REMARKS  ON  EXTRACTS  OF  MEAT. 
77 
or  two  London  manufacturers,  to  which  class  also  belonged  the 
so-called  uosmaz6me  glacee;"  thirdly,  the  more  permanent 
soft  extractive,  free  from  gelatine,  known  as  "  extractum  carnis, 
Liebig;"  and  fourthly,  a  somewhat  similar  article,  thickened 
with  starchy  matter,  and  evaporated  further,  so  as  to  form 
lozenges  or  tablets.  On  each  of  these,  he  would  say  a  few 
words : — 
Gillon's  "  essence  of  beef"  was,  he  believed,  exactly  what 
the  makers  professed,  a  carefully  prepared  beef-juice,  having 
many  advantages  over  anything  that  had  preceded  it  for  use  in 
the  sick-room.  There  were,  however,  drawbacks  in  connection 
with  it ;  it  was  insipid,  variable  in  strength,  contained  a  good 
deal  of  gelatine,  and  did  not  always  agree  with  invalids ;  still, 
it  was  a  convenient  and  valuable  basis  for  beef-tea,  and  it  was 
fortunate  that,  with  the  present  uncertain  supply  of  other  meat- 
extracts,  there  was  anything  so  reliable  to  be  obtained,  even  at 
a  somewhat  advanced  price. 
Of  the  gelatinous  preparations,  he  had  only  seen  the  "  con- 
centrated beef-teas,"  prepared  by  Messrs.  Fortnum  and  Mason 
and  Messrs.  Brand  &  Co.  These  were  supplied  of  the  consist- 
ence of  firm  jelly,  done  up  in  skins,  each  weighing  half  a  pound 
to  a  pound.  They  appeared  to  be,  essentially,  extracts  of  beef 
containing  the  gelatine,  and,  when  fresh,  answered  well  for  the 
preparation  of  beef-tea.  The  great  objection  to  them  was  the 
difficulty  of  keeping  them ;  in  a  damp  place,  the  bladders 
moulded  on  the  outside  ;  in  a  dry  place,  the  jelly  lost  water,  and 
after  a  time  became  quite  hard,  and  about  the  texture  of  glue, 
in  which  condition  it  was  dissolved  with  great  difficulty.  The 
price,  too,  was  against  their  general  introduction.  Recently,  a 
material  of  somewhat  similar  character  had  been  largely  imported 
into  France,  from  Rio  Grande,  under  the  name  of  "  osmazome 
glacee,"  of  which  he  regretted  that  he  had  not  yet  been  able  to 
procure  a  sample,  but  it  appeared  from  all  accounts  to  have  the 
worst  qualities  of  this  somewhat  objectionable  form  of  extract. 
The  third  substance  in  order,  the  so-called  "  extractum 
carnis,"  of  Liebig,  might  be  said  to  have  been  introduced  to  the 
notice  of  the  public  in  this  country  by  a  paper  in  the  "  Popular 
Science  Review  "  for  April,  1865,  and,  within  a  short  time,  the 
