The Sun.
London, England, 1842-11-08 00:00:00

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PRESERVATION OF MEAT AND
WATER FOR SEA-VOYAGES.
- (From the Colonial Gazelle.)
The substitution of iron tanks for casks in ships has
enabled double the quantity of water to be stowed in
a given space ; and a similar stowage-saving might be
effected with salted provisions, by following Captain
Cook's plan of removing the bones: from the meat pre-
viously to salting; by which there would be also an
annual saving of at least 6,000 tons of bones for
manure, that are now thrown waste into the sea from
the ships of our war and mercantile marine.
Salt in excess is a scurvy-producer ; whilst it
hardens the lean and tends to expel its nutritious
:slices, as well as the oleaginous particles of the fat
during the heat of boiling. Olives, on this account,
are salted previously to hot pressure, in
order to force out the oil from the pulp.
Sugar, on the contrary, is a scurvy-preven-
tive, whilst aiding the retention of the nutri-
tious juices of the lean, and the oleaginous particles
of the fat, and thereby counteracting the hardening
and shrinking of the meat, by the escape of these
from it during the heat of boiling. When I was servin g
on the Brazil station, the dry fatless beef there was
always found to be inedible in the mess, after being a
fortnight in corn, on account of its excessive saltness,
hardness, and dryness ; but after sugar was combined
with the salt, no fault was found with it at table as
long as it lasted. Hence the benefits that would result
to the health of our seamen, soldiers, and emigrants,
from having a sufficiency of sugar in the cured meats
to neutralise the salt's action, so as to make these
meats no salter than was agreeable to the palate,
thereby assimilating them to the meats that are
fresh. Captain Cook, by introducing into ships
the English housewifery practices of cleanliness
and ventilation for health-preservation, esta-
blished a new wra in naval hygiene ; but
had he adopted also the English housewifery
practice of combining sugar with salt in the
meat-curing, he would have had less occasion for the
various scurvy antidotes he was obliged to employ;
and although there has been a great advance in many
naval hygiene matters since his time, it is unfortunate
that his system of cutting out the bones before meat-
salting has not been followed up; as the meat nearest
to the bone is not only the first to spoil when the salt
does not sufficiently take, but eventually becomes the
saltest when it does so. Were, indeed, the bone removed
and the mixture of sugar with the salt universally
adopted in meat-curing, ship's beef would cease to be
known among sailors, when long in brine, by the
sobriquets of "old horse," " old junk," " mahogany,"
&c. ; or a ship-carpenter be puzzled to tell " what
species of wood it was," on a salt-hardened piece of
lean, cut square and polished, being presented for his
inspection.
Water in ships' casks soon becomes so nauseous to
taste and smell as to be a frequent source of disease,
owing to the evolution of inflammable noxious gases
by the chemical action of the water upon the wood.
A table-spoonful of fresh lime well mingled with a
butt-full of water, by a stick-agitation through the
bung-hole, not only prevents this, but destroys the
contained animalcules, and precipitates the dissolved
vegetable matter ; thus keeping the water pure, sweet,
and wholesome during the longest voyages; a desi-
deratum so conducive to health and comfort, that the
lime-mingling ought to be enforced in every emi-
grant ship by the Government agents.
P. CUNNINGHAM, R.N.