AMiTifmSf'}  On  Meat  and  the  Methods  of  Preserving  it.  127 
This  I  have  tested  by  actual  experiment.  Corresponding  quanti- 
ties of  raw  meat  and  meat  powder  were  digested  in  glass  flasks,  under 
the  influence  of  equal  quantities  of  diluted  muriatic  acid  and  pepsin  at 
a  temperature  of  about  110°  Fah.  While  the  contents  of  the  vessel 
containing  the  meat  powder,  after  six  hours'  treatment,  represented  a 
uniform,  though  not  quite  clear  fluid,  the  vessel  containing  the  raw 
beef  contained  yet  pieces  of  the  undigested  material.  A  dog  was  fed 
for  eight  days  with  a  daily  ration  of  five  ounces  of  meat  powder,  cor- 
responding to  about  one  pound  of  fresh  meat.  The  average  weight  of 
the  discharges  from  the  rectum  was  about  one-fourth  ounce  daily  (dried 
at  200°  Fah.),  the  maximum  being  8*5  grms.,  the  minimum  5*2  grms. 
Microscopical  examination  did  not  show  even  traces  of  undigested  meat 
fibre.  The  only  part  of  the  meat  found  undigested  were  the  relics  of 
the  sinews.  Pieces  of  wood,  cork,  paper  and  threads  of  the  carpets 
formed,  besides  the  mucous  membranes  and  constituents  of  the  bile, 
the  solid  part  of  the  excrements.  The  dog,  who  had  formerly  been 
fed  on  mixed  food,  grew  very  lively  during  this  treatment.  His 
weight  at  the  end  of  the  treatment  was  12J  pounds. 
As  no  apparatus  in  which  the  temperature  could  be  regulated  dur- 
ing the  drying  of  the  meat  existed,  I  have  been  obliged  to  construct 
one  according  to  my  own  ideas. 
This  apparatus  is  so  constructed,  that  the  air  is  sucked  through  it 
by  an  exhauster  moved  by  steam  power.  Two  valves,  one  for  hot  air, 
the  other  for  cold  air,  the  air  being  filtered  in  both  cases  through  cot- 
ton, and  both  acting  under  the  equal  outside  pressure,  supply  the  ap- 
paratus with  pure  dry  air  of  a  certain  temperature,  which  is  regulated 
by  the  aid  of  a  thermometer.  An  apparatus  of  this  kind  is  in  opera- 
tion at  my  laboratory. 
The  drying  room  of  this  apparatus  measures  27  cubic  feet.  The 
air  is  heated  by  steam  pipes  carrying  60  lbs.  pressure,  and  having  27 
square  feet  heating  surface.  The  exhauster  is  an  inverted  quadruple 
Fan  blower  of  the  Railway  Manufacturing  Company,  of  Rahway,  N.J., 
and  removes  by  420  revolutions,  25  cubic  feet  of  air  per  minute. 
By  increasing  the  heating  surface  and  using  a  larger  exhauster,  the 
apparatus  may  be  made  more  effective  yet,  so  that  100  lbs.  of  beef 
can  be  easily  dried  within  three  or  four  hours. 
Chemical  Laboratory,  128  Worth  St.,  New  York. 
— Amer.  Chemist,  Jan.,  1872. 
