A theory which is quite prevalent among packing-house employees attributes souring to overheating of the animal previous to slaughter, but tests were made by driving hogs to the point of exhaustion just prior to slaughter and curing the hams from these animals in comparison with hams taken from animals which had been rested prior to slaughter, with no difference in the cured product; that is, the hams taken from overheated hogs cured equally as well as those taken from rested hogs. Another theory attributes souring to a diseased condition of the meat. Prior to the enforcement of the Federal regulations governing meat inspection there might have been some ground for such a supposition, but this theory could not hold at the present time, in view of the thorough and efficient inspection now in force, for it can be safely said that no diseased meat now passes the Government inspectors, and therefore no diseased meat goes into cure in inspected houses. In order to test this theory, however, hams were secured from a number of condemned animals which showed various diseased conditions, such as hog cholera, pyemia, septicemia, scirrhous chord, etc., and these hams were cured in comparison with hams taken from normal hogs. It was found that the hams taken from the diseased hogs cured equally as well as those taken from healthy hogs. The hams from the diseased hogs were destroyed after the experiment, as the meat taken from diseased animals was of course not considered fit for consumption, the object of the experiment being merely to determine whether or not souring is caused by diseased conditions. Another theory attributes souring to imperfect or too rapid chilling of the meat before it is put in pickle, and places the blame upon the refrigeration. According to this theory, souring results when the meat is chilled too suddenly, the idea being that by the rapid congealing of the juices of the meat a coating is formed on the outside of the ham whereby the animal heat is prevented from escaping from the interior, leaving the meat next to the bone at a higher temperature than the outside of the ham.