FACTS AND OBSERVATIONS. 
807 
" With reference to the quality of Australian meat sub- 
mitted for report I am of opinion that it is of excellent 
quality, both mutton and beef, and well adapted for inmates 
of asylums and other large institutions. The change, how- 
ever, should be gradual, as it would take some time before 
the palate could adapt itself to meat prepared without either 
seasoning or flavour, as in the case of Australian preserved 
meats. For the aged and infirm inmates in the infirmary it 
would be an agreeable change from fresh killed meat ; but at 
the same time I fear they would soon become tired of it, and 
considerable waste would be the result. Its general applica- 
tion in the house for all classes of inmates would, I fear, be 
an unsuccessful experiment.” 
In answer to a Guardian the master said he did not think 
the meat possessed sufficient nutriment or gravy. The Board 
decided not to introduce the preserved meat into the house. — * 
Times. 
Preserved Kangaroo Meat. — Very recently the Food 
Journal observed that a new kind of preserved meat was being 
imported into this country from Australia, under the name 
of “ Kangaroo Venison.” It is described as being of good 
flavour by those persons who have given trial to it. 
<£ Kangaroo Venison” is, in reality, made from the tail of the 
animal. 
Mr. P. L. Simmonds, in his Curiosities of Food , under the 
head of “ Marsupialia, or Pouched Animals,” says, “ the 
kangaroo is par excellence the wild game of Australia, and 
coursing it gives active employment to its pursuers. The 
flesh of all the several species is good. The fore quarters, 
indeed, of the ( forester / the largest of the family, an animal 
which frequently weighs 200 lbs., are somewhat inferior, and 
are usually given to the dogs ; but from the hind quarters 
some fine steaks may be cut. When cooked in the same 
manner, they are little inferior to venison collops. 
6S The parts of the kangaroo most esteemed for eating are 
the loins and tail, which abound in gelatine, and furnish an 
excellent soup. 
“ Talk of ox-tail soup, ye metropolitan gourmands ! Com- 
mend us to the superb kangaroo-tail soup of Australia, 
made from the tail weighing some 10 or 12 lbs. of a full- 
grown c forester. 5 55 
Death of an Elephant from Lightning. — The 
Journal de Paris says that during a severe thunder storm, 
which raged in Paris and its environs on the evening of 
September 2nd, the electric fluid struck an elephant which 
