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13 Unfortunately, from the ease with which the smaller animals can he handled, butchers have concluded that it does not much matter how they are despatched, so long as the affair is finished with reasonable quickness.

One of the earliest attempts to improve the method of killing bullocks was that made by Mr. Baxter, of Ealing Dean, himself a retired meat dealer. Mr. Baxter had seen enough of the cruelties practised in the slaughter-house to have a very strong desire to do something to remedy them. Accordingly, he invented an appliance which could be substituted for the pole-axe, and which he believed would prevent the possibility of frequent blows having to be struck before the bullock was felled. If he could ensure that the animal would fall stunned at the very first blow of the slaughterer, a very great improvement on present methods would have been placed at the disposal of butchers.

"Baxter's Mask" consists of a thin iron plate, bent into such a shape as to fit on to a bullock's forehead, and covered in its main points with leather. At the very centre of the forehead a hollow steel punch with sharp edges is inserted, working in a strong steel socket. The sharp edge rests on the animal's brow, while the other end of the punch is made into a strong rounded knob. The mask covers the animal's eyes, so that although the blow of the slaughterer is struck from in front, it does not know what is coming, and consequently does not flinch, and so spoil the blow. The striking implement is a heavy wooden mallet, wielded with both hands. When the blow descends