SCIENCE. — P UBLISHER 'S DEPAR TMENT. 



"All such food is injurious to health," saj-s 

 a learned Cincinnati judge ; yet, left alone to 

 the influences of climate, weather, and natural 

 surroundings, they speedily spoil. What, 

 then, shall rich or poor do to insure the cov- 

 eted luxury of fresh, healthful food? 



The problem has been a knotty one since 

 the advent of man upon this terrestrial planet. 

 The criminal cupidity of many dealers, on the 

 one hand, and the hosts of natural causes of 

 decay, and man's inability to find a reliable, 

 safe, and cheap food-preservative, on the other, 

 are obstacles which have alwaj's heretofore 

 confounded the world. 



III. FOOD-PKESEKVATION. 



One of the largest elements of risk in gen- 

 eral farming and in dealing in food-products 

 is the loss on perishable goods, both from 

 decay and deterioration, as well as from the 

 frequent necessity of forcing such goods upon 

 an overstocked market at ruinouslj- low prices. 

 The world has long needed some substance, 

 at once harmless and efficient, to maintain in 

 their production that freshness and sweetness 

 in provisions so essential to remunerative 

 returns. Salted meats are distasteful to manj-, 

 and repugnant and uuhealthful to all, where a 

 regular diet of such material is maintained. 

 Once salted, a piece of beef is immediatelj' 

 lowered in value. Millions of dollars' worth 

 of poultrj', lamb, veal, and mutton are annu- 

 allj' lost to the world through the lack of prac- 

 tical means of j)reservatiou. Milk and cream 

 cannot be kept longer than a day or two, and 

 tons of butter everj^ year become rancid and 

 are sold for grease. The want of a thing 

 alwaj-s directs scientific inquirj' and inventive 

 genius toward its discoverj'. It has been 

 known for manj' months past, in commfercial 

 and scientific circles, that this important dis- 

 covery had been made in a food-preservative 

 b}^ Prof. R. F. Humiston of Boston. A 

 series of experiments was conducted to prove 

 beyond a doubt the success of his invention, 

 which resulted most satisfactorily to a number 

 of leading capitalists and scientific men, who 

 determined to bring it before the public in a 

 large commercial waj-. 



Professor Humiston must hereafter go down 

 to posterity' as an inventor or discoverer as 

 great as Franklin, Morse, Fulton, or Sir 

 Ilumphrj^ Davj', and for the sufficient reason 

 that he has, after long and patient years of 

 study and research, with thousands of experi- 

 ments, discovered and perfected a combination 

 of antiseptics, harmless in their nature, which 



is a perfect substitute for ice, salt, sugar, 

 smoke, heat, alcohol, sulphur, — all the agents, 

 indeed, hitherto employed by man in attempt- 

 ing to save food. By the use of this preserva- 

 tive — which has been happih* named "Rex 

 Magnus" (for it is indeed the "great king" 

 of preservatives) — all organic matter can be 

 preserved from decay without the use of any 

 of the agents above enumerated. 



The process is cheap, simple, and perfect ; 

 and the results are certain, regardless of sea- 

 sons or climates. 



IV. THE NEW PROCESS. 



In brief, the new process is based upon 

 trulj' scientific principles, perfectly adapted to 

 the preservation of a great variety of animal 

 and vegetable products. The basis is a taste- 

 less, innocuous white powder, which is dis- 

 solved in water, forming a solution in which 

 the beef, or turkej', or mutton is immersed 

 and treated, or which may be injected into the 

 carotid arterj- of large animals as soon as the 

 blood ceases flowing. Bj* this simple and in- 

 expensive process, the article thus treated 

 may be hung up in ordinarj- temperature, re- 

 maining sweet and wholesome for an indefi- 

 nite term. ' Upon the closest scrutinj- and the 

 most practical and exhaustive experiments, 

 certain well-known business gentlemen of 

 Boston and vicinity have associated them- 

 selves into a corporation, under the name 

 of The Humiston Food-Preserving Companj-, 

 choosing Mr. J. Willard Rice of Boston, of the 

 well-known paper firm of Rice, Kendall, & Co., 

 as their president, and Dr. R. C. Flower, secre- 

 taiy and treasurer. This company has estab- 

 lished a large manufactory at Salem, Mass., 

 with a daily capacitj^ of five tons of Rex 

 Magnus, and their headquarters at 72 Ivilby 

 Street, Mason Building, Boston, where may 

 be seen and examined a most interesting 

 exhibit of fish, fowl, game, beef, mutton, and 

 like perishable articles of food, treated with 

 Rex Magnus, and exposed to the atmosphere 

 of a business office, and to the raj'S of the sun. 



The public will naturally wish to know the 

 means or the action hy which this Humiston 

 food-preservative performs its important work. 

 In fact, the question is already asked, " Why 

 is it that this preserves, perfectly sweet and 

 pure, for an indefinite period, meats, fruits, 

 vegetables, milk, butter, etc.?" 



It is the office of Rex Magnus to oppose 

 and prevent putrefaction b}' the utter destruc- 

 tion, or holding at bay, of those parasites that 

 prey upon organic matter. Meats, poultry, 



