56 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



the last London International Exhibition, Messrs. Jones and Tre- 

 vethick displayed some meat, fowls, and game preserved by the 

 following process, which received the approbation of the jurors. 

 Meat is placed in a tin canister, which is then hermetically closed, 

 with the exception of two small apertures in the lid. It is then 

 plunged into a vessel containing water, and after the air has been 

 exhausted through one aperture by means of an air pump, sulphur- 

 ous acid gas is admitted through the second aperture and the alter- 

 nate action of exhausting the air and replenishing the sulphurous 

 acid gas is kept up until the whole of the air has been removed. The 

 sulphurous acid gas, in its turn, is exhausted, and nitrogen admitted. 

 The two apertures are then soldered up, and the operation is completed. 



IMPROVEMENTS IN BEEF PACKING. 



Some important improvements in beef and pork packing have re- 

 cently been introduced by Messrs. A. E. Kent & Co. of Chicago. 

 Hitherto the cutting of beef for market into mess, extra mess, prime 

 mess, India mess, etc., has been done by hand, by single man power, 

 but recently Messrs. Kent & Co. have introduced into their establish- 

 ment circular saws and steam power. Two large saws have been 

 erected which are driven by steam, and these saws are made to do the 

 work of upwards of 20 men with handsaws, and in a much neater and 

 better manner than formerly. The application of circular sav/s in cut- 

 ting beef has been experimented with repeatedly by others, but it has 

 never met with success until now. The great difficulty to be over- 

 come was the clogging of the saws with the meat, so that no power 

 could be applied that would make them work smoothly and regularly. 

 Thanks, however, to Yankee ingenuity, this has been overcome. Be- 

 sides the main table on which the saws are placed, a false table has 

 been erected, running on rollers, so constructed that when the saw 

 passes through the quarter of beef, the divisions of the table gradually 

 spread, and this keeps the meat from interfering with the progress of 

 the saw. The invention is very simple, but none the less valuable be- 

 cause of its simplicity. A whole quarter of beef is placed on this false 

 table, which is pushed against the saw, and, as the sawing proceeds, 

 the table gradually spreads, so that the only part of the saw which is 

 touched Avith the meat is the edge. 



To test the labor-saving qualities of this improvement, the product 

 of ten head of oxen was placed on the table, to be cut into mess beef; 

 the manager took his watch in his hand, and gave the order to start. 

 Away went the saws whirring, and quarter after quarter of the beef 

 disappeared after having been cut into small pieces ; and in exactly 

 six minutes from the time of starting, the whole ten head of oxen were 

 cut ! KOAV, this was all done with two saws and six men, who fed 

 them and took off the pieces as they were cut. At this rate, these 

 two saws and six men could cut up 1,000 head in ten hours. This 

 shows the capacity of the improvement when fully tested. But with 

 ordinary running, the two saws and six men can more easily cut 500 

 beeves per day, than could 15 men 200 per day by the old handsaw 

 process. 



Here then is a saving of more than one-half the labor, and about 

 two-thirds of the time usually employed, and also a great improve- 



