137 



ROASTING. 



ROBBERY. 



138 



roads, inch as Deal and Yarmouth, when the wind blows parallel to 

 the shores, or rather to the entrances, no protection whatever can be 

 afforded ; and indeed the vessels which may be engaged in such narrow 

 passes, not having sea-room, are exposed to greater danger with such 

 winds than if they were in open sea. To some extent, all roads must 

 be exposed to inconvenience from the waves when the wind 

 blows straight into their entrances; but if the shelter from the 

 prevailing winds should be perfect, it would be found that the 

 waves, driven through the narrow passes, would soon be lost in 

 the large mass of still water behind the natural or artificial means of 

 shelter. 



A ship of the line requires a minimum depth of 30 feet, and an area 

 of about 84 to 10 acres to swing freely at its anchors ; a 1000 ton 

 commercial vessel would not require a greater depth than 21 or 22 

 feet, and the area it would occupy would be proportionally less. If 

 there should be any probability of the transmission of the external 

 agitation to the interior of the roads, the depth of water must be 

 greater than either of those stated, so as to ensure a sufficient depth 

 beneath the keels of the ships even when the waves are at their 

 lowest points. In the best roads, there are usually harbours, docks, 

 repairing slips, and other conveniences for the examination and repair 

 of vessels, and at all times the value of a roadstead is materially in- 

 creased if it should possess means for watering the ships which resort 

 to it. Some of the best roads in the Mediterranean are of little 

 practical value on account of the lack of fresh water in them ; 

 as, for instance, the roads of Cagliari, in the island of Sardinia, 

 although there is a tolerably convenient little harbour at the head 

 of the bay. The pnmim between the main land and the sheltering 

 breakwater must be at least from 1200 to 2000 yards in width, 

 to allow large vessels to enter easily when they have any heavy way 

 on them. 



ROASTING is that culinary process by which meat is brought from 

 a raw to a cooked state more directly by the action of fire than by any 

 other means except that of broiling. By the Utter the heat is applied 

 immediately and suddenly to the surface, by which it is hardened, so 

 that the juices of the meat are greatly retained, evaporation being 

 thereby prevented ; while, by the former, the heat is applied gradually, 

 the watery portion is evaporated, an well as the fat melted out to a 

 considerable extent, till the progressive browning and hardening of the 

 surface prevent the further escape of the juices. But the loss resulting 

 from the evaporation of the watery portion, and to a certain degree, 

 the melting of the fat, may be lessened by imitating in the first 

 stages the process of broiling, namely, by applying the meat at the 

 beginning quite close to the fire, so as to harden the outside, and then 

 removing it to a great distance, and conducting the subsequent stages 

 very slowly. About fifteen minute* is generally sufficient to effect 

 this encrusting for a moderately sized joint, if the fire be brisk and 

 clear, as it always ought to be for roasting - <>r if gas be used. 

 y house should have a moveable piece of iron or steel, with a 

 joint permitting it to be turned out of the way when not in use, 

 screwed on the mantel-piece, with teeth fixed in it, so as to be able to 

 hang the joint any distance from the fire." (Soyer's ' Shilling Cookery 

 for the People.') The evaporation may be further restrained by 

 beginning to dredge the meat with flour earlier than most cooks do. 

 The above eminent authority recommends that " all dark meats, such 

 as beef and mutton, should be put down to a sharp fire for at least 

 fifteen minutes, then remove it back, and let it do gently. Lamb 

 veal, and pork (if young and tender), should be done at a moderate 

 Veal even should be covered with paper. Fowls, Ac., should be 

 placed close to the fire, to et the skin." For young meats the process 

 should be carried farther than for older meats. The loss of weight in 

 roasting meat is much greater than by. boiling : "By boiling, mutton 

 loses one-fifth, and beef one-fourth ; but by roasting, these meats lose 

 about one-third of their weight. In roasting, the loss arise* from the 

 melting out of the fat and the evaporation of the water, but the 

 nutritious matter remains condensed in the cooked solid ; whereas, in 

 boiling, the gelatine is partly abstracted. Roasted are therefore more 

 nutritive than boiled meat*.'* (Paris, ' On Diet.') The digestibility is 

 also increased, especially in young meat*, which are deficient in osma- 

 zome, to which the sapidity is mainly owing, and which during boiling 

 panes into the water cin|il<>yti|, while in roasting it is powerfully 

 developed and almost entirely retained. " Young and viscid food, 

 therefore, such a* veal, chickens, Ac., is more wholesome when 

 roasted than when boiled, and are more easily digested." The best 

 and most tender meat may, however, be rendered hard and indigestible 

 by a careles* or ignorant cook. Everybody knows the advantage of 

 Jaw boiling fow matting is equally important. See Dr. Kitchener's 

 ' Cook's Oracle,' in which the most sensible and racy instructions on 

 thin head are given ; also in Mis* Acton's ' Cookery/ as well as the 

 different works of Alexis Soyer. 



The digestibility it increased by the meat being well done, rather 

 than under-done ; " for though in this latter state it may contain 

 most nutriment, yet it will be less digestible on account of the density 

 of it* texture." This is of importance to remember when it is iir 

 for the diet of convalescent*, for whom broiled and roast meat* are 

 rnble to boiled. 



IC< M'.I'.KltY is theft aggravated by the circumstance of tin- | 

 stolen being aken from the person, or whilst it is under the protection 



of the person, of the owner or other lawful possessor, either by violence 

 or putting in fear. This offence appears to have been formerly confined 

 to cases of actual violence to the person, but in later times it has been 

 extended to constructive violence by putting in fear, and not only to 

 cases where property has been taken or delivered under a threat of 

 bodily violence to the party robbed or to some other person, but also 

 where the fear has resulted from apprehension of violence to his 

 habitation or to his property, or where it has been occasioned 

 by threats of accusing the party of the commission of an infamous 

 crime. 



Robbery was formerly regarded not as an aggravation of the crime 

 of theft, but as a distinct and substantial crime. Latterly, however, 

 robbery has been treated as an aggravation of theft, and it has been 

 held that if, upon the trial of an indictment for larceny, it appear that 

 the taking amounted to a robbery, the party may nevertheless be con- 

 victed of the larceny charged. 



The stealing is said to be by violence when it is effected by doing 

 any injury, however slight, to the person of the party robbed, or when 

 the act of taking is accompanied by any degree of force for the purpose 

 of overcoming resistance. A snatching or taking of property suddenly 

 or unawares from the person, without some actual injury to the person, 

 does not amount to robbery. If violence be used, it is sufficient to 

 constitute robbery, although resorted to under the colour of executing 

 legal process, or of the exercise of some other lawful authority. It is 

 not essential to the offence of robbery that the violence should have 

 been at first used for the purpose of obtaining the property, provided 

 the violence bn unlawful and the property is yielded up, or permitted 

 to be taken, in order to prevent further violence. 



Stealing is considered to be effected by threat of violence to the 

 person, when possession of the thing stolen is obtained by any threat, 

 menace, or other act calculated to excite fear or apprehension of 

 violence, present or future, to the person of the party threatened or of 

 any other party in whose welfare the party to whom the threat is 

 addressed may feel interested. It is immaterial whether the threat, 

 4c., be direct or indirect, or whether conveyed by words, gestures, or 

 signs, or whether made under pretence of lawful claim or of acting 

 under legal process or other lawful authority, or of asking charity, or 

 of making a purchase, or under any other pretence. The existence of 

 actual fear in the mind of the party robbed is not material, provided 

 the act of stealing be accompanied by such threats or other acts as are 

 calculated to create the expectation that force will be used in case of 

 resistance. Where no actual violence is employed, and the threats, 

 Ac., used do not create any apprehension of violence or expectation 

 that force will be resorted to in case of resistance, or if such appre- 

 hension or expectation has ceased to exist at the time when the property 

 is taken, the offence of robbery is not committed. If property be taken 

 by violence or by threats, Ac., it is robbery, although the owner may 

 have voluntarily exposed himself to the attack for the purpose of 

 apprehending the offender. 



At common law, robbery was a felony punishable by death, without 

 regard to the quantity or value of the property stolen. The offender, 

 however, was entitled to benefit of clergy [BENEFIT OF CLERGY], until 

 this advantage was taken away in cases x>f robbery, under different 

 circumstances of aggravation, by several statutes. 



The offender was liable to be punished at the suit of the crown after 

 a trial upon an indictment, and, in certain cases, when taken in the 

 very act, upon a trial without indictment. The party robbed also was 

 entitled to bring his criminal action or appeal [APPEAL] against the 

 robber, for the purpose as well of punishing the offender as of obtaining 

 restitution of the property stolen. 



The party robbed may without any formality retake his goods 

 wherever he can find them, unletui they have been waived or thrown 

 away by the robber during his flight, or seized by the officer of the 

 crown or of the lord of the franchise, or sold in open market. But after 

 such waiver, seizure, or sale, the owner cannot retake them of his own 

 authority. At common law a writ of restitution could be obtained 

 only upon the successful prosecution of a writ of appeal. But the 

 courts before which a party is convicted of robbery or of larceny 

 are now authorised to awanl writs of, or make orders for, restitu- 

 tion of stolen goods (21 Hen. VIII. c. 11 ; 7 A 8 Geo. IV., c. 29, 

 s. 57). 



Robbery is punishable by penal servitude for life or for any term of 

 years not less than three years, or by imprisonment for any term not 

 exceeding three years, and for any period of solitary confinement during 

 such imprisonment not exceeding one month at a time, or three months 

 in the space of one year. 



Upon an indictment for robbery, as well as for any other felony 

 which include* an assault upon the person, the jury may acquit of the 

 felony, and find a verdict of guilty of assault, against the party 

 indicted, if the evidence will warrant such finding ; for which assault 

 the party may l>e sentenced to imprisonment for any term not exceeding 

 three years. 



ROBBERY, in the Roman law, was called Rapina, and the remedy of 

 the injured person was the actio vi bonorum raptorum against the 

 robber. Robbery was, in fact, a species of Furtum ; for the definition 

 of furtum was, " a fraudulent carrying off (contrectatin) of a moveable 

 thing against the owner's consent." The word ' fraudulent " com- 

 prehended the notion of a person carrying off the tiling for the purpose 



