Dr Letheby, in one of his Canton Lectures on Food, delivered in 1865, speaking on this part of the subject, and on the above method of meat preservation, says:—“To-night, through the kindness of Messrs Crosse and Blackwell, I am able to show you a specimen of preserved mutton which has been in the case forty-four years, and you will perceive that it is in excellent condition. It formed part of the stores supplied by Messrs Donkin and Gamble, in 1824, to His Majesty’s Exploring ship Fury, which was wrecked in Prince Regent’s Inlet in 1825, when the cases were landed with the other stores, and left upon the beach.
“Eight years afterwards, in August, 1833, they were found by Sir John Ross in the same condition as they were left; and he wrote to Mr Gamble at the end of that year, saying, ‘that the provisions were still in a perfect state of preservation, although annually exposed to a temperature of 92° below and 80° above zero.’ Some of the cases were left untouched by Sir John Ross; and after a further interval of sixteen years the place was visited by a party from Her Majesty’s ship Investigator, when, according to a letter from the captain, Sir James Ross, ‘the provisions were in excellent condition, after having lain upon the beach, exposed to the action of the sun, and all kinds of weather, for a period of nearly a quarter of a century.’ Messrs Crosse and Blackwell have placed the original letters in my hands for perusal, and they show beyond all doubt that meat preserved in this manner will keep good for nearly half a century—in fact, the case of boiled mutton now before you has been preserved for forty—four years.”
The generality of the samples of preserved meat from Australia are excellent in quality and flavour,[33] except that in most cases the meat has been overcooked, which has arisen
from the too prolonged contact of the meat with the steam, which it is judged necessary shall be generated in such quantities as to ensure the certainty of the exclusion of the air. Another inconvenience attending the process, viz. the liability of the sides of the tin to collapse, owing to the vacuum formed in its interior, has been remedied by the introduction into the vessel of some inert gas, such as carbonic acid, or nitrogen.
[33] The Food Committee of the Society of Arts, who have carefully and impartially examined numerous samples of Australian and South American preserved meat, say: “It is perfectly sweet and fresh, but somewhat insipid from overcooking, and it seems likely the flavour could be improved if the duration of exposure to heat could be shortened without endangering the preservation.”
Preserved meat at the present time forms a very considerable article of export both from Australia and South America. In the former country there are several establishments of a colossal character, where the work of tinning the meat is carried on, in many of which establishments hundreds of cattle are slaughtered daily. The largest establishments of the kind are at Sydney and Melbourne, whence extensive shipments are being constantly made. The following figures are taken from the Board of Trade returns:—
Value of Meat preserved otherwise than by Salting.
| Imports from Australia. | Total Imports. | |
| 1871 | £481,093 | £610,228 |
| 1872 | 657,945 | 816,463 |
| 1873 | 557,552 | 733,331 |
| 1874 | 509,698 | 757,001 |
| 1875 | 249,611 | 592,196 |
Since 1876 tinned meat has been imported from North America.
Several methods have been proposed for the preservation of meat by subjecting it to such conditions that the surrounding temperature should be sufficiently low to arrest putrefaction. In Mr Harrison’s process the reduction of temperature was effected by the application of melting ice and salt, made to run down the outside of the iron chambers containing the meat. It is affirmed that although the joints submitted to this treatment were solidly frozen, no loss of either flavour or immediate decomposition of the meat took place. Mr Harrison’s experiment was perfectly successful in Australia, but broke down during the voyage of a large cargo of meat shipped from Australia in 1873, owing to a defect in the construction of the ice chamber of the vessel and the failure of the supply of ice.