SOCIETY OF CENTEAL ILLINOIS. 245 



his unkind lashes, she felt in her very heart she had the most tal- 

 ented man in the United Kinplom, also the hij2:<;est fool; Had he 

 lived on a diet suitable to the demands of his nature, he would have 

 been more amiable and enjoyed better health; as it was, his rebel- 

 lious stomach, in all his <^reatness, made him unhappy. A still, 

 small voice within him was ever crying for nitrof^en to allay the dis- 

 turbing forces of his fiery nature. Perhaps if Mrs. Carlyle had 

 known how to prepare the frugal meal she would have made her do- 

 mestic relations much more pleasant. If any of my fair auditors 

 have husbands whom they regard as great, intellectually^ yet caustic, 

 be careful how you prepare the frugal meal. Don^t, because it is an 

 easy way to get something to eat, put before him (you love to serve) 

 a fried dish swimming in grease, the sight of which turns his stomach 

 into an open revolt. Much is within your keeping to make your 

 home happy by your culinary ingenuity in preparing food so it will 

 act as an anodyne when eaten. 



Food should be properly cooked, and of variety to satisfy the 

 demands of our systems; not prepared da}^ after day in the same old 

 grooves. Create variety from the same provisions. It is far more 

 important to be able to cook six consecutive meals from the same 

 jirovisions, and none of them alike, than to be an adept in reading 

 French or skilled in playing the organ. 



Variety has much to do with our healths. Many will not take 

 the time to eat that they should; many a young woman who makes 

 her living with the needle will hurry down her bread and tea, not 

 dreaming she is laying the foundation for early decay. She works 

 on, wondering why her strength is not as good as it once was; she 

 becomeg bloodless and consults her family doctor; he listens to her 

 story of adynamic sufferings, and, with more dignity than judgment, 

 zinc chloride ferri, three drachms simple syrup, four ounces, three times 

 a day, one teaspoonf ul. His patient gets worse until some pathagenic 

 microbe finds a fit asylum for his habitude, and the poor woman finds 

 an early grave. The facts were, she starved herself to death on 

 bread and tea. Had the doctor prescribed beef, milk and eggs, and 

 free exercise in the open air and suji, vigor would have returned to 

 her limbs; color would again have returned to her bloodless, l)lanched 

 cheeks; the l>loom of health would have again shown radiant with 

 brightness and beauty. Sun light is an important factor to health, 

 but we cannot expatiate upon all its good qualities at this time. 



Abundance of ])ure water is an indispensable factor to a healthy 

 home. It is just as important to look after our water supplies in the 

 rural home as in cities. Water is a pabulum through which fever 

 germs may find material on which to multiply, and through it find 

 access to the tissues. It may be unpleasant to admit that many of 

 the sources of supply of water are poisoned by the ojien drain, the 

 privy vault or barnyard, that are entirely too near the spring or well. 

 The soil may be so loose and porous as to only separate the coarse 

 filth, while the fatal basilli may pass through and pollute the water. 



