Meat-Tea

"Pat one pound each of beef, mutton, and veal, cut into small pieces, into three pints of cold water. It should simmer for three or four hours, but not boil. When finished, the tea should be carefully strained, and seasoned with salt, and Cayenne pepper if preferred."

Cream-Soup

" Take one quart of good stock (mutton or veal), cut one onion into quarters, slice three potatoes very thin, and put them into the stock with a small piece of mace; boil gently for an hour; then strain out the onion and mace; the potatoes should, by this time, have dissolved in the stock. Add one pint of milk, mixed with a very little corn-flour to make it about as thick as cream. A little butter improves it. This soup may be made with milk instead of stock, if a little cream is used."

Oatmeal-Soup

" Put two ounces of oatmeal in a basin, pour over it a pint of cold water, stir it, and let it stand a minute; then pour over it, quickly stirring all the time, a pint of good broth, pour through a fine strainer into a saucepan, taking care that none of the coarse part of the meal goes into the soup. Boil the soup for ten minutes, season and serve."

Artificial Digestion

We owe to Dr. Roberts, of Manchester, the introduction of partly digested foods, under the term "peptonized." The formulae below show the manner in which they are prepared. The liquor pancreati-cus mentioned is a solution of the pancreatic juice. This differs from the stomach-juice in that it requires an alkali to give it activity. It can now be obtained of the pharmaceutists or druggists.

Peptonized Milk

" Fresh milk is diluted with water in the proportion of three parts of milk to one part of water. A pint of this mixture is heated to boiling, and then poured into a covered jug. When it has cooled down to about 140° Fahr., one or two teaspoonfuls of the liquor pancreaticus, and a small pinch of bicarbonate of soda (in solution), are mixed therewith. The jug is then placed under a 'cozy' in a warm situation for one hour. At the end of this time the product is again boiled for a couple of minutes. It can then be used like ordinary milk."

Peptonized Milk-Gruel

" Half a pint of well-boiled gruel is added, while still boiling hot, to half a pint of cold milk in a covered jug. The mixture will have a temperature of about 125° Fahr. The liquor pancreaticus and the bicarbonate of soda are then added in the same proportion as in the preceding process. The jug is placed under a 'cozy' and kept warm for an hour and a half. The contents are then boiled for a couple of minutes, and the product is ready for use. By this second method the use of the thermometer is dispensed with."

Farinaceous foods are predigested by acting on their starchy constituents with malt or diastase. Of this variety are Mellin's. Horlick's, and Benger's. Mellin's is prepared of coarsely ground flour, to which malt and potash are added. The mixture is then exposed with some water to a moderate temperature, and dextrin and sugar formed. When used, a teaspoonful of the powder is mixed with two ounces of water and a half pint of milk. Horlick's food is similar. Both contain GO to 70 per cent of carbohydrates in a soluble form, and about 10 per cent of albuminoids. Benger's is also a preparation of wheat flour to which pancreatic extract is added. In preparing for use, a tablespoonful is dissolved in two ounces of cold milk, and to this is added, slowly, a half pint of boiling milk. To prevent further action of the ferment, it is then raised to the boiling point for a few minutes.

Another variety of predigested foods consists of those acted on by diastase and then evaporated with milk and cream. The mode in which these foods are prepared is as follows: Flour of wheat, rye, or other grains, but chiefly wheat, is first made into dough, which is baked, ground, and, mixed with condensed cream or milk, is then dried at a regulated temperature. Malt or diastase added, the starch is converted into maltose and dextrin, and the albuminoids become more soluble.

Nestle's food, one of the most popular, is prepared from fresh cow's milk which is sterilized, and then wheaten bread crust, previously acted on by dextrin at a proper temperature, is added. Sufficient cane sugar is also added, and the mass is finally dried and pulverized.

Malted milk belongs to this group of predigested aliments. It is sterilized milk mixed with extracts of barley and wheat, and dried in vacuo. The starch is converted into dextrin, and the casein is predigested. The powder thus prepared is used by mixing a teaspoonful with a pint of water.

Various objections are now urged against the use of predigested aliments. As a rule they have a bitter and disagreeable taste, and are not relished by the sick. As regards milk—which may be referred to as representative—the following changes occur in its composition, according to Leeds: By sterilization at 212° Fahr. milk loses its amylolytic ferment, the casein coagulates less readily by the action of rennet, and the digestibility of the casein is impaired. Of the foods acted on by predigestion, the theory is that they do not require the agency of the stomach, and are already prepared for absorption. Recent experiences render this doubtful. Foods thus prepared do not seem to possess the active nutritive properties of aliments that undergo ordinary digestion. Whenever, therefore, the stomach can dispose of foods in the ordinary way, the method of predigestion should not be employed.