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be considered pure fat, which is easy of digestion and assimilation if 

 the condition of the stomach be normal and too much be not taken. 

 Cheese is a highly nitrogenous and exceedingly valuable food. It not 

 only is easily digested but also assists in the digestion of other foods. 

 Its price, when we consider these important desiderata, recommends it 

 for more extensive use than it at present enjoys. 



The vegetable foods are characterized by low .ilbuminoiJs and high 

 carbo-hydrates. The amount of fat in most of them is small, and need 

 hardly be taken into account as a nutrient. Peas and beans (fruit of the 

 Leguminosje) stand out as exceptions in containing large jjercentages 

 of albuminoids. Oatmeal also more closely approximates animal foods 

 than any of the other cereals. The starch and sugar of vegetable foods 

 is as a rule very digestible. The vegetables proper consist largely of 

 starch, or allied substances, and water. Potatoes, cabbage and many 

 other vegetables are also valuable for the mineral salts they contain. 

 Asparagus, lettuce, celery and some others contain but little nutritive 

 matter, but play a very important hygienic role, aiding the digestion 

 of other viands, diluting the more concentrated foods, and thus render- 

 ing them more easily assimilable ; the salts and active principles many 

 of them contain have a beneficial and medicinal effect on the sys- 

 tem. Vegetables must form a large part of every wholesome diet- 

 Fruits are largely water, and are divided into (a) Sweet, in which sugar 

 predominates when ripe ; (l^) Acid, containing tartaric and citric acid, 

 generally refreshing and giving a healthy tone to the organs; (c) Starchy; 

 and (d) Oily, the essential oils in which give the peculiar flavour 

 Fruits, though having a low nutritive value, are, when ripe, easy of 

 digestion. The pectose of green fruit is indigestible. This as the fruit 

 ripens turns to pectin, akin to sugar, which, as before stated, is easily 

 digested. The odour and flavour of fruits, due as before mentioned to 

 oils and volatile ethers, chiefly abundant in the pericarp, seem to 

 enhance their palatability. 



Here a word may be said of a large class of substances which 

 act rather as stimulants than nutrients. Tea, coffee, spices and alcohol 

 come under this category. They act as appetisers, and in moderation 

 as useful and proper excitants of the digestive organs, especially in 

 cases of enfeebled digestion. 



