IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PRESERVED MEAT
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Marlborough Robert Pryor, of No. 12, Great
Winchester Street, in the City of London, Merchant, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PRESERVED
MEAT." A communication from abroad by Friedrich Leybold, of
Santiago, Chili, Chemist.
Sealed the 16th May 1876, and dated the 11th December 1875: ..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Marlborough Robert
Pryor at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 11th December 1875.
I, MARLBOROUGH ROBERT PRYOR, of No. 12, Great Winchester
Street, in the City of London, Merchant, do hereby declare the nature
'
-
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURre of Pre-
SERVED MEAT," a communication, to be as follows:-

page_text: sieves, or other similar contrivances proper for this purpose, from three
to six per cent. of finely powdered glutine or gelatine.
When the meat flour is mixed with its proper proportion of gelatine
powder it is introduced into a large closed and heated vat or vessel, and
a jet of steam is injected into the warm meat flour whilst it is being stirred
by an apparatus fixed in the said vessel.. This jet of steam; pervading
the powdered material in motion for a very short time only, has the
effect of dissolving enough of the gelatinous matter contained in it in
such a manner that the mass when taken out hot, and pressed in proper.
moulds, will cohere, and form a tough and solid block.
I have obtained a very similar result by sprinkling over the mass in
the mixing vat a solution of gelatine, but the product is not so firm and
well combined when obtained as in the manner above described.
These blocks are now exposed for some hours to a draught of warm and
dry air, and then once or twice coated with a hot solution of gelatine
´ and glycerine. The presence of glycerine in the coating I deem
advisable, because it gives to the gelatine a certain clasticity which will
prevent the cracking and crumbling of the otherwise too brittle coating
or rind, a fact which is highly important.
Lastly, if the blocks or cakes are to be exposed to extreme moisture
they ought to be covered by a coating of collodion, which can easily be
removed by cutting open the cake, and immersing it in water.
It is obvious that by introducing into the mass during the final
mixing with gelatine ingredients such as salt, pepper, marjoram, curry
powder, amylum of various kinds, or bread or biscuits in small frag-
ments, a variety of highly palatable and thoroughly wholesome dishes
can be made in an instant from this pemmican.
If the albumen of the blood of cattle is separated in the serum from
the fibrine and hematosin by means of a centrifugal beater in a closed
vat, then dried at a low temperature, not exceeding 125° Fahrenheit, it
may be powdered, and when added to the meat flour will become a
highly nutritious constituent of the pemmican, and help to lessen con-
siderably the waste and loss of the slaughter house.
"
This improved product or "pemmican Leybold can be eaten in case
of necessity just as it is prepared. If a soup is required all that has
to be done is to dissolve the pemmican in hot water. If a stew or

page_text: hash is needed the quantity of water added is simply reduced
according to taste. It serves also very well for pies and pudding's, and
the like..
:
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Marlborough Robert Pryor in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 8th June 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MARL-
BOROUGH ROBERT PRYOR, of No. 12, Great Winchester Street, in the
City of London, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of December, 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 Marlborough Robert
Pryor, Her special licence that I, the said Marlborough Robert Pryor,
my executors; administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Marlborough Robert Pryor, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all timès 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF PRESERVED MEAT," a communication to me from abroad by Friedrich
Leybold, of Santiago, Chili, Chemist, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Marlborough Robert Pryor, my executors or admini-
strators, 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.

page_text: e
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained
in and by the following statement :—
This Invention relates to the manufacture of preserved meat by drying
and finely dividing the meat fibre, and forming the same into blocks,
bricks, or slabs under pressure, with the addition of glutine, gelatine, or 5
other like substance, and with or without flavouring materials, farin-
aceous food and albumen prepared from blood, the said blocks, bricks, or
slabs being coated or varnished with glue, glycerine, collodion, or other
suitable varnish.
The real alimentary substances contained in meat are as follows:- 1
Albumen; glutine or gelatine; the extractive matters as kreatine,
and the like (which form in fact the so-called Liebig's extract of
meat), the fatty matters, and the soluble salts.
Now it is well known that Liebig's extract of meat does not contain
either albumen or glutine or fatty matter, and their absence is the 1
reason why such an extract cannot and does not form an efficacious
nutriment, since it is by no means a former of blood.
The preparation of meat by salting, that is to say, by means of solu̟-
tions of salts of more or less strength, as for instance, solutions of
chloride of sodium, sulphurous oxide of lime, Ca SO, acetate of 2
lime or acetate of soda, or others is objectionable for the reasons that
their cost is very great, and instead of preserving the meat they tend
instead rather to its injury, for the obvious reason that these liquids
dissolve, and extract the albumen, glutine, all the kreatine (or creatine)
and its allies, and the soluble salts, leaving only the mere fibre and the 2
fatty matter. Moreover, salted meats of various descriptions are injurious
to health when used frequently, as proved by that terrible scourge the
scurvy..
1
Canadian pemmican is only dried meat, afterwards coarsely ground,
and mixed with melted grease or fat. In this process the meat under-
goes a rapid decomposition, because of the fatty matter becoming
rancid, and rendering the whole nauseous, and it is moreover quicklý
attacked by insects, and thereby rendered utterly worthless.
: Meat enclosed and soldered up in tin canisters, or the like, whilst
boiling is comparatively very costly, and its great bulk prevents its use

page_text: .
on all occasions in which space is a matter for consideration; but by
my Invention I effect the preparation of preserved and condensed meat,
which I term "pemmican Leybold," or "Leybold's pemmican," in a
manner altogether free from the above or other objections.
This condensed meat, which has had a fair trial in many long voyages
by sea and by land, combines in itself all the requisites that can be
desired in a thoroughly wholesome nourishing food; it is shaped in the
handiest form and smallest compass possible, and little liable to be
affected by the deleterious influence of air, the attacks of insects and
humidity, or moisture, especially when specially treated, as herein-after
specified; it is extremely cheap, its cost being below that of all other
preserved meat, and it affords the very best substitute for fresh meat
hitherto known.
The following is the mode of preparing condesned meat according to
this Invention:-The meat or muscular flesh is deprived mechanically
of the fatty parts; then it is cut into very thin slices or shreds. I prefer
that the meat should be cut across the muscular fibre, producing a broad
sheet or flake, which will dry very quickly. Thick strips takea very
long time to dry, and then only dry imperfectly. These flakes or slices
of meat, either salted or unsalted, are hung up to dry in dry open air, or
are laid down to dry on hurdles made of cane or wickerwork, which will
allow the air to pass through them.
The process of drying must be effected, except in dry climates, in
sheds arranged for this purpose with a certain temperature, and a con-
stant draught of warm air sufficient to carry off the moisture. When
the flakes are air dry they are placed in a room or large case, in which
the temperature can be elevated to such a degree as will well nigh
roast them.
About the same result may be attained by carefully roasting the slices
or flakes on a gridiron, or otherwise exposing them to the close action
of fire heat, but great care must be employed in order that excessive
heat shall not destroy or alter the nourishing contents. The material
once brought to this state is then allowed to cool, and immediately
taken to a mill, grinding stones, cylinder, mortar, or any grinding, sawing,
crushing, or pulverizing machine, which may be found suitable to break
the brittle fibres, and reduce them to a coarse meal.
If the drying and roasting process has been carried on with the

page_text: necessary care and attention this meat flour, as we now may call it, will
then be ready for compression; but if overheated, or if very fat, this
meat flour in the final heating is apt to become brittle, and the partially
dried up or over roasted gluey and extractive matters will become so
much enveloped by the fatty substances that the pemmican, instead of
combining properly or caking, as it were, under the pressure, will never
obtain the cohesion required.
To obviate this difficulty it is necessary, (besides using the greatest
watchfulness, that the heat should never rise much above 212° Fahren-
heit,) to add a material, the tendency and result of which are to augment
the cohesion of the particles, and render them impermeable to atmo-
spheric air, and thus bind and protect the condensed meat so effectually
that it will bear handling, as well as the external attacks of air and insects.
These objects are accomplished by adding to the meat flour, after the
coarser parts or shreds of the tendons have been removed, by means
of sieves, or other similar contrivances proper for this purpose, from
three to six per cent., more or less, of finely powdered glutine or
gelatine.
When the meat flour is mixed with its proper proportion of gelatine
powder it is introduced into a closed and heated vat or vessel, and a jet
of steam is injected into the warm meat flour whilst it is being stirred
by an apparatus fixed in the said vessel. This jet of steam, pervading
the powdered material in motion for a very short time only, has the
effect of dissolving enough of the gelatinous matter it contained in such
a manner that the mass when taken out hot, and pressed in proper
moulds, will cohere and form a tough and solid block, care being taken
not to express the juices of the meat.
•
I have obtained a very similar result by sprinkling over the mass in
the mixing vat a solution of gelatine, but the product is not so firm and
well combined as when treated in the manner. above described. These
blocks are now exposed for some hours to a draught of warm and dry
air, and then once or twice coated with a hot solution of gelatine and
glycerine, or either of them. The presence of glycerine in the coating
I deem advisable, because it gives to the gelatine a certain elasticity,
which will prevent the cracking and crumbling of the otherwise too
brittle coating or rind, a fact which is highly important.
Lastly. If the blocks or cakes are likely to be exposed to extreme
moisture they ought to be covered by a coating of collodion, which can

page_text: easily be removed by cutting open the cake, and immersing it in
water.
It is obvious that by introducing into the mass during the final
mixing with gelatine ingredients such as salt, pepper, marjoram, curry
powder, amylum of various kinds, or bread or biscuits in small frag-
ments, a variety of highly palatable and thoroughly wholesome dishes
can be made in an instant from this pemmican.
If the albumen of the blood of cattle is separated in the serum from
the fibrine and hematosin by means of a centrifugal beater in a closed
vat, and then dried at a low temperature, not exceeding about 125° Fahren-
heit, it may be powdered, and when added to the meat flour it will become
a highly nutritious constituent of the pemmican, and help to diminish
considerably the waste and loss of the slaughter house.
This improved product, or "pemmican Leybold," can be eaten in case
of necessity just as it is prepared. If a soup is required all that has
to be done is to dissolve the pemmican in hot water. If a stew or
hash is needed the quantity of water added is simply reduced
according to taste. It serves also very well for pies and puddings, and
the like.
Having thus fully described the said Invention, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I claim, the preserved meat, or "Pem-
mican Leybold," prepared or manufactured by drying and finely
dividing the meat fibre, and pressing or condensing it with or without
the other ingredients or materials into blocks, bricks, or slabs, and
covering or coating the same, as above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Marlborough Robert Pryor, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of June, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
six.
Witness,
HY. JA. NoONE.
M. R. PRYOR. (L.S.)