CHANGES IN FRESH BEEF DURING COLD STORAGE. 11 
As the incubation period progressed there were some evidences 
of desiccation. There was no marked softening of the tissues, and 
there were no apparent evidences of muscular disintegration in any 
of the samples. The sample incubated 100 days was possibly some- 
what more tender than the sample incubated 7 days. All samples 
showed the brown outer zone and pink interior. With increasing 
age there was some change in the odor of the samples, the one incu- 
bated 100 days having a rather old but not unpleasant odor. The 
juice that had exuded from the samples appeared to become more 
watery as the experiment progressed. In the case of some samples 
where the meat had rested against the side of the dish in such a 
way as to pocket some of the juice and protect it from the air the 
juice had a purplish-red color, similar to but more intense than that 
of the interior of the meat samples, in contrast to the brown color 
of the juice exposed to the air. The significance of this observation 
concerning the changes in color of the meat and juice has been dis- 
cussed by one of the authors in another paper. 1 
A sample which had been incubated 103 days was broiled and sam- 
pled by three judges. The consensus of opinion as to the quality of 
the meat was about as follows : The meat is quite tender and has an 
old, highly acid, and rather disagreeable flavor which persists in the 
mouth after eating; the meat is not entirely objectionable but is not 
appetizing ; no ill effects were suffered from eating the meat. 
CHEMICAL STUDIES. 2 
The analytical methods used were those which preliminary investi- 
gations had shown to be adapted to the work in hand. All deter- 
minations were made in duplicate, and except where noted were made 
upon the original material. Averages of closely agreeing duplicates 
are reported. 
METHODS OF ANALYSIS. 
Moisture, — About 5 grams of the finely ground material were weighed from 
a weighing bottle into a previously weighed bottle cap and placed in a freezing 
compartment at a temperature of 25° F. At the end of 24 hours the bottle cap 
and its frozen contents were transferred to a well-chilled desiccator containing 
sulphuric acid, which was then evacuated to a pressure of from 3 to 5 milli- 
meters. Two days afterwards the samples were removed and weighed, after 
which the drying in vacuo was continued over fresh concentrated sulphuric 
acid until a constant weight was obtained. 
This method has the merit of guarding the sample against chemical changes 
during the course of the determination and of leaving the dried substance in a 
porous condition that greatly facilitates its complete extraction with ether. 
1 Hoagland, Ralph, Formation of Hematoporphyrin in Ox Muscle During Autolysis. 
Journal of Agricultural Research, v. VII, p. 41-45, Oct. 2, 1916. 
2 The authors desire to extend their thanks to Mr. Robert H. Kerr for having made the 
analyses of the fats which are reported in this papei'. 
