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Good meat has also a marbled appearance from
the ramifications of little veins of intercellular fat;
and the fat, especially of the internal organs, is
hard and suety, and is never wet; whereas that of
diseased meat is soft and watery, often like jelly or
sodden parchment.
Again, the touch or feel of healthy meat is firm
and elastic, and it hardly moistens the fingers;
whereas that of diseased meat is soft and wet—
in fact, it is often so wet that serum runs from it,
and then it is technically called wet.
Good meat has but little odour, and this is not
disagreeable; whereas diseased meat smells faint
and cadaverous, and it often has the odour of
medicine. This is best observed by cutting it, and
smelling the knife, or by pouring a little warm
water upon the chopped meat.
Good meat will bear cooking without shrinking,
and without losing very much in weight;
but bad meat shrivels up, and it often boils to
pieces.
All these effects are due to the presence of a
large proportion of serum in the meat, and to the
relatively large amount of intercellular or gelatinous