580 MEALS MEDICINAL. 
When reaching the intestines Potatoes are as a whole very 
well absorbed, since they contain chiefly starch, and very little 
cellulose. Boiling robs them of much of their mineral ingredients, 
also of some of the proteids which they so scantily contain. 
The fibro-vascular layer immediately beneath the skin is richer 
in mineral, and proteid matters than is the flesh of the Potato ; 
so that in peeling this off with the rind the said valuable 
ingredients are lost. The richer a Potato is in proteids the more 
waxy it becomes when cooked, because the coagulated proteid 
solidifies the structure. The starch grains of the Potato are 
specially ready to undergo fermentation, therefore these tubers 
as food are to be specially avoided in some morbid conditions 
of the digestive organs, such, for example, as that of a dilated 
stomach. Part of the mineral bases are combined with citric 
acid. “It has been calculated that if a bushel of Potatoes were 
peeled, and soaked in water, before being boiled, the loss of 
nutrients would be nearly equivalent to the amount thereof 
contained in one pound of beef-steak”; so Dr. Hutchison 
teaches us. With regard to the question of permitting diabetic 
patients to eat Potatoes, it should be remembered that these 
tubers} contain only about one-third as much starch as bread 
does, so that they may be given more safely than bread. If 
Potatoes seem to cause drowsiness they should be first boiled 
for about five minutes, and then put into fresh boiling water, 
the first water being thrown away. Two medium-sized Potatoes, 
when steamed, or boiled in the usual manner, remain for two, 
or two and a half hours in the stomach ; that is, a shorter time 
than a similar weight of bread. Dr. King Chambers advised 
“the Invalid’s Mashed Potato”: “Steam one pound of 
Potatoes, with their jackets on, until they are mealy; peel 
them, and rub them through a wire sieve; when cool, add a 
small teacupful of fresh cream, and a little salt, beating the 
mash lightly up as you go on until it is quite smooth, and then 
warming it gently for use.” Scotch folk call this homely dish 
“ Champit tatties.” 
Potatoes, though less nutritious than oatmeal, are more easily 
digested : and an excellent cheese porridge, or cheese pudding, 
“may be made by adding cheese to baked Potatoes (baked being 
said advisedly rather than boiled, because then none of the 
original saline constituents are lost as they are in boiling),’ 
as including all the valuable mineral additions of which 
