Another day we might provide them with cocoa and bread for breakfast; lentil soup and toasted cheese for dinner; and rice pudding and bread for tea; but this fare presupposes a certain knowledge of cooking, which but few of the poor possess, as well as an acquaintance with the dietetic properties of food, which, at present, is far removed from even the most intelligent. This day’s fare compares favourably with yesterday’s meals in the matter of cost, being 2½_d._ cheaper, but it does not provide enough carbonaceous food, though it does not fall far short of the necessary 23 oz. of nitrogenous substances. +--------------------------+-----------+--------------+-------------+ | Quantity of Food | Cost | Carbonaceous | Nitrogenous | +--------------------------+-----------+--------------+-------------+ | BREAKFAST--BREAD AND | | | | | COCOA. | _s._ _d._ | oz. | oz. | | 2½ lb. Bread | 3¾ | 22½ | 3¾ | | 1½ oz. Cocoa | 1½ | ¾ | ¼ | | 1 pint Tinned Milk | 1 | 1¼ | ½ | | 2 oz. Sugar | ½ | 1½ | -- | | | | | | | DINNER--LENTIL SOUP, | | | | | TOASTED CHEESE. | | | | | 1½ lb. Lentils | 3 | 15 | 6 | | 1 lb. Cheese | 8 | 4½ | 5½ | | 1½ lb. Bread | 2¼ | 13½ | 2¼ | | | | | | | TEA--RICE PUDDING AND | | | | | BREAD. | | | | | ¾ lb. Rice | 1½ | 10½ | ¾ | | 1½ pint Tinned Milk | 1½ | 2¼ | 1 | | 2 oz. Sugar | ¼ | 1½ | -- | | 1½ lb. Bread | 2¼ | 13½ | 2¼ | | +-----------+--------------+-------------+ | Total | 2 1½ | 86½ | 22¼ | +--------------------------+-----------+--------------+-------------+ And how drear and uninteresting is this food compared to that on which people of another class normally live! No refreshing cups of afternoon tea; no pleasant fruit to give interest to the meal. Nothing but dull, keep-me-alive sort of food, and not enough of that to fulfil all Nature’s requirements.