=Proprietaries.=—Baby foods are not to be recommended nor condemned. They are placed on the market as substitutes for mother’s milk with definite instructions as to preparation. They are also very expensive. They are not to be condemned, because many of them are invaluable when used in connection with cow’s milk. Sometimes a child will not tolerate anything but malted or condensed milk, or Nestle’s food, for example. The malt sugars, such as Horlick’s and Mellin’s, are easily assimilated, fattening, and laxative. All foods in the modification of milk should be of the best. The standard sugars are Merck’s milk sugar, Mead’s Dextri Maltose, Nährzucker, cane sugar, and Mellin’s and Horlick’s foods. Robinson’s barley flour or Johnson’s are the best known. Imperial granum is a partially dextrinized flour and corresponds to the home-made “flour ball.” FOOD PREPARATION =Buttermilk Made from a Culture.=—Bring two quarts of milk to a boil, cool to the temperature required for inoculation (80° to 100° F., depending on the culture employed). Introduce the culture, and allow it to stand at the temperature of the room until a solid clabber forms. Place on ice, whip with an egg beater or break up with a churn before using. If a fat-free buttermilk is desired, use skimmed instead of whole milk. There are many kinds of buttermilk cultures on the market, but Hansen’s is considered one of the best, because it is not too acid, besides which, it has a good flavor, and the culture can be utilized over and over for a week or ten days. In preparing a subsequent portion, it is only necessary to use two or three ounces of the first buttermilk, which may be reserved for the purpose. This amount is introduced into the freshly boiled milk, instead of the original powder, and the preparation is continued exactly as described for the mother culture. In every case the mixture must be placed on ice as soon as the clabber forms, as it becomes too sour otherwise. =Eiweiss Milk.=—Heat one quart of whole milk to 145° F. and coagulate with pepsin, rennin, or chymogen, which is 10 per cent rennin. Let it stand until clabbered, which takes about ten minutes. Pour into a gauze bag and let it stand until all the whey is drained off. To the dry curd, add ½ ounce of flour ball, and one pint of skimmed buttermilk, the whole to be rubbed through a very fine wire mesh sieve (as fine as a tea-strainer, at least), three separate times; or, it may be ground twice through a special mill to break up the curd as minutely as possible. Add a pint of water and measure. There should be a quart and three or four ounces over. Place upon a slow fire and bring to a boil while stirring constantly. Boil two minutes, then cool, strain, measure, and add water to make up for evaporation. Shake well before measuring, as the curd is heavy and settles to the bottom. =Peptonized Milk.=—(See p. 338.)