FOOD AND DRINK 75 



Sugar and molasses are both largely used in cooking. 

 Their nutritive value is about the same as that of starch. 

 Peas and beans contain more nitrogen than any of the 

 cereals and are as rich in carbon. 



108. Garden Vegetables. Various kinds of fresh and juicy 

 garden vegetables, as celery, lettuce, cucumbers, radishes, and 

 tomatoes, are widely used for their agreeable flavor. They 

 give a pleasant variety and relish to other articles of food. 

 They furnish little nutriment but are rich in salts. 



109. Milk and Eggs. Milk is the food of all others 

 which affords nourishment in the simplest and most con- 

 venient form. This ideal food contains a large quantity of 

 water, casein, sugar, and fat. 



Eggs have a large amount of nutriment in a small bulk. 

 They are usually easily digested. 



110. Meats. Meats, for the most part, consist of the 

 muscles of the various animals. The most common are 

 beef, mutton, lamb, veal, and pork. They are important 

 articles of diet and as a whole are easily digested, except, 

 perhaps, veal and pork. Fish is at once a cheap and a nour- 

 ishing food. Poultry is a useful, light article of food, easy 

 to digest, and providing a great deal of nourishment. 



111. Mineral Foods. There is about a half pound of 

 common salt in the body, but we are continually losing it. 

 Tears, we know, contain salt, and it is also found in the 

 sweat. Many people think they do not eat any common 

 salt because they do not take it by itself ; but they forget 

 that many of the foods they eat, such as bread and meat, 

 contain a little of it. 



The salts of potash are chiefly found in the vegetables 

 we eat, especially lettuce. These salts are needed in the 

 blood. The salts of lime make the bones hard and strong. 



