These are dishes which remove the fish and soup, served upon large dishes, and placed at the top and bottom of the table; great care should be evinced in cooking them, as they are the "piece de resistance" of the dinner. I must also observe that a few of the receipts appear a little complicated, but which will not prove to be the case if tried once or twice. In the Entrees will be found how the remains of them may be dressed.

Since the science of analytical chemistry has become so perfect, and has shown us the elements of which every substance and liquid is composed, and that, in order to continue them in a state of action, and prevent decomposition, it is necessary to repair the loss which they are every moment undergoing, even from man, through every living thing, down to earth and water. But as I am not going to write you a lecture on chemistry, which will be so much more easy to read in Liebig, in order for you to choose your meat and viands with economy in regard to actual nourishment, it is necessary I should tell you, that, from infancy to old age, the human race must be continually imbibing elements of formation or reparation, even from the lime in the mother's milk, which forms the bones, to the osmazome extracted from animal matters, which creates a more lively circulation of the blood when it becomes sluggish and dull in old age. Each period, occupation, and station in life requires different substances of reparation, with which we ought to make ourselves intimately acquainted. Amongst the first, and that most generally in use with man, is the ox, the principal nourishment of which consists in the osmazome, which is that liquid part of the meat that is extracted by water at blood-heat. It is this which is the foundation and flavor of all soups, which gives the flavor to all meats, and which, on becoming candied by heat, forms the crust of roast meats.

The osmazome is found principally in all adult animals having a dark flesh, and to a very small extent in those having a white flesh; or even in the white flesh of fowls, but in their back and legs, in which parts lies their principal flavor. The bones of the ox contain gelatine and phosphate of lime. The gelatine is also found in the muscles and other cartilaginous parts of the animal; it is extracted by boiling water, and coagulates at the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere; it is the foundation of all jellies, blancmanges, and other similar preparations.

The albumen is also found in the flesh, and congeals as soon as the heat rises beyond that of the blood; it is this which is the scum on the pot when the meat is boiling.