The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-01-27
"EM BAL MED BEEF"
A Patent Issued by the Government for
such Proce IS In 1877.

Washington, Jan. 81 While one de-
partment of the Government is strug.
Cling with the question of the existence
of such n commodity as "embalmed beef"
and Its alleged use as food for American
soldiers, another department has on rec
ori the details of the beef-emba lmi ng
process and has given protection to the
inventor of the article. "Embalmed
beef IN the Patent Office dates back TO
for the process, evidently the outcome of
experiments following the allowance of
PATENTS for embalming human bodies,
two years before.
John l.. Alberger Of Buffalo, New York
State was the m an who secured the orig
inal patent for process of preserving
flesh - under letters patent No. loi, 500.
granted Aug. IS. 1871. The Alberger pat
ent covered these four points.
]. THE process OF preserving flesh
for food by injecting the carcass, or any
portion thereof, with saline solution
containing carbolic or salicylic acid. sub
stantially in the proportions specified,
and their decomposition prevented, while
the nutrtive and market value of the
meat is correspondingly increased.
.. THE process of preserving flesh for
food by first injecting the same with a
saline solution, then subiecting the in
jected meat to u refrigerating tempera "a
ture for curing e tones and cartilages,
N han, itnn fhp 1aFffd uYpfaf in
brine OF suitable strength for withdraw
ing from the pjected meat any excess or
supplying therto any deficiency In salt.
3 The process of immersing the In
jeoted meat for finally curing the same in
the saline solution, which has passed
through the carcass, after the saline solu-
ton has been heated, so as TO separate
the coagulabls matters from the solution.
4. 1.-The process of treating the in
iecteo flesh trimmings by packing the
same In bags. smoking them, then boil.
ing the same in water, and packing them
in alright cans
In his specification submitted TO the
Patent Office with his application on
April l6, 1877, Alberger claimed merit for
his invention as an improvement on the
methods uf using common salt. through
the addition of either carbolic or saliclyic
acid, and he even went SO lar as To De
clare that the acid process improved the
anu appearances VI Ahoohs 10
sides increasing the weight. In his criti-
cism of the use of common salt he said
"1he mode or process of injecting the
carcass simply with IA saline solution Is
i'm perfect and unreliable for curing meat
for thu market in the following particu-
lars: The saline solution injected into
the arteries and capillaries constringes the
tissues, and thereby prevents the marrow
bones and harder cartridges from reoeiv-
ing the necessary quantity of saline solu-
ton TO fully cure the same, which ire
quently causes the marrow bones, cartl
lagos, and adjacent parts TO run into de-
composition, either in smoking OF after
ward The albuminous juices, which are
very apt to putrefy. are drawn out OF the
meat by the ordinary process Of sailing or
piokling, while the prote OF injection
leaves q portion of these juices in the
meat, without curing them, whereby the
meat is rendered liable to sour or run
into the composition after greater or
less length of time, according to the de-
gree of heat to which II IL exposed.
In the pateutee's process the carcass.
Immediately after the animal was killed.
was prepared for injection by opening the
chest and forming apertures in both sides
of the heart The solution was made by
mixing IN one gallon OF water three
pounds OF salt, eight ounces Oh sugar,
two ounces of saltpetre, ana crystallized
caroblio acid in the proportion of half ali
ounce to about 100 gallons of brine.
Salicylic acid could be substituted for
carbolo in like proportion.
The carcass was injected with this So
luton under by drostatic head OF about
eight ieet, sxpeliing the blood from the
vessels and perneating the tissues with
the solution. lhis done, A!berger
claim ed these superiorities for the acid
over the simple salt solution: The acid
has the effect TO fix or coag ulate and re-
tain in the tissues the soluble albuminous
juices, which amount to from 3 TO per
cent: OF the weight of the animal. The
juices, after having teen under the In
fiuence of the carbolic or salicyilo acid,
are no longer putrefactiye, while they
are of great nutitrive value.
There WAS IetriRerating process con-
nected with Alberger's plan, but this was
only "a detail of the emhalming. He held
the injected meat In cold storage for from
three TO fifteen days, while the marrow
bones md cartilages were absorbing the
acid solution.