EXTRACT OF MEAT. 
299 
remember bow bigbly tbe refresbing cup of tea was prized 
wbicb_, by Miss Nigbtingale^s tbougbtfulness^ was given to tbe 
wounded men in tbe Crimea as tbey were borne away from 
tbe battle-field. A draught of tbe refresbing beverage upheld 
tbe fainting strength of many a poor fellow who^ but for that 
kindly help, would have sunk long before be reached tbe 
hospital. 
A fire and an iron kettle and some salt are always to be 
bad ; and tbese^ with a tin case of tbe precious meat-juice, 
are all that is needed to support tbe failing life of men who 
are battling v/itb their agony. Such a restorative might 
almost claim to rank with that nepenthe of modern days, 
tbe blessed chloroform. 
Tbe French physicians, MM. Proust and Parmentier — tbe 
latter chief of tbe medical staff of tbe French army — assert 
that, mixed with a little wine, its vivifying effect on tbe 
wounded is truly marvellous. 
In a case of violent bsemorrbage, followed by extreme 
exhaustion, it was given with all possible success. At first 
two cups of weak bouillon were taken daily, then some a little 
stronger — one-eighth of an ounce of extract to one pound of 
water — and for fourteen days this was tbe sole nourishment}. 
Though gastric fever bad supervened, the patient recovered 
strength, and in six weeks was able to walk a little. The 
veins under the eyes, which had been quite emptied by the 
excessive loss of blood, recovered their former state, and a 
healthy hue took the place of the former livid pallor. 
We have of late been unremitting in our endeavours to 
lessen the horrors and sufferings which war inevitably must 
cause, to do our very utmost to preserve in health those who 
go forth to maintain their country's honour, and to nurse 
tenderly, that we may save, those brave fellows whose frames 
have been shattered by bullets or disease. An additional means 
is now ours to ameliorate and to soothe. 
How invaluable, too, for the sick on ship-board, whose 
recovery fresh meat would so greatly further ! But to the 
sailor as yet strong and well it would also prove a preservative 
against illness; for it has been discovered that it is not 
salt which is the cause of scurvy, so prevalent during long 
voyages, but the absence of a great portion of the assimilating 
particles of the meat, two-thirds of which are lost in the brine. 
It is the want of creatine and creatinine, and phosphate of 
potash, and lactic acid — of that, in short, which may be called 
food for the nerves — which produces scurvy in men who feed 
on salt meat for any length of time. Supply such meat with 
some of its removed juice, and it ceases to render scorbutic. 
Even old junk may still be given to a crew, and would prove 
