APPENDIX. 401 



cept that in one corner was piled an enormous pyramid of horse- 

 shoes of all shapes and sizes. But little meat was visible, the busi- 

 ness of the day being principally transacted in the early morning, 

 and the meat sold to the retail shops I had seen on my way out 

 of the city. What I did see, however, looked very like the usual 

 fore and hind quarters of beef — perhaps a little leaner. I was more 

 desirous, however, of seeing what the horses looked like before 

 being killed, and on expressing a desire to visit the stables, I 

 was at once shown them. Here were some thirty or forty horses 

 awaiting their fate ; some of them very nice-looking ones, and 

 some rather " hard specimens of horse-flesh." Judicious pump- 

 ing of my cicerone drew out the following facts : That the horses 

 purchased for this purpose were all of them, in one way or an- 

 other, unfitted for further work ; most of them were disabled by 

 some form of accident ; some had contracted diseases of the feet, 

 and a few were debarred from further service by old age. I 

 asked if these were not very tough ? " Yes," answered the cice- 

 rone, " but they do very well for sausages." The prices paid for 

 horses at the abattoir range from 50 to 150 francs ($10 to $30), 

 according to size, weight, and condition, with occasionally, per- 

 haps, extremes both lower and higher. The meat is subject to a 

 rigid inspection by the official inspector before being marketed, 

 but I did not learn that there was any inspection of the animals be- 

 fore slaughtering. This would seem also to be necessary, as some 

 forms of disease might then be detected that would not be appa- 

 rent in the meat. On an average eighteen horses per day are 

 slaughtered at this establishment, with now and then a few asses 

 and mules. The superintendent, with much pride, brought out 

 for our inspection a photograph of some beasts which were ex- 

 hibited at the last Paris Exhibition, and for which he received a 

 prize " over all competitors." Speaking of competitors, there is 

 competition even in this line, and there are several other horse- 

 abattoirs, although that of M. Tetard is the largest. As above 

 stated, eighteen animals per day is the average of his establish- 

 ment, or say between five and six thousand per year. On the 

 way back we stopped at one of the retail shops we had noticed 

 coming out. Here, on the usual racks of a butcher's shop, were 

 displayed chops, steaks, and roasting-pieces, while through a 

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