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.53
TUBERCULOUS MEAT.
The carcases of four pigs which exhibited Tuberculous lesions
have been seized during the year.
In two of these cases the carcases had been purchased in Smithfield
Market, and on the owners satisfying me that they had relied on
the inspection in operation there, and that they had acted in good
faith, I recommended the Council to forego prosecuting them.
The other two pigs were bought alive at the Smithfield Club
Cattle Show at Christmas time, and although in splendid condition,
each of them on examination were proved to be slightly affected
with Tubercle : one in the submaxillary glands only, the other
also showing a few scattered lesions in the liver and spleen.
In all these cases the carcases were examined by experts on
behalf of the owners, who agreed with me as to the nature of the
lesions.
It is my practice, acting on the recommendations of the Royal
Commission on Tuberculosis, 1898, to condemn the whole carcase
of any pig I find to be affected by Tuberculosis in any degree. As
to this practice there appears to be a great divergence of opinion
throughout the country.
I find in many towns, and also in Smithfield Market, that
where the glands of the head and neck only are affected it is
considered sufficient to seize the head and pass the rest of the
carcase. I am told that in a good many places, when evidence of
Tuberculosis is found in the glands of the head or neck, all the other