PROCEEDINGS OF THE POLYTECHNIC ASSOCIATION. 7G7 



Liebig's Extract of Meat. 



The Pharmaceutical Journal for November, 1866, contains a 

 communication from Baron Liebig, in which he states that the 

 extract of meat prepared according to his process, at Fray Bentos, 

 and Munich, does not contain any gelatine, or anything that could 

 be considered as such. Gelatine does not belong to the composi- 

 tion of the extract of meat, and must, therefore, be excluded as 

 much as possible ; it giveS' more consistency to the extract, and 

 allows, to the detriment of buyers, of a large percentage of water, 

 and makes it liable to turn mouldy. But the action of tannic acid, 

 as a re-agent, might lead to erroneous conclusions, against which 

 it is necessary to guard. He had stated in his work on "The 

 Chemistry of Food," that the portion of the juice of the tlesh 

 which is soluble is cold water but not in alcohol, is precipitated 

 in tannic acid; the precipitate softens like plaster in hot water, and 

 cannot be distino-uished from the tannate of o-elatine, but it difiers 

 from gelatine by that characteristic property of both, that it does 

 gelatinize when concentrated. Extract of meat, then may and 

 does precipitate with tannic acid even when entirely free from 

 gelatine. 



By the exclusion of gelatine the yield in extract is naturally 

 diminished. According to a recent communication from Mr. 

 Seekamp, one of the former assistants, thirty-four pounds of fresh 

 lean meat only yield one pound of extract as manufactured at 

 Fray Bentos (corresponding with forty-five to forty-eight pounds 

 of butcher's meat, inclusive of fat and bones). It has been observed 

 that color and taste of the Fray Bentos extract vary; this is owing 

 to the difl'erence of sex and age of the animals. The meat of oxen 

 alwaj^s yields an extract of darker color and stronger flavor, 

 reminding somewhat of the flavor of fresh venison, pleasant Avhen 

 diluted; the extract of cow's meat is of lighter color and a mild 

 flavor, and is preferred by many persons. The meat of animals 

 under four years cannot be used for the manufacture of extract; it 

 yields a pulpy extract of weak taste, like veal, and without flavor. 

 According to the predominance of ox or cow's meat, the color and 

 taste of the extract varies, which is by no means a fault of the 

 manufacturing process, and is fully explained by the preceding 

 remarks. 



The extract of ox meat is richer in creatine and sarkin than the 

 cow's meat extract. He had examined an extract sample manu- 

 factured at Darmstadt, containing nine per cent of common salt 



