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and which inspection I know too well the emergencies of the case
demand. Private slaughter-houses are a curse to the poor.
The true friend of the poor must, in my opinion, be the sworn
enemy of the private slaughter-house. It is the birth-place,
or rather the cradle, of disease—it is a nursery for the " ills
that flesh is heir to." The public abattoirs would remedy this.
Each animal as it enters could be inspected, each carcase as it
leaves could be examined. And this systematic inspection is the
only remedy for the evil. I am sure, moreover, that the supporters
of Dr. Brewer's bill cannot have had any practical experience of
the terrible cruelties practised in these unwatched dens in killing
animals by the butchers. Although one's profession does not tend
to create or to foster any extreme scruples in this respect, I should
shudder to describe, as I have shuddered to look at, the unheard of
and wanton cruelties I have over and over again been an eye
witness of in the private slaughter-house. The arrangements of
the public abattoir would at any rate be a means of keeping watch
on those who needlessly torture rather than kill. Nor again can
we be ignorant of the annoyance and danger to the public, occasioned
by driving cattle through the public streets. This would be
remedied if slaughter-houses were abolished. Again, the slaughterhouses
attract a large number of rats by the offal, and by permitting
a quantity of filthy washings to be daily poured down our
drains, conduce in no slight degree to a very considerable nuisance
apart from themselves.
There is no doubt that the public abattoir would be a great public
advantage. Cruelty in killing would be kept in check, a proper and
complete supervision of the animal and of the carcase prepared for
sale would follow as a matter of course. The diseased animal
would be condemned by authority and got rid of. Besides all this,
we know as a matter of fact, that the flesh of an animal slaughtered
in a large, airy, well-ventilated slaughter-house is not only better,
but keeps fresh longer than when killed in the miserable, ill-ventilated
slaughter-houses of the Metropolis. I have no doubt, moreover,
that country-killed meat is superior to London killed. On this
point I will quote the opinion of no second-rate authority. He
says:— "The public must be made aware of the fact that about
seventy per cent. of the butchers in London do not kill their own