tion: FIG. 14.--The amount of real food in these articles.]

Radishes, onions, and cucumbers are made largely of water. Only a
small amount of these should be eaten at one meal as the stomach must
work hard to make use of them. Young beets, lettuce, and ripe tomatoes
may be eaten by young and old. They contain useful minerals and help
keep the body in a healthful condition.

=The Cereals or Grain Foods.=--These foods are eaten in the form of
bread, oatmeal, corn meal, rice, and breakfast foods. All of these
furnish much matter to strengthen the body and make it grow. Bread and
butter with rice are excellent foods for children.

=Fruits.=--Very few people can remain well long without eating fruit of
some kind. Ripe apples, pears, plums, peaches, berries, and cherries
furnish useful salts to the body and also help the stomach and food
tube do their work in a more healthful way. Fruits also increase the
appetite. Green fruit and fruit which is overripe should never be eaten.

=Eggs.=--Eggs form a good food for nearly everybody, but they are
specially needed by the young and other persons with weak bodies. They
can repair the worn-out parts of the body and also help it do its work.

Eggs are most healthful when eaten raw or soft cooked. The best way to
cook them through evenly is to put them in a pan off the stove and add
about a quart of boiling water for every three eggs. Cover and let
them cook fifteen minutes.

Eggs should be kept in a cold room or cellar until used. They become
stale in less than a week when left in a warm living room and may get
a bad taste when only three or four days old.

=Salt, Pepper, and Vinegar.=--Eating much salt is harmful. A small
quantity of salt and pepper increases the appetite and makes the
stomach do its work better. Children should use very little pepper and
almost no vinegar and mustard.

[Illustration: FIG. 15.--A bottle of beer. The dotted part at the top
shows how much body-building food it contains.]

=Tobacco.=--Some people think tobacco is a food because it is made from
the leaves of a plant. Other people think tobacco is a food because they
do not feel hungry after smoking or chewing it. The truth is that
tobacco is of no use to the body as a food and may do it much harm
because of the poison it contains. Tobacco satisfies hunger somewhat by
deadening the parts of the body that are calling for food.

=Beer.=--The people who make beer and sell it say that it is a food.