Chapter XV: Front Matter (15)

=MEAL.= The substance of edible grain ground to powder, without being bolted or sifted. Barley meal and oat meal are the common substances of this class in England. In North America the term is commonly applied to ground Indian corn, whether bolted or not. (Goodrich.) The four resolvent meals of old pharmacy (_quatuor farinæ resolventes_) are those of barley, beans, linseed, and rye.

=MEALS.= The “periods of taking food, usually adopted, in conformity with convenience and the recurrences of hunger, are those which are best adapted to the purposes of health; namely, the morning meal, the midday meal, and the evening meal.” “That these are the proper periods for meals is evident from the fact of their maintaining their place amid the changes which fashion is constantly introducing.” “If we look at these periods in another point of view, we shall find an interval of four hours left between them for the act of digestion and subsequent rest of the stomach. Digestion will claim between two and three hours of the interval; the remaining hour is all that the stomach gets of rest, enough, perhaps, but not too much, not to be justly infringed.” (Eras. Wilson.)

=MEA′SLES.= _Syn._ RUBEOLA, MORBILLI, L. This very common disease is characterised by feverishness, chilliness, shivering, head-pains, swelling and inflammation of the eyes, shedding of sharp tears, with painful sensibility to light, oppressive cough, difficulty of breathing, and sometimes vomiting or diarrhœa. These are followed about the fourth day by a crimson rash upon the skin, in irregular crescents or circles, and by small red points or spots, which are perceptible to the touch, and which, after four or five days, go off with desquamation of the cuticle. The fever, cough, &c., often continue for some time; and unless there have been some considerable evacuations, either by perspiration or vomiting, they frequently return with increased violence, and occasion great distress and danger.

_Treat._ When there are no urgent local symptoms, mild aperients, antimonial diaphoretics, and diluents, should be had recourse to; but when the inflammatory symptoms are emergent, and the lungs are weak, especially in plethoric habits, blood may be taken. The cough may be relieved by expectorants, demulcents, and small doses of opium; and the diarrhœa by the administration of the compound powder of chalk and opium; the looseness of the bowels, however, had better not be interfered with, unless it be extreme.

Measles are most prevalent in the middle of winter, and though common to individuals of all ages, are most frequent amongst children. The plethoric, and those of a scrofulous habit, or one which has a syphilitic taint, suffer most from them.

Like the smallpox, the measles are contagious, and seldom attack the same person more than once during life. See RASH.

=MEASURE.= _Syn._ MENSURA, L. The unit or standard by which we estimate extension, whether of length, superficies, or volume. The following tables represent the values and proportions of the principal measures employed in commerce and the arts:——

TABLE I. _English Lineal Measures._

+---------+----------+----------+-----------+------------+--------------+
| Inches. | Feet. | Yards. | Poles. | Furlongs. | Miles. |
+---------+----------+----------+-----------+------------+--------------+
| 1· | ·083 | ·028 | ·00505 | ·00012626 | ·0000157828 |
| 12· | 1· | ·333 | ·06060 | ·00151515 | ·00018939 |
| 36· | 3· | 1· | ·1818 | ·004545 | ·00056818 |
| 198· | 16·5 | 5·5 | 1· | ·025 | ·003125 |
| 7920· | 660· | 220· | 40· | 1· | ·125 |
| 63360· | 5280· | 1760· | 320· | 8· | 1· |
+---------+----------+----------+-----------+------------+--------------+

⁂ The unit of the above table is the yard, of which no legal standard has existed since that established by the statute of 1824 was destroyed by the fire which consumed the two Houses of Parliament in 1834.

TABLE II. _English Measures of Superficies._

+----------+-----------+--------------+-------------+-------------+
| Square | Square | Poles. | Roods. | Acres. |
| Feet. | Yards. | | | |
+----------+-----------+--------------+-------------+-------------+
| | | | | |
| 1· | ·1111 | ·00367309 | ·000091827 | ·000022957 |
| 9· | 1· | ·0330579 | ·000826448 | ·000206612 |
| 272·25 | 30·25 | 1· | ·025 | ·00625 |
| 10890· | 1210· | 40· | 1· | ·25 |
| 43560· | 4840· | 160· | 4· | 1· |
+----------+-----------+--------------+-------------+-------------+

TABLE III. _English Measure of Volume.——The_ IMPERIAL
STANDARD, _and the relative value of its divisions,
including those used in Medicine, with their_
EQUIVALENTS _in avoirdupois and troy weight._

+------+-------------+------------+-------------+------------+-----------+-------+--------+-----------+-----------------------+
|[minims] fʒ | f℥ | O. | Oij. | C. | | | | |
|Minims| | | | | | | | | Equivalents in |
| or | Fluid | Fluid | | | | | | | _distilled water_, at |
|drops.| Drachms. | Ounces. | Pints. | Quarts. | Gallons. | Pecks.|Bushels.| Quarters. | 62° Fahr., in |
+------+-------------+------------+-------------+------------+-----------+-------+--------+-----------+/---------/\----------\|
| | | | | | | | | | Troy | Avoird. |
| | | | | | | | | | grains. | weight. |
| | | | | | | | | +-----------+-----------+
| 1·| ·01666666| ·00208333| ·00010416| ·00005208| ·00001302| —— | —— | —— | ·91146| |
| 60·| 1· | ·125 | ·00625 | ·003125 | ·00078125| —— | —— | —— | 54·6875 |_lb._ _oz._|
| 480·| 8· | 1· | ·05 | ·025 | ·00625 | —— | —— | —— | 437·5 | 1 |
| 9600·| 160· | 20· | 1· | ·5 | ·125 | ·0625| ·015625| ·001953125| 8750· | 1 4 |
|19200·| 320· | 40· | 2· | 1· | ·25 | ·125 | ·03125 | ·00390625 |17500· | 2 8 |
|76800·|1280· | 160· | 8· | 4· | 1· | ·5 | ·125 | ·015625 |70000· | 10 |
| |2560· | 320· | 16· | 8· | 2· | 1· | ·25 | ·03125 | —— | 20 |
| | |1280· | 64· | 32· | 8· | 4· |1· | ·125 | —— | 80 |
| | | | 512· |256· |64· |32· |8· |1· | —— | 640 |
+------+-------------+------------+-------------+------------+-----------+-------+--------+-----------+-----------+-----------+

⁂ The standard unit of the above table is the gallon, which is declared, by statute, to be capable of “containing ten pounds avoirdupois weight of distilled water, weighed in the air at the temperature of 62° Fahr., the barometer being at 30 inches.” The pound avoirdupois contains 7000 grains, and it is declared that a cubic inch of distilled water, under the above conditions, weighs 252·458 grains; hence the capacity of the imperial gallon and its divisions are as follows:——

Imperial gallon = 277·274 cubic inches.
” quart = 69·3185 ”
” pint = 34·65925 ”
Fluid ounce = 1·73296 ”
” drachm = ·21662 ”

‡‡‡ The imperial gallon is 1-5th larger than the old wine gallon,——1-60th smaller than the old beer gallon, and——1-32nd larger than the old dry-measure gallon.

TABLE IV. _French Metrical or Decimal Measures of
Length._

+----------+---------+------------------------------------------------+
| | | Equivalents in |
| | |/---------------------/\-----------------------\|
| Names. | Eq. in |English Inches,| English Long Measure, |
| | Mètres. |at 32° Fahr. | at 62° Fahr. |
+----------+---------+---------------+--------------------------------+
| | | |Miles. Fur. Yds. Feet. Inch.|
|Millimètre| ·001| ·03937 | |
|Centimètre| ·01 | ·39371 | |
|Décimètre | ·1 | 3·93708 | |
|Mètre | 1· | 39·37079 | 1 0 3·37 |
|Decamètre | 10· | 393·70790 | 10 2 9·7 |
|Hectomètre| 100· | 3937·07900 | 109 1 1·078|
|Kilomètre | 1000· | 39370·79000 | 4 213 1 10·3 |
|Myriamètre|10000· | 393707·90000 | 6 1 156 0 9·17 |
+----------+---------+---------------+--------------------------------+

⁂ The standard unit of the above table is the mètre, which has been determined to be 39·37079 inches, at 32° Fahr. (Capt. Kater); the English foot is taken at 62° Fahr. The true length of the mètre, reduced to the latter temperature, is 39·370091 English inches; a number which varies from that in the table only at the fourth decimal figure. It will be perceived that the principle of nomenclature adopted in applying the names, was to prefix the Greek numerals to the decimal multiples, and the Latin numerals to the decimal subdivisions.

TABLE V. _French Metrical or Decimal Measures of
Volume._

+----------+---------+---------+--------------------------------------+
| Names. | Eq. in | Eq. in | |
| | Litres. |English | Equivalent in English Measures. |
| | | Cubic | |
| | | Inches | |
+----------+---------+---------+--------------------------------------+
| | | |_Gall._ _Pints._ _Oz._ _Dr._ _Minims._|
|Millilitre| ·001| ·0610| 16·9 |
|Centilitre| ·01 | ·6103| 2 49· |
|Decilitre | ·1 | 6·1028| 3 4 10·36 |
|Litre | 1· | 61·028 | 1 15 1 43·69 |
|Decalitre | 10· | 610·28 | 2 1 12 1 16·9 |
|Hectolitre| 100· |6102·8 | 22 0 1 4 49· |
|Kilolitre | 1000· |61028· | 220 0 16 6 40· |
|Myrialitre|10000· |610280· |2201 (=275-1/8 _bushels_). |
+----------+---------+---------+--------------------------------------+

⁂ The standard unit in the above table is the litre, or the cube of the 1/10 of a mètre. The French centiare contains 1 square mètre,——the are, 100 do.,——the hectare, 10,000 do. The old Paris pint is equal to 1·678 English imperial pint.

‡‡‡ The capacity of solids and aëriform fluids is taken in cubic inches, or feet, in England. In France, the stere, or mètre cube, equal to 35·31658 English cubic feet, is the standard unit.

TABLE VI. _Miscellaneous Measures and their
Equivalents:_

Tea or coffee spoonful (average) = 1 fl. dr.
Dessert spoonful ” = 2 ”
Table spoonful ” = 4 ”
Wine-glassful ” = 2 fl. oz.
Tea-cupful ” = 5 ”
Breakfast-cupful ” = 8 ”
Tumblerful ” = 8 ”
Basinful ” = 12 ”
Thimbleful ” = 3/4 fl. dr.
Pinch (of leaves and flowers) ” = 1 dr.
Handful (of leaves and flowers) ” = 10 ”
Cubic inch of water, at 62° Fahr. = 252·458 gr.
Cubic foot of water, at 62° Fahr. = 62·32106 lb.
————
Line = 1/12 inch.
Barleycorn = 1/3 ”
Hand = 4 ”
Chain = 4 poles or 22 yards.

=MEAT.= The muscular tissue or flesh of the principal animals constituting the food of man may be said to be composed of the same proximate principles, and, given an equal digestibility and power of being assimilated, may be also said to have an equally nutritive value.

Since meat, however, is generally eaten with a certain amount of fat, which accompanies it in varying quantity, the capacity of the meat for forming muscle will, of course, be in inverse proportion to the amount of fat it contains; on the contrary, its power of raising the bodily temperature will be in direct proportion. Moleschott (quoted by Parkes) gives the following as the mean composition of fresh beef, as determined by all the Continental chemists:——

Water 73·4
Soluble albumen and hæmatin 2·25
Insoluble albuminous substances 15·20
Gelatinous substances 3·30
Fat 2·87
Extractive matter 1·38
Creatin 0·068
Ash 1·6

Dr Parkes remarks of the amount of fat given in the above analysis “that it is evidently too low.”

In the above table we recognise in the albuminous and gelatinous substances the source of the muscular tissue of the human organism. The ash contains the chlorides, carbonates, and phosphates of potassium, sodium, and calcium. From these salts are derived the hydrochloric acid of the gastric juice, the sodium of the bile, and the calcium phosphate and carbonate of the skeleton. Iron is also present, and this finds its way into the blood.

The flavour of meat is much influenced by the food of the animal. The flesh of the Pampas pig is found to be rank and disagreeable when the animal is killed in its wild state; if, however, the food be changed for the better, the flesh becomes altogether different and quite eatable. The pork of pigs fed on flesh is said to give off a strong odour, the fat at the same time being unusually soft. Soft fat is also said to form in animals that have been fed on oily foods.

When meat is roasted, the fire gradually coagulates the albumen of the joint, the coagulation commencing at the surface, and spreading by degrees to the interior. Unless the roasting be continued long enough, sufficient heat will not reach the parts nearest the centre to effect their coagulation; and if under these circumstances the meat be removed from the fire, the uncoagulated or inner parts will present the well-known red and juicy appearance known as ‘underdone.’ Although a certain quantity of the gravy (which consists of the soluble and saline ingredients) escapes in the process, the greater part is retained. The brown agreeably sapid substance formed on the outside of the meat is known as _osmazome_, and which is concentrated gravy. The melting fat which collects below forms the dripping. The loss in the meat is principally water.

The chemical effects of boiling are explained under the article devoted to that subject.

Meat generally loses from 30 to 40 per cent., and sometimes as much as 60 per cent. in weight, by cooking.

The amount of bone varies, being seldom less than 8 per cent. It amounts in the neck and brisket to about 10 per cent. and from one third to sometimes half the total weight in shins and legs of beef.

The most economical parts are the round and thick flank, next to these the brisket and sticking-piece, and lastly, the leg.

In choosing mutton and pork, selection should be made of the leg, after this of the shoulder.[26]

[Footnote 26: Letheby.]

“Oxen,” says M. Bizet, “yield of _best quality_ beef 57 per cent. of meat, and 43 per cent. waste. The waste includes the internal viscera, &c. _Second quality_ of beef, 54 per cent. meat and 46 per cent. waste; _third quality_ beef, 51 per cent. meat and 49 per cent. waste. In milking-cows, 46 per cent. meat and 54 per cent. waste. Calves yield 60 per cent. meat, and 40 per cent. loss; and sheep yield 50 per cent. meat, and 50 per cent. loss.” Dr Parkes differs from Bizet as to the latter’s value of the meat of the calf. He says the flesh of young animals loses from 40 to 50 per cent. in cooking.

It seems to be agreed, however, that animals when slaughtered should be neither too young nor too old. The flesh of young animals, although more tender, is less digestible than that of older ones; it is also poorer in salts, fat, and an albuminous substance called _syntonin_.

=Consumption of Meat.= Dr Letheby, writing in 1868, says that in London “the indoor operatives eat it to the extent of 14·8 oz. per adult weekly; 70 per cent. of English farm labourers consume it, and to the extent of 16 oz. per man weekly; 60 per cent. of the Scotch, 30 of the Welsh, and 20 of the Irish also eat it. The Scotch probably have a larger allowance than the English, considering that braxy mutton[27] is the perquisite of the Scotch labourer; but the Welsh have only an average amount of 2-1/2 oz. per adult weekly; and the Irish allowance is still less. It is difficult to obtain accurate returns of the quantity of meat consumed in London; but if the computation of Dr Wynter is correct, it is not less than 30-3/4 oz. per head weekly, or about 4-1/2 oz. per day for every man, woman, and child. In Paris, according to M. Armand Husson, who has carefully collected the _octroi_ returns, “it is rather more than 49 oz. per head weekly, or just 7 oz. a day.” Bondin states that throughout France the consumption is about 50 grammes daily, or under 1-3/4 oz.

[Footnote 27: See further on.]

Dr Letheby, in his work ‘On Food,’ gives the following as the characteristics of good meat:——

“1st. It is neither of a pale pink colour nor of a deep purple tint, for the former is a sign of disease, and the latter indicates that the animal has not been slaughtered, but has died with the blood in it, or has suffered from acute fever.

“2nd. It has a marked appearance from the ramifications of little veins of fat among the muscles.

“3rd. It should be firm and elastic to the touch, and should scarcely moisten the fingers——bad meat being wet, and sodden and flabby, with the fat looking like jelly or wet parchment.

“4th. It should have little or no odour, and the odour should not be disagreeable, for diseased meat has a sickly cadaverous smell, and sometimes a smell of physic. This is very discoverable when the meat is chopped up and drenched with warm water.

“5th. It should not shrink or waste much in cooking.

“6th. It should not run to water, or become very wet on standing for a day or so, but should, on the contrary, dry upon the surface.

“7th. When dried at a temperature of 212° or thereabout, it should not lose more than from 70 to 74 per cent. of its weight, whereas bad meat will often lose as much as 80 per cent.

“Other properties of a more refined character will also serve for the recognition of bad meat, as that the juice of the flesh is alkaline or neutral to test-paper, instead of being distinctly acid, and the muscular fibre, when examined under the microscope is found to be sodden and ill-defined.”

_Unsound meat——diseased meat._ Dr Letheby, in his ‘Lectures on Food,’ published in 1868, states that the seizure and condemnation, in London, of meat unfit for human food, during a period extending over seven years, amounted to 700 tons per annum, or to about 1-750th of the whole quantity consumed. These 700 tons he dissects into lbs. as follows:——“805,653 lbs. were diseased, 568,375 lbs. were putrid, and 193,782 lbs. were from animals that had not been slaughtered, but had died from accident or disease. It consisted of 6640 sheep and lambs, 1025 calves, 2896 pigs, 9104 quarters of beef, and 21,976 joints of meat.”

He admits, however, that this amount, owing to the difficulties and inefficiency of the mode of supervision, bears a very insignificant proportion to the actual quantity which escaped detection, and which was, therefore, partaken of as food. Professor Gamgee says that one fifth of the meat eaten in the metropolis is diseased. In 1863 the bodies of an enormous number of animals suffering from _rinderpest_, as well as from _pleuro-pneumonia_, were consumed in London; and we know that thousands of sheep die every year, in the country, of _rot_; the inference from which latter fact is that, since the carcases are neither eaten there nor buried on the spot, they are sent up to, and thrown upon, the London markets. The worst specimens find their way to the poorer neighbourhoods, where, as might be expected, their low price ensures a ready sale for them. These sales, it is said, mostly take place at night.

The above statements, which, if we exclude Professor Gamgee’s figures, do not solve the problem as to the quantity of unsound meat consumed in London, not unreasonably justify the assumption that it is very considerable; and this being admitted, we should be prepared to learn that it was a fertile source of disease of a more or less dangerous character.

There is, however, such extensive divergence in the various data bearing upon this point, that no satisfactory solution of it can be said to be afforded. Thus, Livingstone states that, when in South Africa, he found that neither Englishmen nor natives could partake of the flesh of animals affected with _pleuro-pneumonia_ without its giving rise to malignant carbuncle, and sometimes, in the case of the natives, to death, and Dr Letheby attributes the increased number of carbuncles and phlegmons amongst our population to the importation from Holland of cattle suffering from the same disease. On the contrary, Dr Parkes says he was informed, on excellent authority, that the Caffres invariably consume the flesh of their cattle that die of the same epidemic, without the production of any ill effects. Again, there are numerous well-attested cases in which the flesh of sheep which have died from _braxy_ (a disease that makes great ravages amongst the flocks in Scotland) is constantly eaten without injurious results by the Scotch shepherd. The malady causes death in the sheep from the blood coagulating in the vital organs, and the sheep that so dies becomes the property of the shepherd, who, after removing the offal, is careful to cut out the dark congealed blood before cooking it.[28] Sometimes he salts down the carcase. In cases, however, where thorough cooking or an observance of the above precautions have been neglected, very dangerous and disastrous consequences have ensued. During the late siege of Paris large quantities of the flesh of horses with glanders appear to have been eaten with no evil consequences: and Mr Blyth, in his ‘Dictionary of Hygiène,’ quotes a similar case from Tardieu, who states that 300 army horses affected with glanders (_morve_) were led to St Germain, near Paris, and killed. For several days they served to feed the poor of the town without causing any injury to health.

[Footnote 28: Letheby.]

A similar exemption from any evil effect following the consumption of diseased flesh is recorded by Professor Brucke, of Vienna.

Not many years since the cattle of a locality in Bohemia, being attacked by _rinderpest_, were ordered by the Government to be slaughtered, after which they were buried. The poor people dug up the diseased carcases, cooked the meat, and ate it, with no injurious result.

Parent Duchâtelet cites a case where the flesh of seven cows attacked with rabies was eaten without injury; and Letheby states that pigs with scarlet fever and spotted typhus have been used for food with equally harmless results. The flesh of sheep with smallpox had been found to produce vomiting and diarrhœa, sometimes accompanied with fever.

One obvious suggestion of the immunity from disease recorded in part of the cases above given is that the injurious properties of the flesh had been destroyed by the heat to which it had been subjected in the process of cooking, combined with the antiseptic and protective power of the gastric juice. The subject, however, has not been sufficiently examined to warrant the conclusion that every kind of unsound meat may be rendered innocuous by culinary means.

But even were this so the idea of partaking of meat which had once been unsound, from whatever cause, and, as in the instances above quoted, with the pustules of smallpox, the spots generated by typhus, and the rash of scarlet fever upon it, becomes unspeakably repulsive and revolting. But we must not be misled because of the difficulty of reconciling the contradictory statements above given, nor by the evidence some of them appear to afford as to the innocuous character of diseased meat, since it is just possible that closer and more prolonged observation of the facts may have led to different conclusions. Thus, for example, pork, infested with that formidable entozoon, the _Trichina spiralis_, had been partaken of for years, under the impression that it was a perfectly healthy food, until Dr Zencker, of Dresden, discovered that the parasite was the cause of a frightful disease, which he called _Trichinosis_, and which had hitherto baffled all attempts to find out its origin. Dr Letheby, writing on this subject, says: “I have often had occasion to investigate cases of mysterious disease, which had undoubtedly been caused by unsound meat. One of these, of more than ordinary interest, occurred in the month of November, 1860. The history of it is this:——A forequarter of cow-beef was purchased in Newgate Market by a sausage-maker who lived in Kingsland, and who immediately converted it into sausage-meat. Sixty-six persons were known to have eaten of that meat, and sixty-four of them were attacked with sickness, diarrhœa, and great prostration of vital powers. One of them died; and at the request of the coroner I made a searching inquiry into the matter, and I ascertained that the meat was diseased, and that it, and it alone, had been the cause of all the mischief.”[29]

[Footnote 29: Letheby, ‘Lectures on Food,’ Longman and Co.]

Here are two instances in which but for subsequent investigation the evil effects narrated would not have been debited to diseased meat, but to some other cause.

“One of the principal and by far the most prolific sources of food-poisoning is the sausage, the eating of which, in Germany more particularly, has caused the death of a number of persons.

The sausages in which these poisonous qualities occasionally develop themselves are the large kinds made in Wurtemburg, in which district alone they have caused the deaths of more than 150 out of 400 persons during the last fifty years. The poisonous character of the sausage is said to develop itself generally in the spring, when it becomes musty, and also soft in the interior. It is then found to be acid to test paper, and to have a very disagreeable and tainted flavour.

Should it be eaten when in this state, after from about twelve to twenty-four hours the patient is attacked with severe intestinal irritation in the form of pains in the stomach and bowels by vomitings, and diarrhœa.

To these symptoms succeed great depression, coldness in the limbs, weak and irregular pulse, and frequent fainting fits. Should the sufferer be attacked with convulsions, and difficult respiration, the seizure generally ends in death. The nature of the poisonous substance that gives rise to these effects in the sausage has not yet been determined. Liebig believed them to be due to the presence in the meat of a particular animal ferment, which he conceived acted on the blood by catalysis, and thus rendered it diseased. Others have surmised that a poisonous organic alkaloid may have been produced in the decaying meat; and others again that the effects may have been caused by some deleterious substance of a fatty nature. M. Van den Corput was of opinion that the mischief was due to the presence in the meat of a poisonous fungus, which he calls a _sarcina botulina_. This last theory receives support from the fact that a peculiar mouldiness is always to be observed in these dangerous sausages, and that this is coincident with the development of their poisonous qualities.

Several effects have been produced by other kinds of animal food——as veal, bacon, ham, salt-beef, salt-fish, cheese, &c., and the food has usually been in a decayed and mouldy condition. It would be tedious if I were to detail, or even to enumerate the cases recorded by medico-legal writers; but I may perhaps refer to a few of them. In 1839 there was a popular fête at Zurich, and about 600 persons partook of a repast of cold roast veal and ham. In a few hours most of them were suffering from pain in the stomach, with vomiting and diarrhœa; and before a week had elapsed nearly all of them were seriously ill in bed. They complained of shiverings, giddiness, headache and burning fever. In a few cases there was delirium, and when they terminated fatally there was extreme prostration of the vital powers. Careful inquiry was instituted into the matter, and the only discoverable cause of the mischief was incipient putrefaction and slight mouldiness of the meat.” A case is recorded by Dr Geisler of eight persons who became ill from eating bacon which was mouldy; and another by M. Ollivier of the death of four persons out of eight, all of whom had partaken of partially decomposed mutton.

If some of the foregoing statements fail to demonstrate that the act of partaking of diseased meat is a necessary source of danger to health, there can be no such doubt as to the pernicious and perilous consequences which ensue when meat is consumed containing in its tissues the ova and larvæ of certain parasitic creatures. If the fleshy part of a piece of measly pork be carefully examined, it will be found to be more or less dotted about with a number of little bladder-like spots, in size about as large as a hemp-seed.[30]

[Footnote 30: See article “Cysticerci.”]

If now we carefully rupture one of these little bodies or cysts, there will be found in it a minute worm, which under the microscope will be seen to have a head from which proceed a number of little hooks that perform a very disagreeable office should the parasite be taken into the human stomach by any one making a meal off measly and undercooked pork. For, then, being liberated from its sac, or nidus, by the action of the gastric juice of the stomach on this latter, the creature passes into the intestines. To these it attaches itself by means of the hooklets on its head, and instantly becomes a tapeworm, which grows by a succession of jointed segments it is able to develop, and each one of which is capable of becoming a separate and prolific tapeworm filled with countless eggs.

These eggs reach the land through the agency of manure (for they are found in the intestines of the horse), and from this source they get into the stomachs of pigs and oxen, where they hatch not into tapeworm, or _tenia_, but, travelling through the animal’s stomach, burrow into its muscular tissue. Here they establish and envelop themselves in the little cyst or small bladder-like substance, whose presence, as explained, constitutes the condition called “measly” pork, and here they remain dormant until such time as, taken into the stomach, they may again become tapeworms, to be again expelled and to perpetuate by their ova the round of metamorphosis. From the circumstance of their being met with enclosed in little sacs or cysts, these parasites have been termed _Cysticerci_. The variety of them we have just been considering as occurring in pork is called the _Cysticercus cellulosæ_, whilst the tapeworm to which it gives rise is known as the _Tinea solium_.

Another variety of _Cysticercus_ is met with in the flesh of the ox, the cow, and the calf. In the human body this also develops into a tapeworm called the _Tinea mediocanellata_. Tapeworm is a very common disease in Russia and Abyssinia, and its prevalence is no doubt due to the habit of giving the children in those countries raw meat to suck, under the impression that the child is strengthened in consequence. From experiments made by Dr Lewis it was found that a temperature of 150° F., maintained for five minutes, was sufficient to destroy these cysticerci.

Another and more formidable entozoon, communicable by unsound meat, is the _Echinococcus hominis_,[31] which represents one of the metamorphoses of the _Tinea echinococcus_, the tapeworm of the dog. In Iceland, where a sixth of the population are said to suffer from the ravages of the _Echinococcus hominis_, it is the custom to feed the dogs on the flesh of slaughtered animals affected with this parasite, which in the body of the dog develops into a tapeworm. The innumerable eggs which the worm produces are, however, incapable of being hatched in the dog’s intestines. They have to find another and more suitable habitat, and this is secured for them as follows:——Segments of the tapeworm, with their countless ova, being voided with dog’s excrement, fall into the running water, and on to the fields and pastures, whence they gain their entrance into the stomachs of human beings, oxen, and sheep. Here the eggs become hatched, not into tapeworms, but into _Echinococci hominis_, or prospective tapeworms. Burrowing through the membranes of the stomach, the echinococcus establishes itself most commonly in the liver, but not unfrequently in the spleen, heart, lungs, and even the bones of man. In the animal economy they enclose themselves in little sacs or cysts, and give rise to the most alarming and painful diseases, which hitherto have proved incurable. They attack the brain in sheep, and are the cause of the disease known as “staggers.” Sheep are also infested by another parasite known as the _Distoma hepatica_, the ravages of which give rise in the sheep to that devastating disease——“the rot.” The creature is also known by the name of the “liver-fluke,” since it principally attacks this important organ in the animal. The liver-fluke is of constant occurrence in the livers of diseased sheep, and unless destroyed by thorough cooking will of course pass into the human economy. The embryo fluke gains admission to the sheep’s body through the instrumentality of small snails, to the shells of which it attaches itself. In wet weather the snails crawl over the grass of the meadow which forms the pastures of the sheep, and are swallowed by it. Once in the sheep’s stomach the embryo becomes a fluke, and commences its depredations on the animal’s liver. After this, the reason why the rot attacks sheep after a continuance of wet weather will be evident.

[Footnote 31: See article “Echinococcus hominis.”]

The most terrible of all the meat parasites is a minute worm about 1/30th of an inch long, found in the flesh of pork. This creature, which is named the _Trichina spiralis_ (from the form it assumes when coiled up in the little cyst or capsule which encloses it), when it gets conveyed into the human stomach with improperly cooked or underdone pork, soon becomes liberated from its confinement owing to the destruction of its envelope by the gastric juice. Once in the stomach the parasite grows rapidly, giving birth to innumerable young _trichinæ_, which, by first boring through the membranes of the alimentary canal, pierce their way through the different parts of the body into the muscular tissue, where they become encysted, and where they remain until conditions favorable to their liberation again occur.

Until such time, however, as they have become enclosed in the cyst, their movements give rise to indescribable torture, and to a disease known as _trichinosis_, of which it has been estimated more than 50 per cent. of those attacked by it die. The symptoms of trichinosis commence with loss of appetite, vomiting, and diarrhœa, succeeded after a few days by great fever——resembling, according to Dr Aitken, that of typhoid or typhus. As might be expected the pains in the limbs are extreme. Boils and dropsical swellings are not unusual concomitants of the malady.

Hitherto this frightful disease has been mostly confined to Germany, where there have been several outbreaks of it since its discovery in 1860 by Dr Zencker. Feidler says that only free _trichinæ_ are killed by a temperature of 155° F.; and that when they are in their cysts a greater heat may be necessary. From what has been said the importance of efficient cooking must become manifest. There must always be risk in underdone pork, whether boiled or roasted. In the pig, the trichina, if present, may always be found in the muscles of the eye. In Germany the makers of pork sausages are now said to have these muscles subjected to a microscopic examination previous to using the meat, which, of course, is rejected if the examination has been unfavorable.

The trichinæ, if present in the flesh of pork, may be seen as small round specks by the naked eye, the surrounding flesh itself being rather darker than usual owing to the inflammation set up in it. All doubt, however, on this point may be removed by having recourse to the microscope. Dr Parkes says a power of 50 to 100 diameters is sufficient, and that “the best plan is to take a thin slice of flesh, put it into liquor potassæ (1 part to 8 of water), and let it stand for a few minutes till the muscle becomes clear; it must not be left too long, otherwise the trichinæ will be destroyed. The white specks come out clearly and the worm will be seen coiled up. If the capsule is too dense to allow the worm to be seen, a drop or two of weak hydrochloric acid should be added. If the meat be very fat a little ether or benzine may be put on it in the first place.”

_Legislation relative to meat inspection and seizure._——The law recognising the importance of the supply of pure and wholesome meat gives considerable powers to the different sanitary officers who are appointed to inspect it. See FOOD, INSPECTION OF.

=MEAT, AUSTRALIAN.= See MEAT PRESERVING.

=MEAT BISCUITS.= _Prep._ 1. The flour is mixed up with a rich fluid extract of meat, and the dough is cut into pieces and baked in the usual manner.

2. Wheaten flour (or preferably the whole meal), 3 parts; fresh lean beef or other flesh (minced and pulped), 2 parts; thoroughly incorporate the two by hand-kneading or machinery, and bake the pieces in a moderately heated oven. Both the above are very nutritious; the last more especially so. 1 oz. makes a pint of good soup.

=MEAT, COLD, to Stew.= Let the cold meat be cut into slices about half an inch thick. Take two large-sized onions, and fry them in a wineglass of vinegar; when done, pour them on to the meat; then place the whole in a stewpan, and pour over sufficient water to cover it. After stewing about half an hour add sufficient flour and butter to thicken the gravy, and also pepper, salt, and ketchup, to flavour; then let it simmer gently for another half an hour. Serve up with a little boiled rice around it.

=MEAT EXTRACTS.= Some preparations of this nature have been already noticed under the heads ESSENCE and EXTRACT; the following are additional and highly valuable formulæ:——

_Prep._ 1. (Dr Breslau.) Young ox-flesh (free from fat) is minced small, and well beaten in a marble mortar, at first alone, and afterwards with a little cold or lukewarm water; the whole is then submitted to the action of a press, and the solid residuum is treated in the same manner, with a little more cold water; the juice (reddish in colour) is now heated to coagulate the albumen, strained, and finally evaporated in a water bath to the consistence of an extract. As ordinary flesh contains only 1% of kreatine, while that of the heart, according to Dr Gregory, contains from 1·37% to 1·41%, this is the part employed by Dr Breslau. The product possesses an agreeable odour and taste; and is easily soluble in water.

2. (Falkland.) Fresh lean beef (or other flesh), recently killed, is minced very fine, and digested, with agitation, in cold water, 1 pint, to which hydrochloric acid, 6 drops, and common salt, 1 dr., have been added; after about an hour the whole is thrown upon a fine hair sieve, and the liquid portion allowed to drain off without pressure, the first portions that pass through being returned until the fluid, at first turbid, becomes quite clear and transparent; when all the liquid has passed through, cold water, 1/4 pint, is gently poured on, in small portions at a time, and allowed to drain through into that previously collected. The product is about 3/4 pint of cold extract of flesh, having a red colour, and a pleasant, soup-like taste. It is administered cold to the invalid——a teacupful at a time, and must on no account be warmed, as the application of even a very slight heat causes its decomposition and the separation of a solid mass of coagulated albumen. This cold extract of flesh is not only much more nutritious than ordinary beef tea, but also contains a certain quantity of the red colouring matter of blood, in which there is a much larger proportion of the iron requisite for the formation of blood-particles. The hydrochloric acid also greatly facilitates the process of digestion. This formula is a modification of the one recently recommended by Liebig for the preparation of a highly nutritive and restorative food for invalids.

3. (EXTRACTUM SANGUINIS BOVIS——Dr Mauthner.) Pass fresh blood (caught from the slaughtered animal) through a sieve, evaporate it to dryness in a water bath, and when cold rub it to powder.——_Dose_, 10 to 20 gr., or more, per diem, in a little water.

_Obs._ The above preparations are intended to supersede the inefficient compounds——beef tea, meat soups, &c.——during sickness and convalescence. MM. Breslau and Mauthner describe their extracts of flesh and blood as being peculiarly advantageous in scrofulous exhaustion, exhaustion from anæmia, diarrhœa, &c. The extract of Falkland or Liebig is represented as having been employed both in the hospitals and in private practice at Munich with the most extraordinary success. It is said to be capable of assimilation with the least possible expenditure of the vital force.

=Meat, Fluid.= This preparation consists of lean meat, in which the albumen has been changed so as to be non-coagulable by heat, and the fibrin and gelatin from their normal insoluble condition to one admitting of their being dissolved in water.

In this soluble condition, the first stage effected in stomach digestion, the several bodies are known as peptones or albuminose, and the proportion of their simple constituents remains the same as in ordinary fibrin, albumen, and gelatin.

The alteration is effected by finely mincing meat and digesting it with peptone, hydrochloric acid, and water, at a temperature of about 100° Fahr., until dissolved.

The solution is then filtered, the bitter principle, formed during the digestion, removed by the addition of a little pancreatic emulsion, and the liquor, which has been neutralised by the addition of carbonate of soda, evaporated to a thick syrup or extractive consistence.

Fluid meat is the only preparation which entirely represents, and yields the amount of nourishment afforded by, lean meat; it differs altogether from beef tea and extracts of meat, as all these contain only a small portion of the different constituents of meat. A patent has been granted to its inventor, Mr Darby.

=Meat, Liebig’s Extract of.= _Syn._ EXTRACT OF FLESH, EXTRACTUM CARNO. This preparation is an aqueous infusion evaporated to the consistence of a thick paste, of those principles of meat which are soluble in water.[32]

[Footnote 32: “Altered as they be by the Application of Heat.” Deane and Brady, ‘Pharmaceutical Journal,’ Oct. 1866.]

It is chiefly composed of alkaline phosphates and chlorides, a nitrogenous crystalline base known as kreatine, various extractive matters, which it has been surmised may have originated in the decomposition of certain nitrogenous bodies, and possibly of a small quantity of lactic acid, as it contains neither albumen nor fibrin, two of the most important and nutritious ingredients of flesh; it must not, therefore, be regarded as a concentrated form of meat. Liebig says that it requires 34 lbs. of meat to yield 1 lb. of this extract——a statement which, as Dr Pavy justly remarks, shows how completely the substance of the meat which constitutes its real nutritive portion must be excluded. This absence of direct nutrient power, now admitted by physiologists, whilst disqualifying the extract as a substitute for meat, does not, however, preclude its use in certain cases of indisposition requiring the administration of a stimulant or restorative, in which circumstances it has been found a useful and valuable remedy, and has been suggested as a partial substitute for brandy where there is considerable exhaustion or weakness, accompanied with cerebral depression and lowness of spirits. In this latter respect its action seems analogous to strong tea.

In the vast pastures of Australia and the pampas of South America are countless herds of oxen and sheep, whose numbers far exceed the food requirements of the comparatively sparse population of those districts. The fat, horns, hoofs, bones, skins, and wool of these cattle, which form the chief part of the wealth of those countries, are exported principally to Europe. Until within a few years, however, no means had been adopted for the utilisation of the superfluous flesh of the animals, beyond employing it as a manure. By manufacturing it, however, into “extract of meat,” this waste has been remedied, and immense works for its preparation are now erected both in South America and in Australia. The process followed by the different makers, although varying in some particulars, is essentially the same, and consists in extracting by water, either hot, cold, or in the form of the steam, those portions of the meat which are soluble in that fluid, and subsequently evaporating the solution so obtained until it becomes of a proper consistence to be put into jars. The extract so obtained keeps well (if all the fat and gelatin are removed), and is most conveniently adapted for exportation. It is said that the extract as being obtained from cattle that have had English progenitors possesses a flavour superior to that which comes from South America, where the animals are of a different and inferior breed.

The following interesting description of the manufacture of “Liebig’s Extract of Meat” is taken from the Buenos Ayres ‘Standard’ of September, 1867. The establishment, of which it is a description, is at Fray Bentos, on the Uruguay, South America. “The new factory is a building which covers about 20,000 square feet, and is roofed in iron and glass. We first enter a large flagged hall, kept dark, cool, and extremely clean, where the meat is weighed, and passed through apertures to the meat-cutting machines. We next come to the beef-cutting hall, where are four powerful meat-cutters, especially designed by the company’s general manager, M. Geibert; each machine can cut the meat of 200 bullocks per hour. The meat being cut is passed to ‘digerators’ made of wrought iron; each one holds about 12,000 lbs. of beef; there are nine of these digerators, and three more have to be put up. Here the meat is digerated by high-pressure steam of 75 lbs. per square inch; from this the liquid which contains the extract and the fat of the meat proceeds in tubes to a range of ‘fat separators’ of peculiar construction. Here the fat is separated in the hot state from the extract, as no time can be lost for cool operation, otherwise decomposition would set in in a very short time.

“We proceed downstairs to an immense hall, sixty feet high, where the fat separators are working; below them is a range of five cast-iron clarifiers, 1000 gallons each, worked by high-pressure steam through Hallet’s tube system.

“Each clarifier is provided with a very ingenious steam-tap. In the monstrous clarifiers the albumen, fibrin, and phosphates are separated. From hence the liquid extract is raised by means of air-pumps, driven by two thirty horse-power engines, up to two vessels about twenty feet above the clarifiers; thence the liquid runs to the other large evaporators. Now we ascend the staircase reaching the hall, where two immense sets of four vacuum apparatus are at work, evaporating the extract by a very low temperature; here the liquid passes several filtering processes before being evaporated in vacuo. We now ascend some steps and enter the ready-making hall, separated by a wire gauze wall, and all the windows, doors, &c., guarded by the same to exclude flies and dust. The ventilation is maintained by patent fans, and the place is extremely clean. Here are placed five ready-making pans constructed of steel plates, with a system of steel discs revolving in the liquid extract.

“These five pans, by medium of discs, 100 in each pan, effect in one minute more than two million square feet evaporating surface.

“Here concludes the manufacturing process. The extract is now withdrawn in large cans and deposited for the following day.

“Ascending a few steps we enter the decrystallising and packing hall, where two large cast-iron tanks are placed, provided with hot water baths under their bottoms; in these tanks the extract is thrown in quantities of 10,000 lbs. at once, and here decrystallising is made a homogeneous mass and of uniform quality. Now samples are taken and analysed by the chemist of the establishment, Dr Seekamp, under whose charge the chemical and technical operations are performed.

“It may be mentioned that the company’s butcher killed at the rate of 80 oxen per hour; separating by a small double-edged knife the vertebræ, the animal drops down instantaneously on a waggon, and is conducted to a place where 150 men are occupied dressing the meat for the factory, cutting each ox into six pieces; 400 are being worked per day.”

Mr Tooth at a meeting before the “Food Committee” held at the Society of Arts in January, 1868, said that he did not claim any difference in the composition of his article (which was made in Australia) as compared with that made by the South American Company.

In the annexed table the composition of some of the extracts of meat of commerce is given:——

+--------------+-------------+-------+---------------+----------+----------+
| | Liebig’s | Tooth,|French Company,|Whitehead.|Twentyman.|
| | Company. |Sydney.|South America. | | |
+--------------+------+------+-------+---------------+----------+----------+
|Water | 18·56| 16·00| 17·06 | 16·50 | 24·49 | 20·81 |
|Extractive, | | | | | | |
| soluble in | | | | | | |
| alcohol | 45·43| 53·00| 51·28 | 28·00 | 22·08 | 13·37 |
|Extractive, | | | | | | |
| insoluble | 13·93| 13·00| 10·57 | 46·00 | 44·47 | 59·10 |
|Mineral matter| 22·08| 18·00| 21·09 | 9·50 | 8·96 | 6·72 |
| +------+------+-------+---------------+----------+----------+
| |100·00|100·00|100·00 | 100·00 | 100·00 | 100·00 |
+--------------+------+------+-------+---------------+----------+----------+

The following are the characteristics of extract of meat of good quality. It should always have an acid reaction, its colour should be a pale yellowish brown, and it should have an agreeable meat-like odour and taste. It should be entirely soluble in cold water, and should be free from albumen, fat, and gelatin.

=Meat Pie.= Stew 2 lbs. of beef steak with one small onion, the gravy from which is to be thickened with flour, and flavoured with pepper and salt. Put it into a baking dish, and cover with a lard crust. It should be baked for one hour. The addition of two kidneys will greatly improve the pie.

=Meat (Australian) Pie.= Take 2 lbs. of Australian meat, or 1-1/2 lb. of meat and 1/2 lb. of kidney. Season to taste, pour in a little water, cover with a lard crust, and bake _not more_ than half an hour.

=MEAT PRESERVING.= “The Belgian _Musée de l’Industrie_ notes the following methods of preserving meats as the most deserving of attention amongst those communicated to the French Academy of Sciences, and published in the _Comptes Rendus_. 1. M. Bundet’s method, by which the meat is kept in water acidulated with carbolic acid in the proportion of 1 to 5 parts of acid per 1000 of water. A series of experiments proved that all kinds of meat could thus be kept fresh for lengthened periods, without acquiring an ill taste or odour.

“The meat may be placed in barrels or air-tight tin cases, filled with acidulated water of the strength above specified, and headed up; or the pieces may be packed in barrels or cases in alternate layers with charcoal, pounded small, and saturated with water containing 5/1000 of carbolic acid. The charcoal serves as a vehicle for the antiseptic fluid, and as an absorbent of any gaseous matters given off by the meat. The latter should be wrapped in thin linen covers to prevent the charcoal working its way into the tissues.

“This method, it is suggested, might be employed in curing pork in place of ‘salting,’ or of the more lengthy and costly process of ‘smoking,’ and also for the preservation of poultry, game, butter, eggs, &c.

“2. In the case of South American meat M. Baudet proposes the use of large sacks of caoutchouc. The meat should be packed in them, with alternate layers of charcoal as above described, and each sack, when filled, should be hermetically closed by drawing another empty caoutchouc sack, cap-wise, over it. The caoutchouc, it is supposed, would fetch enough in the market——its low price notwithstanding——to cover expenses of packing and freight, and so permit the meat to be sold in Europe at a very small advance on cost price. If intended for use a second time, the empty bags should be steeped in boiling water for a few minutes, to remove any organic impurities adhering to them.

“3. M. Gorge’s method, which is in use in La Plata, consists in washing and drying the meat, and afterwards steeping in successive waters containing hydrochloric acid and sulphite of soda, and then packing it in air-tight cases holding 1, 5, or 10 kilog. each. Meat thus treated requires to be soaked in warm water for about half an hour before use.

“4. M. Leon Soubeiran has recommended braying and drying, in the fashion adopted by the Chinese and Mongols, as described by M. Simon, French consul in China, in a communication made by him to the Société d’Acclimatation. The _pemmican_ of our Arctic voyagers and the _charqui_ of South America are familiar examples of meat preserved by analogous processes. The late M. Payen, a distinguished member of the Academy, insisted upon the great perfection to which this system might be carried by the aid of hot-air stoves and suitable apparatus.”

Besides the foregoing, numerous patents have from time to time been taken out, and processes proposed for the preservation of meat; so as to enable it to be sent from those distant countries, such as South America, Australia, Canada, &c., where it is greatly in excess of the wants of the population, to other lands, in which the supply is as much below the demand, and the meat at such a price as to preclude its being regularly used as an article of food by the body of the people.