K. DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 457 



virtue in the application, and to indicate that, during the 

 warm weather of midsummer, where other preservatives have 

 been unsuccessful, this answered the purpose perfectly. 9 C, 

 September, 1871,67. 



NEW MODE OF PRESERVING MEAT. 



A new plan for meat-preserving, according to the Quarter- 

 ly Journal of Science, has been introduced by an engineer 

 whose experience in sugar refineries and other extensive 

 works, in hot climates, has given him a practical and eco- 

 nomical solution of one of the most important problems of 

 the day. This gentleman, Mr. T. F. Henley, does away with 

 steeping meat in water, and otherwise treating it in the most 

 costly way. He simply squeezes a definite amount of juice 

 out of the fibre, and by mechanical desiccation preserves the 

 latter intact. The pressed meat thus obtained contains ten 

 per cent, of alcoholic extract and salt, and over fifty per cent, 

 pf fibrine and other albuminoid constituents. It is exceeding- 

 ly rich, and so is the meat-juice, which Mr. Henle^ evaporates 

 in vacuum pans. The juice contains about fifteen per cent, 

 of alcoholic extract, and over fifty per cent, of albumen. The 

 ancient method of abstracting water only from the animal 

 matter is relied on as a preservative, and the low temperature 

 at which the evaporation is carried on prevents any loss of 

 flavor or other deterioration. It is perhaps strange that so 

 cheap and simple a process should not have been suggested 

 before. Mr. Henley has experimented upon it for some time, 

 and so perfected it as to insure its immediate adoption. The 

 first works, on an extensive scale, are to be opened on the 

 River Plate, on the Estancia Nueva Alemania, where cattle 

 have been reared and fattened for the European markets. 

 Not the least merit of the new process is the great diminu- 

 tion in bulk of the preparation. 10 A, October, 1871,548. 



DISINFECTING WASHING POWDER. 



A new disinfectant, to be used in washing, has been de- 

 scribed. For its preparation, 100 parts of white clay, 1000 

 parts of distilled water, and 35 parts of ordinary nitric acid 

 are to be mixed together. The mass thus obtained is allowed 

 to stand for a few days, being stirred frequently. The super- 

 natant fluid is then poured off, and the clayey mass thor- 



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