SOCIETY MEETINGS. 
227 
before and after slaughter, and see that they suffer no neglect or 
cruelty at the hands of the butchers. It will be profitable, I 
think, to consider for a few moments causes which give rise to 
the necessity for inspection of meat. The inspection of flesh 
after the carcass has been cut up is not always sasisfactory, for 
various reasons, among which may be mentioned the fact that an 
animal may have died suddenly or a natural death, and while suf¬ 
fering from some disease, and the blood having been drawn from 
her and the organ or organs affected removed, thereby rendering 
the detection of the diseased condition difficult, although from the 
presence of infection or a febrile condition the meat might not 
be fit for human food. Hence the necessity for examining it 
while the carcass is intact or in the process of dressing, and also 
before being killed. Healthy meat is firm, elastic, covered with 
fat of a good consistency and more or less marbled from its pres¬ 
ence when cut across. It cuts well, has a uniform bright red 
color, and the interstitial connective tissue is rather dry than 
moist. When newly cut there exudes from it, especially on slight 
pressure, a highly colored, slightly acid juice, having an agreeable 
odor; by immersing such meat in boiling water it increases in 
bulk. Diseased meat may possess some of these properties, yet 
is always deficient in others. If the peritoneum is intact the 
presence of tuberculosis, anthrax, peritonitis, etc., may be detected, 
the condition of the kidneys, lymphatro glands, spinal marrow, 
veins and other organs may betray the marks of diseases of vari¬ 
ous kinds. 
“ What would more particularly have to be looked for in in¬ 
specting meat in an abattoir has been stated to be ‘ inflammation 
of various organs, cancerous disease, purulent infection, putrid 
decomposition, suppression of urine, jaundice, dropsy, rot (due to 
flukes), ovine bronchitis, diarrhoea and dA^sentery. Wasting dis¬ 
eases and various local diseases, besides these the various contage- 
ous diseases may be mentioned. The presence of trichinae spiralis 
and the larva of the various tape worms requires more espe¬ 
cially to be mentioned, as none but a competent man can under¬ 
take to search for and determine their presence. 
“ It is not my intention to enter into a description of the vari- 
