4 QUALITIES OF FLESH. 



SECTION II. 



Qualities of the Flesh of Poultry. 



GALLINACEOUS FOWLS, or CHICKENS. In the opi- 

 nion of physicians, both ancient and modern, the 

 flesh of the chicken at three months old, is the most 

 delicate and easy to digest of all other animal food : 

 thence best adapted to the stomachs of invalids, or 

 the constitutionally weak, being the least alkalescent 

 of all animal food, free from irritation, and affording 

 a mild and innoxious chyle. Age makes a striking 

 difference in the flesh of fowls, since, after the age 

 of twelve months, it becomes tougher and more 

 insoluble. The cock, indeed, at that age, is only 

 used for making soup, whilst the pullet is still excel- 

 lent, although a more substantial viand than the 

 chicken. Whilst young, the cock and hen are 

 equally delicate. 



The CAPON, or castrated cock, has ever been 

 esteemed one of the greatest delicacies, preserving 

 the flavour and tenderness of the chicken, with the 

 juicy maturity of age, the flesh yielding a rich and 

 good chyle, and without any tendency to inflammation. 

 Capons, however, are usually crammed, and made ex- 

 cessively fat, perhaps to the verge of disease, in 

 which state their flesh is neither so delicately fla- 

 voured, nor probably so wholesome as when more 

 naturally fed. Indeed, the flesh of the barn-door 

 fowl, or that fed in a state of nature, and at liberty 



