cocoa-nibs 20 cts.
Fourteen ounces of tea 40 cts.
Fifteen ounces of oatmeal 5 cts.
One pound and one ounce of wheaten flour 4 cts.
One pound and one ounce of coffee 30 cts.
One pound and two ounces of rye-flour 5 cts.
One pound and three ounces of barley 5 cts.
One pound and five ounces Indian meal 5 cts.
One pound and thirteen ounces of buckwheat-flour 10 cts.
Two pounds of wheaten bread 10 cts.
Two pounds and six ounces of rice 20 cts.
Five pounds and three ounces of cabbage 10 cts.
Five pounds and three ounces of onions 15 cts.
Eight pounds and fifteen ounces of turnips 9 cts.
Ten pounds and seven ounces of potatoes 10 cts.
Fifteen pounds and ten ounces of carrots 15 cts.

Now, because tea, coffee, and cocoa approach so nearly in value as
nutriment to beef and lentils, we must not be misled. Fourteen ounces of
tea are equivalent to half a pound of meat; but a repast of dry tea not
being very usual, in fact, being out of the question altogether, it
becomes plain, that the principal value of these foods, used as we must
use them, in very small quantities, is in the warmth and comfort they
give. Also, these weights (except the bread) are of uncooked food. Eight
ounces of meat would, if boiled or roasted, dwindle to five or six, while
the ten ounces of lentils or beans would swell to twice the capacity of
any ordinary stomach. So, ten pounds of potatoes are required to give you
the actual benefit contained in the few ounces of meat; and only the
Irishman fresh from his native cabin can calmly consider a meal of that
magnitude, while, as to carrots, neither Irishman nor German, nor the most
determined and enterprising American, could for a moment face the
spectacle of fifteen pounds served up for his noonday meal.

The inference is plain. Union is strength, here as elsewhere; and the
perfect meal must include as many of these elements as will make it not
too bulky, yet borrowing flavor and substance wherever necessary.

As a rule, the food best adapted to climate and constitution seems to have
been instinctively decided upon by many nations; and a study of national
dishes, and their adaptation to national needs, is curious and
interesting. The Esquimaux or Greenlander finds his m