It seems to be agreed, however, that animals
when slaughtered should be neither too young nor too old. The flesh of young animals, although more tender, is less digestible than that of older ones; it is also poorer in salts, fat, and an albuminous substance called syntonin.
Consumption of Meat. Dr Letheby, writing in 1868, says that in London “the indoor operatives eat it to the extent of 14·8 oz. per adult weekly; 70 per cent. of English farm labourers consume it, and to the extent of 16 oz. per man weekly; 60 per cent. of the Scotch, 30 of the Welsh, and 20 of the Irish also eat it. The Scotch probably have a larger allowance than the English, considering that braxy mutton[27] is the perquisite of the Scotch labourer; but the Welsh have only an average amount of 21⁄2 oz. per adult weekly; and the Irish allowance is still less. It is difficult to obtain accurate returns of the quantity of meat consumed in London; but if the computation of Dr Wynter is correct, it is not less than 303⁄4 oz. per head weekly, or about 41⁄2 oz. per day for every man, woman, and child. In Paris, according to M. Armand Husson, who has carefully collected the octroi returns, “it is rather more than 49 oz. per head weekly, or just 7 oz. a day.” Bondin states that throughout France the consumption is about 50 grammes daily, or under 13⁄4 oz.
[27] See further on.
Dr Letheby, in his work ‘On Food,’ gives the following as the characteristics of good meat:—
“1st. It is neither of a pale pink colour nor of a deep purple tint, for the former is a sign of disease, and the latter indicates that the animal has not been slaughtered, but has died with the blood in it, or has suffered from acute fever.
“2nd. It has a marked appearance from the ramifications of little veins of fat among the muscles.
“3rd. It should be firm and elastic to the touch, and should scarcely moisten the fingers—bad meat being wet, and sodden and flabby, with the fat looking like jelly or wet parchment.
“4th. It should have little or no odour, and the odour should not be disagreeable, for diseased meat has a sickly cadaverous smell, and sometimes a smell of physic. This is very discoverable when the meat is chopped up and drenched with warm water.
“5th. It should not shrink or waste much in cooking.