is great nourishment in an egg; it will not only strengthen the frame,
but it will give animal heat as well: these two qualities of an egg
are most valuable; indeed, essential for the due performance of
health: many articles of food contain the one qualification, but not
the other: hence the egg is admirably suitable for a child's
_occasional_ dinner.

151. _Are potatoes an unwholesome food for a child_?

New ones are; but old potatoes well cooked and mealy, are the best
vegetable he can have. They ought to be _well mashed_, as I have known
lumps of potatoes cause convulsions.

152. _Do you approve of any other vegetables for a child_?

Occasionally: either asparagus or broccoli, or cauliflower, or
turnips, or French beans, which latter should be cut up fine, may with
advantage be given. Green peas may occasionally be given, provided
they be thoroughly well boiled, and mashed with the knife on the
plate. Underdone and unmashed peas are not fit for a child's stomach:
there is nothing more difficult of digestion than underdone peas. It
is important, too, to mash them, even if they be well done, as a child
generally bolts peas whole; and they pass through the alimentary canal
without being in the least digested.

153. _Might not a mother be too particular in dieting her child_?

Certainly not. If blood can be too pure and too good she might! When
we take into account that the food we eat is converted into blood;
that if the food be good the blood is good; and that if the food be