is more easily digested than the dark. Even a typhoid convalescent may eat a small piece of chicken breast with impunity. A convalescent recovering from any severe illness may be allowed chicken days before it would be safe to order beef or mutton. Chicken broth is almost universally liked, and when served with rice and an egg forms a tempting and tasty invalid food.

There are many varieties of the domesticated chicken. Some are prized for their tendency to grow large and fatten rapidly, others for their egg-producing qualities. In temperate regions the chickens lay best in the spring and early summer. "Spring" chickens are ready for the table at two to four months old. Older chickens are killed all the year round.

The flesh of the mature cock is too tough and too highly flavored to be palatable and is only fit for stewing. Young cockerels, however, are killed and sent to the market as spring chickens. The older cockerels are raponized (8), i.e., castrated, after which they grow to a good size and fatten readily. The white meat develops more than in ordinary fowls, while they retain the tenderness and sweetness of a spring chicken. The French have practiced spaying of hens to a small extent. Such birds they call poulards. While it is admitted that they fatten more readily than ordinary hens, it is questionable whether the flesh of the poulard is better or finer flavored than that of the ordinary hen.

TURKEY.-The turkey (9) is a native of North America. Raleigh's first emigrants to the New World found this "grand" bird roaming the forests of eastern North Carolina. There are many varieties, but the two principal breeds are the American Bronze and the White Holland. Both are large species, sometimes reaching a weight of forty to fortyfive pounds. The turkey is highly esteemed for the excellence of its flesh and its large size. Turkey chickens are not much in demand. They are thin and scraggy; when two or three months old they weigh from 2 to 311⁄2 pounds and are sold as broilers. Turkey meat when properly fattened and cooked is tender, delicate and nourishing and of most excellent flavor. The flesh is grayish white, free from excessive fat, and therefore much to be preferred to that of the goose.

PEAFOWL.—This bird belongs to the pheasant family and is the common peacock of Great Britain and America. The peacock has a larger amount of flesh in proportion to bone than most fowls. Young peahens are as delicate and toothsome as pheasants, but mature ones are dry and not as tasty as the flesh of the young pheasant. The older peacock is not held in high esteem for its flesh but only for its ornamental plumage.

DUCKS AND GEESE.-Ducks and geese are indigestible, unless young and tender. There are several varieties of the former, weighing from two

FIG. 18.-CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF POULTRY IN COMPARISON WITH STEAK AND CHOP. (Bull. 467, U. S. Dept. Agric.)

to seven pounds. The flesh of the duck is dark and juicy and not as hard to digest as the goose flesh. There are several varieties of geese, some weighing from 24 to 38 pounds. Goose flesh is highly prized in Germany, where it is eaten in every conceivable form. Goose fat is eaten by orthodox Hebrews. They consider it an excellent constituent for many dishes.

Pâté de Foie Gras is made by fattening geese in such a manner as to induce fatty infiltration of the liver. This has long been an industry in France and Germany. These livers sometimes develop to an enormous size, weighing two to three pounds.

GUINEA FOWLS.-Guinea fowls are domesticated African pheasants. Their flesh is tender and very well flavored. The hens are preferred for the table. Both the flesh and the eggs are considered a delicacy. The young caponized birds have flesh like that of the partridge and the older ones like that of the pheasant. The meat is dark but highly nutritious.

PIGEONS.-Pigeons are more sought after as a food in Europe than in America. They are classed among the domestic white-fleshed birds. The young birds, squabs, are best for eating. The cultivation of squabs is quite an active industry in this country, because the demand exceeds the supply. The squab is a delicacy for both the invalid and epicure. The adult pigeon is not so well flavored and requires long cooking to make it palatable.

WILD FOWL.-Some birds, such as wild turkeys, geese and ducks, pigeons, quail, partridge, snipe, grouse, woodcock, pheasants, rice birds and prairie chickens, when "high" are preferred by many persons to the domestic fowls.

The wild turkey, goose and duck are like the domesticated birds of the same species. The available energy of the edible portions is about the same as in domesticated birds. The flavor, however, of the wild birds is better.

The meat of game birds, like that of all wild animals, is rather harsh and tough and their fat more strongly flavored. The flesh of the smaller game birds, as quail, partridge, snipe, grouse, woodcock and rice birds is considered a delicacy; the meat of the breast is best adapted for invalids.

DANGER OF "HANGING" GAME.-The habit of hanging game until it gets high is quite objectionable and decidedly unhygienic. When it is hung up for this purpose and allowed to become malodorous, putrefaction. is already well under way. This process of decay not only rapidly leads to decomposition and the development of toxins, but is a genuine hotbed for microorganisms, which may cause gastric troubles and enteric dis

orders. Such practices, which are bound to endanger the health even of the most robust, should be condemned.

High game, on account of the toxic substances it contains, is even dangerous to the circulatory system; the toxins contract the small blood vessels and thereby put extra work upon the heart. For this reason, in critical cases of cardiac affection and high blood pressure and in Bright's disease, it should not be eaten.

When meat is stale or game high it is positive evidence that putrefactive changes have taken place by bacterial action, whereby certain alkaloidal substances of the nature of ptomains and leucomains of an exceedingly poisonous nature are formed. When such food is ingested and absorbed, serious and even fatal results often follow.

ANALYSES OF MEAT.-For analyses, comparative nutritive and fuel values of butchers' meats, consult Volume I, Chapter XIX, page 693. For analyses, comparative nutrition and fuel value of poultry and game, consult Volume I, Chapter XIX.

FISH AND SHELLFISH

Fish.--The flesh of fish is another important source of protein food. It is, as a rule, delicate and tender. Fish possesses a peculiar flavor common to all fish, but different from the meat flavor of mammals and birds. Fish flesh is less stimulating and sustaining and not so satisfying as that of birds and mammals. Fish is abundant in both salt and fresh water and has always been a favorite food. It forms the staple protein food of a large number of the earth's inhabitants. The Japanese live almost entirely on fish and rarely, if ever, eat meat. The inhabitants of distant islands, as well as the residents of the metropolitan centers, have learned the value of fish as a cheap and wholesome source of nourishment. In fact, in many countries fish is used exclusively as a nitrogenous food. The readiness with which the flesh of fish undergoes decomposition changes makes it necessary to use this food fresh from the water, or to subject it to some method of preservation, either salting, drying, smoking or refrigeration. All methods of preserving fish modify its flavor and detract from its nutritive value.

For different varieties of fish, their chemical composition, their nutritive value, consult tables on fish, Volume I, Chapter XIX.

FISH AS SEASONABLE FOOD.-All fish are best in season, as out of season they lose their flavor, their nutritive value is lessened, and in some species an offensive odor is developed, due largely to the food on which they subsist or other causes. Fish are in best condition for eating

just before spawning; after this period they become thin and unfit for food. The popular fallacies that because fish have a large percentage of phosphorus they therefore constitute a good "brain food" and that they possess aphrodisiac properties, are erroneous theories. It is now well known that many fish contain less of this element than meat.

MOST DIGESTIBLE FISH.-The most digestible fish are sole, whiting, butter fish, bluefish, codfish, whitefish, flounder, bass, mountain trout, fresh haddock, red snapper, perch, shad and smelt. Pavy says, "Of all fish, the whiting may be regarded as the most delicate, tender, easy of digestion and least likely to disagree with digestion.”

FISH AS INVALID FOOD.-Fish having white flesh constitute an excellent food for invalids and convalescents. Fish intended for the sick should be cooked by broiling or boiling (not frying).

The exact chemical composition of cooked fish, of the more common varieties, is shown in the following analysis by Miss Katherine Williams, published in the Journal of the Chemical Society, LXXI, page 649:

ANALYSIS OF COOKED (BOILED) FISH AS SERVED AT TABLE