CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



jelly ; albumen, or white of eggs ; oil and fat ; 

 osmazome, which gives to meat its peculiar 

 flavour ; creatine, a peculiar organic base ; casein, 

 such as the curd of milk or cheese, which 

 is nearly allied to albumen ; and, we may add, 

 sugar, as in the case of milk. Of these principles 

 are all animal bodies composed ; always bearing 

 in mind the large percentage of water which they 

 contain (about 70 per cent, in lean or store cattle). 

 These principles vary considerably in ultimate 

 composition thus, loo parts of fibrin yield 53-36 

 carbon, 7-03 hydrogen, 19-68 oxygen, and 19-93 

 nitrogen; while albumen yields 50-00 carbon, 7-78 

 hydrogen, 26-67 ox ygen, a d only 15-55 nitrogen. 

 Of course their relative values in point of nutrition 

 depend upon composition and digestibility; and 

 these must be ascertained with accuracy before 

 any comparison can be instituted between fibrin 

 and gelatine, gelatine and albumen, or albumen 

 and casein. 



Animal food is derived from the flesh, blood, 

 viscera, bones, cartilages, ligaments, cellular tissue, 

 milk, &c. It differs in nutritiousness, not only 

 according to the kind or species of the animal, 

 but according to the age, sex, food, and mode 

 of life of the individual. Thus the flesh of 

 young animals is more tender than that of old ; 

 that of the entire male adult, coarser and tougher 

 than that of the female. Again, the flesh of store 

 animals contains more water and less fat than 

 that of fat animals, the process of feeding for the 

 butcher tending, indeed, to substitute fat for 

 water in the flesh of the animal. And, finally, 

 just as the fibres of flesh are loose, tender, and 

 minute, so are they the more easy of digestion. 

 With these preliminary remarks, we shall proceed 

 to notice in detail the leading articles of animal 

 food made use of in Britain. 



Beef, or the flesh of the full-grown ox, is largely 

 consumed in Britain, perhaps more largely than a 

 due regard to health and economy would allow. 

 The quality of this article depends upon a variety 

 of circumstances, such as the breed, sex, and age 

 of the animal, and likewise the kind of food with 

 which it has been supplied. ' Bull-beef,' says a 

 leading authority on cuisine, 'has a strong dis- 

 agreeable flavour, and is dry, tough, and difficult 

 of solution. The flesh of the ox is more soluble ; 

 the fat is better mixed, the meat more sapid, and 

 highly nourishing and digestible, if the animal is 

 not too old. The flesh of the cow is sufficiently 

 fit for nourishment, but is inferior to ox-beef; 

 heifer-b&ti, or that of the young cow, is much 

 esteemed ; but that of an old fatted cow is bad. 

 The beef of the larger varieties of the ox is 

 inferior to that of the smaller breeds. . . . Grass- 

 fed beef, or that produced from good farm-pro- 

 duce, is always better flavoured and more digest- 

 ible than that reared from oil-cake, brewers' 

 wash, and the like.' Beef is consumed both in a 

 fresh and salted state ; it is also pickled, smoked, 

 and otherwise prepared. Salted, it is more diffi- 

 cult of digestion, while the salt, moreover, ab- 

 stracts from it a considerable quantity of water 

 holding valuable substances in solution. For 

 various modes of pickling and preserving, as well 

 as for an estimate of the comparative merits of 

 boiling, broiling, and roasting, the reader is 

 referred to the following article on the PREPARA- 

 TION OF FOOD. 



Extract of 'beet "and essence of foefhave, within 



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recent years, become important articles of diet. 

 The extract of beef prepared by Baron Liebig's 

 process is a pale yellowish-brown substance of the 

 consistence of honey, and having an acid re- 

 action, and an agreeable meat-like aroma. The 

 principal manufactory is at Fray Bcntos, on the 

 river Uruguay, in South America ; and from this 

 manufactory alone so much as 570,000 Ibs. of the 

 extract was produced during eight months 

 1871. To produce this quantity, 122,075 head 

 cattle were slaughtered, and their estimated value 

 was .330,000. The process essentially consists 

 in boiling the previously minced meat in water, 

 separating the fat from the solution thus obtainec 

 and finally concentrating it by evaporation to the 

 proper consistency. It is said that 34 Ibs. of 

 flesh (muscle), or 45 Ibs. of meat including bone 

 and sinew, are required for a pound of extract. 

 According to Liebig, good extract should contain 

 from 1 6 to 21 per cent, of water, from 56 to 60 per 

 cent, of organic matter, and from 18 to 20 per 

 cent, of mineral matter. The organic matter con- 

 sists of creatine, creatinine, inosite, lactic acid, 

 inosinic acid, &c.; and the greater part of the 

 mineral matter of phosphate and chloride of 

 potassium and chloride of sodium. It is alto- 

 gether destitute of albumen, gelatine, or fat ; and 

 as these constitute the main nutritive ingredients 

 of beef, extract of beef cannot in any proper sense 

 be regarded as a concentrated form of beef, or as 

 a dietetic substitute for it. Still, owing to the 

 organic ingredients, and especially the creatine, 

 creatinine, and inosite, which it contains, it is un- 

 doubtedly a valuable article of diet. These sub- 

 stances appear to have an action on the system 

 analogous to that of the thein in tea, or the caf- 

 fein in coffee. They diminish tissue-change and 

 waste, and so only in a modified sense act as food, 

 by diminishing the requirement of the body for 

 nutritive material. On this account, beef-extract 

 is of great value in many exhausting diseases; 

 and forms an excellent article of diet when made 

 into soup (a tea-spoonful about 150 grains to 

 half a pint of water), and consumed along with 

 vegetables or bread. Besides Liebig's extract, 

 there are others which seem to be of equally good 

 quality, and, like it, to deserve the confidence they 

 have acquired. Several extracts in commerce, 

 however, contain an undue proportion of water, 

 and a deficient quantity of the peculiar organic 

 constituents that render this preparation so valu- 

 able the place of the latter being supplied by 

 comparatively worthless gelatine. A less concen- 

 trated preparation constitutes the so-called essence 

 of beef, of which that manufactured by the Messr 

 Gillon of Leith is now in extensive use. Sir 

 Robert Christison has found that this essenc 

 does not contain albumen nor gelatine, and tha 

 its total solids amount to 6| per cent. For making 

 soup, it should be mixed with three times its bull 

 of water ; and this soup is often preferred to tha 

 made of extract of beef, as it does not possess tl 

 peculiar and, to many people, unpleasant flavoi 

 of the latter. 



Veal, or the flesh of the calf, is tender anc 

 nourishing, but not so easy of digestion as the 

 prime parts of beef and mutton. Veal, particu- 

 larly if it be young, contains much gelatine, as is 

 the case with all young animals, and therefore 

 yields a great deal of soluble matter when boiled 

 long in water. This fact has led to the idea of its 



