240     PROF,  gamgee's  method  of  preserving  meat. 
PROFESSOR  GAMGEE'S  METHOD  OF  PRESERVING  MEAT. 
The  necessity  of  some  plan  for  preserving  meat  has  long  been 
felt.  Hence  it  is  that  every  plan,  as  soon  as  announced,  is 
seized  by  the  anxious  public.  If  we  may  believe  late  reports 
from  London,  this  desire  is  at  last  soon  to  be  gratified,  and  in 
a  manner  which  will  leave  nothing  desirable  unaccomplished.  It 
seems  that  Professor  Gamgee,  President  of  the  Albert  Veterinary 
College  of  London,  author  of  several  works  upon  the  cattle 
plague,  and  a  recognised  authority  in  such  matters,  discovered  a 
new  process  for  preserving  meats,  which  he  has  patented  in 
Europe  and  America.  The  process  is  simple  and  quite  inexpen- 
sive. The  animal,  when  practicable,  is  caused  to  inhale  carbonic 
oxide  gas.  Before  it  is  quite  insensible  it  is  bled  in  the  usual 
way.  When  dressed  the  car-cass  is  suspended  in  an  air-tight 
receiver,  the  air  exhausted,  and  the  receiver  filled  with  carbonic 
oxide  gas  ;  a  small  quantity  of  sulphurous  acid  gas  is  also  added. 
After  remaining  here  for  from  24  to  48  hours,  meat  may  be  re- 
moved, and  hung  in  a  dry  atmosphere;  it  will  keep  for  one,  two,  or 
three  months,  or  longer,  with  no  preceptible  change  in  taste  or 
appearance.  The  tests  of  the  method  thus  far  applied  have  been 
attended  with  success.  Beef  killed  in  London  in  March  last 
was  sent  to  New  York  in  June,  and  as  late  as  the  middle  of 
July  was  shown  to  a  prominent  butcher  in  Fulton  market,  who 
did  not  discover  that  it  was  other  than  ordinary  beef,  and  ex- 
pressed the  opinion  that  it  had  probably  been  killed  about  two 
days.  Mutton  killed  in  London  last  July,  and  sent  to  this  city 
soon  after,  is  now  perfectly  fresh,  and  one  piece  of  beef  kept 
for  ten  days  in  a  can  surrounded  by  water  at  a  temperature  of 
90  to  100  degrees,  came  out  perfectly  fresh.  The  process,  in 
the  opinion  of  eminent  chemists,  does  not  injure  the  meat  in  the 
least,  which  is  an  advantage  very  difficult  of  attainment,  even 
in  the  case  of  transportation  of  live  stock,  which  is  liable  to  the 
bad  effects  of  confinement  and  the  length  of  the  journey.  Among 
the  benficial  results  of  the  adoption  of  this  scheme  would  be  a 
better  supply  in  our  markets  of  wholesome  meat  and  at  a  desi- 
rably cheaper  rate.  It  is  expected  that  Prof.  Gamgee  will  soon 
visit  this  country  for  the  purpose  of  inaugurating  his  project. — 
Lond.  Chem.  News,  April  3,  1868,  from  American  Journal  of 
Mining. 
