behind the orders
of officials. The management of her kitchen was like the ticking of a
clock--regular discipline, gentle firmness, and sweet temper always. The
diet for the men was changed three times a day; and it was her aim to
cater as far as possible to the appetites of individual men. Her daily
rounds in the wards brought her into personal intercourse with every
patient, and she knew his special need. At one time, when nine hundred
men were supplied from her kitchen (with seven hundred rations daily), I
took down her diet list for one dinner, and give it here in a note,[D]
to show the variety of the articles, and her careful consideration of
the condition of separate men."

[Footnote D: "List of rations in the Colored Hospital at City Point,
being a dinner on Wednesday, April 25th, 1865:--

Roast Beef,
Shad,
Veal Broth,
Stewed Oysters,
Beef Tea,
Mashed Potatoes,
Lemonade,
Apple Jelly,
Farina Pudding.
Tomatoes,
Tea,
Coffee,
Toast,
Gruel,
Scalded Milk,
Crackers and Sherry Cobbler,
Roast Apple

Let it not be supposed that this was an ordinary hospital diet. Although
such a list was furnished at this time, yet it was only possible while
the hospital had an ample base, like City Point. The armies, when
operating at a distance, could give but two or three articles; and in
active campaigns these were furnished with great irregularity."]

The following passage from the pen of Harriet Martineau, in regard to
the management of the kitchen at Scutari, by Florence Nightingale, is
true also of those organized by Miss Gilson in Virginia. The parallel is
so close, and the illustration of the daily administration of this
department of her work so vivid, that, if the circumstances under which
it was written were not known, I should have said it was a faithful
picture of our kitchen in the Colored Hospital at City Point:--

"The very idea of that kitchen was savory in the wards; for out of it
came, at the right moment, arrowroot, hot and of the pleasantest
consistence; rice puddings, neither hard on the one hand or clammy on
the other; cool lemonade for the feverish; cans full of hot tea for the
weary, and good coffee for the faint. When the sinking sufferer was
lying with closed eyes, too feeble to make moan or sigh, the hospital
spoon was put between his lips, with the mouthful of strong broth or hot
wine, which rallied him till the watchful nur