Sept. 29, 1870] 
NATURE 
433 
mentioned, to tell the British Association for the Advancement of 
Science, and the public generally, that Redi’s great doctrine 
appears to be “‘ victorious along the whole line ; ” whilst the 
views and experiments of those who think differently are thus 
referred to :—‘‘ On the other side the sole assertions worthy of 
attention are that hermetically sealed fluids which have been 
exposed to long-continued heat have sometimes exhibited Living 
forms of low organisation when they have been opened.” 
All comments on such a proceeding seem needless—the facts 
speak only too plainly for themselves. 
I will, however, say a few words concerning the mere empty 
generalities which Prof. Huxley opposes to the definite results of 
an honest band of workers. 
He commences in this way :—‘‘ The first reply that suggests 
itself is the probability that there must be some error about 
these experiments, because they are performed on an enormous 
scale every day with quite contrary results. Meat, fruits, vege- 
tables, the very materials of the most fermentable and putrescible 
infusions, are preserved to the extent, I suppose I may say, 
of thousands of tons every year by a method which is a mere 
application of Spallanzani’s experiment. The matters to be pre- 
served are well do/ed ina tin case provided with a small hole, 
and this hole is soldered up when all the air in the case has been 
replaced by steam. By this method they may be kept for years 
without putrefying, fermenting, or getting mouldy.” This isa very 
plausible statement, certainly ; and one apparently tending to 
confirm Prof. Huxley’s views. But what are the real facts of the 
case? I have made many inquiries and some microscopical ex- 
aminations during the last three days, the results of which I will 
now communicate to Prof. Huxley and others. 3 
Having visited one of the largest establishments in London, 
and seen the whole process to which the meats and vegetables 
are submitted for preservation, the information I have to convey 
is of the most authentic description. For this opportunity, and 
for many particulars communicated in a long conversation, I am 
much indebted to the courtesy of Mr. McCall, of Houndsditch. * 
A number of cases, enclosing the provisions, instead of 
being simply heated to a temperature of 212° F. as most 
people would understand from what Prof. Huxley said, 
are first heated in a large chloride of calcium bath (warmed 
by steam) to a temperature of 230° to 235° F. for more than 
an hour and a half. The hole through which the steam 
has been issuing is then closed with solder, and as soon as the 
last of the set has been thus hermetically sealed, a higher pres- 
sure of steam is tured on, by which the bath is quickly raised 
to a temperature of from 258° to 260° C.+—at which temperature 
it is maintained for more than half an hour. Thus it is now 
learned that the meats are exposed to a heat of 230° to 235° F. for 
more than one anda half hours, and then to a temperature of 258° 
to 260° F. for another half hour at least. All this is very 
different from the simple statement that the provisions are 
“boiled,” for atime not specified. Prof. Huxley, in the next 
place, mentions the possibility of failure, though he seems to 
attribute all these to ‘‘unskilfully closed tins.” Now, on 
inquiry, it appears that the number of unmistakable failures 
even in the very best establishments is very appreciable, and 
although many of these failures may be accounted for by defec- 
tive closure, Mr. McCall assured me that in a certain number 
of cases, where not the smallest defect could be detected in the 
tin, where the mode of preparation was unexceptionable, and 
the provisions originally of the best description, yet for some 
inscrutable reason some of these tins did prove utter failures. 
-Gas was found to be evolved within, causing them to bulge 
at the extremities, and when opened the meats either showed 
a central decomposition of a most foetid character without 
mould, or else mould might be found on some portions 
of the surface. He further assured me that certain tins 
which had been thoroughly well prepared, and in which 
the provisions seemed to remain in a perfect state of pre- 
servation { for two or even three years, might more or less sud- 
denly show signs of a considerable evolution of gas within, 
owing to the provisions having fallen into a state of putrefac- 
tion. In other instances provisions would keep for ten years 
* And also for the kind permission to make known what he had told me. 
+ Whilst I was in this establishment one of the baths was seen to have 
reached a temperature of 263°. F. It was boiling very briskly. The more 
or less solid contents of the tins would require a longer time to be raised to 
any given temperature than a fluid ; so that, practically, the meats may have 
been exposed only for a comparatively short period to the higher tempera- 
tures mentioned. I may state that 230° and 260° Fahr., correspond to 110° 
and 126°6° C, 
4 As judged by evidences of a vacuum within. 
or more without any appreciable change. I was informed 
also that turtle, and all the soups which solidified when cold, 
invariably remained good. Amongst these there were no 
failures. Mr. McCall was somewhat doubtful as to whether in 
hot weather, provisions were more prone to fail after severe 
thunder storms. He had, however, ‘‘ often thought that elec- 
tricity” had something to do with the failures. Some of the 
large retail sellers spoke much more decidedly to me as to the 
number of failures after thunder. On this question, however, I 
lay no stress—I merely repeat what I was told. 
Wishing to learn what microscopical appearances would 
be presented by provisions which were sold as being ‘‘per- 
fectly good,” I procured three specimens from two of the 
most esteemed retail establishments, informing the original 
owners that I wished to submit them to a microscopical examina- 
tion. One of these was a tin of ‘‘Julienne Soup,” which had 
been prepared ten months ; the second, “Salmon,” prepared six 
months ; and the third, ‘* Lobster,” only six weeks old. The 
“*Salmon” when opened, had not an altogether pleasant 
smell; the other two seemed quite fresh. In portions taken 
from the surface of each, I found the most unmistakable eyi- 
dences that slight changes had taken place. All presented an 
abundance of flat granular aggregations, * figure-of-8 bodies, and 
a very appreciable quantity of Bacteria and Leftothrix fila- 
ments—some of these latter being plain and others jointed. 
The Leftothrix filaments were mostly about yp¢o0" in dia- 
meter. Some of the Bacteria were gaa" in length, and many 
were moving pretty actively in the specimens taken from the 
“Julienne” and the ‘‘Lobster” figure-of-8 particles. In the 
**Salmon,” I also found, during my comparatively short exami- 
nation, two or three portions of /wgws-filaments, haying dis- 
sepiments within, and measuring ;;'5y Jn diameter. 
Thus, to sum up, it appears that provisions, prepared as 
above described, + which have been exposed for more than two 
hours and twenty minutes to a temperature varying from I10° 
to 126° C. do, not unfrequently, /o7 20 discoverable reason, fall’ 
into a state of decomposition which renders them useless, and 
that the only specimens which I have examined microscopically, 
three in number, all presented evidences that Living things had 
been growing and developing in the hermetically sealed tins. 
Why, in some cases, the changes should be so small in extent as 
not to impair the value of the provisions, and in other cases 
these changes—passing through the more intermediate grades— 
should render the provisions utterly useless, I, or others holding 
similar opinions, can scarcely be called upon fully to explain. 
Certain it is, however, that the facts above mentioned, including 
the circumstance that the failures sometimes take place after the 
tins have been hermetically sealed for two or three years, and 
that gelatinous§$ substances are the least prone to change—are all 
* Some of these had undoubtedly arisen from a granular degeneration of 
the meats themselves. Some muscular fibres presented a healthy appear- 
ance, while others were more or less completely granular. 
+ I may state in reply to what was said by Mr. Eddowes in the discussion 
on Sept. 21, that the provisions examined by me had all been prepared by a 
process essentially similar to that adopted by Mr. McCall. I took care to 
ascertain this. The “salmon” was not prepared, as he supposed, in 
Canada, but by a well-known Scotch house. 
Since the above was written, I have (Sept. 26) examined two tins which 
were prepared by Mr. McCall in 1861. One containing ‘t Lamb and Vege- 
tables” was perfectly good. It contained not a drop of fluid, though some 
glutinous matter was present. On microscopical examination I could find 
no trace of organisms. The other tin, containing ‘‘ Veal and Peas,” was 
also perfectly good; the odour was just like that of fresh meat. The con- 
tents were very dry, nota drop of fluid could be procured, although the 
surface was bedewed with a slight moisture. When a small portion, scraped 
from the surface and mixed with a drop of water, was examined microsco- 
pically, hundreds of extremely minute Sacteyza and monilated chains were 
seen—all either dead, or else extremely languid. These results are very 
interesting when compared with what was found in the three other tins, 
whose contents were much more moist and contained actual fluid. 
t Without reference to the question whether the Bacteria and Leptothrix 
filaments were living when seen by me, the very fact of their having been 
formed in such a very appreciable quantity, seems to make it more probable 
that they had been deve/ofed after the exposure to the heat within the her- 
metically closed tins, than that they had pre-existed in the fresh provisions 
in the state in which they were found. There was, however, no reason 
whatever for supposing that the Leftothrix filaments were dead, or that the 
slow movements of the Bacteria were not languid vital movements ; be- 
tween which and Brownian movements it is impossible to draw any line of 
demarcation. 
§ It could not be supposed that a gelatinous substance would afford facili- 
ties for the molecular rearrangements to take place, without which no new 
evolution of Living matter would seem possible. On the other hand, if the 
Living things which are sometimes found in these cases are derived, as many 
will suppose, from undestroyed germs, it does not seem so easy to under- 
stand why they should not germinate on the surface of a gelatinous sub- 
stance. ‘Lhe ‘Julienne soup ” examined was not gelatinous, it rather 
resembled a moderately thick solution of gum in consistence, 
