408 EUROPEAN AGRICULTURE. 



ever, a very imperfect idea of these truly grand, convenient, and 

 useful establishments. The buildings are all of stone, with roofs 

 of brick-tile upon iron rafters, so as to be completely fire-proof; 

 and the neatness is such that, excepting in the boiling houses, 

 one is not in the smallest degree offended by any noisome odor. 

 Every part of the animal is taken care of and turned to some 

 use, and there is no waste of any kind whatever. The blood 

 and waste manure are all received into cisterns, to be applied to 

 some useful purpose ; and an abundance of water, always at com 

 mand, enables them to keep the slaughtering places, which are 

 neatly paved with flagging-stone, entirely clean. The whole is 

 under the immediate direction of the city government ; and there 

 are so many checks, that there is scarcely a chance, as there is 

 no motive, for fraud. The salesman finds his animals slaughtered 

 in the neatest manner, and the proper returns accurately made. 

 Such establishments are most important in their bearing upon 

 public health ; and I should most truly rejoice to see them taking 

 the place of those private establishments in the neighborhood of 

 our large cities, and in England in the large cities themselves, 

 which are odious in all their relations, and which often poison 

 the atmosphere to a great extent. The public inspection of the 

 establishment by disinterested parties prevents the sale of dis 

 eased meats, which there cannot be a doubt is carried to a great 

 extent, and with perfect recklessness, in many private establish 

 ments in some countries, where they are secure from observation. 

 Such establishments as these abattoirs would be greatly for the 

 satisfaction, if not the advantage, of the farmers of the United 

 States, who, driving or sending their cattle to the market, must 

 now, in most cases, resign them to the purchaser ; and, without 

 any opportunity of seeing them either slaughtered or weighed, 

 must rely upon his honesty for a true return of the weight a 

 reliance not always of the surest kind. 



It is curious to remark, in connection with this subject, the 

 slow progress of improvement, and the obstinacy with which 

 persons adhere to old customs and usages, however objectionable. 

 The abattoirs of Paris have now been established more than 

 thirty years ; and yet London, perfectly aware of their eminent 

 advantages, and so distinguished for its social improvements, and 

 claiming a monopoly of what are called the comforts of life, sub 

 mits to the terrible nuisance of a crowded cattle market in the&quot; 



