This textbook has been compiled in response to an ever increasing demand from instructors of Domestic Science for a book which can be placed in the hands of the student to use as a laboratory manual in the school, and as a practical cookbook in the home.

To this end facts already being taught in well-established schools of Domestic Science have here been arranged in a concise manner, but much has been omitted that the instructor will necessarily supply according to the needs of her school and locality. Sanitation, chemistry of cleaning, shelter, and many other subjects included under the term Domestic Science have not been considered here, as a proper treatment of them would produce sufficient material for another textbook.

The contents of this book are confined largely to the subjects of food and nutrition and the application of heat to foods. Although the study of the natural sciences should be correlated with a course in Domestic Science, the text has not presupposed much knowledge of chemistry, physics, etc., on the part of the student.

In view of the varying conditions that prevail in domestic science courses it has not been thought best to introduce any discussion of methods of instruction, but the arrangement and presentation of lessons has been left to the discretion of the instructor.

It is earnestly hoped that the text will prove of genuine assistance to classes which are now overburdened with note-taking in gathering the fundamental principles of the science of food and nutrition.

The author wishes to acknowledge a debt of gratitude to various standard authorities, freely quoted in the text.