Class III.]

PREPARATIONS OF BLOOD—ISINGLASS.

67

next produced, combined with small proportions of flour,in the form of light dry masses, like loaves, cakes, or bis-cuits. Lastly, they are shown combined with sugar, ascakes and bon-bons.

The larger masses, uncombined with sugar, are in-odorous, almost flavourless, and may be made the basisof highly-nutritious soups. They are very uniform incomposition, containing half the nitrogen of dried blood,or 44 per cent, of dry flesh, the equivalent of double thenutritive value of ordinary butcher-meat. Both the bull’sand calf’s blood gave G - 6 per cent, of nitrogen, equal to 43per cent, of flesh-forming principles.

The value of M. Broccuieri’s process depends on thepower of preserving the results, in aii undecomposedstate, during lengthened periods, &c.; and though theJury have understood that the preparations have beenadvantageously employed in long voyages with some suc-cess, the evidence is not complete; and the condition ofsome of the specimens of mixed blood and sugar, once inthe Exhibition, -was unsatisfactory. The uncombineddried cakes seem, however, adapted for this purpose.Hence, as a first attempt,—carried perhaps to a successfulissue,—to render available for food and portable in form,

the otherwise wasted blood, M. Buocchieri’s experi-ments deserve encouragement and commendation; andthe Jury have felt called upon to award him a testimonialof Honourable Mention.

H. VII,— ISINGLASS.

Regarded as an alimentary substance, isinglass hadlittle claim upon the attention of the Jury. They have,however, to report most favourably of the East Indianisinglass, obtained from the air-bladder of a siluroidfish called Polynemus plebeius , and exhibited by Dr.MacClelland. In quality this proved, after repeatedtests, to be fully equal to the finest Beluga samples,and has received a Prize Medal. A similar distinctionwas conferred upon Mr. James Vickers (Cl. XV., 117,p. 204), for some very finely-prepared Russian isinglass,both in the whole and cut state, which the Jury satisfiedthemselves was of uniformly good quality. They areunable to express a favourable opinion of the Brazilianisinglass of the same exhibitor. (See Report, Jury,Class IV.)

Kew, August 1851.

J. D. HOOKER, Reporter.