488 
W. L. WILLIAMS. 
review every part of his production at length. We will pass 
over his remarks as to how meat inspection should be carried 
out, merely stating that we are in full accord with the author 
and believe with him that meat inspection should be only un¬ 
dertaken under just and sufficient laws, in conveniently 
arranged public abbotoirs, and by qualified veterinarians fully 
competent to measure the significance of pathological lesions 
with which in the course of their duties they will meet, and 
that the inspection should be carried out by such persons and 
in a manner to properly guard the health and command the 
confidence of the intended consumers. 
It has been quite a common custom in many countries 
requiring meat inspection to confide that trust to some politi¬ 
cal hanger-on whose qualification rests solely upon political 
services rendered or promised in the future. It is evident, 
however, to any intelligent person that this duty should be 
performed by a person well versed in pathology, for, as Bol¬ 
linger has well observed, “ meat inspection in its highest sense 
is applied pathological anatomy.” 
The recently enacted United States meat inspection laws 
appear to be, in most respects, adequate and beneficent, and 
although it is as yet too early to speak of their execution it 
is safe to predict that with experience and organization our 
meat inspection service will prove eminently satisfactory so 
far as our laws extend. 
The law apparently has some imperfections which might 
be remedied with benefit. The provision in Section 7 of this 
act, which allows “farmers” a peculiar exemption from the 
general provisions of the inspection regulations and permits 
him to slaughter diseased animals and transport the meat into 
other States and sell it for human food apparently nullifies, to 
a very dangerous extent the beneficent provisions elsewhere 
found in the act and offers inducements to the favored farmer 
to retain his diseased animals on his farm until slaughtered 
and the more apparent evidences of disease are annihilated 
before offering it for sale. 
The failure, perhaps incompetency, of this law to provide 
for the destruction of diseased meats and barely excluding 
