The first edition of 1884 contained but 5 pages of type; the second of 1898, 14 pages. Only by conciseness has it been possible to give even a summary of the principles of dietetics within the limit or this pamphlet. Should there appear in places an abruptness or incompleteness of treatment, these limitations must be my excuse. Those who wish to thoroughly study the science of food are referred to the standard work, "Food and Dietetics," by Dr. R. Hutchison (E. Arnold, 16s.). The effects of puri

We may define a food to be any substance which will repair the functional waste of the body, increase its growth, or maintain the heat, muscular, and nervous energy. In its most comprehensive sense, the oxygen of the air is a food; as although it is admitted by the lungs, it passes into the blood, and there re-acts upon the other food which has passed through the stomach. It is usual, however, to restrict the term food to such nutriment as enters the body by the intestinal canal. Water is often