The next important factor in treating this dis-ease is food.
The diet should consist of the richest and the most readily digestible foods, in the following groups, given in the order of their importance:
Eggs Honey Nuts Figs Oranges Milk Maple-sugar Olive-oil Raisins Pears Legumes Whole wheat Cream Grapes Plums Rice Butter Persimmons Peaches Potatoes Bananas Apples Corn
Asparagus Beets Lettuce Peas Carrots Romaine Beans Parsnips Parsley Green corn Squash Watercress Tomatoes Celery Turnips Cabbage
The patient should drink an abundance of water, take vigorous exercise and deep breathing, and eat liberally of grapes before breakfast, when they are in season.
A spirometer should be secured, and an effort made to increase the capacity of the lungs one cubic inch each day until their utmost capacity has been reached.
The following menus are merely suggestive. They may be changed, selecting the articles mentioned in the foregoing tables, when available during the several seasons of the year:
GENERAL MENUS FOR WEAK LUNGS--CONSUMPTION
A glass of clabbered milk, with a sprinkle of sugar Two eggs whipped very thoroughly (See recipe, p. 678)
If constipated, take half a cup of coarse wheat bran, cooked. Serve as a breakfast cereal with butter or cream.
Three eggs prepared as per recipe, p. 678; add two glasses of milk; mix well; drink slowly
Choice of two of the following vegetables:
Beets Cabbage or celery Carrots Fresh corn or corn hominy Lentils Navy or lima beans Parsnips Turnips
A baked white potato, rice, or corn One egg, prepared any way acceptable to the taste--preferably whipped
Something green should be taken at this meal, if possible, such as lettuce, spinach, kale, parsley, or watercress
Home-made ice-cream, in summer, or a tablespoonful of honey, in winter, may be eaten, if something sweet is desired
Drink from one to two glasses of water at each of these meals, but take no water into the mouth until mastication is perfect.
Just before retiring, drink a glass of water, and eat half a pound of grapes, then devote from ten to fifteen minutes to deep breathing exercises.
/Second Day/: Same as the first, slightly increasing or decreasing the quantity of food according to hunger.
Take an additional egg the second day for the noon meal; another the third day, then gradually decrease the quantity if the appetite rebels against them. Do not overeat. Assimilation is the primary object to be obtained.