222 MEATS, PRESERVED 



absurdly called ' harmalino ' by adding to sulphate of aniline peroxide of manganese, 

 and heating this mixture to 100 J Fahr., when the 'harmaline' so produced remained 

 in solution, and was separated from an insoluble deposit. The dissolved colour was 

 pi'ecipitated by adding to the solution ammonia in sufficient quantity to neutralise the 

 acid, after which the insoluble colour was washed, dried, and dissolved in methylated 

 alcohol. 



In January 1860 Mr. Greville Williams patented the use of permanganate of 

 potassa as a means of oxidising aniline and producing purples and other colours. 



At about the same time Dr. D. Price took out a patent for acting on sulphate of 

 aniline by means of the peroxide of lead. 



In 1860 Dale and Caro patented the use of chloride of copper, in the proportion of 

 six equivalents to one of a neutral salt of aniline. In place of chloride of copper, a 

 mixture of sulphate of copper and common salt may be used in equivalent proportions. 

 The quantity of water necessary to dissolve the mixture is added, and ttie whole is 

 then boiled till a precipitate appears, which contains the colouring-matter. At the 

 expiration of three or four hours the process is completed. The precipitate is collected 

 on a filter, and washed with a solution of soda or carbonate of soda so long as the 

 washings contain chlorides. The residue is then extracted with boiling water, so 

 long as anything dissolves. The solutions thus obtained are filtered, and precipitated 

 with a small quantity of soda or carbonate of soda. The colour thus obtained is ready 

 for use. The matter insoluble in boiling water still contains a violet, which may be 

 extracted by treatment with boiling dilute alcohol in a displacement-apparatus. 



On January 12, 1861, another interesting process to. obtain aniline-purple was 

 patented by M. A. Girard. Pure aniline-red (known as magenta) is mixed with an 

 equal weight of aniline, and the mixture heated for several hours to 329 Fahr., when 

 the mass is changed to a fine purple colour, requiring only to be mixed with water 

 and hydrochloric acid to remove any aniline or red dye in excess, leaving the purple 

 insoluble ; but, on being well washed with water, this becomes soluble in alcohol, 

 acetic acid, wood-naphtha, and boiling water slightly acidulated with acetic acid. 



The French call this Violet Imperial. See ANILINE. 



JVZAZEAGE The French name for a process identical with our Eefinery. 



MEADOW-ORE is bog-iron ore. See IKON. 



MEASURES, -WEIGHTS, and COINS. See WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 



MEATS, PRESERVED. The interest which has of late attached to the 

 subject of such meats warrants us in bringing under examination the principles and 

 practice on which this important branch of industry is based. The art itself is of 

 modern invention, and differs in every respect from the old or common modes of pro- 

 serving animal food. These, as is well known, depend upon the use of culinary salt, 

 saltpetre, sugar, or similar substances. 



Our remarks will not apply solely to raw or uncooked meats ; but the practical 

 bearing of meat-preserving really points to those which are, more or less, cooked or 

 preserved. 



The first successful attempt at the preservation of unsalted meats is of French origin, 

 and due to the inventive skill of M. Appert. This gentleman, so long ago as the year 

 1810, received from the Board of Arts and Manufactures of Paris the sum of 12,000 

 francs for his discovery of a mode of preserving animal and vegetable substances ; 

 the results of which had been then amply attested by a prolonged experience in the 

 French navy. Shortly after this period Appert induced a Mr. Durant to visit London, 

 for the purpose of taking out a patent ; and this was accordingly done towards the 

 end of the year 1811. In this patent, however, the claims were ridiculously wide ; so 

 much so, that the patent-right was subsequently infringed with impunity. The claims 

 included all kinds of fruit, moat, and vegetables, when subjected to the action of heat 

 in closed vessels, more or less freed from air. As, however, the Society of Arts in 

 London had presented in 1807 a premium to a Mr. J. Suddington, for 'a method of 

 preserving fruit without sugar for house or sea stores ' which method is exactly 

 the same as that of M. Appert the validity of Durant's patent was at once called 

 in question. Nevertheless, so satisfactory were the results when applied to animal 

 food, or mixed provisions, that the patent was eventually purchased from Durant 

 by Messrs. Donkin, Hall, and Gamble ; and the firm, thus established, became at once 

 the sole manufacturers of preserved meats in this country. The process of Appert 

 was. however, extremely defective in a manufacturing point of view. Nothing but 

 glass bottles were to be used for containing the meats, and M. Appert remarks : ' I 

 choose glass for this purpose, as being the most impenetrable to air, and have not 

 ventured to make any experiment witli a vessel made of any other substance.' Of 

 course the fragility of this material, and the great difficulty of hermetically sealing 

 the bottles with corks, threw impediments in the way of the process as a commercial 

 undertaking. Nor was it until after a long series of experiments that Messrs. Don- 



