In presenting this book to the public I am actuated by the hope that it will prove useful to those who are sick, and to those who have to nurse, feed, and prescribe for the sick, and that it will aid the healthy to preserve health. Believing that lay readers will act with greater intelligence if they understand the rationale of a diet, I have briefly described in each case the accepted causation of the disease, and the reasons for the special diet prescribed. Medical men will also, I trust, find the dietaries and recipes practically useful, and likely to save them trouble in directing the dietetic treatment of patients. I have to acknowledge my indebtedness to the works of Dr. Pavy, Sir W. Roberts, Dr. Burney Yeo, Sir Henry Thompson, Dr. Cheadle, Dr. Haig, and those of other writers on dietetics; also to thank Dr. Donald Macalister for his great kindness in reading the proofs. I feel pride and pleasure in the endorsement of the value of the book by so eminent an authority as Sir Henry Thompson.

ALICE M. HART.

38 WIMPOLE Street, W.