TJie Country Gentleman s Magazine 



255 



DR SMITH ON CONDENSED MILK AND PRESERVED MEAT. 



THE following is the first of a paper 

 read by Dr Edward Smith, F.R.S., 

 before the British Association, on " The 

 Economic and Nutritive value of the three 

 preserved foods — preserved milk, preserved 

 meat, and Liebig's extract of meat." The 

 large proportions to which the consumption 

 of these preserved foods had attained ren- 

 dered it most desirable that the pubHc should 

 understand their value, both in the pecuniary 

 and nutritive aspects of the question. There 

 were several difficulties in the way of this, for 

 time had not permitted the unscientific to 

 judge of these products by experience, while 

 the composition was not a fixed and known 

 quantity, but variable, and could be deter- 

 mined only by chemical analysis. Hence it 

 could not be surprising that there was much 

 ignorance and even misconception on the 

 subject, and in offering his own knowledge, 

 he should do so, he said, in a summary 

 rather than in a detailed manner. Speaking 

 on preserved milk, which was made in 

 England, Switzerland, and America, he first 

 described the manufacture of that made in 

 America and sold in England, and then 

 pointed out that one pint of the product 

 represented four pints of milk. Four pints 

 of milk would cost, according to locality, 

 from 4d. to 8d., but the "pint tin" of pre- 

 served milk held only 1 6 ounces, and not a 

 pint, which was equal to 20 ounces, and, 

 making allowance for the sugar which was 

 added to the preserved milk, the weight of 

 the preserved milk was about 14 ounces, or 

 two-thirds of a pint, and represented a value 

 of 2^d. or 6^d. according]to locality ; but 

 the price of the tin of preserved milk was lod. 

 or IS., and, therefore, was not an economical, 

 but a dear food. It was, however, he said, 

 a useful invention, in so far as it added to 

 the food of man which in many localities 

 would otherwise be given to the pigs, and 

 there was every reason to believe that it was 

 was most profitable to the manufacturer. 



Another point he drew attention to was that 

 as sugar was cheaper than preserved milk, 

 and had different and inferior properties, 

 according to the quantity used would the 

 milk-value of the compound be reduced, 

 and the temptation to the manufacturer 

 was to use the maximum quantity. The 

 Aylesbury milk contained 2 ounces in the 

 pound, or 121^ per cent., and it was said 

 that there were other kinds which contained 3 

 ounces, or nearly 20 per cent, of sugar. It was 

 possible to prepare the "condensed milk," not 

 only with wholly new milk, but with skimmed, 

 and wath a mixture of the two — skimmed and 

 new. The latter was said to produce the 

 " smoothest " and best preserved milk, and 

 there could be no doubt that a considerable 

 proportion of the cream was first taken from 

 the milk to be pressed in order to make 

 butter. Therefore the product, though of 

 value, was not new milk, and as in the im- 

 portant use of milk the feeding of infants and 

 young children, the fat was as necessary to 

 nutrition as the caseine and other elements, 

 new unskimmed milk, and not " preserved " 

 milk, was required. It was a significant fact, 

 he added, that the milk-condensing companies 

 were also butter makers on a large scale, 

 and competition doubtless would show itself 

 in these directions — increased proportion 

 of water and sugar, and lessened proportion 

 of cream and butter. He closed his remarks 

 on this portion of the subject by pointing 

 out that in preserved milk we have a pro- 

 duct of uncertain composition and nutritious 

 value. 



The " preserved meat " brought under con- 

 sideration was that now so widely known as 

 the " Austrahan." He described the process 

 of preservation, and stated that 6 lb. of raw 

 meat, with a proportion of fat, were placed 

 in a tin, which was put into a bath of chloride 

 of calcium, and exposed to a temperature 

 higher than that of boiling water, namely, 

 from 230 deg. to 250 deg. The tin was sol- 



