In olden times when the housewife, carefully taught by her mother, helped produce most of the foodstuff, she could prepare it for the table. In these days of complex living the trained investigator must help the home to secure the best kinds of food. Dr. C. F. Langworthy, Chief of Nutrition Investigations, in the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., in the Department Year Book says: "To say that a family bill-of-fare must be appetizing and varied does not necessarily mean that it must be costly as well. The staple food materials, skillfully combined and simply but attractively prepared, are more pleasing in the long run than elaborate living." This is another way of saying that an efficient cook is one who can make a good meal out of simple materials. The writer of this book, who is head of the Department of Household Arts in The Principia, is a practical housekeeper and knows how to prepare exquisite meals in her own home at a modicum of expense. Her pupils in school often surprise their friends with the dainty results of their efforts. Hitherto her knowledge of this art has been passed along orally. Now, some of it has been set forth in this book. In the following pages Miss Dutaud has endeavored to give, not merely a book of recipes, but a brief treatise which shall be of value to the housewife in the discharge of her duties in the kitchen and dining-room.

It is to be hoped that its pages will carry some of the aroma of the practice rooms where it originated, and convey to its readers a little of the ability and skill which have enabled its author to stand in such an enviable position before her constituency. From my knowledge of Miss Dutaud's attainments and work, I cordially commend this volume to all wide-awake housekeepers.

George Millard Davison

The Principia, St. Louis, Mo.