REMARKS  ON  EXTRACTS  OF  MEAT. 
79 
by  Herr  Giebert,  a  German  civil  engineer,  resident  in  Uruguay. 
This  gentleman,  after  consulting  Baron  Liebig,  and  receiving 
personal  instruction  in  the  mode  of  preparation  from  Professor 
Pettenkofer,  had  established  works  on  a  considerable  scale  in 
Uruguay,  from  which  all  the  extract  which  had  come  to  this 
country  had  been  derived.  The  specimens  were  excellent, 
though,  it  must  be  confessed,  not  quite  equal  in  point  of  flavor 
and  consistence  to  that  prepared  at  Munich,  but  there  seemed 
no  reason  why  it  should  not  become  so  after  longer  experience  in 
its  manufacture.  The  difference  between  the  two  was  chiefly 
attributable  to  faults  in  its  preparation,  which  were  by  degrees 
being  remedied.  The  nature  of  the  extract  obtained  from  the 
flesh  of  semi-wild  cattle  did  not  differ  from  that  obtained  from 
domesticated  oxen  ;  it  was,  however,  singular  that  the  proportion 
of  extractive  matter  to  flesh  was  greater  in  the  latter  than  in 
the  former.  Thus,  the  flesh  of  wild  cattle  yielded  about  three 
per  cent,  of  extract ;  that  of  domesticated  oxen  about  three  and 
eight-tenths  per  cent.,  or  about  one-fourth  larger  quantity. 
He  should  say  very  little  on  the  purely  chemical  portion  of 
the  subject ;  for,  though  he  had  made  a  considerable  number  of 
experiments,  hoping  to  determine  some  of  the  chemical  questions 
which  arose,  he  had  been  compelled  to  leave  them  in  a  half- 
finished  condition.  The  extract  was  soluble  in  boiling  water, 
about  one-half  soluble  in  alcohol,  and  partially  soluble  in  cold 
water.  It  appeared  to  contain  creatine,  potash,  lime,  and  mag- 
nesia, with  phosphoric  and  lactic  acids.  The  insoluble  residue, 
after  treating  with  cold  water,  appeared  to  be  chiefly  creatine 
and  phosphate  of  magnesia.  When  examined  under  the  micro- 
scope, the  extract  showed  large  crystals  of  creatine  and  phos- 
phates. One  very  singular  point  in  connection  with  it  was  the 
enormous  number  of  bubbles  of  gaseous  matter  held  in  suspen- 
sion ;  even  heating  the  extract  of  the  boiling-point  seemed  to 
make  but  little  difference  in  this  respect.  Whether  these  were 
attributable  to  air  mechanically  diffused  through  it  by  the  con- 
stant stirring  during  its  evaporation,  or  whether  they  were  the 
results  of  some  slow  decomposition  (nitrogen  or  carbonic  acid), 
he  was  not  able  to  say,  but  he  was  inclined  to  the  latter  belief. 
In  respect  to  its  nutritive  properties,  it  had  been  disputed 
