652 VETEEINAEY HYGIENE 



word to express the absence of system in the inspection 

 and seizure of tuberculous meat. . . .' 



The inspection of meat should be thorough but fair, that 

 is to say, some universal standard should as far as possible 

 be laid down for the guidance of meat inspectors, but little 

 left to their opinion, and nothing to their individual caprice ; 

 in this way all connected with the live and dead meat trade 

 would know exactly how they stand. 



In fairness to the British agriculturist and tradesman, 

 the inspection of foreign meat whether landed alive or 

 dead, should be as searching as that of home production. 

 We recognise the difficulties in the examination of dead 

 meat owing to the absence of the viscera, so that the con- 

 ditions for imported dead meat should in consequence be 

 more rigid. 



We have touched on the question of the ordinary meat 

 inspector as appointed by local authorities, and drawn 

 attention to the ridiculous situation created, of men belong- 

 ing to any odd calling being appointed to do work essen- 

 tially the duty of a pathological expert. An attempt was 

 made on the publication of the finding of the Tuberculosis 

 Commission, to at once meet their recommendations by 

 training Inspectors of Nuisances, and others similarly 

 qualified, to take up a specialized line of study. These 

 meat inspectors were put through a hurried course of a 

 few days' instruction, in a syllabus which if carefully 

 followed would take eighteen months to two years ; im- 

 perfectly prepared material has been poured forth ever 

 since supposed to be capable of examining animals both 

 alive and dead. 



We recognise everything must have a beginning, but the 

 initial mistake made in the training of inspectors, was 

 that it was not done by the veterinary authorities who do 

 know, but by the medical authorities who do not know. It 

 is a farce to talk of meat inspectors trained by means of a 

 few wet preparations, diagrams, models, and a visit to an 

 abattoir. Not a single qualification of meat inspectorship 

 should be granted, excepting such persons have previously 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



