552 
EDITORIAL. 
_______ 
ing the carcass, and admitting at every turn the most abject 
ignorance possible of the probable relation of actinomycotic 
meat to human health, and all this notwithstanding the posi¬ 
tive official declarations of Secretary Rusk that the car¬ 
casses of these animals are condemned and excluded from both 
home and foreign markets. 
The Chicago News for November 21 contains an alleged 
interview with Dr. Salmon, Chief of the Bureau of Animal 
Industry, in which he fails to take any positive stand in the 
matter, but suggests that the danger is overestimated, and 
the words attributed to him might readily be construed to 
mean that in our present knowledge he believes that until a 
tumor has gained large dimensions and is discharging pus, 
the meat is fit for food. A positive conclusion can not, how¬ 
ever, be drawn as to his exact stand, but the above sugges¬ 
tion is the position held by many. It is a very peculiar posi¬ 
tion for anyone to occupy, as, leaving out the thought of dan¬ 
ger from the contained living micro-organisms, it is very 
difficult to understand why a discharging tumor, from which 
the pus is promptly evacuated after formation, or a tumor we 
may say which has contained pus, renders the meat of the car¬ 
cass unfit for food, while a tumor containing pus renders it 
healthful. 
Certain occurrences in connection with the trial further 
lead us to ask: 
In whose interest should meat inspection be made f 
Were we to judge the matter from the standpoint of Drs. 
Hickman and Billings, we would have to conclude that meat 
inspection is a process designed to secure to the producer a 
sale for his meat regardless of the consumer’s wishes or health. 
The public press, at the date of the trial, was also well filled 
with news of how many telegrams of encouragement and sym¬ 
pathy the plaintiffs were receiving from cattlemen throughout 
the West. We have no doubt that there are many cattlemen 
who would like to sell these actinomycotic animals for food, 
but a careful canvass among these same cattle raisers would 
show Sbut few of them who 'care to eat the flesh of such 
animals themselves. 
