A REPORT 



ON THE 



BLADDER-WORMS POUND IN BEEF AND PORK. 



BY 



T. E. LEWIS, M.B. 

 1872. 



>   • < — 



In reporting upon the microscopical characters of the " cysts " sometimes found in 

 cattle slaughtered in various parts of India, notably in the Punjab, it has been con- 

 sidered expedient to take up the subject of cyst-affected pork at the same time, as 

 the remarks which apply to the one kind apply in great measure to the other. I 

 am indebted to Assistant-Surgeons W. H. Jameson and G. Andrew, for numerous 

 examples of ration beef thus affected from Kawul Pindi and Fort Attock. The 

 samples of affected pork have been chiefly obtained from the Chinese slaughter-houses 

 located in the north-western suburbs of Calcutta. It has been with the greatest difficulty 

 that the latter could be obtained ; personal applications to the various Chinese pork 

 butchers were found to be quite useless. The proprietors seemed to be under the 

 impression that my visit to their establishment had some connection with the recent 

 slaughter-house reforms in the municipality. The service of a couple of low-caste men 

 (domes) having been enlisted, fresh specimens were obtained from time to time. 

 These men are said to consume a goodly portion of this pork, which is sold to them 

 at a very cheap rate. 



I have, however, not been so fortunate in obtaining many fresh examples of cyst- 

 affected beef. The native butchers declare that it is scarcely ever met with in Calcutta, 

 and the Europeans in charge of the slaughter-houses state that it must be very rare 

 indeed ; one of them informed me that during the six months that he had superintended 

 a slaughter-house, not a single example had come under his notice. I am not quite 

 certain that the majority of the men thus in charge have any definite knowledge 

 as to the appearance or nature of these " cysts." That they are occasionally met with 

 in the beef supplied in Calcutta, there is no doubt, and perhaps more frequently 

 than is imagined ; but I confess that after trying in vain for months to obtain a 

 sample, I felt greatly surprised at having after all to ir.ake their acquaintance, for 

 the first time here, in a cold sirloin placed before me at breakfast, and off which 



