1962 Journal of Applied Microscopy 



its usual adulterant, potato starch. The microscope will show at once whether 

 the expensive egg powder purchased is egg or simply cornstarch, colored. 



The housekeepers' class, under my instruction, purchased a package of 

 " pudding" mixture for fifteen cents. Each member of the class, after one les- 

 son on the microscope, from which they transferred their observations to the 

 blackboard that they might be indelibly engraved upon their sights, recognized 

 at once that they had paid fifteen cents for a package of corn starch, which, pur- 

 chased under the name of corn starch, would have cost five cents. A similar 

 experiment was given to mustard ; true mustard was examined carefully under 

 the microscope, then some of the compounds sold under the name of mustard 

 examined ; wheat starch was immediately found and determined. The micro- 

 scope is also useful in the examination of tea. The colored teas, those having 

 been used and re-colored, can be quickly identified ; this not only saves the 

 pocketbook, but the health as well. 



Each starch grain has its own individuality and they soon become famil- 

 iar. The granules of potato starch look like tiny oyster shells, arrowroot, similar 

 but much smaller ; while the starch of the canna {toiis les-77iois) is round, with 

 concentric markings ; corn, like a folded up dumpling with hilum in center. 

 Put a little of the outside of the cheap dried fruits under the microscope and 

 then tell me if you care to eat them. 



Take the aesthetic side of cooking, it is rather comfortable to know that one 

 has minutely examined the fruit products in daily use. The kitchen becomes a 

 laboratory over which presides an intelligent woman. The whole household is 

 affected by the change and we are really living. 



The housekeeper of the twentieth century must be an educated, scientific 

 woman ; then she will find the kitchen the most interesting room in the house. 

 Meals will be quickly gotten and easily served ; not over-done or burned, and 

 will contain all the elements necessary to body building. Bills will be lessened 

 and the health of the family much better. Such a one will know the true con- 

 dition of the fiber of meat. Wash a small piece and put it under the microscope 

 and observe how the fibers are bound or tied together by the connective tissue. 

 Study the texture of the different cuts of meat and adapt to each the suitable 

 method of cooking. Examine the fibre of fish, compare it with lobster or beef, 

 and you will see why they require a longer time for digestion. Slip into the 

 kitchen and put bits of algae or lichen under the microscope and observe their 

 marvelous structure. Take up the aesthetic side of the household ; study and 

 learn from these simple growths how the more complex ones have been formed, 

 look up the decayed portion of fruits, and this will assist in the sterilization and 

 preservation of your canned fruits and vegetables. In a short time liousekeep- 

 ing is relieved of all its terrors ; one is capable of sterilizing all the necessary 

 vegetables and fruits, which gives a comfortable table during the winter months 

 at very little cost. If one understands the word c/t'a/i/i?iess, all canning is easily 

 done. 



The time is coming, in fact it is almost here, when the kitchen will be inter- 

 esting to educated women, and the term " cook " will not be applied to the 

 ordinary woman who is really a scullery maid, but to women of intelligence. 



