^£>xi;^%:'j.'' ALBERT R. MANN LIBRARY AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY CORNELL UNrVERSITY LIBRARY 208 730 Cornell University Library The original of tliis bool< is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924059208730 OTHER WORKS BY DR. JIEWSHOLME. 1. LESSONS ON HEAI^TH ; containing the Elements of Physiology, and their Application to Hygiene. (Price 2s. 6d. SwAU SoNNBNSCHBiN & Co., Paternoster Square, E.G.) Speoially adapted to the requvretnents of the Elementary Stage im, Hygiene of the Scienoe a/nd AH Depa/rbmemt. EXTRACTS FROM REVIEWS. ' The illustrations are remarkably gpod ; experiments on the various subjects treated are given and explained; questions set at the Elementary Science Examinations are stated, and the correct answers given. Dr. Newsholme possesses the somewhat rare faculty of presenting condensed and even abstruse matter in a readable and fascinating style. There is no difficulty in understanding what he writes, and the mode in which it is communicated fixes it on the memory.' — Sanitabt Jotjenal, Bee. 1890. ' Dr. Newsholme has treated his subject experimentally, the experiments being of such a simple character that any ordinary teacher can perform them. It is long since we came across a book of equal merit.' — Litbeaet WoBld, Oct. 17, 1890. ' The various parts of the South Kensington Syllabus in Hygiene are systematically dealt with, the subject is scientifically treated, and there are numbers of diagrams, and, where practicable, descrip- tions of experiments.' — Sohoolmastbe, Nov. 1890. ' Dr. Newsholme has the faculty of treating his subject in a popular manner, and of clothing his facts in simple language, which cannot fail to be understood by the most ignorant of his readers. The book is brought well up to date ; mention is made of recent discoveries and the latest facts in the science that is treated of, the older notions and exploded theories being deservedly cut out. The book deserves a wide circulation.' — Sanitabt Ebcoed, Deo: 1890. 2. SCHOOL HYGIENE : the Laws op Health in Relation to School Life. (Price 2s. %d. Swan Sonnbnschein & Co.) 3. THE ELEMENTS OP VITAL STATISTICS. (Price It. Gd. Swan Sonnbnschbin & Co.) 4. HYGIENE : a Manual oe Peesonal and Public Health. (Price 3«. Geo, Gill & Sons, Warwick Lane, E.C "^ DOMESTIC ECONOMY PHINTED BY aPOTTISWOODK AND CO., K^W-STRKET SQUARE LONDON DOMESTIC ECONOMY COMPRISING THE LAWS OF HEALTH IN THEIR APPLICATION TO HOME LIFE AND WOEK BY AETHUE NEWSHOLME, M.D.Lond., D.P.H. MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH FOR BBI&HTON ; FELLOW AND MEMBER OF COUNCIL OF SANITARY IKSTITDTE ; ASSISTAifT EXAMINER IN HTGIBKB TO THE SCIENCE AUD ART DEPARTMENT, SOUTH KENSINGTON AND MAEGAEET ELEANOE SCOTT ASSOCIATE OF THE SAKITART INSTITUTE J LECTURER ON HYGIENE TO THE NATIONAL HEALTH society; LECTCJRBR ON DOMESTIC ECONOMY, PUPIL TEACHERS* CENTRAL CLASSES, HIGH STREET, MABYLEBONE, W. ; ETC. •»* Specially adapted to the fequirements qf Students for the Queen's Scholarship and Certificate Examinations of the Pri/vy CouTicil on Education SIXTY ILLUSTRATIONS SECOND EDITION LONDON ;WAN SONNBNSCHEIN & CO. PATBBNOSTBR SQITABB 1892 Brice 3s. M. PEEFACE The present work has been in large measure the outcome of a desire on the part of the authors to extend the study of the Laws of Health in schools. As yet, Hygiene does not form a definite subject of study in the majority of schools; but Domestic Economy, on the. other hand, is widely taught in girls' schools, and is a compulsory subject of study for female pupil-teachers and students in training- colleges. The syllabus of Domestic Economy is an exten- sive one, embracing the various branches of Domestic Hygiene ; hence the attempt in the present work to give a scient^c and yet sufficiently popular exposition of its prin- ciples, while at the same time the problems of Domestic Management and Thrift receive full attention. No effort has been spared to state clearly the Laws of Health in their application to domestic life, while technicalities have been, as far as possible, avoided. It is hoped that the numerous ULustrations throughout the work wUl further help to make it self-explanatory. The rules of Domestic Hygiene have in no part of the book been stated without full consideration of the prin- ciples underlying them. As these principles are to a large extent physiological, it has been necessary to give the Elements of Physiology in some detail. It will, therefore, be found that throughout the book the functions of a VI DOMESTIC ECONOMY given part of the body are first considered, and then the means of maintaining the integrity of these functions. Thus in connection with the study of respiration, the problems of ventilation are considered ; in connection with digestion, the varieties of food, methods of cooking, &c. ; and so on. It is hoped that this interweaving of physiological facts and hygienic principles will conduce to that scientific and sound knowledge of the Laws of Health which, in our opinion, cannot otherwise be secured. The work will be found to cover the entire syllabus in Domestic Economy for the Scholarship and First and Second Years' Certificate Examinations of the Privy Council on Education. It is hoped, however, that it will have a wider utility, and will not only lead to the rational teaching of the Laws of Health in schools by teachers who have learnt the subject scientifically, but will also be use- ful in increasing the healthfulness and comfort of many homes throughout the country. A. N. M. E. S. August 15, 1891. CONTENTS PABT I. Personal and Domestic Hygiene. CHAPTER PAGE I. INTKODUCTOEY 1 II. COMPOSITION OF THE BODT .... 3 in. STEUCTUEE OP THE HUMAN BODY ... 7 IV. THE BLOOD AND ITS CIRCULATION ... 12 V. THE DIGESTION OF FOOD 19 VI. THE DIGESTION OF FOOD (continued) . . 26 VII. CLASSIFICATION AND USES OF FOOD ... 31 Vm. ANIMAL FOODS 38 IX. MILK AND ITS DEEIVATIVES 46 X. VEGETABLE AND MINERAL FOODS ... 53 XI. BEVEEAGES 70 Xn. THE PRESERVATION OF FOOD .... 80 Xin. THE COOKING OF FOOD 83 XIV. THE COOKING OF ANIMAL FOODS {continued) . 92 XV. THE COOKING OF VEGETABLE FOODS ... 94 XVI. THE TEACHING OF COOKERY IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS 102 XVn. INCOME AND BXPENDITUEE OF THE BODY . . 109 XVm. THE SKIN AND CLEANLINESS .... 115 XIX. THE LUNGS AND RESPIRATION .... 123 XX. THE AIE WE BREATHE 127 XXI. IMPURITIES OF AIR 131 XXn. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF VENTILATION . . 186 XXin. METHODS OP VENTILATION 141 XXrV. CLOTHING . 146 XXV. EXEECISE 161 DOMESTIC ECONOMY CHAPTKH XXVI. PEKSONAL HEALTH .... XXVn. THE DWELLING ' . XXVin. LIGHTING AND WABMING OP THE HOUSE XXIX. THE WATER WE DRINK XXX. REMOVAL OF WASTE AND IMPURITIES FAGS 165 169 177 184 193 PABT II. Domestic Management. XXXI. THE HOME AND WOMAN'S WORK . ; . 201 XXXII. DOMESTIC SERVANTS 202 XXXIII. DOMESTIC WORK . 209 xxxrv. PUBLIC . LAUNDRIES 220 XXXV. MATERIALS USED IN WASHING . 224 XXXVI. WASHING 229 XXXVII. FOLDING, STARCHING, AND IRONING . 236 XXXVIII. THE CABB OF CLOTHING . . . , 244 XXXIX. THE CHOICE OF CLOTHING . . 247 XL. NEEDLEWORK 252 XLI. THE HOME AND ITS FURNITURE . . 258 XLH. THE DECORATION OF THE HOME 265 XLIII. INCOME AND EXPENDITURE . . 268 XLIV. SAVINGS AND INVESTMENTS 274 XLV. STORAGE OF FOOD .... .-^85 PAET III. Home Nursing. XLVT. THE CARE OF INFANTS AND CHILDREN XLVn. MANAGEMENT OF THE SICK-ROOM; XLVni. FOOD AND REMEDIES FOR THE SICK XLIX. COMMON AILMENTS AND ACCIDENTS L. INFECTIOUS DISEASES LI. ISOLATION AND DISINFECTION INDEX •. 293 299 305 311 324 329 334 Paet I. PERSONAL AND DOMESTIC HYGIENE. CHAPTER I. INTRODUCTORY. The subjects to be treated of in subsequent chapters are of great practical importance to everyone in the community, and to none more than to the female pupil teachers and students, who will, in their future career as teachers, have large scope for influencing the healthfulness and economical administration of thousands of young families. "We have said ' subjects ' rather than ' subject,' as domestic economy is simply a convenient name to embrace information of a very varied character, bearing on home life and work. The word economy is derived from two Greek words, which signify the law or management of the house. It includes the idea not only of thrift, but of healthful regulations and management. These are the two main branches of the subject, and it is fortunate that con- siderations of health are in every respect compatible with thrifty expenditure. To the prime importance of personal health we are, perhaps, not sufficiently awake ; life without health becomes a burden, and spoils the individual power for utility. Hence Domestic Hygiene will occupy a very large share of our space in subsequent chapters. But in order to understand the laws of the maintenance of personal health, it is necessary to. know the rudiments of the structure and functions of the ' House we live in ' ; and in the first few chapters we shall therefore be occupied with the rudiments of Human Physiology. We cannot expect to understand how to avoid errors in food or cloth- ing, or personal habits, if not familiar with the scientific basis of facts on which alone a rational knowledge can be built. All other knowledge is liable to fit loosely and to be soon lost ; besides which it is mere ' rule of thumb ' knowledge, and may easily be misapplied. 2 DOMESTIC ECONOMY A most important requirement for health is Food, and many chapters will be devoted to the various kinds of food, their sources, methods of preparation and cooking, &c. Water and other Beverages come under the head of Foods of an accessory kind, and they will require to be studied. After food, the next important personal requiremejit is Clothing ; and the relative merits of various kinds of cloth- ing will be studied, as well as the means of cleansing and preserving clothes. The importance of fresh air, and the means of providing it ; also the construction of our homes, and the methods of warming and lighting them, will each be considered in turn. If the laws of health as laid down in the following chapters are faithfully observed, the amount of sickness occurring at home will be very greatly decreased. Such sickness cannot, however, be kept for ever from the door, and we propose, therefore, to add chapters dealing with the nursing of the sick, and the duties of the sick room ; with special details on the care required in cases of infectious disease ; adding some details as to sick-room cookery, and the treatment of minor ailments and accidents. When we add to the preceding list of subjects the questions of general expenditure, of Eavir,gs and invest- ments, housework, including methods of washing and cooking, it will seem that the subjects embraced within the book are so wide in scope as to cover most of the practical domestic life of wives and mothers ; and we believe that a knowledge of the science of home life thus acquired will enhance the comfort and happiness of many thousands of families throughout the country. CHAPTER II. COMPOSITION OF THE BODY. Elementary and Compound Substances. — Oxygen. — Nitro- gen. — Hydrogen. — Carbonic Acid. — Chlorine. — Phos- phorus. The human body is a wonderful and complex organism ; but, when analysed, its constituent elements are found to be comparatively few. Before we can understand much about the functions of the human body, it will be neces- sary to know something about these elements. The whole of the substances which make up the mass of the earth, including its atmosphere and its inhabitants, are grouped into aggregates of greater or less stability, some being solid, some liquid, and some permanently gaseous. If we examine these various substances more carefully, we find that they are either simple or compound. Simple or Elementary Substances are those which can- not be resolved into any simpler form of matter by analy- tical processes ; e.g. gold (solid), mercury (liquid), or oxygen (gaseous). These have not as yet been shown to consist of more than one kind of matter, and are therefore called elements. Compound Substances, on the other hand, are formed by the union of two or more elements into a substance, which differs from its constituents in physical properties, e.g. mercury and sulphur combine to form vermilion, which is a light red substance, entirely different from either com- ponent element. Similarly water, a liquid, results from the combination of the permanent gases oxygen and hydrogen. The total number of elements known up to the present time are over 70, which are divisible into two great groups, known as metallic and non-metallic respectively. Of this number only about 14, whose names are given in the follow- ing list, enter into the composition of the human body. DOMESTIC ECONOMY ELEMENTARY SUBSTANCES PEESENT IN THE HUMAN BODY. Non-Metallic. Metallic. Oxygen (O) Calcium (Ca) Carbon (C) Sodium (Na) Hydrogen (H) Potassium (K) Nitrogen (N) Iron (Fe) Phosphorus (P) Magnesium (Mg) Chlorine (CI) Sulphur (S) Fluorine (F) SUicon (Si) It must be remembered that none of these elements are present in the body as such, but combined with each other as compound substances. Of the above list, oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon are of primary importance, as, together with much smaller amounts of sulphur and phosphorus, they form the complex organic compounds found in the human frame. The inorganic or mineral constituents consist mainly of, compounds of calcium and phosphorus, and of sodium and potassium with chlorine or phosphorus and oxygen. We must know a little more about these elementary substances if we are to understand the true nature of foods and what becomes of them after they enter the body, the necessity of getting rid of the air breathed out of the lungs, and other problems in physiology, which are of the utmost importance to the maintenance of health. Oxygen is one of the most important elements. It forms about one-fifth of the volume of atmospheric air. The burning of any substance is produced by the combina- tion with it of some of the oxygen of the air, the pheno- menon being known as combustion or oxidation. Thus, if a small piece of phosphorus be floated on a piece of corkj as shown in fig. 1, and then be set alight, the phosphorus combining with the oxygen of the air contained in the jar, at first burns brightly, but soon dies out, owing to the con- sumption of the oxygen. The oxide of phosphorus which has been produced dissolves in the water, and the water rises in the jar about one-fifth of its total height, showing COMPOSITION OF THE BODY 5 that the volume of the enclosed air has been diminished by that amount. The gas remaining under the jar and forming four-fifths of the original bulk is Nitrogen, and a lighted Fig. 1. — Pkosplwrm Bxvrmng in a Closed Jar containing Air over Water. taper is extinguished in it. The gas which has disappeared was oxygen. Substances such as carbon and sulphur burn with great brilliancy in oxygen gas ; and in the body, in every part of it, a similar but slower process of oxidation goes on, oxygen being carried from the lungs to every part of the system, there to combine with carbon and hydrogen, to form carbonic acid and water respectively. Water consists of oxygen combined with another gas called hydrogen. When any substance containing hydrogen is burnt, water is produced by its combustion, i.e. by its union with the oxygen of the air. Thus, if a cold tumbler be held over a lighted candle, water will condense on the inside of the tumbler. Water from the combustion of hydrogen is produced similarly within the body. This is shown in the simple experiment of steaming a window by breathing upon it. The three elements already named, together with carbon, form the great bulk of the solid constituents of the body. Hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, in their separate condi- tion, are gases ; carbon is a solid. Carbon is the same sub- stance as charcoal. That it forms a large part of all organic creation, whether vegetable or animal, is shown by the charcoal made from wood or from bones. Sugar and starch consist of carbon with hydrogen and oxygen in the same 6 DOMESTIC ECONOMY proportions as they exist to form water. Fats consist of the same three elements, but contain rather less oxygen. Meat contains these three elements, with the addition of nitrogen, and minute quantities of other elements. It must be remembered, however, that, although only four chief elements are contained in meat, and only three in fat or sugar, yet these elements are so combined as to make the substances containing them very complex. When carbon is completely burnt in air. Carbonic Acid (also called carbon dioxide) is produced. This happens whether the carbon is contained in candle, oil, paraffin, coal, coal gas, or any other carbon-containing material. Similarly in the human body a sort of combustion occurs in every part of the system, resulting in the production of car- bonic acid, which escapes from the body by way of the lungs. Carbonic acid is heavier than air, and will not support combustion. A lighted taper placed in a jar containing the gas, is at once extinguished, just as in the case of nitrogen. Its presence is also evidenced by the milky ap- pearance assumed by clear lime-water shaken up in a bottle into which some of the gas is introduced. Breathing into the bottle will produce this effect, as the air from the lungs contains carbonic acid. Sulphur is well known as brimstone. When it is burnt in air, an oxide of sulphur is produced, which is a very pungent and irritating gas, valuable, however, as a disin- fectant for rooms. Sulphur is present in the white of eggs, the flesh of animals, &c. The blackening of a silver spoon produced on inserting it into an egg is due to the silver combining with the sul- phur in the egg to form sulphide of silver. When an egg putrefies, the smell of rotten eggs is produced. This means that the changes undergone in putrefaction lead to the formation of a gas called sulphuretted hydrogen from the white of the egg. Chlorine is a greenish yellow gas, possessing a very irri- tating smell. When combined with sodium it forms chlo- ride of sodium, better known as table salt, an indispensable article of diet, of which we shall have more to say hereafter. Phosphorus enters in minute quantities into the com- position of the flesh, blood, brain, and other parts of animals. In the free state it is used chiefly for tipping matches, on COMPOSITION OP THE BODY account of the ease with which it takes fire. Phosphate of Lime (bone earth) forms the greater part of the earthy matter of bones, giving, them stability and hardness. A minute quantity of iron is also present in our food, and it forms a very important part of the red corpuscles of the blood. CHAPTER III. STRUCTURE OF THE HUMAN BODY. Organs and Tissues. — Build of the Body. — Thorax and Abdomen. — The Head. — Ftmctions of- the Body. The elements named in the previous chapter as forming the, human body do not exist there in a free state. They are combined in various complex substances, as fat, sugar, fibrin^ myosin, gelatine. Thus the animal part of bone consists chiefly of a substance which becomes gelatine on boiling ; this contains the five elements — carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and sulphur. These complex substances enter into the composition of the various tissues and organs of the body. Organs and Tissues. — The body is made up of various organs, each devoted to its own special work or function. Thus the brain and spinal cord control the movements of the body, and the brain is the centre from which all volun- tary action is started. The muscles are the organs by which the movements of the body are efiected. The ali- mentary canal (including the mouth, gullet, stomach, intestines, and the liver and pancreas which are appended to them), is concerned with the digestion of foods, making them liquid so that they may be absorbed into the blood- vessels and lymphatics. The heart and blood-vessels circu- late the blood to every part of the body ; the lungs bring oxygen into the system from the air, and remove impure gases ; wliile the kidneys and skin ged rid of other im- purities from the system. The various organs are made up of different textures or tissues. The chief tissues in the body are the epithelial, 8 DOMESTIC ECONOMY the muscular, the fibrous or connective tissues, the osseous or bony, the adipose or fatty, and the nervous tissues. Several of these may be combined to form what are some- times called compound tissues. Thus (1) the .blood-vessels consist of connective, muscular, and nervous tissues ; (2) the lymphatics of connective and muscular tissues ; (3) the skin of connective, muscular, nervous, and epidermal tis- sues ; and (4) the serous and mucous membranes of con- nective, epithelial, nervous, and muscular tissues. The last-named membranes are called mucous, when they open . on to the surface of the body, as the 'mouth and alimentary canal, and the lungs ; and serous when they form closed cavities, as in the case of the membranes covering the lungs (pleura), the heart {pericardiimi), and the outer surface of the alimentary canal [peritoneum). The tissues of the body when examined by the micro- scope are found to consist of cells, greatly varying in shape and structure in different parts of the body, and trans- formed in connective tissue and muscular tissue into fibres, which were, however, originally cells. The cells, as they become modified in shape and structure, take on different functions. The cells of the salivary glands secrete saliva, the liver cells secrete bile, and so on throughout the body a physiological division of labour being thus secured. Epithelium is a general name for cells covering a free surface of the body. The epithelium covering the skin is called the Epidermis, the outer layer of cells being hard and flat, the deeper cells softer and more rounded. Thus far we have learnt that the body consists of various organs, each of which is composed of two or more tissues or textures ; that these tissues contain various com,- plex chemical substances ; which are in thei^ turn built up of chem,ical elements. It will be convenient at this point to take a general view of the build of the body and of its functions. The body consists of head, trunk, and four extremities. The trunk is supported throughout its whole length by the vertebral column. This consists not of a single bone, but ' of twenty-six bones resting one on another, each one en- closing a central canal. The canal is continuous through- out the trunk and neck, and safely encloses the spinal cord or marrow (fig. 2). STRUCTURE OP THE HUMAN BODY' 9 Thorax and Abdomen. — The vertebral canal forms a long tube in the trunk, and we may regard the front portion of the body as another larger tube. This front tube is sub- divided into two portions by the diaphragm or midrifif, an arched muscle, attached behind to the front of the vertebral column, in front to the breast-bone, and on each side to the inner surface of the lower ribs. The part of the front tube above the diaphragm is called the chest, or thorax. It is encircled by twelve ribs on each side." These are fixed to Fig. 2. — Showing the three chief cavities of the Trunk, — ThOrax, Abdomen, and Vertebral Caiial. The continiunis line shows tite position of the Diaphragm in expiration, the dotted lime its position in inspiration. the vertebrae behind, then arch forward, and all except the two lowest are connected by means of short pieces of carti- lage (gristle) with the breast-bone (sternum) in front. Thus a somewhat conical cavity is formed, the base of the cone being formed by the diaphragm which is arched upwards, and the apex of the cone being incomplete at the root of the neck. At the latter point the windpipe (trachea) enters 10 DOMESTIC ECONOMY the thorax from the throat, and the gullet (oesophagus) passes behind the trachea along the back wall of the thorax and through the diaphragm,' and, in addition, certain large vessels and other structures pass along the neck between the chest and the head. The chief organs contained in the thorax are the heart and the two lungs. The part of the front tube of the body below the diaphragm is called the abdomen. It contains the chief portions of the alimentary canal, including the stomach and the small and large intestines. Under the right side of the diaphragm is the liver, a large organ stretching across beyond the middle line of the body. The spleen is on the left side of the stomach, and the pancreas behind the stomach. The two kidneys are deeply seated in the loins, the urine formed in them from the blood being carried by two long tubes (ureters) down to the bladder, whence it is discharged from the body. The head consists chiefly of th^ Cranium or skull, in which is lodged the brain. The cavity of the cranium is really an enlarged upper end to the vertebral canal, and the brain and spinal cord are continuous with each other by means of a large opening at the base of the skull. The front part of the head contains the mouth and nose, which form the entrances to the digestive and respiratory tracts. The parts of the body may be classified as follows : — (a) The Head, con- sisting of (b) The Trunk, con- sisting of 1. Cranium (containing brain and its appendages the eyes and ears). 2. Face Cavity (containing nose, mouth, and gullet). 1., Thorax (contain- '-"ing heart, lungs, &c.). ■ 1. Front Canal i Abdomen (con- taining alimen- tary canal, liver, spleen, pan- creas, kidneys bladder, &c.). Posterior Canal (containing spinal cord), (c) The Limbs (i.e. arms and legs). \' STRUCTURE OF THE HUMAN BODY 11 Tlie organs contained in the chest and abdomen will be more fully described in later chapters. The Functions of different parts of the body are very closely connected. None of them can be carried on for more than a very limited time without the supply of food. The food is dissolved and rendered fit for mixing with the blood by the organs of digestion. The blood forms the channel of conveyance between the different parts of the body. It carries all the liquid matters which have been ab- sorbed from the digestive organs to every part of the body ; each part acquiring and retaining the special constituents ■ it requires for its own growth and nourishment. The heart is the chief propelling organ, which drives the blood about sixty times every minute to the most remote parts of the body. In addition to dissolved and elaborated food, the blood receives oxygen gas from the air in the lungs. The red corpuscles absorb this and take it with the nutrient material to the various tissues of the body. In these the processes of oxidation occur, which maintain the heat of the body. Besides carrying nutriment and oxygen to the various tissues and organs of the body, the blood also brings back from them the effete or used up materials, the retention of which would soon poison the system. These are carried to the lungs, kidneys, and skin, and thence expelled (excreted) from the system. We may classify the parts of the body hitherto con- sidered as (a) Organs concerned in manufacturing blood (the digestive organs). (6) Organs concerned in circulating the blood (the heart and blood-jessels). (c) Organs concerned in purifying the blood (lungs, skin, and kidneys). In addition to these we have the muscular system, which renders movement possible. The proper develop- ment of the muscles we shall find is of great importance for health. Above all, and controlling all other parts of the body, is the nervous system. The control is exercised largely by means of sensory nerves, distributed to different parts of the body, which establish a sort of telegraphic com- munication with those parts ; and by the special senses 12 DOMESTIC ECONOMY (sight, hearing, (fee), which put us in relation with the out- side world. It will be convenient to consider, first, the blood and its circulation. CHAPTER IV. THE BLOOD AND ITS CIRCULATION. The Blood Corpuscles. — Uses of Blood. — Blood- Vessels. — Circulation of Blood. The Blood is a red liquid thicker than water, owing in part to the solid particles it Contains, and in part to thb solids which are dissolved in it. That it is present in every part of the body is shown by the bleeding which follows a prick inflicted at any point. If a drop of blood obtained by this means be placed on a glass slide and examined under a microscope, innumerable biconcave circular discs (red blood-corpuscles) will be seen. The coagulation or clotting which occurs after blood has been shed is due to the forma- tion of a delicate meshwork of fibrin, which did not exist as such in living blood. The reason why fibrin forms in blood which has been removed from the body, and not in the blood-vessels under ordinary conditions, is still doubtful. If a drop of blobd is carefully examined under the microscope, one or two white blood-corpuscles will be seen, in addition to the red blood-corpuscles. These difier from the red corpiiscles in the absence of colour and in the fact that they show a nucleus or denser part in the interior, whereas the red corpuscles appear to be uniform in structure throughout. There are about four or five hundred red corpuscles to every white corpuscle. The red corpuscles are probably formed from the white. The red corpuscles are about j^Vir P^''* "^ ^^ ^""h in width. They consist chiefly of a complex substance called hsemoglobln. This substance has the highly important property of combining loosely with oxygen when exposed to it, but readily giving it up again to the various tis'sues of the body. THE BLOOD AND ITS CIRCULATION 13 From this review it is evident that blood is constituted as follows : — Blood J ^ White Corpuscles Plasma | f i^"n V I Serum Clot Fibrin is formed during the process of coagulation from substances which previously existed separately in the blood. The fluid blood before the formation of fibrin is known as plasma. Serum is the fluid part of the blood remaining after the formation of clot. It contains a large amount of albumen and salts, with smaller quantities of other materials for the nutrition of the tissues. In addition to the constituents already named, blood contains some dissolved gases. There is a small quantity of nitrogen, but oxygen and carbonic acid are the chief gases of the blood. Hsemoglobin is of importance as an oxygen-carrier from the lungs to the tissues of every part of the body. The blood in the lungs is only separated from the air by a thin membrane, and the haemoglobin in the blood-corpuscles combines with the oxygen of air to form oxy-hcmnoglobin. In the various tissues of the body the converse process is carried on ; the oxygen of oxy-hsemoglobin being given up to the tissues, and hsemoglobin returned to the heart and thence pumped into the lungs. Dark purple blood is called venous ; bright scarlet blood is called arterial blood, because the' blood brought from the tissues by the veins is generally purple, while that carried to the tissues by the arteries is bright scarlet. There is one exception to this rule, the arterial blood going to the lungs being dark purple, while the venous blood leaving the lungs is light scarlet. Uses of Blood. — (1) The red corpuscles are oxygen- carriers from the lungs to every part of the body. (2) The fluid part of the blood carries albumen, sugar, and other substances required to nourish the different tissues and organs. (3) The blood brings away from every part of the body carbonic acid dissolved in it, and carries this to the lungs, whence it is eliminated. (4) The blood carries other 14 DOMESTIC ECONOMY impurities to the kidneys, skin, and liver, by means of which organs they are eliminated from the body. (5) The warmth of the blood maintains an equable temperature in every part of the body. Circulation of Blood. — The best idea of the blood- circulation is to be obtained by watching the web of a frog's foot placed under the microscope. The blood corpuscles can be seen coursing from larger tubes {arteries) into capillaries which are so minute that they only admit the corpuscles in , single file, and then issuing from the capillaries into veins, which carry the blood away from the web. In ourselves a similar process is going on throughout the body. There are three kinds of blood-vessels — arteries, capil- laries, and veins. The arteries are tubes with strong and elastic walls. The aorta is the trunk artery arising from the left ventricle, and the pulmonary artery the trunk artery from the right ventricle of the heart. The former distributes blood to every part of the body except the lungs ; the latter to the lungs. The smaller arteries contain muscular fibres, under the control of a part of the nervous system, which acts uncon- sciously. By this means the size of the arteries and conse- quently the amount of blood passing through them can be regulated. The larger arteries contain a large proportion of elastic tissue. The capillaries are minute blood-vessels connecting the smallest arteries with the smallest veins, and varying in diameter from xsVff *° 40^0 inch. Their walls are extremely thin, consisting almost solely of a single layer of flattened cells. The thinness of the capillary walls allows fre.e inter- change between the blood and the tissues, which are every- where permeated by capillaries. Take, for instance, a small muscular fibre. (1) Oxygen is given to the fibre from the red corpuscles, and fluid nourishment from the fluid part of tlie blood. (2) The muscular fibre gives up to the blood carbonic acid gas and other impurities. Consequently the blood entering the muscle is bright red (arterial), that leaving the muscle is dark purple (venous). The veins have thinner and less elastic walls than the arteries. On their inner side they present valves, in the form of projecting flaps, usually in pairs. As will be seen from the following diagram, these valves allow the blood to THE BLOOD AND ITS CIRCULATION 15 flow in one direction (towards the heart), but prevent reflux in the opposite direction. The heart is the central organ of the circulation. It is a hollow muscular organ contracting regularly from 60 to 70 times per minute, and driving the blood to every part of i'lG. 3. A. A vein showing tTie Jmotted condition produced when obstruction to the Cmneard flow of blood occurs. B. A section through the same vein, showing edges of valve in apposition to prevent reflux of blood, G. Vein cut open to show position of valves. the body. It lies in an oblique position in the chest, with the apex pointing downward and to the left. The apex- beat can be felt between the fifth and sixth ribs. The size of the heart is roughly that of the closed fist, and its weight from 9 to 10 ounces. It is covered without by a loose fibrous bag, called the pericardium. The heart is divided by a fleshy longitudinal partition into a right and left half, and each half is subdivided into an upper cavity (auricle), and a lower cavity (ventricle) by a movable partition or valve. There are thus two upper cavities or auricles, and two lower cavities or ventricles. The right side of the heart is smaller and has thinner walls than the left side. The right auricle receives two large veins, the inferior vena cava and the superior vena cava (c and h, fig. 4). It communicates below with the right ventricle, the junction of the two being occupied by the Tricuspid Valve, -which is formed of three pointed flaps 16 DOMESTIC ECONOMY attached to the wall of the heart. The under surfaces of these flaps are connected by fibrous cords with muscular projections on the inner surface of the ventricle. Thus when the right ventricle contracts, the flaps of the tricuspid valve are kept in contact and the blood is prevented from returning into the auricle. The pulmonary artery springs from the right ventricle, and soon subdivides into two, one Fig. 4. — Diagrammatic viem of the four cavities of the heart, shoming the mcmn vessels entering and lea/eimg it. (aa) Aorta arching over from t, left ventricle; (bb) right and left pubnona/ry arteries, arising by a common trunk from i, the right ventricle ; (c) superior vena ca/va ; (h) inferior vena cava, entering f , right auricle ; (dd) right and left pulmonary veins, entering g, left auricle ; (1) septum or division between right and left auricle. going to each lung (bb, fig. 4). At its junction with the right ventricle is the semilunar valve, composed of three fibrous semicircular flaps, which allow the blood to pass freely from the ventricle into the pulmonary artery, but prevent any backward flow. The left auricle has four pulmonary veins opening into it, which bring blood from the two lungs (dd, fig. 4). Below, it communicates with the left ventricle, which has much thicker walls and a larger cavity than the right ventricle. The mitral or hicuspid valve between the left auricle and ventricle is similar in structure and arrangement to the tricuspid valve on the right side of the heart, and prevents blood passing back from the ventricle to the auricle. The aorta (aa, fig. 4) springs from the left ventricle, and reflux of blood from it into the ventricle is prevented by semi- lunar valves as en the right side of the heart. THE BLOOD AND ITS CIRCULATIOK 17 The circulation of blood is effected as follows : — The auricles contract and drive their contained blood into the ventricles. The ventricles immediately contract and force the blood onwards. It is prevented from passing back into the auricles by the tricuspid and mitral valves, and is therefore driven into the pulmonary artery and aorta. These arteries are however already full of blood ; and in order to contain the additional blood their elastic walls become distended. As soon as the heart ceases to contract, the elastic walls of the arteries begin to recoil, just as a piece of india-rubber contracts after having been stretched. The blood, owing to the closure of the semilunar valves, cannot return into the heart. It is therefore forced onwards to every part of the body. Thus the blood is kept moving in the intervals between the contractions of the heart. It is evident from what has been said that there must be a double circulation. 1. The Lesser or Pulmonic Cir- culation. From (a) the right auricle blood is driven into (b) the right ventricle ; thence by (c) the pulmonary artery to the two lungs, passing through (d) the capillaries of the lungs to (e) the pulmonary veins, which bring the purified blood back to (/) the left auricle. 2. The Greater or Systemic Circulation. The purified blood from the lungs passes from (a) the left auricle to (b) the left ventricle, thence through (c) the aorta and branch arteries to (d) capillaries, which join together to form (e) veins. These join together to form two large veins called the superior and inferior vena cava, which finally end ia (/) the right auricle of the heart. Any part of the blood leaving either side of the heart must complete both these circulations before it can return to the starting-point, with the exception of some minute blood-vessels supplying the substance of the heart itself. 2a. The Portal Circulation is a subdivision of the systemic circulation. The portal vein brings blood from the capilla;ries of the stomach and intestines, as well as from the pancreas and spleen. In the liver the portal vein, unlike other veins, breaks up again into capillaries between the cells of the liver, ultimately forming the hepatic vein which joins the inferior vena cava. The general course of the blood will be better understood from the diagram on the next page. c 18 DOMESTIC ECONOMY The main forces concerned in circulating the blood are : — 1. The heart contracting at regula/r intervals. — The amount of blood pumped out of the left ventricle at each CafiSscS^ V0Uia(f upper part ofboify Fig. 5. — Diajjra/m of Com'ie of Cvr&iilation of Blood. contraction is about 6 oz., each cardiac contraction occupy- ing about i\ tenths of a second. The beat of the heart is an automatic action, not directly controllable by the will, but regulated by certain important nerves and nerve- centres. 2. The elastic recoil of the la/rge a/rteries, following im- mediately after the contraction of the heart, drives the blood on towards the capillaries, THE BLOOD AND ITS CIKCULATION 19 3. The capillaries offer considei'ahle resistance to the passage of the blood, thus maintaining the blood-pressure in the arteries in the intervals of the contractions of the heart. The aorta is iutlnitely larger than each individual capillary, but all the capillaries together have a sectional area of 700 times as much as that of the aorta. It is well known that the shallower a stream, the more sluggish its current. Similarly in the capillaries the circulation is greatly decreased in rapidity, owing to the enormous in- crease of friction ; and, consequently, interchanges between the blood and the tissues are helped. ■i. Muscular exercise helps the onflow of blood in the veins, reflux being prevented by their valves. Every time a muscle contracts, it presses on the veins in its substance and around it, thus driving the blood on towards the heart. The chief forces, however, which propel the blood along the veins are the pressure of blood from behind, and 5. The movements of respiration, which exert a sucking or aspirating influence in the direction of tlie heart. The velocity of the bloodstream diminishes from the heart to the capillaries. In the aorta it is probably one foot per second, in the capillaries only y\j^ inch per second. In the veins the velocity is partially regained; but in the vente cavse it is only about half that in the aorta. The length of time required for blood to return from any one point to the same point will vary according to the length of the circuit, and will be diminished by exercise, but on an average it takes about twenty-three seconds. CHAPTER V. THE DIGESTION OF FOOD. Mastication and Jn-salivation. — Deglufition. — Gastric Digestion. — Gaii^es of Indigestion. A tire will not continue to burn unless periodically re- plenished with fuel ; and, similarly, the processes of oxida- tion within the body, which form the source of warmth and force, cannot continue unless food is supplied. 2 20 DOMESTIC ECONOMY Varieties of Food. — The different varieties of food will be discussed in detail hereafter. For the present it is suf- ficient to know that they may be divided into two great classes, according as they contain nitrogen or not. The nitrogenous foods are typified by the lean of meat, white of egg, casein of milk, and gluten of bread. NOi^- nitrogenous foods are chiefly of four kinds : — (1) Starch and sugar, (2) fats and oUs, (3) salts, especially chloride of sodium, and (4) water. Mastication and Insalivation. — The alimentary canal forms a long and convoluted tube, passing right through the body. The food must be regarded as being still outside the body, until it has been dissolved and absorbed through the walls of the alimentary canal into the circulation of lymph and blood. In the mouth food undergoes the first process of diges- tion. It is finely pounded by the teeth, and thoroughly mixed with the saliva. The teeth in the healthy adult are 32 in number, viz., 4 central sharp incisors, 2 canine or pointed teeth, 4 bi- cuspid teeth, and 6 molars, or grinders, in each jaw. The^e form the second set of teeth. The first set of teeth in chil- dren under seven (so-called milk teeth) are only 20 in all. In fig. 6 are shown the permanent teeth of the left half of the upper jaw. The figures attached give the age (in years) at which the teeth first appear. The teeth are composed of a mixture of animal and earthy matter, somewhat harder than bone. Their free surfaces are covered by a very hard material called enamsl. Any disorder of general health, and especially of the digest- ive organs, tends to produce decay of the teeth. On the other hand, digestion is often disordered by defective teeth, leading to the food being imperfectly masticated, and con- sequently more difficult to digest. In order to keep the teeth in good condition, they should be brushed daily. No particles of food should be allowed to remain between the teeth, as a tendency to acid fermentation is induced, and then the enamel is attacked. Nuts or hard sweets should not be cracked with the teeth ; and the general health should receive attention. Hollow teeth should be stopped by a competent dentist immediately they are discovered, in order to prevent the mischief from extending; and in chil- THE DIGESTION OF FOOD 21 dren, if the teetli appear crowded or irregular, a dentist should be consulted, as crowded teeth are much more apt to decay than others. The saliva is a thin glairy fluid, secreted (i.e. formed 74-JC Pig. 6. — PeTWianent Teeth of one half of Upper Jaw. from the blood) by six salivary glands, each about as large as a walnut, which pour their secretion along delicate tubes into the mouth. The secretion of saliva, like other secre- tions, is indirectly controlled by the nervous system, as evidenced by the ' watering of the tnouth ' produced by the sight, or even the thought, of appetising food. Mastication or chewing not only reduces the food to a line mass, but mixes the saliva well with the food. It thus enables it to be swallowed. Dry food would stick in the throat ; moist food easily passes down the gullet. Saliva has, however, a more important function. Starch is converted into sugar by the chemical action of the saliva upon starch. Starch may be represented by the formula CjHiqO,, or some multiple of this. Saliva contains a ferment called 22 DOMESTIC ECONOMY ptyalin, which is able to convert starch into grape- sugar. Thus :— CsH.oOg + H^O = 0^11,^0^ (starch) (water) (grape-sugar) The saliva produces no effect on fatty or niti-ogenous foods, but the minute subdivision caused by mastication en- ables these to be acted on much more readily by the digest- ive juices in the stomach and intestines. The food should be well chewed or masticated, in order to allow time for the action of the saliva. Indigestion (also called dyspepsia) is commonly caused by sipping tea or other liquids during meals. The food should be moistened with saliva and not with tea or other liquids before being swal- lowed. Complete mastication is necessary also in order to reduce the food to minute particles, and thus enable the juices of the stomach and intestines to act on them, and convert them into a condition in which they can be absorbed into the system. Hard and large lumps of food are almost certain to remain undigested, and to give rise to discomfort of various kinds. Deglutition. — The tongue and cheeks help in mastica- tion by keeping the food between the teeth. The tongue next pushes the food back to the throat, and thus starts the act of deglutition or swallowing. The uppermost part of the gullet is called the pharynx ; the part below this, which runs down the back of the thorax and through the diaphragm to join the stomach, is the oesophagus. As soon as the food reaches the upper part of the pharynx it is seized by the muscles in the wall of the tube and pushed down along the oesophagus. ■ In its passage to the oesophagus the food has to cross over a sort of trap-door formed by the epiglottis (F, fig. 7), which, along with contraction of the muscles of the part, prevents food from dropping into the windpipe oi trachea (Gr, fig. 7). The food does not fall into the stomach (as shown by the fact that a conjurer caii swallow a tum- blerful of water while standing on his head), but is pro- pelled by wave-like contractions of the muscular fibres in the tube. Deglutition as soon as the food enters the pharynx is an involuntary act, and cannot be stopped by any effort of the win. Gastric Digestion. — The stomach (fig. 7) is a large organ reaching across the upper part of the abdomen. THK DIGESTION OB' POOD 93 Fig. 7. — Vim' of tlie wlwlr Alimcntanj Canal. A. Cavity of mouth. B. Tongvs. . C. Nose-cavities. D. Tip of soft palate (uvula,). E. Pharynx or gullet. P. Epiglottis. G. Trachea. H. (Esophagus. K. Oarddac orifice, and (L) pyloric orifice of stomach. I. Cardiac end of stomach. J. Interior of stomach. M. 2}uo<2en7t7n. N. Point of entrance of ducts from liver and pan- 'creas. P. Pancreas. Q. Coife of small intestine. S. Ileo-ccecal valve. QJ. Vermiform appendi.x. U, V, X. Ascending, transverse, and descending colon. Y. Sigmoid flexure of colon. Z. Becfum. 24 DOMESTIC ECONOMY The stomach (fig. 7) lies largely on the left side of the body beneath the diaphragm and liver, and against the front wall of the abdomen. Its transverse length is about 1 to 1 2 inches, its width 4 to 5 inches. Its dilated left extremity, near where the oesophagus enters the stomach, is called the cardiac end ; the part at the junction with the small intestine is called the pylorus. The stomach contains several layers of unstriped muscular fibres. At thepylorus (L fig. 7) the muscular fibres are thickened, and when they contract, the passage of the contents of the stomach into the intestine is prevented. While food is being digested in the stomach these fibres remain contracted, and only relax and allow food to pass after sufficient time has elapsed to allow of the full action of the gastric juice. The mucous or inner membrane of the stomach is lined on its interior by a single layer of cells, and is folded in such a way as to form enormous numbers of tubular glands. The cells in these tubes secrete the gastric juice, an acid fluid containing a minute proportion of hydrochloric acid and of a ferment called pepsine. During gastric digestion the muscular fibres of the stomach contract, producing churning move- ments, and thus the gastric juice becomes thoroughly mixed with the food which enters the stomach. The digestion of starch does not continue in an acid medium, so that the action of the saliva which has been swallowed is stopped after a while. Gastric juice has no action on starch. It has no action on fats, except that the fibrous or connective tissue in which fat is contained is dissolved and the fat is set free in a finely-divided condition. But it has an im- portant action on nitrogenous or proteid foods, such as lean meat or the white of egg. This may be made clear by an experiment or two. If we take some fluid white of a hen's egg, which con- sists of a nitrogenous substance called albumen, and tie it in a bladder floating on water, the albumen will not pass through (diffuse) into the external water. If it were to fass through, the water would turn milky on being boiled, f however we take some white of egg, add to it a little acid solution of pepsine (which may be obtained from any intelligent chemist), and leave it in a warm place for a few hours, the resulting fluid will diffuse through the animal membrane formed by the bladder. This is exactly what THE DIGESTION OP FOOD 25 happens to nitrogenous food in the stomach. The nitro- genous or proteidfood is converted into peptones which are able to diffuse through the walls of the stomach, and thus reach the minute blood-vessels and enter the circulation. After the food has remained two or three hours in the stomach, the muscular fibres at the pylorus relax, and allow what remains undigested and unabsorbed to pass on into the small intestine. Gastric digestion consists in the conversion of proteids into peptones. The minute blood-vessels of the mucous membrane of the stomach absorb (1) not only these peptones, but also (2) the sugar produced by the conversion of starch into sugar, (3) the sugar taken as such in food (cane-sugar is converted into giajje-sugar in the stomach), (4) a large proportion of the water drunk, and (5) the salts contained in food. All these pass into the circulation direct from the stomach. Indigestion may arise from swallowing unmasticated lumps of food, the gastric juice not being able to reach their interior. The taking of very cold liquids or ices during meals tends to retard digestion, as does also the drinking of large quantities of any liquid. An interval of at least four hours should elapse between meals, in order to give the stomach sufficient time for getting rid of the last meal and for an interval of rest. Too frequent meals are a great mistake, and so likewise are very long intervals between meals. The best arrangement of meals is into breakfast, dinner, and supper, with an interval of five to six hours between each meal ; though there is no harm in having tea between dinner and supper if it is not made a hearty meal. Mental worry and overwork tend to produce indigestion. In such cases a rest before meals is advisable, and exercise should not be taken immediately after meals. DOMESTIC ECONOMY CHAPTER VI. THE DIGESTION OF FOOD — Continued. Intestinal Digestion. — The Pancreas. — T/ie Liver. — The Large Intestine. — Attention to Action of Bowels. The soft pulpy material which leaves the stomach at the end of gastric digestion is known as chyme. It consists of {a) some nitrogenous food which has escaped the action of the gastric juice ; (6) some starch which has escaped the action of the saliva ; (c) fatty food, the fat of which has hitherto not been changed at all ; and (d) a quantity of material which is incapable of being digested, and which will have to be passed right through the alimentary canal. This chyme now enters the small intestine. Intestinal Digestion. — The small intestine is a convo- luted tube about 20 feet long, connected with the stomach at one extremity and with the large intestine at the other. Its inner or mucous membrane presents very numerous small ridges or projections on its inner surface, which greatly increase the extent of surface over which the chyme is exposed to the action of the digestive juices. Its internal surface has a velvety appearance, owing to the presence of several millions of conical projections called villi, each from sV *o ^V inch ia length. The first part of the small intestine' near the stomacji has a fine tube opening into it (fig. 8) which is formed by the junction of one tube from the liver bringing bile and another tube from the pancreas bringing pancxeatic juice to the intestine. The pancreas is about 6 to 8 inches long, by 1 ^ inches bro.ad, and weighs from 2 to 4 ounces (fig. 8). It lies behind the stomach, and in structure resembles a number of salivary glands aggregated together. Its ducts or tubes unite to form a common duct, which unites with the common bile-duct, and discharges its contents into the first part of the small intestine. The pancreas secretes an alkaline fiuid, which, after being poured into the small intestine, has a threefold action : — (a) One ferment in it THE DIGESTION OF FOOD 27 converts starch into sugar ; and (b) another foment con- verts proteids into peptones. Thus both starchy and nitro- FlG. 8. — Pancreas and Small Intestine. (p) Pancreas ; (e) duodenum ; (a) gall-bladder ; (b) hepatic ducts from liver; (t) common bile-duct ; (c,d,) points of entry into intestine of duds from liecr and pancreas. genous foods which have eluded the action of the saliva and gastric juice, are subjected to a second similar action, so that little risk remains of digestible food passing through the intestines undigested, (c) The pancreatic juice acts on fats in two ways, emulsifying them and in part splitting them up into fatty acid and glycerine. Pancreatic juice being alkaline, part of the fatty acid is converted into a soap (i.e. an alkaline salt of the fatty acid), and the presence of this-soap greatly aids the further emulsification of fats. The Liver is the largest gland in the body, weighing from 50 to 60 ounces. It is divided into minute lohules from ^V to yV inch in diameter, and each of these lobules contains numerous cells about -^-^ inch in diameter. The portal vein comes to the under surface of the liver, bringing 28 DOMESTIC ECONOMY the blood from the stomach and intestines and spleen, with the food which has been dissolved and absorbed into the circulation. As it passes through the liver, the portal vein again breaks up into a fine network of small veins and capillaries between the lobules of the liver. From these, other capillaries run into the substance of each lobule, and the latter finally join together to form veins, and leave the liver by the hepatic vein to join the vena cava inferior, which is carrying the blood back to the heart. Between the liver-cells are minute channels, into which the bile secreted by the liver-cells is passed, and these gradually form larger tubes and end in the bile-duct, by which the bile is conveyed to the gall-bladder, and thence by the common bile-duct into the small intestine. One of the chief functions of the liver is the secretion of bile. This is a -thick yellow fluid containing 14 per cent, of solids. Its chief use is, in conjunction with the pancreatic juice, to emulsify fat. The fat globules become coated over with albuminous pellicles, and are thus more easily absorbed through the walls of the intestine. The nature of an emulsion will be better understood by examining a drop of cream, which is a perfect emulsion, under a microscope. It consists of innumerable oil or butter globules, covered with their coatings of albuminous matter. A similar but much coarser emulsion may be made by shaking up the glairy white of an egg with olive oil. The fat in the intestine, by the combined action of bile and pancreatic juice, is thus emulsified and rendered cream - like. It then finds its way through the single layer of cells covering each villus into a minute vessel or tube in its in- terior, called a lacteal vessel (Latin lac, milk). The emul- sified fat is thence carried to larger lacteal vessels, joining the lacteal vessels from other villi, and then passes along the thoracic duct, a vessel about the size of a crow's quill. The thoracic duct passes up along the back wall of the abdomen and thorax, and finally joins some great veins at the root of the neck, and thus the emulsified fat and other contents of the lacteal vessels (called chyle) become part and parcel of the blood. From what has been said, it will be seen that (1) sugar, water, salts, and peptones enter the blood directly ; while TIlE DIGESTION OF FOOD 29 (2) the chyle, with its contained fat, has to pass through a separate system of vessels and glands (part of the lymphatic system) before entering the blood. We shall shortly find that although most of the dissolved food enters directly into the blood, it is subjected to further changes in the liver before it is allowed to enter the general circu- lation. Functioiis of the Liver. — The veins coming from the stomach and intestines, like veins in all other parts of the body, join together and form a trunk vein, called here the portal vein. This vein contains ordinary venous blood, and, in addition, the sugar, proteids, salts, and water ab- sorbed from the alimentary canal. The peptone, as soon as it enters the blood-vessels, becomes reconverted into a non- diftusible proteid or albuminoid. The portal vein enters the substance of the liver, and, unlike any other vein (with one exception) in the body, breaks up again into capillaries which are distributed all over the substance of the liver. By this means the products of digestion are again acted on by the liver. We have already seen that the liver (1) secretes the bile which is poured into the small intestine. In addition (2) the cells of the liver seize on the sugar which is passing by them, and store it up as aniinal starch or glycogen, doling it out to the general system, as required, in the form of sugar. Sugar is one of the most important heat-giving foods ; and the liver, in virtue of this power of equalising the supply, prevents waste of material. (3) The liver undoubtedly has some other important functions. The liver contains about one-fourth of the whole blood of the body, and the nitrogenous materials passing through it are partially broken down and brought nearer to the condition in which they are finally eliminated (i.e. got rid of) by the kidneys. These chemical changes, like other chemical changes, mean that heat is produced ; and it is not sur- prising, therefore, to learn that a lar^ portion of the heat of the body is produced in the liver. The large intestine is five to six feet long, and, as seen in fig. 7, partially surrounds the margin of the coils of the • small intestine. It is divided into three parts : the cmcum, where it joins the small intestine ; the colon, which is sub- divided into ascending, transverse, and descending portions ; and the rectum, which forms the termiilal part of the ali- 30 DOMESTIC ECONOMY mentary canal. The passage of the food through the large and small intestine is effected by wave-like contractions of the muscular fibres in the walls of the intestine. This wave- like contraction is termed peristaltic action. As the chyme passes along the small intestine, more and more is absorbed in the ways already indicated, an'd when it enters the large intestine the fluid parts have been in large measure absorbed. The solid remainder consists chiefly of undigested food, and of portions of food incapable of diges- tion, with a little bile, (fee. It is also known as the fseees or solid excreta, and averages about four ounces each day. Attention to the action of the Bowels at a fixed time daily is a matter which is largely under the control of habit. When this is neglected, the condition of constipa- tion results. Owing to the retention of the faces in the in- testines beyond the normal period, some of the products of putrefaction become absorbed into the circulation, and the complexion becomes earthy and the general health is deteriorated. Indigestion with flatulence (wind) is common in constipated persons, and piles frequently occur. The fijeces may become impacted in the bowel and dangerous inflammation be produced. Purgative drugs should be care- fully avoided in chronic constipation, unless under medical advice. As a rule they produce a temporary effect, but make matters worse afterwards. A cure may usually be secured by alterations in diet. The following articles of diet tend to obviate constipa- tion : — (1) Water — taken last thing at night and in the early morning. (2) An increased use of common table-salt helps. (3) Fats lubricate the intestines and stimulate their peristaltic movements. (4) Vegetables and fruits are very serviceable. The cellulose and other indigestible materials of vegetable foods, as, for instance, the bran of brown bread, act as slight irritants, and thus hurry on the contents of the intestines. Such articles of diet as stewed prunes, pears, figs, olive oil, and brown bread are of great service ; and the cultivation of a regular habit is important above all the rest. CLASSIMCATION AND USES OF FOOD 31 CHAPTER VII. CLASSIFICATION AND USES OF FOOD. Uses of Food. — Food-Stvffs. — Variations in Amount of Food required. — Construction of Dietary. — Yeg^arianism. Foods may be classified as inorganic, of which the chief example is table salt ; and organic, which are derived either from vegetables or from animals. For our purposes, however, a better classification of foods is into 1. Nitrogenous foods. 2. Fats (also called hydrocarbons). 3. Carbohydrates, including starch and sugar. ■4. Salts (including the vegetable acids and their salts).- 6. Water. Uses of Food. — Food serves (1) to build up the organs and tissues of the body ; (2) to renew the composition of these parts, as they become partially used up in the exercise of their functions (the amount required for this purpose is very much smaller than is commonly imagined) ; and (3) to supply coinbustible material, the oxidation of which is the source of the heat and force manifested within the body. Thus all foods are either tissue-producers or force-pro- ducers, or both. There is no strict limiting-line between the two. The same food may be both. Sugar may be stored in the Uver, or at once oxidised in the system ; and fat similarly. On the other hand, the greater part of the nitrogenous foods which are taken, although sometimes erroneously regarded as only tissue-producers, are broken dozvn ill the intestine, and liver without entering into the composition of nitVLgenous tissues. Salts, especially chloride of sodium (common table-salt), are essential foods, as they' are found in all the tissues and fluids of the body. Water is necessary (1) to dissolve the food and enable it to be absorbed into the circulation ; (2) to maintain the fluid condition of the blood and thus keep up its circulation ; and (3) to enable the kidneys to separate injurious products from the blood. 32 DOMESTIC ECONOMY ' Food-Stuffs. — Each important food contains a variable proportion of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, with or with- out nitrogen. These, then, are the chief elements out of which our foods are built. These elements are built up into food-substances, also called food-stuffs or proximate- principles. Thus albumen and gelatine are food-stuffs containing the four elements named above, with small amounts of sulphur and phosphorus. Fats are food-stuffs containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen ; sugar and starch are food-stuffs containing the same elements, with a larger proportion of oxygen. The hydrogen and oxygen in sugar are in the same proportion as in water (i.e. as two atoms to one, or some multiple of this) ; in fats the oxygen is smaller in amount. It follows from this statement that in starch and sugar (carbohydrates) the hydrogen is already oxidised, i.e. it is in combination with oxygen in the same proportions as in water ; whereas in fajts (so called hydrocarbons) the hydrogen is greater in amount than the oxygen in the fats can completely oxidise ; consequently some hydrogen still remains to be oxidised and form a source of heat. Hence fats are more concen- trated foods than starch and sugar. The following table gives the chief food-stuffs : — FOOD-STUFFS gelatine (in soup from bones, &c.) j albumin (in white of egg, &c.) „., r ^ myosin (in flesh) Nitrogenous foods . < ■' ■ A i '\ casein (in cheese) legumin (in peas and beans) gluten (in bread) olein Hydrocarbons or fats I pa*>iitin 1 stearin (in fats and oils) ( butyrin (in butter) I glucose (in grape sugar) sucrose (in cane sugar) lactose (sugar oi milk) starch (in rice, potato, flour, &c.) The ordinary foods which we take contain one or more of the food-stuffs enumerated above. Thus sugar consists CLASSIFICATION AND USES OF FOOD 33 of a single food-stuflf. The fat in a piece of meat contains varying proportions of the three food-stuffs, stearin, olein, and palmitin. Bread contains starch, gluten, and smaller quantities of other food-stuffs. Milk contains casein, olein, and butyrin, lactose (sugar of milk), and a small quantity of albumen. It is evident, therefore, that most foods are composed of two or more food-stuffs, while milk contains representatives of them all. The amount of each of these chief classes of food in some of our chief foods is shown in the following tabular state- ment : — Uncooked meat, with little fat and no bone White fish White wheaten bread Wheat flour . Oatmeal . Butter . Egg (including shell) Cow's milk In 100 Parts Salts Water Albumin- oids or Proteids Fats Carbo- drates 74-4 78-0 400 15-0 15-0 8 67-2 87-0 20-5 18-1 8-0 11-0 12-6 2-0 12-5 3-4 3-5 2-9 1-5 1-2 5-6 88-0 10-3 3-8 49-2 70-3 63-0 5-0 1-6 10 1-3 1-7 3-0 variable 10 0-8 Variations in amount of Food required. — ^In order to maintain health, it is necessary that the dietary of every person, whether adidt or child, should contain a due pro- portion of each of the five great classes of food (nitrogenous foods, fats, starches and sugars, salts, and water). In other words, the dietary must be mixed. A deficiency of fats is particularly injurious, increasing the tendency to consump- tion and other diseases. The absence of certain vegetable salts which are contained in fresh vegetable food, leads to scurvy, which in former days used to cause a very high mortality, especially on long sea- voyages. The dietary wUl vary toith season and climate. — The Esqidmaux eats an amount of fat which would make us ill ; and we eat more meat than is required in tropical climates. The dietary vnll vary loith occupation. — Persons engaged in heavy muscular work usually take much more meat than D 34 DOMESTIC ECONOMY those of sedentary occupations, though the difference in amount of meat required is not so great as is usually sup- posed. There is, however, a greatly increased oxidation of fatty or saccharine material in the former, and therefore a need for increased food of these kinds. The dietary will vary according to age. — Children under one year of age require little besides milk. Milk contains all the materials required for the increase in bulk and weight during the first year of life, which is relatively greater than in any subsequent year. Until growth has ceased it is evident that more food will be required in proportion to the present size of the body than after 25 years of age. For (1) not only have the ordinary processes of force-generation and repair of tissues to be carried on, but also (2) the rapid growth in all parts of the body has to be allowed for. If food is stinted during this period of life, then the present demands having to be met, it is evident that less material is left for growth, and stunted limbs and impaired powers must result. As persons advance in years, the tendency is for them to take too much food. Construction of Dietary. — An examination of the amount of material lost from the body by the lungs, kidneys, skin, and bowels ; and an exa;mination of the kinds and amount of food found to be sufficient for soldiers, and others living in public institutions, to keep them in good health, give the necessary data for stating the average amount of food required daily by each person. An adult engaged in moderate work requires — 4^ ozs. of nitrogenous substances, 3 „ fats, 14J „ carbohydrates, and 1 „ salts, Making a total of 22| ozs. of solid dry food. But the ordinary foods we take contain- about one-half their bulk of water. The above dietary is therefore equivalent to about 45^ ounces of moist solid. To this must be added 2 to 2^ pints of water. The number of grains of nitrogen in the above dietary is about 300, of carbon about 4,800. Now, meat contains an excess of nitrogen. If one at- CLASSIFICATION AND USES OP FOOD 35 tempted to live on lean meat alone, then 29 ozs. of uncooked lean meat would supply sufficient nitrogen, but 75 ozs. would be required to supply sufiBcient carbon. Similarly bread contains an excess of carbon. If we attempted to live on bread alone, then 54^ ozs. would be required daily to supply enough nitrogen, and only 40 ozs. to supply enough carbon. It is evidently therefore more economical to combine foods, thus avoiding excess or defi- ciency of any one constituent. ' Thus, 10"6 ozs. of lean uncooked meat and 34-6 ozs. of bread would give the 300 grains of nitrogen and 4,800 grains of carbon required daily by an adult engaged in moderate work. A smaller amount of nitrogen suffices for those who lead an inactive life. It may be useful to give a few practical examples of dietaries worked out on the preceding lines. Instances of Dietaries, — In prisons, for persons under- going more than four months' imprisonment with hard labour, the dietary is as follows : — Bread . . Breakfast, Daily ( Sun. and Wedn. Dinner. . ( Mon. and Friday Tues., Thursday, and Saturday. 8 ozs. Supper. . Daily Porridge Bread . . Potatoes . Suet pudding ( Bread . . Potatoes . . Cooked meat } without bone J Bread Potatoes . Soup . . Bread Porridge pt. ozs. 1 6 8 12 8 12 12 1 pt. 8 ozs. 1 pt. The soup is made from the following ingredients in every pint : — 4 ozs. of clod (or shoulder), cheek, neck, leg, or shin of beef ; 4 ozs. of split peas ; 2 ozs. fresh vegetables ; 1^ oz. onions ; pepper and salt. Suet pudding. — Each pound contains 1^ oz. mutton suet, 8 ozs. flour, and about 6^ ozs. of water. Porridge is made with 3 ozs. of coarse Scotch oatmeal to the pint, with salt. ^ D 2 36 DOMESTIC ECONOMY The preceding diet is equal to about 270 grains of nitro- gen and 4,300 of carbon. It has been suggested that bacon and haricot beans should be substituted for beef in the Monday's dinner. This would be more nutritious and at the same time more eco- nomical. Thus : 4 ozs. of beef (cooked) without bone costs Sljd.] 12 „ potatoes , ^d. ■=5d. 8 „ bread . . i ' while 9 ozs. of cooked haricot beans costs 1 „ „ fat bacon , „ S"-)-=2ic? 12 „ „ potatoes . „ |c?. j ^ 8 „ bread . . . „ being a saving of 2r,c?. on each dinner. The Soldiers' Dietary consists of 12 ozs. ,of meat, of which ^ part is bone, 24 ozs. of bread, 16 ozs. of potatoes, 8 ozs. of green or other vegetables, 3J oz. of milk, 1^ oz. of sugar, i oz. of salt, ^ oz. of coffee, and ^ oz. of tea. This is equivale&t to 272 grains of nitrogen and 4,588 6f carbon. The following diet may be recommended for brain workers, being light, easily digestible, and quite sufficiently nutritious. It should contain about 20 ozs. of bread, 10 ozs. of fish, 16 ozs. of potatoes, 8 ozs. of other vegetables, d^ ozs. of milk, one egg, 1 oz. oiE butter, and ^ oz. of sugar, or their equivalent in other foods, thus supplying about 300 grains of nitrogen and 4,640 grains of carbon. The diet may be varied to any extent, and many accessories included. It is evident, however, that none of the preceding dietaries (with the possible exception of the prison dietary) would satisfy the requirements of the workitig man, having himself, his wife and family to support on 25s. to 30s. per week, on account of their expense. For him the best money-value is perhaps obtainable from oatmeal. It is quite possible to meet all the require- ' ments of a man engaged in laborious work, by supplying him daily with^ 1| lbs. of oatmeal and a quart of pure milk. This contains an abundant supply of nitrogenous material, fat, and carbohydrates, and at a cost which would not exceed 7d. As variety is desirable, other foods may be introduced. CLASSIFICATION AND USES OP FOOD 37 ThuSj 20 ozs. of bread, | lb. of lean bacon, 1 lb. of potatoes, ^ oz. of butter, ^ oz. of sugar, 3 j ozs. of milk, 4 ozs. of oat- meal, would cost about lO^ii^., and would supply as much nutriment as the oatmeal and milk diet just named. Suppose the labourer has a wife and four children, of whom one is an infant six months old, and the others, three, seven, and fourteen years of age respectively. The eldest child must be taken as requiring about as much food as his mother, and about two-thirds of the amount required by the father ; the two next children will require each about half the amount consumed by the father, and, unless the infant is nursed naturally by its mother (in which case her food would require to be increased), two pints of new milk must be allowed for it daily. Thus, leaving the infant out of the reckoning, if the family lived on oatmeal and milk the cost of food would be not quite Is. lie?, per diem ; while U they lived on the more varied dietary we have rdentioned, it would be 2s. lie?. Numerous variations on the preceding dietaries may be devised without increasing expenditure. Bones may be utilised for making soup to which carrots and other vege- tables form a nutritious addition. Peas or haricot beans may take the place of lean bacon once or twice a week, and cheese on other days if desired. But whatever plan is adopted, the labourer must evidently spend a large share of his earnings in food, leaving scant margin for rent and clothing. Vegetarianism. — It is now much urged that only vegetable food should be taken by man. There can be no doubt (a) that all the food we require can be obtained from the vegetable world ; (b) that a large amount of suffering to animals would be prevented by the adoption of this system ; (c) that land feeds a larger number of people if devoted to producing corn instead of feeding cattle ; and (d), as shown by. the experience of a large number of persons, health can be maintained for prolonged periods on vegetable foods alone. On the other hand, there are the following strong reasons against an exclusively vegetable diet : — (a) The dietetic customs of nearly all races, and certainly of the most influential races, are in favour of a mixed dietary ; (b) with a purely vegetable diet the undigested refuse is 38 DOMESTIC ECONOMY greater than with an equal quantity of animal food ; (c) the digestion of vegetable food is somewhat more complex and difficult than that of animal food, thus laying a greater strain upon the digestive organs. Animal food has a great advantage as regards convenience. Man requires food which is easily converted into the body substance, and this is supplied by the flesh of animals, milk, and eggs, with a due proportion of non-nitrogenous food. Sheep and oxen work up indigestible vegetable materials into easily assimilable mutton and beef, {d) The cooking of vegetable dishes requires more time and trouble than the cooking of meat, in order to secure a sufBciently nutritious and varied dietary. There is, however, no reasonable doubt that at present an excess of animal food is taken. The consumption of meat has increased more than 40 per cent, in the last fifty years. This excess is probably absolutely harmful for town-livers, who do not get sufficient exercise in the open air. If we include milk, cheese, and eggs in the vegetarian diet, the objections to it in a large measure disappear, and it would be well if it were much more widely known, especially among the poor, that on these, together with vegetables, health can be maintained with the addition of little or no meat. CHAPTER VIII. ANIMAL FOODS. Gelatine. — Flesh Foods. — Ya/rieties of Meat. — Meat unfit for Food. — Fish. — Eggs. The most important foods derived from animals consist of their flesh, but gelatine, obtained by boiling the bones, is also a useful food. Gelatine possesses the well-known pro- perty of ' setting ' when it becomes cool. It is obtained not only from bones, but also from meat. Beef -tea, as usually made, consists chiefly of the salts of meat and gelatine, ex- tracted by boiling from the meat. The most nutritious part of the meat is left behind. ANIMAL FOODS 39 Isinglass obtained from the floating-bladder of the sturgeon is nearly pure gelatine ; glue is an inferior sort made from bones and other refuse materials. The hides of animals consist largely of gelatine, and are converted into leather by soaking them in a liquid containing oak-bark. A hard compound is produced by the action of the tannin of oak-bark on gelatine. Strong tea contains a consider- able amount of tannin, and for this reason it should not be drunk at meals where meat is taken. The flesh of various animals forms an important source of both nitrogenous and fatty food. Meats are divided into (1) red meat, as beef, mutton, pork, game, wild-fowl, and salmon ; and (2) white meat, as the common fowl and turkey, most flshes, rabbits, crustaceans (crab, lobster, &c.), and inoUusos (oysters, mussels, &c.). G_jerally white meats have finer fibres than red meats. They contain a smaller percentage of nitrogenous matter, and are in most cases more digestible than red meats. Tripe is the unstriped muscle of the first stomach of the cow. Its fibres are easily broken up during digestion, and therefore very digestible. Charges iu Muscle after Death. — When an animal dies its flesh remains flabby and relaxed for a few hours. After this the muscles become rigid and hard, a condition known as rigor mortis. This stage lasts on an average about two days, after which the flesh again becomes flabby and re- laxed, and, if kept much longer, putrefaction sets in. During the state of rigidity meat is harder and less digest- ible than before or after this period. This explains why meat is so much more tender when it has been ' hung ' for a couple of days. How to purchase Meat. — Several facts should be known by the intending purchaser. The flesh of young animals is less nutritious than of more mature ones. A four-year- old ox yields the best beef, and a three-year-old sheep the best mutton. In ill-fed and old animals connective tissue is in excess and so the meat is tougher. Well-fed and fattened meat contains, for equal weights, about 40 per cent, more dry animal matter than non-fattened meat. The average proportion of fat in fat oxen is ^, in fat sheep ^, in calves ^, lambs ^, and fat pigs |. The most economical joint to buy is one having the 40 DOMESTIC ECONOMY least bone in proportion to the meat. A leg of mutton weighing 8 lbs. has bone weighing about 1 lb. Thus the price of its meat is raised from, say, ll^d. to I3d. per lb. Similarly a shoulder of 7 lbs. wUl have about 1 lb. of bone, and the apparent price, 10|c?. per lb., is really 12|£?. ; in a sirloin of beef weighing 40 lbs. 5 will be bone, and the ap- parent price being lO^t^., the real price is Is. It is evident, therefore, that steaks and small pieces without bone may not be so much more expensive than the ordinary joints as at first sight appears. We must not forget, however, that bones may be much more utilised among the poor than they are at present for making nutritious soup. Good meat, whether beef or mutton, ought to have a marbled appearance, and should possess a medium colour, neither pale pink nor deep purple. Its texture should be firm, and it should not leave the impress of the finger after pressure. Its odour should be slight and pleasant (a clean skewer or knife thrust into the joint should give no un- pleasant smell), the juice reddish and acid ; the bundles of fibres should not be too coarse, and should be free from foreign particles embedded in them. Most important of aU, the meat should not be the flesh of an animal that has recently calved, or has died in consequence of any accident or disease. Beef is usually more lean than mutton or pork ; it has a closer texture, and more nutritive material in a given bulk. It is also fullest of the red-blood juices, and possesses a richer flavour than the other two. It follows that the national preference of the English for beef is justified. The sirloin and ribs of beef are specially good for roasting ; the brisket, the round, the aitch bone, and other parts may be boiled ; the neck and the leg make excellent stock for soup. Meat is much more tender if hung for two or three days in a cool, well- ventilated larder, before being cooked. This is impracticable in hot weather. Beef and mutton are now brought over from America and Australasia in refrigerating chambers in enormous quantities. There is little doubt that a large proportion of this is sold as English meat without the difierence being detected. Such meat is undoubtedly quite wholesome, and there is absolutely no reason why it should not be eaten. Its cheapness forms an additional reason for its use by the ANIMAL FOODS 41 ■working classes. American tinned beef also forms a good and cheap food, only, as it has already been overcooked, it must be eaten cold, or only warmed through. Ox beef is the best kind of beef. It has a fine, smooth, open grain, tender texture, and red colour. Its fat is pale ■whitish yello-w, and suet hard and -white. When -well fed, the flesh is marked or intergrained with fat. Cow beef has a closer grain than«that of the ox, and its lean is a deeper red. £uU beef has a stiU closer grain, its fat is dark, its lean a deep coarse red, and its flavour strong.. Veal, the flesh of the calf, is paler than beef, and not so nutritious. In this country, owing to the immature age at which the calf is killed, the fibres are shreddy and difficult to masticate. Mutton is generally considered to be more easy of diges- tion than beef, its fibres being shorter and more tender. ~ Its fat is less digestible than that of beef. It varies much in quality, Welsh and Southdown mutton, which are very small, being considered particularly good. The leg is the best joint, the shoulder the next best ; but nutritious dishes may be made from other parts by stewing or boiling. Lamb, owing to its delicate flavour, makes an agreeable change from mutton ; ,but it is more watery, and therefore less nutritious than mutton, and is consequently not an economical food. Pork forms a much more important food for the labour- ing classes than mutton or beef, as in country places they can keep their own pigs, and pork is cheaper than butcher's meat. It can also be easily preserved by salting. It is the most difficult of meats to digest, owing to the large quantity of fat it contains. Fresh pork is generally baked ; pickled pork, boiled. Bacon, cut in slices and broiled or toasted for breakfast, forms a universal English dish. The best quality of bacon or ham may be known by the rind being thin and the fat of a pinkish colour. It is more economical to buy the half of a large ham than a small ham, owing to the larger proportion of bone in the latter. The popular use of fat bacon with lean meats, such as veal, chicken, and rabbit, and with eggs, is founded on sound principles, as it serves to main- tain the due proportions between nitrogenous and fatty food. i2 DOMESTIC ECONOMY Brawn is a galantine made from pig's head, to which ox feet are sometimes added. Meat unfit for Food. — Meat which has become tainted should be avoided, though, strange to say, game and venison are highly prized in this condition. The Esquimaux are said to bury their meat until it is putrid. The Chinese, again, are partial to rotten eggs. Notwithstanding these exceptional instances, such foods should be rejected, as diarrhcea and other severe symptoms sometimes result from taking them. Meat slightly tainted during hot weather may be re- stored by washing it with water just tinged with Condy's fluid. If the meat is then washed with clean cold water, all smell will be found to have disappeared. Meat may be kept for some time from tainting by pouring over it some of Barflfs boro-glyceride. This is innocuous in small quanti- ties, but the joint should be washed before being cooked. Sausages, under certain conditions, and tinned meats to which air has gained access, are particularly dangerous, sometimes when no putrefactive smell can be perceived. In these cases a modified decoraposition has occurred, accompanied by the formation of very poisonous chemical compounds called ptomaines. Meat from animals which have died naturally or frorn accident and not been killed for food should be avoided. Meat derived from animals suffering froin general tubercu- lous disease (consumption) is probably also dangerous. In fact, as a safe rule, it may be said that meat derived from animals suffering from any general or constitutional disease should be forbidden. Certain parasites render meat very dangerous. Pork is sometimes (and beef less frequently) infested with minute cysts about the size of hemp-seeds, which, when swallowed in uncooked or imperfectly cooked meat, lead to the forma- tion of long tape-worms in the intestines of the human body. Another parasite (trichina spiralis), also often found in the pig, forms minute specks in the flesh (figs. 9 and 10), and, when swallowed in imperfectly cooked meat, multiplies rapidly in the alimentary canal, and produces a dangerous illness. In order to avoid these dangers the meat purchased ANIMAL FOODS 43 should be of good quality, and shculd always be thoroughly cooked Fig. 10.—^ separate Cyst of Ti-iohina spiralis, mliich is seen coiled up ^ t^ Muscle. Magnified 200 Fig, 9, — Cysts of Trichina spiralis in a Myself. Natural size. The Flesh of Birds contains very little fat. The muscular fibres are short and easily masticated, therefore forming a suitable food for invalids. This applies more particularly to the chicken. The flesh of ducks and geese, containing more fat, is less easy of digestion. Game should only be kept long enough to ensure tenderness. The flesh of the young hare and rahhit are both easily digested, re- sembling that of birds in general character. All these are alike in the deficiency of fat ; hence the general use of fat bacon and melted butter with them. It is important to be able to tell when fowls are young, and therefore tender. This may be known by the breast- bone being soft like gristle, the spur being hardly formed, and by the feet and leg joints being larger in proportion to the body than in older birds. The flesh of wild-fowls is tougher and less digestible than of tame. Fish forms a very important and too much neglected article of diet. It contains a larger proportion of water and less nitrogen, and is usually more easily digested than butcher's meat. There is considerable variation in the digestibility of fish, according to the distribution and amount of fat. We may divide fish into three classes : (1) Fish with white flesh, like whiting and sole; (2) fish 44 DOMESTIC ECONOMY with red flesh, like the salmon ; and (3) fish with oily fliesh, like the eel. Under the first head, in addition to whiting and sole, we have turbot, brUl, plaice, cod, fiounder, &c., all these containing very little fat in their flesh. In the salmon there is considerable fat mixed up with the muscular fibres ; and not only the eel, but also the pilchard, sprat, herring, and mackerel contain much fat mixed with their flesh, and are consequently not so suited for persons with delicate digestion as the white-fleshed fish. Of the white-fleshed fish, whiting is the most digestible, the sole coming next. Cod and ling have close, firm fibres, and are not so easily digested as fresh haddock, brill, and plaice. Herrings form a cheap and nutritious dish, and can be preserved for eating when out of seas'on. Haddocks, similarly, may be preserved by drying and smoking pro- cesses. Mackerel are cheap and wholesome when fresh ; but they rapidly become tainted, and should then be care- fully avoided. Fresh fish should be cooked as early as possible. Every hour that it is kept it deteriorates. The smell is the best test that a fish is fresh. The flesh should be firm, the gills bright pink, and the eyes full and bright. The quality of fish is always best when it is in season. During the spawn- ing season it is to be avoided, though this rule does not apply to young fish before the spawning age. It is cus- tomary to speak of fish as a good ' brain food ; ' but its reputation in this respect is probably owing to its ready digestibility. Shell Fish — as lobster, crab, crayfish, shrimp, and prawn — are considered difiicult of digestion. Occasionally they produce violent indigestion, followed by a red rash on the skin, called 'nettle-rash.' This is, however, excep- tional, and shell-fish form a favourite article of diet among those who possess a strong digestion. The flesh of the lobster is more delicate and digestible than that of the crab. The flesh of the claws is more tender than that of the tan. The oyster is fairly nutritious, and, to most per- sons, easy of digestion. The soft part consists chiefly of the liver, which is almost self- digestive. The oyster is in season from September to April inclusive — i.e. in every month the name of which contains the letter r. The mussel is a larger and more nutritious mollusc than the ANIMA.L FOODS 45 oyster, but not so easy of digestion. It sometiraes gives rise to very serious symptoms of poisoning. Cockles are allied molluscs somewhat less dangerous as a food than mussels. Eg'gs. — Eggs form a concentrated food. The young chick is entirely developed out of the nutriment contained in the egg and its shell. The average weight of a hen's egg is about 2 ozs. In every 100 grains there are 10 grains of shell. 22'8 „ albuminates and fat. 6 7 "2 „ water. An egg weighing two ounces would yield 110 grains of nitrogenous substance, 82 grains of fat, and 11 grains of saline matter. The white of the egg consists chiefly of albumen dissolved in water and enclosed in a delicate membrane. The yolk contains a very digestible oil, rich in phosphates, as well as a nitrogenous substance alUed to albumen. Eggs lose weight when kept, owing to evapo- ration through the porous shell ; similarly air entering from without sets up decomposition. To Preserve Eggs. — Eggs may be kept for an indefinite period (a) by smearing them over with lard or butter, so as to render them non-porous ; (6) by keeping them in a thin mixture of lime and water ; or (c) by keeping them in brine ; (d) in Scotland it is common to keep them by dipping them into boiling water. To Test Eggs. — Fresh eggs appear clear when held up to the light, the centre being the clearest part j stale eggs do not look clear. Make a brine of an ounce of common salt to half a pint of water ; fresh eggs sink in this solution, stale eggs float in it, and rotten eggs may even float in fresh water. Ducks' eggs are larger and have a stronger flavour than hens' eggs. Plovei-s' eggs are considered a delicacy. The common method of eating eggs illustrates the rational character of many of our dietetic customs. Bread and butter or bacon a,re taken with the egg, so as to com- pensate for the excess of nitrogenous matter in the egg. Salt, again, is taken to supply the requisite mineral food, and tea or some other liquid to furnish the necessary water. 46 DOMESTIC ECONOMY CHAPTER IX. MILK AND ITS DERIVATIVES. Gov^s Milk. — Shim Milk. — Diseases from Polluted Milk. — Cream. — Butter. — Margarine. — Uses of Fat in Food. — Cheese. Milk may be regarded as a complete food, inasmuch as the human infant sustains life for the greater part of the fii:st year of life on milk alone, and during this year grows more rapidly than at any subsequent period of life. The propor- tion of nitrogenous to non-nitrogenous food {i.e. fats and sugar) in milk is about as 4 'to 8-8. Such a proportion woidd be excessive for the adult, and the reason is not far to seek. The infant not only has to carry on the ordinary functions of the body, but has to build up its complex tissues, into the formation of which nitrogenous material largely enters. Milk alone would form an extravagant dietary for an adult, and the excess of nitrogenous matter in it would be difficult to eliminate from the system. Every class of food is represented in mUk. Thus in 100 parts of cow's milk there are 87 parts of water, 5 per cent, of sugar, 3'4 per cent, of casein (nitrogenous or proteid food), 3"8 per cent, of fat, and 0'8 per cent, of salts. Milk varies in composition in different animals. Thus in every 100 parts by weight there are the following pro- portions in different species : — Water Sugar (lactose) Casein and extractives Fat Salts Human . . Cow . . . Goat . . . As.s . . , 86-9 87-0 86-4 89-0 7-0 5-0 4-1 7-1 1-8 3-4 4-8 2-1 4-0 3-8 4-2 1-5 0-3 0'8 0-5 0-3 The milk of the ass is nearest like human milk, and is much more easily digested by infants than cow's milk. MILK AND ITS DERIVATIVES 47 Goat's milk resembles cow's milk in chemical composition, but its casein does not form so stiff a clot, and it is there- fore more easily digested. Ass's milk is very valuable for delicate infants ; goat's milk for strong infants. By keep- ing a goat, the freshness and genuineness of the milk sup- plied to children can be guaranteed. The cost of keeping a goat is comparatively small, as hardly any animal will thrive on so many different foods as the goat, and the country cottager may add to his income by this means. The amount of milk supplied by a goat varies from one to four quarts a day. Cow's Milk has a specific gravity of 1,032, as compared with water 1,000. This is ascertained by means of a lacto- meter. If allowed to stand in a narrow glass vessel, cream should occupy 10 to 12 parts out of every 100 parts of milk. The cream forms a natural emulsion consisting of minute globules of fat encased in albumen. If the proportion of cream is lower than the above, then the milk has been skimmed. If the specific gravity is below 1,028, the milk has almost certainly been watered. The examination of milk by means of the lactometer and the estimation of the amount of cream will together enable us to form a good idea of the quality of a given milk, though neither of these is to be trusted alone. As cream is lighter than milk, its abstraction without watering would tend to increase the specific gravity. A low specific gravity, with a low per- centage volume of cream, therefore, almost certainly indi- cates that the milk has been both skimmed and watered. The chief products obtained from milk are cheese and butter. Thus mUk, minus fat of cream, is called battermilk. „ „ „ casein and fat, „ wtey. Skim Milk is produced by abstracting the cream from milk. This is now done in large dairies by centrifugal separators, the revolutions of which cause the cream to be rapidly separated. Skim milk is highly nutritious; but when sold, as it frequently is in large towns, for whole mUk, and at the same price as whole milk, it constitutes a serious fraud, as cream is more expensive than milk, and the cream of milk is a very valuable food for children. Skim milk and potatoes form a very nourishing dish ; 48 DOMESTIC ECONOMY and with some dripping added to the potatoes to compen- sate for the cream which has been removed from the milk, we obtain a complete and yet very inexpensive meal. It is unfortunate that skim milk is not sold in large quantities in towns as such, for its food-value is very high. Diseases from Contaminated Milk. — When any evil has followed the taking of milk it has been generally due either to (1) the mixing of tainted water with milk, or (2) the placing of milk where it could absorb noxious vapours from the air. The first of these is by far th6 most common ; but milk is a very absorptive fluid, and it is important, therefore, to keep it covered over, and in a cool room where there are no decomposing matters, and no efSuvia from drains, &c. Typhoid, fever has been frequently traced to mUk which has been mixed with sewage-polluted water, as, for instance, by washing cans with water contaminated from a cesspool. Scarlet fever has often been spread by the distribution of milk from a dairy where ihere were cases of scarlet fever. Contamination may also occur (3) from want of cleanliness in the vessels of the dairy. Milk in warm weather undergoes rapid fermentative changes, and during such changes various poisons are developed. Diarrhcea in children is frequently due to such a condition, or to the rapid decomposition of milk in a feeding-bottle which is not kept clean. Infantile diarrhoea is a very common and fatal summer-disease, its chief cause being the entrance of some poison into the infant's food, either from without or by putrefactive changes in the food itself. It has been shown that calves may be infected with tuberculosis (con- sumption) from the milk of tuberculous cows ; and there is reason to think that children may in like manner acquire tubercular disease by drinking milk derived from consump- tive cows. For these reasons it is very desirable that in every house milk should be boiled before being taken, this pre- caution appearing to suffice to prevent infection. The best plan is to adopt the custom which prevails on the Continent, of boiling the mUk as soon as it is brought into the house. Most of us would be revolted at the idea of eating raw meat. Milk is as much an animal product as meat ; and there is probably greater danger in drinking uncooked mill? than in eating raw flesh, MILK AND, ITS DERIVATIVES 49 Preservation of Milk.— Everything about milk should be scrupulously clean, as it is very apt to decompose. Milk- pails, basins, jugs, and especially babies' feeding-bottles must be thoroughly scalded before milk is placed in them. Milk keeps much better after having been boiled, and, once the taste for boiled milk is acquired, it is liked as well as uncooked milk. Milk should be kept in covered vessels, in order that the diist of the pantry may not settle on it. Milk-jugs should be of such a shape that they can be thoroughly cleansed. » 6 Fig. 11.— Milk Jugs of (a) Proper shape, (b) improper shape. For remarks on condensed milk, see p. 82. Cream, which rises to the top of milk after standing about twelve hours, consists chiefly of minute particles of butter fat. It is a most valuable food, especially for chil- dren. In towns there is reason to believe that a large amount of ' separated ' or skim milk is sold as whole mUk, and thus many children are deprived of an important part of their food. Levonshire Cream is prepared from milk by allowing it to stajid for about twelve hours in a ' metal pan, and then setting the pan over a slow fire, until its contents are heated to the point of simmering. At this point a scum is pro- duced which clots the cream. Butter forms 3^ to ih per cent, of cow's mUk. It is separated from milk by churning, the oil particles being deprived by this means of their albuminous coats. The E 60 DOMESTIC ECONOMY butter, when formed, is well washed and kneaded with water, so as to free it as completely as possible from casein and other constituents of milk. The more completely these are separated the better the butter keeps. It can be kept longer if salt is added, or in hot weather by keeping it under frequently changed water. Butter, when fresh, is one of the mpst easily digested forms of fatty food, but if at all rancid it often disagrees. The fat in butter fotms about 88 per cent, of its composi- tion. It differs from all other fats in the presence of a special fat called butyrin, and can be distinguished by this means from artificial imitations of butter. Other Fatty Foods. — This is a convenient opportunity for considering other fatty foods which are no^ derived from milk. They consist of varying proportions of three com- plex compounds called olein, palmitin, and stearin. Olein and palmitin occur in both the animal and the vegetable kingdom ; stearin is peculiar tp animal fats. Stearin is the hardest kind of fat, and, owing to the large quantity of this compound, mutton fat is less digestible than beef fat. The more olein a fat contains the less solid it is. Olive oil consists almost entirely of olein. Cod-liver oil copsists chiefly of olein, and is of great value both as a food and a medicine. The temperature at which a fat becomes solid after cooking is a rough but fair guide to its digestibility. Thus mutton fat* sets sooner than beef fat, and both of "these sooner than bacon fat. Margarine is made from beef fat. The fat is melted down, and the stearin (which solidifies at a higher tem- perature than the olein and margarine) is first separated. The remaining olein and margarine are coloured with annatto, and have some milk or butter incorporated with them, in order to impart some of the flavour of butter to the compound. The resulting compound, commercially known as niargarine or butterine, forms a wholesome and cheap food, and may be recommended as a substitute for butter when economy is desired. It is an infringement' of the law, incurring a maximum penalty of £20, to sell it for butter, though this fraud is still often attempted, especially in shops frequented by the poor. There is no certain means of detecting the fraud, except by careful chemical MILK AND ITS DERIVATIVES 51 examination. As a rule, margarine has not the delicate aroma possessed by genuine butter. Lard, the leaf fat of the pig, is used for frying pur- poses, and for making pastry. Dripping, derived from the fat parts of any kind of cooked meat, may be used for the same purposes, if well clarified. Olive oil is a valuable food derived from the fleshy ex- terior of the fruit of the olive. It is often adulterated, cotton oil, and other cheap substitutes, being sold under the dubious names of ' lucca oil ' or ' salad oil.' Cotton oil is quite wholesome, but commercially of much smaller value than olive oil. Use of Oils and Fats for Food. — Hydroearbons or fats form very important foods, being better heat-producers than carbohydrates (starch and sugar). This will be seen from the fact that 100 parts of Starch contain 45 parts of carbon and 6 parts of hydrogen. Sugar „ 43 „ „ „ 6 „ „ F^it » 79 „ „ „ 11 „ Fat, in a healthy man, forms about one-thirteenth part of his total weight, and is thus a valuable reserve of food. Dr. Mantell tells of a pig which was buried for 160 days in its sty by the falling of a chalk cliff at Dover. At the time of ite temporary interment it weighed about 160 lbs., when extricated only 40 lbs. No doubt the moisture in the chalk had helped to keep the pig alive. The camel's hump consists of fat, and forms a reservoir, varying in size with the state of its nutrition. After protracted marches it may almost disappear, the fat having been oxidised to maintain the heat of the body. During exposure to cold the possession of a sufficient layer of subcutaneous fat is an admirable help in keeping warm. For children, a diet containing a considerable proportion of fat is of prime importance. Deficiency of cream (contained in pure milk), or of other fatty foods, is one of the chief causes of rickets, a disease of children which not only pro- duces great deformity of the bones, but also leads to many fatal diseases. The same cause also favours con- sumptive diseases. Some have even said that the price of butter has much to do with the amount of tubercular disease of the lungs (consumption). It is certainly true E 2 52 DOMESTIC ECONOMY that those children who cannot take fat meat, &c., are most prone to this disease, and that the best way of treating and of preventing it is to give fat in various forms, including cod-liver oil. For children who cannot take fat meat the fat may be given in other forms without disagreeing. If the digestion is very weak, butter should be given with the potatoes. In other cases we may put some suet into rice-pudding, or dis- solve a little suet in milk by placing it in a warm oven. It should be remembered that fat when finely divided is more easily digested than when in lumps. Witness the dift'erence between swallowing a lump of butter and thin bread-and- butter. Dripping and bread are enjoyed by children who could not have taken the dripping in the original joint. ' Dripping is a much more nutritious food when taken with bread than golden syrup or jam under the same circum- stances. In addition to the fatty foods named above, there are others among vegetables. Thus in 100 parts of oatmeal there are 5 '6 parts of fat ; in maize, 5 parts ; and in wheat, 1"2 parts of fat. Butter-milk contains all the constituents of milk ex- cept the butter. It is slightly sour to the taste. The casein in it is in a finely coagulated state, thus rendering it more digestible than whole milk. For this reason it is a valuable food • for invalids and children, which is unde- servedly neglected. Cheese is prepared from milk by the action of rennet, an extratct obtained from the mucous membrane gf the fourth stomach of the calf. By its means the casein or nitrogenous part of the milk is converted into curd, which separates from the whey, carrying with it the cream and a large proportion of the salts of milk (especially phosphate of lime). The curd is subsequently pressed in moulds, a certain amount of salt being added. When new, cheese is tough ; when old, its oil tends to become rancid ; the best age is from nine to twenty months. It is probable that cheese in small amount helps the digestion of other foods, owing to its stimulant properties. Cheese is a very valuable and economical food, containing, weight for weight, twice as much nitrogenous material as meat. Thus a very complete and satisfying meal may be made of bread and cheese. MILK AND ITS DERIVATIVES 53 Being^ a concentrated food, it is itself rather difficult of digestion, and in considerable quantities is only suited for those leading active out-door lives. When toasted, cheese is proverbially indigestible. There are many diflferent kinds of cheese, the following being the more important varieties : — (1) Cream cheese, consisting of the fresh curd only slightly pressed. It is more easily digested than ordinary cheese. It contains a large amount of butter fat. (2) Cheeses made with whole milk to which a certain amount of cream has been added, such as Stilton and double Glo'ster. (3) Cheeses made with unskimmed milk, as Cheshire and Cheddar. (4) Cheeses made of skimmed milk, as Suffolk, Parmesan, and Dutch clieeses. The last-mentioned cheeses keep best, but become hard and dry. The ^■icher 'fatty cheeses are very prone to decomposition. Cheese is adulterated, like butter, by the substitution of margarine for the butter fat. This can only be detected by careful chemical analysis. Whey is the liquid remaining from milk after the cheese has been separated. It contains some soluble albumen and a little fat, together with the sugar and salts of milk. It is a useful drink in febrile diseases and for children who can- not digest whole milk. CHAPTER X. VEGETABLE AND MINERAL FOODS. Cereal Foods. — Leguminous Foods. — Starchy Foods. — Other Vegetable Foods. — Fruits. — Sugar. — Condiments. — Mineral Foods. With the exception of certain salts and water, our food is derived entirely from animals and vegetables. Some ha\o asserted that a completely vegetable dietary is best, but this point has been already discussed (page 37). Various parts of plants are used as food. In all kinds of grain it is the seed that is used ; in the turnip and beet 54 DOMESTIC ECONOMY it is the root ; in the potato, a part of the underground stem called the tuber; in sago, another part of the stem is utilised; in asparagus, the young shoots ; in cabbage and lettuce, the leaves ; in cauliflower, the flowers ; and in tomato and many others, the fruit. Of all vegetable foods the corn-plants or cereals (also called farinaceous seeds) are the most important. CEREAL FOODS. Cereal foods contain a nitrogenous substance called gluten, which is peculiar to them. Gluten is to bread ■what .myosin is to flesh, and casein to milk. If one takes a piece of dojagh made from wheat flour and holds it under a stream of water from the tap, a large part of it is washed away, while a sticky tenacious mass is left behind. This is gluten, and it is by virtue of the tenacity of gluten that bread can be made. If the fluid with which the dough was washed is collected,' it will be found to contain a large quantity of starch (this turns blue on the addition of a few drops of tincture of iodine), and a small quantity of sugar, of albumen, and of certam salts. All cereals possess. these constituents in various proportions (with a varying amount of fat). Good wheat-flour contains eight to eleven per cent, of gluten ; oatmeal, barley, rice, and maize, very little. The other cereals, with the exception of rye, can only be made into bread when mixed with wheat-flour. Wheat is the most largely consumed of all the cereal grains. The outer yellowish coat of the grain is known, when separated, as bran ', the inner white part, as flour. To understand the exact nature of the products of -wheat when ground we must examine the structure of the wheat-grain. It is really a fruit, consisting of a seed and its coverings. All the middle part of the grain is occupied by large thin cells (fig. 12, d), full of a powdery substance, which is chiefly starch. Outside this central starchy mass is a single row of squarish cells (fig. 12, c) filled with a yellowish nitrogenous substance. Beyond this are six thin coverings containing much mineral matter (fig. 12, a b). The outermost of these branny coats are very hard, and of no value as food for man. • In the ordinary English process of milling the wheat- VEGETABLE AND MINERAL FOODS 55 meal is produced in one grinding, and then separated into several products. The following classification of the pro- FlG. 12. — Section of Grain of Wlieat ' {magnified 200 timei). (a) Cells of ihe hran ; (b) cells of thin cuticle ; (o) gluten cells ; (d) starch cells. ducts is given by Church, -with the average amount of each product obtained from 100 lbs. of good white wheat : — lbs. Finest Flour Seconds Flour Biscuit Flour Tails or taUings . Middlings or fine sharps Coarse sharps Fine pollard 1 8. Coarse pollard v9. Long bran . Thus about 72 per cent, of flour is obtained, 23 per cent. of bran, 5 per cent, being waste. These results are only approximations, and the names given to the different parts of the grain vary in different mills. The first three pro- ' From Landois' Suma/n, Physiology, 3rd edit., p. 851. Flour ■ Bran 42 18 9 3 8 3 3 6 3 56 DOMESTIC ECONOMY ducts are often sold as ' fine flour.' The middlings or fine sharps form a kind of link between flour and bran. The bran contains much more nitrogenous matter than the flour, also a larger amount of fat and of mineral salts. It also contains a ferment resembling the ferment in saliva, and having a similar effect, when flour is moistened, in changing starch into sugar. This is one of the chief reasons why bread made with brown meal is darker coloured than white bread, the sugar thus formed being browned during the process of cooking. Notwithstanding these facts, it is very doubtful if brown bread is so much more nutritious than white bread as is commonly stated. The branny matters are hard and difficult to digest, and a large portiqn of them passes through the intestines without being digested. In ' decorticated whole-meal bread,' it is stated that the two or three outermost and more indigestible layers of bran have been separated, leaving the highly nutritious inner tunic. Even this kind of whole-meal bread sometimes disagrees, though in other cases its effect in stimulating the bowels, and thus preventing constipation, is very useful. Good wheat flour is recognised by its white colour, by the absence of grittiness, and by the fact that it forms a co- herent stringy dough. Under the microscope it should show the absence of any minute parasites, and of foreign starches, such as barley, maize, rice, and potato (these are known by the different shape of their starch-granules). Alum is occasionally added to flour to give a fictitious whiteness to it. Its presence may be detected by adding a fresh solution of logwood to the flour. This becomes permanently purplish blue if alum is present, but the colour soon fades if the flour is pure. \ Semolina is a granular preparation of wheat, made by a special method of grinding. It is made from hard- wheats containing much gluten. It is used for making puddings and for thickening soups. Macaroni and Vermicelli are also prepared from wheats containing a large proportion of gluten. The dough is passed through moulds, thus forming long tubes. Barley. — The meal of barley is very nutritious and is largely used for fattening animals. Most of the barley grown in this country is now converted into malt for mak- ing beer. Pea/rl harley is the grain deprived of husk and VEGETABLE AND MINERAL FOODS 57 rounded and polished by a rasping or paring process. It is used for making barley-water for invalids and for adding to mutton broWi, (fee. Barley flour does not yield a light bread, but added in small quantity to wheat flour it helps to keep the bread moist and improves its flavour. Malt consists of barley which has been made to germi- nate or sprout by means of heat and moisture and then dried in a kiln. During the process of germination a special ferment called ' diastase ' is developed which pos- sesses the power of converting starch into sugar on the ad- dition of water. Extract of Malt is a treacly fluid obtained from malt. It is very nutritious, and, owing to the pre- sence of diastase in it, helps in the digestion of other starchy foods. It is a valuable medicine (as well as a food) for patients with impaired digestion or debiltty. Oatmeal is richer in nitrogenous, fatty, aod mineral matters than any of the other cereals. It thus forms a highly nutritious food, and is particularly valuable for growing children. Scotch oatmeal is the best and richest,- and, as porridge and oatmeal cake, it is very popular in the North. Like barley, oatmeal is apt to have a laxative efiect, and in some persons it causes indigestion. Groats is the grain freed from all husk ; when crushed it forms ' Embden groats,' used for making gruel. Rye is rarely used in this country for making bread. In Russia and Germany it is made into 'black bread,' but its colour and sourish taste make it disagreeable, and it is laxative in its action. It is also liable to be attacked by a parasitic fungus (the ergot of rye), and if eaten in this con- dition produces a serious form of poisoning. Maize or Indian Corn is very deficient in gluten, but, like oatmeal, contains a large amount of fat. It is now largely cultivated in Southern Europe, as weU as in its native America, but it cannot be relied upon as a field-crop in England. In America the grains are cooked in the green and succulent state as a vegetable, like green peas. Hominy is a preparation of maize and contains all its nutri- ment. Osviego flour and corn flour are much less nourish- ing derivatives of maize, as they consist almost solely of starch. When taken with milk, however, they form light and nourishing dishes. Maize is largely used in America for making cs^es. It is also used for horse-keep and for 58 DOMESTIC ECONOMY fattening poultry and other animals. On account of the large amount of fat contained in maize, it is apt, if kept long, to acquire an unpleasant rancid taste. Rice is a native of India, though it is cultivated with success in Southern Europe. It is said to be the main food of one-third of the human race, and there is some truth in the statement that ' rice has ruined Bengal as the potato has ruined Ireland.' This is because too much dependence is placed upon the one crop ; as if this fails the natives have nothing to fall back upon. There is a further analogy, as both the potato and rice- consist chiefly of starch and contain very little nitrogenous matter or fat. They can both be usefully employed as food in combination with substances like meat, eggs, fat bacon, or peas, which supply the deficient proteid and fat. The following table given by Parkes is useful for com- paring the relative richness of the different cereals in their most important constituents, the richest being placed first : — Nitrogenous Substancea Fat Starch, &o. Salts Wheat / Maize \Oats Barley Eye Wheat Eice Barley Barley Eye Oats Maize Maize Wheat Eye Oats Oats Wheat Eye Maize Eics Eice' Barley Eice LEGUMINOUS POODS. Vegetables which have their seeds enclosed in a pod are called leguminous plants. The chief seeds of this group are peas, beans, and lentils, which are known as pulse. They all contain a nitrogenous substance called legumin, which resembles the casein of milk in chemical composition, and has been called vegetable' casein. In some parts of China cheeses are made from the seeds of peas and beans. Judged by the percentage amount of nitrogenous materials they contain, leguminous foods are of high value. Thus while in wheat- flour there is about 11 per cent., in meat 15 per cent., and in cheese over 30 per cent, of nitrogenous mate- VEGETABLE AND MITTERAL FOODS 59 rial, dried peas and beans contain about 22 per cent, of nitrogenous material. Chemical composition alone is not, however, a certain guide in matters of diet. The relative digestibility of various foods must also be taken into the reckoning. In this respect leguminous foods, unless very thoroughly cooked, are far behind the other foods just enu- merated, with, the possible exception of cheese. Their rich- ness in nitrogenous substances makes leguminous foods the best substitute for animal food ; and, even though it may not be desirable to substitute them permanently for 'meat, they may with advantage be given as a frequent change from meat. Combined with rice, leguminous plants form the staple food of many Indian races. To make this dietary completely satisfactory, some fatty food must be added. Beans and bacon form a most nutritious mixture. Several varieties of Beans are used as food. The com- mon horse-bean is grown in fields ; the Windsor or broad bean in gardens. The haricot or French bean and the scarlet runner are both used when fresh as green vegetables, the seeds and pods, being cooked together. Haricot beans, when dried, are largely consumed on the Continent, and, if carefully and thoroughly cooked, deserve to be much more extensively used in England. Broad beans, when young, form a wholesome food. They should not be too mature when eaten. They should be, eaten before the point of attachment to the pod becomes dark coloured and while the skin bursts by boiling them. Under these conditions, with melted butter, they form a digestible and satisfying dinner. Of Peas there are several varieties. The common field- pea is grown as food for cattle ; the garden-pea is eaten both as a fresh vegetable, and ripe in the form of dried peiis, split peas, and pea meal. Split peas have had the tough envelope of the seed removed. Green peas contain a considerable amount of sugar, and their nitrogenous matter is much more digestible than that of dried peas. Dry ripe peas require long but slow cooking to render them fit for use. Like the other leguminous fruits, they are apt to cause flatulence and colicky indi- gestion. They contain sulphur, which is liberated as sul- phuretted hydrogen in the intestines. Lentils have of late years become a much more popular 60 DOMESTIC ECONOMY food in England. They are now largely imported from Egypt, as well as from the southern parts of Europe. They are, perhaps, the most nutritious of leguminous foods, and possess the additional advantage that the ash is very rich in iron, a most important element in our food. There is reason to think 'that the red blood corpuscles owe their power of conveying oxygen to the various tissues to the iron which they contain. Lentils contain little or no sul- phur, and thus do not give rise to the unpleasant flatulence which follows the taking of peas and beans, especially the former. Lentil flour will undoubtedly take the place more and more of pea-flour for soups. Revalenta arabica is a patent food, consisting chiefly of lentil flour with barley flour or cornflour. It is sold at many times the value of the meals of which it is composed. STARCHY POODS. All the preceding cereals and leguminous foods contain a large proportion of starch. The following gives approxi- mately the percentage amount in some of the commonest foods : — Wheat . . 66 Eice . . 79 Wheat bread . 47 Peas . . 55 Barley flour . 69 Potatoes . . 19 Oatmeal . 58 Parsnips . . 9 Maize meal . 65 Carrots . 8 Eye meal 69 Turnips , . 5 Arrowroot . 72 The smallness of the percentage in potatoes is due to the large amount of water in their composition. Some foods consist almost entirely of starch, the chief of these being sago, tapioca, and arrowroot. In all these plants starch occurs in minute granules, which are packed within the cells of the plant. Eig- 13 shows the starch granules of the potato very highly magnified. They vary in shape in difierent plants, and by microscopical examina- tion the source of a given starch can thus be often detected. Starch is a useful and nutritious food, though not so valuable as fats. In order to enter the circulation it must De first dissolved. This is effected by means of the ptyalin VEGETABLE AND MINERAL FOODS 61 of saliva and a similar pancreatic ferment, the starch being converted into a kind of sugar. Dextrin has the same composition as starch, but is, Fig. 13. — Cells of Potatoes, slwroing Starch Gramides, higlHy magnified. unlike the latter, soluble in cold water. It is made from starch by the action of heat or a dilute acid. It is then known as British gum, and as such is used for postage stamps. During digestion starch becomes dextrin before it is finally changed into sugar. Sago is obtained from the pith ef the stem of various species of palm ; a single tree may yield several hundred pounds. It is used for thickening soups and for making mUk puddings. Boiled with mUk, it forms a light, nutri- tious, and non-irritating food. Fictitious sagos are fre- quently made from potato and other starches. Tapioca is obtained from the tuberous' roots of the Manihot utiUssima, cultivated in Africa, India, and other hot countries. The juice of the root contains prussio acid, which is separated by washing the grated roots, and allow- ing the starch granules to settle. It forms a useful addition to meat, soups, and broths, and makes nutritious puddings 62 DOMESTIC ECONOMY with milk. Tapioca is more soluble than sago, and so requires less time for cooking. Arrowroot is derived from the tuber of the Maranta arundinacea, a native of the West Indies. It is easily digested, and non-irritating, and very suitable for invalids. Cornflour and oswego-flowr are starchy foods, already mentioned as being derived from Indian corn. OTHER VEGETABLE FOODS. The potato, from the tuber of the potato-plant, is a most useful food. Formerly scurvy was very prevalent and fatal in this country, and there is little doubt but that its present extreme rarity is due to the almost universal consumption of potatoes. It contains 26 solid parts in 100, of which 19 are starch and 'i\ nitrogenous matter. Alone it contains too little nitrogenous and fatty materials to support life, but the addition of butter-milk and dripping make it a complete and nutritious food. Potatoes are most wholesome when the starch granules are healthy, as shown by the envelopes bursting and forming a floury -mass after the potatoes have been boiled. Young potatoes contain immature cells, and are much less digestible and nutritious. Potatoes which have been frozen, or from any other cause have become waxy and watery, are unwholesome. Potatoes grown on a light dry soil are more mealy than those grown on a damp soil. They are easily cultivated by country cottagers, and form an admirable store-food for winter use. Potatoes should not be boiled unless in their skins, as the salts they contain become dissolved in the water and thus lost. They are best steamed. The turnip belongs to the cabbage tribe. Its nutritive value is small, but it introduces an agreeable variety into our food, and, like all fresh vegetable foods, is an admirable anti-scorbutic (preventive of scurvy). The carrot, like the turnip, contains no starch, and is used, like it, for soups and as a vegetable. The parsnip contains sugar, like the turnip and carrot, and some starch in addition. Beetroot is extensively cultivated as food for cattle and for the extraction of sugar. It is largely used also in salads, and is a very useful food. VEGETABLE AND MINERAL FOODS 63 The radish somewhat resembles the turnip in compo- sition, but is more pungent, and is rather apt to disagree, unless eaten young and fresh. The onion, garlic, leek, and shalot, all members of the lily family, are used chiefly as condiments to improve the flavour of other foods. They contain an acrid volatile oil, which gives them their peculiar odour and flavour. By long boiling this is dissipated (as in the case of the Spanish onion), and the onion is then fairly digestible and nutri- tious. Celery is formed of the leaf-stalks of the celery plant, bleached by being grown underground. It possesses a delicate flavour, due to an essential oil. It is eaten both raw and cooked ; in the latter form it is wholesome and digestible. Only three fungi are, in this country, commonly re- garded as safe — mushrooms, morels, and truffles ; but there are many others which, if their characters were but known, form nutritious and delicate foods. The difficulty lies in distinguishing the poisonous from the non-poisonous forms. Any fungus possessing an astringent taste and a disagree- able pungent odour should be avoided. In any doubtful case it is better to abstain. Mushrooms may be stewed, broiled, or pickled. They are also used for making ketchup, an agreeable sauce. Green Vegetables contain comparatively little nutri- ment, but are none the less of great importance for the maintenance of health. Their.main constituent is cellulose, wliich passes through the alimentary canal unchanged. Cellulose has the same percentage composition as starch, but except in the very young state cannot be digested by man, while starch can. Chemical composition alone is, therefore, not a certain test of the relative value of the food-materials. But although cellulose is not digested, it forms a useful stimulant to the aliment-ary canal, and thus tends to pre- vent constipation. It is necessary for health that a certain amount of ■ indigestible material should be taJien a^ food, and green vegetables are the best form in which to take this, inasmuch as they contain saline material which has valuable antiscorbutic properties. Concentrated nourish- ment can only be digested in a limited quantity ; e\ery kind of natural food is bulky, thus giving the alimentary canal more mass to act upon. 64 DOMESTIC ECONOMr Cabbage contains 92 per cent, of water and 2^ per cent, of nitrogenous matter. Most of these green vegetables contain a considerable amount of sulphur, -which sometimes causes flatulence. Bhuha/rh and sorrel contain oxalates and tartrates of potash and lime, to which they owe their tartness. Spinach is cooling and laxative, like rhubarb, but not tart. Sea-kale and asparagus are wholesome and delicate vege- tables. Salads, containing mustard and cress, watercress, endive, and the garden-lettuce, are very useful as anti- scorbutics. FEUITS. A great variety of fruits are consumed as articles of food, both in the fresh and dried state. The following are the chief varieties : — 1. The cucumber, vegetable marrow, melon. 2. The apple, pear, quince, pine-apple. 3. The orange, lemon, lime, and shaddock. 4. Stone fruits, as the plum, peach,' apricot, cherry, olive, date. •5. The grape, gooseberry, currant, cranberry. 6. The strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, mulberry. 7. Nuts, as walnuts, filberts, almonds^ chestnuts. The grains of cereal plants are also fruits, but they have been fully considered. The first six classes of fruits agree in the small amount of nitrogenous material which they contain, and the large proportion of water. Their chief food-value is due to the sugar which they contain. Thus the apple contains about 43 per cent, of sugar ; the cherry, 31 per cent. ; the raisin, 54 per cent., and the fig, 50 per cent. They also contain im- portant vegetable salts (citrates, tartrates, malates), as well as some free vegetable acid, to which, and to certain essential oils and ethers, their agreeable taste is due. Malic acid is found in pears, apples, gooseberries, and currants ; tartaric acid in grapes ; citric acid in lemons, oranges, &o. They are more valuable as anti-scorbutics than as foods. They are cooling and refreshing, and tend to prevent constipa- tion. Cucumber and vegetable marrow are taken rather as VEGETABLE AND MINERAL FOODS 65 t vegetables than as fruits. Vegetable marrow is whole- some and agreeable, but not very nutritive. The rind of cucumber is Very indigestible. In order not to pro- duce indigestion, cucumber should be freshly cut and not pickled. The melon is perhaps the most watery of the fruits, as it contains more than 95 per cent, of water. The tomato is largely used for salads, and for the preparation of soups and sauces. It is a refreshing and wholesome fruit. The apple, pear, and quince are more digestible when cooked, and, speaking generally, all fruit not perfectly ripe should be cooked before eating. The presence of vegetable acids in fruit soon converts the cane-sugar used for sweeten- ing into de^rose — a less sweet variety of sugar. It is, therefore, more economical to sweeten after than before cooking. The orange is very valuable for allaying thirst. The peel is used as candied peel and also in orange marmalade. The lemon and its allies, the lime and shaddock, yield a useful anti-scorbutic juice, and give pungency and flavour to insipid foods. Stone-fruits are unfit for food in the unripe state. When completely ripe the acids and astringent matter largely dis- appear. Dried plums (prunes) form a useful addition to the dietary. The date contains more than half its weight of sugar, and forms an important food in the East. The grape is a very important fruit, on account of its richness in sugar, both in the fresh and dried form. Baisins are dried grapes, and the dried currants of the shops are very small raisins from a variety of the grape grown in the Ionian Isles. The gooseberry is a wholesome fruit, especially when cooked, and makes a good preserve. The other berries in this group and of the strawberry group are useful varieties of food. Figs contain about 50 per cent, of sugar. They are a useful food, especially when constipation exists. The chestnut is very rich in starch, and contains little oil or fat. It is extensively used as a food in Italy and other countries, but it requires to be cooked to be digestible. Nearly all the other nuts contain a considerable amount of oil, sometimes as much as 50 per cent. They are, therefore, 66 DOMESTIC ECONOMY very rich foods, and, unless well masticated, are apt to disagree. ' The walnut in the unripe state, when the shell is still soft, makes an excellent pickle. The kernel contains about 32 per cent, of an oil which is much used for food in Southern Europe. The haml-nut, the filbert, and the cobnut are produced by different varieties of one tree. The best hazel-nuts come from Spain (Barcelona nuts). Cobnuts and filberts are largely grown in Kent. The sweet almond, when eaten unbleached, is apt to cause nettle-rash. The brown coat of the kernels should be removed by pouring boiling water over them and then peel- ing. The bitter almond, produced from a variety of the same tree, contains a peculiar principle called amygdalin, which, on the addition of water, breaks up into oil of bitter almonds and prussic acid. Oil of bitter almonds is some- times used as a flavouring agent in cooking ; it is very poisonous, and should not be employed for this purpose. A chemical compound called niPro-benzol is now commonly employed in its stead, which, although poisonous, is not so to the same dangerous extent as the essential oil of bitter almonds. The white kernel of the cocoa-nut is rich in oil, which is expressed and used for many purposes. The spirit called ' arrack ' is distilled from the fermented juice. The outer husk of the nut affords a strong fibre, from which mats,' brushes, and cordage are made. SUGAR. ' Sugar is very like starch in composition, but is dis- tinguished by its sweetness, and by the fact that it dissolves in cold water. Sugar being soluble in water, unlike starch, does not require any previous digestion, but the different varieties of sugar all become glucose before they are absorbed into the circulation. Sugar is a useful food, but in excess is apt to give rise to acidity and flatulence. Gcme-sugofl; or sucrose, is the best-known sort of sugar. Much of the sucrose now' consumed in England is derived from the sugar-beet, though the oldest and best-known source of sugar is the sugar-cane, long cultivated in tropical VEGETABLR AND MINERAL POODS 67 and sub-tropical climates. The juice is expressed from the canes, and then clarified and boUed down. The first pro- duct is ' raw ' or ' brown sugar, leaving molasses. By re- dissolving the raw sugar, purifying it by the aid of lime and charcoal, and re-crystallising, the purer and drier crystalline sugars are obtained. In these refining processes treacle and golden syrup are obtained, which contain about 65 per cent, of uncrystallisable sugar. Sugar candy is the purest form of sugar, white loaf-sugar comes next ; after these the pale large-grained crystallised sugars, moist sugars being of inferior quality and sometimes infested by a small insect, the sugar-mite. Many other grasses, besides the sugar-cane, yield large amounts of sugar. It is also derived from the sugar-maple, and from many kinds of palms. Grape-sugar, or glucose, is found elsewhere than in the grape, just as cane-sugar occurs in many plants besides the sugar-cane. It may also be made from starch, dextrin, and cane-sugar by the action of weak acids ; and starch and cane-sugar become converted into it before they enter the circulation. Cellulose, the compound which forms the main substance of paper, cotton, linen, and the structure of woods, can be changed into grape-sugar by the action of sulphuric acid. Grape-sugar exists in three varieties. Two of these, - dexl/rose and Icevulose, form the main bulk of honey ; the third, TTMltose, occurs in malt. Milk-sugar, or lactose, occurs in milk. It is less soluble, and therefore less sweet, than the preceding sugars. CONDIMENTS. Condiments are taken with the object of improving the flavour of food, or of assisting its digestion. They are, in most cases, not foods themselves. Taste is usually a com- pound sensation, being shared by the nerves of taste (in the tongue) and of smell (in the nose). The flavour of meats is nearly entirely appreciated by the sense of smell. This is shown by their insipidity during a ' cold in the head.' Excitation of the nerves of taste and smeU results in the conveyance of a stimulus to the central system, which causes, by reflex action, an increased flow of the digestive F 2 68 DOMESTIC ECOKOMT juices. Such substances as cayenne and ginger also have a direct irritant effect on the mucous membrane, and are injurious in most cases. They are specially injurious for children, who should, as a rule, avoid every condiment ex- cept salt. In the wide sense in which the term is here employed condiments include condiments proper, spices, flavouring agents, and acidulous substances. (1) Condiments proper comprise mustard, pepper, cay- enne, mint, capers, onions, morels, mushrooms, and truffles. The last five of these are also foods, but are more commonly used as condiments. Mustard is obtained from the seeds of the mustard plant, an English annual. Mustard is best prepared for the table by beating it up for several minutes with cold water, in order fully to liberate its essential oil. Mustard commonly has wheat-flour added to it, and there is no objection to this if it is sold as a mixture. Pepper is obtained from the seeds of an East Indian plant. Black pepper is prepared from the berries before they are ripe, white pepper from the ripe berries. (2) Spices comprise cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and curry- powder and some others. (3) Flavouring Agents, as vanilla, lemon-peel, oil of bitter almonds, are used to give a pleasant 'flavour to various dishes. The last-named is very poisonous. (4) Acididous Substances, of which vinegar and lemon- juice are the most important. Vinegar in, small quantities is not unwholesome. With salads it is very valuable ; also for pickling fish, &c., in warm weather. The best vinegar is made from wine, ordinary vinegar from malt or beer. Lemon-jmce is very valuable for its refreshing qualities, and is also useful as an anti-scorbutic. Oils, such as salad-oil, are rather foods than condiments, and the same may be said of Common Salt. MINERAI, FOODS. Salts, and especially common salt (chloride of sodium), are necessary for the maintenance of health. Chloride of sodium is necessary for the formation of the hydrochloric acid in gastric juice, and for the supply of sodium in the salts of bUe. Half the weight of the ash of blood consists VEGETABLE AND MINERAL FOODS 69 of it, and it is found in every fluid and tissue of the body. Over 200 grains are excreted daUy, chiefly in the urine. In the feeding of cattle it is well known that the addition of common salt to their food greatly improves their condi- tion. It is obtained as rock salt from beds of salt deposited in some rock formations ; also by evaporation of the water of brine-springs, as at Droitwich, Nantwich, &c., or salt- lakes, or sea-water. In Norway it is prepared by repeatedly freezing sea-water, the ice which is removed containing little or no salt. Fotassium salts are contained in mUk, muscle, and blood corpuscles, as well ets in other parts of the body. They are obtained from bread, milk, meat, fresh vegetables, and fruit. Calcium salts, especially calcium sulphate, form the earthy part of bone. Calcium phosphate is the most abundant salt in the body, as more than one-half the weight of our bones consists of this salt, with a smaller amount of calcium carbonate. Calcium salts are contained in most foods, and especially in milk, and its derivative, cheese. Liebig's beef extract contains the salts of meat, and among these a con- siderable amount of phosphates and a trace of iron. Iron in small quantities forms an essential part of the red blood- corpuscles, and is contained in minute proportions in nearly all our foods. Magnesium salts are also contained in foods and in the body. Most of these salts are taken in other foods, the only exception being chloride of sodium. Certain salts contained in fresh fruits and vegetables (tartrates, citrates and acetates of potassium and sodium) become converted into carbonates in the body, and keep up the alkaline condition of the blood. These vegetable salts are essential to health, scurvy occurring when they are deficient or absent. Adulterations of Foods. — For adulterations of milk, see page 47 ; of butter, page 50 ; of cheese, page 53 ; of flour, page 56 ; of sago, page 61 ; of cofiee, page 73 ; of wines, page 76 ; of brandy, page 76. 70 DOMESTIC fcCONOMt CHAPTER XI. BEVERAGES. Water. — Aerated Water. — Tea, Coffee, amd Cocoa.^— Fer- mented Brinks. — Effects of Alcohol. — Useful Beverages dmrvng Hard Work. Water forms the basis of all beverages, and ifl in itself a valuable food. It has been estimated that a man requires nearly half-an-ounce (i.e. a tablespoonful) of water for every pound weight of his body. Thus a man weighing -150 lbs. would require 3| pints of water, of which about one- third is taken in solid food, the remaining 1\ pints being required as drink. About two-thirds of the body- weight consists of water, and four-fifths of the blood. Water forms a large per- centage of the composition of solid foods, as shown in the following instances : — Per cent, of Water. Per cent, of Water. Milk . . . 87i Peas , . . 13 Fish ... 78 Potatoes . 74 Lean uncooked meat 72 Cabbage . 92 Lean cooked meat . 54 Hen's eggs . 70 Flour ... 12 Butter. . 6 to 12 Bread ... 38 (a) Without water the food cannot become dissolved and gain entrance into the blood. The water thus dissolv- ing the food comes from the blood in the form of the digest- ive secretions (saliva, gastric juice, pancreatic juice, &c.), and copious drinks during meals only hinder the process of digestion by checking the flow of the digestive juices and diluting those already secreted. (J) The water in the blood serves to carry nutrient materials to all the tissues ; and by its circulation all over the system, equalises the bodily temperature, favours chemical changes, and moistens all the tissues, (c) By water, the effete matters which have been separated by the, kidneys are washed out of its tubes. For healthy persons, water is the best of all beverages ; BEVERAGES 71 and it is well known that starvation can be endured for a much longer period if water is supplied. AH other bever- ages necessanly contain water as their basis. Aerated Water. — Soda-water and Potash-vxtier are pre- pared by dissolving small quantities of bicarbonate of soda or potash in water, and passing carbonic-acid gas into the water under pressure. Ordinary soda-water contains little or no bicarbonate of soda. The carbonic acid in solution makes the water sharp and sparkling, and is a useful sedative to the stomach when in- digestion exists. Fig. 14. — Gazogene. Lemonade is generally made with weak sulphuric acid sweetened, flavoured with oil of lemons, and impregnated with carbonic-acid gas. It is more wholesome if made en- tirely from lemons and sugar, and mixed, just before drink- ing, with carbonic-acid water from a gazogene. ApoUinaris and seltzer- water contain chiefly a little common salt and carbonate of soda, the water being charged with gas. Non-Alooholio Stimnlant Beverages. — ^Tea is the leaf of an evergreen shmb grown in China, Ceylon, &c. The parts extracted by pouring boiling water over it are (1) a ^volatile oil, (2) an alkaloid called theine, and (3) tannin. The volatile oil is more abundant in green than in black 72 DOMESTIC ECONOMY tea, and may cause headache and sleeplessness. Theine is the principle to which tea owes its wonderful restorative properties. It is an alkaloid allied to quinine in composi- tion. It may amount to 3 or 4 per cent, in tea. The exact rationale of the operation of theine is not well understood, but it probably aicts chiefly on the nervous system. It was formerly supposed that the waste or oxidation changes in the body were reduced by it, but this has been disproved. Tea contains 15 to 20 per cent, of tannin, and a large pro- portion is extracted by boiling water. Tannin is a power- ful astringent, and tends to disorder digestion and cause constipation when taken in large quantities. It is extracted in much larger quantities when tea is allowed to ' brew ' a considerable time before being drunk ; but as tannra is very soluble in hot water, it is impossible to avoid the extraction of a considerable amount of tannin, even by the shortest • infusion. In making tea a pot should be used which is quite dry in order to avoid mustiness ; a small quantity of boiling water should be first poured into the pot and then out again, so that the water poured on the tea-leaves may not be cooled down in Keating the pot ; water actually boiliag should beXised ; and last, but not least, the tea shouldnever be infused longer than five minutes. Longer infusion ex- tracts too much of the soluble niatters, and thus veils the delicate flavour of the beverage. For persons with a weak digestion, the best plan is to infuse for three minutes, then pour the tea, minus the leaves, into a second heated tea- pot, so as to prevent any further solution of tannin. Soft water extracts more of the tea than hard water. If the water is hard, it should be boiled for ten minutes with a little carbonate of soda before making the tea. Tea acts as a stimulant, removes fatigue, and promotes intellectual activity. The warmth of the infusion helps its stimulant action. It will often remove headache. Taken in excess it is apt to produce indigestion and palpitation of the heart, and in some cases sleeplessness. It retards diges- tion both in the mouth and stomach, oh'iefly owing to the tannin in it. ' High teas ' and ' tea-dinners ' are objection- able. Tea should not be made a hearty meal,, except ttj those who have strong digestive powers. The practice of » alternately eating solid food and sipping tea is very pre- BEVKEAGES 73 judicial to health, and children should not be allowed to acquire the habit. Children are better without tea, milk- and-water being a much more suitable beverage. Coffee is prepared by roasting the seeds of the berry of the Coffea a/rahica. A powerful aromatic oil is developed during the process of roasting. In addition to this, coffee contains about ^ to 1 per cent, of caffeine, which is prac- tically identical in composition with theine, and possesses the same restorative properties. Boiling water poured on coffee dissolves a larger proportion of its constituents than the corresponding infusion of tea. Tor this reason, and owing to the fact that more coffee is generally used than tea in making the same amount of the two beverages, coffee is Fid. 15. — Coffee-mill. more powerfully restorative than tea. Coffee has not the constipating effects of tea. Coffee is largely adulterated with chicory ^ prepared from the root of the wild endive. As chicory is much cheaper than coffee, the most economical plan is to buy pure coffee, and add the chicory on one's own account. If coffee is bought as a mixture of coffee and chicory, the buyer has no check on the amount of chicory which the mijcture may contain. Pure coffee sprinkled on the surface of a tumbler of water sinks slowly and hardly colours the water ; chicory, similarly sprinkled, rapidly sinks and colours the water deeply. Chicory has not the aromatic smell nor the restorative properties possessed by coffee. The beverage, coffee, is made, Hke tea, by pouring boil- ing water on the coffee, not by boiling the mixture. The coffee 74 DOMESTIC ECONOMY ought, if possible, to be freshly roasted, and should prefer- ably be ground immediately before use. A coffee-pot ar- ranged as a ' percolator ' in which the clear infusion passes through into a lower receptacle, is very convenient. Coffee has stimulating effects like those of tea, but is a more power- ful antidote in cases of poisoning by opium or alcohol. When taken with an equal quantity of hot mUk it forms a valuable food as well as a stimulant. Cocoa is obtained from the seeds of the Theobroma Cacao. It is grown in the' West Indies, Mexico, and Cen- tral America. Its name, Theobroma, was given it by the naturalist Linnseus, and means 'the food of gods.' The fruit contains from twenty-five to thirty seeds, each about the size of an almond. Gocoa-nihs are the seeds roasted and deprived of their husks and broken to pieces. Cocoa is generally prepared by abstracting a large proportion of the natural fat contained in the seeds and substituting starch or sugar. As the seeds contain about 50 per cent, of this fat (which has an agreeable flavour and does not turn rancid), few people could digest whole cocoa, and the partial substitution of starch or sugar is justifiable. Cocoa contains about 2 per cent, of an alkaloid, theobromine, which has similar restorative properties to those of theine. It also contains about 20 per cent, of starch, and therefore, unlike tea and coffee, requires weU boiling with milk or water to make a digestible beverage. The purest form of cocoa is the nibs. When these are boiled in water, a brownish decoction is formed, with the fat as a scum on the top. If the scum is removed, a beverage very suitable for invalids with weak digestion is obtained. When starchy substances have been added to cocoa, to take the place of some of the fat (as shown by the fact that" the beverage becomes thick on standing), the beverage requires boiling ; if sugar only has been used, it can be prepared by the simple addition of boiling milk or water. The shells or husks possess the stimulant properties of cocoa, and may be boiled with water, thus forming a cheap restorative beverage. Chocolate is a preparation of cocoa in which sugar has been substituted for the fat and vanilla flavouring added. BEVERAGES 75 FERMENTED DRINKS. Ail fermented drinks agree in the one point that they contain alcohol. Alcohol is produced by a process of fer- mentation from, sugar, the active agent in causing fermenta- tion being a fungus contained in yeast and, in smaller quantities, floating about in the air. For this reason pre- served fruits, and in fact any solution or moist substance containing sugar, will ferment if left exposed to the air. The chief change in alcoholic fermentation is that grape- sugar is spUt up into alcohol and carbonic acid : — (Oce molecule of (Two molecules (Two molecules grape-sugar) of alcohol) of carbonic acid) The process of fermentation may be watched in a flask containing a solution of sugar to which brewer's yeast has been added. Carbonic-acid gas is gradually evolved, which can be collected under a glass tube as shown in fig. 16. Fig. 16. — Apparatus for matchiTig Alcoholic Wermentation. That the gas evolved is carbonic acid may be shown by the facts that a lighted candle is extinguished in it and lime- water is turned milky by it. Pure alcohol can only be prepared by repeated distilla- tion of fermented liquids by special methods, so as to free the distillate which comes over from water. Proof spirit consists of about equal parts of water and alcohol. An impure form of alcohol, called methylated spirit, is used in the spirit-lamp. Alcohol, when burnt, produces carbonic acid and water. 76 DOMESTIC ECONOMY The fermented drinks containing alcohol may be classed as (1) malt liquors, (2) wines, (3) distilled spirits. Beers, Ales, and Porters are prepared by the fermenta- tion of malt, which is the germinating grain of barley, the hop-plant being added for its bitter tonic properties. The amount of alcohol in them varies from 1^ per cent, in small beer to 8^ in Burton ale. Beer has a tendency to produce stoutness, and its continued use is often followed by gout. Those who in- dulge largely in beer, even though stout and strong in appearance, are decidedly unhealthy. Wines are produced by the fermentation of the juice of the grape. Effervescent wines are bottled before fermenta- tion is complete, carbonic acid gas being thus imprisoned. The stronger wines, as port and sherry, contain from 10 to 15 per cent, of alcohol. The presence of 14 per cent, of alcohol in a saccharine solution prevents further fermenta- tion ; so any wine containing more than this amount of alcohol must have had brandy added to it. This brandy is commonly of an impure kind, having been prepared from potatoes, and contains a higher alcohol known as amyUc alcohol or fusel oil. The ' bouquet ' of wines is chiefly due to volatile ethers. Tartaric acid is present in most wines. Some wines, as port, are astringent from the presence of tannin. Wine, like beer,' has a strong tendency to produce gout, especially the sweet and strong wines. It has not, however, the same tendency to produce corpulence. Spirits differ from wine and beer, to begin with, in the amount of alcohol they contain. Thus, ales contain from 1 to 10 per cent., wines from 8 to 20, and all kinds of spirits from 40 to 58 per cent. Spirits are all prepared by the distillation of some previously fermented liquor. Brcmdnf ought to be made by the distillation of wine, but a large amount of what is sold as brandy is really potato spirit. Whiiky and gin are obtained from the wort of malt. When new they contain some fusel oil (amylic alcohol) in addition to the pure spirit (ethylic alcohol). Fusel oil pro- duces more rapid intoxication and more headache than ordinary alcohol. The amount of fusel oil is always very small, and it is a mistake to suppose that the injurious effects often caused by whisky and other spirits are due to BEVERAGES 77 fusel oil, and not (as they really are) to the ethylio alcohol which they contain. Gin is flavoured with juniper berries. Rum is obtained by the distillation of fermented molasses. Effects of Moderate Doses of Alcohol. — We may assume that a certain amount of alcohol is capable of being oxidised in the system without appearing in the urine or breath. The most trustworthy experiments place this amount at \\ ozs. of absolute alcohol, or slightly less than this. This would be equivalent to l|^ pints of beer containing 5 per cent, of alcoholj and to about 6 tablespoonfuls of spirits. This amount taken at intervals with food increases the flow of blood to the stomach and liver. It increases the force and rapidity of the heart's action, and causes a rapid dilatation of aU the small blood-vessels, especially those of the skin. Consequently more blood is exposed in the capil- laries of the skin, and as a result a slight lowering of the body temperature occurs, and the power of resistance to extreme cold is diminished. Even in small doses the effect on the nvuscles is not beneficial, and it is the reverse of helpful when muscular work is required. The same applies to the nervous system. The acuteness of all the senses is diminished ; and, though the rapidity of thought appears to be at first increased, most mental workers agree that alcohol is better left alone untU work is done. Alcohol has a retarding effect on the oxidation processes within the body, and it thus tends to favour corpulence. This applies more, however, to beer and wine than to spirit drinking. The effects of alcoholic drinks vary greatly with the cir- cumstances under which, they are ta&en. Children ought never to take alcohol in any form, except under the strict- est medical supervision. Persons of sedentary occupations suffer more from the ill effects of alcohol than those engaged in active outdoor work. Alcoholic drinks taken on an empty stomach or apart Jrom msals are always pernicious. Frequent drinks — ' nips ' — at intervals during each day are much more injurious to health than intoxicating doses taken at a single sitting, and perhaps only once or twice a week. The more diluted an alcoholic drink the less likely is it to produce injurious effects. The advisability of Alcohol as an article of diet in health is a somewhat difficult point to decide dogmatically. Children and young persons are best without alcohol. Early 78 DOMESTIC ECONOMY habits are apt to grow and become serious when middle life is reached. In some cases wine or beer appears to stimulate a flagging appetite and weak digestion, and then undoubtedly is temporarily useful. It should be noted, also, that those who do not •habitually resort to such an artificial stimulus are the more likely to benefit by it when circumstances call for its use. This is a strong argument against the habitual use of intoxicating drinks in moderate amount. Our own opinion is that alcohol should be re- garded as a drug and only employed when prescribed by a doctor ; and that the prescription should be used, like any other prescription, only while the symptoms remain for which it was originally demanded. Excessive doses of Alcohol produce evil effects which are only too well known. The stomach and liver some- times become acutely inflamed. The liver in some cases, especially in spirit-drinkers, becomes hardened, and the cir- culation of blood through it obstructed, dropsy and vomit- ing of blood resulting. The nervous system suffers not only by way of intoxication and deUrium-tremens, but also by the production of various forms of paralysis, which have been traced to chronic alcoholism. Various degenerative diseases are caused by alcohol. The heart and arteries become prematurely old ; gout occurs more particularly in beer and wine drinkers ; old age creeps on before its time ; and alcohol in many and various ways is undoubtedly the most potent disease and death-dealing agency. with which medicine has to contend. We may hope that when this becomes more generally realised, and the principles of health are more generally understood, this gigantic amount of pre- ventable disease and death wUl be greatly diminished. Useful Beverages dxuing Hard Work. — We have already stated that fermented drirtks, even in small quanti- ties, lessen muscular power and diminish the power to perform fatiguing work. In some laborious occupations in which free perspiration occurs, some beverage is absolutely necessary, beyond what is taken in the ordinary fashion with meals. The following drinks, recommended by the Church of England Temperance Society, may be safely drunk, though it is well to be cautious about taking cold drinks copiously when very heated through work or exercise. For men employed in furnaces, factories, and workshops, BEVERAGES 79 for railway men and navvies, and for agricultural labourers at the time of the hay and corn harvests, they. are most use- ful, and do not diminish the 'power for useful work as alcoholic drinks do. They are pleasant to the taste, quench the thirst, increase, instead of diminishing, muscular strength, and at the same time are very cheap : — (1) Stokos is prepared thus : — Put from 4 to 6 ozs. of fresh oatmeal, ground as fine as flour, into a pan ; mix with a little cold water to the consistence of cream, then add about 6 or 6 ozs. of loaf sugar, and half a fresh lemon, cut in thin slices, with the pips taken out ; then add a gallon of boiling water. Stir thoroughly while the water is being poured on. Use hot, warm, or cold. The lemon may be omitted, or any other flavouring used instead. Costs Sd. a gallon. (2) COKOS is a good nourishing drink, made as follows : — i ozs. of good fine-ground oatmeal, 4 ozs. of cocoa, add a little cold water, and mix into a thin batter ; then add 4 ozs. of loaf sugar and a gallon of boiling water ; take to the field in a stone jar. Costs Hd. a quart. .(3) HoPKOS is a good harvest drink. Boil f oz. of hops and J oz. of ginger (bruised) in IJ gallons of water for 25 minutes, add 1 lb. of best brown sugar, and boil ten minutes more ; then strain, and bottle, or put into a cask while hot ; it will be ready for drinking when cold. £eep in a cold place. Dried horehound may be used instead of hops. Costs Sd. a gallon. (4) An agreeable drink is made by pouring j pint of boiling water on a teaspoonful of marmalade. (5) Boiling water poured on a, few slices of lemon, with a little loaf sugar, makes a very refreshing drink. Butter-milk forms a wholesome and nutritious drink. Milk, coffee, cocoa, and tea, are all good drinks for hard workers. By the 'Truck Amendment Act' it has been made illegal for farmers, as well as all other employers, to supply their men with beer, cider, or any other intoxicating drink as a remuneration for services. This is an admirable enact- ment, and removes a serious temptation from farm- labourers and others. 80 DOMESTIC ECONOMY CHAPTER XII. THE PRESERVATION OF FOOD. Preservation of Meat.— Frozen Meat. — Dried and Tin/ned Meats. — Salted and Smoked Meats. — Other Preserved Foods. All kinds of food tend rapidly to decompose and putrefy. Putrefaction only occurs when a comparatively warm and moist organic substance is exposed to the air. Food, therefore, may be preserved (1) by keeping it in a very low temperature, (2) by drying it, (3) by boiling it in some liquid, so as to drive out all air, and then fastening it in an air- tight case, or (4) by treating with antiseptic chemical agents. Preservation of Meat. — By means of refrigerating aup- pa/ratus large quantities of fresh meat are now weekly brought from the United States, Australia, and New Zea- land. If the meat is frozen after the flesh has had time to cool down, but before the onset of post-mortem rigidity in the animal, it keeps nearly as well after thawing as Eng- lish butcher's meat. It is said, however, to lose about 10 per cent, more in cooking than freshly killed meat, which must be borne in mind in comparing the relative price of frozen and fresh meat. The frozen meat is quite wholesome, and its supposed inferiority to home-killed meat has been greatly exaggerated. Freezing arrests putrefaction if already begun, and may even veil its characteristic odour. Owing to this fact the bad condition of fish is often not discovered until after it is cocked, when the smell due to decomposition reappears. Thousands of beasts are weekly imported alive into this country, and slaughtered in large ahattoirs near the landing-stage. Thence the carcases are sent to various towns throughout the United Kingdom, having been first placed in a cooling-room where they are exposed to an atmosphere of about 35° Fahr. (the freezing-point of water being 32° Fahr.). This temperature does not freeze the THE PEESERVATION OF FOOD 81 meat, but cools it, makes it ' set ' rapidly, and improves its keeping qualities. Drying is a very ancient method of preserving slices of meat. It is a process which is best applicable to fish. Pemmican, largely used by Arctic voyagers, consists of a mixture of meat and fat, ■ carefully dried and powdered, along with raisins and spices. Tinned meats are prepared by. first packing the cases with meat and filli n g up with gravy, and closing with a cover which is hermetically sealed, except at one point. The case is then heated to about 250° Fahr. in order to drive out all air and destroy any putrefactive germs present, and the open point is sealed while the gravy is still boiling, thus making the case completely air-tight. This method involves the meat being somewhat overcooked ; but it none the less forms an economical variety of animal food. Tinned lobsters and crabs are best avoided. In all varieties of tinned meats, a good brand should be bought, and the meat must be eaten as early as possible after the tin is opened. Before opening the tin, see that the top is flat or depressed ; if this condition exists, no air has entered the tin. If the top has bulged out, then putrefaction has probably set in. Meat is also preserved by pressure, as in corned beef ; but such meat has been deprived of its nutritive juices. Cooked meat may also be preserved by covering with fat or gelatine, care being taken that all air is excluded. This method is used for potted meats, tinned sardines, &o. Of the chemical agents used for preserving meat, salting and smoking are the most common. Smoking is usually applied after salting, the creosote and other constituents of the smoke penetrating the flesh, and exercising a highly preservative action. In salting a little saltpetre is usually added to the common salt in order to preserve the red colour of the flesh. The objections to salting are that (a) the brine dissolves out a large portion of the albuminous material and salts of the meat. Salt beef is of less than two-thirds the value of fresh beef. (6) The remaining meat is harder and more difficult of digestion than fresh meat ; while the flavour of the meat is altered, and the excessive amount of foreign salts is injurious. The flesh of the hog appears to be an 82 DOMESTIC ECONOMY exception to this rule, as it is rendered more wholesome and digestible by salting and smoking. Its fat does not disagree, like that of pork. Boracic acid is largely used in England for the purpose of retarding the decomposition of milk, but its use is to be deprecated. Boro-glyceride, a compound of boracic acid and glycerine, is an admirable antiseptic, and in the proportion of one to forty parts of water is employed for preserving meat, fish, milk, and other food. Salicylic acid has also been employed for preserving foods, but its use is much more objectionable than- that of boracic acid. Preservation of other Foods. — Milk may be preserved for some time by boiling, and then completely filling a bottle which has been recently scalded out, and sealing the bottle. Preserved Condensed Milk is now largely sold in air-tight tins. It consists of milk deprived by evaporation of a large part of its water. It generally has a large amount of cane-sugar added to it, though there are some unsweetened brands. The latter are to be preferred when it is necessary to feed infants on condensed milk. Condensed milk represents about three to four times its volume of fresh milk. The condensation which it has undergone leaves the casein in a form which is much more easily digested by infants than the casein of fresh cow's mUk. Milk has also been desiccated or dried, and when re- dissolved in water is said to form an excellent milk. The tendency of Batter to become rancid in hot weather is well known. Salt is used largely in preserving it. It checks the decomposition of the small amount of casein in butter, which acts as a ferment, setting free the fatty acids of butter, and thus causing rancidity. The same end may be attained by washing the butter well with water, or by allowing it to stand immersed in water. Fruits are largely preserved for food by drying, as raisins. They are also largely preserved by boiling with sugar in the ordinary domestic jams. Whole fruits, as pears, apri- cots, &c., are obtainable in tins or bottles imported from America, the fruit being preserved by boiling in a thin syrup, the tin being then sealed, as in the case of pre- served meat. Such fruit (especially the kind in bottles) is wholesome, and preserves the flavour of the fresh fruit. THE COOKING OJP FOOD 83 If it is bought in tins, the tins should be carefully exam- ined, and only those showing an absence of bulging, and in which there is no internal lead-soldering, should be used. CHAPTEE XIII. THE COOKING OF FOOD. Objects of Cooking. — Methods of Cooking Fksh. — Soups and Broth. Objects of Cooking. — Food, we have seen, is required for repairing the elements of the tissues, and for supplying combustible material to maintain the forces of the body. It may be taken in its crude and unprepared condition, or after it has undergone a preparatory process of cooking. Man is the only animal who cooks his food. Many foods taken by man, especially those derived from the vegetable kingdom, cannot be digested by him without such cooking. Cooking may, therefore, be regarded as a, preliminary process of digestion. Cooking as a preparatory help to the digestion of food is not equally required for aU foods. Thus fruit and salads are usually taken uncooked. Milk, again, may be taken un- cooked, though we have (p. 48) urged strong reasons against this practice. The oyster is the only animal which is eaten habitually in the uncooked condition, and there is a physio- logical reason for this, inasmuch as the liver of the oyster, which forms a large share of its bulk, contains a ferment which digests it, this ferment being destroyed by cooking. Water, which is a most important food, is commonly taken unboiled. Such a practice is usually safe in large towns, where a public company or the corporation is responsible for the purity of the water. It is, however, dangerous in villages and outlying places, where the water may be sup- plied from shallow wells or other sources liable to con- tamination. In all doubtful cases water should be boiled before drinking. G ? 84 boMEs'ric econ6mV • Cooking is intended (1) to partially break up the fibres and cells, and thus to make the food softer, and its masti- cation and digestion an easier task. In this sense, diges- tion may well be said to begin in the kitchen. (2) To produce certain chemical changes. Thus, starch ■ is partially changed into dextrine, gelatin",/ is formed from the connective tissue of meat, &c. (3) To destroy any noxious parasite present in the food, and to postpone putrefactive changes.. We know, for in- stance, that the trichinse in diseased pork can only be killed by thorough cooking. (4) To m,ake the food more pleasant to the eye and agree- able to the palate. The improved savour of cooked meat, for instance, has a very appetising effect, and consequently makes digestion much easier. Variety can be obtained by various methods of cooking. Cookery may be described as a moral agent. ' A hungry man is an angry man.' Badly cooked food, monotonous in kind, tends to a lowered state of health, and often leads to the taking of alcoholic stimu- lants. In ordinary cooking the chief agent used is heat, and the art of cooking consists, in a large measure, in the skilful application of heat. Heat is applied in cooking in two ways : {a) by radiation, as in roasting, grilling, toasting, baking ; and (b) by direct contact, as in boiling, frying, stewing. THE COOKING OP PLESS. The following classification by Priestley gives the different methods of cooking meat : — A. The whole mass of meat to be cooked and eaten. (a) Heat applied by exposure to I „' n °^f- ^^^' radiant heat ....„ \ l' ^"^^^^^S- (b) Heat applied by contact"! , p -i- with hot water j ' -'^"^^S- (c) Heat applied by contact 1 k -r, • withhotoii /°- ^'■yiig- (d) Heat applied by contact 1 c qx with steam j " °' THE COOKIKG OF FOOD 85 B. The soluble parts to be dissolved 1 - „ j.i. out in water and the rest re- V' B™ths, soups, jected -J and teas. C. The soluble parts to be dissolved 1 out, and the rest rendered suit- >8. Stewing. able for eating J (A combination of A and B.) Boasting is the name applied to the process of cooking meat before an open fire. No other form of cooking meat causes it to retain so large a share of the juices of the meat, and exalts its flavour so much. The joint, after h aving been washed with clean water, dried, and dredged with a little flour, is placed on a roasting-jack and hung before the fire, a dripping-pan being placed under the joint, with a long- hajidledspoon, toallowof frequent basting. A clear brightfire is necessary for roasting, the fire having been well made up before beginning. At first the meat should be placed near the fire, so that the albumen on its surface may be coagu- lated, and the juices retained by this means in the interior of the joint. After about ten minutes the joint ought to be removed somewhat further from the fire (about one foot), and allowed to cook slowly. It should be frequently basted with the gravy and fat which has dropped into the dripping- pan, in order to prevent the surface &om chai3ing, and to develope the full flavour of the meat. Care must be taken also to keep up the fire, and after the roasting is completed the joint should be sent to the table on a hot dish, aU other dishes and plates having been also warmed ready for the dinner. The pleasant flavour pf roast beef is due to a substance called osmazome, which is. developed during cooking, and, by its appetising influence, doubtless helps tiie digestion of food. As regards time for cooking, the rule is to allow a quarter of an hour for every pound of meat, and one quarter of an hour over. Veal and pork require a few additional minutes to ensure the absence of redness. To ascertain if the meat is done, press the fleshy part with a spoon : if it remains depressed, it is done ; if not done, it retains its elasticity. The Baking of meat in a closed oven does not produce so delicately flavoured a joint as roasting before an open fire. 86 DOMESTIC ECONOMY With a good oven, however, from which the smell of burn- ing fat produced during the cooking is rapidly removed by Fig. 17. — Cooldng-icreen. proper ventilation, the result may nearly approach in per- fection that obtained by roasting. The meat should be put into the hottest part of the oven for the first ten minutes, and then removed to a cooler part, that it may cook more slowly. Basting, in order to prevent charring and dryness of the joint, is as important as in roasting. Pork, being very fat, does not require to be basted so often ; but it must be cooked slowly, and not allowed to char. Note that the oven should be very hot when the meat is plaxsed in it ; after a few minutes, push in the dampers, so as to moderate the temperature. Grilling is really a process of roasting applied to a small portion of meat. The chop to be grilled must not be pricked, or the juices will escape during cooking. The fire must be very hot, and quite clear. The gridiron must be put on the fire to warm before the chop is put on to it, or the raw meat would stick to the cold iron bars. Turn the chop every two minutes with the flat blade of a knife and a spoon. A large chop will then be well cooked in twelve minutes, a thin one in about ten minutes. A heef- steah is cooked in the same way. Boiling of meat requires the same time as roasting. With many cooks ' to boU is to spoil ' ; and if this result is to be avoided, the following rules must be followed : — THE COOKING OP FOOD 87 The joint should be plunged first into boiling water, pre- ferably soft -water, and allowed to boil fast for five minutes, so as to form a covering of albumen to the joint. Then the saucepan must be drawn to the side of the fire, and allowed to simmer gently (at 180° Pahr.). If there is no thermometer to guide the cooking, then, after the prelimi- nary boiling for five minutes, add three pints of cold water to each gallon of boiling water, and retain at the same temperature for the rest of the process. The use of soft water for cooking purposes is always advisable ; otherwise a rather longer time is required. A preliminary boiling for a few minutes renders water much softer, and the addition of a little carbonate of soda has the same effect. "When meat is placed in water at a temperature below its boiUng-point, th? juices are gradually extracted, while the meat is left a mass of hard, indigestible strings, equally wasted whether eaten or not. A nourishing soup is pro- duced, but the meat is almost valueless. With every pre- caution to keep in the goodness of the meat in boiling, a certain proportion escapes. For this reason the liquor in which fresh meat is boiled should always be kept as stock for soup. Fish is boiled in a fish-kettle (fig. 18) or saucepan. Fig. 18. — Fish-kettle and Ztraiiier. 88 DOMESTIC ECONOMY For salmon the water must be boiling to begin with ; for all other fish it should only be warm water. The water is allowed to simmer gently for from twenty minutes to three-quarters of an hour, according to the size of the fish. When the skin of the fish is cracking, we know that it is sufficiently boiled. Stewing is a process intermediate between boiling and baking, and is a most economical process, inasmuch as by Fib. 19.— j its means tough and sinewy pieces, which would otherwise be wasted, can be made into palatable and nutritious dishes. The substitution of the stewpan for the frying-pan in the homes of the poorer class would ensure a very great economy. It possesses the advantages over baking that there is no charring and no burnt fat. The stewpan should always be at hand to receive parings from joints and crushed bones. In stewing no large fire is required, waste is avoided, and savoury meals are produced at a small cost. After stewing fragments of meat, the stew should be allowed to get cold, so that the fat may set and be removed. Then vegetables should be added, before serving the meat for food. , To Stew a Stealt. — Take 1 lb. of rump steak, IJ inches in thick- ness. Cut oS all the skin and fat from the steSk. Take 1 carrot and 1 turnip, and, having scraped the former and peeled the latter, cut them into small pieces. Peel 2 small onions and cut them into quarters. Put ^ oz. of butter into a frying-pan, place it on the fire, and then put the steak in to fry brown on both sides. Next put the steak, with the vegetables, into the stewpan. Next add to the stewpan ^ pint of water, into which f oz. of flour, half a teaspoonf ul of salt, and the same quantity of pepper have been mixed. After stirring the contents of the stewpan until boiling occurs, let them THE COOKINq OF FOOD 89 simmer for an homr. When the steak is sufSciently stewed, place it on a hot dish, and serve. Hashing is a process of stewing appKed to meat which has been previously cooked. The consequence of this double cooking is that the meat becomes tough and leathery. A modified hash, in which the meat is simply well warmed throughout, is very preferable. By this means cold meat may be conveniently used up, and, if properly managed, an appetising dish may be produced. To properly Hash Meat. — First out off all the meat carefully from the remains of the joint in nice thin slices and put them between two plates in a warm place, after having removed all skin and gristle. The latter, with the bone chopped up, should be put in a saucepan, covered with cold water, and boiled for two hours. Next slice a large onion and fry it of a rich brown colour in a frying-pan with a little dripping. Add 1 oz. of flour to the onion, and mix well ; then add a tablespoonful of vinegar and of ketchup, and ^ pint of stock from the bones. Cover closely and simmer gently for a quarter of an hour. Now add the vsrarm meat. Let it stand for a few minutes, but not be heated any further, or the meat will be hardened ; then serve on a hot dish, with sauce poured over, and pieces of toast or sippets around the dish. The sippets are prepared by frying slices of bread in boiling fat in the oven or over the fire. Prying, unless carefully done, renders meat difficult of digestion, each fibre becoming coated with fat. The art is to ' fry lightly ' — that is, burn quickly and evenly, so that no charring is produced. Two methods of frying are in use : (1) The substance to be fried is placed with a little fat or oil in a frying-pan. This plan should only be employed for pancakes, omelettes, and small pieces of fish. (2) The sub- stance to be fried is immersed in fat, a frying-basket being required for the purpose. In each case the fat must be heated before the meat is added, so that the juices of the latter may be imprisoned in its iuterior. Good frying de- pends on the fat being properly heated. Its temperature should rise to 345° Fahr. for ordinary frying and 400° for whitebait. If a thermometer is not available, the heat of the fat may be determined by the facts that (a) the fat becomes quite still and begins to smoke when it is very hot, and (6) a crumb of bread thrown into the fat turns almost immediately a light brown, indicating that the fat is ready for use. When a sole is fried in a bath of fat, the inner part is really being steamed, as the moisture from 90 DOMESTIC ECJONOMY the fish cannot escape. Although more fat is required for frying in a proper f rying-basket than in a frying-pan, there is really less waste of fat, as in the former case the fat can be used over again, whereas the fat in a frying-pan becomes wasted through the spluttering which occurs and the char- ring of fat on the heated metal. The great secrets of success- ful frying are : (1) to have sufficient fat, and (2) to have it hot enough ; (3) to use only clarified fat. Bacon is best pre- pared by toasting rashers before the fire. Fried bacon is less wholesome. To Ola/rify Fat. — Small pieces of fat from mutton, cold meat, breakfast bacon, soups, cfec, are placed in an old but clean saucepan, just enough cold Water to cover them being added. Keep the sauce- pan on the fire for about an hour, stirring occasionally to prevent burning or sticking to the bottom of the saucepan. When the water has evaporated, pour the melted fat through an old sieve into a basin. Drippmg may be clarified by putting it in a saucepan on the fire to boil, then pouring it into a basin in which there is half a pint of cold water. When the dripping is cold it can be cut out as a cake, taking care to scrape off aU the sediment on the bottom of the cake and to wipe it dry with a cloth. STOCK-MAKING. Much economy may be efi'ected by the establishment and maintenance of a proper stock-pot, as stock is the foundation of all soups and gravies. Good stock cannot be made in an iron saucepan unless it is well tinned inside, and it should not be left in a saucepan all night. An eco- nomical housekeeper will never need to buy either meat or bones for the stock-pot, but wUl use the trimmings of meat, crushed bones from ordinary joints, with any pieces of veget- ables that may be at hand. All liquor in which- meat is boiled should be put into the stock-pot. The contents of the pot may be kept stewing (but never allowed to boil) from morning till night, but should be strained off at night. If allowed to remain in the pot all night with the lid on, the contents turn sour. The addition of vegetables, such as a carrot, turnip, and onion, improves the stock. SOUP. Soup forms a much ^neglected article of diet in this coun- try, which is to be regretted, as soup is nutritious, easily digested, and serves to utilise food which would otherwise THE COOKING OF FOOD 91 be wasted. The most nutritious and wholesome soups are those which contain vegetable material as well as gravy derived from the stock-pot. It must be remembered that good soup and good cooked meat cannot be prepared by the same process. If boUed meat is required, the process de- scribed on page 87 must be adopted. If good broth or soup is desired, the meat should be cooked slowly, so that the temperature never exceeds 160° Fahr. To Make Mutton Broth. — Take 3 lbs. o£ scrag-end of neck of mutton, remove all fat as far as possible, pom 4 quarts of cold water into a clean pan, put in the mutton, add a teaspoonful of Scotch barley (which has been previously well washed). Put the pan on the fire to simmer gently for two and a half hours, but do not allow boiling to occur. Add 2 carrots, 1 turnip, 1 onion, and half a stick of celery after the meat has been simmering for half an hour. Add pepper and salt just before serving. For pea-soup, see page 101. For beef-tea, see page 307. To Make a Plain Soup. — Take the bones left after all the meat from a joint has been used up ; crush them, and put into a saucepan with water sufficient to cover them and 1 quart over. Put on the fire, and when boiling occurs add a tablespoonfnl of salt ; this will cause the scum to rise,, which must be skimmed off. Next peel and cut up 1 turnip, 2 carrots, and 2 onions. Add these to the soup ; put the saucepan to simmer beside the fire for two and a half hours. The soup may be thickened by adding two tablespoonfuls of ta- pioca, which has been previously soaked for half an hour in J pint of cold water. The previous soaking prevents the tapioca from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Flour or semolina may also be used for thickening soup. To Make Milk Sovp. — Put 2 quarts of water to boU on the fire in a saucepan. Take 2 lbs. of potatoes and one onion ; wash and peel, cut in slices, and add them to the water when it boils, with sufficient pepper and salt. Let them boil gently until thoroughly mashed. Then strain the soup through a colander, rubbing the vegetables through with a wooden spoon. Return the soup to the saucepan, add to it a pint of milk, and put on the fire until it boils. Serve in a hot tureen. Stock may be used for this soup instead of water. 92 DOMESTIC ECONOMY CHAPTER XTV. THE COOKING OF ANIMAL FOODS. Cooking of Eggs. — Milk. — Cheese. The Cooking of Eggs. — According to the form in which they are taken, eggs are among the most easily digested of foods — e.g., when lightly boiled — or the most difficult of digestion — e.g., when fried or baked in a milk pudding. In the case of a young Canadian, Alexis St. Martin, who, in consequence of a bullet-wound, had an artificial opening through his abdominal wall into the stomach, the time re- quired for the digestion of various foods could be observed. In his case an egg whipped and diluted with water required 1^ hours ; fresh, raw, and undiluted, 2 hours j soft-boiled or poached, 3 hours ; hard-boiled, 3|^ hours ; fried, 3^ hours. The reason is not far to seek. The white of egg consists chiefly of albumen. This begins to be slightly opaque when heated to 134° Fahr. ; at 160° it ceases to be liquid, but still is a jelly and trembling in consistence. On heatiiig to 212° (the boiling-point of water) it becomes quite opaque, and if kept at this temperature becomes hard. If heated beyond this, it is very hard. (A good cement for broken china is to smear the broken surfaces with white of egg, put them together, and heat in an oven.) A similar effect is produced by stewing a beef-steak in boiling water. It ceases to be meat and becomes more like gutta-percha. To Cook an lEgg mitkout Soiling it. — Put a pan of water on the fire to boil. As soon as it really boils, remove the pan, and in- stantly place a fresh egg in the water, cover the pan with a lid to keep in the steam, and put the pan on the fender. After about five minutes take out the egg, when the white wUl be found in a creamy condition. This is practically the same process 3,s poaehimg am, egg — i.e., cooking it without the shell. The egg, which has been pre- *HE COOKING OF ANIMAL FOODS 93 viously broken into a oup, is slipped into boiling water as before, and allowed to stand about the same time. By this means eggs may be cooked without any exact calculation of time, the only necessary condition being that the Ud of the pan must be on. To Make a Savowy Ovielette. — It is essential to have an abso- lutely clean frying-pan. Chop up a small piece of onion and parsley with a pinch of sweet herbs. Break 3 eggs into a basin andbeat them up tiU they froth ; add a saltspoonful of salt, half this quan- tity of pepper, and the chopped onion and parsley, &c. Melt 2 ozs. of butter in the frying-pan, pour in the beaten eggs, &o., and stir quickly, scraping the bottom of the frying-pan with the spoon to prevent the mixture sticking and burning. As soon as the mixture begins to set, scrape it up into a semi-circular shape ; slacken the heat, and as soon as the mixture ceases to run, take the pan off the fire, and hold it in front of the fire, with the pan sloped. This will make the omelette lighter. To Mdhe a Baked Custa/rd. — Put 1 pint of milk into a pie-dish ; add to it 2 e^s which have been previously well whisked, a little sugar, and seasoning to taste. Bake gently in the oven for half an hour. To Make a Boiled Custard. — Prepare the custard as in the last recipe. Butter a small basin that will exactly hold it, put in the custard, and tie a floured cloth over it; plunge it into boiling water, float it about for a few minutes, boil it slowly for half an hour, turn it out, and serve. To Make a Ciup Oustard. — Taie 1 quart of milk, 6 eggs, and the rind of 1 lemon. Boil the milk and lemon-rind, and allow it to cool in a pitcher. Add the eggs, previously thoroughly whisked, to the milk, stand the pitcher in a saucepan of boiling water, and stir it until the custard thickens. It must not be allowed to boil. Add sugar and flavour to taste. The Cooking of Milk. — We have already dwelt on the importance of cooking all milk brought into the house, to preclude the possibility of its being the medium for the reception of the germs of some specific disease, such as typhoid or scarlet fever or tuberculosis. Milk is also ren- dered more digestible by being cooked, and many agreeable dishes may be made from it. Its use in custards and milk puddings is elsewhere considered. To Make Jv/nket. — To 1 pint of milk, heated tUl it is lukewarm, add 1 teaspoouful of concentrated essence of rennet (which can be bought at grocers' shops), and 1 small teaspoonful of pounded white sugar ; pour it into a bowl or mould, cover with a napkin, and put it aside to cool, when it is ready for use. To Make Milk Jelly. — Dissolve a little isinglass in water, mix it well with ^ pint of milk, then boil the milk, and serve with or with- out sugar, as preferred. To £eej) Milk from Turning Sow. — Fifteen grains of bicarbonate 94 DOMESTIC ECONOMY of soda to 1 qnart of milk hinders its turning sour. Boiling milk while it is fresh also retards souring. Cheese. — Toasted cheese is most indigestible, the casein being converted into a tenacious insoluble mass. Cheese may, however, be utilised in cookery as follows : — To Prepare Macaroni with Cheese. — Take 2 ozs. of macaroni, break into pieces about 4 inches long, and put them into a sauce- pan of boiling water, with a little salt. Place the pan where the macaroni can simmer, and cook gently. When it is quite tender, take it out, spread on a flat dish, add a little liquid butter With pepper and salt, grate 2 ozs. of cheese all over the top, and put it in front of the fire to brown, Dry pieces of cheese may be utilised by grating them, and then serving with biscuits. Or, after being grated, add a little vinegar, salt, and mustard, and eat with bread. CHAPTER XV. THE COOKING OF VEGETABLE FOODS. Bread-making. — Pastry. — Puddings. — Porridge. — Potatoes, &e. — Vegetable Sotips, Sread-making'. — The art of bread-making consists in con- verting flour into a porous firm mass, which can be readily masticated, and which is not moist or sticky. It is most important that the bread should be porous. This is usually secured by the process oi fermentation of some of the sugar of the flour, the sugar being split up into alcohol and carbonic-acid gas. The alcohol thus produced is evaporated during the process of baking, while the carbonic acid in its attempt to escape renders the dough porous. The fermen- tation is set in action by yeast. Yeast contains a plant which, under favouring conditions of warmth and moisture and the presence of sugar, grows rapidly. This plant is composed of cells, and is so minute that 30,000 of the cells would be required to cover a square inch. As the plant grows, it splits up sugar into alcohol and carbonic-acid gas. The process is known as alcoholic fer- THE COOKING OP VEGETABLE POODS 95 mentation, and it occurs not only in bread-making but also in the manufacture of wines, beer, and other fermented drinks. In the latter cases, however, the alcohol is re- tained in the beverage, while in the case of bread the minute amount of alcohol produced is dissipated by the heat. The fact that this process of fermentation must go on in order that dough may rise will explain why, after the dough has been well mixed, it must be left for an hour or tiwo in a warm place, so that sufficient gas may be produced to swell the dough. The heat of the oven stops any further fermentation by killing the yeast-plant, but at the same time the heat causes expansion of each minute vesicle of gas contained within the pores of the dough, thus render- ing it stUl more porous. To Make Bread. — (a). Take 7 lbs. of flour and put it into a clean earthenware pan, and mix 1 tablespoouful of salt well into the flonr. (J). Next put 2 ozs. of German yeast into a basin, and mix with it a giU of liikewarm water, (o). Make a hollow in the centre of the flour, pour the barm (yeast and water) into it, and then gra- dually incorporate the barm with the flour, adding more lukewarm water until a ptifE paste is produced. The yeast and water must be added slomly, and after it has been all mixed with the flour, knead- ing must be continued for ten or fifteen minutes. It is almost im- possible to knead the dough too much. When none of the dough sticks to the hands, kneading may be stopped, (d). Cover the top of the basin with a clean cloth' and put it near the fire. After about an hour the top of the dough will begin to separate and look like a honeycomb, (e). It should then be well kneaded again, made into loaves, and put into the oven to bake. It should be put into a hot oven, and the heat gradually reduced to about 300° Fahr. The loaves should be left in the oven nearly two hours, taking care that the temperature is gradually lessened during the last hour. Potatoes are not uncommonly added to flour for making bread, having been first boiled, well mashed, and rubbed through a colander. As much as ^ lb. of potatoes to 3 lbs. of fllour may be used. The addition of milk to the dough greatly improves the quality of the bread. Entire wheatmeal does not make good light bread so readily as the white flour. Its use may, however, be advocated for labourers and others who do not get meat- food. For the purpose of bread-making the meal should not be so coarsely ground as that commonly sold as ' whole- meal.' The best form in which to bake it is as a flat cake, which is lighter and less hard than a loaf made from the 96 DOMESTIC ECONOMY same flour. The following recipe is highly recommended by Sir Henry Thompson : — To Make Whole-meal Bread. — To 2 lbs. of coaxsely-ground or onished whole wheat-meal, add \ lb. of fine flour and a sufficient quantity of baking-powder and salt. When these are well mixed, rub in about 2 ozs. of butter, and make into dough with half milk and water, with skimmed milk (warm), or with milk, if preferred. Make into flat cakes like 'tea-cakes,' and bake without delay in a quick oven, leaving them afterwards to finish thoroughly at a lower temperature. For the ^Ib. of flour ordered above, the same quantity of medium fine Scotch oatmeal may be substituted. This change adds to the brittleness and lightness of the cakes. One pound of the best white flour costs about Id. ;, bread of at least equal nutritive quality may be made from seconds flour, a darker variety, which costs only about l^d. per lb. A hot oven is necessa/ry for good baking. The tempera- ture inside the oven shovdd be 410° Fahr. when the dough is put in. In the best bakeries thermometers are used to test the temperature. If a thermometer is not available, the temperature of the interior of the oven may be tested as follows : — Sprinkle a pinch of flour on the bottom of the oven : if it becomes black the oven is too hot ; if it becomes a nice brown colour in a minute, the oven is just at the right heat ; and if it does not brown, the oven is not hot enough. In order to know whether the loaf is sufficiently cooked, push a skewer into it. If the skewer comes out clean, the bread is sufficiently baked ; if the skewer is sticky, then the bread is underdone. We have assumed hitherto that the use of yeast is necessary to make bread porous. The same result may, however, be attained by Dr. Dauglish's plan of making the dough with water containing carbonic acid dissolved in it under pressure. The gas escapes in the substance of the dough, and on baking expands as in the ordinary method of making bread. Bread made in this manner is called aerated bread. In Nevill's bread, a solution of carbonate of ammonia is incorporated with the dough, which volatilises when heated, thus making the bread porous. Both these varieties of bread are sweeter than the bread made by fermentation, none of the sugar having been used up to form alcohol and carbonic-acid gas. The amount used for THE COOKING OP VEGETABLE FOODS 97 the latter purpose is, however, very small, and the difference in nutritive quality of these varieties of bread is but slight. Bread may be also rendered porous by means of baking- powder (page 99). New bread is not so digestible as stale bread. It is moister than stale bread, and more coherent ; it is therefore ■ not so easily or completely masticated as stale bread, and the saliva does not penetrate it so thoroughly. Badly made bread also causes indigestion. This may be owing to the use of bad yeast, making the bread heavy and comparatively non-porous. Bread made from the coarser meals is heavier and less easily digested than the bread from white flour, probably owing in large measure to its less porous character. Rusks may be made by cutting a loaf of bread into slices and baking in a slow oven until they are brown. The ordinary bought rusks are made from a rather richer dough, like that used for making tea-cakes. Fulled bread is simply ordinary dough, pulled into stick-like pieces, and baked hard in the oven. Both these forms of bread are most useful for dyspeptics who suffer from flatulence, &c., after taking ordinary bread. Bread may be further cooked by being toasted. This causes a further drying and scorching of the surfaces. Bread should be toasted in slices thin enough to be crisp right through. If made too thick, it is tough, and the inner part is soft like new bread. Thin toast^ and pulled bread ought to be eaten in preference to ordinary bread by persons inclined to stoutness. Siscuits, as the name indicates, are made of dough which is baked much longer and is harder and drier than ordinary bread. They can therefore be preserved for a long time. They are made without the use of yeast, and are, therefore, a form of unfermented or unleavened bread. In the history of civilisation, unleavened bread was undoubtedly first made. The yeast-plant is constantly present in the atmosphere ; and probably the discovery of fermented bread was acci- dental, some dough having been left and fermentation having spontaneously occurred. Next came the practice of leaving a little dough over, with which to ' leaven ' the next baking ; and finally came the adoption of brewer's and German yeast instead of the leaven. Now non-aerated bread is scarcely H 98 DOMKSTIC ECONOMY eaten, except by Jews at the Passover feast, and in the form of biscuits. Pastry is made from wheat-flour to which is added butter or dripping and some baking-powder. It is not so easily digested as ordinary bread. The lard or dripping which has been added renders the product more flaky and less easily pulverised by the teeth ; also the fat appears to coat over the starch-cells of the baked flour, thus impeding the action of saliva upon them. Boiled puddings made with suet are more digestible than baked pastry. Pastry made according to the following recipe may be taken and digested by persons who are obliged to avoid ordinary pastry : — To Make German Fastry. — Take 1 lb. of flour, add to it 1 dessert- spoonful of baking-powder ; then rub in f lb. of iDutter. Take i eggs, whisk them well, and add them to the flour. Three eggs wQl suffice if a little milk is used as well. Dripping may be substituted for the butter if well beaten. A cool hand and light touch are required to make good pastry. Dripping may be generally substituted for lard, if it has been well clarified (p. 90) and beaten into a cream. When rubbing fat into flour it must be touched only with the tips of the fingers. To Make Pastry for Pies, ^c. — Put 1 lb. of flour into a basin. Take J lb. of lard or butter, and rub half of it lightly into the flour ; then add 2 teaspoonfuls of baking-powder, | teaspoonf ul of salt, and sufficient cold water or milk to make a firm paste. After mixing, roll on a floured paste-board or slab. Take half of the remaining lard, place it oyer the paste in little pats, sprinkle it with flour, fold it over and roll. Repeat this process with the last portion of lard ; and then, when folded, put it away to cool for an hour, pre- ferably on a marble slab. This paste may be used for fruit or meat pies. For puddings the paste must be made as foUows : — To Make Suet Paste.— ^ake J lb. of suet, remove the skin, and chop it finely. Add it to 1 lb. of flour, with J teaspoonful of salt and sufficient cold water to form a firm paste. A teaspoonful of baking-powder makes the paste lighter. Suet puddings must have plenty of time to boil. They must be put into boiling water, and be kept boiling fast the whole time. Puddings boiled in a basin should not be covered with water, but should have plenty of water around them. Pudding-cloths should not be touched with soap, tHE COOKING OF VEGETABLE FOOUS 99 but washed with hot water and soda and then thoroughly dried in the open air. To Make a Bread-andSuttei- ^Budding. — Take 6 slices of bread and butter them. Butter the inside of a pie-dish, and place the slices of bread in layers, sprinkling each layer with currants, finely-chopped suet, and a little sugar. Take 2 eggs, whisk them, and add 1 pint of milk to them ; pour this over the pudding, and bake for about an hour. Bread pudding may be made for using up odd pieces of bread. It is made by first soaking the bread in a little mUk or water, then adding to it \ lb. of currants, 1 egg, and sugar, with about \ pint of mUk. This can be either boiled or baked. Baking-powders are used in making pastry, cakes, kc. They are all composed essentially of two substances, which while dry do not interact, but when moist enter into chemical combination, carbonic acid being then evolved into the sub- stance of the dough. Borwick's baking-powder consists of a mixture of carbonate of soda, tartaric acid, and rice- powder ; MacDougaU's, of acid phosphate of lime and car- bonate of potass. The bread made by these means is not so wholesome and digestible as that made by fermentation, and the process is only used for small baking operations. To Make Baking-pomder. — Take ^ lb. of ground rice, J lb. of car- bonate of soda, and 3 ozs. of tartaiic acid. Dry these ingredients well, and pass them a'l together through a sieve or colander. Put into a dry bottle or canister until required. Other Cereals are chiefly used for making mUk puddings, with the exception of oatmeal. Rice pudding may be taken as an example. To Make a Mice Pndding. — Take 2 tablespoonf uls of rice, wash it well. Grease the inside 6f a pie-dish, put in the rice, add | pint of water, \ pint of milk, 1 teaspoonful of chopped suet, and 1 table- spoonful of moist sugar ; mix all well together, and bake very slowly for two hours. The pudding is improved by addiug pure milk instead' of milk and water. The suet increases the nutritive value of the rice pudding, and is particularly valuable for chil- dren. Eggs added to milk puddings make them much less digestible. Tapioca and sago puddings are similarly made. To Make Oatmeal Porridge. — Boil 1 pint of water in a clean saucepan, and add a little salt. With the left hand sprinkle in gra- il 2 100 DOMESTIC ECONOMY dually two large tablespoonfuls of the best Scotch oatmeal, and, by means of a wooden porridge-stick in the right hand, carefully mix it in the boiling water, preventing lumps. Keep stirring for a few minutes, and then allow it to simmer for an hour, stirring at frequent intervals. It is a good plan to cook oatmeal overnight when in- tended for breakfast, and then heat it again in the morning before serving. Oatmeal can hardly be cooked too much. Some persons prefer to use a double saucepan for making porridge, as this ensures that it shall be slowly cooked, with- out risk of burning. Potatoes, when boiled, ought to be placed in boiling water. If put into cold water, without their jackets, and then the temperature gradually raised, much of the starch is changed into a gelatinous condition, and mixes with the water. At the same time, some of the vegetable salts of the potato are dissolved out, unless the outermost layer is quickly hardened by boiling water. When starch-cells, whether in potato, bread, or any other food, are heated to the boiling-point of water, the capsule of the cell bursts and liberates the starch-granules in the interior, thus rendering them capable of being acted on by saliva. This is the chief object of cooking starchy foods. It is most economical to boil or bake potatoes in their skins. If peeled, the skin should be taken off as thinly as possible. Potatoes ought to be steapied rather than boiled, on ac- count of the possible loss of some starch in the latter process. Potatoes are more digestible when mashed ; when underdone they are very objectionable. If potatoes are boiled, let them boil slowly, as fast boiling makes them knock against each other, thus risking the loss of some nutritive material. Steaming is the best process, especially for old potatoes. The time required for boiling potatoes varies from twenty minutes for small new potatoes to three- quarters of an hour for good-sized old potatoes. To Boil Green Vegetables. — Wash them first in cold water, then soak in salt and water for half an hour, in order to rid them of insects, and put them into boiling water with a little salt, and cook with the lid off until they are tender. All green vegetables require thorough and prolonged cooking. This renders their tissues softer and more easily THE COOKING OF VEGETABLE POODS 101 attacked in digestion. Soft water should preferably be used. Spinach is the easiest digested of all green vege- tables, becoming a pulp by boiling. Asparagus should be tied in bundles and placed upright with the green heads out of water, so that they may not be overdone. Vegetables of the cabbage tribe give a peculiarly strong and disagreeable odour to the ' green- water ' in which they are boiled. They must, therefore, be boiled alone. Do not allow the green- water to be poured down the sink, or the smell will be perceived all over the house. It should be emptied over a gully -trap in the yard. Fresh peas and beans require from twelve to thirty minutes for boUing. Dried peas are of great value as food, if subjected to prolonged cooking. They should first be soaked in cold water for at least twelve hours, then crushed and stewed. To Make Pea-Soup. — Put 1 quart of split peas into a basin with cold water to cover them, and let them soak for twelve hours. This should be done overnight. Put 2 quarts of cold water, or the liquor from boiled meat, and the split peas into a saucepan, and put it on the fire to boil. Wash and peel 2 onions and 1 turnip, and cut them in halves ; wash and scrape 1 carrot, and a head of celery, and when the water in the saucepan is boiling, put in all the vege- tables. If no meat-liquor is available, take some bonea and add them to the saucepan, with sufficient salt and pepper. Boil slowly for two hours, skimming occasionally. Next take the bones out of the saucepan, place a colander over a basin, and rub the contents of the saucepan through into the basin with a wooden spoon. Powdered dried mint and toasted bread cut into small pieces should be served with the soup. In the cooking of mixed dishes it is important to re- member that the different components may require a longer or shorter time for cooking. A soup containing vegetables as well as meat juices should be prepared in two parts. The vegetables require prolonged boiling ; gravy is spoilt by this. Similarly if the jam be placed in a tart before baking, it loses its proper fruity flavour. Spices if mixed with a dish before it is boiled, lose nearly all their flavour- ing power, while they remain irritating. 102 DOMESTIC ECONOMY CHAPTER XVI. THE TEACHING OF COOKERY IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS. Prelimina/ry Teaching. — Direct Teaching. — Cooking of Vegetables. — He-cooking Cold Meat. — List of Utensils required for a Cookery Class. — Stoves. — Mincing- machine. — Syllabus of Lessons. — Disposal of Dishes. Cookery is a subject which should be taught practically and upon scientific principles in every girls' school. It wUl prove of the greatest value in increasing the health and comfort of the homes of the poorer classes. The Education Code includes cookery in its schedules, and some valuable hints- which are embodied in this chapter have been drawn up by the authorities of the Education Department for the use of teachers of cookery. In order that the lessons may prove of the highest practical value to the girls they must be given upon some systematic plan, arranging for definite and progressive instruction. Throughout the whole of the teaching the children should be made to realise the import- ance of the subject. Preliminary Teaching. — The children should first be taught what cookery is — viz., the art of preparing food so as to render it more palatable, more digestible, and more nutritious than in its raw condition. Lessons should be given in the management of stoves, lighting a fire, economy of fuel, and cleaning of flues. In certain districts special stoves and appliances are in common use. Where this is the case the teaching should be given so as to utilise these as far as possible. The chil- dren should be made to think over the food-resources of their own neighbourhood, and the prices of the various articles. Direct Teaching.-^This includes the six primary methods of cookery, as specified by the Education Department, what meat should be roasted or baked, what, boiled, what stewed, &c., and the reasons. for employing the different methods for different kinds of meat. The lessons are expected to TEACHING OP COOKERY IN SCHOOLS 103 include instruction in the following subjects, according to the district, whether inland or near the coast ; — I. (I) Boiling meat or fish. (2) Stewing meat. ^3^ Baking meat or fish. iiS Broiling meat or fish. (5) Roasting meat (when it can be conveniently managed). ^6^ Frying meat or fish. (7) The re-cooking of cold meat. II. (1) The cooking of potatoes and other root vege- tables. (2^ The cooking of green vegetables. (3) The making of stocks and vegetable soups. {i\ The art of .pastry-making. (5) Puddings. (6) Bread-making. (7) Sick-room cookery. At each of the practice lessons at the commencement of the course it is well to let one recipe be illustrative of one of the primary operations, the principles being always brought under the notice of the children. The recipes should be chosen in accordance with the food-resowrces and wages of the neighbourhood. It would be obviously unwise to use materials beyond the means of the parents of the girls. The re-cooking of cold meat should be specially considered. Thus, instead of eating cold meat for two or three consecutive days, a savoury stock may be made from the bones of the joint, to which some fresh vegetables have been added, and this served up with the meat, which has been previously cut into slices and allowed to warm through in the gravy before serving. Economy of tims, loibour, and fuel should be borne in mind, as well as economy of materials for cooking. Every girl ought to have practice in actually preparing the dishes and in cooking them. The teacher must, of course, exercise sufficient supervision to prevent the dishes being wasted or spoilt. It is better to arrange for a number of small dishes to be cooked, allowing the girls to work in couples, than for a large number to work together in preparing one large dish. In order to make 104 DOMESTIC ECONOMY the girls exact, they should weigh the ingredients, and, as they may not always have scales and weights at home; they should be taught to measure them accurately in ordinary cups and basins, spoons, &c. They should be trained to perform all their cooking operations in the most delicate, cleanly manner, and they should be required to present a scrupuloiisly clean personal appearance before entering the cooking kitchen. The hands and arms should be freshly washed, the nails short and clean, and the hair neatly arranged ; large clean white aprOns and sleeves must be worn. After the lesson the cooking utensils should be pro- perly cleaned and put in their places. Good methods and attention to all these small details train the girls to those habits which characterise all good domestic servants and housekeepers. During the whole course the lessons should be made as interesting as possible, and the girls should be encouraged to look upon their cookery' classes as a privilege and as the most pleasant work of the week. A lawful ambition to .excel may be excited by a few words of judicious praise from the teacher whenever a girl, by special care, produces really good results in her cookery, such as a well-made loaf of bread. List of Utensils, &c., required for furnishing a small Cooking Kitchen suitable for a Practice Glass. Utensils. 2 „ „ 3 pints „ 3 „ „ 1 pint „ 1 Frying-pan 1 Fish-kettle Is. &«r- ^iration-tuhe. Tlie upper layers are horny, and are composed of cells which have become horny and modified to form scales ; in the deeper layers the cells are more rounded and softer. The colour of the negro's skin is due to the deposition of pigment granules in the deepest part of the epidermis. The upper- 12 116 DOMESTIC ECONOMY most cells form minute flakes, which are every day being shed as ' scurf,' or can be scraped off the surface of the skin. Hairs and nails are composed of modified and hardened epidermal cells. The epidermis is insensitive, and can be pricked without producing pain. ' The dermis is not only sensitive but also very vascular. The epidermis, when seen under a magnifying glass, shows ridges and depressions arranged in a regular order. These are due to minute con- ical upward projections of the dermis, termed papillce, each about -j-J-B^ inch long. These papillse contain the endings of minute nerves, and it is by their means that we possess the sense of touch. The papillse are more closely set in the more sensitive parts. The epidermis is perforated by the tubes of two kinds of glands, sebaceous and sudoriparous (perspiration glands). The sebaceous glands are short and branched, and com- monly end alongside the hairs lower than the point of emer- gence of the latter from the skin. They secrete an oily material which serves the purpose of a natural pomade, and renders any artifi.cial hair-oil in most cases unnecessary. The sebaceous secretion also keeps the surface of the skin unctuous and supple, and prevents it becoming dry and harsh. In persons who perspire freely, were it not for the sebaceous secretion, the skin would have a macerated ap- pearance, somewhat like the hands of a washerwoman. The smell of the sebaceous secretion is unpleasant, especially in closed parts of the body, as under the armpits. Frequent washing of such parts is, therefore, very desirable. The sudoriparous or sweat-secreting glands are longer than the sebaceous gljtnds. Each tube when straightened out is about J inch long. It ends below in the sub- cutaneous tissue in a coiled-up extremity (e, fig. 24). It opens by a minute pore on the surface of the skin. As many as 3,000 Of such pores have been counted on a square inch of the palm of the hand. It has been estimated that in an adult the length of all the sweat-tubes put together would be nearly twenty-eight miles ! The sudoriparous glands secrete the perspiration. This is constantly evaporating from the surface of the body, though to a much greater extent in hot weather and during severe exertion. It is very important that the pores of these glands should be kept open in order that the secretion THE SKIN AND CLEANLINESS 117 of sweat may not be hindered. AnimaJs have been kiUed by covering their skin with varnish, and so preventing the escape of perspiration. The amount of water given ofif from the body by the skin varies with the external temperature and with other circumstances ; but it is about double the amount passing out from the lungs. The greater part of it escapes as insensWe perspiration, passing off as invisible aqueous vapour. When it appears as drops on the skin it is known as sensible perspiration. Perspiration contains about 1 per cent, of solids, the chief one being common salt. A minute amount of carbonic acid is given off by the skin, about g^ of that eliminated by the lungs. The skin has other functions, besides the secretion of perspiration and sebaceous matter. (1) It is the end-organ of the sense of touch, and thus forms one of the media by which we come into conscious communication with the ex- ternal world. (2) It serves as a protection to the deeper parts of the body. (3) By its means the temperature of the body is regulated. This will be explained hereafter (page 146) in the chapter on clothing. The results of uhcleanliness may almost be gathered from a study of the preceding physiological considerations. TJacleanliness leads to (1) obstruction of the sweat and sebaceous ducts of the skin, and (2) accumulation of debris on the general surface of the body. (1) Obstruction of the sweat-pores of the skin interferes with the free elimination of waste-products by the per- spiration, so that more work is thrown upon tie kidneys and lungs, and the balance of health is destooyed. (2) Obstruction of the sebaceous pores causes an accumu- lation of oily secretion in the ducts. The black spots so commonly seen on the nose are blocked-up orifices of sebaceous ducts, and tiny threads of fatty matter may be pressed out by squeezing the nose. Pimples result from inattention to such obstructions, and if these pimples be- come inflamed the condition called acne is produced, which may permanently disfigure the face. (3) Accumulation of impure matters on-the skin occurs if the skin is not frequently washed. The outer part of the epidermis is constantly being shed as ' scurf ' ; and, in the absence of frequent washing, the sebaceous secretion tends 118 DOMESTIC KCONOMY to mat these scales together. The saline matters of the perspiration tend also to accumulate, and these, by attract- ing moisture, keep the skin clammy and cold. (4) The skin contains numerous nerves and blood-vessels. When the papillae are covered with dirt the sensibility of the skin is dulled. Now, the sensations received by the skin are important in regulating the temperature of the body. A cold external temperature should cause a reflex contraction of the small arteries bringing blood to the skin, while a warm external temperature should cause these arteries to dilate and send more blood to the skin. In the first case, undue loss of heat is prevented ; in the second, the balance of temperature is maintained by a greater loss of heat. But if the sensibility of the skin is dulled by dirt, this re- flex nervous mechanism is impaired, and the dangers from sudden changes of temperature are greatly increased. Consequently, the tendency to chills is increased. When uricleanUness is protracted, various skin-diseases may be produced. Uses of Soap. — Soap is produced' by the action of an alkali on a fat or oil. Fat is a compound of fatty acids with glycerine. The alkali combines with the fatty acid to form soap, while glycerine is liberated. Thus : — Stearin -|- soda = stearate of soda -|- . glycerine, (mutton fat) Soft soap is stearate of potass ; hard soap, stearate of soda. Most soaps contain an excess of alkali, but if the excess is great, the soap is irritating to delicate skins. Soap forms an insoluble compound with lime-salts, and is, there- fore, wasted in considerable amount when one washes in hard water. Thus : — Chalk Soap Insoluble r Calcium Sodium 1 _ ("Calcium Sodium 1 \ Carbonate Stearate J ~ [. Stearate ''" Carbonate J In washing the skin, the water used washes away a certain amount of scurf and saline matters which have accumulated. But the sebaceous oily secretion and water will no more mix than will any other oil with jsrater ; and as the sebaceous secretion is the most ill-smelling part about the skin, something more than water is required to THE SKIN AND CLEANLINESS 119 ensure cleanliness. This is provided by soap. The alkali LQ soap combines with the oily matter to form an emulsion, which carries away with it the particles of dirt blocking up the pores of the sebaceous ducts. When the skin is subsequently rubbed by the towel, the softened epithelium, and with it any remaining dirt, is rubbed off. Thus (a) water, (6) soUp, (c) the towel, and (d) abundant friction at each stage, are required to ensure thorough cleansing of the skin. Uses of Baths. — (1). The first object ' of bathing is cleanliness, and, by its means, the maintenance of health. For this purpose the warm bath is the most efficient, com- bined with the free use of soap and friction. A warm bath at 95° Fahr., as it tends to relax the skin and may be fol- lowed by a chill, should always be taken at night. This in- creased sensibility to cold after a warm bath may be obviated by immediately afterwards sponging over the body with cold water, and then drying quickly. (2). The cold bath, t£ taken with due precautions, forms an admirable tonic to the system. It should be taken rapidly ; Btnd if it is found that a feeling of cold and chilliness remains afterwards, the bath has done more harm than good. During winter the temperature of the water used may be raised to 60° by the addition of warm water, with- out interfering with its tonic effects ; and for weakly persons this is much to be preferred to the greater shock given by water, at, say 40°. Cold baths increase the tone of the skin, and render it less susceptible to changes of tem- perature, thus diminishing the tendency to ' catch cold.' The Turkish bath consists in spending a longer or shorter time in rooms which vary in temperature from 80° to 160° or even more, free perspiration being thus induced. The body is then thoroughly cleansed by friction and soap, and subsequently cooled by a spray of cold water, or a cold plunge ; the last stage being one of rest in a cool apartment to allow the skin to become thoroughly braced. This bath is of great value where there is deficient elimination, and for persons who lead a sedentary indoor life. Persons with heart-disease should avoid the Turkish bath. Swimming is a very valuable combination of bathing and exercise. The exercise accompanying it usually suffices to counteract the depressing action of the cold water. It is 120 DOMESTIC ECONOMY important, however, (a) that the immersion should not he too prolonged ; (6) that the body should be warm at the time of entering the water ; (c) that the bath should not be taken untU about two hours after a meal, nor (d) after prolonged fasting, as before breakfast. Classification of Baths. — Baths are considered cold below 70° Fahr., tepid between 70° and 85°, warm from 85° to 97°, and hot above this temperature. A complete bath-rooin should have an open fireplace. The bath should be sufficiently large to allow of submersion of the whole body. It should have an abundant supply of both hot and cold water, and the waste-pipe should be sufficiently large to carry off the water expeditiously. An overflow pipe must be provided in case of accidental filling of the bath. The waste-pipe and overflow-pipe should be made to discharge over a gully-trap in the yard, or over the open head of a rain-water pipe, and the waste-pipe should, in addition, be provided with a syphon bend under the bath to prevent smells rising into the bath-room from de- composition of soap or other foul matters along its course. A leaden tray, called a safe, is usually placed under the bath to catch any accidental spillings of water. The small waste-pipe from this is often connected with the soil-pipe — a most dangerous practice. It should dischewge into the open air. Non-attention to these rules may make the bath-room a source of danger to the occupants of a house, especially as it is commonly placed close to a bedroom. Where there is no circulating system of hot-water supply for the bath-room, Geysers are now frequently em- ployed in heating water for baths. In these the water is made to flow over a large heating surface furnished by the combustion of coal-gas, and with the best varieties a hot bath (at 98° Fahr.) can be supplied in from five to ten minutes. As a rule, no provision is made in these apparatus for the proper escape of the fumes, and the consequences in some cases have been very serious and even fatal. The bath-room is usually very small, and most commonly has no open fireplace. Consequently the poisonous products of the combustion of gas are apt to be present in very con- siderable quantity. These are chiefly carbonic acid, which is produced in large amount ; but the more poisonous car- bonic oxide may also be produced in minute quantities. TBE SKIN AND CLEANLINESS 121 FlO, 25. — Oeyser Apparatin with proper Ventilating Arrangements. A Entrance of eold mater. B. Entraneefor coal-gat. 0. Dual-mlve, so arranged tAot ' imtnediaiels the water ia turned vff or the mppty/atufrom any cause, the stipplji of gas Is aleo eiit off. F. Point ofisme ofhct water after passing through the various ehMnters in the geyser. G. Separate gas-tap, ichich can he used as a regulator or to entirely cut off supply of gas, if only cold water is required. If the taps are required on the other jMe of geyser, they ran he fixed to the union H. J. Baffle to prevent down-draught in thejtue-pipe (sometimes better inserted in the pipe under theeeUing). 122 DOMESTIC ECONOMY. Hence it is not infrequent for yiolerit headaches to occur after a warm bath derived from a geyser ; and in several cases both adults and children have been actually suffocated by the fumes. It is of no use to trust to the verbal in- struction that either the window or door of the bath-room must be kept open. This is apt to be forgotten or may be inconvenient. It is not a valid argument in favour of the use of a geyser apparatus minus a flue-pipe, to say, as is said very frequently, that it has been jised for a long time without any evil consequences. The geyser may at any time be used by inexperienced or careless persons and life be eiidangered. No geyser should be allowed in a house unless a special flue-pipe is connected with it, and carried out into a passage, or, preferably, into the open air. In the latter case, in order to' prevent down-draught, a cowl must be placed over the pipe and a baffle arranged (as at j, fig. 25) for the same purpose. This vital point has hitherto been unrecognised by the majority of manufacturers of geysers, and we have, therefore, no hesitation in departing from our usual rule and mention- ing with honour the name of the only manufacturers (Messrs. Ewart & Son, Euston Road, London) who place on each geyser manufactured by them an emphatic caution that it must not be used without a vent-pipe. Personal Cleanliness includes attention to the hair, nails, mouth, and other parts of the body, as well as to the general surface of the skin. It is not desirable to use soap as often to the hair as to other parts of the body, as it washes away the sebaceous secretion from the hairs and renders them dry and brittle. If the hair is kept fairly short, artificial pomades are not required, though pomades made of purified lard, or equal parts of lanolLne and vaseline, can do no harm. Tl\i& finger- nails should be kept scrupulously clean, and the same applies to the mouth and all other mucous orifices. A fcetid breath is often due to the discharges from decayed teeth, or to the decomposition of food which has been allowed to accumulate between the teeth. It is important that the teeth should be regularly cleansed, and that all decayed teeth should be ' stopped ' at an early period. General Cleanliness is next in importance to cleanli- ness of the skin. It is unfortunate that less regard is THE LUNGS AND RESPIRATION 123 sometimes paid to the cleanliness of under-clothing than to that of outer garments. The tendency to disregard cleanliness of apparel is shown also by the usual preference for colours ' that do not show the dirt,' the fact that the dirt is still there, although not seen, being ignored. It is always well to hang one's clothes at night where they may be well ventilated and purified by the oxygen of the air. Bedclothes should be scrupulously clean. The organic matters given off from the lungs, skin, &c., hang about the bed-linen, and cause the 'close smell' which can be appreciated on entering a bedroom in the morning from the open air. Beds should not be made directly after being left, but the clothes thrown over the bottom of the bed, the bolster and mattress well shaken, and the window widely opened so that every part may be exposed to a free current of air for an hour or two before re-arranging the clothes. The house should also be kept clean. Dust 'is deposited in obscure corners and attracts to itself organic matters, thus making the room stuffy, even though free ventilation be secured. Carpets should be easily movable, and should not extend to the walls of the room, ,so that they may be easily swept and kept free from dust. The walls should also be kept clean, and a new wall-paper should not be allowed to be pasted over an old one, as is too often the case, thus preserving the dirt of years in the room, ' CHAPTER XIX. THE LUNGS AND RESPIRATION. Structure of the Lungs. — Mechanism of Respiratwn,.— Changes in Blood by Respiration. The organs concerned in, respiration are the lungs, which fill the greater part of the thorax or chest. At the root of the tongue, in front of the CESophagus, is an orifice which leads into the larynx, or voice-box. The larynx opens below into the trachea, or wind-pipe (fig. 7). 124 DOMESTIC ECONOMY The trachea is about 4| inches long, and is kept open by 16 to 20 incomplete rings of cartilage (gristle). Between the rings, the trachea consists largely of elastic tissue, but contains also some involuntary muscular fibres. The mu- cous membrane of the trachea and its branches is lined by smooth columnar epithelial cells presenting cilia or hair-like projections about ^^Vir ^^''^ long on their free surface. The trachea passes down the neck in front of the oesophagus, and as it enters the thorax divides into two bronchi, one to each lung. Each bronchus divides in a forked manner in the substance of the lung, the smallest branches, or hronch- ioles, having no cartilage in their structure, and termin- ating in sac-like pear-shaped expansions called infundihtda. Each infundibulum, with its corresponding bronchiole, con- stitutes a lobule of the lung, and the difierent lobules are bound together by connective tissue. The infundibula have sac-like walls, each division of the sac being called an air-cell or alveolus. The walls of the air-cells consist of a delicate layer of connective tissue lined by a single layer of flattened cells. In the wall of each air-cell is a fine net- work of blood-capillaries, only separated from the air in the interior of the air-cell by the epithelial cells. The outer surface of each . lung is pressed close]y against the inner surface of the walls of the chest, and closely follows its movements. The two surfaces are, however, not in contact, but separated by the smooth plev/ral membrane. Mechanism of Eespiration. — The walls of the thorax are formed by the vertebral column behind, the curved ribs on either side, and the breast-bone and costal cartilages in front. The ribs slant forwards and downwards, and the only joint at which they can move freely is at their attach- ment to the vertebrae behind. Between the ribs are short intercostal muscles, and the contraction of these muscles pulls the ribs up, at the same time making them more hori- zontal, and thus increasing the transverse dimensions of the chest-cavity. The base of the thorax is formed by the diaphragm. This is a large muscle attached aU round to the inner wall of the lower part of the thorax, to the ster- num (breast-bone) in front, the inside of the six lower ribs on each side, and the vertebral column behind. It has three openings, through which pass the oesophagus, the aorta,- and the inferior vena cava. Within its attachments the dia- THE LUNGS AND RESPIRATION 125 phragm forms an arched vault (fig. 2), rising up so as to make the central part of the thorax shallower than its marpns. On the upper convex surface of the diaphragm the lungs and heart rest, while the liver, stomach, and spleen nt into its concave under-surface. The respiratory act consists of two parts : (1) a breath- FiG. 26. — The Larynx, Trachea, BroncJd, cmd Zefl Lung. Tlie right lung has been removed to show the method ofhranching of the bronchi. ing-in, or inspiration, followed by (2) a breathing-out, or expiration, with a pause between the two. In the adult the respiratory act occurs about 17 times per minute. Inspiration is brought about by muscular action, a large number of muscles contracting in unison. Ordinary inspira- tion is effected by descent of the diaphragm, and elevation and eversion of the rib's. The elevation of the ribs is eflFected by the action of intercostal muscles, assisted by some other muscles. It is evident that as the ribs move on a pivot at 126 DOMESTIC ECONOMY their hinder attachment, when they are raised they must also be pushed out or everted, thus increasing the size of the chest from front to back and from side to side. Descent of the diaphragm occurs when its muscular fibres contract. When a muscle contracts, its fibres become shorter, and in the case of an arched muscle like the diaphragm this must imply that the muscle descends and becomes flatter than before. Thus contraction of the dia- phragm increases the vertical dimensions of the thorax (fig. 2). The air in the interior of the lungs is, like air every- where else, subject to an average pressure of 15 lbs. to every square inch. Every square inch of the chest- wall is simi- larly exposed to this amount of atmospheric pressure ; and it is owing to the balance between the pressure in difierent directions that we are not aware of its existence. When by muscular efibrt the size of the chest is increased, the lungs exactly follow the movements of the chest-waUs and of the diaphragm. Consequently the air contained in the lungs becomes rarefied, and the atmospheric pressure forces more air into the lungs. The volume of air thus inspired at each breath averages about 30 cubic inches. Ezpiratioii of air from the lungs is a comparatively passive process, (a) The lungs are very elastic and tend to recoil as soon as the muscular effort of inspiration ceases. (h) The ribs have been raised into a position of unstable equilibrium, and they resume their more slanting position as soon as the intercostal muscles become relaxed, (c) The diaphragm on the cessation of its muscular contraction be- comes again arched, and its return is aided by the pressure of the liver and other abdominal organs which have been somewhat displaced during inspiration. It is only during forced expiration that the abdominal and other muscles are brought into play. The complicated act of breathing is effected by the co- operation of many muscles supplied by different nerves. We cannot voluntarily stop breathing for more than a few seconds, and during sleep respiration continues perfectly. It is an automatic act, controlled and regulated by a special part of the nervous system. The changes produced in air by passing through the lungs will be described onpage 130. Changes in Blood. — iTie blood entering and passing THE AIR WK BREATHE 127 through the lungs has been derived from the veins of every part of the body, having been pumped from the right ventricle of the heart through the pulmonary arteries into the lungs. This blood is purple, while that leaving the lungs is scarlet, a difference which is due to the absorption in the lungs of oxygen by the haemoglobin of red corpuscles. In passing through the lungs the blood loses some carbonic acid and gains some oxygen. By means of the mercurial air-pump 60 volumes of gas can be extracted from 100 volumes of blood. «r This gas differs in composition in arterial and in venous blood. Thus— -From 100 volumes of ARTERIAL BLOOD. r Oxygen. . 20 vols, may beobtained< CarbonicacidSQ „ I Nitrogen 1 to 2 „ VENOOS BLOOD. 8 to 12 vols. 46 „ 1 to 2 „ CHAPTER XX. THE AIR WE BREATHE. Properties of Air. — Composition of Air. — Composition of Expired Air. The importance of an abundant and pure supply of air can scarcely be exaggerated. Death follows in a few minutes after total deprivation of air; while abstinence from solid food and even from water may be borne for several weeks before a fatal result occurs. Properties of Air. — We cannot see the air, but its existence is clearly shown when on windy days it is in active movement. Like other substances, it is possessed of weight, and, in consequence of its weight, exerts pressure uniformly in all directions. This pressure is equal to about 128 DOMESTIC ECONOMY 15 lbs. on every square inch, or about 14 or 15 tons on the body of a man of average size. The pressure is equal in all directions. Thus there is pressure outwards by the air in the lungs, as well as pressure inwards by the external air ; so that under ordinary circumstances we are unaware of its existence. The atmospheric pressure is ordinarily measured by the barometer. In this instrument a long glass tube, 1 incji in diameter, is filled with quicksilver, and then, the thumb being placed over the open end, the tube is inverted in a vessel containing quicksilver. The quicksilver in the tube does not sink to the level of the quicksilver in the vessel, but remains about 30 inches higher, and the weight of this column of quicksilver is equivalent to the atmospheric pressure on one square inch of surface at the time of the experiment. Cold air is heavier than warm air, and dry air is heavier than moist air. Hence the barometter gene- FlG. 27. — Proportions cf Nitrogen,Oxygen, andCarhonio Aeid in Air. rally stands higher when the air is dry and cold than when it is moist and warm. * Composition of Air. — Air consists of a mixture of 20'9 volumes of oxygen to 79 •! of nitrogen, with a very much smaller amount of carbonic acid, aqueous vapour, and other constituents. In the above figure the large cube repre- sents the bulk of nitrogen, the next in size the bulk of oxygen, and the very small cube the bulk of carbonic acid in the air. The nitrogen and oxygen are not chemically combined, but only mixed in the air. The nitrogen serves the pur- pose of a diluting agent ; the oxygen is necessary for life, and is absorbed from the lungs into the blood at each breath. THE AIR WB BREATHE 129 Ozone is a more concentrated form of oxygen, in which three volumes of oxygen are condensed so as to occupy two volumes. In this condensed form it possesses powerful oxidising properties. Many putrefying matters when thus oxidised become harmless ; hence ozone has been called the scavenger of the air. Ozone is only present in very pure air, as at the seaside, or in mountainous or rural districts. It is generally absent from dwelling-houses and in towns. It may be produced on a small scale by hanging a piece of moist phosphorus in a room. Aqueous Vapour is always present in air, though the amount varies greatly. When condensed it becomes visible, as cloud or fog, rain, snow, hail, or dew. If the air con- tains as much moisture as it can take up, it is said to be saturated. The higher the temperature the more water can be evaporated before the point of saturation is reached. The amount of aqueous vapour present in air varies greatly, but forms on an average about 1^ per cent, of its total volume. It is derived from the evaporation of water from the surface of rivers, seas, and other large surfaces of water ; and from the aqueous vapour exhaled from the soil, from plants, from all processes of burning and decay, and from the breathing of animals. Caxbonio Acid is generally present in the air in the proportion of about 4 volumes in 10,000 of air ('04 per cent.) ; in impure air it may be present in much larger amount. In country places it may not exceed 3 '36 parts in 10,000 of air ; but in the streets of busy towns may be 5 or even 6 parts in 10,000 of air. It is a heavy gas, and does not support combustion. In all animals a process of combustion or oxidation goes on, so that the presence of a large amount of carbonic acid in air which has to be breathed is detrimental to health, and, in still larger amount, may be fatal. Carbonic acid is produced by the oxidation of all sub- stances containing carbon, as in the burning of candles, coal-gas, coal, &c. It is also formed when organic bodies ferment or putrefy, and is breathed out from the lungs of animals as the restdt of the oxidation occurring in their tissues. The air in the soU contains much more carbonic acid l36 bOMESTtC fiCONOMT than that above the surface of the ground, often 8 per cent. or even more, derived from the decomposition of organic matters. From the same cause the air at the bottom of old disused wells has been known to poison men who have in- cautiously descended. The safest plan in descending such a well is to carry a lighted candle, holding it as low as possible. If the flame becomes faint, and, still more, if it goes out, further descent will be unsafe. The carbonic acid in such a well may be got rid of by throwing burning straw or shavings into it. The burning shavings heat the car- bonic acid, and thus make it lighter. It escapes from the top of the well, while fresh air from above takes its place. Use of Plants. — Plants keep the carbonic acid in air down to the amount found in pure external air. Their green parts under the influence of bright sunlight decom- pose carbonic acid, fixing its carbon, which goes to form nearly one-half of their structure, while the oxygen is liberated. Thus carbonic acid is split up into carbon plus oxygen ; or CO2 = C + O2. A small amount of carbonic acid is given off by plants, especially by flowers and ripening fruits, but this does not prevent plants from acting on the whole as great puri- fiers of the air. At night plants do not give ofi' oxygen, so it is not advisable to keep them in bedrooms. The atmosphere contains about one part of ammonia in a million of air, also traces of nitrous and nitric acids. These form important plant-foods when washed down by rain. * Expired Air. — The act of breathing is repeated by man about 17 times per minute, each time about 30 cubic inches of air being inspired, and a nearly equal amount of vitiated air expired. The expired air difiers from the inspired in the following particulars : — (1) It is heated. In its passage through the lungs it has acquired a temperature closely approaching that of the blood (99° to 100° Fahr.). (2) It is moister than the external air. This is easily demonstrated by breathing on a cold surface of glass. At least half a pint of water is given off from the lungs in the form of vapour each day. IMPUKITIES OF AIR 131 (3) The proportions of oxygen and carbonic acid are altered. Thus in every 100 parts by volume Oxygen. Nitrogen. Carbonic Acid. Inspired air contains 20'86 79 '1 "04 Expired „ „ 16-12 79-5 4-38 The oxygen is greatly diminished and the carbonic acid is greatly increased. The amount of carbonic acid given off is greatly increased by work of any kind, so that more air is required when at work than when at rest. The average amount given out by a healthy adult is 0'6 cubic foot per hour, or 14 -4 cubic feet per day. (4) Expired air contains organic impurities, partly gaseous and partly minute particles. These impurities give the air of an unventilated room occupied by a number of persons a close or foul smell, and they are much more dangerous to health than carbonic acid. CHAPTER XXI. IMPURITIES OF AIR. Suspended Impurities of Air. — Gaseous Impurities- Products of Combustion. — Products of Respiration. — Effluvia from, Sewers, &c. The impurities commonly present in air may be classed under two heads — solid and gaseous. The number and variety of suspended particles can be appreciated by noting the innumerable particles to be seen floating in the air of a room across which the sunlight streams. Light itself is invisible, and the course of the rays of light is only rendered visible by the particles from which light is reflected. ]f we close the shutters of a room, only leaving a small round aperture through which bright sunlight can enter, the track ot this beam of light is shown by ionumerable suspended particles. If we next place a lighted spirit-lamp under the course of the beam of light near the middle of the room, the particles of suspended matter E 2 132 DOMESTIC ECONOMY are destroyed at this point, and the beam of light appears to be in- terrupted by a black patch in its middle. Suspended Impurities of Air. — The suspended matters in the air are either inorganic or organic. Of inorganic suspended matters the most abundant are common salt, sand, clay, dried mud, coal, soot, and similar substances. In certain occupations, sugh dusty matter has given rise to serious diseases. Thus potters, stone-masons, needle- and knife-grinders, and workers in lead and phosphorus may suffer severely unless proper precautions are taken. Of organic suspended matteis the most abundant are minute fragments of wood and straw, the spores and other parts of plants, and minute fragments of insects and other animal matters. Particles from the skin and lungs are found in the air of rooms. In hospitals various forms of blood-poisoning have been caused by impure particles being carried in the air from one patient to another. The anti- septic treatment of wounds is founded on the principle of filtering the air which is allowed to reach the wounds. By this means they can be kept perfectly ' sweet,' and healing is promoted. The air itself is not dangerous, but only the particles of septic matter suspended in it. Gaseous Impurities of Air. — Gaseous impurities of the air are very commonly associated with suspended matters, and it is sometimes impossible'to separate the effects of the two. Carbonic Acid is the most frequent gaseous impurity of the air. It forms about -04 per cent, of the volume of pure air. When it amounts to more than -06 per cent, the aift is reckoned to be impure. A much larger proportion may be b^^ne, unless the carbonic acid is associated withTother impurities of a still more poisonous character. But in dwelling-rooms carbonic acid and organic pollutions usually increase in the air in about equal proportions, so that, if we have a simple method of determining the amount of carbonic acid in a given air, we obtain a fairly correct estimate of its total impurity. This test is furnished by the fact that lime-water is turned milky by carbonic-acid gas. If, after blowing some of the air of the room to be examined into a half -pint bottle, then adding a tablespoonful of clear lime- water and shaking the bottle, no milkiness is produced, we may IMPURITIES OF AIR 133 conclude that the carbonic acid does not amount to 6 parts in 10,000 of air, and that the air is therefore pure. Carbonic Oxide is a much more dangerous poison than carbonic acid, and fatal consequences have followed when it was present in air in tlie proportion of less than ^ per cent. We have seen that oxygen enters into combination with the hasmoglobin of blood-corpuscles. Carbonic oxide forms a much more stable compound with haemoglobin, displacing oxygen from the red. corpuscles and thus acting as a deadly poison. It forms the most poisonous gas present in coal- gas. It is also given off where charcoal stoves are used, and such stoves without flues are always dangerous. Coal-gas is a mixture of various gases, produced by the distillation of coal. It owes its illuminating properties to compounds of carbon with hydrogen. Coal-gas may be dangerous when allowed to escape (a) through forming an explosive mixture with air ; (6) through the poisonous character of the gases contained in it. Even in small quantities the inhalation of coal-gas produces headache and other symptoms. When inhaled in larger quantities, per- sons have been poisoned in their sleep. When an escape of coal-gas is detected, it is important to avoid lighting a match or candle, as fatal explosions have been caused by this in- discretion. The proper plan is to turn off the gas at the meter, and then open the windows and investigate the cause of the escape . Sometimes it is simply due to evapora- tion of water from the chandelier. If it is due to leaky pipes, considerable skill and patience may be required before the point of escape is detected, (c) The products of combustion of coal-gas are also injurious. One cubic foot of coal-gas produces on combustion about two cubic feet of carbonic acid. A medium-sized gas-burner burns about three cubic feet of gas per hour, and therefore produces six cubic feet of carbonic acid per hour, or ten times the average amount produced by a healthy man in the same time. Some sulphurous acid is also produced by the com- bustion of coal-gas. It is on this account that plants do not thrive where gas is burnt. Pictures, the bindings of books, and the colours of various fabrics are also injuriously affected by sulphurous acid. The Products of Combustion of Candles and Lamps are similar to those of coal-gas, with the important exception 134 DOMESTIC ECONOMY that no sulphur enters into their composition, and there- fore no sulphurous acid escapes into the room. For equal illuminating power candles give more carbonic acid to the air than gas ; but in practice we are contented with a smaller and more localised light from candles or lamps than from gas. It is most important that all products of combustion should be carried directly out of the room. The re-breath- ing of these products causes general ill-health, accompanied Fig. 28. — Ventilating 6as-pendant. by pallor, loss of appetite, and a feeling of unfitness for work. Fig. 28 shows a simple arrangement for carrying the products of combustion into the open air. The Products of Respiration are similar to those of combustion of coal-gas, lamps, and candles, with the ad- dition of organic matters which render them much more dangerous. These organic matters can be smelt, and are the cause of the ' closeness,' going on to ' foulness,' that characterises the air of rooms which have been occupied for IMPURITIES OP AIR 136 some time without free ventilation. Carbonic acid cannot be smelt, but as its amount is commonly proportionate to the amount of organic matter, it is found that the air of a room becomes distinctly close when the carbonic acid reaches 6 parts in 10,000 of air (or '06 percent.), and when it reaches '1 per cent, the air is extremely close. (a) When a room not sufficiently ventilated is occupied for a few hours, headache, languor, drowsiness; and a tend- ency to yawning occur, (b) When such exposure to foul air is prolonged from day to day the general strength and vigour become lowered, and the complexion becomes pale and pasty, contrasting unfavourably with the ruddy com- plexion of the outdoor labourer. The tendency to 'colds' is greatly increased by living in foul air. Consumption has been shown to be aggravated, if not actually produced, by overcro'vvding and the breathing of a vitiated atmosphere, and infectious diseases spread more rapidly under similar circumstailces. In hospitals and other places occupied by the sick the products of respiration are even more danger- ous, and the necessity for thorough ventUation is increased, (c) When the products of respiration are breathed in a concentrated condition rapid poisoning results. In the Black Hole of Calcutta 146 persons were confined in a room 18 feet every way, with two small windows on one side. During the night 123 died, and the remaining 23 were seriously ill. Effluvia from Decomposing Matters vitiate the air. The gases and volatile particles given off from privies and cesspools are very dangerous. Similarly when the contents of drains and sewers are not rapidly carried to their outfall, putrefaction occurs, and so-called ' sewer gas ' is evolved. This contains not only sulphuretted hydrogen and other foul-smelling gases, but also volatile putrefying particles, which, 'under certain circumstances, may cause serious disease. Typhoid "fever, diphtheria, and other diseases have been traced to such causes. 136 DOMESTIC ECONOMY CHAPTER XXII. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF VENTILATION. Natwral Forces Pwrifying the juvr. — Winds. — Amount of Aw Required. — Inlets and Outlets. Before considering the means of ventilation employed for removing the impurities from the air of occupied rooms we may examine briefly the natural forces at work for the same purpose. These are — 1. Plants. 2. The fall of rain. 3. The natural movements of the air. 4. Certain constituents of the air./ Plants under the influence of sunlight absorb carbonic acid from the atmosphere and give out pure oxygen, thus maintaining the purity of the air. The active agent in this change is the chlorophyll in the green parts of plants. Plants also by their roots absrcb ammonia and nitrous and nitric acid which have been washed down by rain. The Fall of Rain clears the atmosphere of solid particles, and carries down with it sulphurous and other 'acids which ' may be contained in the air of towns. Oxygen is the purifying constituent of the atmosphere, especially when present in the form of ozone. Oxidation of decomposing and putrefying matters is constantly going on, harmless products being formed. Movements of Air are constantly beftig effected every- where. The physical causes at work producing these move- ments are three — 1. Diffiision. 2. Differences of temperature in neighbouring masses of air. p. Wind?. GENERAL PEINCIPLES OF VENTILATION 137 Winds are only an example on a large scale of currents of air due to differences of temperature. Diffusion produces the rapid mixture of gases placed near each other. Air diffuses rapidly through chinks and openings in the walls and doors and windows of rooms. Bricks, and even plastered walls, allow a certain amount of air to pass through them, but papered walls only very little air. Differences of temperature between the external and internal air are the most active cause of natural ventilation. As a rule, the air of rooms is warmer than the external air in this country. Warm air is lighter than cold air. It tends, therefore, to ascend the chimney or other means of exit ; while cold air, in accordance with natural laws, is forced in to take its place. The smell of cooking in an underground kitchen is frequently perceptible, in bedrooms, the warm gases being carried upwards. Winds are caused by movements between large masses of air of' unequal temperature, and consequently of unequal density. Winds are somewhat uncertain in their action. At one time the air may be nearly stagnant, at another time may blow a hurricane. The average velocity of air- movements in this country is 10 feet per second, or about 7 miles an hour. Air moving at the rate of 2 miles an hour is hardly perceptible. If we assume a man to present 9 square feet of surface to the air, and that the air travels at the rate of 10 feet per second, it follows that in the open air 324,000 cubic feet of air would flow over him in an hour. An allowance of 3,000 cubic feet of air per head per hour is considered very liberal in a living room ; and yet this does not equal one hundredth part of the allow- ance out of doors. It is evident, therefore, that in the interest of health as much time as possible should be spent out of doors. Winds act as purifying and ventilating agents in two ways : (a) by propulsion, driving impure air before them, or freely mixing with it ; and (6) by aspiration, drawing impure air along with them. Wind blowing horizontally over the top of a chimney causes an upward current in the chimney. When we ventilate a room by throwing wide open doors and windows, both actions of the wind are brought into play, but in par- 138 DOMESTIC ECONOMT ticular the flushing action of the wind, foul air being driven out in front of the current of fresh air. It is evident that winds will have comparatively little effect in purifying the air of houses if the houses are situated in crowded courts surrounded by higher buildings. In such cases the houses are not freely swept by the winds, and the air is compara- tively stagnant. In addition, therefore, to ventilating ap- pliances in a house, it is necessary to supply clear space around the house in order to allow natural forces to have full play. Amouiit of Air required.— We have already said that when the carbonic acid in a given air exceeds 6 parts per 10,000 of air, the air begins to be perfectly stuffy, the stuffiness being due to the organic pollutions resulting from respiration which usually accompany carbonic acid. If this standard be accepted, then carbonic acid must not be more than 2 parts per 10,000 (•02 per cent.) in excess of what is present in external air. The problem to solve is, how much external air (having ■04 per cent, of carbonic acid) must be supplied per hour to each person in a room in order that the carbonic acid may never exceed -06 per cent. ? Now, an average >adult expires '6 cubic foot of carbonic acid per hour. The fol- lowing statement in proportion will, therefore, give the amount of fresh air required by an adult per hour in order to keep the carbonic acid in the room down to "06 per cent. : — •02 : -6 : : 100 : x. X ^ 3,000 cubic feet. In the above calculation we have assumed that carbonic acid is usually proportional in amount to the more import- ant organic pollutions of the air ; and this assumption is commonly correct. We have assumed also that '6 cubic foot is the average amount of carbonic acid given out by each adult per hour. As a matter of fact, persons engaged in active muscular work give out much more than this ; hence the importance of free ventilation in workshops, rooms for gymnastics, &c. It is usually assumed that children under 10 years of age only require half the , amount of space allotted to adults, but this assumption is quite arbitrary. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF VENTILATION 139 Air in relation to Cubic Space of Room. — It is evident that 3,000 cubic feet of air might be supplied per hour, either by having (a) a small cubic space with frequent changes of air, or (6) a large cubic space with less frequent changes of air. If 1,000 cubic feet of space are allotted to each person — i.e., 10 feet in every direction — then the air must be changed three times per hour. In schools the Education Department requires 80 cubic feet as the mini- mum space per scholar, and 8 square feet as the minimum, floor-space allowable. In common lodging-houses 300 to 350 cubic feet per head are usually enforced ; in "barracks 600 cubic feet ; in prisons about 800 cubic feet ; and in hospitals 1,000 to 1,500 cubic feet. It is evident that the smaller the space allowed per head, the more frequent must be the interchange of air, if it is to maintain the required standard. Hence there is an increased danger of draughts. Where the space allowed is larger, a threefold advantage is gained : (a) The rate of entry of air is decreased and draughts are therefore mini- mised ; (6) the occupants of the room are further removed from the points of entry of air and therefore less likely to perceive any draughts ; (c) owing to the larger air-space to begin with, a little longer time is required, even without ventilation, before the air becomes polluted. A lofly ceiling will not diminish the necessity for suffi- cient floor-space, as air is apt to become stagnant in the upper parts of a room. It is very important that a room should have a large floor-space. The height of a room above 12 feet should be disregarded for ventilating pur- poses. It must also be remembered that a room full of furni- ture has less air-space than an empty room. Inlets and Outlets. — In order that the supply of air to a room may be steady and uninterrupted, an inlet for fresh air must be supplied and an outlet for foul air ; and neither of these can be dispensed with. The ordinary open fire-place forms an admirable outlet for foul air, but fresh air must also be admitted. In chimneys, down-draught may be due to the non-provision of inlets for fresh air in the room ; and many a smoky chimney might be cured by simply arranging for a freer entry of fnish air into the room. 140 DOMESTIC ECONOMY Assuming that air enters a room at the rate of 5 feet per second (half the average velocity of the wind in this country), then in one hour 3,000 cubic feet of air would enter through an aperture measuring 24 square inches ; and this is the usual allowance for inlet and outlet open- ings for each individual, making 48 square inches alto- gether. ' It should be noted that a number of small openings are collectively not as efficient for ventilating purposes as one large opening having the same area, owing to the increased friction in the former case. Position of Inlet and Outlet. — The best position theo- retically for inlets of fresh air is the floor, but this leads to cold currents along the floor of an unpleasant character. It is advisable, therefore, to admit air along the wall a little more than six feet from the floor, the current of air being directed upwards by some contrivance. The stair- case in most houses forms an important inlet for fresh air. ' The staircase window may be kept open when an open window in the dining-room could not be tolerated. The staircase should be cut off from air communication with the basement of the house, and care should be taken that the window of the water-closet is not the only open window in the house, or the ventilation of the house will be derived from this source. Outlets are generally best placed near the ceiling of a room, and should as far as possible be enclosed within walls. The escape of impure air is greatly helped by keeping it as warm as possible, and as warm impure gases from the combustion of gas and fronl human respiration tend to hang about the ceiling, this is the most economical point of outlet. 141 CHAPTER XXIII. METHODS OF VENTILATION. Natural and Artificial Ventilation. — Ventilation hy Win- dow, hy Walls, hy Ceiling, by Chimney. Whatever methods of ventilation are adopted, two points must be borne in mind. , (1) However well a room is Fig. 29.— Diagram of VeatUation FlQ. 30. — Ventilation, bettceen hy a Singtd Windojv.. WlndoK-saihes,aBlookteing fitted under the Lower Sash. ventilated, it will still smell ' stufiFy ' if not kept clean. Dirty carpets or curtains, walls or ceilings which have not been cleansed for years, and furniture or clothing in a 142 DOMESTIC ECONOMY dusty or foul condition will make the best ventilated room unwholesome. (2) In addition to the ordinary means of ventilation, it is necessary to flush each room with fresh air, by throwing windows and doors wide open whenever it is left unoccupied. By this means solid particles floating in the air, as well as foul gases, are swept out of the room. Two kinds of ventilation are usually described — natural and artificial. Watural Ventilation is produced by the ordinary interchange of air when windows or doors or other ventilating openings are allowed to remain open. Artificial Ventilation is that" produced by the help of heating apparatus or some mechanical appliance, either for propelling air into a room or aspirating it from a room. No rigid distinction can be drawn between the two forms of ventilation. A lighted fire forms an admirable ventilator, but as no apparatus specially intended for ventilation is brought into action, it may be considered as a means of natural ventilation. Natural Ventilation is only possible to the extent which is desirable when the temperature of the external air reaches 55° Pahr. During the winter months ventilating apertures are commonly kept closed, owing to the cold draughts caused by them. In an ordinary room, the three chief ventilating agents are the door, the win-" dow, and the chimney ; the first two, when open, forming fresh-air inlets, and the last, a foul-air outlet. The Window is the best means of purifying a room, the light and air it admits being both essential for health. The window may be used as a ventilating agent as follows ; — (1) It may be thrown widely open, in order to Jkish th^ room with fresh air at intervals. (2) The upper segment of the win- dow may be made to work on a hinge, triangular pieces of glass being placed at the two sides of the window to prevent down-draught. By this means the current of air is directed upwards. Fig. 31. — Louvre Ventilators. METHODS OP VENTILATION 143 (3) A block of wood, two or three inches wide, may be inserted at the bottom of the window-sash, and then the wmdow pulled down on this. Air is then admitted between the two sashes, the current of air being directed upwards. (4) The top sash of the window may be lowered, and some zinc gauze fastened across the open part. Thus air is admitted between the two sashes and through the gauze. But the amount of air entering through a number of minute openings is very much less than through a single Fig. 32. — Diagram Outlet-shaft Inlet Ventilation by Tohiiis Tube, and an from Centre-flomer of Ceiling. opening having the same area as the aggregate of the small openings. (5) In Louvre Ventilators parallel pieces of glass are substituted for a single pane of glass, and the current of air may be directed upwards by inclining the pieces of glass in an upward direction. The Walls of a room may be utilised for ventOating pui-poses : (1) by Tobiu's Tubes. In these a grating com- municating with the external air is inserted in the wall near 144 DOMESTIC ECONOMY the floor. It is connected inside the wall with a vertical tube, by which a vertical direction is given to the incoming -air. In order to prevent particles of dust and soot entering the room th;'ough the tube, cotton- wool or gauze is some- times stretched across the tube. This, however, to some extent diminishes the current of air. (2) Sheringham's Valve is a more convenient way of ventilating through the wall, and, the channel being shorter than that of Tobin's tube, the ventilation is more efficient. It is on the same principle as the hinged window. An iron box is fixed in the wall, having on its interior a valve which can be closed or opened, and communicating by a grating with the external air. Fig. 33.— Shermffham's Valve-ventilator. (3) Ellison's Ventilator consists of bricks, each pierced with conical holes, the apex of the cone being towards the outer air. Thus air coming through the wall becomes dis- tributed and draught is diminished. The ceiling and chimney are chiefly of use as outlets for foul air. The Ceiling may be utilised for carrying off foul air as shown in fig. 32. It is very desirable also that the pro- ducts of combustion of gas should be carried out of the room as they are produced. This is done by enclosing the gaslight in a cylinder, which communicates either with the external air or the chimney-flue. By this means it forms a valuable aid to ventilation, as shown in fig. 28. In large buildings cowls are commonly placed on the roof, communicating with the interior. These cowls act in the same manner as chimneys, allowing the escape of foul gases and tending to increase the up-current of air.. The Chimney forms the best means of escape for foul air. No room should be built without an open fireplace, METHODS OF VENTILATIOtf 145 and in bedrooms the chimney should not be allowed to be boarded up or* the register closed. Even when no fire is burning there is, as a rule, an up-current of air. When a fire is burning, from 5,000 to 15,000 cubic feet of air pass up a chimney per hour. It is evident, therefore, that it forms a very powerful extraction shaft. The impure products of combustion of gas, &c., and of respiration, being warm, tend to accumulate near the ceil- ing. It is therefore important to allow their escape into the chimney-flue at a higher point than the fireplace. (1) Dr. Aruott first devised a valve for this purpose. An iron box was placed in the wall, having a light metal valve capable of swinging towards the chimney-flue, but not towards the room. This apparatus has been found to be objectionable, because it makes noisy clicks, and it admits blacks from the chimney when out of order. Oo] acz] Fig. 34. — Boyle'i Mica-flap Ventilator. a, View from room ; h, View from chimney. (2) In Boyle's Valve thin talc plates take the place of the iron valve, as shown in fig. 34. It would be very useful if a separate smaller flue were built alongside every chimney, not communicating with the chimney, but having an inlet from a room on each storey at a point near the ceiling. The chimney -flue would keep the smaller flue warm, and cause an up-current, and thus draw the foul air out of each room in succession. Artificial Veatilation is not much used in private dweUing-houses. In large buildings, such as schools, it is almost indispensable, the most common plan being to com- bine ventilation and heating by one process. Thus fresh air is admitted over hot- water or steam pipes, and by this means warmed at the same time. Some of the means of 146 DOMESTIC ECONOMY warming incoming air for private houses will be described hereafter ^page 181). When in large buildings hot- water or steam pipes are carried around the room or arranged in coils without any provision for admitting cold external air over them, it is evident that the vitiated air of the room will be warmed oyer and over again. Such a system is most pernicious. Windows are not opened, as cold draughts immediately arise ; consequently the air is very impure. The only method by means of which during wintry weather ventilation can be secured without draughts is to warm the incoming air by passing it over the pipes or other source of heat as it enters. CHAPTER XXIV. CLOTHmG. Sou/rces of Loss of Heat. — Requisites of Dress. — Amount of Clothing required. — Children's Clothing. — Materials for Clothing. The average temperature of the surface of the body in man is about 98"6° Fahr. ; and, whatever may be the ex- ternal temperature, the bodily heat never varies more than about one degree. The maintenance of a tolerably uniform temperature is an essential condition of life. This temperature is regulated by the maintenance of an equilibrium between — 1. The amount of heat produced and 2. The amount of heat lost If more heat is lost, more has to be generated. The source of body-heat is the oxidation of nutritive material within the body. This nutritive material is derived from the food, consequently more food is required in winter than in summer. But even apart from changes in the temperature of the air, there are variations in the amount CtOTHINa 147 E heat lost, and therefore in the amount of food required, Bcording to the amount of exercise taken and the amount f clothing worn. Heat is lost (1) by the skin; (2) in respiration, the spired air having been heated during its stay in the mgs ; (3) with the food and drink taken, if these are iken cool ; (4) with the excreta ; and (5) by transformation E heat into mechanical motion during exercise. Of the 'hole loss by these different channels, probably 80 to 90 er cent, is through the skin. The Loss of Heat by the Skin is in three different uys — (1) hj conduction, as when the skin comes in contact ith anything colder than itself ; (2) by radiation into aace ; and (3) by evaporation of the perspiration. Even 'hen the perspiration is not sufficiency great in amount ) be visible, it causes a considerable lowering of tempera- ire. The relative amount of these three methods of loss of eat by the skin varies under different circumstances ; hen one is increased another is diminished by way of jmpensation. Evaporation is greatest in hot weather, hile in cold weather radiation and conduction of heat are Lcreased, and evaporation diminishes, thus counter- ilancing the increased loss from the two other sources, [ore heat is conducted away from the body in damp than I dry weather, moisture bong a good conductor of heat. ' one were to sit clad in a bath of water at 60°, it would J uncomfortably cold, but air at the same temperature is iriy warm. The greater the difference between the tem- irature of the body and that of surrounding objects the -eater is the amount of radiation. In a hot room one iturally &ns, as in such a room the loss by radiation is lall, and the act of fanning increases the evaporation and nduction of heat. The loss of heat is greatly diminished by the use of athing, and this diminution of loss of heat is the chief )jeet of clothing. The protection afforded by houses and e radiation of heat from fires, ifec, also economise the loss heat from the body. These will be considered in Chap- rs XXVn. and XXVIH. In addition to (1) maintaining toarmth, clothing (2) Fords protection to certain parts of the body (as the feet) 148 ^ DOMESTIC ECONOMY from injury ; (3) it is used for purposes of ornament ; and (4) by all civilised nations for the sake of propriety. It should be noted that no clothing is warm or cool, in virtue of its own properties. It is only warm if it retains the heat of the body ; and cool if it allows this to escape. A cold stone wrapped in a blanket will remain cold ; but a hot brick similarly encased will remain hot much longer than if left exposed to the external air. Requisites of Dress. — 1. The first and most important requirement is that clothing should maintain a uniform and equable temperature in all parts of the body. In hot climates clothes are required in order to protect the body from external heat. In this country they are chiefly required to prevent the too rapid escape of heat from the body. For both these purposes dress must be of a non-conducting material. The loss of heat by the skin may be prevented by interfering with radiation or con- duction of heat, or with evaporation from its surface. Radiation of heat from the skin is prevented by clothing, the dress taking the place of the skin as a radiating surface. Hence, if the dress material is a bad conductor of heat, loss of heat by radiation wUl also be greatly diminished. Woollen goods are much warmer than linen, largely because of their poorer conducting power for heat (if hnen = 100, wool = 50 to 70). The colour of dress has no influence ia regulating the loss of heat except in the case of outer clothing. Thus, red flannel," contrary to the old superstition, has no superiority over white flannel of the same quality and thickness ; but a black coat absorbs more heat than a light-coloured one. Hence a person dressed in black feels much warmer in the sun than if dressed in white materials of the same texture and substance. In order to maintain an even temperature, clothing should be evenly distributed all' over the body. Yery com- monly the middle part of the body is overladen with clothing, while the limbs and the root of the neck are in- suflSciently covered. Children, in particular, should have the limbs covered and the neck protected well above the level of the collar-bones. The apex of each lung rises a little distance above each collar-bone. This is the part of the lung most prone to be attacked by consumption (tuber- CLOTHING 149 lar disease), and it is therefore very important that it ould be well protected by clothing. The low-necked esses of children and women are contrary to all the rules health. In female attire the method of clothing is very un- 'gienic. The trunk, especially below the waist, is over- ien with layers of apparel, while the neck and upper .rt of the chest are left comparatively bare, and the legs e but imperfectly protected. The adoption of ' oombina- m ' under- garments for women, and of sleeves and leggings r young children, is a most desirable reform. It would sure a more uniform distribution of heat, and would 'ubtless greatly diminish the diseases resulting from ex- sure to cold. 2. Clothing should not interfere with perspiration. lose materials which soon become wetted by perspiration e cold as compared with others which are able to absorb oisture easily without their surface becoming wetted, icause water or any moist material is a good conductor heat. Thus, with a flannel vest the liability to chUl is uch less than with a cotton vest, and still less than with linen vest. Although woollen materials diminish the sk of chills, they do not remove it entirely, especially ben the perspiration is excessive. After exercise in bich free perspiration has occurred, it is important not sit in a cold room or exposed to a draught, and, if issible, to rub the chest with a rough towel so as to free from perspiration. Waterproof clothing, being non-porous, prevents the cape of perspiration, and is therefore injurious when 3rn for a long time, unless provision is made for free tntUation under the watei-proof material. The body he- mes enveloped in a vapour bath composed of its own irspiration. For a similar reason indiarubber boots are (iectionable, except for short periods : they make the feet -mp, and even sodden. Sealskin jackets are objectionable r walking, not only because of their weight, but because ey are not porous. 3. The clothinff should not be tight ; and this for three asons : — (n) Loose clothing is warmer than tight, as everyone has perienced in the case of gloves. It is a very mistaken 150 DOMESTIC ECONOMY notion to suppose that clothing is an apparatus to keep the air out. Those textures are the warmest which are the most permeable to air. Air is a bad conductor of heat ; the tighter the clothing, the less air it contains in its meshes, and consequently the cooler it is. The imprison- ment of air in the meshes of the material largely explain"? the warmth of eider-down quilts, furs, and flannels as con- trasted with linen. (b) Clothing should not be tight, in order to avoid inter- ference with the action of muscles. Tight sleeves prevent the muscles of the arms and chest from being exercised. Tightly laced corsets similarly imprison the trunk muscles, prevent their free exercise, and so l^ad to muscular weakness andocca- FlG. 35. — Shaming Lateral Owmatwre of tlie Spme torvards the Left, in the Dorsal Region. sionally spinal curvature. So-called lateral curvature of the spine (fig. 35) occurs chiefly in girls from sixteen to twenty years old. It is in large measure due to sitting at badly arranged desks and seats, and to weakness of the muscles of the back. The latter is caused by the imprisonment of the trunk in corsets, preventing their free exercise. They consequently become weak, and are unable to support the spinal column in its proper vertical position. Tight shirts prevent free play of the lower limbs, leading to a halting gait, a diminished amount of exercise, and all the evils following deficient exercise. Tight clothing is, however, not confined to one sex, and in all cases is injurious to health. CLOTHING lOi Tight hoots and shoes are injurious (1) because they lestroy the natural elasticity of the movements, and confine hem ■within narrow limits, thus acting to some extent the lart of splints ; and (2) because they produce various de- ormities. During childhood they are very apt to produce lermanently weak ankles. Moreover, by interfering with he circulation of blood through the feet, they cause cold eet, and not uncommonly chilblains. When being measured 3 u m w fl % 1 1 f \ ' 1 1 \ J Fig. SG.—JHagrmiis of tbot, ., Normal foot ; B, Normal foot, showing the lack of adaptation of the ordinary-shaped ready-made ioot to u ; C, Deformed foot, the result of such a boot. Dr boots, it is advisable to insist on the outline of the foot' eing taken on a piece of paper, while standing with the rhole weight of the body on the foot in question. This nsures that full allowance will be made in the width and liape of the boot, for the spreading out of the foot which ccurs when walking. It is particularly important that iifficient width should be allowed between the ball of the reat toe and the little toe. Again, the outline of the boot loxxld be a straight line forward from the ball of the great 152 DOMESTIC ECONOMY toe to its tip. If the boot curves towards the centre of the foot as shown at B (fig. 36), the great toe gets deviated from its normal position (C, fig. 36), and the foot becomes de- formed. Corns and bunions are commonly also induced. High-heeled hoots are extremely injurious, as they do not allow the natural elasticity of the foot to come into action. This accounts for the uncertain and ungraceful gait of many ladies. Supposing the heel of the foot can rise 6 inches from the ground in walking, if the boot-heel props it up \\ inches, the extent of possible movement is reduced to 4^ inches. High heels throw the weight of the body on the Fig. 37.- Foot and lieeled Boot. Section of Foot, iliommg the XHsplaoement of ~ Ba/nge of Movement proimeed ly a High-. front part of the foot ; consequently the balance of the body is disturbed, and more strain is thrown on the muscles of the back. This may in extreme cases lead to spinal curva- ture, while corns and bunions are common consequences. Thinly soled hoots are very objectionable. They tire the feet after walking much more than a stout sole, and they are liable to admit moisture. There is a great sympathy between the feet and the throat and lungs, and sore throats and chest-affections are frequently due to damp and cold feet. (c) Tight clothing tends to impede the functions of cir- culation, respiration, and digestion. No fashion interferes CLOTHING 153 such an enormous extent with important functions of body as tight lacing. This produces (i.) compression of the lower lobes of the gs and of the liver and stomach, and at the same time two latter organs are displaced downwards. Indigestion 1. frequent result. Not only are the important functions ihe liver impeded, but discomfort occurs after a sufficient al has been taken, there being no room left for the essary expansion of the stomach. - This leads to the ing of an insufficient amount of food. The pressure Fig. SS.—Mrnial Chest. > produces a sense of oppression, for which stimulants often taken, thus in some cases leading to the habit tippling, (ii.) Eespiralion is interfered with. Not f is full expansion of the lower part of the lungs dered impracticable, but as the compression occurs md the points of attachment of the diaphragm, the traction of this muscle is hampered, and respiration is erfectly performed. If a young woman, in the absence erious disease, cannot walk quickly without getting out reath, and cannot mount stairs without ptanting, there ;rong presumptive evidence that she is laced too tightly. 154 DOMESTIC ECONOMY however Qiuch she may protest to the contrary. No one guilty of this pernicious practice will acknowledge the fact. (iii.) If, in addition, the nose shows a bluish tint near its tip, the evidence of tight-lacing is strengthened. This is owing to some obstruction of circulation, in addition to inter- ference with the proper aeration of the blood, (iv.) The muscles of the trunk, being tightly encased, are incapable of movement, and consequently tend to waste, (v.) The general outline of the trunk is altered : instead of the waist being elliptical, as it naturally is, it becomes nearly FlO. 39. — Chest Deformed iy Tight Lojciimg. circular ; a disfigurement which emphasises the statement that ' the girdle of beauty is not a stay-lace.' No adult woman's waist should measure under 24 inches in circum- ference, and this is only permissible to slender women. The rule of beauty is that the waist should have a circum- ference twice that of the throat. The celebrated statue of Venus de Medici, which is the acknowledged type of beauty, has a waist of 27 inches, the height of the figure being 5 ft. 2 in. Compare this with some fashionable modem waists, which measure as little as 18 inches, and in their CLOTHING 155 wasp-like proportions are as destructive to beauty as they are to health. Garters are another constricting agency to be carefully avoided. They may cause varicose veins of the legs (as may also tight-lacing) by impeding the circulation, and for a similar reason cold feet are not infrequently due to them. Stockings are best supported by suspenders from above. 4. The weight of the clothing should be properly dis- tributed. The shoulders and hips should share in the sus- pension of clothing, and the waist should be relieved from the weight of clothes. Supporting the skirts from the waist alone is injurious, as important organs are displaced and compressed ; this efteot is not entirely prevented by fastening them over the corset. The clothes should be as light as possible, consistently with warmth. If made to fit each limb separately, the amount of material required is diminished. Petticoats aSbrd but a poor protection against cold. A much smaller quantity of clothing fitted to each individual limb is equally warm. 5. Elegance of dress, thougli not so important as utility, is not to be neglected, and the two are perfectly com- patible. In fact, the two commonly go together ; for a dress which obstructs the movements of the body produces a gait which is far from elegant ; and a sudden constriction, such as is seen in a very tight waist, is not only hygienically bad, but is also ugly. The Amonnt of Clothing required varies with circum- stances. ' 1.. Healthy persons require less than the feeble. It should be remembered that within certain limits, if heat is preserved by clothing, less, food is required, and that a dis- tinct saving of food is effected hy warm clothes. Warm clothes are the equivalent of so much food that would have been required to keep up the temperature of the body, if the clothing had not been worn. Thinly clad persons, when undergoing starvation, die much more quickly than those who are better protected. 2. Climate atid season necessitate the adaptation of clothing to varying temperatures. Clothing in our variable English climate ought not to be changed according to the mouth of the year, but according to the actual weather. The sudden changes of temperature in spring and autumn 156 DOMESTIC ECONOMY can only be safely guarded against by wearing woollen underclothing. There is considerable danger in assuming summer clothing too early in the spring and continuing it too far into the autumn. The statement of one authority, that winter clothing should be put off on Midsummer Day and resumed the day after, is simply an exaggeration of a caution that needs to be emphasised. 3. Age afifects greatly the power of resisting cold, which is least at the two extremes of life. Aged persons have a feeble circulation, their power of production of heat is small, and it is important that they should be well clad in woollen garments, the extremities especially requiring full protection from cold. In cold • weather aged persons and young children die in numbers altogether out of proportion to those at intermediate ages. A degree of cold that would act as a useful tonic to the robust and middle-aged produces serious and even fatal depression of the vital powers in young children and aged people. For the same reason it is inadvisable to continue the use of cold baths as age advances. In/ants require careful protection from external cold, and young children should not be allowed to go about in cold weather with bare arms and legs, and ofttimes bare shoulders. It is a great mistake to think that children ought to be ' hardened ' to the influences of cold, and that too much clothing ' makes them tender ' ; though when children are actively playing about, some of the outer garments should be removed to prevent overheating. When children's arms and legs and a large portion of the neck are exposed, a great amount of heat is lost from these bare surfaces. There is thus {Vj'danger of chill, resulting in sore throat, or rheumatism, or bronchitis, or other chest- affection, according to the particular weakness of the child. (2) A larger amount of food is required tO compensate for this excessive loss of heat, and to maintain the bodily temperature. Now, children not only (a) have to maintain a uniform temperature, but also (b) have to build up their rapidly-growing tissues and organs. It follows, then, that with equal amounts of food, those whose bodies are un- necessarily exposed to cold will be more stunted in growth than others who have abundant clothing. If the food taken CLOTHING 157 IS expended in preserving the warmth of the unprotected hody, it cannot be utilised for the purpose of growth. Gutter children are often pointed to as demonstrating the utility of the hardening process. It is forgotten, however, how many of these poor children have perished under the hardening system, and that the good health of those remaining in spite of the hardening is really due to the survival of the fittest. Young children should wear flannel night-gowns, as well as flannel or woollen during the day, and weakly adults should wear woollen under-garments throughout the whole year, as they can now be obtained of any thickness to suit different seasons of the year. There is another important reason why children require more clothing than adults. The younger- a child the larger its surfctce as compared wiUh its hulk, and therefore the larger the surface from which heat may escape. Thus, a cube 1 inch each side has 6 square inches of surface to 1 cubic inch of bulk ; while a cube 10 inches each side has 600 square inches of surface to 1,000 cubic inches of bulk. The relationship between surface area and cubic contents varies with the shape of the body. Speaking generally, the volumes of bodies similar to each other in shape, increase more rapidly than their surfaces. In tiie accompanying diagram another illustration is Fig. 40. — To Illustrate Relation letmeen, Bulk and Surface Area. given. The smaller block, containing 12 cubic feet, has a surface area of 32 square feet. The larger block of 36 cubic feet has a surface area of 66 square feet. Thus, 158 DOMESTIC ECONOMY while the cubic contents of the first block are one-third those of the second, its surface area is nearly one-half that cf the second.> Materials for Clothing. — The materials used are derived partly from the vegetable world, as hemp, flax, cotton ; and partly from the animal world, as silk, wool, hair, feathers. The most important materials are wool, silk, cotton, and flax. Classification op Principal Clothing Materials. I. — ^Animal : 1. Wool, the hair of sheep, goat, alpaca, or vicuna, 2. Hair, of horse, camel, &c. 3. Silk, from cocoon of silkworms. 4. Furs, the dried skins of animals with hair left on. 5. Feathers, used chiefly as ornaments. 6. Leather, the tanned skin of animals. II. — Vegetable : — 1. Cotton, the lining of pod of cotton-plant. 2. Linen, from fibres of stem, of flax-plant. Fibres of plants, used for mixing with flax and silk in manufacturing certain coarse fabrics. 5. India-rubber, hardened juice of tree used in waterproof goods. Several varieties of wool are employed for clothing. 1. Wool from the sheep is a soft elastic hair, its fibres being 3 to 8 inches long, and about -n^Ty inch thick. Its fibres, like all hairs, are covered with minute scales over- lapping each other. This causes the outer surface to be slightly rough and irritating to delicate skins. Wool is by far the most useful and healthful clothing we possess. It is one of the worst conductors of heat, and does not soon become moist with perspiration, and for these reasons en- sures the wearer more certainly against chill after perspira- tion than any other material. Flannel is a woollen fabric of open make, and is most valuable for underclothing. 2. Cashraere is made from the very fine hair of the Thibet goat. 3. Alpaca is obtfiined fronj the fleece of the llama, alpaca, 3. Hemp 4. Jute CIiOTHINH and vicuna. It has soft, long fibres capable of taking a high finish. 4. Mohair is obtained from the hair of an Asiatic goat, and is used for making plush, braid, &c. Merino for vests should consist of wool, but usually con- tains a considerable admixture of cotton, which renders it a much less perfect article of dress for wearing next to the skin. Knitted vests made of fine wool with coarse needles are very good for winter wear, and home-knitted stockings of woollen material form the best protection for the feet. Leather is prepared from the skin of animals (the hairs and epidermis having been previously removed) by sub- FlO. 41. — Fibres of Cotton, Wool, Zinen, and ^Ik, magnified abevt 800 tim^s. A, Cotton; B, Linen; G, Wool; D, Silk. jecting it to the action of tannin — as, for instance, by steep- ing hides in a strong solution derived from oak-bark. It forms a sort of natural felt, which is impervious to mois- ture. Silk is the thread spun by the silkworm to form its cocoon. It- is composed of minute round "fibres, each about 1 inch wide, softer and somewhat smaller than the round fibre of linen. Satin, velvet, and crape are prepared from silk, but they often contain a considerable proportion of cotton. Silk is manufactured in various parts of England, as at 160 DOMESTIC ECONOMY Spitalfields, Derby, Macclesfield, Bradford. French silks are also largely used. Satin is silk so prepared as to form a smooth, polished surface ; but there are many cheap imitations. Velvet is a silk fabric, the pile of which is due to the insertion of short pieces of silk thread under the weft or cross-thread. Cheaper kinds contain a considerable proportion of cotton. Crape is made of raw silk gummed and twisted to form a gauze-like fabric. Moire, brocade, and plush are made of silk alone, or are mixed with cotton. Cotton consists of the downy hairs derived from the pods of the gossypium-plant. The seeds are embedded in this soft coat. The gossypium-plant is grown in tropical countries, the cotton being imported to England, where it is manufactured into wearing apparel in Lancashire and else- where. Calico sheets are now generally used for beds, and print dresses, made also of cotton, are very cool and clean for summer wear. Mixed goods containing cotton mixed with wool or silk are largely manufactured. Alpacas are serviceable mixed goods for dress materials, (fee. The threads of cotton are flat and twisted (a, fig. 41), varying from -^^^ to a o'o o ^^^i^ in width. Cotton is a worse conductor of heat than linen, and absorbs moisture better ; hence it forms warmer underclothing than linen. Its fibres being flat it is more irritating to delicate skins than linen and silk, which have round fibres. A large number of articles of apparel are made from cotton, either alone, or mixed with silk, or wool, or some other material. Calico, fustian, jean, velveteen, corduroy, and muslin are perhaps the most important of the many fabrics made from cotton. Linen is obtained from the fibres of the flax-plant. Cambric and lawn are very fine and thin linen materials. Damask is a variety of linen containing figured patterns, and much used for table-linen. The fibres of linen are round and smooth ; hence linen feels much more agreeable to the skin than cotton, with its sharp flat fibres. Linen is a better conductor of heat, and becomes wetter with perspiration than cotton, and still more than silk or wool ; hence 'it feels cold ' to the skin, and there is more danger of chUl after perspiration than with the other fabrics named. Linen is very durable, and has, therefore, been EXERCISE 161 luch used for sheeting ; also for table-lmen, collars, and hirt-fronts, because it can be made to take a more glossy ppearance than cotton. Flax is cultivated in Ireland, and to a less extent in England and Scotland. Belgium also is famous for the rowth of flax. The points of resemblance apd difference between the 3ur most important clothing materials may be gathered rem the following tabular statement : — Wool SilE Cotton Linen L. Shape and width of fibres i. Surface .... J. Heat-conducting quality t Power of abwrbing mois- ture without becom- ing wet (hygroscopic quality) IloundjyJ^ inch Rough . . Tery low . Great . . Round, 5oVo iuoh Smooth . . Low . . . Rather less Flat, twisted, TOO -Wbo inch Rough . . . Greater. . . Little . . . Round, ^ inch Smooth Greatest Very little ( :!HAPTE EXEI R XXV CISE. • Vhe Muscular System. — Muscular Exercise. — Effects of Exercise on Health. — Effects of Defective and Excessive Exercise. Our review of the functions of the body, so far as they are connected with the maintenance of personal health, has )een confined hitherto to the functions of digestion, circu- ation of blood, and excretion of impurities from the lungs, cidneys, and skin. It is necessary that we should now extend our exami- lation of the functions of the body to the muscular and lervous systems, in order to obtaia a view of individual ife sufficiently complete for our purposes. The Muscular System.— The bones of the body are jonnected with one another by joints, or articulations, M 162 DOMESTIC ECONOMY allowing the limbs and other parts of the body, to be bent in various directions. The bones of themselves are, how- ever, quite incapable of movement, the motive power being furnished by the muscles which cover them. The red flesh of animals is formed by a number of muscles. Each muscle has a definite arrangement, and is usually fixed at its extremities to two bones with a joint between. When a muscle contracts, its fibres become shorter, thicker, and harder, and important chemical changes occur in its substance. Carbonic-acid gas is produced, and the blood which leaves the muscle is dark venous, while that entering the muscle is bright arterial blood. The chemical changes in the muscle produce an elevation in the tempera- ture of the blood leaving it, and consequently muscular contraction is one of the chief agents in maintaining the body-temperature. Each muscle consists of a number of delicate fibres freely supplied with blood from minute vessels. In the rabbit one-fourth of the whole blood of the body is contained in the muscles of the body, and probably a somewhat similar proportion holds good for ourselves. The importance of the muscles in relation to health is further indicated by the fact that in a healthy human being they form two-fifths of the body by weight, as well as by the. fact that by their contractions all the movements of the body and of its parts are produced. Each muscle has a motor nerve connected with it. If this nerve were divided the muscle would be paralysed, and, however much we wished, this particular muscle could not be voluntarily brought into action. In addition to the red muscles of the body, there are paler ' imstriped ' muscles, contained in the coats of the stomach and intestines, the bladder, blood-vessels, and some other parts. These muscles are regulated by a portion of the nervous system known as the ganglionic or sympa- thetic system, and are not under, the direct control of the will. In other words, movements of the stomach and other similar parts go on without our being conscious of them. The heart, although composed of red striped muscle similar to that in the limbs, goes on contracting at regular intervals, without being controllable by any efforts of the individual. The muscles carrying on the movements con- cemed in breathing may be stopped for about a minute by a vicilent effort, but then, whether we will or not, we are obliged to resume breathing. Muscular Exercise. — In the strict sense of the word,' exercise signifies the performance of its function by any organ of the body ; thus digestion is exercise of the stomach, respiration of the lungs, and so on. The term is now com- monly employed to signify muscular exercise, and more particularly exercise of the voluntary muscles. Muscular exercise is always going on in the involuntary muscles of the body — as, for instance, the heart, the muscles of respira- tion, and the unstriped muscles of the stomach and intes- tines and other parts. In addition to this there is voluntary exercise, as in walking or any definite work involving use of the muscles of the body which are under the control of the will. Such exercise is essential to health, as it is in the muscles that a large proportion of the oxidation processes of the body occur, on which the maintenance of the bodily temperature depends. Exercise has important effects on health. (1) The muscles themselves become larger and harder, and more readily under the control of the will. (2) The action- of the lungs is increased by exercise. Thus (a) the air in- spired is increased. While resting a man inspires about 500 cubic inches of air per minute ; if he walks at the rate of four mUes an hour he inspires 2,400 cubic inches ; if at the rate of six miles an hour, 3,260 cubic inches. (6) The amount of carbonic acid expired is increased, the amount varying exactly with the amount of exercise taken. For this reason it is important that work should, as far as possible, be done out of doors or in well- ventilated rooms, so that the carbonic acid given off may be removed. Other- wise work is inefiiciently done, and fatigue occurs at a much earlier period, (c) The size of the lungs is increased, and their vital capacity (i.e., the amount of air capable of being expired after a forced inspiration) is considerably increased. (3) The action of the skin is increased, the eva,poration of moisture being greater than when at rest. Owing to this increased evaporation (4) The temperature of the body is rendered more equable, though not raised by exercise, the circulation being im- proved. m2 164 DOMESTIC ECONOMY (5) The heart's action is increased in frequency and force, and the pulse becomes correspondingly more rapid. (6) Digestion is aided indirectly by an improvement in appetite and digestive powers. Thus outdoor exercise is valuable in the treatment of indigestion. Digestion may, however, be impeded if active exercise is taken directly after meals. For persons with what is known as a ' torpid liver ' exercise is of great value. (7) Exercise does not involve any deterioration of intellect. In fact, a certain amount of exercise is essential for a healthy mind. Where athletes are poor scholars, it is rather because no time is devoted to mental culture, than because exercise in itself has any ill effect on the brain. (8) The elimination of urea by the urine is not increased to a perceptible extent unless the muscular work has been very excessive. Excessive Muscular Exercise produces muscular exhaus- tion. If a group of muscles are over-exerted for a long period, local palsy may be produced, as in the curious cramp of the hand from which clerks occasionally suffer. Persons of sedentary habits often do themselves great harm by undertaking a walking or rowing trip without preliminary training. Competitive exercise often overstrains the strength ; and heart-disease has sometimes been produced. Deficient Muscular Exercise leads to enfeeblement and wasting of the muscles. Oxidation processes are diminished, and the temperature of the body is not well maintained. Cold feet and chilblains occur chiefly among those who have deficient exercise, or deficient clothing, or both. Maiw diseases are favoured by deficient exercise, and especially so as deficient exercise generally implies living indoors in a comparatively impure air. Drooping shoulders in children may be due to shoulder straps confining the muscles; and curvature of the spine may be due to weakness of the muscles of the back from being confined in corsets (fig. 35). The Amount of Exercise taken daily by a man engaged in outdoor manual labour is estimated to be equal to the work involved in lifting 250 to 350 tons one foot high. A walk of 20 miles on a level road is equivalent to about 350 tons lifted one foot. In taking exercise it is desirable that the clothing PERSONAL HEALTH 165 should not be excessive, wool being the best material. The exercise should be systematic and regular, and its amount should be regulated by individual fitness. Exces- sive gymnastic exercises are always harmful, and especially for rapidly-growing lads. Exercise should be varied, every part of the body being, as far as possible, brought into action. Additional clothing should be put on when resting after exercise, to prevent chUl. Of all the Forms of Exercise, walking is the most generally practised and perhaps the most useful, as it brings into play most of the muscles of the body. Horse exercise and cycling are very valuable, and enable a larger amount of exercise to be taken in a given time than walk- ing does. Rowing, cricket, and football are also very useful, if practised with discretion. Lawn-tennis and swimming are valuable forms of exercise, as the muscles of every part of the body are brought into play. Singing and reading aloud are excellent exercises for strengthening the v.oice and lungs. Gymnastics can be employed to train various groups of muscles, and are useful in supplementing the more recrea- tive forms of exercise. CHAPTER XXVI. PERSONAL HEALTH. The Nervous System. — Rest and Sleep. — Habits. — Conditions necessary for Personal Health. The muscles and aU other parts of the body are under the control of the nervous system ; and it is through the nervous system and the special senses, which are part of its mechanism, that we come into conscious relationship with the external world. The Nervous System consists chiefly of a central cerebrospinal axis (brain and spinal cord) from which 166 DOMESTIC ECONOMY nerves pass to every part of the body. The sympathetic system of nerves and ganglia is only indirectly connected with the cerebro-spinal system, and controls the organic functions of life, which are carried on apart from con- sciousness. The brain and spinal cord consist of an aggregation of nerve-cells and nerve-fibres. The nerve-fibres pass out- wards from the brain and spinal cord, and have two chief extremities — (1) in the muscles which control movement : these are the motor nerves ; (2) in sensory organs, as the skin and other parts : these are the sensory nerves. The nerve-cells receive the impressions brought by the sensory nerves from peripheral parts of the body, and as the result of these impressions either reflex muscular contractions are produced, or consciousness and intelligence are brought into action. The organs of taste, smell, sight, and hearing are instances of a further physiological division of labour, as they serve to transmit to the brain, not the impressions of common sensation, but sensations which lead to the appreciation of taste or smell, or some external object or source of sound. Rest and Sleep. — The exercise of any part of the body is necessarily followed by a period of repose. This period of repose is necessary in order that (a) the oxidised pro- ducts formed during functional activity of any organ of the body may be removed by the blood and carried ofi' by the skin, lungs, and kidneys, and (6) fresh nutritive mate- rial may be supplied to the organ to make good the losses sustained. Even the heart, which appears to be constantly at work, rests between each beat, the total period of its rest amounting to thirteen hours in the twenty-four. Not only for the muscles, but also as regards the brain, and the digestive and other organs, the same law of alternate rest and activity holds good. This rest may be partial or general. When a student takes a walk in the open air, or uses methodical gymnastic exercises, he is resting the intellec- tual part of his brain, and exercising his muscles. Thus partial rest is secured by change of occupation. Sleep is the only form of complete and general rest ; and even during sleep the heart and lungs continue their activity, the peristaltic movements of the alimentary canal PERSONAL HEALTH 167 do not stop, and the organs and tissues of the body are nourished and reconstructed at leisure. During sleep oxidation is less active in the tissues, and consequently the body-temperature tends to fall. Also assimilation is very active ; and therefore it is even more necessary to have the air of bedrooms sweet and pure than the air breathed during the day. The Amount of Sleep required varies in different persons. Many persons accustom themselves to more sleep than is necessary. Seven or eight hours form a sufficient allowance for most adults. Infants naturally spend the larger part of their existence in sleep. Children over two or three years old require sleep only at night ; but it should be of longer duration than that for adults. The average amount of sleep required at 4 years old is 12 hours J at 7 years old, 11 hours; 9 years, 10^ hours; 12 to 14 years, 9 to 10 hours ; and at 14 to 21 years, 9 hours per day. Children require more sleep than adults because (1) their tissue-changes are more active than those of adults. (2) They are rapidly building up new tissues and adding to their present bulk, as well as maintaining the healthy condition of their present tissues. For both these reasons more time is required for the assimilation of fresh nutritive materials by the tissues, a process which is most active during rest. Food should not be taken just before retiring to rest, but hunger is by no means helpful to sleep. The best plan is to allow about two hours between the last meal of the day and sleep, and this especially if animal food has been taken. The habit of keeping late hours does not tend to longevity. Sleep during the day is not so beneficial as during the night. About one or two hours after midnight the heart's action is lower than at any other time in the twenty-four hours, indicating the necessity for rest at this time. Another olDJection to late hours is the fact that vitiated air is generally breathed in rooms which are artificially lit. Persons who have' attained old age have generally been early risers. Sleeplessness occurs chiefly among persons engaged in 168 DOMESTIC ECONOMY harassing occupations of a sedentary character. Thus increased exercise in the open air is one of the most important points in preventing and treating sleepless- ness. Tea or coffee taken late in the evening may cause sleeplessness. Cold feet and a stuffy room are also apt to cause sleeplessness. The habit of taking drugs to induce sleep is most pernicious, and not infrequently leads to fatal results. Short of the danger of poisoning, the health is ruined and the power of the will destroyed by this habit. The maintenance of health depends upon the normal performance of the various functions of the body, which have been already described. But health may vary in degree even when there is no actual disease, depending on differences in constitution. Differences of constitution are partly acquired and partly inherited. The tendency to gout, scrofula, consumption, and various nervous diseases may be inherited, though in such cases the disease may remain undeveloped if the individual lives under conditions favourable to health, and may even be entirely eradicated by living a wholesome regular life. Habits are very potent factors in regulating health. We all know 'how use doth breed a habit in a man,' how acts become almost automatic which are frequently re- peated, and how habits, although easily formed, are not easily broken. The habit of swallowing' food without proper mastication leads to indigestion and other troubles. The craving for stimulants, which results in certain persons from frequent indulgence in a moderate amount of alcoholic drinks, is an instance of the dire results which may follow ' when the habit is allowed to overcome the will-power. Smoking is another habit which, if begun before manhood, frequently leads to a species of bondage from which the victim finds it harder to escape than the victim of alcoholic excess. In excess, smoking interferes with the appetite, diminishes bodily activity, and may lead to partial blind- ness. The importance of attention to the regular action of the bowels has been already emphasised (p. 30). It may be convenient before concluding the subject of personal health to summarise the main conditions necessary for health. THE DWELLING 169 1. The house inhabited, and if possible the soil on which the house is built, must be dry and clean.. 2. There must be no effluvia from defective drains or other sources of putrid poisoning. 3. Every room of the house must be efficiently and constantly ventilated. 4. An equable bodily temperature must be maintained by proper warmth of tiie house, comfortable apparel, and regular daily exercise. 5. The food should be wholesome, varied, and sufficient in quantity. Excess should be avoided. A healthy person is better without stimulants. 6. Meals should be at regular intervals, and the food should be well masticated. 7. An abundant supply of pure water should be avail- able, both for drinking purposes and for baths. 8. Sleep should be regularly taken, and not postponed until late at night. Worry should, as far as possible, be avoided. These points by no means exhaust the subject. Other points may be gathered by a careful perusal of this book. CHAPTER XXVII. THE DWELLING. Ifeighbourhood. — Varieties of Soil. — Gonstitwents of Soil. — Ground Air. — Ground Water. — Dangers to House from Soil. — Construction of House. — Means of Avoiding Dampness. — Paints and Wall-papers. — W}gerous to leave a feeble glimmer of gas in the bedroom, during the night. Not only do the products of combustion vitiate the air, but there is a tendency with a low light for some unconsumed coal-gas to escape into the room, and, in addition, a sudden whiff of air may blow out the light, and the occupants may poisoned in their sleep. It is a good practice to turn off the gas at the meter each night ; but do not turn the gas off" at the meter until every burner tVi the house has been turned off, or a serious escape of coal-gas may occur during the next evening. WARMING OP HOUSES. It has been explained that the warmth of our bodies is maiutained by the processes of oxidation constantly going on n2 180 DOMESTIC ECONOMY in the system. The loss of heat from the surface of the body is economised by warm clothing ; and the artificial warming of houses has a similar action to clothing. The temperature at which Uving-rooms should be kept will vary with circumstances. For delicate children and old people a room may be kept at 65° Pahr. ; for healthy adults any temperature between 55° and 60° will be com- fortable. It is well to have a thermometer placed in some convenient part of the room, remote from the fire, and not exposed to direct draughts from the door or windows, so that the temperature may be accurately gauged. The sensations are not good guides as to temperature. A room may be complained of as very hot, when it is only ' close ' from imperfect ventilation ; and the best remedy in such a case would be to open the window or door, and at the same time lay more coals on the fire, so as to ensure a rapid escape of air up the chimney. Now, warmth in rooms is supplied by two methods — direct radiation and convection. Badlation of heat is the grocess by which heat passes straight from a fire or other source of heat until it meets with solid bodies, not heating the air as it passes through it, except indirectly, when the furniture, &c., which has been heated heats the surround- ing air. In eonvection air or water is employed to actually carry the heat from one part to another. Radiant heat is the most pleasant and healthy form of heat, but it is expensive and somewhat unequal in its distribution. The open fireplace is the usual method by which it is obtained, and it still retains its popularity notwithstanding that it is the most extravagant source of heat. The Opeu Fireplace not only furnishes a cheerful warmth, but is likewise a valuable purifier of the atmo- sphere of a room, as from 5,000 to 15,000 cubic feet of air pass up an ordinary chimney each hour. The chief disadvantages of the open fireplace are the following : — (1) The heat is unequally distributed, being, for instance, nine times as great at a distance of one foot from the fire as it is at a distance of three feet. (2) Currents of cold air are produced along the floor lq order to supply the place of the air which is rushing up the chimney. (3) There is the trouble of frequently replenishing the fire. (4) Dust and smoke are produced. LIGHTING AND WARMING OF THE HOUSF. 181 The great loss of heat necessarily involved in an open fireplace has led to the use of chambers behind the fire- place, by which external air is warmed as it enters the room. In such stoves there is an air-chamber at the back communicating with the external air and communicating above the fireplace with the interior of the room. Air admitted through this opening has been warmed by coming in contact with the fire-clay which separates the air-channel from the smoke-flue. Apart from the admission of warm air, an open fire- place may be much improved by other means. (1) Do not allow the fireplace to be too far included in the wall, and never on an outside wall, or heat will be lost. (2) Have as little iron and as much fire-clay in its composition as possible. With an ordinary fireplace it is estimated that one-half of the heat obtainable is lost with the smoke, one- fourth with the warm air which ascends the chimney, and one-eighth as unconsumed smoke, making a total loss of seven-eighths of the heat obtainable from coal under the best conditions. (3) The width of the back of the grate should be only one-third that of the front, and the distance between the back and front of the grate should be equal to the width of the back. Gas is sometimes employed instead of coal for fires. No gas-stove should be allowed in which provision is not made for carrying ofi" all the products of combustion. A chimney or pipe for carrying away the gases produced is even more necessary than in the case of a coal-fire, for in the latter case the smoke produced would necessitate a recourse to open windows or other means of ventilation, while in the former the deleterious products are invisible. Gas is only suitable as a means of heating smaU rooms, owing to its greater expense. Fletcher's stoves are con- venient and thoroughly sanitary ; they are placed in an open fii-eplace with a flue-pipe attached. For bedrooms the Calorigen stove is a valuable means of supplying warm and pure air. Its arrangement is shown in fig. 44. A spii-al tube communicates below with the external air, and opens at its upper end into the room. A small gas-flame is kept burning below the spiral tube, the products of com- bustion from which are carried directly out of doors. The heat thus produced warms the air which is passing along 182 DOMESTIC ECONOMT the spiral tube and causes a constant rapid entry of warm air into the room. Closed Stoves possess the advantage over an open fire- place that there is a smaller consumption of fuel, and that the combustion can be more effectually regulated. Com- monly, however, they make the air of a room dry, and pro- duce a peculiar close smell, probably owing to the charring of minute organic particles on the outside of the stove. It is found also that carbonic oxide may pass through cracks, Fig. ii.—The Calorigen Store. or even through the substance of iron stoves when they are red-hot. When stoves are employed, firebrick should be in contact with the fire at all points, and the stove should never be allowed to become red-hot. There should be as few joints as possible, and these should be horizontal and not vertical. The supply of air to the stove should never be cut off, nor should the escape of the products of combustion be prevented by dampers, or by admitting air between the stove and the chimney. We are strongly of opinion that stoves should only be LIGHTING AND WARMING OF THE HOUSE 183 allowed in combination with some provision for warming the incoming air. This may be secured by having a sheet iron or zinc cylinder, considerably wider than the stove- pipe, placed round it and fastened to the floor below. A good-sized pipe is then carried through the floor and out to the external wall of the room. In iliis way a large supply of .warmed air is drawn into the room (fig. 45). Fig. 45. — Closed Stove arranged to Warm incoming FresTi Air Central Systems of Heating are in use in large esta- blishments, but are not applicable for small private houses. The air is warmed by hot-water or steam pipes, or hot air warmed by passing over the flue of a furnace is admitted. The system of warming by hot water is probably the best, if it is combined vjith ventilation. The proper plan is to have coUs of hot-water pipes, and admit fresh air over these, so that it is warmed as it enters the room. 184 DOMESTIC ECONOMT CHAPTER XXIX. THE WATER WE DEINK. Uses of Water. — Amovmt required. — Sources of Water-sup- ply. — Constant cmd Intermittent Services. — Impurities of Water. — Method of Purification. There is no more potent factor in producing disease than polluted water. Hence a pure water-supply is one of the prime necessities for a healthy home. Water is essential for the maintenance of health and even of Ufe. As we have already seen — (1) it is an essential part of OMX food, and forms a large proportion of each of the tissues of the body. (2) As a means of securing personal, cleanliness it is indispensable ; as also (3) in the household for cooking and washing purposes. It is required (4) by the commv/nity at large for public baths, for cleansing the streets, for many manufacturing processes, as well as for flushing water-closets and sewers, and for horses and other domestic animals. The amount of water required for each individual averages roughly about 30 gallons per day, of which about 12 gallons are required for domestic purposes, about 8 gallons-for flushing drains and sewers, and 10 gallons for trade and sundry purposes. Sources of Water-supply. — Obviously all the water we driuk is ultimately derived from rain, though it is very often only secured for drinking purposes after it has per- colated through considerable depths of soil (from springs and wells), or after it has formed rivers. In towns, and in many large villages, water is now gener- ally supplied by the local Sanitary Authority or by some Water Company, and such water may he generally depended upon as being fairly pure without any further filtration. The water supplied from such central sources is usually derived from rivers, or from collecting-grounds at the foot of hills in moorland districts, or from deep wells. In remote country villages, however, individual householders often THE WATER WE DBINK 185 have to make their own arrangements for water-supply, and for them the following hints may be useful. Rain-water may form a valuable source of drink- ing-water under proper safeguards. It is very soft, and therefore economical for washing purposes, and is al- ways well aerated. It may be contaminated, however, (a) by washing down soot and various noxious gases from the air ; (6) by running over dirty roofs and carrying with it the excrement of birds and other impurities, as wSl as pos- sibly dissolving lead from lead pipes ; and (c) by being kept in foul water-butts. Appliances are sold (as Roberts' Percolator) by which the first, and therefore the dirtiest, portion of rain-water from roofs is rejected, and only the clean rain-water which follows is collected for future use. Cemented tanks should be used for storing rain-water, and they should be supplied with filters. If it is also ensured that no lead has come in contact with the water, rain- water forms a useful source of drinking-water, and is much preferable to the water found in shallow wells. Springs supply water which has percolated through the soil until it reaches clay or other impervious stratum, and is then brought to the Surface where the impervious stratum crops out. This water in its course through the soil dissolves mineral salts and is therefore generally hard. It is also well aerated, and is much cooler than river or rain water. It is consequently a very pleasant water to drink. Many springs become dry in the summer months. Surface Wells are dug down to catch the subsoil - water or ground- water, which percolates into them from the surrounding soil. They are generally not more than 15 or 20 feet deep. If a cesspool or privy is near, this may simply drain into the well, as shown in fig. 46. Such soakage is much more apt to occur when a fall of rain tends to wash the contents of the privy or cesspool towards the well. The subsoil-water, we have seen, is a subterranean stream produced by rain penetrating into a porous soil. This stream forms an inclined plane, the water gradually falling untU it reaches the nearest river or the sea. The chances of contamination for the water in a well wUl depend on the relative position of cesspool and well. Thus in fig. 16 the ground-water is passing from left to 186 DOMESTIC ECONOMY right, and the cesspool A can only contaminate the well by soakage from the former descending to the ordinary or low- water level. But after heavy rain the ground-water rises and sewage may be carried direct from the cesspool to the well. The cesspool B is comparatively harmless so far as this particular well is concerned, because the iiow of subsoil-water is in the opposite direction. yiG. 46. — SImIIow Well and Cesspools. Deep Wells are made to exclude the subsoil-water which enters shallow wells. A shallow well is first dug, and is Hned with brickwork thoroughly set in hydraulic cement, and then the bottom of the well is bored through until a water-bearing stratum is reached. Occasionally even deep wells have been contaminated from cesspools, when cracks or fissures exist in the strata of soil. If much pumping is done, a well may drain the soil from distances amounting in some instances to a mile. Wheye shallow wells must be used, the water should only be admitted from the lowest point of the well, the walls of the well being made water-tight. No cesspools should be allowed within twenty or thirty yards of the well (it is doubtful if this limit is sufficient), and the water should always be boiled before drinking. Elvers form a frequent source of water-supply. Nearly the whole of London is supplied with water from the rivers Thames and Lea. River-water is well aerated, usually not so hard as spring and deep-well water, but is not so cool in summer as these two. The Thames above the point from which comes the chief London water-supply, receives THE WATER WE DRINK > 187 the sewage from various houses and villages. It is urged, however, that a process of natural self-purification goes on. The water is subsequently filtered through elaborate filter-beds, and doubtless a large proportion of its impuri- ties is thus got rid of. It is, however, contrary to good principles to take comparatively impure water and then proceed to purify it for drinking purposes, instead of select- ing water which is so pure as not to require this treatment. JFor the supply of large communities water is stored in reservoirs, and thence distributed to each house. The service-pipes to each house are generally made of lead, the convenience of which lies in the ease with which it can be bent and curved. Soft waters are very apt to attack lead pipes, dissohTng an injurious amount of the metal. Some supplies of water are constant, others inter- mittent. In the intermittent system the water is turned off at certain hours eaeh day. The pipes then become empty, and water has to be stored in butts or cisterns. This system of water-supply is regarded as more economical by water companies ; but it is doubtful whether any waste of water is really prevented. It is most objectionable, from a sanitary standpoint, because (1) foul air, and even foul liquids, may get into the empty pipes from the soil in the neighbourhood. It must be remembered that drains and gas-pipes are necessarily not very remote from water-pipes ; and instances in which coal-gas, and even solid matters from foul closets, have been sucked into empty water-pipes are on record. (2) In case of fire, there is greater danger to property with an intermittent supply. (3) The cistern rendered necessary by an intermittent supply is in itself a source of danger. The water stored in it during the summer months becomes unpleasantly warm. Dirt accu- mulates in the cistern, and sometimes birds, mice, and other animals are drowned in it. The comparatively inaccessible position in which the cistern is commonly placed, renders it probable that its polluted condition will escape detection. Occasionally the overflow pipe of the cistern has been directly connected with the soil-pipe or water-closet, as in fig. 47, thus bringing foul gases into the cistern. Not uncommonly the drinking-water cistern is made also to supply the water-closet, as in fig. l". If a cistern is necessary, then (a) it should be made of galvanised iron, 188 DOMESTIC ECONOMY not of lead or timber, (h) It should have a well-fitting lid. (c) It should be easy of access, for periodical cleansing. {(I) The overflow-pipe should discharge into the open air. (e) The water-closet should have a separate supply-cistern. When the water has to be turned off to allow of the execution of necessary repairs, some of the evils of the intermittent system may arise in connection with the con- FlG. 47. — To illustrate Insanitary Arramgement of Vrinlimg -rooter Cistern. A, Cistern. B, Overflow-pipe directly connected with soil-pipe. C, Supply-pipe from cistern, one branch of which aiippUes drinking- water at D, the housemaid's sink, and the other, E, sv^plies water for flushing closet. stant system. To prevent any mischief from this cause — (a) each closet should have a supply-cistern. Where the water-pipe 'to the closet is directly connected with the main, instances have occurred in which foul matters have been sucked from the closet-pan into the water-main. (6) The hot-water boiler should have a large cistern for its supply. When the mains have been emptied for repairs, accidents have arisen from boilers becoming dry and red- hot, and cold water suddenly entering the boiler while in this condition. THE WATER WE DRINK 189 Pure Water is (1) colourless or deep blue when seen in a mass. A yellow tinge is always suspicious. (2) It is quite yree Jrom odour, even though kept for some time. (3) Its taste should be pleasant and sparkling. The presence of bitterness or saltness is very suspicious. (4) When rubbed between the hands it should be fairly soft to the touch, and should dissolve soap easily. (5) It should be c7f>nr, and contain no suspended matters. Water which has passed through the soil always con- tains a certain amount of mineral matter. The most common mineral impurities are calcium salts, especially calcium carbonate (i.e., chalk) and calcium sul- phate (i.e., gypsum). These two salts are the chief cause of the hardness of water. The air contained in the crevices of the soil contains 200 to 250 times as much carbonic acid as natural air, and calcium carbonate is rendered soluble in water by this car- bonic acid J a compound of calcium carbonate and carbonic acid (called calcium bicarbonate) being produced, which more easily dissolves in water than calcium carbonate. Hardness is either (1) temporary or (2) permanent. Temporary hardness is removed by boiling the water ; per- manent hardness remains after boiling. Temporary hard- 7iess is diis chiefly to ccddum bicarbonate, and when the water containing this salt is boiled, the carbonic acid escapes, the calcium carbonate remaining being thrown down to the bottom of the vessel. This explains the thick fur on the inside of kettles in districts supplied with hard water. Temporary hardness may be partially removed (1) by boiling the water ; (2) by adding milk of lime — i.e., quick- lime mixed and partly dissolved in water — to the hard water in definite proportions. This method is carried out on a large scale at various waterworks, as at Caterham. The lime combines with some of the carbonic acid in the bicarbonate., producing calcium carbonate, which is carried down to the bottom of the water. Thus Calcium bicarbonate -f- calcium oxide:=calcium carbonate+ (lime) calcium carbonate. Permanent hardness of water is due chiefly to calcium sulphate, and cannot be removed by boiling ; but boiling with washing soda removes some of it. 190 DOMESTIC ECONOMY Hard water is objectionable commercially, but from a sanitary standpoint it is harmless unless the amount of hardness is very excessive. Much soap is wasted by the use of hard water. Every degree of hardness (corresponding to one grain of chalk in a gallon of water) implies a waste of eight or nine grains of soap for each gallon of water, if the hardness is completely neutralised by soap, so that the amount wasted by each family per annum must be very considerable. As a matter of fact, however, in washing, the waste is not so great as appears, owing to the fact that the soap is applied to the clothes rather than dissolved in the water. Not only does soft water require less soap, but it is much more economical for making tea and soup, and for boiling meat and vegetables, both time and fuel being saved. Kettles with a thick fur inside are bad conductors of heat, so cooking is slower with hard than with soft water. Lead may be dissolved by soft waters from lead pipes or from cisterns either made of lead or slate cisterns having red lead inserted at the joints. Hard water is nearly always free from the danger of contamination by lead. Soft water, especially rain-water and the water derived from moor- lands, may dissolve lead. The solvent action of water on lead may be prevented by adding pieces of limestone to it. As little as -^^ grain of lead in one gallon of water may produce the symptoms of lead-poisouing. Organic Impurities of Water may be derived from either plants or animals. The most important are those from sewage, by soakage from drains or cesspools into i wells or water-pipes, or by absorption of foul gases in drinking-water cisterns. Contamination of water with sewage or other animal matters may give rise to Diarrhoea. When the sewage- contamination contains the specific poison of the disease, Enteric or Typhoid Fever has been frequently traced to polluted water. We have already seen that milk some- times produces typhoid fever owing to the addition of polluted water. This water may have been derived from a surface well situated in a farm-yard which also contains a large manure-heap and a privy whose contents soak to- wards the well, especially after a heavy fall of rain. In large villages or towns, where the refuse matters are kept THE WATER WE DKINK 191 in midden-heaps or privies, or in cesspools dug in the ground, which allow of soakage in every direction, if wells are dug in the neighbouring soil the danger of the con- taminated water causing typhoid fever is greatly increased. Cholera, when introduced from abroad, has been rapidly spread in this country by polluted water. A simple test for the presence of organic matter in water is made as follows : — Take a tall glass vessel, fill it with the water to be examined, and add a few drops of Condy's fluid (solution of permanganate of potassium). Place the liquid in a position facing the light, and by its side another glass vessel fall of distilled water to which the same amount of Condy's fluid has been added. If the first becomes rapidly discoloured, probably organic matter is present in considerable amount. PDEIFICATION OF WATER. After what has been said it will be understood that drinking-water ought to require no purification. It should be of such a character that it can be drunk without any preliminary treatment. The water from deep wells, for instance, is deteriorated by being filtered, and should, be drunk as it comes from the tap. But sometimes there is no choice. The water supplied is impure, and no other is available. Then one of the following means of purification may be used : — Distillation. Boiling. Filtration. The distillation of water renders it absolutely pure, as no other method can ; and the distUled water can be made palatable by aerating it. This method is, however, scarcely practicable under ordinary circumstances, though it is largely used on board large steamers. The boiling of water not only gets rid of much of the hardness which may be present, but also of a considerable amount of organic matter (of animal or vegetable origin). I'he longer tJie boiling is continued the more absolute tlie protection from danger. Water from the most polluted source, if boiled for not less than half an hour on three successive days, might be drunk with impunity. Milk should always be boUed before drinking, and water should also be boiled whenever we cannot vouch for its purity. 192 DOMESTIC ECONOMY Filtration is carried out on a large scale by water companies or corporations supplying water', and on a domestic scale by individual householders. We must repeat that the very fact that such filtration is necessary indicates that the water is derived from an undesirable source. The only exception to this rule is in the case of soft waters derived from moorland districts. Such water may be deprived of the lead it is apt to dissolve by filtering through spongy iron or silicated carbon. The London water derived from the river is filtered through beds of sand and gravel about 4 feet thick, the filtration being carried on at intervals, so that these filtering beds may be freely exposed to the oxygen of the air in the intervals of filtration. As the result of such filtration some of the organic matter in the water becomes oxidised, while the largest part of it is mechanically stopped by the filter- ing medium. In domestic filters the chief materials used are animal charcoal, spongy iron, and silicated carbon. Charcoal presents an enormous surface to the water as- it passes through, and it undoubtedly oxidises a large proportion of the organic matter in water. The filtering material, however, must be comparatively fresh in order to do its work. Animal charcoal contains a large amount of phosphates (being derived from bones), and this probably explains the fact that it favours the growth of bacteria and other forms of lowly organised life. Inasmuch as the chief object of a filter is to prevent the infection of such diseases as typhoid fever being received into the system, charcoal cannot be said to be certainly efficacious. In Maignen's filter, a mixture containing charcoal and lime is employed, which softens the water as well as filtering it. Spongy Iron filters not only remove organic matter from water, but also reduce its hardness, and the filtered water does not develop bacteria (low forms of organisms, only visible under high powers of the microscope), as in the case of charcoal. Silicated carbon is said to be as efficacious as spongy iron in removing organic matters, and it removes lead from the water filtered through it. The Pagteur-Ghamherlamd filter, which consists of un- REMOVAL OP WASTE AND IMPURITIES 193 glazed porcelain, effectually prevents the passage through it of bacteria. Sponges and sand should never be used in domestic filters, as they speedily become foul. If filters of any kind are employed they should be periodically cleaned, by wash- ing and brushing the surface of the filtering material and allowing it to stand dry in the open air. CHAPTER XXX. y REMOVAL OF WASTE AND IMPURITIES. Varieties of House-refuse. — Kitchen-refuse. — Sewage Systems. — Dry Methods. — Wa;ter-carriage System. The carrying-on of the functions of life involves the production of certain effete matters, which must be got rid of in order that health may be maintained. These are — 1. Carbonic acid from the lungs and in minute quantities from the skin. 2. Organic dibris, including volatile particles from the lungs and shreds of epithelium and other matters from the skin. 3. Urea and other solid matters dissolved in water from the kidneys. 4. Fseces or solid excreta from the bowels. Water also is eliminated from the lungs and skin in comparatively small quantities, but its only evil effect, when a large concourse of persons occurs, is to render the atmo- sphere too moist. The water eliminated in the urine, and the solid excreta, are removed as sewage. Carbonic acid and volatile organic particles are removed by efficient ventilation; other dibris from the skin by personal clean- liness^ 194 DOMESTIC ECONOMY In addition to urine and faeces, certain other impurities connected with human habitations require to be systematic- ally removed in order that disease may not follow on the accumulation of filth. These are — 1. Slop-water, containing waste matters from cooking, baths, laundries, and house-cleaning. 2. Kitchen-refuse, under which are classed the varying contents of the domestic dust-bin. In large towns it is also necessary to get rid of rmn- water, either by admitting it into the sewers or by having a separate system of drains provided for it. It will be convenient to take first the disposal of kitchen- refuse. Kitchen-refuse consists chiefly of the ashes from fires, with a certain proportion of cinders when the ashes have not been properly sifted. But the dust-bin is also a favourite refuge for various animal and vegetable matters, as well as for broken pots and tins. If the dust-bin is not to give rise to nuisance, the fol- lowing rules should be adopted : — 1. The dust- bin should be at least six feet from the wall of the house. It should be of small size in order to ensure periodical emptying, and it should be protected from the rain, as moisture favours decomposition. 2. The best form of dust-bin is a zinc pail or box, which can be removed by the dustman and thoroughly emptied, thus ensuring that no dust is allowed to accumulate about the premises. 3. Cabbage-leaves, potato-peelings, and all other vege- table and animal refuse should be burnt in the fire after having been dried by placing them under the range or kitchener, or on the dying embers of the fire at night. No wet refuse should ever be put into the dust-bin. 4. The dust-bin should be emptied at least once a week, preferably twice a week, and daily where the amount of house-refuse is great. Sewage Systems. — There are two chief methods of re- moving excreta from the house. 1. Dry methods, also called conservancy systems. 2. The water-carriage method. In dry methods of removing refuse, (a) the dust or house- REMOVAIi OF WASTE AND IMPURITIES 195 refuse is commonly added to the excreta, and the two re- moved together. This forms the midden system. (6) Where fixed receptacles are used, but no house-refuse is added to the excreta, we have what is known as the privy system, (c) Or the excreta may be kept in pails and periodically re- moved, (e^ Or the excreta may be sprinkled with dry earth, and thus deodorised each time the closet is used. Where privies or middens are used, they should not be situated within six feet of a house. The receptacle should be above the ground-level and easy access for cleaning pro- vided at the back. It should be frequently emptied, and the floor should be of concrete, so that soakage into the sou is prevented. In all these plans the foul water from the house, and to a large extent the urine, remain to be dealt with and require special drains -for their removal. This fluid is almost as offensive as if it contained also the solid excreta ; and it is certain that, at any rate in the case of towns and large villages, the combined system of remov- ing solid and liquid impurities together {i.e., the water- carriage system) is by far the best. In the water-carriage system a house-drain is provided which communicates with the sewer in the road. The house- drain must have a proper fall so as to ensure rapid emptying into the sewer. Its joints must be water-tight ; and it must be out off' from aerial communication with the sewer by a syphon or U-shaped bend. The water contained in this bend acts as a trap and prevents the sewer-air from coming towards the house. The soil-pipe carries the con- tents of the water-closets into the drain. It should be con- tinued upwards above the roof with its end wide open in order to ventilate the soil-pipe and drain ; and, with the same object, there should be an inlet opening to the drain in front of the house. The water-closet should be one of the patterns known as the Valve, or Wash-out, or Short Hopper. Its junction with the soil-pipe should be securely jointed, and the closet should be flushed by means of a cistern specially devoted to this one purpose. The rule in regard to all other waste-pipes than the soil- pipe is, that they mttst not be directly connected with the drain. Thus waste and overflow pipes from baths and sinks, o 2 196 DOMESTIC ECONOMY and rain-water pipes, should open over a gully-trap in the yard which is connected with the drain. Bell-traps should not be allowed, as they have an insufficient seal of water, and the bell is frequently removed. Fie. 48. — Insanitary Arrcmgement of Sink, Insanitary Arrangements. — In many houses the waste- pipe from the sink, or from lavatories, &c., is carried direct into the drain. Fig. 48 shows an extreme instance of this. The waste-pipe from' the sink goes straight into the house- drain, and the latter is connected with the sewer without any disconnection by means of a TJ-bend in the drain. Fig 4:9, — Insanitary Bouble-pan Closet. Of closets, the foulest and yet the one most commonly used, is the double-pan closet (fig. 49). The one shown ia the figure illustrates several bad arrangements. The small REMOVAL OF WASTE AND IMPUNITIES 197 waste-pipe from the tray under the closet is connected with the D trap, instead of being made to discharge into the open air. The foul inner container shows leaky joints, and the D-shaped trap below this has corners which allow offensive matter to accumulate and decompose. Fis. 50. — Vertiaal Section through a Nine-roomed Sinise, sJunving a Bad System of Sanitary ArrangemetUs. A, Cistern supplying closet, baih, lavatory-iasin, and scullery-sink. B, Overflow from cistern discharging into top of soil-pipe. C, Soil- pipe inside and unveniilated. D, Closets inside, unventilated, and' without water-supply. E, Scully-sink discharging over bell-trap under same. F, Drain to sewer witJumt iniercejsting-trap, and unventilated. G, Waste from bath connected to soil-pipe and mt- trapped. H, Bain-water pipe discharging into soakage-hole. I, Waste from lavatory-basin connected to I>-trap wider double-pan doaet. A study of figs. 50 and 51 will enable a person of ave- rage ability to detect many of the iosanitary arrangements 198 DOMESTIC ECONOMY found in dwelling-houses. Fig. 50 is an epitome of bad arrangements, fig. 51 of good arrangements. Fig. 51. — Vertical Section tTirough a Nme-roomed Souse, shaming a Good System cf Semitwry Arrangements. N.B. Tlie mall lias heen broken a/may to shorn Bath a/nd Upper Water-closet. A, Soil-pipe outside and ventilated. B, Wastes from bath, lavatory- * basin, amd^ overflow from closet-cistern dAseha/rgimg into head of staclc-pipe. C, Closets supplied from separate cistern, not shown in diagram,. D, Stack-pipe a/nd waste from, scullery-sink dischargi/ng over gully-trap into outer air. E, Closet outside, ventilated, and with proper water-supply. F, Drain to sewer, jointed in Portland cement, bedded in oo crete, with intercepting-trap amd inspeetion- chaMber, and ventilated by, inlet a/nd outlet pipes. Q-, i-inch vent- ■pipe from highest part of drain carried above the roof, and opening above a/nd a/way from, all windows. H, Bain-water pipe discha/rging over gulhj-trap. I, Fresh-air inlet to drain. paet n. DOMESTIC MANAGEMENT. 201 CHAPTER XXXI. THE HOME AND WOMAN'S WORK. The importance of choosing a house ia accordance with such conditions of soil, aspect, drainage, and water-supply as are most conducive to health having been considered (page 169), it is now necessary to examine those details which deal with the home. It is not possible for everyone to choose a dwelling of just the kind and in just the place which would seem the most desirable. Only the more highly favoured among us can do that ; for we are all more or less creatures of circumstance, and must live where our work calls us. Given, however, that aU the conditions of the house are good, the health of the family stUl largely depends upon the internal arrangements and cleanliness. These are the particular province of the woman at the helm, whose duty it should be to spare no trouble in order that those dependent upon her knowledge of household duties and the laws of health may enjoy health and comfort. The Duty of Teachers. — Teachers who have large num- bers of girls under them would do well to remember that the nation's future health lies largely in the charge of those girls who will be the future wives and mothers of the English race. Remembering this, surely they will see the wisdom of giving them direct instruction in domestic economy, and of helping them to acquire those habits of observation, attention to details, and thoughtf ulness, which wiU be of so much value to them when they leave school and enter upon the more serious work of their lives. Frequent complaints are heard from ladies that 'there are no good servants nowadays,' and the Education Code has been censured as being the cause of this dearth of domestic servants. The encouragement, however, now given by the Government to the teaching of cookery and laundry work, in addition to domestic economy, in those schools where proper arrangements are made for practical 202 DOMESTIC ECONOMY instruction, may help to create a desire among girls to excel in the performance of household duties. An educated housekeeper or servant should intelligently know ' the reason why,' rather than act by the ' rule of thumb,' by which mistakes are often made, entailing much expense and trouble. Details of cleaning and household work should be familiar to all women. If ladies would only learn how work should be done they could often teach young servants, and correct those who had learned bad methods. Careless servants will be less able to impose upon a mistress who possesses a thorough knowledge of household routine and economy. Ladies who know well the details of these matters usually have much better ser- vants than those who, through ignorance, are obliged to depend upon the very indifferent knowledge of their ' ser- vants. It is the duty, too, of mothers to do their utmost to train their girls to habits of neatness, cleanliness, and thrift in their home by actual practice and by example. Teachers should, when possible, advise mothers to en- courage their daughters to become good domestic servants in preference to entering upon indifferent callings which frequently entail late hours, injury to health, and exposure to temptation. CHAPTER XXXII. DOMESTIC SEEVUfTS. Personal Qualities of servants. — The General Servant. — The Nv/rsemaid. — The Housemaid. — The Cooh. — Care of Servant's Health. The Personal dualities which should characterise a good servant, briefly stated, are as follows : — 1. An intelligent knowledge of her work. 2. Cleanliness. 3. K'eatness in appearance and work. "4. Good temper. 5. Readiness to oblige and to obey orders. 6. Quickness and punctuality. 7. Straightforwardness in word and deed. 8. FaitMubiess to the interests of her employers. ♦ DOMESTIC SERVANTS 203 The General Servant. — A really good general servant is a very valued person in . a household where the income only admits of one servant being kept. Her duties will be multifarious, and much tact and judgment in arranging work wiU be necessary in order that all her duties may be efficiently carried out. Early rising is indispensable. At six o'clock the lower windows or doors of the house should be opened ; then the kitchen fire should be lighted, kettles put on, and the kitchen swept and dusted. The hall mats should be shaken, the hall swept, the front steps cleaned, the brasses and knocker polished, the hall furniture dusted, and mats put down. The breakfast-room fire should next be lighted, the room swept and dusted, an old sUk handker- chief being used for polished articles and a feather brush for the picture-frames. The inside of the windows should not be forgotten. The table should be laid for breakfast, and breakfast at once prepared. If there are children, the mis- tress has probably been dressing them in the meantime. Whilst the family are at breakfast, and after the servant has had her own breakfast, she should see that all bedroom windows are open top and bottom, all beds stripped, so that the bedclothes may be thoroughly aired, the slops removed, and the washstand utensils washed with hot water, rinsed with cold water, and dried with a cloth. After removing and washing the breakfast things, the beds should be made and the bedrooms dusted. Some special vmrk should be allotted to each day, so that every part of the house may be thoroughly cleaned at least once a week without any serious disarrangement of the household routine, such as occurs when nearly all the cleaning is left to the end of the week. This special work should occupy from ten to twelve o'clock. The mistress, probably, does part of the cooking. From twelve to one o'clock the servant will assist her in the kitchen and will lay the dinner-table. After dinner the sitting-room fire should be made up and the room tidied, the dinner-things washed, knives cleaned, saucepans and all cooking- utensils cleaned inside and outside, and the kitchen made quite neat. As a rule, the heavy work of the day should now be over, and the servant should change her dress, and be ready to do needlework or to attend to any light duties. 204 DOMESTIC ECONOMY If the washing is done at home it should be commenced on Monday, and all linen be ironed and put away by Wed- nesday afternoon. One or two bedrooms should be cleaned on Thursday, one bedroom and one sitting-room on Friday, and the silver and tins in the afternoon, the other sitting- room, kitchen, staircase, and hall on Saturday. It is impossible to lay out an exact plan for distributing the work of a house, as it is obvious that it will diflfer according to the size of the house, and the assistance given by the mistress, or any adult members of the family. Where there are children many extra duties will arise, but much work will be saved if the children are trained when young to be helpful, punctual, orderly, cleanly, and to do as much as possible for themselves. The following forms an example of an average weekly routine of special work for a general servant in a seven- roomed house. It does not include the ordinary daUy household work : Monday : Washing flannels and preparing soiled linen to be sent to laundry. Or, with help, washing all clothes at home. Tuesday : Cleaning mistress's bedroom in the morn- ing, ironing clothes in afternoon if washing is done at home. Wednesday : Cleaning two or three other bedrooms. Thursday : Cleaning dining-room and staircase. Friday : Cleaning drawing-room and hall in morn- ing j cleaning silver, tins, &c., in the afternoon. Satwrday : Cleaning kitchen and pantry. The irursemaid.— Perhaps of all situations which a girl* can undertake, that of a nursemaid is the most responsible. Even where the mother takes the chief share in the duties of the nursery, the post is still one of great importance, and demands the possession of many good qualities on the part of the girl who aspires to become a nurse. Good temper, cheerfulness, patience, and exact truthfulness are indispensable qualities. She must be gentle, yet possess the power of making children obedient. DaMy Work of the Nv/rsemaid. — This will include the care of the children, and of the rooms occupied by them. Most houses have a night nursery and a day nursery, and it will not be diffiguit to ensure thorough cleanliness DOMESTIC SERVANTS 205 and plenty of fresh air if the nurse has the welfare of the children at heart. The day nursery should be swept and dusted early in the, morning, the fire lighted, and all arrangements made for the children's baths before they are allowed to get up. The baths should never be omitted ; the skin must be carefully dried, and in the casQ of very young children it should be rubbed gently with the hand in order that the circulation may be thoroughly restored. The nurse should be very careful in dressing the children not to put on any garment so as to cause undue pressure upon or constriction of any part of the body. It will also be her duty at meal-times to watch the children carefully, to check and correct any defects of manner, which, if left unnoticed, would soon become habits diflScult to eradicate. The children's beds and bedding should be well aired every day. In fine weather the bedclothes may be spread out near an open window, in order to allow a current of fresh air to pass through them. Daily outdoor exercise should be taken, except when the children are ill or the weather is unsuitable. Perfect cleanliness is essential in the nursery. Children are easily trained to habits of cleanliness and neatness, and simple rules for putting away playthings,