st. In some cases it is much better, on account
of the various diseases to which suckling women are subject, and the
improper food in which they too frequently indulge. No other ingredients
should however be added to this kind of food, such as sugar, spices, or
fruits, which tend only to vitiate the diet, and to render it less
nutritious. This and other sorts of spoonmeat should be made rather thin
than otherwise, and abounding with liquid, whether milk or water. All
porridges and spoonmeats that are made thin, and quickly prepared, are
sweeter, brisker on the palate, and easier of digestion, than those
which are thick, and long in preparing. Food should never be given to
children more than milk warm, and the proper way to cool it is by
letting it stand uncovered to cool itself; for much stirring alters the
composition, and takes off the sweetness. Covering it down too, keeps in
the fumes that ought to go off, and by excluding the air, renders it
less pure.--Flour Pap. To two thirds of new milk, after it has stood
five or six hours from the time of milking, add one third of spring
water, and set it on a quick clear fire. Make a batter of milk and fine
flour, and just as the milk and water is ready to boil, pour in the
batter, and stir it a few minutes. When it is ready to boil again, take
it off, add a little salt, and let it stand to cool. A good spoonful of
flour is sufficient to thicken a pint of milk, or milk and water. This
will make it about the thickness of common milk porridge, which is what
will eat the sweetest, and be the easiest of digestion. This kind of
food affords substantial nourishment, it neither binds nor loosens the
body, but keeps it in proper order, nourishes the blood, and tends to
produce a lively disposition. Pap prepared in this way is far more
friendly to nature than in the common way of boiling, and may be
constantly eaten with much better effect, and without ever tiring or
cloying the stomach.--Oatmeal Pap. Mix a pint of milk and water, in the
proportion of two thirds milk and one third water, with a good spoonful
of oatmeal, but it is best not to be too thick. Set it in a saucepan
upon a quick clear fire, and when it is near boiling take it off. Pour
it from one basin into another, backwards and forwards seven or eight
times, which will bring out the fine flour of the oatmeal, and
incorporate it with the milk. Then return it into the saucepan, set it
upon the fire, and when it is again ready