EXAMINATION OF CANNED MEAT. 1393 



of different kinds of minced meats. There seems to be little attempt 

 to make the commercial name of the article agree in any respect with 

 its composition. Flavor and palatability are chiefly sought, and every 

 packing house has its own formula. If the meats employed in the 

 preparation of these goods arc poor in fat, some fat or very fat meat 

 is added. The processing which these goods receive is very similar to 

 that employed with canned roast beef. 



EXAMINATION OF CANNED MEAT. 

 PREPARATION OF SAMPLE. 



The entire contents of the can are passed repeatedly through a 

 sausage mill and thoroughly mixed. A sample of about 150 grams is 

 placed in a tightly stoppered bottle for analysis. This sample must be 

 kept on ice to prevent decomposition and all of the determinations 

 should be begun within twent3 r -four hours of the time of taking 

 sample. That portion of the contents of the can which is not needed 

 for analysis may be dried, extracted with gasoline, which boils below 

 60, the gasoline allowed to evaporate, the last traces expelled by 

 heating on a steam bath for a short time, and the fat reserved for 

 further examination. (See p. 1412.) The majority of the samples 

 described hereafter were prepared for analysis by Mr. Chace. 



DETECTION OF INDOLS, SKATOLS, PHENOLS, AND AROMATIC 



OXYACIDS. a 



Distill in a current of steam b from 50 to 100 grams of the finely 

 divided meat until about 300 cc of distillate are collected. Make the 

 distillate strongly alkaline with sodium hydroxid and distill again. In 

 the distillate thus obtained indol may be detected by the formation of 

 the red color on the addition of nitric acid containing a small amount 

 of nitrous acid, while skatol yields a violet or red color when heated 

 with sulphuric acid. 



Saturate with carbon dioxid the residue from the second distillation 

 and distill again. The addition of Millon's reagent and gentle heat- 

 ing produces a red color in the presence of phenol. Filter the residue 



a Baumann and Hoppe-Seyler, Hoppe-Seyler und Thierfelder, Handbuch der 

 phys. und path. chem. Anal., 6th ed., p. 157. 



b Owing to the extreme readiness with which some decomposition products of 

 meat are destroyed on one hand, and with which analogous compounds are formed 

 from normal meat on the other hand, it is probable that more reliable results may 

 be obtained by distilling in vacuo and at low temperature, as directed by Gautier 

 and Etard. (Vaughan & Novy, Ptomaines, Leucomaines, etc., 3d ed., p. 270.) 



It is also advisable to test for animal parasites and vegetable micro-organisms 

 before making an examination for decomposition products. The meat may also be 

 fed to small animals, and cold water extracts injected hypodermically, before and 

 after nitration through porcelain. (See F. G. Novy, Bull. 65) . 



