226 
ON  THE  MEAT  BISCUIT  OF  GAIL  BORDEN. 
tempted  another  method  of  rendering  the  abundance  of  his  adopt- 
ed State  serviceable  in  supplying  the  wants  of  other  countries, 
in  that  respect  less  favorably  situated.  In  doing  this,  Mr. 
Borden  has  hit  upon  a  preparation,  which,  though  it  may  not  be 
all  its  more  sanguine  friends  claim,  is  still  exceedingly  useful, 
and  merits,  perhaps,  the  encomium  which  Professor  Lindley,  in 
his  lecture  on  the  results  of  the  Great  Exhibition  of  1851,  in 
London,  assigns  to  it,  as  being  the  most  important  of  the  many 
wonderful  things  which  were  there  exposed  for  the  admiration 
of  the  English  public. 
In  the  preparation  of  the  Meat  Biscuit,  according  to  the  spe- 
cification of  the  patent,  meat  from  animals  in  good  condition, 
and  fresh  from  the  slaughter-house,  is  divided  into  small  pieces 
by  means  of  a  cutting  machine,  and  is  then  boiled  in  a  large 
quantity  of  water  for  sixteen  hours.  The  soup  thus  made  is 
passed  through  strainers  of  wire-cloth,  and  then  evaporated  by 
steam  heat  in  a  pan  or  tub,  or  by  means  of  the  vacuum-pan,  to 
the  consistence  of  thick  treacle.  Previous  to,  and  during  this 
process,  all  the  fat  which  rises  to  the  surface  is  removed.  With 
the  extract  thus  obtained,  good  flour  is  incorporated,  until  the 
whole  attains  a  consistence  proper  for  rolling  into  a  thin  layer, 
which  is  then  cut  up  by  a  common  biscuit  machine.  The  bis- 
cuit are  then  baked  in  a  slow  oven  until  they  are  thoroughly 
crisp  and  dry.  The  quantity  of  flour  employed,  according  to 
Mr.  Borden,  is  about  three  parts  by  weight  to  two  parts  of  the 
syrup,  and  eleven  pounds  of  beef  produce  one  pound  of  extract. 
The  biscuit  are  afterwards  ground  to  a  coarse  powder,  and 
packed  away  into  air-tight  casks  or  tin  cases. 
In  this  process,  it  will  be  observed,  that  in  the  first  place  all 
the  fat  is  removed  ;  in  the  second  place,  as  neither  fibrin  nor 
albumen  are,  to  any  extent,  soluble  in  boiling  water,  they  like- 
wise will  be  separated  by  the  wire  gauze  through  which  the 
decoction  is  strained.  The  extract  can  contain  then  only  the 
flocculi  of  coagulated  albumen,  which  escape  through  the  meshes 
of  the  strainers,  together  with  a  minute  portion  of  the  albumen, 
which,  according  to  Dr.  Bence  Jones,  is  altered  by  the  continued 
boiling,  being  rendered  soluble,  and  converted  into  what  Dr. 
Jones  terms  albuminose,  the  gelatine,  the  principles  kreatine, 
kreatinine,  inosinic  acid,  which  in  a  comparatively  recent  period, 
