It must be admitted, even if such meat be regarded as wholesome, that it is of inferior character, and cannot in any justice demand the right to pass under the name of higher grades of the article. The sanitary conditions under which such meats are prepared are of the highest importance. The slaughter house should be clean, and provided with good ventilation and natural light. The workmen should be free of disease, neatly dressed, and required to observe all necessary sanitary precautions. The débris and fragments of the packing house should be carefully removed and so disposed of as to prevent any suspicion that any part of them enters any of the products of the factory. Municipal, state, or national inspection should be frequent, thorough, and entirely removed from any possible influence of the packing business itself. Competent veterinary experts should pass upon the state of health of each carcass, and any one found diseased in any way should be subjected to a further careful inspection to see whether it should be admitted, under proper label and notification, as human food or consigned to the fertilizer heap. It is only by such inspection as this that the consumer can secure adequate protection. After the meat is once in the can inspection will only reveal whether or not preservatives and coloring matter have been used, or whether the contents of the can are spoiled or in a state unfit for consumption. No examination of the contents of the can will reveal in a satisfactory manner the state of health of the carcass from which the meat has been secured or the sanitary conditions under which it has been prepared. It is hoped the new methods of inspection established by the Secretary of Agriculture will secure the desired purity of meat products. LARD. The fat of swine, properly separated from the other tissues, is known as lard. The process of separation is termed “rendering.” Various methods of rendering are practiced, all depending, however, upon the use of heat, which liquefies the fat and gradually frees it from its connective tissues.