No. 25. A Hare

A hare should be placed with its head to the left of the carver, therefore the engraving No. 25 shows it turned in the wrong direction. It is so very great an improvement to take out the back-bone before a hare is roasted, that we would recommend it to be done wherever it can be so without difficulty : it may then be carved in the line a b quite through, or only partially so at choice. When the bone remains in, slices may be taken down the whole length of the back from c c to d d; the legs, which, next to the back, are considered the best eating, may then be taken off in the direction e f, and the flesh divided from or served upon them, after the small bones have been parted from the thighs. The shoulders, which are not generally much esteemed, though sometimes liked by sportsmen, may next be taken off by passing the knife at the letters g h between the joint and the body. When a hare is young, the back is sometimes divided at the joints into three or four parts, after being freed from the ribs and under-skin.