SOUPS; 651 
water; no straining will be required; but flavour with salt, 
and pepper to taste, and serve with sippets of crisp, toasted 
bread.” 
Nevertheless, the extractives of meat have unquestionably 
a marked effect on the digestive organs when conveyed 
thereto in the form of good animal Soup; they are the most 
powerful stimulators of gastric secretion that we possess, and 
thus they are eminently calculated to rouse the appetite, and 
aid the digestion of any food with which they may be taken. 
This is, indeed, their true réJe, both in health, and in disease ; 
they are flavouring agents, and their proper place is in the 
kitchen, not by the bedside. Sydney Smith, writing about one 
of the Utilitarian School, said: “ If everything is to be sacrificed 
to utility, why would you bury your grandmother? Why not 
cut her up into small pieces, and make portable Soup of her ?” 
For a simple Potato Soup (‘“ Potage parmentier”): “* Wash, 
and peel six, or eight Potatoes, put them into a saucepan with 
two onions cut into quite small pieces, and three pints of cold 
water. Bring them to a boil, and when perfectly tender (in 
thirty-five, or forty minutes) pour the whole through a sieve. 
Return it to the fire, and season with pepper, and salt, a pinch of 
grated nutmeg, and a lump of butter the size of walnut ; bring it 
again to the boil, stir in quickly a cup of new milk, and serve. 
Julienne Soup, a vegetable clear concoction, was first made 
by a cook named Jean Julien, in 1785. Olla Podrida was a 
Spanish Soup in the spring season, named from Olla, Soup of 
animal and vegetable matters stewed together, and Podrida, 
simmered. 
With respect to strong, clear Soup for the invalid, or the aged 
person, “It may be a useful means,” says Dr. Hutchison, 
“of rousing the appetite, and stimulating the digestive powers 
of the stomach, but it cannot be regarded as a serious contribution 
to nutrition in itself.” Some light cereal food must be added 
at all events. Pope Leo the Thirteenth was dieted at ninety- 
three almost exclusively on chicken broth, with bread in it; 
two small glasses of Bordeaux were his daily allowance of wine. 
“Ah! si la jeunesse savait: si la veillesse pouvait.” 
“ There sat an old man on a rock, 
And unceasing bewailed him of fate 
(That concern where we all must take stock, 
Though our vote has no hearing, or weight !). 
