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243
consumption where similar conditions are perhaps more readily
diagnosed in human beings.
A condition of interest physiologically which appears to effect
humans and animals alike is the syndrome generally referred to as
"hole in the heart" which is occasionally observed in cattle, sheep
and pigs during post mortem inspection of offal.
This is a condition where the auricles of the heart, which normally
operate independently, remain connected at the prenatal orifice
which ordinarily closes at birth. In acute cases the animal so
affected would no doubt die shortly after birth or be sent to the
knackers yard rather than to the slaughterhouse. When observed
in the slaughterhouse, the condition is of a milder form and the
heart appears normal apart from its increase in size and weight.
One imagines that hypertrophy continues from birth until the heart
is powerful enough to compensate for the congenital disability;
when this stage is reached the animal appears quite normal.
The fact that the animals so affected have apparently lived a
normal life if only a relatively short one, appears to be borne out
by the perfectly normal condition of the carcase. The bovines so
affected were usually between 1½ and 3 years old. The pigs were of
butcher quality 4½/5 months old.
The generally maintained improvement in animal health continues
with the exception of the respiratory infections encountered
in pigs which has shown little or no improvement over the years.
It must be said however that these infections do not seem to have
any detrimental effect on the carcase.
Licensing of Slaughterhouses and Slaughtermen—The licence
for the one slaughterhouse in the Borough was duly renewed
during the year. Ten licences to slaughtermen were also renewed.
Butchers' Shops—Frequent visits are made to these shops and
in addition to the 125 formal inspections carried out, insanitary
defects were remedied in 49 instances.
As with other premises, legal proceedings are instituted only
after disregard of the Officer's warning and in no instance was
this necessary.
Public Health (Imported Food) Regulations, 1937 and 1948
The London Borough of Greenwich with a river frontage of
some 9 miles with more than 40 wharves and two of London's
largest and most modern cold stores receives a considerable percentage
of London's imported meat stored on behalf of various
importers. In addition, considerable quantities of fresh fruit, tinned
foods and miscellaneous provisions are dealt with. Visits to
wharves and cold stores are made by the Food Inspectors and
imported food generally is carefully supervised.