The RURAL NEW-YORKER 
Food and Health 
A Diet of Milk 
Some weeks ago Mrs. John A. Bryant 
of Connecticut tolds us of her little girl 
over 2% years old. who lives on milk al¬ 
most exclusively. This is quite unusual, 
as most children prefer more or less solid 
food after the first year, and we asked 
Mrs. Bryant for fuller particulars. She 
writes: 
“In regard to our little girl, Gertrude 
Louise, who lives on milk, she was born 
August 26, 1917. which would make her 
about 3% years of age now. I can see no 
ill effects from her diet: in fact, everyone 
who sees her remarks about what a fine, 
healthy specimen she is. I believe she is 
a trifle taller than the average child of 
her age. and know that I buy the six-year 
size underwear to get it large enough 
across the back and chest. She is bright, 
has an excellent memory, and has a good 
ear for music, of which she is passionate¬ 
ly fond. Has had no sickness except a 
cold in the head once in a while. The 
only thing the least bit out of the way is 
On the ’Watch 
occasionally her bowel movements are 
inclined to be hard, but as they always 
move at least once and generally twice a 
day, I do not consider it anything serious, 
especially when all the other mothers tell 
me of the quantities of physics they pour 
down their children’s throats to get their 
bowels to move at all. 
If I withhold all milk and force her to, 
Gertrude will eat a few spoonfuls of egg 
in the morning, but if she can get the 
milk, why nothing else will do. If I try 
to make her eat the rest of the egg, she 
starts to gag, and I feel certain that she 
would vomit what little she had eaten if 
I insisted on her finishing it up. She 
cares nothing for candy, one small piece 
being more than she can generally eat, 
and cake, pudding and pie have no at¬ 
traction for her. She is very fond of nuts 
of all kinds, and I do not dare to leave 
any butter around within her reach, as it 
invariably disappears if I leave the room, 
but can’t see that it shows anything 
much, as it is really another form of milk. 
“Aside from the milk, the only thing 
she makes a practice of eating is raw 
potatoes, and every afternoon when I pare 
the potatoes she eats from one to three 
small-size (about as big as the bottom 
of a glass) potatoes; might eat more, for 
all I know, if given a chance, but as I 
am not in love with paring potatoes, I 
hurry up and get them on cooking. 
“Her sister, 13 months older, drinks 
about a glass of milk a day, eats all other 
foods, and since we had her tonsils out, 
six months ago, has driven me nearly 
crazy by telling me she is hungry. Seems 
to me that is all she says from morning 
till night. But how she does grow ! 
“My husband and I are both about 5 ft. 
8 or 9 in. in height, and average weight. 
He is 27 and I am 23, both like milk, but 
want all the other good things, too. I 
used to worry a great deal about Gertrude 
eating just the milk, but she grows so 
well, is so solid and strong. I have just 
made up my mind that there isn’t much 
to worry about.” MRS. JOHN A. bryant. 
R. N.-Y.—We would like to hear of 
other cases where children or adults sub¬ 
sist almost entirely upon milk. Dr. Mc¬ 
Collum, in his recent book, states that 
where milk alone is used as a diet, there 
is considerable trouble from accumulation 
of gas. This is overcome by the addition 
of foods containing starch and carbohy¬ 
drates, like bread and the cereals. We 
referred Mrs. Bryant’s letter to Dr. 
Thomas B. Osborne, who says: 
“I have been interested in Mrs. Bryant’s 
letter about the unusual dietary habits of 
her little girl. I don’t know any reason 
why she should not thrive on milk alone 
if she can consume enough of it. The 
trouble with milk as the sole food for 
adults is the large proportion of water 
which it contains, making necessary enor¬ 
mous consumption in order to secure 
enough calories. The most striking fea¬ 
ture of this girl’s diet is the raw potatoes, 
which she seems to eat in very consider¬ 
able quantities. Perhaps in this way she 
gets more calories than might be sup¬ 
posed. In the absence of any quantita¬ 
tive data, it is hard to make any estimate 
of what the child really does get.” 
THOMAS B. OSBORNE. 
The Stethoscope and Its Use 
Will you name the instrument which, 
when applied to the human body, will 
most largely magnify sounds produced 
therein? Wliat is the approximate cost 
of the instrument? A. N. R. 
Branchville, N. J. 
You probably have the stethoscope in 
mind. This is an instrument used by 
physicians, not so much for the purpose 
of magnifying the sounds made by the 
heart, lungs or other internal organs of 
the body, as for localizing them, and en¬ 
abling the observer to get them more dis¬ 
tinctly than he would be able to with the 
ear alone. As first devised, the stetho¬ 
scope was simply a cylindrical roll of pa¬ 
per. one end of which was pressed to the 
patient’s chest over the heart and the 
other to the listener's ear. You can make 
one for yourself, as Laennec, the French 
physician who invented the instrument 
did. Its value was quickly seen and the 
principle was expanded until the modern 
stethoscope resulted. This instrument is 
simply a hollow metal chamber, about 
two inches in diameter, and a half-inch in 
thickness, covered by a thin metallic dia¬ 
phragm, and connected by means of flex¬ 
ible rubber tubing to ear tips that are 
to be inserted into the listener’s cars. 
The diaphragm of the instrument is 
pressed to the patient’s chest, and the 
sounds made therein are amplified and 
carried through the rubber tubes directly 
to the ear. There are a number of forms 
in which stethoscopes are made, and they 
are sold at different prices, from about 
.$1.50 to $6. No one should expect to be 
able to read the message conveyed through 
the stethoscope, however, unless he has 
had training and experience, as well as 
a knowledge of the theory of the subject. 
M. B. D. 
Digestibility of Mashed Potatoes 
In a recent issue you stated a mashed 
potato was the most indigestible way of 
serving. Will you state why a boiled po¬ 
tato mashed with a masher is more indi¬ 
gestible than if mashed by the teeth? In 
regard to mice going up pipe, I made a 
platform and suspended it from rafters 
in barn with baled hay wire to store 
popcorn on. The mice got in to corn all 
right. I have witnessed them go up those 
wires like flies. R. o. NORTON. 
R. N.-Y.-—'The argument is that mashed 
potato is seldom, if ever, chewed. Most 
people merely bolt it, and swallow with¬ 
out chewing. Thus the saliva of the 
mouth is not mixed with it, and digestion 
is slower. A boiled or baked potato is 
more likely to be chewed, and thus well 
mixed with the digestive ferments which 
are secreted in the mouth. 
Extracting Honey with Heat 
Some time since a correspondent asked 
if there is any other way for separating 
honey from honeycomb except with an 
expensive mechanical honey extractor. 
Beekeepers’ instruction books all tell us 
that if honey becomes candied after stand- 
A Safe Place for the Baby 
ing a long time it may be warmed to the 
melting point, and allowed to cool, and 
will be like newly gathered honey, if not 
scorched. Use a double kettle or put the 
honey into a tin pail, pan or basin, and 
set it into a kettle of water upon the 
stove. When the contents are melted 
set aside to cool. It stands to reason that 
beeswax will melt at about the same tem¬ 
perature as candied honey, and after 
cooling may be removed from the top of 
the honey. If proper care is used not to 
scorch the honey, the results are satisfac¬ 
tory. Wild honey from a bee tree that 
cannot be separated with an extractor on 
account of broken comb may be readily 
extracted by heat. Care should be taken 
to keep all dirt and foreign substances 
out of the honey, except comb, as dirt 
will not separate Tom the honey like 
melted wax. Although having and using 
a good honey extractor when needed, it 
has often been found convenient to remove 
the comb from the honey by heat on spe¬ 
cial occasions. e. w. a. 
When it’s “ 
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Colder Than 
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PICTURE 
SHOWS one 
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the one you see around 
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in the top illustration. 
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Since HKHatas if 5TEWART Sto ves.Ranqes Furnaces 
