SWITZERLAND. 



775 



whole number. As the swine slaughtered at 

 Chicago are, for the most part, brought from 

 the country, where they have been fed on corn, 

 mast, and other wholesome food, it is hardly 

 probable that those slaughtered in other cities 

 would show a smaller proportion. There exists 

 in Germany a habit, occasionally practised here, 

 of eating portions of lean pig's flesh (ham or sau- 

 sages) uncooked, with bread. There is great 

 danger in this, for the only preventive of infes- 

 tation by those who will eat swine's flesh, con- 

 sists in having it well and thoroughly cooked. 

 Ham is more generally affected than any other 

 portion of the carcass of the swine, and it is 

 only by raising the temperature of the- whole of 

 the meat in cooking at least to 165 F., that 

 the encysted parasite can be destroyed. Ku- 

 chenmeister, Hubner, and Lisering, German 

 chemists and physiologists, have made exten- 

 sive series of experiments on this subject, and 

 have ascertained that in most instances of cook- 

 ing, especially of boiling entire hams, the whole 

 of the meat is not raised to this temperature, 

 and that the trichina protected by its cyst re- 

 tains its vitality after cooking. They lay down 

 the following positions as ascertained by these 

 experiments : 



1. That trichinae are killed by long immer- 

 sion in the brine of the meat, and by twenty- 

 four hours hot smoking of sausages. 



2. That they are not killed by three days' cold 

 smoking, and the boiling of meat for making 

 sausages does not certainly kill them. 



3. A long keeping of cold smoked sausages 

 will destroy the life of the trichinae. 



It might be well if here, as in some portions 

 of Germany, the pork were inspected by a com- 

 petent inspector, with a microscope, before 

 packing. The hams and bacon, or middlings, 

 are the only portions which need to be ex- 

 amined, for if there are no trichinae there, there 

 will not be any in the carcass. 



SWITZERLAND, a Federal Republic in Eu- 

 rope. The present Constitution, which bears 

 date September 12, 1848, vests the legislative 

 authority in a Federal Assembly, consisting of 

 two Chambers, a " Stdnderath," or Council of 

 States, composed of two members from each of 

 the twenty-two cantons, and a " Nationalraih" 

 or National Council, consisting of deputies (at 

 present one hundred and twenty-eight) chosen 

 in direct election, at the rate of. one deputy for 

 every twenty thousand souls. New elections 

 take place every three years. Every citizen 

 who is twenty-one years old has the right to 

 vote. The executive power is deputed to a 

 " Bundesrath" or Federal Council, consisting 

 of seven members, who are elected for three 

 years by the Federal Assembly. The Federal 

 Council chooses annually out of its members a 

 President and Vice-President. On November 

 6, 1865, the Federal Council elected M. Kniisel, 

 of Lucerne, President of the Confederation 

 for 1866, and M. Fornerod, of Vaud, Vice- 

 President. 



The area of the republic is 15,933 square 



miles. The population of the twenty-two can- 

 tons was, on December 10, 1860, as follows: 



With regard to religious denominations the 

 inhabitants were divided, in 1860, as follows t 

 1,023,430 Roman Catholics, 1,476,982 Protest 

 tants, 5,866 Dissidents, 4.216 Israelites, and 

 other non-Christians. Almost exclusively Ro- 

 man Catholic are the cantons of Uri, Schwytz, 

 Unterwald, Zug, Appenzell Interior, Tessin, 

 Valais; while in Lucerne, Fribourg, Soleure, 

 St. Gall, and Geneva, the Roman Catholics con- 

 stitute a majority. 



The largest cities are Berne, the Federal 

 capital, with 29,016 inhabitants; Geneva, with 

 41,415 ; and Basle, with 37,918. 



The number of deputies sent to the National 

 Council by the several cantons is as follows : 

 Zurich 13, Berne 23, Lucerne 7, Uri 1, Schwytz 

 2, Unterwald (Upper) 1, Unterwald (Lower) 1, 

 Glaris 2, Zug 1, Fribourg 5, Soleure 5, Basle 

 City 2, Basle County 3, Schaffhausen 2, Appen- 

 zell Exterior 2, Appenzell Interior 1, St. Gall 9, 

 Grisons 5, Argovia 10, Thurgovia 5, Tessin 6, 

 Vaud 11, Valais 5, Neufchatel 4, Geneva 4. 



In the budget for 1866 the revenue is fixed at 

 18,716,244, and the expenditures at 19,415,000 

 francs. 



Amendments to the Federal Constitution, to 

 become valid, must be accepted separately, not 

 only by a majority of Swiss citizens, but by a 

 majority of the cantons. 



The Federal Assembly, in its session begin- 

 ning October 23d, resolved to submit to a popu- 

 lar vote nine amendments to the Federal Con- 

 stitution, viz. : 1. Uniformity of weights and 

 measures. 2. Free Establishment of Swiss 

 Jews. 3. The right of voting in communal 

 affairs by citizens settled hi other cantons than 

 their own. 4. The enactment of a Federal law 

 regulating conflicts respecting taxes and the 

 civil relations of citizens established out of their 

 own cantons 5. The right of voting in cantonal 

 affairs by citizens settled in other cantons than 

 their own. 6. Religious liberty. 7. Prohibi- 

 tion of certain kinds of punishments. 8. To de- 

 clare the Federal Assembly competent to estab- 

 lish legal provisions for the protection of literary 

 and industrial property. 9. To- declare the 

 Federal Assembly competent to pass laws 

 against lotteries and gambling-places. The 

 Federal Council fixed the 14th of January, 1866, 

 as the day for the popular vote upon these 

 amendments. In April the Federal Council for- 

 warded an address of condolence to the Amer- 

 ican people, and to the family of Mr. Lincoln. 



