or six years old, but sheep of this age are rarely if ever, met with
now-a-days, when they are constantly killed under two years. To know
the age of mutton, examine the breast bones; if these are all of a
white gristly color the animal was four years old or over, while the
younger it is the pinkier are the bones, which, in a sheep of under a
year, are entirely red.

Good mutton should be of a clear dark red, the fat firm and white,
and not too much of it; when touched the meat should feel crisp yet
tender. If the fat is yellow and the lean flabby and damp, it is bad.
A freshly scraped wooden skewer run into the meat along the bone
will speedily enable anyone to detect staleness. For roasting mutton
scarcely can be hung too long, as long as it is not tainted; but for
boiling it must not be kept nearly so long or the meat will be of a
bad color when cooked.


Lamb

The freshness of lamb is comparatively easy to distinguish, as if
fresh the neck vein will be a bright blue, the knuckles stiff, and the
eyes bright and full.


Veal

Veal is at its best when the calf is from three to four months old.
The meat should be of a close firm grain, white in color and the fat
inclining to a pinkish tinge. Veal is sometimes coarser in the grain,
and redder in the flesh, not necessarily a mark of inferiority, but