At the western end of the gallery over the upright cases containing
wheat, barley, oats, maize, &c., are arranged some selected heads of oxen
in illustration of the principal breeds in this country.
The Case, 56, is specially devoted to the composition of one pound of
beef, mutton, pork, veal, lamb, and fowl. Wax models represent the
substances, and each analysis is accompanied with descriptive printed
labels.
In Case 70 are seen mounted specimens of the varieties of hares and
rabbits indigenous to the United Kingdom.
The flesh of birds, fish, and reptiles is also represented in the
Collection.
Cases 63 and 64 contain mounted examples of the varieties of pheasant
successfully introduced into Great Britain, and a series of grouse,
ptarmigan, capercailzie, &c., as representing the game birds of that
family.
FISH is represented in the Collection by mounted specimens of the
commoner kinds of fish brought to market, and by the analysis of a pound
of salmon, mackerel, sole, conger eel, herring, and pike.
FISH yield a larger number of species used as food by man than either
birds or quadrupeds. There are but few fishes caught in the fresh waters
and seas of Great Britain that may not be eaten with impunity. In some
countries the only animal food known is fish. The flesh of fish contains
less oil or fat, and a larger quantity of mineral matters than the flesh
of birds or mammals. The digestibility of fish is not so great as that
of butcher’s meat; hence, generally, it is not so nutritious as the flesh
of birds or quadrupeds. Fish is undoubtedly a valuable as well as an
agreeable article of diet, and should, where possible, be introduced into
all dietaries.
In connexion with fish the collection illustrating Economic Fish Culture,
mainly belonging to, and superintended by, Mr. Frank Buckland, Her
Majesty’s Inspector of Salmon Fisheries, should not be left unmentioned,
although not forming a part of the Food Collection in the Branch Museum
at Bethnal Green. This collection illustrates the science of breeding
salmon, trout, and other fish by artificial means. It also includes a
large number of casts of different kinds of fish, and a series of nets
and other apparatus used in the legal and illegal capture of fish. At
present it is exhibited in the arcades on the western side of the Royal
Horticultural Gardens at South Kensington. During the period of the
International Exhibition it is not accessible except to visitors to the
Exhibition; but when the Exhibition is not going on, visitors can see the
Museum of Economic Fish Culture under the rules and regulations which
govern the South Kensington Museum, with which it is officially connected
as an addition to the Food Collection.
Lobsters, crabs, prawns, and shrimps, are exhibited in the collection in
illustration of the edible animals belonging to the crustacea; and of
molluscous animals, embracing the shell fish of the rivers and oceans,
examples of the oyster, scallop, whelk, periwinkle, common snail, and
Roman snail, are shown. (See Cases 59 and 60.)
Of reptiles, but few are eaten in this country as food. Their flesh is,
however, white and delicate, and rich in gelatin and fat. No accurate
analysis seems to have been published of the flesh of these animals. The
flesh of the green turtle is consumed in considerable quantity, and of it
the famous turtle soup is made. The common and edible frog are eaten on
the continent; and the land tortoise, common on the coast of the
Mediterranean, is eaten by the inhabitants of Italy and the Levant. The
flesh of the crocodile, alligator, and iguana, is also consumed in the
countries where such creatures abound.