MICHIGAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 
141 
MEAT INSPECTION AS AN AID TO THE PREVENTION OF 
DISEASE. 
E. H. HAYWARD. 
Since the diet of mankind, especially in this country, consists largely 
of the flesh of animals, fish and birds, it is apparent that a careful 
inspection of the same should be maintained, to the end that this flesh 
may be furnished for edible purposes in a sound and healthy condition. 
There have been many cases of sickness, often in an epidemic form, 
which are directly traceable to the ingestion of diseased meat. As a 
hygienic measure and for the purpose -of protecting the public from 
such outbreaks, our legislature has enacted laws governing the sale of 
meat and prohibiting the marketing for food of such as may be detri¬ 
mental to the health of the community. 
The inspection of meat is as a rule under the supervision of the local 
sanitary authorities, the board of health, and forms a department of 
its own, apart from other food inspections. The duties of a meat in¬ 
spector are: 
(1) To see that suitable animals are selected for slaughter. 
(2) To see that the animals are slaughtered in a proper manner. 
(3) To see to the sanitary arrangements of the slaughter house. 
There are but few cities in the country which maintain public abba- 
toirs, and as a consequence the work of the meat inspector can not be 
complete. It is impossible with the stall:' of men employed in any 
one city to visit and control the slaughtering and sale of meat when 
it is distributed all over a large and populous municipality. The ideal 
condition of one large central abbatoir with a corps of efficient in¬ 
spectors exists only in the large cities of Europe, Berlin, Paris, Munich, 
etc. 
The slaughter and disposal of the meat of animals has been subject 
to laws and regulations for centuries. Since the time of Moses down 
to the present century various nations have maintained a system of 
meat inspection of more or less efficiency. The principal objects of meat 
inspection are to exclude meat which is unfit for food on account of: 
(1) The presence of diseases dangerous to man. 
(2) The presence of decomposition. 
The living animal should be inspected within twenty-four hours of 
killing, and the points to observe are that the animal is well grown, 
properly nourished and lias the appearance of health. Cattle should 
be three to eight years of age, this may be determined by the teeth. 
The age of a pig can not be told after three years. The flesh should be 
firm and elastic, the skin supple. Health is manifested by ease of move¬ 
ment, a bright eye, a red and moist nasal mucosa and regular and easy 
respiration. 
The color of normal meat varies from white in some fish to a dark 
