| Stall-fed Beef. | Egg. | Lean Beef. | |
| Phosphatic salt | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.5 |
| Albuminoids | 10.5 | 15.0 | 17.5 |
| Fat | 45.0 | 12.0 | 6.0 |
| Water | 44.0 | 72.0 | 75.0 |
| ——– | ——– | ——– | |
| 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |
If we compare the analysis of egg with that of milk, a remarkable similarity will be observed, save one exception, namely the carbo-hydrate sugar of milk is lacking in egg, and in order that eggs have the same property of nourishing the body as milk, this element may be readily supplied by eating a little bread. The writer is familiar with the history of a case in which a patient was kept on an exclusively egg diet for five months, and during this time he increased his weight thirty-eight pounds; he consumed eight eggs and twelve ounces of bread a day.
We hear considerable unfavorable comment in regard to hard-boiled eggs, and indeed for good and sufficient reason, but the indigestibility of the hard-boiled egg is not due to any change in the nature of the albumen because it is boiled; the cause is entirely mechanical. The reason is that a hard-boiled egg is not sufficiently divided by the ordinary process of mastication to allow the gastric juice to attack it from all sides; if it were finely pulverized either by the teeth or otherwise it would be as readily digested as a soft-boiled or raw egg.
A raw fresh egg that is thoroughly beaten with an egg beater is the most readily digested food that there is. The author has known dyspeptics who could not digest any other kind, and by adding a pinch of salt and half to one tablespoonful of whisky after it is thoroughly beaten, it is certainly one of the most valuable foods for a certain class of stomach troubles that can be recommended. Patients whose digestion is very weak should begin with one egg every four hours until four eggs are taken during the day; when the strength increases, two may be taken for breakfast, and one for each meal the rest of the day; after the lapse of a few days another may be added to the second meal, and so the number gradually increased until eight are consumed; prudence would not go beyond this number lest an excess of nitrogenous matter overtax the liver and kidneys to eliminate it from the system and this result in other complications.
Dyspeptics, more than others, must avoid overtaxing the digestive organs, and while the stomach is sensitive and for a long time afterwards, they must avoid solid food.
The quantity of bread must also be jealously guarded; while the stomach is very sensitive and weak it had better be entirely suspended and when resumed no more than three ounces should be eaten at each meal to begin with. For those dyspeptics whose stomachs possess average digestive power, and who require a nourishing and readily digestible meal, the writer would recommend for breakfast a milk gruel to which a raw egg has been added: he directs that four tablespoonfuls of oatmeal mush be mixed with three-quarters of a pint of warm milk and this worked through a tin strainer by means of a potato masher; to the milk gruel so obtained and again moderately warmed, a raw fresh egg is added, which has been previously beaten to a foam, and then the whole mess is again beaten together, seasoned with salt and served in a bowl.
Medicines should play a very minor part in the treatment of dyspepsia; the artificial pepsin preparations are all overrated and their supposed efficacy is due to a careful and regulated diet rather than to the virtue of the pepsin. If the bowels are costive and if the stomach is sour and feels oppressed, prescription No. II will materially relieve these symptoms.
A person who is suffering from indigestion must above all things learn to discipline himself; when that has been once accomplished the task of carrying out an appropriate diet will become an easy one, and restoration to health and strength will be the reward.