The ideal life is one in which there shall be no sickness except from accident or natural causes. When we have mastered the laws of hygiene, then will such life be possible. Meanwhile, with sickness always in our midst, we should keep the ideal ever before us, and endeavor by all means to restore suffering human beings to a perfect state of health. A sound body is a material thing, prosaically nourished by material substances, which produce just as exact results in its chemical physiology as if those substances entered into combination in the laboratory of the chemist. The cooking of food should be governed by exact laws which for the most part as yet remain undemonstrated. It is a foregone conclusion that many young women fail in their first attempts at cooking; that they do so is not surprising, for not only are their friends unable to teach them, but the majority of books on the subject furnish no intelligible aid.[1] The science of cookery is still in the empirical stage. Even among experienced housekeepers there is not enough knowledge of the nature of foods and their proper combinations; the result is a great deal of unwholesome cookery and the consequent injury and waste which must follow. Dislike for the work is usually due to want of success, and failure is attributed to ill luck, poor materials, the fire, or any cause but the true one--which is ignorance of the subject. Of course good dishes cannot be made out of poor materials, but too often poor dishes are made out of good materials. The systematic teaching of the subject of household affairs cannot fail of good results. Especially is this true in the case of the nurse, who will need at all times to exercise care and wisdom in the choice of food for the sick, to avoid the use of injurious substances, and to select that which is perfectly wholesome and suited to the needs and condition of each individual. It may be said that most women can prepare a fairly satisfactory meal for those who are well, but very few are able to do the same for the sick.