National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-07-29
FOOD WE EAT EXAMINED,
1yEyoTv AND UNsUSPECTED DAN
GERs THAT ENVIRON Us.

DIR MEAT AND DEMONSTRATING IL
Illustrations NECESSITY FOR STRICT
SANITARY REG ULAT4ONs-ACTIONO OF THE
HEALTH BOARD.
To tie Editor Of The National Republican:
SIR: Knowing the disposition you have al
Wfys shown to take up aud discuss thoroughly
aIy subject affecting the welfare OF the com
uunity, / desire to call your attention and that
Of your readers to the important question lately
brought before the Board Of Health Dy LII.
Verdi, namely, the chemical and microscoplcal
examination of food. As one OF our SUNDAY
papers Justly remarked, CDR. Verdls earnest
ness in this matter is worthy OF all praise, and
We trust that his colleagues will appreciate the
inheritance of such analysis as much as he
does" The trouble is to get the people to
understand the importance Of subject that
does not appeal to their senses. 1t has been
nnovsp by a careful and trustworthy investiga-
tors that wholesale system Of adulteration IS
practiced by manufacturers and dealers IN al
kinds Of vegetable foods, and that this infamous
system of fraud extends to every article mat
appears upon our tables except common SAT-
sDd white sugar; further, that the EVIL enects
TINS produced are insignificant compared with
chose caused BY the use of the diseased meat,
milk and other animal products daily found in
our markets. And yet, because the causes OF
Of these evils are invisible and intangible, it is
impossible TO make people realize that they
exist.
1t is only within the past ten or fifteen years
that much attention has been paid TO this sub
ject, even by the medical profession, and even
now many physicians are unaware of its i'm
portance, and practically unacquainted with IT.
If one half the attention were given to the in
yestigation Of the nature and cause OF disease
and the best methods of its prevention by sani-
tary regulatiOns-that is, devoted TO the DIS
covery Of new methods of treatment and eX-
perimentation with new remedies-there would
Be far less disease, and correspondinglY fewer
deaths than at present. Our Board OF hesIth,
. considering the difficulties under which 1t mas
Iabored and the limited means at its disposal,
has done wonders, and tie public is beginning
to recognize and appreciate the Importance OF
its labors But nothing that has hitherto Deeh
done is of greater importance than the ueVec-
ton and removal Of the
UNKNOWN AND UEsUsTECTED DANGERS
that lurk under apparently the most "Eole
some and innocent food, especially 1000 CT aLh
NAL origin brief statement OF the results
of some observations that have been made II
Europe and in this country will think, con
vince any uupTe judicial reader that have mol
exaggerated the importance Of this question
One Of the earliest recorded instances that have
come to my knowledge of wholesale poisoning
bv diseased meat is found in the British -Asd'
cal Journal of January l6, 1854. At festive
celebration at Hettstadt, in Germany, one nun
dred and three persons pErtook OF dish made
of sausage and pork. Of this number eighty
three died in a few days, aAd nearly all th'
survivors were afflicted with fearful maIady
rendering life burden. The remnants OF thu
food were examined with microscope, AM
found tn be sWaTming with trichinGe, or nesl
worms. Ilo parasites were also found in lsrg
numbers within ne muscles of the sufferers
proving cOnClusiye!y the nature and cause o
their malady. Another weu-rnarked instaIc
is related BY Professor Dalton, of New York
A whole family had eaten Of ham, and feV
hours after we're taken with vomiting, purgin2
soreness and great puoStration. They supposed
they had been poisoned. One Of the Ckildre
died, and A. post norton being held, trichin'
were found 10 the MUSCLES. The hamwss ais
PILED WITH TRICHINE.
Virchow has demonstrated that these parasite
exist also in Reef, end Prof. Percy, Of n. Y
relates a case which ses6-.'S hiS s'"tClHoN'
A family consisting Of father, mother and fOu
chiIdIen partook Of dinner consisting of brea
and roast beef only. Fourteen hours alter
ward all the children were attacked with Vomit
ing, puTging, abdominal pains aud fever, Tn
beef had been cooked very rare, but the father
who LGI eaten the outside SLICES only, was pc
Affected On the nth day after, the mOthe
was taken with faintness and diarrhRa, an
suddenly misCarried. The attendant thre
sway the frtus, so that it was not examine:
but trich!np were found in the plsCenta an
in the remnants of the heef. There is no doul
that they existed in the fGtus and were th
cause of it's death. It was found upon inquiT
that The beef came from the GistillcTy stable
Newton, Long Island.
TRIcHIER IN THE HUMAN STOMACH.
When the flesh of an animal infested wit
trilhina is taken into the human stomach th
parasite almost Immediately begins 70 proPt
gate. 1t is viviparous, and breeds counties
sWarms Of young ones in the intestines; tbes'
IN q few hours, perforate the bowels, entC
the blood-Vessels and disseminate thenselVe
to every part Of the body. The irritation pr
dueed by this process always causes sickness
and sometimes death. They are not 6esiroye
IN the flesh of dead animal by freezing, Or.
ing, sailing or smoking; nothing less tina
thorough cooking Of the entire mass will su
fee. But the trichin9 is not by any means N
only parasite found in animal food. ProfessC
Leidy enumerates no less than thirty-four sp,
Cies Of ETltOzod R0nliBiS which infeEt every o.
gan and tissue Of the human body, and all {
which doubtless are taken into the system B
means Of air, food and drink. The IGHiG s.
hum, or tape worm, which has been known I
abLalu q lGIlELu OF elAly-etNtu lGGL III the luLlh
body, (see Transactions Of the NsdisaI societ
Of the District Of Colurohia," July, 1874, pag
2S, has been proved TO be developed from th
minute
CTsTIcERCUs CELLULosR
that produces measles in the hog. It IS ais
found IN beef, as proven by the universal pre-
aIence Of tape-WOrm in Abysinnia, where tn
inhabitants live principally upon raw bee
even cutting pieces Of flesh from the Hvin
L ia 49,, Es1-, =
meat Containing the cysticercus is taken int
the stomach it passes into the intestines, an
Is there developed into a trenia. It may II
main an indefinite time, producing eggs in il
credble numbers, which pass out with II
fUscss, and if taken into the stomach Of sWiI
again develop into fesh-wOrms. In numeroI
Instances cysticersi have been found in II
brain, the eye and the muscles Of man, an
the presence of the same parasite in the brai
Of horses, cattle and sheep produces the di
ease called the Etaggers.
MEAsLED PORK.
When pork is but slightly measled the fes
does not di1er IN appearance from health
meat but when the parasite exists In lRrE
numbers the whole flesh has diseased appea
ance, being watery, soft and pale. Profess
Percy relates the case of gentleman who a
heartily of boiled ham in Liverpool. A frieI
at the hotel pointed out to him In this ha
numerous spots Of measles, and told MIN
would be troubled with tape-worm. Son
months after his return 10 New York he WI
found to be suffering from trenia, and aft,
treatment by Professor Percy, passed wor
thirty-one feet long. 'No prudent individual
in view Of the facts here presented, woul
ever eat measly pork, dor will any well-i
formed physician deny that such meat is u
Wholesome food for man" IN. Y. Medic
journal, vol. 3, No. 49,
TIE ROT IN SHEEP.
The expression "dying like sheep in the 70
has passed into proverb, but few who use
are aware Of the nature and cause Of this fe:
full disease. It is due to the presence in {
liver Of the animals affected Of the distor
hepaticum, or fuke worm. II is taken in
the stomach Of sheep, cattle, &c. with tn
food and drink, and after time bores It's "
into the liver, where it becomes encysted a
remains for weeks or months, until perfect
developed. Il then makes its way into
hYeT-duct, passes into the intestines, and
thence expelled. Its eggs are deposited up
the moist leaves Of grasses and weeds, and
the dispensing agency of wind, rain, feet
animals, &c, may ultimately find their W
into ponds, ditches and streams. The liver
q sheep may contain several dozen worms, a
each animal will contain many Thousand nj
ute eggs. In a single year, over two millio
of sheep have been destroyed in England alo