I am indebted to Dr. Franklin, of St. Louis, for this little chapter.
Appreciating his experience in the uses of prepared foods for invalids,
I asked his advice about certain ones, when he kindly sent me a written
opinion, which I insert _verbatim_. Dr. Franklin says:
“In the dietetic treatment of the sick, notwithstanding that
well-meaning and unwise friends often injure their patients by
solicitations to take more food, it is often one of the great
difficulties to induce the invalid to partake sufficiently of what
is suitable, remembering that the body is nourished by the
assimilation of the food, and that the assimilating power is weak,
and can not be overtaxed. But the desire of food, and, indeed, the
assimilation, depend in a considerable degree on the manner in
which it is presented. It should not only please the eye and
gratify the palate, but should be varied in kind and method of
preparation.
“_Liebig’s Extract of Meat_ is an economical and valuable
preparation. It is valuable in nearly all cases of _physical_
debility and extreme emaciation, especially after profuse losses of
blood in collapse from wounds; for patients suffering from severe
and prolonged fevers in the last stage of consumption; in bad cases
of indigestion, when the stomach rejects all solid food; and as an
article of diet for nursing-mothers, etc.
“In cases of extreme exhaustion, the extract may be mixed with
wine. As it is stimulating, it may take the place of tea and
coffee, and will be less liable than they to produce derangement of
the digestive organs. An advantage with this extract is that it can
be readily prepared.
“_Valentine’s Extract of Meat._--This is one of the best articles
of the kind for the sick-chamber, and is not only simple of
preparation, but is the most nutritive of all the beef essences. As
a medicinal agent, it will be found of great value to the sick,
and for persons (children as well) with weak constitutions.[K]
“These beverages, in common with any nutritive soups, offer to the
patient whose general bodily functions are more or less suspended a
fluid and assimilable form of food. It is to this adaptation of
nourishment to the condition of the body that we must, in part at
least, ascribe their beneficial results. They have a remarkable
power of restoring the vigorous action of the heart, and
dissipating the sense of exhaustion following severe, prolonged
exertion, and may be recommended in preference to the glass of wine
which some take after watching, preaching, prolonged mental effort,
etc.
“Rice (whole or ground), barley, etc., may often be advantageously
added to thicken beef tea.
“_Gillon’s Essence of Chicken._--A similar preparation may be more
readily made by using this essence of chicken, which may be
procured from any homeopathic chemist. This simply requires
diluting with hot water in the proportion stated upon each tin
case.
“_Oatmeal Porridge._--When properly made, this is both wholesome
and nutritious, and especially suitable when a patient does not
suffer from water-brash, acidity, or from any form of bowel
irritation. It has long been the staple food of the Scotch, and
produces good muscular fibre and strong bone. It is a very
nourishing diet for growing children. The common oatmeal is not
equal to the Scotch oatmeal; however, it is not always easy to
obtain the latter.
“_Pearl Barley_ forms an excellent meal. It should be boiled for
four hours, so tied in a cloth that room is left for the grain to
swell. Only so much water should be added from time to time as to
feed the barley and supply the waste of evaporation, lest the
strength of the barley should be boiled out. It may be served with
milk, or (if the patient can digest them) with preserves, jelly, or
butter.
“_Macaroni-pudding._--Three ounces of macaroni should be soaked for
forty minutes in cold water, then added to a pint of boiling milk.
This should be stirred occasionally, while it simmers for half an
hour; two eggs are then added, beaten with a dessert-spoonful of
sugar; also, if desired, a flavoring of lemon. This may then be
baked in a pie-dish for twenty minutes.
“Vermicelli may be used instead of macaroni, but requires only
twenty minutes’ soaking.
“Part of a loaf of stale bread, boiled, and served with butter and
salt, or with preserves, affords a change of wholesome food.
Bread-pudding made with eggs and milk, either boiled or baked, may
be used, made according to the receipt used at Westminster
Hospital, viz.: Bread, one-quarter of a pound; milk, one-quarter of
a pint; sugar, one-quarter of an ounce; flour, one-quarter of an
ounce; one egg for every two pounds. A pudding may be made in the
same way of stale sponge-cake or rusks, to diversify the diet.
“_Neave’s Food._--Many years’ experience in the use of Neave’s
Farinaceous Food justifies the recommendation of it as an excellent
article of diet for infants, invalids, and persons of feeble
digestion. Competent chemical analysts have found the preparation
to contain every constituent necessary for the nourishment of the
body, and this has been abundantly confirmed by what we have
frequently observed as the result of its use. For infants it should
be prepared according to the direction supplied with the food,
taking care not to make it too thick; it also makes a very
agreeable and highly nutritious gruel.
“One precaution is necessary: Neave’s food should be obtained fresh
and in good condition; if exposed too long, it deteriorates. Under
favorable circumstances it keeps good for from six to twelve
months. It may generally be procured in good condition from the
leading homeopathic druggists.
“Ridge’s, Hard’s, and other farinaceous foods have their
advantages, and are preferred by some patients.
“Those foods that are pure starch, as ‘corn flour,’ so called, and
all those which thicken in like manner, contain but a small
proportion of nutriment, being less sustaining and also more
difficult of digestion than ordinary stale bread. They are very
unsuitable for young infants and children suffering from diarrhea,
indigestion, constipation, flatulence, atrophy, or aphthæ.
“In all cases, food which contains traces of bran, and also gluten,
gum, sugar, cellulose, and saline matter, especially the
phosphates, in proportion to the starch, are to be preferred. I
prefer the Ridge’s food for nursing infants, but either may be used
according to adaptability.
“_Sugar of Milk._--A preparation of cow’s milk and sugar of milk
forms a still lighter food, and one which, in the case of very
young infants, should be used to the exclusion of farinaceous food.
Cow’s milk may be assimilated to human milk by dilution with water
and the addition of sugar of milk. Cow’s milk contains more oil
(cream) and caseine, or cheese matter, but less sugar, than
woman’s. When necessary to bring up a child by hand from birth,
sugar of milk is more suitable to begin with.
“Formula: One ounce of sugar of milk should be dissolved in
three-quarters of a pint of boiling water, and mixed as required
with an equal quantity of fresh cow’s milk. The infant should be
fed with this from the feeding-bottle in the usual way. Care must
be taken to keep the bottle, etc., perfectly clean.
“_Alkershrepta_ (Chocolate).--One of the most delicate and
nutritious beverages is made from this preparation of the cocoa. It
is prepared from the best cocoa-bean, the highly nutritious natural
oil of which is not extracted, as in the ordinary soluble
chocolates, but so neutralized as not to derange the stomach of the
most delicate. Its nutritious and mildly stimulating qualities, its
purity, and the facility with which it is prepared for use--_not_
requiring to be boiled--recommend it as an excellent substitute for
tea and coffee. Directions for its preparation accompany each
package.
“_Delacre’s Extract of Meat Chocolate._--This agreeable article
combines in one preparation, and under a most agreeable form, a
large proportion of tonic and nutritive principles. It contains
both the properties of chocolate and beef. It is a useful tonic and
nutritive agent for invalids and convalescents, and for persons of
delicate constitutions. It contains three per cent. of La Plata
Extract of Meat, and every square represents the nutritive
constituents of one and a quarter ounces of beef. It is employed as
ordinary chocolate. Full directions accompany each box.
“_Welluc’s Biscotine._--A most excellent, healthy, and invigorating
food for infants and invalids. It is prepared from sweetened bread
and other nutritious substances, reduced to a fine powder, so as to
render them easily soluble in water or milk. As an article of
common diet for infants, particularly those suffering from delicate
constitutions or with looseness of the bowels, it will be found to
give health and strength with more certainty than the _crude_
substances now in use, and not, like them, liable to sour on the
stomach.”