650 VETEEINAEY HYGIENE 



' no carcase shall be submitted for examination, unless as a 

 whole carcase, including the thoracic and abdominal viscera, 

 in such a manner that the examiner shall be readily able 

 to satisfy himself that the organs are those of the carcase 

 under inspection.' 



The Act does not contemplate under this scheme the 

 inspection of dressed carcases or parts of carcases, for if 

 these were admitted, there is nothing to prevent animals 

 which have been killed on the point of death, or actually 

 died from disease, from being submitted to examination 

 and a protecting certificate obtained. 



A very great trust is, therefore, imposed by the law of 

 Scotland on the veterinary surgeon, and an enlightened 

 view taken of his professional duties and qualifications. 



In Ireland the law is the same as in England. 



Meat inspection in England, with but few exceptions, of 

 which Manchester stands pre-eminent, is an absolute farce. 



In evidence before the Tuberculosis Commission, it was 

 elicited that in Battersea four plumbers and three car- 

 penters discharged these duties ; in Hackney two plumbers, 

 one carpenter, one compositor, one bricklayer, one florist, 

 one builder, one surveyor, and one stonemason. In Ports- 

 mouth one butcher, three school teachers, one medical 

 dispenser, one carpenter, and one tram- conductor ! In 

 fact men are appointed to these duties without any special 

 training, or at the outside a smattering imparted by a short 

 course of lectures and a hurried visit to an abattoir. 



The training of meat inspectors should be carried out by 

 the veterinary profession, and certificates of competence 

 to subordinate meat inspectors should be granted under 

 the authority of the Eoyal College of Veterinary Surgeons. 



The inspection of meat before it leaves the abattoir should 

 be purely veterinary ; there is no one more ignorant of 

 the symptoms, diseases, and post-mortem appearances of 

 animals than the ordinary medical man, and this is said 

 in no sense of disparagement ; they are as awkward at this 

 work as we should be at the bedside. In the veterinary 

 inspection of meat all we should certify to is that the flesh 



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