It goes without saying that if cooked meat is cut up into chunks and swallowed whole it might embarrass the digestion, but there is no rational indication for doing by machinery the work that is supposed to be done by the teeth. As a rule, the tuberculous patient can spend a full three quarters of an hour at his heavier meals. His meat should, in common with all the rest of the food which he takes, be reduced to a thin creamy condition by a thorough chewing and mixing with the saliva before it is swallowed. If it is thus finely divided by the teeth and mixed with saliva it will be very much more fully enjoyed by the patient, very much more quickly and easily digested, very much more completely absorbed and assimilated than if chewed by machinery.

As to the use of fats it must be evident from what has preceded that the free use of this type of food is indicated especially to afford the heat required to keep up body temperature in the out-of-door life, especially during those hours when the patient is asleep out of doors. The most easily digested fat being milk fat, the patient should use whole milk if possible, and should use cream freely with the cereals, vegetables, and fruits. Butter may be introduced very freely into the dietary. It may be used with eggs; it may be used on bread and with vegetables, and even be spread upon a steak or chop as it comes smoking hot from the grill. The fat from bacon is comparatively easily digested and two or three slices of crisp brown bacon may be eaten at breakfast.

Vegetable fat in the form of olive oil may also be taken freely. This fat is perhaps more easily digested if it is made into an emulsion before taking. The most pleasing emulsion of olive oil is made with the yolk of a hard-boiled egg in the form of a mayonnaise. Mayonnaise dressings are very palatable to most persons and there is no reason why they should not be taken very freely by tuberculous patients, as a dressing for spinach or other greens, or for tomatoes or lettuce.

As to carbohydrates, they must be taken freely, but considerable care should be taken in the choice and in the preparation. Green vegetables and fruits furnish only a moderate amount of carbohydrates and can hardly be looked upon as an important source of carbohydrate food for consumptives. It is important, however, that these patients have plenty of fruit and at least one dish of vegetables daily. All fruit that is taken fresh should be very carefully selected, and should be thoroughly ripe. Grapes may be used freely, pears, peaches, oranges, plums; among the green vegetables, such easily digestible things as cauliflower, spinach, ripe tomatoes, green corn, green peas. Care should be taken in the selection of these; they should be thoroughly cooked, and may be served with butter or cream sauce.

A much more important source of carbohydrates is found in the roots and tubers; the white potato is a staple source for starch and may be used freely by the consumptive patient. The best method of preparing it is baking or boiling. All fried foods should be excluded from the diet of the tuberculous patient.

The cereals furnish not only an important source of carbohydrates but also of the proteins. These foods may be used freely.

Such preparations as oatmeal porridge, the various wheat and corn preparations, may be taken for breakfast with sugar and cream. Bread is the most important staple article of diet from cereal sources. The importance of keeping the bowels regular leads one to advise the use of the coarser breads, such as whole wheat and graham bread. All hot breads, and particularly those made from the fine white flour, should be strictly prohibited, because of the difficulty of their proper mastication and insalivation.

Among animal fats cod-liver oil is a time-honored source, especially important because of its easy digestion. It becomes very readily emulsified because of the presence in the fat of biliary acids; their presence perhaps also increases the easy absorption. Cod-liver oil is a valuable addition to the diet, especially for tuberculous children, and whenever given it should come about two hours after the meal, when it will be quickly carried through the stomach into the intestine, from which it is readily absorbed. For adults who have a fairly good digestion it is doubtful if cod-liver oil has any advantages, particularly if it is distasteful.

A day's regime for a non-febrile case may well begin with the drinking of two cups of hot water an hour before breakfast. This water will pass out of the stomach before breakfast.

All collected mucus passes out along with the water to lubricate the contents of the canal and facilitate a free normal passage of the bowels after breakfast. The breakfast may consist of buttered toast, two soft-boiled or poached eggs, a baked potato, two or three slices of bacon, and a cup or two of hot drink, preferably whole milk flavored with coffee or tea. The use of these stimulants in greater amounts than just sufficient to flavor the milk may interfere with digestion, and, because of this danger, it is wiser to run no risks. After this ample breakfast, the patient may lie down on a couch in the sunshine. If it is on a veranda and the weather is cold, the patient should be sufficiently bundled up to keep him comfortably warm. If within a sun parlor, or inclosed veranda, one should make certain that the ventilation makes the air practically as pure as that out of doors. After half an hour to an hour's rest the patient may engage in some very light exercise for an hour. If he is able to take a ride in a carriage this would probably be about the best form of exercise. If he has no carriage he will have to be satisfied with walking around the block. He should, during the rest of the morning, occupy his mind with anything that will divert his attention from himself. He may be obliged to look after some business affairs, or, in the case of a mother who is unable to get away from her family, this is the time of day when she can devote an hour or two to such duties and responsibilities as cannot be shifted to other shoulders. However, if there is a possibility of relieving the tuberculous patient during a few months from all responsibility and necessity for mental or physical work, that should by all means be done. Assuming that the patient has been thus relieved, we will suggest, then, as a morning occupation after the sun bath and the light exercise, reading. This reading should be chosen with some care with reference to occupying the mind fully, at the same time affording entertainment and diverting the attention from the patient himself. At one o'clock lunch may be served and may consist of a cream-of-vegetable soup, fricassee of chicken with boiled potato, whole wheat bread and butter, gelatin pudding with whipped cream, a glass of whole milk iced. It may be stated in this connection that all drinks should be sipped and not gulped. This is especially important in the taking of cold drinks, as the iced milk just mentioned. If a whole glass were taken in half a dozen swallows, it is not unlikely that it might seriously interfere with the work of the stomach; but if taken a sip at a time, held in the mouth, and mixed with saliva, so long as it retains its taste until it gradually slips down the esophagus almost without the knowledge, surely without any conscious effort on the part of the patient, then the milk will be very easily digested and will not form large curds in the stomach.