Hippophagv — Sliall zvc Eat our Horses ? 



some dish, should necessity demand the exer- 

 cise of their talents in that way. That horse- 

 flesh can be relished as an article of food is 

 no longer doubted, and that it is perfectly 

 wholesome we beUeve no one attempts to 

 deny. We take it for granted, of course, 

 that the animal is not affected with disease 

 when slaughtered ; but in that respect there 

 is no difference between the horse and the 

 ox, or the sheep ; for if either oxen or sheep 

 are diseased before death, their flesh is not fit 

 to be used as human food, no matter how 

 strong our prejudices may be in favour of it 

 for that purpose. 



Mr A. S. Bicknell, who appears to be a 

 somewhat enthusiastic hippophagist, has em- 

 bodied all the arguments for and against the 

 horse as food for man in a paper recently 

 read by him before the Society of Arts in 

 London. He shews that the practice of 

 eating horses existed in very early times, that 

 it formed a standard dish at the birth-day 

 feasts of the Persians; that the horse was 

 certainly considered fit for food until at least 

 the eighth century, and its disuse originated 

 in certain prohibitions against it, issued by 

 Pope Gregory III. and his successors, in 

 consequence of one of the chief obstacles to 

 the conversion of the Germans being found 

 in their practice of sacrificing horses to idols, 

 and the partiality of the people for the meat. 

 The sturdy Icelanders, however, could not be 

 persuaded that abstinence from horse-flesh 

 was conducive to their spiritual benefit, and 

 hence the Icelanders are hippophagists to the 

 present day. 



The modem movement in favour of horse- 

 flesh as an article of food for man commenced 

 in France in 1786, when Ge'raud, the dis- 

 tinguished physician, advocated its use, and 

 told his countrymen that a large supply of 

 good provision was wasted through the 

 neglect of it. In 181 1 a commission was 

 .appointed by the French Board of Health 

 to consider the advantage of allowing horses 

 to be used for food, and they unanimously 

 reported in its favour. A similar result fol- 

 lowed the deliberation of a Commission ap- 

 pointed by the Prefect of Police in 1825, and 

 this view of the question was also taken up 



by Larrey, chief of the medical staff during 

 the Russian campaign. In 1830 a complete 

 treatise on the subject was published by M. 

 Villeroy, and in 1S35, Parent-Duchatelet, 

 the Howard of France, in conjunction with 

 two coadjutors appointed by the Board 

 of Health, presented a second report,, con- 

 firming the views expressed in the first; 

 and from that time to the present a host 

 of Frenchmen, distinguished in science, 

 medicine, and literature, have testified in 

 favour of using horses for food, and have 

 strongly denounced the prevailing prejudice 

 against it. On the gth of June 1866, a decree 

 legalised the slaughter of horses in special 

 abbatoirs, and the sale of the meat for human 

 food ; and, although the restrictions imposed 

 were severe, 2312 horses were eaten in Paris 

 during the first twelvemonths. At present 

 there are twent>'-three shops established in 

 Paris for the sale of the article, and all are 

 represented as canying on a brisk trade. 



The use of horse-flesh as food has prevailed 

 in Denmark since 1807 ; hippophagy flou- 

 rishes in the German States, but more especi- 

 ally in Belgium — from whence, by-the-bye, we 

 get the well-known Bologna sausages — and 

 Mr Bicknell feelingly remarks, that "among 

 the civilized nations of the world there now 

 remains but one great country," and that is our 

 own, "where either prejudice is so strong or 

 ignorance so great that the flesh of the horse is 

 looked upon as carrion and excites disgust." 

 He asks, " are we to assume, however, that be- 

 cause we shudder at the idea of such food 

 it is never eaten by us ?" and he points out 

 that, mthout questioning the genuineness of 

 various kinds of foreign sausages, and other 

 forms of preserved meat Avhich we consume 

 in large quantities, it is startling to find that 

 every week in London alone about 200,000 

 lb. of chevaline, fi:ee from bone, disappears, 

 which exceeds the quantity bought by those 

 who purvey for the wants of the cats and 

 dogs of the Great Metropolis. ^Vhere, then, 

 does the surplus meat go ? None of it is 

 thrown away, and the only conclusion we 

 can arrive at is, that it is prepared in some 

 shape or other for use as human food, and 

 cofvsumed unwittingly. 



