ON ARTIFICIAL REFRIGERATION. 955 



0'^ G. putrefaction-germs are inert and at 212^ tliey are boiled. He goes 

 on to say that Mycodermia cer'visicc is inert at 0°, vegetates at 7°, 8°, and 

 10° C, and above this temperature uiultii)lies with enormous activity, 

 but then other i^arasitic ferments appear. Mycodermia aceti requires a 

 temperature from 20° to 25° 0. The hictic ferment is produced from 25° 

 to 30° C. In beer-yeast, Mycodermia cervisicc or vini vegetates at 7° or 8°, 

 whereas temperatures of 15° or 18° are required in raisin-yeast. Kotifera 

 remain inert for an indefinite period if dried ; in water, they move, 

 live, and have an active existence. Yeast dried and jiressed is inert ; 

 moistened, it forthwith manifests activity. Augustus Smith found that 

 below 10° C. blood does not readily decompose ; above this tempera- 

 ture, changes occur which are very rapid at 22° 0. At 16° C, the x)utre- 

 faction of half a litre of blood will yield 100 cubic centimetres of carbonic 

 acid in 24 hours. At 22° C, the same quantity, in the same time, will 

 yield 400 cubic centimetres, viz, four times more by a rise of only G° C. 



M. Poggiale, the distinguished inspector- general of military x)harmacy 

 in Paris, presented a report on the 31st of March, 1874, to the Academy 

 of Medicine of Paris, and which report was made to the " Couseil de 

 Salubrite de la Seine."* Poggiale remarked that since 1850 he had had 

 frequent occasion to study for the war department the various i^rocesses 

 of meat-preservation, such as salting, drying, the use of sulphurous acid, 

 carbolic acid, and creosote ; coatings of gelatine, sugar, or giyceruie ; 

 vacuum, artificial atmospheres, hydrochloric acid and sodium bisulphite, 

 meat-extract, cooking in closed vessels, &c. Kone but the method Ap- 

 X)ert (the now common method of cooking in hermetically-sealed tinned 

 cans) solved the x)roblem. He then goes on to say that M. Tellier be- 

 lieves he has discovered the right process. To obtain this result it suf- 

 fices to maintain at 0° C. or at — 1° C. the temperature of the chamber 

 in which the meat is i)laced. To be precise, I shall quote literally : " Pour 

 produire le froid il n'emploie pas la glace, qui donne de l'humidit6 et qui 

 n'abbaisse pas suf&samment ni regulierement la temperature de la viande. 

 II prefere un courant d'air froid ou plutot des courants liquides a — 8°, 

 ou — 10°, qui, congelaat I'humidite de I'atmosphere, la dessechent et en 

 abaissent la temperature. L'operation consiste done a etablir des mag- 

 asins frigorifiques dont la temperature sort tie 0° a — 1°." 



He goes on to describe TeUier's methylic ether process of producing 

 artificial cold, and his isolated room with powdered coal between the 

 walls. In this chamber there were four tanks with a wooden pipe for 

 the circulation of cooled calcic chloride solution. He adds : " Pour que 

 Taction frigorifique soit uniforme dans toutes les parties de la chambre, 

 ou y a 6tabli un ventilateur qui i^rend I'air a I'une de ses extremites, le 

 fait passer dans le conduit contenant les bassins froids et le force a sortir 

 par le cote oppose de cette meme chambre. L'air est done constamment 

 renouvele, bien que ce soit toujours le meme air." 



* Importation en France des Viandes fraiches conservees par le froid. Paris, Im- 

 primerie de J. Claye, 1874. 



