ble in this volume to go into the subject with the
thoroughness that it deserves, the principal points deserve some mention.
They may be briefly stated as follows:

(1) The flour must be made into a dough in which are incorporated
substances that produce a gas called carbon dioxide, which, forming
in innumerable small bubbles throughout the mass, cause the whole
to swell; when this is completed the bread is said to have
"risen." Of course the object of this is to produce a thorough
breaking up of the sticky dough--with the result that when the
bread is finally cooked it is light and fluffy, and can be readily
masticated.

(2) After the process just described has been completed the bread
should be thoroughly cooked, for reasons which have already been
explained.

(3) After cooking has been accomplished the bread should be
thoroughly dried, either by keeping it hot until this occurs, or,
what is better, permitting it to remain warm for a time and then
allowing the process to be completed in a natural way by putting
the bread aside for several days. It is necessary for bread to be
dried in order that it may be thoroughly soaked in saliva during
the process of chewing.

If the principles above enunciated be properly followed out, good
wholesome bread will result. There are, of course, many details connected
with the preparation of food known to expert cooks into which it will not
be possible for us to go here, and for which the reader is referred to
any good cook-book.

Some starchy foods such as rice and potatoes, do not lend themselves
readily to the production of breads, and are consequently usually cooked
in some other manner. It cannot be too strongly insisted upon that they
should be rather _steamed_ than boiled,--the process being usually
carried out by placing a small amount of water with them and allowing it
to boil away; we should remember also that the principles just insisted
upon in connection with making bread apply here with equal force--we
should cook thoroughly and serve both as dry as is possible.

_Cooking of Meats._--Here again it is necessary to insist upon the
necessity of thorough cooking. The error has long prevailed that raw
meats are wholesome, but within recent years it has been clearly
demonstrated that this old view is erroneous. The muscle-fibers that
constitute the bulk of the nourishment of meats