378 
THE DAIRIES OF LONDON. 
for slaughtering. She is then sold to the butcher, and be- 
comes prime Cockney meat. 
Such is the fate of the beast, supposing it to live through 
all the dangers its flesh is heir to. The great majority, how- 
ever, do not survive long enough to become very sleek. Dis- 
ease fixes on them, and cow-keepers never employ veterinary 
surgeons. The reason is to be found in the very great con- 
venience of the dead-market. It is far more profitable to 
slaughter the animal that is unhealthy, and to send the car- 
case to the dead-market, than to pay for medical treatment. 
This is so commonly done, that it is now a speculation, how 
much of human sickness is attributable to unwholesome 
food ? 
But, suppose a cow to die, as they sometimes will in the 
night ? The next morning the animal’s throat is cut, to let 
out as much blood as possible, and then a butcher is sent for 
to dress the carcase. The flesh is sold. It all goes to sup- 
port the dead-market. The carrion is purchased cheap by 
the needy; or, if too bad to be cut into joints and publicly 
exposed, it is privately disposed of to some large purveyor of 
the various kinds of sausages. 
It is not too much to assert, that almost all the impure 
meat consumed in London is supplied by the London cow- 
sheds. A certain portion may come by rail from the coun- 
try; but there are few places that can command a more 
convenient and less-overlooked market than the metropolis. 
So much for the supply of meat. The number of deaths 
occasioned by its consumption has not been estimated; but 
every one is aware of the great mortality among the infants 
born in London. Such fatality has been reasonably attri- 
buted to the nature of the milk, which constitutes a large 
proportion of their food. 
A recent number of the Veterinarian contained a detailed 
account of the state in which milk is drawn from cows that 
have been long inhabitants of the shed. It becomes tinged 
with various colours, and deficient in its nutrient properties. 
The London milkman corrects these defects, and sells the 
diseased secretion as wholesome food for the children of 
respectability. 
Well, but how are these things to be avoided ? The 
evil is easily to be removed. Make it penal for any person to 
harbour a cow within the metropolitan district. 
This proposal doubtless appears harsh. Is it, however, 
without precedent to warrant it? Pigs are banished from 
the bills of mortality. The reason is, because their pre- 
sence within the city was found, or believed, to be incom- 
