THE HORSE. 155 



employment of raw meat, nowadays very common ; also the cus- 

 tom of eating it raw. The latter cause has not been sufHcicutly im- 

 pressed upon the public. 



" Beef and mutton, then, freijucntly contain, in addition to their 

 nutritive principles, morbitic germs, the existence of which is not 

 apparent to the meat inspectors or consumers. In the first place, 

 the custom of eating raw flesh must be abandoned ; roasted flesh is 

 generally well cooked, even burned externally, while in the intorioi-s 

 it is in niany instances still raw. In the second place, when i)hysi- 

 cians have to prescribe raw meat, the jlesh of the horse should be 

 chosen in preference, as it is more healthy and nutritive than that 

 of the ox, sheep, or pig. The horse, in fact, is not liable to those 

 verminous affections which produce the germs of the different kinds 

 of tape-worniri of which the human body is the receptacle. Horse- 

 flesh is more digestible than that of the other animals, which are 

 prematurely and excessively fattened. It suits more especially 

 weakly, amemic, or chlorotic people, and those who undergo severe 

 muscular exercise. During the first quarter of the year 1875, 1,821 

 hoi*ses were slaughtered in Paris for food ; while, for the same pe- 

 riod in 1870, 2,370 were used, an increase of 541)." 



Dr. Hugo IIel•t^^'ig, the first assistant of the market-inspection 

 bureau at Berlin, gives a very interesting account of the different 

 equine-slaughteriiig establishments in that city and the regulations 

 to which they are subjected. He says : " More than a thousand years 

 have passed since our forefathers ceased to use this valuable article 

 of food, which is principally due to the influence of Christian jiriests, 

 and their desire to wean the people away from all relics of the 

 heathenism in which they were supposed to have lived uj) to their 

 time. Boniface III played an important part in this matter. I>r. 

 Spinola, and a singer at the Koyal Opera-IIouse, Blume, played an 

 important role in bringing it again into use. Xotwithstanding much 

 opposition, the consumption of horse-meat has gone on steadily in- 

 creasing among the people, not only of Berlin, but other German 

 cities. A most favorable influence was exerted by the order issued 

 by the p(jlicc president of Berlin, whereby a most exact control of 

 the horse-meat market was ordained, and the quality of the meat 

 offered for sale guaranteed to the people. The regidation of ^larch 

 24, 1854, ordered : '' That no hoi-se could be slaughtered, under a 

 penalty of a fine of five thalers ($3.75), before it had been subjected 

 to veterinary inspection, and pronounced suitable for food." For 

 this purpose, a legal certificate was given, which must be kept by 

 the butcher, for a perio<l of four weeks, and shown to the police 



