Gout, like rheumatism, may be cured on a "shilling a day," if you earn it. The overfed and underworked - the idle - are frequently gouty.

Give plenty of pure water between meals; fruit juices, especially orange, apple and grape juice; the yolk of an egg in milk; the hard-boiled yolks grated over milk toast; puree of nuts; puree of lentils; sweet fresh peas and corn; an occasional bit of broiled white-fleshed fish, with an abundance of succulent green vegetables lightly cooked. In fact, such tender uncooked vegetables as lettuce, cress, celery, endive, with citrous fruits, should form the bulk of the diet. Give at least two quarts of water a day between meals, and insist upon the patient giving up all red meats, pink-fleshed fish, the Crustacea, lobsters, crabs, oysters and clams, subacid fruits, sweets and highly seasoned soups and sauces. Puree of lentil and puree of nuts must take the place of meat. Do not reduce the gouty obese patient too rapidly. The general vitality must be kept up. For this reason avoid the bulky foods, such as coarse underground vegetables, potatoes, and white bread. Give skimmed milk in place of whole milk. Buttermilk, matzoon and zoolak are to be preferred to sweet milk.

When digestion is weak and the patient emaciated, give lean chopped mutton cake, once a day; the yolk of a hard-boiled egg on toast, once a day; sweet milk with a little cream between breakfast and luncheon. Boiled rice, stewed cucumber or boiled string beans may be given with the mutton cake.

May Eat

All forms of hard bread

Milk soups without butter

Vegetable Soups

no meat

Clam broth

Bellevue bouillon

Skimmed milk

Roquefort cheese (small quantity)

Yolks of eggs occasionally

Broiled bacon

Chopped meat cakes, broiled

Farinaceous foods and cereals

Rice

Sago and fruit

Tapioca and fruit

Strawberries, if they agree

Vegetable gelatin, with fruits

Nut dishes

Puree of lentils

Young peas

French canned peas

String beans

Celery

Stewed turnips

White potatoes, occasionally

Okra

Artichokes, French and Jerusalem

Stewed cucumbers

Light salads, little oil and plenty of lemon juice Stewed summer squash Cauliflower Kohl-rabi Baked eggplant Lettuce, cress, endive

Avoid

Meats in general; pork, veal and salt meats in particular All appetizers, as anchovies, caviar, herring and herring roe All warmed-over meats and entrees Fat foods in general All fresh hot breads; buckwheat cakes Pastries, preserves and candies All sweet drinks Jams and jellies

Such green vegetables as radishes, asparagus, rhubarb, spinach, tomatoes, garden cress, beets, parsnips, salsify, yellow turnips, boiled cabbage, onions, baked beans

Melons, peaches, plums, nectarines, apricots, grapes, figs, bananas, prunes

All sour foods and condiments; pickles and spiced dishes

Indigestible foods, as mushrooms sea foods and cheese

The above dishes may be arranged in menus so that each meal will be attractive and appetizing and still simple.

Give a cup of clear coffee, without milk or sugar, or fruit juice, early in the morning; the heavy meal at noonday, and supper at six o'clock, composed largely of cereals.

Caution

If the patient has been in the habit of taking wine with every meal, cut it off gradually. If tea and coffee disagree, give an infusion of cocoa nibs or shells, with a very little milk or cream. Rich chocolate and cocoa must be avoided. Saline waters are to be recommended for the obese. A man who has been accustomed to strong drink generally prefers a saline water, purchased at a drug store, to a good spring water. Humor him in these matters. If the patient is thin and rather anaemic, do not give him saline waters. Give plain pure soft water.

Watch the patient carefully, and note the results from every meal. It is of utmost importance that the stomach should be kept in good condition.