the form of biscuits or compressed cakes for use as an Army Emergency ration. The nutritive value of ham, bacon, sausage and other meat products is also very high.

Meat may be preserved by cold storage, by heat as in the canning process, by drying as in the case of jerked beef or venison, by smoking and pickling either in brine or vinegar. Chemical preservatives other than salt or vinegar should not be tolerated as we possess in cold storage and heat far more efficient and certainly less harmful preservatives.

MEAT INSPECTION.-In judging the quality and wholesomeness of meat, the color, consistency and odor are valuable points to be observed. Good beef has a bright red color and marbled appearance due to the presence of fat, it is firm yet elastic to the touch, moderately moist and has a characteristic beefy odor. Bull beef is usually of a darker color, mutton has more of a brownish red color, meat of immature animals is pale, watery and friable. Meat which has gone beyond the first stage of decomposition is soft and liable to pit or crackle upon pressure and emits an offensive tainted odor, especially when hot water is poured upon it. In pushing a knife to the hilt the resistance in good meat is uniform, while in putrefying meat some parts are softer than others and the tainted odor clings to the knife. In temperate climates the marrow remains solid for 24 hours and is of a light pink color; when it is soft, looks brownish and contains black points, the animal has either been sick or putrefactive changes have begun.

In connection with meat products, the possibility of ptomain poisoning, with symptoms of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, cramps and depression, should not be overlooked. Similar symptoms have been observed after the eating of oysters, mussels, crabs, lobsters and milk. Oysters raised in sewage-polluted beds have been known to transmit the germs of typhoid fever. Diseases like anthrax, bovine tuberculosis, hydrophobia, foot and mouth disease, infectious enteritis, actinomyces, trichina and cystererci are transmissible to man through the meat supply. For all these reasons, hygiene demands not only a proper control of the meat-market, but also proper cooking, since nothing short of a temperature of 160 degrees will destroy these organisms.

MILK is an ideal food. The average composition of cow's milk is: protein, 4.50; fat, 3.00; sugar, 4.50; salts, 0.75; water, 87.25.

In keeping milk at ordinary temperature it rapidly undergoes changes which are brought about by the agency of microorganisms. One of the greatest dangers in milk is caused by impurities seen in the so-called milk sediments, which consist largely of excrementitious matter clinging to

the teats and udder of the animal and which, owing to the presence of fecal bacteria, bring about rapid souring of the milk with the production of toxins such as tyrotoxicon, and these in turn give rise to cholera infantum and other gastro-enteric diseases.

The reaction of milk should be neutral or amphoteric, the amount of cream should not be less than 10% per volume, and the amount of total solids not less than 12%; of which at least 3% should be butter fat. Milk is not quite as digestible as meat, nevertheless from 89 to 92% is utilized; boiled milk is not as digestible as raw or pasteurized milk. (See also milk as a cause of disease, p. 99.)

SKIMMED MILK is the residue after the cream has been removed; as it contains the other solids and is quite cheap, it should become a more popular article of food; the same may be said of cottage cheese.

CONDENSED MILK.-There are a number of brands in the market, all made by the evaporation of the water of the milk by moderate heat or in vacuum pans with or without the addition of sugar. In the plain variety the milk is condensed to about 3 or 4 of its volume. As at present prepared condensed milk is unsuitable for infant feeding, because it contains an excess of the proteids and sugar and is deficient in fats. These objections can be removed by modifying the milk previous to condensation, so that the composition is as nearly as possible that of human milk; it then can be condensed to about one-third of its original volume and the proportions restored by proper dilution just before using it for infant. feeding.

WHEY is the sernm or watery part of the milk which remains after the curds have been pressed out from the milk to make cheese. It is used in certain diseases and also as a food in very difficult cases of indigestion in infant feeding.

MILK WINES, like koumis and kefyr, are made from mares' or cows' milk respectively and are the products of a peculiar fermentation, combining alcoholic with lactic acid fermentations. These beverages, in addition to the normal constituents of milk, contain alcohol, carbonic acid and lactic acid and are of value in the feeding of invalids.

BUTTERMILK contains all of the constituents of milk except that the amount of fat and sugar is less. The presence of lactic acid imparts a pleasant taste, and as it contains most of the desirable nutrients and is moreover quite cheap, its use should be encouraged.

CHEESE varies in richness according to the amount of cream used in its manufacture; they contain from 26 to 40% of fat, and 17 to 29% of protein and possess, therefore, remarkable nutritive qualities. If taken in reasonable quantities, 96% of the protein and 97% of the fat is digested.

It should never be taken in the form of toasted cheese. The richer cheeses, unless eaten quite sparingly, are very apt to produce dyspepsia.

BUTTER is formed by churning the cream of milk. The amount of butter in cows' milk is about 3.75 or 4% (i. e., about 4 pounds to the 100 pounds of milk). Butter contains about 84% of fat, of which nearly 97% is digested if taken in moderate quantities. Rancid butter is very liable to cause indigestion.

Process or renovated butter is the product of rancid or tainted butter which has been purified by melting and washing, and since it is sold far below the market value of butter, and possesses the same nutritive properties as fresh butter, its use should not be scorned.

OLEO MARGARINE is a mixture of oleo oil derived from the richest and choicest fat of the beef, neutral lard, butter, cream or milk and salt and in the cheaper grades cotton seed oil is also used. Oleo and neutral lard are the chief ingredients. These after melting are churned with cream or milk, salted and run through cold water, worked in a butter worker and placed in suitable packages and labeled according to the United States laws "Oleomargarine." If colored to resemble June butter it is subject to a special tax of 10 cents per pound. If sold uncolored the Revenue tax is only 4 cent per pound. There is practically no difference in the nutritive value and the digestibility between butter and oleomargarine or butterine, and as it is sold for half the cost of butter, the writer, as a teacher of hygiene, has urged upon his students for years to bring the nutritive value of this food stuff to the attention of the public, and in the interest of the wage-earners to correct, as far as possible, the prejudice which has been created against its use, provided, of course, it is sold under its true name and at its real value.

EGGS.-Egg-albumin has the following composition: Albumin 13%, fat 0.2%, salts 0.6%, water 86%; yolk: vitellin 15.8%, lecithin 8.7%, nuclein 1.5%, fat 20.3%, salts 1.0%, water 51.8 %. Eggs raw or soft boiled or when stirred into hot soups are readily digested, about 97% of the proteids and 95% of the fats are utilized. Hard-boiled eggs are not readily digested and for people with feeble digestion the yolk of the egg stirred in soup should be preferred. The nutritive value of a single egg is equal to 37 grams of fat beef or 165 c.cm. of rich milk. Fish-eggs contain on the whole the same nutritive principles as chicken eggs only in different proportions.

VEGETABLE FOOD.

CEREALS. Of all the vegetables the cereals stand at the head of the list. While the legumes contain more vegetable albumin, they cannot be

prepared in so many suitable ways and are more difficult of digestion. H. W. Wiley's analysis, based upon American grains, is as follows:

The following table (Uffelmann's) shows the average composition of different flours and cereals:

The cereals are eaten only after a series of careful manipulations producing different grades of flour, varieties of breakfast cereals, etc. In the finest grades of flour nearly all the outer membranes of the wheat grain (bran) is separated; while this removes much indigestible matter it also removes some of the proteids and fats. On the other hand the nutritive material in bran is in a form quite difficult of digestion, and the experiments conducted by Professor Snyder in 1901 indicated that the available proteids in graham bread are not utilized to the same extent as in high grade white bread.

Wheat and rye flour, on account of the gluten present, are especially suited for the preparation of bread; preference should be given to properly baked yeast-bread, and next to the patent aerated bread, while the use of baking powders should be discouraged. Apart from the fact that yeast predigests in a degree the starchy matter, baking powders are often subject to shameful adulterations. Bread possesses decided nutritive qualities, the proportion of nitrogenous to non-nitrogenous matter being 1 in 7. Experience has shown that a male adult cannot digest over 750 grams, and a female over 600 grams a day. This amount would supply about 2/5 of the protein and 2/3 of the carbohydrates required in 24 hours.

When taken in proper quantities 95 to 96% of a light, spongy bread are digested. Toasted bread contains less water and hence more nutriment pound for pound. Crackers cannot take the place of bread. Glutencrackers are suitable for diabetic subjects because they contain from 55 to 75% of protein, and only from 10 to 30% of starch.

The nutritive value of vermicelli, macaroni and the various grits used in soups and in the preparation of mushes may be materially enhanced by the addition of milk and cream.

LEGUMES are a most valuable class of food stuff on account of the great amount of vegetable albumin present and have very aptly been called the poor man's meat. The difference in nutritive value between the immature peas and beans, which are used as green vegetables, and the matured seeds is shown by the analysis of König, Atwater and Bryant:

The digestibility of these vegetables depends largely upon the mode of cooking; they should not be cooked in hard water, as the lime salts form insoluble compounds with the legumin, and after cooking the outer membrane should be removed by straining, in which case about 88% of the nutritives are utilized. If they are old, they should first be soaked for 24 hours in cold water.

SUCCULENT VEGETABLES.-Almost all of the fresh vegetables, except potatoes and green peas, contain a great amount of water, cellulose and salts and therefore very little nutriment. They are rich in amido-compounds and their chief value consists in the fact that they supply the mineral salts in a very palatable and assimilable form.

Potatoes contain proteids 2%, fat 0.10%, starch 20%. The juice is a valuable anti-scorbutic. If over 600 grams of potatoes are taken daily some of the starch is liable to undergo fermentation. In sprouting solanin, a toxic agent, is produced; this is liable to cause nausea, vomit