256 ELEMENTS OF PHYSIOLOGY 



in a warm place to rise ? Why does it "fall" if left to stand 

 too long? Under what conditions does bread made from 

 yeast become sour ? Why does bread set to rise in a cold 

 place sometimes have a bad flavor ? 



465. Irish potatoes, to become mealy instead of soggy, 

 should be put into boiling water, and, after they are cooked, 

 the water should be poured off, and the pot should be set 

 on the back of the stove for the potatoes to dry. Roasting 

 them in the oven with their skins on also retains their flavor 

 and makes them mealy. 



466. Cucumbers are as digestible as apples if eaten raw 

 and when sweet. Pickles are' absolutely indigestible, and 

 are treated as foreign substances. Onions are better if 

 cooked, to drive off the acrid, irritating oil. Raw cabbage, 

 which is water and woody fiber, is treated by the stomach 

 as a foreign substance, and sent promptly to the intestine; 

 but the stomach attempts to digest boiled cabbage, and it 

 remains there several hours. The skins of peanuts, after 

 boiling water has been poured over them for a moment, can 

 be easily removed. If then allowed to simmer on the stove 

 for hours, until they can be easily pressed through a col- 

 lander, they form a nutritious and palatable food, with the 

 addition of a little salt. Raw and roasted peanuts are not 

 easy to digest. Eggs should be cooked by placing them in 

 boiling water and taking the pot off the stove. They cook 

 while the water is cooling, and the albumen is jellied but not 

 hardened. 



467. Is Alcohol a Food? When alcohol is taken, about 

 ninety-five per cent of it is oxidized and changed into car- 

 bon dioxid and water. This was found out many years 

 ago and raised the question as to whether it should be 

 classed as a food. Investigations were made, and the re- 

 sult was that alcohol was classed with the poisons and not 

 as a food. The question has been reopened several times 

 in the last half-century, but always with the same result. 



