The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1874-04-30
From he.Scientific Americana
A Neglected Source of Food.

Ages ago when our forefathers were
| worshippers of Odin and the rest of the
| dead divinities of Northern Europe, horse
| flesh was accounted delicacy fit for the
| gods when a warrior died, the funeral
baked meats were carved from his slain
| charger; and in all religious celebrations
| the horse figured, as the bullock did in
| the sacrifcial feasts of other nations.
Thus horsfesh and paganism were found
| to be inseparable when the Germanic
| and Scandinavian tribes were christian
| lied by royal proclamation. The new
made christian could not begin dinner
at which his favorite meat appeared
| without relapsing to his ancestral religion
and going through the entire round of
pagan rites with which horse flesh had
| been so long associated. AS natural
consequence, horse flesh became not only
synonymous with paganism but one of
its defenses-we should have said bull
warks if the sound had permitted.
Against it the bulls of the church were
hurled, and its use was prohibited under
pain of eternal damnation. Gradually,
as christianity gained ascendency, the
obnoxious meat passed out OF use, and IN
process of time it came to be regarded
by Europeans as 'long pig was by the
christianized descendents of man-eating
Fiji Islanders, with an adherence as in
tense as the original liking had been.
Subsequent generations have inherited
it's prejudice and forget its origin. To
this day the multitude stand ready 'to
cry unclean" the moment horse flesh is
mentioned as an article of food, though
it would puzzle them to give one sub
stantial reason for SO regarding it.
The truth is that no meat can be
cleaner. The horse is one of the incest
of feeders and as choice in his drinking
as in his diet; and, as has been abund-
anty proved by the experience of modern
Europe, where horse flesh has lately be-
come an important element in the food
supply, the meat which we reject is at
once wholesome, nutritious, and nearly
if not quite as savory as beef. As We are
no longer in danger of relapsing into
paganism with the taste of it, the only
sanitary reason, moral or otherwise, for
avoiding it is done away with.
There remains the economical reason
for its disuse arising from the fact that
good horses are worth more for other
purposes. But the time comes when the
best of horses ceases to be profitable for
service. What then
Occasionally favorite animal is pro-
vided for in his old age and allowed to
end his days in all the comfort that Ma
ture will permit. The majority, how
ever, are turned over to the tender
mercies of the cruel to be used up more,
or less speedily, in rough and ill-requ1ted
labor To guard their favorites from
this unhappy end, it is becoming COM
mon practice among considerate people
to shoot their horses when no longer hit
for the carriage, though they may still be
far from worn out. OF the nine million
horses in the United States, million
might fifty be disposed of in that way
every year, to make room for younger
and more serviceable animals In other
words, our food supply might be aug
mented by something like thousand
millions pounds of good meat annually.
We throw it away-for a prejudice!
That this prejudice will be overcome
in time, we have not the slightest doubt.
The tendency of our civilization is to
food consumers while lessening
the relative number of producers. As q
natural consequence we must be more
and more careful to avoid unnecessary
waste Every available source of whole
some food must be husbanded and this
among them. Unfortunately those who
would be most directly benefited by the
addition of horsefesh to our lists of
meats are just those whose prejudice
against it is most intense. Here, as IN
Europe, it must first gain place on the
tables of the well-to-do.
Perhaps as simple plan as any for
this would be the following:
We have noticed the growing custom of
shooting horses when their term OF
profitable service has come to an end by
age or accident Instead of burying the
or giving them to the renderer
to be converted into soap grease and fer
the flesh might be properly
dressed and distributed among those
who, from curiosity or conviction of its
might desire to give it
trial If pains were taken to announce
this intention before hand, and to prove
to intending eaters that the horses were
in good condition and free from disease,
there would be little difficulty, we imag-
inc, in disposing of the choicer cuts. All
that is required is beginning and this
course would ensure it with the least
amount of trouble and cost.
Who will make the experiment and
report the RESULT