Beef tea is combined with more nourishing foods in various ways ; and what is known as Barth°low's food contains all the necessary elements for the nutrition of the human body. It is made by adding to a cup of milk, in which an ounce of sago has been soaked for ten minutes, a cup of beef tea, the beaten yolk of an egg, and celery salt to season.
Mutton and veal generally appear in the invalid's diet in the form of broth. Broths are made by cutting the meat small, covering it with cold water, and bringing it gradually to a boil over a slow fire, where it is allowed to simmer for several hours, whereupon the broth is strained and skimmed. Cereals, rice or barley, may be added. Chicken broth is best made from the older fowls, which are less in demand for other purposes.
Oyster Juice.—This is much relished by some patients. It is made by mincing the oysters, for which a silver knife should be used, and putting them in a stone jar which is then placed in hot water for half an hour. The liquid is then strained and seasoned to taste. A broth may be made by adding cold water to the oysters before putting the jar in the hot water. Oyster soup, made as usual with milk, is also good, and whole raw oysters figure prominently as a convalescent food.
Clams.—Being tougher than oysters, clams are seldom used except for broth, which is served hot or cold or in a thickened milk soup. The broth is made by cooking clams (which have been thoroughly cleaned) in a very little water until the shells begin to open, when the liquid is strained and seasoned.
Jellies.—These have always been a traditional delicacy for the sick, and can be prepared in many attractive ways, from fruit and meat. Wine, cider, and various fruit juices may be used with gelatine, all in much the same way. Rules for proportions are invariably furnished with the gelatine ; but it may be noted that the latter should be first dissolved in hot water, and half a box of gelatine or two tablespoonfuls of the granulated form will be sufficient for three and a half cups of liquid.
Chicken Jelly.—This is made precisely like chicken broth, but is un diluted, arid allowed to become solid. It should be set in pleasing moulds, and a little of the chicken meat may be included in it, if the patient is allowed to have it.
Even bread may be served as a jelly by toasting brown the inside of a loaf, soaking in boiling water with a little lemon, then boiling, straining, sweetening, and chilling.
Toast.—When prepared for an invalid this should be made from stale bread with the crust cut off, and toasted slowly, so that it is crisp all the xvay through. Stale bread, heated in the oven until brown, is known as dextrinised bread. The '' pulled bread " frequently ordered for those who are on a diet may be prepared at home from a loaf of loose texture by taking off the crust and tearing the inner portion into strips with as little pressing as possible. These strips are laid on a paper in a pan, and put in the oven until crisp and golden brown. It is a fixed rule that invalids must never eat freshly-baked bread, and if bread for their use is made in small loaves its thorough baking will be more easily secured with the killing of all yeast.
Of drinks for the sick there are legion, some nutritive, some soothing, and some merely cooling and thirst-allaying.
Fruit Juices.—If prepared at home, so that their ingredients are unques tionable, fruit juices may be used to advantage ; and, as many of them lack the desirable acidity, they may be added to ordinary lemonade. This latter is correctly made by using, for sweetening purposes, a syrup which may be made by boiling a cup of sugar for ten minutes in two cups of water. This is used with the lemon-juice in the proportion of two to one, and about six tablespoonfuls of the mixture to one cup of water, plain or mineral. Next to the lemon-juice, orange-juice and grape-juice are most frequently used. The last-named can be prepared in large quantities and put up in fruit-jars for future use. To do this, wash the grapes and place them in a preserving kettle, with cold water enough to cover them. Let them cook until they come to pieces, then strain through double cheese-cloth, put back on the fire, sweeten to taste, bring to a boil, and seal up in the fruit-jars with the same precautions used in preserving other fruits. This juice will need to be diluted for drinking.