344 
FOWLS FED ON PUTRID MEAT. 
however, of the effects produced by the flesh of animals 
otherwise in good health, but nourished with flesh in a state of 
putrefaction. Certain animals can undoubtedly be nourished 
on such putrid matters; but it is important, in a hygienic 
point of view, to determine the modifications which the 
exclusive use of putrid viands may produce in the quality 
and the preservability of fowls destined for the market. 
On the occasion of a complaint against a farmer in the 
neighbourhood of Paris, Dr. Duchesne visited his establish¬ 
ment, on a warm day in July, and towards the afternoon. 
The food of the poultry he found to consist of flesh in a 
state of putrid decomposition, which had been obtained from 
the slaughter-houses of Paris. The fat is first removed by 
cooking, and bran is added ; and this mixture is given morn¬ 
ing and evening to the fowls, who fight for it with avidity. 
A very fetid odour came from the barrels in which the food 
was contained, from the vessels where it was supplied to the 
fowls, and also from the ground round about them. The 
fowls, however, appeared to be in perfect health. Dr. Du¬ 
chesne supplied himself with three eggs laid that day, and 
also with a fowl and duck of a year old, which were killed 
before him. In three hours’ time the poultry gave out a very 
strong odour, and the intestines were so offensive that they 
had to be removed to a distance. Decomposition rapidly set 
in. The fowl, at the end of twenty hours, after being 
cooked, had an unpleasant strong taste, and the duck at the 
end of twenty-four hours was in such a state that it could 
not be eaten. Next day, when the flesh was cold, and the 
smell abated, portions of the duck were partaken of by the 
servants. The eggs, too, were found, if kept a reasonable 
time, to become very unpalatable. In fine, it was shown 
that, though fowls nourished in this way were apparently 
healthy, and could be eaten at a pinch without great incon¬ 
venience, yet that it was most probable that the continued 
use of such articles of diet would be attended with danger. 
The Council of Health at once interdicted the sale of fowls 
fed in this objectionable manner. 
Dr. Duchesne continued his inquiries at the great Knackery 
of Aubervilliers, where pigs and fowls are fed in great num¬ 
bers on flesh raw and cooked, and where similar animals are 
reared on a mixed food, consisting of flesh and grain. The 
result of his observations are embodied in the following 
conclusions: 
1. Fowls and pigs may be fed on sound flesh, raw and 
cooked; on flesh, raw and cooked, of animals affected with 
contagious diseases, as glanders, malignant pustule, hydro- 
