Dr. StenhouSE's Mode of preserving Meat by means of Creosote. 146 



it must be remarked that the blood from the sound arm was onlj 

 obtained in small quantity, and had trickled down the arm. 



Mr. William Gale explained and illustrated with models, an 

 improved moveable jib crane, designed from the greater security of 

 its construction to prevent those serious accidents which so frequently 

 occur in buildings when the common crane is used. 



I2th April, — The President in the Chair. 



Mr. Grijfin reported the recommendation of the Council that the 

 proceedings of the Society should, for the future, be sold at 3d. per 

 sheet, instead of 6d., as formerly, which was agreed ta 



The following papers were read: — 



XXXV. — New Mode of employing Creasote for the Preservation of 

 Butchers' -Meat and Fish. By John Stenhouse, Ph.D. 



Creasote, so named from its great antiseptic power, which 

 exceeds, perhaps, that of any other substance, has been long employed 

 to preserve animal matters from decay. The only two ways in which 

 creasote is usually applied for this purpose, consist either in exposing 

 the meat which we wish to preserve to the smoke of burning wood, of 

 which creasote is the effective constituent, or else in immersing it for 

 a short time in water containing a few drops of creasote. Articles of 

 food prepared by either of these methods may, as is well known, be 

 kept for a long time without spoiling ; but both these modes of using 

 the creasote are attended with the inconvenience that the food neces- 

 sarily acquires the taste and smell peculiar to smoked meat, which is 

 by no means agreeable to every one. By the method now proposed, 

 this inconvenience is entirely avoided. 



During the past summer, which was so unusually hot, in common 

 with most persons, I experienced considerable difl&culty in preserving 

 fresh meat even for a few days. It struck me at length, however, 

 that perhaps the vapours of creasote might be found useful for this 

 purpose, and the method adopted was the following very simple one. 

 I placed a small plate containing a little creasote immediately under 

 each piece of meat as it hung suspended in the larder, and covered 

 both over with a cloth. The creasote soon gave off vapours which 

 formed an antiseptic atmosphere around the meat, and kept it quite 

 fresh three or four days longer than it would otherwise have been. 



If the plate is gently heated before the creasote is put into it, the 

 vapours rise more quickly, and if the additonal precaution is also 

 taken of suspending the meat in a wooden box or earthern jar which 

 can be closed with a lid, the beneficial effect is still more discernible. 



