6 MEATS.
quite red, the sheep is little more than a lamb, and under a year old; if the bones are beginning to whiten at the upper and lower bones, though the middle of the breast bone is still reddish, the animal is between one and two years; and thenceforward the bones will grow more generally white till at four years old they are perfectly white. Always choose small-boned, rather small mutton, with very white and firm waxy fat, not too abundant, but evenly distributed, the lean being of a purple-brown of a darkish tint when freshly cut, whilst if seen through the skin of the leg it is apt to look quite purple; it should be fine in the grain, plump-looking, and much drier than beef on the surface. Well-hung good mutton looks quite dry, whilst its colour darkens almost to black; such meat is always good. In cool, dry weather, in an airy dry larder, mutton will hang advantageously for a fortnight to three weeks, and at any time should hang a week before eating. Like beef, frozen mutton is coming into use, though it is not so popular as it deserves to be for two reasons; one is the trouble in thawing it properly, the second is that when thawed it is very apt to look anything but appetising in its raw state. Unthawed, the fat is perfectly white, and the lean is of a very pale pink shade; when, however, it is thawed it looks very often as if in an advanced stage of decomposition, especially if seen through the skin, as on the leg, when it has an absolutely appalling range of colouring, from a greenish yellow to a deep purple. All this, however, disappears when it is cooked; and if properly treated, frozen