The elements which we require in order to supply the daily waste of the mineral constituents of the body are contained in greater or less quantities in nearly all the articles which man uses for food. But it may readily happen that, by adopting an ill-regulated diet, a man may not take a sufficient quantity of these important elements. It must also be noticed that articles of food, both animal and vegetable, may be deprived of a large proportion of their mineral elements by boiling; and if, as often happens, the water in which the food has been boiled is thrown away, injurious effects can scarcely fail to result from the free use of food which has lost so important a portion of its constituent elements. Accordingly, when persons partake much of boiled meat, they should either consume the broth with the meat, or use it as soup on the alternate days. Vegetables steamed in small quantities of water (this water being taken with them), also afford a valuable addition to boiled meat. In fact, experience seems to have suggested the advantage of mixing carrots, parsnips, turnips, and greens with boiled meat; but unfortunately the addition is not always made in a proper manner. If the vegetables are boiled separately in large quantities of water, and served up after this water has been thrown away, more harm than good is done by the addition; since the appetite is satisfied with comparatively useless food, instead of being left free to choose, as it might otherwise do, such forms of food as would best supply the requirements of the system. Salads and uncooked fruits, for instance, contain saline ingredients in large proportion, and could be used advantageously after a meal of boiled meat. Potatoes are likewise a valuable article of food on account of the mineral elements contained in them. And there can be no doubt that the value of potatoes as an article of food is largely increased when they are cooked in their skins, after the Irish fashion.