126 DOMESTIC ANIMAXS. [Chap. I. 



many expedients have been resorted to in order to cheapen tlie food of fowls. 

 Oliaiidlers' greaves arc largely used by parties in the vicinity of Kcw York 

 to fatten poultry for market. These arc good for an occasional feeding, Init 

 for exclusive food we have our doubts, and think others will, after reading 

 the I'oUowing extract : 



178. Are Fowls Wholesome which arc Fed on Putrid Meat?— Such is the 

 question considered by Dr. Duchesne iu the January number of the Annates 

 (ri/i/ffii'»e Pitlilique. 



It is well known that man can not indulge in putrid meat with impunity, 

 and numerous cases are on record where accidents liave occurred from this 

 kind of food. Little is known, however, of the eflects }iroduced by the flesh 

 of animals otherwise in good health, but nourished with flesh in a state of 

 putrefaction. Certain animals can undoubtedly be nourished on such putrid 

 matters ; but it is important, in a hygienic point of view, to determine the 

 modifications whicli the exclusive use of putrid viands may produce in the 

 quality and the preservability of fowls destined for the market. 



On the occasion of a complaint against a farmer in the ncighl)orhood of 

 Paris, Dr. Duchesne visited his cstablishnient on a warm day in July, and 

 toward the afternoon. The food of the poultry he found to consist of flesh 

 iu a state of putrid decomposition, which had been obtained from the 

 slaughter-houses of Paris. The fat is first removed by cooking, and bran is 

 added; and this mixture 13 given morning and evening to the fowls, who 

 fight for it with avidity. A very fetid odor came from the barrels in which 

 the food was contained, from the vessels where it was supplied to the fowls, 

 and also from the ground round about them. The fowls, however, appeared 

 to be in perfect health. Dr. Duchesne supplied himself with three eggs laid 

 that day, and also with a fowl and duck of a year old, which were killed 

 before him. In three hours' time the poultrj- gave out a very strong odor, 

 and the intestines were so offensive that tiiey had to be removed to a dis- 

 tance. Decomposition rapidly set in. The fowl, at the end of twenty hours 

 after being cooked, had an unpleasant, strong taste, and the duck, at the end 

 of twenty-four hours, was in such a state that it could not be eaten. Kext 

 day, when the flesh was cold, and the smell abated, portions of the duck 

 wore partaken of by the servants. Tlie eggs, too, M-ere found, if kej)t a rea- 

 sonaljle time, to become very unpalatable-. In fine, it was shown that 

 though fowls nourished in this "way were apparently health}', and could be 

 eaten at a pinch without great inconvenience, yet that it was most probable 

 that the continued use of such articles of diet would be attended with danger. 

 The Council of Health at once interdicted the sale of fowls fed in this ob- 

 jectionable manner. 



Dr. Duchesne continued his inquiries at the great knackery of Aubcrvil- 

 liers, where pigs and fowls are fed in great numbers on flesh, raw and 

 cooked, and where similar animals are reared on a mixed food, consisting of 

 flesh and grain. The results of his observations are embodied in the follow- 

 ing conclusions : 



