The Express.
London, England, 1862-12-17 00:00:00

THE SALE OP DISEASED MEAT.

A large deputation from the salesmen of Newgate,
Leadenlull, and Whitechapel markets waited upon the
Commissioners of Sewers yesterday with a memorial, very
numerously signed, which stated that they were in the habit
of having parcels and hampers of meat consigned to them,
and which they received without any previous knowledge
or notice, or without any knowledge on their part of the
description and quality of the meet, and that • large pro-
portion of such consignments arrive during the time that
the retail butchers are making patchier, and their duty
to the consignors reqhires them to unpack and expose the
contents of the packages as soon as pomade. That they
had no interest in the sale of the meat beyond a small
commission, which was so insignificant as to offer no
inducement to break the law ; and whenever they sew
reason to entertain the slightest doubt as to the whole-
some character of the consignment which they received,
they drew the attention of the inspectors to the fact;
and submitted the same for their inspection, affording to
them every facility for the performance of their duty.
On some occasions the inspectors differed in opinion in
reference to meat which io the most perfect good faith
they sold as good and wholesome. That by an unfavour-
able date of the weather, the meat adored from decompo-
sition, and this was especially the case with meat which
was dourly packed and came • long distance by railway ;
and, when suddenly exposed to the air, that which was
perfectly wholesome was liable to deterioration. That by
the Sewers Act they were liable to prosecution, although
they gave the officers of the court every assistance they
could, and without which it was impossible for those
officers to perform their duties properly, and they were
liable to • fine and imprisonment for en oversight or even
error in judgment. They had •no desire to screen from
adequate punishment those who wilfully violate the law ;
but for those who carried on their business in an upright
sad honourable manner the memorialists pleaded • favour-
able though just consideration of their cases when they
unintentionally infringed upon the law ; and they prayed,
therefore, that a careful investigation in every instance
might be made into the circumstances, in order that the
surreptitious veedor of unwholesome meat, sold with a
guilty knowledge, might be distinguished from the trader
who, in the legitimate course of his business, inadvertently
ruder himself amenable to the law. The members of the
court seemed to thigh that this was a matter which re-
quired consideration ; it was, therefore, referred to the
general purposes committee.
The Royal Dublin Society met on Saturday evening to
hear • lecture from Professor Gemgee on disease and mor-
tality among cattle. When he had concluded. Mr. Ganley,
saleamaster, made an extraordinary statement. He said
that, unless some means were devised to give some com-
pensation to the farmer for diseased cattle, it was impossible
to prevent him from selling them, or the butcher from kill-
ing and selling them. Unless some society were formed to
have diseased meat paid for. it would be killed and eaten.
There was no use in mincing the matter, he arid ; every
one of the salesmen sold diseased cattle. The farmer could
not otherwise pay his rent. The direr is so prevalent
that he could not live were he to submit bis cattle to de-
struction. Professor Gamgee raid he would have gone 1,500
miles to hear this coofession, and he agreed with Mr. Clan-
ley that some plan should be adopted for paying the farmer
for diseased cattle.

HEALTH OF LONDON.—The weekly return issued
by the Registrar General states that the weather has
been much warmer in the present month than it was in
three weeks of November, and under the influence of this
favourable change the mortality has much declined. The
deaths in Loudon in the week that ended last Saturday were
1,406, and they show a great decrease on the numbers of the
two previous weeks, which were 1,745 and 1,619 successively.
It will be found, if a correction for increase of population
is made, that the average number of deaths for a week near
the middle of December is 1,393, and therefore the return of
last weekdiffers little from the result obtained by calculation.
By a comparison of the results of the last two weeks it will
be seen that the decrease has occurred not only in pulmo-
nary diseases, but also in those of the nervous system and
of the heart. Deaths from zymotic diseases also decreased
from 425 to 380. In the previous week 379 persons died
at the agent 60 years and upwards; lest week the number
was 317. Seventy-four childreu died of measles; 4of these
is Camden-town, 5 in the east sub-district of laliogroo, 5 in
Battersea. Of 84 deaths from scarlatina 5 occurred in the
subdistrict of St. Peter Walwortb, 5 in Kennington, 5 in
Peckluon, in which places the disease appears to prevail
most. Small-pox exhibited a decided increase, for the
fatal cases of it rose to 22, of which there were 3 in Poplar.
A mother and her two children died in a cottage
in Wells-road Sydenhem, from searlatina maligns.
Ten nonagenarians died in the,week, the oldest of whom
were two widows, aged 95. and 96 years. A woman died
from swallowing &Bah bone • a child from swallowing a slate
pencil which lodged in the 'brooches •, a boy from pleurisy
and pneumonia caused by a needle which had entered the
thorax eight years ago, and a fragment of which bad re-
mained there during his life. A child died of laryngitis
. .