MEATS. 473 
so-called sweetbread, when cooked, is to be eaten by the invalid, 
not as producing any digestive effect, but rather on account of its 
delicate flavour, and its invariable tenderness. In France each 
sweetbread, whether from calf, cow, or ox. is called “* Ris de veau,” 
the word “ris” signifying laughter. “ Betr than olde Boef is 
the tendre Veal” (Chaucer, Merchant's Tale). 
Pepys, in his famous Diary, records it that on October 24th, 
1662, he “dined with my wife upon a most excellent dish of 
Tripes of my own directing, covered with mustard. as I have 
heretofore seen them done at my Lord Crewe’s, of which I made 
a very great meal, and sent for a glass of wine for myself.” Tri 
is the paunch of the stomach of cud-chewing animals, the oy, 
cow, etc.; its principal constituents are albumin, and fibrin, 
with fat ; it is the most easily digested of all viands, possessing 
a large amount of connective tissue, which is readily changed 
into gelatine on boiling, so that the fibres are easily acted on 
by the gastric juice of the stomach. It also contains fat in a 
considerable amount, but not diffused through the muscular 
part. Unfortunately, the lack of extractives causes Tripe to 
be somewhat deficient in flavour, but otherwise it is to be regarded 
as a valuable, easily-assimilated food. About forty grains of 
proteid are present in each ounce of Tripe. Dr. Kitchener 
thought that Tripe holds the same rank amongst solids that 
water-gruel does among soups. It is without doubt tasteless 
of itself; and if the non-striped muscular fibres comprising its 
substance (such being the rumen, or first stomach of the ox) did 
own any little savoury material, this must be lost in the difficult 
process of its preparation, and boiling. The Tripe remains, there- 
fore, chiefly a body of connective tissue, and has to be boiled until 
it is almost ready to dissolve into gelatine. It should be bought 
at the Tripe-shop in the boiled state, and next re-boiled at home 
in milk for at least an hour; and must then be made tasty by 
sauces, or garnishes, being therefore most frequently flavoured 
with an abundance of onions. According to Homer, Tripe was 
one of the dishes presented to the guests at the feast of Achilles 
as a food fit for heroes. A French name for Tripe is Gras double. 
Our English word is derived from “ Trippa,” entrails, belly, 
strippen. There is the plain Tripe, and the reticulum, or 
honeycomb Tripe, including the whole of the cardiac division 
of the stomach ; this latter is the best part. The Art of Cookery 
(1709) suggests keeping the culinary preparation of Tripe out 
