Bones need lime. You remember the bone that was nothing but crumbling lime after it had been in the fire.
Where shall we get lime for our bones?
We can not eat lime; but the grass and the grains take it out of the earth. Then the cows eat the grass and turn it into milk, and in the milk we drink, we get some of the lime to feed our bones.
In the same way, the grain growing in the field takes up lime and other things that we need, but could not eat for ourselves. The lime that thus becomes a part of the grain, we get in our bread, oat-meal porridge, and other foods.
SALT.
Animals need salt, as children who live in the country know very well. They have seen how eagerly the cows and the sheep lick up the salt that the farmer gives them.
Even wild cattle and buffaloes seek out places where there are salt springs, and go in great herds to get the salt.
We, too, need some salt mixed with our food. If we did not put it in, either when cooking, or afterward, we should still get a little in the food itself.