118 STATES OF THE RIVER PLATE. 



other similar dish can be made out of it at all palatable. 

 The meat itself, in all such dishes, is hard and tasteless — 

 it is little else than meat fibre. 



Pure cold water will withdraw all the nutriment from 

 the lean of any meat. If lean meat is cut up into pieces 

 and laid in a vessel with cold water, and allowed to remain 

 for a short time, it will part with the whole of its minerals 

 and albuminous compounds, that is, the whole of its 

 nutritive and constructive matter, to the water, and the 

 solid remains will be indigestible, innutritions fibre. It is, 

 therefore, clear that if meat of animals, in the condition 

 of our cattle, is immersed in a brine — salt and water — 

 there being a double solvent power at work, all vestige of 

 nutriment will pass from the meat to the brine, and that, 

 by consequence, such a method is, and will be, wholly 

 impracticable until means are devised to feed our cattle. 

 Even the superior salt-junk of Europe, if used for any 

 length of time without acid, sugar, fruits, and vegetables, 

 will produce scurvy, not by reason of the salt, but by 

 reason of the deficiency of potash, phosphoric acid, and 

 albumen. 



There are partial means of causing a retention of 

 elements : thus, the use of lime in the preparation of meat 

 will cause the retention of phosphoric acid by render- 

 ing it less soluble. Subjecting meat to a certain heat — 

 133° to 158° Eahr. — will cause coagulum of the albumen 

 (the degree of coagulation being in relation to the heat), 

 and render it less soluble ; but these methods are partial, 

 imperfect, and in some cases expensive, and less likely to 

 succeed with ill-fed than with well-fed meat. 



To me it is perfectly clear that we must either feed our 

 animals (such as are destined for the butcher, and animals 

 of a superior and beef- making breed) up to the mark 

 which will admit of their meat ' taking the salt,' or we 



