View report page

94
Dutch Calves.—Five of these, bearing the Dutch official
label of satisfactory condition, was seized in Finsbury in 1910 as
unfit for human consumption.
They presented the signs of emaciation: the flesh was dropsical
and in three cases the lungs had been removed.
One calf weighed about two-thirds of its normal weight; its
carcase was quite devoid of fat, was flabby and wet, and there
were signs of inflammation of the abdominal peritoneum and the
peritoneal covering of the liver.
The facts were reported to Dr.Van Ryn, the Netherlands
Agricultural Commissioner, who very courteously enquired into
the matter. At the instance of the Dutch Government, the
medical officers of the City and Port of London, of Finsbury and
of the larger ports and cities, went over to Holland to see for
themselves the careful methods and systematic manner in which
animals for export are slaughtered, and inspected in Holland
prior to killing and after killing. Since this time, all the Dutch
meat received in Finsbury has been of fair quality, sound and
perfectly wholesome.
Danish Cattle via Antwerp and Harwich.—Eight sides
of beef, very markedly Tuberculous, were seized in Finsbury in
1910. They all bore the official label of the Belgian administration
as having been satisfactorily examined at Antwerp. They
were said to be a part of a much larger consignment of old
Danish cattle which, while still alive, had been tested with tuberculin
in German ports and had been refused admission to Germany.
They, therefore, were consigned via Antwerp and Harwich to
various English districts. A percentage examination—10 per
cent.—was made at Harwich, and some of the tuberculous
carcases found and seized. The rest escaped detection and came
into the Central Meat Market, Finsbury, and other districts where
they were dealt with.
It is obvious that the system of a percentage examination in
this connection is a source of great weakness in meat inspection
at the port of entry. Still, if all the carcases at the port of entry
were examined, the traffic at the port would meantime have to be
discontinued.