FOOD AND FEEDING. 395 



cake," pie-crust, or pastry, whether baked or boiled, consist simply of 

 farinaceous food rendered stronger nutriment by the addition of fatty 

 matter. 



In the same way almost every national dish might be analyzed up 

 to the pot-au-feu of our neighbors, the right management of which 

 combines nutritious quality with the abundant aroma and flavor of 

 fresh vegetables which enter so largely into this economical and excel- 

 lent mess. 



It will be apparent that, up to this point, our estimate of the value 

 of these combinations has been limited, or almost so, by their physio- 

 logical completeness as foods, and by their economical value in rela- 

 tion to the resources of that great majority of all populations, which 

 is poor. But when the inexorable necessity for duly considering econ- 

 omy has been complied with, the next aim is to render food as easily 

 digestible as possible, and agreeable to the senses of taste, smell, and 

 sight. 



The hard laborer with simple diet, provided his aliment is complete 

 and fairly well cooked, will suffer little from indigestion. He can not 

 be guilty, for want of means, of eating too much, fertile source of de- 

 ranged stomach with those who have the means ; physical labor being 

 also in many circumstances the best preventive of dyspepsia. " Live 

 on sixpence a day and earn it," attributed to Abernethy as the sum of 

 his dietary for a gluttonous eater, is a maxim of value, proved by mil- 

 lions. But for the numerous sedentary workers in shops, offices, in 

 business and professions of all kinds, the dish must not only be " com- 

 plete " ; it must be so prepared as to be easily digestible by most 

 stomachs of moderate power, and it should also be as appetizing and 

 agreeable as circumstances admit. 



On questioning the average middle-class Englishman as to the na- 

 ture of his food, the all but universal answer is, " My living is plain, 

 always roast and boiled " words which but too clearly indicate the 

 dreary monotony, not to say unwholesomeness, of his daily food ; 

 while they furthermore express his satisfaction, such as it is, that he 

 is no luxurious feeder, and. that, in his opinion, he has no right to an 

 indigestion. Joints of beef and mutton, of which we all know the 

 very shape and changeless odors, follow each other with unvarying 

 precision, six roast to one boiled, and have done so ever since he began 

 to keep house some five-and-twenty years ago ! I am not sanguine 

 enough to suppose that this unbroken order which rules the dietary 

 of the great majority of British families of moderate and even of 

 ample means will be disturbed by any suggestions of mine. Never- 

 theless, in some younger households, where habits followed for want 

 of thought or knowledge have not yet hardened into law, there may 

 be a disposition to adopt a healthier diet and a more grateful variety 

 of aliment. For variety is not to be obtained in the search for new 

 animal food. Often as the lament is heard that some new meat is not 



