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Pork, Wholesomeness Of

Pork is a very savoury food, and uncommonly nourishing: it is thus suited to persons who lead an active or laborious life. It is not, however, easily digested. The too frequent and long-continued use of this meat is held by medical men to favour obesity, produce foulness of the stomach and bowels, and occasion disorders of the skin. The flesh of the sucking-pig is considered a great delicacy, and is nourishing, but it does not appear to be more wholesome than that of the grown animal. It is not readily dissolved in the stomach. The flesh of the wild hog is dense, but sufficiently tender, very nourishing, and more savoury, as well as more easily digested, than that of the domestic hog. It is in season in October. The finest part is the head, and the flesh of the young wild hog is considered a great delicacy. Pork, fat and lean together, has been shown to require about five hours for digestion. There is no doubt that much of the indigestibility of pork arises, not only from the fat, ostensibly existing as such, but from the large amount of fatty matter mixed with the muscular fibre.