The various classes of food, however, vary greatly in the extent of deterioration produced by the process of tinning. Most vegetables and fruits preserve well in this way, and at any rate I cannot recall any instance of their having been proved to do harm. Meat and fish that have been highly smoked or salted, as well as fish preserved in oil, also appear fairly safe; but tinned fresh meat, and fish of all sorts are luxuries that should be avoided by prudent persons, unless driven to their consumption by scarcity. Tinned soups, containing as they usually do a considerable amount of salt, appear generally safe; and are better in the case of emergencies than the so-called meat extracts, which at best merely act as stimulants. Despite all that specious advertisements and uninformed testimonials may blazon forth to the contrary, it is an impossible feat to pack a cow in a cup, and, though there is a considerable concentration of undesirable excrementitious matter, the actual nutritive value of these preparations is less than that of an equal bulk of the meat from which they are produced.[3] They, of course, have their uses, but must not be depended upon for nourishment in prolonged cases, where they are in every way inferior to properly made beef tea. In ordinary cookery their use is quite indefensible, on account of the strain thrown upon the excretory organs in the elimination of the excrementitious matters of which they are so largely composed. [3] _Vide_ “Patent Foods and Patent Medicines,” by Robert Hutchison, M.D. (John Bale, Sons, and Danielsson, price 1s.). Although written mainly for the medical profession, this very able little pamphlet might be widely read by the too easily gullible general public with great advantage. The writer shows that some of the expensive “meat juices” are nothing more than diluted white of egg, and that even when genuine, their nutritive value is no higher than the fraudulently substituted egg albumen. Dr. Hutchison’s recipe for “meat” juice is not only amusing, but is well worthy of reproduction for its practical value, as it may save people from wasting many of the half crowns which they now contribute to enable the manufacturers of puffed rubbish to make the hoardings and country-side hideous with their advertisements.