MEAT. 240 MECCA. stituenls is inversely proportional to the size of the piece of meat. In other words, the smaller the piece the greater the percentage of loss. The loss appears to lieiiend upon the length of time of cooking. When meat in pieces weighing from l';. to 5 pounds is cooked in water at S0° to 85° C.'(175° to 185° F.) there appears to be little difTerence in the amount of material found in the broth whether the meat is placed in cold water or hot water at the start. Since meat nutrients are principally protein and fat, a considerable amount of carbohydrate foods (bread and other cereals, vegetables, fruits, etc.) are eaten with the meats to form a well- balanced diet. According to the results of a large number of dietary studies, beef and veal to- gether furnished 10.3 per cent, of the diet of the average American family; nuitton and lamb, 1.4 per cent.; pork. 5.4 per cent.; and poultrj', 1.1 per cent, of the total food; beef and veal, 24. (i: mutton and lamb. 3.:i : pork, 8.8; and poul- trv. 2.(i per cent, of the total protein, and 19.5, 3.8, 30.0, and 1.2 per cent, respectively of the total fat. For further information, consult the general works mentioned under Food; also Fijrster, Dcr yalnwert des Riiitlfleinches bei den gchrauch- lichsleih Zuhercitunrjsarien (Berlin, 1897) ; L'nited Stales Department of Agriculture. Office of E.Kperiment Stations Bulletins Nos. 28 (re- vised), Gfi, and 102; United Stales Department of Agriculture. Bureau of Chemistry Bulletin 13. part 10; United States Department of Agri- culture. Farnn>rs' Bulletin Xo. 34. MEAT-BIRD. The Canada jay. See Jat. MEAT-FLY. See Fij:.su-Fly. MEAT EXTRACT. The term meat extract is connncinlv api)lied to a large number of prepara- tions of "very dill'erent character. They may be conveniently divided into three classes: (1) True meat "extracts; (2) meat juice obtained by pressure and jjreserved, compounds which contain dried pulverized meat, and similar prei)arations; and (3) alluimose or peptose preparations, com- monly called |)redigested foods. Tlic true nu>at extract, if ie. contains little else besides the flavoring mailers of the meal from which it is prepared, together with such mineral salts as may be dissolved out. It should contain no gelatin or fat, and cannot, from the way in which it is made, contain any albumen. It is. there- fore, not a food at all. but a stimulant, an<l should be classed with tea. coffee, and other allied substances. It should never l)e admin- istered to the sick except as directed by com- petent medical advice. Its strong meaty taste is diveptive, and the person depending upon it alone for food would certainly die of slarvatitm. Siu-h meat extracts are often found useful in the kitchen for flavoring soups, sauces, etc. Broth and beef tea as prepared ordinarily in the house- hold contain niiue or less protein, gelatin, and fat. and llu'ri'fore are foods as well as stinni- lants. The proportion of water in such com- pr)unds Is always very large. The i)ieserved meat juice and similar |)reparations contain more or less priilein. and therefore have some value as food. The third class of preparations is com- paratively new. The better ones are really what they claim to he — predigested foods. They con- tain the soluble nlbumoses (pcptoses), etc., which ai"e obtained from meat by artificial diges- tion. The use of such preparations should bo regulated by competent medical advice. MEATH, meTH. A county of the Province of Leinster. Ireland, bounded on the east by the Irish Sea and the counties of Dublin and Louth, on the north by Monaghan, T.oulli. and Cavan, on the west by Westmeath and Cavan. and on the south by Dublin. Kildare. and Kings; area, 90fi square miles (Ifap: Ireland, E 3). The soil is a rich loam and fertile: but it is devoted almost entirely to pasture, only 21 per cent, being under crops. " The capital is Trim. Population, in 1841, 183.850: in 1901. 67,400. MEATJX, mf>. A town of France, in the De- partment of Seine-et-Marne, on the river Marne (Map: France. .13). It is 28 miles by rail east of Paris. It has a fine cathedral, a college, and a public lilirary. Bossuet. whose remains are in the calliedral. was bishop here for twenty-three years. 11 has a brisk trade in corn, cheese, eggs, "and poultry; its mills supply Paris with most of its meai and corn. Tlicre ari" manufactures of colton :ind other I'loths. cheese, sugar, steel, etc. Population, in 1901, 13,690. MECCA (Ar. Makkah, or Bakkah, Koran, Sura iii. 90; called also al-Musharrifah, the E.xalted, I'm in al-Kura, mother of cities, and al- Bakid (il-Amln, the s;ife place, known to the geograi)hcr Ptolemy as Macoraba). Capital of the Turkish Province of Hedjaz in .rabia. and, through being the birthplace of Mohammed, and containing the Kaaba, the central and most holy city of all Islam. The two other principal holy cities are Medina and .lerusalem. It is situated in latitude 21° 28' N. and in longitude 40° 15' E., 250 miles soutli of .Medina, and about 60 miles east of .Jiddah. its port on the Red Sea, in a narrow, barren valley, surrounded l>y bare hills from 250 lo 800 feel high. The city is about a mile and a half long, and from one- third to two-thirds of a mile wide, and is divided into the upper and lower city. An aqueduct built by Zuliaidah (810), wife "of Harun al-Rasliid. brings good water from the mountains to the east. By its position, Mecca commands the trade routes connecting lower Hedjaz with Xorth. South, and Central .Arabia, and it has at all times been a conunercial and religious centre. The streets are somewhat regular, but unp:ivcd: dusty in sum- mer, and nuiddy during the rainy season. The houses are often five stories high. Some of the Government buildings, the Hamidivvah. or palace of the (iovernor. the printing olfice. the chief watch-house, and the three armories, are in the new part of the city (iilJiiiiid) southeast of the IJaram. or sacred precincts, and this part of the cit.v has a Euro]iean apjiearance. Tlu' only manu- factures of Mecca arc ro>aries and pottery: some dyeing is also done: the inhabitants make their living chielly by letting rooms at the time of the pilgrimage (sec H..T.i) to the pilgrims who come here often to the number of 100.000. The largest numlior of these pilgrims are Malays and In- dians; then come negroes. Persians. Turks. Egj'ptians. S.vrians. Tatars, and Chinese. Ordi- narilv the citv contains about 50.000 inhabitants. The centre of the city is the tnsji(l iilfln- riim. or Sacred Mosque, which lies beneath the level u)ion which the rest of the city stands and is always liable to inundations from the flail or mountain torrent. This sacred area is capable
