1904 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



345 



were right. They kept the patient as clean 

 as soap and water could make her, from 

 the top of her head to the tip of the toe. I 

 was inclined to think clean water was good 

 enough to wash with; but the doctors and 

 nurses insist that alcohol possesses great 

 virtues for bathing the sick. This may be 

 true. I do noi feel inclined to quarrel with 

 thim so long as they use it only externally. 



WHAT SHALL WE GIVE THE INVALID BV WAY 

 OF NOUKISHING FOOD? 



At a certain stage of Mrs. Root's disease, 

 I for one began to fear she might starve be- 

 cause we could find nothing t^'at would 

 stay in her stomach, or that the biwels 

 could digest. Somebody recommended the 

 juice of orarges. I felt a little fearful at 

 this; and when it caused such bloating and 

 distress that it almost stopped her breath, 

 I was much more alarmed. She had been 

 getting along so well that our regular fam- 

 ily physician ventured to take a trip into 

 another Sta e. He expected to be away 

 only a little more than 24 hours; but soon 

 after he was gone her distress became so 

 great that we called in a young army sur- 

 geon, who had been a schoolmate of Er- 

 nest's, and who had recently returned from 

 the Philippines. In the doctor's absence he 

 kindly consented to advise us. He s lid she 

 would have to be relieved immediately of 

 the accumulation of gas in the bowels. The 

 nurse had tried the usual injections, but 

 without relief. He suggested that she try 

 "milk of assafoetida. " This succeeded 

 when every thing else failed, and in a few 

 minutes she passed from acute suffering to 

 entire relief. Then we discussed the matter 

 of nourishment. Beef tea, malted milk, 

 malted nuts, and many other things were 

 tried, but they did not answer at all. They 

 either produced the dreaded gas or else 

 they would not stay in her stomach at all. 

 Finally one of the nurses said that we 

 should have to feed her on scraped beef. 

 We got the best round beefsteak in the mar- 

 ket, then the nurse scraped it with a dull 

 knife, getting only the pure lean meat with- 

 out any gristle, fiber, or fat. This was 

 then broiled over a bed of hot coals, and 

 there was rejoicing throughout Rootville. 

 She ate this scraped meat with a relish, 

 and it digested all right. Those who have 

 read Gleanings for a few years back will 

 remember how much has been said in regard 

 to the fact that lean meat digests entirely 

 in the stomach, and will keep a patient 

 alive without any distress in the bowels 

 whatever. She lived on this scraped meat 

 until her digestion became strong enough to 

 use beefsteak ground in a meat grinder, 

 such as can be found in almost any hard- 

 ware store. Let me digress a little. 



During my spells of ill health for almost 

 twent}- years past, I have been more or less 

 on the lean meat diet. Ernest and other 

 members of the family have also been oblig- 

 ed to resort to it. Mrs. Root has cooked 

 beefsteak for myself and for the children 

 through all these years until at times it 



would not be strange if she hated the sight 

 of it. But she has never eaten any of any 

 account herself. She has sometimes laugh- 

 ingly boasted that, although almost a vege- 

 tarian, she was the healthiest one in the 

 lot. I confess I was pleasantly surprised 

 to and that, when she was almost down to 

 death, the beefsteak diet brought her up 

 when it is highly probable she could not 

 have lived without it.* Dr. Lewis, of Cleve- 

 land, the present advocate of the lean- meat 

 diet, kindly came down to see her, and gave 

 us some very valuable suggestions. For in- 

 stance, she had neglected the hot water, a 

 pint or more to be taken just before going 

 to bed, and an hour or more before each 

 meal. This was a great help to her. Al- 

 though she is eating every thing at the 

 present time, she still holds on to her pitch- 

 er of hot water. I am quite sure a pint or 

 more of hot water taken as above would be 

 a great benefit to anybody, especially one 

 in poor health. God certainly intended we 

 should have water in abundance, and make 

 use of it, internally and externally. ''Wash 

 ye, make you clean." 



Let me say in closing what I have said 

 several times before, that my firm convic- 

 tion is that thousands of people might be 

 living now who died before their time had 

 they known the benefit of a strict lean-meat 

 diet when the digestive organs, especially 

 the bowels, are unable to digest and assimi- 

 late vegetable foods. Just one more thing 

 I wish to add. 



In passing through this siege, and in de- 

 ciding these matters in regard to health for 

 the rest of the world as well as for our own 

 home, I have been constantly praying that 

 God would guide me, and keep me from 

 making a mistake in what I write for the 

 friends who read this department. 



Later.— ^rs. Root says, after reading the 

 above, that I must not forget to mention 

 rice. In leaving the meat diet for other 

 things we found rice agreed with her bet- 

 ter than any other food. It was first boiled 

 up several times, the water poured off, and 

 then steamed for four or five hours. Thus 

 prepared for invalids, we consider it ahead 

 of the many food preparations now made. 



* Mrs Root had said previous to this sickness, per- 

 haps many times that some people might he able to 

 stand the beefsteak diet, but was sure she could not. 

 Well, *hen we found hy repeate 1 trials there was 

 nothing else that would give her s'rengih and nourish- 

 ment, she said to me one morning while eating her 

 four ounces of nicely cooked groui d meat, "I think, 

 husband, I had better be honest, and confess that, 

 since I have become accust >med to the meat diet, I 

 prefer it now to any other menu the world can fur- 

 nish. And I want to say one thing more. If vou 

 should ever be on the lean-meat diet again I shall 

 have more charity for you. You used to : ay it seemed 

 as if you could not wait ui til the meac was ready. 

 When I get exceedingly faint and n^rvous from a lack 

 of rations, it now seems to me as if I could not wait a 

 minute longer." At this time Mis Root was having 

 four ounces of ground meat four times a day. Be- 

 tween mtals she had a little zwieback ; but we had 

 to make the zwieback rations very small, or else we 

 should have had recurrence of the accumulation of 

 gas in the bowels ; but after giving the b 'Wt Is a rest- 

 ing-spell (or almost a perfect rest, for two or three 

 weeks) she gradun ly recovered her health, and now 

 eats every thing with impunity, just as she always did. 



