60 PROCEEDINGS OF THE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. 
calico printing. In Edinburgh, the blood which was at one time. 
wasted is now sold and brings from £800 to £1,200 sterling per 
annum. , 
One of the first requisites for a place intended for the slaughtering 
of cattle is absolute cleanliness, it becomes an essential to have all 
appliances connected with abattoirs of the cleanest and most simple 
and easily-cleaned nature. Vermin must also be excluded from 
them. In Edinburgh the houses are built of dressed stone, the floors 
are laid on a layer of Portland cement concrete, twelve inches deep, 
the surface being paved with large close jointed flagstones ; the road- 
ways between the buildings are also laid on cement concrete, the 
stone blocks being laid in close sets well jointed. All abattoirs are 
at all times open to the inspection of city health officers, and are 
supplied with plenty of water for flushing purposes. One of the 
best substances for abattoir floors is cement concrete, which can be 
prepared to any degree of surface roughness, to prevent slipping ; 
being homogeneous and of almost indestructible consistence, it will 
stand any amount of wear and tear, and it is very easily washed and 
kept clean. 
Few of our Canadian cities are well placed regarding abattoir 
arrangements, there are too many abattoirs mixed up among dwelling- 
houses, and health-inspectors have not yet the compulsory powers 
they must have before they can abate these nuisances. The author 
has learned, with much surprise, that offal is still fed to hogs at 
many abattoirs, and that there is a decided demand and preference 
for pork so fed. This reprehensible and dangerous custom cannot be 
too strongly censured. 
The systems adopted in England for slaughtering and handling the 
carcases, are shewn by the drawings on the wall, and are an enlarge- 
ment of the arrangements now in use at several pork packing and 
other factories ; this system saves ull handling of the meat and pre- 
serves it better than in those cases where it has to be carried on men’s 
shoulders to carts, and upon carts to the butcher stalls.* 
It is to be hoped that in any new abattoirs to be built in any of our 
cities, care will be taken to arrange everything with a view to absolute 
cleanliness, and that a plentiful supply of water will be laid on. 
Proper buildings can easily be erected for the destruction of all waste 
* The abattoir machinery referred to is known as Meiklejon’s Patent Abattoir Machinery and 
Fittings. Further information on this atter can be obtained from the author. 
