t to be encouraged. The
same amount of beef would give far greater returns in muscular power.

In addition to the meats mentioned, _Wild Game_ furnishes palatable,
nutritious, and easily-digested food. _Domestic Fowls_, when young, are
excellent, and with the exception of geese and ducks, are easily
digested. _Wild Birds_ are considered much healthier food than those
which are domesticated. All of these contain more or less of the
elements which enter into the composition of the four classes of foods.

VEGETABLE FOODS. _Wheat_ is rich in all the elements which compose the
four classes, and, when the flour is unbolted, it is one of the best
articles for supplying all the elements.

_Barley_ stands next to wheat in nourishing qualities, but is not so
palatable.

_Oats_ are rich in all the elements necessary for nutrition. Oatmeal is
a favorite article of diet among the Scotch, and, judging from their
hardy constitutions, their choice is well founded. In consequence of the
large proportion of phosphorus which they contain, they are capable of
furnishing a large amount of nourishment for the brain.

_Rye_ is nutritious, but it is not so rich in tissue-forming material.

_Indian Corn_ is an article well known and extensively used throughout
the United States, and is a truly valuable one, capable of being
prepared in a great variety of ways for food. It contains more carbon
than wheat, and less nitrogen and phosphorus, though enough of both to
be extremely valuable.

_Rice_ is rather meagre in nutriment; it contains but little phosphorous
matter, with less carbon than other cereals, and is best and most
generally employed as a diet in tropical countries.

_Beans and Peas_ are rich in nutritious matter, and furnish the manual
laborer with a cheap and wholesome diet.

The _Potato_ is the most valuable of all fresh vegetables grown in
temperate climates. Its flavor is very agreeable, and it contains very
important nutritive and medicinal qualities, and is eaten almost daily
by nearly every family in North America. Until very recently it, with
the addition of a little butter-milk or skim-milk, constituted almost
the sole diet of the Irish people. The average composition of the potato
is stated by Dr. Smith to be as follows: Water 75 per cent., nitrogen
2.1, starch 18.8, sugar 3.2, fat 0.2, salts 0.7. The relative values of
different potatoes may be ascertained very correctly by weighing them in
the hand, for the heavier