^^6 SCIENCE IN AFRICA 



branch to deal with cold storage and other questions relating to 

 the preservation of meat is being developed. A building is 

 being erected (1936) at the probable cost of about ^^32,000, and 

 will consist of three sections: (i) an abattoir, containing on a small 

 scale all the modern equipment for handling and slaughtering 

 cattle, sheep, and pigs. This will be used to study methods of 

 killing and handling the carcases so as to determine the best con- 

 ditions for the preservation of meat; (2) a cold storage section, 

 which will include chambers equipped both for chilling and freez- 

 ing, and in which temperature, humidity and aeration will be 

 controlled. These will be used to study the optimum conditions 

 under which meat, eggs, and dairy products should be kept, and 

 provision will exist for studying gas preservation if necessary. A 

 special section of the cold storage plant will be used for the storage 

 of vaccines, sera and specimens, and very low temperatures will 

 be available for the preservation of viruses, etc.; (3) a meat re- 

 search section, including laboratories for physical, chemical, his- 

 tological, pathological, and bacteriological examination of meat. 

 In Southern Rhodesia the centre of the meat industry is at Bula- 

 wayo, where the Imperial Cold Storage Company has its head- 

 quarters. Administration and research are centred at the depart- 

 ment of agriculture, Salisbury. Each of these organizations in 

 South Africa and Rhodesia maintains contact with the Low 

 Temperature Research Station at Cambridge, which is the prin- 

 cipal centre for research on the preservation of meat in England. 

 The necessity for opening markets for native-grown beef in 

 many parts of Africa, in connection with the overgrazing problem, 

 has led several authorities to stress the desirability of meat fac- 

 tories (Smith 1937). In Tanganyika one such factory was started 

 at Mwanza {see Chapter XIII), but after a few years it had to be 

 closed down. In 1937, Messrs. Liebig started a meat factory at 

 Athi River in Kenya {see page 422). The extension of such activi- 

 ties will naturally raise fresh problems for research in the best 

 methods of making and canning meat extracts in tropical coun- 

 tries. 



