the
soul of bread, the _spiritus_ which fills its cellular tissues,
which is religiously preserved like the vestal fire,--some precious
bottleful, I suppose, brought over in the Mayflower, did the
business for America, and its influence is still rising, swelling,
spreading in cerulean billows over the land,--this seed I regularly
and faithfully procured from the village, until one morning I forgot
the rules and scalded my yeast; by which accident I discovered that
even this was not indispensable, and I have gladly omitted it ever
since. Neither did I put any soda or other acid or alkali into my
bread. It would seem that I made it according to the recipe which
Marcus Porcius Cato gave about two centuries before Christ: "Make
kneaded bread thus: Wash your hands and trough well. Put the meal
into the trough, add water gradually, and knead it thoroughly. When
you have needed it well, mold it, and bake it under a cover," that
is in a baking kettle.--_Thoreau in Walden._

FRUITS

Of all the articles which enter the list of foods, none are more
wholesome and pleasing than the fruits which nature so abundantly
provides. Their delicate hues and perfect outlines appeal to our sense
of beauty, while their delicious flavors gratify our appetite. Our
markets are supplied with an almost unlimited variety of both native and
tropical fruits, and it might be supposed that they would always appear
upon the daily bill of fare; yet in the majority of homes this is rarely
the case. People are inclined to consider fruit, unless the product of
their own gardens, a luxury too expensive for common use. Many who use a
plentiful supply, never think of placing it upon their tables, unless
cooked. Ripe fruit is a most healthful article of diet when partaken of
at seasonable times; but to eat it, or any other food, between meals, is
a gross breach of the requirements of good digestion.

Fruits contain from seventy-five to ninety-five per cent of water, and a
meager proportion of nitrogenous matter; hence their value as
nutrients, except in a few instances, is rather small; but they supply a
variety of agreeable acids which refresh and give tone to the system,
and their abundant and proper use does much to keep the vital machinery
in good working order.

Aside from the skin and seeds, all fruits consist essentially of two
parts,--the cellulose structure containing the juice, and t