NEW PRESERVING PROCESS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1952, 18 April 1889, Page 15

NEW PRESERVING PROCESS.

jr.Witb, .jreference jto,.sn, ext^ct? ,«£, 'centlv published, from! the' remarks., of the' L'oii- ' l&n^&rejprod^ ;< Herald Wncerhihg', 'a'Mew^ibpess'of preserving' ijfood, tbe%.2?£;'-arid ffl.A; j pompany- r have ; re-' c'e'ived m&rnatfon 'from tHe/libndon-office thabit i^-understbdcl^atehh? ha>e Australasia and elsewhere, and it is claimed .that/ oarcasrsß'o£(aifattbnimay:be safely brought frfcm ;} the" colonies withoufcihe- aid^of refrigeja.torg.f.'A) ( representative") ofojthe. .company* recent^ in^ s spepted,the;,varioaß ( articles of ) fQod ( no J w.under:j goingftrea'tment,,and 'soi.fjir as.gopld be judged, the systet^Vapp^ared^.tQ , answer ! Thesm ) represe'n'ting,the syndicate for rfted'.'fpij. tne pu^pope ' off '.introducing,^"hejinv. erition T have n'6't'y'e It:I t : , I hqwev6r, : completed; their experiments." An aifticW fnJm the Financial-'Wbrldaccb'm-pjtinedfttiis information,' from which we'make the follbwin^extractv^i " '■- .«•••- • ..'" On' the occasion- of our-visittb the temporary shbwiroonls in QueftnjYictoria'Btr«et,:wejifound a most variedfsejlecfeion-pf [perishable artiplqq, a)l of; which hadbepntreated ( byjj.the,, ;pr,ocesfl, , and all asTPresh.and-.sw^et as, tbeycould-possibly ,be» An%enumerat,ioo > of,Mnie.!of. ,the/w» ( article/* s wjll speak /for,", itself. -," w,e, saw ; cany^-back ducks which- h^d.,been,, killed "foiir months ago, a fi&b gpol|,whicVwent;th;eway J bf all geese .21 day's previously' a'ioili of" 'pork 1 which had 'b'eeii'hangingfor lAys', stUUfresh though -kept for lieriolft' varying 'froVh 21 daySto 10 months,' and eels,'. whHing.'au'd' > soles preserved a fortnight kgo. royßtfers,M;h'oughr oyBtfers,M;h'ough opened <12i,days,!retained all 'their flavour ;oa pineapple, one, of. the ,moat unstable of-fruite,' had i its. pjerftime'and jshowed no (signs of .= rottenness, ..yet . its /purchase, took .place! more.. <thau a>fqrtnig)it ago,; , while ia, ham which had; arrived , in a ( jpVoc,^s of decomposi- , ■tionr^acerfiifiej^by.tlie.cprers, waji j;'o.the antiseptic qualities, 1 of the ' preserVatite, j since" thn decomposition was' arrested ,'' f arjd tha ; meat, smelt perfectly sound and ' good. ' '.The j 'process is not merely confined tb'»olid9 ; we J saw \ milk which had. been- Kept J l9 days, ! and' which! "gave* a' cream 'after being- agifcate r df sho wing-that J ' its ' properties" and " constituents remained- Jun- » - altered. V .-, - -u\- '• ■.'{>!■,>• .• . <./■•, \ lit The<peouliarity.of this preservative -is. that r the materials .treated, remain almost unaltered' to the eye, and require no special care, beyond) .hanging up; in 'the .ordinary way. \ The fish n'e'edj ,onlj; be treated, as. the, &hmpbger treats i the fish; which ,he;,buys from' market; thalj ,js, watered; once or tWice a day to keep' moists 'The joinis,; ,poultry, ( and game need be hung up only ,| Indeed," the patentees claim/as regards* meat,that carcases treated by- their process can bej conveyed by ship without? the risk' 'of bruising, a; •contingency which has. to be guarded against in the case of frozen meat. While on^this pointj we may mention we saw the hind quarter of. .an, ox and at whole,flheep whi^h had been treated, by the process, and, it was, noteworthy, that I although! ,the .day,' was moist and muggy, the Surface of the. dry f and firm, to the, touch. The only difference 'we could ' detect' between the fresh and, the preserved samples was that there 1 was a slight tendency 'to bleach-! ing; the flavour' remained; 1 tbe' same 1 , as we found by "trying '&& Oyster 'which had been! opened ; 'several days/ "Another peculiarity^ we, are assured, is that the preserved, food when cooked still retainHts -keeping' qualities, and if sothiswiHiieanimmenseigaia. [■(■:. !■/ / ! ■ <As to .the,' process .itself, :-; Briefly speaking, i\ is, wejearn, $he; eacpulsifln, of ,the air from every vessel and cell, no matter how,' minute, in tbe article to, be preserved, and the substitution of f ari antiseptib/vapqur/'wbjichacts as' the preser r yative.' ,l, l A's ! . to what .thiivapour'is I ,' we offer no opinion?. "The^^'6res'erv|bg 'chamber consists of an 'ait-tifttfft cabineH divided 'into an upper and lower portion. The upper portion, which is much 1 'stiialler Uhaa-. the • lower; is divided into 'three divisions'. In>the centre. 'division is placed the preservative, and in the other two blocks of ice to regulate the temperature^ In? the. lower ; and larger portion of the cabinet are hung the artiole8 l to.bepr]Bßßry.ed/),,.-r ;. , • j. , T>e,presenfativ t e if- a powder of ( a ypllow hu^, , tasteless, r b^ujb > havipgj |b£e arp,ma; o,f , ojo^firmori. ©tiliis pow ; djerry/ere so.on lighted, and. placed in "the^proper' cha'tqber,' which', M lik;e the' other's/is' 'practically air-tight. The prope£|s which 'went on wss'this:' The oxygen burnt sp long as "there %is'any okyge ( ia tosapport the flame. This abstraction." of 'oxygen mecessarilyproduced a vacubm; and any particle -.of i s ajr contained in the- articles of foodi<waiß alsoab,'stracted.'i The vapour, oti the preservativf, being extcemely iheavy^ descended, into , t^e chamber below, and gradually v permeated sttje food, -.aff, operation;, which, took from, two <jo more ( ifpurs, accordjijg ,to, , the ., size,,. . This, v^e were assured, constituted j the, , whole .process, and certainly it | appealed 'simpje,' logical, and economical. .. " j. ' ' f . ■ The 'question will naturally arise, what proof "bad we fhat'the articles 1 "of 'food menHon^d' above! had' been 'kept for the period stated? CJnl this point we cannot speak of our owniknowle'dgeivbutwe may 1 mention' that -several of the samples: had been sealed by; the .owners- so as ;o, prove the identity beyond disp.utei (The paten te j s are extremely 'anxjousjfchatftbeir. prqeess .-should, be tested in, ever^', possible form, and, as, ope means :of doing .this, we, have now in our pps* session a cbuple^ofchop^rW ( hioh we bought ouj^, selves, saw, placed in the pres'eirving chamber an "VVednesday, and 1 which we^intejid to keep for) a time/'safflcieritly long to convince us that tjie prodessis'uo mere experiment,' but that 1 it- is pi praotioal'utilityi Inf afortnight or three weeks'' time 1 we hope to publish the; result of oar'tefet." In the meantime we were favourably, if not profonndlyf impres^ed.by;tlie experiments and testa i wo' witnessed,' and > as . the .invention is -.in: .stxong , ;hands we ,are; sure to;: hear, more ( about jit at an, early date. < n ■.-."' " -