Because of the proportion of the chemical elements in peanuts, they will sustain life for an indefinite period, without other food, as they provide rebuilding material, energy and heat. Used alone, however, there is no counteracting acid, and it is better to add some fruit, such as apples, or apples and dates. In eating peanuts it is imperative that they be masticated _until they are a pulp_; otherwise they are very difficult of digestion. The pain which many people experience, after eating peanuts, is probably due to eating too large a quantity and not fully masticating them, forgetting that they are a very rich, highly-concentrated food. Both peanuts and peanut butter contain over twenty-five per cent of protein and a much larger percentage of fat; therefore they yield much heat and energy. _Peanut Butter._ While peanut butter contains forty-six and one half per cent fat, it contains only seventeen per cent carbohydrates. Since sugars and starches are protections to fat, being used for energy before the fats are consumed, if these sugars and starches are not supplied in other food, the fats in the peanut butter are consumed for energy. If starches _are_ consumed in other foods, it is clear that one who wishes to reduce in flesh should avoid peanut butter, as well as other fats. Peanut butter is more easily digested than the baked peanut, unless the latter is chewed to a pulp. It can be made at home by grinding the peanuts in a meat grinder and then further mashing with a rolling pin or a potato masher. A little lemon juice mixed with the peanut butter makes it not only more palatable, but more easily digested. A peanut butter sandwich is quite as nourishing as a meat sandwich. * * * * * =Shelled Peas.= Shelled peas were used in Europe as far back as in the Middle ages, and there, to-day, the dried or “split” pea is used quite as extensively as the dried bean. In America, peas are used almost entirely in the green stage, fresh or canned. As seen by Table VIII, the green, shelled pea contains seven per cent protein and sixteen per cent sugar and starch, while the dry or “split” pea contains over twenty-four and a half per cent protein and sixty-two per cent sugar and starch, the difference being in the amount of water in the shelled peas. Canned peas contain even a larger per cent of water. A variety of green peas is now being cultivated in which the pod of the pea is used, just as the pod of the string bean. It is a sweet and delicious side dish. _Dry Peas_ are used in this country only by boiling, putting through a sieve, and serving as pureé. * * * * *