, 1888-09-26

OF meat washed in it very tender" Eight
or ten minutes STEPPING" it is said, "will
make 1t so soft that it will drop in pieces
from the spit before it is we'll roasted, or
turn soon to rags in the boiling" This cir
cumStance has been repeatedly confirmed
by EngliShmen who have been long resi-
dent in the West Indies, and who speak
OF the employment of the juice for such a
purpose as of quite general occurrence;
and more, that old hogs and old poultry
which are fed upon the leaves and fruit,
however tough the meat they afford
might otherwise be, are thus rendered per.
tectly tender land good, too, if eaten as
soon as killed, but that the flesh very soon
passes into a state of putridity.
The discovery of the presence of animal
matter, or tbr{ne, III the juice of the papau
is very remarkable, for this tbrine has been
supposed previously to belong exclusively
to the animal kingdom. 1t has, however.
since been found IN other vegetables, espe-
cially in fungi
Experiments have been made by d Ger
man naturalist (Herr. Wittmach) with a
view of testing to what extent the Juice of
the fruit Of the papau possesses the curious
property when boiled with tough meat of
rendering it tender. If the unripe fruit be
placed i'll the water in which the toughest
meat is to be cooked it is found to pffectual-
~ soften 1t and render it perfectly digeSti.
BILE; and the same results are observed if
the meat be merely washed with the mice
of the fruit. The thick, white, miIky-or
rather creamy, juice, when extracted from
the unripe papau, i'll fact, contains proper
ties similar to those OF pepSine, and it is
possible thai it may be Susceptible of
chemical preparation and become a valua-
bic medicine. Hard boiled aIbumen. or
white of egg to which a few drops of dilute
juice have been added, has been found, af-
ter twenty tOur hours. to be perfectly soft
and easily broken, tOhaveundtrg0ne, intact
the same process as food digeSted in the
natural way If taken in too large doses
the substance is dangerous, having the
effect OF permcating aud actually de.
StroNlng the thin mucous membrane of the
stomach ana the inteStineS. In Quito the
use OF the JUICE as Il means of rendering
meat tender IS very general. AS salt meat
Is affected in precisely the same manner as
fresh meat, this fact is ofgredt interest and
lmpOrtanC" to sailors and others whose
dietary consists largely of hard salt meat.
1t has been suggested, as a possible
speciality, that some convenient prepara.
ton from the tree might be produced which
should contain the same properties as the
leaves and fruit or that the leaves them.
selves might be dried and still retain their
activity. \ preparation which really en-
bodies these virtues would be very popular
and would soon become one Of the neceSSa-
rieS OF life. without which no careful house
keeper would allow herSelfto be left. GAS the
tree is abundant says the Chemist and
DrIggiSt,' y" and the; expense o collectingth the
leaves would probably be very small, it
would be quite worth while to procure a
quantity either of the leaves or the juice
tom the West Indies, and endeayour to
obtain Il suitable preparation therefrom.
If the leaves are brought they might be
packed, fresh in barrels, which should be
fl ed with salt water-not sea water-and
in this way imported. Or the juice might
be expressed aud saturated with salt, or
preserved with beuzOic or s|alicylic acid.
and sent over in any convenient vessels
Experience would prove whether under
such treatment the properties would be
retained.-Leisure Hour.