36 The Bulletin. 



E«»gs nre a dosirable substitute for meat at any time, and if properly cooked, 

 give concHiitrnti'd nutriment. For tlie nursery, tlie plain boiled egg is most whole- 

 some. I'^veiy woman tliiuks slie can boil an egg, no matter liow unskilled she may 

 be in otiier brautlies of cooking; yet it is |)erha|)S the least understood of all 

 processes. Tlie usual method is to drop an egg into boiling water, which is 

 allowed to continue boiling for two or three or four minutes, with the result 

 that the egg is almost raw, or the white is tough and leatlieiy, with an uncooked 

 yellow, an altogether liaid, tough, indigestible aiticle of food. Kggs used in the 

 diet of young children should be placed in a pan and sullicient water that has 

 come to a boil should be poured over them. They are then set aside upon the 

 back of the stove from 8 to 12 minutes according to whether or not they are liked 

 soft. 



The selection and use of fruit in the nursery diet demands careful consideration, 

 always keeping in mind that while the sugars and salts which fruits contain are 

 of great value, tliey must be wisely selected and used in moderation at all times. 

 The juices of fruit are as a rule perfectly wholesome and may be used sometimes 

 before solid fruits are given. The seeds, pulp, and skin or cellular tissue are 

 usually the disturbing elements. 



]t is of first importance that fruits be fresh, ripe, and in good condition. The 

 juices of almost any fruits may be used at two and one-half years, eitlier as a 

 drink or in the form of desserts with starch foods mentioned in an earlier paper. 

 Cherries, grapes, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, pineapples, and similar 

 juicy fruits may be pre|)arcd in the following manner and possess the advantage 

 of being always ready for use: Extract the clear fruit juice and boil with a small 

 quantity of sugar, abo\it one-fourth pound to a pint of juice. ]5oil fifteen min- 

 utes, stirring constantly, and skim as long as tlie scum rises. Strain into bottles 

 or jars. The juice and pulp of a sweet ripe orange may be given to a healthy 

 child of 2V2 years, but with this exception, only cooked fruits and fruit juices 

 are safely given to a child imtil after the fiflh year. 



It is well to remember that in feeding fruits and fruit juices the best time to 

 give them is at bieakfast or at early dinner. Physicians sometimes advise a 

 baked ajiple for sui)per when a child is 14 to 15 months old, or for variety the 

 api)le may be made into a simple sauce, never, however, having the sauce made 

 with nuicii sugar. As a rule, a child who is delicate and has little appetite for 

 breakfast will rarely turn away from a juicy baked api>le daintily served. 



After a child is 2V_. years old, stewed fruits should be freely used, especially 

 apples, plums, figs and peaches. 



After .'5 '/j yeais, according to the child's power of digestion, the scraped pulp 

 of a juicy rijie apple, fresh ripe strawberries, taken in moderation and results 

 carefully watched; dates and figs are sometimes useful and safe in the diet. 

 With all the other fruits, such as bananas, pears, peaches, grapes, it is best to 

 wait until after the fifth year, unless these fruits are given under the direct 

 supervision of tlie [ihysician. 



The principal tronble in the digestion of vegetables is due to imperfect cooking. 

 They form a valuable addition to the diet, after 3 years, since they contain certain 

 inorg:uiic salts extremely important in the developmetit f)f a healthy body. The 

 absence of these s.-ilts in the diet is laigely responsible for the development of 

 a common disease among children known as "rickets." Often this disease is sup- 

 posed to be the cause of poor nutrition, when in reality it is the poor nutrition 

 that has caused rickets. I'esides forming the tissues, these salts foinid in fruits 

 and vegetables are important in forming teeth and bone. Ilie faim housewife 

 knows that young chickens need mineral salts which she supplies in the form of 

 oyster shells, egg shells, or lime, but frequently she does not observe that her 

 children are poorly nourished and anemic for lack of this very same attention 

 to their diet. We are told that it is not until the end of the twelfth year that 

 the cartilage entering into the formation of bone has become converted into true 

 bone tissue, which fact should show to mothers the importance of supplying 

 foods containing the required salts not only during the nursery period, but all 

 dtiring the school period. 



