Children should avoid hot bread and griddle-cakes ; fried meats or cakes or doughnuts ; highly seasoned food ; rich gravies ; rich pastry and cake ; pickles, pre- serves, all stimulants such as tea or coflTee ; raisins, un- less cooked three hours and stoned ; sago, arrowroot, and other purely starchy foods, except w^hen combined with milk, eggs, or fruit, and eaten with sugar and cream ; and especiall}" veal and pork. Veal is an immature meat, lack- ing in nourishment ; and of the free use of pork, apart from the question of the trichinae, a majority of physi- cians believe that it is largely responsible for the forms of 430 The Boston Cook Book. scrofulous disease that have so undermined the health of civilized nations. What are termed the "fancies" of delicate persons, especially children, are often natural instincts, pointing out what is beneficial to the sj'Stem, or the reverse. All children have a fondness for sugar, which should be grati- fied in moderation rather than repressed. Their desire for it is natural, else it would not have been placed in the milk which forms their only nourishment in infancy. But candy, rich preserves, and cake are not the best form of sweets for children. Pure block sugar or maple sugar is better than any form of candy. It should never be allowed be- tween meals, but ma}^ be given occasionally as a part of the dessert. The habit of munching candy between meals destroys the appetite, disturbs the digestion, and is the cause of much illness among children. Children troubled with worms should avoid sugar, preserves, and green vegetables. Milk should enter largely into the diet of children. It con- tains caseine, or flesh-forming material ; cream and sugar, which are heat producers ; mineral salts, for the bony structure ; and water, as a solvent for all the other materials necessary in nutrition. It should be used with discretion, however ; not drunk immoderatel}', but taken slowly as food after the pattern given by nature. Milk as taken is a fluid ; but as soon as it meets the acid of the gastric juice, it is changed to a soft, curd}^, cheese-like substance, and then must be digested, and the stomach is overtasked if too much be taken at once. A large glass of milk swal- lowed suddenly will form in the stomach a lump of dense, cheesy curd, which may even prove fatal to a weak stomach. Under the action of the stomach this chees}^ mass will turn over and over like a heavy weight ; and as the gastric juice can only attack its surface, it digests very slowl}'. But this same milk, taken slowly, or with dry toast, light rolls, or soft dr}' porridge, forms a porous lump through which the gastric juice can easily pass, and which breaks up every time the stomach turns it over. Milk should be shghtly The Boston Cook Book. 431 salted, and eaten with bread stuffs or sipped by the spoonful. Cow's milk produces less heat than human milk ; a child would grow thin upon it unless a little sugar were added. Wheat flour has such an excess of heat-producing mate- rial as would fatten a child unduly, and should have cow's milk added to it to reduce its fattening power. Hints on Diet for Invalids. Vanilla should not be used as a flavoring in food for sick people. It is medicinal ; and all medicines are more or less poisonous, and are not to be taken as food.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Children should avoid hot bread and griddle-cakes ; fried meats or cakes or doughnuts ; highly seasoned food ; rich gravies ; rich pastry and cake ; pickles, preserves, all stimulants such as tea or coffee ; raisins, unless cooked three hours and stoned ; sago, arrowroot, and other purely starchy foods, except when combined with milk, eggs, or fruit, and eaten with sugar and cream ; and especially veal and pork. Veal is an immature meat, lacking in nourishment ; and of the free use of pork, apart from the question of the trichinae, a majority of physicians believe that it is largely responsible for the forms of The Boston Cook Book. scrofulous disease that have so undermined the health of civilized nations. What are termed the "fancies" of delicate persons, especially children, are often natural instincts, pointing out what is beneficial to the system, or the reverse. All children have a fondness for sugar, which should be gratified in moderation rather than repressed. Their desire for it is natural, else it would not have been placed in the milk which forms their only nourishment in infancy. But candy, rich preserves, and cake are not the best form of sweets for children. Pure block sugar or maple sugar is better than any form of candy. It should never be allowed between meals, but may be given occasionally as a part of the dessert. The habit of munching candy between meals destroys the appetite, disturbs the digestion, and is the cause of much illness among children. Children troubled with worms should avoid sugar, preserves, and green vegetables. Milk should enter largely into the diet of children. It contains caseine, or flesh-forming material ; cream and sugar, which are heat producers ; mineral salts, for the bony structure ; and water, as a solvent for all the other materials necessary in nutrition. It should be used with discretion, however ; not drunk immoderately, but taken slowly as food after the pattern given by nature. Milk as taken is a fluid ; but as soon as it meets the acid of the gastric juice, it is changed to a soft, curdy, cheese-like substance, and then must be digested, and the stomach is overtasked if too much be taken at once. A large glass of milk swallowed suddenly will form in the stomach a lump of dense, cheesy curd, which may even prove fatal to a weak stomach. Under the action of the stomach this cheesy mass will turn over and over like a heavy weight ; and as the gastric juice can only attack its surface, it digests very slowl}'. But this same milk, taken slowly, or with dry toast, light rolls, or soft dr}' porridge, forms a porous lump through which the gastric juice can easily pass, and which breaks up every time the stomach turns it over. Milk should be slightly The Boston Cook Book. salted, and eaten with bread stuffs or sipped by the spoonful. Cow's milk produces less heat than human milk ; a child would grow thin upon it unless a little sugar were added. Wheat flour has such an excess of heat-producing material as would fatten a child unduly, and should have cow's milk added to it to reduce its fattening power. Hints on Diet for Invalids. Vanilla should not be used as a flavoring in food for sick people. It is medicinal ; and all medicines are more or less poisonous, and are not to be taken as food.

Mrs. Lincoln's Boston cook book