108 ANIMAL FOOD RESOURCES OF DIFFERENT NATIONS. 



at a cost of l;^d. to l|d. per pound. But the advance 

 in the price of meat in the 30 years that have elapsed 

 since then has been enormous. 



At Gothenburg horseflesh is generally sold to the 

 poorer classes, who cannot afford the higher prices of 

 beef. In the last seventeen years nearly 30,000 horses 

 have been killed and their flesh used as food in Berlin. 

 In 1853 there were but five slaughter-houses, and only 

 150 horses sold ; in 1865 the number had increased there 

 to 2,240. 



Setting aside the prejudice against the flesh of the 

 horse which most Englishmen entertain on the subject, 

 we confess we see nothing that is repulsive in adopting ^ 

 it as an article of food. The horse, like the ox and the 

 sheep, is granivorous and herbivorous, and a far more 

 cleanly feeder than the pig, which will devour any filthy 

 garbage ; and the flesh of a young horse cannot but be 

 good eating. The mother of the celebrated William 

 Godwin once had a fine young horse, three years old, 

 that broke its leg in a gate. She instantly had it killed; 

 and being a strong-minded lady, and free from prejudice, 

 she directed a butcher to dress it and cut it up exactly 

 as he would do a bullock. She then sent presents of it 

 to her friends, requesting them to cook it the same as 

 " other beef" Her request was complied with, and one 

 and all pronounced it to be equal to any beef they ever 

 partook of. 



Whether this movement will be followed up by a 

 partial adoption of horse-flesh in England, is a question 

 that time alone can determine. There is, however, 

 another view of it that must be decided before the 

 middle and upper classes can be brought to patronise 

 the plan. At what age then are horses to be fattened 

 and slaughtered ? and is the slaughtering for sale to be 

 confined to the poor, old, broken-down hacks of the cabs, 

 omnibuses, and costermongers ? On the face of the pro- 

 position it appears so, for assuredly a horse under ten or 

 twelve years, generally speaking, is too valuable for 

 work, if he has been well treated by his owner, to be 



