But the ocean is the chief dependence for the fish-market, and there is little danger (if we except salmon and lobsters) that its kind of aliment will, in our country, be eaten to excess. It would be better for the health of those who do not labor, if they would use more fish and less flesh for food. But then fish cannot be rendered so palatable, because it does not admit the variety of cooking and flavors that other animal food does. Fish is much less nutritious than flesh. The white kinds of fish, cod, haddock, flounders, white fish, &c., are the least nutritious; the oily kinds, salmon, eels, herrings, &c., are more difficult to digest. Shell fish have long held a high rank as restorative food; but a well-dressed chop or steak is much better to recruit the strength and spirits. _Cod_, _whiting_, and _haddock_, are better for being a little salted, and kept one day before cooking. 1334.--_Of Beef as Food._--Ox beef is considered the best; heifer beef is excellent where well fed, and is most suitable for small families. If you want the best, choose that which has a fine smooth grain--the lean of a bright red; the fat white or nearly so. The best roasting-piece is the sirloin; then the first three ribs--if kept till they are quite tender, and boned, they are nearly equal to the sirloin, and better for a family dinner. The round is used for _alamode_ beef, and is the best piece for corning. The best beef steak is cut from the inner part of the sirloin. Good steak may be cut from the ribs. If you wish to practise economy, buy the chuck, or piece between the shoulder and the neck; it makes a good roast or steak, and is excellent for stewing or baking. The thick part of the flank is also a profitable piece; good to bake or boil, or even roast. The leg and shin of beef make the best soup--the heart is profitable meat, and good broiled or roasted. The leg rand is used for mince pies--it needs to be boiled till it is very tender. The tongue, when fresh, is a rich part for mince pies. If eaten by itself, it should be pickled and smoked. 1335.--_Of Pork as Food._--Pork, that is fed from the dairy, and fattened on corn, is the best--potatoes do very well for part of the feeding. But pork fattened from the still-house is all but poisonous; it should never be eaten by those who wish to preserve their health. The offals, &c., with which pork in the vicinity of a city is fattened, make it unsavory and unwholesome. Such stuff should be used for manure, and never given as food to animals, whose flesh is to be eaten by man. When pork is good, the flesh looks very white and smooth, and the fat white and fine. Hogs two years old make the best--older than that, their flesh is apt to be rank. Measly pork is very unwholesome, and never should be eaten. It may be known, as the fat is filled with small kernels. When the rind is thick and tough, and cannot easily be impressed with the finger, the pork is old, and will require more cooking.