Where a hospital has an adequate cooling space, undoubtedly the more economical method of buying is by the crate and in sufficient quantity to last several months. Some institutions lay in a year’s stock, buying always in April, which, it is stated, is the only month in which it is wise to buy eggs for storage. In a cooling room in which the atmosphere is sweet and pure, a temperature of 34 F. will preserve eggs for a year with very little appreciable change in quality. Even when the price of eggs is from twenty-five to thirty cents a dozen, they are not more expensive than many other forms of animal food—notably beefsteak—and when served in the form of omelettes, scrambled or creamed eggs where other substances are added to compose the dish their cost in a meal is less than steak. [Sidenote: Economy and Care] In arranging a hospital dietary the comparative cost of food should always be borne in mind, and where food of cheaper material supplies the place of the more costly, the cheaper should have the preference. If, when eggs are high-priced, the housekeeper could arrange to economize in their use in desserts and cake rather than in their use as meat substances, it will be in the long run the more sensible plan. However, desserts in a hospital and desserts in a home are two different things. The so-called dessert in a hospital often forms the meal for the patient with weakened digestive powers, and in such cases eggs must be used, be the price high or low. For the healthier members of the hospital family, fruits and desserts made without eggs can be depended on to take the place of desserts requiring eggs when the latter are expensive. In storing eggs, the housekeeper should remember that the shell of an egg is not impervious, and if placed long in contact with apples, onions or other substances of decided flavor the odor can be detected in the egg when cooked. Another point to be remembered is that an egg kept in a refrigerator will take longer to boil than if kept in a room at the ordinary temperature. When dealing with impaired appetites and weakened digestive powers these so-called minor points have special importance. [Sidenote: Meat] Meat is the most expensive article of food in a hospital, and for this reason the art of buying requires real study. The flesh of animals seems to be especially adapted to contribute to the building up and maintenance of the organic structure of the human system, but owing to the absence of starch is not to be depended on to produce force or energy. Meats are generally believed to be easier of digestion than vegetable foods. The chemical ingredients are much like the various substances of the human system, and are therefore more quickly acted upon and made ready for absorption. A certain woody fibre often surrounds the nutritive ingredient of the vegetable and renders it more resistive to the action of digestive fluids. [Sidenote: Beef]