124 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



locations, — sell for thirty sliillings a bottle. The price of the 

 wine which I brought home was thirty sliillings a l)ottle, in gold. 

 I believe it is sold only to the Emperor Napoleon, the Emperor 

 of Russia, and the Duke of Cambridge. Very few have an 

 opportunity to buy it. There is that difference in soil every- 

 where in relation to its products. So it is with regard to the 

 grape. We shall find yet, in our own country, choice loca- 

 tions where we may produce the Tokay, the Johannisberg, the 

 Chateau Margaux, and other wines of superior quality. But 

 the point is this : we must seek out for every fruit the appropri- 

 ate soil and situation. 



On motion of President Clark, the Board adjourned, to meet 

 at 2 P. M. 



AFTERNOON SESSION. 



The Board met according to adjournment, and a lecture was 

 delivered by John Gamgee, Veterinary Surgeon, and President 

 of the Albert Veterinary College, London, upon 



THE PRINCIPLES INVOLVED IN THE PRESERVATION 



OF MEATS. 



There are not many industrial pursuits in which men embark 

 with less knowledge of the fundamental principles involved in 

 their operations than in that of curing meats. Ten or twenty 

 years hence meat-packers will look back with amazement at the 

 improvements introduced into their business from say 1850 to 

 their time ; and what has been done during the past eighteen 

 years, even including the successful introduction of Professor 

 Liebig's extract-of-meat process, will seem as nothing compared 

 to the greater revolutions of the next decade. It is a dangerous 

 game to play at being a prophet. But I do not predict anything 

 more than scientific men generally can infer from the progress 

 of accurate knowledge. 



What have we known hitherto of the process of decay or 

 putrefaction ? Before the days of Pasteur this field of inquiry 

 was in chaos. This French philosopher has surprised the world 

 by the simplicity of his experiments, the nature of the results 

 he has obtained, and the comprehensiveness of his generaliza- 

 tions ; and, in spite of the struggles for life and distinction on 

 the part of the advocates of spontaneous generation, Pasteur 



