216 THE PRESERVATION OF MEAT, ETC. 



obtained from Chicago). This should consist of the flesh of oxen, 

 but, nevertheless, occasionally originates at the horse-slaughterer's. 

 As already explained in a former chapter, we are indebted to the 

 French confectioner APPERT (I.) for the fundamental practical 

 experiments made in connection with preservation by steaming. 

 In accordance with his process, the meat is boiled in any con- 

 venient vessel, and pressed into tins. These are then closed, with 

 the exception of a small aperture, and placed in a bath of boiling 

 water, the aperture being closed by means of a little liquid solder, 

 after steam has been given off for a short time. Appert's suc- 

 cessors subjected his process to numerous modifications, Fastier 

 proposing to heat the tins up to 110 C. in a bath of salt, and 

 others recommending additions of boracic acid, &c. Up to the 

 present, no known antiseptic possesses the dual property of, on 

 the one hand, preserving flesh without depriving it of valuable 

 nutritive constituents or flavouring matters, and, on the other, of 

 having no injurious effect on health when the meat is eaten 

 regularly. 



Inventors have been, and are still, particularly active in this 

 field, there being already, in 1893, no less than 664 different 

 processes for preserving meat. To report exhaustively on these 

 would, however, far exceed the limits of the present work; any 

 reader wishing to be more accurately informed on this subject is 

 referred to a comprehensive treatise compiled by PLAGGE and TRAPP 

 (I.). Instructions intended for practical u?e in the preservation of 

 meat, fruits, vegetables, &c., have been given by L. E. ANCLES (I.) 

 and J. DE BREVANS (I.). 



132. Preserving- Eggs. 



The contents of the freshly- laid eggs of birds, especially of 

 poultry, are not in all cases perfectly free from fungi. In refuta- 

 tion of a widespread assumption to the contrary, it was shown by 

 U. GAY ON (II.) in 1875, and confirmed by 0. E. R. ZJMMERMANN 

 (I.) in 1878, that the eggs, even of healthy birds, are exposed, 

 even during the time of their formation, to infection by bacteria. 

 These organisms, starting from the common anal duct of the bird, 

 make their way into the ovary, where they become mixed with 

 the albumin of the embryo egg, and reproduce themselves therein 

 when the nutrient medium permits. The new-laid egg is there- 

 fore already inhabited by bacteria, a circumstance that must be 

 borne in mind when it is desired to utilise raw eggs for the 

 cultivation of bacteria, according to the proposal made by F. 

 HUEPPE (V.). 



The obnoxious decomposition not infrequently set up in eggs 

 is generally attributable to the development of these early in- 

 truders. Their pure cultivation was first attempted by J. SCHRANK 

 (I.), and then on a larger scale by C. ZORKENDORFER (L), according 



