May 26, 1870] 
NATURE 
63 
tained in the juice of flesh. Besides these substances, 
there is inosic acid, and inosite, or muscle sugar, found in 
the juice of flesh, and probably there are other compounds 
-not yet made out, and of whose special action on animal 
organisms we as yet know nothing. But although our 
knowledge of the action of these things is very imperfect, 
there is one thing we know, and that is, that the albumen, 
the fibrine, the fat, and the gelatine, will none of them 
act separately or together, as they do when combined with 
the juice of flesh. 
Many experiments have been performed in France, 
Belgium, and Germany, which show that fibrine alone 
will not support life, that albumen alone (as in white of 
eggs) will not support life, that gelatine alone will not 
support life; we are thus driven to the conclusion, 
seeing that all these substances are easily digested and 
appropriated when combined with the juice of flesh, that 
the alkaline and other substances referred to perform a 
most important part, if not in ultimate nutrition, at least 
in the previous process of digesting food. 
If we study a little our individual experience in the mat- 
ter of digestion, we may find perhaps an approximate solu- 
tion of the mode in which Liebig’s Extract acts in giving 
strength to the weak,and new life to the exhausted. If we 
are hungryand eat dry bread the appetite soon palls,and we 
give up the effort ; if we take some cold water we can con- 
sume more of the bread, and even with warm water, espe- 
cially if flavoured with tea and sugar, stillmore. The latter 
evidently acts as an incentive. If we add salt to the water 
the same effect is produced. But if we now take a basin 
of soup—for soup is but a solution of the juice of flesh— 
wwe shall find that we can take into our stomachs with 
relish four or five times the bread we could have eaten 
dry or with cold water. How is this? Weare all aware 
.of the fact without being able to give the explanation. It 
is evident that an effect has been produced upon the 
nerves of the stomach and its glandular apparatus, which 
has enabled it to digest and deal with food which before 
was a mere inanimate burden in its cavity. If the nervous 
system is excessively exhausted or unable to act, as it 
is sometimes in disease, the glass of “‘noble wine” recom- 
mended by Proust will increase the effect upon the para- 
lysed nerves. It is in this way, it appears to me, that the 
extract of flesh taken with food acts in so beneficial a 
manner, as compared with tea, coffee, cocoa, beer, wine, 
or spirits. All these, whilst stimulating the nerves of 
the stomach to higher action, are attended with subse- 
quent depressing and sedative effects, of which we see 
no sign in the action of a dilute solution of the juice of 
flesh. 
There does not appear to exist any evidence of the 
subsequent beneficial action of the organic substances 
found in the Extract of Meat. Not that this ought to be 
denied to them. _ They may, like theine and quinine, 
supply more readily materials for the manufacture of 
working muscle and nerve than can be readily obtained 
otherwise than from the blood. The theory that these 
salts assist in nourishing the nerves has recently been put 
forward, with his accustonfed ingenuity, by Professor 
Agassiz; and as the flesh of fish is known to contain 
more creatine than that of other animals, he recom- 
mends a diet of fish as especially adapted for the food 
of philosophers and those who work much with Ese Pratl 
But whatever doubts may arise as to the action of 
creatine and its consequences on the ultimate nutrition of 
the nerves and muscles, there can be no doubt of the 
beneficial action of the mineral matters contained in 
Liebig’s Extract. We eat salt because we do not get 
enough in our ordinary food. Besides salt, which contains 
chloride and sodium, we require other elements in our 
bodies. We require phosphorus, calcium, potassium, 
sulphur, and iron. Now, we do not add these artificially 
to our food as we do the chloride of sodium, and yet in our 
ordinary system of cooking and feeding we may deprive 
our bodies of these necessary elements. In soup we sup- 
ply them, and they are contained in the juice of flesh. 
Whilst one hundred pounds of beef contain five pounds of 
mineral matters, one hundred pounds of Liebig’s Extract 
contain twenty-one pounds of the same substances. 
Above seventy per cent. of these consist of phosphorus 
and potassium, whilst the remainder consists of lime, iron, 
sulphur, and magnesia. Here then, perhaps, we may 
find a nutritive action for the Extract in supplying 
those elements to the nerves and muscles which are con- 
stantly being removed by the changes of composition in 
the tissues, through the vital activity of the body. 
From the above statement it will be seen that the juice 
of flesh presents after its manufacture no new product, 
but that it contains the same constituents that are ordi- 
narily met with in the flesh of animals. The great ad- 
vantage that it confers is that it is already fit for use. A 
teaspoonful of the Extract in a pint of hot water is a stock 
for any kind of soup, and may be prepared in a few 
minutes. To this may be added bread, potatoes, vege- 
tables, eggs, meat, or flavouring essences of any kind, and 
the most agreeable of soups can be thus prepared. Its 
use in this direction is not confined to the sick-room; 
it may be used economically for the daily manufac- 
ture of soup for the table, and where the speedy pre- 
paration of hot food is desirable there is nothing to equal 
it. For the dyspeptic, and those whose stomachs have 
become paralysed by the use of theine in tea and coffee, 
it quickly restores the digestive powers ; and for a perma- 
nent beverage, morning and evening, it is better than tea 
or coffee. Of course, this solution should always be taken 
warm, although after cooling it is perfectly thin, and is 
not like soup made from meat, which becomes thick on 
cooling, an effect due to the gelatine, and greasy, from the 
fat floating on the surface. 
The Extract is sold for ten or twelve shillings a pound, 
and a pound of Extract represents thirty pounds of lean 
beef. It is therefore no economy to make it and sell it at 
this price in England; but as it can be made in South 
America and Australia, where cattle and sheep are in 
abundance, even at the low price of ten shillings a pound, 
including carriage, a large profit is made. Within the 
last few years an establishment has been erected at 
Frey Bentos, in South America, for the manufacture of 
this Extract from the wild cattle of that part of the 
world. There are also two distinct manufactories on the 
Clarence, New South Wales. These places are worked by 
companies which supply immense quantities for public 
use, There are also private manufactories in many parts 
of America and Europe, and one in Scotland, supplying 
the same substance. As far as published analyses have 
gone, the Extract has the same general composition, and 
