1906.] Report on Tuberculosis in Pigs. 



749 



carcase — and many of them are altogether ignorant of the signifi- 

 cance of tuberculous lesions — and being without the advantage 

 of official inspection, the home producer may send carcases 

 of tuberculous animals to London with the result that (under 

 the system of marking) they are specially looked over and 

 tuberculosis is discovered. In such cases he would not only 

 lose the value of the carcases, but would be at a disadvantage 

 when compared with the foreign importer in consequence of 

 the risk of prosecution which he would incur. 



Dr. Buchanan refers in this connection to the scheme for 

 systematic meat inspection in London which was prepared in 

 1898 by the Medical Officer of Health of the London County 

 Council (Annual Report, 1898, Appendix II.). One of the most 

 valuable parts of this scheme was the provision at some half- 

 dozen or more points selected with regard to railway and road 

 traffic of" meat inspection stations." The object of these stations 

 was to receive all butchers' meat consigned direct to London 

 tradesmen or manufacturers and not going through the Central 

 Meat Market. It was proposed that the carcases should there be 

 examined, under satisfactory conditions and regulations, by 

 veterinary inspectors with special training or experience in the 

 inspection of meat. Convenient places for cold storage were 

 to be attached to these inspection stations. In this report Sir 

 S. Murphy gave reasons for believing that the cost of providing 

 and maintaining these stations, which in part would be defrayed 

 by inspection fees, would be comparatively small. 



Establishment of such inspection stations, together with 

 marking of meat there inspected, would go far to remove the 

 disadvantage to the home producer referred to above, and to 

 enable carcases of tuberculous pigs to be dealt with on uniform 

 lines throughout the Metropolis. A further part of this scheme 

 was that together with these inspection stations, or at certain of 

 them, public slaughter-houses should be provided, with the 

 intention of enabling steps to be taken to close the various 

 private slaughter-houses which remain in London. The 

 proportion of pork in London which comes from private 

 slaughter-houses in the Metropolis is comparatively small, 

 but if these public slaughter-houses were established, or if meat 

 prepared at private slaughter-houses in London were required 

 to be submitted to examination at the inspecting stations or 



