ued)

MEAT

As meat is rather a complex food the teaching of which involves a good
many lessons, and as it does not lend itself as well as other foods to
the making of dishes useful in practice work, it seems wise to defer the
study of it until the Senior Form is reached; the ability and home needs
of the pupils should decide this. The season of the year should also be
considered. It is wiser to take meat lessons in cold weather because it
is then more pleasant to handle and easier to keep. The latter
consideration is important in some rural districts, where shops are not
convenient.

More preparation is needed for the first meat lesson than for most
foods. Some days before, thin bones such as leg or wing bones of fowl,
or rib bones of lamb should be soaked in diluted hydrochloric or nitric
acid (one part acid to ten of water), to dissolve the mineral substance
which gives the bone its rigidity.

Any time before the lesson, a large solid bone of an old animal, such as
a knee or hip joint of beef, should be burned for hours to get rid of
the connective tissue which holds the mineral substance in shape. This
should be carefully done, in order to retain the shape of the bone and
to show the porous formation of the mineral substance. If the bone is
not blackened by the fire, its white colour will also indicate the lime
of which it is formed.

On the day of the lesson it will be necessary to have a piece of meat
showing the three parts--fat, bone, and muscle. A lower cut of the round
of beef has all these parts, and the muscle is sufficiently tough to
show its connective tissue plainly. For the study of fat, a piece of
suet is best, as it can be easily picked apart to show its formation.

In examining fat meat and lean meat it is essential that, at least,
every two pupils have a piece, as close scrutiny is necessary. One or
two samples of bone will suffice for the class.

No definite amount of work can be laid down for any one lesson. The
interest and ability of the class must be the guide. In rural schools,
the time of each lesson must be comparatively short, though no Household
Management teacher should spend more than forty minutes on purely
theoretical work without a change of some kind.

The following is an outline of the facts to be considered in this
particular study:

LESSON I

1. Names of meat:

(1) Beef, from the ox or cow. The best meat
comes from an animal about four years o