IN the preparation of this book the aim has not been to furnish a complete cook-book, or to cater to the widely prevalent desire for new receipts and elaborate dishes; but rather to prepare such a study of food and explanation of general principles in connection with practical lessons in plain cookiug as should be adapted to the use of classes in public and industrial schools.

There is a great lack of knowledge, even among experienced housekeepers, of the nature of food and its proper combinations, and much unwholesome cooking has been the result of this ignorance.

Much of the dislike which many girls have for cooking arises from their want of success, and the failure is ascribed to ill luck, poor material, incorrect receipts, or to any cause but the true one, - ignorance of first principles.

Cooking cannot be well done by guess-work. There is a right way and a wrong way, and the right way is usually the easier. To show this right way and the reason for it, has been our endeavor in preparing these lessons.

Beginners in the art should strive for a thorough understanding of the principles that underlie all culinary work. This is essential to success, both in the preparation of the simple food adapted to the daily table and in the intricate labor of the chef in charge of some grand entertainment.

Above all, our object has been to elevate this department of work ; to show its bearing upon many vital questions; to impress upon girls that all work well done is honorable; and that it is as really a part of education to be able to blacken a stove, to scour a tin, or to prepare a tempting meal of whole-some food, as it is to be able to solve a problem in geometry, to learn a foreign language, to teach a school, to decorate a plaque, to make an elegant gown, or to interpret the melodies and harmonies of the great masters in music.

We have endeavored to show that there is something more in cooking than the mere putting of certain materials together for the gratification of the palate; that it is not all manual labor, but requires study, and that it ought not to be considered drudgery or done in a careless, slipshod, untidy fashion. And more than all else we have insisted that the health and comfort of the family depend upon the wholesome and economical preparation of the daily food.

It cannot be expected to make professional cooks in twenty lessons. But it is confidently believed that if school-girls once master the elementary principles which these lessons illustrate, they can, with practice at home, acquire a degree of skill sufficient to do all that is necessary in plain family living. And when this foundation is secured and a respect for the work developed they can do more. They can take any reliable cooking formula and work it out unaided, and in time detect errors in proportions and invent new combinations.

Youth is the time to begin to acquire this, as well as other knowledge. Many a young housekeeper overwhelmed with responsibility regrets that her mother did not require her to learn these things in her girlhood. No matter how high her social position may be, no girl is sure of retaining it through life. Though in her youthful conceit she may boast of never scrubbing a floor, or washing a dish, and may think it commendable to be ignorant of the mysteries of the kitchen, the time may come when she will have harder work than this to do, and will be thankful if there is one thing she can do well, even if it be but the washing of dishes or the cooking of wholesome food.

And if her position should chance to be that of a director of such work, rather than a doer of it, this practical knowledge will be even more valuable. For those can direct best who can do best; and those can do best in any department of work who begin in early life and learn by experience much that can be learned in no other way.

If we can awaken in school-girls an enthusiasm for the performance of the common duties of life, an important part of our purpose will have been accomplished.

The author wishes to acknowledge her indebtedness to Miss A. M. Homans, at whose suggestion this manual was prepared ; to Miss Hope, and other teachers in the Boston School Kitchens for their help in the practical working out of these lessons; and to Mrs Richards, of the Institute of Technology, for her assistance in revising the scientific portion of the work.

Mary J. Lincoln.