Food for the Sick.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 206, 11 June 1887, Page 3

Food for the Sick.

Solid food should never be given to a sick person without the doctor's special permission. He will say when, in his judgment, its use may be begun safely, and thus the nurso is relieved from all responsibility. A convalescent's diet should be digestible and tempting. The appetite is beginning to return and must be encouraged, except after typhoid fever, when it has to be suppressed. During extreme illness food is a disagreeable necessity, to be disposed of as quickly as possible. Thei-e is no desire for it ; it is swallowed under compulsion as a necessary but nauseous measure, and to escape from the importunities of the nurse. In convalescence it is looked forward to with eagerness, and the dainty repasts are the events of the day. They should be made to look as enticing as they can be, and all the appointments should be daintily bright and clean. A teaspoon ful of tea spilled in the saucer from a full oup seems a trifling matter to a well person, but it i« enough to spoil the comfort of an invalid's meals. Food that is intended to be hot must be served very hot on a well-warmed plate set over a bowl of boiling water and covered in its transit. A cup of lukewarm soup would be sent away untasled, whereas if it had been really hot it would have been eaten and enjoyed. Things that are intended to be cold should be left in the icebox, or the cool dairy, until the last moment before f serving. Tepid blanc mange is not an inviting article of diet, and cu&tard, which would be delicious ice cold, loses its attractiveness when it is milk warm. Strawberries and all fruit should be placed on a plate over a bowl filled with chopped ice, and sliced to- : matoes should be laid on ice. Attention to these little points makes all the difference between comfort and discomfort, between food being refused as unpalatable or eaten with relish. The prettiest china that the house affords should be brought out to embellish the convalescent's tray. The eye must be pleased as well as the palate, and a victory is won when the invalid says, " Oh, how delicious it looks !" Butter should bo rolled into tiny balls with the grooved paddles sold for the purpose, and bread ciat in delicate slices divided into four.