vol.. XIX. NO. a. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



II 



com lion now inilU of its superfluous watery parti- 

 cles, by a short and simple process; we sliould 

 tlieii liave it all lilse the best strippinfjs, or perhaps 

 better and more bntterous. I will siingest siicli 

 notions on this subject as now onciir to nie, which 

 may lead to better ones, and enconraije experiiients 

 which I have not the means of 'naking in the city. 

 I have shown in a former letter, that the separa- 

 tion of liquor from its sediment, which is commonly 

 a slow process, may be accelerated, and made al- 

 most instantaneons. Co'oring matter, of various 

 kinds, may be taken out of liquors as well as from 

 stuffs, by chemical application ; and various com- 

 pound substances may be reduced to their diverse 

 elements by mechanical as well as chemical means 

 Churnin;' itself is a mechanical means of separa- 

 ting thi; bntterous from the caseous and watery par- 

 ticles of tlie milk. I make lliese preliminary re- 

 marks, by way of encouraging myself in the search 

 of something analogous for the desired process on 

 milk. 



It is true that the filtration of liquors is for the 

 e.xtraction of heavy particles from the liquid, and 

 the separation now sought for, is the extraction of 

 light particles, or butler, and that upwards. The 

 desired result is, to precipitate quickly the heavier 

 particles from the milk. If I were about to try ex- 

 periments, I should begin by trying cold and heat, 

 in their various degrees, from congelation to boil- 

 ing. I would next try these two means combined 

 with salt, or alum, saltpetre, &c. : with cold water 

 even, if I did not care about the buttermilk. If I 

 were right in the hypothesis in my first letter, viz: 

 that salt had no affinity for butter or any pure fiitty 

 substance, there would be no danger of salting the 

 butter by this process; and if the salt have an af- 

 finity for watery particles, it would seem that salt 

 might be made an efficient agent in the separation 

 now re<piired. If by any one process now suggest- 

 ed or any one which may occur to persons better 

 qualitied to invent them, a speedy mode of separa- 

 tion be found of the thick, butterous, lighter parts 

 of the milk from the others, which I here suppose 

 to be heavier, I would then propose a plan for draw- 

 ing the latter off, so as not to disturb the former; 

 which idea [ borrow from the refiners of Champiigne 

 wine. They first cork tlio bottles hand-tight, and 

 place them in a botlle-rack, with the cork down. 

 The sediment gets all into the neck of the bottle : 

 they then go from bottle to bottle, without displac- 

 ing them, and take out the corks quickly, let the 

 sediment dropout, and replace the cork, with a very 

 small loss of liquor. 



Now let the vessel in which the prepared milk is 

 placed, have a plug in the bottom, to let off the but- 

 termilk without disturbing the upper surface. I 

 will here suggest another practice, which may be 

 used in this process, or in some other, perhaps, to 

 good purpose. Water may be separated from wine 

 or cider, by various simple means. First, put the 

 watered liquor into an earthen vessel so porous that 

 it will not contain water : the water will then run 

 out first, and the wine or cider will remain last. — 

 Second — put a small solution of alum in the vessel, 

 stop it with a sponge rubbed with sweet oil, then 

 incline the vessel gently, and the water will run 

 out through the sponge, leaving the wine behind. 

 T am inclined to believe that a cotton rag immersed 

 in a tumbler, with a longer part of it hanging out, 

 would by capillary attraction and a little of the sy- 

 phon principle, extract the water, or some part of it. 

 You see, Mr Editor, tliat I am desirous to make 

 up for iny want of positive knowledge and experi- 



ence, by throwing out hints for others to work up- 

 on. In so doing I trust that I can do no harm. — 

 You aio aware that the visionary alchymists, in 

 their vain labors to make gold, did more to advance 

 chemical science than kings could have done with 

 nil their power. In fact, it was in opposition to 

 kings, priests and [>opf's, that the black and forbid- 

 den art cast a blaze of true light on the important 

 science of chemistry. 



\V,\I. FOSTF.R. 



SALTPETRE IN ME.\T. 

 It is a matter of regret that while so much salt 

 meat is made and used, we have not yet acquired 

 the proper knowledge of the best mode to prepare 

 and preserve it ; nor is it known how noxious salt 

 meat may become by an improper use of saltpetre 

 in the pickle or brine usually employed. 



There are various modes of preserving salt meat 

 and fish, by drying, salting, pickling, oiling, smok- 

 ing, &c. ; but I merely mean at present to notice 

 some of the defects and noxious properties of our 

 actual meat, either beef or pork. 



One of the main defects appears to consist in 

 the useless addition of saltpetre to the pickle where- 

 by the meat often beromes sour or spoiled, and al- 

 ways acid and pernicious. I never could under- 

 stand whv this substance was added to common salt, 

 except that it is said to make it look better. But 

 it ought to be known that saltpetre absorbed by the 

 meat is ?!t7ric aciil or aquaforlis — a deadly poison, 

 whereby our salt meat becomes unpalatable and 

 pernicious. A slight excess of this acid renders 

 the meat sour, or spoils it, as we say. It has been 

 suggested to correct this by potash, which ro-ab- 

 sorbs this excess ; but this only hides the defect 

 without neutralizing the whole poison. 



Is it not surprising that we should feed and deal, 

 as a staple of our country, with an article contain- 

 ing a portion of such active poison as nUiic acid '7 

 In fact, our salt meats are no longer meat : they are 

 a new pernicious substance produced by a chemical 

 action of salt upon the (lesh of animals. This flesh 

 when fresh, consists chiefly of gelatine and Jihritie. 

 Gelatine or jelly, is the substance soluble in warm 

 water, forming a broth by boiling, or becoming a 

 jelly by concentration ; while fibrine is the fibrous, 

 tough part of the meat, which cannot be dissolved, 

 and is therefore unfit for food, while gelatine is the 

 real nutritious part of the meat. 



But it is well known that salt meat and even 

 corned beef can no longer afford a broth, and there- 

 fore the gelatine must have been changed into 

 another substance no longer soluble, nor so nutri- 

 tious, by the chemical action of salt and saltpetre. 

 To this new substance chemists have not yet given 

 a name ; but it is as different from meat as leather 

 is from the hide before it is tanned by the tan-bark 

 or taymin. 



To this chemical change in meat are to be as- 

 cribed all noxious qualities of salt moat, and the 

 diseases to which those who feed chiefly on it be- 

 come liable; sea-scurvey, land-scurvey, sore gums, 

 rotten teeth, biles, ulcers, &c., which we entail im 

 ourselves by using a kind of poisoned bad meat, 

 which we call salt. 



This important and doleful fact ought to be well 

 known generally to all those who raise cattle, cure 

 meat, or consume it, in order that they may correct 

 this sad defect. 



The first thing to be done is to abandon alto- 

 gether the use of saltpetre in curing meat. This is 



indispensable, and no one who is told that aqua 

 fortis is the produce of it, ought any longer to use 

 this poison in pickles or brines. 



The best substitute for it is sugar. A small 

 quantity makes the meat healthier, sweeter, nicer, 

 and quite as durable. Let this be known to all our 

 farmers and sailors. 



How to make brine for meat perfectly innoxious, 

 is yet a desideratum. Gelatine ought to be pre- 

 served in salt meat pure and soluble, as it is in 

 broth cakes, before any meat can bo perfectly 

 healthy and equal to fresh meat. But at any rate, 

 by withholding the saltpetre, we divest it of a dead- 

 ly poisimous substance. 



C. S, RAFINESQUE. 

 Prof. History and Mttural Science, Elm Place. 



Lansinburg, N. Y. 



MASS. HORIICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



EXHIBlTIOH OP FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. 



Saiurday, June 27, 1840. 



The exhibition of fruits at the rooms this morn- 

 ing reflected great credit upon the various contri- 

 butors : every specimen could with truth be called 

 excellent. 'I hey were as follows: 



By lion. E. Vose, Dorchester — Black Tartarian 

 and White Bigareau Cherries ; very superior spe- 

 cimens. 



By B. Guild, Esq. — Very fine specimens of Bl'k 

 Tartarian Cherry. 



By Wm. Kenrick, Esq., Newton — Beautiful speci- 

 mens of Napoleon Bigareau Cherry. The lovers of 

 this fruit should not fail to order from Mr Kenrick 

 trees that will yield such su|ierb fruit. 



Jno. A. Kenrick, Esq., Newton, exhibited Black 

 Tartarian and one other kind of cheiry not named ; 

 the first a beautiful specimen and worthy extensive 

 cultivation. 



John .VI. Ives, Esq., Salem, presented two speci- 

 mens of seedling cherries : o.ie called Mottled Bi- 

 gareau and raised from seed of Manning's White 

 Bigareau, and the other not named, raised from the 

 seed of an English Bigareau — both very fine speci- 

 mens. 



R. Manning, Esq.,''of Salem, exhibited the follow^ 

 ing cherries: large White Bigareau, China Biga- 

 reau and common White Bigareau, Black Tartari- 

 an, Black Heart and Black Eagle, American Am- 

 ber and American Heart, Elton cherry, and a sced- 

 lins from the White Bigareau : these were all fine 

 and some very excellent. 



Mr Hawks, of Lynn, exhibited fine specimens of 

 Downton, Southboro' and Methven Strawberries. 



There was one specimen of fruit exhibited this 

 morning, which though mentioned last, it would be 

 impossible to forget — a Peach tree grown in a pot, 

 of fine form and healthy, bearing beautiful speci- 

 mens of the " Early Ann Peach"? This species 

 attracted much attention, and the universal opinion 

 was, "Beautiful ! beautiful!" It reflected much 

 credit upon the contributor, Capt George Lee, of 

 West Cambridge. 



Sam'l Walker, Esq., Roxbury, exhibited speci- 

 mens of Rhubarb, (Pie Plant) These specimens 

 ' were very large, and equal if not superior to any 

 I that have been exhibited at the rooms for a long 

 time. 



Spring Potatoes, so called, said to be full grown, 

 though small ; raised by J. Toulmin Smith, Esq., of 

 Roxbury 



For the Committee, 



JAS. L. L. F. WARREN. 



