Then Fruits May Be Eaten With Them?

"Yes, acid fruits, vegetables, cereals, butter, cream and bacon, but no lean meats."

What Would Be A Sufficient Quantity Of Beans For One Meal?

"Well, a saucer full weighing 4 to 6 ounces, would furnish sufficient amount of tissue forming food fur ordinary conditions without any meat or eggs."

Doctor, You Have Forgotten To Mention Bean Soup, Have You Not?

"That is a good way to use the legumes. They should be boiled for several hours and then strained. Beans make a wholesome delicious soup in many respects, superior to meat soups, especially for those persons who are subject to uric acid diseases, such as sick headache, but soups should be avoided by persons of slow digestion or where there is dilatation of stomach."

How About Young String Beans?

"They are good if chopped fine enough so that the strings are not harmful; otherwise the tough fibrous threads interfere with digestion in the stomach and obstruct the intestines. For constipation there is nothing better among all the garden vegetables than string beans."

Doctor What Can You Say About The Properties Of Asparagus?

"It is a vegetable that is used early in the season as the young tender shoots first put forth. It is quite similar to peas in flavor and is much prized by many people."

In What Way Is It Different From Peas, Doctor?

"It contains several properties not found in peas and has some medicinal properties. In composition, it is peculiar to itself, and while it contains a high proportion of tissue forming substance as compared with heat producit contains so large a per cent of water (over 93), it does not amount to a great deal as a food. In addition to the elements named, it contains gum, a little sugar, resin, stringy fibers, asparagine, acetate, malate. phosphate and muriate of potash and lime, and nitrate of iron. It is diuretic, and is said to be somewhat irritating to the mucus membranes. Its effects and the reason for them are not very well known, but are supposed to result from the mineral substances set free during the process of digestion. It is usually eaten on toast."

Doctor, What Are The Properties Of Arrow Root And Where Does It Come From?

"Arrow Root is a starch extracted from a tuber that grows in the West Indies, principally Bermuda. The tubers are washed, dried, and then pulverized, and are nearly pure starch."

Has It Any Particular Uses?

"Yes, it is easy to prepare, keeps longer than corn or potato starch, is a bland non-irritating substance and is much used for convalescents and in infant foods. Where there is inflamation of the stomach and the bowels are not affected, such preparations as Arrow Root and those of a kindred nature are of great value, because they give the stomach almost complete rest and yet furnish something on which to sustain life. It is not suitable for infants under 8 months of age; in fact, no solid food or starches of any kind should be given children until after they are eight or ten months old."

What Is Tapioca?

"Tapioca is very similar to arrowroot. It is made from a plant known as manihot, which grows in Brazil, Central and other South American countries, also in the West Indies and Africa."

Is It Much Used In These Countries?

"Yes, a flour and bread is made of it and it forms an important part of the natives' diet."

What Causes It's Peculiar Shape, Doctor?

"The tapioca of commerce takes its form in consequence of the method of drying on hot plates. The heat used in drying bursts the starch globule thereby making them more easily dissolved."

What Food Preparations Are Made Of It?

"It is used principally as a gruel and for pudding, and said to be particularly relished by infants at weaning. It does not sour as quickly as many other starches and is on the whole, a very pleasant and nutritious food, but requires, as in fact all starches do, some considerable tissue forming food or else the diet will be such as would cause disease of some kind. It is often flavored in various ways to add to its palatableness. Sago is another starchy food very similar to tapioca and arrow root. It is derived from the pith found in different varieties of palm in Java, Borneo and Sumatra."

What Special Preparations Are Made Of Sago, Doctor?

"Sago milk is prepared by soaking an ounce of sago in a pint of cold water for an hour or more and then draining off the water and adding one and a half ounces of milk. This is gradually heated until the sago flour is thoroughly incorporated with the milk. This adds much to the digestibility of the milk and makes a valuable food for persons recovering from fevers or other lingering illness. Sago gruel is made by soaking an ounce of the starch to each part of cold water for two hours then boiling for about 20 minutes. Sago does not differ much from either arrow root or tapioca, and the same methods of cooking and the same uses can be applied to all."

What Is Iceland Moss?

"It is a lichen sometimes used as a food. It is made into bread in some countries. It's principal ingredients are gum and starch. It is also used in the food known as Blanc Mange. It has been recommended by some eminent physicians as suitable for use for diabetics. Many forms of sea weed and mosses are used by the Japanese and other people of Oriental countries, but very sparingly in this. Next to potatoes perhaps cabbage is the most favorably known of all the garden vegetables. It is used entirely in its green state. No method of preserving it except in sour kraut has so far as known ever been attempted."

Of What Use Is Cabbage, Doctor?

"That is rather difficult to answer. It's a vegetable that is much relished by most people. It contains about 93 per cent water and would require a large bulk to amount to much as food. The properties are not in bad proportion, as the tissue forming elements being about 2 per cent are nearly one half the heat producing element, which is about 4 per cent. Cabbage contains the stringy fibers common to many vegetables, and this is the reason doubtless why it disagrees with many people. Boiling or cooking softens the starch and other elements of the cab-bage, but does not destroy the stringy fibers."