Any deviation from these rules in the act of killing the animal renders the shechitah unlawful (‏פסולה‎). The killing of cattle, beasts, or fowl for food is therefore entrusted only to such persons as possess a knowledge of the rules of shechitah and are skilled and trustworthy. The beth-din or the Chief-Rabbi decides whether a person has duly qualified himself for the office of shochet (‏שוחט‎), and whether he may kill animals for kasher food. It is the duty of the shochet to examine the animal before killing it, and to satisfy himself that it is not in a dying condition; after the shechitah of any cattle or beast (‏בהמה‎ or ‏חיה‎) he must examine the lungs to assure himself that they are in a normal condition. If he finds them in a diseased state he declares the flesh of the animal as t’refah (‏טרפה‎) and unfit for food. In the case of poultry the examination is not made by the shochet; but if any deviation from the normal state is discovered in the lungs or in any other part, the meat must not be used as food unless the animal has been examined by a competent person (Rabbi or dayyan), and declared by him to be kasher. As to the beneficial influence of these examinations on the general condition of health in the Jewish community, see Dr. H. Behrend’s articles in Jewish Chronicle, November 12, 1880, and October 24, 1890, and Nineteenth Century, October 1890. 3. On Page 459—1d. The following particular rules are to be observed in kashering meat:— (a.) The meat is first soaked in water for half-an-hour; this must be done within three days after the killing of the animal. It is then taken out of the water, placed on a slanting board or in a wicker-basket, and after a few minutes, when the water has sufficiently run off, sprinkled on all sides with salt. After the lapse of an hour the salt is again removed by soaking and rinsing. (b.) In case of urgency, when, e.g., the meat is wanted for a patient, or when on Friday afternoon there would not be left time enough for cooking or roasting the meat, it need only be kept in water for fifteen minutes and in salt for half-an-hour. (c.) In kashering poultry all the inner parts of the animal must be taken out and salted separately; the rest must be sprinkled with salt both within and without. (d.) Liver is salted a little and roasted on fire, not in the oven or in any vessel. This done, the liver may be cooked or roasted in any way. (e.) The heart is cut open before the salting, and a piece is cut off at the apex, in order that the blood may run off more easily.—For the same purpose the horny part of the legs is cut off.—The head must be opened and sprinkled with salt on both sides, after the brain has been taken out; from the latter the skin is drawn off, and then it is salted. (f.) Eggs found in poultry are treated as meat, but must be salted separately. (g.) The vessels used for soaking and salting the meat should not be used for other purposes. 4. On Page 459—1c.