The times., 1899-04-14
THE BEEF COURT
HEARS THE CHEMISTS
Prof. Mallet Contradicts Drs.
Chittenden and Bigelow.
He Says Food Might Be Nutritious
Yet UnwhOlesome.
Undertaken spicer Says the Meat
Had an oGor Like an Em-
baImed Human Body.

balmed Human Body.
1t was chemists day in the Beef Court
yesterday. The principal witnesses were
Prof. Bigelow, Assistant Chemist Of the
Department of Agriculture, and Prof. j.
NJ. Mallet. instructor in chemistry at the
University of Virginia.
The effect of the examination of these
witnesses was to discredit the reports pre-
sented to the court by DR.. Chittenden,
professor of chemistry at Yale University,
and by other chemists who have made re-
ports as to the nutritive value of canned
roast beef. 1t was shown very clearly that
''nutritive value" and food value" are not
controvertible terms, and that an article
which may be utterly worthless as food
for men, may appear under a chemical an
alysis to be highly nutritious.
Several reports have been submitted
showing that canned roast beef was nu-
tritious, and that its nutritive properties
had not been materially diminished by the
removal OF the peptones and mineral mat
Ter known commercially as beef ex-
tract 1t was stated by one of the wit
nesses that compound of horsemeat, car
penters glue, tailow, and common salt
would show the same results under chemi-
cal analysis as those shown by canned roas,
beef. 1t was shown that the 'palatabiIity'
OF FOOD is an important factor in the
availability of food
The forenoon session of the court was
occupied in the reading of the report OF
Prof. Bigelow, who accompanied the Court
on its tour of the beef packing cites, who
investigated the processes of canning and
analyzed number of samples of beef that
had been recently packed, as well as sew
eral samples which had been returned
from Cuba and Porto Rico. The report set
forth that the average nutritive value OF
canned roast beef was one-third greater
than fresh, raw beef. Fresh beef, as given
in the report, is composed as follows:
Water, 1928; proteids, 1922; meat bases,
10.9; fat, 94.4 ash, 9.5; sodium Chord,
4.3; undetermined, 1872; total, us.
In boiling there is extracted from these
the following; Water, 2O2.7; proteids, OIL;
meat bases, 3.3; fat, 22.S; ash, 2.7 sodium
chlorid, o.3S. In canning there is added:
Water, 23.5; proteids, 81; ash, OF; sodium
chlorid, 3.S7.
The calculated composition of canned
roast beef is: Proteids. 1878; meat bases,
7.6; ash. 6.s; sodium chlorid, 3.92.
The composition of canned roast beef, as
determined by analysis, is: Water, 3O3.6;
proteids, 1914; meat bases, 81; fat, ZIG:
ASH ~; sodium chlorid 3.7S; undeter-
mined, so; total, 504.0.
DR.. Bgslow said he had inspected the
establishment of Armour G. Co,
Libbey, McNeill G. Libbey, the Hammond
Company, the Cudahy Company, Nelson
Morris & Co. the Armour Packing Com
pany. OF Kansas City, and the Wilson Pack
ing Company. The meat selected for can
ming was of the kind best adapted to that
purpose and the process caused no appre-
ciable loss of nutritive value
When the reading of the report had been
concluded DR.. Bigelow was called to the
witness stand for cross examination by
Major Lee, counsel for General Miles He
knew of the use of boric acid as food pre-
servative. He had known of its use in
milk, sausage, ham, wines, and cider. 1t
was employed for the purpose of killing
germs or temporarily sterilizing them. Ii
was white, crystalline, and odorless. He
described the various tests for boric and
salicylic acyids. The latter acid was taste
less and the former had very little taste.
but when they were combined their taste
was extremely bitter. Meat impregnated
with the compound would also be bitter
and would be indigestible. He had never
heard of the use OF this compound as a
preservative Of meat. He had heard that
butchers sometimes busted their meat with
boric acid.
The witness presented to the Court sew
eral slices of meat which had been chem
ically treated. They had a sour smell.
The witness testified that weak solution
OF formaldehyde was sometimes used in
milk TO keep 1t sweet. 1t was one of the
most potent germicides known. He had
never known of its application to food
meats.
He said that although the ideal food
should be palatable, yet palatability was
not essential TO sustain life. He considered
that canned roast beef was much more
nutritious than bacon. Food, though.
should be considered from two points OF
view. 1t should be considered both the
rotically and practically. Coarse grained
meat was equally as nutritious as fine
grained meat
The witness was not sure that from the
results OF his analysis it would be possible
to differentiate between beef and horse
meat. Neither would the analysis to which
he subjected the beef samples determine
the presence of dead bacteria or micro
scopic organisms.
Major Lee asked the witness if he should
analyze compound of horseflesh, car
penters' glue. tallow, and common salt,
whether the results would not be practi-
cally the same as those shown by his tests
Of the samples of timed meat He re-
piled that he had never analyzed horse
meat
]. NJ. Mallet, professor of chemistry at
the University of Virginia, was called TO
the stand. He testified that he had been
a teacher of chemistry since 1855, with the
of four years, from 1861 to 1865
during which period he had served in the
army. The Importance of the
OF food, he said could not be
overestimated. The old saying. 1T makes
my mouth water" was based on a physio-
logical fact food which excited the
appetite stimulated the flow of digestive
fluids and increased the availability of the
matter as food. The value of food could
not be determined alone by chemical
analyses. He recalled that when Leibig
advocated the extract of beef a plant for
the manufacture OF this product was erect
ed in the Argentine Republic. For pur-
poses of economy the meat pulp was fed to
hogs. Many of them died of starvation and
had they not been rescued by good corn
The witness said that a chemical analysis
would without doubt have shown that that
meat pulp contained an abundance of nu-
triment. The proteid matter, that is. the
tissue and muscle making material was
still there, but the hogs could not digest or
assimilate enough of the meat fibre to sub
sist on.
A food might be nutritious and yet un-
He recalled that during the
of the Army of Northern Vir-
ginia into Pennsylvania the Confederate
troops ate of green corn that was growing
In the fields along the line of march. The
corn was nutritious enough but il pro-
a