The Sun.
London, England, 1869-02-25 00:00:00

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PRESER VA TION OF MEAT.

There is an interesting article in the last number of
Once a Week on the Preservation of Meat, which
may be useful to consider in relation with the latest
intelligence on the subj.-et from America. The art
of curing is traced from the days of the early navi-
gators, scourged with scurvy, to the invention of
Professor Gamgee, of Chicago. For the half cen-
tury following 1800 no less than 117 patents were
recorded relating to the preservation of food. A
process, dating back to 1820, for preserving meat
by expelling the air by steam, was found to answer
admirably, and for many years was adopted, even
up to the present time. In 1824 the exploring-
ship Fury took on board a supply from Messrs
Donkin and Gamble, and was next year wrecked
in Prince Regent's Inlet. Her stores were landed,
and with the cases of meat left upon the beach,
where they were found by Sir John Ross in
1833 in good condition, although they had been
exposed to a temperature of 92 degrees below and
80 above zero. Sir John used what he wanted, and
left the remainder, which were proved by the Inves-
tigator sixteen years later to be still in excellent con-
dition, having been thus exposed maintaining their
quality for nearly a quarter of a century. The oliject
is to improve on this process, which overboils the
meat, evaporating its flavour, and much of its nutri-
tious qualities, and is expensive, requiting numerous
small tins. The problem is how to transfer butchers'
meat from North and South America to the markets
of Europe. In the vast tracts of grazing land of
Texas, of the Far West, of the River Plate, and of
Australia meat in vast quantities runs to waste,
while in Europe men starve. The author thus
enumerates the conditions of putrefaction :—" The
presence of much moisture, the access of the air,
and a range of temperature from about 40 de-
grees to 212 degrees F. `Hence in preservative
processes we must aim at the exclusion of the pre-
sence of these causes—as by expelling the moisture
from the meat, and preserving it in a dry form ;
or by excluding the atmospheric action by an
impervious coating; or by packing in ice, or by
some other means enveloping the meat in a cold
atmosphere. To these means we must add an-
other—namely, the action of antiseptic agents."
The first mode of preservation was by drying,
which applies better to fish than to meat ; kippered
salmon, red herrings, and dried haddocks being
examples. By " jerking" beef loses its flavour,
becoming tough and indigestible. Masson's patent
for drying vegetables, by forcibly compressing them
into one-seventh their bulk, answered more espe-
cially for armies in the field—a cubic yard contain-
ing rations for 16,000 men—and it was useful in
the Crimea and in China ; but though applicable
to fib, and vegetables, it does not suit for flesh,
milk, nor eggs. The second method is by excluding
the atmospheric air. Dr. Letheby observes how
easily the casks of tallow sent to England from
Australia and South America could be made to
contain joints of fresh meat. " The process," he
says, " should be conducted as follows : when the
fat is melted, and is at a temperature of from 240
deg. to 250 deg. F., the fresh joint should be
plunged into it, and kept there for a few minutes,
so that the superficial moisture might be thoroughly
evaporated. They should then be immediately
packed in sound dry casks, and filled up with hot
fat, at a temperature of 212 deg., or thereabouts.
In this manner the fat and the joints might be
transmitted to this country, and on their arrrival
there would be no difficulty in melting the fat while
in the casks,and then removing the preserved joints."
The Australian Meat Agency has taken this up,
and not long since invited a party to partake of the
meat thus preserved. There are four other pro-
cesses : one by destroying the oxygen in the vessel
by heat, which has failed ; another by exhausting
the air from the vessel, for which half a dozen pa-
tents have been invented, of which the author con-
siders the only one really successful to be that of
510p...1r, which is as follows. The bone is extracted,
but the fat is left. The meat is placed in tins, from
which the air is exhausted by means of water forced
in by a hole at the bottom, which, when it reaches
the top, escapes by another bole. The vacuum thus
caused is filled with nitrogen gas, the two holes are
carefully soldered up, and the meat is then ready
for exportation. On trial it is said to answer well.
The common method is that of driving out the air
by means of steam, which now furnishes a large
branch of trade. The raw meat is placed in a
tinned canister and soldered down, an aperture
of the size of a pin-hole being left in the lid.
The canister is then exposed to the heat of a st earn-
bath, or a bath of solution of muriate of lime (a little
above 212 deg. F.), until the contents are about
two-thirds cooked, and then, when the steam is
still escaping, the aperture is suddenly and com-
pletely closed with solder. The canister thus her-
metically sealed is painted over with a stiff oil paint,
and is exposed for some time in the so-called testing-
room to a temperature favourable to decomposi:ion.
If the canister shows no signs of bulging out from
the development of putrefactive gases, it is con-
sidered sound and fit for use. We have already
noticed the canisters of meat put on board the
Fury, the contents of which were perfectly good
after 44 years. In this way, as we learn from Dr.
Lethehy's instructive lectures, preserved salmon ;i nd
lobsters are sent to Europe from Newfoundland;
turtle from Jamaica, beef and mutton from Canada,
and the dainty tail of the kangaroo from Aus-
tralia. There. are, he adds, two serious objee-

•
motions to the Ifrocess : namely, the meat is u 5.113111
1 over-cooked, from the desire to effect the com Pete
' exclusion of the atinopheric air by the steam °I
the cases are liable to crack from the pressure °f
the atmosphere on the vacuum in their interior'
A tbird method is by covering the meat with 8o
impervious material, the joints being dipped in Fa
bath of melted paraffin, at a temperature of 250
whence they are transferred to a colder bath. The;
ceiving a final coating of gelatine mixture. rf
fourth mode of preservation is by the action °`
cold, and this a friend of ours tells us has been taken
up in Australia, where it is hoped that the tearl
e
perature of tit- place which the meat is Pak
e')
-iug
can be artificially kept below freezing point da.r'ca
the voyage. The final method is best exelnPlithe
by the patent of Professor Gamgee, who during de
cattle plague desired to convert the live stock
into a meat market by rendering the flesh iinPer/;r•
able for a time. The animal after inhaling 119
bonic-oxide gas is bled, skinned, and cleaned
,lit
The carcass is then suspended in an airleo
chamber, which is exhausted of air, and is
tilled with carbonic-oxide gas, to which to
sulphurous acid is added. After remaining in tliv~)
eases for from twenty-four to forty-eight ar
i;
according to the size of the animal, it is hutV, 4,0
a dry air, atter which the carcass will keep for Inool'io
unchanged. (We suspect, says the writer, thattio
sulphurous acid is the only really active age:, JO
this prk..cess.) One advantage of this systetn Ihee
cheapness, no hermetically sealed canisters or °The
expensive packing material being required. cep•
writer of a very interesting letter, dated last 00•
tember, from Chicago, United States, where a ells,
pany for working the patent has been Woo
states that he saw a single labouring man, to VI rge
Professor Gatngee paid two dollars a day, in ch,, be
of the entire concern. " The whole proeess'433e
adds, " which I saw, of packing three sheep, ;irie
three or four dozen chickens, and several Pl:ott
hens, in a small receiver, does not exceed t'se
vo•
minutes. Once the gases are turned ofl,
thing further is necessary than to -filet the of
ceiver containing the meat stand from twenti, te,'
to thirty-hours, when the process is corie3i,3
It is not known whether the process would 6i bf
tropical heat. Lately some mutton exhibited
him to a board of agriculture became unfit fur fie
and the circumstance was extensively proclanuc-
the press, but the story was as follows biter •
"The sheep was killed in Chicago last October. di;
it had been exhibited in Amherst in December a V;r:100/
was cut up and distributed, and pronounced by all
of iDd
be as good as any fresh mutton they ever ate. One oil
hind quarters was hung up in a meat market, with 11;90°
to protect it but a piece of cotton cloth, and on the ere'
January that was cut up and distributed with the slciel?i
suit as before. With the other hind quarter Pr';'l
Clark, of the Atnherest Agricultural College, eight
mented for the purpose of ascertaining how sever° tt 01'4
would stand. The meat was cut open in the thinke' 014
wrapped up in a piece of paper, and placed in a danW rexalt
place, thus exposing the freshest part of it. 'rhea 00;
was that it did not take a great many days to bec°l;ppeD
fit for use. Butchers know very well that meat wr
aka
in paper and exposed thus will not keep nearly as
if wrapped in cloth. A piece of salt pork treated ix 110
same manner will very soon spoil. President Oar, 00
in his house now a sheep killed in Chicago in Octab.e
and cured by Professor Gaingee's process, and it ,11;005;
1
perfect state of preservation—just as sweet as
,I
and
killed but yesterday. From all his experiments 51,,
he is perfectly satisfied that the process is practica' C,
will do all that is claimed for it, viz., to cure meat
ciently for all practical purposes." beitig
The most interesting process, however, is that
tried iu the Plate countries by Mr. Morgan, 3, fell
known Dublin anatomist, who brought his Pi gr.
sional knowledge to bear on this subject, AIL 01
Sloper. The animal is killed instautatieonsy4
blow on the head or by division of the spinalcoo4
The chest is then sawn open, and kept s°
cross piece of wood, and the heart is exposecliooef
incision is made in the right ventricle, and 3.110}ie,,'
in the left, the blood being allowed to e'
env
when it has ceased flowing, a pipe with a st°cie!e
is introduced into the incision in the left ye:id)
of the heart, and so into the aorta, w:D into rive
injected a preparation of salt (one gallon Olt pi,re'
to the cwt.) and a quarter to half a pound /00
carefully refined, and fixed at an al. tude °J,,05146
le to 20 feet. The briny fluid being let 09 `reitig
out at the right side of the-heartf after till Al
all the circulatory organs, clearing the vesseeco,
capillaries, and preparing the body for the !joie
stage, which is performed by closing the inecin'reefel
the right sid of the heart with a sliding 1' vyo
et'
ve
and thereby rendering the circulatory systero
feet, wi h the vessels free and ready to reel°, the
preservative fluid. A few seconds suffice ittaiog
brine to infuse the whole body, when, by ef
the ear or hoof of the animal, a strewn Oci, 0.13
brine, untainted by a single particle of bl°°B derre
instantly be seen to flow. An ox can be Pre
in ten minutes, the pressure of the injectio9
trout ten to twelve pounds to the squa,lgiii;
front twelve to fourteen gallons of the fluid ne)cote,"
jetted, and of course less for a sheep. Thist6,;
fr
is superior to the external use of salt, not
the retention of the nutritious jui3es and 3,,tspies
i;0
tary stage, s, but as the elements of vee,
in the form of phosphoric acid can artitiek'''t er`
added to the briue, and what the briue
can be restored by nitrate of potash. those ct gor
to try it can get it in barrels of 220 lbs. °Direr
gar's Patent Meat Preserving Compaq' iv (15
pool. Dr. Simms, of South Carolina, late" or
scribed his new process, by which the minuteLslol°:,
inalcules whose germs float through tue,,o, 11,4
sphere, to which he attributes putrefact`i"nbar,3
destroyed by bistilphide of carbon. Stllrpe'i
burnt in a close retort, and the fumes are33oo
over glowing charcoal, when the escapirlig„gocl lit
be employed as such, or may be conoeln a /3,
to a fluid. Dr. Simms places the meat 'bostelti
or chamber, from which the air is led /lir,
by machinery, if need be, and is then ePo
the gas. lie had preserved in this way, durll3;ter,o
last, at Charleston, S. C. with the than:01300o
degrees Fahrenheit in the shade, a whole she,4 io
the skin on ; this meat he asserts to be nog guj,l
perfect state of preservation. As the pro tol
0 lit
on most favourably at a temperature of le r vial
std
degrees Fahrenheit, it is better adapted Oliottro,
where it is most needed, than for cold eke
The value of a process by which meat Can.,- fri,s
served is shown in the following facts c; to Poo
daily work of each person bears a rehlti°,o„.o
muscular development, and this again derpfro,
the nutrition he receives from food. The, eMee.
railway contractors are said to measure ti netit„,
city for work of their laborers by their at`rect:'ii,
That the working powers should be bill of Alvlt
the food must contain a sufficient quartittodl.
men, to supply all that is lost in the drecl 1,8 of
is computed that a working man of a hut' tsircl(etit
forty pounds weight requires nearly one,'
a pound of this element in his food dailY. 00,4
contains this in in its most soluble forni.
the
most quickly digested, and transmitted to
~5 of
Vegetables require more complicated orgirobeito
gestion to extract the nutritive parts (":00 t; it
swallowed. The effect of food in a,g aloe wltic:ifor
must be in proportion to the rapidity with OP if
can be assimilated, and it therefore follow% parto
energetic work, to be performed rapidly' bete est
vegetable diet is not sufficient. 1311 is of tog.
strength is not steadily taxed, and intervaecolect
during labour are afforded, less meat is 11.0
The soldier, in time of peace, may mailitio i 0 all
health with far less of this kind of fogA 151-'li-ke Woe
cessary in time of war." 'I he effect 10 00 10#
countries and climates and on all ra0e'...,414
French navvie and on the llindoo coolie'
A meric an Times.

(ADVERTISEMENT.]—HoIIoway's Ointment a Avitl34 pf
Conclusive Evidence.—Scarcely a day P'isse"osver;df
leaving behind it some proof of the curative r 's'6l:
Holloway's world-esteemed Ointment and 11,011s;rett, l'ff
writes from New 011erton, Notts, on the 7lll".the ol'ottr,
—" I beg to state that a few weeks ago I 9 ,reo
tune to bruise my leg most severely. To ' r roe peo
prise and inexpressible delight your wonderNs,,,
were no soon it applied than they gave 131,3 ea jocr,biel;
inflammation, and made a perfect cure in a' •ng,
opt
short time." Testimonials such as the foregolosole
might be multiplied to any extent, should
ue orP
afflicted and give hope to the despairing, wle
ile
by maladies which are unrelievable.

Births. e Pit rUg' the
COBHAM—On the 23d inst., at Leighton Park, .`"°
9
CLIPTON —C
wife ofCaptain obham, ofarley-stree a son. t ,
tile -
On the 22d insCt , at 113, 013
of Edward N. Clifton, Esq., of a daughter i,ce,
. RITCHIE—On the 24th inst , at Shirley antise'
H
wife of Henry Ritchie, Esq., of a daughter.
00
Marriages. card+, tO
HALL—REEVE—On the 23d inst , at Richmond, '-fc.t:o",,ret
Rev. Joseph Hall, M.A.. rect.or of Knockholt,s see
Elizabeth, daughter of the late Sir Thouitts • poil'
of Richmond. . nsoa, t,
SIMPSON— DALE—On the 23d iust , GeorgeBllr:r° ;04r
of Earby Hall, Barnard (las:le:Yorkshire, :
of
only daughter of Jos.pli Langham Dale, 13'4'
rington-square, London.,
41
Deaths.
~.„ il Vi
ge
DAVENPORT—On the 21st iust at Boni:ill ii.iii., t, 5
William D. Davenport, Esq., l t 9'l h llegi°l) Or'
:Le - t
,>t'
FUDGE—On the 23d inst. at 1 rowl, Blaclo;[, J",
Win. Fudge, of the firer*ec-
*f J. W. VIILIP '
.1(3114
cheap, city, aged 33. ' G aud NV ,
giot,
GnAttAm -- On the 221 inst at the Royal - ,o. cr
Graham, Esq., aged 57. ” 7, PI
HATTON —On the 24th inst., at his residenc.,
street, &rand, Frederick Hatton, solicitor, +4l'
t
`'e
----- - - ---- ---- 00 c Z
London : Printed and Published by WILL14"„31: , 14°,, f °I
of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at rad SO v--e'o:.o-g-
Wand, in the Precinct of the Se vo7. in the
Alititilesoz.—Thursday, February 2.5, ISr9.

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