212 UNCONSCIOUS NERVOUS OPERATIONS 



303. Eggs. Eggs are made most digestible by placing 

 them (in their shells) in cool water, applying heat, and 

 removing them from the water as soon as it boils. Or, 

 they may be put into water already boiling, the vessel 

 being covered and at once removed to where the water 

 will keep warm but will not boil. They will be " done " 

 in from ten to fifteen minutes, according to the weather 

 and the amount of water used. In eggs cooked in this 

 way, the albumen, which by boiling becomes hard and 

 difficult of digestion, remains soft, creamy, and nutritious, 

 while the yolk is partly solidified and rendered more 

 palatable. 



304. Cooking of Vegetables. Fresh vegetables should be 

 placed in boiling water only long enough to soften the 

 fiber and cause the starch granules to burst. Too much 

 cooking injures them. 



Dried seeds require longer boiling, and it is often well 

 to soak them in water for several hours before cooking. 



305. Bread is our most valuable food. It is made from 

 the various grains, also from the flour of certain nuts 

 and rootstocks. Salt, water, and yeast, in proper propor- 

 tions, and sometimes a small quantity of sugar to hasten 

 fermentation, are added to the flour or meal, and the mass 

 is allowed to become " light " by the fermentation of the 

 yeast before baking. Numerous chemical changes take 

 place in the process. The water dissolves the gluten and 

 sugar of the flour and swells the starch granules. If the 

 dough is at a temperature of 100 F., fermentation at 

 once sets in ; some of the starch becomes sugar ; sugar is 

 converted into alcohol and carbonic acid ; the gas formed 

 expands in little bubbles, which are surrounded by walls 

 of sticky gluten, and "raises" the bread. If the fer- 

 mentation is allowed to continue too long, a new chemical 



