Barley Water for Babies— Wash 2 teaspoonfuls of pearl barley in hot water. Put into a pint of cold water, and simmer gently till only two-thirds of a pint Strain 96 INSTRUCTION IN COOKERY and use. Keep in a cool place. Make daily, and in hot weather twice a day, as it ferments very quickly. Lime Water — Slake a piece of freshly burnt lime about the size of an orange with cold water. Put the crumbled lime in a gallon jar, and fill up with water. Shake well, allow it to settle, and throw away the first water. Fill up with cold boiled water, shake, cork, and use after it has been allowed to stand 24 hours. Do not expose to the air. Condensed Milk — There are three kinds of con- densed milk : 1. Unsweetened and condensed whole milk. 2. Sweetened and condensed whole milk. 3. Sweetened and condensed skim milk. Among the first are the Viking and Ideal brands. They are all made by evaporating about two-thirds of the water in the milk, and then hermetically sealing it in tins. The disadvantage of these is that they go bad very soon after opening the lids. In the sweetened kinds a good deal of cane sugar is added, which is not good for a baby, and the result is that children fed on it very often become flabby. The third kind, the con- densed separated or skim milks, are entirely unsuited to a baby’s diet. Condensed milk is rather more digestible than cow’s milk, owing to the great dilution with water in its preparation for food. It is largely patronized as a food for infants by poor people, but it is really very expensive, as the following calculations will show : A tin costing 5jd. contains \ pint of condensed milk. This is diluted with 1 pint of water, and makes 1 J pints of liquid. The best dairy milk is only 4d. for 2 pints. Another disadvantage of condensed milk is that in INFANT-FEEDING 97 process of manufacture it is supposed to lose some of its antiscorbutic properties, and that is thought to be the reason why babies fed on condensed milk so often show symptoms of scurvy. With regard to patent foods, care must be taken not to give those containing any starch before a year old, and they none of them possess any advantage over con- densed milks, and should never be used if fresh cow’s milk is to be got. Too much cannot be said as to the great injury which is done to children by giving them unsuitable food. No child can digest starch before its first teeth appear , and therefore it is absolutely wrong to give it rice pudding, which to the uneducated mind sounds so innofcuous. There is no limit to the extraordinary articles of food which are pressed on babies to keep them quiet. After children are weaned — that is to say, about ten months old — they may be given eggs, bread crumbs, butter, and oatmeal, with a liberal supply of milk. Oatmeal with milk is a valuable source of flesh-forming food and of fat for children, and it has, moreover, the advantage of being very cheap. Suet pudding and crust also presents fat in a very digestible form. Bread dipped in bacon fat is good, and so is cocoa made with milk. Cleanliness — Want of cleanliness is accountable for a great deal of disease and mortality among children. A lesson might well be devoted to the cleansing and scalding of feeding-bottles and corks and teats. No feeding-bottle with a tube should be used.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Barley Water for Babies— Wash 2 teaspoonfuls of pearl barley in hot water. Put into a pint of cold water, and simmer gently till only two-thirds of a pint. Strain and use. Keep in a cool place. Make daily, and in hot weather twice a day, as it ferments very quickly. Lime Water — Slake a piece of freshly burnt lime about the size of an orange with cold water. Put the crumbled lime in a gallon jar, and fill up with water. Shake well, allow it to settle, and throw away the first water. Fill up with cold boiled water, shake, cork, and use after it has been allowed to stand 24 hours. Do not expose to the air. Condensed Milk — There are three kinds of condensed milk : 1. Unsweetened and condensed whole milk. 2. Sweetened and condensed whole milk. 3. Sweetened and condensed skim milk. Among the first are the Viking and Ideal brands. They are all made by evaporating about two-thirds of the water in the milk, and then hermetically sealing it in tins. The disadvantage of these is that they go bad very soon after opening the lids. In the sweetened kinds a good deal of cane sugar is added, which is not good for a baby, and the result is that children fed on it very often become flabby. The third kind, the condensed separated or skim milks, are entirely unsuited to a baby’s diet. Condensed milk is rather more digestible than cow’s milk, owing to the great dilution with water in its preparation for food. It is largely patronized as a food for infants by poor people, but it is really very expensive, as the following calculations will show : A tin costing 5jd. contains \ pint of condensed milk. This is diluted with 1 pint of water, and makes 1 J pints of liquid. The best dairy milk is only 4d. for 2 pints. Another disadvantage of condensed milk is that in INFANT-FEEDING process of manufacture it is supposed to lose some of its antiscorbutic properties, and that is thought to be the reason why babies fed on condensed milk so often show symptoms of scurvy. With regard to patent foods, care must be taken not to give those containing any starch before a year old, and they none of them possess any advantage over condensed milks, and should never be used if fresh cow’s milk is to be got. Too much cannot be said as to the great injury which is done to children by giving them unsuitable food. No child can digest starch before its first teeth appear , and therefore it is absolutely wrong to give it rice pudding, which to the uneducated mind sounds so innocuous. There is no limit to the extraordinary articles of food which are pressed on babies to keep them quiet. After children are weaned — that is to say, about ten months old — they may be given eggs, bread crumbs, butter, and oatmeal, with a liberal supply of milk. Oatmeal with milk is a valuable source of flesh-forming food and of fat for children, and it has, moreover, the advantage of being very cheap. Suet pudding and crust also presents fat in a very digestible form. Bread dipped in bacon fat is good, and so is cocoa made with milk. Cleanliness — Want of cleanliness is accountable for a great deal of disease and mortality among children. A lesson might well be devoted to the cleansing and scalding of feeding-bottles and corks and teats. No feeding-bottle with a tube should be used.

Instruction in cookery (Methuen's text-books, Thompson)