Chapter II. Hygiene Economy and Sanitation. Preservation of Eggs.

Dishwashing. Disinfection 251

Table

Giving average composition of common American food products 262

INTRODUCTORY NOTE TO SECOND EDITION

Before the manuscript for the first edition of “Scientific Feeding” went to the press, it was reviewed by several presidents of Mothers’ Clubs and other women organizations; they realized that it would fill a long-felt want in the home and a large number of advance subscriptions were sent in.

After publication the gratifying demand for this work necessitated the preparation of a second edition within a month.

DORA C. C. L. ROPER, D. O.

INTRODUCTION

This is a practical and hygienic cook book for all who consider life and health valuable. Intelligent homekeepers, nurses, managers of institutions and factories, all who are interested in furnishing the most nutritious food at the least cost, or wish to distribute such a work, will find this book worth its weight in gold.

After twenty years of persistent study, combined with praccal work as nurse and physician in private and in institutions, beginning in Germany, I am able to-day to present this valuable work, and hope that it may be placed in the hands of every home-maker in the country. It is designed for the purpose of modifying the cost of living and of eliminating, to some degree, the hardships and drudgeries of our women. It is excellent for school feeding, and presents the keynote to health and longevity, helping to prevent mental, physical, and moral diseases.

The great facilities for research work in the modern laboratory offer a wide field for the study of preventive medicine and hygiene. The world is beginning to recognize the fact that a large number of diseases are the result of wrong conditions. Improper eating, drinking, sleeping, unsuitable work, excess of amusement, and wrong educational systems are to blame for a large number of germ diseases and chronic ailments.

The body is the temple of the soul, therefore the laws of hygiene (concerning our internal and external body) are divine. Many of the orthodox teachings and divine laws in reference to hygiene, fasting, and feeding are a safe guide for the prevention of disease.

It has been my object to present a practical and sane method of living, free from fads and the teachings of one-sided extremists. All natural foods are wholesome, if properly combined, prepared, proportioned, and selected with care to agree with the temperament, environment, age and climatic conditions. I have devoted a special chapter to economical menus for people of moderate means, and have endeavored to show how it is possible to feed a family of five on a moderate sum, without injury to health. The amount of food and the proportions agree with what is demanded by modern standard dietaries.

A large number of cook books have been written during the last one hundred years to tickle the palate. Much valuable time has been wasted and many innocent victims have paid the price for the sins of gluttony, caused by modern methods of living.

The most learned and advanced thinkers are turning their attention more and more to scientific dietetics. The question of feeding is one of the most important subjects our present generation has to deal with. It is my desire that this book may contribute to this cause, and that it may awaken thousands of mothers and daughters to appreciation of the dignity and importance of their life work.

PREFACE

The human body is a wonderfully complex and mysterious establishment, presided over by life. It is composed of the dust of the earth, organized by creative power.

The elements composing the human body are: Oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, chlorine, sulphur, phosphorus, fluorine, calcium, natrium, magnesium, silicon, iron and potassium.

Our bodies are maintained by food, air, light, activity, rest and sleep.

The union of oxygen with one or more of these elements is called oxidation. If the process of oxidation within our bodies goes on rapidly we feel warm and energetic; if it goes on slowly, the degree of heat and energy is less; in fever there is rapid oxidation; in people who suffer with chronic diseases there is incomplete and slow oxidation.

In order to produce harmony between the elements in the body, it is not only necessary to breathe pure air, and eat wholesome foods, but it is equally important to have those food elements, which are taken into our body, selected in the right quantity, quality and combination. It is further necessary to have them prepared in the mouth by mastication and insalivation. If this is done, the chemical affinity or combining power of the foods is satisfied, and digestion, absorption, sanguification, circulation, oxidation, assimilation, excretion and clorification will go on perfectly.

In order to keep our bodies in perfect health, we must understand their laws. The structures and functions of the body are intimately connected, and one is dependent upon the other.

Life at the beginning is a tiny cell; as it multiplies into other cells, it forms blood vessels, nerves, muscles, bones, lungs, liver, brain, heart, and stomach, until the body is completed. The growth of the body is from within, before and after birth. The natural food for the infant is mother’s milk, the next best is the milk of a wet-nurse, whose child is about the same age as the one to be nursed. Artificial preparations of milk from a cow, goat or donkey is the next best.

The appearance of the teeth indicates that the feeding of solid food can be begun. The kind of food required for the child as well as for the adult differs with different individuals. A normal and healthy mother will be directed by her instincts, reason and judgment to choose the right food for herself as well as for her infant.

An old saying goes, “God created foods, the devil created the cooks.” A few thousand years ago, when the art of cooking was in its infancy, physicians and surgeons were not in such demand as to-day. The preparation of foods for the average household in those days consisted mainly of boiled cereals prepared with salt and water, boiled and roasted meats, and baked breads. Such articles, if eaten in proper combination with raw fruits, greens, and nuts, will keep the appetite at the normal state. The principal victims of disease in those days were the kings, the idle rich and the very poor. Since civilization has progressed, and the rights of man are more equalized, the whole race is in danger of degeneration through the invention of fashionable and artificially prepared foods.

In this age of refinement, our teeth, which were made to last as long as our bodies, begin to decay before we are matured. Foods are ingested into our bodies instead of being digested. Public hygienists and technical bacteriologists work hard, trying to prevent such diseases as diphtheria, scarlet fever, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, and many other infectious and epidemic diseases, resulting from unclean food and water, and imperfect sewage systems.

Even with the purest of milk, meat, and water, we can make a filthy garbage can of our intestinal tract by the ingestion of foods which do not harmonize chemically, the result being decomposition. Right here we have all the dangers of modern diseases and pus formation, resulting in appendicitis, phlebitis, ovaritis, cancer, Bright’s disease, and all the above mentioned diseases, without having to look further for the garbage can on the back porch or the sewage system in the yard. The waste products from our tables, and the excretions from our bodies would be less dangerous to health if the selection, combination, and preparation of our food were more natural. The excretions of properly fed animals are not so dangerous to our health; why should ours be?

The hygienic rules as taught by the orthodox Jew in reference to the combination and preparation of foods are wise. He is not allowed to mix milk and meat, meat and fish, and many other articles of food which do not combine well chemically. The Jewish methods of killing animals and the preliminary preparations--such as the watering and salting of meats before cooking--are also more hygienic. They eliminate part of the toxins of the meat, which have been in close contact with the air.

Since life and personal health are generally in charge of woman, the right place for every girl under eighteen or twenty years is at home or in school. No young girl under this age should be allowed to enter a profession, workshop, or business college. An occupation which by long hours of work over-develops a certain set of muscles and nerves before maturity, will produce an abnormal development and an unstable temperament. Co-education at this age is also harmful, the result being premature development, and elopement marriages, or arrested sexual development and extreme independence, or marriage and continual suffering, owing to physical defects and lack of knowledge of the care of the human body, and of domestic science.

Every woman is a born nurse. How valuable would it be, then, to give every young girl, beginning at the age of twelve, a rudimentary course in nursing and in the care of children; in the art of selecting, combining, and preparing foods; and in the art of housekeeping. An industrial high school course with such technical work as is suitable for woman’s sensitive brain would develop her brain and body in every direction and make the future woman a healthy mother of healthy offspring. Those muscles and nerve centers which have been well developed during puberty will be the strongest throughout life.

The store, the factory, the office, and the business college are no places for a girl under twenty years of age. If for some reason she has no desire to follow her natural calling in life, there will be plenty of time to prepare herself for other work after the age of twenty.

If a law could be enforced to compel every woman to present a certificate of health and maturity, and a diploma of qualification when applying for a marriage license, much unnecessary misery, disease, and many untimely deaths could be avoided.

The feeding as well as the mental, moral and physical training of children is the natural profession for women. Children have in them all the possibilities for good and evil. Mistakes during this period will affect the child throughout its life. Thousands of infants and young children are killed every year by wrong feeding and environment. A large percentage of brilliant and exceptional children fill the jails and insane asylums. Idleness, stupidity, and criminal tendencies are =diseases=, and =diseases can be avoided by right living=. Children with hereditary weaknesses require double care and attention; but remember the wonderful law of nature works always toward the normal; the good tends to overcome the bad.

If the brain of a child becomes starved by the use of sweet-meats, and clogged by the use of rich condiments and highly seasoned food, or by an excess of starchy foods, there is always great danger, and more so, if the child is exceptionally bright and active. A large amount of arterial blood is sent to the brain, and if this blood contains much waste matter, the eliminating organs will soon be overworked and all kinds of diseases are liable to follow, such as brain fever, softening and subluxation of bones, epilepsy, chorea, meningitis, paralysis, tuberculosis of the lungs, bones, and mesentery.

Many young women who, through wrong food, environment and unsuitable educational systems, have dwarfed their bodies, find motherhood a great burden. They have to pay the penalty for the sin that is committed on them. Their children will not be so strong, and will have less resisting power, and their grandchildren, if there be any, will land in the institutions for the incurable, if the careless feeding and wrong habits are kept up by each succeeding generation. On the other hand, if the progress of degeneration is checked by right living, the work and time invested will be well repaid during one generation.