How shall I cook them?  Cook them separately, and when used they take the place of some of the boiled water.

(For another way, see former pages.)

How shall I prepare barley gruel water?  Take one teaspoonful of the flour and rub it up with a little cold water, and then stir this into a pint of boiling water; add a pinch of salt and boil it fifteen minutes; strain if it is lumpy.  Oatmeal gruel is made the same way, only using two teaspoonfuls instead of one.

Barley Jelly.—­One rounded tablespoonful of the flour, mixed with a little cold water, is added to one pint of boiling water containing a pinch of salt; cook twenty minutes in a double boiler and strain.  A thinner gruel (barley water) is made by using half of the quantity of flour.

How much of the gruel can I use?  If prepared by the last method one-sixth to one-half the total quantity of food; if the barley water is used it can be used in greater quantity if desired, as it is weaker by half.

Which one shall I use?  Barley and oatmeal are generally used; oatmeal is more laxative.

What is their value as infant foods?  Their chief value is to prevent the curd from coagulating in the stomach in hard masses, thus rendering it more digestible.

Would you advise this addition for all infants?  No, for it does not agree with them all, and so it cannot be recommended for all infants.

Can I give anything more during the first year?  Beef juice, white of an egg, and orange juice.

How and when may I use the beef juice?  It may be begun at ten or eleven months in infants who are strong and thriving well.  Two teaspoonfuls may be given daily, diluted with same amount of water, fifteen minutes before the midday feeding; in two weeks it may be doubled; and six teaspoonfuls can be given, in four weeks.  Two or three tablespoonfuls is all that can be given a child of one year.

[All about baby 587]

Is beef juice of value in delicate pale infants?  Yes, of much value, and it is more important for them, and it may sometimes be given them at five or six months in one-half the quantity mentioned.

When shall I give the white of egg (albumen) or albumin water?  When the conditions are similar to those requiring beef juice especially in infants who digest the proteids (curd) with difficulty.  You can give the one-half of the white of one egg at six months, and soon the entire white of one egg can be given.

What is the best way of preparing this?  By coddling the egg.

Describe the way of preparation?  Place a fresh egg with the shell on in boiling water and immediately remove all from the fire.  The egg cooks slowly in the water for seven or eight minutes as the water gradually cools, and the white part becomes like jelly.  Give the white with only a pinch of salt—­it can be easily separated from the yolk.

When can I give orange juice?  Usually about the eleventh or twelfth month, and it should be given about one hour before the feeding.  You can begin with two teaspoonfuls at first, then one tablespoonful at a time, and later three or four tablespoonfuls.  Orange juice is very good when constipation exists—­strain it always, and it must be always fresh and sweet.