Evening star., 1869-08-27
DANGER OF HaLF-COOxED MEAT
HEGETARIEN

II people will persist in eating their food
half-cooked. after the disclosures m ade at the
meeting OF the American association for the
advancement of science at Salem, MassaChu-
sets. the other day, they will show either that
they have very little fear OF death. or very
little faith IN the teachings of the sGraas Last
Friday, the third day OF the session of the as
soclation. s. discussion took place in reference
to the Tri, AtnG spirGlis, II which some very
remarkable ana interesting statements were
made upon the SUBJECT bv Professor Agsssiz
and others Professor j. Baker Edwards frs,
gave some facts concerning trichinP, stating.
what Is generally knewn, that they are minute
worms. which find their way into the system
by the means of diseased pork eaten raw or
lnsufficiently cooked. The female trichinR
once in the stomach, there propagates immense
quantities OF worms, winch make their way
into the muscles and feed upon them, thus
usually causing death. Sometimes, however,
the worms die, and they then assume q spiral
form. and can be examined with q microscope
II powerful polarized light Is used II mea.
containing trichine Is heated to 2l2 degrees,
he worms will be killed, and the meat will
NOT iniure the consumer, if II be good in other
respects. Professor Agassiz folio wed Professor
Edwards. He said that he .'hoped the appetite
of the community would not be disturbed by
present in all meats and even vegetables, and
there is no danger If they be properly cooked" ;"
1t strikes us that Professor Agassiz, with all
his scientific attanments, must be poor Judge
of human nature if he thinks such q startling
announcement as this Is calculated to q uier the
nerves and restore the appetites of the commu-
NIFTY, disturbed by the pork controvers. A
long as the trichinae was confined TO hogs we
could make a safe thing of il by eschewing
Their flesh and falling back on beef mutton,
&c. But now death stares at us from the Dot
no matter what we put on for dinner, and the
lovers Of beefsteak rare, underdone mutton
chops, and roast beef with Its Juices, stand
aghast. They had NO sympathy tor those who
had TO abandon their roast pig, ham and sau-
sage, but the matter has now come home to
them. 1t is all very well to say 2l2 degrees of
heat will "do" for the worms, but how are you
gong to know that every mouthful of food
was subjected TO that test. Where are your
heat measures to apply to the in terror of boiled
baked or roasted. '.God sends meat, and the
devil sends cooks" says the old adags, but
without going so far, we may say with more
truth and less profanity, that people not usual
ly very careful about such matters, and il is
often the case that the outside of q piece of
meat Is thoroughly cooked while the inside as
not been heated mp to the boiling point of water
Should there be trichinae within, they thu
would not be killed. Besides it won't do for
people on elevated ground to eat boiled mea
at all. The boiling point of water lowers as
We ascend above the sea level, so that our
neighbors' boiled meat down town may be
perfectly wholesome, while ours cooked on
the heights may be certain death, just because
our water 'could boil one de,ree under the
mark. The words OF q man so eminent IN
science as Professor Agassiz, however, are not
to be lightly disregarded, and we therefore
seriously advise our readers to see to 1t, tha,
their meat is thoroughly cooked, which NAV
generally be judged by ITS appearance when
Cut