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THE VETERINARIAN, MAY 1, 1861. 
Ne quid falsi dicere audeat, ne quid veri non audeat. — Cicero. 
SALE OE DISEASED MEAT. 
The exposure and punishment which have recently at¬ 
tended the reprehensible practice of sending the carcasses of 
diseased animals to the metropolitan meat markets cannot 
fail to produce a beneficial result. For many years past, as 
well as during the present, enormous quantities of such 
meat have been disposed of; and not only in London, but 
also in country towns, especially in our great seaports and 
manufacturing emporiums. That numerous cases of dis¬ 
ease in man are traceable to the quality of the food on 
which he subsists, no one can doubt; and we are glad to 
see the energy which has been displayed to put a stop 
to such an injurious system. In a previous number we 
alluded to this subject, and ventured to suggest that only 
such persons as had received a medical education, and were 
conversant with the diseases of the lower animals, should 
hold the appointment of inspectors of our meat-markets. 
We also stated that, beneficial as was a veterinary super¬ 
vision of our cattle-fairs and markets, that it tended to the 
“ home slaughtering” of diseased animals, with a view to 
a more easy and safe disposal of them. Surely it is high 
time that additional means should be adopted by those in 
authority to meet the evil in its several ramifications. The 
severe animadversions on the agricultural community which 
have appeared in many of the public prints may be uncalled 
for, but we fear there is a class of farmers who are not over- 
scrupulous on matters of this kind. They quiet their 
conscience by the assurance that they are not the immediate 
purveyors of the unwholesome meat, by disposing of it 
to some low-class butcher, taking care, however, that the 
price he pays is far above its real value. We have a case 
somewhat to the point in the recent trial of Thomas Spencer, 
which we append: 
