exiv ANALYSIS OF FLUIDS, &c. 



proportion of citric acid ; the decomposition being principally in the vegetable matter, 

 seems to imply that citric acid alone is not a check to that dreadful malady the scurvy, 



7.— THE MUSTARD 

 Had, as might be expected, lost the greater part of its pungency. 



STATE OF PROVISIONS. 



The provisions of which the following account is given, had been lying exposed to the 

 climate for eight years, in the latitude of seventy-three degrees and forty-seven minutes 

 north, and longitude of ninety-one degrees and forty-seven minutes west, and very little 

 above high-water mark. 



The preserved meats, with few exceptions, were the manufacture of Messrs. Gamble and 

 Co., and being enclosed in tin cases, could not be discovered by animals who depend on 

 the sense of smelling : these were cylinders of various sizes, the ends of each becoming 

 concave or convex, according to the degrees of contraction or expansion caused by the 

 climate, secured them against bursting from its effects, and the contents were found to be 

 in nearly the original state : these consisted of beef, roasted and boiled, veal, mutton, 

 spiced meat of various kinds, turnips, parsnips, and carrots, all of which were found to be 

 in excellent preservation. The soups, which were preserved in quantities, from a quart to 

 a gallon, were excellent, and we left a considerable quantity behind, but no meat of 

 any kind. 



The flour, which was preserved in iron-bound casks, and had been likewise exposed for 

 eight years to the climate, was found to be in good condition ; for although in many cases 

 the hoops had slackened, so as to admit the moisture into the cask, it penetrated but 

 a short way, while the whole of the interior was perfectly sound. The bread, of which 

 there were many casks, was in a good or bad state, according to the soundness of the cask 

 which contained it, and we employed ourselves in separating the biid from the good, and 

 put all into repaired casks. A part of this, and also of the flour, is suflicient, with the 

 addition of the remaining soup, to sustain the life of twelve men for a year. Owing to the 

 pickles being also in cask, they had suffered much, the vinegar having leaked out of most 

 of them: fifty of these, and twenty-five of lemon juice, are also left, at a little distance 

 south of the house, and covered with coals, as the most effectual way of preserving both. 



