ter to cream, and needs to be
reduced to the consistency of cream to be easily digested. Those nuts,
such as almonds, filberts, and pecans, which do not contain an excess of
fat, are the most wholesome. Nuts should be eaten, in moderation, at the
regular mealtime, and not partaken of as a tidbit between meals. It is
likewise well to eat them in connection with some hard food, to insure
their thorough mastication. Almonds and cream crisps thus used make a
pleasing combination.

Most of the edible nuts have long been known and used as food. The
_Almond_ was highly esteemed by the ancient nations of the East, its
native habitat, and is frequently referred to in sacred history. It is
grown extensively in the warm, temperate regions of the Old World. There
are two varieties, known as the bitter and the sweet almond. The kernel
of the almond yields a fixed oil; that produced from the bitter almond
is much esteemed for flavoring purposes, but it is by no means a safe
article to use, at it possesses marked poisonous qualities. Fresh, sweet
almonds are a nutritive, and, when properly eaten, wholesome food. The
outer brown skin of the kernel is somewhat bitter, rough, and irritating
to the stomach but it can be easily removed by blanching.

Blanched almonds, if baked for a short time, become quite brittle, and
may be easily pulverized, and are then more easily digested. Bread made
from almonds thus baked and pulverized, is considered an excellent food
for persons suffering with diabetes.

_Brazil Nuts_ are the seeds of a gigantic tree which grows wild in the
valleys of the Amazon, and throughout tropical America. The case
containing these seeds is a hard, woody shell, globular in form, and
about the size of a man's head. It is divided into four cells, in each
of which are closely packed the seeds which constitute the so-called
nuts, of commerce. These seeds are exceedingly rich in oil, one pound of
them producing about nine ounces of oil.

The _Cocoanut_ is perhaps the most important of all the shell fruits, if
we may judge by the variety of uses to which the nut and the tree which
bears it can be put. It has been said that nature seldom produces a tree
so variously useful to man as the cocoanut palm. In tropical countries,
where it grows abundantly, its leaves are employed for thatching, its
fibers for manufacturing many useful articles, while its ashes produce
potash in abundance. The fruit is eaten raw, and in many ways is