Meat-eaters often boast of the plainness of their food, and yet wonder that they suffer in health.

It is not an uncommon thing for a man to consult his doctor and to tell him, "I live very simply, nothing but plain roast or boiled." Medical men are all agreed on one point, and that is that haricot beans rank almost first among vegetables as a nourishing article of diet.

In writing on this subject, Sir Henry Thompson observes, "Let me recall, at the close of these few hints about the haricot, the fact that there is no product of the vegetable kingdom so nutritious, holding its own, in this respect, as it well can, even against the beef and mutton of the animal kingdom." This is a very strong statement, coming as it does from so high an authority, and vegetarians would do well to hear it in mind when discussing the subject of vegetarianism with those who differ from them.

Sir Henry proceeds as follows:--"The haricot ranks just above lentils, which have been so much praised of late, and rightly, the haricot being to most palates more agreeable.

By most stomachs, too, haricots are more easily digested than meat is; and, consuming weight for weight, the eater feels lighter and less oppressed, as a rule, after the leguminous dish, while the comparative cost is very greatly in favour of the latter." To boil haricot beans proceed as follows.