BREAKFAST FOODS 



912 



BREATH AND BREATHING 



BREAKFAST, brek'jast, FOODS are cereal 

 preparations, placed on the market either in 

 ready-cooked or in uncooked form. There has 

 been within recent years an ever-increasing 

 demand for such foods, which has been met 

 by the constant development of new varieties 

 and combinations. Wheat, rice, corn, oats, and 

 to a much smaller extent barley, make up the 

 breakfast foods. These are treated in various 

 ways and sold in many forms, so the possible 

 number seems far greater; for these grains are 

 crushed or rolled, shredded or toasted, steamed 

 or ground. Moreover they come to the house- 

 wife in forms that may be served without cook- 

 ing, direct from the package, in forms that 

 require but little cooking, or in others that 

 require hours of cooking. 



In general it may be said that these cereals 

 form a nourishing and digestible food, if they 

 are properly cooked. Long boiling at a high 

 temperature is necessary if the highest food 

 value as well as the most pleasing taste is to 

 be secured, and housewives often err in cooking 

 their cereals too little. Wheat has the highest 

 value of any of the cereals, and is the most 

 digestible, though Scotland has proved through 

 long centuries that oats form a food well suited 

 to build brain and brawn. To those not ac- 

 customed to eating oats, they are, however, 

 somewhat heating, because of their high per- 

 centage of fat. Rice is much less nutritious 

 than any of the other grains, consisting as it 

 does almost entirely of starch, but the starch 

 appears in a form which is very easy of diges- 

 tion. Rice loses less of its valuable elements 

 if it is steamed rather than boiled in water. 



Breakfast foods are usually eaten with sugar 

 and milk or cream, and thus other elements not 

 present in the cereals themselves are added. 



BREAK 'WATER, a solid structure of ma- 

 sonry or other construction placed between a 

 harbor and the open sea to serve as a protec- 

 tion against the violence of the waves. Break- 

 waters are usually constructed by sinking loads 

 of unwrought stone along the line selected and 

 allowing them to settle under the action of the 

 waves. When a thorough foundation of stone 

 and gravel has been secured and the mass 

 rises toward the surface it is surmounted by 

 a pile of masonry, sloped in such a manner as 

 will best enable it to resist the action of the 

 waves. The greatest breakwaters are those 

 of Cherbourg in France ; Plymouth in England ; 

 Delaware Bay and Buffalo in the United States, 

 and Valparaiso, in Chile. In less important 

 localities floating breakwaters are occasionally 



used. These are built of strong, open wood- 

 work, partly above and partly under water, 

 divided into several sections and secured by 



BREAKWATER PROTECTING A HARBOR 



chains attached to fixed bodies. The breakers 

 lose nearly all their force in passing through 

 the beams of such a structure. 



BREATH AND BREATHING. Breathing, or 

 the taking in and expelling of air by the 

 body, is so necessary a function that "he has 

 stopped breathing" is equivalent to saying "he 

 is dead"; yet. it is so simple a process that 

 no thought is given to it. The moment a per- 

 son starts to watch his breathing or count the 

 intakes of air he becomes self-conscious and 

 cannot breathe regularly or naturally. 



Reasons for Breathing. Food and drink are 

 necessary to the body, and yet under extreme 

 conditions life may exist for hours or even 

 days without them; but the body must have 

 a constant supply of oxygen or it will die. 

 The act of breathing, or respiration, as it is 

 more scientifically called, supplies this oxygen 

 and carries off carbon dioxide which has been 

 produced by the various changes taking place 

 in the body. The lungs constitute the special 

 organ of breathing. 



Acts of Breathing. Breathing consists of two 

 acts, inspiration, or breathing in, and expira- 

 tion, or breathing out. These words suggest 

 in their very form interesting connections to 

 inspire is to breathe into someone a special 

 power of achievement; to expire is to draw the 

 last breath to die. Between inspiration and 

 expiration are definite pauses which form part 

 of the breathing movements, that after the 

 expiration being considerably longer than that 

 after the inspiration. With the taking in of 

 air the chest cavity expands, for the diaphragm 

 flattens its dome and the ribs are raise'd; with 

 the expelling of air the diaphragm again arches 

 upward and the ribs draw back into their 

 places. The increase in the chest cavity is not 

 very great in ordinary breathing, but forced 



