A treatise of this kind in order to be of its full value for which it is intended must be concise, expressed in simple language, in a form easily consulted, and yet be of a character which will be reliable and which will give full information on the subject. It is a common habit of speech to divide foods into two great classes, namely, foods and beverages. This is not a scientific division, but is one which has been so well established by custom as to render it advisable to divide this work into two portions, one devoted to food in the sense just used and the other to beverages. The first volume of this work devoted to foods will treat of those bodies commonly known under the term “foods,”--namely, cereals, meats of all kinds, milk, vegetables, nuts, and fruits. The second volume will embrace the study of beverages, namely, natural and artificial mineral waters, soda waters, soft drinks, coffee, tea, cocoa, wines, cider, beer and other fermented beverages, distilled beverages of all kinds, and mixtures or compounds thereof. In connection with the description of the origin of foods and their general characteristics will be given a statement of their chemical composition, especially in relation to nutritive properties. The principal adulterations or sophistications to which the food products are obnoxious will be briefly described, and where simple methods of detecting adulterations are known, of a character to be applied without special chemical knowledge or skill, they will be given. An attempt is thus made to lay before those interested, in as compact a form as possible, the chief points connected with the production of food, its manipulation, and its use for the nourishment of the body. It is not the intention of this manual to enter at all into the subject of cooking or the physiology of foods and nutrition. That is a distinct and separate part of this problem and has already been treated in many manuals. In this connection, however, attention may be called to the great importance of proper cooking in the use of food. Raw materials of the best character, prepared and transported in the most approved manner, may be so injured in the kitchen in the process of cooking as to be rendered both unpalatable and difficult of digestion. On the contrary, food materials of an inferior quality, provided they contain no injurious substances, may be so treated by the skilled cook as to be both palatable and nutritious. The desirability of the dissemination of correct principles of cooking is no less than that of giving information respecting the materials on which the art of cookery is exercised. It may be added that the art of cookery at the present time should not be confined to the mere technical manipulation, the application of heat and of condimental substances, but should also have some reference to the actual process of nutrition.