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meat is in this maimer discovered and condemned;
but it in no way represents the amount
of diseased and unwholesome meat that finds its
way into the other markets. Within the last five
years, as you will see from Table No. VIII., your
officers have condemned 946,944 lbs., or rather
more than 420 tons of diseased and putrid meat.
It consisted of 4,289 sheep, 1,445 pigs, 272 calves,
6,074 quarters of beef, and 11,424 joints of meat,
besides 1,917 head of game, and 13,748 head of
poultry. Last year the amount of meat condemned
in the City markets was 247,827 lbs., and of this
124,614 lbs. were diseased, and 27,393 lbs. were
from animals that had died from natural causes.
A large proportion of this was condemned during
the last quarter, and it consisted for the most part
of meat from animals affected with the plague.
The appearance of the meat is so remarkable that it
is easily distinguished by the inspectors—it is not
only wet and sodden, but it is also dark coloured,
and looks like the flesh of an animal that has died
with the blood in it. The characters by which
unsound meat is recognised are the following:—
Good meat is neither of a pale pinkish colour
nor of a deep purple tint. The former is indicative
of disease, and the latter is a sign that the animal
has died from natural causes.