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Figures kindly supplied by the Superintendent of Markets.
British Meat.—The quality of the British supplies of meat was very good. Continuing
observations from last year on the effects of the Public Health (Meat) Regulations, it appears
from the following table that there has been, with the exception of tuberculosis in pig carcases, a reduction in the amount of diseased and unsound meat delivered in the Markets.
The number of pig carcases found affected with tuberculosis is interesting when careful
observations on the difference in macroscopical appearances of the lesions in the lymph
glands are made. It is generally assumed that bacilli of bovine origin are, in the majority
of cases, the cause of the disease in pigs, but enquiries made of the owners of diseased pigs
show that in many cases the affected animals had never been fed on cow's milk or even
grazed in contact with cows. The origin in such cases is probably fowls affected with tuberculosis, kept in contact with the pigs; investigation as to this source of infection and the
percentage of pigs affected with avian tuberculosis would form an interesting and important
study both from a scientific and commercial point of view.
The number of diseased pig carcases discovered in the Markets show that the animals
had either been killed and sent away without being inspected or the inspection had been
inadequate.