Have Not A Great Many Writers Unduly Extolled The Healthfulness Of The Apple ?

"Perhaps they have; it certainly will not correct all the abuses that may be inflicted upon the system. It is only an aid when there is proper consideration as to the kind and quality of food consumed, and the habits are otherwise good."

What Are The Various Uses Of The Apple As An Article Of Diet?

"Probably the first is, that the apple adds variety to the diet, for it can be cooked in so many ways, it can hardly fail to revive a failing appetite. Apples that are not very sour may be used with the cereals to give them flavor. By a little care in this way, many persons can be induced to eat cereals, who would not otherwise eat them at all, because they do not like them. Its other uses depend upon its acids."

Then Apple Cider Must Be Good?

"Cider, being the juice of the apple, when fresh has about the same uses as the apple. Sweet cider has been known to benefit cases of aggravated constipation, when apparently nothing else would."

Why Is This?

"Very likely the great quantity of water together with the acid exerted a stimulating effect on the bowels without undue irritation."

Is Not Vinegar Made Of Cider?

"Yes, but the less said about vinegar or the less used the better, although cider vinegar is very palatable, due to small particles of the apple which gives it its flavor."

What Is The Best Way To Prepare Apples For Food?

"Apples are best either baked or stewed, though they may be cooked in other ways for variety."

Are Dried Apples Equally Wholesome?

"Dried apples are better than none at all, but not so good as the fresh, owing to the fact that water is evaporated. Bulk for bulk, dried apples are twice as rich as before drying."

Doctor, Awhile Ago You Spoke Of The Peach As Being A Source Of Digestive Disturbances; Would You Condemn It Because Of This?

"No, the peach is a very choice fruit, and probably more people like a good peach better than any other fruit."

Why Are They So Often The Source Of Disease?

"Because they ripen in hot weather and will not keep. The peach should be eaten within a few hours after it is pulled, and if it is not, it may become tainted, and cause violent gastric disturbance or diarrhoea."

Is There No Way Of Preventing This?

"No way except to get the people to understand that they must not eat stale fruit, but if they do it must be cooked, so that all bacteria may be destroyed and decay arrested."

Why Not Can Or Dry Peaches ?

"That is a good way. They can be kept very well. all the year. Good canned peaches are almost as good as fresh ones. What is known as pie peaches, containing green and solid lumps and more or less of the tough dirty skin of the peach, should not be used by anybody."

In What Does The Peach Differ From The Apple?

"It does not contain as much sugar, but as a rule more gum. The principal part of the peach, exclusive of water gum. The principal part of the peach, exclusive of water, is known as pectose, which is a sort of gum."

What Kind Of Acid Is Found In The Peach?

"Principally malic acid, the same as in the apple. Good peaches are almost as nutritious as apples, but much more care is needed in using them, because of the liability to either be green and tough, or over-ripe and tainted with decay. A choice peach not too green or too ripe, is one of the most delicious things with which nature has provided man."

"Doctor, a good many people prefer the pear to any other fruit."

"That is doubtless because of its sweet taste; otherwise, it is not so rich as many of the other fruits."

How Does It Compare With The Peach?

"Well, in a general way, it has about the same amount of water (83%), but the pear has about twice as much sugar (8%), and half as much gum or pectose. The food value, although different in character, amounts to about the same as the peach. The pear has but little acid, and it may therefore be used with any kind of food, because there is not sufficient quantity of acid to even coagulate milk to any noticeable extent."

What Would You Consider The Best Way To Use The Pear?

"Aside from its use as a pleasant fruit, it makes the best preserves and jam of any of the fruits, or at least, it is highly prized for that purpose."

"Some people declare the pear to be laxative, while others say it is astringent."

"Some varieties are astringent, but the excessive amount of sugar in the pear sometimes causes an abnormal fermentation, and results in diarrhoea; then again, the pear is frequently tough and may cause disturbances on this account. The same care is needed in using pears on account of being either hard or tainted with decay, as that of peaches. Owing to their large amount of sugar they should not be eaten by any one subject to sour stomach."

"The quince is the most solid of all the fruits, and unless well cooked is not eatable at all. It contains a large amount of malic acid and a great amount of gum. When thoroughly cooked, many people prize it highly for its flavor. It is slightly astringent."

Is There Any Other Use For It Than As A Stewed Fruit?

"It makes a jelly of the finest quality."

Doctor, I Suppose The Grape Is Almost Next To The Apple ?

"Probably considering its universal use, it certainly ranks high, and if not next to the apple, it ought to be considered at least one of the most valuable of all our fruits."

What Nutriment Is There In The Grape?

"That depends much on the variety. Some grapes have much less water than others. A fair average probably would be about 80% water, the principal other ingredient, besides waste, being sugar. In addition to the sugar, the grape has considerable tartaric acid, and when we consider the seed and skin, it has a very large amount of waste matter, but with these out as they should be, the waste matter is small. The grape has not enough nitrogen in it to make this element worth mentioning, and like the fruits just discussed, it is strictly a heat-producing food. There is also considerable mineral matter, soda, potash, magnesia and iron, in addition to tartaric acid."

I Have Heard Very Well-Informed People Say That Grape Juice Contained Very Nearly The Same Elements As Blood?

"When they said that, no matter who they were, they were talking rank nonsense, because the grape lacks a great deal of furnishing the necessary constitutents of the blood."

What Uses Has The Grape?

"It is a wholesome and pleasant fruit, if properly eaten."

Mow Is That?

"The pulp should be dissolved and no one should swallow either the seeds or the skin."

Has The Grape Any Particular Value In Disease?

"Yes, it has great value, but this will be considered under the head of disease."

What About Wine?

"Wine properly belongs with spirituous liquors."

Of What Are Raisins Made?

"Raisins are dried grapes, also what are known as English currants, are really only inferior raisins."

Are Raisins Healthful?

"They contain about the same properties as grapes, but owing to their toughness and their seeds, they should be cooked and thoroughly masticated, and any one who gives raisins to small children, does so at the risk of causing their death."