CONDIMENTS AND STIMULANTS.

The value of all condiments, except salt, when used with food consists in their action in promoting the appetite and stimulating the digestive organs; as both appetite and digestion are usually normal in youth, condiments are not required and should be used sparingly. Salt, however, is indispensable to health, and should be supplied in a sufficient quantity to meet the demands of an unperverted appetite; a vigorous youth requires, carefully blended with his food, about half an ounce of salt per diem.

Alcoholic stimulants are absolutely injurious to the expanding system, because their tendency is to retard that change of tissue so essential to the process of growth. Where physical debility is marked stimulants may be valuable, but they should be used only by direction of a physician.

ACTION OF TEA AND COFFEE.

The action of tea and coffee upon the system is a theme prolific of discussion, but the fact is conceded by the best authorities that both these agreeable beverages, when used in moderation, exercise a pleasantly stimulating and "staying" influence; that is, they so far retard the process of destructive assimilation as to render the sensation of hunger less acute and to reserve a certain amount of strength even during hard labor. In youth, the change of the nutriment contained in food into well nourished blood should never be retarded, and sufficient strength should be supplied by food to meet all the demands of the body; therefore the action of tea and coffee is undesirable.

FOOD VALUE OF COCOA AND CHOCOLATE.

Cocoa and chocolate have a somewhat similar stimulating effect, but as they also possess considerable fat and nutriment their moderate use in youth is less objectionable than the use of tea and coffee.

MILK AS A NUTRIENT.

But the proper beverages for youth are moderately cool water, of the temperature of about 45° F., and plenty of sweet, pure milk.

Actual scientific experiments, made in England by Dr. Ferguson, an inspector of factories, establish the fact that between the ages of thir teen and sixteen children grow nearly four times as fast, and become correspondingly strong, on milk for breakfast and supper as when ordinarily strong tea and coffee are used. With plenty of milk, about one quart per diem, and bread enough to satisfy the appetite, a child would be well nourished; but after reaching the age of seven years the physical requirements of children are best met by a plain mixed diet.

PROPER TEMPERATURE OF food.

The temperature at which food is eaten should approach that of the stomach, about 100° F., so that the process of digestion may not be impeded. Food cannot be digested until it is heated to this temperature; and, unless the necessary heat is artificially supplied before its introduction into the stomach, that organ must be taxed to afford it. This fact accounts for the unwholesome effect of ice cold water upon the process of digestion. Too great a degree of heat in food is also injurious to the digestive organs, by causing irritation and weakness, besides tending to destroy the teeth.

VARIETY OF FOOD NECESSARY TO HEALTH.

Monotony of diet is to be avoided because it restricts the supply of food elements essential to good health; but unfounded fancies about new or peculiar articles of food should be corrected firmly and kindly, unless some physical indiosyncrasy justifies their indulgence. Because the equal and adequate nourishment of the body influences the formation of both mind and character the utmost care should be given to the selection of the diet; and where vitality is impaired even in a slight degree means must be employed to increase the desire for food.

A wholesome and abundant variety of food can be obtained in almost any civilized locality: broiled and roasted meats, poultry and fish cooked so as to preserve all their natural juices, rice, macaroni, eggs plain boiled and rather soft, milk, and sugar are all common and healthy foods; all seed bearing fruits are excellent, especially apples, pears, grapes, and berries; such succulent vegetables as potatoes, spinach, green corn, onions, celery, lettuce, carrots, pease, and beans are wholesome, plentiful, and cheap. Sago, arrowroot, and tapioca, unless combined with plenty of milk and eggs, are of but little use, except during illness, when some bland, simple food is required to satisfy the slight alimentary needs of the system.

EFFECTS OF INDIGESTIBLE FOODS.

Such indigestible articles as fat meat, rich pastry, hot bread, unripe fruit and vegetables, tea, coffee, spices, condiments, pickles, and stimu. lants, should be avoided. Children fed upon such articles often appear plump, but their muscles will be found to be soft, their bones small and weak, and their systems predisposed to inflammatory affections.

To counteract the deleterious effects of such diet plenty of lean meat, fish, oatmeal, graham bread, eggs, milk, apples, onions, celery, asparagus, cauliflower, spinach, and salad vegetables should be given. The breakfast should be given soon after rising, the dinner at noon, and the supper at least two hours before retiring.

PHYSICAL INDICATIONS OF COMPLETE NUTRITION.

If the supply of food answers all physical requirements both body and mind will be well developed in proportion to the age; the eyes will be bright, the cheeks rosy, the form plump, and the spirits exuberant. Any degree of health short of this shows that the amount of nutriment assimilated is insufficient to satisfy the daily demands of the system and permit that accumulation of force required for the vigorous development of the growing body.

When educational exigencies seem to interfere with this reserve of vital force they should be alternated with a sufficient degree of open air exercise to insure it, and the proportion of milk, eggs, meat, and bread in the daily fare should be increased; especially milk should be supplied in a quantity satisfactory to the appetite.

STUDYING BEFORE BREAKFAST.

Studying before breakfast is not conducive to general good health, but a moderate degree of open air exercise will promote an appetite. If part of an hour must be filled with some studious occupation it should be judiciously combined with relaxation; a short walk in some rural locality or a visit to the greenhouse would afford occasion for botanical instruction combined with healthy exercise; and in rainy weather music, drawing, and light gymnastics offer a choice of suitable occupations for both teacher and pupils.

NECESSITY FOR EARLY BREAKFASTS.

The experiments of Dr. Edward Smith and other eminent investigators prove that the greatest vital action takes place in the early part of the day, that the digestion and assimilation of food are most easily and naturally performed at that time, and consequently that the most nutritious food should then be supplied in abundance.

The danger of overeating at breakfast is provided against by the fact that it is usually composed of simple viands plainly cooked. A healthy child never finds that a hearty breakfast causes indigestion; the activity of the system makes ample provision for the use of all the nourishment it can obtain; it is only towards evening that the force of the vital functions is diminished and that the system becomes unable to assimilate an excess of nutriment.

If the rising hour is about six in the morning the breakfast should not be later than seven; if the meal is likely to be delayed beyond that hour a cup of milk and a slice of bread should be taken after dressing. The use of this slight refreshment does not warrant the deferring of the breakfast proper until ten or eleven o'clock.

The breakfast should consist of such plain fare as bread, butter, eggs, or fish, all simply prepared, and plenty of milk. The healthy appetite should be completely satisfied at this meal, for, as we have already said,

the vital actions are keenest from rising until noon, and the long fast of the night has depleted the system of the nutriment derived from food during the previous day.

MIDDAY DINNERS BEST FOR HEALTH.

Equally important with a hearty breakfast is a full and wholesome early dinner of freshly cooked warm meat and vegetables, plenty of bread, and some plain pudding or fruit; these should be well masticated and accompanied by about half a pint of fresh cool water as a drink. The meal may be varied with nutritious soups, stews of fresh meat, and red blooded fish.

LIGHT AND EARLY SUPPERS.

The supper should be composed of light and digestible aliments in quantity sufficient to satisfy the appetite, and should be eaten at least two hours before retiring.

Abundantly nutritious suppers for boys may be made up of bread, milk porridge, a little tapioca or sago pudding made with milk and eggs, or a custard, together with a glass of milk or of moderately cool water. Bread with stewed fruits, as apples or prunes, serve to vary the meal pleasantly, without overtaxing the digestive powers.

For girls a little warm milk or a cup of weak cocoa may be added with advantage.

Suppers for both boys and girls should be composed of the most digestible foods, because it is imperative to health that the hour for retir ing should be early, and digestion should be well advanced before that time. When any unusual exertion or excessive fatigue seems to demand a heavier repast sufficient time for digestion should be allowed before retiring; if fish is used sleep should be deferred at least two hours: meat and eggs digest in about three hours, and consequently the bedtime should be graduated accordingly.

NECESSARY DAILY QUANTITY OF food.

Boys from fifteen to twenty years of age require nearly as much food as men; that is, about six pounds per diem.

Girls of the same age require about four pounds. Nutritious soups are especially useful when there is any indication of malnutrition in either sex.

For both, boys and girls the character of the food should be largely determined by the appetite, unless it has become very much perverted. Girls are far more apt to be "notional" about their food than boys and should be much more closely watched.

DAILY DIETARIES.

The facts already cited warrant us in outlining the following dietaries for the youth of both sexes; of course the quantities must be varied to

suit individual cases, but the supply should always be ample and appro

TABLE OF COMPARATIVE FOOD VALUES.

The following table, compiled from South Kensington estimates, gives some idea of the relative nutritive value of those articles of food in general use throughout the United States; a little study will afford hints for the variation of everyday fare. The figures represent a fair average, but of course are not arbitrary, because the same kind and quantity of food presents different nutritive qualities at different seasons of the year for instance, juicy fruits are best at the point of ripening; succulent vegetables just before flowering; roots and tubers at their early maturity; and meats and poultry in the winter, when they are generally full grown, and when the temperature permits their preservation until the hardness of fibre which exists in very recently killed meats has passed away.

The following table shows what proportions are yielded of one pound of articles named: