depriving them of a considerable quantity of air, so injurious to weak stomachs. But, even in this case, the operation may be carried to an injurious extent; thus, potatoes are frequently boiled to the state of a dry, insipid powder, instead of being preserved in that state in which the parts of which they are composed are rendered soft and gelatinous, so as to retain their shape, yet be very easily separated. On the other hand, the cabbage tribe, and carrots, are frequently not boiled long enough, in which state they are highly indigestible. In conduct ing this process, it is necessary to pay some attention to the quality of the water employed; thus, mutton boiled in hard water is more tender and juicy than when soft water is used; while vegetables, on the contrary, are rendered harder and less digestible when boiled in hard water. 'By roasting the fibrine is corrugated, the albumen coagulated, the fat liquefied, and the water evaporated. As the operation proceeds, the surface becomes first brown, and then scorched; and the tendinous parts are rendered softer and gluey. Care should always be taken that the meat should not be over-done, nor ought it to be under-dressed; for, although in such a state it may contain more nutriment, yet it will be less digestible, on account of the density of its texture. This fact has been satisfactorily proved by the experiments of Spallanzani; and Mr. Hunter observes, that 'boiled, and roasted, and even putrid meat, is easier of digestion than raw.' Animal matter loses more by roasting than by boiling it has been stated above, that by this latter process mutton loses one-fifth, and beef one-fourth; but by roasting, these meats lose about one-third of their weight. In roasting, the loss arises from the melting out of the fat, and the evaporating of the water; but the nutritious matter remains condensed in the cooked solid; whereas, in boiling, the gelatine is partly abstracted. Roast are, therefore, more nutritive than boiled meats.'

Frying,' Dr. P. thinks, 'is, perhaps, the most objectionable of all the culinary operations. The heat is applied through the medium of boiling oil, or fat, which is rendered empyreumatic, and therefore extremely liable to disagree with the stomach.

'By the operation of broiling, the sudden browning or hardening of the surface prevents the evaporation of the juices of the meat, which imparts a peculiar tenderness to it. It is the form selected, as the most eligible, by those who seek to invigorate themselves by the art of training.

The peculiarity of baking depends upon the substance being heated in a confined space, which does not permit the escape of the fumes arising from it; the meat is, therefore, from the retention of its juices, rendered more sapid and tender. But baked meats are not so easily digested, on account of the greater retention of their oils, which are, moreover, in an empyreumatic state. Such dishes accordingly require the stimulus of various condiments to increase the digestive powers of the stomach.'

Condiments and Drinks have not so distinctly received our attention, in the former part of this

work, as the more solid contributions of nature to the food of man. The former are divided by the popular author whom we have already quoted into the saline, the aromatic, and the oily.

'Salt,' he says, 'appears to be a necessary and universal stimulus to animated beings; and its effects upon the vegetable as well as animal kingdom have furnished objects of the most interesting enquiry to the physiologist, the chemist, the physician, and the agriculturist. It appears to be a natural stimulant to the digestive organs of all warm-blooded animals, and that they are instinctively led to immense distances in pursuit of it. This is strikingly exemplified in the avidity with which animals in a wild state seek the salt pans of Africa and America, and in the difficulties they will encounter to reach them : this cannot arise from accident or caprice, but from a powerful instinct, which, beyond control, compels them to seek, at all risks, that which is salubrious. To those who are anxious to gain further information upon this curious subject, I would recommend the perusal of a work entitled Thoughts on the Laws relating to Salt, by Samuel Parkes, Esq., and a small volume by my late lamented friend, Sir Thomas Bernard, on the Case of the Salt Duties, with Proofs and Illustrations. We are all sensible of the effect of salt on the human body; we know how unpalatable fresh meat and vegetables are without it. During the course of my professional practice, I have had frequent opportunities of witnessing the evils which have attended an abstinence from salt. In my examination before a committee of the house of commons in 1818, appointed for the purpose of enquiring into the laws respecting the salt duties, I stated, from my own experience, the bad effects of a diet of unsalted fish, and the injury which the poorer classes, in many districts, sustained in their health from an inability to procure this essential condiment. I had some years ago a gentleman of rank and fortune under my care, for a deranged state of the digestive organs, accompanied with extreme emaciation. I found that, from some cause which he could not explain, he had never eaten any salt with his meals: I enforced the necessity of his taking it in moderate quantities, and the recovery of his digestive powers was soon evinced in the increase of his strength and condition. One of the ill effects produced by an unsalted diet is the generation of worms. Mr. Marshall has published the case of a lady who had a natural antipathy to salt, and was in consequence most dreadfully infested with worms during the whole of her life.-(London Medical and Physical Journal, vol. xxix. No. 231). In Ireland, where, from the bad quality of the food, the lower classes are greatly infested with worms, a draught of salt and water is a popular and efficacious anthelmintic. Lord Somerville, in his Address to the Board of Agriculture, gave an interesting account of the effects of a punishment which formerly existed in Holland. The ancient laws of the country ordained men to be kept on bread alone, unmixed with salt, as the severest punishment that could be inflicted upon them in their moist climate. The effect was horrible; these wretched criminals are said to

have been devoured by worms engendered in their own stomachs.' The wholesomeness and digestibility of our bread are undoubtedly much promoted by the addition of salt which it so universally receives.

'An excess of salt is,' however, we are told, 'as injurious as its moderate application is salutary. This observation applies with as much force to the vegetable as to the animal kingdom; a small proportion, applied as a manure, promotes vegetation in a very remarkable manner; whereas a larger quantity actually destroys it The experiments of Sir John Pringle have also shown, that a little salt will accelerate putrefaction, and a large quantity prevent it. In explaining the operation of salting meat, and in appreciating the effects of such meat as food, it will be necessary to advert to a chemical fact which has not hitherto attracted the attention which its importance merits. The salt thus combined with the animal fibre ought no longer to be considered as the condiment upon which so much has been said; a chemical combination has taken place, and, although it is difficult to explain the nature of the affinities which have been brought into action, or that of the compound to which they have given origin, it is sufficiently evident that the texture of the fibre is so changed as to be less nutritive, as well as less digestible. If we are called upon to produce any chemical evidence in support of such an assertion, we need only relate the experiment of M. Eller, who found, that if salt and water be boiled in a copper vessel, the solution will contain a notable quantity of that metal; whereas, if, instead of heating a simple solution, the salt be previously mixed with beef, bacon, or fish, the fluid resulting from it will not contain an atom of copper. Does not this prove that the process of salting meat is something more than the mere saturation of the, animal fibre with muriate of soda?

Vinegar, in small quantities, is recommended as a grateful and wholesome stimulant; it will often check the chemical fermentation of certain substances in the stomach, and prevent vegetable matter in its raw state from inducing flatulence; but its use requires caution, and in some morbid states of the system it is obviously improper. Fatty and gelatinous substances frequently appear to be rendered more digestible in the stomach by the addition of vinegar, although it is difficult to offer either a chemical or physiological explanation of the fact. The native vegetable acids may also be occasionally substituted: the addition of lemon juice to rich and glutinous soups renders them less liable to disagree with the stomach; and the custom of eating applesauce with pork is, undoubtedly, indebted for its origin to the same cause.

The aromatic condiments comprise the foreign spices, as pepper, Cayenne pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger; and the indigenous herbs and roots, such as parsley, thyme, sage, garlick, leek, onion, horse-radish, mustard, &c. The former of these were not intended by nature for the inhabitants of temperate climes: they are heating, and highly stimulant. I am, how ever, not anxious to give more weight to this objection than it deserves. Man is no longer

the child of nature, nor the passive inhabitant of any particular region : he ranges over every part of the globe, and elicits nourishment from the productions of every climate. It may be therefore necessary that he should accompany the ingestion of foreign aliment with foreign condiment. If we go to the East for tea, there is no reason why we should not go to the West for sugar. The dyspeptic invalid, however, should be cautious in their use; they may afford temporary benefit at the expense of permanent mischief. It has been well said, that the best quality of spices is to stimulate the appetite, and their worst to destroy, by insensible degrees, the tone of the stomach. The intrinsic goodness of meats should always be suspected, when they require spicy seasoning to compensate for their natural want of sapidity. But, mischievous as the abuse of aromatic condiments may be, it is innocent in comparison with the custom of swallowing a quantity of brandy to prevent the upbraiding of our stomachs, or an increased libation of wine to counteract the distress which supervenes a too copious meal-as if drunkenness were an antidote to gluttony.

"Oil and butter, constitute what is called the oleaginous condiments. Melted butter is, perhaps, the most injurious of all the inventions of cookery: oil, when used in extremely small quantities, as a seasoning to salads, appears to prevent their running into fermentation, and consequently obviates flatulency.'

Of the different kinds of water used as drink we are told

'Rain water, when collected in the open fields, is certainly the purest natural water, being produced as it were by a natural distillation. When, however, it is collected near large towns, it derives some impregnation from the smoky and contaminated atmosphere through which it falls; and, if allowed to come in contact with the houses, will be found to contain calcareous matter; in which case it ought never to be used without being previously boiled and strained. Hippocrates gave this advice; and M. Margraaf, of Berlin, has shown the wisdom of the precaution, by a satisfactory series of experiments.

Spring water, in addition to the substances detected in rain water, generally contains a small portion of muriate of soda, and frequently other salts: but the larger springs are purer than the smaller ones; and those which occur in primitive countries, and in silicious rocks, or beds of gravel, necessarily contain the least impregnation. An important practical distinction has been founded upon the fact, that the water of some springs dissolves soap, while that of others decomposes and curdles it: the former has been termed soft, the latter hard, water. Soft water is a more powerful solvent of all vegetable matters, and is consequently to be preferred for domestic as well as medicinal purposes. The brewer knows well, from experience, how much more readily and copiously soft water will dissolve the extractive matter of his malt; and the housewife does not require to be told, that hard water is incapable of making good tea. Sulphate of lime is the salt which generally imparts the quality of hardness to water; and it has

been said that its presence will sometimes occasion an uneasy sense of weight in a weak stomach. The quantity of this salt varies considerably; but, in general, it appears that the proportion of five grains in a pint of water will constitute hardness, unfit for washing with scap, and for many other purposes of domestic use. Animals appear to be more sensible of the impurities of water than man. Horses, by an instinctive sagacity, always prefer soft water; and when, by necessity or inattention, they are confined to the use of that which is hard, their coats become rough and ill-conditioned, and they are frequently attacked with the gripes. Pigeons are also known to refuse hard, after they have been accustomed to soft water.

'River water.—This, being derived from the conflux of numerous springs with rain water, generally possesses considerable purity; that the proportion of its saline contents should be small, is easily explained by the precipitation which must necessarily take place from the union of different solutions: it is, however, liable to hold in suspension particles of earthy matter, which impair its transparency, and sometimes its salubrity. This is particularly the case with the Seine, the Ganges, and the Nile: but as the impurities are, for the most part, only suspended, and not truly dissolved, mere rest or filtration will therefore restore to it its original purity. The chemist, therefore, after such a process, would be unable to distinguish water taken up at London from that procured at Hampton-court. There exists a popular belief, that the water of the Thames is peculiarly adapted for the brewery of porter; it is only necessary to observe, that such water is never used in the London breweries. The vapid taste of river, when compared with spring, water, depends upon the loss of air and carbonic acid, from its long exposure.

'Well water is essentially the same as spring water, being derived from the same source; it is, however, more liable to impurity from its stagnation or slow infiltration: hence our old wells furnish much purer water than those which are more recent, as the soluble particles are gradually washed away. Mr. Dalton observes, that the more any spring is drawn from, the softer the water will become.

Snow water has been supposed to be unwholesome, and in particular to produce bronchocele, from the prevalence of that disease in the Alps; but it does not appear upon what principle its insalubrity can depend. The same strumous affection occurs at Sumatra, where ice and snow are never seen; while, on the contrary, the disease is quite unknown in Chili and Thibet, although the rivers of those countries are supplied by the melting of the snow with which the mountains are covered. The same observations will apply to ice water. The trials of Captain Cook, in his voyage round the world, prove its wholesomeness beyond a doubt: in the high southern latitudes he found a salutary supply of fresh water in the ice of the sea. "This melted ice,' says Sir John Pringle, was not only sweet but soft, and so wholesome as to show the fallacy of human reasoning, unsupported by experiments.' When immediately melted, snow water

6

contains no air, as it is expelled during the act of freezing, consequently it is remarkably vapid; but it soon recovers the air it had lost, by exposure to the atmosphere.

Lake water is a collection of rain, spring, and river waters, contaminated with various animal and vegetable matter, which from its stagnant nature have undergone putrefaction in it. This objection may be urged with greater force against the use of water collected in ponds and ditches, and which the inhabitants of some districts are often under the necessity of drinking. I have known an endemic diarrhoea to arise from such a circumstance.

'Marsh water, being the most stagnant, is the most impure of all water, and is generally loaded with decomposing vegetable matter. There can be no doubt, that numerous diseases have sprung up from its use.'

The juices and infusions of vegetable and animal matter,' says Dr. Paris, constitute the second division of drinks. By impregnating water with the soluble parts of toasted bread, it will frequently agree with those stomachs which rebel against the use of the pure fluid. It is thus rendered slightly nutritive, holding a certain portion of gum and starch in solution. Sir A. Carlisle recommends that it should be prepared with hard biscuit, reduced by fire to a coffee color. This drink, he says, being free from yeast, is a most agreeable beverage. Much depends upon the water being at a boiling temperature, and it ought to be drank as soon as it has cooled sufficiently; for, by keeping, it acquires an unpleasant flavor. Infusions of other kinds of bread, in particular of toasted oat-cakes, also dried or toasted oatmeal, have been recommended; but the taste of such finfusions would not be palatable to any one who has not been accustomed to oat-bread.

'Barley water. The decoction of barley is a very ancient beverage: it is recommended by Hippocrates, and preferred by him to every other aliment in acute diseases. Barley has the advantage over other grains, in affording less viscid potations. The invention of pearl barley has greatly increased the value of this grain; it is prepared by the removal of its husk or cuticle, and afterwards by being rounded and polished in a mill. These well-known granules consist chiefly of fecula, with portions of mucilage, gluten, and sugar, which water extracts by decoction: but the solution soon passes into the acetous fermentation. The bran of barley contains an acrid resin, and it is to get rid of such an ingredient that it is deprived of its cuticle. The addition of lemon juice and sugar-candy greatly improve the flavor of this drink.

"Gruel.-Oats, when freed from their cuticle, are called groats; in which state, as well as when ground into meal, they yield to water, by coction, the fecula they contain, and form a nutritious gruel, which has also the property of being slightly aperient. It should never be kept longer than forty-eight hours, as it becomes acescent after that period. Gruel may be made of a different degree of consistence, according to the object of its potation. If it be used as a demulcent drink, it should be thin; and may be made, as Dr. Kitchener, our culinary censor,

informs us, by mixing well together, by degrees, in a piat basin, one table-spoonful of oatmeal with three of cold water, and then adding carefully a pint of boiling water, which is to be oiled for five minutes, stirring it all the time, to revent the oatmeal from burning at the bottom of the stewpan; then strain through a hair sieve, to separate the undissolved parts of the meal from the gruel. If a more substantial repast is required, double the above quantity of oatmeal must be treated in a similar manner. To in crease the nutritive quality of this aliment, broth or milk may be substituted for water. Some persons are in the habit of introducing a piece of butter into gruel; but the propriety of this practice is questionable, where the stomach is disposed to generate acidity.

Sage tea.-The virtues of sage have been so extravagantly praised, that, like many of our remedies, the plant is fallen into disuse from the disgust which its panegyrists have excited. I am convinced, however, that in the form of infusion it possesses some power in allaying the irritability of the stomach, and that, on many occasions, it will furnish a salutary beverage. The same observation will apply to balm tea.' We cannot here find room for the entire observations of this author on TEA; but see this article.

When drunk four hours after the principal meal,' he observes, it will assist the ulterior stages of digestion, and promote the insensible perspiration; while it will afford to the stomach a grateful stimulus after its labors. In enumerating, however, the advantages of tea, it must not be forgotten that it has introduced and cherished a spirit of sobriety; and it must have been remarked by every physician of general practice, that those persons who dislike tea, frequently supply its place by spirit and water. The addition of milk certainly diminishes the astringency of tea; that of sugar may please the palate, but cannot modify the virtues of the infusion.

Coffee. The hostility which has been manifested against the use of tea has been extended, with equal rancour, against that of coffee; and, probably, with equal injustice. The principle upon which its qualities depend is more stimulant than that of tea, and certainly exerts a different species of action upon the nervous system, although it is very difficult to define the nature of this difference. If taken immediately after a meal, it is not found to create that disturbance in its digestion which has been noticed as the occasional consequence of tea; on the contrary, it accelerates the operations of the stomach, and will frequently enable the dyspeptic to digest substances, such as fat and oily aliment, which would otherwise occasion much disturbance. The custom of taking coffee immediately after dinner, as so universally practised by the French, no doubt must counteract the evil effects which the peculiar form of their diet is calculated to produce. Coffee, like tea, has certainly an antisoporific effect on many individuals; it imparts an activity to the mind which is incompatible with sleep but this will rarely occur if the beverage be taken for several

hours before our accustomed period of repose. It seems to be generally admitted, that it possesses the power of counteracting the effects of narcotics; and hence it is used by the Turks with much advantage, in abating the influence of the inordinate quantities of opium they are accustomed to swallow. Where our object is to administer it as a promoter of digestion, it should be carefully made by infusion; decoction dissipates its aroma. The addition of milk is one of unquestionable propriety; that of sugar, or rather sugar-candy, may be allowed. I have known some persons who have never taken this beverage without suffering from acidity in the stomach: where this happens, the practice must be abandoned.

"Chocolate.-In consequence of the large quantity of nutritive matter which this liquid contains, it should be regarded,' Dr. Paris observes, rather as food than drink. It is prepared by reducing the cocoa-nut into paste, with sugar, milk, or eggs: it is also frequently mixed with different aromatics, the most common of which is the vanilla, a substance very liable to disagree with the stomach, and to produce a train of nervous symptoms. As a common beverage, chocolate is highly objectionable; it contains an oil which is difficult of assimilation; it therefore oppresses the stomach: this effect is of course increased by the application of too much heat in its preparation. Another objection against its use is to be found in the observations which I have already offered upon the subject of too great concentration.

Cocoa is usually considered as a substitute for chocolate. As it contains less nutritive matter, it is not so objectionable; and, as the aily matter exists only in small quantities, it is less likely to disagree with the stomach.

Whey is a delightful beverage; but as its nature and operation cannot be well understood until the composition of milk is investigated, the observations which I have to offer upon its use will be deferred until the history of that fluid has been examined.

'There are certain saline solutions which are frequently employed as drinks, and deserve some attention in this place: such are imperial and soda water. Imperial is a solution of cream of tartar flavored with lemon peel. It ought never to be used except as a medicine. If employed as an ordinary drink, it is apt to retard digestion. If ever useful as an article of diet, it will be under circumstances of robust health, and where a large quantity of animal food has been taken.

"Soda Water.-The modern custom of drinking this inviting beverage during, or immediately after dinner, has been a pregnant source of dyspepsia. By inflating the stomach at such a period, we inevitably counteract those muscular contractions of its coats which are essential to chymification. The quantity of soda thus introduced scarcely deserves notice: with the excep tion of the carbonic acid gas, it may be regarded as water, more mischievous only in consequence of the exhilarating quality inducing us to take it at a period at which we should not require the more simple fluid.'

Of Malt liquors.-Dr. Paris says, 'malt

liquors differ from wines in several essential points: they contain a much larger proportion of nutritive matter, and a less proportion of spirit; while they contain a peculiar bitter and narcotic principle derived from the hop. It would appear, that the extractive matter furnished by the malt is highly nutritive; and we accordingly find, that those persons addicted to such potations are in general fat. Where, however, they are indulged in to any extent, without a corresponding degree of exercise, they induce a plethoric state of the Lody, and all the diseases consequent upon such a condition. To those whose diet is not very nutritive, ale may be considered not only as an innocent, but as a salubrious article; and happy is that country, whose labouring classes prefer such a beverage to the mischievous potations of ardent spirit. These remarks, however, cannot apply to those classes of the community who 'fare sumptuously every day.' They will not require a nutritive potation of such a character; and light wines have accordingly, in these days of luxury, very properly superseded its use: but I am not disposed to extend this remark to its more humble companion, table-beer.' I regard its dismissal from the tables of the great as a matter of regret; its slight, but invigorating bitter is much better adapted to promote digestion than its more costly substitutes. But it should be soft and mild; for, when stale and hard, it is likely to disturb the bowels, and occasion effects the very opposite to those it is intended to produce. Nor ought it to have too great a proportion of hops, but should be thoroughly fermented and purified. Sydenham always took a glass of small beer at his meals, and he considered it as a preservative against gravel.'

For WINE, see that article.

On the subject of the food of the poor we have seen no remarks more intelligent than those of Count Rumford, in his ingenious Essay on Food. He observes; 'There is, perhaps, no operation of nature which falls under the cognizance of our senses, more surprising, or more curious, than the nourishment and growth of plants and animals; and there is certainly no subject of investigation more interesting to mankind. As providing subsistence is, and ever must be, an object of the first concern in all countries, any discovery or improvement by which the procuring good and wholesome food can be facilitated, must contribute very powerfully to increase the comforts and promote the happiness of society. That our knowledge in regard to the science of nutrition is still very imperfect, is certain; but I think there is reason to believe, that we are upon the eve of some very important discoveries relative to that mysterious operation. Since it has been known that water is not a simple element, but a compound, and capable of being decomposed, much light has been thrown upon many operations of nature, which formerly were wrapped up in obscurity. In vegetation, for instance, it has been rendered extremely probable, that water acts a much more important part than was formerly assigned to it by philosophers; that It serves not merely as the vehicle of nourishment, but constitutes at least one part, and pro

bably an essential part, of the food of plants; that it is decomposed by them, and contributes materially to their growth; and that manures serve rather to prepare the water for decomposition, than to form of themselves, substantially and directly, the nourishment of the vegetables. Now a very clear analogy may be traced, between the vegetation and growth of plants, and the digestion and nourishment of animals; and as water is indispensably necessary in both processes, and as in one of them (vegetation) it appears evidently to serve as food, why should we not suppose it may serve as food in the other? There is, in my opinion, abundant reason to suspect that this is really the case; and I shall now briefly state the grounds upon which this opinion is founded. Having been engaged for a considerable length of time in providing food for the poor at Munich, I was naturally led, as well by curiosity as motives of economy, to make a great variety of experiments upon that subject; and I had not proceeded far in my opinions, before I began to perceive that they were very important; even much more so than I had imagined. The difference in the apparent goodness, or the palatableness, and apparent nutritiousness of the same kinds of food, when prepared or cooked in different ways, struck me very forcibly; and I constantly found that the richness or quality of a soup depended more upon a proper choice of ingredients, and a proper management of the fire in the combination of these ingredients, than upon the quantity of solid nutritious matter employed; much more upon the art and skill of the cook, than upon the amount of the sums laid out in the market. I found likewise, that the nutritiousness of a soup, or its power of satisfying hunger, and affording nourishment, appeared always to be in proportion to its apparent richness or palatableness. But what surprised me not a little was, the discovery of the very small quantity of solid food, which, when properly prepared, will suffice to satisfy hunger, and support life and health; and the very trifling expense at which the stoutest and most laborious man may in any country be fed. After an experience of more than five years in feeding the poor at Munich, during which time every experiment was made that could be devised, not only with regard to the choice of the articles used as food, but also in respect to their different combinations and proportions, and to the various ways in which they could be prepared or cooked; it was found that the cheapest, most savoury, and most nourishing food that could be provided, was a soup composed of pearl barley, peas. potatoes, cuttings of fine wheaten bread, vinegar, salt and water, in certain proportions. The method of preparing this soup is as follows. The water and the pearl barley are first put together into the boiler, and made to boil; the peas are then added, and the boiling is continued over a gentle fire about two hours; the potatoes are then added (having been previously peeled with a knife, or having been boiled, in order to their being more easily deprived of their skins), and the boiling is continued for about one hour more; during which time the contents of the boiler are frequently stirred