‘This wonderful shoulder of mutton was immediately brought to me in triumph, and though I was at no great loss to account for what had happened, yet it certainly was quite unexpected; and when I tasted the meat I was very much surprised indeed to find it very different, both in taste and flavour, from any I had ever tasted. It was perfectly tender; but though it was so much done it did not appear to be in the least sodden or insipid; on the contrary, it was uncommonly savoury and high flavoured.’ What I have already explained concerning the coagulation of albumen will render this result fairly intelligible. It will be still more so after what follows concerning the effect of heat on the other constituents of a shoulder of mutton. The Norwegian cooking apparatus, to which I have already alluded, and which is now commercially supplied in England, does its work in a somewhat similar manner. It consists of an inner tin pot with well-fitting lid, which fits into a box, having a thick lining of ill-conducting material—such as felt, wool, or sawdust (it should be two or three inches thick bottom and sides). A fowl, for example, is put into the tin, which is then filled up with boiling water and covered with a close-fitting cover lined like the box, and firmly strapped down. This may be left for ten or twelve hours, when the fowl will be found most delicately cooked. For yachtsmen and ‘camping-out’ parties, &c., it is a very luxurious apparatus. FOOTNOTES: [2] Tarchnoff has recently discovered the curious fact that the white of the eggs of birds that are hatched without feathers remains transparent when coagulated, while the eggs which produce chickens and other birds already fledged become opaque when coagulated. This is familiarly illustrated by the difference between plovers’ eggs and hens’ eggs when cooked. [3] ‘Egg-cement,’ made by thickening white of egg with finely-powdered quicklime, has long been used for mending alabaster, marble, &c. For joining fragments of fossils and mineralogical specimens, it will be found very useful. White of egg alone may be used, if carefully heated afterwards. [4] _Physiological Chemistry_, vol. ii. p. 356. [5] It was given to me in 1868. I have just found that some of it remains unused (December 1884), and that it still retains its characteristic flavour. CHAPTER IV. GELATIN, FIBRIN, AND THE JUICES OF MEAT.