74 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 Jury, 1898. 
Mr. Jonn M. Donatvson (Messrs. Armour and Co.) said he also desired — 
to express the pleasure he had experienced in listening to this paper. In 
talking of the care which was exercised in the manufacture in order to ensure — 
purity, Mr. Valentine might have referred to the difficulties encountered by — 
those who endeavoured to maintain a high standard in the face of competition 
by those who were less scrupulous. Many of them would like to see meat 
extract included in the list of articles to be dealt with by the Adulteration Bill 
now under consideration. It seemed to him that all articles of food, whether | 
carefully corked and capsuled or sold loose, should be subject to analysis, and — 
a high standard of purity maintained, otherwise their usefulness would be lost 
and publie faith in them would cease. j 
The Cuarrman said he thought probably the most important part of the 
paper was the strong recommendation that the extract itself should be made in 
the colonies and sent to Kurope without any admixture of gelatine, fibrinous — 
material, or other things which might be enumerated, the mention of some of ~ 
which might not be veryagreeable. Beef was distinctly better for the purpose ~ 
than mutton for many reasons; the melting point of mutton fat being an 
insuperable objection to making the best quality of extract from it. The 
important point was that the pure extract of meat should be sent over, and 
afterwards certain things might be added which would make it more useful — 
for dietetic purposes. He might remind them that properly made extract of — 
meat ‘administered to the human subject was of extreme value, but it could not — 
properly be termed a food. It was in the nature of a nerve stimulant, and — 
might be given to the human machine when working quietly, underworked 
rather than overworked. In dealing with a community that had to use either — 
its brains or its muscles, extract of meat was no more food than alcohol, by 
itself; it required to have something mixed with it which gave more force than 
the mere stimulating action of the soluble constituents of flesh, which were 
largely saline matters. There were a number of excellent preparations for 
that purpose, and the results were promising, though he must say that he had 
found some of the most vaunted preparations of the ieast value. That might 
be due to the fact that the necessary amount of fibrinous or gelatinous material 
to be added had not yet been exactly ascertained. The moment that you 
added to the extract any of these less easily digested substances you raised ‘the 
temperature of the machine, gave it more work to do, and got power out of it. 
He believed it would be possible to make a preparation from beef which would 
give practically all the power which could be got out of roast meat, but it 
would not be done ina moment. The facility with which good extract of meat 
could be made, the advantages of easy division or dosage, so that a single eup 
of bouillon or beef-tea could be made at a moment’s notice, and even cold 
water would do if you could not get hot, was a considerable step. If you had 
a perfect extract to begin with, and were able to add to it a sufficient amount 
of that material which went most largely to the formation of muscle—by 
which he did not mean glue, but a form of gelatine and of nitrogenous 
material, which was much more easily digested than glue—ithen you 
would have a preparation which would be of the greatest possible value 
as a food. He was not sure that in the case of those who had to 
get their living more by their brains than by physical work such a 
preparation would not be the best form of getting into the system the 
nitrogen required. When you came to athletic sports and hard outdoor 
work, the power of digesting other things came into play, and one could digest 
what in future would perhaps be termed a comparatively crude diet; but for 
those in big cities who had to use their brains much and work against time, 
such preparations would undoubtedly be of the greatest possible value. He 
would also like to give a note of warning with regard to the deterioration 
which had been referred to, for it would be a great misfortune if the nutritive 
value of the preparation were diminished in the attempt to put it on the market 
at the lowest possible price. He would conclude by proposing a hearty vote of 
thanks to Mr. Valentine, who had been exceedingly modest as to his own part 
in the work. “< g 
