60 Kansas Academy of Science. 



FIRELESS COOKING. 



By J. T. LovEWELL, Ph. D., Topeka. 



'T^^HE applications of science in the common economies of 

 -^ life are revolutionizing many of our philosophies, as well 

 as methods of doing things. The former is seen very noticea- 

 bly in the curricula of our schools, in the multiplication of 

 elective courses, and in the laboratory methods of teaching, 

 and in estimating the value of education on a commercial basis. 

 A marked instance of this tendency may be found in the teem- 

 ing publications of the Department of Agriculture in Wash- 

 ington. 



Schools of agriculture and experiment stations are estab- 

 lished in all the states, and scientific investigation is insti- 

 tuted in everything relating to utilizing the forces of nature 

 in growing food plants, in winning mineral products, and in 

 the preparation required to bring these things to a condition 

 for the use and service of man. "Breeding to points," both 

 in animal and plant reproduction, is accomplishing results 

 that border on the marvelous. Who can foresee the limits of 

 cross-breeding in the hands of such a skilful manipulator as 

 Burbank? 



The discussion of these questions, great and important 

 though they be, is not the object of this paper, but rather 

 another application of science, appealing to our most personal 

 needs in the preparation of food for our tables. This is the 

 criterion by which we classify men as savage, barbarian, half- 

 civilized, civilized and enlightened, according to nomenclature 

 of the old geographies. There is a wide difference between the 

 larder of a savage and a Parisian cafe, and perhaps in neither 

 of these is the right way of living best found. The essential 

 idea of cooking, both etymologically and in common use, is the 

 preparation of food by heat, so as to make it both more pal- 

 atable and better adapted to nutrition. Heat is usually as- 

 sociated with fire, and therefore when we speak of a "fireless 

 cooker," it seems like the play of Hamlet with Hamlet left 

 out. By heat we bring our viands into a condition so that 

 they are more easily broken up by chewing and made ready 

 for the processes of digestion. Not only this, but the cooking 

 effects other changes. 



