=Absorption.= It is probable that the greater portion of the process of digestion and absorption of albumen takes place in the stomach. =Fibrin.= Fibrin is also digested in the stomach, and made into fibrin peptone. =Casein.= Liquid casein is immediately coagulated by gastric juice, both by the action of free acid and organic matter. =Gelatin.= Gelatin is quickly dissolved by gastric juice, and afterward no longer has the property of forming jelly on cooling. Gelatin is more rapidly disposed of than the tissue from which it is produced. =Vegetable Protein.= The digestion of the vegetable protein compounds, such as the gluten of wheat and the protein of the various grains, such as corn, oatmeal, etc., is undoubtedly carried on in the stomach, but they must be well softened and prepared by the action of heat and water, or they will not be digested anywhere; and often corn, beans, and grains of oatmeal are rejected entirely unchanged. Partially or imperfectly digested proteins are affected by intestinal juice. It is probable that the function of this fluid is to complete digestive changes in food which have already begun in the stomach. To summarize: The digestion and absorption of nitrogenous compounds take place in both the stomach and the intestines. NUTRITION One of the important points to bring to the notice of pupils in the study of cookery is the phenomenon of nutrition. It is astonishing how vague are the ideas that many people have of why they eat food, and vaguer still are their notions of the necessity of air, pure and plenty. Once instruct the mind that it is the air we breathe and the food we eat which nourish the body, giving material for its various processes, for nervous and muscular energy, and for maintaining the constant temperature which the body must always possess in order to be in a state of health, and there is much more likelihood that the dignity and importance of proper cooking and proper food will not be overlooked. A knowledge that the health and strength of a person depend largely upon what passes through his mouth, that even the turn of his thinking is modified by what he eats, should lead all intelligent women to make food a conscientious subject of study. In general, by the term "nutrition" is meant the building up and maintaining of the physical framework of the body with all its various functions, and ultimately the mental and moral faculties which are dependent upon it, by means of nutriment or food. The word is derived from the Latin _nutrire_, to nourish. The word "nurse" is from the same root, and in its original sense means one who nourishes, a person who supplies food, tends, or brings up. Anything which aids in sustaining the body is food; therefore, air and water, the two most immediate necessities of life, may be, and often are, so classed.