, 1868-05-29

warm countries, by the artificial produc-
ton of cold. The method proposed, we
believe, is the vaporisalion of liquid am
monia, which it is supposed could be APP
piled to the purpose in sufficient quanti-
ty, even during a voyage from Australia,
at small expense. 1t is said that q compa-
ny is formed, or is in course of being
formed, to try the experiment on a large
scale. Mr. Augustus Morris, an Austria
liam s~tdck-owner, has recently distinguish
ed himself by his exertions to bring this
method into practice, and thinks himself
able to send meat from Australia to Eng
land in a perfectly fresh state, at very
small expense. If success is attained,
we may expect it to be more perfect
than by any other method.
There remains to be noticed only one
other process of preserving meat, very
different from ali these-that of encaSing
it in paraffine-invented by DR. Redwood,
Professor of Chemistry to the Pharma-
%ceutical Society of London. Paraffine is
absolutely devoid of smell or taste, more
perfectly so than almost any substance
known it is subject 10 no change from
the action of the atmosphere, and is al
most incapable of being affected by acids,
alkalies, or other ordinary chemical agents.
1t is a white solid substance. somewhat
like wax, and is obtained from peat,
shaIe, &c. It's use for making candles is
we'll known. Paraine has a close chem
ical relation to parafine oil but its pro.
perlles are very d%iSsimilar, and the
names must not be c~onfounded. An
amusing blunder was committed in an
Edinburgh newspaper some eighteen
months ago, in an article on South Anne
rican beef, in which the preservation of
the beef was said to be accomplished by
dipping it in paraffine ola dipping that
would give it a smell not easily to be re-
moved, The process of preserving meat
in paraffine, as patented about two years
since, consists in dipping the meat in
melted paraffine, at a temperature of
2209 to 240o Fahrenheit, and after a
short time, dipping it again and again,
until a sufficiently thick coat of parafine
is formed around it. When the meat is
first plunged into the parafine, the air
contained in its escapes in bubbles, and
along with it the water of the meat, con-
verified into steam. The meat is not taken
out the first time until the bubbling on
the surface of the melted paraffine has
ceased, and it is already partially, if not
completely cooked. Meat thus treated
can be kept, it has been found, a very
long time without undergoing any change.
1t is, of coure, rather dry, but this is its
only fault it contains all the really valu-
able constituents of fresh beef or NUT
ton; and if not so good as fresh meat,
in the shape in which it appears, as NUT
ton-chops, beef-steaks, &C., it is excellent
for soups and stews. A piece of meat
preserved in parafine has a curious APP
pearance, and looks more like a mineralo-
gical specimen. than what it is in reality.
In order to use it, the parafine must be
removed, and this is done by heating it
before a fire, when the whole paraffine
readily melis and drops off, leaving no
trace of itself upon the meat or by inn
mersing it in boiling water, when the
melted paraffine floats on the surface, and
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