A CYCLOPÆDIA OF PRACTICAL RECEIPTS, &c. VOLUME II (continued 8)

MAN′HEIM GOLD. A gold-coloured brass. See Gold (Dutch).

MAN′NA Syn. Manna (B. P., Ph. L., E., & D.), L. A concrete exudation from the stem of Fraxinus ornus and F. rotundifolia, obtained by incision. (B. P.) “The juice flowing from the incised bark” of “Fraxinus rotundifolia and F. ornus, hardened by the air.” (Ph. L.) The finest variety of this drug is known as flake manna, and occurs in pieces varying from 1 to 6 inches long, 1 or 2 inches wide, and ¹⁄₂ to 1 inch thick. It has a yellowish-white or cream colour; an odour somewhat resembling honey, but less pleasant, a sweet, mawkish taste; and is light, porous, and friable. It is laxative in doses of 1 to 2 oz.

Manna Factitious, made of a mixture of sugar, starch, and honey, with a very small quantity of scammony to give it odour and flavour, and to render it purgative, has been lately very extensively offered in trade, and met with a ready sale.

MAN′NACROUP. A granular preparation of wheat deprived of bran, used as an article of food for children and invalids. (Brande.)

MAN′NITE. C₆H₁₄O₆. Syn. Manna sugar, Mushroom s.; Mannita, L. A sweet, crystallisable substance, found in manna and in several other vegetable productions. It has been formed artificially by the action of sodium-amalgam upon an alkaline solution of cane sugar.

Prep. 1. Digest manna in boiling rectified spirit, and filter or decant the solution whilst hot; the mannite crystallises as the liquid cools in tufts of slender, colourless needles.

2. (Ruspini.) Manna, 6 lbs.; cold water (in which the white of an egg has been beaten), 3 lbs.; mix, boil for a few minutes, and strain the syrup through linen whilst hot; the strained liquid will form a semi-crystalline mass on cooling; submit this to strong pressure in a cloth, mix the cake with its own weight of cold water, and again press it; dissolve the cake thus obtained in boiling water, add a little animal charcoal, and filter the mixture into a porcelain dish set over the fire; lastly, evaporate the filtrate to a pellicle, and set the syrup aside to crystallise. Large quadrangular prisms; perfectly white and transparent.

Prop., &c. Mannite has a powerfully sweet and agreeable taste; dissolves in 5 parts of cold water and about half that quantity of boiling water; freely soluble in hot, and slightly so in cold alcohol; fuses by heat without loss of weight; with sulphuric acid it combines to form a new acid compound. It is distinguished from the true sugars by its aqueous solution not being susceptible of the vinous fermentation, and not possessing the property of rotary polarisation. When pure, it is perfectly destitute of purgative properties. It is now extensively imported from Italy, and is chiefly used to cover the taste of nauseous medicines, and as a sweetmeat.

MANURES′. Substances added to soils to increase their fertility. The food of vegetables, as far as their organic structure is concerned, consists entirely of inorganic compounds; and no organised body can serve for the nutrition of vegetables until it has been, by the process of decay, resolved into certain inorganic substances. These are carbonic acid, water, and ammonia, which are well known to be the final products of putrefaction. But even when these are applied to vegetables, their growth will not proceed unless certain mineral substances are likewise furnished in small quantities, either by the soil or the water used to moisten it. Almost every plant, when burned, leaves ashes, which commonly contain silica, potassa, and phosphate of lime; often, also, magnesia, soda, sulphates, and oxide of iron. These mineral bodies appear to be essential to the existence of the vegetable tissues; so that plants will not grow in soils destitute of them, however abundantly supplied with carbonic acid, ammonia, and water. The carbon of plants is wholly derived from

According to the celebrated ‘mineral theory’ of agriculture advanced by Liebig a soil is fertile or barren for any given plant according as it contains those mineral substances that enter into its composition. Thus, “the ashes of wheat-straw contain much silica and potassa, whilst the ashes of the seeds contain phosphate of magnesia. Hence, if a soil is deficient in any one of these, it will not yield wheat. On the other hand, a good crop of wheat will exhaust the soil of these substances, and it will not yield a second crop till they have been restored, either by manure or by the gradual action of the weather in disintegrating the subsoil. Hence the benefit derived from fallows and from the rotation of crops.

“When, by an extraordinary supply of any one mineral ingredient, or of ammonia, a large crop has been obtained, it is not to be expected that a repetition of the same individual manure next year will produce the same effect. It must be remembered that the unusual crop has exhausted the soil probably of all the other mineral ingredients, and that they also must be restored before a second crop can be obtained.

“The salt most essential to the growth of the potato is the double phosphate of ammonia and magnesia; that chiefly required for hay is phosphate of lime; while for almost all plants potassa and ammonia are highly beneficial.”

From these principles we “may deduce a few valuable conclusions in regard to the chemistry of agriculture. First, by examining the ashes of a thriving plant, we discover the mineral ingredients which must exist in a soil to render it fertile for that plant. Secondly, by examining a soil, we can say at once whether it is fertile in regard to any plants the ashes of which have been examined. Thirdly, when we know the defects of a soil, the deficient matters may be easily obtained and added to it, unmixed with such as are not required. Fourthly, the straw, leaves, &c., of any plant, are the best manure for that plant, since every vegetable extracts from the soil such matters alone as are essential to it. This important principle has been amply verified by the success attending the use of wheat-straw, or its ashes, as manure for wheat, and of the chippings of the vines as a manure for the vineyard. When these are used (in the proper quantity) no other manure is required. Fifthly, in the rotation of crops, those should be made to follow which require different materials; or a crop which extracts little or no mineral matter, such as peas, should come after one which exhausts the soil of its phosphates and potassa.” (Liebig.)

The experiments of Messrs Lawes and Gilbert have forced upon them opinions differing from those of Baron Liebig on some important points in relation to his ‘mineral theory,’ which endeavours to prove that “the crops on a field diminish or increase in exact proportion to the diminution or increase of the mineral substances conveyed to it in manure.” The results obtained by the English investigators appear to prove that it is impossible to get good crops by using mineral manures alone, and that nitrogenous manures (farm-yard manure, guano, ammoniacal salts, &c.) are fertilising agents of the highest order.

Of the chemical manures now so much used bone-dust is, perhaps, the most important, as it supplies the phosphates which have been extracted by successive crops of grass and corn, the whole of the bones of the cattle fed on these crops having been derived from the soil; its gelatin also yields ammonia by putrefaction. Guano acts as a source of ammonia, containing much oxalate and urate of ammonia, with some phosphates. Nightsoil and urine, especially the latter, are most valuable for the ammonia they yield, as well as for the phosphates and potassa; but are very much neglected in this country, although their importance is fully appreciated in Belgium, France, and China. Nitrate of soda is valued as a source of nitrogen.

All organic substances may be employed as manures; preference being, however, given to those abounding in nitrogen, and which readily decay when mixed with the soil.

The analysis of manures, soils, and the ashes of plants, for the purpose of ascertaining their composition and comparative value, is not easily performed by the inexperienced; but a rough approximation to their contents, sufficiently accurate for all practical purposes, may be generally made by any intelligent person with proper care and attention. See Agriculture, Bone-dust, Guano, &c.

Manures, Artificial. Various formulæ belonging to this head will be found dispersed, under their respective names, throughout this work. The following are additional ones:—

1. (Anderson.) Sulphate of ammonia, common salt, and oil of vitriol, of each 10 parts; chloride of potassium, 15 parts; gypsum and sulphate of potassa, of each 17 parts; saltpetre, 20 parts; crude Epsom salts, 25 parts; sulphate of soda, 33 parts. For clover.

2. (Huxtable.) Crude potash, 28 lbs.; common salt, 1 cwt.; bone-dust and gypsum, of each 2 cwt.; wood-ashes, 15 bushels. For either corn, turnips, or grass.

3. (Johnstone.) Sulphate of soda (dry), 11 lbs.; wood-ashes, 28 lbs.; common salt, ³⁄₄ cwt.; crude sulphate of ammonia, 1 cwt.; bone-dust, 7 bushels. As a substitute for guano.

4. (Lawes’ ‘Superphosphate.’) See Coprolite.

5. (Fertilising powder.) A mixture of very fine bone-dust, 18 parts; calcined gypsum, and sulphate of ammonia, of each 1 part. The seed is ordered to be steeped in the ‘drainings’ from a dunghill, and after being drained, but whilst still wet, to be sprinkled with the powder, and then dried. See Flowers, Lime (Superphosphate), &c.

MANUSCRIPTS, Faded, to Restore. One of the methods in use for the restoration of old or faded writing is to expose it to the vapours of hydrosulphate of ammonia (hydrosulphide of ammonium) until the ink becomes darkened by the formation of sulphide of iron. Another consists in carefully washing, or sponging, the faded manuscript over with a weak solution of the ammonic sulphide, and as soon as the characters become legible, soaking it in water so as to remove the remaining sulphide, and then drying it between folds of blotting paper. A third plan, and one attended with less risk to the paper, is to brush over the manuscript with a moderately strong aqueous solution of gallo-tannic acid, to wash with water, and afterwards to dry it at a temperature of about 150° Fahr.

The solution of gallo-tannic acid may be obtained by making a strong infusion of bruised nutgalls in boiling water, and when cold, straining it. Some old and mediæval manuscripts are written in inks made of carbon. To such the above treatment is inapplicable; being suited only to those traced in ordinary writing ink. For parchments the latter method is preferable.

MAPS. These, as well as architect’s and engineer’s designs, plans, sections, drawings, &c., may be tinted with any of the simple liquid colours mentioned under ‘VELVET COLOURS,’ preference being given to the most transparent ones, which will not obscure the lines beneath them. To prevent the colours from sinking and spreading, which they usually do on common paper, the latter should be wetted 2 or 3 times with a sponge dipped in alum water (3 or 4 oz. to the pint), or with a solution of white size, observing to dry it carefully after each coat. This tends to give lustre and beauty to the colours. The colours for this purpose should also be thickened with a little gum water. Before varnishing maps after colouring them, 2 or 3 coats of clean size should be applied with a soft brush—the first one to the back.

MARASCHI′NO (-kēno). Syn. Marasquin, Fr. A delicate liqueur spirit distilled from a peculiar cherry growing in Dalmatia, and afterwards sweetened with sugar. The best is from Zara, and is obtained from the marasca cherry only. An inferior quality is distilled from a mixture of cherries and the juice of liquorice root.

MAR′BLE. Syn. Limestone, Hard carbonate of Lime; Marmor, Calcis carbonas durus, M. album (B. P., Ph. E. & D.), L. Marbles are merely purer and more compact varieties of limestone, which admit of being sawn into slabs, and are susceptible of a fine polish. White marble is employed for the preparation of carbonic acid and some of the salts of lime. It contains about 65% of lime. Sp. gr. 2·70 to 2·85. The tests of its purity are the same as those already noticed under Chalk.

Marble is best cleaned with a little soap-and-water, to which some ox-gall may be added. Acids should be avoided. Oil and grease may be generally removed by spreading a paste made of soft soap, caustic potash lye, and fullers earth over the part, and allowing it to remain there for a few days; after which it must be washed off with clean water. Or, equal parts of American potash (crude carbonate of potash) and whiting are made into a moderately stiff paste with a sufficiency of boiling water, and applied to the marble with a brush. At the end of two or three days the paste is removed and the marble washed with soap-and-water. Any defect of polish may be brought up with tripoli, followed by putty powder, both being used along with water.

Marble is mended with one or other of the compounds noticed under Cements.

Marble may be stained or dyed of various colours by applying coloured solutions or tincture to the stone, made sufficiently hot to make the liquid just simmer on the surface. The following are the substances usually employed for this purpose:—

Blue. Tincture or solution of litmus, or an alkaline solution of indigo.

Brown. Tincture of logwood.

Crimson. A solution of alkanet root in oil of turpentine.

Flesh colour. Wax tinged with alkanet root, and applied to the marble hot enough to melt it freely.

Gold colour. A mixture of equal parts of white vitriol, sal ammoniac, and verdigris, each in fine powder, and carefully applied.

Green. An alkaline solution or tincture of sap green, or wax strongly coloured with verdigris; or the stone is first stained blue, and then the materials for yellow stain are applied.

Red. Tincture of dragon’s blood, alkanet root, or cochineal.

Yellow. Tincture of gamboge, turmeric, or saffron; or wax coloured with annotta. Success in the application of these colours requires considerable experience. By their

MARBLING (of Books, &c.). The edges and covers of books are ‘marbled’ by laying the colour on them with a brush, or by means of a wooden trough containing mucilage, as follows:—Provide a wooden trough, 2 inches deep, 6 inches wide, and the length of a super-royal sheet; boil in a brass or copper pan any quantity of linseed and water until a thick mucilage is formed; strain this into the trough, and let it cool; then grind on a marble slab any of the following colours in table beer. For—blue, Prussian blue or indigo;—red, rose-pink, vermilion, or drop lake;—yellow, king’s yellow, yellow ochre, &c.;—white, flake white;—black, ivory black, or burnt lampblack;—brown umber, burnt u., terra di sienna, burnt s.; black mixed with yellow or red also makes brown;—green, blue and yellow mixed;—purple, red and blue mixed. For each colour provide two cups—one for the ground colours, the other to mix them with the ox-gall, which must be used to thin them at discretion. If too much gall is used the colours spread; when they keep their place on the surface of the trough, on being moved with a quill, they are fit for use. All things being in readiness, the prepared colours are successively sprinkled on the surface of the mucilage in the trough with a brush, and are waved or drawn about with a quill or a stick according to taste. When the design is thus formed, the book, tied tightly between cutting boards of the same size, is lightly pressed with its edge on the surface of the liquid pattern, and then withdrawn and dried. The covers may be marbled in the same way, only the liquid colours must be allowed to run over them. The film of colour in the trough may be as thin as possible; and if any remains after the marbling, it may be taken off by applying paper to it before you prepare for marbling again. This process has been called French marbling.

To diversify the effect, a little sweet oil is often mixed with the colours before sprinkling them on, by which means a light halo or circle appears round each spot. In like manner spirit of turpentine, sprinkled on the surface of the trough, produces white spots. By staining the covers with any of the liquid dyes, and then dropping on them, or running over them, drops of the ordinary liquid mordants, a very pleasing effect may be produced. Vinegar black, or a solution of green copperas, thus applied to common leather, produces black spots or streaks, and gives a similar effect with most of the light dyes. A solution of alum or of tin in like manner produces bright spots or streaks, and soda or potash water dark ones. This style has been called Egyptian marble.—Soap marbling is done by throwing on the colours, ground with a little white soap to a proper consistence, by means of a brush. It is much used for book-edges, stationery, sheets of paper, ladies’ fancy work, &c.—Thread marble is given by first covering the edge uniformly of one colour, then laying pieces of thick thread irregularly on different parts of it, and giving it a fine dark sprinkle. When well managed the effect is very pleasing.—Rice marble is given in a similar way to the last by using rice.—Tree marble is done on leather book-covers, &c., by bending the board a little in the centre, and running the marbling liquid over it in the form of vegetation. The knots are given by rubbing the end of a candle on those parts of the cover.—Wax marble is given in a similar way to thread marble, but using melted wax, which is removed after the book is sprinkled and dried; or a sponge charged with blue, green, or red may be passed over. This, also, is much used for stationery work, especially for folios and quartos. The ‘vinegar black’ of the bookbinders is merely a solution of acetate of iron, made by steeping a few rusty nails or some iron filings in vinegar. All the ordinary liquid colours that do not contain strong acids or alkalies may be used, either alone or thickened with a little gum, for marbling or sprinkling books.

Sprinkling is performed by simply dipping a stiff-haired painter’s brush into the colour, and suddenly striking it against a small stick held in the left hand over the work. By this means the colour is evenly scattered without producing ‘blurs’ or ‘blots.’

Paper, PASTEBOARD, &c., in sheets, are marbled and sprinkled in a similar manner to that above described, but in this case the gum trough must, of course, be longer.

MARGAR′IC ACID. This term was formerly applied to a mixture of palmitic and stearic acids, produced by decomposing the alkaline soaps of solid fats with an acid, but it is now given to a fatty acid which can only be obtained artificially.

MAR′GARIN. Syn. Margarate of glyceryl. A constituent formerly supposed to exist in solid fats, but now regarded as a mixture of stearin and palmitin.

MARINE′ ACID. See Hydrochloric acid.

MARL. A natural mixture of clay and chalk, with sand. It is characterised by effervescing with acids. According to the predominance of one or other of its component parts, it is called argillaceous, calcareous, or sandy marl. It is very generally employed as a manure for sandy soils, more particularly in Norfolk. See Soils.

MAR′MALADE. Originally a conserve made of quinces and sugar; now commonly applied to the conserves of other fruit, more especially to those of oranges and lemons.

Prep. Marmalades are made either by pounding the pulped fruit in a mortar with an equal or a rather larger quantity of powdered white sugar, or by mixing them together by heat, passing them through a hair sieve whilst hot, and then putting them into pots or glasses. The fruit-pulps are obtainedConserves, Confections, Electuaries, Jams, Jellies, and below.

Marmalade, Apricot. From equal parts of pulp and sugar.

Marmalade, Mixed. From plums, pears, and apples, variously flavoured to palate.

Marmalade, Orange. Prep. 1. From oranges (either Seville or St Michael’s, or a mixture of the two), by boiling the peels in syrup until soft, then pulping them through a sieve, adding as much white sugar, and boiling them with the former syrup and the juice of the fruit to a proper consistence.

2. By melting the confection of orange peel (Ph. L.), either with or without the addition of some orange or lemon juice, and then passing it through a sieve.

3. (Candied orange marmalade.) From candied orange peel, boiled in an equal weight each of sugar and water, and then passed through a sieve.

4. (Scotch marmalade.)—a. Seville orange juice, 1 quart; yellow peel of the fruit, grated; honey, 2 lbs.; boil to a proper consistence.

b. Seville oranges, 8 lbs.; peel them as thinly as possible, then squeeze out the juice, boil it on the yellow peels for ¹⁄₄ of an hour, strain, add white sugar, 7 lbs., and boil to a proper consistence.

Marmalade, Quince. Syn. Diacydonium. From quince flesh or pulp and sugar, equal parts; or from the juice (miva cydoniorum, gelatina c.), by boiling it to half, adding an equal quantity of white wine and ²⁄₃rds of its weight of sugar, and gently evaporating the mixture.

Marmalade, Tomato. Like APRICOT MARMALADE, adding a few slices of onion and a little parsley.

MARMORA′TUM. Finely powdered marble and quicklime, well beaten together; used as a cement or mortar.

MAR′ROW (Beef). This is extensively employed by the perfumers in the preparation of various pomades and other cosmetics, on account of its furnishing an exceedingly bland fat, which is not so much disposed to rancidity as the other fats. It is prepared for use by soaking and working it for some time in lukewarm water, and afterwards melting it in a water bath, and straining it through a piece of muslin whilst hot. When scented it is esteemed equal to bear’s grease for promoting the growth of the hair.

MARSH GAS. Light carbonetted hydrogen.

MARSH’S TEST. See Arsenious acid.

MARSHMALLOW. Syn. Althæa (Ph. L. & E.), L. The root (leaves and root—Ph. E.) of Althæa officinalis, Linn., or common marshmallow. (Ph. L.) It is emollient and demulcent; the decoction is useful in irritation of the respiratory and urinary organs, and of the alimentary canal. The flowers as well as the root are reputed pectoral.

MARTIN’S POWDER. A mixture of white arsenic and the powdered stems of Orobanche virginiana (Linn.), a plant common in Virginia. An American quack remedy for cancer.

MASS. Syn. Massa, L. This term is commonly applied in pharmacy and veterinary medicine to certain preparations which are not made up into their ultimate form. Thus, we have ‘ball-masses,’ ‘pill-masses,’ &c.; of which, for convenience, large quantities are prepared at a time, and are kept in pots or jars, ready to be divided into balls or pills, as the demands of business may require. (See below.)

MASSES (Veterinary).[24]

Massa Aloes. Mass of aloes. Syn. Cathartic mass. Prep. Take of Barbadoes aloes, in small pieces, 8 parts; glycerin, 2 parts; ginger, in powder, 1 part; melt together in a water bath, and thoroughly incorporate by frequent stirring.—Use. Cathartic for the horse.—Dose. From 6 to 8 dr.

Massa Aloes Composita. Compound mass of aloes. Syn. Alterative mass. Prep. Take of Barbadoes aloes, in powder, 1 oz.; soft soap, 1 oz.; common mass, 6 oz.; thoroughly incorporate by beating in a mortar, so as to form a mass.—Use. Alterative for the horse.—Dose, 1 oz.

Massa Antimonii Tartarata Composita. Compound mass of tartarated antimony. Syn. Fever ball. Prep. Take of tartrated antimony, in powder, ¹⁄₂ dr.; camphor, in powder, ¹⁄₂ dr.; nitrate of potash, in powder, 2 dr.; common mass, a sufficiency; mix so as to form a bolus.—Use. Febrifuge for the horse.—Dose. The above mixture constitutes 1 dose.

Massa Belladonnæ Composita. Compound mass of belladonna. Syn. Cough ball. Prep. Take of extract of belladonna, ¹⁄₂ to 1 dr.; Barbadoes aloes, in powder, 1 dr.; nitrate of potash, in powder, 2 dr.; common mass, a sufficiency; mix so as to form a bolus.—Use. For the horse in chronic cough.—Dose. The above mixture constitutes 1 dose.

Massa Cathechu Composita. Compound mass of catechu. Syn. Astringent mass. Prep. Take of extract of catechu, in fine powder, 1 oz.; cinnamon bark, in fine powder, 1 oz.; common mass, 6 oz.; mix.—Use. Astringent for the horse.—Dose, 1 oz., in the form of a bolus.

Massa Communis. Common mass. Prep. Take of linseed, finely ground, and treacle, of each equal parts; mix together so as to form a mass.—Use. An excipient for medicinal agents when they are to be administered in the form of bolus.

Massa Cupri Sulphatis. Mass of sulphate of copper. Syn. Tonic Mass. Prep. TakeUse. Tonic for the horse.—Dose, 6 to 8 dr.

Massa Digitalis Composita. Compound mass of digitalis. Syn. Cough ball. Prep. Take of Barbadoes aloes, in powder, 2 oz.; digitalis, 1 oz.; common mass, 13 oz.; mix.—Use. For the horse in chronic cough.—Dose, 1 oz. once or twice a day.

Massa Ferri Sulphatis. Mass of sulphate of iron. Syn. Tonic mass. Prep. Take of sulphate of iron, in powder, 2 oz.; ginger, in powder, 1 oz.; common mass, 5 oz.; mix.—Use. Tonic for the horse.—Dose, 6 to 8 dr.

Massa Resinæ Composita. Compound mass of resin. Syn. Diuretic mass. Prep. Take of resin, in powder, nitrate of potash, in powder, hard soap, of each equal parts; mix.—Use. Diuretic for the horse.—Dose, 1 oz.

Massa Zingiberis Composita. Compound mass of ginger. Syn. Cordial mass. Prep. Take of ginger, in powder, gentian root, in powder, treacle, of each equal parts, a sufficiency; mix so as to form a mass.—Use. Stomachic for the horse.—Dose, 1 oz.

MAS′SICOT. Syn. Masticot, Yellow protoxide of lead; Plumbi oxydum flavum, Cerussa citrina, L. The dross that forms on melted lead exposed to a current of air, roasted until it acquires a uniform yellow colour. Artists often apply the same name to white lead roasted until it turns yellow. Used as a pigment.

MAS′TIC. Syn. Mastich, Gum mastic; Mastiche, L. The “resin flowing from the incised bark of Pistacia Lentiscus, var. Chia.” (Ph. L.) It occurs in pale yellowish, transparent, rounded tears, which soften between the teeth when chewed, and giving out a bitter, aromatic taste. Sp. gr. 1·07. It is soluble in both rectified spirit and oil of turpentine, forming varnishes. It is chiefly used as a ‘masticatory,’ to strengthen and preserve the teeth, and perfume the breath.

Mastic. Fine mortar or cement used for plastering walls, in which the ingredients, in a pulverulent state, are mixed up, either entirely or with a considerable portion of linseed oil. It sets very hard, and is ready to receive paint in a few days. See Cements.

MASTICA′TION. The act of chewing food, by which it not only becomes comminuted, but mixed with the saliva, and reduced to a form fit for swallowing. It has been justly regarded by the highest authorities as the first process of digestion, and one without which the powers of the stomach are overtasked, and often performed with difficulty. Hence the prevalence of dyspepsia and bowel complaints among persons with bad teeth, or who ‘bolt’ their food without chewing it.

MAS′TICATORIES. Syn. Masticatoria, L. Substances taken by chewing them. They are employed as intoxicants, cosmetics, and medicinals; generally with the first intention. The principal masticatory used in this country is tobacco. In Turkey, and several other Eastern nations, opium is taken in a similar manner. In India, a mixture of areca nut, betel leaf, and lime, performs the same duties; whilst in some other parts of the world preparations of the cacao are employed. As cosmetics, orris root, cassia, cinnamon, and sandal wood are frequently chewed to scent the breath. Among medicinals, mastic and myrrh are frequently chewed to strengthen the teeth and gums; pellitory, to relieve the toothache; and rhubarb, ginger, and gentian, to relieve dyspepsia and promote the appetite.

Prep. 1. (Augustin.) Mastic, pellitory (both in powder), and white wax, of each 1 dr.; mixed by heat and divided into 6 balls. In toothache, loose teeth, &c.

2. (W. Cooley.) Mastic, myrrh, and white wax, of each 1 part; rhubarb, ginger, and extract of gentian, of each 2 parts; beaten up with tincture of tolu, q. s., and divided into boluses or lozenges of 10 gr. each. One or two to be chewed an hour before dinner; in dyspepsia, defective appetite, &c.

3. (Quincy.) Mastic, 3 oz.; pellitory and stavesacre seed, of each 2 dr.; cubebs and nutmegs, of each 1 dr.; angelica root, ¹⁄₂ dr.; melted wax, q. s. to make it into small balls. As a stimulant to the gums, and in toothache.

4. Opium, ginger, rhubarb, mastic, pellitory of Spain, and orris root, of each 1 dr.; melted spermaceti, q. s. to mix; for 6-gr. pills. As the last, and in toothache and painful gums.

MAS′TICOT. See Massicot.

MATCHES (Cooper’s). Syn. Sweetening matches. These are made by dipping strips of coarse linen or canvas into melted brimstone. For use, the brimstone on one of them is set on fire, and the match is then at once suspended in the cask, and the bung loosely set in its place. After the lapse of 2 or 3 hours the match is removed and the cask filled with liquor. Some persons pour a gallon or two of the liquor into the cask before ‘matching’ it. The object is to allay excessive fermentation. The operation is commonly adopted in the Western Counties for cider intended for shipment, or other long exposure during transport. It is also occasionally employed for inferior and ‘doctored’ wines.

MATCHES (Instantaneous Light). Of these there are several varieties, of which the one best known, and most extensively used, is the common phosphorus match, known as the ‘congreve’ or ‘lucifer.’[25] We need not describe

Manuf. The wooden splints are cut by steam machinery from the very best quality of pine planks, perfectly dried at a temperature of 400° Fahr. English splints are of two sizes—‘large’ and ‘minnikins,’ the former 2¹⁄₄ inches longer, and the latter somewhat shorter. In the manufacture double-lengths are used, so that each splint may be coated with the igniting composition at both ends, and then cut asunder in the middle to form two matches. In England the splints are usually cut square in form, but in Germany they are cylindrical, being prepared by forcing the wood through circular holes in a steel plate. The ends of the double splints having been slightly charred by contact with a red-hot plate, are coated with sulphur by dipping them to the requisite depth in the melted material. In some cases the ends are saturated with melted wax or paraffin instead of sulphur. The splints are then arranged in a frame between grooved boards in such a manner that the prepared ends project on each side of the frame. These projecting ends are then tipped with the phosphorus composition, which is spread to a uniform depth of about ¹⁄₈ inch on a smooth slab of stone, kept warm by means of steam beneath. When partially dry, the tipped splints are taken from the frames, cut through the middle, and placed in heaps of 100, ready for ‘boxing.’

The different compositions for tipping the matches in use in different countries and factories all consist essentially of emulsions of phosphorus in a solution of glue or gum, with or without other matters for increasing the combustibility, for colouring, &c. In England the composition contains a considerable quantity of chlorate of potassa, which imparts a snapping and flaming quality to the matches tipped with it, and but little phosphorus, on account of the moisture of the climate. In Germany the proportion of phosphorus used is much larger, and nitre, or some metallic peroxide, replaces chlorate of potassa. The German matches light quietly with a mild lambent flame, and are injured quickly by damp. The following formulæ have been selected:

1. (English.) Fine glue, 2 parts, broken into small pieces, and soaked in water till quite soft, is added to water, 4 parts, and heated by means of a water bath until it is quite fluid, and at a temperature of 200° to 212° Fahr. The vessel is then removed from the fire, and phosphorus, 1¹⁄₂ to 2 parts, is gradually added, the mixture being agitated briskly and continually with a ‘stirrer’ having wooden pegs or bristles projecting at its lower end. When a uniform emulsion is obtained, chlorate of potassa, 4 to 5 parts, powdered glass, 3 to 4 parts, and red lead, smalt, or other colouring matter, a sufficient quantity (all in a state of very fine powder) are added, one at a time, to prevent accidents, and the stirring continued until the mixture is comparatively cool.

According to Mr G. Gore, the above proportions are those of the best quality of English composition. The matches tipped with it deflagrate with a snapping noise. (See above.)

2. (German.)—a. (Böttger.) Dissolve gum Arabic, 16 parts, in the least possible quantity of water, add of phosphorus (in powder), 9 parts, and mix by trituration; then add of nitre, 14 parts; vermillion or binoxide of manganese, 16 parts, and form the whole into a paste, as directed above; into this the matches are to be dipped, and then exposed to dry. As soon as the matches are quite dry they are to be dipped into very dilute copal varnish or lac varnish, and again exposed to dry, by which means they are rendered waterproof, or at least less likely to suffer from exposure in damp weather.

b. (Böttger.) Glue, 6 parts, is soaked in a little cold water for 24 hours, after which it is liquefied by trituration in a heated mortar; phosphorus, 4 parts, is now added, and rubbed down at a heat not exceeding 150° Fahr.; nitre (in fine powder), 10 parts, is next mixed in, and afterwards red ochre, 5 parts, and smalt, 2 parts, are further added, and the whole formed into a uniform paste, into which the matches are dipped, as before. Cheaper than the last.

c. (Diesel.) Phosphorus, 17 parts; glue, 21 parts; red lead, 24 parts; nitre, 38 parts. Proceed as above.

Obs. Matches tipped with the above (a, b, and c) inflame without fulmination when rubbed against a rough surface, and are hence termed ‘noiseless matches’ by the makers.

3. (Safety matches.) The latest improvement of note in the manufacture of matches is that of Landstrom, of Jonkoping, in Sweden, adopted by Messrs Bryant and May (Patent). It consists in dividing the ingredient of the match-mixture into two separate compositions, one being placed on the ends of the splints, as usual, and the other, which contains the phosphorus, being spread in a thin layer upon the end or lid of the box. The following are the compositions used by the patentee:—a. (For the splints.) Chlorate of potassa, 6 parts; sulphuret of antimony, 2 to 3 parts; glue, 1 part.—b. (For the friction surface.) Amorphous phosphorus, 10 parts; sulphuret of antimony or peroxide of manganese, 8 parts; glue, 3 to 6 parts; spread thinly upon the surface, which has been previously made rough by a coating of glue and sand.

By thus dividing the composition the danger of fire arising from ignition of the matches by accidental friction is avoided, as neither the portion on the splint nor that on the box can be ignited by rubbing against an unprepared

MATÉ. Syn. Paraguay Tea. This is the dried leaf of a small shrub, the Ilex Paraguayenses, or Brazilian holly, growing in Paraguay and Brazil; by the inhabitants of which places, as well as South America generally, it is largely employed in the form of a beverage as tea. Its active ingredient, Paraguaine, formerly supposed to be a distinct principle, has from further researches into its composition been discovered to be identical with theine and caffeine—the alkaloids of tea and coffee.

Mr Wanklyn ascribes the following composition to maté:—

Moisture 6·72

Ash 5·86

Soluble organic matter 25·10

Insoluble organic matter 62·32

———

100·00

MATE′′RIA MED′ICA. A collective name of the various substances, natural and artificial, employed as medicines or in the cure of disease. In its more extended sense it includes the science which treats of their sources, properties, classification, and applications. The materia medica of the Pharmacopœia is a mere list, with occasional notes, “embracing the animal, vegetable, and chemical substances, whether existing naturally, prepared in officinal chemical preparations, or sold in wholesale trade, which we (the College) direct to be used either in curing diseases or in preparing medicines.” (Ph. L.)

MAT′ICO. Syn. Soldier’s herb; Mateco (B. P., Ph. D.); Matica, Herba maticæ, L. The dried leaves of a Peruvian plant, generally believed to be the Artanthe elongata, one of the Piperaceæ. The leaves have been employed with considerable success as a mechanical external styptic; applied to leech-bites, slight cuts, and other wounds, &c., and pressed on with the fingers, they seldom fail to arrest the bleeding. Matico has also been much lauded as an internal astringent and styptic, in hæmorrhages from the lungs, stomach, bowels, uterus, &c.; but as it is nearly destitute of astringent properties, its virtues in these cases must have been inferred from its external action. As an aromatic, bitter stimulant, closely resembling the peppers, it has been proposed as a substitute for cubebs and black pepper, in the treatment of diseases of the mucous membranes, piles, &c.—Dose, ¹⁄₂ to 2 dr.; in powder; or under the form of infusion, tincture, or boluses.

MATURA′TION. Growing ripe. Amongst surgeons this term is applied to the process of suppuration, or that which succeeds inflammation, and by which pus or matter is collected in an abscess. Warmth, irritation, and a liberal diet promote this change; cold, sedatives, and depletion, retard it. The maturation of fermented liquor is noticed under Brewing, Malt liquors, Wines, &c.

MEAD. Syn. Mellina, L. An old English liquor, made from the combs from which the honey has been drained, by boiling them in water, and fermenting the saccharine solution thus obtained. It is commonly confounded with metheglin. Some persons add 1 oz. of hops to each gallon; and, after fermentation, a little brandy. It is then called sack mead, See Metheglin.

MEAL. The substance of edible grain ground to powder, without being bolted or sifted. Barley meal and oat meal are the common substances of this class in England. In North America the term is commonly applied to ground Indian corn, whether bolted or not. (Goodrich.) The four resolvent meals of old pharmacy (quatuor farinæ resolventes) are those of barley, beans, linseed, and rye.

MEALS. The “periods of taking food, usually adopted, in conformity with convenience and the recurrences of hunger, are those which are best adapted to the purposes of health; namely, the morning meal, the midday meal, and the evening meal.” “That these are the proper periods for meals is evident from the fact of their maintaining their place amid the changes which fashion is constantly introducing.” “If we look at these periods in another point of view, we shall find an interval of four hours left between them for the act of digestion and subsequent rest of the stomach. Digestion will claim between two and three hours of the interval; the remaining hour is all that the stomach gets of rest, enough, perhaps, but not too much, not to be justly infringed.” (Eras. Wilson.)

MEA′SLES. Syn. Rubeola, Morbilli, L. This very common disease is characterised by feverishness, chilliness, shivering, head-pains,

Treat. When there are no urgent local symptoms, mild aperients, antimonial diaphoretics, and diluents, should be had recourse to; but when the inflammatory symptoms are emergent, and the lungs are weak, especially in plethoric habits, blood may be taken. The cough may be relieved by expectorants, demulcents, and small doses of opium; and the diarrhœa by the administration of the compound powder of chalk and opium; the looseness of the bowels, however, had better not be interfered with, unless it be extreme.

Measles are most prevalent in the middle of winter, and though common to individuals of all ages, are most frequent amongst children. The plethoric, and those of a scrofulous habit, or one which has a syphilitic taint, suffer most from them.

Like the smallpox, the measles are contagious, and seldom attack the same person more than once during life. See Rash.

MEASURE. Syn. Mensura, L. The unit or standard by which we estimate extension, whether of length, superficies, or volume. The following tables represent the values and proportions of the principal measures employed in commerce and the arts:

Table I. English Lineal Measures.

Inches. Feet. Yards. Poles. Furlongs. Miles.

1· ·083 ·028 ·00505 ·00012626 ·0000157828

12· 1· ·333 ·06060 ·00151515 ·00018939

36· 3· 1· ·1818 ·004545 ·00056818

198· 16·5 5·5 1· ·025 ·003125

7920· 660· 220· 40· 1· ·125

63360· 5280· 1760· 320· 8· 1·

⁂ The unit of the above table is the yard, of which no legal standard has existed since that established by the statute of 1824 was destroyed by the fire which consumed the two Houses of Parliament in 1834.

Table II. English Measures of Superficies.

Square Feet. Square Yards. Poles. Roods. Acres.

1· ·1111 ·00367309 ·000091827 ·000022957

9· 1· ·0330579 ·000826448 ·000206612

272·25 30·25 1· ·025 ·00625

10890· 1210· 40· 1· ·25

43560· 4840· 160· 4· 1·

Table III. English Measure of Volume.—The Imperial Standard, and the relative value of its divisions, including those used in Medicine, with their EQUIVALENTS in avoirdupois and troy weight.

[minims] Minims or drops. fʒ Fluid Drachms. f℥ Fluid Ounces. O. Pints. Oij. Quarts. C. Gallons. Pecks. Bushels. Quarters. Equivalents in distilled water, at 62° Fahr., in

Troy grains. Avoird. weight.

1· ·01666666 ·00208333 ·00010416 ·00005208 ·00001302 — — — ·91146

60· 1· ·125 ·00625 ·003125 ·00078125 — — — 54·6875 lb. oz.

480· 8· 1· ·05 ·025 ·00625 — — — 437·5 1

9600· 160· 20· 1· ·5 ·125 ·0625 ·015625 ·001953125 8750· 1 4

19200· 320· 40· 2· 1· ·25 ·125 ·03125 ·00390625 17500· 2 8

76800· 1280· 160· 8· 4· 1· ·5 ·125 ·015625 70000· 10

2560· 320· 16· 8· 2· 1· ·25 ·03125 — 20

1280· 64· 32· 8· 4· 1· ·125 — 80

512· 256· 64· 32· 8· 1· — 640

⁂ The standard unit of the above table is the gallon, which is declared, by statute, to be capable of “containing ten pounds avoirdupois weight of distilled water, weighed in the air at the temperature of 62° Fahr., the barometer being at 30 inches.” The pound avoirdupois contains 7000 grains, and it is declared that a cubic inch of distilled water, under the above conditions, weighs 252·458 grains; hence the capacity of the imperial gallon and its divisions are as follows:—

Imperial gallon = 277·274 cubic inches.

” quart = 69·3185 ”

” pint = 34·65925 ”

Fluid ounce = 1·73296 ”

” drachm = ·21662 ”

‡‡‡ The imperial gallon is 1-5th larger than the old wine gallon,—1-60th smaller than the old beer gallon, and—1-32nd larger than the old dry-measure gallon.

Table IV. French Metrical or Decimal Measures of Length.

Names. Eq. in Mètres. Equivalents in

English Inches, at 32° Fahr. English Long Measure, at 62° Fahr.

Miles. Fur. Yds. Feet. Inch.

Millimètre ·001 ·03937

Centimètre ·01 ·39371

Décimètre ·1 3·93708

Mètre 1· 39·37079 1 0 3·37

Decamètre 10· 393·70790 10 2 9·7

Hectomètre 100· 3937·07900 109 1 1·078

Kilomètre 1000· 39370·79000 4 213 1 10·3

Myriamètre 10000· 393707·90000 6 1 156 0 9·17

⁂ The standard unit of the above table is the mètre, which has been determined to be 39·37079 inches, at 32° Fahr. (Capt. Kater); the English foot is taken at 62° Fahr. The true length of the mètre, reduced to the latter temperature, is 39·370091 English inches; a number which varies from that in the table only at the fourth decimal figure. It will be perceived that the principle of nomenclature adopted in applying the names, was to prefix the Greek numerals to the decimal multiples, and the Latin numerals to the decimal subdivisions.

Table V. French Metrical or Decimal Measures of Volume.

Names. Eq. in Litres. Eq. in English Cubic Inches Equivalent in English Measures.

Gall. Pints. Oz. Dr. Minims.

Millilitre ·001 ·0610 16·9

Centilitre ·01 ·6103 2 49·

Decilitre ·1 6·1028 3 4 10·36

Litre 1· 61·028 1 15 1 43·69

Decalitre 10· 610·28 2 1 12 1 16·9

Hectolitre 100· 6102·8 22 0 1 4 49·

Kilolitre 1000· 61028· 220 0 16 6 40·

Myrialitre 10000· 610280· 2201 (= 275¹⁄₈ bushels).

⁂ The standard unit in the above table is the litre, or the cube of the ¹⁄₁₀ of a mètre. The French centiare contains 1 square mètre,—the are, 100 do.,—the hectare, 10,000 do. The old Paris pint is equal to 1·678 English imperial pint.

‡‡‡ The capacity of solids and aëriform fluids is taken in cubic inches, or feet, in England. In France, the stere, or mètre cube, equal to 35·31658 English cubic feet, is the standard unit.

Table VI. Miscellaneous Measures and their Equivalents:

Tea or coffee spoonful (average) = 1 fl. dr.

Dessert spoonful ” = 2 ”

Table spoonful ” = 4 ”

Wine-glassful ” = 2 fl. oz.

Tea-cupful ” = 5 ”

Breakfast-cupful ” = 8 ”

Tumblerful ” = 8 ”

Basinful ” = 12 ”

Thimbleful ” = ³⁄₄ fl. dr.

Pinch (of leaves and flowers) ” = 1 dr.

Handful (of leaves and flowers) ” = 10 ”

Cubic inch of water, at 62° Fahr. = 252·458 gr.

Cubic foot of water, at 62° Fahr. = 62·32106 lb.

Line = ¹⁄₁₂ inch.

Barleycorn = ¹⁄₃ ”

Hand = 4 ”

Chain = 4 or 22 poles yards.

MEAT. The muscular tissue or flesh of the principal animals constituting the food of man may be said to be composed of the same proximate principles, and, given an equal digestibility and power of being assimilated, may be also said to have an equally nutritive value.

Since meat, however, is generally eaten with a certain amount of fat, which accompanies it in varying quantity, the capacity of the meat for forming muscle will, of course, be in inverse proportion to the amount of fat it contains; on the contrary, its power of raising the bodily temperature will be in direct proportion. Moleschott (quoted by Parkes) gives the following as the mean composition of fresh beef, as determined by all the Continental chemists:—

Water 73·4

Soluble albumen and hæmatin 2·25

Insoluble albuminous substances 15·20

Gelatinous substances 3·30

Fat 2·87

Extractive matter 1·38

Creatin 0·068

Ash 1·6

Dr Parkes remarks of the amount of fat given in the above analysis “that it is evidently too low.”

In the above table we recognise in the albuminous and gelatinous substances the source of the muscular tissue of the human organism. The ash contains the chlorides, carbonates, and phosphates of potassium, sodium, and calcium. From these salts are derived the hydrochloric acid of the gastric juice, the sodium of the bile, and the calcium phosphate and carbonate of the skeleton. Iron is also present, and this finds its way into the blood.

The flavour of meat is much influenced by the food of the animal. The flesh of the Pampas pig is found to be rank and disagreeable when the animal is killed in its wild state; if, however, the food be changed for the better, the flesh becomes altogether different and quite eatable. The pork of pigs fed on flesh is said to give off a strong odour, the fat at the same time being unusually soft. Soft fat is also said to form in animals that have been fed on oily foods.

When meat is roasted, the fire gradually coagulates the albumen of the joint, the coagulation commencing at the surface, and spreading by degrees to the interior. Unless the roasting be continued long enough, sufficient heat will not reach the parts nearest the centre to effect their coagulation; and if under these circumstances the meat be removed from the fire, the uncoagulated or inner parts will present the well-known red and juicy appearance known as ‘underdone.’ Although a certain quantity of the gravy (which consists of the soluble and saline ingredients) escapes in the process, the greater part is retained. The brown agreeably sapid substance formed on the outside of the meat is known as osmazome, and which is concentrated gravy. The melting fat which collects below forms the dripping. The loss in the meat is principally water.

The chemical effects of boiling are explained under the article devoted to that subject.

Meat generally loses from 30 to 40 per cent., and sometimes as much as 60 per cent. in weight, by cooking.

The amount of bone varies, being seldom less than 8 per cent. It amounts in the neck and brisket to about 10 per cent. and from one third to sometimes half the total weight in shins and legs of beef.

The most economical parts are the round and thick flank, next to these the brisket and sticking-piece, and lastly, the leg.

In choosing mutton and pork, selection should be made of the leg, after this of the shoulder.[26]

“Oxen,” says M. Bizet, “yield of best quality beef 57 per cent. of meat, and 43 per cent. waste. The waste includes the internal viscera, &c. Second quality of beef, 54 per cent. meat and 46 per cent. waste; third quality beef, 51 per cent. meat and 49 per cent. waste. In milking-cows, 46 per cent. meat and 54 per cent. waste. Calves yield 60 per cent. meat, and 40 per cent. loss; and sheep yield 50 per cent. meat, and 50 per cent. loss.” Dr Parkes differs from Bizet as to the latter’s value of the meat of the calf. He says the flesh of young animals loses from 40 to 50 per cent. in cooking.

It seems to be agreed, however, that animalssyntonin.

Consumption of Meat. Dr Letheby, writing in 1868, says that in London “the indoor operatives eat it to the extent of 14·8 oz. per adult weekly; 70 per cent. of English farm labourers consume it, and to the extent of 16 oz. per man weekly; 60 per cent. of the Scotch, 30 of the Welsh, and 20 of the Irish also eat it. The Scotch probably have a larger allowance than the English, considering that braxy mutton[27] is the perquisite of the Scotch labourer; but the Welsh have only an average amount of 2¹⁄₂ oz. per adult weekly; and the Irish allowance is still less. It is difficult to obtain accurate returns of the quantity of meat consumed in London; but if the computation of Dr Wynter is correct, it is not less than 30³⁄₄ oz. per head weekly, or about 4¹⁄₂ oz. per day for every man, woman, and child. In Paris, according to M. Armand Husson, who has carefully collected the octroi returns, “it is rather more than 49 oz. per head weekly, or just 7 oz. a day.” Bondin states that throughout France the consumption is about 50 grammes daily, or under 1³⁄₄ oz.

Dr Letheby, in his work ‘On Food,’ gives the following as the characteristics of good meat:—

“1st. It is neither of a pale pink colour nor of a deep purple tint, for the former is a sign of disease, and the latter indicates that the animal has not been slaughtered, but has died with the blood in it, or has suffered from acute fever.

“2nd. It has a marked appearance from the ramifications of little veins of fat among the muscles.

“3rd. It should be firm and elastic to the touch, and should scarcely moisten the fingers—bad meat being wet, and sodden and flabby, with the fat looking like jelly or wet parchment.

“4th. It should have little or no odour, and the odour should not be disagreeable, for diseased meat has a sickly cadaverous smell, and sometimes a smell of physic. This is very discoverable when the meat is chopped up and drenched with warm water.

“5th. It should not shrink or waste much in cooking.

“6th. It should not run to water, or become very wet on standing for a day or so, but should, on the contrary, dry upon the surface.

“7th. When dried at a temperature of 212° or thereabout, it should not lose more than from 70 to 74 per cent. of its weight, whereas bad meat will often lose as much as 80 per cent.

“Other properties of a more refined character will also serve for the recognition of bad meat, as that the juice of the flesh is alkaline or neutral to test-paper, instead of being distinctly acid, and the muscular fibre, when examined under the microscope is found to be sodden and ill-defined.”

Unsound meat—diseased meat. Dr Letheby, in his ‘Lectures on Food,’ published in 1868, states that the seizure and condemnation, in London, of meat unfit for human food, during a period extending over seven years, amounted to 700 tons per annum, or to about 1-750th of the whole quantity consumed. These 700 tons he dissects into lbs. as follows:—“805,653 lbs. were diseased, 568,375 lbs. were putrid, and 193,782 lbs. were from animals that had not been slaughtered, but had died from accident or disease. It consisted of 6640 sheep and lambs, 1025 calves, 2896 pigs, 9104 quarters of beef, and 21,976 joints of meat.”

He admits, however, that this amount, owing to the difficulties and inefficiency of the mode of supervision, bears a very insignificant proportion to the actual quantity which escaped detection, and which was, therefore, partaken of as food. Professor Gamgee says that one fifth of the meat eaten in the metropolis is diseased. In 1863 the bodies of an enormous number of animals suffering from rinderpest, as well as from pleuro-pneumonia, were consumed in London; and we know that thousands of sheep die every year, in the country, of rot; the inference from which latter fact is that, since the carcases are neither eaten there nor buried on the spot, they are sent up to, and thrown upon, the London markets. The worst specimens find their way to the poorer neighbourhoods, where, as might be expected, their low price ensures a ready sale for them. These sales, it is said, mostly take place at night.

The above statements, which, if we exclude Professor Gamgee’s figures, do not solve the problem as to the quantity of unsound meat consumed in London, not unreasonably justify the assumption that it is very considerable; and this being admitted, we should be prepared to learn that it was a fertile source of disease of a more or less dangerous character.

There is, however, such extensive divergence in the various data bearing upon this point, that no satisfactory solution of it can be said to be afforded. Thus, Livingstone states that, when in South Africa, he found that neither Englishmen nor natives could partake of the flesh of animals affected with pleuro-pneumonia without its giving rise to malignant carbuncle, and sometimes, in the case of the natives, to death, and Dr Letheby attributes the increased number of carbuncles and phlegmons amongst our population to the importation from Holland of cattle suffering from the same disease. On the contrary, Dr Parkes says he was informed, on excellent authority, that the Caffres invariably consume the flesh of their cattle that die of the same epidemic, without the production of any ill effects. Again, there are numerous well-attested casesbraxy (a disease that makes great ravages amongst the flocks in Scotland) is constantly eaten without injurious results by the Scotch shepherd. The malady causes death in the sheep from the blood coagulating in the vital organs, and the sheep that so dies becomes the property of the shepherd, who, after removing the offal, is careful to cut out the dark congealed blood before cooking it.[28] Sometimes he salts down the carcase. In cases, however, where thorough cooking or an observance of the above precautions have been neglected, very dangerous and disastrous consequences have ensued. During the late siege of Paris large quantities of the flesh of horses with glanders appear to have been eaten with no evil consequences: and Mr Blyth, in his ‘Dictionary of Hygiène,’ quotes a similar case from Tardieu, who states that 300 army horses affected with glanders (morve) were led to St Germain, near Paris, and killed. For several days they served to feed the poor of the town without causing any injury to health.

A similar exemption from any evil effect following the consumption of diseased flesh is recorded by Professor Brucke, of Vienna.

Not many years since the cattle of a locality in Bohemia, being attacked by rinderpest, were ordered by the Government to be slaughtered, after which they were buried. The poor people dug up the diseased carcases, cooked the meat, and ate it, with no injurious result.

Parent Duchâtelet cites a case where the flesh of seven cows attacked with rabies was eaten without injury; and Letheby states that pigs with scarlet fever and spotted typhus have been used for food with equally harmless results. The flesh of sheep with smallpox had been found to produce vomiting and diarrhœa, sometimes accompanied with fever.

One obvious suggestion of the immunity from disease recorded in part of the cases above given is that the injurious properties of the flesh had been destroyed by the heat to which it had been subjected in the process of cooking, combined with the antiseptic and protective power of the gastric juice. The subject, however, has not been sufficiently examined to warrant the conclusion that every kind of unsound meat may be rendered innocuous by culinary means.

But even were this so the idea of partaking of meat which had once been unsound, from whatever cause, and, as in the instances above quoted, with the pustules of smallpox, the spots generated by typhus, and the rash of scarlet fever upon it, becomes unspeakably repulsive and revolting. But we must not be misled because of the difficulty of reconciling the contradictory statements above given, nor by the evidence some of them appear to afford as to the innocuous character of diseased meat, since it is just possible that closer and more prolonged observation of the facts may have led to different conclusions. Thus, for example, pork, infested with that formidable entozoon, the Trichina spiralis, had been partaken of for years, under the impression that it was a perfectly healthy food, until Dr Zencker, of Dresden, discovered that the parasite was the cause of a frightful disease, which he called Trichinosis, and which had hitherto baffled all attempts to find out its origin. Dr Letheby, writing on this subject, says: “I have often had occasion to investigate cases of mysterious disease, which had undoubtedly been caused by unsound meat. One of these, of more than ordinary interest, occurred in the month of November, 1860. The history of it is this:—A forequarter of cow-beef was purchased in Newgate Market by a sausage-maker who lived in Kingsland, and who immediately converted it into sausage-meat. Sixty-six persons were known to have eaten of that meat, and sixty-four of them were attacked with sickness, diarrhœa, and great prostration of vital powers. One of them died; and at the request of the coroner I made a searching inquiry into the matter, and I ascertained that the meat was diseased, and that it, and it alone, had been the cause of all the mischief.”[29]

Here are two instances in which but for subsequent investigation the evil effects narrated would not have been debited to diseased meat, but to some other cause.

“One of the principal and by far the most prolific sources of food-poisoning is the sausage, the eating of which, in Germany more particularly, has caused the death of a number of persons.

The sausages in which these poisonous qualities occasionally develop themselves are the large kinds made in Wurtemburg, in which district alone they have caused the deaths of more than 150 out of 400 persons during the last fifty years. The poisonous character of the sausage is said to develop itself generally in the spring, when it becomes musty, and also soft in the interior. It is then found to be acid to test paper, and to have a very disagreeable and tainted flavour.

Should it be eaten when in this state, after from about twelve to twenty-four hours the patient is attacked with severe intestinal irritation in the form of pains in the stomach and bowels by vomitings, and diarrhœa.

To these symptoms succeed great depression, coldness in the limbs, weak and irregular pulse, and frequent fainting fits. Should the sufferer be attacked with convulsions, and difficult respiration, the seizure generally ends in death. The nature of the poisonous substance that gives rise to these effects in the sausage has not yet been determined. Liebig believed them to be due to the presence in the meat of a particular animal ferment, which he conceived acted on the blood by catalysis,sarcina botulina. This last theory receives support from the fact that a peculiar mouldiness is always to be observed in these dangerous sausages, and that this is coincident with the development of their poisonous qualities.

Several effects have been produced by other kinds of animal food—as veal, bacon, ham, salt-beef, salt-fish, cheese, &c., and the food has usually been in a decayed and mouldy condition. It would be tedious if I were to detail, or even to enumerate the cases recorded by medico-legal writers; but I may perhaps refer to a few of them. In 1839 there was a popular fête at Zurich, and about 600 persons partook of a repast of cold roast veal and ham. In a few hours most of them were suffering from pain in the stomach, with vomiting and diarrhœa; and before a week had elapsed nearly all of them were seriously ill in bed. They complained of shiverings, giddiness, headache and burning fever. In a few cases there was delirium, and when they terminated fatally there was extreme prostration of the vital powers. Careful inquiry was instituted into the matter, and the only discoverable cause of the mischief was incipient putrefaction and slight mouldiness of the meat.” A case is recorded by Dr Geisler of eight persons who became ill from eating bacon which was mouldy; and another by M. Ollivier of the death of four persons out of eight, all of whom had partaken of partially decomposed mutton.

If some of the foregoing statements fail to demonstrate that the act of partaking of diseased meat is a necessary source of danger to health, there can be no such doubt as to the pernicious and perilous consequences which ensue when meat is consumed containing in its tissues the ova and larvæ of certain parasitic creatures. If the fleshy part of a piece of measly pork be carefully examined, it will be found to be more or less dotted about with a number of little bladder-like spots, in size about as large as a hemp-seed.[30]

If now we carefully rupture one of these little bodies or cysts, there will be found in it a minute worm, which under the microscope will be seen to have a head from which proceed a number of little hooks that perform a very disagreeable office should the parasite be taken into the human stomach by any one making a meal off measly and undercooked pork. For, then, being liberated from its sac, or nidus, by the action of the gastric juice of the stomach on this latter, the creature passes into the intestines. To these it attaches itself by means of the hooklets on its head, and instantly becomes a tapeworm, which grows by a succession of jointed segments it is able to develop, and each one of which is capable of becoming a separate and prolific tapeworm filled with countless eggs.

These eggs reach the land through the agency of manure (for they are found in the intestines of the horse), and from this source they get into the stomachs of pigs and oxen, where they hatch not into tapeworm, or tenia, but, travelling through the animal’s stomach, burrow into its muscular tissue. Here they establish and envelop themselves in the little cyst or small bladder-like substance, whose presence, as explained, constitutes the condition called “measly” pork, and here they remain dormant until such time as, taken into the stomach, they may again become tapeworms, to be again expelled and to perpetuate by their ova the round of metamorphosis. From the circumstance of their being met with enclosed in little sacs or cysts, these parasites have been termed Cysticerci. The variety of them we have just been considering as occurring in pork is called the Cysticercus cellulosæ, whilst the tapeworm to which it gives rise is known as the Tinea solium.

Another variety of Cysticercus is met with in the flesh of the ox, the cow, and the calf. In the human body this also develops into a tapeworm called the Tinea mediocanellata. Tapeworm is a very common disease in Russia and Abyssinia, and its prevalence is no doubt due to the habit of giving the children in those countries raw meat to suck, under the impression that the child is strengthened in consequence. From experiments made by Dr Lewis it was found that a temperature of 150° F., maintained for five minutes, was sufficient to destroy these cysticerci.

Another and more formidable entozoon, communicable by unsound meat, is the Echinococcus hominis,[31] which represents one of the metamorphoses of the Tinea echinococcus, the tapeworm of the dog. In Iceland, where a sixth of the population are said to suffer from the ravages of the Echinococcus hominis, it is the custom to feed the dogs on the flesh of slaughtered animals affected with this parasite, which in the body of the dog develops into a tapeworm. The innumerable eggs which the worm produces are, however, incapable of being hatched in the dog’s intestines. They have to find another and more suitable habitat, and this is secured for them as follows:—Segments of the tapeworm, with their countless ova, being voided with dog’s excrement, fall into the running water, and on to the fields and pastures, whence they gain their entrance into the stomachs of human beings, oxen, and sheep. Here the eggs become hatched, not into tapeworms, but into Echinococci hominis, or prospective tapeworms. Burrowing through theDistoma hepatica, the ravages of which give rise in the sheep to that devastating disease—“the rot.” The creature is also known by the name of the “liver-fluke,” since it principally attacks this important organ in the animal. The liver-fluke is of constant occurrence in the livers of diseased sheep, and unless destroyed by thorough cooking will of course pass into the human economy. The embryo fluke gains admission to the sheep’s body through the instrumentality of small snails, to the shells of which it attaches itself. In wet weather the snails crawl over the grass of the meadow which forms the pastures of the sheep, and are swallowed by it. Once in the sheep’s stomach the embryo becomes a fluke, and commences its depredations on the animal’s liver. After this, the reason why the rot attacks sheep after a continuance of wet weather will be evident.

The most terrible of all the meat parasites is a minute worm about ¹⁄₃₀th of an inch long, found in the flesh of pork. This creature, which is named the Trichina spiralis (from the form it assumes when coiled up in the little cyst or capsule which encloses it), when it gets conveyed into the human stomach with improperly cooked or underdone pork, soon becomes liberated from its confinement owing to the destruction of its envelope by the gastric juice. Once in the stomach the parasite grows rapidly, giving birth to innumerable young trichinæ, which, by first boring through the membranes of the alimentary canal, pierce their way through the different parts of the body into the muscular tissue, where they become encysted, and where they remain until conditions favorable to their liberation again occur.

Until such time, however, as they have become enclosed in the cyst, their movements give rise to indescribable torture, and to a disease known as trichinosis, of which it has been estimated more than 50 per cent. of those attacked by it die. The symptoms of trichinosis commence with loss of appetite, vomiting, and diarrhœa, succeeded after a few days by great fever—resembling, according to Dr Aitken, that of typhoid or typhus. As might be expected the pains in the limbs are extreme. Boils and dropsical swellings are not unusual concomitants of the malady.

Hitherto this frightful disease has been mostly confined to Germany, where there have been several outbreaks of it since its discovery in 1860 by Dr Zencker. Feidler says that only free trichinæ are killed by a temperature of 155° F.; and that when they are in their cysts a greater heat may be necessary. From what has been said the importance of efficient cooking must become manifest. There must always be risk in underdone pork, whether boiled or roasted. In the pig, the trichina, if present, may always be found in the muscles of the eye. In Germany the makers of pork sausages are now said to have these muscles subjected to a microscopic examination previous to using the meat, which, of course, is rejected if the examination has been unfavorable.

The trichinæ, if present in the flesh of pork, may be seen as small round specks by the naked eye, the surrounding flesh itself being rather darker than usual owing to the inflammation set up in it. All doubt, however, on this point may be removed by having recourse to the microscope. Dr Parkes says a power of 50 to 100 diameters is sufficient, and that “the best plan is to take a thin slice of flesh, put it into liquor potassæ (1 part to 8 of water), and let it stand for a few minutes till the muscle becomes clear; it must not be left too long, otherwise the trichinæ will be destroyed. The white specks come out clearly and the worm will be seen coiled up. If the capsule is too dense to allow the worm to be seen, a drop or two of weak hydrochloric acid should be added. If the meat be very fat a little ether or benzine may be put on it in the first place.”

Legislation relative to meat inspection and seizure.—The law recognising the importance of the supply of pure and wholesome meat gives considerable powers to the different sanitary officers who are appointed to inspect it. See Food, Inspection of.

MEAT, AUSTRALIAN. See Meat preserving.

MEAT BISCUITS. Prep. 1. The flour is mixed up with a rich fluid extract of meat, and the dough is cut into pieces and baked in the usual manner.

2. Wheaten flour (or preferably the whole meal), 3 parts; fresh lean beef or other flesh (minced and pulped), 2 parts; thoroughly incorporate the two by hand-kneading or machinery, and bake the pieces in a moderately heated oven. Both the above are very nutritious; the last more especially so. 1 oz. makes a pint of good soup.

MEAT, COLD, to Stew. Let the cold meat be cut into slices about half an inch thick. Take two large-sized onions, and fry them in a wineglass of vinegar; when done, pour them on to the meat; then place the whole in a stewpan, and pour over sufficient water to cover it. After stewing about half an hour add sufficient flour and butter to thicken the gravy, and also pepper, salt, and ketchup, to flavour; then let it simmer gently for another half an hour. Serve up with a little boiled rice around it.

MEAT EXTRACTS. Some preparations ofEssence and Extract; the following are additional and highly valuable formulæ:—

Prep. 1. (Dr Breslau.) Young ox-flesh (free from fat) is minced small, and well beaten in a marble mortar, at first alone, and afterwards with a little cold or lukewarm water; the whole is then submitted to the action of a press, and the solid residuum is treated in the same manner, with a little more cold water; the juice (reddish in colour) is now heated to coagulate the albumen, strained, and finally evaporated in a water bath to the consistence of an extract. As ordinary flesh contains only 1% of kreatine, while that of the heart, according to Dr Gregory, contains from 1·37% to 1·41%, this is the part employed by Dr Breslau. The product possesses an agreeable odour and taste; and is easily soluble in water.

2. (Falkland.) Fresh lean beef (or other flesh), recently killed, is minced very fine, and digested, with agitation, in cold water, 1 pint, to which hydrochloric acid, 6 drops, and common salt, 1 dr., have been added; after about an hour the whole is thrown upon a fine hair sieve, and the liquid portion allowed to drain off without pressure, the first portions that pass through being returned until the fluid, at first turbid, becomes quite clear and transparent; when all the liquid has passed through, cold water, ¹⁄₄ pint, is gently poured on, in small portions at a time, and allowed to drain through into that previously collected. The product is about ³⁄₄ pint of cold extract of flesh, having a red colour, and a pleasant, soup-like taste. It is administered cold to the invalid—a teacupful at a time, and must on no account be warmed, as the application of even a very slight heat causes its decomposition and the separation of a solid mass of coagulated albumen. This cold extract of flesh is not only much more nutritious than ordinary beef tea, but also contains a certain quantity of the red colouring matter of blood, in which there is a much larger proportion of the iron requisite for the formation of blood-particles. The hydrochloric acid also greatly facilitates the process of digestion. This formula is a modification of the one recently recommended by Liebig for the preparation of a highly nutritive and restorative food for invalids.

3. (Extractum Sanguinis Bovis—Dr Mauthner.) Pass fresh blood (caught from the slaughtered animal) through a sieve, evaporate it to dryness in a water bath, and when cold rub it to powder.—Dose, 10 to 20 gr., or more, per diem, in a little water.

Obs. The above preparations are intended to supersede the inefficient compounds—beef tea, meat soups, &c.—during sickness and convalescence. MM. Breslau and Mauthner describe their extracts of flesh and blood as being peculiarly advantageous in scrofulous exhaustion, exhaustion from anæmia, diarrhœa, &c. The extract of Falkland or Liebig is represented as having been employed both in the hospitals and in private practice at Munich with the most extraordinary success. It is said to be capable of assimilation with the least possible expenditure of the vital force.

Meat, Fluid. This preparation consists of lean meat, in which the albumen has been changed so as to be non-coagulable by heat, and the fibrin and gelatin from their normal insoluble condition to one admitting of their being dissolved in water.

In this soluble condition, the first stage effected in stomach digestion, the several bodies are known as peptones or albuminose, and the proportion of their simple constituents remains the same as in ordinary fibrin, albumen, and gelatin.

The alteration is effected by finely mincing meat and digesting it with peptone, hydrochloric acid, and water, at a temperature of about 100° Fahr., until dissolved.

The solution is then filtered, the bitter principle, formed during the digestion, removed by the addition of a little pancreatic emulsion, and the liquor, which has been neutralised by the addition of carbonate of soda, evaporated to a thick syrup or extractive consistence.

Fluid meat is the only preparation which entirely represents, and yields the amount of nourishment afforded by, lean meat; it differs altogether from beef tea and extracts of meat, as all these contain only a small portion of the different constituents of meat. A patent has been granted to its inventor, Mr Darby.

Meat, Liebig’s Extract of. Syn. Extract of Flesh, Extractum carno. This preparation is an aqueous infusion evaporated to the consistence of a thick paste, of those principles of meat which are soluble in water.[32]

It is chiefly composed of alkaline phosphates and chlorides, a nitrogenous crystalline base known as kreatine, various extractive matters, which it has been surmised may have originated in the decomposition of certain nitrogenous bodies, and possibly of a small quantity of lactic acid, as it contains neither albumen nor fibrin, two of the most important and nutritious ingredients of flesh; it must not, therefore, be regarded as a concentrated form of meat. Liebig says that it requires 34 lbs. of meat to yield 1 lb. of this extract—a statement which, as Dr Pavy justly remarks, shows how completely the substance of the meat which constitutes its real nutritive portion must be excluded. This absence of direct nutrient power, now admitted by physiologists, whilst disqualifying the extract as a substitute for meat, does not, however, preclude its use in certain cases of indisposition requiring the administration of a stimulant or restorative, in which circumstances it has been found a useful and valuable remedy, and has been suggested as a partial substitute for brandy

In the vast pastures of Australia and the pampas of South America are countless herds of oxen and sheep, whose numbers far exceed the food requirements of the comparatively sparse population of those districts. The fat, horns, hoofs, bones, skins, and wool of these cattle, which form the chief part of the wealth of those countries, are exported principally to Europe. Until within a few years, however, no means had been adopted for the utilisation of the superfluous flesh of the animals, beyond employing it as a manure. By manufacturing it, however, into “extract of meat,” this waste has been remedied, and immense works for its preparation are now erected both in South America and in Australia. The process followed by the different makers, although varying in some particulars, is essentially the same, and consists in extracting by water, either hot, cold, or in the form of the steam, those portions of the meat which are soluble in that fluid, and subsequently evaporating the solution so obtained until it becomes of a proper consistence to be put into jars. The extract so obtained keeps well (if all the fat and gelatin are removed), and is most conveniently adapted for exportation. It is said that the extract as being obtained from cattle that have had English progenitors possesses a flavour superior to that which comes from South America, where the animals are of a different and inferior breed.

The following interesting description of the manufacture of “Liebig’s Extract of Meat” is taken from the Buenos Ayres ‘Standard’ of September, 1867. The establishment, of which it is a description, is at Fray Bentos, on the Uruguay, South America. “The new factory is a building which covers about 20,000 square feet, and is roofed in iron and glass. We first enter a large flagged hall, kept dark, cool, and extremely clean, where the meat is weighed, and passed through apertures to the meat-cutting machines. We next come to the beef-cutting hall, where are four powerful meat-cutters, especially designed by the company’s general manager, M. Geibert; each machine can cut the meat of 200 bullocks per hour. The meat being cut is passed to ‘digerators’ made of wrought iron; each one holds about 12,000 lbs. of beef; there are nine of these digerators, and three more have to be put up. Here the meat is digerated by high-pressure steam of 75 lbs. per square inch; from this the liquid which contains the extract and the fat of the meat proceeds in tubes to a range of ‘fat separators’ of peculiar construction. Here the fat is separated in the hot state from the extract, as no time can be lost for cool operation, otherwise decomposition would set in in a very short time.

“We proceed downstairs to an immense hall, sixty feet high, where the fat separators are working; below them is a range of five cast-iron clarifiers, 1000 gallons each, worked by high-pressure steam through Hallet’s tube system.

“Each clarifier is provided with a very ingenious steam-tap. In the monstrous clarifiers the albumen, fibrin, and phosphates are separated. From hence the liquid extract is raised by means of air-pumps, driven by two thirty horse-power engines, up to two vessels about twenty feet above the clarifiers; thence the liquid runs to the other large evaporators. Now we ascend the staircase reaching the hall, where two immense sets of four vacuum apparatus are at work, evaporating the extract by a very low temperature; here the liquid passes several filtering processes before being evaporated in vacuo. We now ascend some steps and enter the ready-making hall, separated by a wire gauze wall, and all the windows, doors, &c., guarded by the same to exclude flies and dust. The ventilation is maintained by patent fans, and the place is extremely clean. Here are placed five ready-making pans constructed of steel plates, with a system of steel discs revolving in the liquid extract.

“These five pans, by medium of discs, 100 in each pan, effect in one minute more than two million square feet evaporating surface.

“Here concludes the manufacturing process. The extract is now withdrawn in large cans and deposited for the following day.

“Ascending a few steps we enter the decrystallising and packing hall, where two large cast-iron tanks are placed, provided with hot water baths under their bottoms; in these tanks the extract is thrown in quantities of 10,000 lbs. at once, and here decrystallising is made a homogeneous mass and of uniform quality. Now samples are taken and analysed by the chemist of the establishment, Dr Seekamp, under whose charge the chemical and technical operations are performed.

“It may be mentioned that the company’s butcher killed at the rate of 80 oxen per hour; separating by a small double-edged knife the vertebræ, the animal drops down instantaneously on a waggon, and is conducted to a place where 150 men are occupied dressing the meat for the factory, cutting each ox into six pieces; 400 are being worked per day.”

Mr Tooth at a meeting before the “Food Committee” held at the Society of Arts in January, 1868, said that he did not claim any difference in the composition of his article (which was made in Australia) as compared with that made by the South American Company.

In the annexed table the composition of some of the extracts of meat of commerce is given:

Liebig’s Company. Tooth, Sydney. French Company, South America. Whitehead. Twentyman.

Water 18·56 16·00 17·06 16·50 24·49 20·81

Extractive, soluble in alcohol 45·43 53·00 51·28 28·00 22·08 13·37

Extractive, insoluble 13·93 13·00 10·57 46·00 44·47 59·10

Mineral matter 22·08 18·00 21·09 9·50 8·96 6·72

100·00 100·00 100·00 100·00 100·00 100·00

The following are the characteristics of extract of meat of good quality. It should always have an acid reaction, its colour should be a pale yellowish brown, and it should have an agreeable meat-like odour and taste. It should be entirely soluble in cold water, and should be free from albumen, fat, and gelatin.

Meat Pie. Stew 2 lbs. of beef steak with one small onion, the gravy from which is to be thickened with flour, and flavoured with pepper and salt. Put it into a baking dish, and cover with a lard crust. It should be baked for one hour. The addition of two kidneys will greatly improve the pie.

Meat (Australian) Pie. Take 2 lbs. of Australian meat, or 1¹⁄₂ lb. of meat and ¹⁄₂ lb. of kidney. Season to taste, pour in a little water, cover with a lard crust, and bake not more than half an hour.

MEAT PRESERVING. “The Belgian Musée de l’Industrie notes the following methods of preserving meats as the most deserving of attention amongst those communicated to the French Academy of Sciences, and published in the Comptes Rendus. 1. M. Bundet’s method, by which the meat is kept in water acidulated with carbolic acid in the proportion of 1 to 5 parts of acid per 1000 of water. A series of experiments proved that all kinds of meat could thus be kept fresh for lengthened periods, without acquiring an ill taste or odour.

“The meat may be placed in barrels or air-tight tin cases, filled with acidulated water of the strength above specified, and headed up; or the pieces may be packed in barrels or cases in alternate layers with charcoal, pounded small, and saturated with water containing ⁵⁄₁₀₀₀ of carbolic acid. The charcoal serves as a vehicle for the antiseptic fluid, and as an absorbent of any gaseous matters given off by the meat. The latter should be wrapped in thin linen covers to prevent the charcoal working its way into the tissues.

“This method, it is suggested, might be employed in curing pork in place of ‘salting,’ or of the more lengthy and costly process of ‘smoking,’ and also for the preservation of poultry, game, butter, eggs, &c.

“2. In the case of South American meat M. Baudet proposes the use of large sacks of caoutchouc. The meat should be packed in them, with alternate layers of charcoal as above described, and each sack, when filled, should be hermetically closed by drawing another empty caoutchouc sack, cap-wise, over it. The caoutchouc, it is supposed, would fetch enough in the market—its low price notwithstanding—to cover expenses of packing and freight, and so permit the meat to be sold in Europe at a very small advance on cost price. If intended for use a second time, the empty bags should be steeped in boiling water for a few minutes, to remove any organic impurities adhering to them.

“3. M. Gorge’s method, which is in use in La Plata, consists in washing and drying the meat, and afterwards steeping in successive waters containing hydrochloric acid and sulphite of soda, and then packing it in air-tight cases holding 1, 5, or 10 kilog. each. Meat thus treated requires to be soaked in warm water for about half an hour before use.

“4. M. Leon Soubeiran has recommended braying and drying, in the fashion adopted by the Chinese and Mongols, as described by M. Simon, French consul in China, in a communication made by him to the Société d’Acclimatation. The pemmican of our Arctic voyagers and the charqui of South America are familiar examples of meat preserved by analogous processes. The late M. Payen, a distinguished member of the Academy, insisted upon the great perfection to which this system might be carried by the aid of hot-air stoves and suitable apparatus.”

Besides the foregoing, numerous patents have from time to time been taken out, and processes proposed for the preservation of meat; so as to enable it to be sent from those distant countries, such as South America, Australia, Canada, &c., where it is greatly in excess of the wants of the population, to other lands, in which the supply is as much below the demand, and the meat at such a price as to preclude its being regularly used as an article of food by the body of the people.

As the putrefactive changes set up in dead flesh are dependent upon the combined influences of moisture, air, and a certain temperature, it follows that most of the various methods of meat preservation resolve themselves into so many different efforts to remove the meat from the operation of one of the conditions above specified as necessary for its decomposition.

The charqui or jerked beef of South America affords an example of meat preserved byCharqui, although it retains its soundness for a great length of time, and is rendered eatable by soaking in water and prolonged cooking, is difficult of digestion and wanting in flavour, and if any fat be associated with it, this is liable to become rancid.

Pemmican is meat which, after being dried and powdered, is mixed with sugar and certain spices, both of which assist to preserve the meat as well as to improve its flavour, and to remove the tendency to rancidity caused by any fat that may be accidentally present.

Another process for the preservation of meat by means of desiccation is that of MM. Blumenthal and Chollet, who, in 1854, obtained a patent for preparing tablets composed of dried meat and vegetables, which, after being several times dipped into rich soup, were dried in warm air after each immersion.

At a meeting of the Food Committee, held at the Society of Arts, in May, 1868, specimens of dried beef and mutton in powder, from Brisbane, were shown by Mr Orr, who said they had been dried on tinned plates by means of steam. Dr A. S. Taylor, F.R.S., who examined the sample, found it perfectly fresh and good. It had been prepared at least six months previously.

At a subsequent meeting, the Committee reported that the soup prepared from this desiccated meat, with the addition of a small quantity of vegetables, was considered very successful, and the Committee were of opinion that meat so preserved was likely to prove a valuable and cheap addition to the food resources of the people.

The specimen from which the soup was made had been in the Society’s possession, and formed part of the contents of a tin opened upwards of two years ago. The preservation was perfect.

We have only space briefly to describe some of the more prominent of the processes which have been devised for the preservation of meat by excluding atmospheric air.

Mr Tallerman, a large importer of Australian meat, stated in evidence before the Food Committee of the Society of Arts, in May, 1870, that in the preservation of the meat he sent over to this country he had recourse to a very old practice, which was that of packing the joints in fat, the meat being previously salted or cured. Instead of the meat being packed in brine, the casks with the meat are filled up with melted fat.

In Mr Warrington’s patent, which dates from 1846, it is proposed that animal substances shall be preserved by enveloping them in a layer of glue, gelatin, or concentrated meat gravy, or otherwise by dipping them in warm solutions of such substances, or by wrapping them in waterproof cloth, or by covering them with caoutchouc, gutta percha, or varnish, or thin cream of plaster of Paris, which when set was saturated with melted suet, wax, or stearin.

The patent of Prof. Redwood, which resembles Mr Warrington’s in seeking to exclude atmospheric air by surrounding the meat with an impervious substance, claimed the use of paraffin for this purpose, the paraffin being afterwards coated with a mixture of gelatin and treacle, or gelatin and glycerin. The paraffin is easily removed from the meat by plunging this latter into boiling water, which dissolves the outer coating of gelatin mixture, and at the same time melts the paraffin and liberates the enclosed joint.

Messrs Jones and Trevethick’s patent consisted in exhausting of air the vessel containing the meat, then forcing into it a mixture of nitrogen and sulphurous acids, and subsequently soldering the apertures. Dr Letheby says meat, fish, and poultry preserved in this manner have been found good after seven or eight years; and specimens of them were exhibited in the London Exhibition of 1862.

The removal, however, of atmospheric air from the vessels containing the meat it is designed to preserve is now principally accomplished by means of steam. The germ of this idea originated with M. Pierre Antonie Angilbert more than half a century ago, but the modification of Angilbert’s process, which in principle is that generally adopted by the importers of Australian and South American cooked meat, as well as by the English preparers of the article, originated with Messrs Goldner and Wertheimer, nearly forty years since, and, briefly, is as follows:—The freshly killed meat is placed in tins, with a certain quantity of cold water. The tins and their contents are then securely soldered down, with the exception of a small opening not larger than a pin-hole, which is left in the lid. The tins are next placed in a bath of chloride of calcium, the effect of which is to heat the water in them up to the boiling point, and after a certain time to more or less cook the meat contained in them. When the meat is thought to be sufficiently cooked, and whilst the steam arising from the boiling water is escaping from the aperture, this last is carefully soldered down, the steam not only having driven out all the atmospheric air from the vessel, but in the act of escaping having prevented the ingress of any from without. To still further guard against the entrance of air, the tins are covered over with a thick coating of paint.

Previously to their being allowed to leave the preserving works they are tested by being placed for some time in an apartment in which the temperature is sufficiently high to set up putrefactive action in the meat if any air has been left in the tins, the evidence of which would be the bulging out of the tins, owing to the liberation of certain gaseous products of decomposition. When no distension from inside

Mr Richard Jones effects the removal of the air from the vessels containing the meat as follows:—The meat is put into the tins and entirely soldered up, with the exception of a small tube about the size of a quill, which is soldered on the top of the tin. This tube is placed in connection with a vacuum chamber, and the air exhausted from the tin by means of it. In cooking the meat he also employs a chloride of calcium bath.

Dr Letheby, in one of his Canton Lectures on Food, delivered in 1865, speaking on this part of the subject, and on the above method of meat preservation, says:—“To-night, through the kindness of Messrs Crosse and Blackwell, I am able to show you a specimen of preserved mutton which has been in the case forty-four years, and you will perceive that it is in excellent condition. It formed part of the stores supplied by Messrs Donkin and Gamble, in 1824, to His Majesty’s Exploring ship Fury, which was wrecked in Prince Regent’s Inlet in 1825, when the cases were landed with the other stores, and left upon the beach.

“Eight years afterwards, in August, 1833, they were found by Sir John Ross in the same condition as they were left; and he wrote to Mr Gamble at the end of that year, saying, ‘that the provisions were still in a perfect state of preservation, although annually exposed to a temperature of 92° below and 80° above zero.’ Some of the cases were left untouched by Sir John Ross; and after a further interval of sixteen years the place was visited by a party from Her Majesty’s ship Investigator, when, according to a letter from the captain, Sir James Ross, ‘the provisions were in excellent condition, after having lain upon the beach, exposed to the action of the sun, and all kinds of weather, for a period of nearly a quarter of a century.’ Messrs Crosse and Blackwell have placed the original letters in my hands for perusal, and they show beyond all doubt that meat preserved in this manner will keep good for nearly half a century—in fact, the case of boiled mutton now before you has been preserved for forty—four years.”