First of all, I should like to impress on the minds of the attendants that constant nourishment does not always bring about good conditions or cures.

When the appetite flags, stop feeding.

Study the case carefully, and give the food indicated by the disease.

If the trouble is acute, give the parts of the body most affected by the disease, rest.

If the trouble is chronic, give the parts most affected by the disease, moderately good exercise.

If a person has tuberculosis, for instance, give a goodly quantity of fats and oils, eggs and milk, rich in those elements which will give the lungs good healthful exercise.

Pneumonia

Pneumonia an acute trouble, will recover more quickly on skimmed milk, beef tea and foods deficient in fat.

Acute indigestion can be corrected quickly by a fast of two or three days.

Chronic indigestion calls for foods that require a slight effort on the part of the digestive tract to excite the necessary digestive fluids.

A diet for the sick is not a normal diet, and is absolutely unsuited to those in health.

If the person is very ill, give liquid foods through a glass tube or a straw. This will excite a flow of the secretions of the mouth and aid digestion.

Forget the isolated facts that you have stored up from everyday sayings, and apply common sense to each patient, for each is a law unto himself. Do not give four hundred calories of food, for instance, if only two hundred can be digested. Rigid rules usually have exceptions.

Never overfeed the sick; it ruins digestion and hinders cure.

Arrange all foods in an attractive and dainty manner; see that the silver is bright, the china clean, that grease is not floating on the top of soups. A cup of unskimmed beef tea will frequently upset the patient and destroy a liking for all soups.

Do not overload a dish; it robs a delicate patient of his appetite.

See that all foods are well cooked, well blended and nicely garnished.

Do not speak of the quality of food, nor its character, nor what you like, before the patient. Avoid conversations about food, especially while the patient is eating.

While nursing is not the province of this book, I should like to say to the nurse: do not dwell on unpleasant conditions while the patient is eating. A patient disturbed in mind cannot get the best results from food. Any excitement preceding or during the feeding hour will produce unfavorable conditions, even if the food is correct.

Do not think that every ounce of meat your patient eats is an ounce of nourishment or strength, for this is a great mistake.

Milk is the most important of all foods for the sick; eggs, perhaps, come next, and in some cases fruit juices are of first value.

Do not cram your patient. If the digestive organs are over worked, the heart will be affected and the patient generally worse: sick people, as a rule, require rest, not labor.

"Keep up the nourishment" has killed many a person. "Keep the patient alive on a rational and limited diet" is a much wiser saying.

Do not rely on the patient's judgment. There are thousands of misfit palates in the world.

Do not dish foods before the patient; bring the tray complete. If foods must be cooked in the kitchen and brought directly to the sick room, the nurse must have them placed out of sight of the patient until she can overlook and rearrange the tray. A dish of oatmeal porridge, with a little spilled on the outside, will frequently produce nausea.

The sick are supersensitive; every dish, no matter how simple, must be perfectly prepared and well served.

Remove immediately from the sick room every particle of left-over food; do not reheat or serve it again. Do not repeat a dish in less than two days, if possible, unless the patient is on a milk diet. A mistake of this kind will frequently rob the patient of appetite and complicate feeding. Serve hot foods comfortably hot, on hot dishes, and cold foods comfortably cold on cold plates.

If flowers are used for tray decorations, see that they have an agreeable, mild odor; heavy odors frequently destroy the appetite. Violets, roses and pansies are to be preferred.