Beef-Tea is valuable for its stimulating properties and for the warmth that it gives; it is also somewhat nutritious, containing as it does the albuminous juices of the meat, some salts, and the very important flavors. Beef-tea should be prepared in such a manner that the juices are held in solution in the water, not coagulated, to secure which the cooking temperature should never be allowed to exceed that of 160° Fahr.

Bottled. Select and prepare the meat in the same manner as for bottled beef-juice, except that for every half pound a cup of water should be used, poured over after it has been put into the jar. The liquid thus obtained will resemble beef-juice in every respect except in strength. Serve as a drink in a red wine-glass or a china cup.

With Hydrochloric Acid. Hydrochloric acid acts upon the fibers of meat in such a way that they become more easy of digestion. From a given portion of meat much more nutriment is extracted by the use of hydrochloric acid than without it; beef-tea made with it is recommended by physicians as the most easily absorbed form of beef drink, and for feeble children and patients much weakened by sickness it is especially useful.

To Prepare. Select a half pound of good beef; remove from it everything that is not clear meat, - that is, bone, gristle, connective tissue, and fat; chop it fine on a meat-board or in a chopping-tray. Put into a bowl one cup of water and five drops of dilute hydrochloric acid; stir into this the chopped meat, and set it in a refrigerator or any cool place for two hours to digest. Then strain, flavor with salt, and serve cold in a red wine-glass.

Should there be any objection to the taste or color, heat the tea until it steams and changes to a brownish hue; do not strain out the flakes of coagulated albumen and fibrin which appear, for they are the most nutritious portion of the tea.

Chemically pure hydrochloric acid may be obtained of a druggist (it is usually marked C. P.); from it a diluted solution may be made by mixing it in the proportion of five and one half fluidounces to fourteen ounces of water.