292 VEGETABLE FOOD. 



some fat to make np for its deficiency in this ingredient. It should 

 be thoroughly cooked whether the grains be ground or remain 

 whole. In India, rice is never prepared alone, but always with the 

 addition of a certain pulse which abounds in albuminates; ghee 

 (butter clarified by boiling) is also largely consumed with it. 

 I3oiled or baked with milk and egg, as rice pudding, it forms a 

 substantial meal and is especially suitable for invalids as it does not 

 make great demand on the digestive powers. Rice boiled five or 

 six hours forms, on cooling and after the water has been strained 

 off, a jelly which is soluble in warm milk and makes a pleasant 

 change of diet. Rice-water is made by washing an ounce of good 

 rice in cold water, then steeping it for three hours in a quart of 

 water kept at a tepid heat and afterwards boiling it slowly for an 

 hour. 



RICE WATER is very useful as a drink in all irritable states of 

 the alimentary tract, as in dysentery and diarrhea. Indeed, it has 

 been known to arrest the latter without the employment of any 

 medicinal measures. 



Vegetable Food Dr. Chambers has classified garden pro- 

 ducts according to the chief purposes they subserve in the animal 

 economy. The place of each plant in the class indicates its average 

 value; for instance, the potato stands first in value for its starch; 

 cabbage as an an ti -scorbutic. The classification is useful as indi- 

 cating what should be eaten or avoided in certain diseases. 



1. STARCHY AND SUGARY PLANTS Potatoes, yams, chestnuts, 

 beans, peas, Jerusalem artichokes, carrots, parsnips, beets, salsify, 

 turnips. Each of these is a force-giver, but may prove unsuitable 

 food in some disordered conditions. 



2. STIMULANTS Asparagus, wild onions, artichokes, strong 

 onions, garlic, aromatic herbs, mustard, cress, and a few other pun- 

 gent salad materials. These cause increased secretion of saliva and 

 gastric juice, and thus promote the digestion of a larger quantity of 

 food than could be otherwise dissolved. 



3. ANTI-SCOKBUTICS Cabbages, tomatoes, and salad materials 

 in general. These products contribute valuable saline materials to 

 the blood; but they should be quite fresh or they will cause indi- 

 gestion, and must be scrupulously clean, otherwise they will be 

 the instruments of introducing parasites into the system. 



4. DILUENTS Cabbages, spinach, turnip-tops, winter-greens, 

 cauliflower, sorrel, nettle-tops, or any leaves sufficiently palatable to 

 eat, soft to swallow, and green when boiled. The chief use of these 

 diluents or perhaps they might as appropriately be called disin- 

 tegrants appears to be, not to contribute actual nutriment, but by 

 being mixed up in the stomach with nitrogenous food, to render 

 it more thoroughly open to the action of the digestive secretions, 

 and more easily absorbed by the intestinal glands. Though appar- 

 ently not nutritious in themselves, they make other things 

 nutritious. 



