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The Choice of Animal Food (We conclude the foregoing)

We conclude the foregoing treatise on the Art of Carving by the following instructions, intended to aid housekeepers in the purchase of the most common descriptions of meat for the table.

Beef.

If the flesh of ox-beef is young, it will have a fine smooth open grain, be of a good red, and feel tender. The fat should look white rather than There are but few directions necessary for cut-yellow; for when that is of a deep color the meat ting up and serving fish. In turbot the fish-knife or trowel is to be entered in the centre or middle, over the back-bone, and a piece of the flesh, as is seldom good; beef fed by oil cakes is in general so, and the flesh is flabby. The grain of cow-beef is closer, and the fat whiter, than that of ox-beef, but the lean is not of so bright a red. The grain | they will be red; if fresh, the feet will be pliable, of bull-beef is closer still, the fat hard and skinny, the lean of a deep red and a stronger scent. Oxbeef is the reverse. Ox-beef is the richest and Largest; but in small families and to some tastes, heifer-beef is better if finely fed. In old meat there is a streak of horn in the ribs of beef; the if stale, dry and stiff. Geese are called green till three or four months old. Green geese should be scalded; a stubble-goose should be picked dry. harder this is, the older, and the flesh is not finely flavored.

Veal.

The flesh of a bull calf is firmest, but not so white. The fillet of the cow-calf is generally preferred for the udder. The whitest is not the most juicy, having been made so by frequent bleeding, and having had whiting to lick. Choose the meat of which the kidney is well covered with white thick fat. If the bloody vein in the shoulder looks blue or of a bright red, it is newly killed; but any other color shows it stale. The other parts should be dry and white; if clammy or spotted the meat is stale and bad. The kidney turns first in the loin, and the suet will not then be firm.

Mutton.

Choose this by the fineness of its grain, good color, and firm white fat. It is not the better for being young; if of a good breed and well fed, it is better for age; but this only holds with wether mutton; the flesh of the ewe is paler, and the texture finer. Ram mutton is very strong flavored, the flesh is of a deep red, and the fat is spongy.

Lamb.

Observe the neck of a fore-quarter: if the vein is bluish it is fresh; if it has a green or yellow cast it is stale. In the hind-quarter if there is a faint smell under the kidney, and the knuckle is limp, the meat is stale. If the eyes are sunk, the head is not fresh. Grass-lamb comes into season in April or May, and continues till August. Houselamb may be had in great towns almost all the year, but is in highest perfection in December and January.

Pork.

Ducks.

Choose them by the same rules of having supple. feet, and by their being hard and thick on the breast and belly. The feet of a tame duck are thick, and inclining to dusty yellow; a wild one has the feet reddish and smaller than the tame. scalded.

They should be picked dry. Ducklings must be Shad.

If good, they are white and thick. If too fresh they eat tough, but must not be kept above two days without salting.

Herrings.

If good, their gills are of a fine red, and the must be stiff and firm. eyes bright, as is likewise the whole fish, which Lobsters.

If they have not been long taken the claws will have a strong motion when you put your finger on the eyes and press them. The heaviest are the best. The cock-lobster is known by the narrow back part of his tail, and the two uppermost fins within it are stiff and hard; but those of the hen are soft , and the tail broader. The male, though generally smaller, has the highest flavor, the flesh is firmer, and the color when boiled is a deeper red.

Crabs.

The heaviest are best, and those of a middling size are sweetest. If light they are watery; when in perfection the joints of the legs are stiff, and the body has a very agreeable smell. The eyes look dead and loose when stale.

Oysters.

When alive and strong the shell is close. They should be eaten as soon as opened, the flavor becoming poor otherwise. The abundance and variety of fish daily brought to market in every seaport town of the United States, cannot be surpassed in any other part of the world.

Pinch the lean, and if young it will break. If the rind is tough, thick, and cannot easily be imrind is tough, thick, and cannot easily be impressed by the finger, it is old. A thin rind is a merit in all pork. When fresh the flesh will be smooth and cool; if clammy it is tainted. What QUALITIES OF THE ARTICLES OF FOOD is. called measly pork is very unwholesome, and may be known by the fat being full of kernels, which in good pork is never the case. Pork fed at still-houses does not answer for curing any way, the fat being spongy. Dairy-fed pork is the best.

A Turkey-Cock, If young, has a smooth black leg, with a short spur. The eyes full and bright if fresh, and the feet supple and moist. If stale, the eyes will be sunk and the feet dry. A hen-turkey is known by the same rules, but if old her legs will be red and rough.

Fowls.

If a cock is young, his spurs will be short; but take care to see they have not been cut or pared, which is a trick often practised. If fresh the vent will be close and dark. Pullets are best just before they begin to lay and yet are full of eggs; if old hens, their combs and legs will be rough; if young, they will be smooth. A good capon has a thick belly and a large rump; there is a particular fat at his breast, and the comb is very pale. Blacklegged fowls are most moist, if for roasting. Geese.

The bill and feet of a young one will be yellow, and there will be but few hairs upon them; if old,