MEAT. 



Fig. 1. 



loin ; and in the fore, 3 the back ribs, and 4 

 the breast and shoulders. The gigot is cut 

 about half-way between the leg and haunch of 

 the London method ; and the fore-quarter is 

 cut right through the shoulders in two places, 

 called back-ribs and breast. Shoulders of 

 mutton are never cut off in Scotland before 

 being cooked, except by keepers of eating- 

 houses ; but the London plan of cutting mutton 

 is decidedly the best, the shoulder forming an 

 excellent roast, and the best end of the. neck- 

 piece being admirably suited for chops. 



The different joints of mutton vary almost 

 as much in price in London as pieces of beef. 

 The leg is sometimes sold as high as Wd. a 

 pound, whilst the breast of the same sheep will 

 only fetch 4r/. or 5d. ; and if, in the wholesale 

 market, the whole carcass is sold at 6d. a pound, 

 the hind-quarter will be worth 7d. and the fore 

 only 5d. From these facts it is obvious, that it is 

 the interest of the shipper only to send hind-quar- 

 ters of mutton to London, for which 7d. a pound 

 may be easily obtained, and a ready market for 

 them in the west-end butchers, who seldom 

 deal in fore-quarters. The fore-quarters could 

 be sold at home; hence realizing as much for 

 them as they could fetch in London, besides 

 saving on them the freight, commission, and 

 wharfage. They form excellent joints for trades- 

 men's families, and are, in fact, generally pre- 

 ferred by them to the hind-quarters, which are 

 considered dry eating, and certainly do not 

 make so good broth as the fore-quarter. Be- 

 sides the saving of room in packing the hind- 

 quarters, they would run no risk of being 

 stained when sent by themselves, as the stain- 

 ing generally arises from blood oozing out of 

 the veins in the fore-quarter. 



Lamb is cut up in London in much the same 

 manner as mutton, excepting that the neck and 

 breast, when the shoulder is taken off, is roast- 

 ed whole, and the piece is called ribs of lamb. 

 In Scotland lamb is cut up exactly as mutton. 



Veal is cut up in London in a different way 

 from any other meat. The knife is drawn be- 

 tween the buttock and itch-bone, and through 

 the. pope's eye, taking a sloping direction 

 through the coarse end of the buttock, leaving 

 a flap. The piece thus cut out is called a fillet 

 804 



MEAT. 



of veal. It is like a round of beef with a part 

 of the thin flank left to be skewered around it. 

 The round bone is taken out, and stuffing put 

 into its place. When the itch-bone and hook- 

 bone are cut from the loin, the piece is called 

 a chump of veal. The hind-quarter of veal 

 thus consists of fillet, chump, loin, and leg. 

 The fore-quarter is cut in the same manner as 

 mutton, having shoulder, breast, amHieck. In 

 Scotland, veal is cut very much like mutton. 



The London mode of cutting up pork is the 

 same as the Scotch mode of cutting up mutton, 

 so/. 2 will illustrate the mode; in which, in 

 the hind-quarter, No. 1 is the leg, and 2 is the 

 loin; in the fore, 3, back-rib, chine, or hand; 

 and 4, breast and shoulders, spring or belly. 

 The spring is used for pickling, and the hand 

 for roasting, and for chops, or sausages. In 

 Scotland, the hind-quarter consists of leg and 

 loin, and the fore of back-ribs and breast. For 

 pickling or roasting, pork is cut in the hind- 

 quarter like that of English mutton, and in the 

 fore like that of Scotch. In both countries, 

 the ham is cut out alike. (Donovan's Dnrt\. 

 Econ. ; Quart. Jour, ofjlgr. vol. iii. p. 24 1 28 1 .) 

 See CATTLK and SALTING. 



MEDICK (Mcdicago). An extensive genus 

 of herbaceous, mostly procumbent, plants. The 

 perennial herbaceous species are sometimes 

 cultivated for ornament; they will grow in any 

 common garden soil, and are increased by di- 

 viding the roots of the plants in spring. The 

 shrubby kinds grow in a similar soil,' and are 

 readily increased by cuttings. The seeds of 

 the annual species require to be sown in the 

 open border in spring. There are six indige- 

 nous species. 



1. Purple medick, or lucern (M. saliva'). See 



2. Yellow sickle medick, or button-jags (M. 

 falcata}. This perennial species grows on dry, 

 gravelly banks and old walls. The root is long 

 and woody. In habit it very closely resembles 

 lucern, but the numerous stems are procum- 

 bent, spreading every way, hairy. The flow- 

 ers, which blow in June and July, are generally 

 pale-yellow, but occasionally violet, and more 

 frequently green, evidently from a combina- 

 tion of these two colours. The legumes are 

 black, downy, sickle-shaped, not twisted in 

 a screw, as in lucern. This species is, per- 

 haps, as good fodder as lucern, though less 

 succulent, and, from its position, less accessi- 

 ble to the scythe. It withstands severe winters 

 better than lucern, and is eaten eagerly by 

 cattle and horses, though its stalks are hard 

 and woody. 



3. Black trefoil medick, or nonsuch (M. ln- 

 pulina'). This annual species is, in England, 

 very common in meadow pastures and culti- 

 vated fields, where it flowers from May till 

 August. The black medick has the habit of 

 some of the procumbent yellow trefoils, and 

 has such general resemblance to the proper 

 trefoils or clovers, that it is often mistaken for 

 some of the smaller species. The form and 

 colour of the seed-pods afford a ready distinc- 

 tion. The root is tapering, and- somewhat 

 fibrous. Flowers small, yellow, from 30 to 40 

 and upwards in each spike, which is at first 



j roundish, afterwards ovate. Legumes kidney- 



