into the pot, which was stirred constantly all the while. The North
Italians prepare cornmeal in this fashion; the mush, which they call
"polenta," forms an accompaniment of meat stews, thus affording all the
elements of a "perfect ration." American cooks should employ cornmeal
far more than they do. Mush in particular has the advantage possessed by
King Arthur's bag-pudding, what cannot be eaten at night may be served
"next morning fried." While fried food is, as a rule, not good at
breakfast for any save one who has hard manual labor or physical
exercise to perform, an exception may be made of fried mush and fried
eggs, because their base is so nutritious that the heated fat can do
little to impair their digestibility, while it certainly whets the
appetite before eating, and pleases the palate when the food is in the
mouth. It should be borne in mind that those foods which require much
mastication ought especially to be made palatable in order to be chewed
thoroughly. Therefore, starchy materials ought to be prepared in
appetizing ways; on the other hand, meats, which require less
mastication, may dispense with high seasoning and rich sauces,
especially as they have their own natural flavors.

The mother should closely follow the work of the child at school and
aid this in every way at home. She should patiently answer his many
questions, except when she is convinced that he is not really in search
of information, but is asking them merely for the sake of asking.
Wherever the child ought to be able to reason out the answer, the mother
should assist him to do so by asking him guiding questions in turn. This
is the method that Socrates, the greatest of teachers and philosophers,
employed with his pupils, and, indeed, with his own children. It is as
useful in inculcating moral lessons as in teaching facts. When one of
the sons of Socrates, Lamprocles, came to him complaining that the
mother, Xanthippe, treated him so hardly that he could not bear it, the