230 



would be between freezing-point and about four degrees 

 higher. There was another advantage in dealing with meat 

 not absolutely frozen, that you minimised the evaporation 

 which went on to a considerable extent when meat was 

 frozen, as could be seen by any one who examined the 

 splendid samples in the Canadian Court. He thought the 

 Norwegian stove might be adopted with great advantage 

 in the formation of chambers in which meat or fish was 

 kept. The practice of bringing it in contact with ice 

 resulted in rendering it more flabby or flavourless, but if 

 put in chambers of this kind there would be no occasion to 

 change the air, and there would be less loss by evaporation. 

 He saw no reason why flowers, meat, animal, and vege- 

 table substances in general should not be kept from four 

 to five months without serious deterioration. About 

 eighteen years ago he made an experiment in trying to 

 preserve meat by complete exhaustion of air ; he had a 

 rat and put him in an india-rubber package, and exhausted 

 the air with a powerful pump. This was in July, and at 

 the end of August he opened the package, and put in 

 another rat freshly killed by the side of it ; the rat freshly 

 killed putrefied long before the other did, but for various 

 reasons he did not think this method would be practicable 

 on a large scale. He thought it was quite practicable to 

 bring animal substances from all parts of the world by the 

 process of chilling, but a good deal had yet to be done in 

 the mechanical and scientific details. Another point which 

 Mr. Kilbourn had not touched upon was the possibility of 

 depriving animal substances of their water without injury 

 to the albumen or ozmazone or juices, or altering the 

 flavour, and he believed he had found a practicable solu- 

 tion of the problem, but he was waiting for the new Patent 

 Act to make it public. 



