By Harvey W. Wiley, M. D.

THE salad has almost the same relation to the last part of the dinner that the soup has to the first. In other words, the salad should not be so much a food as a condiment. While this is true of many salads, it is quite untrue of some others. The ideal dinner salad is lettuce, romaine, endive or water cress with or without tomato. The lobster, potato, and chicken salads are, however, concentrated foods. They are very properly served as the chief item at a stand-up function, or the principal supper or luncheon dish, but are not at all suited for bringing a substantial dinner to a close. I say advisedly " to a close," because too often the dessert merely adds a heavy, indigestible sweet to the menu, tempting the diner to eat when he has already had enough, and it would be well to stop the dinner with the salad, or content one's self with a little fruit or a few nuts. Lettuce and tomatoes are composed chiefly of water. The oil in the salad dressing is nutritious, of course, furnishing an abundant supply of heat and energy, but comparatively little of it is used, and even including this, a salad cannot be regarded as a very substantial addendum to the meal.

Vegetable salads should be well washed to remove any adhering dust or dirt, as well as to be certain that no harmful germs are retained upon them. It is true that mere washing will not remove harmful germs, but they are not so often attached to the lettuce or to the tomato as they are to the dust and dirt which may adhere to them. A thorough washing of these materials, therefore, before the preparation of the salad is a sanitary measure of great importance.

The use of the salad among American families should be encouraged. It is too infrequently found on our tables, especially among farmers, who grow abundant salad materials in the garden. The attractive recipes which follow will do much, I am sure, to earn for the salad the increased popularity that it deserves.

Jellied Chicken and Egg Salad. Recipe on Page 267.

Cucumbers and Cress. A Spring Salad Crisp and Appetising.

Tomatoes and Endive Salad Garnished with Capers. Serve a French Dressing with this.

Pond Lily Salad. Recipe on Page 274.