148. But suppose there is nothing on the table that a child may with impunity eat?
He should then have either a grilled mutton-chop, or a lightly boiled egg; indeed, the latter, at any time, makes an excellent change.
149. Are potatoes an unwholesome food for a child?
New ones are; but old potatoes, well cooked and mealy, are the best vegetable he can have. They ought to be well mashed, as I have known lumps of potatoes cause convulsions.
150. Do you approve of any other vegetables for a child?
Occasionally. Either asparagus, or broccoli, or cauliflower, or turnips, or French beans, which latter should be cut up fine, may with advantage be given.
151. Might not a mother be too particular in dieting her child?
Certainly not. If blood can be too pure and too good she might! When we take into account that the food we eat is converted into blood; that if the food be good, the blood is good; and that if the food be improper or impure, the blood is impure likewise; and, moreover, when we know that every part of the body is built up by the blood, we cannot be considered to be too particular in making our selection of food. Besides, if indigestible or improper food be taken into the stomach, the blood will not only be made impure, but the stomach and the bowels will be disordered.
Do not let me be misunderstood: I am no advocate for a child having the same food one day as another—certainly not. Let there be variety, but let it be wholesome variety. Variety in a child’s (not in an infant’s) food is necessary. If he were fed, day after day, on mutton, his stomach would at length be brought into that state that in time it would not properly digest any other meat, and a miserable existence would be the result.
152. What ought a child to drink with his dinner?