ar dark red, the fat firm and white,
and not too much of it; when touched the meat should feel crisp yet
tender. If the fat is yellow and the lean flabby and damp, it is bad.
A freshly scraped wooden skewer run into the meat along the bone
will speedily enable anyone to detect staleness. For roasting mutton
scarcely can be hung too long, as long as it is not tainted; but for
boiling it must not be kept nearly so long or the meat will be of a
bad color when cooked.

Lamb

The freshness of lamb is comparatively easy to distinguish, as if
fresh the neck vein will be a bright blue, the knuckles stiff, and the
eyes bright and full.

Veal

Veal is at its best when the calf is from three to four months old.
The meat should be of a close firm grain, white in color and the fat
inclining to a pinkish tinge. Veal is sometimes coarser in the grain,
and redder in the flesh, not necessarily a mark of inferiority, but
denoting the fact that calf has been brought up in the open. Like all
young meat, veal turns very quickly, therefore it never should hang
more than two or three days. In choosing veal always examine the suet
under the kidney; if this be clammy and soft, with a faint odor, the
meat is not good, and always reject any that has greenish or yellowish
spots about it. The head should be clean skinned and firm, the eyes
full and clear, the kidneys large and well covered with fat, the liver
a rich dark clear color, free from any spots or gristle, while the
sweetbreads should be firm, plump, of a delicate color, and free from
strings.

Pork

The flesh of pork, when in good condition, is a delicate pinky white,
with a close fine grain; the fat, which should not be too abundant, of
a white color, very faintly tinged with pink; the skin should be thin
and elastic to the touch, and the flesh generally cool, clean, and
smooth looking; if, on the contrary, the flesh is flabby and clammy
when touched, it is not fresh.

Pork, like all white meat, is quick to taint, and never should be kept
long before cooking. If you have the slightest doubt about pork, it is
best to reject it, for unlike other meat which may be quite wholesome
and usable, though not of precisely prime quality, pork _must_ be
in really first class condition to be wholesome, and therefore it
is impossible to be too particular in the choice of it. Always if
possible look at the tongue, for, as in beef, this is a very fair
criterion of the condition of the a