The Antiseptic Properties of Madder Root.

Practical Magazine 20, 1876

(Chemistry applied to the Arts, Manufactures, &c.
Food and Sanitary Matters.)

M. de ROSTAING, in a communication to the French Academy of Sciences, states, that some meat was preserved for seven months in a jar containing powdered madder-root which was opened a dozen times. The weight of the meat was reduced from 119 grammes (4'19 oz.) to 25 grammes (.88 oz.) without giving any indication of putrefaction. M. de Rostaing suggests that madder should be employed for preserving corpses and rendering cemeteries healthy.

- Comptes rendus, lxxxii.