680 
LEONARD PEARSON. 
It will be seen that the amount consumed in the United 
States is greater than in any other part of the world with the 
exception of Australia, where meat is so very cheap that only 
the more desirable portions are used as food, and the actual con¬ 
sumption is less than the figures indicate.^ 
Since flesh enters so largely into our diet, and since it is de¬ 
rived from animals that undergo the same disease processes that 
we do, and is composed of such fragile compounds that it takes 
on irritant and toxic properties very quickly, unless handled 
with the greatest care, it is not surprising to learn that the con¬ 
trol of this food has attracted the attention of sanitarians from 
the earliest times. The first meat inspection was under the 
control of ecclesiastical authorities, and in some orders, as the 
Mohammedans and Jews, it is carried out under the same direc¬ 
tion to this day. Such an inspection when originated was as 
careful and thorough as the knowledge of the times would per¬ 
mit, but the regulations under which it is now enforced do not 
represent the most useful and efficient methods. 
In the last century the general public was aroused, and many 
of the countries of Continental Europe passed laws providing 
for the inspection of meat, and some municipalities erected ab¬ 
attoirs where all of the slaughtering of the city should be carried 
on under competent supervision. More recently, since the bac¬ 
terial origin of many diseases has been demonstrated, and the 
close relationship of many of the diseases of man and animals 
have been established, the importance of rational meat inspec¬ 
tion has been greatly emphasized. At this time, all of the 
countries of Continental Europe and the British Isles have a 
system of meat inspection which, although incomplete in some 
places and in some details, is in the main sufficient to protect 
the consumer from the numerous maladies that may be con¬ 
tracted by eating the flesh of diseased animals or meat that has 
been improperly cared for or preserved. 
The system of meat inspection that has proven most satisfac¬ 
tory in Europe, includes the establishment of a municipal abattoir 
under the direction of a veterinarian trained in meat inspection 
