Page:Description of the Abattoirs of Paris.djvu/11

Rh 8 feet above the ground, consisting of two parallel beams, in the direction of the length of the building, and about 6 feet apart; they are fastened into the wall at one end, but the other rests on another beam, which crosses the slaughter-house transversely. They are all provided with basins, hewn out of the stone floor, for collecting the blood, and large holding-rings are fastened into the floor. A small windlass is attached to the wvall, so that in killing an ox, his head is brought down by a rope to the ring, and is held steady by one man, while another strikes it with a poll-axe; the carcase is then hauled up by the hind legs, and in that position skinned and dressed, and remains suspended till it is taken away by the butcher to his stall; about eight or ten carcases can thus be suspended at one and the same time. At the sides of the walls and on the beams, are hooks upon which sheep and calves are hung, but in such a manner as to prevent their touching the walls. Each slaughter-house is well provided with water, so that after the dressing of each beast, the place may be thoroughly washed, and in order to prevent the blood from remaiuing between the flags, the joints are set with iron cement, level with the flagging. The slaughter-houses have two doors, one opening into an avenue, or passage, and the other into a yard, C, which generally divides one tier of buildings from another parallel to it, or to a building containing the stalls.

In this yard are the large benches on which the sheep and calves are killed; and down the centre of it is a channel, towards which the pavement inclines, like that of the slaughter-houses, leading to a grating over a sewer, where there is a proper trap to prevent the effluvium from returning.

The hides and skins are collected and taken away by the fellmongers; the intestines are also collected, washed, and sold. The tripe of bullocks, sheep, and calves, and the feet and heads of the two latter, are cleaned in an establishment fitted up for that purpose on the premises. The blood, of which it is ascertained that an ox contains three gallons, a sheep three pints, and a calf about a gallon, is all collected, and the cellular tissue and clot being separated from the serum, the latter is put into casks for use in the sugar refineries, where, however, it is not employed to the same extent as formerly, calcined bones being now more commonly used. The clot is subjected to a chemical process, by which it becomes nearly black, and is then put into casks and sold as manure.The contents of the paunches, which measure about two gallons each, are collected in the 'voiries,' or manure yards, and are taken away every day for manure, with the dung from the stables. The hearts, livers, and heads are taken by the butchers, and sold at their shops. The