LIEBIG’S BROTH FOR THE SICK.—For one portion of broth take half a pound of freshly killed meat (beef or chicken), cut it into small pieces and add to it one and one-eighth pounds of pure water to which have been added four drops of muriatic acid and one-half to one drachm of salt; mix them well together. After standing an hour, the whole is strained through a hair sieve, allowing it to pass through without pressing or squeezing. The portion passing through first being cloudy, it is again poured through the sieve, and this process is repeated until it becomes perfectly clear. Upon the residue of meat remaining in the sieve, half a pound of pure water is poured, in small portions. In this manner, about one pound of liquid (cold extract of meat) is obtained, of a red color and a pleasant meat broth taste. It is administered to the sick, cold, by the cupful, according to their inclination. It must not be heated, as it becomes cloudy thereby, and a thick coagulum is deposited. A great hindrance to the employment of this broth is, in summer, its liability to change in warm weather; it commences regularly to ferment, like sugar water with yeast, without the usual odor. On account of this, the meat must be extracted with perfectly cold water and in a cool place. Ice water and refrigeration with ice completely remove this difficulty. Most important of all is it that the meat should be perfectly fresh. This broth is now in use in the hospitals, and in the private practice of several of the most distinguished physicians of Munich.
A VEGETABLE SOUP.—Take an onion, a turnip, two pared potatoes, a carrot (a head of celery or not); boil them in three pints of water till the vegetables are cooked; add a little salt; have a slice of bread, toasted and buttered, put into a bowl, and pour soup over. When in season, tomatoes, or okra, or both, improve this.
GUM WATER.—Half an ounce to one ounce dissolved in one quart of cold water. Sweeten it.
COFFEE.—Sick persons should have their coffee made separate from the family, as standing in the tin pot spoils the flavor. Put two teaspoonsful of ground coffee in a small mug, and pour boiling water on it; let it set by the fire to settle, and pour it off in a cup, with sugar and cream. Care should be taken that there are no burnt grains.
CHOCOLATE.—To make a cup of chocolate, grate a large teaspoonful in a mug, and pour a teacupful of boiling water on it; let it stand covered by the fire a few minutes, when you can put in sugar and cream.
BLACK TEA.—Black tea is much more suitable than green for sick persons, as it does not affect the nerves. Put a teaspoonful in a pot that will hold about two cupsful, and pour boiling water on it. Let it set by the fire to draw five or ten minutes.
RYE MUSH.—This is a nourishing and light diet for the sick, and is by some preferred to mush made of Indian meal. Four large spoonsful of rye flour mixed smooth in a little water, and stirred in a pint of boiling water; let it boil twenty minutes, stirring frequently. Nervous persons who sleep badly rest much better after a supper of corn or rye mush than if they take tea or coffee.
BOILED CUSTARD.—Beat an egg with a heaped teaspoonful of sugar; stir it into a teacupful of boiled milk, and stir till it is thick; pour it in a bowl on a slice of toast cut up, and grate a little nutmeg over.
PANADA.—Put some crackers, crusts of dry bread or dried rusk in a saucepan with cold water and a few raisins; after it has boiled half an hour, put in sugar, nutmeg, and half a glass of wine if the patient has no fever. If you have dried rusk, it is a quicker way to put the rusk in a bowl with some sugar, and pour boiling water on it out of the tea-kettle. If the patient can take nothing but liquids, this makes a good drink when strained.
BARLEY-WATER.—Well wash two ounces of pearl barley; boil it a few minutes in half a pint of water, which is to be thrown away; then add four pints of boiling water; keep it boding till two only are left, and strain. A small quantity of lemon-juice may be added.
MUCILAGINOUS BROTH.—Cut a young fowl into several parts, and wash them thoroughly; put these into a three-quart stewpan; add three pounds of the lean of white veal, a couple of turnips, a carrot and one head of celery, the whole to be cut into small pieces; fill the stewpan with water, and boil it, removing the scum as it rises to the surface. After the broth has thrown off the albumen of the meat in the shape of scum, add to it two ounces of best Ceylon moss, taking care to mix well the moss with the broth; keep it gently boiling for one hour and a quarter; skim it for use. This broth is very nutritious and cooling, and will prove beneficial in cases of sore throat.
PLAIN CHICKEN BROTH.—Cut into four parts a young fowl, wash them and put them into a stewpan with one quart of water and a little salt; set it to boil; skim it well, and then add the heart of a white cabbage lettuce and a handful of chervil; boil the broth an hour, and then strain it for use.
BEEF TEA.—Two pounds of the lean of beef; pare away carefully every portion of fat, skin or sinew, cut it into pieces the size of a nut; put it into a stewpan that will hold two quarts, and pour three pints of boiling water upon it; add a little salt; when it boils, skim it, and then remove it to the side of the stove to boil gently for an hour; skim it for use.