it was a barbarous custom, which has been partially abandoned of late in the best houses, and which it is hoped may soon be altogether superseded by one of better taste. The breast is by far the finest part of a pheasant, and it is carved in slices from pinion to pinion, in the lines a a b b ; the legs may then be taken off, in the direction c d. The bird, when it is preferred so, may be entirely dismembered by the directions for a fowl, No. 16. Black and moor-game are trussed and served like pheasants. The breasts of both are very fine eating, and the thigh of the black-cock is highly esteemed. No. 16. A BOILED FOWL. The boiled fowl of plate 6 is represented as garnished with branches of parsley, which is an error, as they would be appropriate to it only if it were cold, and it is seldom served so, being considered insipid. Small tufts of cauliflower would have been in better keeping with it, as the bird is supposed to be dished for the dinner-table. Unless it be for large family parties, fowls are seldom carved there entirely into joints ; but when it is wished to divide them so, the fork should be fixed firmly in the centre of the breast, and the leg, being first disengaged from the skin, may be taken off with the wing in the line ab\ or, the wing being previously removed, by carving it down the line to b, and there separating it from the neck-bone, the leg may be released from the skin, and easily taken off, by cutting round it from a to c, and then turning it with the fork, back from the body, when the joint will readily be perceived. After the leg and wing on the other side have been taken off in the same manner, the merrythought must follow. To remove this, the knife must be drawn through the flesh in the line d e, and then turned towards the neck quite under the merrythought, which it will so lift from the breast, in this form : — The neck-bones — which lie close under the upper part of the wings, and are shaped thus — must next be disengaged from the fowl, by putting the knife in at The top of the joint, dividing the long part of the bone from the flesh, and breaking the short one off by raising it up, and turning it from the body ; the breast, which is shown here, may then be divided from it by merely cutting through the tender ribs on either side. It is seldom that further disjointing than this is required at table ; but when it is necessary to cut up the entire fowl, the remainder of it must be laid with the back uppermost, and to take off the side-bones, which are of this shape— the point of the knife must be pressed through the back-bone, near the xl CARVING. top, about half an inch from the centfe, and brought down towards the end of the back, quite through the bone, then turned in the opposite direction, when the joints will separate without difficulty. All which then remains to be done is, to lay the edge of the knife across the middle of the only two undivided bones, and then with the fork to raise the small end of the fowl, which will part them immediately : to carve a boiled fowl or chicken in a more modern manner, see the directions which follow. The breast, wings, and merrythought, are the most delicate parts of a fowl. On the upper part of the side -bone is the small round portion of flesh called the oyster , by many persons considered as a great delicacy. No. IT. A ROAST FOWL.

AI-modernized reading of the original text

it was a barbarous custom, which has been partially abandoned of late in the best houses, and which it is hoped may soon be altogether superseded by one of better taste. The breast is by far the finest part of a pheasant, and it is carved in slices from pinion to pinion, in the lines a a b b ; the legs may then be taken off, in the direction c d. The bird, when it is preferred so, may be entirely dismembered by the directions for a fowl, No. 16. Black and moor-game are trussed and served like pheasants. The breasts of both are very fine eating, and the thigh of the black-cock is highly esteemed. No. 16. A BOILED FOWL. The boiled fowl of plate 6 is represented as garnished with branches of parsley, which is an error, as they would be appropriate to it only if it were cold, and it is seldom served so, being considered insipid. Small tufts of cauliflower would have been in better keeping with it, as the bird is supposed to be dished for the dinner-table. Unless it be for large family parties, fowls are seldom carved there entirely into joints ; but when it is wished to divide them so, the fork should be fixed firmly in the centre of the breast, and the leg, being first disengaged from the skin, may be taken off with the wing in the line ab\ or, the wing being previously removed, by carving it down the line to b, and there separating it from the neck-bone, the leg may be released from the skin, and easily taken off, by cutting round it from a to c, and then turning it with the fork, back from the body, when the joint will readily be perceived. After the leg and wing on the other side have been taken off in the same manner, the merrythought must follow. To remove this, the knife must be drawn through the flesh in the line d e, and then turned towards the neck quite under the merrythought, which it will so lift from the breast, in this form : — The neck-bones — which lie close under the upper part of the wings, and are shaped thus — must next be disengaged from the fowl, by putting the knife in at The top of the joint, dividing the long part of the bone from the flesh, and breaking the short one off by raising it up, and turning it from the body ; the breast, which is shown here, may then be divided from it by merely cutting through the tender ribs on either side. It is seldom that further disjointing than this is required at table ; but when it is necessary to cut up the entire fowl, the remainder of it must be laid with the back uppermost, and to take off the side-bones, which are of this shape— the point of the knife must be pressed through the back-bone, near the top, about half an inch from the centfe, and brought down towards the end of the back, quite through the bone, then turned in the opposite direction, when the joints will separate without difficulty. All which then remains to be done is, to lay the edge of the knife across the middle of the only two undivided bones, and then with the fork to raise the small end of the fowl, which will part them immediately : to carve a boiled fowl or chicken in a more modern manner, see the directions which follow. The breast, wings, and merrythought, are the most delicate parts of a fowl. On the upper part of the side -bone is the small round portion of flesh called the oyster , by many persons considered as a great delicacy. No. IT. A ROAST FOWL.

Modern cookery, in all its branches