Then, I Suppose You Mean That They Are Objectionable Only When They Are Not Well Made?

"Not exactly. They may be very palatable, yet very unwholesome. There are two serious objections to biscuits - as a rule, they are insufficiently baked, so that they are sticky and become an insoluble mass when eaten; and the other objection is because of the chemicals used to make'them light. Baking powders contain a great variety of ingredients, some of which are very unpalatable and nauseous. Many of them contain alum and ammonia. Alum is a dangerous astringent, while perhaps more real harm is done by ammonia. Whenever you break open a hot biscuit and can smell ammonia, it might he well to bear in mind that you have the equivalent of what you would most strongly smell upon entering a horse stable."

"Aside from bread, the preparation of wheat most extensively used is crackers. There are many ways of making what is ordinarily termed crackers, but their food value is substantially the same, with a slight variation, according to the amount of shortening or sweetening that may be added."

Some People Think Dry Crackers Very Unwholesome?

"In that they make a mistake. Being composed principally of starch, their dryness is an advantage rather than disadvantage, for they cannot be swallowed without mastication, and in doing this the particles of starch become more or less thoroughly saturated with saliva - as this is an important digestive agent for starches, it should be understood that it is better to eat starchy food dry. The United States army physicians say the soldier's health cannot be maintained without some dry substance on which to bite. The theory of this is that in using soft foods exclusively the uses and functions of saliva are partly or entirely dispensed with, throwing the digestion of starches entirely upon the pancreas and other solvents in the intestinal canal. This very fact of compelling one set of organs to do the work of another is one of the great sources of ill health. If people could only be brought to understand that starch is largely digested in the mouth, from the saliva received there, it might be possible to keep them from swallowing their food without chewing it. The ignorance on this subject is almost astonishing. Even a physician was recently heard to remark that he couid not eat dry crackers; chat his stomach was too weak to dissolve them.

This no doubt was said without stopping to consider that starch is not digested at all in the stomach, only to the extent that the digestion continues for a short time from the effects of the saliva received in the mouth.

"Macaroni is an Italian preparation, and it forms a large part of their diet. It is made from wheat and generally supposed to contain a higher per cent of search than flour, but recent analysis disprovesthis. Its stringy form is obtained by forcing dough through small perforations in a cylindrical sheet of metal. It is very similar to bread in its properties, and the only objection to it is that is not as friable as could be desired. By this we mean that the particles adhere together and do not separate readily by either cooking or by chewing, but if well masticated, macaroni is a wholesome, nutricious food."

Doctor, Are There Not A Good Many Preparations Of Wheat In The Shape Of Meal, Breakfast Foods, Etc.?

"Yes, their use is just becoming understood, and too much cannot be said in favor of them. Even whole wheat, when it is washed and boiled for six or eight hours, makes a wholesome and nutritious food. Many people think it quite palatable when cream is added to it. Modern milling processes have given the people various preparations of wheat of the highest excellence."

Which Of The Various Wheat Preparations Do You Prize Most Highly?

"That would depend upon the use desired. Wheat germ meal (put up under various names of wheat germ, germea, breakfast foods, perhaps many other names) is one of the most valuable of all our foods."

Doctor, You Seem To Give Wheat The First Place As A Food. Are There Any Preparations Of Wheat You Can Specially Recommend For Different Conditions?

"There are a number of good wheat foods, and anyone who can increase their use as a food in place of many that are less desirable is a public benefactor, One of the concerns that has done this is the Purina mills of St. Louis."