Oatmeal Gruel

Oatmeal, in any form, should not be given to patients who are suffering from diarrhoeal diseases or of irritable mucous membrane. While it is rich in nutriment, it is not always a good food, because it is irritating.

Dr. Mott says that while many are under the impression that oatmeal is a true laxative, it is not properly so. Sift two ounces of oatmeal. Boil a quart and a pint of water, add to it a salt-spoonful of salt; now add gradually the oatmeal, stirring constantly while adding the meal. Boil for one hour, remove to the back of the range until water enough has evaporated to make it of the proper consistency ; part milk may be used instead of all water.

This recipe calls for the " old process" milling, which requires much longer cooking than the new preparations now on the market, many of which are advertised as being partly cooked, requiring but a few moments' more cooking to convert them into the most excellent food.

Housekeepers, when preparing oatmeal for delicate stomachs, should ignore the ten, or even twenty-minute, propositions, and cook these preparations at least one hour.

Cerealine Gruel

Proceed as for oatmeal gruel, and add half a pint of cerealine to a quart of boiling water, slightly salted. Boil for half an hour, and serve with a little sugar. All milk may be used, if desired.

Rice Gruel

Mix together one tablespoonful of rice-floor, a saltspoonful of salt, and a small cup of cold wrater. Add the contents of the cup to a pint of boiling water, and boil for twenty minutes. Sugar should be served separately, and, when too thick, add milk until of the proper consistency.

Arrow-Root Gruel

Take one tablespoonful of arrow-root, a pinch of salt, and half a gill of cold water, stir into half a pint of boiling water, and boil for fifteen minutes.

Barley Gruel

Take two tablespoonfuls of pearl barley washed in warm water. To a quart and half a pint of cold water add a heaping saltspoonful of salt and the washed barley. Boil for three quarters of an hour ; strain ; add a cake of cut sugar to each gobletful, and twist over the glass a piece of lemon-peel, the oil of which gives a pleasant flavor.

Barley Water

Wash one ounce of pearl barley in cold water. Drain off the water, and add to a quart and a pint of boiling water the barley, a piece of lemon-peel, and sugar enough to be just perceptible to the taste ; simmer on back of range until reduced one half, and serve unstrained. Other harmless flavoring ingredients may be used instead of the lemon.

Rice Water

To a quart and a pint of cold water add two ounces of well-washed rice ; salt slightly, and add two cakes of sugar. Boil in the double saucepan until the rice has dissolved. Flavor with lemon-peel or stick cinnamon.

A palatable jelly is made by straining the liquid, and flavoring it with lemon, wine, or brandy, then poured into moulds and placed on ice.

Alcohol, in any form, should not be allowed patients except under medical advice.