of milling, is an exceedingly nutritious and
valuable article of diet for human beings; and there is no article of
food that has increased in general favor more rapidly in the last few
years than this grain.

The Scotch have long been famed for their large consumption of oatmeal.
It forms the staple article of diet for the peasantry, to which fact is
generally attributed the fine physique and uniform health for which
they, as a race, are particularly noted. It is related that Dr. Johnson,
of dictionary fame, who never lost an opportunity to disparage the
Scotch, on one occasion defined oats as, "In Scotland, food for men; in
England, food for horses." He was well answered by an indignant
Scotchman who replied, "Yes; and where can you find such fine men as in
Scotland, or such horses as in England?"

Oatmeal justly ranks high as an alimentary substance. It contains about
the same proportion of nitrogenous elements as wheat, and with the
exception of maize, is richer in fatty matter than any other of the
cultivated cereals. In general structure the oat resembles wheat.

To prepare oats for food, the husk, which is wholly indigestible in
character, must be thoroughly removed. To accomplish this, the grain is
first kiln-dried to loosen the husk, and afterward submitted to a
process of milling. Denuded of its integument, the nutritive part of the
grain is termed groats; broken into finer particles, it constitutes what
is known as oatmeal; rolled oats, or avena, is prepared by a process
which crushes the kernels. Oatmeal varies also in degrees of
trituration, some kinds being ground much finer than others. The more
finely-ground products are sometimes adulterated with barley meal, which
is cheaper than oatmeal and less nutritious. The black specks which are
sometimes found in oatmeal are particles of black oats which have been
ground in connection with the other.

Oatmeal lacks the tenacity of wheaten flour, and cannot, without the
addition of some other flour, be made into light bread. It is, however,
largely consumed by the inhabitants of Scotland and the north of
England, in the form of oatcakes. The oatmeal is mixed with water,
kneaded thoroughly, then rolled into very thin cakes, and baked on an
iron plate or griddle suspended over a fire. So much, however, depends
upon the kneading, that it is said that the common inquiry before the
engagement of a domestic servant in Scotland, is whether or not she is a
good knead