Internal Enemies. 
1880.] 
m 
wholesomeness for the disgusting condition in which they 
expedl joints to be served up. 
But if we in England submit our animal food to a mere 
nominal cooking, some of our Continental neighbours go a 
step further, and omit the process altogether. In Switzer- 
land, Germany, and we believe in Holland, ham, bacon, 
sausages, and what is called “hack fleisch ’ (i.e.., meat 
chopped up as if for sausages, but not put into a skin), are 
consumed positively raw. This is the reason why deaths 
from trichinosis are more plentiful in Central Europe than 
in England or France, and why in Germany every pig 
slaughtered — or, we presume, imported as dead meat is 
subjedl to an official microscopic examination before it may 
be lawfully offered for sale. This must be pronounced a 
very judicious regulation so long as any portion of swine s 
flesh is to be consumed in a raw or a half-raw condition. 
Uncooked sausages are exceptionally dangerous, because 
they are often made from those portions of meat which lie 
nearest to the bones and the tendons, i.e. f precisely the 
parts where the Tvichince are most apt to take up their 
abode. 
Not a few persons entertain the superstition— we can give 
it no better name— that smoking hams or bacon win kill 
Trichince, if present, and will altogether adl as a substitute 
for cooking. It is possible that if creosote, the supposed 
adtive ingredient in wood-smoke, were placed in a concen- 
trated state in adlual contadl with a Trichina that the life of 
the parasite would be cut short ; but even if the outside of 
a ham is painted over with a solution of creosote the interior 
offers a safe shelter. Long before the Trichince were all 
killed the ham would be rendered utterly unfit for food. 
Thorough drying, without any attempt at smoking, is 
fatal to Trichince as far as its affiion penetrates ; but a little 
refledtion will show us that this process can rarely penetrate 
much below the surface, and must be utterly ineffedtual as 
far as the centre of a ham is concerned. 
Very similar is the adtion of salting. The Trichince die 
near the surface, but to kill them throughout would requite 
such a proportion of salt that the meat could not be eaten. 
After a week’s exposure to brine living Trichince were found 
by Dietzsch at an inch from the surface. 
The microscopic detection of Trichince is fortunately not 
a difficult task. Dietzsch diredts that thin portions of the 
flesh, not larger than a pin’s head, should be cut with a 
sharp razor in a diredlion parallel with the fibres. It is 
placed on a slip of glass, teased out a little with the needles, 
