76 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERr. 



teadenc}' to expel ox^'gen, animals were made to inhale the gas, 

 and the result showed that decomposition tooic place onh' when the 

 carbonic oxide disappeared. To effect the complete removal of 

 the oxygen, the use of sulf)hurous acid gas, well known as an 

 expedient for curing hams for exportation, was resorted to ; by 

 itself, the acid could not prove successful, as it would remain in 

 contact with the oxygen for an indefinite length of time without ma- 

 terial change in either. The carcass was therefore placed beneath 

 the air-pump, the sulphurous-acid gas introduced, and charcoal, 

 platinized by the use of chloride of platinum, passed up through a 

 column of mercury. The sulphurous acid gas was thus oxydized 

 and the atmosphere entirely destroyed. Simple carbon was sul)- 

 sequently found equally efficient, and the plan was finally simpli- 

 fied by the introduction of a small quantity of carbon in which 

 sulphurous acid was condensed. In this way the measurement of 

 definite quantities became an easy matter. 



The process now consists in causing the animal to inhale car- 

 bonic-oxide gas until it loses consciousness, when" it is killed and 

 bled; the carcass is quickly dressed, and while still warm placed 

 for a short time beneath an air-j^ump. The small quantity of air 

 which this process fails to exhaust is destroyed by the introduc- 

 tion of sulj)hurous acid gas in charcoal. The meat will then ^eup 

 for months, and perhajDS years, in any temperature, without putre- 

 faction, even though it be filled with the maggots of flies. It is 

 not believed that the sulphurous acid, which is neutralized by the 

 alkalies of the meat, could have any injurious effect on the tissues. 



The tests of this method thus far applied have been attendeil 

 with success. Beef killed in London, in March last, was sent to 

 New York in June, and as late as the middle of July was shown 

 to a prominent butcher in Fulton Market, who did not discover 

 that it was other than ordinar}' beef, and expressed the opinion 

 that it had probably been killed about 2 days. One piece of beef, 

 kept for 10 days in a can surrounded by water at a temperature 

 of 90° to 100°, came out perfectly fresh. The process, in the opin- 

 ion of eminent chemists, does not injure the meat in the least, 

 which is an advantage very difficult of attainment, even in the 

 case of transportation of live stock, which is liable to the bad ef- 

 fects of confinement and the length of the journey. Among the 

 beneficial results of the adoption of this scheme would be a better 

 supply in our markets of wholesome meat, and at a desirably 

 cheaper rate. 



In the "Scientific American" is mentioned another preserva- 

 tive for animal substances, not very different from the eau hemo- 

 statique, or blood-staying water, presented to the French Academy. 

 It is composed of alum, benzine, and water, and is said to cover 

 the substance to be preserved with a sort of filtering cuticle, ex- 

 cluding the decomposing animalcules, according to Pasteur, while 

 admitting pure air and allowing free evaporation. That air has 

 in itself no tendency to promote decay accords with common ex- 

 perience, though not with the common impression. Tlie butcher 

 keeps his meat in a current of dry, pure air, and a carcass hung 

 up iu the elevated atmosphere of some of our Rocky Mountain 



