Boiled with an acid the starch is changed to dextrin, a substance resembling a gum, and the mixture becomes thin; and this process continued changes the dextrin to dextrose.

With intense "dry" heat, as in toasting, the granule expands and opens, and the contents change to dextrin. Continued heat reduces the starch to pure carbon. The brown color and pleasant flavor in toast are a stage on the road to carbon.

Sugar. Sugar first melts with heat, then begins to decompose, giving off water. This is also a stage on the road to pure carbon. Caramel, a familiar flavor, is sugar in the brown stage, with the water partly driven off.

The art in applying intense heat to fat, starch, and sugar is to know the stopping point, - to reach the "brown taste " and stop short of the "burnt taste."

Mineral matter. The "ash" remains for the most part unchanged by heat, but may be lost in the water in which vegetables and meat are cooked if the water is thrown away.

Vegetable fiber is softened by heat and moisture, and the protein, starch, fat, and sugar are freed, making them available for our digestion and nutrition.

Meat fiber softens at a low temperature, that is, below the boiling point of water, with moisture; continued intense heat shrinks and hardens it. A tender steak fried with fat in a hot pan will soon resemble sole leather.

14. Suggestions for the basket lunch.

I copied this from Farmers' Bulletin No. 712, by Miss Caroline L. Hunt:

Paper napkins or paper towels of much the same size are very useful for packing lunches, and, like paraffin and parchment paper, may now be bought at a low price.

Napkins can be made also out of cotton crepe at a cost of a very few cents each. The crepe may be bought by the yard, and should be cut into squares and fringed. Such napkins do not need to be ironed.

In packing the lunch basket put at the bottom the things least likely to crush, and wrap the sandwiches, etc., into neat parcels, not all in one. Paper cups; jelly tumblers with covers, which can now be bought in several sizes; bottles with screw tops, such as those in which candy and some other foods are sold; and small jars such as those in which some goods are sold by druggists, can all be used for packing jellies, jams, and honey, and other foods.