Even in the same climate, however, men differ widely in their eat- ing and drinking. Milk, the simplest and most nourishing of all food, does not agree with persons of a bilious habit. Some persons, for the same reason, cannot eat eggs with impunity. While many in our own country are very fond of fried and greasy meat, others require it to be broiled over a clear fire and free from grease. The frying-pan certainly fries the grease into and the flavor and juice out of the meat. Fried oysters, which are a favorite dish with many, produce great discomfort and indigestion with others. THE KITCHEN IN THE HOME. 4OI Cooking utensils were generally much the same in ancient times and nations as in our own. The remains of an ancient cooking-stove at Pompeii contained a strainer, a stock-pot, a brazier by which, with a tripod placed upon it, food could be boiled, stewed, or fried. There was also a frying-pan with four circular holes in it which were prob- ably for cooking eggs. In choosing one's food, every one ought to bear in mind the kind of labor, physical and mental, which he has to perform. The Chinese, who live chiefly upon rice, are very industrious, but their physical strength gives way under labor which is easily performed by Americans and Europeans who eat meat. There are so many excellent manuals on the chemistry of food that any one can readily learn the relative amount of nutriment contained in every kind of food. While rice affords very little nourishment, oatmeal is an excellent " stand by," especially for brain workers. Let the kitchen be a central attraction of your home by its cleanli- ness and the excellence of your cooking. Nature intended man to enjoy his food as well as to keep himself alive by it. The simplest fare daintily spread before one is far more appetizing than a feast of all sorts of mixtures, just as a plain suit of clothes, perfectly neat and tidy, looks better than costly raiment bespattered with dirt. A good, wholesome table inspires the mind with a grateful sense of order and domestic art and leads to pleasant conversation, personal neatness and social enjoyment. When Talleyrand gave a grand dinner a fat French bishop sat next to him who was notorious for his gluttony, and al- ways carried his own man-servant along with him when he dined out, so that he might hand him what he knew to be his favorite dishes. After eating very largely on this occasion his eye caught sight of some dainty side-dish which he was not familiar with, and he desired his servant to get him some of it. He had his mouth open to swallow the last mouthful when he fell back dead in his chair, and the horri- fied guests all got up from the dinner-table. Who would prefer to fare sumptuously all one's life, as he had done, and then die of over- 402 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. eating, to living moderately upon natural and healthy food, with a clean palate, a sound liver, a good digestion, and an unclouded brain ?

AI-modernized reading of the original text

Even in the same climate, however, men differ widely in their eating and drinking. Milk, the simplest and most nourishing of all food, does not agree with persons of a bilious habit. Some persons, for the same reason, cannot eat eggs with impunity. While many in our own country are very fond of fried and greasy meat, others require it to be broiled over a clear fire and free from grease. The frying-pan certainly fries the grease into and the flavor and juice out of the meat. Fried oysters, which are a favorite dish with many, produce great discomfort and indigestion with others. THE KITCHEN IN THE HOME. 4OI Cooking utensils were generally much the same in ancient times and nations as in our own. The remains of an ancient cooking-stove at Pompeii contained a strainer, a stock-pot, a brazier by which, with a tripod placed upon it, food could be boiled, stewed, or fried. There was also a frying-pan with four circular holes in it which were probably for cooking eggs. In choosing one's food, every one ought to bear in mind the kind of labor, physical and mental, which he has to perform. The Chinese, who live chiefly upon rice, are very industrious, but their physical strength gives way under labor which is easily performed by Americans and Europeans who eat meat. There are so many excellent manuals on the chemistry of food that any one can readily learn the relative amount of nutriment contained in every kind of food. While rice affords very little nourishment, oatmeal is an excellent " stand by," especially for brain workers. Let the kitchen be a central attraction of your home by its cleanliness and the excellence of your cooking. Nature intended man to enjoy his food as well as to keep himself alive by it. The simplest fare daintily spread before one is far more appetizing than a feast of all sorts of mixtures, just as a plain suit of clothes, perfectly neat and tidy, looks better than costly raiment bespattered with dirt. A good, wholesome table inspires the mind with a grateful sense of order and domestic art and leads to pleasant conversation, personal neatness and social enjoyment. When Talleyrand gave a grand dinner a fat French bishop sat next to him who was notorious for his gluttony, and always carried his own man-servant along with him when he dined out, so that he might hand him what he knew to be his favorite dishes. After eating very largely on this occasion his eye caught sight of some dainty side-dish which he was not familiar with, and he desired his servant to get him some of it. He had his mouth open to swallow the last mouthful when he fell back dead in his chair, and the horrified guests all got up from the dinner-table. Who would prefer to fare sumptuously all one's life, as he had done, and then die of over- 402 THE hearthstone; or, life at home. eating, to living moderately upon natural and healthy food, with a clean palate, a sound liver, a good digestion, and an unclouded brain ?

The hearthstone; or, Life at home