1 68 PRENATAL CULTURE. 



of plenty many are but poorly nourished. We 

 have the best, but make poor use of it. We subsist 



A Nation of mainly upon foods that are highly stimulating, 

 difficult to digest and lacking in nutritive power. 

 The poor buy the coarse vegetables that consist 

 largely of water because they get a larger quan- 

 tity for their money; while the rich live on con- 

 centrated foods, condiments and sweets, that 

 overheat or stimulate, but do not nourish. It is 

 estimated that 75 per cent of the American people 

 suffer more or less from indigestion. 



Good cooks are scarce. Thousands commit 

 suicide at their own tables, and tens of thousands 

 at the restaurants and boarding houses. No 



Good Cooks arc woman's education is complete, and no girl 

 fcc * should think of getting married or assuming the 



duties of a home, until she has mastered the art 

 of cooking. In this I do not mean the art of 

 making pastry, preserves and fancy dishes 

 (which in recent years has become a fad among 

 fashionable young ladies), but the art of cooking 

 plain foods so that they are at once wholesome, 

 palatable and easy to digest. Hygienic cooking 

 in every home for two generations would sub- 

 stantially improve the race. 



The character and quantity of food, best suited 

 to the requirements of different individuals is so 



Practical varied that no definite rules can be laid down 



applicable to all. What agrees perfectly with one 

 person may be wholly indigestable to another; 

 each must select what agrees with his or her con- 

 stitution. As a general rule the nearer all grains, 

 fruits and vegetables are cooked separately and 

 with little seasoning, the better, the more they are 



