PAKT I.] FOOD, INTELLECT AND MOEALS. 81 " But/' says one, " why speak of these things in a cook- book ? The temperance hall is the place to discourse upon the e^dls of alcohol." To this query there are two answers ; in the first place, it is a lamentable fact, that King Alcohol does not confine himself to the highways in society. He appears in private circles, takes a seat at the domestic hearth, and makes himself welcome at table. His fingers have " touched " the delicate puddings, the rich pastries, or other fine desserts ; he comes with the wines, the pale sherries, and brandies, that are used in preparing these dishes. He is in the houses of the rich, and the hovels of the poor ; he goes to the gay feasts, and he comes home to the midnight embers, burning low on the hearth-stone. He makes his way to the churches, and appears at the sacra- mental board ; and the reformed inebriate is reminded, at one and the same time, both of the love of Christ, and of former debauches ! But this is not the whole of the matter ; when King Alcohol comes to our firesides, and sits down at our tables, he is met by a multitude of his own "blood relations"; some near of kin, some more distant. And the peculiarity of this numerous household is, that if you entertain a single one of them, that individual never stops till he brings all the others with him. Figures aside, however, the plain facts are these : if one is in the habit of using tobacco, tea and coffee can not be dispensed with ; and if either of these beverages forms part of the morning repast, a " good rich beef-steak " is the next thing in order. Moreover, if steak and other meats come to the table, salt and pepper are expected to come also ; and the other contents of the castor usually gain an easy admittance. Then are introduced the spicy pickles, pungent sauces, and other condiments that set the blood on fire, and inflame the passions. Verily, the wives and mothers of this country, are them- 4* 82 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART I. selves responsible for much of the ruin wrought in their own households. Had their tables been plain and simple, these things had not been. Is it any wonder that crime and bloodshed stalk rampant through the land ? That Hcentious- ness lurks in the by-paths ? That women take to morphine or the mad-house, and men blow their brains out ? That homicides multiply with amazing rapidity, and theft and other crimes are frequent in high places ? These outrages on common decency and the whole community, are not com- mitted by the plain, temperate members of society, who sit down three times a day to unstimulating food, go to their work regularly in the daytime, and retire to rest at night- fall. Could the private histories of the lawless ones be written, we should find the "little foxes'' that spoil the tender vines. Eev. J. F. Clymer, whose admirable little work on " Food and Morals " has already been alluded to in this book, gives a forcible illustration of the effect which diet has on char- acter, even in childhood. " A father, by prayer and precept, and flogging, had done his best to reform his boy, whose staple diet was meat and sausage and pie and cake at his meals, with lunch between. The family physician said to the father, ' If you will put a leech back of each of your boy's ears once a week for a month, you will do more to re- form him than your preaching and pounding will do in a year.' The father asked for the philosophy of this pre- scription. ' Why,' said the doctor, ' your boy has bad blood, and too much of it ; he must behave badly, or he would burst.' 'Then,' said his father, 'I'll change his diet from beef and pie to hominy and milk.' In three months there- after, a better boy of his age could not be found in the neighborhood. The acrid, biting, evil blood had not become food for leeches, but it had done its wicked work and passed away ; and a cooler, blander, purer, safer blood had been suj)plied from sweeter, gentler food sources." PAST I.] FOOD, INTELLECT AND MOEALS. 83 The trouble in this country is, that the fathers and mothers do not begin right ; they demoralize their children from the very start, by giving them at table and elsewhere their own way in everything. In fact, the child orders and the mother serves. The women in the old country set us a good example in this respect ; in England and Scotland no mother would think of seating her little child at the table with grown people, and giving it any and everything that was before iL She places it at the child's table in the nursery, and gives it plain bread and milk or mush and milk. Not so in America ; here the mother asks her little one what it will have, instead of giving it what she thinks it needs. Truly, we are a fast people ; and unless we change our habits we shall run a fearful career, brilliant but brief, dash- ing but dissolute, and ending at last in imbecility or infamy. The physicians of the hygienic school, claim to have demonstrated two facts : first, that intemperance (unless inherited) rarely if ever begins until there has been the habitual use of condiments and the Hghter stimulants, either in the food or drink. Second, that when the habit of taking strong drink is established, the safest, surest way to reform, is at once to abandon a/Z stimulus in the dietary, at the same time that the drinking is discontinued. Many in- ebriates have been reclaimed in this way, and in a compara- tively short space of time ; nor is there in these cases the shghtest desire to resume the drinking habit, so long as the other stimulants are not indulged in. In other words, by living correctly, you conquer the evil haUL But an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Can not the mothers act on this hint, and see to it that their sons (and daughters) are reared in such a way that vice wiU be no temptation to them? Solomon— who must have known from experience— said : "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it/' 84: HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART I. Women in this country do too much cooking ; they prepare too many kinds of food for a single meal ; they literally load down their tables with an endless variety of dishes, showing a lack of good taste, as well as good judgment. A few dishes, well prepared, would be altogether better. And the practice of high seasoning, not only in dessert dishes, but in the plainer or more substantial ones, as vege- tables, meats, meat preparations, etc., is most deplorable. These highly seasoned foods poison the blood, congest the liver, and inflame the mucous surfaces ; and if long con- tinued they prostrate the nervous system and ruin the gen- eral health. " That machine will wear out the soonest which works the fastest." Strong constitutions, it is true, may not give way for years ; but sooner or later they too must succumb. Food Combinations, etc. Most hygienists recognize the fact that too great a variety of foods eaten at a single meal, is not favorable to the best digestion ; partly because it tempts the appetite to over- indulgence, and partly from too great a stimulation of the nerves of digestion, by the oft-repeated presentation of a new substance for them to act upon. But very few pay much attention to the proper combination of foods, provided they be considered hygienic. Neglect of this important feature in dietetic reform has turned many away from it in disgust ; and it has kept not a few of those outside from becoming hygienists. It is folly to overlook the fact that there is a certain j^^ness or adaptation to be observed, both in the selection and classification of foods, which enhances their value as a whole ; it will not do to huddle them together indiscrimi- nately, either on one's plate or in the stomach. Baked beans and grape juice are both very satisfactory, in themselves ; but they have so little in common that no one would think PART I.] FOOD COMBINATIONS, ETC. 85 of eating tliem together ; thougli the harm resulting from so injudicious a combination, would be more apparent in some cases than in others. Not every one has a cast-iron stomach ; and experience teaches that an individual whose digestive organs have be- come enfeebled from taking drugs (poisons), or from the long use of stimulating foods and drinks, has need to be paiticularlj careful in the matter of diet. Suppose he is trying his first "hygienic dinner"; if he chances to partake of two or more substances so unlike in their nature and organization, that they do not "go well" together, in less than an hour's time the stomach and bowels will be filled with gases and undigested food ; while the " j)^^^^ ^^ hunger," so called, will not have diminished in the least. In other words, digestion has not gone on properly ; and a certain morbid cramng, which is next to ungovernable, has set up its clamor for something that can " satisfy." And though these feelings are the legitimate results of long-continued dissipation in eating — or of some other violation of law — ^that fact does not make it any easier to bear the discomfort. More than once has a patient taken his first meal at a " Cure," and risen from the table with the firm conviction that that diet will not do for /iw7i;when a little care (or knowledge) on the part of the managers, in the matter of combining foods, and a little previous explanation as to the unsatisfied feehng that necessarily follows the leaving off of aU stimulating substances, would have induced the new-comer to make a more thorough test of the better way. The early Grahamites made many serious blunders in their first efforts at dietetic reform ; they ate, for instance, their ^-'bran-bread," which was a wretched food, manufac- tured out of dirty wheat coarsely ground, or from a mixt- ure of poor white flour and common coarse bran, making an article better suited for horse-feed than for human stom- S6 HK\LTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD, [PART I. achs. Of course, there was no sweetness in it ; the peariing or cleaning process, which the Akron people understand so well, was not then applied to the manufacture of Graham flour ; and the bran was so coarse and irritating that the " Graham bread,'' as it was called, made more dyspep- tics than it cured. The consequence was that those who ate it were a by-word and a reproach ; and aU succeeding dietetic reformers have been forcibly reminded of their folly, by the keen thrusts of a scrutinizing public — ^which always looks after these matters. Nearly half a century of close contact with invalids, has placed before the hygienic physician certain /ac^6* which can not be ignored ; and whether the science behind them is fuUy understood or not, the facts themselves remain. For example, if we have a nervous dyspeptic to treat, we know better than to set before him, at one and the same meal, strawberries and beets ; or strawberries and cabbage ; or apples (raw or cooked) and sweet potatoes ; or apples and beans. These are only examples of at least fifty combina- tions that could be made, any one of which would give a weak stomach indigestion. The question then comes, whether it is not possible to lay down some general rules, which shall apply, in a certain sense, to all cases ; whether, indeed, the vanguard of the " hygienic brigade "' has not at last reached that point in the reform. It certainly stands to reason that the food products of the earth should be studied in their relations to each other, as weU as with respect to their nutritive qualities. In the first place, the commissariat, as a whole, should have in it all that is needed for the fullest growth and development of the body ; and there should, if possible, be a sufficient variety to allow of more or less change in the bill of fare from one meal to another, and from day to day. One tires of the same thing, or exactly the same roidine, over and over -J and all the more if there is any defect in the food PART I.] FOOD COMBINATIONS, ETC. 87 itself, either as regards its quality in growth and maturity, or its actual nutritive value. Moreover, the wants of the system are not always exactly the same ; they may vary somewhat, owing to diseased con- ditions or torpor of functional action, so that there will be an actual need, if not a positive longing, for certain kinds of food that are necessary to restore normal action to the system. For instance, a person who has taken '*' quantities " of certain medicines, the effect of which is to congest or torpify the liver and other organs of depuration, is apt to have an intense craving for acids. Another, who has been fed for weeks on a diet that contains too Httle nutrient material, will call for something that has a larger per cent. of solid matter in it : as bread, beans or peas, rather than cabbage, turnips, soups, or other watery substances. Many a person has risen from the table feeling dissatis- fied, actually hungry, after eating in quantity a full meal. In such cases, either the articles eaten have not been di- gested, or they were of such a character that they did not supply the natural waste of the system. One who has made this matter a careful study, can very nearly tell at a glance whether the food on the table is such as will give general satisfaction to persons with reasonably normal appetites, — ^though, as just now stated, there are individ- uals whose appetites are anything but normal. For example, the tea-toper or coffee-drinker suffers 'from head- ache after trying to make a breakfast without the accus- tomed beverage. Or the lover of beef-steak rises from his morning meal from which the favorite dish is absent, feel- ing that he has had no breakfast. The sense of all-goneness in these cases is not from a lack of nutrient material, but owing to the absence of the habitual stimulus. In selecting foods for the table, one must take into con- sideration both the habits of the individuals who are to be fed, and the ever-varying climatic conditions. Persons of 88 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART I. sedentary habits would be satisfied at a given meal with a few plain articles, and these largely of fruits ; w^hereas, a laborer would require a larger proportion of more nutri- tious foods, as Graham bread, beans, or some of the grain preparations, with less juicy or watery materials. If, how- ever, the weather is warm, inducing profuse perspiration, the more juicy fruits and vegetables are in special demand. But a combination of dishes that would be delightful in the sultry days of July or August, would be altogether insuffi- cient to satisfy the appetite on a cold December day, or a keen frosty morning. And when the weather is not only cold, but damp, the food is always best relished if it is warm. Often a good plate of warm soup (not hot), to be followed by corn-bread and baked potatoes, and perhaps another warm vegetable, is very acceptable on damp, cold days, when there is a raw atmosphere, chilling one all through. To be brief, the cook should use her rare good sense in these matters ; she should consider the character of the eaters, whether they are sick or well ; accustomed to active outdoor exercise, as farmers, or to sedentary habits, as students, book-keepers, etc. She should also vary the quality of the food, not only to suit the weather, but the season of the year. In May or June, when the markets are full of strawberries and other fruits, with plenty of fresh garden stuff, the " boarders " will hardly be content six days in the week with dried apples and prunes for fruit, and old potatoes with last year's beans, for vegetables ; they will be thinking of the green peas, asparagus and new pota- toes, that they saw in the city market ; and the loads of fresh berries, cherries, etc., that looked so inviting. Last, but not least, she must study the indimduality of the various food products ; for, as already remarked, cer- tain kinds are so unlike — not to say antagonistic in char- acter^ that they seem not to digest well together ; or as we PAST I.] FOOD COMBINATIONS, ETC. 89 sometimes say, thej quarrel with each other. For while it vAdjj be tme that thoroughly sound stomachs can digest almost an}"thing, and feel no unpleasant sensations from all sorts of heterogeneous combinations, it is not true that in- valids, or persons of feeble digestion, can do likewise. After more than twenty years' experience and careful ob- seiration, the writer is fully convinced that in order to get the best possible results from nutrient materials, we must not ignore those kindred ties among food products which make an agreeable combination ; nor must we be obUvious to those opposite quahties in them, which by fine contrast please equally well. Take, for example, sweet potatoes and tomatoes ; these make a good combination, and very ac- ceptable to most persons, the one being sweet, the other acid ; the one highly nutritious, and the other decidedly i^cy. To those who have not made this subject a study, the following hints may be of practical use ; though in many things it is next to impossible to lay down definite rules : 1. Fruits and vegetables should not, as a rule, be eaten together; that is, at the same meal ; if they are so eaten, persons with feeble digestive organs will usually suffer. 2. If vegetables are eaten, the noonday meal is the best time to take them, two or three varieties being quite suffi- cient. Tomatoes do well with vegetables, grains or meats ; but they should not, as a rule, be eaten with fruits. 3. The Irish potato seems to be an exception among vegetables ; it is so unaggressive in its nature that it seldom quarrels with an^i^hing. It may therefore be eaten (by most persons) with either fruits or vegetables ; and it always does well with gTains. 4. Fruits and cereals are particularly suited to the morn- ing and evening meals ; and very little other food is re- quired. 5. A good rule, when suppers are eaten, is to make the 90 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART L meal of bread and fruit only, these being taken in limited quantities, and at an early hour. 6. Fruits, if eaten raw, should be ripe, and of good quality ; and persons with feeble stomachs digest them more easily at the beginning of the meal ; this is particu- larly true when warm foods make a part of the repast. 7. Fruits raw or cooked, may be eaten at dinner, provided no vegetable (unless it be the potato) is taken. But if raw, they should be eaten first, particularly if there are warm foods to follow. 8. Some persons can not digest certain kinds of raw fruits for supper, or late in the day ; let them take these on sitting down to the breakfast table ; or the first thing at dinner, unless there are vegetables at this meal. 9. If meats are eaten — a debatable question between strict hygienists and "other people" — take them at the noonday meal, with or without vegetables ; and in cold weather, rather than warm. 10. The grains digest well with aU other foods ; though some persons can not eat them in the form of mushes. They should always be thoroughly cooked. 11. Persons with feeble digestion, should as a rule, con- fine themselves to a single kind of fruit at a meal ; they can make the changes from one meal to another. 12. Those who find it difficult to digest vegetables, should not attempt more than one kind at a given meal, until the digestion is improved. And often it is best to leave them off entirely for a time. 13. In selecting vegetables for a single meal, do not, if there are several varieties, have all of them of the watery or juicy kinds, as cabbage, asparagus, white turnips, etc. ; nor aU of the drier sorts, as baked beans, winter squashes, sweet potatoes, etc. ; but blend the more and less nutritious kinds in a judicious manner. Or if you have only the watery ones at hand, be content with not more than two varieties, PART 1. j FOOD COMBINATIONS, ETC. Gi prepai'e a side-disli of something rather nutritious, and then add a dish of warm corn bread, as an accompaniment, par- ticularly if it be a cold day, 14. If you have for dinner a thin vegetable soup, follow with something more substantial, as baked beans, baked potatoes (sweet or Irish), or corn bread ; but if you have bean or spHt-pea soup, let the other vegetables be of a kind less hearty. 15. On a very cold day, have a warm dinner of good nutritious articles ; select mainly solid foods with grains, rather than thin soups and watery vegetables. 16. On a warm day make the breakfast largely of fruits, with a moderate supply of cereals. The dinner may be of young vegetables (or fruits), a dish of grains if you like, and a httle bread. Eat lightly, and you will suffer less from heat — ^particularly if no seasonings are taken. For supper, 9 glass of cold grape juice and a slice of loaf bread, is fine ir hot weather. 17. In very cold weather, take the chiU off your stewed fruit, fruit pies or other dishes, before serving them. Pas- tries if used, are best at the midday meal — and so are puddings, 18. If there are invalids at the table, they should eat nothing that is very cold ; food not much below blood heat is best, particularly in cold weather ; and the dining-room should be comfortably warm. 19. Never have too great a variety at a single meal ; have few dishes, well prepared, and make the changes from one meal to another ; this will please better on the whole, and it wiU not too rapidly exhaust your limited supplies. 20. If one meal happens to faU a little below the average ^ in either quality or variety, see that the next is fully up to the mark 92 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PAJRT I. Two Meals OR Three. The question is frequently asked, whether it is better to take two meals or three during the day. This would depend very much upon the habits of the individual, and somewhat upon the healthful conditions of the stomach. Some per- sons can digest three meals perfectly, while others find it hard to manage two comfortably. If the third meal, light in quantity and simple in quality, and taken at an early hour, causes distress, then it would be well to try leaving it off. Sometimes a longer rest wiU enable the stomach to do better work. Persons of sedentary habits combined with indoor life, usually find two meals sufficient, provided these can be arranged at proper hours. When two meals are taken, the breakfast should be served about eight o'clock, and the dinner at two ; this gives six hours between, and the after- noon not so long as to cause hunger. It wiU be found, however, that a great deal depends upon previous dietetic habits. Most persons who have been long accustomed to either two or three meals, prefer not to make a change : the old way is more satisfactory. In ordinary cases, it probably makes very little difference whether two meals or three are taken, provided no discom- fort is experienced ; usually where the digestion is fair, and the habits of the individual active, three are preferred. The third or last meal should be much lighter in quantity than the others, very simple in quahty, ' and taken not later than six o'clock. This leaves three hours till bed- time, putting the latter at about nine o'clock, or half -past nine ; long enough for aU the food to pass out of the stomach, and leave that organ in a restful state, ready for the night's rex^ose. If the digestive organs are not strong enough to accomplish this much easily, then it is plain that the third meal should be left off. , paet i.] dietetic rules. 93 Dietetic Rules. Eat slowly, masticating your food tlioroughly before swallowing it. The first process of digestion — called insali- vation — takes place in the mouth. Never eat when you are mentally excited, or physically exhausted ; if you are very tired, lie down and rest half an hour before going to the table. Neglect of this rule has caused many a fit of indigestion. Do not take vigorous exercise, either physical or mental, immediately after eating. Light exercise, as clearing up the table, washing dishes, or walking about the house or garden, facihtates digestion ; but heroic exertion, as run- ning, pulling, lifting, washing or wringing clothes, etc., retards it. A bath should never be taken directly after eating, and particularly after a very hearty meal. A good rule is not to bathe for half an hour before, and for two hours after eating. Take your food regularly, at stated intervals — not at any hour of the day ; and do not form the habit of eating be- tween meals. If anything is taken outside of the regular meal-time, ripe juicy fruits, as apples or oranges, wiU usually occasion less disturbance than more hearty or substantial food. Let at least the greater part of each meal consist of plain food ; and do not continue to eat after the actual wants of the system are satisfied. The supper should be the lightest meal, both in quantity and quality ; and it ought to be taken at least three hours before retiring for the night. Do not wash down the food with a fluid ; eat without drinking ; this will insure more thorough mastication and insalivation ; it will also help to preser^^e the teeth. The horse never leaves his oats or corn to take a sip of water 94 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART I. between mouthfuls ; nor is he ever tortured with the tooth- ache. It is a bad plan to rise from the table, rush out into a freezing atmosphere, and take a long cold ride ; the body becomes chilled and digestion is apt to be interfered with. A few minutes' brisk walking in the morning, filling the lungs with fresh air at every breath, is an excellent tonic before breakfast. Try it — you that are not too feeble to leave the room. As a rule, fruits and vegetables are best served at sepa- rate meals ; vegetables, if eaten, should be taken at dinner — near the middle of the day. Eaw ripe fruits, as apples, berries or cherries, are fine for breakfast, and best at the beginning of the meal. Avoid the frequent use of soft, sloppy foods ; and also of soft bread ; give the teeth something to do, if you would have them grow strong, and keep clean. Do not take very hot or very cold foods or drinks ; these crack the enamel of the teeth, and destroy them ; they also weaken the salivary glands, enfeeble the stomach, and im- pair digestion. If you want good teeth, you must first eat the kinds of food that will make them, and then you must use them, or they will decay. Eemember that a cow can be slop-fed till her teeth will fall out. To preserve the teeth, then, you must throw white bread to the dogs (and it will kill them if they are fed exclusively on it), eat bread made of the flour of the whole grains, and have it well baked ; it must be hard and crusty enough to keep your teeth clean and bright. To secure a good sweet breath, the digestion must bo perfect and the teeth clean. Use the brush after eating, not before. Some persons brush their teeth the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night ; this leaves them un- brushed between breakfast and dinner, and between dinner and supper — ^or in other words, only clean at night. Form PART l] hints on COOKING. 95 the habit of brushing the teeth the first thing after you rise from the table. Another important rule, and always applicable, is the following* : make the meal as enjoyable as possible ; a cheer- ful face, with pleasant conversation, is an excellent condi- ment. And if children dine with "big folks," let them learn at the start, that they too are to be put upon their good behavior. Hints on Cooking. The following hints on cooking, some of which apply to Part n., and some to Part III., may be convenient for reference. In making loaf bread, the flour should in cold weather be slightly warmed before mixing, and the dough set to rise in a wooden tray or thick earthen crock — never in a tin vessel, as the dough is apt to chill from draughts of cold air. Bread to be good and wholesome must be thoroughly baked, having the crust nicely browned, but not scorched ; and it is better baked in pans that have closely fitting covers ; these confine the escaping vapors about it, and by preventing evaporation make the bread much sweeter. Mix all pastries lightly and quickly, gathering the mass together without kneading ; have the materials as cold as possible, and either bake as soon as mixed, or lay the paste into a refrigerator. Never make pies or cakes tiU the oven is ready for them ; roU your pie-crust pretty thin, start with a brisk oven, hot enough to brown without blistering or scorching, and moderate the heat as the baking proceeds. Be sure the bottom crust is well done before taking the pies from the oven. This for cream pastry. Pies made of apples that are under-ripe and their crust shortened with butter (which, however fresh and sweet, is always less wholesome than cream), are improved by baking an hour and a half in a very slow oven. 96 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART I. Nearly all vegetables are best drop]3ed into boiling water, and cooked rapidly ; particularly those of a watery nature, as cabbage, turnips, string beans, young peas, and potatoes, new or old. As soon as done, lift from the fire ; cooking a little too long, makes all the difference in the flavor. Cabbage thinly sliced will cook in thirty minutes. Another direction applicable to nearly all vege- tables, is to put them on in as little water as possible, having none to pour off, or next to none. As a rule never soak potatoes or other vegetables before cooking them, and never parboil them — not even beans, unless they are very old and strong, and then only for a few minutes ; when the water is drained off replace it with more, boiling hoL Fruits if overripe must be cooked but little, and taken from the fire the moment they are done ; a trifle under- done is fully better than cooked too much. All green or unripe fruits are improved by starting them in cold water, and cooking or simmering slowly (without stirring), for a long time. The long, slow cooking makes the fruit taste sweeter and riper. All dried fruits, as apples, peaches, pears, prunes, sweet currants, etc., should be well washed, dropped into boiling water, cooked rather quickly, and removed from the fire as soon as done. Peaches and apples dried by steam, usually cook in twenty 'five or thirty minutes, and sweet currants in thirty-five minutes. Grains are best steamed, starting them in hot or cold water (rice is less sticky started in cold), and cooked till tender ; the water in the pot below should be kept constantly boiling. Steamed bread, to be good, must be well managed ; as soon as the batter is mixed, pour it into a round pan, well oiled, and set this inside the steamer ; the pan must not be quite full. Then cover it with an inverted plate or pie-pan ; and if the steamer is one with holes in the bottom? place iiwo or three bits of wood under the pan, so that the steam PART I.] HINTS ON COOKINa. 97 can enter beneath it. Now put on the Kd of the steamer, the latter being closely fitted over a pot of boihng water and cook constantly, keeping the water at a fast boil. Do not uncover till the bread is done ; then lift the lid, take out the pan, and set it in a hot oven to brown ten or fifteen minutes. Steamed puddings, mixed in a batter, are managed in the same way, except the browning at the end. When corn meal is used in mixing either steamed breads or puddings, take golden or white y^m^ meal, if you can get it ; and fill the measure not quite so full as when meal from the dent corn is taken. In making puddings or steamed breads, nei^er heat the pan before oiling, as this will make the batter stick to it ; a little olive oil, or beef diipping, may be used instead of butter. In baking batter puddings, or any that may adhere to the sides of the dish, a good plan is to place the latter in the oven within a shallow vessel (as a dripping-pan), containing a little boiling water. Custards, if baked, are best managed in the same way. Always heat milk in a farina-kettle if you have one, so as not to scorch it. In the absence of this utensil, heat in a tin bucket set inside a pot of boiling water ; or a thick stone or eaiihen crock will answer, if the fire is not too hot. If bread-crumbs are used in puddings, dressings, hashes, etc., have at least a portion of them of good, home-made Graham loaf, unsweetened ; the gluten in this bread makes it richer and finer flavored than the white. In preparing sweet currants for cakes or puddings, pick them over carefully, and wash in a colander till they are perfectly clean ; then dry in the oven, being careful not to overheat them, and finally dredge well with floui^ before stirring them in. If soda is put into bread, cake or puddings, use it spar- ingly, A " teaspoonf ul " of soda, is simply the spoon filled until it is level; and the same for cream of tartar. But if 5 93 KEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART I. baking-powder is employed, the spoon must be heaped somQ- what, owing to the fact that nearly all baking-powders are one-third starch. The proper proportion of pure soda and cream of tartar, is said to be about six ounces of the former to sixteen of the latter. When eggs are used, as in making custards or puddings, beat the yolks and whites separately ; if you sweeten first, whip the yolks a little (to avoid lumping), then beat with the sugar, and stir the whiter in last. Eggs to beat well, should be fresh, and moderately cold ; and experienced cooks say they should never be beaten in a tin vessel, but in stone or earthen ware. The rule for custards, is to cook very slowly; and if baked, to take from the oven as soon as they are well thickened — before they begin to separate, or become watery. Soups must boil or simmer slowly till done ; and most kinds need three or four hours' cooking. When necessary, remove fragments of meat, bones or vegetables, by straining through a colander at the last ; retiirn to the pot and heat again, before serving. Meat, if roasted, should be placed in a hot oven till the surface is seared, and then bake slowly till done. If stewed, pour boiling water over it till half covered, skim if neces- sary, boil rapidly five or ten minutes, and then stew gently, till a fork will go through the thickest portion of it easily. The water should all be evaporated when done; and if finished as a pot roast, heat the oil or gravy in the bottom till the under surface of the meat is nicely browned ; then turn it over, and brown the other. If cold meat is to be warmed over (as in a hash), do not heat too long ; you can cook a good hash in fifteen or twenty minutes, after the meat, bread and potatoes are pre- pared. Cold potatoes are best warmed over as follows : oil the skillet slightly, just enough to keep them from sticking ; PART I.] HINTS ON COOKING. 99 slice, if they are whole ; if mashed, see that a second crush- ing leaves no lumps, and stir them up lightly with a fork. When the skillet is hot turn in the potatoes, and heat quickly till they are nicely browned on the bottom, but not scorched. Then with a knife turn them over, brown again, and dish for the table. Ten minutes v/ill suffice for the browning ; and in ten minutes more, they should be eaten. To toast bread perfectly, cut it in even slices about half an inch thick, and brown, not too rapidly, over a bed of live coals ; the bread should be stale to begin with. Turn it over before the slice warps too badly ; that ia. if you are holding it on the end of a fork ; then toast the other side, and turn again if necessary. When done, the entire surface should be crisp, and an even chestnut brown. If the crust scorches a little, scrape ofE its burnt edges with a knife. To warm over mushes or grains, never add a particle of water, not even boihng ; turn into a stew-i)an, set where it will heat quickly, cover, and stir two or three times till the mush is thoroughly hot. To warm bits of stale bread, dip the slices quickly into cold water, and lay them in a hot oven ten minutes, or till the surface is crisp, and the bread well heated through ; it will be as good as new — better, to most persons* liking. Cold biscuits, split in two, dipped quickly into cold water, and then heated in the same way, are excellent. PART II. THE HYGIENIC DIETAET. To those who are acquainted with the principles of hygiene as expounded by their great originator, the late E. T. Trail, M.D., it is needless to say, that a strictly hygienic dietary is one in which the grains, fruits and vegetables, are all pre- pared without the slightest addition of seasonings or condi- ments, even sugar and milk being excluded. But so far removed from this plan are the usual methods of cooking, and so great the prejudice against this innovation, that it is next to impossible to convince people that foods j)repared in this plain, simple manner, could be either healthful or pal- atable. It is the object of this work, or rather this part of it, to place before the reader a collection of recipes, which, with little or no alteration, would be fully up to the standard of Dr. Trail himself. On the other hand, a very moderate amount of the plainer condiments — which any cook can add to suit herself — makes these (otherwise) hygienic dishes acceptable, even to perverted palates ; while as respects health, food prepared in the ordinary way, can not begin to compare with this diet. It replaces the waste tissues of the body, it develops muscular strength, and it satisfies the nor- mal appetite ; it does not impair the digestive organs, neither does it clog the tissues, nor wear out the vital machinery. It sustains, it nourishea PART n.] UNLEAVENED BEEAD. 101 UNLEAVENED BEEAD. To prepare the " staff of life " as it should be, four things are necessary. First, we must have good grains ; second, these must be cleaned, and joroperly ground into flour or meal ; third, the flour or meal must be rightly mixed into dough or batter ; and lastly, the dough or batter must be well baked. The whole or unhulled wheat, as elsewhere stated, is said to contain no less than fifteen elementary principles, all of which are necessary to build up the structures of the body. Beneath the outer or woody portion of the grain, lies an abundance of glutinous matter ; here also are found most of the carbonates, phosphates, and other mineral substances that enter so largely into the formation of the teeth, bones, cartilages, etc. Beneath these again, is a substance that is composed chiefly of starch, the elementary principles of the latter being carbon, oxygen and hydrogen. It is this part of the wheat that is used in making the white flour of com- merce, particularly the superfine. So far, then, as the num- ber of chemical elements is concerned, Graham flour stands to starch — and proximately to white flour — in the propor- tion of fifteen to three, or five to one. Now, when we con- sider that bakers' bread (and that is what the masses live upon in cities) is made of this impoverished white floui' ; that it is raised by fermentation, which still further impairs its nutrient quahties ; that it is to a large extent impreg- nated with alum, and is often half sour before baking — we can safely say that this is about the slenderest " staff '' that ever a living creature sought to lean upon. Graham (or unbolted) flour is too often manufactured from small, shrunken grains of spring wheat, or other poor material. This is why there is ordinarily such a large per cent, of bran in it ; too much entirely for either good health or good eating. An excellent article for Graham 102 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART II. flour is the white wheat, of which the Genesee is a variety. This has very nearly the right proportions of huD, gluten, etc., to make wholesome and palatable breadstuff. On the quality of flour, the late K T. Trail, M.D., in his " Hydropathic Cook-Book," says : " Unless the grain is well cleaned before it is ground, we can not have the most de- licious bread. There is, too, a great difference between fresh-ground and stale flour, the former making incom- parably richer, sweeter bread. Those who * eat to live,' or to enjoy, had better, therefore, look well to the kind of grain, to its being thoroughly cleaned from dust, cockle, smut, sand, chaff, etc., and to its being ground but a short time before using.'' " The wheat meal or Graham flour in market is not unf requently an admixture of ' shorts ' or ' middlings,' with old, stale, soured or damaged fine flour ; and fine flour is sometimes — more especially in European markets — adul- terated with whiting, ground stones, bone dust, and plaster of Parish The most difficult thing after the selection of the wheat, is to have it ground in the best manner. There are but few mills in the United States that make first-class Graham flour. Either the wheat is not cleaned before grinding, or it is cut too coarse, or the stones get hot by running too fast, and " kill " the flour, or it is ground or rather mashed with dull stones, so that the hull is scaled off in large flakes of bran. In this latter condition, it is so coarse and rough as seriously to injure the delicate coats of the stomach and bowels, especially if it is used for any great length of time. This is one cause of the prejudice that sometimes exists in re- gard to Graham bread. All flour, of whatever kind, should be kept in a dry, cool place, and in a pure atmosphere, where the circulation is good, as it absorbs impurities readily. And for leavened bread, it is said that the flour should always be thoroughly disintegrated (sifted or shaken), and in very cold weather PART II.] UNLEA\^NED BREAD. 103 warmed before mixing ; a process which would help, no doubt, to expel any gases or vapors that it may have ab- sorbed. The best Graham flour in our market is that manufactured by Ferdinand Schumacher, of Akron, Ohio. This gentle- man has built a miU that cleans each grain perfectly before grinding ; it cuts the hull fine enough to pass through a coarse corn-meal sieve, and turns out an excellent article of lively Graham flour made from the best white wheat. By sending for his "f. f.'' (very fine) grade, we get the choicest of Graham for hard rolls, loaf bread or pastries. Moreover, this flour is so clean and sweet that it will keep for weeks, if put in a cool place, without getting old or musty. His oat meal, pearl wheat and pearl barley, are among the best in the country, both in the quality of the grains, and the methods of preparing them ; each grain is nicely dressed, the rougher portion of the outer or woody fiber being removed. Cracked wheat, as it is called, is pre- pared in the same way, before the kernel is divided or cut. The ordinary cracked wheat (now fast disappearing from our markets), which is simply crushed, contains a large per cent, of dwarfed or shriveled grains ; the hulls, which are harsh and fibrous, are comparatively unbroken ; and were it not for the " dressings " that usually accompany -it at table, very little of this article would be eaten. First and best of all the varieties of bread preparations known to hygienists, is the cold-water bread usually called the hard Graham roll It is made by mixing wheat meal with pure cold water, the colder the better. Properly prepared and baked it is sufficiently light or porous, owing to the air that is confined within its texture during the process of baking. No other kind of bread begins to compare with this in wholesomeness ; and the longer one uses it, the better it is relished. It is substantially what Dr. Trail calls the perfect bread — or Premium Bread. There are many " little things " 104 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART II. to be observed in order to make it successfully ; the manner of mixing, the consistency of the dough, the kind of knead- ing, the forming of the rolls, the spacing in the pan, the dispatch in getting it into the oven, the heat required, the time it should bake, the test as to when it is done, the cooling process, — all these are important ; but once the cook is familiar with them, this bread is as easily made as almost any other ; and there is no need of failure. The following is the recipe in full : Haed Graham Eolls.=)j= If the Graham flour is of red wheat or coarsely ground, it must be sifted.* Before you begin to mix, have the oven heating, and the bread pans clean ; they need not be oiled. Take for mixing, the coldest water you can get — ice-water, if you have it ; wet the flour with this, using a little at a time ; that is, pour in slowly and stir fast, so as to moisten the mass gradually, allowing no little puddles to form, to make the dough wet and sticky. It may take say two-thirds of a pint of water to mix a quart of flour ; though the quantity will vary according to grade of flour used ; the coarser it is ground, the more wetting will be needed. Continue to mix until a moderately stiff dough is formed, stiff enough not to adhere to the moulding-board. Then knead well — good thorough kneading, such as is required for " beat biscuit." If you get the dough too stiff, the bread will be dry and harsh ; if too soft, it will be wet and clammy. When just right, the bread-board will require but little dusting with flour to prevent sticking ; and after sufficient kneading, say from ten to fifteen minutes, the dough becomes fine and smooth, lighter in color, and rather elastic to the touch ; if you poke it with the finger, it will * Ordinarily, the terms Graham flour, wheaten meal, unbolted flour (of wheat), and even *' brown flour," are used interchangeably. Unbolted rye flour is often called rye meal. PART n.] Ul^LEAVENED BREAD. 105 rise or spring up as the pressure is removed. Then take half of it, and roll it over and over on the moulding-board with the hands, forming a long roll about an inch and a quarter in diameter ; cut this off in bits nearly an inch and a half in length, or large enough to make a roll from three to four inches long, and not quite three-quarters of an inch thick. Take each bit separately and roll it firmly together, making it smooth and round, and of the length and thick- ness just stated. Leave no dry flour on it, but let it drop from your fingers smooth, straight, and well-worked. As the rolls are made place them in the bread-pan, leaving quite a space between each, so that in sweUing (as the air expands in baking), they may not touch each other. • Make out the panful quickly, and on no account allow the rolls to stand after they are moulded, lest the air escape and they become heavy. For the same reason, let the oven be hot enough to brown moderately, almost from the begin- ning, as the lightness of the bread depends upon the con- finement of the atmospheric air within its crust, which forms around the roll in baking. Hence, the more crust there is above the flat surface of the pan, the lighter the bread will be. This is why rolls or round balls are always lighter than biscuits. The more even the heat of the oven, the better for baking ; it should be hot enough to scorch white bread. If too hot, the rolls will blister, letting out the air ; if too cold, the air will escape before the crust forms, and in either case the bread will be heavy. A tolerably good rule is to have the oven so hot that you can hold your hand in it just long enough to count ten, rather slowly. A little experience, however, soon enables the cook to regulate the heat. Before putting the rolls in the oven, prick well with a fork to prevent blistering. It will require about thirty minutes to bake thoroughly ; and if you happen to get them thicker than usual, it will take five minutes longer. When about 5* 106 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART H. half done, turn each roll one-quarter over — or a good plan is to shake the pan — so as to brown the sides ; and when quite done remove from the oven, and turn out on a table, spreading them well apart. They should be entirely cold before you lay them in the bread-box, as they are apt to fall if put away warm. If any of the rolls yield to pressure when taken between the thumb and finger, they are not done, and must go back to the oven ; otherwise they will shrivel in cooling, and become heavy. When cooled a little, place them one layer deep on plates, and send to the table ; and what are left over, save for the next meal, to be eaten cold. It is best to bake fresh every morning ; though any roUs left from the day before, may be warmed over as foUows : first break each into two or three pieces, not lengthwise, but across ; never cut them ; then drop into cold water, and let them stand two or three minutes. Place well apart in a bread-pan, and set the latter on the grate in a brisk oven, which wiU crisp without scorching them ; remove from the oven as soon as the bits are firm enough not to yield to pressure. If properly managed, they will be lighter than when newly made— provided the rolls have not been over- done in the first baking. The above bread is deservedly the standard among hy- gienists. Among people in general it is a new-comer, nothing whatever being known as to the way in which it is made ; hence the fullness of detail, as just given. For the benefit, however, of those who are already partly initiated, the directions are given below. More Briefly. =|= Mix Graham flour with cold water, forming a dough just stiff enough not to stick to the moulding-board ; if the flour is of red wheat, or is coarsely ground, it must be sifted. Knead very thoroughly, as for "beat biscuit," ten to fifteen PAKT II.] UNLEAVENED BEEAD. 107 minutes, or until the dougli is smootli and elastic. Then form into rolls three to four inches long, and barely three- quarters of an inch thick ; leave no dry flour sticking to them. Make them out rajDidly, and place a Httle apai-t in the pan ; then prick weU with a fork, and put them in the oven ; it must be hot enough to brown nicely, but not to scorch. Bake about thirty minutes. "When done, the rolls should not yield to pressure between the thumb and finger ; and when taken from the oven, spread them out on a table to cool. They may be eaten for breakfast a little warm ; or you can lay them away cold, for dinner or supper. Stems.4= Mould the same as hard roll^ except that you make the stems a little longer, and only about half the thickness ; they will bake in from twenty to twenty-five minutes, ac- cording to the heat of the oven. They are very sweet and crisp when warm, but not as good as the rolls, after they are a few hours old. You may warm them over the same as hard roUs, breaking each into small bits before wetting. Stems and rolls can be made of rye meal, though they are not as good as the wheaten. Cold- Water Loaf Bread. The dough for this bread is mixed the same as for the hard rolls, already described. After fifteen minutes' good kneading, mould into smaU loaves, three to three and a half inches thick, and about five inches in length ; prick deeply with a fork, and place in a hot oven. The heat should be as even as possible, to avoid blistering or scorching. It will take from an hour to an hour and a quarter to bake the loaves thoroughly. This bread must not be cut till cold. 108 EEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART II. CocoA-NuT Bread. Some weak stomaclis can not tolerate tliis bread, the grated cocoa-nut being rather difficult to digest. The usual way of making it, is as follows : to one quart of Graham flour allow half a teacupful of grated cocoa-nut ; prepare the nut by peeling off the brown or outer portion, then grate the remainder as fine as possible, stir it well through the flour, and mix as for hard rolls, kneading thoroughly. Save and add the cocoa-nut milk, if it is perfectly sweet ; mould into rolls or biscuits, or any desired form, prick well, and bake till fully done, in a hot even oven. A safer way for invalids, is to soak the grated nut in a pint of cold water for an hour, or longer ; then put the mixture into a farina-kettle, warm to blood heat, and set it back on the stove where it will keep warm for two hours. Then bring almost to a boil, removing the kettle from the fire just before the cocoa-nut water begins to bubble. Let it stand till quite cold, strain out the nut and use the water for mixing ; add the milk if it is sweet. If you make by this method, grate the whole of the cocoa-nut, and add enough water to cover it before soaking and heating ; when you have strained out the nut and added its milk, use as much flour as the fluid will wet to the proper consistency. Hot- Water Eolls. These are the soft rolls so common in Water-Cures years ago, and still largely in use. They are sweet, and tolerably wholesome, especially if the dough is mixed ratlffer stiff, and the bread very thoroughly baked. To make them, pour boiling water into a quantity of unsifted or rather coarse Graham flour, stirring constantly with a strong iron spoon until two-thirds of it is scalded ; then finish with cool or cold water, stirring with the spoon, and forming a dough stiff enough to handle with the hands ; if too stiff, the bread PART 11. ] UNLEAVENED BREAD. 109 will not be good. Then pinch off in small bits, and make into rolls an inch thick, and about three inches in length ; form hj rolling on the moulding-board, sprinkled with dry flour to j)revent sticking. Put them into the bread-pan, spacing so they will not touch each other, and bake from thirty to forty minutes, in a very hot oven. This bread is best eaten warm, though it is pretty good cold. Instead of rolls you may make into biscuits, two and a half inches in diameter, and three-quarters of an inch in thickness. Eye flour (unbolted) can be used instead of the wheaten— or half rye and half wheat, which would be less sticky. Hot-Water Loaf Bread. Mix as for hot-water rolls in the last recipe, having the dough a little stiffer, and kneading it longer. Mould into loaves about three inches thick, and five inches in length ; bake all of an hour, in a hot oven. If underdone, this bread vrill be wet and clammy ; do not cut till cold. It can be made either of wheat or rye flour (unbolted), or with a mixture of the two. Graham Crackers.=|= Take sifted Graham, or best Akron flour unsifted, and mix as for hard rolls (first bread-recipe given), only a little stiffer. Use very cold water — ice-water is best — and knead thoroughly and very hard, all of twenty minutes ; then roll to the thickness of ordinary pie-crust, cut in any shape desired, and prick deeply with a fork. Bake in an even oven from ten to fifteen minutes, or until the crackers are dry and hard. Let them get quite cold before stacking away, and then put them in a dry, cool place. If the ordinary Graham flour is used, a good plan is to sift it, and add a third or fourth part white flour of the 110 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PABT IL coarser brands ; or you may take cold-blast flour, if you have it. Other Crackers. Make the same as the last, using cold-blast flour in place of Graham ; and instead of rolling out the paste and cutting, pinch it off in small bits, and roll into stems three inches long and hardly as thick as your little finger. IVIix with ice- water, or the coldest you can get. As soon as moulded bake from ten to fifteen minutes, or until thoroughly dry and hard ; when cold, set away on plates. If you have not the cold-blast flour, use equal parts of sifted Graham and "middlings," then mix and bake as before. Wheat Meal Crisps.=|= These are sometimes called wafers. Take Graham flour, best Akron (or other Graham sifted), and mix as for crackers in the last two recipes. Knead very thoroughly, pinch off in small bits, and roll to the thickness of a knife-blade. Bake in a pan or on the grate, in a hot oven, and be careful that they do not scorch ; they will be done in five to ten minutes. This bread is sweet, crisp and tender, as weU as very whole- some, and is quickly and easily made. Oat Meal Crisps.4= Scald oat meal with boiling water, stirring with a spoon, and making a pretty stiff dough ; knead well together, dust the moulding-board with a little Graham flour, and roll to the thickness of nearly a quarter of an inch. Then cut into smaU cakes and bake in a moderate oven fifteen minutes, or till they are dry and hard, but only slightly browned. "Watch closely, that they do not scorch in finishing. In rolling out this dough, it cracks badly near the edges ; after using the cake-cutter gather up the ragged pieces, knead them well together, and roll again. PiVET II.] UNLEAVENED BREAD. Ill These crisps will keep for days in a dry place ; and if heated over in the oven, they will be as brittle and tender as when first baked. Scotch Oat Cakes. In Scotland, the oat meal cake is made and baked as fol- lows : Take oat meal, not too fine, and wet it with water that is nearly or quite boiling. Mix well together, making the dough as smooth as possible, and roll out as in the pre- ceding recipe ; but instead of using the cake-cutter, make one large round cake, and cut it into quarters. Place these on a griddle (the griddle in Scotland is supplied with a bail), and hang it over the fire ; when nicely browned on the under side, lift from the gTiddle, and toast the upper side to an even brown, before the coals. These are essen- tially the same as the oat meal crisps. Oat Meal Bannocks. Pour boiling water over fine oat meal, scalding it thor- oughly, and stir with a spoon to form a batter considerably thicker than for Graham gems ; so thick that it will scarcely drop from the spoon. Then oil a bake-pan, set it on the stove till hot, and pour the batter into it to the depth of about half an inch. Separate the cake into four quarters with a knife, set the pan in an oven moderately hot, and bake from twenty to thirty minutes, without scorching. Mush Eolls.=||= Take any cold mush made of corn meal, Graham or rye flour, oat meal, samp, or farina, and knead into it enough Graham flour to form rather a soft dough ; just stiff enough to handle with plenty of flour. If too much or too little flour is worked in, the bread will not be good. Make into rolls three to four inches long, and nearly an inch thick ; 112 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART IL then bake in a hot oven thirty to forty minutes. This bread is best eaten warm, or not quite cold. Instead of the above mushes, cold rice or cracked wheat can be used. If corn mush is taken, white flour kneaded in makes a very sweet roll ; but the dough must be mixed almost as soft as it can be handled, and then baked in a very hot oven. Wheaten Gems. If hard rolls are the best of all the breads, gems are among the poorest, owing to their soft and rather moist texture ; there is a great difference, however, in the way they are made. Stir into cold water (ice-water is best), enough coarse Graham flour, unsifted, to make a tolerably stiff batter — not thin enough to settle smooth when lifted in the spoon. If the batter is too thin or too thick, the bread will not be light. For ordinary Graham, unsifted, two parts water and three of flour, are about the right proportions. Beat vigorously, and dip into hot gem-pans of cast-iron ; if clean, they need no oiling. Set them on top of the stove until well heated, and fill them not quite even full ; bake in a very hot oven, thuiy to forty minutes. Or if you like more crust, fill only half or tvv^o-thirds full, and bake hardly so long. If properly made and thoroughly well done, the gems will be very light, spongy, and comparatively dry. Feuit Gems. Make a batter as above of unsifted Graham flour, rather coarse, and stir in sweet currants ; then bake as before. The currants should be carefully picked over, and well washed in a colander before using. Instead of these, raisins steamed, or partially stewed in a very little water, and mixed with the batter, are good ; the seedless raisins may be used without steaming. part ii.] unleavened bread. 113 Potato Gems. Take one cup of warm potato, finely mashed, and soften it with a cup of tepid water ; then stir in Graham flour un- sifted, antil a gem-batter is formed. Beat well, drop into hot gem-pans, and bake in a good even oven, thirty to forty minutes. Hygienic Eusk Ceuivibs. Take bits of unleavened wheaten bread, and dry them thoroughly in an oven hot enough to brown slightly, but not to scorch. Then break them in a mortar, and grind in a coffee or hand-mill. Or you may take stale Graham loaf, grate it, brown in the oven, and when brittle roll fine. This is "hygienic rusk crumbs." Serve with fruit juice (some use milk), allowing it to soak a few minutes before it is eaten. Parched wheat may be ground and eaten in the same way. Corn Preparations. It is sometimes asked whether bread made from corn meal is wholesome, and whether the yellow or white meal is best. Com bread is rather hearty in warm weather ; in winter, and moderately cool weather, it may be used even by patients, two or three times a week or oftener, without detriment. As to quality of meal, the corn best fitted for bread is the genuine "flint "; the " dent " corn is so soft in structure, that any bread made from it is apt to be gluey and heavy. This is particularly true of steamed breads. The real " golden," which is made of flint corn of a deep yellow color, and is common in Eastern cities, is very sweet and good. But by far the best meal in our Western markets, both for bread and mush, is that made from the " white flint " corn. A poorer quality, common in the West, is of a pale yellow color ; and a still poorer, which is a bluish white, is not fit for bread. 114 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART IL Or^e great difficulty, both East and "West, is to get corn meal that is not ground too fine ; and usually the better the quality of corn (as white flint or golden), the finer the millers make it. "When ground so very fine, it is next to im- possible to make good " lively " bread from it without the aid of baking-powder, eggs, or fermentation. On the other hand, corn of poorer quality is often ground into meal that is entirely too coarse ; this makes bread that is harsh to the taste, and very irritating to the mucous surfaces of the ali- mentary canal. Corn Dodgee. Mix corn meal with cold water, making a dough stiff enough to handle ; then mould into oval cakes about two inches thick, put these in an oiled pan, and smooth the top with the hand wet in cold water. Bake in a hot oven, forty to fifty minutes. In the olden times, the cakes were wrapped in husks, and baked under the embers. Corn Dodger. Scald the com meal with boiling water, forming a dough or batter as stiff as will drop from the spoon. Spread it an inch thick on an oiled griddle, turn when well browned, and bake on the other side. Bake in all, from twenty to thirty minutes, turning two or three times if necessary. Or you may spread it in an oiled bread-pan, place in a moder- ate oven, and bake forty to fifty minutes, reducing the heat at the last. HoE Cake. Wet the corn meal with cold water, making a dough stiff enough to spread with a knife. Stir thoroughly, spread it on a smooth board wet in cold water, and prop up and bake before the fire ; you will need an open grate, or fire-place. On the Southern plantations, this cake was baked on a broad P.VET II.] UNLEAVENED BREAD. 115 hoe ; lience its name. In the absence of a board you may use an oiled bread-pan, or griddle ; make the cake from half an inch to an inch in thickness. Corn Bread.=|= Take coarse corn meal, scald one-half, and add cold water to mix the rest, forming a dough moderately stiff ; then beat hard. Mould into small oval cakes two or three inches thick, put them in an oiled pan, and bake from forty to fifty minutes. This bread is very good warmed over the next day, by cutting open the cakes, dipping them into cold water, and laying in a hot oven ten to fifteen minutes. Dough mixed in the same way, only a little thinner, can be baked in gem-pans ; have a hot oven, and bake twenty to thirty minutes. Corn Gems.=|= Take a quart of coarse corn meal, scald half of it at night with boiling water, and let it cool to blood heat ; add the other half of the meal, and mix with tepid water, forming a batter as thick as will drop from a spoon. Let it stand in a warm place till morning ; then dip into gem-pans, oiled and hot, and bake in a quick oven thirty minutes. In warm weather the batter should not be mixed at night, as it would sour before morning ; it can be made soon after breakfast, kept in a warm place, and baked for dinner. A handful of Graham flour, added after scalding and cooling, is an improvement. Corn Pone. Make acorn mush, and cook it thoroughly ; while hot, stir into it coarse com meal to form a pretty stiff dough. Then add more meal, and enough cold water to make a dough that you could mould with the hands ; almost too stiff to stir with a spoon , it will soften on standing. Mix thor- 116 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART II. oughly, working out all the lumps of mush or dry meal ; set this in a warm place for several hours, or until the dough begins to swell. Then without working, turn it into a deep round dish, iron or earthen, and well oiled ; smooth it lightly over the top, wetting the hand in cold water, and place in a hot oven. After it begins to brown reduce the heat, and bake two or three hours, according to the size of the loaf. Take particular care that neither the top nor the bottom crust burns. This bread, properly made, is sweet and delicious ; it is good eaten cold or warm. It is also excellent warmed over, as follows : cut it in thick slices, dip these quickly into cold water, and then either steam, or heat them through in the oven. Corn pone is a bread weU known in North Carolina, and other Southern States. In cold weather it is best to mix in the evening, let the dough stand over night, and bake in the morning or fore- noon. Care must be taken, however, that it does not get too warm or stand too long, and sour before baking. In the early days this bread was baked in a deep "Dutch oven " (or bake-kettle), on the hearth before the fire ; the oven was set over a bed of coals, covered with a lid, and coals were put on the latter ; it was turned from time to time, to let the loaf bake on all sides. Steamed Corn Pone. In these days, when bread is no longer baked in iron ovens or bake-kettles, a good way to cook corn pone is to steam it till half or two-thirds done, and then finish by baking. Mix as in the recipe just given ; and when the dough is light and ready for the oven, pour it into a round tin pan, well oiled, set it covered in a steamer, put on the lid, and steam two hours without uncovering. Then take it out, place in a moderate oven, and bake one hour ; do not scorch the crust. part n.] unleavened bread. 117 Good Breakfast Cake. Mix a corn pone as in the last recipe but one, and let it stand in a warm place oyer night; in the morning dip the "batter into hot gem-pans, well oiled, and bake for breakfast. The gems are excellent. Kye and Indian Bread. Take two parts coarse corn meal, and one of unbolted rye ; see that both are fresh and sweet. Scald the corn meal thoroughly, and let it stand until lukewarm ; then stir in the rye meal, until all is well mixed. The dough should be nearly as stiff as you can stir it, with a strong iron spoon ; if too stiff, add a little warm water. After mixing, pour it into a round pan, tin or earthen, and well oiled ; set it in a warm place two or three hours, and then bake. Be- gin with a brisk oven until a thin crust forms ; after this, bake very slowly, from three to four hours. Be careful not to burn the crust in finishing. Instead of rye, coarse Graham flour can be used, or half of each. Tou may steam this bread five or six hours if you like, and then brown it in the oven ten or fifteen minutes ; longer, if you want a good crust Eye, Wheat and Indian.=|= Take two parts coarse corn meal — " flint," if you have it —one of cracked wheat, and one of rye meal ; if rye meal can not be had, take coarse Graham flour instead ; or rye flour may be used, provided the corn meal is very coarse. Scald the cracked wheat well, by itself, then add and scald the corn meal, mixing both together, and forming rather a soft dough ; let the latter cool till lukewarm, and then put in the rye ; this should make the mixture about as stiff as can be stirred with a spoon. If you get it too stiff add a little tepid water, stir well, pour into a round pan well 118 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PAKT H. oiled, and set in a warm place two hours ; then bake (or steam and bake), as in the preceding recipe. Eaisins, sweet currants, dates, or other fruits, may be stirred into the mixt- ure before baking (or steaming), if desired. This, as well as the bread described in the preceding recipe, is excellent baked in a baker's oven, and left in several hours after it is done. It is very good sliced and toasted, when it is one or two days old. Huckleberry Bread. Mix together three cups of rather coarse corn meal, and one and a half cups of middhngs (rye flour will do), and wet with sweet milk, making a batter that will pour readily. Into this mixture stir one full quart of huckleberries ; and if you have the old-fashioned brick oven, such as bakers use, pour the batter into an earthen crock, well oiled, and set it in the oven with the other bread ; do this in the even- ing, and leave it in all night ; or if you bake in the morn- ing, let it remain in the oven several hours. This bread is very good steamed ; let the batter stand in a warm place two hours, then stir the fruit in lightly, and steam two hours and a half ; brown ten minutes in the oven, at the end. Eye and Indian Gems. . Mix two parts rye meal, and one part corn meal ; then wet with cold water, forming a batter that will barely drop from the spoon. Beat very thoroughly until the mixture is creamy, and drop into hot gem-pans of cast-iron, slightl}^ oiled. Fill the pans nearly full (unless they are very deep), and bake in rather a hot oven, thirty to forty minutes. A very fair gem is made of all rye meal, unsifted ; moderate the heat of the oven in finishing, and do not have the gems too thick. paet ii.] leavened and other bkead. 119 Snow Beead. Stir well together in a cold room, two parts of clean dry snow, newly fallen, and one of corn meal ; turn the mixture into a bread-pan, smooth it tiU level, and bake in a very hot oven. The cake before baking, should not be more than two inches thick. LEAVENED AND OTHEE BEEAD. The preceding chapter has told how to make " perfect bread"; the present one gives some of the best methods of making imperfect bread. The question is sometimes asked, " Which is worse for the stomach, yeast or soda ? " Perhaps it is enough to know that both are bad. The yeast — which is said to consist of vegetable infusoria— is the product of a rotting process, leading step by step to actual putrefaction ; and as such, it destroys certain proximate principles in the grains in which it is used. In the early stages of fermentation the sac- charine matter is decomposed, and carbonic acid and alcohol are given ofE ; as it proceeds, the starchy substances are destroyed, and acetous acid or vinegar is formed. Another step in the downward grade destroys the gluten, and brings the later stages of putrefaction or decay. So that yeast bread, however well made, is deprived of a part of its nutrient material ; and poorly made, it is intolerable, even to the taste. Soda, on the other hand, is an inorganic substance, and is used with an acid, forming a third substance, also inorganic, and therefore indigestible ; this remains in the bread, and renders it unwholesome. Bi-carbonate of soda, the salt generally employed in bread-making, is commonly used in connection with tartaric acid — or " cream of tartar," which is a bi-tartrate of potassium. In the reaction that f oUows, 120 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART II. a double tartrate of potassium and sodium is formed ; these salts (wliicli are left in the bread), are nothing more nor less than the " Eochelle Salts," which are used in medicine as a " mild purgative." The carbonic acid that escapes in the process of forming them, is what puffs up the loaf. "When there is not sufficient acid present to combine with the soda, a portion of the latter remains, giving the bread a yellow color, and a very disagreeable, alkaline taste. Pure baking-powder of the best quality, consists of the bi-carbonate of soda, and cream of tartar (tartrate of potas- sium), mixed together. The proportions given by some chemists as the best, are six ounces of the former to sixteen of the latter ; but the usual rule is, one measure of soda to two of cream of tartar. It is safe, however, in actual measurement, not to have too much soda. Bi-carbonate of soda, with lactic acid (sour milk), is considered by some as less objectionable than the ordinary baking-powder, just described. Instead of the cream of tartar, cheaper sub- stances, as alum, acid phosphate of calcium, etc., are fre- quently sold ; and both the acid and alkaline salts (bi- carbonate of soda and cream of tartar), are often largely adulterated with various foreign and injurious substances. It is difficult, therefore, to say which is least harmful, the ^^soda bread," with its indigestible, inorganic salts and adulterations, or the yeast bread, which at best has passed through certain stages of decay. Very much, however, depends upon the management of the yeast, and the bread made with it ; it requires great care to have it just right. If the process of fermentation be not arrested at the proper moment, the bread will be sour or very nearly so, and ex- ceedingly indigestible. Never buy compressed yeast, and on no account brewers' yeast ; if you want first-class bread, your own hop yeast, well made, is infinitely better than either. All brewers' jeasfc hastens the process of fermentation so rapidly, that PART II.] LEAVENED AND OTHER BREAD. 121 most of the sweetness is gone from tlie bread before it can be raised and baked. The following recipe for making yeast, is one of the best ; and the one given after it, is nearly or quite as good. Hop Yeast.=j|= 1 cup grated potato. 1 " white sugar. 4 " salt. 1 tablespoonful ground ginger. 1 pint good hop yeast. 4:-} quarts boiling water. 1 good handful of dry hops. Pour three pints of boiling water into a porcelain kettle, put in the hops, and boil ten minutes ; then cool, and strain through a coarse muslin bag. Put into a separate vessel three quarts of boiling water, and add the grated potato ; the potatoes must be good and sound ; boil three minutes, and strain ; or you may rub through a coarse sieve. Eeturn the potato-water to the kettle (this should be granitized iron or porcelain-lined), and add the hop-liquor, along with the salt and sugar ; heat to boiling, and sJcim ivell ; then boil all together eight minutes. Pour the hot mixture into a stone jar large enough to allow it. to ferment, and stir into it a tablespoonful of ground ginger, moistened with a little warm water. When cooled to lukewarm, add one pint of good yeast left from the previous making, and beat very thoroughly. Let the yeast stand in the kitchen, or in some moderately warm place, twenty-four hours, or until it ceases to send up bubbles ; then put it into a clean stone jug, cork tight, and set it (in warm weather) in the coolest joart of the cellar. Shake well from the bottom, each time before using. In very cold weather, do not let it get chilled. This yeast has been thoroughly tested for years ; it ^\all 6 122 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PAET II. keep six or eiglit weeks, or longer, in a cool place ; and with e^en tolerable management, you need never have sour bread. Always save a pint to start with next time ; if you are starting for the first time, either make the self -working yeast (next recipe but one), and start with that, or else with bakers' yeast, or good hop yeast, which is the same thing. Never use brewers' yeast, as it gives the bread a strong, bitter taste ; and bread raised with it is apt to sour. Hop Yeast. 4 tablespoonfuls grated potato. 2 " white flour. 4 " sugar. 2 " salt. 1 tablespoonful ginger. Mix the above ingredients with cold water, to form a stiff paste. Then put a double handful of hops into two quarts of boiling water, boil ten minutes, cool to lukewarm, and strain out the hops ; pour this water over the paste, stir till the whole is well mixed, and boil three minutes ; when the fluid is cooled to lukewarm, stir in a pint of good yeast, and heat ivell Let it stand in a warm room till it ferments ; then pour into a stone or glass jar, tie a clean cloth over it, and set it in the cellar or other cool place. If you have no suitable place to keep it, make it into cakes, as follows : Stir in fine corn meal, until a stiff dough is formed ; then roll to about a quarter of an inch in thick- ness, and cut into small cakes. Set these in a very moderate oven, or in the sunshine, and when fully dry and cold, tie them in a paper sack to preserve their strength, and hang in a dry place ; they will keep several weeks, in cool weather. PART II.] LEAVENED AND OTHEB BREAD. 123 Self-Working Yeast. In making yeast it is often difficult to get a good article to start with ; in sucli cases a self-working yeast would be of advantage. The following recixoe is from "Common Sense in the Household/' which is good 'authority: 8 potatoes. 2 ounces hops. 4 quarts cold water. 1 lb. fioui\ i lb. white sugar. 1 tablespoonful salt. "Tie the hops in a coarse muslin bag, and boil one hour in four quarts of water. Let it cool to lukewarm before removing the bag. Wet the flour with the tepid hquor — a little at a time — making a smooth paste. Put in the sugar and salt, and beat up the batter three minutes before add- ing the rest of the tea. Set it away for two da^^s in an open bowl covered with a thin cloth, in a closet which is mod- erately and evenly warm. " On the third day, peel, boil and mash the potatoes, and when entirely free from lumps and specks, stir in gradually the thickened hop-liquor. Let it stand twelve hours longer in the bowl, stirring often, and keeping it in the warm kitchen. Then bottle, or put away in corked jars, which must be perfectly sweet, and freshly scalded. This will keep a month, in a cool cellar. It is more troublesome to make than other kinds of yeast, but it needs no other ^ rising * to excite fermentation, and remains good longer than that made in the usual way." Leavened Graham Bread, — (General Directions,) To the inexperienced housewife, the following directions for making Graham bread with yeast, will be convenient for 124 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PAET II. reference. Though the best of rules may fail, without that rare counterpart, known as good management 1. See that the yeast is good, and the flour the same. 2. If you like moist bread, scald a cup or part of a cup of flour, and cool to blood heat ; then add warm water, the yeast, and just enough flour to form a batter that will drop (not pour) from the spoon. 3. If bread rather dry and flaky is preferred, omit the scalding, and make the sponge a little thinner ; thin enough to pour from the spoon, but not too easily. 4. You may use for the sponge, either Graham or white flour, sifted ; most persons prefer the white, perhaps from the fact that ordinary Graham is inferior in quality, and the sponge made of it apter to sour. Mix with water not warmer than blood heat, add the yeast, and beat till you have a smooth batter ; you may allow of good hop yeast, about half a cup to a quart of water. 5. Set the sponge in a warm place to rise, and do not let it get too light ; in summer, you can leave it on the kitchen table. In winter, it is better to set it on the tank of hot water at the back of the stove — or if you have a range, place on the shelf above it. 6. Mix the bread as soon as the sponge is ready ; many a batch has been spoiled, through neglect of this rule. Wheai the batter begins to send up little bubbles, the fermentation has commenced ; and by the time the whole mass looks light, and rather foamy, proceed to mix. 7. In cold weather warm the flour a little, before you make the bread ; and if ordinary Graham is used, sift it ; best Akron is fine enough without. 8. Use for wetting, simply the sponge — no water. And for moist bread (which has the stiffer sponge, with scalded flour in it), mix very soft ; entirely too soft for kneading. Simply work the mass well with the hands (in the tray), till it is thorouglily mixed ; then scrape the dough from your PART n.] / LEAVENED AND OTHER BREAD. 125 fingers with a knife, and smooth off the top. Now sprinkle lightly with flour, cover with several folds of old table-linen^ and set in a warm place to rise ; it may take several hours, or over night. When risen, the dough will have stiffened somewhat ; then knead ten to fifteen minptes (according to quantity), working in very little floui*. 9. But for bread that is rather dry and flaky, mix the dough (with a sponge that will just pou-r) considerably stiff er ; stiff enough to leave the sides of the tray ; then lift to the bread-board, and knead vigorously about fifteen minutes. When worked enough, the dough becomes elastic ; if you give it a poke with the finger, or with your closed fist, it will rise or spring up when the pressure is removed. Then return it to the tray — over the bottom of which you have sprinkled a little flour — cover, and set to rise. 10. Always mix in a warm room, so as not to chill the bread ; in very cold weather, you may protect it from draughts of air by covering with several folds of thick flannel, kept for the purpose. 11. When the weather is cool or cold, make the sponge m the afternoon or evening, and mix the bread before bed- time. Next morning knead, and form into loaves, then set to rise, and bake. 12. In very warm weather, make the sponge in the morn- ing ; this enables you to mix, set to rise, mould, and finally bake, all in the daytime ; whereas, the dough would almost certainly sour, if it had to stand over night. 13. Do not let the bread get too light, in either the first or second rising ; when it has doubled in volume, it is just about ready for moulding or baking. 14. Allow sufficient time for the fermentation ; do not hasten or force it, by keeping either the sponge or bread too warm ; neither must you let it chill before fermentation begins. 15. Mould into small loaves, having a pan for each ; this 126 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART II. favors thorough baking ; it also gives more crusty which is the sweetest part of the bread. 16. Have a good even oven, and not too hot in the outset ; the heat should permeate the loaf gradually, gi^iiig it time to swell a little before the crust forms. 17. You must aUow a longer time for baking Graham bread than you would for white ; forty to fifty minutes for small loaves, and about an hour for large ones. 18. Have the oven a little hotter for Graham than for white bread ; moderate the heat toward the last, and finish without the slightest approach to scorching ; the crust should be a good chestnut brown, neither too thick nor too thin. 19. When taken from the oven turn the loaves out of the pans, and lean them up endwise against something till cold ; then wrap in clean old linen, and put into the bread- box, also clean. 20. The next day (or several hours after baking), cut in even slices, not too thick, and the last thing before sending to the table. Do not leave the cut loaf standing, to dry out ; either wrap in a clean cloth, or lay it back in the box. Briefly stated, leavened Graham bread differs from white in the following particulars : it requires less kneading by about one-half ; it takes a little longer time for baking, and rather a hotter fire ; and — for moist bread — it is mixed as soft as it can be handled. In other respects the manage- ment is essentially the same, either for Graham or white bread. The best pans for baking loaf or other bread, are made with closely fitting covers or lids, which confine the heated air about the bread; and prevent its sweetness from being lost in the exhaled vapors. These pans may be made of tin or sheet-iron, with a cover of the same material. The bread that our grandmothers baked in the old-fashioned oven or bake-kettle, owed its superior sweetness to the fact I'ABT II. J LEAVENED AND OTHEB BESAD. 127 that the loaf was placed in a confined atmosphere. If bread is baked in open pans, the big brick (or stone) oven which bakers use, is best ; it takes in a great many loaves at once, and confines the heated air about them. But as private families can not all be supplied with bakers' ovens, there is no way but to use the ordinary cook-stove. Leavened Geaham Bkead.=|= Make a sponge by taking three pints of warm water, two- thirds of a cup of yeast, and enough white flour to thicken. Have the water no warmer than blood heat ; then stir in part of the flour, add the yeast, and enough more flour to make a batter that will pour from the spoon, but not too readily. Beat till smooth, and then set to rise in a warm place. In all but the very hottest weather make the sponge in the afternoon, say between four and five o'clock, or in time to mix the bread before bed-time ; if the yeast and flour are good, and the temperature just right, the sponge should be light enough in three hours, or less time. When ready, sift into the mixing bowl — a clean wooden tray, if you have it — three quarts of Graham flour, or enough to form a dough that you can mould ; if best Akron is used, omit the sifting. Before you begin to mix, dip out a pint of the flour to work in at the last, if needed ; then make a well in the center of the remainder, pour in the sponge, and gradually mix in the flour, being careful not to get the dough too soft, nor yet very stiff. As soon as it wiU leave the sides of the tray, lift to a bread-board and knead thoroughly from ten to fifteen minutes ; then sprinkle a Kttle flour over the bottom of the tray, and lay in the kneaded bread ; cover with several folds of old linen, and leave on the kitchen table, or in some other moderately warm place, to rise over night. In the coldest weather, warm the flour a httle before you mix ; and when you set 128 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [^AKT 11. the bread to rise, it may be well to throw a folded blanket over it ; or you may carry it to the furnace room, after the fire is low. Next morning, the bread having risen to twice its first volume, is waiting a second kneading. If this can not be done immediately, you will have to set it in a cold room, lest it get too light ; and bread that has risen overmuch is never sweet. The only really mfe rule, is to knead a^ soon as the batch is ready ; ten minutes' light kneading will be long enough. Mould into small loaves (this amount of dough will make five or six), put them into separate pans, cover, and set in a warm place ; in half an hour, or when they have risen to double their former size, place in a very moderate oven ; do not forget this last item, as the bread should swell a httle before its surface hardens. Follow with a steady heat — rather hotter than for white bread — and bake from forty to fifty minutes ; larger loaves would require about an hour ; reduce the heat toward the last, and finish with an evenly browned crust, not the least bit scorched. If on removing from the oven, any of the loaves are not firm to the touch and well browned, top, sides and bottom, they must be set back a few minutes, for further baking. As soon as done, stand each loaf endwise, leaning against a stone jar or other upright object, on the kitchen table ; this will admit the air on all sides, leaving the crust dry and brittle, not soft and tough. When thoroughly cold wrap in a clean cloth, and lay in the bread-box ; cut the next day. After the bread is two or three days old, you may slice and toast it ; or cut it a little thicker, dip quickly into cold water, and crisp in a hot oven. Very good bread is made — and many like it for a change — ^by working into the above sponge equal parts Graham and white flour ; then knead, set to rise, mould into ioaves, and when risen again, bake as before. The bread h a pale buff color, and very sweet and good. Or you maj use all PART II.] LEAVENED AND OTHER BREAD. 129 Graham, both for sponge and mixing, and make in other respects the same ; many prefer it to the above bread. Leavened Graham Bread. — (Softer,)-^ 1 quart boiling water. 1 cup good hop yeast. 1 " sifted white flour for scalding. 4| cups " " " " thickening. 6 " " Graham " " mixing. The bread made according to the last recipe is light, dry and flaky ; that described in the present one is more moist, but light, sweet and good. Some prefer one, some the other. In the afternoon, say four or five o'clock, make the sponge ; scald the cup of white flour by pouring over it the quart of boihng water, and stirring well to remove lumps. When cooled to lukewarm, thicken with the rest of the white flour (sifted), add the half cup of yeast, and beat to a smooth batter, thick enough to drop from the spoon. Set this where it will keep warm ; when risen, which should be in two or three hours, sift the Graham flour into the tray ; or if you have best Akron (Graham flour from white wheat), simply stir it up lightly, without sifting. In very cold weather, warm the flour slightly before beginning to mix ; dip out a cupful to work in as it is needed, then make a well in the rest of it, and pour in the sponge. Mix as soft as possible, working with both hands till the flour and sponge are thoroughly incorporated, and a plastic dough is formed — entirely too soft to lift from the tray. Then remove with a knife what adheres to the fingers, sprinkle the surface lightly with flour, and cover with several thicknesses of old table-linen. You may leave the tray on the kitchen table, or in some other warm place. If the yeast is good, the bread can be made as early as seven or eight o'clock ; though 130 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART II. in pretty warm weather it is better to set the sponge later, and mix the last thing before bed-time. Next morning you will find the bread increased in vol- ume, and also considerably stiffer in texture ; so much so that you can readily lift it from the tray to the moulding- board. Give it ten minutes' thorough kneading — a little longer for a larger batch — using very little flour ; then mould into four or five loaves, put in separate pans, cover, and set to rise. "When light enough, bake ; a few moments' delay will spoil the bread. The oven must be moderate in the start, allowing the loaves to swell a little before they commence to brown ; if baked too fast at first, they will be doughy in the middle. Continue with an even heat, slack- ening it toward the last, so as not to scorch in finishing ; the bread should be done in from forty to fifty minutes, though larger loaves (which are never quite as good) re- quire an hour. Have the crust an even brown, and not too thick. When taken from the pans, stand the loaves endwise till cold ; then wrap in clean cloths, and put away. In very warm weather, the bread is in danger of souring if it stands over night ; to avoid this, set the sponge in the morning, and get through with the intermediate processes in time to bake the same day. Leavened Geaham Bread. The following recipe is from a lady who is an excellent bread-maker : Over two tablespoonfuls of white flour pour a pint of boiling water ; then pour in cold water until it is lukewarm. Stir in white flour to form a batter that will pour (not drop) from the spoon, put in half a cup of good yeast, and beat well. Set this to rise over night, and in the morning stir in another pint of white flour, beating very thoroughly ; let it stand in a warm place till it begins to send up bubbles. PABT n.] LEAVENED AND OTHER BREAD. 131 Then take enongli sifted Graliam flour to mix with the sponge, and form a dough not very stiff ; knead till it looks and feels smooth and silky, and set it to rise. When light enough knead very Httle, form into loaves, and put them into the pans. As soon as they have risen sufficiently (if too light the bread will not be sweet), set in a moderate oven, and bake till done ; they will require fuUy an hour, if the loaves are of ordinary size. When taken out do not set them flat on the table, but place endwise, leaning against something until cold. Cut the day after baking. Graham Bread with Potato Sponge. Peel four or five potatoes, drop into a quart of boiling water, and cook tiU soft ; then lift them out, mash till free from lumps, and add the water (hot) in which they boiled, mixing well together. Stir into this enough sifted white flour to make rather a thin batter, and beat weU to remove the lumps. Let it stand till lukewarm, and then add half a cup of good hop yeast, and one pint of tepid water ; thicken with white flour to form a batter about as stiff as wiU pour from the spoon, and beat very thoroughly. Set this sponge where it will keep' warm without scalding ; when light, sift into the bread-bowl equal parts Graham and white flour, say three pints of each, and make a well in the center. Now add the sponge, mixing as you pour, and forming a dough stiff enough to leave the sides of the bowl. Knead thoroughly, till the dough is elastic to the touch, vv^hich will take perhaps fifteen minutes ; then set it to rise, covering wen, and leaving it in a warm place. As soon as risen form into small loaves, knead moderately, and set where they wiU keep warm. When light enough bake in a good even OTen, nearly an hour. Do not cut the bread till it is one day old. This, and indeed all loaf bread, is better baked in a brick oven, such as bakers use ; and it is sweeter if put in pans (tin or iron) with closely-fitting covers. The pans may 132 HKVLTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PAKT II. be made in any shape desired ; the best perhaps are circular, and widening toward the top, like an earthen flower-pot. Eaisin Bread. Pick, wash and seed the raisins, a full pint for an ordi- nary loaf ; put them in a small, covered vessel, and set the latter into a larger one containing boiling water ; cover this also, and place over the fire. Let the raisins steam half or three-quarters of an hour ; the water that adheres from washing, is sufficient to steam them. Mix and knead the bread, as in either of the preceding recipes ; when ready to mould work the raisins in evenly, and set it to rise in single loaf tins. Bake an hour, or till well done, and eat the next day. Bread from "Eisings." Leavened bread is often made without hops, as follows : Lito one pint of water at scarcely more than blood heat, stir white flour to form rather a stiff batter, and beat well ; our mothers added a little salt, but there is no need of it. Make this sponge early in the morning, and set it where it will keep at an even temperature, about blood heat ; it will take five or six hours for it to rise. Beat several times the first three hours — ^not afterward ; and when the sponge is ready, mix immediately ; " delay is dangerous," particularly in making bread from "risings." Sift into your tray three quarts of Graham flour — or part Graham — make a well in it, pour in the sponge, and add warm water (not hot) to form rather a soft dough. Knead but little and very lightly, and mould into loaves not too large. Set these to rise in a warm place, and when light enough, bake in a moderate oven about an hour ; if made chiefly of white flour, a little less time will suffice. This bread requires promptness at every step, or it will not be good ; if either the sponge or the dough stands after it is risen, the bread loses its sweetness. PAET n.] LEAVENED AND OTHER BRK\D. 133 Bread from "Risings." The following recipe for bread from "risings," comes well recommended : Scald one cup of fresh com meal and thin it with cold water, making the mixture about blood heat. Stir into this one cup of white flour, or enough to make a batter that will run from the spoon ; beat thoroughly. Then set it in an earthen crock, containing water that can be comfortably borne with the hand ; not hot enough to scald the sponge. Keep it in a warm place three hours, or until water rises on top ; then stir in more white flour, enough to stiffen the batter to the first consistency. Let it remain in the crock of warm water until risen to a light sponge, though not too light. After it is fairly up, put into the mixing-bowl four or five pints of sifted Graham flour, pour in the risings, and work into a very soft dough, without kneading. Handle only enough to mix all well together ; then make into rather smaU loaves, and set in a warm place to rise ; when light enough, bake in a good even oven, nearly or quite an hour. If preferred, use part white flour for mixing. Another recipe, from a good bread-maker, is as follows : Scald tv/o tablespoonfuls of corn meal, let it cool a little, and then pour in a pint of water scarcely warmer than new milk. Thicken with white flour till the mixture is stiff enough to drop (not pour) from the spoon ; set this sponge in a crock of warm water, kept steadily at blood heat ; stir now and then, till it begins to send up bubbles ; and when it has risen, say two inches, mix the bread. To do this, scald a portion of the flour (Graham), and let it cool to lukewarm ; then mix with the sponge, forming a pretty soft dough, and knead lightly and quickly till smooth ; the dough must not get chilled. Mould at once into loaves, set in a warm place to rise, and as soon as they are light enough, bake. 134 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PABT H. In making bread from " risings " always set the sponge very early in the morning, in order to finish the baking in good season. Batter Loaf Bread. Make the ordinary sponge with tepid water, yeast and flour, using half Graham and half white ; set this in a warm place. As soon as risen add sifted Graham flour, mixing with a spoon till a thick batter is formed ; too thick to drop from the spoon. Beat till there are no lumps, then pour into small bread-pans, well oiled, smooth the top with a knife, and set to rise ; when sufficiently light, bake in rather a hot oven about fifty minutes. Another. — Make the same as before^ using the Lockport flour both for sponge and mixing ; the bread is very sweet and Hght, but pretty moist. Eye Bread. Make the same as Leavened Graham Bread, using white flour for the sponge, and either rye flour or sifted rye meal for mixing. Or a better way, as the bread is not so apt to be sticky, is to mix with half rye meal, and the rest sifted Graham flour. Knead lightly, and not too long. A very sweet rye bread is made as follov/s : Make the sponge with tepid water tod rye flour, and set it in a warm place to rise ; as soon as light mix with rye meal or flour, to form rather a soft dough. Knead as little as possible, and mould into small loaves. Set these where they will keep warm, and when light enough bake in a moderate oven one hour. This is rye bread from " risings "; the flour must be fresh. A handful of good Graham mixed with it, is an im- provement. Cut the day after the bread is baked. Eye Flour Bread. 1 pint warm water. 3 cups rye flour — or enough for a smooth batter. \ cup good hop yeast. PAET n.] LEAVENED AND OTHEE BREAD. 135 Make the sponge with the above, and set it in a warm place to rise ; it should be hght in from two to three hours, if the yeast is good,, When risen, put into the bread- bowl one cup of corn meal and three cups of rye floui^, mixed together ; or enough to form a dough that will knead without sticking to the moulding-board, llix with the sponge, kneading lightly and very Httle ; scarcely more than enough to hold the mass well together, or the bread will be sticky ; you may in cool weather, set this to rise over night. In the morning mould into loaves (small ones are better than large), let them rise twenty to thirty minutes, or till sufficiently light, and bake in an even oven about an hour. Potato Biscuits. 2 cups * new milk. 1 cup good hop yeast. 2 cups mashed potato — ^hot. Flour for sponge and dough. Time^(for baking), 20 to 30 minutes. Heat the milk to a boil, stir in the mashed potato, and cool to blood heat. Then strain through a colander to re- move the lumps, add the yeast, and stir in enough white flour to form a batter that wiU pour from the spoon. Set this to rise in a warm place ; it should be ready in two or three hours. In cool weather you may set the sponge over night, and make the bread in the morning. When light, mix with Graham flour, or haK Graham and half white, forming a tolerably stiff dough ; knead very thoroughly, and set in a warm place tiU risen. Then roll half to three- quarters of an inch in thickness, cut in small round cakes, and let them rise fifteen or twenty minutes, or tiU sufficiently hght ^ A " cup " is half a pint. 136 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART U. Bake in a quick oven. You can take water for the sponge, if desired ; but the bread will require longer kneading. Or a plain rusk may be made in this way : Before mixing, add to the above sponge a little sugar finely rolled, and a beaten egg ; then proceed as before, not forgetting to knead well. Stale Beead. Cut the loaf in thick slices, dip these quickly into cold water, and lay in a hot oven ten to fifteen minutes ; long enough to heat through thoroughly. The outside should be crisp, but not scorched, and the inside light and dry. Bread warmed over in this way, is very good. Dry Toast. Take bread that is two or three days old, but not mouldy ; cut it in rather thin shces, and toast evenly before or over the coals. Do not hurry the process. Toast that is merely scorched on its surfaces, and underdone between them, is not fit for the table ; both sides should be an even brown, the bread dry and crisp, but tender enough to be easily broken. If rather fresh, lay the slices on the oven grate a few moments, and dry slightly before toasting ; or, you may dry each surface, holding the slice on the fork before the coals, and brown afterward. A very delicate toast is made as follows : Cut the slices nearly half an inch thick, from bread that is two or three days old. Toast with a fork very evenly, and not too slowly ; when one side begins to tinge turn the other, to keep the slice from warping. Graduate the heat and repeat the turnings, in such a way that each surface shall be an even brown, with a very thin layer of soft bread between. Good home-made Graham loaf, toasted in this way, is excellent. The moment they are ready, serve the slices separately on a plate, as they are apt to sweat and become clammy, if piled one upon another. part ii.] leavened and other bread. 137 Mush Gems. Make at night a thick gniel, by stirring corn meal into a quart of boiling water ; let it cook twenty-five or thirty minutes. Cool to lukewarm, then thicken with Graham floui^ unsifted, until a batter is formed almost too stiff to drop from the spoon. Stir into this a spoonful of sweet fluid yeast, and leave it (in winter) in a warm room till morning. Then without stirring the batter, dip it into hot gem-pans, slightly oiled ; fill about two-thirds full, and bake forty minutes in a pretty hot oven. This bread is a great favorite with many. Mush Biscuits.=|= Take hot corn meal mush, and stir in either Graham or white flour till it is quite stiff ; add cold water until the mixture is cooled to blood heat. Then stir in two or three tablespoonfuls of fluid yeast, then more flour, forming a tolerably stiff dough ; knead well, and set it to rise over night. In the morning mould into small cakes or biscuits, oil the edges to keep them from running together, and set to rise a second time. When light, bake in a good even oven till well done. Corn Cae:es.=|= The cakes described below, though not strictly hygienic, are quite plain and very much liked ; the first named is a great favorite. You must measure the milk before using it. Stir into white flint corn meal — or the yellow flint, if white can not be had — enough boiling water to moisten (or half scald) the whole mass ; stir constantly, while you are pouring in the water. Let the mixture stand a moment, to give time for the meal to swell. Then pour in a little sour milk, and with a spoon mash all the lumps of partly scalded meal; add enough more milk to make a batter 138 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART IL almost too stiff to pour, and beat very hard. Stir in soda to sweeten, first dissolving it in a little boiling water, and using a level teaspoonful to a pint of sour milk : then beat thoroughly ; pour immediately into an oiled bread-pan, smooth the top with a spoon, and bake in a quick oven twenty minutes. The cake must be scarcely more than half an inch thick, and must have a good crust, top and bottom. Success in making it, depends upon the proper amount of scalding, the thorough beating, quick handling, and hot oven. An excellent cake made with very little milk, is prepared in this way : Partly scald the meal (flint, if you can get it) with boiling water, the same as in the preceding ; then mash the lumps, and stir in sweet or sour milk — ^if sour, a pinch of soda to sweeten — till you form a dough pretty nearly as stiff as you can spread with a spoon. Beat till you are tired, then spread half or three-quarters of an inch thick over the bottom of an oiled bread-pan, and bake in a good oven, all of forty minutes; the two crusts must be weU browned. Still another method, very good, is the following : Into a quart of corn meal — white flint, if you have it — pour a pint of boiling water, stirring well ; add sour milk to form a dough barely stiff enough to handle ; buttermilk moderately sour, is best. Then add a level teaspoonful of soda finely pulverized, beat till light, and mould into small oval cakes by tossing the dough over and over in the hands. Place them so as not to touch each other in the pan, and bake in a hot oven thirty to forty minutes. A handful of Graham flour added with the milk, improves the bread. Pumpkin Bread. Stew pumpkin till it is soft, and rather dry ; then stir a cupful of it into a cup of sweet milk, and thicken with corn meal till a dough is formed stiff enough to mould with PAP.T n.] LEAVENED AND OTHER BREAD. 139 the hands. Make into small oval cakes about two inches thick, and bake in a hot oven. Corn Gems with Eggs. Wet a pint and a half of coarse com meal with cold water, making a batter almost too stiff to drop from the spoon ; let it stand over night, if the weather is not too warm. In the morning stir in an egg, and beat well ; add half a teaspoonfnl of soda dissolved in boiling water, and stir again very thoroughly. Dip into hot gem-pans, pre- viously oiled, and bake thirty minutes in a quick oven. Hasty Corn Bread. Into a pint of com meal pour boiling water, to scald about half of it ; take for this purpose the water in which green corn has been boiled, if you have it. Add a handful of Graham flour, and enough sour milk to make a batter that win drop readily from the spoon ; mash the lumps well, as you add the milk. Then pulverize a teaspoonful of soda, add it to the mixture, and beat hard ; drop the cakes on a hot griddle previously oiled, and bake, allowing them to brown nicely on both sides. They should be less than half an inch thick, when done. Buckwheat Shortcake. Buckwheat flour not too finely ground, is sometimes mixed in a batter with milk or water, and baked as plain gems or drop cakes. It is also made into " shortcake,'^ according to the following recipe : 2 cups sour milk — or cream. 1 teaspoonful soda, dissolved in boiling water. Flour to make rather a stiff batter — as for wheaten gems. Time — 25 to 30 minutes. Mix and bake in shallow gem-pans, forming a good crust ; 140 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART H. haye rather a quick oven, but not so hot as to blister the tops. The cakes are sweet and crisp, if well baked. If you have not sour milk use sweet, adding, if you choose, two teaspoonf uls of baking-powder ; if the powder is omitted, stir in a good tablespoonful of coarse corn meal. Ceeam Biscuits.=4= 3 cups sifted Graham flour— or best Akron unsifted, if you have it. 3 cups sifted white flour, the coarser brands. 2 cups new milk — or half cream and half milk. 1 teaspoonful"^ soda, finely pulverized. 2 teaspoonfuls cream-tartar. I Time — 15 to 20 minutes. Mix the Graham and. white flour together ; then, having pulverized the soda as finely as possible with a knife, add the cream of tartar to it ; stir these well through the flour, and sift at least twice. Wet with the milk or cream, and mix with the finger-tips, forming rather a firm dough ; you must pour slowly and stir fast — the same as in mixing pastry ; if the cream is poured in so rapidly, or the stirring done so slowly as to form little puddles in the flour, the biscuits will be tough. Mix very lightly, using only pres- sure enough to make the dough adhere ; get it together without kneading, and roll to a little less than a quarter of an inch in thickness ; prick well with a fork, and then use the cake-cutter. The cakes should be smooth, with no dry flour sticking to the surface. Place in a hot oven, and bake evenly fifteen to twenty minutes, or till well browned, top and bottom. Thick sour cream may be used, in place of sweet, but it must be well stirred before mixing ; and in- ■^ A " teaspoonful " of soda, or cream of tartar, is the spoon filled no more tha,n level ; baking-powder is so adulterated with starch or flour, that it is Dccessar}', in using it, to heap the measure. PART n.] LEAVENED AND OTHER BREAD. 141 stead of soda and cream of tartar, take only the former ; a teaspoonf 111 will be enough. This bread, properly made, is nearly all crust ; it is very good split apart, and fruit spread on it. If the ordinary Graham flour made of red wheat is used, one part sifted Graham and two of white flour, are the best proportions. Currant Scone.=|= 2 cups sifted Graham flour. 2 " " white 11 " thin sweet cream — part milk will do. 11 " sweet currants, picked, washed and drained, 1^ teaspoonful soda, finely pulverized. » 1|- teaspoonfuls cream-tartar. Time — 30 to 40 minutes, according to thickness. Stir together the Graham and white flour, add the soda (pulverized) and the cream of tartar, and sift two or three times. Then stir in the currants, and wet with the cream to make a tolerably stiff dough ; knead as little as possible ; gather the mass up hghtly, till it will stick together, and roll to the thickness of half or three-quarters of an inch ; there should be no dry flour adhering to the cake. Prick deeply with a fork, or draw shallow lines across the top with a knife, forming diamond creases ; then bake in a moderate oven, thirty to forty minutes. It should be nicely browned, top and bottom, and so evenly and thoroughly baked as to be dry and porous throughout. It is very good made of all Graham flour. When cold, cut in regular pieces, and serve as a cake dessert ; it is not so good the day after it is baked. It is best eaten with tart fruit (as canned cherries), or with gooseberry or grape juice ; and the children Hke it crumbed into grape or other fruit juice, to eat like bread and milk. 142 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PABT 11. The Scotch people make this cake of white flour (mixing a little softer), and bake it on a griddle over the fire ; when one side is sufficiently browned, they turn and brown the other. They also make a plain cake, leaving out the cur- rants, and bake it in the same way. If sour cream is used for mixing, omit the cream of tartar. "^ Potato Scone. Pare and boil good mealy potatoes, drain off the water and mash fine, leaving no lumps. Then mix together equal parts of Graham and white flour, sifted, and take out a handful for kneading. Into a quart of the mixture, stir two-thirds of a teaspoonful of soda finely pulverized with a knife, and sift at least twice. When this is done add a pint of the mashed potato, rub it well through the flour, and mix with sour milk, forming rather a firm dough ; then roll out and bake, as in the preceding recipe. If sweet milk is used, add to the soda one and a half teaspoonfuls of creajn of tartar, and mix and sift as before. PLAIN FEUIT CAKES. Strav^tberry Shortcake. =1= 3 cups sifted Graham flour. 3 " " white 2 " sweet cream. 1 teaspoonful soda, finely pulverized. 2 teaspoonfuls cream-tartar. 4 to 6 quarts strawbenies. Time — 30 to 40 minutes. If the berries require it, wash qidcJdy in a colander ; do this an hour before they are wanted ; and if not perfectly ripe, sprinkle a little sugar over them to start the juice. When large and firm, or a trifle underripe, a little chopping PART n.] PLAIN FRUIT CAKES. 143 witli a knife — a silver one, if you have it — is an improve- ment. IVIix the cake as for cream biscuits, akeady given, sifting the soda and cream of tartar several times through the flour. KoU to the thickness of half an inch, prick well with a fork, and bake in a moderate oven thirty to forty minutes. For weak stomachs make the cake still thinner, rolling not more than a third of an inch thick. "When done remove from the oven, and lean edgewise to cool, till you can handle it comfortably; spht carefully in halves by first dividing the crust (at its edge) with a knife, and then taking a fork and separating the cake as nearly through the middle as pos- sible. Lay these each on a plate, crust downward, and put on the prepared fruit ; then lay one half on top of the other, and after it stands half an houi^ serve. The above quantity of flour will make three cakes, the size of a tea-plate ; these will require from four to six quarts of unchopped berries ; if ripe and sound, fewer will be needed. It is best in spreading the fruit, not to drench the cake with it ; but to leave out a bowKul of the berries, and pass as you seiTc ; no other sauce is needed. If your family is small, take half the proportions here given for the cake, and half the quantity of fruit. Should you have the ordinary Graham flour made from red wheat, take less of it by half a cup, and mix with it three and a half cups of the white flour. If baking-powder is used, it will require three teaspoonfuls, heaping. Instead of strawberries, you may take huckleberries, red or black raspberries, or cherries ; the latter must be seeded, and stewed in a very little water with a trifle of sugar. Huckleberry Shortcake. Mix the paste as in the last recipe, and roU into two sheets, each a quarter of an inch thick ; line a pie-pan with one of these, and fill with the berries, sprinkling lightly IM HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PAET H. with sugar. Then lay on the other crust, trim off the edges with a knife, and press firmly together. Bake from thirty to thirty-five minutes in a moderate oven, cool to lukewarm, and serve without a dressing. Or, you may make the same as strawberry shortcake, which is a better way. Steawbeery Gem-Cake. Take equal parts of cream and milk (or cream and water), and thicken with Graham and white flour, half of each, making a batter nearly as stiff as will drop from the spoon ; dip into hot gem-pans, well oiled, and bake thirty to forty minutes, or until thoroughly done. When half cold, split the gems through the middle by separating each with a fork, place the halves on plates, crust downward, and put on a layer of strawberries prepared as for shortcake. Easp- berries, cherries, or gooseberries just beginning to ripen, may be stewed, moderately sweetened, and served in the same way. Or you may use red or black raspberries with- out cooking ; simply sprinkle with a little sugar, and partly - crush them before spreading. - Geaham Feuit Koll. — (Excellent)-^ 2^ cups sifted Graham flour. 3 " " white 1 cup raisins, seeded and chopped. 1 " currants, picked, washed and dried. 2 cups sweet cream. 1 teaspoonful soda, finely pulverized. 2 teaspoonfuls cream-tartar, sifted through the flour. Time — one hour. Turn the Graham and white flour together, stir in the soda and cream of tartar, and sift two or three times. Wet with the cream, mixing lightly, and roll in two oblong sheets, each a quarter of an inch thick. Cover with the PAET n.] STEAMED GBAINS. 145 raisins and currants mixed, and then roll up closely, pincli- ing the ends of the folded roll firmly together, to secure the fruit. The roll must not be more than three and a half to four inches in thickness. Bake in a moderate oven, one hour; when cold, cut in round slices, and serve. Dates carefully picked, seeded and chopped, or figs thinly sliced, may be used instead of either raisins or currants, or in combination with them ; but the fruit named in the recipe is best. STEAMED GEAINS. The table below" gives the proportions of grain and water by measurement, and the time required for cooking in a closed steamer. (A closed steamer is one that admits the steam through ^i^es in the side or elsewhere, and not through holes in the bottom.) Some Hke these grains cooked quite dry, and others prefer them very moist ; if the proportions here given do not suit the taste, it will be an easy matter to correct them, after a single trial. In steaming, always keep the water at a fast boil ; and dish the very moment you Hft the steamer from the fire, else the water will collect. Grain. Water. Time. Eice 1 cup 3 J cups f hour. Cracked wheat 1 " 4J Rolled or pearl wheat. ... 1 ^' 4 Pearl barley 1 '' 3 Rolled or crushed barley. 1 '* 3 Coarse hominy 1 " 4 Fine " 1 '' Samp 1 " 4J Oatmeal 1 " 4 " groats 1 " 4 Rolled oats.... 1 '' 4 ^ 3 hours. 3 H 3 4 4 n 2 3 2 If you have not a steamer, cook the above grains in a farina-kettle, which is a double boiler or one vessel within another, the outer one containing water that is boiling. 7 146 HEA.LTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART II. Grains cooked in this kettle (or in a covered tin bucket set in a pot of boiling water), require a longer time by about one-third, than if done in a closed steamer ; hominy and pearl barley, for instance, would need all of five hours. The time can be shortened, however, by soaking (covered) over night, and cooking in the same water ; if soaked, they will steam in a farina-kettle in about the same time as that given in the table. But the flavor is rather better if the soaking is dispensed with. These grains are sometimes cooked in a stone or earthen crock, or even in an iron pot, on the back of the stove ; the fire must be slow, or t]jey will scorch. Cracked "Wheat. 4= Cracked or crushed wheat was originally what the name imphes, viz., the grain crushed, or cracked partly open. But now that each kernel is first dressed or cleaned (pearled), and then cut into two or more pieces, some other name, as " wheaten grits," seems more appropriate ; and this is what the preparation is called, in Eastern cities. To cook it, put it into a steamer and add cold water, taking four and a half parts water to one of grain ; cover, and cook without stir- ring, three houi^s. In the absence of a steamer, or a double boiler, put the wheat and water into a tin bucket, fit' on its lid, and set it in a kettle of boiling water, also covered. Care must be taken to allow the grain room to swell. In summer you may pour it into a mould or oval dish, and serve cold. Easpberries, or other small fruits, stewed, make a good dressing. Rolled Wheat. This is cooked the same as cracked wheat, the propor- tions being one of grain to four and a half of cold water ; or, if liked dry, one to four ; time, three hours. Serve the same as cracked wheat. paet n.] steamed grains. 147 Rolled or Crushed Barley. Allow one part grain and three parts water, hot or cold ; then steam the same as the last, only hardly so long ; three hours would be sufficient. On finishing, some stii' in a spoonful or two of cream. ^ Pearl Whkat.=|j= Put into a closed steamer one cup of pearl wheat and four cups of hot or cold water, and cook three hours. Or, if preferred, soak it over night in cold water (same quan- tity), keeping the vessel closely covered ; then steam in the water in which it soaked, and allow about two hours. Pearl Barley.=j[= This requires less water for cooking than the other grains. Start in hot or cold, allowing three cups of water to one of barley, and cook in a closed steamer three hours and a half. Or you may soak over night, as in the last recipe, which would shorten the time nearly an hour. If you have not a steamer, cook in a farina-kettle, allow- ing room to swell ; or in a covered tin bucket set in a pot of boiling water. If cooked in either of these, it wiU re- quire four or five hours to make the grain tender ; less, if it has been soaked. A very little cream stirred in at the last, is thought to be an improvement to this grain. Hominy. Hominy is usually made from white flint com ; there are several grades of it, which fact has led to some confusion in designating the varieties. First, there is the whole grain, which is boiled in the lye of wood ashes till the huUs will slip off ; then the lye is soaked out, and the hominy cooked until tender. The other preparations common in the mar- 148 ^ -: HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. . [PAET IL ket are as follows : Coarse hominy, in whicli tlie kernels are cut through, once or twice ; fine hominy, which has them cut into several jpieces ; and samp, which is finer still. Coarse HoiinNY.=||= Start in hot or cold water, and cook in a closed steamer four hours ; allow four quaiis of water to one of grain. In the absence of a steamer, cook in a farina-kettle an hour longer ; or you may boil in a ]3ot over a slow fire, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. This grain may be soaked over night, and cooked in the same water ; it will then take less time by about an hour, but the flavor is hardly as good. The only admissible dressing, if any is required, would be a spoonful of cream, stirred in a few minutes before finishing. Fine Hominy, or Corn Grits.=|= Fine hominy is prepared the same as coarse, except that the corn is cut into smaller pieces. It is cooked like the coarse grits, only in less water ; you may take one cup of grits to three and a half cups water, hot or cold. Steam four hours, though three and a half will do. If any " fin- ishing" is wanted, a spoonful or two of cream stirred in five minutes before dishing, is the best. Samp.=)[= Samp (called hominy by some) is made from white flint corn. It differs from the " grits '' described in the last two recipes, in being cut very much finer ; it requires more water to cook it than hominy (or corn grits), but less time. Take one part samp and four and a half parts water, hot or cold, and steam two hours and a half. A httle cream or new milk stirred in at the last, is considered by most persons a "dehghtful finishing." Fruit and fruit juices, as rasp- berries, blackberries or cherries, make a good dressing ; though some prefer the grain by itself. Serve warm. PART n.] STEA^JED GRAINS. 149 EICE.+ To one cup of rice, carefully picted over and washed, add tkree and a half cups of cold water ; then steam three- quarters of an hour without stirring. If you have not a closed steamer or double boiler, put the rice and water into a two-quart tin bucket, cover closely, and set it in a pot of boiling water, also covered. Keep the water at a fast boil ; it must not reach to the top of the bucket. Do not cook a large quantity at one time (unless the vessel is wide and shallow), as the weight of the grain on itself makes it heavy and soggy. If boiled in an iron pot, like corn mush, it must be stirred once or twice at first, to prevent its sticking to the bottom ; it will require a little more water than if steamed. A good way to cook rice is to put it into a shallow tin basin, and add four measures of cold water to one of rice ; cover, and set on the stove where it will cook steadily without burning. Shake, but do not stir or uncover. It will be done in from forty to fifty minutes. When a small quantity is wanted, and in haste, start in plenty of boihng water — about five parts water to one of rice — and cook from twenty to thirty minutes, shaking the vessel occasion- ally. ElCE AISTD EaISINS.=J}= Pick and wash a cup of raisins, and also a cup of rice ; mix them together, add four cups of cold water, and steam or boil as in the last recipe. If cooked in a pot, stir care- fully two or three times at first, to prevent the raisins from sticking to the bottom. EiCE — Southern Method. The Southern people are said to cook rice as follows : After picking over carefully and washing, put it into plenty 150 HEALTH m THE HOUSEHOLt>, [PAET II. of cold water, and boil without istirring, just seventeen min- utes from tlie time the pot begins to bubble. Then drain off any water that remains, or lift the lid and let it evapo- rate ; replace the cover, and steam fifteen to twenty min- utes. Each grain should be whole or unbroken. Since the above paragraph was written, a lady in Louisi- ana sends the following : " After picking over and washing the rice, put it into a pot with a plain round bottom, and pour in cold water till it rises an inch and a half or two inches above the grain. Cover, and boil over a very mod- erate fire till done ; for a small quantity, twenty to twenty- five minutes would be long enough. By this time the water will be about all evaporated, as you will see by lifting the lid. Then set the pot back where it will keep hot, put on the cover, fitting it closely, and let the rice remain in its own steam a few minutes before you send it to the table. It should turn out just the shape of the pot, and every grain should be whole. Never stir rice." KiCE — Japanese Method. A traveler in that country writes : " They know how to cook rice here, though ; and for the benefit of consumers in the United States, I investigated the matter. Only just enough cold water is poured on to prevent the rice from burning to the pot, which has a close-fitting cover, and is set on a moderate fire. The rice is steamed, rather than boiled, until it is nearly done ; then the cover of the pot is taken off, the surplus steam and moisture are allowed to escape, and the rice turns out a mass of snow-white kernels, each separate from the other, and as much superior to the soggy mass we usually get in the United States, as a fine mealy potato is to the water-soaked article. I have seen something approaching this in our Southern States ; but I do not think even there they do it as skillfully as it is done here ; and in the Northern States but very few persons PiiKT II.] MUSHES. , 151 understand how to cook rice properly. I am sure that, if cooked as it is here, the consumption of this wholesome and delicious cereal would largely increase in America." MUSHES. Sometimes young children, and indeed those of a "larger growth," are too much inclined to the use of soft, sloppy foods, as mushes, soups, etc. After the teeth are developed, these should not be eaten as often as every meal, nor to the exclusion of drier foods, but with them. The hard Graham roll is the best bread to eat with mushes. On the preparation of these, the late E. T. Trail, M.D., has the following excellent paragraph : " Mushes of all kinds should be stirred as little as possi- ble while cooking, after the material sets, or stops sinking to the bottom. Much stirring breaks up the particles and frees the starchy matter, rendering the food pasty, and de- stroying the light, spongy, delicate appearance it should present on the table ; too much stirring also makes it more liable to adhere to the bottom of the vessel. The water should boil when the meal or grain is stirred in, be kept boiling, and the mush stirred frequently for a few minutes, when it wiU cease sinking ; then cover closely, and cook slowly for an hour or more. Mushes should not be too thick, nor so thin as to spread much on the plate when dished. The tendency of fruit when cooked in mushes, is to settle and adhere to the kettle ; hence, in adding fruit, the better way, as a general rule, is to cook it separately, and mix just before dishing. The fruit for this purpose should always be cooked slowly, and in as Uttle water as possible." The best dressing for mushes, because the most healthful, is fruit or fruit juice ; though they can be eaten without a dressing. Mushes should invariably be started in boiling water ; if started in cold, they are apt to taste raw. Most of the grains, however, as hominy, samp, pearl wheat, etc., 152^ HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PABT H. may be put into hot or cold water ; but tliey will cook soft in shorter time by beginning with cold. Cracked wheat (wheaten grits) is thought to "jelly" better — and this is one of its delightful characteristics — ^by being started in cold water. Eice cooked in the same way, is less inclined to be sticky; the flavor too, is better preserved. As a rule, the grains are preferred warm, or lukewarm ; though cracked wheat, cooked to a jelly, is very good cold- Oat Meal Mush.4= Allow one pint (scant) coarse oat meal (" B. grade, Akron, German Mills," is best), to five pints of water; a little more meal, if of the finer grades, and a little less, if it is coarse. When the water boils mix in the grain, and stir frequently the first ten or fifteen minutes, or it will settle to the bot- tom, and scorch. As the mush begins to thicken, set where it will boil or simmer slowly, and let it cook in all, an hour and a quarter. Stir lightly from the bottom, now and then, to prevent sticking ; but the less the granules are broken in the operation, the better. Have* the mush thin enough to pour, but not too readily. When cooked in a steamer, less water is needed, as there is not so much evaporation; about four pints water to one of meal would suffice, but more time is required ; two hours' steaming would not be too long. If a dressing is wanted, stewed fruits or the juices of fruits, are best. Dates, carefully picked over and stirred in whole, five to eight minutes before taking the mush from the fire, make a dish which some relish. Corn Meal Mush.=|= Stir into boiling water coarse corn meal — ^white " flint," if you can get it — putting in very little at first ; stir con- stantly, and add slowly ; this is done that the mush may have time to cook thoroughly before it gets thick. If the PAET n.] MUSHES. * 153 meal is added fast, the mush thickens in the start; and then it will continue to taste ravv, no matter how long you cook it. Eepeat the stirring occasionallj^, to prevent sticking, and cook from an hour and a half to two hours; do not make too stiff. Stewed sweet cun^ants or other SYv"eet fimits, as dried or canned pears, make a good dressing. When mush is left over, cut it in sHces the next morning, dip these into corn meal, and lay on a hot griddle, shghtly oiled; when evenlv browned, turn and brown the other side. Young ripe corn, just hard enough to grate well on a coarse tin grater, makes an excellent mush; the "golden flint" is the best for this purpose, though the white flint is very good. This grated meal needs no sifting. Graham Mush. Into a pot of boiling water, stir slowly, coarse Graham flour (wheaten meal), to make a tolerably thick mush; less than a pint of flour will thicken two quarts of water. Place over a moderate fire where it will boil without scorching, and cook from ten to fifteen minutes. Stir as httle as pos- sible; and before dishing, set the pot from the fire a few minutes; it will be less likely to stick to the vessel. Serve lukewarm, with fruit or fruit juice. You may stir in fresh dates five minutes before finishing, care being taken not to break the fruit. Prepared in [his way, the mush is good warm or cold; if wanted cold, mould it in cups or a shallow dish, and serve with or without a dressing of fruit. Mush may be made of unbolted rye flour, in the same way as the Graham. Faeina Mush. Take about half a cup of farina, and stir it slowly into a quart of boiling water; cook fifteen minutes, stirring fre- quently to keep it from sticking. If this mush is considered 7* 154 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART II. " flat " or insipid, stir in a very little cream just before re- moving it from tlie fire. Serve the same as the last, with stewed or canned fruits, or their juices. PASTEIES. The various kinds of pie-crust described in hygienic cook- books, and shortened with beans, potato, corn meal, etc., have all been tried, and found to be rather unsatisfactory; they require too much tact in their management, for any but the most experienced cook to undertake. The crust when baked, is either hard and tough, or it is soft and moist; which is a great objection, particularly if dyspeptics are to eat it. It is probable that some art, as yet undis- covered, will finally succeed in making good paste out of flour and water only; and "short" enough to be palatable, by the simple process of kneading, or " breaking " it. But as this has not yet been done, we must fall back on what may be considered as the next best thing; viz., cream and flour, using very little of the former. By taking flour that is half Graham, and mixing the paste as lightly as possible (no kneading), there is scarcely any shortening required; the smaU amount of cream that holds the flour together, is sufficient. The secret in mixing pastry, is first, to have both the flour and mixing fluid as cold as possible; second, to put it together as lightly as may be; third, to do no kneading — only enough gentle pressure to hold the mixture together. When made, it should be rolled out and baked immediate- ly; or if it has to stand, put it in the ice-chest or some other cold place, till wanted. Nearly all Graham flour is ground too coarse for good pastry; and in most of it, the bran is cut in such large flakes that it must be carefully sifted out. A good rale therefore for general use, is to take equal parts of Graham and white flour, both sifted; though if you have "best Akron" Graham (which is made PAET n.] PASTRIES. 155 of white wheat, and the bran well cut), the sifting is unnec- essary. The best white flour in the market is prepared from good wheat, is of a pale buff, or cream color, and is not very fine or smooth when rubbed between the fingers; as the cooks say, it has a "round feel." Always keep yoiu? flour in a cool dry place, and where the air is pure. Ceeam Paste.=jj= 1 (scant) cup sweet cream — ^very cold. 1|- cups sifted Graham flour, li " " white " If your Graham flour is best Akron (white wheat with the bran well cut), it need not be sifted; always sift white flour. Keep the cream in the ice-chest (or in ice-water) till the in- stant you want to use it. Mix the Graham and white flour well together, and wet with the cream; pour the latter in slowly and stir rapidly, either with a spoon or the tips of the fingers; allow no little puddles of cream to form in the flour, but mix as fast and as lightly as possible, getting all nicely together as if by magic. Do not knead, but gather tip the dough, using barely enough pressure to make the mixt- ure adhere, and touching it with the finger-tips only, as if it were " lace and feathers." Then roll out immediately, and bake — or lay it in the ice-chest till wanted; the dough must be pretty stiff. If you have not a marble slab to w^ork on (this will keep your paste the coolest), a smooth-topped table or moulding-board of walnut or other hard wood, is the next best thing. Light Cream Paste. =|= 1 cup sweet cream — part new milk wiU do. IJ cups sifted Graham flour. li " " white f teaspoonful soda, finely pulverized. 1^ teaspoonfuls cream-tartar. 156 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART II. Keep the cream in the ice-chest if you have one, and the flonr in the coolest place possible, till the moment they are wanted. When ready, mix the Graham and white flonr together, and take out a little to use in rolling the paste. Then stir in the soda, well pulverized v/ith a knife, and also the cream of tartar; sift two or three times, to blend thor- oughly the powder and the flour. This done, wet with the cold cream, stirring lightly and quickly together, and ivith" out kneading, as in the last recipe; you may mix with a S|)oon, if you like, though the fingers are better; have the dough rather stiff. As soon as the paste wiU hold together, roll it out. If baking-powder is used, take two heaping teaspoonfuls to the above quantity of flour; Price's (or the Eoyal) is per- haps as good as any. Or you may mix with sour cream, and leave out the cream of tartar; if you do this, stir in the pulverized soda, and sift several times before mixing. Cream Batter Paste.=|(= 2 cups sweet cream. 1^ " sifted Graham flour. H " " white f teaspoonful soda, dissolved in boiling water. 1^ teaspoonfuls cream-tartar, sifted tlirough the flour. This paste must not be mixed till you are ready to use it; then make a batter of the above ingredients, stirring in the dissolved soda the last thing, and beating well. Your dish having been filled (it may be an apple-cobbler, or other " family pie "), spread the batter over the top with a knife, making it as smooth as possible; then bake in a quick oven, and serve while the pie is warm. Batter crust is sure to fall, if it stands long. If you use baking-poAvder, sift it twice through the flour before mixing ; two heaping teaspoonfuls would be enough. PART II.] PASTRIES. 157 Or, if you mix with sour cream, leave out the cream of tartar, stir a teaspoonful of soda through the dry flour, and sift two or three times. CPtEAM AND Potato Paste. This paste is rarely used except for meat pies, and even for these the light cream paste is generally preferred. There are two ways of making it, both of which are de- scribed in Part m., under Meat Pies. Oat Meal Paste. For pies that require only an under crust, and are toler- ably firm in texture, as pumpkin or squash, the following makes a pretty good crust, though it is not to be compared with cream paste. Oil the pie-pans with a little olive oil, butter, or clean beef dripping ; then sift over them a layer of fine oat meal ("A" grade), or oat and corn meal mixed. Dip in the filling, and bake. Crumb Paste. Oil the pans as in the last recipe, and strew or sift finely grated bread-crumbs over them ; the crumbs should be dry. This makes a convenient paste for puddings that are baked in a crust. Graham Pies. Many persons who can not eat ordinary pastries, or who dislike them because of their greasiness, or theii' starchy " flat- ness," have no difficulty whatever in relishing and digesting Graham pies made according to the following recipes. Prop- erly made and baked, they are both wholesome and palatable ; they may be eaten warm or cold. In winter, when brought cold from the cellar, it is a good plan to set them in the oven a few minutes, until they are heated through ; this should be done in time to cool a little, before serving. For 158 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART II. patients (and the rule is a good one for well people), the best time to eat pastries is at the beginning of the meal ; they are better digested on an empty stomach, and there is less temptation to oyereat. In making fruit pies, mix the paste quite stiffs roll it thin, and bake immediately ; the pie-pans, if kept in order, will need little or no oiling ; if any is required^ use a trifle of olive oil if you have it, or a very httle fresh butter, or beef dripping. When you have placed the under crust put in the filling, sprinkling on a trifle of sugar if it is needed, and add a little water in case the fruit is not sufficiently juicy. Dip the fingers into cold water and moisten the rim, then lay on the top crust, press the two edges firmly together, and trim off the surplus paste with a knife ; the less crust in the rim of the pie, the better, provided it se- cures the fruit. When the trimming is done, finish the edge neatly (here is room for aesthetic taste), prick well with a fork for the escape of steam, and if the fruit is very juicy cut a cross-slit in the center, before baking. Or — what is more tasteful — ornament the top crust with a knife before lifting it from the table, by cutting in graceful curves an open work of stems and leaves. Bake in a quick oven, as hot as you can have it without scorching ; if the top blisters, the heat is too great ; the pie must brown evenly, without so much as scorching the edge ; and when taken from the oven, be sure the bottom crust is thoroughly done. The paste should he light and flaky, free from grease, and very delicate in flavor. Apple PiE.=jj= Select good sound apples, not too ripe, and with a rich, sub-acid flavor ; if necessary, wash and dry them before paring ; this is better than to wash the cut apples, which wastes their juices ; pare and slice, not too thin. Then mix a cream paste as per recipe already given ; the dough mast PART II.] PASTRIES. 159 be quite stiff. Roll pretty thin, line the pie-pans, and fill with the apples, taking care that the slices are well placed ; add a little water, if the fruit is not sufficiently juicy. EoU out the upper crusts, also thin, and lay them on ; pinch the edges securely together, prick deeply with a fork, and bake in a quick oven, twenty-fiye to thirty minutes. The apples should be well done, and the crusts dehcately browned, top and bottom. As soon as cooled to lukewarm, the pies are ready to serve ; or they may be eaten several hours after they are baked. If kept till the next day, a good plan, particularly in winter, is to set them in the oven long enough to heat through before sending to the table ; take out a few minutes before serving, if you like them nearly cold. Green Apple Pie.=)(= Select very tart apples, full-grown, but not nearly ripe ; pare them, and slice in pretty thick pieces. Mix the paste the same as the last, roll it a little thicker, and put in plenty of apples, adding as httle water as will cook them. Bake in a good oven thirty to forty minutes, or till the apples are thoroughly soft ; the crusts must be well browned. When done, split open the pie with a knife, lay the two crusts on separate plates, and cover each v>dth the fruit. Sprinkle lightly with brown maple sugar, and eat warm. In the early summer when apiDles are scarce, this pie is decidedly appetizing. Peach Pie.=j(= Pare and slice the fruit, then make and bake the same as apple pie, last recipe but one ; no sugar will be needed, un- less the peaches are intensely sour. If this fruit is out of season, canned peaches may be used. Peach and aU fruit pies are best served cold, or very nearly so ; or they may be eaten the day after they are baked. 160 health in the household. [part ii. Cherry Pie.=||= Take tart cherries, wash them, pick over carefully, and seed. Then line the pie-pans with a stiff cream paste, roUing the crust pretty thin ; over the bottom of each sprinkle a little flour, and also the sugar, if any is needed, mixing them together with a brush of the hand ; the flour and sugar in the bottom of the pan, prevent the juices from soaking into the crust. Then put in the fruit, lay on the top crusts thinly rolled, pinch the edges firmly together, and prick weU with a fork ; it is also safe to cut a good cross-slit in the center of each, for the escape of steam. Bake in a quick oven, and take out as Boon as the crusts are thoroughly done ; it wiU require from twenty to twenty-five minutes. Let the pies get entirely cold before serving. Berry Pie.=|= Blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, huckleberries, or any of the ordinary " berries," may be used. Select fruit not too ripe, look it over carefully, and make the same as cherry pie. Very little sugar will be needed, say half a tablespoonful to a pie, or even less. The crust, it wiU be remembered, is to be mixed stiff, put together without kneading, and rolled rather thin. If the fruit is quite juicy, as blackberries or strawberries, dust a little flour over the bottom crust, sprinkle on the sugar, brushing them well to- gether, and then put in the fruit. Bake in rather a brisk oven from twenty to thirty minutes, or tiU the crusts are done. If blackberry or raspberry pie is overdone, the fruit will taste bitter. Serve cold. If gooseberries are used, take them when they are just beginning to ripen, and aUow at least a good tablespoonful of sugar to a pie. Canned fruits, as cherries, raspberries, blackberries, goose- berries, etc., make excellent pies. If canned for this pur- pose they should be cooked as little as possible, and put up PART n.] PASTRIES, 161 with not too much water ; on opening, if there is more juice than is needed, pour some of it off ; it will make a fine drink, especially for the sick. Grape Pie. Gather the grapes when they are about half grown, and the seeds soft ; then make the same as gooseberry or cherry pie^ and eat cold. Currant Pie.=)|= Currants that are about half or two-thirds ripe, make the best pies. Mix a stiff cream paste, hne the pie-pans and fill them with the fruit, washing in a colander before it is stripped from the stems ; sweeten moderately. Put on the top crusts, pinch the edges well together, prick with a fork, and cut a good cross-slit in the middle. Bake in a quick oven twenty minutes, or till both crusts are done. Serve cold. Raspberry and Currant Pie.=|= Mix equal quantities of raspberries and currants (not so many currants if they are scarce), and make the same as the last, using less sugar. Bake in rather a brisk oven, and take out as soon as the crusts are done. Serve cold. Cranberry Pie. Throw out the imperfect berries, wash well, and stew, allowing about one pint of water to one quart of the uncooked fruit. "When soft, rub through a colander, and sweeten ; and unless they are quite ripe, you may add nearly a cup of sugar to a quart of picked cranberries. Mix a stiff cream paste, line the pie-pans, and fill with the sauce ; the jDans sliould not be very deep. Then roll out a thin sheet of dough, cut it into narrow strips, and place in two layers over the top, forming diamond squares ; pinch down the 162 HEALTH IN TEE HOUSEHOLD, [PABT H. ends, and trim off the surplus paste with a knife. Bake in a quick oven till the crust is done and nicely browned on the bottom. Serve cold the same day. Plum Pie. Damsons are the best plums for pies ; gather them ripe enough not to be " puckery " when cooked ; they should be about right for good sauce. Line a deep dish with a firm cream paste, making the crust a quarter of an inch thick ; then fill with the plums, carefully picked over and washed, and sprinkle in the sugar ; it will take about half a cup to a quart of plums. Lay on a good top crust, and bake in a quick oven forty to fifty minutes, or until the crusts are done and well browned. Prick with a fork before baking, and also cut a eross-sht in the center. Ehubarb Pie.=|= Select rhubarb that is young and tender ; wash well, and trim off the fragments of leaves, taking care that no worms are left imbedded in the stalks. Peel these, si)lit each once or twice, making the slices very thin, and cut into inch lengths. Prepare a stiff cream paste, roll it in a thin sheet, and lay the under crust ; s^Drinkle in a Httle flour and a heaping tablespoonful of sugar, brushing the two well to- gether, over the bottom of the pan ; then put in the rhu- barb, carefully placed, and not more than two or three slices in depth. Now roll a thin top crust, cover the pie, and pinch the edges firmly together ; finish neatly, prick well with a fork, and cut a good cross-slit in the middle. Bake in a quick oven twenty-five to thirty minutes, or till the crusts are evenly browned, top and bottom. Serve cold. Rhubarb pie, well made, is very delicate in flavor ; indif- ferently done, it is one of the poorest. PART n.] PASTEIES. 163 Deied Peach Pie. Tate clean dried peaches, trim off any burnt edges, wash carefully, and stew till soft; drain off and save the juice. Then mash till there are no lumps, either with a potato-masher or with the hand, which is better ; add enough of the juice to make the pies sufficiently moist, mixing it well with the fruit. In the meantime, prejDare a good cream paste, and roll the crusts rather thin ; having lined the pie-pans, spread the fruit sparingly, lay on the top crusts, and press the edges firmly together ; after which, trim with a knife, and finish the rims neatly. Prick well, and bake in a quick oven twenty minutes, or till the crusts are done, but not a moment longer ; if overdone, the fruit wiU be bitter. " Turnovers" are made as follows : Eoll the crust pretty thin, and just the size of the pie-joan ; after placing it on the latter, spread the fruit not too thick, on one half of the crust, and turn the other half over it ; then pinch the edges together. Pinish very neatly, prick deeply with a fork, and bake as before. Turnovers, well made, and with good dried peaches, are not to be despised ; they are convenient for travehng lunches, and are better rehshed than plain bread. Dried Apple Pie. Dried apple pies have come into very bad repute, owing to the " depravity " of their makers, rather than of the pies themselves ; these would be better thought of, if made as they ought to be. In the first place, never put into a pie fruit that you would not eat out of it ; in other words, take good apples, or none. Look them over very carefully, trimming off any burnt edges or defective spots ; then wash quickly but thoroughly in cold water, rubbing well with the hands, and lifting the apples out of it to leave any sediment behind ; wash in two waters, if necessary. Then droj) into boiling water (enough to cook them), and stew rather fast 164: HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART II. till soft. When done, drain off and save the juice, and mash the apples very fine, leaving no lumps ; then stir into them a part of the juice drained off, of which there should be enough to make the fruit rather moist. Line the pie- pans with a cream paste mixed quite stiff, and rolled pretty thin ; add the mashed fruit, spreading it less than half an inch thick, and put on the toj) crusts, also thin. Press the edges well together, trim off closely with a knife, and finish as neatly as possible. Prick deeply with a fork, and bake in a quick oven twenty minutes, or just till the crusts are done, and slightly browned. Serve cold ; grape juice is a good accompaniment. Apple Cobbler.=|j= Pare good rich apples, moderately tart, and not too ripe ; core and quarter, or cut into eighths, and put them into a dish that is two or three inches deep, and made of stone- ware or granitized iron. Add a little water, unless the fruit is very juicy, and cover with the ordinary cream paste, roll- ing it about twice the usual thickness ; prick well with a fork. Then bake in an even oven about an hour and a quarter, moderating the heat toward the last, and taking care not to scorch the crust ; you may lay a paper over the top, if it browns too fast. The long, slow cooking gives the fruit a fine, rich taste. This pie makes a very good break- fast dish ; it is served in the bake-pan. You may make it in the afternoon for the following morning, or early in the morning for the noonday meal. Another way, very good, is to bake in a quick oven forty to fifty minutes, and serve as soon as cold. Or you may fill the pan with the sliced apples, adding no water, and if the fruit is a mild acid, no sugar ; then cover with either a light cream paste, or a cream batter paste ; if the latter is used, bake an hour, and serve warm. part ii.] pastries. 165 Peach Cobbler.4= Select good peaclies, fresh from tlie orchard, and not over- ripe ; thej should be barely mellow ; clingstones are best. Wash them, and rub with a coarse cloth to remove the down. If large, pare them, care being taken to make the parings as thin as possible ; the best of the fruit lies imme- diately under the skin. If the peaches are small, but rea- sonably fair and smooth, you need not j)eel ; simply wash well, and remove the blemished portions. AVhen ready, put them into a deep pan of granitized iron, or in a wide and rather deep basin of stone or earthen ware, adding cold water till it rises pretty well up the sides of the dish. Cover with a stiff cream paste, mixed as for other pies, and rolled about a quarter of an inch thick ; prick well with a fork, cut a good cross-slit in the center, and place in a moderate oven ; bake from an hour and a half to two hours, according to the size of the pie. Eeduce the heat as the baking pro- ceeds, and invert a pan over the top if it browns too fast. When done and nearly cold, lift off the crust, and turn half the fruit into a deep earthen bowl ; then lay back part of the crust, and pour over it the rest of the peaches ; cover with the crust that remains, placing it right side up, and set the pie away in a cool place for several hours, or over night, before serving. If the bake-pan is not pretty deep, you had better stew some peaches prepared as for the pie, and pour over as you break it up ; this will make plenty of juice. Stew the sauce slowly, in not too much water, and cool before adding it. If preferred, leave the pie unbroken, set it away till cold, and serve in the dish, cutting the crust in regular pieces. If freestone peaches are used, peel them, cut in halves, take out the pits, and be careful to remove any bitter portions about the latter. Yellow jDcaches of good rich flavor, clings or freestones, are excellent. 166 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART U. Peach Cobbler.=1)= The pie described in the preceding recipe is a North Carohna dish — or ivas, iortj years ago — except that the latter had both an under and upper crust. A cobbler more easily made and more tasteful in appearance, is the follow- ing : Take a pan about two inches deep, made of earthen or granitized iron ware, and fill it with ripe peeled peaches, cling or freestone ; if with clingstones, gash deeply with a knife, leaving the stones in ; then add cold water till it rises half-way up the sides, and cover with a crust of light cream paste, rolled to twice the usual thickness. Prick with a fork, cut a cross-sht in the middle, and bake in an even oven forty to fifty minutes, or till the fruit is done. Serv^o in the dish as soon as cold, cutting the pie in regular pieces. You may make with cut rhubarb in the same way, using sugar to sweeten, and very Httle water. Berry Cobbler.=|= Line a granitized iron pan two inches deep with a firm cream paste, rolling it about twice as thick as for ordinary pies ; then fiU with ripe blackberries, half -ripe gooseberries, or other small fruit. Sweeten if necessary, lay on a thick crust, prick with a fork, and cut a wide cross-slit in the middle. Bake in rather a quick oven, about forty minutes ; both crusts must be well done, and moderately browned ; the top must neither blister nor scorch. When taken from the oven, carefully remove the pie from the pan, and set it away on a plate or platter large enough to hold it. Serve cold the same day ; and do not cut before it is needed, as the juice will run out. Cherry Cobbler. Make like the preceding, using seeded cherries instead of berries ; the black morello cherries are best, both for pies PAET 11. ] PASTRIES. 167 and sauce. What is known in the markets as the English morello, which has short stems, thick flesh, and a small seed, is very good. It is red^ not black. HUCKLEBEREY CoBBLEE. Line a bake-dish with a good cream paste rolled twice as thick as for common pie-crust, and fill it nearly full with hucklebenies ; the dish should be about two inches in depth. Sprinkle hghtly with sugar, and cover with a crust a quarter of an inch thick ; when you have pressed together and finished the edges, prick well with a fork, cut a cross- sHt in the center, and bake in rather a quick oven from forty to fifty minutes, or till the bottom crust is done. Then shp the pie on a platter, and cool before you serve it. You may use light cream paste for "cobbler" pies ; but the ordinary kind is preferable, particularly when there is an under crust ; it is not so apt to burst in baking, and it is sweeter. Apple Dumplings.4= Pare sound tart apples of medium size, and not over- ripe ,- cut in halves, take out the cores, and then wash quickly in cold water to remove the knife-rust. Make a light cream paste, as per recipe already given ; it must be pretty stiff ; pinch off bits of the dough, and roll to the thickness of a quarter of an inch, in a long or oval shape, and just large enough to cover two halves of the apples fitted together. Wet the margin of the crust by dipping the fin- ger in cold water, so that the dough will adhere ; then place the fruit within it, bring up the edges, and pinch firmly together. No water is needed, if the apples are juicy and recently washed. Put the dumplings into a bread-pan, slightly oiled, and space them well apart, so they will not touch each other ; prick on top with a fork, and bake in a moderate oven nearly an hour, or till the apple is done j 168 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PAET H, turn once or twice — if they do not stick to the dish — to brown the sides more thoroughly. Take out a few minutes before serving. If sauce is required, use stewed or canned rasjoberries ; or you may make a dressing by stewing tart apples (not too ripe) a long time, until the sauce is smooth ; you can flavor the latter by stirring into it a little thick raspberry juice, if you like. These dumplings are very good warmed over the next day, the crust being more cris^D and tender than at first. Baked dumplings are drier than steamed, and the steamed ones better than boiled. Beery Dumplings.=}j== Make a light cream paste, as in the last recipe, mixing it very stiff ; then pinch off bits the size wanted, and roll each into a round piece, fully a quarter of an inch thick. Moisten the rim with a little cold water, and put in the berries ; bring the two edges together, making a long oval-shaped dumpling, and pinch well to secure the fruit. Space in the pan, so they will not touch each other, and bake from thirty to forty minutes, or till the crust is done ; if they brown too fast on top, lay a paper over them. The small fruits re- quire a moderate oven ; if baked too much, the berries taste bitter. A good plan is to set the pan or dish containing the dumplings inside a dripping-pan with a trifle of boiling water in it, and bake till the paste is done; the moisture from the water prevents the crust (and the berries beneath it) from cooking too fast. It would require about an hour, if cooked in this way. Berry dumplings are good steamed, provided they cook fast, and without touching each other; it is best to vn:*ap each in a napkin before putting it into the steamer. They should be served as soon as done, with fruit or fruit juice — or if this is not relished, try cream and sugar. PABT n.] VEGETABLES. 169 Chekey Duiviplings. Seed the cherries, and make as in the preceding recipe. Fruit Eolly-Poly. Prepare a light cream paste, roll it a quarter of an inch thick, and spread on the fruit; you may use raspberries, blackberries, huckleberries, seeded cherries, sliced peaches, or apples sliced or chopped; any of these are excellent; so are dried cherries, sweet currants, sliced figs, or other sweet fruits. Or in winter, you may take dried apples or peaches, first stewing them, and mashing till smooth. When the fruit is spread, begin at one end of the pastry and roll it up tightly, pinching the ends weU together to secure the con- tents. Lay the roll in a small iron pan, and bake in an even oven about an hour. Serve not too warm. If a dressing is required take stewed or canned fruit, fruit juice, or thin cream. These rolly-polies are very good steamed; make as above, cover with two or three thicknesses of old napkin or table- linen, and lay in a steamer. If the latter has holes in the bottom, put the roll on a pie-pan and set it in, with two or three small bits of wood underneath to let the steam up. Cook two hours without lifting the lid; then send to the table, and serve warm. Never boil, if you can steam; steamed paste is lighter than boiled, and much more wholesome. VEGETABLES. The way to make vegetables palatable, is first, to hav them fresh; and second, to cook them so as to waste as lit tie of their own savory juices as possible. To do this, boil or stew them quickly, and remove from 'fche fire as soon as done. The rule that applies with scarcely an exception, is to drop into boihng water (just enough to cook them), cover 8 170 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART H. closely, and cook rapidly till done. Another rule, not merely for vegetables, but for grains and fruits as well, is never to fill up with water that is not boiling hot. Most vegetables are excellent steamed ; steamers are now made with several chambers, so that three or more kinds of foods can be cooked at once, without the shghtest admixture of flavors. In the absence of a steamer, most vegetables should be cooked in vessels that are porcelain-lined, or made of gTani- tized iron. Beans, beets, peas and potatoes, may be boiled in iron pots ; these should always be washed and thoroughly dried immediately after using, and then set away in a dry place to prevent rusting. Vegetables, as a rule, should be served at dinner ; and (by invalids certainly) they should never be eaten at the same meal with fruits. Those that have been several days in the market, as string beans, peas, beets, etc., are tougher, and require lon- ger to cook than if fresh from the field or garden. On ac- count of the huckster system which prevails in some cities, most vegetables do not reach the markets until some time after they are gathered ; then they are too stale to be eaten with safety, much less with a good relish. In cooking vegetables, the following general rules will be of service ; and by a careful observance of them, there will be less need of seasoning, to cover up the insipid taste — or rather, lack of taste — ^that comes from wasting the fine flavors that belong to them. 1. If possible, have all your vegetables fresh ; when stale they lose their natural sweetness, as well as their nutritive qualities. Peas and corn especially, should be cooked the day they are gathered ; certainly never later than the fol- lowing morninp". 2. Boil in soft,* pure water, if you have it ; should the vfater be muddy, either filter it, or boil and settle before using. PABT n.] VEGETABLES. 171 3. For most vegetables, boil in no more water than will cook them ; in other words, leave none to drain off, or most of the sweetness will be lost. 4. Boil rapidly — or steam rapidly ; no slow cooking to soak out the juices. 5. As a i-ule, do not soak the vegetables before cooking, particularly if newly gathered. If actually wilted with the hot sun, some kinds (as cabbage, cauliflower, etc.) may be improved by lying half an hour in very cold water. But ordinarily, that which requires soaking to make it palatable, should be thrown away. 6. Cook till done, and not a moment longer, 7. Do not scorch in finishing ; the moment a vegetable is scorched, its sweetness is gone forever. 8. Serve nearly all vegetables after they have cooled a little ; habituate yourself to this, and you will find that the flavor is much more delicate than when eaten hot. 9. Look at the quality of the article you buy ; there is a gTcat difference in "families,'' not only among people and animals, but among plants. It is well, first of all, to look after their pedigree, and then, their "bringing up"; it takes good stock and good rearing, to secure the best results. If you make your own garden, plant only the best seed. 10. When you bring the vegetables from market put them in a cool, clean place in the cellar, till the cook wants them. This means a well-kept cellar, with a cool north room in it, thoroughly ventilated. 11. Charge your grocer, and the market men, not to leave their potatoes and other vegetables standing for houi^s in the sunshine, or even near a window, as a strong light injures them. Potatoes should always be kept in a dry, dark place. (See Hints on Marketing.) 12. Keep one or two porcelain kettles specially for vege- tables, as many kinds can hardly be cooked in iron without being discolored. And if you must use iron pots, keep 172 HEALTH IN THE HOUSEHOLD. [PART U. them clean and dry ; never let them stand round with water or slops in them. Once more, remember to cook quickly, and take out as soon as done. The Potato. When we consider that the potato is perhaps the most yaluable of all the vegetables, it is quite remarkable that so few persons know how to cook it properly. And it is equally strange that not one farmer in ten understands how to grow it as it should be.* Many potatoes are badly injured by not being dug as soon as they are ripe ; they he in the ground till they are injured by rains which start them to " growing," and make them watery. A further damage is done by the grocer or huckster, who exposes them to the light and often to the sunshine, until they are strong to the taste, and almost green in color. So that by the time this vegetable has passed through the hands of the farmer, the market -man, the grocer and the cook, it is no longer the fine mealy potato that we rehshed in childhood. Potatoes in Jackets.4= Select potatoes of nearly uniform size, and wash quickly, keeping them in the water as short a time as possible. If there are large ones, cut them through the middle. In wet seasons they are often hollow in the center, in which case you must cut them open and trim out the hollow part. After washing, clip off a little at each end (it will make them drier), and remove any blemishes ; and just twenty minutes before the bell rings for dinner, droj) the potatoes into boihng water, having about two-thirds enough to cover them, and boil rapidly till done. The very instant a fork will pierce them easily, lift from the fire ; if they boil a * See Dr. John MeLaurin's little work entitled, *'The Model Potato. For sale by Fowler