The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-04-06
PROF. CHITTENDEN'S REPORT
To the Army Beef Court of Inquiry.

Washington, April 5.-Professor Rus
sell Fl. Chittenden, Of Yale university
to whom the army beef court of inquiry
entrusted it's analysis of the canned
roast beef of the various companies
from whom the government had made
/ purchases of this article, gave the re-
suit of his examination of the beef, to
the court this morning. Col. Davis read
his report and also the instruction of
the court to him. The Instructions
showed that three cans each of the
canned roast beef prepared by the Prai-
RE Canning company the Armour
company and the Wilson company
which had been exposed to tropical eli
mate, were furnished to Professor Chit
! tenden.
His report dealt largely with the
chemical methods employed, but the
result was entirely favorable to the
beef as food product. He stated that
he had made careful study of the
samples furnished, having analysed all
of them, comparing them with fresh
beef and devoting himself also to de-
termining the presence or absence Of
personalities. He had, he said, found
the contents perfectly sweet and emit
ting the odor always given out by
cooked meat In some cans the meat
particles were large while in others
they were not The fat particles were
generally found collected on one side or
the other of the cans. Notwithstanding
the meat had been placed in bottles
and exposed to the warm air of the
laboratory it had retained it's freshness
for several days. 1t had then developed
mould, afterward decomposition.
In all the samples supplied the pro-
portion of fat and protein was such as
to bring them into the range of good
beef. Considerable attention was CIV
en- to the large layer of fat found on
the surface of each can, which, as
found by him, was always solid. Pro-
fessor Chittenden had found upon in
vestigation that the fat melted at As de-
grees centigrade or 113 fahrenheit and
some in a lower temperature, and that
once in a lower temperature, and that
once melted it did not again solidify at
higher temperature than 35 cent?
grade. The presence of the melted fat
rendered it doubtful whether the food
was suitable for tropical climate ex-
cept under conditions when extreme
heat could be guarded against or where
vegetables to be cooked with the meat
are available.
All the samples had shown the pres
ence of gelatine, but careful tests had
failed to develop either boracc or sally
ellie acid. The specimens supplied by
the Wilson Packing company (Which
were corned) showed the presence of
salt or saltpetre. Some OF the meats
were red giving rise to the suspicion
that they might have been colored by
an anilyne dye, as in the case of sau-
sages. Tests had, however, failed to
show that such was the case. 1t was
made evident that the meat was boiled
rather than roasted On this account
there was loss of some of the inor-
ganic qualities. Still there was sufficient
protein in one can of the beef to sus-
tain man for two days.
Major Lee only entered upon slight
cross examination Of the witness, ask
ing time for the examination Of the re-
port 1t was then arranged that Mr.. |
Chittenden should return next Tuesday
for this cross-examination.