ooking meat is
to soften and loosen the tissue, which renders it more easily
digested. Another object is to sterilize or kill any germs which may
exist and to make it more palatable. The digestibility of meat is
influenced by the age of the animal killed and the feeding. The
following table is given as an average of the digestibility of animal
foods:--

TABLE OF COMPARATIVE DIGESTIBILITY.

_Commencing with the most digestible and ending with the least
digestible of meats and other animal foods._ (Thompson.)

Oysters.
Soft cooked eggs.
Sweetbread.
Whitefish, etc.
Chicken, boiled or broiled.
Lean roast beef or beefsteak.
Eggs, scrambled, omelette.
Mutton.
Bacon.
Roast fowl, chicken, turkey, etc.
Tripe, brains, liver.
Roast lamb.
Chops, mutton or lamb.
Corn beef.
Veal.
Duck and other game.
Salmon, mackerel, herring.
Roast goose.
Lobster and crabs.
Pork.
Fish, smoked, dried, pickled.

Cooking affects the digestibility of meat, which is evident from the
figures given in the following table (Church):--

TIME OF DIGESTION.

--------------------+----------------
| Hours.
--------------------+----------------
Beef, raw | 2
Beef, half boiled | 2-1/2
Beef, well boiled | 2-3/4 to 3
Beef, half roasted | 2-3/4 to 3
Beef, well roasted | 2-1/4 to 4
Mutton, raw | 2
Mutton, boiled | 3
Mutton, roasted | 3-1/4
Veal, raw | 2-1/2
Pork, raw | 3
Pork, roasted | 5-1/4
Fowl, boiled | 4
Turkey, boiled | 2-1/2
Venison, broiled | 1-1/2
--------------------+----------------

It may be well to add here that animal food is more digestible when
cooked between 160 deg. and 180 deg. F. than at a higher temperature.

Cooking of Meat.

_(For more general information, see Recipes.)_

In boiling meat two principles must be considered, the softening of
the fibre and preserving of the juices. If the meat alone is to be
used it should be placed in sufficient boiling water to completely
cover, and kept at boiling point (212 deg. F.) for at least ten minutes,
so as to harden the albumen and prevent the escape of the juices. The
temperature should then be allowed to fall to simmering point (175 deg.
F.). If the