is plunged for some time into boiling water before it is finally sealed, in order to drive out the last portions of the air; for, if a small portion of oxygen gas were present, this would be sufficient to commence the process of fermentation, and when once begun it would be continued. M. Appert's process may be described as follows:-- The meat to be preserved is first parboiled, or somewhat more, and freed from the bones. It is then put, together with vegetables, if required, into tin cases or canisters, which are filled quite up with a rich gravy; a tin cover, with a small aperture in it, is then carefully fixed on to each canister by solder, and while the vessel is perfectly full, it is placed in boiling water, or in a saline bath, heated above the boiling point of water, and kept therein until the air has been expelled as completely as possible by the steam generated within the canister. The small hole in the cover is completely closed up with a little solder while the contents are yet hot, the issue of the steam being stopped for a moment by means of a damp sponge. The canister, with its ingredients, is now allowed to cool, in consequence of which these contract, and the sides of the vessel are forced slightly inwards by the pressure of the atmosphere, and become a little concave. As a precautionary measure, however, the tins are placed in the testing-room, which is heated to above 100° Fahr. Should putrefaction take place in consequence of a minute portion of oxygen left in the case, and not combined with the animal or vegetable matter, the generated gases will burst the canisters; those, however, which withstand this test will preserve the provisions for many years; for as each vessel is hermetically sealed, and all access of air prevented, it may be sent into any climate without fear of putrefaction, and the most delicate food of one country be thus eaten in its original perfection in a distant region, many months, or even years after its preparation. In this manner may all kinds of alimentary substances be preserved; beef, mutton, veal, and poultry; fish and game; soups, broths, and vegetables; creams and custards. Of a quantity taken by Captain Nash to India, not one canister was spoiled; and one which he brought back contained, after two years, beef in the highest state of perfection and preservation, and after having been carried upwards of 35,000 miles, in the warmest climates. This method has been adopted by the commissioners for victualling the English Navy, who, having examined some meat so preserved for four years, during voyages in the Mediterranean, found it as sound, sweet, and fresh, as if it had been boiled only the day before. Captain Basil Hall bears similar testimony. It was stated, however, by the officers in the Antarctic voyage, that they gradually got very tired of preserved meats, but not of preserved vegetables, and that there was an insipidity in them which they did not find in fresh food. There is,