wing nut-cream for brain-workers.
Pound in a mortar, or mince finely, 3 blanched almonds, 2 walnuts, 2
ounces of pine kernels. Steep overnight in orange or lemon juice.

It should be made fresh daily, and may be used in place of butter.

_Oat._

The oat is generally cited as the most nourishing of all the cereals,
and a good nerve food. The fine oatmeal gruel of our grandmothers has
gone almost entirely out of fashion, but its use might be revived with
advantage. Like wheat, it is a complete food. A good preparation of
groats (ground oats from which the husk has been entirely removed) may
be taken by those who find other preparations indigestible.

Some persons seem unable to take oatmeal, its use being followed by a
skin eruption. This is supposed to be due to a special constituent
called "avenin," the existence of which, however, is denied by some
authorities.

There is little doubt but that persons of weak digestive powers and
sedentary habits cannot digest porridge comfortably. In any case
quickly-cooked porridge is an abomination.

_Olive._

The chief use of the olive, at least in this country, consists in the
oil expressed from it. Unfortunately our so-called olive oil is
generally cotton-seed oil. Captain Diamond of San Francisco, aged 111,
and the oldest living athlete in the world, attributes much of his
health to the use of olive oil. But he lays great stress upon the
importance of obtaining it pure. Cotton-seed oil consists partly of an
indigestible gum, and its continued ingestion tends to produce kidney
trouble and heart failure.

A simple test for purity is to use, the suspected sample for oiling
floors or furniture. If pure, it will leave a beautiful polish minus
grease. But if it contains cotton-seed oil, part of it will evaporate,
leaving the gummy portion behind.

When pure olive oil is shaken in a half-filled bottle, the bubbles
formed thereby rapidly disappear, but if the sample is adulterated the
bubbles continue some time before they burst.

Pure olive oil is pale and a greenish yellow.

If equal volumes of strong nitric acid (this may be obtained from any
chemist) and olive oil are mixed together and shaken in a flask the
resulting product has a greenish or orange tinge which remains unchanged
after standing for ten minutes. But if cotton-seed oil is present, the
mixture is reddish in colour, and becomes brown or black on standing.

Olive oil is slightly laxative, and therefore