borden's extract of beep. 267 
inconceivably in quality. The fine aroma and the delicious nutritive 
juices obtained from the sweet prairie grass are all gone. You will find 
them all concentrated in this extract, which is not to be confounded 
with, nor mistaken for, any preparations of gelatine, made in Europe or 
this country, for there is nothing else like it. This is an American dis- 
covery, and a pure genuine American article. 
Gelatine was formerly thought to be nutritious. This is an error. 
It has been ascertained that it is not capable of contributing to any 
of the requirements of the organism, but is excreted mainly by the 
kidneys very soon after its absorption into the blood. 
By protracted boiling in water, the tendons, membranes, and cartil- 
ages, are converted into gelatine, and the same substance may be 
obtained in large quantities from bones, skin, hoofs, horns, &c. 
Soups, properly made, consist of the juices of meat extracted by 
maceration with hot water. If bones, cartilages and tendons, in large 
proportion, as is sometimes done, be added to the meat, and the boiling 
long continued, a soup is obtained, which, though it may appear sub- 
stantial, is really, in a great measure, devoid of nutritious qualities, 
consisting, as it must, chiefly of a solution of gelatine, which, alone, is 
incapable of supporting life. 
Preeminent among stimulating, supporting and reconstructive ali- 
ments are the juices of good beef ; and this for the simple reason that 
they embrace those indispensable constituents of an animal organization 
which are, as it were, the fuel and the forces needful to keep up healthy 
vital action ; and so they are able to contribute to the well-being of 
another animal organism to which the powers of life are more or less 
prostrated, by reason of the abstraction from it of these very elements in 
consequence of disease. 
This extract is a great improvement upon "meat biscuit," as 
originally made by Mr. Borden in Texas, which "received the com- 
mendation of scientific and practical men, both in America and Europe, 
and to which, after full investigation by a committee consisting of Dr. 
Lyon Playfair, Professor Solly, and other celebrated men, was awarded 
the Great Council Medal (the highest award made in any case) at the 
International Exhibition at London in 1851 — an honour shared only by 
three other contributors from the United States. The meat biscuit was 
used and commended by Dr. Kane, in his Arctic Expedition, as well as 
by many others upon various expeditions, long voyages, overland 
journeys across the continent, and in hospital and household use." 
Dr. J. V. C. Smith, former Mayor of Boston, now Professor of 
Anatomy in New York, gave his experience at some length in the 
soldiers' hospitals at the South with preparations of condensed food, 
made by various parties in the country who are anxious to introduce it 
into hospital use. He found generally that the patients relished the 
soups prepared from it once or twice, but soon tired, and none that he 
tried gave full satisfaction. For many purposes, such as travelling over 
