ANIMAL FOOD 115, 



171. Soup and beef tea. The water in which meat is cooked 

 is often eaten as soup. Soup contains some gelatine and fat, but only 

 a small amount of albumin, for most of the albumin is coagulated by the 

 heat, and thus prevented from dissolving. The water also dissolves the 

 mineral and waste matters of the meat. 



Beef juice is made by heating the meat and pressing out the juice. 

 The best meat juice contains albumin and fat in about the same pro- 

 portions as milk. 



Beef tea is a kind of concentrated soup. Mineral and waste matters 

 give it flavor. It is very poor in albumin and fat, and is of little value 

 as a food, while its waste matters may render it harmful. There are no 

 facts to warrant the assertion that beef tea contains some nutritious 

 essence of the meat which is of special value as food. Its value must 

 be judged solely by the amount of albumin and fat which it contains. 

 Extracts of meat are sold, a teaspoonful of which added to a cup of 

 water is said to contain the nourishment of a pound of beef. They 

 consist of mineral and waste matters dissolved in water, and so are of 

 no value as food. Their taste may be pleasant, and this may assist in 

 the digestion of other food. 



172. Fresh meat. As a rule any meat is most whole- 

 some if it is eaten soon after being killed. In the markets 

 beef is usually hung in a room whose temperature is nearly 

 freezing. There it remains fresh for weeks, or even months, 

 and at the same time it becomes more tender and improves 

 in flavor. When taken out and exposed for sale, it spoils 

 much sooner than newly killed beef. If there is the slight- 

 est musty or decayed odor about meat, it is undesirable as 

 food. 



Game animals are often hung just as they are killed, 

 until they are distinctly decayed, so as to develop peculiar 

 flavors. Fowl and game are liable to be unwholesome if they 

 are kept for many days without being opened and cleaned. 



173. Points of good meat. (i) Tender meat usually comes 

 from well-fed animals, and such animals are always fat. A layer of fat 

 from one fourth to one half inch in thickness, covering the outside of 

 the meat just under the skin, usually denotes a well-fed animal. The 



