Experiments by Francis Hume, M. D. on Fish and Flesh Preserved in Lime-Water, Communicated by John Clephane, M. D. F. R. S.

becomes flaccid, upon the issue of the aqueous humour, and renders the operation tedious and embarrassing, as I myself have found by experience in one patient, on whom I performed the incision of the cornea with a pair of scissors, as recommended by Mons. Daviel. XXV. Experiments by Francis Hume, M. D., on Fish and Flesh preserved in Lime-water, communicated by John Clephane, M. D. F. R. S. Read May 3, 1753. WITH a design to find out how long I could keep fish and flesh fit to eat in lime-water, I put two haddock, and a pound of beef, in different pots full of lime-water, and corked them well. They stood in our cellar 18 days. I then took out one of the fish: it was sweet, sound, and firm; I boiled one part of it, and I broiled the other: it eat well, and had not the least taste of lime-water; but was not just so firm as a fresh fish. But when I open’d the beef-pot, to my great surprize, it stunk abominably. I poured the lime-water from both pots, and put in fresh lime-water. This stood 4 weeks longer; the remaining fish was quite fresh, and a little swelled, but, when I boil’d it, dissolved to a jelly. The flesh was very putrid. Thus lime-water appears to preserve fish, but not flesh. X 2 Dr. Dr. Alston's experiment was made with fish, and Dr. Pringle's with flesh; which has made the former say, that lime-water withstood corruption strongly; and the latter, that it did it but weakly, if at all. Edinburgh, April 6, 1753. I LATELY repeated the experiment more fully, and with the same success. On the 26 of March I put a haddock into a pot of common water. I did the same to a piece of beef: the water was changed every day. At the same time I put a haddock into a pot of lime-water, and did the same with a piece of beef: at the same time I hung a fish and a bit of flesh in the air. On the second of April the fish and flesh in the air were a little corrupted and dried; the flesh and fish in common water smelt strong; the fish in the lime-water was sweet, and the lime-water good, and are so at present; but the flesh smelt rather worse than that in common water changed every day, and the corruption had quite overpower'd the smell of the lime-water. All this you have my leave to shew, as a confirmation of the former experiment.