The Book of Household Management by Mrs. Beeton

inhuman and disgraceful as that, till very lately, employed in killing this poor animal; when, under the plea of making the flesh _white_, the calf was bled day by day, till, when the final hour came, the animal was unable to stand. This inhumanity is, we believe, now everywhere abolished, and the calf is at once killed, and with the least amount of pain; a sharp-pointed knife is run through the neck, severing all the large veins and arteries up to the vertebrae. The skin is then taken off to the knee, which is disjointed, and to the head, which is removed; it is then reflected backwards, and the carcase having been opened and dressed, is kept apart by stretchers, and the thin membrane, the caul, extended over the organs left in the carcase, as the kidneys and sweet-bread; some melted fat is then scattered suddenly over the whole interior, giving that white and frosted appearance to the meat, that is thought to add to its beauty; the whole is then hung up to cool and harden.