LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. 
 
 GIF^T OF" 
 
 MRS. HEARST 
 
 Class 
 

 COUNT RUMFORD. 
 
PLAIN WORDS ABOUT FOOD 
 
 THE 
 
 RUMFORD KITCHEN LEAFLETS 
 
 L, E- 
 
 1899 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 ROCKWELL AND CHURCHILL PRESS 
 1899 
 

 Copyright, 1899 
 BY ELLEN H. RICHARDS 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 (Numbers 1 and 6 arc reprinted from the American Kitchen Magazine. Num- 
 bers 2, 12, 16, 18, 19, 20 are printed here for the first time.) 
 
 PAGE 
 INTRODUCTION .......... 9 
 
 GUIDE, ETC. .......... 11 
 
 MOTTOES . . .16 
 
 Number. 
 
 1. COUNT RUMFORD AND HIS WORK FOR HUMANITY. Ellen 
 
 If. Richards . . . ID 
 
 2. RUMFORDIANA. Susannah Minns ..... 28 
 
 3. KING PALATE. Mary Hinman Abel ..... 36 
 
 4. COMPARATIVE NUTRITION. Edward Atkinson, LL.D. . 38 
 
 5. EXTERNAL DIGESTION. Win. T. Sedgwick, Ph.D., Pro- 
 
 fessor of Biology, Mass. Institute of Technology . . 45 
 
 6. WATER AND AIR AS FOOD. Ellen H. Richards . . 50 
 
 7. THE CHEMISTRY OF PROTEID FOODS. John J. Abel, M.D., 
 
 Professor of Pharmacology, Johns Hopkins University . 58 
 
 8. THE DIGESTIBILITY OF PROTEID FOODS. R. II. Chitten- 
 
 den, Ph.D., Professor of Physiological Chemistry in Yale 
 University ......... 63 
 
 9. PROTEIDS IN OUR DAILY FARE. Mary Hinman Abel. . 68 
 10. THE CHEMISTRY OF FATS AND CARBOHYDRATES. Ira 
 
 Remsen, Ph.D., Professor of Chemistry in Johns Hopkins 
 University ......... 73 
 
 3 
 
 12594:* 
 
11. THE DIGESTION AND NUTRITIVE VALUE OF THE CAR- 
 
 BOHYDRATES. W. 11. Howell, Ph.D., Professor of 
 Physiology in Johns Hopkins University . . .80 
 
 12. THE PLACE OF FATS IN NUTRITION. Mary Hinman Abel . 85 
 
 13. THE FOOD OF SCHOOL CHILDREN AND YOUNG STUDENTS. 
 
 Ellen It. Richards 89 
 
 14. THE PROPHYLACTIC AND THERAPEUTIC VALUE OF FOOD. 
 
 Ellen H. Richards 104 
 
 15. SOME SUGGESTIONS ABOUT NOURISHMENT IN ACUTE 
 
 DISEASE. Francis H. Williams, M.D., Visiting Phy- 
 sician to the City Hospital, Boston . . . .115 
 GOOD FOOD FOR LITTLE MONEY. Ellen H. Richards . 123 
 THE STORY OF THE NEW ENGLAND KITCHEN. Mary 
 Hinman Abel . . . . . . . . . 131 
 
 18. PUBLIC KITCHENS IN RELATION TO THE WORKINGMAN AND 
 
 THE AVERAGE HOUSEWIFE. Mary Hinman Abel . . 155 
 
 It). PUBLIC KITCHENS IN RELATION TO SCHOOL-LUNCHES AND 
 
 TO RESTAURANTS. Ellen II . Richards . . . .161 
 
 20. THE FOOD OF INSTITUTIONS. Ellen H. Richards . . 166 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 COUNT RUMFORD Frontispiece 
 
 THE RUMFORD KITCHEN, COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION, 1893 . .11 
 INTERIOR RUMFORD KITCHEN, COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION, 1893 . 16 
 INTERIOR RUMFORD KITCHEN, COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION, 1893 . 19 
 
 LUNCH ROOM IN THE RUMFORD KITCHEN, COLUMBIAN EXPO- 
 SITION, 1893 28 
 
 LUNCH COUNTER AT THE BOSTON LATIN SCHOOL . . .89 
 THE NEW ENGLAND KITCHEN, HUDSON STREET, NEW YORK . 123 
 THE NEW ENGLAND KITCHEN, PLEASANT STREET, BOSTON . 132 
 THE NEW ENGLAND KITCHEN, PLEASANT STREET, BOSTON . 134 
 THE NEW ENGLAND KITCHEN, SALEM STREET, BOSTON . . 139. 
 THE NEW ENGLAND KITCHEN, 485 TREMONT STREET, BOSTON, 161 
 
" He who works with all his strength on the develop- 
 ment of our knowledge of food and nutrition, and who 
 also persistently strives to apply the results of investi- 
 gation, is working on a broad basis for the development 
 of mankind." DONDERS. 
 
 A GOOD COOK. 
 
 "To be a good cook means the knowledge of all 
 fruits, herbs, balms, and spices, and of all that is 
 healing and sweet in fields and groves, savory in 
 meats ; it means carefulness, inventiveness, watchful- 
 ness, willingness, and readiness of appliance ; it means 
 the economy of great grandmothers, and the science 
 of modern chemists ; it means much tasting and no 
 wasting; it means English thoroughness, French art, 
 and Arabian hospitality ; it means, in fine, that you 
 are to be perfectly and always ladies (loaf givers}, 
 and you are to see that everybody has something nice 
 to eat." RUSKIN. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 THE constant demand for copies of the leaflets distributed 
 from that part of the Massachusetts Exhibit called the Rumford 
 Kitchen at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, in 
 1893, has led to this collection of the literature, with illustrations 
 of the exhibit.' 
 
 It should be remembered that the leaflets are published as they 
 were written five years ago, so that the distinguished scientific 
 men, who then gave generously of their time and thought to 
 further the plan, have not had an opportunity to qualify their 
 statements in view of later discoveries. 
 
 During the World's Fair, visitors at the Rumford Kitchen were 
 often seen copying the mottoes which hung upon the walls. 
 Since that time many calls for these quotations have come from 
 all parts of the country. To supply this demand they were 
 printed in the American Kitchen Magazine, Vol. IV., No. 5, and 
 Vol. V., No. 2. They are now given this permanent form. 
 
 Four luncheons have been selected as typical of the ten 
 which made up the original Bill of Fare. Numbers one and two 
 show a higher food value than the standard, while numbers three 
 and four fall below, although the cost of number two is the least 
 and of number four the greatest. 
 
 9 
 
or THE 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
GUIDE TO THE RUMFORD KITCHEN. 
 
 An Exhibit made by the State of Massachusetts in connection with the Bureau 
 of Hygiene and Sanitation. 
 
 WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION, CHICAGO, 1893. 
 STATEMENT BY GENERAL FRANCIS A. WALKER. 
 
 THE exhibit known as the Rumford Kitchen is the outgrowth of 
 the work, in the application of the principles of chemistry to the 
 science of cooking, which has for three years been carried on as 
 an educational agency by Mrs. Robert H. Richards and Mrs. Dr. 
 John J. Abel, with pecuniary assistance from certain public- 
 spirited citizens of Boston. 
 
 The Massachusetts Board of World's Fair Managers, recogniz- 
 ing the high scientific character of those who have initiated and 
 conducted this enterprise, and believing that such practical dem- 
 onstration of the usefulness of domestic science could not fail to 
 be of advantage to multitudes of visitors to the Columbian Expo- 
 sition, have invited the ladies named to open the Rumford Kitchen 
 as a part of the exhibit of Massachusetts in connection with the 
 Bureau of Hygiene and Sanitation. 
 
 In order to reduce, in some degree, the expenses of this exhibit, 
 the food cooked in the Rumford Kitchen will be sold under a con- 
 cession from the administration of the Exposition ; but it should 
 be understood that this is not a money-making exhibit ; that 
 nothing is cooked for the sake of being sold ; and that the enter- 
 prise is to be regarded as absolutely a scientific and educational 
 one. 
 
 11 
 
The exhibit consists of ten parts : 
 
 1st. A selection from the apparatus used in the New England 
 Kitchen, Boston, for the preparation of certain kinds of food. 
 
 2d. Samples of the food served at the tables to illustrate the 
 o fleets of cooking by the methods used. 
 
 3d. Samples of food prepared for the very sick. 
 
 4th. Menus giving the composition and food value of the dishes 
 thus cooked and served. 
 
 5th. Charts and diagrams illustrating methods of teaching im- 
 portant facts in connection with food. 
 
 6th. Models of some of Count RumfoixTs inventions. 
 
 7th. A library containing Count Rumford's complete works 
 and various other publications of interest. 
 
 8th. A series of leaflets written expressly for this exhibit by 
 eminent authorities, or selected from the literature of the New 
 England Kitchen. 
 
 9th. A kitchen laboratory table with indispensable apparatus. 
 
 10th. Some forms of apparatus and some utensils especially 
 desirable for home use. 
 
 THE RUMFORD KITCHEN. 
 
 The purpose of the exhibit in the Rumford Kitchen is two-fold : 
 'Vst, to commemorate the services to the cause of domestic sci- 
 \.oe rendered by Count Rumford one hundred years ago, ser- 
 vices which to-day stand unrivalled in spite of the progress of 
 other deparlments during this century; second, to serve as an 
 incentive to further work in the same direction, as he expressed 
 it, " to provoke men to investigation," " to cause doubt, that first 
 step toward knowledge." 
 
 The Rumford Kitchen, then, stands for the application of sci- 
 ence to the preparation of food. A careful study of all the 
 published essays of Count Rumford will show that in so far as 
 the question is that of method of preparation and application of 
 heat we have advanced very little in this one hundred years; but 
 that the science which was so carefully worked out at that time 
 
 12 
 
has been lost sight of to a great extent, and that the common 
 practice is now quite as bad as when Count Rumford so strongly 
 deprecated it. We can to-day only echo his statements " The 
 common kitchen range seems to have been calculated for the 
 express purpose of devouring fuel." "It is a common habit to 
 boil a dish of tea with fuel sufficient to cook a dinner for fifty 
 men." 
 
 We cannot do better than follow the example of this remarkable 
 man and patient experimenter in the study of those problems 
 which affect the daily life of all people alike ; and certainly if a 
 man held in so much honor and respect by the whole civilized 
 world, who had a high position at court, and who busied himself 
 with the most abstruse theories of the science of the time, yet 
 found his greatest joy in planning kitchen utensils, surely it is 
 not beneath the dignity of any modern investigator to follow in 
 his footsteps. " A real improvement in the art of cookery, which 
 unites the advantage of economy with wholesomeness and an 
 increased enjoyment in eating, appears to me very interesting." 
 
 The century which has passed has indeed added some things 
 to our knowledge of food. The increase in facility of transpor- 
 tation, and in means of preservation, has increased many times 
 the number of food materials available. Chemical analysis has 
 given us the ultimate composition of most of these food mate- 
 rials, and the agricultural experiment stations have, as a side 
 issue, determined in a few cases the amount of these food mate- 
 rials which are daily required by the human animal, so that we 
 have already a basis upon which to build ; but there still remains 
 the most important branch of the subject, the one to which Count 
 Rumford gave his attention, namely, the relation of the propor- 
 tion of food materials and their combination to the best and most 
 economical nutrition of men. In fact we must carry on the study 
 of the " science of nutrition" which Count Rumford so well be- 
 gan. 
 
 It is, then, not as an exponent of any theory, not as the advo- 
 cate of any one process, not as illustrating a universal panacea 
 
 13 
 
for all of the ills of mankind, not as ottering a completed plan to 
 be exactly followed, that the Rumford Kitchen has been fitted up, 
 but rather to show that certain knowledge is within our reach, 
 and that certain improvements are possible in the line of our 
 daily life. It is hoped to arouse the intelligent, thinking citizen 
 to the need and to the possibility of improvement in these 
 directions. 
 
 14 
 
FOODS PREPARED AND SOLD AT THE HUM.FORD KITCHEN, WITH 
 THEIR FOOD VALUES. 
 
 FOUR STANDARD LUNCHEONS. 
 
 
 FOOD VALUE ix GRAMS. 
 
 oS 
 
 1 
 
 Proteid. 
 
 Fat. 
 
 Carbohy- 
 drates . 
 
 Volt's Standard. One-quarter of One 
 Day's Ration 
 
 24.5 
 31.2 
 
 14. 
 31.2 
 
 125. 
 114. 
 
 742. 
 
 882. 
 
 At water's Standard. One-quarter of 
 One Day's Ration 
 
 
 
 Ounces. 
 
 Grams. 
 
 
 
 
 
 r Baked Beans .... 
 i Brown Bread .... 
 No. 1. 1 1 Roll 
 
 8.4 
 4.2 
 2.0 
 0.7 
 5.3 
 
 238.1 
 119.1 
 56.7 
 19.8 
 150.2 
 
 1 
 >>26.3 
 
 j 
 
 35.6 
 
 131.4 
 
 979.3 
 
 j Butter 
 
 I Apple Sauce .... 
 
 f Pea Soup 
 ^ j Rolls or Bread . . . 
 ' 1 Butter 
 
 9.8 
 4.Q 
 0.7 
 4.0 
 
 277.8 
 113.4 
 19.8 
 113.4 
 
 i 
 
 128.6 
 
 35.4 
 
 126.1 
 
 935.3 
 
 1 Apple Cake 
 
 
 f Beef Broth 
 
 94 
 4.0 
 0.7 
 4.0 
 
 266.5 
 113.4 
 19.8 
 113.4 
 
 1 
 >26.3 
 
 20.4 
 
 128.4 
 
 817.5 
 
 yr o J Rolls or Bread . . 
 No ' 3 - j Butter 
 
 1 Gingerbread 
 
 fEscalloped Fish.. 
 v . J Rolls or Bread . . . 
 No> 4 " ] Butter 
 
 4.0 
 4.0 
 0.7 
 8.0 
 
 113.4 
 113 4 
 19.8 
 
 226.8 
 
 !>26.8 
 
 24.0 
 
 109.8 
 
 777.2 
 
 1 Baked Apples . . . 
 
 Cost of Raw Materials of Each of Four Standard Luncheons, at 
 
 Average Market Prices. 
 
 No. 1 . . . 4.39 cents. No. 3 . . . 4.32 cents. 
 No. 2*. . . 3.49 " No. 4 . . . 5.34 " 
 
 15 
 
RUMFORD KITCHEN MOTTOES. 
 
 Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and 
 your labor for that which satisfieth not? Isaiah, Iv. 2. 
 
 Preserve and treat food as you would your body, remembering 
 that in time food will be your body. B. W. Richardson. 
 
 The palate is the janitor, and unless he be conciliated, the most 
 nutritious food will find no welcome. 
 
 There are three companions with whom you should keep on 
 good terms your wife, your stomach, and your conscience. 
 
 Myriads of our fellow-creatures have perished because those 
 around them did not know how to feed them. Fothergill. 
 
 Prayer and provender delays no man's journey. Old Proverb. 
 The fate of nations depends on how they are fed. 
 
 Plain food is quite good enough for me. Oliver Wendell 
 Holmes. 
 
 A man is what he eats. 
 
 It is an irritating, nay more, a deeply saddening problem for a 
 wise dyspeptic to ponder, the superabundance in this little world 
 of ours of things cookable, and the extreme rarity of cooks. 
 Maarten Maartens. 
 
 There is no pain like the pain of a new idea. Bagehot. 
 
 The time indeed is at hand when systematic lectures on food 
 will be part of medical education, when the value of feeding in 
 disease is admitted to be as important as the administration of 
 medicines. Fothergill. 
 
 16 
 
The scientific aspect of food must be united in the bonds of holy 
 matrimony with a practical knowledge of the cook's art, before a 
 man can discourse learnedly of food. Fothergill. 
 
 It is in vain to suppose that the poor should adopt better methods 
 of choosing and preparing their food till they are furnished with 
 better implements and utensils for cooking. Rumford. 
 
 Pain is the prayer of a nerve for healthy blood. Romberg. 
 
 Courage, cheerfulness, and a desire to work depends mostly on 
 good nutrition. Moleschott. 
 
 The stomach is a good servant; let his hours of repose be un- 
 broken . 
 
 Keep as near as ever you can to the first sources of supply 
 fruits and vegetables. B. W. Richardson. 
 
 Nothing surely is so disgraceful to society and individuals as 
 unmeaning wastefulness. Rumford. 
 
 An hour of exercise to a pound of food. Felix Oswald. 
 
 The seat of courage is the stomach. German Proverb. 
 
 A good heart will have a care of his meat and drink. Eccle- 
 siasticus. 
 
 What pleases the palate, nourishes. 
 
 Eat when I have stomach, and wait for no man's leisure . 
 Shakespeare, Much Ado, i. 3. 
 
 A man too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too 
 busy to take care of his tools. 
 
 Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and 
 hatred therewith. Proverbs. 
 
 Hunger is the best sauce. 
 
 The proof of the pudding is in the eating. Old Proverb. 
 The spirit of each dish, and zest of all, 
 Is what ingenious cooks the relish call. 
 
 There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and 
 drink. Ecclesiastes, ii. 24. 
 
 17 
 
Many sick persons pass into a critical stage from which they 
 never rally, because they are insufficiently fed. King Chambers. 
 
 Haste in the preparation is the ruin of stews. Curiosity, too, is 
 a drawback. The lid of the stewpan should never be lifted until 
 it has to be taken off. 
 
 Ost oder West daheim schmeckts am best. German Proverb. 
 
 Every man has lain on his own trencher. Old English 
 Proverb. 
 
 Now good digestion wait on appetite, and health on both. 
 Shakespeare, Macbeth, Hi. 4. 
 
 After breakfast walk a mile, 
 After dinner sleep awhile. 
 
 As hungry as the sea, and can digest as much. Shakespeare, 
 Twelfth Night, ii. 4. 
 
 If I bring thee not something to eat, I will give thee leave to 
 die. Shakespeare, As You Like It, ii. 6. 
 
 Then to breakfast, with what appetite you have. Shake- 
 speare, Henry VIII., Hi. 2. 
 
 The six o'clock dinner marks the progress of civilization around 
 the world. So do dyspepsia and gout. 
 
 Where the dinner is ill got there is poverty, or there is indo- 
 lence, or there is ignorance. Dr. Samuel Johnson. 
 Joy and temperance and repose 
 Slam the door on the doctor's nose. 
 
 Our stomachs will make what's homely, savory. Shake- 
 speare, Cymbeline, Hi. 6. 
 
 In building up an army, begin at the stomach. Bismarck. 
 
 18 
 
THE RUMFORD KITCHEN LEAFLETS. 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 COUNT RUMFORD, AND HIS WORK FOR HUMANITY. 
 BY ELLEN H. RICHARDS. 
 
 Benjamin Thompson, " the benefactor of humanity," was born March 26, 1753, 
 in what is now the town of Woburn, Mass., within twelve miles of the birthplace 
 of Benjamin Franklin, "the patriotic statesman." As a youth he was dependent 
 upon his own exertions, like so many New Englanders of that century. At an 
 early age he delighted in experiment and investigation, and in the use of mechani- 
 cal tools. He was also skilful with the pencil. When, in 1781, he began the study 
 of medicine with Dr. Hay, of Woburn, he was busy in inventing an electrical 
 machine. 
 
 Owing to certain political complications he was banished from the country on 
 charge of being a Tory, a charge which he stoutly denied. Nevertheless he ac- 
 cepted a military position with the British forces, and held himself always to be 
 a British subject. 
 
 In 1784, with the permission of the King of England, he entered the service of 
 the Elector of Bavaria. In 1802 he took up his residence in Franco, where he died 
 in 1814. 
 
 The complete works of Count Rumford were published in four volumes, with his 
 life in a fifth volume in 1875, by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 
 Boston. 
 
 " HUNGER and cold are the two great foes of our race, and to 
 meet them all our skill and art are most resolutely directed in 
 palaces and in hovels." 
 
 This sentence gives the keynote of Cuvier's eulogy pronounced 
 upon Count Rumford before the French Institute less than five 
 months after his death. He reminds his audience that the sci- 
 ences had reached a point where the immense advantages which 
 their applied uses daily insured to society had just begun to ex- 
 cite the amazement of all thoughtful persons. 
 
 19 
 
" Le Moniteur" of Aug. 25, 1814, says : " This celebrated man 
 has consecrated his life to the study of the sciences and always in 
 the service of humanity." 
 
 Delessert, in the address over his grave, says: " In England, 
 in France, in Germany, in all parts of the Continent, the people 
 are enjoying the blessings of his discoveries ; and from the hum- 
 ble dwellings of the poor even to the palaces of sovereigns all 
 will remember that his sole aim was to be always useful to his 
 fellow-men.'" 
 
 The work of Count Rumford was carried on in three nearly 
 distinct periods of his life and was directly influenced by the 
 circumstances in which he found himself placed ; indeed, he was 
 in a great measure the puppet of fate, and "so susceptible to 
 impressions that he could not fix his attention upon any uniform 
 line of conduct," although " he had a genius which never suffered 
 him to stop short of the object of his pursuit. 11 " His ambition 
 was to rise in the estimation of mankind by his usefulness, and 
 to call forth that applause which springs from public love ; " hence, 
 if his friend Colonel Baldwin was right in the foregoing estimate 
 of his character, it was very natural that he should throw himself 
 into the task of securing the power of the Elector of Bavaria, 
 then hanging in the balance, by binding his people to him as a 
 ruler, under whom they had become well fed and busily em- 
 ployed, and therefore so contented that they did not perceive that 
 they were under the most despotic control. The world has never 
 seen a better example of the improvement of the condition of a 
 people without any volition of their own. So long as the Elector 
 was secure on his throne, so long did the glamour of success last, 
 but the spirit of the French Revolution was in the air, and when 
 the power of the ruler waned then the influence of the scientific 
 adviser was weakened, and he perforce turned to other fields. 
 
 Col. Benjamin Thompson, soldier, philosopher, statesman, as 
 Gibbon is said to have called him, entered the service of Charles 
 Theodore, Elector of Bavaria, in the spring of 1784, the King of 
 England having graciously given his permission and added the 
 
 20 
 
dignity of knighthood. For fourteen years he gave the treasures 
 of his inventive and truly great mind to his confidential friend and 
 ardently grateful patron a prince whose aims were high, and 
 whose interest in the welfare of his subjects was sincere and who 
 desired to remove abuses and to introduce economical improve- 
 ments. 
 
 It speaks well for the moral effect of scientific pursuits that 
 never once have we the record of an abuse of the absolute power, 
 military and civil, which was put into Rumford's hands ; the de- 
 light of seeing order come out of disorder and of accomplishing 
 results by magic, as it were, seems to have satisfied the Count 
 through this period, probably the happiest of his life. 
 
 His first endeavor was *' to unite the interest of the soldier with 
 the interest of civil society and to render the military force, even 
 in time of peace, subservient to the public good." Therefore he 
 made the situation of the men a pleasant one, with good clothes, 
 light duties, but withal subject to a life of rigid discipline and of 
 steady self -improvement, by means of schools and of habits of 
 industry. They were employed on public works, and military 
 gardens were introduced, a plot of three hundred and sixty-five 
 square feet being put in charge of each man as his own while he 
 remained in garrison, only he was to keep it in good condition. 
 Thus the soldier left the service a more useful citizen than when 
 he entered it. 
 
 This military force was then used to keep the country free from 
 beggars, at that time an intolerable nuisance, by arresting all 
 vagrants and taking them to places where they were obliged to 
 work, but where they received pay for it in proportion to the 
 quality of it and to their industry. As in the case of the soldiers, 
 every effort was made to ensure good ventilation for the build- 
 ings, with clean surroundings, and to make the place and the 
 work attractive and easy, so that the poor wretches would know 
 what it meant to be clean and warm and physically comfortable. 
 A part of their occupation was to prepare for themselves a good 
 dinner, which was to be given gratis each day, and this led Count 
 
 21 
 
Rumford to investigate the means of .supplying cheap and nutri- 
 tious food at the least cost to the State. 
 
 Among the results of these studies were the famous soups made 
 of bread, peas, and barley, sometimes with the addition of pota- 
 toes, which are still known in Germany by Rumford's name. 
 The cost of these was one penny a person a day for the portion 
 of one and one-half pounds. To this was added seven ounces of 
 rye bread, which was usually carried home for supper. Careful 
 calculation indicates that the food value was as follows : 
 
 RUMFORD SOUPS. 
 
 FOOD VALUE IN GRAMS, 
 
 
 Per Pint or Pound. 
 
 Calories." 
 
 
 
 Proteid. 
 
 Fat. 
 
 Carbo- 
 hydrates. 
 
 
 
 f Peas ) 
 
 
 
 
 
 No. 1. 
 
 {Barley ( 
 
 19.1 
 
 2.5 
 
 86.1 
 
 454.5 
 
 
 ( Bread . ) 
 
 
 
 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 | A portion of Peas and Barley ) 
 ( replaced by Potatoes . . . \ 
 
 12.5 
 
 1.4 
 
 66.7 
 
 337.7 
 
 which, though it seems small, was enough to keep hunger from 
 the door, and to afford a subsistence to the not very ambitious 
 vagrants. 
 
 The economy of service and fuel made possible by the use of 
 the best appliances is seen in the statement that dinner for one 
 thousand persons was prepared by three cook-maids at a cost of 
 four pence half-penny for fuel. A cord of soft wood cost then 
 about seven shillings and hard wood twice that. 
 
 In all these plans no account was taken of the value of land or 
 buildings, or the rent of the same, only the maintenance, and in 
 this respect similar work in a free country must always differ 
 from that under a military and despotic government, so that it is 
 not true here that " the poor might be fed from a public kitchen 
 for less than half what it would cost them to feed themselves." 
 
 22 
 
Success in this first venture seems to have stimulated the Count 
 to many of the researches which he undertook with such eager- 
 ness during these years. The fact that he had the resources of 
 the State at his command, both men and money, and, moreover, 
 persons under control on whom to try the effect of his discoveries, 
 lent wings to his invention, so that results for which many men 
 might have waited a lifetime in vain came to him within the 
 year. 
 
 During this period, the Count having proved that seven-eighths 
 of the fuel commonly used might be saved, designed several 
 kitchens for public institutions, notably that for the hospital at 
 Verona, the model of which, one-fourth size, was shown in the 
 Rumford Kitchen in Chicago and is now at 485 Tremont street, 
 Boston. 
 
 In 1795 a great effort was made to introduce potatoes, which 
 seemed to Count Rumford an excellent food. This was one of 
 the few points in which his science failed, since he seems to have 
 considered the whole weight of the potato as nutritious. How- 
 ever, it was the Count who declared that he believed that water 
 must become nutritious in the process of cooking soups. 
 
 The Count tried to introduce Indian corn into England, and 
 with his usual love of order and minutiee directed the manner of 
 eating it so as to obtain the greatest pleasure from it. This 
 caused so much amusement in America that it is to many per- 
 sons to-day the one thing which the name of Count Rumford 
 recalls. 
 
 Many devices for kitchen fireplaces and kitchen utensils are 
 described in detail in his essays, and all the drawings are made 
 with such care that the various articles can be reproduced with 
 perfect accuracy, and all the directions for cooking can be fol- 
 lowed in detail. It is an illustration of the Count's secret of suc- 
 cess in all that he undertook ; namely, minute attention to detail. 
 Nothing was too small for him to note, and the housewife of 
 to-day may well learn a lesson from the courtier, with an army at 
 his beck and the treasure of a kingdom in his hand, spending days 
 
 23 
 
in determining the best temperature for developing flavor in beef, 
 and in experiments of the most careful kind of the quantity and 
 cost of fuel necessary for making tea for two persons and com- 
 puting the waste in the ordinary methods. He devised portable 
 lamps and gave much information about harmonies and contrasts 
 in colors for helping ladies about their ribbons and apparel. The 
 invention of the closed stove and the use of coal as fuel we owe 
 to him, as well as the double-boiler to prevent burning of food 
 during slow cooking over the fire. It is as true to-day as ever 
 that "nothing is so ill-judged as most of the attempts that are 
 so frequently made by the ignorant to force the same fire to per- 
 form different services at the same time," also " more fuel is fre- 
 quently consumed in a kitchen range to boil a tea-kettle than with 
 proper management would be sufficient to cook a dinner for fifty 
 men." 
 
 Among Rumford's contributions to the luxuries of living is the 
 essay on the excellent qualities of coffee and the best means of 
 making it, a method which has not been improved in the one hun- 
 dred years which have since elapsed. 
 
 For all these benefits it would seem fitting that American house- 
 wives should celebrate in 1914 the one-hundredth anniversary of 
 the Count's death by some decided advance in the art of right 
 living and the " science of nutrition," Rumford's own term for the 
 study of food. 
 
 And all this he did from the abstract love of "knowing how," 
 for Count Rumford was himself most abstemious. He drank 
 nothing but water. He indulged himself in no superfluity, not 
 even in a step or a word, and it was in the strictest sense that he 
 used the term. His wants, his pleasures, and his toils were as 
 exactly arranged as were his experiments. This was, without 
 doubt, a means of helping him to devote all his energies most 
 directly to good works. " By the happy choice of the subject 
 of his labors he has known how to secure to himself alike the 
 esteem of the wise and the remembrance of the unfortunate. 1 ' 
 
 24 
 
He called order the necessary auxiliary of genius, almost a sub- 
 ordinate deity for the government of this lower world. 
 
 The practical results of Count Rumford's experiments and the 
 questions they aroused led to deeper studies as to the causes of 
 various phenomena, and as the need for immediate application 
 lessened, his attention was turned more and more to the scientific 
 aspect, until in the second period, while his writings still showed 
 the practical bent, they became more philosophical, and, biased 
 by the theories of the time, they undoubtedly failed of so complete 
 and rapid acceptance as his earlier work. 
 
 Deprived of the incentive of immediate application of his results, 
 Count Rumford seems to have lost in a measure the zest which 
 obstacles to overcome always gave him, and he turned his atten- 
 tion to securing the continuance of his most successful work in 
 all the years to come. To this end he devised, inaugurated, and 
 endowed institutions in England and America, which remain 
 among the most useful to mankind, although no one of them has 
 yet fulfilled all that its founder foresaw as possible. 
 
 On Feb. 15, 1797, Rumford wrote to President Willard, of 
 Harvard College, and to Mr. Pearson, the secretary of the Ameri- 
 can Academy of Arts and Sciences, Boston, authorizing the trans- 
 fer of stock to the value of $5,000 to the academy, adding, " It has 
 ever been my most ardent wish to be of some use to mankind, to 
 be able to natter myself, when I am going out of the world, that 
 I have lived to some useful purpose." In a letter dated Woburn, 
 March 26, 1798, on the anniversary of Benjamin Thompson's 
 birth, and one hundred years ago, Mr. Baldwin writes: "The 
 business of this transfer is finally completed and the academy is 
 in full possession of the most liberal and important endowment 
 of any yet received." 
 
 The year 1798 was a most important one in Count Rumford's 
 life. The Elector of Bavaria offered him the position of Minister 
 at the English court, which, being still a British subject, he was 
 not allowed to fill. Since the stress and turmoil of war and im- 
 pending disaster rendered Munich a less desirable place of resi- 
 
 25 
 
dence than hitherto, the Count bought a villa near London and 
 busied himself for a year in developing the plans for the Royal 
 Institution, the first meeting of the managers taking place March 
 9, 1799, and the first sitting March 11, 1800. This institution, 
 founded for the investigation and diffusion of the knowledge of 
 the application of science to the common purposes of life, has 
 given to the world a Sir Humphrey Davy, selected by Rumford 
 himself, a Michael Faraday and has exercised a profound influ- 
 ence in the development of science through all these one hundred 
 years. 
 
 The state of the kingdom of Bavaria remaining unfavorable to 
 philosophic study, the king allowed Rumford an annual pension 
 of about $60,000, and as the king was then a vassal of Bonaparte 
 it is supposed that this was paid only on condition that he resided 
 in France, for during these years of 1798 and 1799 there was much 
 correspondence with reference to the purchase of an estate in 
 America, and the Government of the United States offered to Count 
 Rumford, in September, 1799, the superintendence of the Military 
 Academy, then just established, and the post of Inspector-General 
 of the Artillery of the United States. He felt obliged to decline 
 on account of " engagements which great obligations have ren- 
 dered sacred and inviolable." 
 
 Therefore, after a year's residence in the Royal Institution, 
 while it was being perfected, the Count made his home in France. 
 
 That he did not forget his native country is proved by the fact 
 that he left an annuity of $1,000 and the reversion of his estate to 
 Harvard College " for the purpose of founding a new institution 
 and professorship, in order to teach by regular courses of academ- 
 ical and public lectures, accompanied with proper experiments, 
 the utility of the physical and mathematical sciences for the im- 
 provement of the useful arts and for the extension of the industry, 
 prosperity, happiness, and well-being of society. 1 ' To the first 
 Rumford professor, Dr. Jacob Bigelow, we probably owe the in- 
 troduction of the word " technology," as descriptive of the new 
 education or the application of principles first learned from experi- 
 
 26 
 
ment and founded upon theory, Fn^HfHflBtioh from technical or 
 trade education, which deals only with the narrow field of applica- 
 tion ; and we may consider Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, 
 together with Benjamin Franklin, his contemporary, as the 
 founders of the modern school of engineering and applied science, 
 which has made possible the remarkable progress of the century 
 just closing. 
 
 27 
 
THE RTJMFORD KITCHEN LEAFLETS, 
 
 No. 2. 
 
 RUMFORDIANA. 
 
 BY Miss S. MINNS. 
 
 EVERY one who considers the subject of household comfort and 
 economy must realize that we all owe a debt of gratitude to Count 
 Rumford for his wise study of the problems of daily life. We 
 do not know much more than he did in those far-back clays. The 
 principles he then laid down we still follow. In the practical ap- 
 plication of those principles to every-day life, is where our great 
 advance has been made. We have improved upon his inventions, 
 but the principles remain the same. 
 
 For instance, he invented the cooking stove, steam cooking, 
 double-bottomed saucepans, double boilers, while his ingenuity 
 seemed to have no limit. 
 
 In his work for the poor of Munich we see the source whence 
 we drew the foundation of our Associated Charities, a work of 
 great usefulness, though our poor never seem to be so ignorant 
 nor so miserable as those described in his account of the poor of 
 Bavaria. 
 
 He was eminently fitted for the work he undertook by his clear 
 judgment, his practical ability, his chemical and scientific knowl- 
 edge, and by his great humanity. Yet he was much opposed and 
 was even accused of cruelty. This was when he attempted to 
 introduce among the poor the use of potatoes and Indian corn. 
 It was said he wished to poison the people. Now the use of 
 potatoes is world wide, and Indian corn, so scorned, is proposed 
 
 28 
 
as our national emblem. His chapters on the various ways of 
 cooking it his "hasty-pudding, 11 his boiled Indian pudding, 
 called by him " bag 11 pudding are too long to be quoted, but 
 ought to be reprinted for cooking recipes. Fried potatoes and 
 potato " sallet " or salad seem to have originated with him, and 
 we have many recipes of simple and savory dishes, which were 
 either original or collected from his observations gathered in 
 travel. Pea soup and its great nutritive power were well known 
 to him and several pages in his works are devoted to its merits. 
 The Rumford Kitchen has chosen wisely its patron saint. 
 
 The few extracts from Count Rumford's Essays which are 
 given here might be more than doubled. They are as practical 
 and appropriate as if they had been written to-day instead of a 
 century ago. 
 
 " The use of science is to explain the operations which take 
 place in the practice of the arts, .and to -discover the means of 
 improving them ; and there is no process, however simple it may 
 appear to be, that does not afford an ample field for curious and 
 interesting investigation.' 1 
 
 " Causing anything to boil violently in any culinary process is 
 very ill-judged ; for it not only does not expedite, even in the 
 smallest degree, the process of cooking, but it occasions a most 
 enormous waste of fuel ; and, by driving away with the steam 
 many of the more volatile and savory particles of the ingredients, 
 renders the victuals less good and less palatable. To those who 
 are acquainted with the experimental philosophy of heat, and 
 who know that water once brought to be boiling hot, however 
 gently it may boil in fact, cannot be made any hotter, however large 
 and intense the fire under it may be made, and who know that it 
 is by the heat that is to say, the degree or intensity of it, and 
 the time of its being continued, and not by the bubbling up or 
 boiling (as it is called) of the water that culinary operations are 
 
 29 
 
performed; this will be evident; and those who know that more 
 than five times as much heat is required to send off in steam any 
 given quantity of water already boiling hot as would be necessary 
 to heat the same quantity of ice-cold water to the boiling point, 
 will see the enormous waste of heat, and consequently of fuel, 
 which, in all cases, must result from violent boiling in culinary 
 processes. 1 ' 
 
 " When good reasons can be assigned for the advantages which 
 result from any common practice, this not only tends to satisfy 
 the mind, and make people careful, cheerful, and attentive in the 
 prosecution of their business, but it has also a very salutary influ- 
 ence, by preventing those perpetual variations and idle attempts 
 at improvement, undirected by science, which are the consequence 
 of the inconstancy, curiosity, and restlessness of man/' 
 
 " . . . We may, I think, venture to hope that those preju- 
 dices which prevent the introduction of these improvements will 
 in time be removed." 
 
 "It is not obstinacy, it is that apathy which follows a total cor- 
 ruption of taste and morals, that is an incurable evil ; for that, 
 alas ! there is no remedy but calamity and extermination." 
 
 " Experience, unassisted by science, may lead, and frequently 
 does lead, to useful improvements ; but the progress of such im- 
 provement is not only slow, but vacillating, uncertain, and very 
 unsatisfactory." 
 
 "And with regard to the reputation of being a discoverer, 
 though I rejoice I might say, revel and triumph in the prog- 
 ress of human knowledge, and enjoy the sweetest delight in con- 
 templating the advantages to mankind which are derived from the 
 introduction of useful improvements, yet I can truly say, that I 
 set no very high value on the honor of being the first to stumble 
 on those treasures which everywhere lie so slightly covered. 
 
 ' ' On the first view of the matter, it appears very extraordinary 
 indeed that any person should ever, in any instance, neglect to 
 
 30 
 
avail himself of an invention or contrivance within his power to 
 obtain, that is evidently calculated to increase his comforts, or to 
 facilitate his labor, or to increase the profits of it ; but when we 
 reflect on the subject with attention, and consider the power of 
 habit, and then recollect how difficult it is even for a person to 
 perceive the imperfections of instruments to which he has been 
 accustomed from his early youth, our surprise that improvements 
 do not make a more rapid progress will be greatly lessened. 
 
 " But there is a great variety of circumstances that are un- 
 favorable to the introduction of improvements. The very proposal 
 of anything new commonly carries with it something that is offen- 
 sive ; something that seems to imply a superiority ; and even that 
 kind of superiority precisely to which mankind are least disposed 
 to submit. 11 
 
 " That I am not unreasonable enough to expect that all my rec- 
 ommendations will be immediately attended to, is evident from 
 the pains I take to improve machinery now in use, of which I do 
 not approve, and which is perfectly different from that I am de- 
 sirous to see introduced. 
 
 " There are few, very few indeed, who do not feel ashamed 
 and mortified at being obliged to learn anything new after they 
 have for a long time been considered and been accustomed to con- 
 sider themselves, as proficients in the business in which they are 
 engaged ; and their awkwardness in their new apprenticeship, 
 and especially when they are obliged to work with tools, with 
 which they are not acquainted, tends much to increase their dis- 
 like to their teacher and to his doctrines. 
 
 " There are some difficulties, no doubt, in changing the habits 
 of a nation ; but these difficulties have been too much exagger- 
 ated, and they have too often been an excuse for indolence. 
 
 "If anything really useful be proposed to the public, it can 
 hardly fail to be adopted, if it be properly recommended ; but so 
 many new things, unworthy of notice, are every day proposed, 
 that it is by no means surprising that little attention is paid to 
 such recommendations " 
 
 31 
 
"Nothing surely is so disgraceful to society and to individuals 
 as unmeaning wastefulness. 
 
 " / am happy when I find that improvement leads to economy ; 
 but I have always thought that excellence should never be sacri- 
 ficed to paltry savings in anything, and least of all in those 
 habitual enjoyments which are at the same time the comforts and 
 consolations of life.' 
 
 "Many useful improvements have been proposed by ingenious 
 and enlightened men, which have failed, merely because those 
 who have brought them forward have neglected to give directions 
 sufficiently clear respecting the details of their execution." 
 
 "There are two ways in which philosophers, as well as other 
 men, may be excited to action, and induced to engage zealously 
 in the investigation of any curious subject of inquiry, they may 
 be enticed, and they may be provoked.' 1 ' 1 
 
 ON THE DUTIES OF TRAVELLERS. 
 
 " Those whose avocations call them to visit distant countries, 
 and those whose fortune enables them to travel for their amuse- 
 ment or improvement, have many opportunities of acquiring useful 
 information ; and in consequence of this intercourse with strangers 
 many improvements, and more rejinements, have been introduced 
 into this country ; but the most important advantages that might 
 be derived from an intimate knowledge of the manners and cus- 
 toms of different nations the introduction of improvements 
 tending to facilitate the means of subsistence, and to increase the 
 comforts and conveniences of the most necessitous and most 
 numerous classes of society have been, alas! little attended 
 to. Our extensive commerce enables us to procure, and we do 
 actually import most of the valuable commodities which are the 
 produce either of the soil, of the ocean, or of the industry of 
 man in all the various regions of the habitable globe ; bat the result 
 of the experience of ages respecting the use that can be made of those 
 commodities has seldom been thought worth importing ! I never 
 see maccaroni in England, or polenta in Germany, upon the tables 
 
 32 
 
of the rich, without lamenting that those cheap and wholesome 
 luxuries should be monopolized by those who stand least in need 
 of them ; while the Poor, who, one would think, ought to be con- 
 sidered as having almost an exclusive right to them (as they 
 were both invented by the Poor of a neighboring nation), are kept 
 in perfect ignorance of them." 
 
 " The pleasure enjoyed in eating depends first upon the agree- 
 ableness of the taste of the food ; and secondly, upon its power to af- 
 fect the palate. Now, there are many substances extremely cheap 
 by which very agreeable tastes may be given to the food, par- 
 ticularly when the basis or nutritive substance of the food is 
 tasteless ; and the effect of any kind of palatable solid food (of 
 meat, for instance) upon the organs of taste may be increased 
 almost indefinitely by reducing the size of the particles of such 
 food, and causing it to act upon the palate by a larger surface. 
 And if means be used to prevent its being swallowed too soon 
 . . . the enjoyment of eating may be greatly increased and 
 prolonged. 
 
 " The idea of occupying a person a great while, and affording 
 him much pleasure at the same time, in eating a small quantity 
 of food, may, perhaps, appear ridiculous to some; but those who 
 consider the matter attentively, will perceive that it is very im- 
 portant. It is, perhaps, as much so as anything that can employ 
 the attention of the philosopher. 
 
 " The enjoyments which fall to the lot of the bulk of mankind 
 are not so numerous as to render an attempt to increase them su- 
 perfluous. And even in regard to those who have it in their power 
 to gratify their appetites, it is surely rendering them a very im- 
 portant service to show them how they may increase their pleas- 
 ures without destroying their health." 
 
 " It is a maxim, as ancient, I believe, as the time of Hippoc- 
 rates, that whatever pleases the palate nourishes ; ' and I have 
 often had reason to think it perfectly just. Could it be clearly 
 
 33 
 
ascertained and demonstrated, it would tend to place cookery in 
 a much more respectable situation among the arts than it now 
 holds." 
 
 "That the manner in which food is prepared is a matter of 
 real importance, and that the water used in that process acts a much 
 more important part than has been hitherto generally imagined, is, 
 I think, quite evident; for it seems to me to be impossible, upon 
 any other supposition, to account for the appearances. If the very 
 small quantity of solid food which enters into the composition of 
 a portion of some very nutritive soup were to be prepared differ- 
 ently and taken under some other form, that of bread, for instance, 
 so far from being sufficient to satisfy hunger, and afford a com- 
 fortable and nutritive meal, a person would absolutely starve upon 
 such a slender allowance ; and no great relief would be derived 
 from drinking crude water to fill up the void in the stomach." 
 
 "... It seems to me to be more than probable that the 
 number of inhabitants who may be supported in any country, 
 upon its internal produce, depends almost as much upon the state 
 of the art of cookery as upon that of agriculture. 
 
 "... But if cookery be of so much importance, it certainly 
 deserves to be studied with the greatest care ; and it ought to be 
 particularly attended to in times of general alarm, on account 
 of a scarcity of provisions ; for the relief which may in such 
 cases be derived from it, is immediate and effectual, while all 
 other resources are distant and uncertain." 
 
 " Considering what circumstance in life, after the necessaries, 
 food and raiment, contributes most to comfort, I found it to be 
 cleanliness. And so very extensive is the influence of cleanliness 
 that it reaches even to the brute creation. 
 
 " With what care and attention do the feathered race wash 
 themselves and put their plumage in order ; and how perfectly 
 neat, clean, and elegant do they ever appear! Among the beasts 
 of the field we find that those which are the most cleanly are gen- 
 erally the most gay and cheerful ; or are distinguished by a certain 
 
 34 
 
air of tranquillity and contentment; and singing birds are always 
 remarkable for the neatness of their plumage, and so great is the 
 effect of cleanliness upon man, that it extends even to his moral 
 character. Virtue never dwelt long with tilth and nastiness, nor 
 do I believe there ever was a person scrupulously attentive to clean- 
 liness who was a consummate villain. 
 
 "Brute animals are evidently taught cleanliness by instinct; 
 and can there be a stronger proof of its being essentially neces- 
 sary to their well-being and happiness ? But if cleanliness is 
 necessary to the happiness of brutes, how much more so must it 
 be to the happiness of the human race! 
 
 "The good effects of cleanliness, or rather the bad effects of 
 filth and nastiness, may, I think, be very satisfactorily accounted 
 for. Our bodies are continually at war with whatever offends 
 them, and everything offends them that adheres to them and irri- 
 tates them ; and though by long habits we may be so accustomed 
 to supporting a physical ill, as to become almost insensible to it, 
 yet it never leaves the mind perfectly at peace. There always 
 remains a certain uneasiness and discontent ; an indecision, and an 
 aversion from all serious application, which shows evidently that 
 the mind is not at rest." 
 
 " Order and disorder, peace and war, health and sickness, 
 cannot exist together; but comfort and contentment, the insepa- 
 rable companions of happiness and virtue, can only arise from 
 order, peace, and health." 
 
 35 
 
THE RUMFORD KITCHEN LEAFLETS. 
 
 No. 3. 
 
 KING PALATE. 
 
 By MARY HINMAN ABEL. 
 
 KING PALATE was once monarch of a mighty realm. There 
 was no one to dispute his sway, and, like all absolute rulers, he 
 grew very lawless in his conduct. In fact, he did just as he 
 pleased. 
 
 He had, in the good old days, only one care, that the tables 
 should be well loaded for the daily feasts that he held with his 
 subjects ; sorrow came to the royal heart only when the fish sulked 
 in the pond or the deer outran the hunter. 
 
 But there came a time when it was known that enemies lurked 
 in his realm ; a band of impish creatures now and then descended 
 upon him and wrought all manner of mischief in his land. They 
 were Indigestion, Dyspepsia, Gout, Liver Disease, Delirium 
 Tremens, and a hundred others, big'and little, and they grievously 
 tormented his subjects and drove the king to his wits' end. All 
 his skilled magicians were not able to drive away the enemy, 
 though they brewed many a nauseous potion, and sought far and 
 wide for charms to defend against these attacks. 
 
 But there was growing up in the court of the king a youth of 
 wondrous promise. His name was Knowledge, and he had been 
 brought as a child from, a far land. It was even whispered that 
 
 COPYRIGHT," ~1893, BY ELLEN H. RICHAKDS. 
 
when he grew strong enough he meant to usurp the throne and 
 drive King Palate quite out of the kingdom. 
 
 But no, though he sat not at the nightly revels, he obeyed the 
 daily commands of the king with all courtesy, and spoke words 
 of wisdom in his ear after each grievous visitation of the imps. 
 "It is you, () King Palate, that have brought this sorrow on the 
 land. These imps are your own children, born of Ignorance ; it 
 is under cover of your name that they do their evil. Suffer no 
 more of them to go abroad, but let your subjects learn of me, who 
 am come to be your prime minister. Alone you can never again 
 reign in peace, nor am I wise enough to rule without you for 
 the experience of the ages is yours, but together we may rule in 
 honor and rid the land of its foes." 
 
 This was long ago when Knowledge was indeed but a stripling, 
 and the old King called him a fool and an upstart and went his 
 own way. But it was noticed that after each attack of the imps 
 he listened with more patience to the youth. And now the youth 
 has grown into a man and King Palate can no longer scorn him, 
 although he still falls into a passion now and then and roars: 
 "You are always weighing and considering, and you've even 
 been known to change your mind ! I, alone, am never in doubt." 
 To which Knowledge replies, ft Quite true ; but you are to blame for 
 the imps, and I am the only one who has anything to drive them 
 away ! " 
 
 On the whole, they are coming to be pretty good friends, and 
 the land thrives as their quarrels lessen. The subjects are even 
 hopeful that the imps may yet be turned out of the kingdom alto- 
 gether. 
 
 87 
 
THE BUMFOBD KITCHEN" LEAFLETS. 
 
 No. 4. 
 
 COMPARATIVE NUTRITION. 
 
 Revised for the Rumford Kitchen, by EDWARD ATKINSON. 
 
 WHILE my recent book upon " The Science of Nutrition " * was 
 going through the press, a beginning was made in treating the 
 subject of comparative nutrition. 
 
 When the twelve dietaries which have been given in this trea- 
 tise had been prepared, it seemed probable that some use might 
 be made of them in determining the relative cost of nutrition at 
 the American standard in different States and countries. I could 
 not, of course, expect to make anything but a crude beginning in 
 this matter, because the habit of nutrition, if one may use this 
 expression, varies greatly according to soil, climate, conditions, 
 and wages. 
 
 In countries where meat is scarce, the chief source of nitrogen 
 is found in a large relative consumption of cheese or of beans or 
 other legumes. How far the price of a suitable day's ration may 
 be equalized by the purchase of cheese or legumes in place of 
 meat remains to be dealt with. For the moment a few compari- 
 sons may be interesting. 
 
 It will be observed that in the twelve dietaries given in the 
 book the constants, consisting of grain, vegetables, and a modi- 
 
 1 " The Science of Nutrition." Boston : Damrell & Upham, School and Washing- 
 ton Streets. 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1893, BY ELLEN H. RICHARDS. 
 
 38 
 
cum of butter or fat, are uniform ; they are computed in sufficient 
 quantities to support life, and are named 
 
 THE LIFE RATION. 
 
 The variables, consisting mainly of meat, are given of differ- 
 ent quantities, at different prices, and are named 
 
 THE WORK RATION. 
 
 All prices are given at retail for small quantities, except flour, 
 which is assumed to be purchased by the sack or barrel. 
 
 Rations corresponding to Dietaries Nos. 1 to 4, those costing 
 12 to 13 cts. per day each, in Boston, Mass., have been computed 
 in various places, with the following results : 
 
 Cost of 57 Ibs. grain, vegetables, and fat, and 25 Ibs. of cheap 
 cuts of meat, 82 Ibs. in all ; sufficient for rations for 30 days, 
 at 3,467 Calories per day, the standard of a German soldier on a 
 war footing being 3,093 Calories. 
 
 WORK r P 
 RATION. r TAT " 
 30 days. 30 days. 
 
 DATE. 
 1891. 
 April. 
 
 November. 
 
 December. 
 September. 
 September. 
 
 November. 
 October. 
 September. 
 October. 
 December. 
 October. 
 October. 
 1892. 
 February. 
 January. 
 March. 
 
 E 
 
 a 
 
 Boston, Mass., U.S.A. (short crop of 
 vegetables 1890) 
 
 LIFE 
 
 CATION. 
 10 days. 
 
 $2 31 
 
 2 08 
 1 43 
 2 00 
 
 2 16 
 2 42 
 1 70 
 2 52 
 1 54 
 2 40 
 1 38 
 1 87 
 
 2 53 
 3 14 
 3 30 
 
 Boston, Mass., U.S.A. (vegetables 
 abundant) 
 
 Bismarck, N. Dakota, U.S. A 
 Paris France 
 
 London, England (in workmen's sec- 
 tionl 
 
 London, England (in West End shops), 
 Madison, Wis., U.S. A 
 Beyrouth and Nurcmburg, Germany, 
 Topeka Kansas USA. 
 
 New Orleans, La., U.S.A 
 Lincoln, Neb. U S.A 
 
 Ann Arbor, Mich., U.S.A 
 
 Dresden, Germany 
 Munich, Bavaria 
 
 f 1 78 
 
 1 77 
 
 2 42 
 2 81 
 
 2 52 
 
 3 60 
 1 77 
 3 76 
 1 53 
 1 92 
 1 78 
 1 86 
 
 3 93 
 
 3 30 
 
 3 63 
 
 3 85 
 
 3 85 
 
 4 81 
 
 4 68 
 6 02 
 3 47 
 6 28 
 
 3 07 
 
 4 32 
 3 16 
 3 73 
 
 6 46 
 6 44 
 693 
 
 39 
 
LIPE RATION. WORK RATION. TOTAL. 
 Cents Cents Cents 
 
 per day. per day. per day. 
 
 Boston, Mass . 7 70 5 93 13 63 
 
 Boston, Mass 6 93 5 90 12 83 
 
 Bismarck, N. Dakota 4 77 8 07 12 84 
 
 Paris, France 6 66 9 37 16 03 
 
 London, England 7 20 8 40 15 60 
 
 London, England 8 06 12 00 20 06 
 
 Madison, Wis 5 66 5 90 11 56 
 
 BeyreuthandNuremburg.Germany, 840 1253 2093 
 
 Topeka, Kansas 5 13 5 10 10 23 
 
 New Orleans, La . 8 00 6 40 14 40 
 
 Lincoln, Neb ..<,.. 4 60 5 93 10 53 
 
 Ann Arbor, Mich 6 23 6 20 12 43 
 
 Brussels, Belgium 8 43 13 10 21 53 
 
 Dresden, Germany 10 05 11 00 21 05 
 
 Munich, Bavaria 11 00 12 10 23 10 
 
 The two returns from Dresden and Munich show the effect of tne short crop of 
 grain in 1891 upon prices. 
 
 I can of course claim only approximate accuracy for these com- 
 parisons. The personal equation will have a varying influence 
 in obtaining prices. The habits of the people must be taken into 
 view. In Boston, for instance, the tougher and coarser parts of 
 beeves are sold for food ; in Bismarck, North Dakota, they are 
 probably put into the fat-rendering vats, not even being prepared 
 for sale. 
 
 I have also been disappointed in the small number of returns 
 received in reply tv my circular, but yet hope to extend this 
 inquiry, as there are now several associations in this country and 
 in Europe which have taken up this matter in different ways. 
 
 Suffice it that even this beginning is very suggestive. It 
 proves that where the nitrogenous element in food is abundant 
 and cheap, labor is effective and wages are high. Where the 
 nitrogenous element is scarce and dear, labor is not effective and 
 wages are low. 
 
 Which is the antecedent and which is the consequent? 
 
 It will be observed that there is a much greater uniformity in 
 
 40 
 
the price of the life ration than of the work ration. May not 
 this indicate a deficiency of nitrogen as the cause of low rates of 
 wages ? 
 
 Again, if one may venture upon a somewhat visionary hypothe- 
 sis, another comparison may be made and another question may 
 be asked. 
 
 Where the burden of armies and navies is heavy, nitrogenous 
 food is scarce among the people, the army must be sustained 
 even if the poor workmen starve. Witness Russia at the present 
 time. Why must armies be sustained? 
 
 The army and the naval forces of the United States number 
 only about 30,000 men, and are all that we require. At the ratio 
 to population of European armies and navies, making comparison 
 only with the force in camp or barracks and paying no regard to 
 reserves, our army and naval forces would number from 600,000 
 to 800,000 men ; and since it takes the product of at least one man 
 to support one worse than idle soldier, such a burden would be 
 equivalent to setting apart 10 per cent, or more of all the men of 
 arms-bearing age from the productive and constructive work in 
 which they are now occupied, to waste the most valuable and 
 effective portion of their lives in the destructive work of prepara- 
 tion for war. 
 
 The mere money cost of this system of militarism, which is eat- 
 ing away the vital force of most of the European states, is about 
 $1,000,000,000 a year. I am aware that army drill and discipline 
 is justified as a mode of education. What does it cost ? In Ger- 
 many women do the scavenger work, sweep the streets, mix 
 the mortar for the builders, and perform the hardest work of the 
 field, while the men, at the most productive period of efficiency, 
 are obtaining the education thus claimed to be justified. France is 
 a little better off, but many parts of Italy are worse. 
 
 It will be observed that the science of nutrition is not confined 
 to the domestic kitchen or to the recipe book. 
 
 As the supply of food comes to half the cost of life or more, in 
 many parts of this prosperous country, so the barbaric folly may 
 
 41 
 
be conceived of taxing 1 the masses for the support of the classes 
 by whom the military system is sustained and the military caste is 
 supported in Europe. 
 
 The foregoing statements of the relative cost of nutrition must 
 indicate that the proportionate cost of food to other elements in 
 the cost of living is less in the Western States and cities than in the 
 East or in Europe. In fact, the relation of food supply to the 
 rate of earnings is even a more important factor than now 
 appears. One can even predicate a rule on what is now known. 
 It may be put in this form : 
 
 To him that hath food in abundance shall be given the 
 power to gain more ; from him that hath not shall be taken 
 even that which he hath. 
 
 These considerations bring into view the importance of the 
 problem of securing a supply of nitrogen at less cost.. Our agri- 
 cultural chemists and physiologists tell us that nitrogen is the 
 most important, and at the same time the least abundant and most 
 costly element in the nutrition of the plant, the beast, and the man. 
 The atmosphere is four-fifths nitrogen and we can't yet catch it ; 
 the iron-smelting furnaces of this country are giving off ammonia 
 enough to supply nitrogen to our fields, in large measure, and we 
 waste it. We have begun to save the phosphatic slag of the furnaces 
 for use as a fertilizer, and thus to convert iron ore into corn and 
 wheat, the next man will save the ammonia. In the meantime, 
 the myriads of bacteria and microbes are being summoned to our 
 aid, who, living in their little dwelling-places attached to the 
 roots of clover, cow-pea vines, and other renovating plants, draw 
 nitrogen from the air to supply the plant which, when turned 
 under, renovates the soil. 
 
 The present need in this country is not so much of in- 
 struction how to earn as how to spend an income, especially a 
 small one. 
 
 If the energy which corresponds to the present waste of food 
 material could be spent for more adequate shelter, the evils of 
 the slums would be abated and the bad tenements in the slums 
 
 42 
 
would be renovated. One may be warranted in estimating the 
 present waste of food and fuel at live cents a day for each person, 
 which is approximately twenty per cent, of the expenditure. To 
 this we may add two cents a day, or less than half what is annu- 
 ally spent for liquors and tobacco say seven cents a day in all. 
 There are about 65,000,000 of us now, divided into 13,000,000 
 average families of five each. 
 
 At seven cents a day the measure of our waste of energy in 
 converting good food into bad feeding, and upon liquor and 
 tobacco at less than half their cost, amounts in each year to 
 $1,660,750,000. If this waste of misdirected energy were con- 
 verted into better methods of providing shelter, it would enable 
 each family of five persons to spend $127 1 7 5 ff a year more for 
 their dwelling-places than they do now. 
 
 Suppose the waste only four cents a day, two cents on food and 
 two on liquor and tobacco, even that comes to nearly $1,000,- 
 000,000 worth of misdirected energy ; and the waste is greatest 
 among those who can spare it least. 
 
 I have said that the education most needed now is how to 
 spend, more than how to earn. 1 find as much evidence of this in 
 the present expenditures upon hospitals, college buildings, and 
 school-houses as I do in the conversion of good food into bad feed- 
 ing. In the ordinary practice of combustible architecture, of 
 which this class of buildings are apt to be typical examples, I find 
 hospitals in which the inmates are exposed to cremation before 
 they are dead, covered in with crazy roofs which do not keep out 
 the weather ; college buildings which give the minimum of space 
 and comfort at the maximum of cost, in which poor students can 
 only be admitted by accepting charity ; and finally school-houses 
 in which about two in three are bad types of separate invention 
 on different plans, each more or less unsuitable to its purpose, and 
 costing from fifty to five hundred per cent, more than the sum 
 for which a true typical school-house can be constructed if the 
 motive of the work be light, air, and ventilation rather than out- 
 side appearances. 
 
 43 
 
A typical school-house can be planned and specified .in inter- 
 changeable parts, so that orders could be given for four, six, 
 eight, and ten room buildings of good exterior design and exactly 
 adapted to their purpose within, with the same absolute assurance 
 of minimum cost that has been secured in the construction of the 
 textile factory, the paper mill, and the machine shop of New 
 England. 
 
 In the light basement of this school-house nearly or wholly 
 above ground (a school-house ought never to have a dark cellar 
 under it) provision may be made for the service of the building, 
 for manual instruction, and for a cooking laboratory, in which 
 instruction may be given in the simple principles of the Science 
 of Nutrition and in the art of applying heat under due control 
 and regulation to the conversion of food material into nutritious 
 food. This can be done without encumbering the premises witli 
 costly stoves or ranges, but by making very simple provision 
 for cooking the food, whatever it may be, in such a manner as to 
 enable the boy or girl to carry back to the household such an 
 example of right method as to make the common practice dis- 
 tasteful. If the true kind of cooking apparatus were set up, any 
 k.md of food could be dealt with, and in this way right methods 
 might soon be brought into common practice. 
 
 44 
 
THE BUMFORD KITCHEN LEAFLETS, 
 
 No. 5. 
 
 ON EXTERNAL DIGESTION, COMMONLY CALLED 
 ALIMENTATION. 
 
 Written for the Rumford Kitchen by W. T. SEDGWICK. 
 
 THE digestion of food begins on its arrival in the mouth, but 
 the digestion of food-stuffs begins much earlier than this. Ali- 
 mentation, or the preparation of food for digestion within the 
 body, is only another name for a long series of processes, essen- 
 tially digestive, outside the body. From the raw materials or 
 food-stuffs supplied by nature, until they become the appetizing 
 morsels which we eat, the history of the stuffs which go to make 
 our food is as long and as interesting as any that can be written 
 of their shifting fortunes in the alimentary canal. To this set of 
 processes and phenomena we apply the term external digestion, 
 of which the following is an epitomized history. 
 
 Man finds in nature certain raw materials which contain his 
 food, that is to say, certain stuffs available for his nutrition. 
 Chemically these are mainly proteids, carbohydrates, fats, salts, 
 and water. The raw materials are chiefly animal and vegetable 
 substances, but partly mineral. The latter are mostly absorbable 
 in the condition in which they are found, and therefore need no 
 digestion ; but with the raw materials of the plant and animal 
 worlds it is very different. 
 
 Reduced to its lowest terms, one of the most difficult problems 
 of our physical life is the preparation of certain stuffs, derived 
 
 COPYBIGHT, 1893, BY ELLEN H. RlCHABDS. 
 
 45 
 
from plants and animals, for absorption, first into the common 
 carrier, the blood, and finally into the living body substance. It 
 is the ultimate incorporation of the absorbed material and its 
 promotion to the living state which rebuilds the body and makes 
 good the inevitable waste. This it is which constitutes the con- 
 structive phase of metabolism our modern name for the whole 
 series of remote and hidden processes of life itself. 
 
 The word " digestion " means, literally, to " carry apart, divide, 
 or separate ; " and in physiology this process of separation well 
 applies, first, to mere subdivision or mechanical comminution, 
 such as we have in the grinding of corn or the mastication of 
 food ; and, second, and more significantly, to the separation of the 
 useful from the useless, of the wheat from the chaff, of the nutri- 
 tious from the innutritions, and, especially, of the absorbable 
 from the unabsorbable. Just as the lawyer makes and uses a 
 "digest" of the laws, the raw products of legislation, so 
 man makes and uses a digest of the raw materials which nature 
 offers to him. And to physical and mechanical processes, which 
 are as important as they ever were, art and science have added in 
 recent years a knowledge of others essentially chemical ; so that 
 the best definition that we can give to-day of the whole process 
 of digestion is a very broad one ; viz., The preparation of food- 
 stuffs for absorption into the body proper. 
 
 An important part of this preparation is done in a special tube, 
 the so-called alimentary canal, perforating the solid body and 
 open at both ends, lined by delicate surfaces. Here the partly 
 digested food-stuffs are still further treated, for the most part 
 chemically, with special reagents (like the gastric juice) secreted 
 from the living walls of the tube ; and here also the absorbable 
 nutritive portions are taken up through the surfaces spoken of 
 into the circulation, the refractory residue being rejected and 
 passed out as waste. This tube, or alimentary canal, is, there- 
 fore, merely a convenient laboratory for digestion and a protected 
 place for absorption, and although things within the alimentary 
 
 46 
 
canal are not really within the body proper, we may conveniently 
 speak of that treatment of food-stuffs which goes on in the ali- 
 mentary canal as internal digestion. Equally important, how- 
 ever, is external digestion, or that treatment of food-stuffs which 
 takes place outside of the alimentary canal. 
 
 The first step in the whole process of digestion is the separation 
 of the raw materials from their customary environment. The 
 reaping of grain, the capture of animals, the gathering of fruit, 
 the digging of roots or tubers, all are examples of this first 
 great step in digestion, the process already pointing towards 
 absorption by the body, the result ministering to its nutrition. 
 After the reaping of the wheat comes the threshing, which 
 separates the grain from the straw; and then the winnowing, 
 which divides the wheat from the chaff. Next the already 
 much-digested seeds are pulverized by grinding, and refined by 
 bolting, until at last we have the purified product in the form 
 of flour, a beautiful white powder consisting largely of broken 
 clusters of almost invisible starch- grains. 
 
 Up to this point agriculture and the mechanic arts have 
 done the digesting; but now the housewife comes upon the 
 stage and applies the chemistry of the kitchen. The food-stuff 
 (flour) is not yet fitted for absorption ; it is still only partially 
 digested, and, able as the human stomach is, it cannot readily 
 digest raw starch. Experience early taught man this, and in- 
 vention how to help his own digestive powers by cookery a 
 further refinement of external digestion. By adding water, the 
 commonest of chemical reagents, the flour-particles are first 
 separated from each other, after which the starch-grains are 
 thoroughly disintegrated by heat while they absorb water and 
 burst. Agreeable flavors and tastes are developed at the high 
 temperature of a hot oven, by. means of the partial conversion 
 of some of the original starch into caramel or other sapid sub- 
 stances, and, usually, the mass already made porous by " raising," 
 now becomes brittle in baking. With only one step more, the 
 
 47 
 
changing of the unabsorbable starch to absorbable sugar, the 
 work of starch digestion is ended. This last step, however, is 
 not done outside the body, but is reserved for the internal labora- 
 tory, or alimentary canal. Thus, at last, the whole sheaf of 
 wheat, after reaping, threshing, winnowing, grinding, bolting, 
 yields a little flour, and the latter, after chemical treatment with 
 water and fire, becomes bread. Surely we earn our bread by 
 the sweat of our brow. 
 
 As with the grain, so, likewise, is it with fruits, roots, and 
 tubers. The peach is plucked, or divided from the tree. Its 
 centre and its circumference are rejected, and only the inter- 
 mediate layer, either raw or after treatment with fire, is accepted 
 as food destined to undergo further (internal) digestion. Dug or 
 pulled and thus "carried apart" from the earth, potatoes or 
 parsnips are seized upon for digestion. They are washed and 
 peeled, and then heated, by boiling or baking or frying. 
 
 The ox or the sheep or the wild beast is likewise " carried apart " 
 from its home, killed, skinned, decapitated, drawn and quartered ; 
 the whole process consisting in a separation or digestion of the 
 more nutritious or useful portions from the less. In the kitchen 
 or upon the table the flesh is separated from the bone and some- 
 times the fat from the lean, and only the most digestible portions 
 are cooked, devoured, and finally internally digested and made 
 absorbable. 
 
 Now, as in the case of starch, comes in the housewife's part, 
 an external, chemical digestion, treatment by fire, which makes 
 easy for the stomach a long step in the process towards perfect 
 digestion. The quick, hot fire making more brittle the tender 
 parts, the long slow heat for the separation of the fibres of the 
 tougher portions, here find their scientific application. Acces- 
 sories of the cook's art, to rouse an appetite for "good digestion" 
 to "wait on," here, also, have their rightful place, but it is essential 
 that every step taken shall be forwards and not backwards. Every 
 process iri the domestic food laboratory or kitchen, as well as 
 
 48 
 
elsewhere in this series, if properly carried out, must always make 
 the food-stuff more, not less, adapted to its end ; viz., absorption 
 through the living walls of the alimentary canal to minister to 
 human nutrition. 
 
 These are some of the processes of alimentation or external 
 digestion, and, although they are plainly only forerunners of the, 
 mainly chemical, processes which characterize the more often 
 mentioned internal digestion in the alimentary canal, who shall 
 say that they are less important ? Viewed in this broader light, 
 agriculture and a host of the humbler arts of life are ennobled, 
 while cookeiy becomes not merely an art, but an important branch 
 of physiological chemistry. 
 
 49 
 
RUMFORD KITCHEN LEAFLETS. 
 
 No. 6. 
 
 WATER AND AIR AS FOOD. 
 
 BY ELLEN H. RICHARDS. 
 
 Printed first in The American Kitchen Magazine by permission. 
 
 WATER and air are the two great carriers of the world, without 
 which life, as it is known on our planet, would be impossible. 
 Growth and decay require the presence of moisture, and, in most 
 instances, that of air also. To preserve any organic substance in- 
 definitely it is only necessary to dry it completely and keep it dry ; 
 but preservation is not living, and life means change, and change 
 means the presence of water and air. 
 
 I. WATER AS A FOOD. 
 
 If a food material may be defined as any substance which it is 
 necessary to take into the body daily in order that life and health 
 may be sustained, then water is a food of the first importance, 
 since no metabolism or chemical change, can take place in the body 
 without it. It is an almost universal solvent, and as the digestive 
 tract is a closed sac, only such substances as have been made solu- 
 ble can pass through the walls. As a rule, dilute solutions 
 dialyze more readily than concentrated ones, and sufficient water 
 must be present in order that the necessary interchange may take 
 place between the contents of the intestines and the blood-vessels 
 and between the blood-vessels and the individual cells. 
 
 Since the blood is the carrier of provisions to all parts of the 
 
 50 
 
body, it must flow freely and must have the property of dissolving 
 yet more material, since it not only carries food, but brings away 
 the waste. It must be kept at about the same dilution in order to 
 retain its solvent power. 
 
 The fluids and tissues of the normal human body contain seventy 
 to seventy-five per cent, of water, and this amount is to be main- 
 tained in spite of evaporation and excretion, if the normal processes 
 are to go on smoothly. In order to maintain this proportion, more 
 or less water is to be taken according to circumstances. Each 
 person must discover for himself the right amount, only it is, as 
 a rule, safer to take too much than too little. The body has 
 several ways of getting rid of an excess, but if its calls for more 
 are not responded to it trenches upon its reserves to the detriment 
 of the whole force. 
 
 One of the most important offices of water in the body, that of 
 heat regulator, is apt to be overlooked. It goes without saying 
 that the blood is a heat distributor. If the feet are plunged into 
 hot water the whole body becomes warm ; if the wrists are held 
 on cold marble the whole body is chilled, because of the rapid cir- 
 culation ; but the consequence of the evaporation from the surface 
 of the body of from one to three pounds of water daily is not so 
 readily perceived. There is always insensible perspiration or 
 evaporation, and if too much heat is produced, as in rapid walking 
 or mountain climbing, perspiration is more or less abundant, and 
 the rapid breathing also carries oft" a large amount of water, so 
 that two pounds may be lost in an hour. The evaporation of this 
 amount means the carrying away of nine hundred calories, or one- 
 fourth as much as is furnished by a day's ration. 
 
 Few people realize the importance of an even temperature in- 
 side the body, and many if not most diseases are primarily caused 
 by the lowering of the temperature, which often allows of changes 
 inimical to health and which permits the attacks of various bac- 
 teria to which the body would otherwise be proof. The use of the 
 chicken incubator has helped to emphasize this fact, but man is in 
 need of the same uniformity of temperature all his life. He is 
 
 51 
 
reckless of himself. Besides, if he is to be a cosmopolitan and 
 dwell in any or all climates, he must be able to bear all changes 
 with impunity. Therefore, he must have means of keeping up 
 the requisite warmth without especial exertion. 
 
 Water, having a greater capacity for heat than any other sub- 
 stance, holds it, and by its evaporation carries it off. Who does 
 not know that a profuse perspiration relieves fever? But who 
 stops to think that the relief is caused largely by the cooling due 
 to the rapid evaporation of the water ? Indeed, it is by some con- 
 sidered that the condition known as fever is caused by the inabil- 
 ity of the body to evaporate sufficient water. It is evident that 
 the organisms which grow at fever heat cannot multiply as fast 
 when the temperature is lowered. Water, then, and plenty of it, 
 is necessary for life. There have been instances of long fasting 
 successfully carried out if plenty of water was supplied. 
 
 To the practical question of how much water the daily ration 
 shall contain, and when and in what form it shall be taken, there 
 are various answers. Since the human body is about seventy-five 
 per cent, water, and since food is destined to keep up this ratio, 
 it seems clear that the food should have at least this amount, and 
 that if about two pounds of dry food are taken, six pounds or three 
 quarts of water must go with it, and this is not far from the truth. 
 
 As to the form in which it is to be taken, it is evident that it 
 depends on the character of the food eaten. If the meal consists 
 of fruit, which has eighty or ninety per cent, water, no more water 
 is needed. If the meal is largely of vegetables, the same is more 
 or less true. If the cereals, as rice, corn, and wheat, are eaten in 
 the form of mush, little or no water is needed in addition to that 
 used in preparing the porridge. The same is true of soups ; but 
 since bread contains fifty per cent, or less, crackers twenty per 
 cent, or less, cheese and eggs thirty per cent., it is patent that 
 much more water must be taken in some form. 
 
 The time of taking the water also depends largely on the char- 
 acter of the food eaten, for, as we have said, too concentrated 
 solutions do not undergo the necessary chemical changes or pass 
 
 52 
 
the membranes, so that there must be enough water present in 
 the circulation. A hearty meal of crackers and cheese calls for 
 much additional liquid. The common prejudice against drinking 
 at meals seems to be due to bad habits of washing down the food, 
 mouthful by mouthful, without proper mastication. The secretion 
 of saliva is normally abundant, and if water enough is already 
 present in the body to admit of the secretion, more will not be 
 needed to moisten the food at that stage. 
 
 It is generally acknowledged by physicians that too little fluid 
 is taken rather than too much, and the great benefit derived from 
 treatment at mineral springs is often quite as much due to the 
 amount as to the kind of water ; that is, so far as the cure is due 
 to water at all, and not to regular habits, exercise in the air, better 
 mental condition, faith in the cure, etc. 
 
 Many diseases are directly due to too great concentration of the 
 fluids of the body, and are to be counteracted by the imbibition of 
 larger quantities, for a time at least. To have sufficient water 
 present is the rationale of water cures, especially that form which 
 prescribes the drinking of a cupful of hot or cold water half an 
 hour before meals. This not only washes out the stomach, but 
 also furnishes the medium for the active secretions, ptyalin, gas- 
 tric juice, etc., in quantity. On the other hand, excess lies in the 
 path of this as well as other things, and what is a rule for one is 
 not a rule for another. However, if one finds that the taking of 
 a pint of water will relieve that sense of oppression and indiges- 
 tion which sometimes occurs an hour or two after a meal, and that 
 only favorable effects follow, the inference is that too little 
 was taken with the food. There is little danger of taking too 
 much clear water. The drinking of other liquids may be easily 
 overdone. The richer the food, the more liquid is craved, and to 
 drink wine instead of water with long, heavy dinners is a dietetic 
 error for which many men and women pay with their lives. If 
 wine is taken, it should be, as was intended by the gourmet, only 
 a sip of the right kind to prepare the way for the full enjoyment 
 of the flavor of the next course. 
 
 58 
 
The temperature of the water to be drunk is often a vexed 
 question. This may be left to the individual, for the quantity 
 taken (one-half to one pint) at any one time can have but little 
 influence upon the temperature of the fourteen pints of blood 
 circulating rapidly about the seventy or more pounds of water 
 in the tissues which are maintained at a temperature of nearly 
 one hundred. 
 
 For experiment two tumblers of ice water have been slowly 
 swallowed and promptly siphoned out, and found to have at- 
 tained a temperature of ninety-five degrees in five minutes. It 
 is true that it is possible to swallow ice water so rapidly and in 
 such quantities that the stomach receives a momentary chill and 
 disturbance sets in, but this is no reason why all ice water should 
 be forbidden. 
 
 Dr. Oilman Thompson summarizes the uses of water in the 
 body as follows : * 
 
 1 . It enters into the chemical combination of the tissues. 
 
 2. It forms the chief ingredient of all the fluids of the body 
 and maintains their proper degree of dilution. 
 
 3. By moistening various surfaces of the body, such as the 
 mucous and serous membranes, it prevents friction and the un- 
 comfortable symptoms which might result from their drying. 
 
 4. It furnishes in the blood and lymph a fluid medium by 
 which food may be taken to remote parts of the body and the 
 waste material removed, thus promoting rapid tissue changes. 
 
 5. It serves as a distributor of body heat. 
 
 6. It regulates the body temperature by the physical processes 
 of absorption and evaporation. 
 
 2. AIR AS A FOOD. 
 
 Air is so important to animal life that breathing is not left to 
 caprice. The animal must breathe, not two or three times a day, 
 as it eats and drinks, but every second or two, and it cannot re- 
 
 1 " Practical Dietetics," p. 31. 
 54 
 
frain at will for any length of time, as it may from eating. The 
 lung capacity of the human animal, in a great measure, governs 
 the length of life and the state of health. How foolish, then, to 
 waste life by breathing bad air ! No one physical requirement 
 can be so readily increased as the breathing capacity. Right 
 habits of breathing should be formed in childhood, so that a suf- 
 ficient supply of this food may be obtainable without exertion. 
 
 The so-called food-stuffs need not only water to dissolve them, 
 but oxygen to "burn " them, or, in scientific phraseology, to ef- 
 fect the chemical changes needful for their assimilation. About 
 two thousand cubic feet of air need to pass through the lungs 
 of an adult daily in order to furnish oxygen in sufficient quan- 
 tity. If there is lack in this most important food-stuff (and 
 nothing else can take its place) , starvation as truly results as if 
 other food were withheld, for the changes required for nutrition 
 cannot take place, and furthermore incomplete decomposition 
 occurs, which may result in more or less poisonous products. 
 
 Fresh air air with its full quota of oxygen is, then, a prime 
 requirement in nutrition. This air should also be clean, free 
 from dust and noxious gases, but the discussion of this factor 
 belongs to general sanitation rather than to the food question. 
 
 It may be profitable to consider in detail how the oxygen of 
 the air serves as a food and how much is required. All force or 
 energy comes from the sun, the wind, the water-fall, and chemi- 
 cal action. Energy results from the union of oxygen with car- 
 bon (burning of charcoal, anthracite coal) or with carbon and 
 hydrogen (burning of wood, bituminous coal, gas, oil, etc.), or 
 the union of oxygen with other elements in combination with 
 carbon, hydrogen, etc., as in the burning of animal matter, etc. 
 This union is commonly called combustion and the result is heat, 
 light, or electricity, which may be utilized in any needed manner 
 by means of the engine or the dynamo. 
 
 Human force, energy, whether shown in walking, climbing 
 mountains, singing, talking, breathing, or thinking, is produced 
 by this chemical union of oxygen with other elements, and by no 
 
 55 
 
other known means. If this is true, then it is of the utmost im- 
 portance that this union shall be as complete as possible if the 
 full allowance of human energy is to be reached, and since all 
 work and thought are the products of this power or energy it is 
 a question of economics as well as of health to determine how 
 much work it is possible to obtain from the human machine. 
 Outside the human body 1 gram of fat requires about 3.4 grams 
 of oxygen to complete the chemical change ; 1 gram of starch 
 requires about 2.7 grams of oxygen ; 1 gram of white of egg 
 probably requires at least 1.5 grams of oxygen. 
 
 A day's ration for an adult is commonly considered as about 
 
 Grams of fat, 125 ; grams oxygen . . . . 
 
 " starch, 450; " 
 
 " albumen or its equivalent, 125 ; grams oxygen . 
 
 Total grams oxygen 1,827 
 
 We have no reason to suppose that any less oxygen is required 
 to complete these changes within the body. On the contrary, all 
 the evidence we have goes to show that just as much is needed. 
 The air is the chief source of this oxygen. A certain amount is 
 in combination with the food materials, but that has in most cases 
 already given up all the energy of which it is capable, so that we 
 may reject this small amount. 
 
 The weight of oxygen above given is that contained in 6,000 
 liters of air, or in 228 cubic feet, but as it is found that of 
 the twenty-one per cent, of oxygen in the air only two or three 
 per cent, is abstracted by the lungs, while a given volume of air 
 remains in them, this quantity must be increased to about 2,000 
 cubic feet in the twenty-four hours. This is probably below 
 rather than above the required amount. 
 
 If the air, instead of containing its normal amount of twenty- 
 one per cent., contains only nineteen per cent., not even three 
 per cent, is abstracted, and the number of respirations is in- 
 
 f>6 
 
creased in the effort to make up for the lessened amount. This 
 involves increased work on the part of the muscles, and this 
 again demands more oxygen, until the system ceases to struggle 
 and lapses into torpidity. It is therefore of the utmost impor- 
 tance to the human body to have sufficient food of this kind, and 
 especially to the bodies of growing children, and most especially 
 to students, since in repose the respirations are not so deep nor so 
 rapid as in the case of bodily activity. It is also evident why 
 exercise in the open air is an appetizer, and why it stirs up the 
 fire, as it were. 
 
 Some experiments most carefully made indicate that nearly 
 twice as much oxygen is taken into the tissues during the night 
 as during the day, and therefore the food-stuff is used up in 
 greater amount while we sleep, provided there is a current of 
 air passing through the sleeping-room. 
 
 From observation and experiment the author believes that 
 much of the headache and lack of appetite, especially in women 
 and children, is due to insufficient ventilation in sleeping-rooms. 
 Many an otherwise careful mother starves her children in this 
 most important particular. 
 
 57 
 
THE KUMFORD KITCHEN LEAFLETS. 
 
 No. 7. 
 
 SOME POINTS IN THE CHEMISTRY OF PROTEIDS. 
 
 Written for the Rumford Kitchen by JOHN J. ABEL. 
 
 THE proteids and substances so closely allied as to be classed 
 with them are, next to water, the chief constituents by weight of 
 the human body. Roughly speaking, the human body is sixty- 
 five per cent, water, fifteen per cent, proteids and proteid-like 
 bodies, while the remaining twenty per cent, is iriade up mainly 
 of fat, a few per cent, of mineral constituents, and smaller quan- 
 tities of other substances, such as the carbohydrates and extrac- 
 tives. When separated by chemical means from the salts, fats, 
 and other substances with which they are closely bound up in 
 living tissue, the proteids are seen to be non-crystalline in form, 
 and easily affected by heat and chemical agents. In the body it- 
 self they must be thought of as existing either in a kind of solu- 
 tion in its fluids, as for example in blood, or in a more viscous 
 condition in its tissues of firmer structure, but as soon as life is 
 extinct many of them take on the more solid or coagulated form. 
 
 Many varieties of proteids are to be found in the various tissues. 
 Thus, from the muscles may be isolated myosin and muscle-albu- 
 men; from the blood, serum-albumen, fibrinogen, paraglobulin, and 
 haemoglobin ; from the brain, neurokeratin and nuclein ; from con- 
 nective tissue and bone, collagen or gelatine-giving material ; 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1893, BY ELLEN H. RICHARDS. 
 
 58 
 
from the network of glandular structures, elastine and reticulin ; 
 from the hair and skin, keratin ; and from the milk, casein. 
 
 These proteids and proteid-like bodies are all ultimately derived 
 from the proteids built up by plants out of very simple inorganic 
 constituents. The animal organism has the power of splitting up 
 proteids that have been consumed as food, and of modifying them 
 in many ways, so that varieties very different from those originally 
 digested are deposited in the tissues ; but it can not, like the plant, 
 build up proteid anew out of, we might almost say, the chemical 
 elements themselves. The animal body, then, takes its proteid 
 either in the form of plant proteid or plant proteid previously 
 transformed into animal proteid. Plant and animal proteids, 
 though closely related, are by no means identical. 
 
 Only a few chemical elements enter into the composition of 
 proteids. All contain carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, 
 and most of them also sulphur ; several contain phosphorus in 
 addition, and a few, iron or copper. Their general percentage 
 composition varies within the following limits : 
 
 Carbon 50.0 55.0 % 
 
 Hydrogen 6.8 7.3% 
 
 Nitrogen 15.4 18.2% 
 
 Sulphur 0.4 5.0%. 
 
 (Phosphorus 0.42 0.85 %) 
 
 Oxygen 20.8 24.1 % 
 
 With the help of such analytical data, chemists are wont to 
 establish by calculation what is known as the lowest empirical 
 molecular formula of a substance, and by taking into account 
 certain physical and chemical data arrived at in other ways, this 
 empirical formula is changed into what is called a rational for- 
 mula, one representing the molecular magnitude and the molecular 
 structure of the substance analyzed. For proteids, however, not 
 even a definite empirical formula has been arrived at in spite of 
 the innumerable ultimate analyses that have been made of various 
 proteids, and the chief reasons for this are the difficulty of de- 
 
 59 
 
termining the chemical individuality of a given proteid or of its 
 compounds, and the uncertainties introduced by minute analytical 
 errors in the case of substances presumably containing so large a 
 number of atoms in their molecule. An older formula, based on 
 the analysis of purified white of egg that had been treated with 
 strong caustic soda, and representing the lowest empirical for- 
 mula, is 72 Hiia N 18 S O 22 . Other analyses of so-called crystalline 
 proteids, or more properly speaking, of loose compounds of 
 proteids and mineral constituents, have led to formulae represent- 
 ing very high molecular weights. Here, too, such difficulties 
 present themselves that we must confess that we have no notion 
 whatever of the true molecular weight of the proteids, and it goes 
 without saying that we are equally in the dark as to their molec- 
 ular constitution. So many chemists of repute, however, are 
 working in this field that we may hope to see in the near future 
 light thrown on this important question of biology. 
 
 In the absence of chemical data of a higher order, it has become 
 necessary in the interests of medicine, biology, and other sciences, 
 to classify these bodies in accordance with their behavior toward 
 heat, acids, alkalis, metallic compounds, distilled water, dilute 
 saline solutions, etc. Thus, serum-albumen, one of the chief 
 proteids of the blood and egg-albumen are classed together, for 
 they are both soluble in distilled water and in dilute solutions of 
 common salt, and both coagulate on being heated to from 50 
 80 C. A closely allied class to which casein belongs are insolu- 
 ble in distilled water and in weak solutions of common salt, but 
 soluble in weak alkaline solutions and not coagulable when their 
 pure alkaline solutions are heated. Two other classes constitut- 
 ing the albumoses and peptones result from the action of the 
 digestive juices on the proteids of our food. These are in general 
 extremely soluble in water and behave very differently toward 
 precipitating reagents from those already named. 
 
 By the application of such chemical tests the proteids proper are 
 classified into albumins, globulins, nucleo-albumins, albumin- 
 ates, fibrins, albumoses, and peptones. In addition to these there 
 
 60 
 
are other constituents of the body that we have referred to as 
 proteid-like substances, which, while differing among themselves 
 more decidedly than the groups that we have just named, yet 
 resemble the proteids so much that they must be brought into 
 connection with them. Some of these allied proteids contain a 
 non-proteid residue like sugar in close combination with them. 
 These are known as mucin, hsemoglobin, keratin, elastin, reticu- 
 lin, collagen, gelatin, etc., and still other representatives are 
 found widely distributed in the animal world. 
 
 Not only are the proteids that have been absorbed from our 
 food variously modified within the body and built up into its struc- 
 ture as has already been intimated, but they are also constantly 
 undergoing destruction as part of the material that furnishes the 
 various forms of energy required. The final or refuse products 
 of this destructive process are water, carbonic acid, and certain 
 nitrogenous substances, chief among which is one called urea. 
 This substance is excreted by the kidneys, and in the case of 
 adults about an ounce is eliminated every twenty-four hours. But 
 a large number of other nitrogenous substances, all derived from 
 proteids, and all playing a more or less important rdle in the up- 
 ward or downward chemical changes to which proteids are sub- 
 jected, are also met with in the tissues and fluids of the body. 
 Some of these other nitrogenous substances are uric acid, xanthin, 
 sarkin, guanin, adenin, leucin, tyrosin, kreatin, andtaurin. Many 
 of these are-, furthermore, of interest since we take them in con- 
 siderable quantities every day with our meats, soups, etc., as 
 natural physiological stimulants. Meat extracts, such for in- 
 stance as Liebig's extract, afford a most convenient source for 
 their preparation and study, notably for kreatin and sarkin. The 
 active principles of tea, coffee, and cocoa are chemically inti- 
 mately related to those nitrogenous " extractives " of meat to 
 which the name of the xanthin group has been given. 
 
 The chemical steps involved in the formation of these various 
 substances within the body tissues are still largely a matter of 
 mystery. In order to elucidate the manner in which proteids may 
 
 61 
 
break clown or may be reconverted in the body, chemists have 
 treated them with strong acids, alkalis, and other chemical agents 
 under various conditions such as high temperatures and high 
 pressure. The artificial decomposition of proteids in the lab- 
 oratory has yielded us many of the intermediate products referred 
 to, and, taken into account along with the results of physiologi- 
 cal experimentation, has furnished us with at least a rough 
 sketch of the chemical history of proteids from the moment of 
 their entrance into the alimentary canal to the appearance of their 
 fragments lodged in the tissues or circulating in the fluids of the 
 body. To attempt this sketch here would however take us be- 
 yond the scope of this leaflet. 
 
 G2 
 
THE RUMFORD KITCHEN LEAFLETS. 
 
 No. 8. 
 
 THE DIGESTIBILITY OF PROTEID FOODS. 
 
 Written for the Rumford Kitchen by R. H. CHITTENDEN. 
 
 IT is a well-known fact that proteid or albuminous foods are 
 absolutely essential for animal life. Hence, no diet can be con- 
 sidered as complete without a certain proportion of such food- 
 stuffs, of either animal or vegetable origin. Further, in order to 
 have the various kinds of proteid food economically utilized by 
 the system, they must be ingested in a form readily digestible, or 
 assimilable by the organism. 
 
 Digestibility, therefore, plays an important part in determining 
 the relative dietetic value of the different varieties of proteid 
 foods. Or, more broadly, it constitutes a very important item in 
 ascertaining the true nutritive value of any food. If, of two 
 foods possessing a like composition, one be more easily digesti- 
 ble, that one, though containing no more available nutriment than 
 the other, is in virtue of its easier digestibility more valuable as 
 a food-stuff, and in one sense more nutritious, as well as more 
 economical for the system. The ease with which # proteid food 
 can be utilized to supply the needs of the body depends, there- 
 fore, not only upon its intrinsic qualities, viz., whether it has been 
 derived from the animal or vegetable kingdom, and upon its 
 chemical and other peculiarities, but also, to a great extent, upon 
 the way in which it has been prepared for digestion. 
 
 N 1 1 . men ARusT 
 
 63 
 
Proteid foods are rendered available for the needs of the body 
 mainly through the action of the digestive juices. These convert 
 the insoluble food-stuffs into soluble and diffusible products, 
 capable of being directly absorbed by the circulating blood. The 
 two juices having this functional power are the gastric and pan- 
 creatic fluids, the former performing its work in the stomach, and 
 the latter in the small intestine. Both accomplish essentially the 
 same object in a somewhat different manner, viz., the conversion 
 of the insoluble proteids into soluble albumoses or proteoses, and 
 peptone, which are taken up from the alimentary tract by the 
 blood and distributed to all parts of the body, where they may be 
 utilized according to their several functions in nutrition. It is 
 thus easily conceivable that while one class of proteid food-stufts 
 may be somewhat resistant to the digestive action of the acid 
 gastric juice, it may be more readily attacked by the alkaline 
 pancreatic juice ; or the reverse may be true. In any event, the 
 full utilization of the ingested food-stuff by the system depends in 
 great part upon the completeness of its digestion by these two 
 digestive fluids. 
 
 As a general rule, the proteids of animal origin, as of beef, 
 mutton, eggs, etc., are more easily digestible than those derived 
 from the vegetable kingdom. This is partially due to the nature 
 of th.3 animal proteids ; but another factor of even greater moment 
 is the large admixture of extraneous matters ordinarily associated 
 with vegetable proteids. Thus oatmeal, wheat-flour, potatoes, 
 etc., contain a comparatively small amount of proteid matter, 
 admixed with a large bulk of starchy material and some cellulose. 
 Hence, in a purely vegetarian diet, a large bulk must be consumed 
 in order to obtain even the minimum amount of proteid food re- 
 quired. In other words, the nitrogenous or proteid matter is so 
 diluted by large masses of cellulose and starch that an excess 
 of work is thrown upon the alimentary organs, which not only 
 causes discomfort, but is a physiological loss, entailing the work- 
 ing over by the system of large quantities of material, in order 
 that the required amount of proteid matter may be obtained. By 
 
this it must not be understood that vegetable food is undesirable, 
 for such is certainly not the case. Starchy foods are particularly 
 valuable, and a necessary part of a normal diet, the cereals espe- 
 cially when properly prepared being very completely digested and 
 absorbed ; but it is physiologically injudicious to depend entirely 
 upon vegetable food for the necessary proteid matter. The latter 
 is far more economically (from a physiological standpoint) ob- 
 tained from animal foods, where it exists not only in a much 
 more concentrated form, and as a consequence is more readily 
 digestible, but the proteid matter itself is more quickly and com- 
 pletely assimilated than the vegetable proteid, even under equally 
 favorable circumstances. 
 
 Jt is a well understood fact, however, that the digestibility and 
 best utilization of food depends greatly upon a reasonable varia- 
 tion in the character of the dietary. Too great sameness, es- 
 pecially if long continued in, may even lead to an actual impair- 
 ment of the digestive organs. Hence, the instinctive desire com- 
 mon to mankind in general for variety in the daily diet rests 
 upon physiological grounds well worthy of recognition. 
 
 One of the most important conditions modifying the digestibility 
 of animal proteid foods is the ma.iner in which the muscle fibres 
 are bound together, determining, as it does, the extent of their 
 mechanical subdivision on reaching the stomach. Thus in the 
 various kinds of meat, the short and delicately fibred muscles are 
 obviously more readily digestible than the longer and tougher 
 fibres, which plainly offer greater resistance to disintegration. It 
 is on this account that the breast of a young chicken, for example, 
 is so easily digestible, the short tender fibres easily breaking apart 
 and thus exposing more surface to the action of the digestive 
 fluids. For a similar reason, the short flaky muscles of the more 
 digestible varieties of fish are easily assimilated. Further, the 
 presence or absence of fat exercises a marked modifying influence 
 upon digestibility, as a general rule it may be said that lean 
 meat is more readily digested, in the stomach at least, than fat 
 meat, although the nature of the fat present, and the manner of its 
 
 65 
 
distribution are important factors. Thus, the presence of a hard 
 or difficultly fusible fat, as in mutton, tends to retard the diges- 
 tion of the proteid constituents of the meat more than the pres- 
 ence of a softer or more readily fusible fat, such as is found in 
 beef. Again, the intimate mingling of fat with the individual 
 muscle-fibres, as in the tissues of the eel and lobster, tends (o 
 check the rate of digestibility. The same effect is seen in certain 
 kinds of fish flesh; thus, in the shad, the white meat, with id 
 greater freedom from incorporated fat, is nearly ten per cent- 
 more digestible than the dark and fatter meat of the same fish. 
 
 More important from a dietetic standpoint is the effect of cook- 
 ing or preparation of proteid foods on their digestibility, and in 
 this connection it must be remembered that digestion in the broad 
 sense of the word is a complex process, dependent upon the har- 
 monious working of several closely allied processes. By way of 
 illustration it may be mentioned that a given food-stuff may owe 
 its lack of digestibility either to an inherent resistance to the sol- 
 vent action of the digestive juices, or more indirectly to the fact 
 that its ingestion fails to cause the requisite flow of the necessary 
 digestive secretion. Now, one of the effects of cooking is to im- 
 prove, or rather to develop, an agreeable flavor in the food, thus 
 increasing its palatability and causing a pleasurable stimulation of 
 the sense of taste. This at the same time leads to a greater out- 
 pouring of the needed digestive juices, thus furnishing the means 
 for more rapid and complete digestion. Further, the very in- 
 crease in palatability incidental to proper and intelligent cooking 
 leads to a more thorough mastication of the proteid food, while at 
 the same time the cooking tends to facilitate its separation and 
 mechanical subdivision. This latter, as already stated, greatly 
 aids the digestive process by enabling the different digestive 
 secretions to come into more intimate contact with the individual 
 particles. This tendency towards disintegration and general 
 softening incidental to cooking is due mainly to the complete or 
 partial hydration of the connective tissue-fibres by which the 
 
 66 
 
muscle tissue is held together, into gelatin, which is far more 
 readily digestible and assimilable than the collagen itself. 
 
 In all methods of cooking meats, as indeed all forms of proteid 
 food, whether by boiling, roasting, or broiling, the proteid or al- 
 buminous matter undergoes more or less complete coagulation. 
 This, however, is essential in any process of cooking by which a 
 rich and appetizing flavor is to be developed, and if not accom- 
 plished at too high a temperature offers no obstacle to easy diges- 
 tibility ; indeed, as has already been stated, owing to the con- 
 version of the collagen of the surrounding connective tissue into 
 gelatin, digestibility may be even increased. At the same time, 
 it is well to remember that raw beef, for example, if very finely 
 divided by chopping, is somewhat more easily dissolved by the 
 gastric juice than when coagulated by cooking. All things con- 
 sidered, however, proper cooking unquestionably tends to in- 
 crease the general digestibility of proteid foods. At the same 
 time it alters the consistency and constitution of the food- stuff, 
 giving to it an odor and taste which would otherwise be wholly 
 lacking, and, no less important, causes the destruction of disease 
 germs or other related organisms possibly present. 
 
 The many methods of preparing proteid foods for consumption 
 need hardly be considered here ; they have little bearing on the 
 direct digestibility of the various food-stuffs, except so far as they 
 modify the degree of coagulation of the proteid matter, the me- 
 chanical subdivision of the tissue, and the removal or addition of 
 admixed fat. More important, however, is the indirect effect on 
 digestibility incidental to the degree of palatability produced, with 
 the corresponding degree of stimulation of the secretory processes 
 by which digestion is so greatly augmented. 
 
 Palatability and digestibility go hand in hand, and the intelli- 
 gent preparation of a so-called cheap or tough piece of meat, for 
 example, may result in as digestible and nutritive a product as 
 the more careless preparation of a piece of tenderloin. 
 
 67 
 
THE RUMFORD KITCHEN LEAFLETS. 
 
 No. 9. 
 
 PROTEID OR ALBUMINOUS FOOD IN OUR DAILY FARE. 
 
 Written for the Rumford Kitchen by MAUY HINMAN ABEL. 
 
 How strange seems the fact, when we first learn it, that a Roman 
 feast and a Lenten fast, a Delmonico dinner and the lunch of a 
 wayside beggar, all contain the same few simple elements of nutri- 
 tion ! The French chef may mix and flavor as he will, yet his dish 
 contains besides flavoring matters, water, and certain salts, only 
 proteids, fat, and carbohydrates, the same elements that are 
 found in the wayside lunch, and it is only as proteids, fat, and 
 carbohydrates that the human body can use food, whether that 
 body be that of prince or peasant. So this is nature^ democracy, 
 food is food, for a' the wit of cooks! This is not saying that the 
 cooks are of no account, only there is a greater cook, the sun, to 
 whose work we owe the foundation of all. With wonderful skill 
 he makes these few simple principles to appear with varied forms 
 and flavors. The common man gives thanks for a hundred cereals 
 and fruits, but the starch of the potato and the starch of the rice 
 is essentially one and the same, and the chemist finds no difference 
 between the sugar of the pear and that of the peach. 
 
 To the unlearned man every food stands by itself and is only to 
 be judged by its taste ; but science has reduced this seeming com- 
 plexity to order, and opened our eyes to see that the "kindly fruits 
 of the earth " have differing values for us, we have learned to 
 look behind the husk of the wheat and the rind of the orange. 
 
 So much the chemist has done for us, and we turn now to the 
 
 68 
 
physiologist to learn what use the human body makes of these 
 aliments. 
 
 As to the proteids, it is known that they serve various purposes 
 in the body in small amounts in the repair of the tissues, and 
 to a far larger degree in the performance of the various func- 
 tions, much as do the fats and carbohydrates. 
 
 Let the scientist examine for us the muscles of a man. Three- 
 fourths will be found to be water, and of the dried residue more 
 than two-thirds is made up of the substances classed with the pro- 
 teids. Now, since there is daily waste going on in all the body 
 structures, the original amount of proteid must be kept up in some 
 way if the individual is to retain health and working power, and 
 this state of balance between the income and the expenditure is 
 called by the scientists, "nitrogenous equilibrium.'" 
 
 The importance of keeping this part of the expense account 
 square is evident. As the albuminous part of our muscles and of 
 the glandular and other structures wastes away it must be rebuilt 
 out of the proteid in our food ; nothing else can be substituted. 
 
 The question next arises : How rapid is the waste in the albu- 
 minous tissues of the body, and how much proteid food is needed 
 daily to replace it ? The great chemist Liebig held that when a 
 man worked, his muscles and other albuminous tissues were con- 
 sumed, that they were the fuel rather than the engine. But this 
 view is no longer held by most scientists ; it is thought rather that 
 the albuminous tissues rust away but slowly, and that the real 
 activity is in the combustion going on throughout the engine, 
 where the fat and the starchy foods form the true fuel. This 
 view would call for much less proteid food for the repair of the 
 machinery, only sixteen grams a day being the estimated need for 
 this tissue building, while Voit's standard dietary requires for a 
 grown man at moderate hard work 118 grams of water- free 
 proteid. This, together with 56 grams of fat, and 500 grams of 
 carbohydrate, was found in many instances to be sufficient to keep 
 a workingman of average weight in good bodily condition, thus 
 showing that the tissue waste was made good, and that the other 
 
 69 
 
proteid needs of the body had been met. This so-called standard 
 dietary is meant only as a broad average, but it gives a fairly 
 good basis of calculation for those who must furnish food for 
 families and institutions. This amount of proteid is now held by 
 scientists to be greater than absolutely necessary. A woman, also 
 of average weight, requires about | less. For American needs 
 the proteid requirement for a man at work is placed by Professor 
 Atwater at 125 grams, 1 an amount to be found in about \h pounds 
 of butcher's meat, lean and without bone, or in 1 pound of cheese, 
 or in 24 eggs. One and one-eighth pounds of dried peas or beans 
 would also furnish it, or about 2| pounds of best white flour, rep- 
 resented by 4 pounds of home-made bread. That is, if the work- 
 man in question could eat the required amount of any one of 
 these foods his proteid need would be satisfied, and his system 
 would be kept in that condition called " nitrogenous equilibrium ; " 
 but since he must have a mixed diet, and draw his proteid food 
 from different sources, we come to the next question : Are all of 
 these proteids alike in composition, and put to the same use in the 
 body ? May we feed on meat or wheat, according as purse and 
 taste may dictate ? 
 
 The different animal and vegetable proteids the white of egg, 
 the fibrin of blood, the casein of milk, the legumin of peas and 
 beans, and the gluten of grains are, according to the analyst, 
 almost identical in the percentage of the elements composing 
 them; but they have chemical differences nevertheless, and 
 whether the system can make equal use of them is yet under dis- 
 cussion. It is certain that meat albumen, for instance, is more 
 easily and completely digested than vegetable albumens, as they 
 are ordinarily prepared ; it is also associated with agreeable and 
 stimulating flavoring matters that doubtless increase the flow of 
 the digestive juices, so that whatever be the reason, meat is a 
 very welcome addition to the food of most people, and contributes 
 to the sense of physical well-being. In armies and navies the 
 
 1 125 grams = 4.4 ounces. 
 70 
 
world over, the meat and fat ration is increased in time of siege, 
 attack, or other occasion for extra exertion and with the best effect 
 on courage as well as on endurance. 
 
 Liebig puts it thus: "It is certain that three men, one of 
 whom has had a full meal of beef and bread, the second of cheese, 
 and the third of potatoes, regard a difficulty from entirely differ- 
 ent points of view." 
 
 But meat-eating in excess has its darker side as physicans assure 
 us, and everything seems to favor the mixed diet, much as it is 
 chosen by the majority of healthy people. A great number of 
 statistics gathered in European cities went to show that on the 
 average one-third of the daily proteid was drawn from animal 
 sources. One-third of the 125 grams that has been chosen as our 
 daily proteid need, or 41 grams, would be represented by pound 
 of meat without bone, or, better chosen, \ pound of meat, 1 pint 
 of milk and two eggs. This would certainly be considered in our 
 country a low average for animal food ; the mechanic eats much 
 more meat than this dietary would allow, and in most families of 
 well-to-do people it is more nearly two-thirds of the daily proteid 
 that is drawn from animal sources. 
 
 It is rash to dogmatize on these points. Climate, occupation, 
 and individual requirements must be taken into account; but it is 
 of use to know that great numbers of people live and thrive on 
 this smaller proportion of animal food and that the average army 
 diet in Europe contains even less. 
 
 It would seem to be in the line of intelligent economy for our 
 people to learn to take a larger part of their proteid food from 
 vegetable sources than they now do, but such a change will re- 
 quire not only more intelligent choice among vegetable foods, but 
 also better methods of cooking them. 
 
 Proteid food seems to be among nature's costliest products. 
 The grains yield a much smaller percentage of proteid material 
 than of starch, and often, as in the case of wheat, it is so closely 
 adherent to the husk as to be separated with great difficulty, thus 
 offering to the miller a problem that has taxed all his invention. 
 
 71 
 
In the same way the richer yield of proteid found in the ripened 
 pea and bean exists in connection with a tough cellulose that is 
 about as digestible as wood shavings. Most other vegetable 
 growths, such as fruits and garden vegetables, contain only small 
 portions of this food. 
 
 Animal tissue, to be sure, is rich in proteid material ; but animal 
 food must always be costly. Therefore, considering our absolute 
 need of this food, and that it is less easily obtained than the other 
 elements, it is plain that the poor man's proteid, how much he 
 needs, where he shall get it, and how it shall be cooked, is rightly 
 a question of much importance to scientist and philanthropist. 
 
 72 
 
THE RUMFORD KITCHEN LEAFLETS. 
 
 . 10. 
 
 THE CHEMISTRY OF THE FATS AND CARBOHYDRATES. 
 
 Written for the Rumford Kitchen by IRA REMSEN. 
 
 THE physiologist tells us that the food of man consists of pro- 
 teicls, carbohydrates, fats, salts, and water. To the chemist these 
 names convey clear ideas, but for those who are not learned in 
 chemical matters, they need explanation. In this short article an 
 attempt will be made to explain what is meant by fats and carbo- 
 hydrates. The former term is familiar, and yet it is not easy to 
 define it. In one important chemical book occurs this definition : 
 " Fats are neutral substances of animal or vegetable origin which 
 leave upon paper a transparent spot which does not disappear on 
 long exposure to the air. 1 ' Plainly that does not help us much. 
 The chemist says a fat is a substance which can be decomposed 
 into an acid, and a substance belonging to the class known as 
 alcohols ; but not all substances of which this statement is true 
 are fats. The fact is that the name ' fat " was used long before the 
 nature of fats was determined, and it was applied at first only to 
 the common animal fats with which every one is familiar ; later it 
 was applied to other natural substances of similar properties, 
 whether of animal or vegetable origin ; and at present the group 
 of fats includes a large number of substances, all of which can 
 easily be recognized as similar to the ordinary animal fats. The 
 principal fats are beef-suet, mutton-suet, hog's-lard, butter, fish- 
 oil, palm-oil, cottonseed-oil, and olive-oil. While these sub- 
 
 COI-YBIUUT, 1893, JSY ELLEN H. RICHABDS. 
 
 73 
 
stances differ markedly from one another in many respects, they 
 have some properties in common, and in ordinary language we 
 should say that they are all greasy, and no definition can give a 
 clearer idea of a fat than that. We may define light as "an effect 
 produced upon the retina by vibrations in the luminiferous ether," 
 but the result of this is simply to make us yearn for the word 
 " light," which satisfies our needs. 
 
 So much for definition ; but what are these fats ? Those men- 
 tioned above are mixtures of various simpler substances well 
 known to the chemist, but little heard of outside the laboratory. 
 Thus beef-suet consists of three substances, palmitin, stearin, and 
 olein ; and mutton-suet and hog's-lard contain exactly the same 
 things, only in different proportions. Fish-oil contains olein and 
 palmitin with small quantities of other substances. Palm-oil 
 contains principally palmitin and olein. Cottonseed-oil contains 
 mostly olein and some palmitin. Olive-oil contains essentially 
 the same fats as cottonseed-oil, with small quantities of other 
 constituents. While the above fats, then, are made up essentially 
 of the three compounds olein, palmitin, and stearin, butter, on the 
 other hand, consists of at least eight different fats, among which 
 are palmitin and stearin. Of the three common fats stearin melts 
 at the highest temperature, and olein is semi-liquid at the ordinary 
 temperature. The consistency of any mixed fat depends, there- 
 fore, in general upon the proportions in which the three ordinary 
 constituents are contained in it. That fat which contains the larg- 
 est proportion of stearin melts at the highest temperature, and 
 that which contains the largest proportion of olein melts at the 
 lowest temperature. 
 
 The answer to every question suggests other questions. What 
 are palmitin and stearin and olein? It has long been known that, 
 when a mixture of these fats is treated with lye, soap is formed. 
 A careful study of this process has shown that another substance 
 is formed at the same time. This is glycerin. These facts may be 
 expressed thus : 
 
 Fat -{- lye =: soap -f- glycerin. 
 74 
 
The fat as such completely disappears. Again, it is known that 
 when a fat is subjected to the action of superheated steam, two 
 products are formed, viz., glycerin and an acid; as, for example, 
 stearic or palmitic or oleic acid, or all three together. This we 
 may represent in the case of palmitin by the following equations : 
 
 Palmitin -}- water r^: palmitic acid -}- glycerin. 
 In the case of stearin the equation is : 
 
 Stearin -f- water stearic acid -f- glycerin. 
 And, finally, in the case of olein it is : 
 
 Olein -|- water =. oleic acid -}- glycerin. 
 
 Now practically all fats when treated in this way that is, 
 by superheated steam are decomposed into glycerin and some 
 acid or acids. To take one of the most complicated cases, butter 
 yields glycerin, and not only palmitic and stearic, but myristic, 
 arachic, butyric, caproic, caprylic, and capric acids. Chevreul, 
 the French chemist, who recently died at the age of one hundred 
 and three years, was the first one to show the relations between 
 the fats on the one hand, and glycerin and the acids on the other. 
 He showed further, that by starting with glycerin and the proper 
 acids, the fats can be made artificially. The preparation of pal- 
 mitin, for example, is represented by the following equation : 
 
 Palmitic acid -|- glycerin =; palmitin -f- water ; 
 
 and similarly in the case of the other fats. If glycerin and the 
 acids that enter into the composition of fats could in turn be 
 manufacture cheaply, a fat-factory might be established. But 
 nature provides these substances infinitely more cheaply than 
 they can be manufactured at present, and the prospects of a 
 fat-factory would be most gloomy from the financial point of 
 view. The artificial preparation of fats is, however, a perfectly 
 feasible operation, though expensive. 
 
 Our inquiries may, of course, be pushed further. We may now 
 ask, What is glycerin, and what are these acids that enter into 
 the composition of fats ? These questions can be answered, but, 
 
 75 
 
for the present purpose, the answers are not of much importance, 
 and they need not, therefore, be given. It should, however, be 
 stated that the acids, as well as the glycerin, consist of only three 
 elementary substances; viz., carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, which 
 are held in combination in different proportions and in different 
 ways. 
 
 Having shown thus in a general way what fats are, it onty 
 remains to point out, also in a general way, what properties they 
 possess in addition to those already mentioned. They are not 
 volatile, but undergo decomposition when heated ; they are 
 insoluble in water, but easily soluble in ether, bisulphide of car- 
 bon, and benzine. When pure they are colorless and inodorous. 
 When strongly heated they yield a number of products, among 
 which is one called acrolein. This has a most penetrating odor, 
 and its vapor acts upon the eyes causing the secretion of tears. 
 Those who have been in kitchens during the frying of meats have 
 no doubt noticed the effect of this substance upon the eyes. Con- 
 tact with the air causes fats to become rancid. The change is 
 essentially the same as that caused by superheated steam ; that is 
 to say, the fat is partly decomposed by the moisture of the air into 
 acid or acids and glycerin. The change is most familiar in the 
 case of butter. Some of the acids set free by the decomposition 
 of this fat have markedly disagreeable tastes, which are more 
 or less familiar to every one. 
 
 And now the carbohydrates. As this term is generally used, it 
 designates a large group of compounds found in nature. They 
 are among the most important constituents of plants, while a few 
 are also found in animals. The word " carbohydrate" refers to the 
 fact that these substances all contain carbon united with hydro- 
 gen and oxygen, which are in the same proportion as in water. 
 The carbohydrates may be conveniently divided into three groups, 
 according to their composition. These are : 
 
 1. The glucose group. The principal members of this 
 group are dextrose or grape sugar, levulose or fruit sugar, and 
 galactose. 
 
 76 
 
2. The cane-sugar group. The principal members of this 
 group are cane-sugar, sugar of milk, and maltose. 
 
 3. The cellulose group. The principal members of this group 
 are starch, cellulose, gum, and dextrin. 
 
 The glucose group. All these substances have the same com- 
 position, which is represented by the chemical formula C 6 H 12 O 6 . 
 The best-known member is the one called glucose or dextrose or 
 grape-sugar. This occurs very widely distributed in the vegeta- 
 ble kingdom, particularly in sweet fruits, in which it is found to- 
 gether with an equal quantity of levulose or fruit-sugar. It is 
 also found in honey, with cane-sugar and some levulose. It 
 occurs, further, in blood, in the liver, and in the urine ; and in 
 diabetes the quantity contained in the urine is largely increased. 
 Glucose is easily formed from several other carbohydrates by 
 boiling these with dilute acids or by the action of ferments. 
 Thus, when cane-sugar is treated with dilute acids or with cer- 
 tain ferments, as, for example, ordinary yeast, it is converted 
 into a mixture of glucose and levulose, the mixture being known 
 as invert-sugar. The ferment acts further upon this mixture, re- 
 solving each of the sugars into alcohol and carbon dioxide or car- 
 bonic acid. Starch and cellulose yield glucose when boiled with 
 dilute acids. The formation from starch is carried on in the lar^e 
 
 O 
 
 scale for the purpose of manufacturing glucose. Dilute sulphuric 
 acid is generally used. The excess of acid is afterward removed 
 by treating the solutions with chalk, and filtering. The filtered 
 solutions are evaporated down to a syrupy consistency, and sent 
 into the market under the names " glucose," " mixing syrup," 
 etc., or to dryness, the solid product being known in commerce 
 as " grape-sugar." Glucose crystallizes from concentrated solu- 
 tions, usually in crystalline masses which have much the appear- 
 ance of cane-sugar in the granulated form. It is sweet, but not 
 as sweet as cane-sugar. According to careful estimations, five 
 parts of glucose are required to produce the same sweet taste as 
 is produced by three parts of cane-sugar. 
 
 Glucose has recently been prepared by artificial methods in the 
 
 77 
 
laboratory, but the process employed is extremely complicated 
 and expensive. 
 
 Levulose or fructose or fniil-sugar are names applied to the 
 other prominent member of the glucose group. As has been 
 stated, it occurs in nature in sweet fruits together with glucose, 
 and it is formed together with the latter by boiling cane-sugar 
 with dilute acids and by treating it with ferments. It is now pre- 
 pared in crystallized form, and has about the same sweetening 
 power as cane-sugar. In diabetes, cane-sugar is an objectiona- 
 ble article of diet, for the reason that, in the body, it is decom- 
 posed, yielding glucose as one of the products, and the presence 
 of this substance aggravates the symptoms of the disease. At 
 present levulose is manufactured for use by diabetic patients, 
 and comes into the market under the name of diabetin. Whether 
 the use of this substance in diabetes is of advantage or not, is 
 perhaps not yet fully decided by the evidence available, though 
 it appears to be of value. 
 
 The cam-mgar group. The composition of the members of 
 this group is represented by the formula C 12 H 22 O n . Cane-sugar, 
 the principal member, occurs very widely distributed in nature, 
 in sugar-cane, sorghum, the Java palm, the sugar-maple, beets, 
 in the blossoms of many plants, in honey, etc. 
 
 It is obtained chiefly from the sugar-cane and from beets, 
 beet-sugar being identical with cane-sugar. Sugar crystallizes 
 from water in well-formed, large monoclinic prisms, as seen in 
 rock candy. When heated to about 400, sugar loses water, and 
 is converted into the substance called caramel, which is more or 
 less brown in color, according to the duration of the heating and 
 the temperature reached. The change which sugar undergoes 
 when it is treated with dilute acids and with ferments has already 
 been described. Cane-sugar itself does not undergo fermenta- 
 tion. Though cane-sugar readily breaks down into dextrose and 
 levulose, no one has as yet succeeded in causing these two to 
 unite and form cane-sugar. 
 
 Sugar of milk or lactose, as the name implies, is found in milk. 
 
 78 
 
It occurs, in fact, in the milk of all mammals, and is obtained in 
 the manufacture of cheese. It crystallizes, and has a slightly 
 sweet taste. Its composition is represented by the formula C 2 i 
 H 2 2 On -}- H 2 O. Sugar of milk ferments under certain circum- 
 stances, and is thus converted into lactic acid. This acid causes 
 the milk to thicken, by coagulating the casein contained in it. 
 The souring of milk is a result of this fermentation. 
 
 The cellulose group. Starch and cellulose, each of which has 
 the composition represented by the formula C 6 HIO O 5 , are the two 
 substances most abundant in the vegetable kingdom. Cellulose 
 forms the groundwork of all vegetable tissues. It presents dif- 
 ferent appearances and different properties, according to the 
 source from which it is obtained ; but these differences are prob- 
 ably due to substances with which the cellulose is mixed. The 
 coarse wood of trees, as well as the tender shoots of the most 
 delicate plants, all contain cellulose as an essential constituent. 
 It forms the membrane of the cells. Cotton-wool, hemp, and 
 flax consist almost wholly of cellulose. Starch is found every- 
 where in the vegetable kingdom in large quantity, particularly 
 in all kinds of grain, as maize, wheat, etc. ; in tubers, as the po- 
 tato, arrow-root, etc. ; in fruits, as chestnuts, acorns, etc. In the 
 United States starch is manufactured mainly from maize; in 
 Europe, from potatoes. 
 
 Starch in its usual condition is insoluble in water. If ground 
 with cold water, it is partly dissolved. If heated with water, the 
 membranes of the starch-cells are broken, and the contents form 
 a partial solution. On cooling, it forms a transparent jelly called 
 starch paste. By boiling with dilute acid, starch is converted 
 into dextrin, maltose, and glucose. 
 
 In the above brief sketch, only the principal carbohydrates 
 have been presented. There are many other compounds belong- 
 ing to the group, but most of these are of subordinate interest in 
 connection with the subject of food. 
 
THE RUMFORD KITCHEN LEAFLETS. 
 
 No. 11. 
 
 THE DIGESTION AND NUTRITIVE VALUE OF THE 
 CARBOHYDRATES. 
 
 Written for the Rumford Kitchen by W. II. HOWELL. 
 
 THE starches and sugars which we include under the term " car- 
 bohydrates " constitute a very important element in many of our 
 ordinary foods, especially those of vegetable origin. The starches 
 are insoluble, and the object of digestion in the long run is to 
 convert them into soluble sugar so that they may be absorbed into 
 the blood and be utilized by the cells of the body. The sugars of 
 our food, on the contrary, are soluble to begin with, and in all 
 probability some of them may be absorbed into the blood directly 
 without undergoing any change, while others, ordinary table 
 sugar (cane sugar), for example, undergo a conversion before or 
 during absorption into glucose (grape sugar) , which is the partic- 
 ular variety of sugar found in the blood. It is evident from this 
 preliminary statement that as far as the starches and sugars are 
 concerned the more difficult task for the digestive organs lies in 
 the transformation of the starches. The digestion of these bodies 
 begins in the mouth. By the act of mastication they are more or 
 less thoroughly mixed with the saliva, and are thus brought into 
 contact with a peculiar substance known as ptyalin, which consti- 
 tutes one of the elements of the salivary secretion. This ptyalin 
 belongs to a group of bodies to which the general name of 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1893, BY ELLEN H. RICHARDS. 
 
 80 
 
unformed ferments or enzymes has been given. One or more of 
 these substances are found in eaeh of the digestive secretions, and 
 each is characterized by some peculiar change or reaction which 
 it causes. The distinguishing property of the ptyalin is that it 
 acts upon starches under certain conditions and converts them to 
 sugar. As a matter of fact, the conversion to sugar is not com- 
 plete ; what actually takes place is that the starch disappears and 
 in its place are found sugar, a particular form of sugar known as 
 maltose, and dextrin. The change is a simple one from a chem- 
 ical standpoint, consisting essentially in the addition of water to 
 the molecules of starch, a process known to the chemists as 
 hydration. In this case the ptyalin plays the part of the hydrating 
 agent, that is, by its agency the molecules of water are brought 
 into union with the molecules of starch. The change may be ex- 
 pressed by an equation of this kind : 
 
 3 (C 6 H 10 5 ) -f H 2 O = Ci2 H 22 On -I- C Hio O 5f 
 starch water maltose dextrin, 
 
 although the reaction which actually occurs is probably more 
 complicated. Since our food is held in the mouth for a few 
 moments only, it is not probable that any considerable amount of 
 the starch undergoes this change ; much the larger portion is 
 swallowed without alteration. The swallowed food being more or 
 less thoroughly mixed with saliva, the action of the ptyalin on the 
 starch might therefore be continued and completed in the stomach 
 were it not that the secretion of the stomach (gastric juice) is acid, 
 and it is known that under such conditions the activity of the 
 ptyalin is suspended or destroyed altogether. Whatever portion 
 of the starchy foods reaches the stomach undigested suffers no 
 further alteration of a chemical nature from the gastric juice itself. 
 After a certain interval the stomach contents are ejected into the 
 small intestine. Here they meet with the secretion of the pan- 
 creatic gland. This secretion, like the saliva, contains a ferment ca- 
 pable of transforming starch to sugar, or, to be more accurate, to 
 sugar and dextrin. What remains of the starch, unless an exces- 
 
 81 
 
sive quantity or an indigestible variety has been eaten, undergoes 
 this alteration during the slow passage of the food along the intes- 
 tinal canal. The mucous membrane lining the intestinal cavity is 
 richly supplied with a network of capillary blood-vessels, and the 
 end-products of the pancreatic digestion pass into the blood cir- 
 culating through these vessels. 
 
 This act by which the* products of digestion enter the blood- 
 stream constitutes what is called absorption. In the case of the 
 substances about which we are now talking, namely, sugar and 
 dextrin, absorption takes place directly into the blood circulating 
 in the walls of the intestine. One of the errors of statement 
 frequently met with in elementary text-books of Physiology is the 
 assertion that all absorption from the intestinal canal is accom- 
 plished by means of the lacteals, or absorbents, a system of lymph 
 vessels which form a rich network in the intestinal wall, but 
 whose absorbing function seems to be limited mainly to the fatty 
 constitutents of the food. 
 
 It has been shown that there is present in the mucous coat of the 
 intestine a ferment capable of transforming maltose and dextrin 
 into glucose (grape sugar), and it is probable that while these 
 products are being absorbed, or after absorption takes place, this 
 final change is made. We are justified, therefore, in saying that the 
 starch of our foods enters the blood in the form of sugar (glucose) . 
 The blood, passing away from the intestines and carryinginit, after 
 each meal, a new quantity of sugar, is distributed to the liver before 
 reaching the heart. During its passage through the liver much of 
 the newly received sugar is again abstracted from the blood and 
 stored up in the liver cells in the form of starch, glycogen, or animal 
 starch, the process in this case being the reverse of what occurred 
 during digestion, the sugar losing water from its molecule and 
 passing back to the form of starch. This reverse change of dehy- 
 dration seems to be connected with the properties of the liver cells. 
 
 In a similar way some of the sugar is stored up as glycogen in 
 the muscular tissue of the body. It seems, therefore, that the 
 new quantities of sugar added to the circulation at each meal are 
 
 82 
 
not at once consumed by the body, but are iu part, at least, stored 
 up as glyeogen. During the intervals between meals or in longer 
 fasts this store of glyeogen is slowly given off to the blood in 
 the form of sugar (glucose) in such quantities that the proportion 
 of sugar in the blood remains always practically constant, about 
 1 to 1.5 parts per thousand. The ultimate fate of this sugar is 
 that it is taken into the substance of the cells composing the body, 
 and there undergoes oxidation with the formation of carbon di- 
 oxide gas and water, and the liberation of energy. Just as sugar 
 nmy be burnt outside of the body with the production of carbon 
 dioxide and water, and the liberation of heat, so it is burnt, 
 though more slowly and indirectly, inside of the body, with the 
 formation of the same end-products, and the production of heat 
 or some other form of energy. The nutritive value of the carbo- 
 hydrates, therefore, lies in the fact that they furnish energy to the 
 body, and this energy may be manifested in the animal heat of 
 the body, in the work done by a contracting muscle, in the activi- 
 ties of the brain, etc. 
 
 As energy producers the carbohydrates are weight for weight 
 less efficient than the proteids and much less efficient than the fats ; 
 but this disadvantage is offset, as far as the fats are concerned, 
 by the easier digestibility of the carbohydrates. In the nutrition 
 of the body proteids are indispensable ; a diet of carbohydrates 
 alone, or of carbohydrates and fats, if long continued, will result 
 in starvation. But if carbohydrates and fats are present in the 
 diet a smaller amount of proteid will suffice for the needs of the 
 body, and in a mixed diet of this character it has been shown that 
 the fats and carbohydrates may be interchanged according to a 
 definite ratio without altering the total amount of available energy 
 contained in the meal. The cheapness, ease of digestion, and 
 palatableness of the carbohydrates make them the most abundantly 
 used of the food-stuffs. It should be added that it has now been 
 demonstrated that when used in excess of the actual needs of the 
 body, the carbohydrates may be converted into fat and stored up 
 in this form. It has been found impossible to change carbohy- 
 
d rates to fats in the laboratory , and indeed it is difficult to suggest 
 a series of reactions such as might take place in the body which 
 would lead to this result. For this reason physiologists for many 
 years have doubted the possibility of such a change occurring in 
 the body. It was supposed that carbohydrates are good fattening 
 foods because they form a material easily consumed by the body, 
 that is, easily burnt or oxidized. In consequence of this property 
 the proteid constituents of the food which are oxidized with more 
 difficulty were protected, the necessary energy of the body being 
 obtained from the consumption of the carbohydrates, while the fat 
 of the well-nourished animal came from the proteid thus con- 
 served. It is not necessary in a short article like this to enter 
 into the details of the experiments which have seemed to disprove 
 this view. It is perhaps sufficient to say that it is now generally 
 believed that the body has the power either of consuming the car- 
 bohydrates directly, or of building them up into the more complex 
 fats. In the latter case the material is of course saved in the 
 form of adipose tissue for future use. It follows from this that 
 in a diet intended mainly for fattening purposes there should be 
 a large proportion of carbohydrates in addition to the necessary 
 proteids. Indeed, this fact has long been known and utilized by 
 stock-farmers in fattening cattle. On the other hand, a diet in- 
 tended to reduce fat is usually characterized by a small propor- 
 tion of carbohydrates. The value of starches as foods depends 
 largely upon the condition in which they are eaten. Raw starch, 
 for example, is converted to sugar by the salivary and pancreatic 
 secretions with great difficulty as compared with the same sub- 
 stance after thorough cooking. It follows from this that if eaten 
 in an uncooked condition there is a greater possibility of the 
 starch escaping digestion and being lost to the body. It is not 
 the food that is eaten, but the food that is properly digested and 
 absorbed, that nourishes the body. Cellulose, also, the form of 
 starch found in the fibrous and cellular tissue of vegetables, 
 passes, for the most part, through the alimentary canal without 
 undergoing digestion, and is therefore of little nutritive value. 
 
 84 
 
THE EUMFORD KITCHEN LEAFLETS. 
 
 No. 12. 
 
 THE PLACE OF FATS IN NUTRITION. 
 
 BY MARY HINMAN ABEL. 
 
 IT is well known that when an individual has in the diet a 
 sufficient amount of proteid food, as furnished by meat, milk, 
 eggs, and the gluten of cereals, the rest of the required nutrients 
 may consist of fat, sugar, and starch, in proportions that vary 
 widely, according to climate, occupation, and other circumstances. 
 
 The adaptability of the human system in this regard is re- 
 markable. Thus we know that people in extreme northern 
 latitudes live for long periods of time entirely on meat. Nan- 
 sen in his overland journey lived for months on bear meat, 
 although on the " Fram" his diet included bread and other veg- 
 etable foods, with considerable sugar. In both cases he kept 
 health and strength. 
 
 We know of no people, on the other hand, who do entirely 
 without fat, although some, as the poorer classes of China and 
 Japan, reduce this principle to a very low figure, perhaps one- 
 tenth of what is used by the average European, while they take 
 in its place large quantities of carbohydrate food, chiefly in 
 the form of rice. 
 
 Civilized man seems to use with proteid food both fat and 
 starch, choosing to replace some of the latter by sugar whenever 
 it is obtainable. 
 
 85 
 
Food proportioned in this way, according to personal choice, 
 permits great latitude in cases of robust health. The system 
 seems to allow a sort of free trade between fats and carbo- 
 hydrates, by which a deficiency of one is balanced by excess in the 
 other, and an average struck over days and weeks. 
 
 But in special cases the adjustment of the two requires 
 more care. For instance, the infant cannot get on without both 
 fat and sugar in about equal quantities. Very little change can 
 be made from the proportions found in the mother's milk, and 
 according to this recognized standard cow's milk is "modified" 
 to imitate human milk. 
 
 The ordinary individual in this latitude eats about one-fourth as 
 much fat as of starch and sugar together. This amount may be 
 increased for the outdoor worker, or the mountain climber, while 
 the sedentary man or the woman of leisure will do better with 
 less. A pound of fat furnishes more than twice as many heat 
 calories as a pound of starch and is, therefore, as a condensed 
 heat and energy producer, well fitted to meet the needs of hard 
 workers and of dwellers in cold climates. It is worthy of 
 remark that in Europe the army ration of fat is always increased 
 for heavy marching or fighting. 
 
 In what forms shall fat be taken ? It should be remembered 
 that all fats used as food are much alike, chemically considered, 
 and when absorbed in the body do the same work. Fats differ 
 chiefly in their flavor and the ease with which they melt in the 
 mouth, both of which circumstances affect our estimate of them 
 as foods, and without doubt, also, their availability in the system. 
 
 Cream is doubtless the most highly digestible form of fat, and 
 nothing can take its place for the young child. It is needed in 
 the building of the tissues, in keeping up body temperature, and 
 providing for the constant activity of the young organism. 
 Cream as supplied in milk is most useful to children of all ages ; 
 butter comes next in value and should be liberally supplied, as 
 children seldom relish meat fat. Delicate children and anrcmic 
 persons are often seen to improve greatly in condition when 
 
 86 
 
large amounts of palatable and digestible fats are introduced 
 into the diet. It is even claimed that cod liver oil is to be reck- 
 oned as a food rather than a medicine, and it sometimes comes to 
 be greatly relished. Delicately cooked bacon is often used in its 
 place. Vegetable oils, as found in cocoa, in olives, and in nuts, 
 and the highly important though small proportion in grains, are 
 usually well digested. Nuts should be well chewed and taken in 
 connection with other food, as bread, or ground and mixed with 
 fruit or cereals, as in many prepared foods now on the market. 
 So eaten, nuts should be counted as a valuable food which may 
 take the place of some substantial dish, rather than as a luxury 
 to be eaten at the close of "an already full meal. 
 
 Among animal fats cream is doubtless the most digestible 
 nnd ^butter ranks next, and the yolk of egg presents it in an 
 exceedingly useful form. Freshness is a matter of great impor- 
 tance with all three. Cream, thanks to the patent separator, can 
 now be obtained as fresh as milk, and recently made butter is 
 everywhere obtainable. If eggs are not perfectly fresh they 
 should not be given to a child or to a person of delicate digestion, 
 for with every day of age they lose something of their high 
 nutritive value. 
 
 The fat of meat shows striking differences. Interstitial fat, or 
 that which lurks between the fibres and is not generally recog- 
 nized as fat, is more digestible than solid or lump fat, perhaps 
 on account of its minute subdivision. Mutton fat, on account of 
 its high melting point, is less well used than is beef fat. Cooking 
 has considerable effect on the digestibility of fats. By softening 
 the cellular structure which encloses the globules of fat in the fat 
 of meat, it facilitates digestion ; but if a high degree of heat be 
 applied and the fat be scorched, it becomes highly irritating to a 
 delicate stomach. 
 
 This is also true of any liquid fat that is browned for the 
 making of brown gravies, etc. 
 
 The fat of marrow bones is of fine flavor and digestible, and 
 might be more used than it is. 
 
 87 
 
It should be noted that the question of fat in the diet does 
 not take care of itself, especially with the poor. The well-fed 
 man takes his ration of fat in many unsuspected forms, in minute 
 quantities in connection with lean meat, in rich sauces, in the 
 many dishes seasoned with butter and cream. The man who 
 lives on plainer fare may in reality take less fat in his three 
 meals, although it is more in evidence in the form of fat meat or 
 a thick layer of butter or bacon fat on his bread. 
 
 The principal foods furnish fat in the following proportions: 
 
 Meat (spoken of as lean) . . . 5-12 per cent. 
 
 Eggs 12 
 
 Milk 3-4 
 
 Butter 80-90 
 
 Cheese 8-30 
 
 Green vegetables .... 0.3 
 
 Nuts 53-66 
 
 Wheat . . . . . . ) 
 
 Rye S 
 
 Oats . 4-5 
 
 Corn . 5-6 
 
 88 
 
THE KUMFORD KITCHEN LEAFLETS. 
 
 No. 13. 
 
 THE FOOD OF SCHOOL CHILDREN AND YOUNG 
 STUDENTS. 
 
 Written for the Runford Kitchen by ELLEN H. RICHARDS. 
 
 THE accompanying diagram, showing approximately the amounts 
 of the three chief classes of food-stuffs which are required for 
 human nutrition at the different ages, points most clearly to the 
 great importance of care during the school age. When children 
 are free" to roam they forage for themselves to a great extent, 
 and although they may eat unwisely, yet such is their power of 
 assimilation, that comparatively little harm comes of it. They 
 satisfy their hunger and grow strong through incessant activity. 
 
 But children in school are more or less like animals in captivity, 
 and the question of their food should be as carefully studied. 
 For our town and city schools particularly, there are inevitable 
 difficulties to be overcome only through a wise adjustment of facts 
 to the conditions. 
 
 The long distance to be travelled by some necessitates leaving 
 home early; therefore the breakfast is often hurried for fear of 
 being late to school. Owing to a lack of fresh air in the sleeping- 
 rooms the morning appetite of many children is capricious, and 
 therefore the breakfast taken is insufficient in quantity, or in- 
 adequate in quality, even when time enough is allowed. 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1>. ., 7*Y~ELLEN H. RlCUARUS. 
 
 89 
 
The thoughtful mother puts up a luncheon, usually of the things 
 her child likes best : cake, pies, and cookies. The careless mother 
 may or may not fill the luncheon basket. 
 
 Tin' child is a young animal as well as a young scholar, and at 
 an age when all other young animals eat almost constantly while 
 awake, and sleep half the time in periods alternating with those 
 of eating, this young creature goes in haste to school, sits in a 
 fixed position, if not in a cramped one, breathes more or less 
 vitiated air for four or five hours a day, with comparatively short 
 intervals of exercise, and very little of that out of doors. 
 
 Comparatively few mothers really know how much children 
 eat, for, as was said above, they forage for themselves to a great 
 extent, and if a luncheon is put up for the child it often happens 
 that it is eaten up hours before it was supposed to be required, 
 and then there is nothing left for the regular luncheon time, and 
 the child goes hungry for too long a time. Four meals a day are 
 recommended as best for children, and the school lunch should 
 serve as one of these. 
 
 The need of some better provision for the food of young 
 children, who are kept so far away from the base of supplies for 
 so many hours of the day, is imperative ; for insufficient nutrition 
 (a very different thing from insufficient food) has quite as much 
 to do with the frequent breaking down, of the child as over-stimu- 
 lation in study ; in fact, over-stimulation in study is probably pos- 
 sible only in the case of an insufficiently nourished scholar. The 
 healthy, rosy-cheeked child is too much of an animal, contented 
 with life, to be driven to over-exertion in study. 
 
 An examination of the diagram will show that the actual weight 
 of food which a child two to four years old needs is already about 
 one-fourth that of the active working age. The rapid rise in 
 tissue-forming albuminoids, and in the activity-giving carbohy- 
 drates from the tenth year after a slight equilibrium from the 
 fourth to the tenth is most instructive. At the age of nine or ten, 
 then, just when the child is in the grammar school, begins a 
 
 90 
 
period of great activity which seems to exert a marked influence 
 in perfecting the development belonging to the next stage. A 
 child of twelve to fifteen requires as much food in actual weight 
 as a person in the prime of life at fifty to sixty, and only a little 
 less than a hard-working man. Insufficient food at these ages 
 causes more serious consequences than at a later period. 
 
 The confinement of the child in the school-room for long at a 
 time should not be tolerated during these years ; and not only a 
 recess but a suitable luncheon should be insisted on when children 
 leave home by or before eight o'clock, and do not reach home 
 until half-past twelve or one or even two o'clock. 
 
 It is time that a vigorous protest was made against the claim 
 that over-study in school is the cause of all the evils of school 
 life. Let a careful examination be made of the facts as to food 
 and exercise before a universal condemnation of our intellectual 
 methods of education is allowed. 
 
 It has for a long time been considered desirable that a good 
 nutritious hot luncheon, or some bread and milk, should be served 
 in the middle of the morning ; but the way to the practical attain- 
 ment of this has not seemed open. The chocolate and cakes sold 
 at many of the school-houses help slightly ; but there is need for 
 something more systematically planned. 
 
 This question of ways and means has come up in reference to 
 the plan which is growing in favor in New England at least, of 
 bringing the children to a central graded school, instead of having 
 a number of ungraded schools in widely separated sections of the 
 town. 
 
 The penny dinners of the English schools are out of the ques- 
 tion in America, not on account of the cost of material, but on 
 account of our standard of living, and consequently the increased 
 cost of serving food in an acceptable manner. 
 
 Sufficient and nutritious luncheon can be furnished to the pupils 
 of a large school for from three to five cents each, but from our 
 
 91 
 
present knowledge, it would require about a ten-cent luncheon to 
 satisfy the taste of the American scholar. 
 
 In order to help solve this question, among others, luncheons 
 were served daily for the winter of 1892-3 to the pupils of the 
 Boston Normal School of Gymnastics. This was done at the re- 
 quest of Miss A. M. Homans, the director, whose long connection 
 with the School Kitchens, as well as her present interest in physi- 
 cal training, led her to a just appreciation of the value of this factor 
 in education ; and to her enthusiasm and efficient management the 
 success of the plan is due. 
 
 Although these students were young women, and not grammar 
 school children, yet a general method of procedure lias been 
 outlined, and a suggestion, at least, obtained of some possible 
 methods of obtaining the desired results. 
 
 The composition and food value of these luncheons may be 
 studied from the following table, showing one month's supply. 
 
 The practical results of suiting the taste of the pupils within 
 the stipulated price of fifteen cents per luncheon delivered at the 
 school-house were obtained before the theoretical calculation of 
 the actual values was made. The figures show that it is possible, 
 with such a knowledge of the composition of food-stuffs as the 
 manager of the New England Kitchen, Miss S. E. Wentworth, 
 possesses, to approximate very closely to required conditions 
 without an elaborate series of analyses or computations. 
 
 The luncheon is designed to furnish one-fourth of the total food 
 value for the day. 
 
 For comparison is given one-fourth of the two standard rations. 
 
 Proteid. Fat. Carbohydrates. Calories. 
 
 Voit ration . . . 24.5 grms. 14 grms. 125 grins. 742 
 American ration . 31.2 " 31.2 114 882 
 
 92 
 
STATEMENT OF ONE MONTH'S LUNCHEONS SERVED TO STUDENTS 
 (WOMEN) FIVE DAYS IN THE WEEK, BEGINNING FEBRUARY 1, 
 ENDING FEBRUARY 28, 1893. 
 
 Feb. 1. 
 
 
 Ounces. 
 
 FOOD VALUE IN GRAMS. 
 
 Calorics. 
 
 2 
 
 o> 
 
 1 
 
 OM 
 
 1 
 
 >* . 
 
 ja a 
 
 <t> 
 
 P 
 
 Beef Broth 
 
 9.4 1 
 4.0 1 
 4.0 
 0.7 J 
 
 26.3 
 
 20.4 
 
 128.4 
 
 817.6 
 
 2 Rolls 
 Gingerbread 
 Butter . . . 
 
 
 Feb. 2. 
 
 Baked Beans 
 
 8.4 ] 
 4.2 
 
 2 :?' 
 
 5.5 J 
 
 26.3 
 
 35.6 
 
 131.4 
 
 979.3 
 
 Brown Bread 
 
 1 Roll 
 
 Butter 
 
 1 Orange 
 
 
 Feb. 3. 
 
 Escallopcd Meat . . . 
 Rolls 
 
 10.0 1 
 4.0 ! 
 0.7 | 
 5.3 J 
 
 32,2 
 
 26.8 
 
 138.8 
 
 942.5 
 
 Butter 
 Apple Sauce 
 
 Feb. 6. 
 
 Vegetable Soup 
 
 9.7 1 
 4.0 | 
 0.7 j 
 6.0 J 
 
 20.0 
 
 20.9 
 
 92.1 
 
 648.2 
 
 Rolls ... 
 
 Butter 
 
 Apricot Sauce 
 
 
 Feb. 7. 
 
 Potato Soup 
 
 9 6 1 
 4.0 1 
 0.7 [ 
 8.0 J 
 
 15.0 
 
 24.9 
 
 131.5 
 
 826.1 
 
 Rolls 
 
 Butter 
 
 2 Baked Apples , 
 
STATEMENT OF ONE MONTH'S LUNCHEONS. Continued. 
 
 
 
 Ounces. 
 
 FOOD VALUE IN GRAMS. 
 
 Calorics. 
 
 H3 
 
 1 
 
 2 
 
 
 1 
 
 8 
 P "3 
 
 If 
 
 Feb. 8. 
 
 Pea Soup 
 Rolls 
 
 9.8 ] 
 4.0 ( 
 07 f 
 4.0 J 
 
 23.6 
 
 35.4 
 
 126.1 
 
 935.3 
 
 Butter 
 
 Apple Cuke 
 
 
 Feb. 9. 
 
 Beef Hash 
 
 6.4 ] 
 4.0 
 0.7 
 5.3 J 
 
 33.1 
 
 24.0 
 
 136.5 
 
 911.8 
 
 Rolls 
 
 Butter 
 
 Apple Sauce 
 
 
 Feb. 10. 
 
 Oyster Soup 
 Rolls 
 
 9.6 1 
 4.0 
 07 [ 
 5.3 J 
 
 20.9 
 
 25.9 
 
 108.0 
 
 762.5 
 
 Butter 
 
 Prune Sauce 
 
 
 Feb. 13. 
 
 Beef Croquettes 
 
 4.0 1 
 4.0 | 
 4.0 [ 
 0.7 
 8.0 J 
 
 168 
 
 22.7 
 
 111.4 
 
 738.8 
 
 Potato Croquettes . . 
 Rolls 
 
 Butter 
 
 Baked Apples 
 
 Feb. 14. 
 
 Fish Chowder 
 Rolls 
 
 10.0 ] 
 4.0 
 0.7 
 5.5 j 
 
 22.2 
 
 i 
 30.0 101.2 
 
 1 
 
 778.1 
 
 Butter 
 
 Orange 
 
 
 Feb. 15. 
 
 Tomato Soup 
 Rolls 
 
 9.7 ] 
 4.0 I 
 0.7 [ 
 3.5 J 
 
 19.1 
 
 26.3 
 
 103.0 
 
 739.0 
 
 Butter 
 
 Doughnuts 
 
 94 
 
STATEMENT OK ONE MONTH'S LUNCHEONS. Continued* 
 
 Feb. 16. 
 
 
 Ounces. 
 
 FOOD VALUE IK GRAMS. 
 
 Calorics. 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 & 
 
 1 
 
 fj 
 
 li 
 
 a- 
 
 Escalloped Fish 
 Rolls 
 
 4.0 ] 
 4.0 \ 
 0.7 j 
 
 8.0 j 
 
 26.8 
 
 24.0 
 
 109.8 
 
 777.2 
 
 Butter 
 
 Baked Apples 
 
 
 Feb. 17. 
 
 Baked Beans 
 
 8.4 1 
 4.2 | 
 
 2.0 ; 
 
 0.7 
 5.3 J 
 
 26.3 
 
 35.6 
 
 131.4 
 
 979.3 
 
 Brown Bread 
 
 1 Roll 
 
 Butter 
 
 1 Orange 
 
 
 Feb. 20. 
 
 Corn Soup 
 Rolls 
 
 9.6 ] 
 4.0 ! 
 0.7 f 
 5.3 J 
 
 13.6 
 
 23.1 
 
 107.0 
 
 704.2 
 
 Butter 
 
 Apple Sauce 
 
 Feb. 21. 
 
 Beef Broth 
 
 941 
 
 26.3 
 
 20.4 
 
 128.4 
 
 817.5 
 
 Rolls . 
 
 4.0 | 
 0.7 | 
 4.0 J 
 
 Butter 
 
 Gingerbread 
 
 
 Feb. 22. 
 
 Baked Beans 
 
 8.4 ] 
 4.2 | 
 2.0 } 
 07 
 5.5 J 
 
 26.3 
 
 35.6 
 
 131.4 
 
 979.3 
 
 Brown Bread . 
 
 1 Roll 
 
 Butter 
 
 1 Orange . . . . 
 
 
STATEMENT OF ONE MONTH'S LUNCHEONS. Concluded. 
 
 
 
 Ounces. 
 
 FOOD VALUE IN GRAMS. 
 
 Calorics. 
 
 TJ 
 * 
 
 1 
 
 >> . 
 
 | 
 
 Feb. 23. 
 
 Escalloped Oysters. . . 
 Rolls 
 
 4.5 1 
 40 | 
 0.7 j 
 5.0 J 
 
 24.0 
 
 34.0 
 
 115.2 
 
 880.3 
 
 Butter 
 
 Buns 
 
 
 Feb. 24. 
 
 Tomato Soup 
 Rolls 
 Butter 
 
 9.7 ] 
 40 1 
 0.7 { 
 8.0 J 
 
 15.0 
 
 19.5 
 
 108.4 
 
 681.8 
 
 Baked Apples 
 
 
 Feb. 27. 
 
 Potato Soup 
 
 9.6 1 
 4.0 ! 
 07 { 
 6.0 J 
 
 19.1 
 
 24.9 
 
 139.7 
 
 875.9 
 
 Rolls 
 
 Butter 
 
 Lemon Jelly 
 
 
 Feb. 28. 
 
 Pea Soup 
 
 9.8 1 
 4.0 I 
 0.7 j 
 4.0 J 
 
 23.6 
 
 35.4 
 
 1215.1 
 
 935.3 
 
 Rolls . . . 
 
 Butter 
 
 \pplc Cake 
 
 
 
 Average 
 
 22.8 
 
 27.1 
 
 120.2 
 
 827.4 
 
 
 
 96 
 
This table illustrates the combinations which proved successful 
 in the case of this set of individuals. A still more instructive 
 table would be that showing the combinations theoretically far 
 better which failed to please the taste ; but until a wider range of 
 experience has shown how far local prejudice may be overcome 
 by a little patience and education, it is not worth while to em- 
 phasize the failures. All that is here intended is to show that it is 
 possible to serve nutritious and palatable luncheons to large num- 
 bers of people, with a sufficient variety to keep up the appetite. 
 In the spring, a change was made to some lighter dishes, and a 
 further study of possible variations is in progress. No other 
 accessory such as tea or coffee was served in this case. With 
 a few slight changes in the way of substituting less costly stews 
 for the oysters, these luncheons could be served in quantity for a 
 large school for 10 cents each. 
 
 Those interested in this question will find two most valuable 
 papers on the growth of school children, by Dr. Henry P. Bow- 
 ditch, one in the eighth annual report (1877, page 275), the other 
 in the twenty-second annual report (1891, page 479), of the State 
 Board of Health of Massachusetts. 
 
 The curves here given, showing the increase in height and 
 weight of Boston school-children, coincide in a very marked 
 degree with those on the accompanying diagram. 
 
 It is, however, characteristic of the hitherto prevailing feeling 
 in regard to food, that, in this exhaustive paper, no mention is. 
 made of the influence on the physical development of children 
 which food exerts ; and yet no question is of more importance 
 both for the school committee and for the teacher to consider. 
 
 It may be argued that the school has no right to interfere with 
 the home life and habits; but surely the director of physical 
 training has a right to refuse to allow girls to exercise in corsets, 
 and has not the teacher as much right to refuse to urge on in 
 study a starved boy? The schools are potent factors in devel- 
 oping the general ideas of the people, as well as in teaching 
 
 97 
 
arithmetic to the children; and with the increasing sociological 
 tendencies of the times an ever-widening field of influence is here 
 oh'ered. 
 
 THE FOOD OF STUDENTS. 
 
 Second only in importance to the food of the child is that of 
 the youth in the secondary school and the college. 
 
 A glance at the accompanying diagram will show that during 
 the years of student life the normal development of the body re- 
 quires an excess of food, and that, if the brain is not to be devel- 
 oped at the expense of the body, a jealous watch must be kept 
 over the food of the young brain-worker. 
 
 This care must take into consideration two points sufficient 
 quantity and availability ; for it is not what is eaten, but what is 
 digested, which nourishes, and the young student cannot well 
 afford two hours of rest after each meal to allow the hard work 
 of the stomach to be finished before that of the brain begins. 
 
 If double work is required of a horse, he is given double feed. 
 All work is one ; work means expenditure of energy, whether in 
 thinking or in lifting weights ; the only source of human energy 
 is the food which is assimilated and made a part of the body tis- 
 sues (a very different thing from the food eaten) . 
 
 This fact is now perfectly well established, and it should be rec- 
 ognized by all educators, that good thinking, like good rowing, re- 
 quires proper feeding. 
 
 THE DIETARY OF THE COLLEGE STUDENT 
 
 Should be a subject of careful study by every college faculty, 
 and as great care should be exercised in selecting the steward, 
 who is in fact to determine the mental standard of all the stu- 
 dents, as in selecting the professor of Greek or history. When 
 the academic world becomes convinced of the importance of this 
 factor, we shall see a race of American students far outstripping 
 all others. 
 
 98 
 
It would be of great advantage to have a friendly rivalry in re- 
 gard to this side of college life. 
 
 WHAT SHOULD BE THE QUANTITY AND CHARACTER OF THE 
 FOOD OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE STUDENT? 
 
 It depends upon many circumstances, chiefly upon whether 
 there is a necessity of economy in time, in money, or in mental 
 power. 
 
 It is because of the remarkable adaptability of the Anglo- 
 Saxon race to climate and to food that it has been able to girdle 
 the globe. Hence it has come to be a belief that man could eat 
 anything and everything, and that his food was of less conse- 
 quence than anything else. Certain unmistakable signs, however, 
 point to the fact that there is a limit to this adaptability, or at least 
 to the speed with which it may be safely accomplished. The lat- 
 ter is the more probable reason. A family is now able to entirely 
 change its surroundings in a few days to a degree which formerly 
 required years to accomplish. 
 
 In order to gain even a little light on this question, another 
 experiment was tried during the same year (1892), in order to 
 determine the amount and character of food taken by students 
 at hard work (mostly young men of 18 to 22) when they 
 had a certain range of choice. A lunch-room patronized by 
 between three and four hundred was furnished with the same 
 soups, bread, rolls, and baked beans as those sent to the young 
 women. In addition, pies, cakes, cold meats, and salads were 
 furnished ; also coffee, milk, and chocolate. Instead of a definite 
 luncheon for a fixed price, each portion was served separately 
 and the student made up his own list, thus giving a wide range of 
 selection. For a term or half-year, beginning September 26, 
 1892, and ending January 9, 1893, a careful account was kept of 
 the food used. 
 
 Although the figures must be accepted as only approximate, 
 owing to the fact that the composition of the pies, cakes, etc., 
 made outside the New England kitchen can only be estimated and 
 
 99 
 
not accurately calculated, yet they are sufficiently correct to fur- 
 nish a basis for further work. The average amount spent for 
 lunches was 21 cents ranging from 15 to 30 cents. 
 The average food-value per person was : 
 
 Proteid. Fat. Carbohydrates. Calorics. 
 
 29 gms. 37.3 gms. 106.6 gms. 894.8 gms. 
 
 The proportion of the proteid to fats is very suggestive, and con- 
 firms Prof. Atwater's views that far more fat is eaten in America 
 than Germany. This is well shown by a comparison of these 
 figures with those given on the diagram for the same ages. 
 Americans seem to eat far more fat and sugar, and consequently 
 less starch, than the average German. How far this is due to 
 climate and to habit, or to the fact that it is not necessary in this 
 country to live so largely on bread, remains to be studied. It 
 should however, be considered in providing for American stu- 
 dents. 
 
 The experiment has continued now for three years on the same 
 lines, and may be considered to prove that a limited variety of 
 uniformly well-prepared food will be taken even by that capricious 
 animal, a young student. 
 
 In connection with the marked increase of the sugar and fat 
 there arises another vital question in physiological chemistry. 
 The old adage, " After breakfast walk a mile, after dinner sleep 
 awhile," was founded on experience in the time when starch in 
 the form of more or less heavy bread, and of potatoes and fat in 
 the form of pork, was the chief source of the carbohydrates and 
 fat taken. Does the same hold true at this date, when the more 
 readily assimilated butter replaces pork, and when the already 
 partly digested sugar replaces a part of the starch, and when the 
 light, fine wheat-bread taxes much less the power of digestion ? 
 In other words, how far is it physiologically correct to encourage 
 brain workers to omit |the after-dinner rest by furnishing them 
 with a noon meal which will not so tax all their bodily powers as 
 
 100 
 
to leave nothing available for mental work? For my own part, I 
 believe that whatever may be the case for the morning and even- 
 ing meal, the character of the food taken during the working 
 hours of students should be such as to sustain the supply of force- 
 producing material in the blood, without requiring a large per 
 cent, of the force already at hand to convert the food eaten into 
 new force-producing material. 
 
 Herein lies a new problem in the conservation of energy, and 
 of that most productive of all forms of energy, that of human 
 thought. 
 
 Until this law is apprehended and applied, we do not know of 
 how much the American student may be capable. 
 
 101 
 
This diagram is only an approximate statement of observed 
 facts. The value of such generalizations lies in the number of 
 observations upon which they are based, and in this case they are 
 too few for a final decision. Further, the facts are from German 
 somves almost exclusively, because no others gave the whole 
 scries; and it seemed better to adhere to a uniform standard of 
 calculation in view of the great gaps in our knowledge. It is 
 irivcn in this imperfect state in order to induce a fuller study of 
 the question. 
 
 From what we do know of the American standards, it seems 
 probable that the curve of carbohydrates would be less marked, 
 and that the curve of fats would be nearly coincident with that of 
 the proteids except in that part showing the amount from the 10th 
 to the 20th year if drawn to represent American practice. 
 
 The steepness of the curve of carbohydrates shows the need 
 of a full supply of the material which serves as the source of 
 power for the very great activity of youth. The child naturally 
 runs all day long; the activity, the amount of work done, is enor- 
 mously in excess of that done in after life, aimless though it may 
 seem. It is none the less work because it is work of heart and 
 lungs, and muscular exercise in play. It is useful work, in that it 
 builds up a structure for the grown man to use ; it is the building 
 time, and the building can not be well made, strongly put to- 
 gether, without it. This intense activity is required for the metab- 
 olism of the tissue, which is also rapid, as will be seen by the 
 curve of proteid. If the weight of the individual at different ages 
 were taken into account, this would be even more marked. 
 
 102 
 
103 
 
THE RUMFORD KITCHEN LEAFLETS. 
 
 No. 14. 
 
 PROPHYLACTIC AND THERAPEUTIC VALUE OF FOOD. 
 
 Read at the meeting of the American Public Health Association, Chicago, Oct. 
 19, 1893, by ELLEN H. RICHARDS. 
 
 THE views now held concerning the causation and prevention 
 of disease lead us to hope that a new era is dawning for the study 
 of food in its relation to health and sickness. 
 
 Mrs. Abel has chosen for the motto of the series of Rumford 
 Kitchen Leaflets the following saying of Donders, which was 
 first quoted by Voit: "He who works with all his strength on 
 the development of our knowledge of food and nutrition, and 
 who also persistently strives to apply the results of investi- 
 gation, is working on a broad basis for the development of man- 
 kind." 
 
 No body of men can be more interested in the application of 
 scientific knowledge to daily life than the members of the Public 
 Health Association, or more keenly alive to the liability to mis- 
 take on the part of enthusiasts, and certainly no body of men can 
 so warmly sympathize with those who are striving to bring well- 
 known facts into general circulation in the face of difficulty and 
 discouragement. As Count Rumford so well stated it: "The 
 slowness with which improvements of all kinds make their way 
 into common use, and. especially such improvements as are the 
 most calculated to be of general utility, is very remarkable, and 
 
 CoPYJtiour, ijftJS, BY ELLEN 
 
 104 
 
forms a striking contrast to the extreme avidity with which those 
 unmeaning changes are adopted, which folly and caprice are con- 
 tinually bringing forth and sending into the world under the 
 auspices of fashion." 
 
 But Count Rumford worked almost alone and far in advance 
 of his time, while we can count on the sympathy and support of 
 scores of able men, and it is for that reason that we appeal to 
 you <for cooperation, suggestion, and criticism. The world at 
 present needs most of all what I have elsewhere called a standard 
 of health, a normal " w'ell-being.'" 
 
 Given a well-built, smoothly-working bodily machine placed 
 under good conditions in a wholesome environment, and it is 
 chiefly a question of good food as to how nearby the standard can 
 be kept up. 
 
 As a good workman can do better work with a poor tool than a 
 poor workman can do with a good tool, so a man with skill de- 
 rived from knowledge can often make better use of a body crip- 
 pled by accident or inheritance than his neighbor can of a perfect 
 equipment. Many a structure is strengthened by a brace here 
 and a bolt thereuntil it long outlasts a better-built one: so the 
 right kind and quantity of food, with rigid abstinence from irritat- 
 ing or clogging substances, may so strengthen a weak heart or a 
 feeble constitution that the natural term of life may be reached 
 in comparative comfort. On the other hand, the delicately ad- 
 justed machine may be thrown into disorder by a very slight 
 indiscretion which may not matter for once, but which, repeated, 
 wears a groove which deepens more and more until it is in danger 
 of stopping the machinery. 
 
 A great need of the present time is a better standard of health, 
 a test measure of the duty (used in the engineering sense) of the 
 human body. The engineer knows how much his engine is in- 
 tended to do, and he chooses that fuel and that lubricant which will 
 enable the task to be accomplished. Each human machine has a 
 certain capacity of work, a certain load under which it works 
 best ; each individual can, generally speaking, if he will, control 
 
 105 
 
this load or strain so as to get the full duty of the machine. Here 
 also it is fuel and lubricant, that is, food and enjoyment of work. 
 
 To be well means to have good spirits, good temper, and a cer- 
 tain elasticity or capacity to do more than the normal without 
 passing the limit of recovery. In this " well-being," this "feel- 
 ing like a fighting cock," in homely phrase, lies, in the main, as 
 we believe, the secret of resistance to disease. Therefore to 
 keep the body in good working condition seems to be also to 
 render it most resistent to the inroads of disease. The power 
 of accommodation is such in this delicate machine that the 
 most diverse substances can be utilized, and the range of sub- 
 stanccs found useful for human nutrition is very wide, so wide 
 that man has jumped to the conclusion that it made no differ- 
 ence what he ate ; and while to a certain extent this may be true 
 in a state of robust health and active exercise, it is far from it 
 when once the balance has been disturbed and the machinery is 
 working badly, so that, in the case of inherited weakness or of ac- 
 cidental disability, food becomes of more importance, and the 
 cause of public health would gain much and public temper still 
 more if this fact could be generally recognized. 
 
 It is the day of "small things" quantities formerly consid- 
 ered insignificant are now held responsible for great disorders. 
 
 An excess of food over the supply of chemical agents in the 
 alimentary canal causes imperfect decomposition, and leads to 
 irritability, if it does not leave poisonous products, to be more or 
 less absorbed into the blood ; a danger the greater because often 
 quite unsuspected. 
 
 This intimate connection of good food and good temper might 
 be emphasized to advantage both in school and in society. 
 
 The prophylactic value of food is then to keep the human body 
 in a high condition of health. For this there seems to be no gen- 
 eral rule, since individual idiosyncrasies and mental conditions 
 exercise a marked influence on capacity for utilization of nourish- 
 ment. The main object to be gained is to establish a higher 
 standard of health in the community, to make as widely known 
 
 106 
 
as possible the fact that much of the ill-health now prevalent is 
 needless, that a little self-denial, a little more attention to the rules 
 of hygiene, a little more living in the open air, would cause a 
 large part of the disturbances of health now so common to dis- 
 appear. 
 
 Self-indulgence and a deep-seated superstition that medicine 
 can take away all evil consequences lead men to swallow 
 the pill and throw away the sound advice which usually ac- 
 companies it. 
 
 A man will attribute a headache in the morning to anything 
 rather than to the dinner of the night before. 
 
 Drugs, however useful in emergencies, can never take the place 
 of the daily food ; if that is clean, wholesome, and right in kind 
 and quantity, there is little chance for disease to find a foothold ; 
 but once let the normal life be disturbed, and the importance of 
 the food taken rises rapidly. 
 
 The therapeutic value of food it is hardly possible to estimate. 
 It is often the one determining factor in the question of recovery 
 more often than one likes to think in view of the ignorance and 
 carelessness so often seen in feeding the sick. 
 
 Still more in sickness than in health, food should be such that it 
 furnishes sufficient nourishment, but not more than can be assimi- 
 lated by a system weakened by disease. 
 
 A knowledge of the right proportions of the essential food 
 substances, and of the absolute quantity or food value of the food 
 given to the very sick, is necessary to the physician, if not to the 
 nurse. How many a life has been lost because of a lack of this 
 knowledge the world will never know. 
 
 Therefore, we believe that when medical schools teach so 
 thoroughly the principles of physiological chemistry and of the 
 science of nutrition, already well known, that the physician be- 
 comes perfectly conversant with the food values of the different 
 articles of food which he prescribes, and with the appearance 
 they present when they are properly prepared, then the per- 
 centage of recovery will be largely increased. 
 
 107 
 
At present there are comparatively few persons who are called 
 upon to feed the sick to whom a glass of milk or a pound of beef 
 represent any definite amount of food materials. Still fewer who 
 can tell how much food-value a glass of lemon jelly or wine 
 whey represents, and yet the adult patient is dependent upon the 
 attendant even more than the week-old infant for the requisite 
 nutrition. 
 
 The time is surely ripe for some definite experiments in this 
 line, and as it is so often the first step that costs, the first plunge 
 that gives the cold chill of disenchantment or disappointment, I 
 venture to make the next step, that of criticism, easier, and have 
 given in the following tables some suggestive combinations, in 
 the hope that some one favorably situated and philosophically 
 inclined may carry on the investigation. 
 
 From the experiments made by the best investigators, it seems 
 probable that only about one-third of the daily ration is available 
 for kinetic force ; that is, that only about one-third of the total 
 energy contained in the daily food can be utilized in digging 
 trenches, carrying bricks, climbing mountains, designing bridges, 
 or writing poems and essays. 
 
 The other two-thirds is used up in the internal work of the 
 body, the action of the heart, lungs, and the production of the 
 large amount of heat necessary to life. 
 
 If this is the case, then we may make out a life ration, or that 
 amount of food which is necessary in order to keep the human 
 machine in existence without any special accomplishment of 
 either body or mind, and a work ration which includes the 
 amount of food required by the human machine in order to pro- 
 duce results either physical or mental. 
 
 For this climate, and for the habits of our people, I have esti- 
 mated this life ration as approximately : 
 
 Proteid. Fat. Carbohydrate. Calories. 
 
 75 grams. 40 grams. 325 grams. 2,000 
 
 108 
 
And the maximum and minimum work ration as : 
 
 Proteid. Fat. Carbohydrate. Calories. 
 
 125 grams. 125 grams. 450 grams. 3,500 
 
 110 " 90 " 420 ' 3,000 
 
 An examination of the actual dietaries of some of the very poor 
 who eat just enough to live, without doing any work, shows that 
 in twelve cases the average was : 
 
 Proteid. Fat. Carbohydrate. Calories. 
 
 81 grams. 88 grams. 272 grams. 2,257 
 
 The forty-eight grams of fat would thus seem to be the chief 
 source of the little energy these people showed. However far 
 out we may be in this calculation, it will serve its purpose as a 
 working hypothesis to enable us to determine the true standard. 
 Taking this as a basis, I have made out the following tables of 
 some dietaries for the sick, that is, for the generality of cases 
 where no very wide departure from normal diet is required, only 
 where a lessened quantity and a liquid form is indicated. 
 
 These tables show how difficult it is to secure sufficient food in 
 a liquid form, and how important it is to turn some of our scien- 
 tific study in this direction. 
 
 The full allowance of three quarts in twenty-four hours must 
 be taken of nearly any sort of liquid food, and no one kind is suf- 
 ficient in itself, so that a variety is required. 
 
 For instance, three quarts of milk would give 
 
 Proteid. Fat. Carbohydrate. Calories. 
 
 102 grams. 108 grams. 132 grams. 1,953 
 
 which is about the right amount of calories, but far too much fat 
 and too little carbohydrate according to most authorities. 
 
 It would be necessary to use skimmed milk, and the danger of 
 partial decomposition or deterioration of the milk while waiting 
 for the cream to rise is a serious objection to general use unless 
 milk from the centrifugal separator can be had. On the other 
 hand, if three quarts of beef broth or consomme were given, the 
 patient would have only 
 
 109 
 
Proti-iil. Fat. Carbohydrate. Caloru-n. 
 
 123 grams. 3 grains. . . . 53_ ; 
 
 This would furnish too little fat and no carbohydrate, and only 
 about one-fourth of the total amount of heat necessary. The soup 
 as made at the Munich Hospital is much better, as it contains 
 
 Proteid. Fat. Carbohydrate. Calories. 
 
 21.6 grams. 21.6 grams. 108 grams. 730 
 
 One pound of lean steak and three-quarters of a pound of rice 
 (weighed uncooked) yield the full life ration. 
 
 To illustrate how little these points are appreciated we have 
 only to turn to one of the best of invalid cookery books just pub- 
 lished, and find that the rations which are given as guides to 
 nurses, when the physician has left the food to their judgment, 
 prove far too low. For instance : 
 
 Proteid. Fat. Carbohydrate. Calories. 
 
 24.5 grams. 28.5 grams. 65.6 grams. 631 
 
 66.5 ' ; 23.5 " 83.5 " 831 
 
 These are only one-half, or even one-third enough, according to 
 theory, and the amount of liquid is also below the standard. 
 
 T was pleased to find in an article by Dr. W. Prausnitz, on the 
 food of German hospitals, calculations giving results not very dif- 
 ferent from those arrived at by myself. ' He gives as the standard : 
 
 Proteid. Fat. Carbohydrate. Calories. 
 
 For a man, 110 grams. 50 grams. 350 to 400 grams. 2,350 
 For a woman, 100 " 50 " 300 to 350 " 2,100 
 
 The following tables will serve as a summary of the points 
 which I have attempted to illustrate. It is to be remarked that 
 food prepared for the very sick should be nearly all digestible, 
 while that for the well person contains at least 10 per cent, and 
 more frequently 15 per cent, of indigestible material. 
 
 1 Ueber die Kost in Krankenhausern mit besonderer Beriicksichtigung der Miin- 
 chener Verhaltnisse. Von Dr. W. Prausuitz, Deutsche Vierteljahrschrift fur offent- 
 liche Gesuudheitspflege 1893. Band 25. Seite 563. 
 
 110 
 
ESTIMATED LIFE RATION. 
 
 For one day 
 
 Proteid, 
 grams. 
 
 Fat, 
 grams. 
 
 Carbo- 
 hydrates, 
 grams. 
 
 Calories. 
 
 75 
 
 40 
 
 325 
 
 2,000 
 
 ESTIMATED WORK RATION, MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM. 
 
 
 Proteid, 
 grams. 
 
 Fat, 
 grams. 
 
 Carbo- 
 hydrates, 
 grams. 
 
 Calories. 
 
 
 125 
 
 125 
 
 450 
 
 3 500 
 
 
 110 
 
 90 
 
 420 
 
 3,000 
 
 A COMMON INVALID RATION, TOO LOW IN CARBOHYDRATES. 
 
 
 Proteid, 
 grams. 
 
 Fat, 
 grams. 
 
 Carbo- 
 hydrates, 
 grams. 
 
 Calories. 
 
 1 pint beef juice, containing 7 \>ur 
 
 31 5 
 
 
 
 129 
 
 1 pint whole milk ........ 
 1 quart flour gruel made with 
 
 17 
 18 2 
 
 18 
 18 2 
 
 22 
 
 38 
 
 325.5 
 3') 7 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 quarts of liquid. Total, 
 
 66.7 
 
 36.2 
 
 60 
 
 852.4 
 
 111 
 
AN IDEAL RATION WITH SOLID FOOD. 
 
 MATERIAL. 
 
 AMOUNT. 
 
 PROTEID. 
 
 FAT. 
 
 CARBOHT- 
 
 DRATES. 
 
 ! 
 
 1 
 
 g 
 
 
 
 
 <5 
 
 Ounces. 
 
 Grams. 
 
 Ounces. 
 
 O 
 
 Ounces. 
 
 Bread 
 
 453.6 
 226.8 
 226.8 
 28.3 
 113.4 
 453.6 
 28.3 
 
 16 
 8 
 8 
 1 
 4 
 16 
 1 
 i 
 
 31.75 
 34.02 
 12.52 
 6.60 
 3.63 
 18.14 
 
 1.12 
 1.20 
 0.44 
 0.23 
 0.13 
 0.64 
 
 2.26 
 11.34 
 
 2.04 
 7.50 
 4.42 
 18.14 
 
 0.08 
 0.40 
 0.07 
 0.26 
 0.16 
 0.64 
 
 257.28 
 
 9.04 
 
 1,206.82 
 243.72 
 70.01 
 135.42 
 75.55 
 613.21 
 112.17 
 118.62 
 
 Meat 
 
 Oysters 
 
 Breakfast Cocoa . . 
 Milk 
 Broth 
 
 9.60 
 4.88 
 90.72 
 27.36 
 
 0.34 
 0.17 
 3.20 
 0.96 
 
 Sugar . 
 
 
 0.14 
 
 
 12.27 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total . 
 
 
 
 106.80 
 
 
 57.97 
 
 
 389.84 
 
 2,574.60 
 
 
 
 
 112 
 
A COMMON INVALID RATION, TOO LOW IN PROTEID. 
 
 
 Proteid, 
 grams. 
 
 Fat, 
 grams. 
 
 Carbo- 
 hydrates, 
 grams. 
 
 Calories. 
 
 1 pint beef broth or consomme . 
 
 '20.5 
 
 0.5 
 
 
 88 7 
 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 205 
 
 
 
 21 5 
 
 79 
 
 5' 7 1 7 
 
 1 pint Imperial Granum, contain- 
 ing 3 ounces 
 
 6.8 
 
 0.4 
 
 64 
 
 294.0 
 
 2 quarts of liquid. Total, 
 
 27.3 
 
 22.4 
 
 193 
 
 1,109.4 
 
 A RATION RICH IN PROTEID AFTER ACUTE DISEASE. 
 
 MATERIAL. 
 
 Amount, 
 grams. 
 
 Am't, 
 ounces. 
 
 Proteid, 
 grains. 
 
 Fat, 
 grams. 
 
 Carbo- 
 hydrates, 
 grams. 
 
 Calories. 
 
 Bread . . . 
 
 453 6 
 
 16 
 
 31 75 
 
 9 26 
 
 57 28 
 
 1205 SI 
 
 Meat 
 
 453 6 
 
 16 
 
 64 04 
 
 * 68 
 
 
 487 6 
 
 Milk without cream . 
 
 Coffee or tea with 
 cream 
 
 453.6 
 
 453.6 
 14.17 
 
 16 
 
 16 
 
 i 
 
 29.02 
 
 4.60 
 14 
 
 18.00 
 
 3.25 
 
 12 27 
 
 39.00 
 1.14 
 
 444.48 
 
 53.43 
 
 118 6' ? 
 
 Sugar 
 
 56 7 
 
 
 
 
 54 72 
 
 994 33 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 129 55 
 
 58 46 
 
 352 14 
 
 9 745 j9 
 
 Less 10$ for indiges- 
 tibility 
 
 
 
 12 95 
 
 5 84 
 
 35 21 
 
 74 61 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 
 
 116 60 
 
 59 62 
 
 316 93 
 
 2 534 31 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 113 
 
AN IDEAL RATION OF LIQUID FOOD. 
 
 M MKUIAL. 
 
 Amount. 
 
 Proteid, 
 grams. 
 
 Fat, 
 grams. 
 
 Carbo- 
 hydrates, 
 grains. 
 
 Calories. 
 
 Beef broth or coiiHommt'' . 
 To which has been added 
 one large egg, minus 
 Bhell 
 
 1 pint 
 
 2oz. 
 1 quart 
 ipint 
 1 quart 
 3 oz. (dry) 
 
 4 oz. (dry) 
 
 20.5 
 7.1 
 
 0.5 
 6.8 
 
 
 
 88.70 
 
 91.67 
 410.00 
 77.90 
 651.00 
 304.11 
 
 420.25 
 
 
 100. 
 12.5 
 44.0 
 67.2 
 
 100.0 
 
 
 6.5 
 340 
 6.3 
 
 2.5 
 
 
 Whole milk 
 Kice or arrowroot .... 
 Grape sugar, or 
 Some one of the prepared 
 foods (dry) 
 
 36.0 
 0.3 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 2.5 quarts 
 to 
 3.0 quarts, s 
 
 76.9 
 ccording t 
 
 43.6 
 3 how the i 
 
 323.7 
 ice is givei 
 
 2,043.63 
 i. 
 
 
 A WORK RATION FOR A PROFESSIONAL OR LITERARY MAN. 
 
 
 Ounces. 
 
 Proteid, 
 grams. 
 
 Fat, 
 grams. 
 
 Carbo- 
 hydrates, 
 grams. 
 
 Calories. 
 
 Bread 
 
 16 
 
 32 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 Meat . 
 
 16 
 
 50 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 Butter 
 
 1 
 
 
 25 
 
 
 230 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 110 
 
 
 Milk 
 
 g 
 
 18 
 
 18 
 
 
 
 Oysters 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 
 j 
 
 
 07 Q 
 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 Potatoes 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 
 38 
 
 168 1 
 
 Eggs . . 
 
 3 
 
 10 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 Oatmeal . 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 0*5 
 
 4 
 
 25 1 
 
 Cream 
 
 j 
 
 1 5 
 
 6 5 
 
 1 
 
 
 Fruit 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 Additional liquid, tea, coffee, 
 or water 
 
 30 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total ... 
 
 
 127 
 
 96 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 114 
 
THE RUMFORD KITCHEN LEAFLETS. 
 
 No. 15. 
 
 SOME SUGGESTIONS ABOUT NOURISHMENT IN ACUTE 
 DISEASE. 
 
 BY FRANCIS H. WILLIAMS. 
 
 Abstract of a paper read before the Massachusetts Medical Society, Juue 10, 1891. 
 Revised by the author for the Rumford Kitchen. 
 
 TIIEKE are few questions in the treatment of disease which have 
 to be decided so often during the daily routine of practice as those 
 which concern the proper support and nourishment of the patient ; 
 and, further, there are not many things connected with the care 
 of patients which are so difficult. 
 
 It is not easy to find a person competent to prepare suitable 
 food ; it is, therefore, the more incumbent upon the physician to 
 be able to give proper directions as to its preparation. 
 
 The chief thing is to take pains, and those who can do this are 
 rare people, whether physicians, relatives, or nurses. This is why 
 less is accomplished than there should be in the support of the 
 sick,. If we wish to succeed in avoiding nausea, vomiting, and 
 loss of strength and even loss of life, we must learn to offer 
 nourishment to our patients in a suitable form. 
 
 Let me recall to your minds a few of the principles to be kept 
 in view in feeding patients acutely ill. 
 
 Foods may be classified as follows : 
 
 1. Water. 4. Sugars (fruits). 
 
 2. Salts. 5. Starches. 
 
 3. Fats. 6. Albuminoids. 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 18U3, I;Y ELLEN H. KICHAKDS. 
 
 115 
 
Tlic classes of foods known MS starches Mini albuminoids arc the 
 ones which require the most care to oiler to a patient in a proper 
 form. 
 
 HW/f-r is of prime importance. Consider for a moment the 
 composition of the body of a man weighing 154 pounds. He is 
 i" s pounds, or about two-thirds, water. 
 
 It does not follow from this that we need give every patient 
 several pints of water a day ; by no means, but it is fair to infer 
 that water, of a suitable temperature, should not be denied the 
 sick, and that patients too young, too delirious, or too ill to ask, 
 should not be neglected in this regard. The physician should 
 see to it that water is offered the thirsty economy in all cases, 
 nature demanding it though the patient makes no request. The 
 amount depends on the character of the diet and the disease. 
 
 Salts are present in small proportion in most foods, and are 
 essential constituents of our diet. 
 
 Fats as a rule are not tolerated by patients acutely ill, and their 
 use should be limited to such forms as are finely divided, as in 
 milk or yolk of egg (and even in milk it may be necessary to 
 reduce the amount of fat by skimming oft' the cream). 
 
 Common sugar must be changed into grape sugar before 
 it is assimilated. 
 
 Grape sugar and maltose are very soluble and easily absorbed, 
 and for this reason seem a very desirable form in which to give 
 nourishment. 
 
 Fruits are refreshing and valuable to give variety to the diet 
 and to contribute water, which they contain in large proportion. 
 Most fruits contain 85 to 90 odd per cent, of water, some sugar, and 
 the citrates, malates, and tartrates of potassium. Other fruits, 
 such as grapes and bananas, contain sugar in considerable pro- 
 portion, to 15 per cent., and their value as foods is not to be 
 despised ; bananas contain starch also. 
 
 Among dried fruits, dates and figs contain 60 per cent, of sugar 
 and 6 per cent, of albuminoids. 
 
 116 
 
, The value of certain fruits for persons who are predisposed to 
 uric acid, gravel, and concretions in the bladder I shall not discuss 
 here, though it is well worthy of attention. 
 
 Though we take foods into the stomach in the solid form, it is 
 necessary that they be made soluble before they can be assim- 
 ilated. The classes of foods which we have thus far considered 
 are readily absorbed ; namely, water, salts, fats, and sugars ; they 
 are all liquid or readily soluble substances. In the remaining 
 classes, starches and albuminoids, we have foods with which 
 there are several steps to be gone through before they can be 
 taken up by the system. 
 
 With all starchy foods, like grains, potatoes, and rice, it is. 
 necessary to break the starch granules by heating or to change 
 them by fermentation, and before the starch can be absorbed it 
 must be converted into a soluble substance, such as dextrine, which 
 is the same in composition as starch, or into starch sugar or 
 maltose. Starches, therefore, are not absorbed as such, but must 
 first be rendered soluble. 
 
 Uncooked starches vary very much in the rapidity with which 
 they may be converted into sugar by the action of the saliva. 
 After thorough cooking, all starches require nearly the same 
 time. It is, therefore, important to have starchy food well 
 cooked before it is given to patients. 
 
 As regards albuminoids. Wholly without albuminoids, unless 
 the disease is of short duration, the patient cannot exist. Since 
 they are imperatively needed, they should -not be omitted from 
 the diet, even where digestion fails almost completely. 
 
 Albuminoids are complex in composition and decompose 
 readily, and in their preparation more care is required than with 
 any other kind of food. To avoid decomposition, they should 
 always be fresh ; and to prevent losing the albuminoids by coagu- 
 lation, they should not be heated to too high a point. 
 
 To prepare meat foods properly, two things must be borne in 
 mind : 1st. The albuminoids of meat coagulate when heated to 
 boiling. 2d. To obtain a good flavor, the meat must be sub- 
 
 117 
 
jected to a temperature much -above the coagulating point of al- 
 bumen. It is, therefore, necessary to resort to t\vo procedures, 
 one which has for its object to extract the flavor, the other to ex- 
 tract the albuminoids without coagulating them. 
 
 If we treat meat with boiling water, we get beef -tea, which 
 contains only a small percentage of solids and almost no albu- 
 minoids. This applies to all clear boiled beef-tea. This liquid is 
 of service in two ways : its taste and odor are agreeable, and 
 together with the heat of 'the hot water, which acts as a stimu- 
 lant, it makes a valuable article for use in the sick-room, not as 
 a food, but as a flavoring. 
 
 Some of the extracts of meat made with hot water may be used 
 instead of ordinary beef-tea, thus saving much time. Liebig's 
 and other extracts of beef contain no fats or albumen and a little 
 gelatine. It is desirable to use only a small amount of extract, 
 say one-third of a teaspoonful to a teacupful of hot water, as too 
 much gives an unpleasant flavor. 
 
 Now as regards the juices of meat which contain albuminoids 
 in solution. 
 
 From raw meat one cannot obtain as much juice as is easily 
 expressed from the same amount of meat which has been pre- 
 viously heated. The reason is this: the envelope enclosing the 
 muscular tissue is a tough substance, which swells and dissolves 
 when heated, yielding gelatine, and thus aftei\ broiling, the liquid 
 portions of a steak flow out readily. A steak when well broiled 
 swells ; if it is cooked too long, the albuminoids coagulate, it loses 
 moisture, shrinks, and becomes tough. 
 
 A slightly broiled steak may be cut into square pieces and the 
 juice extracted by a press or by squeezing or twisting in a piece of 
 cotton cloth. ' 
 
 In administering beef juice, great care should be exercised to 
 avoid heating it above 136 degrees F., at which point its albumen, 
 coagulates in flakes. 
 
 Beef juice, though fourteen times as rich in albuminoids as beef- 
 tea, is so raw in flavor that it is rejected by many palates. To 
 
 118 
 
overcome this objection, it is only necessary to add a proper 
 quantity of any solid extract of beef o good flavor to make it 
 delicious, about the size of an almond to an ounce of beef juice. 
 Thus by a union of two bodies, one rich in albuminoids and the 
 other rich in flavor, we get something that is superior to either. 
 
 Beef juice is an excellent article of diet where solid food cannot 
 be given. A pound of meat yields about four ounces of juice ; it 
 therefore costs about five cents an ounce. It is somewhat 
 troublesome to prepare, and should not be kept long. 
 
 Soluble albumen, such as is contained in expressed meat juice, 
 is absorbed in the rectum to nearly the same extent as. complete 
 peptones. Albuminoids in solution are not precipitated in the 
 stomach and afterwards dissolved, except in the instance of casein 
 of milk, which, as already said, is first coagulated and then 
 dissolved. 
 
 Being accustomed to prescribe meat juice, I was much pleased 
 to find on sale a preparation of it manufactured by a well-known 
 firm. I hoped in this to realize all the advantages of beef juice, 
 without its inconveniences. An analysis of this preparation which 
 was made for me was disappointing, as it was found to contain 
 only one-third of one per cent, of albuminoids, compared with 
 7 per cent, in .beef juice; it had also more salt than is desir- 
 able, 12i per cent. This is mentioned to illustrate the advan- 
 tage of using foods which are prepared at home, in preference 
 to those made by manufacturers, of which the composition must 
 be taken on trust. This preparation costs thirty-five cents per 
 ounce, though it is only one-twentieth as rich in albuminoids as 
 beef juice costing about five cents. 
 
 If one cannot conveniently get albuminoids froni % meat, a very 
 nutritious broth may be made by means of hot water into which 
 an egg has been stirred. To do this we may heat three ounces of 
 water to not above 149 degrees F., and stir into it a raw egg. The 
 liquid is milky if we use the yolk ; clear if only the white is used. 
 It has little taste, which is an advantage with many patients, or it 
 may be flavored with beef extract. 
 
 119 
 
Liquid at a temperature of 149 degrees is apt to burn the tongue. 
 140 degrees F. is as hot /is one can drink a liquid, and 122 degrees 
 F. is a very comfortable temperature for a hot drink. 
 
 Wluth these experiments were begun, it was feared that a 
 temperature sufficient to coagulate albumen might be so low as 
 to be lukewarm ; but a few tests showed that any temperature 
 which can be borne in the mouth will not coagulate albumen 
 (though these two temperatures differ by only a few degrees). 
 
 It is interesting to compare 'the composition of four liquids 
 containing albuminoid constituents : 
 
 ti'a, Beef juice, Raw egg with 3 water, Milk, 
 about i%. about 7%. about 5% alb. 4% alb. 
 
 6% fats. 4% fats. 
 
 4% sugar. 
 
 In all of these we get a good proportion of salts. 
 
 It may happen that the digestive organs cannot tolerate eggs, 
 or raw milk. But by means of powders which contain pancreatic 
 ferments such as Fail-child's peptonizing powders milk may 
 have its albumen converted into diffusible albuminoids or pep- 
 tones. In the ordinary process of peptonizing milk, both of 
 these bodies are formed, but the proportion of peptones is small. 
 
 Meat albuminoids are converted by the stomach into bodies which 
 are soluble or diffusible, and these substances when artificially 
 produced have been regarded as calculated to render great ser- 
 vice in invalid feeding. 
 
 It is known that an increased secretion of urea appears after 
 the administration of peptones, just as it does after the ingestion 
 of unaltered albumen, and that the chemical composition of 
 peptones differs little from that of ordinary albuminous bodies. 
 They have the manifest advantage of being easily and immedi- 
 ately absorbed. Peptones, so far as we yet know, may be used 
 during short periods of extreme exhaustion, when perhaps few 
 other albuminoids could be assimilated. 
 
 Many preparations have been offered for sale which purport to 
 
 120 
 
be peptones, but which really contain only a small amount of 
 them. Many such preparations are soluble in water, but have a 
 very disagreeable odor and unpleasant taste. 
 
 So much in outline for the various classes of foods. Let me now 
 direct your attention to a few suggestive points about the feeding 
 of patients. 
 
 Since acute disease is accompanied by fever, we must consider 
 the effect of feeding in cases where the temperature is febrile in 
 character; also, the amount of food, its quality and quantity, to- 
 gether with other conditions affecting its absorption. 
 
 In acute disease accompanied by fever, what are the conditions? 
 The body loses weight, urea especially is increased, and carbonic 
 acid and water are excreted in larger amount than in health. All 
 of this loss is not dangerous if allowed to go on for a few days 
 only, and if the amount does not exceed certain limits. 
 
 But to replace these losses, we are at a disadvantage as regards 
 the ability of the system to assimilate food. In fevers, the appe- 
 tite is small, or may be completely lost. The saliva, the gastric 
 juice, the pancreatic fluid, the bile, are less efficient in action or 
 are diminished in amount during high temperature. The stomach 
 is very sensitive, in part perhaps through sympathy with the in- 
 creased sensitiveness of the nervous system as a whole. 
 
 If there is much hypercesthesia of the digestive tract, as in 
 typhoid, in peritonitis, in dysentery or gastro-enteritis, one must 
 be careful not to give too much food, and it should be in liquid 
 form, and partly predigested. 
 
 It is not, however, the administration of food, but the adminis- 
 tration of unsuitable food that we have to fear, and also the giving 
 of nourishment in quantities and at times unsuitedto the digestive 
 powers of the patient. 
 
 One should not give the patient what he cannot digest, nor 
 should we 'give him less than he can assimilate. The attendant 
 must have a constant watch over the condition of the patient's 
 powers of digestion, and carefully adapt his food to his capabili- 
 ties, especially during convalescence. 
 
 121 
 
Our attention should be devoted not only to what is put into the 
 alimentary canal, hut also to what goes out. For example, if 
 iinN of undigested milk are found in the stools of a typhoid 
 patient, the <|u:mtity of milk should be diminished, 'or it should be 
 diluted. 
 
 K\ ery careful observer of the sick will agree that many patients 
 are starved in the midst of plenty, simply from the want of 
 attention to the ways which alone make it possible for them to 
 take food. 
 
 For example, if the patient has a fever with remissions or inter- 
 missions, it is of the first importance to remember that the ability 
 to digest food at these times is greater, and the more nourishing 
 portions of the diet should be given during the remissions and 
 intermissions. 
 
 The physician should never lose sight of the patients likes and 
 dislikes; one cannot diet a patient from a book, or from the 
 chemical composition of foods. On the other hand, it is incum- 
 bent upon the physician to know how to choose such a variety in 
 diet as to include both what is palatable and what will afford a 
 proper amount of nourishment. 
 
 It has been one of the aims of this paper to show that the, 
 preparation of some valuable foods is entirely in our own hands-, 
 and that we need not be dependent upon manufactured prepara- 
 tions, of whose composition we are often ignorant ; and further to 
 emphasize many details concerning the nourishment of patients, 
 which, though well known and oftenrepeated, are also too often 
 overlooked. 
 
 Among other authors, I am indebted to Munk & Uffelman, to 
 Hungers Physiological Chemistry, and to the recent .books on 
 Food by Church and by Yeo, and especially to Mrs. Richards, in- 
 structor in Sanitary Chemistry in the Massachusetts Institute of 
 Technology, who kindly, made the analyses of beef juice. 
 
 122 
 
THE RUMFORD KITCHEN LEAFLETS. 
 
 No. 16. 
 
 GOOD FOOD FOR LITTLE MONEY. 
 
 BY ELLEN II. RICHARDS. 
 
 THE question is often asked, " What shall I buy as food for 
 my family which will give them the best nutrition, that is, the 
 best health?'' Another question is often added, "How much 
 must I spend for this food ? " 
 
 It is very easy to answer both these questions theoretically. 
 From careful investigations made in different parts of this country 
 it has been found that anywhere in America within reach of 
 the railroads sufficient flour, cereals, beans, pork, or bacon, with 
 a modicum of vegetables in season, and fresh meat at least twice 
 a week, if taken from the cuts less in demand, may be had for 
 from -7 to 10 cents per person daily. With less care and knowl- 
 edge, 12 to 15 cents will give good and sufficient food. 
 
 But to answer the questions practically is a different matter, 
 for the method of cooktng these staple articles, and, more, the 
 methods of combining and flavoring them, are of more impor- 
 tance than-either kind or cost. We may set these wholesome and 
 nutritious dishes before our family, but "all the. king's horses 
 and all the king's men " cannot get them down their throats if, 
 for any reason, they have acquired a taste for the more highly 
 flavored, the imported, or the hot-house products. The lavish 
 display of fruits and vegetables, often out of season, in our 
 
 123 
 
markets and on our restaurant tables, is as surely a temptation to 
 intemperance in eating as the array of bottles in a liqiior saloon is 
 a temptation to indulgence in drinking. 
 
 A higher rule of life than the mere gratification of taste, regard- 
 less of health and pocket, must prevail if either temptation is to , 
 be resisted. Therefore it is useless to begin reform in the food 
 of such as regard the pleasure of the moment above the good 
 dimly seen in the future. Only by appeal to the higher.impulses, 
 and by an education which shall form wise habits from childhood 
 up, can any considerable reform be effected. 
 
 (iOod food means to the average person that, to which he was 
 accustomed in his childhood. All else is an acquired taste. To 
 the Yankee returning from Europe, baked beans and brown 
 bread are as fully relished as is the rye bread and goafs-milk 
 cheese by the Swede returning to his native land, or rice and ducks' 
 livers by the Chinese. We all consider that food good which we 
 like to eat that which looks attractive and which pleases our 
 palate for the time, while we ignore in the most ostrich-like way 
 the consequences of such eating, as if we had no further concern 
 with food when once it has passed the palate, or as if we con- 
 sidered food as a means of pleasure only. 
 
 Not until we believe with the positiveness of a creed that 
 health is desirable above all else, and that food has more to do 
 with health than has any other one thing, shall we be willing to 
 restrict ourselves to what is good for us, believing also that only 
 that is good for us which enables the human machine to work to 
 its fullest capacity without friction or breakdown. 
 
 The human body lives, moves, and works and so wears out and 
 needs repair, but it cannot be taken off and sent to the dressmaker 
 as are our clothes, nor can it be sent to the repair shop like an 
 old locomotive. It must do its own repairing while its activities 
 are still going on. It is a machine, but it is more ; it is a living, 
 growing, working machine. 
 
 Only those who have an ideal before them, and desire intensely 
 to accomplish what they cannot accomplish unless this human 
 
 124 
 
machine is in perfect working order, will give the necessary time 
 and thought to its proper care. 
 
 The pity of it is that so often the realization of what we want to 
 do comes only after the machine has been so injured by careless 
 usage as to be forever crippled ; hence, the necessity of training 
 children from the first to like what is good for them. 
 
 Good food for man is such material as can be converted within 
 the body into such compounds as the human body can use, first, 
 for keeping itself warm enough to live ; second, for repair of 
 daily waste, and in children for growth ; and, lastly, for the pro- 
 duction of surplus energy to be used in walking, t!i inking, sew- 
 ing, digging, and breathing. In other words, good food for man 
 is that which makes blood and bone, muscle and brain, and gives 
 power to work and think and play. 
 
 Coal is not good food for man, although excellent for the furnace 
 and locomotive. Saltpetre, rich in the nitrogen essential to life, 
 is not food for man, although grass and corn grow luxuriantly 
 when enriched by it- Hay and fodder corn do not furnish man 
 the food he needs, but cows thrive upon them. 
 
 Starch, found in cereals, in rice and potatoes, contains only 
 half as much carbon as coal, and yet, when cooked and eaten in 
 any of these forms, furnishes man with power just as truly as coal 
 feeds the locomotive. 
 
 Man eats the fiesh of the cow which fed on the grass and corn 
 which grew by aid of the saltpetre. Mineral substances from the 
 air, water, and soil are food for plants; plants are food for ani- 
 mals; man, being an animal, finds his food in certain parts of 
 plants, in fruits, in nuts, and in the flesh of other animals. 
 
 Since milk is the food of all young mammals, its composition 
 may be our guide as to the right proportion of food materials. It 
 is approximately 87 per cent, water, 5 per cent, sugar, 4 per cent, 
 fat, 3.5 per cent, nitrogenous substances, .5 per cent, mineral 
 salts. That is, nearly three times as much fat and sugar as of 
 casein or nitrogenous substances. The fat and sugar together 
 are nearly three times as much as the weight of the casein or 
 
 125 
 
nitrogenous snltstaiiees. As the young animal grows older, 
 ^laivh in rice, Hour, and oatmeal takes the place of the sugar of 
 milk; and the gluten of wheat, the legumen of beans, albumen 
 of eggs, and meat, take the place of the casein or curd of milk. 
 An almost infinite variety of substances, products of the plant and 
 animal world, is offered upon which man can live. 
 
 We must begin, however, to count the cost, since most of us 
 \\ i>h to spend money for that which is not meat, and are willing 
 lo take a little pains and care to get that which we want very 
 mueh. 
 
 This is the secret of the thrifty German housewife, whose food 
 is nearly always well proportioned both to the income and to the 
 needs of her family. For her it goes without saying that the boy 
 must have his trade and money to start in it ; the girl, her dowry ; 
 and the whole family set great store by music and the little treats 
 on holidays. She therefore cheerfully practises in her market- 
 ing the daily economies which alone make this fuller life possible, 
 and the family is not only far happier, but also in better health 
 than would be the case if they had been treated to goodies instead 
 of concerts. 
 
 How shall we economize and yet have good food? It is a false 
 notion that cheap food is poor food. Wheat and oats, barley and 
 corn grow in sunshine, fanned and watered by wind and rain, with 
 a little of man's labor in sowing and reaping; therefore, while 
 they furnish all the elements of good food for man, they cost little 
 money. Whatever means labor and time and risk, costs propor- 
 tionally more. Oats and corn will keep indefinitely; fruit and 
 meat must be eaten at once, and hence are dear foods if they are 
 carried any distance and kept any time. W r ho has not thrown 
 away three-fourths of a barrel of apples bought cheaply and 
 mourned at the dearness of the remaining fourth ? 
 
 These chief reasons for the relative cost of food materials cannot 
 be too strongly emphasized, since it is not the intrinsic value of the 
 substance used as food for the human body but considerations 
 quite outside which determine the money cost. 
 
 126 
 
Strawberries must be picked berry by berry and packed care- 
 fully, while with the best of care and the quickest of trains a large 
 proportion of the fruit spoils. 
 
 Bananas can be picked in bunches of 100 pounds, brought long 
 distances, and kept many days. Wheat flour is cheaper than 
 potatoes because nearly all the labor of raising and transferring it 
 is now done on a large scale by machinery, so that 2.5 cents a 
 pound is an average price. 
 
 Potatoes are | water and are a cheap food only when they are 
 less than 1 cent a pound about 40 cents a bushel. 
 
 In the case of meat, the animal not only has fed on the vege- 
 tables, oats, and corn which man might have eaten, or on grass 
 from land on which food for man might have grown, but it has 
 also taken the time of man to feed and build barns for shelter. 
 (Texas meat is cheaper because the cattle range the plains uncared 
 for.) Moreover, only certain portions of the animal are used for 
 food. An ox weighs alive about 1,300 pounds. About one-third 
 of this is blood, hide, horns, hoofs, entrails ; another third is 
 edible meat nearly free from bone ; while the other third is 
 edible meat with bone and tendon. The six or seven hundred 
 pounds of good edible meat must, therefore, sell for enough to pay 
 for the ox and the labor of preparing the meat ; the loss by spoil- 
 ing being offset by the price the refuse will bring when sold for 
 various purposes. 
 
 There is more nutritive value in eggs at fifteen cents or less per 
 pound than in meat at even five cents a pound. Beef, too, must 
 be less than five cents per pound to compare in food value with 
 flour, oatmeal, or corn meal, or with beans or peas. 
 
 However, it is not enough to set cornmeal and beans, shin bone 
 or neck before the family ; the cook must prepare these simple 
 viands so that they will be appetizing as well as wholesome. If 
 one combination does not suit, try another. For instance, many 
 families will eat pea soup with relish when a little tomato is added, 
 or oatmeal cooked with baked apples or stewed prunes. Corn- 
 meal, rice, and hominy acquire a good flavor when they are cooked 
 
 127 
 
iii meat broth, \vitli a soup bone or chicken bones; beans and pens 
 ui.iy In- cooked with a ham bone or a little pork. The New Eng- 
 land baked beans have a little molasses added as well as the pork. 
 A small quantity of the flavoring substances, while it adds little 
 to the nourishment, goes a long way toward making these good 
 foods of low cost tasty and attractive. 
 
 There seems to be no other way of preparing the cereals so 
 rhcaply and appetizingly as in some form of bread, and no other 
 food admits of so many combinations, bread and cheese, bread 
 and ham, bread and eggs, bread and sausage 
 
 The art of the cook consists in making a little of that which 
 costs much money go a long way in flavoring much really better 
 food which otherwise may be rather tasteless. The good cook 
 will not allow her children to answer, as one little boy did when 
 asked what nutritious food was, " something to eat what hain't 
 ot no taste to it.' 1 
 
 128 
 
GOOD FOOD FOR LITTLE MONEY. 
 
 Oats, peas, beans, and barley grow, 
 
 Wheat and corn and rice for you, 
 
 Meat that's cheap, and eggs when low ; 
 
 Milk with cream, without it too; 
 
 Wholesome cabbage, and greens, a few 
 
 To cook in the pot with the simmering stew; 
 
 And Erin's tuber, in seasons good, 
 
 When the price is low for this starchy food. 
 
 These are things that first we buy 
 When the purse is low but courage high. 
 We do our work with muscles firm, 
 And bide the day till the tide shall turn, 
 But chops and roasts are not for us, 
 Nor eggs in winter; nor fruit the first 
 Of the seasons' gift; and small our share 
 Of that which rewards the gardener's care. 
 
 129 
 
Tin' following tables may help in the application of the pre- 
 principle: 
 
 Mtruytn. 
 
 Starch. 
 
 Fat. 
 
 Cheese, 
 
 Rice, 
 
 Cheese, 
 
 Beans, 
 
 Wheat, 
 
 Meats, 
 
 Peae, 
 
 Corn, 
 
 Eggs, 
 
 Eggs, 
 
 Oats, 
 
 Milk, 
 
 Meats, 
 
 Barley, 
 
 Corn, 
 
 Milk. 
 
 Rye, 
 
 Oats, 
 
 
 Beans, 
 
 Wheat, 
 
 
 Peas, 
 
 Rye, 
 
 
 Potatoes. 
 
 Barley. 
 
 Table I. 
 
 FOOD SUBSTANCES RICH IN 
 
 Sugars. 
 
 Molasses, 
 
 Syrups, 
 
 Preserves, 
 
 Fruits. 
 
 Salt*, 
 
 Acids, flavors. 
 
 Vegetables, 
 
 Fruits, 
 
 Green Relishes, 
 
 Condiments. 
 
 Table II. 
 
 FOOD MATERIALS IN RELATION TO COST. 
 
 For 5 to Id cents per 
 person, daily, the food 
 may be chosen from 
 Potatoes, 
 Rye Meal, 
 Corn Meal, 
 Wheat Flour, 
 Barley, 
 Oats, 
 Peas, 
 Beans, 
 Salt Codfish, 
 Halibut Nape, 
 Any meat with little bone, 
 
 at 5 cents per pound, 
 Oleomargarine, 
 Skimmed Milk. 
 
 For Id to 30 cents per 
 person, daily, the food 
 may be chosen from 
 
 Beef and Mutton or any 
 meat not over 25 cents 
 per pound, 
 
 Wheat Bread (purchased 
 at the baker's), 
 
 Suet, 
 
 Butter, 
 
 Whole Milk, 
 
 Cheese, 
 
 Dried Fruits, 
 
 Cabbage and other vege- 
 tables in their season, 
 
 Sugar, 
 
 Fish, 
 
 Bacon, 
 
 Some Fruits in their season. 
 
 For 30 to 100 cents per 
 person, daily, the food 
 may be chosen from 
 
 Choice cuts of Beef, Mut- 
 ton, or other meats, 
 
 Chickens, 
 
 Green Vegetables, Garden 
 Stuff, and Vegetables out 
 of season, 
 
 Preserves, 
 
 Confections, 
 
 Cakes, 
 
 Tea, 
 
 Coffee. 
 
 130 
 
THE RUMFORD KITCHEN" LEAFLETS. 
 
 No. 17. 
 
 THE STORY 
 
 NEW ENGLAND KITCHEN 
 
 PART II. 
 
 A STUDY IN SOCIAL ECONOMICS. 
 
 131 
 
IMJKKATK TO PART I. 
 
 THE story of the New England Kitchen, which Mrs. Abel has so 
 < -hanningly told in the following pages, is remarkable for two 
 things : the new and valuable information which has been ac- 
 quired, as the result of the daily work of the Kitchen, and the 
 short time which has sufficed to put the enterprise on a business 
 basis. 
 
 It is well to emphasize the causes of this success, that the les- 
 sons in social science and practical philanthropy be not lost. A 
 large part of the credit is due, as the readers of this report will 
 easily divine, to Mrs. Abel's hard work, as well as to her unusual 
 ability, enthusiasm, and ready tact. So fully has Mrs. Abel been 
 identified with the project from the beginning, that it is not easy 
 to think of its successful issue without her aid. But ability and 
 enthusiasm alone would not have sufficed to work out the problem 
 undertaken in starting the New England Kitchen, which was, 
 namely, an experiment to determine the successful conditions of 
 preparing, by scientific methods, from the cheaper food materials, 
 nutritious and palatable dishes, which should find a ready demand 
 at paying prices. 
 
 Mrs. Abel would doubtless give as the principal secret of her 
 success, that she had everything necessary for the experiments, 
 
 without giving a thought to the cost. The work of the investi- 
 
 132 
 
gator is not at its best if he has to worry about the ways and 
 means. In the New England Kitchen the selection of the appa- 
 ratus and material and the employment of labor have been 
 without restriction. Without this freedom to carry on the experi- 
 ments as seemed wise and prudent, the results detailed in the 
 accompanying report could not have been attained. 
 
 The philanthropy of the scheme rests in the experimental stage 
 of the development of the New England Kitchen. Whether the 
 business can in the future take care of itself to the profit of those 
 who conduct it remains to be seen ; but, in any event, kitchens of 
 this kind cannot fail to be of great advantage to multitudes in 
 moderate circumstances, who have hitherto been unable to buy 
 good, nutritious, and tasteful cooked food. 
 
 For a cliarity that feeds the hungry there is no lack of the bounty 
 of good people ; but it is safe to say that not many could be found 
 who would be willing to give liberally and unrestrictedly to carry 
 on a scientific experiment in the hope of learning how the people 
 might be better fed. 
 
 ELLEN H. RICHARDS. 
 
 BOSTON, Oct. 1, 1890. 
 
 133 
 
EXTRACT FROM PART I. 
 
 REPORT 
 
 TO 
 
 MRS. QUINCY A. SHAW, 
 
 CONCERNING THE FUND USED IN TH* 1 
 
 NEW ENGLAND KITCHEN 
 
 BY MARY HINMAN ABEL, 
 
 JANUARY 1 TO JULY 1, 1890. 
 
 IT was understood that this fund was to be used in making an 
 experiment never before, to our knowledge, attempted in this 
 country ; namely, in the cooking of our cheapest and most nu- 
 tritious food materials by better methods than are commonly 
 in use, and to sell the same at moderate prices for consumption 
 at home. 
 
 It was also understood that, if possible, an eating-room should 
 be opened, particularly for men, as a rival to the saloon. 
 
 Except for this general outline, those who took the fund in 
 charge were left free to work according to their discretion ; and 
 it was agreed that the business of the New England Kitchen, 
 between January and July, should be, first of all, the collection 
 of facts as to the actual condition of the food supply of the 
 masses, in order that more effective work for its improvement 
 might be undertaken than was possible in the present fragmentary 
 state of our knowledge ; it being certain that much time and 
 money used for charitable objects are often wasted for lack of a 
 sufficient body of facts as a foundation. 
 
 We must know how people live, how they cook, and what they 
 buy ready cooked, what peculiar tastes and prejudices they have, 
 in order to lay out any satisfactory plan of reform. 
 
 134 
 
PART II. 
 
 A STUDY IN SOCIAL ECONOMICS. 
 THE STORY OF THE NEW ENGLAND KITCHEN. (Continued.} 
 
 Report to MRS. QUINCY A. SHAW concerning the work from July 1, 1890, to 
 May 1, 1893. 
 
 BY MARY HINMAN ABEL. 
 
 THE first part of the story, as also the report of the scientific 
 work on which the Kitchen was founded, ended with the expira- 
 tion of the six months of trial. Success seemed to be in sight, but 
 it was not yet assured. It was still doubtful if the food would 
 prove acceptable for long periods, and if the increased quantities 
 could be made with the same characteristic flavor and quality ; nor 
 did we know how far people would be willing to accept new ideas 
 as to food, nor how much trouble they would take to supply them- 
 selves with more healthful products. An answer to these ques- 
 tions must be the first step in deciding what should be the future 
 of the Kitchen. 
 
 At the end of three years from the starting of the Kitchen, sev- 
 eral of these points are settled, and it will perhaps be instructive 
 to state definitely just how far the Kitchen has justified its founda- 
 tion, how far and in what directions it has succeeded, and in what 
 directions it has failed to accomplish the work which was hoped 
 for it. 
 
 First, the standard dishes can be made every day alike. Not 
 that they always are, for the Kitchen is not yet beyond the range of 
 
 136 
 
" accidents," the household word for carelessness. But it is dem- 
 onstrated that the food can be prepared with a degree of uniform- 
 ity far beyond that attained in any ordinary cooking, and that 
 helpers can be found who will interest themselves in the success 
 of the work and who will take pride in it. 
 
 Second, the standard dishes continue to be as popular as at first, 
 and their cosmopolitan character is demonstrated in the fact that for 
 three seasons a school lunch-room patronized by three hundred 
 daily, has been supplied with the same food that is sold over the 
 counter to the people of Pleasant street. Professors and students 
 alike take these dishes. Smaller schools and groups of working 
 men and women, of various classes, to the number of three or 
 four hundred more, are also supplied from the Kitchen. 
 
 The most gratifying testimony, however, comes from the regular 
 customers, who say, when offered a new dish, " I never tasted that, 
 but everything you have here is good and I will try this." This 
 feeling of confidence in the preparations is the best proof that the 
 general standard is kept up. It has been characteristic of the 
 Kitchen that friends once gained are kept. 
 
 The beef, broth of the first month's trial is still the staple article, 
 and is recognized now by scores of physicians. Invalids send 
 long distances for it, strangers and sojourners in hotels and 
 apartment-houses find in it life and strength, and if ready means 
 of distribution were at hand and telephone connections arranged, 
 the beef broth, together with other broths and beef juice, would 
 make a business by itself. 
 
 The evaporated milk adopted in the spring of 1890 is still the 
 only milk used in the Kitchen. It is sold in increasing quantities 
 for the use of children and invalids, and it remains still as we at 
 first announced it, the very best milk obtainable for the price. In 
 not a single case has it been known to disagree with invalid or 
 child to whom it has been given. 
 
 A minor point, but still of importance in the smooth running of 
 the Kitchen, is the fact that the tradesmen and dealers have finally 
 discovered that the Kitchen standard for raw material is invariably 
 
 136 
 
a high one, and they nave ceased to try to foist inferior articles 
 upon us. This saves a great deal of worry. 
 
 A more searching question is this : What progress does the 
 Kitchen make in improving the diet of the class that most needs 
 it, the illy nourished poor that fill the tenements of large cities ? 
 To this a more qualified answer must be given. The poor of our 
 cities are very largely of foreign birth, and each group of people, 
 whether they be Irish, Scandinavian, North or South German, 
 Russian, or Italian, have brought with them strong national tastes. 
 They like the dishes to which they have been accustomed, and 
 they like no other. And each group is not large enough in any 
 one locality to support a Kitchen of its own kind. 
 
 Through the careful study of the actual dietaries of these people 
 now being carried on under the auspices of the College Settlement 
 Association, it is hoped that some light may be thrown on the best 
 way of helping them. 
 
 EDUCATIONAL. 
 
 The educational part of the work is the most difficult to gauge. 
 It is true of this as of all silent preaching by example : the direct 
 results are hard to trace ; but they slowly make the way ready for 
 changes that, when they come, astonish the most sanguine. We 
 know that it is good for people to daily pass and sometimes enter 
 a cleanly, pleasant place where the cooking processes open to their 
 inspection only serve to recommend the food, where their wants 
 are cheerfully met, and where, they hardly know how, they get 
 hints for more healthy living. We have, in fact, found a distinct 
 improvement in the cleanliness of our customers. For the first 
 six months nearly every dish brought for food had to be washed. 
 Now a dirty dish is rarely presented, and then generally with an 
 apology. 
 
 We have started a sort of hot-water mission, or rather the peo- 
 ple started it by first asking for what we should never have 
 thought to offer, and now the whole neighborhood draws on our 
 
 137 
 
supply of hot water, and this means a great deal for health and 
 cleanliness, especially in the summer months. 
 
 In November, 1891, a sort of annex to the Kitchen was started 
 in a newly fitted shop across the street. 
 
 The first work done was on bread. A Middleby Oven was set 
 up in one end, and Mr. Case's Health Bread, made by a rule to bo 
 found on page 84 of " The Science of Nutrition,' 1 was turned out 
 as its first product. 
 
 Bread, rolls, corn-bread, and buns were added from time to 
 time, each one being the result of a series of carefully conducted 
 experiments. 
 
 In January, 1892, classes were formed under the charge of Miss 
 Daniell, for the study of economic and sanitary cooking. These 
 lessons were illustrated by the dishes prepared in the Kitchen. 
 During the winter, classes from a medical school, some forty 
 students in all, came for practice in cookery for the sick. 
 
 Miss Daniell also gave a course' of lectures to the nurses in 
 the Massachusetts General Hospital. The work was continued 
 through the winter of 1892-3, and Miss Daniell gave both courses 
 in New York, under the auspices of the New York Infirmary for 
 Women and Children. 
 
 In the spring of 1892 the proposition was made to the Kitchen 
 to furnish the model school-luncheon that should be satisfactory 
 in both taste and nutritive value. The list of foods cooked in the 
 Kitchen was riot complete enough to meet this requirement, being 
 only designed to furnish a main dish for the family table. There- 
 fore a skilled cook, willing to work under directions, was employed 
 for a month to experiment on dishes suitable to the purpose. A 
 list giving a continued variety for three weeks was thus filled out, 
 and the luncheon delivered at a cost of fifteen cents. 
 
 This we consider one of the crowning successes of the Kitchen. 
 
 Other propositions have been made for the delivery of the 
 Kitchen foods on a large scale, showing that its scope is only lim- 
 ited by its ability to fill these requirements. 
 
 138 
 
PARTIAL FAILURES AND THE LESSONS TO BE 
 LEARNED FROM THEM. 
 
 What we have said so far applies especially to Pleasant street, 
 where the first Kitchen was started, and where the population is 
 mostly composed of intelligent German and Irish Americans, 
 Nova Scotians, and Americans. A branch was tried among the 
 negroes of the West End, but it failed to gain any foothold. 
 
 The Kitchen which was opened in November, 1890, at Salem 
 street, North End, is in the midst of Russians, Portuguese, and 
 Italians, a population that greatly need the better living the 
 Kitchen could give ; a population which does not buy groceries 
 largely, as evinced by the absence of shops ; a population that 
 does buy ready-cooked food, as shown by the abundance of pie- 
 stands and bake-shops. The Kitchen was located opposite a 
 popular bakery which it did not attempt to rival, but which it 
 was hoped would contribute customers. 
 
 After two and a half years of hard work in the neighborhood, 
 we must face the fact that the sales do not support the place. 
 Those who come, do so regularly, but the number of those who 
 are intelligent enough to appreciate the nature of the food is too 
 few. The location is not central enough for delivery to a large 
 number of schools, and the institutions upon whose support we 
 counted have not responded ; it was hoped, for instance, that the 
 day nurseries would have been glad to take the food. The plant, 
 therefore, is to be utilized for other work. 
 
 Another side was studied in Olneyville, the manufacturing 
 suburb of Providence, where the factory hands are largely French 
 and Irish. So far this is the most incorrigible of all the 
 communities. One good-natured, affectionate Irish mother, when 
 pressed to take an Indian pudding home to her children, replied, 
 * My boy says, ' Oh ! you can't make a Yankee of me that way ! '" 
 Here is the difficulty in a nutshell, and all workers should take 
 note of this national feeling. The same thing is met w r ith in our 
 cooking in the public schools. It would be possible, of course, in 
 
 139 
 
each locality to study the different national dishes, and then, 
 following their appearance and flavor, to improve their nutrition ; 
 but each disli when perfected and approved would find but a 
 limited number of buyers at best, in no case sufficient to support a 
 Kitchen of each particular type. In the mixed nationalities and 
 varied tastes of the inhabitants of our cities is found one great 
 obstacle to the success of an institution- like the New England 
 Kitchen. All the people cannot be reached. It is only possible 
 to settle upon certain dishes as nearly standard as may be, and 
 I hen to bring them within reach of as many people as possible, 
 feeling full confidence that the number will increase. 
 
 Another thing learned has been that we must meet the people 
 half way ; when pork and pepper are left out of pea soup people 
 will not eat it. No one thing has been so severely criticised as the 
 use of pork in some of the dishes ; but the results have justified it. 
 It enters into the food of the common people nearly the world 
 over. They are accustomed to it, and the flavor it gives is appe- 
 tizing. However the question may stand for the wealthy, it is 
 doubtful if the poor man in this country can get on comfortably 
 without pork. 
 
 All this experience led to the following instructions when the 
 Kitchen in New York was opened, and this may be said to 
 embody the plans at present: 
 
 REQUIREMENTS FOR A SUCCESSFUL KITCHEN. 
 
 1. A locality of wage earners, not of the very poor; the very 
 poor are not those reached, at least in the beginning. If on a 
 thoroughfare, so much the. better. 
 
 2. A neighborhood of Germans or English, Catholics or Prot- 
 estants, not of Italians or Jews. 
 
 3. While in the midst of wage earners, it should be accessible 
 to a section of apartment-houses, for this will not only help to 
 support it, but the appearance of the well-to-do at the counter 
 beside the others, has an important bearing on the whole problem. 
 
 140 
 
4. The plurc ifsrll' must be light and well ventilated, with a 
 northern exposure, if possible, on account of the heat of the 
 summer sun. 
 
 5. It must be large enough to permit most of the operations to 
 be carried on in sight of the customers. Cleanliness and thor- 
 oughness, as well as economy, should be inculcated rather by 
 means of the eye than of the ear. Indirect teaching is often more 
 potent than rules and maxims. 
 
 6. Every part, cellar and all, must be capable of being 
 perfectly cleansed. There must be large sinks and plenty of hot 
 water for the large utensils, plenty of water faucets, and large 
 and perfect drains. 
 
 7. A cool dry cellar which can be ventilated for the storing 
 of vegetables is desirable, or even necessary unless a great deal 
 of ice is to be used. 
 
 8. The outfit should be simple, but sufficient in quantity and of 
 good quality; i.e., no cheap dish-towels which only half dry the 
 dishes. Good work is demanded of the help, and good materials 
 should be given to work with. 
 
 9. The help in the Kitchen should be responsible, self-respect- 
 ing men and women who are willing to learn new ways, even if 
 they do not see the use of them, and who, once taught, can be trusted 
 to carry out orders. If higher wages must be paid to secure this, 
 it will be found to be made up in economy of superintendence. 
 
 10. The standard of the Kitchen products must be maintained. 
 If a careless maid has used a lot of poor fish in the chowder, the 
 whole must be thrown away. The Kitchen cannot afford to sell 
 a quart of an inferior article. It is false to its mission if it 
 practically says, "We have things right sometimes.' 1 ' 1 This stand 
 once taken, it will be found that but little is wasted. 
 
 11. The dishes must have a high nutritive value; they need 
 not in all cases have all the elements of nutrition in the right 
 proportion for a daily ration, for they are to be taken home to eat 
 with other things ; but they should, in all cases, approximate the 
 perfect dietary. 
 
 141 
 
1-J. A "cosmopolitan flavor 11 must be obtained; that is, the 
 dish must please a large number of people in order to be widely 
 salable. This ilavor must be obtained from the food materials 
 themselves as far as possible, and whatever is added should be 
 cooked in the slow process in order that harshness or crudeness 
 of t;iMe maybe obviated. People like " tasty " food, and well- 
 tlavored food is that which is eaten day after day with appetite. 
 
 l;>. Nothing injurious must be used in any process; neither 
 must the prejudices or whims of a few people be allowed to in- 
 terfere with the work of the Kitchen. 
 
 14. Having the right dishes rightly prepared, there conies the 
 problem of serving them to the greatest number with the greatest 
 benefit, and here the real work of the Kitchen comes in. This is 
 to teach the people to live more wisely, both as to quality and cost ; 
 to accustom them to the taste of good food, so that they shall, 
 after a time, wish to learn how to prepare it in their own homes ; 
 to prove to them that the cheapest food well cooked and properly 
 seasoned is really better than more costly material poorly 
 prepared. 
 
 15. Above all, let there be no patronizing of the customers. A 
 kindly interest, friendly advice when asked, unobtrusive teaching 
 of higher ideals, should be always in mind. Much can be done 
 with the children of the neighborhood, and in time classes may be 
 formed to teach them, but not until they are asked for. 
 
 Following these instructions, a Kitchen was opened in New 
 York in December, 1891. New York being a more central place, 
 this Kitchen has been visited by great numbers of men and 
 women, representing work in many sociological lines, and the 
 work and methods of the Kitchen have led to improvements in the 
 food of prisons, schools, hospitals, diet kitchens, and many other 
 institutions. Sanitarians, educators, associated charity workers, 
 and others, have united in admiration of our success and in praise 
 of our methods. From the naval officer who applied his cam- 
 bric handkerchief to the inside of the coppers to test their clean- 
 liness to the cook trained in her own way to judge of results, 
 
 142 
 
nothing but praise is heard of this effort to meet the food require- 
 ments of our people according to the light that science now 
 affords. Had testimony been wanting to prove to us that the 
 New England Kitchen is unique, it would now be supplied. 
 
 To sum up results, several things uncertain two years ago we 
 may now consider proved : 
 
 That food cooked in large quantities can be kept up to a certain 
 standard. 
 
 That the food is liked by people of quite different tastes and 
 liked day after day, thus justifying the many experiments that 
 have been made on its composition and flavor. This popularity 
 has, however, important limitations, as we have before said, espe- 
 cially among the poor. 
 
 That the educative value of such a Kitchen in any neighborhood, 
 though more difficult to prove, is vouched for by many facts that 
 have come to our knowledge. When the teaching of cooking in 
 the public schools is based on these methods, we shall have a 
 strong hold on the rising generation. 
 
 FUTURE OF THE KITCHEN. CAN IT BE MADE 
 SELF-SUPPORTING ? 
 
 The question now arises, On what basis can such a Kitchen be 
 carried on ? Can it be made self-supporting ? 
 
 The Pleasant-street Kitchen has been self-supporting for about 
 a year. That is, at the end of the first two years the commercial 
 success began to come. Interest on the plant is not yet covered, 
 but improvements, repairs, etc., have been met, and this in spite 
 of the fact that the problem of distribution has not been solved, 
 and a portion of the trade has been diverted to Salem street in the 
 endeavor to put that branch on its feet. Greatly conducive to this 
 result have been the large sales to the lunch-rooms . before men- 
 tioned. This demand has been steady as well as large, and the 
 cost of delivery being no greater than for a small quantity, the 
 profits have been considerable. 
 
 143 
 
It was found licit not until tho sales from the Kitchen reached 
 $!>00 a month could it be said to pay expenses. At $1,500 it is 
 now doing well, with little more expense for service. 
 
 During the whole history of the Kitchen the business side has 
 not been made prominent. It has been sought first to ascertain 
 whether the food of the mass of people could be improved by 
 means of such Kitchens. The work has been throughout ex- 
 perimental in character. But the question is now being asked of 
 us from people in other large cities, "How shall we start a 
 Kitchen?" We are able in reply to give directions as to the best 
 location, the proper fittings with cost of the same, and to outline 
 the management that according to our experience will lead to the 
 best results. But by reference to these directions, it will be seen 
 that it is taken for granted that the Kitchen should be a model 
 hygienically. that it should furnish an object lesson in cooking, 
 and that it should be served by persons capable of carrying on the 
 educative work where there is opportunity. The expenses hardest 
 to meet have always been the rent and the service, both of which 
 are necessarily large in order to carry out this present plan. A 
 business whose profits give a thrifty margin beyond its expenses 
 may be able to carry a philanthropic attachment, but the price 
 of the Kitchen foods was meant to cover little more than the cost 
 of production. The profits then are inconsiderable, and the num- 
 ber of articles on which the profit is made is small if compared 
 with any ordinary business. 
 
 Whether a restaurant could be profitably run in connection with 
 these Kitchens remains yet undecided, with the evidence largely 
 in favor. 
 
 Even before the Kitchen became as well known and esteemed 
 as it now is, business men saw a future for the manufacture and 
 sale of the foods, and offers have been made for the recipes, 
 methods, and "goodwill 11 of the Kitchen, but we need no ex- 
 perience to assure us that if the Kitchen was started as a money- 
 making enterprise merely, the quality of the food would soon 
 
 144 
 
deteriorate, nor do we believe in separating the sale of food from 
 the educative function of the Kitchen. 
 
 The Pleasant-street Kitchen has brought itself to the self-sup- 
 porting line while paying large rent, and with very few labor- 
 saving appliances. 
 
 It would seem that the time had come for a new departure. 
 The Kitchen as an experiment should be discontinued, and on 
 the foundation of facts and experience that it has gathered, there 
 should be started a system of Kitchens operated with all labor- 
 saving appliances. Even in large cities one central station would 
 be at first sufficient, from which food could be sent in large quan- 
 tities to selling stations ; the cost of transportation being small 
 compared with that required for the duplication of steam-boilers 
 and other appliances. The patronage of schools and other large 
 establishments should be sought, and the attention of physicians 
 should be called to the beef broth and other foods. 
 
 It seems probable that a restaurant might add the needed factor 
 for success to the small Kitchen. The Berlin Volks Kuche also 
 started to supply cooked food to be carried away, and it was not 
 until the restaurant was added that its real success began. 
 
 But it has not yet seemed feasible for the New England Kitchen 
 to make the experiment on such a scale as would be necessary for 
 reliable conclusions. It would have required a large outlay as to 
 plant, and such a command of trained helpers as has been at no 
 time at our disposal, and moreover the complete list of dishes 
 necessary has only lately been filled out. 
 
 Here is a large field. The thing needed now is to establish a 
 stock company with a board of directors, scientific and medical 
 men, and have a delivery system for the choice foods for the sick, 
 and for the bread, having thus a high standard always maintained 
 and a guarantee of the quality ; such an enterprise as that in 
 Copenhagen for the supply of pure milk, started by Mr. G. Busck, 
 Consular Report No. 135, December, 1891. 
 
 145 
 
FINANCIAL BASIS OF A FOREIGN KITCHEN. 
 
 The way in which a " Volks Kiiche" (People's Kitchen) in 
 Amsterdam meets its rent may here offer a suggestion. The 
 friends of the movement made a call for a loan of 32,000 gulden, 
 or about $12,800, at 3 %. It was taken mostly by people inter- 
 est cil, though 3k % is not a bad rate for Holland. With this 
 sum a dilapidated house was bought and refitted, and the apart- 
 ments on the two upper floors were immediately rented for a sum 
 nearly sufficient to pay the interest and repairs. 
 
 In these European soup-kitchens it often happens that all 
 expenses except that of superintendence are met at once. Service 
 costs about one-fourth what it does here. The places chosen are 
 very poor and cheap, and the furniture of the barest description. 
 In our country, people would needs be very hungry to frequent so 
 unattractive a place, but in the large European cities these soup- 
 kitchens are thronged by people who can get there the small list 
 of their familiar dishes better cooked than they could cook them 
 in their own homes. The public kitchen in Europe aims to 
 change no tastes, to teach no lessons, the food of the people in 
 most cases being as wisely chosen as it can be for the money they 
 have to spend. 
 
 The German Volks Kuche and the French Fourneau EconoYnique, 
 though furnishing hints that were very useful at the starting of 
 the New England Kitchen, have as their sole aim the furnishing 
 of the identical dishes to which the people are accustomed, at a 
 price low enough for slender purses. 
 
 Having carefully studied the business side of the question and 
 the methods that will lead to success, and having established a list 
 of standard dishes sufficient to start such a Kitchen, we should like 
 to consider that part of the subject closed, and proceed to outline 
 the future of the New England Kitchen as an observation and ex- 
 periment station. 
 
 146 
 
THE KITCHEN AS AN EXPERIMENT STATION. 
 
 The use of money for experiment in pure science has long been 
 considered defensible, and our laboratories have a firm place in 
 the educational system. More and more does the practical worker 
 turn to the laboratory expert for the principles that must under- 
 lie his work, the dyer goes to the chemist for his colors and his 
 mordants, the builder to the physicist to know the strain his mate- 
 rials will bear. It is a newer claim, and one that will not be so 
 readily granted, that experiment is as much needed to lay the foun- 
 dations of a wise philanthropy. Such statements as these are 
 commonly met we quote from a magazine article by a well-known 
 writer: "To be an experimental chemist one needs to have 
 mastered chemistry, but to be a scientific philanthropist no tech- 
 nical course of study is required." But what is a scientific phil- 
 anthropist ? Is the type so well known among us? We have, it 
 is true, made great advancement on the times when the nobleman 
 threw his gold to hungry peasants in the streets ; but, on the other 
 hand, modern civilization brings ever graver questions, and we 
 can but feel that the greatest wisdom must guide the hand that is 
 to interfere with the pitiless, but of ten beneficent law, that ordains 
 the survival of the fittest. To feed the hungry and clothe the 
 naked no longer fills our duty to our fellow-man : it is now no less 
 than to extend indefinitely the knowledge and means of the 
 healthy and happy life. How shall a given sum of money do the 
 most good to a community, is a question that is now often asked, 
 and only our ignorance can make its answer seem easy. 
 
 Engineering has been said to be the only real science, for the 
 proof is sure. If the bridge breaks, no argument will convince us 
 that the builder is a master. But many other branches of work 
 are approaching this same certainty of proof, and sociology, 
 using, as it may, the results of all sciences, feels the spirit of the 
 time, and requires that critical examination and proof from evi- 
 dence which must direct all wise effort. A scientific philanthropist 
 
 147 
 
\vlin deserved the name would require more training, both gen- 
 eral and technical, than any chemist. 
 
 Perhaps the greatest stimulus that modern philanthropy has re- 
 ceived has come from that close study of the poor and criminal 
 classes started by the Toynbee Hall Movement in East London. 
 Two distinct lines of work seem to characterize it. First, men 
 and women give to their less fortunate fellow- beings personal in- 
 fluence and sympathy, the only help whose giving enriches both 
 giver and receiver, and interferes with no natural law. Second, 
 a body of fact, a mass of real evidence, is being collected regard- 
 ing the needs and habits of those who are to be helped. All 
 American followers of this movement have worked more or less 
 in the same spirit, and the Andoyer Settlement in Boston avows 
 as its first object the study of existing conditions. 
 
 It is a part of the New Philanthropy to recognize that the social 
 question is largely a question of the stomach ; temperance work- 
 ers are coming to feel that they cannot make headway if they 
 ignore the importance of proper nutriment to the body, for with 
 monotonous food is apt to go whiskey to whip up the digestion ; 
 the Teetotum Club in New York, having established a pleasant 
 room with games as a rival to the saloon, knew that before they 
 opened their doors they must be ready to supply food and drink, 
 and they turned to the New England Kitchen in Hudson street for 
 the food. Mission workers of all kinds are coming to feel that 
 their weak point is in the commissariat. Even with the money in 
 hand, they are unable to command such food as ought to be possi- 
 ble out of the abundant raw material that this country affords. 
 To all these, and many more the work of which the New England 
 Kitchen has been the centre offers reliable and solid help, and 
 more and more this help is appreciated. 
 
 The New England Kitchen took up one definite and very practi- 
 cal line of work, the collection of facts as to the food of the 
 people. What were the food materials used, and what their nutri- 
 tive value ? What were the favorite dishes ? Was the food cooked 
 at home or bought ready cooked ? What relation does the food 
 
 H8 
 
question bear to the alcohol question ? What was the food of little 
 children whose parents worked and ate elsewhere during the day ? 
 What were the causes of the mal-nutrition observed in whole 
 classes, as among sewing-women? The Kitchen Counter has 
 been the vantage-ground from which these observations have been 
 made, and they have been the basis for whatever we have accom- 
 plished. These observations cover a wide field, but they are not 
 exhaustive, nor could they be with the time that has been given to 
 them. Could this study be continued with the help of college 
 settlement workers, the associated charities, district nurses, and 
 others, and the results carefully sifted and recorded, an amount 
 of information would soon be at hand which would be of great 
 value to the student of this branch of social science. 
 
 A beginning in this line is being made in three large cities : in 
 Hull House, Chicago, where a nearly complete New England 
 Kitchen plant is being set up, and where, under the direction of 
 Miss Addams, the question of reaching the very poor will be 
 solved if it is possible to solve it in this country ; in Philadelphia, 
 where two of the workers in the College Settlement have been 
 trained in the New England Kitchen, and are to use this training 
 in work among the negroes of this section; and in Boston, where 
 the head of the Settlement has also had the training of the New 
 England Kitchen, and is in deepest sympathy with all its aims. 
 
 THE KITCHEN AS AN EDUCATOR. 
 
 Closely allied to this would be the work of the Kitchen as an 
 educator. As it stands, it is meant to be a silent teacher of 
 cleanliness, intelligent methods, and a uniform and good result in 
 cookery. This it is hoped will slowly influence the cooking in 
 the homes by raising the standard as to freshness, flavor, and 
 nutriment of the food. 
 
 It would seem that this is the only way in which such a change 
 can be effected. People seem to think that what they eat does not 
 matter so long as it tastes good, and until it is clearly understood 
 
 149 
 
that it is worth the trouble to secure the best food, people will not 
 take the trouble. 
 
 Hence it seems to be shown that the first work of the Kitchen 
 must be based on hygienic grounds, and here, indeed, was the 
 starting-point of the Pleasant-street Kitchen. 
 
 It still takes at least a month to introduce a new dish. It re- 
 quires a great deal of persuasion, and many " tastes," and much 
 learned discussion of food values to get a new kind of food tested. 
 Strange names mean strange tastes, and it is only the true cos- 
 mopolitan who willingly takes new fare. We started with the 
 idea that we must find the favorite dishes of the neighborhood, 
 and then cook them better. This has been to a certain extent 
 possible, though, as we have before said, it was not possible to add 
 to our list national dishes for a limited number of foreigners. We 
 began to ask, What are the national dishes of Americans? It 
 is astonishing how few still partake of the simple fare known as 
 New England. It seems to be a part of the restless and hurried 
 life of this generation in large cities to have abandoned the cheap 
 and simple foods that need long cooking and a little skill to make 
 them palatable. This reduces the fare to chops and steaks, and 
 tea with bread and cakes to be picked up at the bake-shop. Are 
 these our national foods ? It would almost seem so. Certain it is 
 that home cookery is decreasing in amount and not improving in 
 quality, more and more dependence being placed on the bake- 
 shop and restaurant. 
 
 Now what is the result ? The wage earner is illy nourished on 
 money that is all-sufficient, if rightly expended, to buy him proper 
 food. This is a serious question, because here there is the chance 
 of more saving than in any other item of living ; and what can so 
 easily be saved here can be applied to better shelter, which is a 
 more evident, if not more vital, need. 
 
 The studies which have been made within a few years of the 
 food of working communities in Europe show that they have 
 been forced down to a dietary which can hardly be bettered for 
 the money, It is a survival of the fittest, indeed ; and in a model 
 
 ]50 
 
paper by Carl Yon Rechenberg on the food of the weavers of 
 Zittau, science acknowledges that it can do little more for them 
 while they have so little money to spend. The cooking of the 
 staples is as a rule better done than with us, the better-class cook- 
 ing is often not so well done, but the wage earners have been 
 forced to learn the most effective and economical ways. 
 
 This has been recently brought home to us very forcibly in the, 
 comparative costs which we ^ave been collecting for some care- 
 fully computed dietaries. It is found that the amount and quality 
 of food which can be bought in America for from ten to twelve 
 cents costs in Europe from eighteen to twenty-three or nearly 
 twice as much ; but a study of the statistics so carefully compiled 
 by the United States Labor Bureau shows that our wage earners 
 do not avail themselves of this opportunity of saving on food, 
 but that they revel in the unwonted luxury. This applies 
 equally to the citizen of foreign birth. " Where in the old coun- 
 try do you find a workman that can have meat on his table three 
 times a day?" said one of our German neighbors. For this 
 man American freedom and prosperity had a very limited 
 meaning. 
 
 The $200 which a Lowell factory operative spends on food, out 
 of his $360 total income, is largely spent on costly meat, sugar, 
 butter, and fine flour, instead of on well-chosen cuts of meat, peas, 
 beans, and corn meal. He could have secured better nutrition for 
 $100, and have $100 to put into better shelter and a dress for his 
 wife, who had had none since her marriage seven years before. 
 
 THE RUMFORD FOOD LABORATORY. 
 
 We have, then, three distinct kinds of work for public kitchens : 
 the sale of foods, the gathering of facts regarding the food habits 
 of a community, and the education that may effect a slow eleva- 
 tion of the common standard for healthful and nourishing food. 
 
 In addition to this, and calling indeed for a separate establish- 
 
 151 
 
incut and funds, is the work which has now reached such 
 dimensions that we may claim for it the name of the Rumford 
 Food Laboratory. 
 
 Beginning with the experiments concerning which report was 
 made in August, 1890, to the trustees of the Elizabeth Thompson 
 Fund, others have been added to the list, notably bread and sick- 
 room cookery, in all cases undertaken only in response to 
 demands that could be no longer ignored. As the food for the 
 sick was our first success pecuniarily, so it was also educationally. 
 The demand came from a training-school for nurses for lectures 
 on the principles of cooking for the sick, and from a medical 
 school for a practice class for students. 
 
 This involves a most careful study of the science of nutrition, 
 and only a beginning has been made in this line ; but enough has 
 been done to rouse the interest of representative men in the 
 medical profession, and the Kitchen was invited to give an 
 exhibition of its products at a meeting of the Massachusetts 
 Medical Association. It is through cooperation with the medical 
 profession that we hope for wide application of what has been 
 done in cookery for the sick. We should not appeal to them in 
 vain to use the results of our investigations in their private 
 practice and in the hospitals under their charge. 
 
 This is not the place to give in detail the plans for the work of 
 a food laboratory. But we must say a word as to the need among 
 all classes of people that such scientific principles as are now 
 known to underlie the choice and preparation of food should 
 take form, should be illustrated and brought to the final test 
 in the cookery of all kinds of foods into dishes savory as well 
 as nutritious, and whose amount and kind of nutrition shall be 
 known. 
 
 No one will be more benefited by the results of such an experi- 
 ment station than the individual housekeeper, she who is now 
 held responsible for every failure in our national cookery. 
 Considering how much else is expected of her in our social system, 
 
 152 
 
it is surely not fair to ask her to do anything more than learn to 
 apply what some one else, with the necessary facilities and 
 training, has discovered. She will then be doing as much as does 
 the farmer or manufacturer. 
 
 And since it has been recognized that good food is not a matter 
 of simple money, it has been more than surmised that the rich 
 may be starving in the midst of their plenty, or contracting 
 diseases due wholly to food improper in quantity or kind ; and 
 there would seem to be a need for a department of public hygiene 
 that should concern itself with food alone, 
 
 In all these lines, even that of a public adviser, the New England 
 Kitchen has been able to meet the wants of the people to some 
 extent. To reach its ideal, a fuller equipment is necessary. 
 
 Let us consider the requirements for such a work : 
 
 First: The superintendence of trained scientists, who shall be 
 able to draw on the stored knowledge of laboratory investigators 
 and to direct original work on new lines. 
 
 Second : The assistance of those who are practised in the science 
 of cookery as it is now understood, and who have the intelligence 
 necessary for working out new problems. 
 
 Third : Business experience to take the results thus gained and 
 bring them to the use of the general public. 
 
 Fourth : The assistance of those who have faith in this means 
 of doing a great good to the public, and who are willing to 
 endow it, or furnish sufficient money for its trial steps. 
 
 In conclusion, the managers of the New England Kitchen have 
 no apologies to make for the fact that in three years they have 
 expended a considerable sum of money, and yet great numbers of 
 people in New York and Boston are badly nourished, or that waste 
 and want still walk hand in hand. That a lever has been planted in 
 the right place is what we claim, and more will not be expected of 
 us by ^those who know the slowness with which the habits of 
 any community change, or who see that experimentation must 
 be as costly as it is necessary for the foundation of work that 
 
 153 
 
will be truly enduring. We are deeply thankful that we see 
 light on the great problem of how to utilize known scientific facts 
 for the nutrition of the people ; and here we rest our cause with 
 the many friends who have helped us and believed in us, certain 
 that in some way the work will go on. 
 
 NOTE. In order that the historical statement may be complete it is necessary to 
 state that the fund for the strictly scientific part of the investigation, " On the Right 
 Application of Heat to Food Materials," was supplied through Mr. Edward Atkin- 
 son by a grant from the Elizabeth Thompson Fund, and by contributions from Mr. 
 Carnegie and Mr. Phipps. 
 
 For the printing of the reports, as well as for constant advice and suggestion, we 
 are indebted to Miss Ellen F. Mason and Miss Ida Mason. Many other friends have 
 been helpful in a variety of ways. 
 
 The New York Kitchen was for several years sustained by Mr. Theodore Have- 
 meyer, under the direction of Dr. Thomas Eglestou. 
 
 BOSTON, May 1, 1893. 
 
 154 
 
THE RUMFORD KITCHEN LEAFLETS. 
 
 No. 18. 
 
 PUBLIC KITCHENS IN RELATION TO THE WORKING- 
 MAN AND THE HOUSEWIFE. 
 
 BY MARY HINMAN ABEL. 
 
 IN all times of public calamity, such as war and pestilence, the 
 poor of European cities have had resource to the soup kitchens 
 supported by the state or by private philanthropy. These kitchens 
 have, with few exceptions, been conducted with only ordinary 
 intelligence, and have ceased to exist with the temporary need 
 that called them into being. 
 
 But there is a class of permanent self-supporting public kitchens 
 that claim our interest, because the cheaper foods are here prepared 
 according to better knowledge than has yet reached the ordinary 
 home. 
 
 The first kitchen of this class was built in 1790, under Count 
 Rumford's direction, in Munich, Bavaria, as a part of the House 
 of Industry. Instead of furnishing here the ordinary food of the 
 country, he undertook to make a soup that should be as palatable 
 and nutritious as possible for a small sum of money. He chose 
 dried peas and barley as the basis, and studied with the exactness 
 of the scientist the action upon them of water at different temper- 
 atures, and he gave the nicest attention to the flavor and consist- 
 ency of the dish, Stoves were constructed with great ingenuity 
 
 155 
 
for the economical use of fuel, and as the result of these efforts 
 1,000 portions of soup in summer and 1,200 in winter were daily 
 cooked and distributed with bread at a cost of one-third of a farth- 
 ing, English money, per portion. This soup became very popular, 
 and continued to form the main food of those who labored in the 
 House of Industry. Eacli portion contained, as nearly as can now 
 be estimated, about 19 grams proteid, 2.5 grams fat, 86 grams 
 carbohydrate. Count Rumford's inventions and recipes were used 
 in many later efforts to improve the food of the poor, but no real 
 advance on the foundation that he laid seems to have been made 
 until near our own time. 
 
 The Volks Kuche, of Berlin, was started in 1866. Its original 
 fund of 4,359 thalers (about $3,000) lias grown by profits and 
 gifts to 95,000 marks (about $24,000). With, the exception that 
 no interest is paid on this fund, nor on several other funds that are 
 used to pay pensions to employees, etc., these kitchens are self- 
 supporting, and can be patronized by the workingrnen without 
 loss of self-respect. It should be noted, however, that the super- 
 intendence is also unpaid. There are in Berlin fifteen kitchens 
 of this kind, in which 2,724,419 portions were sold in 1890, one- 
 sixth of which was carried away, and the rest eaten in the kitchens. 
 This portion is sold for twenty-five pfennige (about six cents), 
 and contains on the average, as estimated by Professor Voit in 
 1866, 47 grams of proteid, 23 grams of fat, and 193 grams of 
 carbohydrate, or about one-third of a day's ration. 
 
 In many other cities of Germany successful kitchens have been 
 established on this model. 
 
 The French form of the public kitchen is the Fourneau ficono- 
 mique, a branch of the work of the Societe Philanthropique. In 
 1891, 3,031,000 portions were distributed from the thirty-one 
 kitchens of Paris, at an average price of ten centimes ; but we 
 have no means of knowing what proportion was given away, nor 
 is an analysis of the food furnished. 
 
 Successful public kitchens exist in various cities of Italy, 
 Russia, Norway, and Sweden, but in many cases exact reports 
 
 156 
 
of their condition are not obtainable. The Dampkjfikken, of 
 Christiania, Norway, sold, in 1888, 67,744 portions at twenty-eight 
 ore (about seven cents) per portion, and six per cent, dividends 
 were paid on the stock. No attempt seems to have been made to 
 analyze the food. 
 
 A very interesting kitchen was opened in Amsterdam, Holland, 
 in 1889. Its founders were in complete sympathy with the new 
 philanthropy, and their ideal for the kitchen was perfect self- 
 support, even to superintendence, and that the choice and prep- 
 aration of the food should, as nearly as possible, conform from 
 the first to the scientific knowledge of the day. These promises 
 have so far been kept, and its future will be watched with great 
 interest. In the year 1891 the first kitchen sold 196,000 portions, 
 and in September of that year a second kitchen was opened, that 
 sold in the first three months 70,000 portions. The price of each 
 portion is fourteen cents (seven cents U.S.), and it contains on 
 the average 40 grams proteid, 26.7 fats, and 214.07 carbohydrate. 
 
 THE NEW ENGLAND KITCHEN. 
 
 In January, "1890, the New England Kitchen was opened in 
 Boston, Mass., for the sale of plain cooked food to those who 
 would carry it to their homes, no food being eaten on the prem- 
 ises. In this it differed from all the foreign establishments, and 
 also in the fact that the food was sold by the quart or pound, in- 
 stead of by the too variable " portion." 
 
 A study was also made of the inevitable waste of raw material, 
 and of the proportion of edible food-stuff which is actually used ; 
 therefore the food values which will be found on the menu of the 
 " Rum ford Kitchen " are a somewhat nearer approximation to the 
 facts than is usually the case. 
 
 At the same time the managers of the kitchen, assisted by 
 special funds, were carrying on experiments in the art of cookery, 
 making careful analyses of cooked foods and collecting facts that 
 would throw light on the domestic life of the city dweller of 
 
 157 
 
small means. In this part of the work many advances have been 
 made in new h'elds, and much has been done in applying to the 
 better nutrition of the people facts long familiar to the world of 
 science. 
 
 A detailed statement of the aims and methods of the New Eng- 
 land Kitchen is given in the preceding Leaflet, No. 17, as also its 
 success in various lines up to May 1, 1893. It remains to note 
 results obtained in the six years that have since elapsed. 
 
 The original establishment in Pleasant street has been removed 
 to more commodious quarters at 485 Tremont street, and here, at a 
 few tables placed in a corner of the kitchen, a luncheon is served 
 of such food as is cooked for the day. In the basement a bakery 
 has been started, with modern ovens and other appliances. The 
 most important connection made by the kitchen in that time has 
 been with the public schools, in the furnishing of luncheons to 
 the High Schools. 
 
 The kitchen has been self-supporting during this time, although 
 contributions were made toward the large expense necessary in 
 fitting out 485 Tremont street. 
 
 The branches started on this model in other cities have, how- 
 ever, been discontinued, or have changed their character. None 
 have reached self-support while holding to the standard. In some 
 cases pity for the poor has led to the serving of larger portions 
 than prices justified ; some have yielded to the demand for a 
 great variety of dishes without regard to their wholesomeness or 
 the cost of handling. Lack of business knowledge has also been 
 a bar to success. The perishable nature of the materials used, and 
 the losses because of variations in demand, have proved a more 
 important factor than was at first imagined. 
 
 But there are difficulties not easily met even when right ideals 
 are adhered to and business experience and skill are at command. 
 These difficulties mostly arise from one cause : the extreme slow- 
 ness with which the mass of people change their habits with 
 regard to food. In general, people like only the food to which 
 they are accustomed, and any change in their habits is brought 
 
 158 
 
about by fashion and example rather than by common sense. 
 The cosmopolitan traveller and the fashionable diner-out will taste 
 of a new dish with readiness, while the factory worker or the 
 average school girl cannot be brought to try it. The person who 
 said, "1 don't want to eat what's good for me, I'd rather eat 
 what I'd rather," represents a large class. 
 
 It would seem, then, that in America the function of public 
 kitchens will vary widely from that of such institutions in 
 Europe. 
 
 The restaurants in connection with them will not be frequented 
 by the families of workingmen, and the purchase of cooked food 
 for home consumption in such families may not bd sufficient in 
 any given area to support a complete plant. Local centres may 
 therefore prove too expensive to make them available for perish- 
 able food, only bakers' products and canned goods being handled 
 without serious loss. Even were the wage earner and the house- 
 keeper fully alive to the importance of wholesome food, and the 
 saving of time in buying what is ready for use, they cannot be 
 expected to walk miles to get it. 
 
 Certain conclusions that seem justified by our present knowledge 
 may be thus stated : 
 
 1. Extreme care and cleanliness given to the preparation of 
 food in a public kitchen are not appreciated by the poor and 
 ignorant. 
 
 2. The constituency of any hygienic food depot must be sought 
 in the better educated part of the community, a constituency slowly 
 but surely increasing with the growing knowledge of food values 
 and the economy of human force. 
 
 3. At the rate of present progress the next ten years will show 
 great advances in popular appreciation of what is wholesome food. 
 Much more help is to be expected from schools and colleges when 
 they realize the importance to students of all ages, of food that will 
 best furnish energy for work and growth. Meanwhile, the need 
 of establishments that will keep to a high standard as to food and 
 its preparation is very great. They cannot lay claim to " scientific 
 
 159 
 
cooking," for in the present state of science there is no such thing, 
 but they can apply a few simple principles to the cookery of the 
 cheaper food materials and that with accuracy and persistence, 
 and they can keep well in the lead in illustrating what is the best 
 thought of the time as to human nutrition. 
 
 160 
 
THE RUMFORD KITCHEN LEAFLETS. 
 
 No. 19. 
 
 PUBLIC KITCHENS IN RELATION TO SCHOOL LUNCHES 
 AND RESTAURANTS. 
 
 By ELLEN H. RICHABDS. 
 
 IT has become generally conceded that some kind of luncheon 
 for children who remain in school until one or two o'clock is abso- 
 lutely necessary if the health of the pupils is to be maintained. It 
 is beginning to be recognized that many of the complaints of over- 
 work in the schools are due to under-nutrition, causing a lack of 
 the force and brain power which might be reasonably expected of 
 children of the given age. 
 
 The responsibility of the parent and the home for the physical 
 condition of the child is held by many to be absolute and final. 
 To such it seems quite beyond the province of the school to pro- 
 vide domestic training for girls, or luncheons for the pupils gen- 
 erally. The answer to this is that in the general ignorance about 
 foods and food values it must be just as legitimate for the school 
 to see to it that the children's bodies are in a condition to study 
 the lessons given as to attempt to dispel the ignorance of the pub- 
 lic by teaching arithmetic or Latin. 
 
 Once the pupil is sent outside the home to learn anything, the 
 precedent is established, and the most essential points in habits, 
 in character, and in information, must certainly come within the 
 province of the school. 
 
 161 
 
Let any one watch the eating habits of school children in any 
 school in any city, and he will soon come to the conclusion that 
 there is here a field for effort, wide enough for the most ambitious 
 philanthropist. 
 
 The boxes carefully put up by the anxious mother with what- 
 ever the child most desires or whatever the family is in the habit 
 of eating, or the lunch counter supplied from the bake -shop with 
 sweets supposed to be attractive to the eye and palate of children, 
 are anything but what they should be. 
 
 It is most distressing to watch growing children pay their money 
 for that which is not wholesome food eclairs, cream puffs, 
 fried apple turnovers, and the many so-called confections. 
 
 Of course it is the parents' fault that the children do not know 
 what is best for them, but shall the school authorities stand idly by 
 and see their efforts at education paralyzed by the lack of proper 
 food, or rather by the abundance of that which is not suitable? 
 
 But how to combat the evil is not so easily determined as is the 
 fact that it must be met. 
 
 One city dismisses its high schools at half-past twelve, leaving 
 the study hours to be taken at home. The blind public of this 
 city raised strenuous objections because they pretended to believe 
 that it was a scheme of the teachers to get a half holiday for 
 themselves every day. 
 
 Another city engages a person to cater for the children under 
 the direction of its teacher of domestic science. 
 
 One city has provided a kitchen and lunch room in its new high 
 school building; but in most schools, where lunch is served at all, 
 a basement corner is allotted to some outside person responsible 
 to no one a poor woman, who ekes out a living, or a friend of 
 the politician of the ward, or the janitor, or his wife. These 
 latter are usually the best providers, for they have an interest in 
 the pupils and aim to satisfy them. It is ignorance rather than 
 cupidity on their part that we have to deplore. 
 
 But in all such cases there is the pressure of the demands of 
 the untaught pupil for the most unwholesome material a pres- 
 
 162 
 
sure which it is impossible to withstand without a definite prin- 
 ciple behind all the plan ; and to have this principle there must 
 be a certain amount of scientific knowledge reinforced by prac- 
 tical experience. In the present stage of public education as to 
 food values there must be sought out, here and there, those who 
 have fitted themselves to be leaders in this direction, and under 
 their control must be placed the preparation and supply of food 
 which shall serve as nutritive material for brain workers. 
 
 Only such persons can gain the confidence of the community 
 and can win the regard of the youthful and capricious mind. 
 
 For it is the mind rather than the stomach which is to be edu- 
 cated in the case of food. It is nearly a parallel case to that of 
 good taste in pictures. The crudest daubs, the worst combina- 
 tions of colors, the most distorted figures, are held to be beautiful 
 by those who have never known what is good art. In the same 
 way the worst food in the most unwholesome combinations is 
 considered good by those who have never known any other ; for 
 human animals have lost the animal instincts which preserve 
 from mistakes, and the habits of civilized man have become far 
 stronger than his instincts. 
 
 It needs the restraint of poverty, or of high principle, to se- 
 cure the use of the best food by the majority of persons, and 
 especially of school children. 
 
 One of the natural outcomes of the work of the New England 
 Kitchen was an endeavor to furnish the one-session schools of 
 Boston, namely, the nine high schools, with a luncheon which 
 should be wholesome, inexpensive, and sufficiently attractive. 
 Without precedent to work from, the experimental work of intro- 
 duction required certain funds, like any other research work. 
 These were furnished by Mrs. W. V. Kellen, whose personal 
 sympathy and fruitful suggestions were even more valuable in 
 the initial stages of the venture. An account of the work may 
 be found in a paper presented to the Association of Collegiate 
 Alumnae in 1898, by Miss S. E. Wentworth, the manager of the 
 New England Kitchen. It is sufficient here to give in condensed 
 
 163 
 
form certain conclusions which may serve as guides to those who 
 are interested in similar work. 
 
 Wherever a public kitchen of established reputation exists, 5- 
 cent luncheons may be served without loss to schools where 
 three hundred patrons are assured. In schools with a smaller 
 number the expense of transportation, special service at certain 
 hours of the day, added to the cost of food, prevents the financial 
 success of the plant at charges which seem wise for the public 
 schools. Food can be served at less expense, but not that of the 
 best quality, prepared in the most cleanly manner, and served in 
 an attractive form. The kitchen can make both ends meet only 
 by taking the surplus from the very large schools to make up 
 the deficit in the smaller schools. The small surplus is usually 
 obtained from the sale of so-called luxuries, such as ice cream 
 and certain simple cakes, to those who have money to spend ; 
 because the kitchen idea is to keep the staple articles at a price 
 barely enough to cover the cost of material and preparation. 
 Student help and voluntary supervision by teachers or officials of 
 the school may keep the expenses down, but in cases where much 
 service is demanded where tables are used and the variety is 
 larger an average expense of 10 to 15 cents per person is 
 common. 
 
 In such schools where four or five hundred students are fed, it is 
 preferable to plan for a kitchen properly ventilated and so situated 
 as not to vitiate the air, for kitchen odors cannot be tolerated 
 in a school building. An excellent example may be found 
 at the Lewis Institute, Madison and Robey streets, Chicago, 
 111. In this case the lunch room should be under the supervision 
 of the head of the Science or Home Department, whatever it may 
 be called, and not be let out to a caterer or to any one outside 
 the school force. Only the best knowledge and the firmest 
 principle can deal successfully with such whimsical and irrational 
 habits as those in food, and none of these experiments will be 
 wholly successful until the masses are convinced that it does 
 make a difference whether the food is such as will give best 
 
 164 
 
blood and muscle and brain, or such as pleases the palate for the 
 moment. 
 
 As has been indicated in several places in these leaflets the cost 
 of the raw food material is slight in comparison with the cost of 
 handling and serving in attractive form, and that brings us to con- 
 sider the function of the kitchen toward other lunch places. 
 
 It is an undoubted fact that the one class of substances ready 
 to serve on the instant to a teamster or expressman is liquor, that 
 nowhere is a bowl of hot soup or chocolate served as quickly or 
 as cheaply. This kind of quick luncheon counter is a great need 
 and might be served from a public kitchen. It would be worth 
 more than temperance lectures, but where the question is one of 
 catering to the demands of the average public, rather than of edu- 
 cating the public to demand better things, the kitchen idea must 
 wait until food values and the office of food in the body have been 
 more efficiently taught. 
 
 The attempts to furnish restaurants for wage earners and for 
 students with food of a strictly wholesome and nutritious char- 
 acter have everywhere resulted in the conviction that a belief in 
 the importance of suitable food has yet to be disseminated. A 
 select group of persons may be gathered in any city who do fully 
 appreciate the work done ; but the number of patrons is not 
 large enough in any section to sustain an establishment. Re- 
 luctantly the plans have one after another been given up, and 
 attention has been more and more concentrated upon the educa- 
 tion of public sentiment. 
 
 165 
 
THE RUMFORD KITCHEN LEAFLETS. 
 
 No. 20. 
 
 THE FOOD OF INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 By ELLEN H. RICHARDS. 
 
 IN cases where large numbers of persons are fed from one 
 kitchen, and are obliged to take the food provided or to have 
 none, we have at once our easiest and our most difficult task: 
 easiest in control of materials used, of processes of preparation, 
 of quantities prepared, and of visible waste ; most difficult in 
 satisfying those who are not in normal condition, who have not 
 the distraction of outside interests, and who for the most part lack 
 the best sauce for food sufficient out-door exercise. Such per- 
 sons, having no choice in the food, consider it a duty to complain, 
 no matter what is set before them. 
 
 With the knowledge of food gained in the past twenty-five 
 years it is a comparatively simple matter to sit at one's desk and 
 make out a good and sufficient menu covering the physiological 
 requirements of any given class of people. A complication arises 
 when this menu must be furnished for a definite and limited sum ; 
 but the crucial test, and the one which proves fatal to nearly 
 all attempts to put well-thought-out theories into practice, is 
 the refusal of the people to eat the good things thus carefully 
 provided for them. Who has not seen a dog refuse a dainty 
 morsel from his mistress's hands and go straightway to a neigh- 
 
 166 
 
boring garbage-pail and ferret out some scrap which satisfied his 
 craving ? 
 
 We sometimes forget that the habit of eating civilized food is 
 as truly a matter of education as is the wearing of well-fitting and 
 becoming clothes or the suitable furnishing of one's house. We 
 are apt to think that our food ought to be a luxury to those in the 
 so-called lower classes or to people poorer than ourselves. This 
 is not the case, as one finds when one begins to cater to the 
 inmates of an institution, school, or boarding-house. People like 
 best that to which they are accustomed. Novelty in food does not 
 commend itself to those who have had little variety in their lives. 
 
 It is true that the attitude of mind has much to do with the 
 food habit, and, if one will, one can learn to like almost anything. 
 Therefore, the strongest hope of the provider for a mass of per- 
 sons lies in persuading them that the prescribed food is very 
 good in itself, and not merely good for them. To this end the 
 " pills " must be riot only sugar-coated, they must look like 
 candy. In these facts may be found the reason why food 
 reformers have hitherto failed and why most of us reasonable 
 "food cranks" maybe worsted any day by a really good cook 
 who will give the people what they like. 
 
 It is not enough, therefore, to calculate the food value ; not 
 enough to select the best receipts ; not enough to have the food 
 served in a manner that is attractive to us : The food must have 
 a familiar look and taste, so that the question will not be raised 
 as to whether it is a new dish. 
 
 A study, therefore, of existing habits and customs is essential 
 to success in catering to any large body of persons, especially to 
 those who have not been accustomed to variety. If they could be 
 fed with their eyes bandaged it would be easier. 
 
 Hospitals for the sick and the insane present more difficulties 
 in the variety demanded ; but in catering for these unfortunates an 
 element of pity comes in which is lacking in the case of persons 
 who ought to know enough to cooperate with those who are 
 striving to do the best tiling for them. 
 
 167 
 
Besides tho acutely sick, who are fed solely by the physician's 
 orders, there may be said to be, in general, three classes of per- 
 sons to be provided for, either in separate institutions or separately 
 in one institution, and certain principles are applicable to each 
 class in whichever condition it may be found : 
 
 First. Brain-workers with more or less exercise professors, 
 teachers, doctors, superintendents and students, convalescents in 
 hospitals. For these- the diet should be liberal, varied, well 
 cooked, and, especially, well flavored. It is of the utmost impor- 
 tance that the food should be delicately served with all the 
 attractiveness of napery and china ; all the neatness possible as 
 well as the utmost exactness as to suitable temperature. Two- 
 thirds of the food served in most colleges and hospitals is spoiled, 
 for those whose mind influences so profoundly the digestion, by 
 neglect of this cardinal principle. It may be difficult to secure 
 the serving of a thousand persons with hot plates, but let the 
 necessity be once recognized and means will be found. The milk, 
 cream, butter, and eggs should be of the best. It is not economy 
 to pinch in this direction. 
 
 Second. Manual workers house-keepers, nurses, janitors, 
 cooks, maids, etc. For those who have, as in many institutions, 
 out-door work and work under favorable circumstances, hearty 
 food of a kind with which they are familiar should be served 
 neatly and abundantly, but in fewer courses. Soups and salads 
 are, for the most part, unacceptable dishes. What we would call 
 heavy food will not harm these vigorous hard workers. A lighter 
 diet should be provided for those whose occupation confines them 
 indoors, but the same principle holds : the refinements of diet 
 are not as much appreciated as is the accustomed flavor of a 
 favorite dish. Even when in the hospital ward the laborer who 
 has been used to hearty, solid food boiled beef and cabbage 
 feels himself much abused if he is given the best of broth and the 
 most delicate dessert. 
 
 In general, made-over dishes and minced meat seem a very 
 poor sort of food to many of this class. Even the college student 
 
 168 
 
who has been brought up on the heavy breakfast of steak, eggs, 
 and griddle cakes, looks upon a simple breakfast of fruit, cereal, 
 and a smaller portion of meat, with bread and butter and milk, 
 as little better than starvation. 
 
 Third. Pupils in schools where expenses must be kept down, 
 patients in the average hospital ward, inmates of almshouses, 
 and the chronic insane who are supported at public expense, 
 as well as the inmates of institutions of all kinds. For all these, 
 nutritious food must be served at the least possible cost. And in 
 this there is the most urgent need of reform. It is here that 
 scientific knowledge could accomplish the best results if coupled 
 with sound common sense and some inventive genius. I have 
 seen plates of food loaded as if for a day-laborer set before 
 querulous old women who spent the day in their rocking-chairs. 
 I have seen common, hearty food in like abundance sent cold to 
 the bedside of a delicate girl recovering from a surgical opera- 
 tion ; and I have seen dainty croquettes and thin sandwiches set 
 before those Avho would have preferred a thick slice of tough 
 meat with potato. 
 
 On the other hand, the inmates of schools and colleges too 
 often lack the proper appetite for wholesome dishes ; teachers 
 are often placed in unnatural conditions and become morbid and 
 difficult to please. The pupils often live under unhygienic 
 conditions, although the school should, of all places, be placed in 
 the front rank of improved dwellings. They are pressed with 
 work and, worst of all, bring from their homes the tastes and 
 whims so indicative of undisciplined persons. 
 
 In catering for institutions the greatest need to-day is for a 
 combination of scientific knowledge and practical experience. 
 This it is almost impossible to obtain because the public has not 
 yet taken the food question seriously, and because neither college 
 trustees nor hospital boards are, as yet, willing to pay a salary 
 which will command the services of a superintendent already 
 trained or induce a competent person to complete a defective 
 training. The highest talent is sought for the medical or the 
 
 169 
 
teaching staff, and yet the most important position of all, the one 
 which affects seriously the efficiency of all the rest, is filled in 
 a hap-hazard way by any one claiming to be a cook or a caterer. 
 
 To even begin practical work in any institution, certain stand- 
 ards must be tested in order to see wherein changes in individual 
 instances may be advantageously made. These standards may 
 well begin with the lowest cost and least variety consistent with 
 the maintenance of health ; namely, that used in prisons, alms- 
 houses, and houses of correction ; for, while the food should be 
 well cooked so that it may be palatable and readily digested, it is 
 not wise to make the menu so attractive as to encourage the 
 hungry to commit petty crimes for the sake of the good prison 
 fare ; for we must remember that the old disciplinary diet of bread 
 and water is no longer in vogue. The diet should not be stim- 
 ulating, that is, it should contain a limited amount of meat, and 
 only such proportion of spices and condiments as is absolutely 
 necessary for the assimilation of the other and staple ingredients 
 of the food. Vegetables should play a larger part than they 
 appear to do in this class of food. Standard No. 1, costing for 
 500 to 1,000 inmates from 7 to 10 cents a day, and for 100 to 500 
 from 9 to 11 cents, offers a working basis for this class. These 
 amounts have been proved to be sufficient, with suitable cooking, 
 serving, and oversight, to prevent undue waste. While there are 
 institutions of the kind in the country where the expense is given 
 as less, it is not to be recommended that the cost go below 7 cents. 
 
 For children and youth in reformatories the food should 
 furnish material for growth and development, and, since the 
 inmates of these institutions are found there largely because 
 their parents or they in childhood were under- nourished, their 
 food should be somewhat abundant, although of the plainest and 
 most substantial kind. Standards Nos. 2 and 3 give a working 
 basis for this class. The cost of these two standards should not 
 be below 8 nor over 11 cents for a minimum, nor below 10 or 
 over 13 cents for a maximum. 
 
 For old persons and inmates of charity hospitals, a standard 
 
 170 
 
closely approximating No. o, with less milk and eggs and with 
 tea, may be used at the same cost. 
 
 The diet of the insane adult in public institutions approaches 
 nearly that of the student in school where the expense must be 
 kept low, and where refinements of serving are not attempted. 
 Standard No. 4 shows the amounts found to be sufficient under 
 the rigid conditions specified ; namely, close inspection of raw 
 material, careful cooking, and, when a general spirit of intelli- 
 gence and contentment pervades the institution, with confidence in 
 the management. 
 
 Wherever this rigid economy exists the medical inspector must 
 be on guard in order to see that cases of starvation in the midst 
 of general sufficiency do not occur, owing to personal idiosyn- 
 crasies, especially among children and students. 
 
 For officers of institutions, students, and convalescent patients, 
 Standard No. 5 furnishes a guide for the staple articles to which 
 may be added, for officers, as many luxuries as the purse will 
 allow from market and store to tempt the jaded appetite of those 
 who consider the pleasure of eating above the pleasure of good 
 health. The officers rarely set a good example, but it is not 
 usually held to be the superintendent's duty to provide hygienic 
 food for them, but to satisfy them as far as is possible with the 
 means at hand. 
 
 The chief reason of the great difficulty in satisfying the crav- 
 ings of people of studious or sedentary habits is that they have 
 not a healthy appetite for food as a means of nourishment, as a 
 force producer, but a sort of sentimental craving for stimulant, 
 something which tastes good for the moment or something which 
 looks as if it would taste good. A mental treatment must in such 
 cases precede the administration of simple, wholesome food. 
 Nurses, students, and semi-invalids who have access to supplies 
 of dainties, by frequent eating destroy the appetite for the regular 
 meals and therefore become finical and difficult to please. In 
 this age, when prevention is regarded as the highest application 
 of science, to go on eating food which hinders the full accom- 
 
 171 
 
plishment of the work or pleasure of the individual is a survival 
 of by-gone clays. 
 
 The cost of this general dietary ranges from '22 to ;"JO cents for 
 groups of 50 to 500 persons ; 27 cents should furnish all that is 
 necessary, except when the group consists of only 10 to 50 per- 
 sons, and when the demand for fruit and vegetables out of season 
 is fully met. 
 
 From 5 to 50 cents seems a wide range for the same actual 
 weight of dry food substances which may support human life, and 
 illustrates the hap-hazard way in which all American customs as 
 to food are allowed to become traditions. That the wider range 
 is not necessarily more healthful is proved by the prevalence of 
 diseases due to digestive disturbance and to the fact that cases of 
 mal-nutrition are met with more frequently among the good- 
 livers than among the more abstemious. 
 
 The whole question of food needs to be approached in a different 
 spirit and with a greater confidence in its importance. No better 
 school of diet could be found than an intelligently managed school 
 or hospital. In any case the inmates should have confidence 
 that the very best that science can teach is being done for 
 them, and they should take the food with that faith and cheer- 
 fulness which go a long way toward making it palatable and 
 digestible. 
 
 In the hospital more help should be provided in the wards to 
 see that the food, when well cooked, is properly presented to the 
 patient. The very lax way in which, in most places, the serving 
 is now done, the coarse crockery, the lack of napkins and suit- 
 able trays for those to whom such things mean relish or disgust, 
 militates against good work in the kitchen. While training 
 schools for nurses have accomplished much there is a great gap 
 as yet in the nurses' knowledge of food which will not be bridged 
 until physicians and trustees have come to see the essential 
 importance of unity of administration in the food department. 
 
 In the school nothing can take the place of well-assimilated 
 food as a producer of brain power. In the hospital no medicine 
 
 172 
 
or disinfectant can rival nutritions food as a factor in recovery. 
 It is the duty of those in charge to provide such food just as much 
 as the other appliances usually found and universally conceded to 
 be necessary. 
 
 There is a difficulty in dealing with so heterogeneous a mass 
 of persons as those found in any American institution, persons 
 of different nationalities, different habits, from childhood up, 
 which only education can overcome. 
 
 In closing I can only reiterate the statement with which I 
 began : The food will not be satisfactory in either college or 
 hospital until trained persons are employed and well paid to 
 superintend the whole business of food supply, the buying, 
 the cooking, and the serving, for the three hold together, and a 
 fault in any one may ruin the result. 
 
 In preparing this resume free use has been made of previous 
 articles by the author: " Notes on Hospital Dietaries, 1 ' t( Journal 
 of Insanity," October, 1895 ; " Food as a Factor in Student Life,'' 
 Chicago University, 1894 ; "Hospital Diet," " American Kitchen 
 Magazine," April, 1896; "Report on the Dietaries of the Nine 
 Institutions of City of Boston,' 1 to the Institutions Commission, 
 1897. 
 
 173 
 
PROVISIONAL STANDARDS. 
 
 STAPLE ARTICLES PER PERSON DAILY. 
 
 I. 
 
 II. 
 
 III. 
 
 IV. 
 
 V. 
 
 
 Ounces. 
 
 Ounces. 
 
 Ounces. 
 
 Ounces. 
 
 Ounces. 
 
 Meat and fish 
 
 10 
 
 12 
 
 7 
 
 12 
 
 16 
 
 Salt pork, lard, suet, etc 
 Flour and rice 
 
 1 
 14 
 
 1 
 14 
 
 11 
 
 12 
 
 i 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 Oatmeal, cornmeal, hominy, bar- 
 \Q\ } etc. 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 i i 
 
 1 
 
 Peas, beans, lentils, and cheese.. 
 Potatoes 
 
 2 
 12 
 
 2 
 
 12 
 
 2 
 6 
 
 1 2 
 
 12 
 
 1 
 
 12 
 
 Vegetables 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 g 
 
 3 
 
 Sugar 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 Dried fruits 
 
 
 15 
 
 -3 
 
 1 
 
 
 Milk 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 16 
 
 16 
 
 16 
 
 Oleomargarine or butter 
 
 
 i 
 
 _?._ 
 
 I 
 
 1 ! 
 
 Effffs 
 
 
 
 *1 
 
 3 
 
 A 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 THESE MATERIALS SHOULD YIELD IN 
 
 AVAILABLE FORM : 
 
 Grams. 
 
 Grams. 
 
 Grums. 
 
 Grams. 
 
 Grams. 
 
 Proteid 
 
 103 
 
 1 11 
 
 93 
 
 110 
 
 130 
 
 Fat 
 
 73 
 
 91 
 
 77 
 
 100 
 
 128 
 
 Carbohydrates 
 
 426 
 
 436 
 
 389 
 
 49 1 
 
 404 
 
 Calories 
 
 2,848 
 
 3,088 
 
 2,692 
 
 3,107 
 
 3 377 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 COST, EXCLUSIVE OP TEA, COFFEE, 
 AND FRESH FRUITS. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 Cents. 
 
 Minimum ... 
 
 7.2 
 
 8.3 
 
 9.0 
 
 11.0 
 
 15.0 
 
 Maximum . 
 
 9.0 
 
 10.0 
 
 12.0 
 
 20.0 
 
 25.0 
 
 Tea, coffee, condiments, game, 
 luxuries of any kind, which add 
 little to the nutriment 
 
 1.0 
 
 2.0 
 
 2.0 
 
 5 to 10 
 
 5 to 25 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 174 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Absorption, 82. 
 Air as food, 55. 
 Albuminoids, 117, 118, 119, 120. 
 
 Beef juice, 119. 
 
 Carbohydrates, 76, 80, 83, 84, 102. 
 Cellulose, 79. 
 Cleanliness, 34, 35. 
 Cooking, office of, 34, 47, 66, 67, 
 128. 
 Cost of food, 39, 40, 42, 71, 123, 
 
 127, 130, 164, 170, 172, 174. 
 Count Rumford, 12, 13, 19, 25. 
 
 " quotations from, 
 28 to 32, 104. 
 
 " work of, 20, 23, 
 
 155. 
 Cream, 86, 87. 
 
 Digestion, external, 45, 46, 47. 
 Disease, food in, 109, 110, 113, 
 115, 167. 
 " resistance to, 106. 
 
 Fat, 73, 74, 75, 86, 87, 116. 
 " in food, 88. 
 
 Food, cost of. See cost. 
 
 " good for man, 125, 126, 129. 
 
 " values, 15, I>2, 56, 88, 100, 
 
 108, 120. 
 
 Funds, source of, 133, 134, 154, 
 163. 
 
 Glucose, 77. 
 Glycogen, 82. 
 
 Institutions, food of, 106 to 173. 
 
 Kitchen as an educator, 149. 
 
 " " " experiment station, 
 147. 
 
 The Rumford, 12-14. 
 " " exhibit 
 
 of, 12. 
 
 " " mottoes, 
 
 16. 
 
 standard 
 
 luncheons 
 
 at, 15. 
 
 Meat, extracts, 61, 119. 
 Mottoes, Rumford Kitchen, 16, 
 17, 18. 
 
 175 
 
Nr\\ Kiiijluml Kitclu-n. account 
 
 of, i;u-i:.:;, i;,7. 
 
 Pleasure in euting, 32. 
 
 1'rotcids, :,s, ill, 83, 117. 
 
 " composition of, 59, 60. 
 " digestion of, (53, 04, Go. 
 
 uses of, (JO, 70, 11(5. 
 
 Public kitchen, requirements for, 
 
 140, 141, 142, 153, 150. 
 
 Public kitchen, in Europe, 14(5, 
 
 155, 156, 157. 
 
 Ration. 30, 108-114. 
 Royal Institution, 2<5. 
 Kumford. See Count. 
 
 School children, growth of, 07. 
 
 School children, luncheon of, 01, 
 02, KU-164. 
 
 Science of nutrition, 13, 24, 38, 
 41, 44, 152. 
 Soups, Rumford, 22. 
 Standard dietary, 60, 70, 02, 103, 
 108, 100-114, 174. 
 luncheons, 15, 03-06. 
 41 of health, 105. 
 Starch, 70, 81, 84, 117. 
 Students, food of, 08, 00, 168, 160. 
 Sugars, 7G, 78, 80, 81, 116. 
 
 Water, as a heat regulator, 51. 
 " " solvent, 50. 
 " quantity to be taken, 53. 
 11 uses of, 54. 
 
 176 
 
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