en broiled or boiled--not fried--are excellent food for
invalids or people of weak digestion. Fish should be well cooked.

OYSTERS.

Oysters are a nutritious food, and may be eaten either raw or cooked.
Lobsters, crabs and shrimps are called "sea scavengers," and unless
absolutely fresh are not a desirable food.

MILK.

Milk contains all the elements which are necessary to maintain life;
and constitutes a complete diet for infants. It will sustain life in
an adult for several months. Although milk furnishes a useful food, it
is not essential to a diet required for active bodily exercise. It is
seldom given to athletes while in active training. Adults who are able
to eat any kind of food are kept in better health by abstaining from
milk, except as used for cooking purposes. An occasional glass of hot
milk taken as a stimulant for tired brain and nerves is sometimes
beneficial. Milk is composed of water, salts, fat, milk sugar or
lactose, albumen and casein. Average milk has from 8 to 10 per cent.
of cream. Good milk should form a layer of cream about 2-1/2 in. thick
as it stands in a quart bottle. Lactose (milk sugar) is an important
ingredient in milk. It is less liable to ferment in the stomach than
cane sugar. In the presence of fermenting nitrogenous material it is
converted into lactic acid, making the milk sour. Casein is present in
milk chiefly in its alkaline form, and in conjunction with calcium
phosphate. Milk absorbs germs from the air and from unclean vessels
very readily. Good, clean, uncontaminated milk ought to keep fresh,
exposed in a clean room at a temperature of 68 deg. F., for 48 hours
without souring. If the milk is tainted in any way it will sour in a
few hours. Boiled milk will keep fresh half as long again as fresh
milk. Milk absorbs odors very quickly, therefore should never be left
in a refrigerator with stale cheese, ham, vegetables, etc., unless in
an air-tight jar. It should never be left exposed in a sick room or
near waste pipes. Absolute cleanliness is necessary for the
preservation of milk; vessels in which it is to be kept must be
thoroughly scalded with boiling water, not merely washed out with warm
water.

_Methods of Preserving Milk._

STERILIZED MILK.

Milk to be thoroughly sterilized and germ free must be heated to the
boiling point (212 deg. F.). This may be done by putting the milk into
perfectly clean bottles and placing in a rack, in a kettle of boiling
water, remain