Each establishment is given an official num ber, which must appear in every instance as a part of the mark of inspection, that is, the mark or statement used on meats and products or the containers thereof, to show that they have been inspected and passed under the Federal regu lations.
Under the Federal system not less than two examinations are made of the animals slaughtered in official establishments. The first is the ante-mortem inspection or examination of the live animal, the second the post-mortem examination of the carcass and the various organs and parts at the time of slaughter. The post-mortem is the more valuable of the two inspections, but both are necessary if it is to be determined with cer tainty in every instance that the flesh of the animal is sound, wholesome arid fit for human food. The ante-mortem examination is per formed in the pens and alleys of the establish ments, except that at most of the large slaugh tering centres it is found more convenient to conduct it in the public stockyards. The ani mals are carefully observed for evidence of disease or abnormal condition while at rest in the pens or as they move from the scales after weighing. If any of a lot show symptoms, then the entire lot is subjected to further and individual inspection. If the animals are swine and the symptoms indicate cholera, they are driven to a special pen for further examination and in certain cases to ascertain their temper atures and to make a record of the same. Other diseases or conditions in which the ques tion of temperature is important are Texas fever, anthrax, blackleg, pneumonia, septicemia and severe injuries. When its appearance is such as to lead the inspector to suspect that an animal is affected with a disease or condition that may cause its condemnation in whole or in part on the post-mortem inspection, it is marked for identification by means of a seri ally numbered metal tag bearing the phrase °U. S. Suspect" affixed to the ear. A record of the case is made and sent to the inspector who is to conduct the post-mortem examina tion. Such suspect animals are kept apart and slaughtered separately from those which were passed on the ante-mortem inspection.
Animals which show symptoms of rabies, tetanus, milk fever or railroad sickness, and hogs which are plainly sick with hog cholera, are condemned on the ante-mortem inspection.
Such animals are marked by means of a serially numbered °U. S. Condemned)) metal tag affixed to the ear. Animals so tagged may not be taken into the slaughter-room, but must be destroyed and disposed of as required for con demned carcasses to prevent their use for food. Animals found dead or in a dying condition on the premises are condemned and disposed of in the same manner.
Post-Mortem Inspection.— The post-mor tem inspection is made at the time of slaughter and includes a careful examination of the car cass and all its parts. Where the number of animals dressed per hour does not exceed a cer tain general limit, one inspector, constantly present, performs all the inspections. Where the number of inspections per hour exceeds cer tain general limits, the inspectors are increased accordingly and the work so arranged and co ordinated that each inspector gives his entire attention to some particular part of it. Thus the work is in a sense specialized with the re sult that a high individual and collective pro ficiency is attained and efficient inspection as sured regardless of the rate of slaughter. An important requirement in the conduct of this inspection is that the identity of the carcass and of each of its severed parts be carefully maintained until the inspection is completed, so that if there is a disease in any one organ or part, all the other parts and the carcass may be brought together for additional examination. Facilities for maintaining such identity are pro vided in the slaughter departments.
The different steps of the post-mortem in spection are: Head inspection, viscera inspec tin, carcass inspection, final inspection, disposi tion and marking. In cattle heads the different pairs of lymphatic glands are cut into and ex amined, particularly for tuberculosis. The tongue is also examined. The presence in the flesh of cattle of a certain cyst capable of pro ducing tapeworm in man can usually be deter mined by examining the inner and outer cheek muscles. A careful survey is made of the head as a whole for actinomycosis, deformities, etc. In the heads of swine certain lymphatic glands, which are favorite seats of tuberculosis, are incised and examined.