“ After inspection of the public slaughter-houses in England and in a number of Continental cities, the writer considers that those of Germany are most deserving of description.
The slaughter-house should be situated outside the town, or so placed as to be isolated, and approached by wide roads, so that if cattle are driven through them there should not be interference with the traffic. If possible, the slaughter-house should be connected with the railway system by a branch line, with a platform which has an impervious surface capable of being readily cleansed and disinfected. ”

“ Cold chambers, although not included among the absolute essentials for small slaughter-houses, are an almost necessary adjunct, for they serve for the preservation of the meat after slaughter, and are indeed absolutely necessary when the slaughter-house is of large size. ”

“ The method of dealing with sheep is very similar. The animals are driven into narrow alleys, then into the slaughter- room, where their throats arc cut. They next travel along a route where their skins and the internal organs are removed, and finally pass into the cooling-rooms. Swine are raised in the slaughter- room on to the trolley-line by a chain attached to the animals' feet and to a solid disk or wheel, which in revolving carries them until a mechanical contrivance throws the chain upon the trolley-line, where a knife is plunged into their throat. ”

“ In small towns the slaughtering-hall and room for cleansing intestines may, to save cost of construction, be under the same roof. A necessary adjunct is a cold chamber, to which carcases can be removed from the slaughtering-hall. The actual slaughtering compartment has been built on two plans—one providing a separate slaughtering-room for each butcher, the other a common slaughtering-hall. The latter is greatly to be preferred, inasmuch as it is the only arrangement which gives adequate opportunity for inspection by the officials whose duty it is to examine the meat. ”

“ The manure-house and tripe-house must be easily accessible from all the slaughtering-halls, but not in direct communication with them, or smell from them may enter the hall.
The manure-house must abut upon a road, to enable its contents to be removed without passing through the premises. Next to the tripe and pig-scalding houses is the engine-house. The building for diseased animals, with the slaughter-house for them, must be isolated from all other buildings. All buildings should be so arranged that they may be capable of extension as the population of the town increases. ”

“ The cold chamber should be situated opposite the slaughtering-halls, so that carcases can be conveyed by overhead carriers directly from these halls to it. Within the cold chamber are separate compartments or cages of different sizes, rented by butchers, who are thus able to preserve their meat and draw upon their supply as their business may require. The cold chamber is therefore a great convenience to the butchers, and is a source of profit to the authority owning the slaughter-house. ”

“ The important feature of the Chicago and certain other western American cities slaughter-houses is their adaptation for rapidly dealing with the animals which they receive. At the Chicago slaughter-houses the cattle to be slaughtered are driven up a winding viaduct, by which, in certain of the houses, they eventually reach the roof. ”

“ For quiet home-grown cattle a width of 10 ft. is sufficient, but where wilder cattle have to be killed a wider space is probably desirable. It is important that these stalls should be so arranged as not to screen the operations of slaughter from the view of the inspecting officials. Immediately after the carcases have been bled, they should be moved on to and ' dressed ' in an adjoining room, screened off from the view of animals entering the slaughter-chamber. ”

“ Observations made for the committee by Professor Starling showed that the interval between the first thrust of the knife and complete loss of sensibility varied from five to thirty seconds, and they there- fore recommended that sheep should be stunned before being stuck, a practice required in Denmark, many parts of Germany, and Switzerland. It is necessary that the sheep should be struck on the top of the head between the ears and not on the forehead. ”

“ In view of the difficulty of adjusting these instruments in the case of wild or restive animals, the committee express the opinion that the poll-axe when used by an expert is on the whole the most satis- factory implement, but they recommend that no man should be permitted to use the poll-axe on a living animal until he has gone through a thorough course of training, firstly upon a dummy animal and secondly upon dead bodies. ”

“ In France, in the 15th and 16th centuries, numerous towns were provided with public slaughter-houses. It was required that they should be used by all persons killing animals the flesh of which was to be sold ”

“ It is essential that the buildings should be well lighted, especially those which are used for the slaughtering operations, or for any detailed examination of meat which may be needed—such, for instance, as for trichinae. ”

“ The extent of the business may be judged by the fact that over 400 cattle are killed per hour in the slaughtering-room. The cooling-rooms are so large that 13,000 halves of beef hang there at one time. ”

“ The stunning of pigs, the committee recommended, should be insisted upon in all cases, and not, as sometimes at present, only practised in the case of large pigs which give trouble or with a view to the avoidance of noise. ”

“ In the vicinity should be a weighing-machine for cattle. The centre of the area is occupied by the slaughtering-halls, and the lairs belonging to them are only separated from them by a road or passage way. ”

“ Slaughter-houses in Germany pay their own expenses, the fees received for the use of the slaughter-house, and for examination of meat and stamping after examination, providing a sufficient sum for this purpose. ”

“ The writer is indebted to Dr Schwarz for the plan and a description of the slaughter-house at Neusalz. It was completed in October 1899, and is erected on the Oder below the town, on land of an area of 8500 square metres. The building was carefully planned by the town architect, Herr Brannaschk, so as to admit of increase within the next 10-20 years. Brickwork is used for the construction of the buildings, and the roofs are of wood and cement. ”