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extractive salts, leaving it difficult of digestion. Smoking 
depends on the carbolic or cresylic acid contained in the 
smoke, by which the albumen and fibrin are coagulated, hence 
the meat is not readily digested. One of the best processes 
for preserving meat is enclosing it in air-tight cans, but this 
often fails on account of mechanical difficulties. He proposed 
to preserve meat by cutting it into slices and drying it in a hot 
air chamber, at a temperature below 140° F., which may be 
done within two hours. This dried meat is then ground in a 
mill. The fibrin and albumen are not coagulated and will 
take up water. The apparatus used in the preparation of 
the dried meat, and its applications for soup, solid dishes and 
for invalids, was also described. 
November 20th, 1871. 
Pror. B. N. Martin, Vice President in the chair. Ten 
persons present. 
Pror. T. EGuesron exhibited five crystals of Diamond and 
one of red Spinel, from South Africa, belonging to Mr. 8. L. M. 
Barlow. Two of the diamond crystals showed the cleavage 
parallel to the octahedron, two were curved hexoctahedra. 
The fifth was a cube one quarter of an inch square, weighing 
0:906 gms. The cube is a twin by interpenetration, and 
shows the faces of the rhombic dodecahedron on both 
crystals. The cube faces are all striated in the direction of 
the diagonals of the faces of the cube, and show consequently 
the tendency toward the octahedral form. The Spinel was 
perfectly transparent, of a beautiful ruby color. Its form 
was that of a hemitrope octahedron. 
Pror. D. S. MArtTIN exhibited specimens of a Clay contain- 
ing Recent Shells, from a deposit which had been the bed of 
a lagoon within quite a modern period, near the town of 
