Those who are labouring to bring about the adoption of dietetic customs that neither violate the physical laws of our being, nor outrage the humane sentiments of the higher part of our nature, are consequently now met by serious requests for information concerning some way of escape from bondage to ancestral barbaric custom, and the safest path to a more rational and harmonious existence. "How may we live out our full length of days in health and vigour, instead of dying of disease?" "How may we avoid the painful maladies that are prevalent, and escape the surgeon's knife?" "How may we be delivered from further participation in all this needless shedding of innocent blood?" "How may we in a scientific way feed ourselves with simple and hygienic food--with the kindly fruits of the earth instead of the flesh of murdered creatures who love life just as we do?" Such questions as these are being asked by thousands of earnest souls, and it is to help such enquirers that this Guide-Book is published. My aim has been to give practical, reliable and up-to-date information in a concise form, avoiding superfluous matter and 'faddism,' and only supplying simple recipes which do not require the skill of a 'chef' for their interpretation. By spending a few hours in thoughtful study of the following pages, and by practising this reformed system of diet and cookery in domestic life for a few weeks, any intelligent person can master the chief principles of fruitarian dietetics, and become qualified to prepare appetising dishes suited to the taste of a hermit or a _bon vivant_ (provided that its possessor be not hopelessly enamoured of the "flesh-pots of Egypt" and the flavour of cooked blood). A system of living that is earnestly recommended by thousands of disinterested advocates who have personally tried it, that comes to us full of promise both for ourselves and others, that bids fair to humanize and transform mankind and to solve many of the world's social problems, and that is now endorsed by so many progressive medical authorities, merits such attention, and is worthy of trial. As I am writing a _Guide_ to reformed diet for domestic use--not an elaborate treatise to justify it--I have refrained from introducing medical and experimental testimony concerning the dangerous and injurious nature of flesh-food, and the advantages of living upon the fruits of the earth, supplemented by dairy products. Numerous standard works are now obtainable which demonstrate that the principles and arguments upon which the Food-Reform Movement is based are supported by an array of scientific evidence which is more than sufficient to convince any unprejudiced, logical and well-balanced mind. For such information I must refer my readers to other publications, and I have printed a short list of useful works on the final pages of this book, for the benefit of those who are as yet unacquainted with such literature.