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69
It is an obvious fact that, in districts where a number of
private slaughterhouses are in use, only a small proportion of
the carcases can receive the attention which the whole should
have. The local butchers, however, have not proved averse
to giving information as to the days and approximate time
when most of their killing is done, and with the possession
of this information the visits to the slaughterhouses have
been arranged to take place so that the maximum amount of
benefit might accrue from them.
On one occasion the carcases of two pigs were found to
be rather badly affected with Urticaria, and acting upon my
suggestion the butcher had them destroyed. In another
instance a large carcase of pork was found to be extensively
affected with Tuberculosis and was therefore condemned and
destroyed.
In the case of three pigs which I examined in two
different slaughterhouses one or both of the sub-maxillary
lymphatic glands contained several small nodules which, as
far as one could judge from the naked eye examination, were
practically identical with true tuberculous lesions. As a
careful examination of the carcases, the offal, and the other
lymphatic glands revealed no further evidence of anything
abnormal, I consulted your Medical Officer of Health, who
decided to have the diseased glands microscopically examined
at the Lister Institute. As a result it was proved that
neither of the pigs had suffered from Tuberculosis, but from
one of the diseases known as psuedo-tuberculosis. These
cases are of unusual importance as they demonstrate the
difficulty one is likely to experience in distinguishing between
Flie lesions of tuberculosis and those of less harmful diseases,
which bear a very close resemblance to them.
Towards the latter end of the previous year it was discovered
that the business of slaughtering pigs was being '
carried on at Long Hill Farm, Great North Road. The part