There are some essential distinctions between the various
forms of organic life. Animals grow proportionally in all direc-
tions, and, at a certain time of life, attain their average size.
Plants grow upwards and downwards from a collet only, and
continue to grow through a term of existence. Animals feed
upon organic matter, consume oxygen from the air, and throw
off carbonic acid ; plants feed upon inorganic matter, consume
carbonic acid, and restore oxygen to the air.
Living plants or vegetables are, with few exceptions, fixed to
the spot of earth from which they spring, and receive their
nourishment from external sources. It is furnished them by
the soil, air, light, and heat by which they are surrounded; and
they are every moment receiving all that is necessary for their
sustenance. If one of these essential conditions be withdrawn,
death follows. Living animals have the power of locomotion^
and, being obliged to wander, they are not always directly in
contact with their sources of nourishment. They have, there-
fore, a storehouse in which they lay up at intervals a supply
of material. The possession of this stomach, or storehouse,
characterizes all animal beings.
The changes that occur in animal life are more rapid and
variable than those in vegetable life. Not being, like vegeta-
bles, always in connection with their food, animals need some
monitor to warn them when to seek it. This is provided them
in the appetite^ or the sensations of hunger and thirst. There is
also a pleasure in the regulated indulgence of these sensations,
w^hich never fails to insure attention to their demands.
The vegetable kingdom is the original source of all organic
matter. All our food is derived directly from the vegetable
w^orld, or indirectly through animals which have been nourished
on vegetable products. The ox and sheep, which are consumed
in the form of beef and mutton, have not fed on flesh, but on
grass, hay, oats, and other grains. It is only under exposure to
the sun's rays that plants will grow. Hence to its influence
we must refer the production of food in the first instance, and
therefore the sustenance of all life.
Life and growth in human beings are dependent upon two
conditions, — motion and warmth.
Motion. — Our bodies are constantly in motion. The heart
The Boston Cook Book.
451
and lungs move with every breath. Every thought causes some
change in the brain. Whenever any part of the body loses its
power of motion, it dies. All this motion, whether voluntary or
involuntary, results in the gradual wasting away of the flesh,
blood, and bones of which the body is composed. *' We begin
to die as soon as we begin to live." If the worn-out materials
be not replaced, we die. One great object of food is to supply
this waste. The demand for building material is greatest when
the body is in a state of activity. Until the human body has
attained its complete growth, there should be a constant supply
of material for new growth^ as well as for repair. In maturity,
or when, from bodily inactivity, there is less waste, a smaller
supply will suffice. Food taken at regular intervals supplies
means of growth, and repairs the worn-out tissues.
Page 264
Presented as published in 1884. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
There are some essential distinctions between the various forms of organic life. Animals grow proportionally in all directions, and, at a certain time of life, attain their average size. Plants grow upwards and downwards from a collar only, and continue to grow through a term of existence. Animals feed upon organic matter, consume oxygen from the air, and throw off carbonic acid ; plants feed upon inorganic matter, consume carbonic acid, and restore oxygen to the air.
Living plants or vegetables are, with few exceptions, fixed to the spot of earth from which they spring, and receive their nourishment from external sources. It is furnished them by the soil, air, light, and heat by which they are surrounded; and they are every moment receiving all that is necessary for their sustenance. If one of these essential conditions be withdrawn, death follows. Living animals have the power of locomotion^ and, being obliged to wander, they are not always directly in contact with their sources of nourishment. They have, therefore, a storehouse in which they lay up at intervals a supply of material. The possession of this stomach, or storehouse, characterizes all animal beings.
The changes that occur in animal life are more rapid and variable than those in vegetable life. Not being, like vegetables, always in connection with their food, animals need some monitor to warn them when to seek it. This is provided them in the appetite^ or the sensations of hunger and thirst. There is also a pleasure in the regulated indulgence of these sensations, w^hich never fails to insure attention to their demands.
The vegetable kingdom is the original source of all organic matter. All our food is derived directly from the vegetable w^orld, or indirectly through animals which have been nourished on vegetable products. The ox and sheep, which are consumed in the form of beef and mutton, have not fed on flesh, but on grass, hay, oats, and other grains. It is only under exposure to the sun's rays that plants will grow. Hence to its influence we must refer the production of food in the first instance, and therefore the sustenance of all life.
Life and growth in human beings are dependent upon two conditions, — motion and warmth.
Motion. — Our bodies are constantly in motion. The heart
The Boston Cook Book.
and lungs move with every breath. Every thought causes some change in the brain. Whenever any part of the body loses its power of motion, it dies. All this motion, whether voluntary or involuntary, results in the gradual wasting away of the flesh, blood, and bones of which the body is composed. *' We begin to die as soon as we begin to live." If the worn-out materials be not replaced, we die. One great object of food is to supply this waste. The demand for building material is greatest when the body is in a state of activity. Until the human body has attained its complete growth, there should be a constant supply of material for new growth^ as well as for repair. In maturity, or when, from bodily inactivity, there is less waste, a smaller supply will suffice. Food taken at regular intervals supplies means of growth, and repairs the worn-out tissues.