nd seasoning will cost less than two cents; stew
gently for fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning,
and serve as soon as the rice is tender. This makes a palatable dish for
about ten cents.

=Rice, Japanese Style.=--Put half a pound of well washed rice into a
double kettle, with one pint of milk or water, one heaping teaspoonful
of salt, and quarter of a medium sized nutmeg grated; boil it until
tender, about forty minutes; if it seems very dry add a little more
liquid, taking care not to have it sloppy when it is cooked. When milk
is used it may be served with milk and sugar as a breakfast or tea dish;
when water takes the place of milk, the addition of an ounce of butter,
and half a saltspoonful of pepper makes a nice dinner dish of it.

CHAPTER V.

SOUP.

The value of soup as food cannot be overestimated.

In times of scarcity and distress, when the question has arisen of how
to feed the largest number of persons upon the least quantity of food,
the aliment chosen has always been soup. There are two reasons for this:
first, by the addition of water to the ingredients used we secure the
aid of this important agent in distributing nutrition equally
throughout the blood, to await final absorption; and, second, we gain
that sense of repletion so necessary to the satisfaction of hunger--the
fact being acknowledged that the sensation we call hunger is often
allayed by the presence of even innutritious substances in the stomach.

Good soup is literally the juice of any ingredient from which it is
made--the extract of the meat, grains, or vegetables composing it. The
most economical of soups, eaten with bread, will satisfy the hunger of
the hardest worker. The absolute nutritive value of soup depends, of
course, upon its ingredients; and these can easily be chosen in
reference to the maintenance of health. For instance, the pot-liquor in
which meat has been boiled needs only the addition of a few dumplings or
cereals, and seasoning, to form a perfect nutriment. That produced from
skin and bones can be made equally palatable and nutritious by boiling
with it a few vegetables and sweet herbs, and some rice, barley, or
oatmeal. Even the gelatinous residue produced by long-continued boiling,
without the presence of any foreign matter, is a useful emollient
application to the inflamed mucous surfaces in some diseases, while it
affords at the same time the degree of distention necessary to prevent