CONTAGIOUS DISEASES OF DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. 189 



admission of American pork to that country. Among tlie trades people 

 in the cities, so far as I could learn, tbe feeling is very strong against 

 the prohibitory policj' of the Government, but among the best informed 

 people, and those connected with the Government, the case is just about 

 as follows: 



The swine of both Germany and the United States are confessedly, 

 to some extent, infected with trichina. The German authorities refpiire 

 that the flesh of all swine slaughtered in that country shall be subjected 

 to a microscopic examination by a Government inspector, and pronounced 

 free from trichina, before it can be offered for sale. No such examina- 

 tion is practicable with salted and packed meats from America, and as 

 no pretense of an inspection of our meats is made by us under Govern- 

 ment authority, or even under the supervision of the packing firms, the 

 German Government says, "We cannot accord to American packers 

 and butchers a privilege which we refuse to accord to our own." So 

 far as I could gather, it is generally conceded that whenever an inspec- 

 tion of our pork is made, under careful governmental supervision, similar 

 to that now made by the German authorities, there will be no objection 

 to its sale in that countr3\ Indeed it strikes me that were such an in- 

 si)ection made there would be such a strong pressure brought to bear 

 ui)on the German Government by their own people that the embargo 

 would be speedily removed. The presence or absence of this microscopic 

 parasite in the pork of this country is a matter of but little interest to 

 us, as Americans cooJc their pork before eating it, and thorough cooking 

 obviates all danger, but in Germany, where much of it is eaten raw, it 

 becomes a serious matter. Should further experiments confirm what 

 has been already partially shown, that thorough curing in salt destroys 

 the vitality of the trichina, if not entirely, at least, to so great a degree 

 as to reduce the danger from meats that have been thoroughly cured by 

 this process to almost nothing, it will doubtless be a strong point in our 

 favor, and a proper presentation of the facts to the German Government, 

 should this be clearly prov^en, ought at once to be made. Until this fact 

 is clearly established, however, and in the absence of any pretence of 

 inspection of American meats, either under governmental or individual 

 supervision, the position of the German Government is obviously souiul 

 upon this question, and cannot be assailed without first demonstrating 

 that their own inspection is useless. 



OUR EXPORT CATTLE TRADE WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 



From all that I could learn while in pjugland, the trade in dead meat 

 between the United States and Great Britain is not at all satisfactory 

 either to those engaged in the trade or to the consumer. The facilities 

 for securing the exact temperature necessary in order to maintain the 

 proper condition of the meat during the ocean voyage are so imperfect 

 that the meat not unfreipiently reaches the consumer in a more or less 

 damaged condition, and large losses have resulted. All well-informed 



