A year's cookery

time, because a quantity of food is calculated to disgust the invalid. Acting on this advice it is to be feared that convalescents do not always get as much as they require. Excepting when the stomach is very sensitive, as after recovery from typhoid, for instance, and when there is great difficulty of digestion, it is safer to err on the side of giving too much food, than on the side of giving too little. When food can be taken in small quantities only, it ought to be taken at short intervals, and as much food as can be properly digested is generally needed. A doctor ought to be asked how much food he wishes the patient to have in twenty-four hours. When people are very ill something warm to drink (a cup of tea or a glass of milk) should be given quite early, about five or six o’clock in the morning, then the breakfast is more likely to be enjoyed when it comes. Very few sick people can take solid food first thing. A very sick person, unless the doctor gives other orders, should be fed at least once in two hours ; a convalescent, who is not yet able to take regular meals, should have food at intervals of three hours. Beef tea, mutton broth, and similar preparations are not foods, they are stimu¬ lants, and should be regarded as extras rather than as meals. It should not be supposed that when a convalescent has had beef tea he has had a meal. An invalid ought never to be allowed to get faint for want of food. If anything occurs to prevent the preparation of an expected meal, something else, a cup of beef tea, or a little milk, should be given to ward off faintness. Excepting in cases of exhaustion, or when the doctor especially orders that food should be given at certain intervals, an invalid should never be wakened to be fed. Sleep is one of the best of restoratives. At the same time, during a long sleep food should always be prepared, so that it may be ready when the patient wakes. In the day time food should never be kept in the room where the sick person lies. In the night, however, something to drink must be put where it can be taken if needed. Water. — In almost all illnesses cold water is allowed to be given. Water that has been boiled and allowed to go cold may always be drunk with safety, but it is very flat and tasteless. The flatness will be to some extent removed if the water is passed through a filter. To keep water cold it should be put in a stone jar or jug, the vessel being wrapped in a coarse cloth kept constantly wet. Ice is often a necessity in a sick-room. Unless, however, the nurse is quite sure that it is pure, it should not be put into the drinking water. A small quantity can be best kept by putting it wrapped in flannel into a colander or strainer, or similar dish, which will allow the water that melts to drain away, then covering it closely. Ice may be quite easily broken into chips by putting the point of a darning needle or of a strong pin near the edge of a lump, and tapping the head slightly. Milk. — We have Miss Nightingale’s authority for saying, that