m either, as being the best of all food-stuffs of this
character. The crusts of biscuit a day or so old are quite digestible, as
are also waffles, if made with little grease and cooked thoroughly. The
soft inner portion of biscuit and that of hot rolls, as well as
batter-cakes, is decidedly unwholesome.

Graham-bread should not be constantly indulged in for the reason that it
contains multitudes of sharp particles of the husk of the grain that cut
the delicate mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines as it passes
along, and if its use be long and continued, severe ill effects
necessarily follow.

In this connection attention should also be called to the common
error that particles of husk are of advantage to breads of all
sorts; the former consist chemically of exactly the same thing as
sand, and are quite as indigestible, and this, in connection with
what has just been said of their action on the delicate mucous
membranes of the intestinal tract, should be quite enough to
convince anyone that they are not only useless, but injurious. It
is true that the irritation produced by the husk will oftentimes
cause the bowels to act, but results of the same character may be
induced by many other agencies, within themselves less harmful.

_Rye-bread._--There is no reason why rye-bread should not be prepared in
quite as wholesome a way as is wheaten-bread, and this grain should
undoubtedly rank as one of the best of the cereals. Its use, however, is
so limited in this country that it is scarcely necessary to go into a
lengthy discussion as to its merits. It may be remarked that the ergot
fungus frequently grows on this grain, and when ground up with it
occasionally poisons the consumer where the quantity of the substance is
large and the bread is eaten in considerable quantities. Instances of
this kind are not uncommon among the peasantry of Europe, where a black
bread made from rye is the staple article of diet. Of course, when making
food-preparations of rye, we should be careful to have the flour
thoroughly winnowed, and to cook the bread until sufficiently dry to
acquire a proper consistency for chewing.

_Corn-bread and Corn Food-products._--When made from perfectly sound
grain, and if not allowed to undergo fermentative changes afterward,
there can be no question that food-products of corn are entirely
wholesome, and, from the standpoint of chemical composition, quit