In general, it should be remembered that any animals dying of diseases are not fit for food, and this applies to all animals, from the largest to the smallest. Animals dying by accident, of course, are exceptions, but if diseased animals, animals dying a natural death, and animals out of condition are eliminated, the quality of food supplied from any individual farm may be approved so far as the animal itself is concerned. _The slaughter-house._ There is, however, the further question of the sanitary condition of the slaughter-house and the care of the meat after being dressed. It may be that one gets accustomed to the sight of the filthy barns or out-houses so often used for slaughtering. Places infected with flies and other insects, overrun with rats, and the effluvia of which is easily noticeable at a distance of half a mile, are not uncommon and suggest their own condemnation. While it is not possible to directly associate any particular disease with such a condition of the slaughter-house, yet such conditions must result in a rapid development of putrefactive bacteria, in the deposit by flies of different micro-organisms brought from the festering heaps of offal and manure in the vicinity, and must prevent the maintenance of the flesh in the clean and wholesome condition in which it may have been up to the time of hanging in such a place. A well-kept slaughter-house will have the ceilings, side walls, and partitions frequently painted, or else scrubbed and washed. The floor of the building, particularly, should be made water-tight, with proper drains so that the blood shall not remain on the floor to saturate the wood and develop decay. An abundance of clean water should be provided, so that the area may be thoroughly washed as often as used, with proper drains provided for carrying away the dirty water. The ventilation of the building should be complete, and provision should be made for lifting and moving carcasses without handling. In most small slaughter-houses, the obnoxious practice prevails of maintaining a herd of swine to consume the entrails of the slaughtered animals, and a more fearsome and disgusting spectacle than a dozen lean, active hogs fighting over recently deposited entrails and wallowing up to their bellies in filth can hardly be imagined. Nor is this any fanciful picture. The writer has seen it over and over again, the income from the hogs thus fed being one of the principal assets of the establishment. Such hog meat is not fit for food. The refuse from the slaughter-house ought to be carried away and buried; its fertilizing value will not be lost if it be put in the garden, and the effect of the prompt removal of this refuse will be to improve the character of the entire slaughter-house. CHAPTER XII _FOODS AND BEVERAGES_