The Bulletin. 37 



Onions are valuable in the dietary of tlie child over 3 years of age, always 

 watching for individual peiuliarilii'S in ahility to digest this as well as otiier 

 foods. The Krcneli consider a crcani soup of onion a great restorative in digestive 

 troiii)le, and tiiis is jjerhaps the West form to serve onion in the n\irsery. Celery 

 cream soup or the stewed tender hits may be served safely to the child of 2'/^ 

 years. The tender raw tips are safely taken by the child over G. Dried peas 

 soaked 24 hours and cooked very soft, then pressed through a sieve, are a whole- 

 some addition to the diet of a child from 3 to 4 years. Green peas, however, 

 young and tender, may be added to tlie dietary of a child of 2V2 years. Tomatoes 

 are not peiniitted in the dietary of the child until after the fifth year. Beets also 

 may be added to the list of vegetables of the child of 5. Corn for the nursery 

 should always be served in the form of a eream soup, using only the tender inside 

 part. This,* however, should not be served to a child under 3. The indigestible 

 covering of the corn grain is the part that is irritating to the digestive organs 

 of the young child. The potato is a salt-giving starch vegetable. It is about 

 three-fourths water and the remaining quarter is nearly all starch. The fact 

 that it takes 3V2 hours to digest boiled potatoes and 2 hours for those that are 

 properly baked, will indicate what method is preferable for the nursery. Pota- 

 toes of medium size should be baked from 30 to 45 minutes. When baked in this 

 way they may be given occasionally with dish gravy from meats, such as roast 

 beef, roast mutton, or broiled beefsteaks, or with salt and cream. Cream is much 

 to be preferred to butter as a dressing for baked potatoes. A very common mis- 

 take is to serve cream gravies with potatoes to children. These gravies are dif- 

 ficult to digest and should not form an important part of the meal. Among the 

 vegetables prohibited until after the tenth year are corn, cooked in the usual 

 manner, lima beans, cabbage, coUards, eggplant. Among the prohibited list of 

 raw vegetables are onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, radishes, lettuce, celery. 



l^Fany causes of disordered digestion are entirely due to the lack of sufficient 

 water. A baby should be olTered water six or seven times a day. For older 

 children it should be remembered that water is needed according to the activity 

 and bodily temperature. The greater the activity, the greater the need of water. 

 We are told that a child weighing 40 poiuids should drink at least 20 ounces 

 (11/4 pints) of water a day, and hot weather calls for more. 



Frequently one meets mothers who say: "But I don't need any rules for feed- 

 ing my baby, he eats everything and is quite well." Dr. L. Emmett Holt says 

 he has had quite a large experience with these children who "ate everything" and 

 seemed to relish it, and has followed a number of them to their graves as the 

 ultimate result of such unreasonable and inconsiderate practice. 



Still, I am convinced that many mothers would do better in this matter of 

 diet, not only for the little ones but for the grown-ups as well, if simple, reliable 

 facts were given them. 



THE BLOOD. 



MRS. W. N. HUTT. 



Possibly there is no one part of the human body so often spoken of as is the 

 blood, nor is there any one part so little understood by the general public. We 

 hear "her blood is thin," or "he is too full-blooded," or "she had blood-poisoning," 

 or "there is bad blood between them," without ever realizing what it really means 

 any more than if we said the sky is blue. 



When I say to the mothers "If you sleep with your windows open it will help 

 you to have good, red blood," how many pause to consider for a moment what 

 is the connection between blood and air? 



The blood is a red, opaque, salty fluid. It composes about 7% per cent of the 

 weight of the body; thus a grow' man weighing 150 pounds has about G quarts 

 of blood that weighs about twelve pounds. 



Just as the body is one, yet is composed of different substances, flesh, bone, 



