Skimmed Milk

In cases of intestinal disorders skimmed milk is better than pure milk, and in cases of disease, when fats must be omitted, it is very useful.

The milk should stand twenty-four hours in a cool place, and all the cream which has risen should be carefully skimmed off.

Buttermilk

The author, who is an inveterate smoker, has for years drank buttermilk before retiring, and during the day whenever it can be obtained. He is convinced that it neutralizes the effects of the nicotine from the tobacco. The Journal of Health says : 11 Buttermilk is excellent for weak or delicate stomachs, and far better as a dinner drink than coffee, tea, or water, and, unlike them, does not retard, but rather aids, digestion. A celebrated physician once said that if every one knew the value of buttermilk as a drink, it would be more freely partaken of by persons who drink so excessively of other beverages ; and, further, compared its effects upon the system to the clearing out of a cook-stove that has been clogged up with ashes that have sifted through, filling up every crevice and crack, saying that the human system is like the stove, and collects and gathers refuse matter that can in no way be exterminated from the system so effectually as by drinking buttermilk. It is also a specific remedy for indigestion, soothes and quiets the nerves, and is very somnolent to those who are troubled with sleeplessness.

" Every one who values good health should drink buttermilk every day in warm weather, and let tea, coffee, and water alone. For the benefit of those who are not already aware of it, I may add that in the churning the first process of digestion is gone through, making it one of the easiest and quickest of all things to digest. It makes gastric juice, and contains properties that readily assimilate with it, with little or no wear upon the digestive organs."

Milk, pure and simple, is a natural food, and should enter into the diet of adults as well as children. Lime-water is usually added to milk when the acidity of the stomach causes the latter to be rejected. When lime water is not obtainable, the thorough beating of the milk with a fork will break the oily particles of the milk, causing it to digest more rapidly.

A large glass of milk should not be given to children or persons of weak stomachs, for they are apt to use it immoderately. It should be drunk in small mouthfuls, and as slowly as possible.

The quaffing of a glass of cold milk on a hot day, without stopping to take breath, is a very dangerous proceeding.