MUNICIPAL HYGIENE 669 



It frequently happens, especially in hot weather, that the 

 salting process is adopted to save meat which looks like not 

 keeping. If meat is tainted before pickling, the salting 

 process may save the exterior of the joint, but the tissues 

 next the' bone will still give evidence of the process. In 

 doubtful cases the insertion of a skewer and smelling it on 

 withdrawal should settle the point. 



The difference between frozen and chilled meat is a 

 question of temperature. The matter is of no interest to 

 the veterinary inspector, who is only concerned with the 

 question of the freedom of flesh from disease, and from 

 what we have previously said the examination of a dressed 

 carcase whether fresh, frozen, or chilled is of very little 

 value. To the medical officer the question is of more 

 importance, frozen quartered meat is not so nourishing as 

 that which has been chilled, but this does not apply to 

 carcases frozen whole, where no loss of body fluid results 

 from freezing. 



The different characteristics which enable the carcase of 

 one animal to be distinguished from another do not need to 

 be taught to the veterinary inspector. When, however, the 

 carcase of a bovine is quartered and the head removed, it 

 becomes a question of some degree of nicety to determine 

 whether the beef is bull, ox, or cow. The problems to be 

 solved are identical with those demanded from the human 

 surgeon for forensic purposes, when only a non-distinctive 

 portion of a mutilated body is available for examination. 



We shall confine our attention to practically the same 

 points that he is called upon to determine, viz., sex and 

 probable age. 



The pelvic region and hind-quarters generally help the 

 question of sex to be solved. In the bull there is a distinct 

 tubercle on the anterior part of the symphysis pubis ; this 

 is smaller in the castrated animal, while in the cow it is 

 poorly developed. 



In the male the line of the symphysis is distinctly curved, 

 in the female it is flatter. 



In the bull the hind-quarters are well developed, less so 



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