Year: 1879

ANIMAL FOOD.


The flesh food that civilized people
consume, is either vegetable, or meat de-
rived from vegetable feeders. The prin-
ciple meats are beef, mutton, veal, lamb,
domestic fowl and game. The nutlitive
value of each kind Of meat depends on
age, mode of life, nature of feeding, mode
OF death and upon the peculiar character
OF each kind Of flesh


The fe:h Of the young is more tender
than that of the old, but it is less easily
digested, veal and lamb, are harder of
digestion than that Of beef and mutton.
The flesh Of the young is more gelatinous.
less stimulated and less nutrious than
that Of the old, which contains more
fbrine and osmasome, or the favoring
principle The flesh Of very young ami
mails, as calves of ten days old is soft.
flat and insipid. Experience shows that
cattle Of middle age yield the best fla
vored beef, and more nutritious and
more easily digested than that Of young
animals. Sex influences the quality Of
the fesh--that of the female is more fine
ly grained and delicate than that Of the
male.


1t is matter Of common observation,
that most animals are III better state
for the consumption of the human fam
lily, IN some seasons than in Others Or
dinarily, it is in its best condition in the
late autumnal and ea,ly winter months,
simply because animals usually have
large supply of fresh summer. and au-
tumnal food. Mutton and beef are al
ways good, but still are more succulent
and juicy during summer, autumn and
early winter. The venison of the male
deer is in its best condition from June
to September. That of the doc in that
winter. The expression sin season and
out Of season. applied to animals is
full of meaning, and indicates, among
other things, that the flesh Of animals is
in better, healthier state for human
food at some seasons than at tohers
The mode of life has an influence upon
the flesh of animals. Those that lead a
wild and active lives are less fat than
those who are lacy and we'll fed. The
flesh of the wild has a higher color than
that OF the tame, and is decidedly gamy.


The food animals consume modifies
the character Of their flesh. Turnips
yield peculiar flavor to mutton. Ihe
flavor of mutton from sheep who have
lived upon the highland, is different from
that Of sheep who have obtained their
food chiefly from the lowlands. The gar
lie Of the meadows and some fragrant
herbs modify the flavor of the meat. Oily
food tends to make the fat soft. Hens,
partly fed on scraps of. decaying meat,
yield eggs that are at once unpleasant to
the taste and unhealthy. Feeding ami
mails for human food, is, then, of, great
Importance and demands experience. It
IS not enough that food makes fat-it
should also impart an agreeable flavor.


The mode of death, in it's effects upon
the flesh, is we'll illustrated by the fact
that violent exercise just previous to
death, increases its tenderness. The flesh
OF hunted animals is we'll known for its
tenderness. Slaughte1ing animals by
bleeding them involves waste of nutrl-
tive material, but it renders their flesh
more pleasant to the eye and more deli
cate to the taste. It renders their meat
whittier, better favored, and susceptible of
keeping for considerable length of time
without tainting. The Jews Of the pres
ent day are wise, and will not eat the
flesh of any animal that has not been
slaughtered in harmony with their ancient
laws, and by one Of their own order of
faith and practice.


Meat is more or less improved by al
lowing it to hang in cool temperatures
for some days after the creature has re-
tired from life. The analyses of meat
greatly vary. The relative amount of
lean and fat depends upon the many cir
cumstances to which we have just referred
and to the amount of exercise the animal
may take to the temperature in which it
lives, and the purity of the air it may in
hale and absorb. The general character.
istic Of special meat should be known.
Beef has tirmer texture, is more satisfy
ing to the stomach, and possesses greater
strengthening power than mutton, but
mutton is more easy Of digestion, and
still few persons may be found who
cannot digestit. It induces violent vom
iting and diarrhea in some. Veal and
lamb, though tender, yet resist the di-
gestive force Of some stomachs, and yield
less strength than beef; so they should
not be given to children with weak
stomachs


Pork is the most difficult of all meats
to digest. Smoked meats are much less
digestible than fresh. With lean meats,
as veal, chicken, rabbit, OF with food rich
in plaster material, as eggs, beans and
peas, give the proper supply of plaster
and heat making materials. Venison is
elan and savory; it is one of the most di-
gestible of meats.


The relative amount Of bone in animals
varies with their condition Twenty per
cent. of the entire animal may be a fair
average. In the neck and brisket of beef
it is 10 per cent. In the shins and legs,
an average may be so per cent. of its total
weight.


Birds OF various sorts are nutritious.
Some wild birds, as the pheasant feed on
the buds Of the laurel, or as the partridge
on the same become poisonous. The flesh
of birds differ from that Of mammals, in
that it is not marbled, or its fibres are not
mixed with fat. The flesh of different
'Dirds varies in its coloring, from white
to dark. The wings and breast are drier,
whittier, and more delicate in taste than
legs, but the latter are higher favored.
The color varies in different parts of the
same birds. In the black cock the outer
layer Of the breast is brown, while the in
ner layer is white.


The fowl, turkey and guinea-fowl
amongst poultry have white flesh, that is
tender. delicate and easy of digestion
IS more stimulating than ordinary meat,
and 50 is fit for the weak stomach Of
early human life, and those persons who
are in state of convalesccnce. The
flesh of the goose and duck is richer,
hardar afr0noear.fosfod a,ad Il &c