Beef Tea.
Put in a large-mouthed bottle one pound of beef, free of fat, and chopped fine. Add to it half a pint of cold water, and let the mixture stand for an hour. At the end of that time place the bottle in a saucepan of cold water. Place the pan on the fire, and heat the water slowly almost to the boiling point, without letting it boil. Cook the beef for two hours; then strain, and season with salt.
The thick sediment which falls to the bottom when the tea has stood awhile is the most nutritious part, yet many people serve only the clear and poorer part to the patient. It is to keep this sediment (the albuminoids) in a soft, digestible condition, that care is taken not to let the water which surrounds the bottle boil. Great heat hardens the albuminoids.
If a patient take a great deal of beef tea, the flavor may be changed occasionally by putting a piece of stick cinnamon about an inch square into the bottle with the meat and water.