He should then have either a grilled mutton chop, or a lightly-boiled egg; indeed, the latter, at any time, makes an excellent change. There is great nourishment in an egg; it will not only strengthen the frame, but it will give animal heat as well: these two qualities of an egg are most valuable; indeed, essential for the due performance of health: many articles of food contain the one qualification, but not the other: hence the egg is admirably suitable for a child's _occasional_ dinner. 151. _Are potatoes an unwholesome food for a child_? New ones are; but old potatoes well cooked and mealy, are the best vegetable he can have. They ought to be _well mashed_, as I have known lumps of potatoes cause convulsions. 152. _Do you approve of any other vegetables for a child_? Occasionally: either asparagus or broccoli, or cauliflower, or turnips, or French beans, which latter should be cut up fine, may with advantage be given. Green peas may occasionally be given, provided they be thoroughly well boiled, and mashed with the knife on the plate. Underdone and unmashed peas are not fit for a child's stomach: there is nothing more difficult of digestion than underdone peas. It is important, too, to mash them, even if they be well done, as a child generally bolts peas whole; and they pass through the alimentary canal without being in the least digested. 153. _Might not a mother be too particular in dieting her child_? Certainly not. If blood can be too pure and too good she might! When we take into account that the food we eat is converted into blood; that if the food be good the blood is good; and that if the food be improper or impure, the blood is impure likewise; and, moreover, when we know that every part of the body is built up by the blood, we cannot be considered to be too particular in making our selection of food. Besides if indigestible or improper food be taken into the stomach, the blood will not only be made impure, but the stomach and the bowels will be disordered. Do not let me be misunderstood: I am no advocate for a child having the same food one day as another-- certainly not. Let there be variety, but let it be _wholesome_ variety. Variety in a child's (not in infant's) food is necessary. If he were fed, day after day, on mutton, his stomach would, at length be brought into that state, that in time it would not properly digest any other meat, and a miserable existence would be the result. 154. _What ought a child to drink with his dinner_?