EFFECT OF COOKING ON BONES. 9 



the fish charr, the charr being in greater esti- 

 mation, especially for potting ; but if you in- 

 quired of the cook who prepared them, and 

 she would tell the truth, most likely you would 

 be informed that they are trout, such as you 

 have been eating. Know that a large pro- 

 portion of the so-called potted charr is trout ; 

 the distinction is difficult ; and if the trout be 

 of good quality, it is not, when thus prepared, 

 inferior to charr. As to your second question, 

 if you carefully examine the fish you are eating, 

 you will find that it retains its bones ; but that, 

 instead of being hard and resisting, as they 

 originally were, they are now soft and yielding. 

 This change is the effect of the cooking of 

 the baking process by which the animal matter, 

 the cartilaginous portion of the bone, has been 

 rendered almost gelatinous. It is by an ana- 

 logous process that bones have been softened 

 so as to admit of being easily chopped and 

 divided for agricultural use, viz., by steaming 

 or boiling under pressure. 



AMICUS. Might not a small quantity of 

 vinegar be added with advantage ? It would 

 promote, as an antiseptic, the keeping of the 

 fish, and might do away with the necessity of 



