EATING OF HUMAN FLESH BY SWINE. 
39 
periments fail, we hope they will not be disheartened, 
remembering the line of Lactantius — 
“ Primus sapientise gradus est falsa intelligere.” 
We trust, moreover, that members of our profession residing 
in snake-infested districts will aid in' the research by forward- 
ing any information they may obtain. — The Lancet . 
EATING OF HUMAN FLESH BY SWINE. 
The legend which ascribes to the eating of human flesh 
the origin of one of the most loathsome of diseases, scarce 
offers a more horrible picture to the imagination than is pre- 
sented by a letter in the Ceylon Examiner of October. We 
have already alluded to the ravages made by cholera in India 
during the earlier part of this year. The latest accounts inform 
us that this scourge has also devastated the beautiful islands 
of Mauritius and Bourbon. These islands are largely supplied 
with pork from Patna, a province of Hindostan that has itself 
been overrun by the cholera. Both there and at Calcutta the 
bodies of the natives are consigned to the Ganges, instead of 
being interred. “Let any person, 5 ’ says the writer in the Cey- 
lon paper, “ at daybreak start from the gates of Government 
House, Calcutta; and whether his walk be to the banks of 
the river, or to the banks of the canals, which on three sides 
surround the city, he will see pigs feeding on the dead bodies 
of the natives that have been thrown there during the night ; 
during the day the river police clear away and sink all that 
remain of the bodies. Bad as is the metropolis of India, it is 
nothing compared to Patna Hundreds upon hundreds 
of human corpses are there strewed along the strand ; and 
fattening, Ghoule-like, upon these are droves upon droves of 
swine. These swine are slaughtered, cut up and salted into 
hams, bacon, and pickled pork, and then despatched to Cal- 
cutta The great market for this poisonous swine-produce 
is the Mauritius and Bourbon,” where it is foisted on the 
inhabitants as the produce of Europe. Moreover, as these 
swine are sold in Calcutta at three or four shillings each car- 
case, it is stated that the inferior class of homeward-bound 
vessels are provisioned with them, and thus this human-fed 
pork is introduced into Europe and America. To the con- 
clusion of the writer, that this is a probable cause of the 
spread of cholera, we do not assent. But we would call attention 
to the revolting scenes described by him; for it is in a British 
possession, and under the control of British rule, that these 
enormities are allowed to continue. — Ibid* 
