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and not as a skin pasted on a deal board. The hair should 

 be soft, not wiry. The head, horns, and shoulders, not 

 coarse, and the latter not upright, but the blades coming 

 properly into the chine, and the outside point into the neck, 

 which will cause the kernel to appear full ; the eyes should 

 be prominent, not sunken into the head. The purse should 

 be of some size, pointing backwards, soft, and mellow; and 

 not, as is often met with, a small lump, feeling like dried 

 skin, which is an indication that the beast, after good feed- 

 ing, is not likely to produce much inside fut. The flanks 

 should feel as if there were something between this meeting 

 of skin. The hips should feel soft, and full in the hand. 

 Large round bones, and round thighs, are objectionable. 



FAT OXEN. The hand is applied to the rump, hips, 

 and ribs, to ascertain how they are covered with meat ; then 

 underneath, to the purse, which, if it proves large in the 

 hand, and firm, it foretels thai the beast is ripe, and fat 

 inside- The fulness of the throat, prominence of bosom, 

 and covering of shoulders, are points which the butchers 

 much attend to in computing the weight. A little lump, 

 often seen outside, under the root of the tongue, which is 

 called the taste, denotes ripeness ; and so also does a small 

 lump on each side the root of the tail. When the end of 

 the finger is applied between the rump and hips, and the 

 flesh is found to be so elastic as to spring back again on the 

 finger being taken off, this denotes good quality of flesh 

 that is, fineness of the grain of the meat. But with all the 

 judgment of the most experienced, the meat of some beasts, 

 contrary to expectation, proves hard in the eating. Some 

 years ago, I sold to a butcher of Northampton, two very 

 fine Hereford oxen, for one hundred and ten guineas. They 

 were thought to be equally fine meat, were of the same age, 

 bred by the same person, fed together in the same manner 

 by me, and both killed at the same lime, at Christmas. The 

 meat of the one proved fine and tender, of the other, very 

 hard. A well- fed ox should have a well-covered, straight, 

 and flat back : well-covered projecting hips, bowed ribs, 

 sloping shoulders, wide chine, deep fore quarters : project- 

 ing bosom, good purse and flank, and not thin thighs. 



An act was passed, two or three years ago, that the stone 



