Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1869-11-20
Donr Eat Half Cooked Meat,

~SsA esSS oA~eA S~V0SA eASSS
If people will persist in eating their
food halfcookcd, after the discourses made
at the meeting of the American Associa-
tion for the advancement of science at Sa.
lem, Mass, recently, the substance of which
We give below, they will show that they
have either very little fear of death, or very
little faith in the teachings of the savans
4 discussion took place in reference to
the trichinH spralis, in which some very
remarkable and interesting statements were
made upon the subject by Professor Agas-
sz aud others. Professor j. Baker Ed.
wards first gave some facts concerning
trichinr, stating, what is generally known,
that they arc minute worms, which find
their way into the system by the means Of
diseased pork, eaten raw, or insufficicntly
cooked. The female triclln@, once in the
stomach, there propagates immense quanti-
ties of worms, which make their way into
the muscles and feed upon them, thus usu-
ually causing death. Sometimes, however,
the worms die, aud they then assume q
spiral form, and can be examined with u
microscope if powerful polarized light is
used. fmeat containing trichine is heat
ed to 2l2 degrees, the worm will be killed,
and the meat will not injurc the consumer,
if it be good in other respects.
Professor Agassiz followed Professor
Edwards. lie said that he hoped the ap-
petite of the community would not be dis
turbed by this scientific discussion as such
worms arc present in all meat, and even
vegetables, and there is no danger if they
are properly cooked"
1t strikes us that Professor Agassiz, with
all his scientific attainmcnts, must be a
poor judge of human nature if he thinks
such a startling announcement as this is
calculated to quiet the nerves and restore
the appctitcs of the community, disturbed
by the pork controversy.
AS long us the trichin1 was confined to
hogs we could make a safe thing of it by
cschcwing their flesh and falling back on
beef, mutton, etc. But now death starcs
at us from the pot no matter what We put
on for dinner, and the lovers of rare beef.
steak, undone chop, and roast beef with its
juices, stand aghast They had no SYM
pathy for those who had to abandon their
roast pig ham and sausage, but the matter
has now come home to them. 1t is all very
well to say that 2l2 degrees Of heat will
"do," for the worms, but how are you go
ing to know that every mouthful Of meat
was subjected to that test Where are
your heat measures to apply to the interior
of boiled, baked or roasted meat? "God
sends meat and the devil sends cooks, says
the old adage, but without going SO far
we may say, with more truth and less
profanity, that people usually are not very
careful about such matters, and it is often
the case that the outside of piece of meat
is thoroughly cooked while the inside has
not been heated up to the boiling point of
water. Should there be trichine within
they thus would not be killed.
Besides, it won't do for people on eleva-
ted ground to cat boiled meat at all. The
boiling point of water lowers as VIC ascend
above the sea level, so that our neighbors'
boiled meat down town may be perfectly
wholesome, while that cooked on the heights
may be certain death, just because their
water would boil one degree under the
mark. The words of man so eminent in
science as Professor Agassiz however, are
not to be lightly disrcgardcd, and we there
fore seriously advise our readers to see to
it. that their meat is thoroughly cooked,
which may generally be Judged by its ap-
pearancc when cut.