FLESH FOOD FROM MAMMALS. 105 



and the public sale of horseflesh for human food is no-w 

 general in Austria, Bohemia, Saxony, Hanover, Switzer- 

 land, and Belgium. At least ten thousand of the 

 inhabitants of Vienna are hippophagists. 



A recent American paper says : — It may be de- 

 monstrated that, in not utilizing horseflesh as food, 

 we are throwing away a valuable and palatable 

 meat, of which there is sufiicient quantity largely 

 to augment our existing aggregate food supply. Sup- 

 posing that the horse came into use here as food, it 

 can be easily shown that the absolute wealth in the 

 country would thereby be materially increased. In 

 France the average price for horse-meat, as compared 

 with similar cuts from the steer, is about two-fifths less. 

 A horse is there sold to the slaughterer for from £2 

 to £3. 



Estimating from this that £2 is the gross value of 

 every horse in the United States, over and above his 

 worth for working purposes, it remains to be seen how 

 much of that sum may be set apart as to be derived 

 from his utilization for food alone. As will be seen 

 further on, the French butchers derive a revenue from 

 hide, hoofs, hair, etc., and, as is well-known, the same 

 portions of the animal find industrial uses here. Placing 

 the value of these parts of the carcase at 30s., we find that 

 12s. is the net value of each horse for alimentary pur- 

 poses. In round numbers there are about eleven million 

 horses in the country. According to the above showing, we 

 must add 12s. to the value of each horse, since, in addition 

 to his value as a worker or as a raw material for manu- 

 facturing, he now has a new one as food. Consequently 

 the aggregate value of all the horses is increased by about 

 £6,000,000. But this accretion to the wealth in the 

 country is of course not convertible into actual money, 

 for, so long as the working value exists, the food value 

 as well as the manufacturing value are practically at 

 zero ; neither could be realised without great loss, and 

 hence both are negatived. But there is a certain easily 

 ascertained annual proportion of the horses of which the 



