1875.] Notices of Books. 367 
Report of the Sanitary Commitiee of the Board of Health on the 
Concentration and Regulation of the Business of Slaughtering 
Animals in the City of New York. New York: D. Appleton 
and Co. 
WE learn from this Report that New York, like London, suffers 
from the nuisance of intramural slaughter-houses. There are, 
in one district of the city, fifty-four of these establishments, ‘ for 
the most part of the cheapest construction; the yards roughly 
paved, the sewerage imperfect, and the means of cleansing of 
the most imperfect character.” As a necessary consequence 
there are, in the immediate neighbourhood, ‘‘ large numbers of 
establishments devoted to fat-melting, lard-rendering, hide-curing, 
gut-cleaning, tripe-curing, glue-making,” and other unsavoury 
trades. The reason why these foci of fever and zymotic disease 
are thus concentrated in acertain district is one from which we, 
in London, may learn an important lesson. ‘‘ The slaughter- 
houses have occupied the area described since 1868, when they 
were removed from above 4oth Street by the Metropolitan Board 
of Health. At that time this section of the city was sparsely 
settled, and the Board allowed them to locate above the street 
described without regard to the inevitable wants of the rapidly 
increasing population.” Hence those interested in the nuisance 
now assert that ‘‘having removed their business above 4oth Street 
in obedience to the orders of the Board of Health, in 1868, and 
having permits to occupy their present locations, this Board is 
bound in good faith not again to remove or disturb the business 
of the remonstrants.”” Is not this exactly analogous to the posi- 
tion of London as regards the burial of the dead? The old City 
churchyards have been closed, and the suburban cemeteries, 
foolishly permitted to be laid out in elevated localities, are fast 
becoming an equal nuisance. 
The New York Sanitary Committee propose the abolition of 
private slaughter-houses ix toto, and the opening of public 
abattoirs, where all cattle will be slaughtered under official in- 
spection. Such a step, in addition to its direct sanitary action, 
would abolish the driving of infuriated oxen through crowded 
streets, needless cruelty in slaughtering, the introduction of 
diseased and putrid meat into the markets, and a long array of 
subsidiary evils. We fear that London is farther from reform 
in this point than New York. Recent legislation seems to have 
given a new lease to these nuisances. 
The Safe Use of Steam, containing Rules for the Guidance of 
Unprofessional Steam-Users. By AN ENGINEER. London: 
Lockwood and Co. 1874. 
In plain-spoken words the writer, as a practical engineer, offers 
wholesome advice to all who have the care of steam-boilers and 
VOL. V. (N-S.) 3A 
