198 
BIIITISII PHAIIMACEUTICAL CONFEllENCE. 
(1.) and (2.) Specimens made by ourselves as standards of comparison. 
One of these was made by cold water, the other with water heated to 
160° Fahrenheit, Both were prepared from the finest quality of English 
beef which could be procured, and on a suificiently large scale to ensure a 
practical value to the result. 
(3.) A specimen prepared in the Eoyal Pharmacy at Munich, kindly given 
to one of us by Professor Pettenkofer, on a recent visit to that city. This 
we look upon as having the seal of official sanction. 
(4.) The South American extract, prepared by Herr Giebert and sold v ith 
the approval of Baron Liebig. 
(5.) A portion of the first importation from Australia. 
(6.) The extract prepared by our friend Mr. Beynolds, from English meat. 
(7.) That supplied by Messrs. Gillon and Co., of Leith. 
(8.) The “extract of meat lozenges,” introduced by the same firm. 
We propose to offer a few remarks on the general characters of these ex¬ 
tracts before proceeding to describe in detail their microscopic appearances. 
(1.) Our own cold-water extract was j^i'epared by simply macerating care¬ 
fully selected lean meat, cut very small, in water at 60° Fahrenheit, for twelve 
iiours, and evaporating the liquid obtained, at a temperature considerably 
below the boiling-point, to the consistence of a soft extract. This was purely 
an experiment made for the purpose of future reference, and as tlie amount 
of extract obtained did not exceed 2 per cent, on the meat employed, it ob¬ 
viously could never answer in a commercial point of view, the cost being 
nearly 345. per pound for the flesh only, without any allowance for fuel and 
labour. The resulting extract is light-coloured, very fragrant, readily soluble, 
and highly hygroscopic in damp weather. The solution is pale, and of very 
pure flavour. 
(2.) Our hot-water extract was prepared similarly, by first macerating the 
meat in cold water for twelve hours, and then transferring the whole to a 
water-bath heated by steam. The temperature was afterwards gradually raised 
to 160° F., the fluid strained off while still hot, and evaporated carefully as 
before. The product is perceptibly different from the former, being someAvhat 
darker in colour and containing a small but sensible proportion of gelatinous 
matter. The flavour and odour were similarly unexcejDtionable, and the ten¬ 
dency to absorb moisture nearly as great as in the former sample. The weight 
of the product bore the relation of about 3 per cent, to the meat employed. 
(3.) Professor Pettenkofer’s sample was prepared according to the process 
contained in the Bavarian Pharmacopoeia, and at first was very similar in 
colour and flavour to our own hot-water extract. 
(4.) The South American preparation was a fair sample of what is at best 
a somewhat variable article. The colour is darker than our own, the amount 
of gelatine notably larger, and neither 'the smell nor taste at all equal to 
those above enumerated. 
(5.) The only sample imported from Australia which we have at present 
seen is similar to the South American, but not equal to it in point of flavour 
and colour. It has a muddy appearance, and contains, as we shall presently 
have to observe, a large ]3roportion of uncrystallizable extractive. 
(6.) That prepared by Messrs, Harvey and Beynolds is in point of flavour 
and general character very similar to the specimen we have described from 
Munich, and leaves little to be desired as a commercial article. 
(7.) Messrs. Gillon and Co.’s extract is worthy of note as a fairly satisfactory 
sample, but we have been somewhat disappointed in its microscopical re¬ 
actions. 
(8.) The “extract of meat lozenges” are pretty well known. We shall 
