er of oatcakes.

The most common use of oatmeal in this country is in the form of mush or
porridge. For this the coarser grades of meal are preferable. For people
in health, there is no more wholesome article of diet than oatmeal
cooked in this way and eaten with milk. For growing children, it is one
of the best of foods, containing, as it does, a large proportion of bone
and muscle-forming material, while to almost all persons who have become
accustomed to its use, it is extremely palatable. The time required for
its digestion is somewhat longer than that of wheaten meal prepared in
the same manner. It is apt to disagree with certain classes of
dyspeptics, having a tendency to produce acidity, though it is
serviceable as an article of diet in some forms of indigestion. The
manner of its preparation for the table has very much to do with its
wholesomeness. Indeed, many objectionable dishes are prepared from it.
One of these, called _brose_, much used in Scotland, is made by simply
stirring oatmeal into some hot liquid, as beef broth, or the water in
which a vegetable has been boiled. The result is a coarse, pasty mass of
almost raw oatmeal, an extremely indigestible compound, the use of which
causes water brash. A preparation called _sowens_, or flummery, made by
macerating the husks of the oats in water from twenty-four to thirty-six
hours, until the mixture ferments, then boiling down to the consistency
of gruel, is a popular article of food among the Scotch and Welsh
peasantry. When boiled down still more, so it will form a firm jelly
when cold, the preparation is called _budrum_.

PREPARATION AND COOKING.--Oatmeal requires much cooking in order to
break its starch cells; and the coarser the meal, the longer it should
be allowed to cook. A common fault in the use of oatmeal is that it is
served in an underdone state, which makes a coarse, indigestible dish of
what, with more lengthy preparation, would be an agreeable and
nutritious food. Like most of the grains, it is best put into boiling
soft water, and allowed to cook continuously and slowly. It is greatly
injured by stirring, and it is therefore preferably cooked in a double
boiler or closed steamer. If it is necessary to use an ordinary kettle,
place it on some part of the range where the contents will only simmer;
or a hot brick may be placed under it to keep it from cooking too fast.
It may be cooked the day previous, and warmed for use the same as other
grai