CHAPTER XXIII. 

 THE HOG CARCASS. 



A comparative study of the importance of the various kinds 

 of meat in American, English, French, and German dietaries 

 discloses the fact that civilization is greatly dependent upon 

 the hog and its products. The following table gives the annual 

 per capita consumption of the various kinds of meat in the four 

 countries mentioned, and shows the large contribution of the 

 hog to the meat supply: 



*In addition to the above, the consumption of horse flesh amounts to 

 about 1 pound per capita in France, and in Germany 1.9 pounds of goat, 

 horse, and dog meat is consumed per capita. 



The British are well known to be partial to beef in their 

 meat dietary, and the Germans to pork, and this is amply sub- 

 stantiated by the table; nevertheless it is seen that the people 

 of the United States consume more beef than the British and 

 more pork than the Germans. The British, however, consume 

 more mutton per capita than any other nationality, and the 

 French come first with veal. The figures show that the con- 

 sumption of pork, as compared with the consumption of beef, 

 is greater than might be supposed. Americans and Germans 

 consume more pork than beef, but the table shows a different 

 proportion for the English and French. These variations may 

 be due to differences in the way appetites have been cultivated 

 in the various countries, or to differences in the quantities of 

 pork produced and the cost of it. 



In the combined slaughter of beef, mutton, and pork in 

 the United States, beef constituted 48 per cent, of the total in 



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