Some foods are more palatable when cold, especially in hot weather, and means are often used to make them very cold. This is done by freezing. Ice-creams - mixtures of cream, milk, eggs, sugar, and flavoring - and sherbets - or fruit and water ices - are often tempting to an invalid. They should be eaten slowly and in small quantity, or the digestive fluids will be too quickly chilled.

A patent freezer is a convenient article to have, but it is not a necessity, for a small quantity of cream may be frozen in a covered can or pail which is surrounded by broken ice and coarse salt.

Salt has a great attraction for water, and causes the ice to melt; and ice, in changing from a solid to a liquid, absorbs heat. The mixture of melted ice and coarse rock salt is many degrees colder than the ice alone; cold enough to reduce to the freezing-point the temperature of any substance placed in the ice and salt. The finer the ice is crushed the quicker it melts, and the more the mixture is stirred the sooner all parts become chilled.