joint in the leg and divide it neatly. Work the wing until you see where
the joint is, then cut through the flesh on the shoulder, bend the wing
up and cut down through the gristle and cord. Make a straight clean cut,
leaving no jagged edges. Divide the wing in the joint, and then remove
the leg and wing from the opposite side, and divide in the same way.
Make an incision in the skin near the vent, cut through the membrane
lying between the breast and the tail down to the backbone on each side,
remove the entrails, and break off the backbone just below the ribs.
Separate the side-bones from the back by cutting close to the backbone
from one end to the other on each side. This is a little difficult to
do; and in your first experiment it would be better not to divide it
until after boiling it, as it separates more easily after the connecting
gristle has been softened by cooking. Take off the neck close to the
back by cutting through the flesh and twisting or wringing it until the
bone is disjointed.

Cut off the wish-bone in a slanting direction from the front of the
breast-bone down to the shoulder on each side. Cut through the cartilage
between the end of the collar-bone and the breast. Cut between the end
of the shoulder-blade and the back down toward the wing-joint, turn the
blade over toward the neck, and cut through the joint.

This joint in the wing, collar-bone, and shoulder-blade is the hardest
to separate. Remove the breast from the back by cutting through the
cartilage connecting the ribs; this can be seen from the inside. The
breast should be left whole and the bone removed after stewing; but if
the chicken is to be fried you may remove the bone first.

It is not necessary in boiling a chicken to divide it so minutely, for
the wings and legs can be disjointed, and the side-bones and breast