No. 112.] 265 • 



so much as the Irish meat; that is the result of the meat now 

 under delivery, we find that it actually does, not boil away a 

 third, which is the amount which we allow for the receipt of 

 meat. This is the case with pork as well as beef It is to be as- 

 cribed to its being thinner meat, and to its being better fed. The 

 observation we have made is this, that the best looking American 

 meat, that is to say, the finest grown and the fattest meat, loses 

 most in boiling. It is impossible to see finer looking meat,- than 

 that meat as it comes out of the casks, but it will not stand the 

 test of boiling; I suppose on account of the large quantity of fat 

 that is attached to it. We have reason to believe that a good deal 

 of this meat, under certain brands, is fed upon acorns, which 

 gives it that fat appearance, but it has not the solidity which our 

 meat has." 



Capt. A. Milne, R. N., one of the Lords of the Admiralty, tes- 

 tified tliat 'Hhe average boiling away of meat in the first year is 

 generally about thirty-three per cent., and it goes on increasing 

 the second year to above forty per cent., and in the third year it 

 is generally more than one-half. Has been in the Navy thirty- 

 three years. No more complaint of pork diminishing in boiling, 

 since there has been free trade in provisions, than formerly. The 

 pork is considered remarkably fine, and is looked upon as superior 

 to what we had before. We have had American, and Dantzic, 

 and Ilanibro' and Erittany pork." ''There have been no com- 

 plaints of the pork or beef of any of those countries." 



James Selfe, Esq., testified that he was ship's husband for Mr. 

 Green, and that he had the entire charge of victualling twenty- 

 seven ships, and had been thus engaged for thirteen years. To 

 the question, whether tliere were many conq)laints of the bulling 

 away of salt meats, his answer was "yes, we find that the cooks 

 boil the meat too much ; we give them the slusli as a perquisite ; 

 there is a great deal in the way <>f boiling meat ; we insist upon 

 the cooks putting the meat into. cold water, but if you don't 

 watch them very narrowly, they will put it into hot water, which 

 destroys th.* meat; if you put the meat into cold water, it gets 

 heated gradually, and the internal part becomes boiled to the 

 same degree as the external i);irt ; but if you i)ut it into hot 



