CHAPTER XIII

MEATS AND POULTRY

The meats that we commonly use are derived from the flesh of domestic and wild animals of herbivorous habits and from fowls. The flesh of carnivorous animals is seldom used as food. The various kinds are obtained as follows:

_Meat_ _Animal_

Beef Ox Veal Calf Mutton Sheep Lamb Young sheep Pork Pig Ham and bacon Pig Venison Deer

Under the head of poultry we include the common fowl, turkeys, ducks and geese, the guinea hen, and game birds.

[Illustration: FIG. 57.——Fiber cells of plain muscular tissue. _Kimber’s Anatomy for Nurses._]

=Quality of good meat.=——The quality of meat is dependent on the condition of the animal from which it is derived. The creature should be in perfect health and well fed. Good beef is largely obtained from the cattle ranges of the West, but there is no reason why cattle should not be raised to greater extent in the East. Sheep for mutton are best raised where the climate is not too severe. Methods of slaughter, transportation, and preservation all affect the quality of beef. The pure food laws and Federal meat inspection law are valuable to the consumer in their control of the quality of the meat, that it shall be free from disease and from adulterations. See