•220 FOOD PRODUCTS AND CHEMICALS AT 
"muscle-forming" food. The millers of Victoria appear to be very 
skilful in their business, for this flour is exceedingly fine, and the 
" sharps" have been deprived of every trace of farina. The foods and 
beverages contributed by this colony include arrow- root, groats, bread, 
biscuits, maizena, maccaroni, semolina, vermicelli, pickles, sauces, butter, 
cheese, bacon, beef, confectionery, porter, ale, whiskey, wine, white spirit, 
rum, treacle, and sugar. One of the most interesting articles in the Vic- 
torian collection is the "mess-beef." It has been simply well-salted 
and Carefully packed in casks. After two days' steep it retains but a 
small proportion of salt, and possesses an excellent flavour, as well as 
being tender. This meat is a far more palatable food than the jerked 
beef which has hitherto been imported from South America ; and if it 
were imported in sufficient quantity and offered at a moderate price — 
say fourpence per pound— it would be certain to command a large sale. 
The colony of Victoria is one of the most distant dependencies of the 
British crown, and when beef can be conveyed without deterioration 
from a region so remote to this country, it seems strange that colonies 
nearer home should not supply the mother country with this prized 
commodity. Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick have extensive 
pastures, on which vast quantities of animal food could be cheaply pro- 
duced. As the sea passage between these countries and our own occu- 
pies less than a fortnight, beef and mutton could be imported from them 
in a fresh state, or but slightly pickled. At present the demand for 
animal food is very great ; and as the supplies of it are likely to be 
seriously diminished by the ravages of the cattle plague, a useful hint 
might be taken from the fact that good corned beef can be obtained from 
Australia. In the matter of wines there is a manifest improvement 
since 1862, both in character, variety, and manufacture. The malt 
liquors and whiskey are also on a par with the British. 
The other colonies are not nearly so well represented in this section 
as Victoria. From Nova Scotia the contributions are chiefly excellent 
collections of cereals and garden seeds, and some splendid samples of 
maple sugar. The preserved fish shown in this department were ad- 
judged a medal, as were also some cordials, of novel taste, being flavoured 
with the essence of native wild fruits. The agriculture of Canada is 
fairly represented by three illustrative collections, contributed by official 
bodies. A sample of tobacco, shown by Mr. M' Co Hum, is of extremely 
good quality, and is interesting inasmuch as this plant has only recently 
been cultivated in Canada. From the Mauritius there are numerous 
samples of refined sugar, all of the best quality. 
Amongst foreign countries Italy occupies the most prominent posi- 
tion as a contributor of food substances. Hams, Bologna sausages, and 
other kinds of preserved meat are largely exhibited in this department. 
Of these a large proportion has, unfortunately, been spoiled by the action 
of the sun, to which, these articles were much exposed, but the portion 
which escaped is of very good quality, though, perhaps, not, in some 
