EXTRACT OE MEAT FROM JERKED BEEF. 
o£ A 
Whether “ baking powders ” can with advantage be employed in the place of 
yeast in the making of bread, I am not prepared to say; but as German yeast is 
used in the Queen’s bakeries, and no other preparation of the kind is authorized 
in the Royal household, the statement put forward in some of the advertisements- 
relating to the baking powder, to the effect that it is “ recommended by the 
Queen’s baker,” is intended to imply more than the facts justify. 
But my remarks have chiefly to do with the part these “ pudding and egg 
powders ” play in the daily food of little children. It is a matter of more con¬ 
sequence than may appear at fkst sight; obscure cases of illness sometimes arise,, 
especially in the attacks of infancy, and some important light may be thrown 
upon such cases by inquiring into the nature of the food partaken of; and with 
these powders in view, a different meaning than heretofore may attach to an 
inquiry of the kind. 
The consideration which was prominent in my mind in addressing you was 
this,—that although these baking powders may be quite innocuous in themselves 
—perfectly free from au admixture of anything which could bring them under 
the charge of being adulterated—still a great wrong may be inflicted upon the 
public by the pretence that these compounds possess qualities which they do not 
contain, and although they may be used with advantage in the manner which 1 
have indicated, yet abuses in their employment must be guarded against, for to 
depend upon'such an ingredient, as containing the nutriment necessary for chil¬ 
dren, to the exclusion of the proper elements from their daily food, would lead to 
the most disastrous results, all the more serious because the true cause of the 
ailments incurred, might remain altogether unsuspected. 
I am, Sir, yours obediently, Sanitas. 
EXTRACT OE MEAT EROAI JERKED BEEF. 
TO THE EDITORS OF THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL. 
Gentlemen,—At the close of a discussion on Extract of Meat, delivered by 
Mr. H. B. Brady, at the meeting of the British Pharmaceutical Conference, 
Mr. Atkin inquired if the extract might not be prepared from jerked beef? 
Having some time since made a number of experiments in this direction, I have 
come to the conclusion that it cannot be well prepared from this source. There 
are three forms in which jerked beef has been imported—1st, resembling a 
piece of mahogany, having been subjected to heavy pressure and dried; 2ndly, 
as corned beef, having been soaked for a short time in brine, and packed in the 
hold of the vessel, with the further addition of dry salt; and 3rdly, in bales, 
surrounded by canvas, having been salted and subjected to a moderate pressure. 
The first of these is not now procurable, but the two latter are being sold 
in good condition (as also pressed mutton); they contain, however, from 13 to 
16 per cent, of salt, 14 per cent, being the average amount in the unpressed 
beef, and this is the kind which would be most likely to yield a good extract, as 
during pressure of the other kinds a portion of the lacteal and lymphatic fluids 
is necessarily lost. 
To obtain the extract, I cut small a quantity of the impressed salt beef, soaked 
it for a short time in eight times its weight of cold water, then heated the whole 
in a water bath near to boiling for an hour, removing any fat or albumen on its 
cooling, then strained off the liquor with slight pressure of the dregs, further 
concentrated the former, separated the salt by dialysis, and finally evaporated 
in a water bath to a proper consistence. It smelt good, but was not full- 
flavoured as the extract prepared from fresh meat, and in addition had a peculiar 
somewhat bitter taste, arising probably from some action of the salt on the meat 
