AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR PRESERVING MEATS
Year: 1875

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to. Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical
Draughtsman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR
PRESERVING MEATS."-A communication from abroad by John M.
Webb, Henry Webb, and William C. Marshall, all of New York
City, United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 12th November 1875.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
PROCESS FOR PRESERVING MEATS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the subjecting of the meat to be preserved
lafton it has been treated his nation
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page_text: apparatus, in such a manner that a large per centage of the water and a
large part of the air contained between the various pieces, and in the
pores of the meat are expelled, by which means the principal agents
of putrefaction are removed, and the bulk is considerably reduced.
Any desired quantity of meat may be compressed to agree with the
size of the packages, and such compressed meat being non-elastic readily
retains its bulk and solid form, and can then easily be forced by any
desirable pressure into the package without exposing the latter to any
undue strain or pressure.
The improved process may be thus described:-After rendering the
meat juices which are the chief agents in decomposition temporarily proof
against putrefaction by any of the ordinary processes by which a large
per centage of the moisture is removed, the remainder being charged
with the concentrated antiseptics is subjected to pressure in a suitable
mould. The compressed meat is then inserted in the packages or boxes
intended to contain the same, and again submitted to pressure until the
air is driven out, and the space occupied by the meat agrees with the
size of the package or box it is intended to fill. When the compressed
meat is in its place the package or box is hermetically sealed, the air
remaining in the same being expelled by the usual process in canning.
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SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 9th May 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by. Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the thirty-
ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special licence
that- I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton,
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page_text: executors, administrators, and assigns, should' at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVED
PROCESS FOR PRESERVING MEATS," being a communication to me from
abroad by John M. Webb, Henry Webb, and William C. Marshall,
all of New York City, United States of America; upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was
to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters' Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and' in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to the treatment of meat by a combination of
processes which will ensure the retention of the nutritious qualities of
the meat, and permit of its being greatly reduced in weight and bulk.
To this end the meat to be preserved is subjected after it has been
treated by preservative substances, and before it is put up in packages
or boxes to a heavy pressure by any suitable means or apparatus, in such
a manner that a large per centage of the water and a large part of the
air contained between the various pieces; and'in the pores of the meat
are expelled, by which means the principal agents of putrefaction are
removed, and the bulk is considerably reduced:
Any desired quantity of meat may be compressed to agree with the
size of the packages, and such compressed meat being non-elastic readily
retains its bulk and solid form, and can then easily be, forced by any
desirable pressure into the package without exposing the latter to any
undue strain or pressure:
.
The ordinary method of preserving meat for commercial purposes is
substantially as follows: The meat being first subjected to the action“

page_text: of salt and saltpetre in the form of brine, until the water of the meat is
saturated is then removed from the brine, and placed in packages of
wood with a fresh solution of salt and saltpetre. This process is known
to be greatly detrimental to the nutritious properties of the meat.
Now according to the improved mode of treatment the meat is first
subjected to the ordinary salting or curing process by the antiseptics
generally in use (viz., salt, saltpetre, and sugar), for the space of about.
twenty days. It is then boiled at a temperature of two hundred and
twelve degrees until it is sufficiently tender. The meat, while yet hot,
is packed either by machinery or otherwise into moulds prepared to
receive it, or the meat may be pressed into the tins or packages instead
of into moulds. Pressure is then applied to reduce by the discharge of
water and air therefrom, the original bulk of the meat by one-half.
The meat is next subjected to the ordinary process of canning by
reheating at a temperature of three hundred degrees to drive off the air,
and then hermetically sealing the same. After this the meat will keep
in any climate so long as the case remains intact.
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In order to ensure the turning out of the meat in a solid mass, the
cans are made slightly conical from the bottom to the top. This is
rendered necessary as the meat being pressed before being put into the
case and afterwards heated to get rid of the remaining air, has a
tendency to adhere tightly to the sides of the case.
The advantages of the above described process are, first, that the
nutritious qualities of the meat are not destroyed by the means employed
in protecting it from putrefaction, as is unadvoidable in (the ordinary
'process; and secondly, that the weight and bulk of the meat are.
reduced to about one-half. A matter of considerable moment with
respect to the cost and convenience of transport.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improved
Process for Preserving Meats," as communicated to me by my foreign
correspondents and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters
Patent I claim, the compound process herein described for preserving
meats, the same consisting in subjecting the meat when treated with
antiseptics and cooked to a heavy pressure, and packing and hermetically

page_text: sealing the so compressed meat in cases or boxes, substantially as and
for the purpose herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Fifth day of May, in the
year of our Lord 'One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
six.