Doctor, You Are Not Going To Forget The Hog, Are You?

"No, I see him too often for that; but I guess you mean pork."

"Yes, I mean the porker."

"Pork probably forms the most important part of a meat eater's diet; at least, more people eat pork than beef."

A Great Many People Say Pork Is Not Fit To Eat?

"Yes; some people say the same thing of beef, while there are others who say that neither is fit to eat."

But Why Should There Be More Prejudice Against Pork Than Other Meats?

"Well, it may be that some people believe that the devils that were driven into the swine are still there, but most likely the prejudice to pork is because of the amount of fat it contains."

Does Not Fat Have As Much Place As Lean Meat For A Proper Diet?

"The needs of the system for fat are certainly just as urgent as for lean meat, but from the fact that ordinarily it does not require as much fat as lean, it is for that reason supposed, by many, to be unnecessary. iTien again, many people take the fats needed in the form of butter, cream or oils."

What Real Value Has Fat For Food?

"Well, that will be treated under fats and oils. This much, however, might be said, that fat for many people is somewhat nauseating."

Why So?

"That is exceedingly difficult to determine, but one thing is well known, that when consumption has once taken hold, it frequently happens that one of the first and most noticeable signs is repugnance to fat. Just why it should cause nausea, is difficult to say."

Don't Fat Agree With Some People Better Than Lean?

"Yes, it does. Some people have good pancreatic digestion and can therefore eat fat meat and starches without the slightest feeling of discomfort, while the same person may not be able to tolerate any lean meat without feeling great distress, such as weight in the stomach, etc."

What Effect Has The Fat Meat As Compared With The Lean?

"Well, the primary or first use of lean meat is to supply tissue, while that of fat is to supply heat, although fat enters into many tissues, but does not form the frame-work or connective part."

Then The Reason That Pork Is More Difficult To Digest Is Because Of The Excess Of Fat It Contains?

"That is probably the principal reason, although pork is a firmer meat than beef, and is, therefore, naturally more difficult to disintegrate."

How About The Composition Of Pork?

"Well, it. does not differ greatly from ordinary beef in amount of tissue-forming food, but has from double to three times the amount of fat, but less water."

The Question Naturally Arises Whether Salt Meat Or Fresh Meat Is The Most Healthful?

"That is easy to settle so far as digestion is concerned. Salt in considerable amount itself retards digestion. Besides that, meats that have been heavily salted become very firm. It follows then, that if salted meat be fried, the salt, together with the process of frying, makes the meat almost or entirely indigestible. The objection to fried meat has already been explained, but perhaps it ought to be repeated so many times that the people would get tired of seeing it, because there is no one article of food which does so much mischief as fried meat. Fat bacon not included."

How Then Would You Treat Bacon?

"Bacon, if all fat, is comparatively easy to digest, and would not be more difficult than any of the other fats, and while frying is objectionable for bacon, it is far less so than for lean meat. Broiled bacon is comparatively easily digested, and if fat food be needed, it is well-nigh as valuable as butter or cream."

Suppose Ham Or Pork Be Boiled?

"Boiled ham is as good as other meat, for the boiling takes up a considerable portion of the salt and makes the meat much more soluble; in fact, there is no comparison between boiled and fried ham. In certain diseases of the stomach, boiled ham is the most useful of all meats."

How About The Composition Of Ham?

"It has about the same general composition as pork - 10 or 18 per cent, of tissue-forming food; and 35 to 40 per cent of fat."

Is Fresh Pork A Good Article Of Diet?

"It might do very well for people who have been around the world four or five times."

"But not many people have been around the world that many times."

"That's the point."

Doctor, I Suppose That Chickens And Turkeys Stand First Among Common Meats?

"That is true; for the chicken is always an easy victim, and can be caught and forced into the pot after company comes."

But That Don't Make It Good. What Is Its Value As Food?

"Of all the meat foods, it is the richest in tissue-formers. It contains only a very small per cent of fat, is not very tough, and there are no unusual difficulties or objections to it. We can therefore say that on the whole, it is the most digestible of all the common meats. The dark meat of a chicken is richer and more difficult to digest than the white."

What Is The Difference Between The Chicken And The Turkey?

"The turkey contains more fat, but both contain on an average nearly twenty-five per cent of tissue-forming food. The chicken, ordinarily, has only three or four per cent of fat, while the turkey has eight or ten."

Are Chickens And Turkeys Different From Ducks And Geese?

"Not very different, except that both ducks and geese contain more fat. This is especially true of the goose, for it has been known to be more than one-third fat. Fowls like turkeys and geese, containing a large amount of fat, are less digestible than chicken."

How Does Wild Game, Such As Pigeons, Quails And Partridges, Compare With Chicken?

"The properties are about the same, only as a rule they are more tender."

How Should These Various Kinds Of Fowls Be Cooked?

"By stewing or roasting. It is just as objectionable to fry chickens as it is beef, for the same reason; that is, that the fat, to some extent, prevents the action of digestive juices in the stomach."