Pork Steaks. The best steaks are cut off the shoulder—ham steaks being rather too dry. They should be well fried, in order to destroy the little living parasites, called Trichinæ which sometimes infest this kind of meat. They are introduced into the stomach by eating ham, pork, or sausages made from the flesh of hogs infested by them. Thorough cooking destroys them, and those who will persist in the use of swine's flesh can afford to have it "done brown."
Baked Mutton. To bake mutton well, a person should have a brisk, sharp fire, and keep the meat well basted. It requires two hours to bake a leg of mutton, weighing eight pounds.
Bread. The health and happiness of a family depend, to a certain extent, on good, well-baked bread. At all events, our enjoyment would be greater if it were only better prepared. We make the following extract from an article printed by the State Board of Health, concerning the food of the people of Massachusetts: "As an example of good bread we would mention that which is always to be had at the restaurant of Parker's Hotel, in Boston. It is not better than is found on the continent of Europe on all the great lines of travel, and in common use by millions of people in Germany and France; but with us, it is a rare example of what bread may be. It is made from a mixture of flour, such as is generally sold in our markets, water, salt, and yeast—nothing else. The yeast is made from malt, potatoes, and hops. The dough is kneaded from one and a half to two hours, and is then thoroughly baked." The truth seems to be that the kneading, which in this country takes the housewife's time and muscle, in Europe is done by the help of machinery. So here, in large villages and cities, people might furnish themselves with good bread, by means of co-operative associations, even at a less cost than at present.
BEVERAGES.
Water. The importance of water in the economy of nature is obvious to all. It is the most abundant substance of which we have knowledge. It composes four-fifths of the weight of vegetables, and three-fourths of that of animals. It is essential to the continuance of organic life. Water is universally present in all of the tissues and fluids of the body. It is not only abundant in the blood and secretions, but it is also an ingredient of the solids of the body. According to the most accurate computations, water is found to constitute from two-thirds to three-fourths of the entire weight of the human body. The following table, compiled by Robin and Verdeil, shows the proportion of water per thousand parts in different solids and fluids:
| Teeth, | 100 |
| Bones, | 130 |
| Cartilage, | 550 |
| Muscles, | 750 |
| Ligaments, | 768 |
| Brain, | 789 |
| Blood, | 795 |
| Synovial fluid, | 805 |
| Bile, | 880 |
| Milk, | 887 |
| Pancreatic juice, | 900 |
| Urine, | 936 |
| Lymph, | 960 |
| Gastric juice, | 975 |
| Perspiration, | 986 |
| Saliva, | 995 |
The Natural Drink of Man. Water constitutes the natural drink of man. No other liquid can supply its place. Its presence, however, in the body is not permanent. It is discharged from the body in different ways; by the urine, the feces, the breath, and the perspiration. In the first two, it is in a liquid form, in the others in a vaporous form. It is estimated that about forty-eight per cent. is discharged in the liquid, and fifty-two per cent. in the vaporous form; but the absolute as well as the relative amount discharged depends upon a variety of circumstances.
Water is never found perfectly pure, since it holds in solution more or less of almost every substance with, which it comes in contact. Rain falling in the country remote from habitations is the purest water that nature furnishes, for it is then only charged with the natural gases of the atmosphere. In cities it absorbs organic and gaseous impurities, as it falls through the air, and flowing over roofs of houses carries with it soot and dust. Water from melted snow is purer than rain-water, since it descends in a solid form, and is therefore incapable of absorbing gases. Rain-water is not adapted to drinking purposes, unless well filtered. All water, except that which has been distilled, contains air, and it is due to this fact, that aquatic animals can live in it; for example, put a fish in distilled water and it will soon die.
Mineral Impurities. Rain-water, which has filtered through the soil and strata of the earth, dissolves the soluble materials, and carries them down to lower levels, until they finally collect in the sea. Common well, spring, and mineral waters contain from 5 to 60 grains to the gallon; sea-water contains 2,000 grains while in some parts of the Dead Sea there are 20,000 grams to the gallon. The principal mineral impurities of well and spring water are lime, magnesia, soda, and oxide of iron, combined with carbonic and sulphuric acids, forming carbonates, sulphates, and chloride of sodium, or common salt. The most general, however, are carbonate and sulphate of lime.