the nature of the _food on which it has been fed_; for the food supplies
the material which produces the flesh. If the food be not suitable and
good, the meat cannot be good either; just as the paper on which these
words are printed, could not be good, if the rags from which it is made,
were not of a fine quality. To the experienced in this matter, it is
well known that the flesh of animals fed on farinaceous produce, such as
corn, pulse, &c., is firm, well-flavoured, and also economical in the
cooking; that the flesh of those fed on succulent and pulpy substances,
such as roots, possesses these qualities in a somewhat less degree;
whilst the flesh of those whose food contains fixed oil, as linseed, is
greasy, high coloured, and gross in the fat, and if the food has been
used in large quantities, possessed of a rank flavour.