ought to be beautiful at sixty years of age. Little food, and only that of the simplest and most nutritious kind, should be the rule by which singers should live. More people die from too much eating than by too little, and the greatest voices have sprung from the poorest-fed nations. Depending upon the resources of a well-fed body to sing interferes with the easiest use of the voice. That is to say, people who are well supported by food do not seek for a better way of producing a tone than by main force. "I had to sing. I was hungry, but I found a way to use my voice that did not tire me," is quoted as the words of a street singer who is now an artist. The struggle to sing in a way that would not make her more hungry taught Mme. Nilssen, without a teacher, her remarkable use of voice. She could have repeated to the world some odd remembrances of her childhood, and the recital would have illustrated the truth that to sing well one must have but little food or little luxury, especially in the preparation to be a vocalist.

THE QUESTION OF FEEDING IN CASES OF DIPHTHERIA.

THE Medical Record says: The administration of nourishment in the presence of acute disease, particularly in children, and more especially when food cannot for any reason be taken in the usual way, becomes at times a matter for most serious consideration. This problem not rarely presents itself for solution in cases of diphtheria, though by no means with the same frequency now as prior to the general employment of antitoxin. Under ordinary circumstances feeding by the mouth is to be preferred over all other methods, and milk will naturally constitute the principal article of food. Swallowing may, however, be rendered impossible on account of pain or faucial swelling, or regurgitation or vomiting may take place, or food gains entrance into the larynx in spite of every precaution, or attempts at feeding are attended

with such struggling as to cause exhaustion. In the presence of any of these conditions some expedient must be resorted to to take the place of the usual method of administering food. Among the substitutes for mouth feeding are nasal feeding through a tube, rectal alimentation, and subcutaneous injection of sterile horse-serum. The indications for these are briefly discussed by R. G. Kirton in the Lancet of June 15, 1901. For nasal feeding a soft rubber tube is commonly employed, although occasionally a stiff tube becomes necessary. The food should be liquid, strained, warm, and administered in small quantities at intervals of four hours. Rectal feeding will have to be resorted to when mouth-feeding or nasal feeding does not meet the requirements of the case. A funnel and a rubber tube may be used for the purpose, the latter being introduced as high up into the rectum as possible. Here also the food should be liquid, strained, warmed, and administered in small amounts at intervals of four hours. When a sufficient quantity of food cannot be administered by the mouth, through the nasal tube, or by way of the rectum, recourse may be had to subcutaneous injection of sterile horse-serum, from twenty to forty c.c. being thrown daily into the loose subcutaneous tissues of the trunk.

THE PEANUT, ITS CULTIVATION AND VALUE.

FROM an article in The Industrialist we abstract the following concerning the peanut: The peanut is a plant which the vegetarian and the reformer who hopes to improve the world's morals by improving the world's bill of fare may well advocate and cultivate. The vegetarian has made something of a start, and peanut butter is advertised in competition with the creamery and packing-house products. The reformer may be certain that the world has grown better in its methods of peanut consumption, even though there is little proof that the nuts

themselves are deserving of credit. The sellers of salted peanuts, in removing the shells from the nuts and the landscape, have done something for the cause of cleanliness. Placing the peanut upon the table has added to its dignity and multiplied the number of

consumers.

Though the desirability of making the peanut appear regularly as an article not too rare nor good for human creatures' daily food may be a matter for further research, there is no doubt but that the report of the chemist is in its favor.

In a bulletin upon "Peanuts: Culture and Uses," the United States Department of Agriculture gives as the average of all available analyses of peanut kernels these figures: Water, 7.85 per cent.; ash, 2.77 per cent.; protein, 29.47 per cent. ; fiber, 4.29 per cent.; nitrogen free extract, 14.27 per cent.; fat, 49.20 per cent.; nitrogen, 4.67 per cent.; which showing indicates that the peanut consumer gets a large amount of food for his money. The same publication gives a comparison of peanut meal and other articles of food. This table, made by Professor König, of Germany, contains these figures in terms of nutritive units per pound. Potatoes, 138.2; bacon, 1257.7; butter, 1186.5; beef, 530.9; rice, 534.6; whole milk, 145.5; peanut meal, 1425. These figures are for peanut meal, the residue after the oil has been extracted, which is said to be wholesome and palatable and the cheapest food in the list.

This bulletin gives the amount of peanuts consumed in the United States as four million bushels, or about equal to the product of this country; a small amount compared with that consumed by Europe, where large quantities are used in the manufacture of oil. This oil is used for lubricating, soap making and table use, generally under the name of olive oil.

The peanut is known to the botanist as Arachis hypogea, of the order Leguminosea. Its growth and appearance are much like those of other members of the bean family until after blossoming, when the ovary is pushed into the soil by the lengthening spike or stem. The plant has

a long blossoming season, the flowers are borne in the axils of the leaves, new flowers forming as the stems elongate. In the peanut-growing States the vines are carefully saved for fodder. The feeding value of the fodder, always high, is greatly increased when there are numbers of small and immature nuts. In the search for nitrogenous stock food the peanut should not be overlooked. looked. Stock eat vines and pods readily, the bulky pods insuring some considerable mastication of the kernels.

The plant resists drought bravely, frequently forming a surprisingly large number of pods in very hot, dry weather. A light-colored soil has been generally considered as best for peanuts, from the fact that dark-colored soils are liable to stain the pods. Immature pods are nearly always dark colored, and though the stained pods may contain sound kernels, they look susspiciously like the immature pods. Any loamy soil may be expected to raise fair crops of peanuts, and even fairly heavy soils, if kept in good condition, will raise peanuts.

KEEPING FRUITS AND VEGETABLES.

CELERY will keep excellently in a box of sand. For nervous and kidney troubles this is one of the best remedies known. Many persons find it more digestible when cooked, and thus prepared its flavor is equally delightful.

Sometimes in November there is still some late canning or preserving to do, and this should be made quite as carefully as that put down in hot weather. A dry, cool and airy place is very necessary for keeping canned fruits to perfection. The shelves. are best made of slats two inches wide and placed one inch apart. They should be neatly and strongly built, and with due regard for convenience and ease of access. Have them about two feet wide and about one foot apart, with the lowest shelf one foot from the floor. This last shelf should

be of one board; cover it with an inch or more of fine, fresh lime, and change this two or three times during the winter. On the lower slat shelves of this stand pears will ripen nicely, but must not be allowed to touch one another or decay will ensue.

A very good way to keep grapes is to suspend a barrel hoop by three cords from the ceiling in the cellar, and hang the grape bunches to this by means of fine wire attached to the small end, the other being sealed with hot sealing wax. The bunches must not be allowed to come in contact, and all imperfect grapes must be removed. The cellar must be frost proof, but grapes, as well as apples, pears and vegetables, keep much better in a rather cold cellar than in a warm one.-Good Housekeeping.

"A turkey calls for more muscle, and ‘a long pull, a strong pull and a pull all together.' Cut the skin in the leg about half way between the knee joint and foot, and there will be discovered immediately the group of shining white tendons. Slip a strong skewer, or if the bird is quite elderly, the point of the sharpener that belongs to a carving set, under the bunch of tendons. Lift them carefully, then twist around two or three times, acquiring a firm hold. Give a strong pull and out they will come, together. Count them, and if there are not eight, go after the ones that are left. With these tough sinews removed, the dark meat is so delicious and tender that the drumsticks of one turkey will be found scarcely a large enough supply for the family table."

DARK MEAT MADE TENDER. "ONE who has once drawn the tendons from a chicken or turkey, no matter how the fowl is to be cooked, will never again use one having the tough sinews unremoved," says Good Housekeeping. "A marketman will draw a fowl's tendons for the asking, but it is a task every house-wife ought to know how to perform herself. Buy a fowl with its legs left on, turn it on its breast and hold the back of each leg, one at a time of course, in the left hand. With a sharp knife in the right hand cut very carefully just below the knee joint, through the skin, not any deeper. Inside will be found the group of tendons, there being eight in each leg, lying snug in a groove. They are attached to the foot, but through the dark meat they run away up into the leg, well into the upper joint. With a strong wire skewer lift each tendon separately, hold the chicken firmly, and pull. If the chicken is young and tender, each tendon will come out easily and it can be pulled by a slight effort. If the bird has seen several Thanksgivings, all the muscle that can be put into the job will be required, but it is exactly such a bird that demands most the tendon-drawing process.

Prune preparation. Put one and a half pounds of prunes in a stewpan, adding a little water, cover pan and set on back of range, simmering slowly until tender; rub through colander, sweeten to taste, then freeze same as ice cream. When frozen serve on a plate with water ice around it. Water Ice. One pint of clarified sugar, one-half pint water, rasp two lemons on sugar, juice of five lemons and one orange, add together and strain through hair sieve; when cold freeze as ice cream.—Mrs. G. W. Buckley.

STUFFED PRUNES.

Soak California prunes in water until soft enough to pit, then fill each prune with a quarter of a teaspoonful of powdered sugar, some nicely chopped walnuts and half a date. Shape the prunes nicely and sprinkle with granulated sugar. These are richer if left a week before eating them.— Mrs. G. W. Gray.

SANTA CLARA PRUNE CAKE.

Two cups of sugar creamed with onehalf cup of butter, three eggs (whites beaten separately) two-thirds cup of sweet milk, one heaping teaspoonful of baking powder, one tablespoonful of powdered

mace, one cupful of chopped walnuts, one cupful of chopped prunes that have been steamed. Line a cake pan with buttered paper, fill in a layer of the cake batter, spread a layer of the chopped prunes and over this put a layer of the nuts, then another layer of cake, and so on until the pan is twothirds full. Bake in a steady but not quick oven. Miss Mary P. Carroll.

PRUNE BROWN BREAD.

One cup cornmeal, two cups graham flour, one-half cup of molasses, one cup sour milk, one teaspoonful soda, one teaspoonful salt, one cup dried prunes, washed, pitted and chopped fine. Scald the cornmeal and then add the other ingredients. Put in greased tins and steam three hours.-Mrs. B. R. Follett.

PRUNE SOUFFLE.

THAT many plants secrete a nectar and a pollen which contain a narcotic having intoxicating properties, is a fact well known to botanists. The Bulletin of Pharmacy recently called attention to this interesting botanical fact, and, according to Health, quotes Dr. J. M. Weir, Jr., as authority for the statement that the cosmos is responsible for more insect drunkenness than any other flower. The poisonous substance produced by this flower is capable of injuring human beings as well as insects, as shown by the following observations made by Dr. Weir:

"Many of the bees, coleopterous, lepi

dopterous, and dipterous insects, after partaking of the pollen or of the nectar, would fall to the ground, and lie supine in a state of utter helplessness. That they were intoxicated was easily demonstrated by marking some of the prostrate bees with a paint of zinc oxide and gum arabic; the marked bees, in the course of an hour or so, were to be seen on the flowers greedily sucking the nectar from the nectaries."

Dr. Weir further says:

"An intoxicated bee was carried to my laboratory for dissection and microscopic investigation. The insect was so drunk that, when placed upon its back, it had the greatest difficulty in getting upon its legs; yet when a cosmos blossom was brought within two inches of its head, the bee thrust out its proboscis and staggered towards it! It immediately began to suck the nectar, and in a few moments tumbled over, a drunken, senseless, almost inert little mass-a victim of appetite!

"The cosmos is rich in pollen, and a half-teaspoonful was therefore soon collected by shaking the blossoms over a sheet of notepaper. This pollen I swallowed. In about fifteen minutes I noticed an acceleration of the pulse-rate (three beats to the minute), with a feeling of increased. warmth. There was also slight exhilaration.

"The nectaries of the depollenized flowers were macerated in boiling water and then distilled. A half drachm of the distillate was then injected hypodermically in my left arm. Almost immediately, there was marked acceleration of the pulse-beat (six to the minute), with greatly-increased volume. A feeling of exhilaration supervened, which lasted for some twenty-five or thirty minutes, and was followed by slight nausea. There was considerable pain at the seat of the injection, and a tumefied spot as large as a hen's egg made its appearance, which gave me some alarm for several days; I feared that an abscess was in process of formation. The swelling gradually disappeared, however, and in five days the arm regained its normal appearance, save for a

slight discoloration, which eventually faded away.

"From these experiments, it would seem that the toxic principle is to be found both in the pollen and in the nectar. This conclusion is further strengthened by the fact that numerous beetles were found in an intoxicated condition on the blossoms and on the ground beneath the plants. These insects evidently eat the pollen; having no probosces, they cannot reach the nectaries, hence must content themselves with the 'next best dish on the table."

In view of the foregoing facts, it would appear that honey, although chemically superior to sugar as a source of saccharine food, is liable to contamination to an injurious degrree by toxic substances gathered by the bees while collecting the sweet nectar from the various species of flowers.

'

FOOD VALUE OF OLIVES.

RIPE olives are a very nutritive and perfectly digestible form of food. The green olives of the markets are quite the reverse of this. They are but slightly nutritive and are very difficult of digestion. Most people have never seen, much less eaten, a ripe olive. They buy those offered by the caterers-hard, green pickles, as unlike ripe, digestible and toothsome olives as green, puckery crabapples are unlike ripe, tender greenings. Ripe olives are very dark, almost black in color. They are beginning to make their appearance in the markets, and to be appreciated.

The green ones-Spanish and Italian, chiefly, as found in the ornamented, indented, punted and delusive little jars are merely tough pickles. The ripe ones, although kept in a strong brine as a preservative, are an edible fruit. One can take them as freely as one eats grapes or plums. Most of these ripe ones come from California. It is to be hoped the Californians will so improve their methods of treating this valuable and delicious fruit that it will become a common article of diet in every household.