VEGETABLE FOOD. 28? 



but they may be rendered wholesome by being cut in very thin 

 slices and buttered. Toasted cheese is also digestible by a healthy 

 stomach, if it be new and lightly cooked with cream and butter; 

 but as ordinarily prepared it is one of the most indigestible articles 

 than can be eaten. 



CREAM-CHEESE is fresh curd moderately pressed; it must be 

 eaten fresh, as it will not bear keeping long. It is more digestible 

 than ordinary cheese because it is softer and may be readily masti- 

 cated and because it has a less proportion of caseine. To many in- 

 valids it will prove a pleasant variation from other diet. 



LARD, which is derived from the loose fat of the pjg, is a very 

 pure fat; but it is so tasteless as to be seldom eaten except in pastry, 

 or as the medium in which substances may be fried. 



DRIPPING, derived from roasting joints, if not burnt, is one 

 of the most nutritious forms of fat, and very agreeable. Its flavor 

 depends on the degree to which the flesh is roasted. It may some- 

 times prove a welcome alternative to butter in the sick-room. Salt 

 should be eaten with it. But it must be taken in moderation, and 

 its action watched, or it will disorder the stomach and heighten 

 fever. 



VEGETABLE FOOD. 



Vegetable products enter largely into the food of man. Even 

 the more common articles of food of this class present considerable 

 variety. They are consumed in the form of seeds, roots, leaves, 

 herbs and preparations of different kinds. 



Farinaceous seeds, the largest portion and most extensively 

 used of vegetable foods, are of great nutritive value, easy digestion, 

 plentifully yielded and universally grown. 



Cereals hold the first place. Their general composition is simi- 

 lar, but on account of different proportions of their component 

 elements they have different nutritive values. Even all wheat is 

 not exactly alike, especially in the relative proportions of nitrog- 

 enous matter and starch. On an average, wheat contains more 

 nitrogenous matter than other grains. Oats come nearest to wheat 

 in this respect, and are of equal value to many wheats; they also 

 contain a large proportion of fats and salts. Maize is rich in fatty 

 matter, moderately so in nitrogenous, but poor in salts. Rice is 

 very rich in starch, but poor in other constituents. 



Wheat The constituents of wheat more nearly correspond 

 with the requirements of the human system under ordinary circum- 

 stances than those of any other grain. Life and health can be 

 maintained on wheat, good water and air for an indefinite period. 



As ordinarily used, wheat is deprived of much of its nutritive 

 value. The portion containing the largest amount of nitrogenous 

 matter is removed to secure whiteness in the bread. Each graiu, 



