IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRESERVATION OF ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES AND IN THE FLUIDS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1864

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by John Morgan at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st, March
1864..
I, JOHN MORGAN, of Stephen's Green, Dublin, F.R.C.S.I., Professor of
Anatomy, R.C.S.I., do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PRESERVATION OF ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES
AND IN THE FLUIDS TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in the application and use of the following fluids
to and in the preservation of meats, fish, fowl, and animal substances, vege-
tables, and fruits, in the manner herein-after described. One of these fluids
consists of a solution of monophosphoric or metaphosphoric acid, which
having the property of coagulating and forming a chemical compound
with albuminous substances prevents the decomposition of animal and
vegetable matter. Lactic acid having similar property can also be used,
both being useful for food and digestion, retaining the albuminous and
nutritious matters of food, and improving the flavor of the meats. The
solutions may be composed of a quantity of each or either acid varying from
50 to 800 grains or upwards to one pint, according to requirements, as
the sole preservatives of the substance to be acted on, or as an accessory to
other means or processes at present in use. In applying these preservative
fluids it is proposed to inject them either singly or together with brine,
whether cold or boiling, into the circulation, as described in the Specification.

page_text: of a Patent granted to me on or about the 14th February 1863, No. 412;
but the fluids may also be used in stronger proportions and alone for
preserving the animal and vegetable substances in the following manner :-
Firstly, by immersing the substances to be preserved (previously cut
into as thin slices as possible) in a strong solution of these acids or either of
them for about 48 hours, and then hanging to dry, or subjecting to pressure
and then drying, or firstly subjecting them to pressure before dipping in
solution for the above-named period and then drying thoroughly.
Secondly, by immersing and packing these animal or vegetable substances
in a solution weaker than the former, and varying in strength from one-
quarter ounce or less, according to requirements, to one ounce or more of the
above-named acids, or either of them, to the pint of fluid, whether water simply
or with the addition of salt, spices, or flavoring, taking care that the cases,
whether glass, wood, tin, or otherwise, be thoroughly filled and all external
air excluded. The substances to be preserved may be raw and uncooked,
parboiled, or thoroughly cooked, and cut into suitable and as small sizes
as conveniently possible.
Thirdly, the addition of these acids together or separately to preserved
meats prepared by heat and inclosing in air-tight canisters, as by this means
the want of flavor of the meat is improved and corrected, a valuable dietetic
addition being made, and the tendency to taint obviated. The proportion is
about 20 grains to the pound, according to haste and requirement. I recom-
mend the entire animal to be first percolated by my method with these
materials and spices.
Fourthly, the plan specially recommended is. the use of these fluids by
injection through the system, first having washed out the circulating organs
with lukewarm water and saltpetre, in the proportion of quarter ounce salt-
petre to one pint of water or strong brine, and then percolating the animal
with a solution of boiling brine and quarter ounce of these acids each, or
either of them, to each gallon of brine, with the addition (of saltpetre, creosote,
pyroligneous acid, carbolic acid, chloride of aluminum, if desired diluted to suit
the different tastes and the necessities of the manufacture), the fluid being
artificially cooled in hot weather if the substance is intended to be dried
in air.
Fifthly, the use of these substances or either of them for injecting in.
the ordinary way into the parts of the animal most difficult of cure.
Sixthly, the preservation of fish, vegetables, fruits in solutions (containing.
from half an ounce to one pint upwards) of these acids, or either of them,.
with salt and spices, glycerine, or oil.

page_text: Seventhly, the use of these acids, or either of them, in the hardening and
purifying of fats by melting the fat with a solution of the above.
Eighthly, if perishable substances be immersed for some time in a mixture
of mucilage, either or both these acids, in the proportion of one ounce to the
pint, or be coated over with a layer of egg, or vegetable albumen, or mucilage,
and then plunged into a solution of the monophosphoric acid, a coating
(which may be increased by successive layers) will be formed, and prevent
change by exposure to air, these substances being requisite to and useful
in the system, and abstracted in the ordinary method of salting, as the brine
produced thus contains the albuminous materials and the lactic and phos-
phoric acid of the flesh. I believe it to be of the utmost importance in a
sanitory point of view that these substances should not only be retained
but increased, as they are proved and known to be essential to the nutrition
of the body, digestion of food, composition of blood, composition of nervous
matter, and composition of muscle. The other chemical forms of phosphoric
acid may be used, but this one is preferable. One of the essential features
therefore of this Invention is, the addition of these materials by percolation
of the body in the case of animals, and as described more particularly above
in other ways, this being of the utmost importance for the preparation of
navy and military stores and for the merchant marine as well as for the
public generally, while from their quality of coagulating albuminous matter
these acids, or either of them, prevent its putrefaction, retain it in the flesh,
and by altering the specific gravity of the fluids allow percolation of the
fluids into the dry salt in which the flesh may be laid by the curer more
rapidly, thus avoiding taint and expediting the cure.
The acids may be used as prepared by the manufacturer, or extem-
poraneously prepared for use, as by the action of hydrochloric acid or mono-
phosphate of soda for monophosphoric acid in the proportions chemically
required for the production of the monophosphoric acid, or the use of
"saur krout" for lactic acid, no matter how prepared, it is the use of these
acids I advocate from their above-named qualities.