Food : its adulterations, and the methods for their detection / by Arthur Hill Hassall.

  • Hassall, Arthur Hill, 1817-1894.
Date:
1876
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Food : its adulterations, and the methods for their detection / by Arthur Hill Hassall. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

    20/968 (page 8)
    albuminous matters are coagulated, and of assisting in driA-ing out the air; as in tlie case of all jams and preserves, bottled fruits and vegetables, all tinned meats and vegetables; and, lastly, as in the coagulation of the albumen near the surface of a joint of meat. reduction of temperature—T\n& principle acts by retardmg decomposition, and the development and gro^nh of minute organisms, and, when the substance itself is actually frozen, also by the exclusion of air. Its eifect is very great, as is known to every householder, and is shown by the remarkable cases which have been recorded of the preservation of hmnan and animal bodies, and of meat, through a long series of years in regions of perpetual frost. Every one is acquamted ^dth the fact that perfectly well-preserved bodies of the Mammoth, a huge species of elephant, which died out ages ago, have been found imbedded in the ice of Siberia. ,^ In 1861 three hmnan bodies were discovered under the trlaciere des Bossons, near Chamounix, in a perfect state of preservation. Forty- one years ago, in 1820, these men had lost their lives by an avalanche. In 1824, the Arctic exploring ship ' Fury' was wi-ecked in the Prince Eegent's Inlet, and its stores were landed and placed upon_ the beach. After eight years' exposure. Sir John Ross found them in a perfect state of preservation, and after a further lapse of sixteen years, H.M.S. ' Investigator' found them in the same condition. Our ordinary ice-safes are constructed on this principle, and one of the latest proposals is to import meat on a large scale in specially-con- structed ice compartments or safes. By exclusion of the mV.—The most complete example of the employ- ment of this principle is furnished by the tinning of vegetable and animal substances, an operation whicli is thus conducted:—The meat or vegetable is put, with the addition of some water, into a suitable tin • the lid, having a small hole at the top, is now fastened down. It is heated to boiling, and as soon as the steam has driven out aU the air, the hole is closed by solder. In this case, the tin contains an atmo- sphere of steam. In other methods, the tin is fiUed with an inert gas, such as carbonic acid, or nitrogen. Other examples of more or less complete exclusion of the air have abeady been given. By the emjjloyment of sugar.—This substance is used extensively m the preservation of fruits, as Normandy pippins, pears, jams, preserves, veo-etable jellies, fruit syrups, essences and acids, bottled and crystal- lised fruits, and condensed milk. , , . . „ By co??ij?ress2ow.—This principle has been m operation for a great many years, combined in some instances with partial diymg, ^ath great success in the preservation of vegetable substances. An illustration of this method is afforded by the various vegetables preserved by the patent of Masson. . . , , , , ^ j x By removal of water. — This principle has also been resorted to with considerable effect either by itself or in conjunction with the employment of a certain temperature. It was applied especiaUy by