FS5 Cornell University Library HD 9410.6.F53 Bob veal and the public. 3 1924 013 810 951 Reprint from American Veterinary Review, iMay, 1 91 2. BOB VEAL AND THE PUBLIC* By Pierke a. Fish, Ithaca, N. Y. Ill the consideration of bob veal, the question of primary im- portance is whether or not it is unwholesome as a food. The law in prohibiting its sale encourages such a belief. Its purpose is to protect the consumer, but a just law must also consider the interests of the producer. With an increasing population and diminishing cattle supply, the time is not far distant when serious attention must be given to the conservation of the meat supply. With an increasing demand for pure food and a growing num- ber of veterinarians as local inspectors for meat and milk, there should be some knowledge as to any definite nutritive value pos- sessed by bob veal. In those countries in which meat is most used as a food there has been the highest development of the livestock industry. The food question has, therefore, given a special impetus to the breed- ing and feeding of stock which will excel in the quality and flavor of the meat. In earlier years age was considered one of the im- portant factors when it came time for slaughtering. At the be- ginning of the nineteenth century the standard of perfection in the United States and England was the steer of five or six years of age. Even in the early eighties a steer was not deemed ma- ture or profitable enough for slaughter until four or five years old and was of large size and weight. Since 1891 finished steers more than three years of age have been the exception rather than the rule on the markets, while two-year-olds are gradually be- coming the maximum. With the reduction in age came a reduc- tion in size, which brought out as the butcher's ideal the " pony " beef, the animal weighing from 1,200 to 1,400 pounds when fully finished. " Pony " beef was eventually followed by " baby " beef — practically a pony steer finished at a younger age. * The substance of this paper was presented at the Conference for Veterinarians at the New York State Veterinary College, Ithaca, N, Y., and at the Meeting of the Pennsyl- vania State Veterinary Medical Society, at Philadelphia, Pa. Baby beef has been defined as a prime butchers' beast, thor- oughly fattened and ripe for the block at from 12 to 24 months of age. Growth has been artificially promoted by continuous heavy feeding from birth, with the object of obtaining in the shortest time possible the maximum amount of well-matured beef. With the cattle put on the market at two or three years of age, the greater part of the life is devoted to natural growth, but the last four or six months of life is devoted to fattening. With the baby beef the fattening process is begun at birth and car- ried on coincidently with growth. Under such conditions it is necessary that all the food that can be transformed into beef must be supplied. This reduction in the age of beef fit for slaughter, although not, perhaps, regulated by law, is referred to because there is also apparently a tendency to reduce the age at which veal may be put on the market. The Federal government formerly re- quired that a calf must be four weeks of age in order to be mar- ketable. This age has now been reduced to three weeks. The States of New Jersey and Pennsylvania have also adopted the three weeks age minimum. In other States the age ranges from four to six weeks. In Germany the marketable age of veal sanctioned by law varies Avith the locality. In the greater number of districts the minimum age limit is placed at from eight to fourteen days, in others four weeks, and still others only a few days. In England the calf for the market must not be slaughtered less than two weeks of age, although it is said that the usual age for food pur- poses is five weeks. The usual method for determining a bob veal before the car- cass has been cut up is the unhealed condition of the umbilicus or navel; the distance the teeth have protruded from the gums is sometimes an aid ; the amount and character of the fat about the kidneys — renal fat ; in very young animals the fat is not so great in amount and is perhaps of softer consistency, having quite often a glandular appearance and usually of a brownish instead of a white color. Size and weight may be of indirect assistance, 2 but they are so variable that they cannot always be depended upon, in fact, all of the conditions mentioned are more or less variable and serve rather as clues than indisputable facts. The healing of the umbilicus may be delayed and the development of the teeth and renal fat retarded. The writer has been unable to find any literature upon this subject, but has information that some twelve or fifteen years ago Professors S. H. Gage and V. A. Moore, of the New York State Veterinary College, investigated the matter from the histo- logical side in an effort to determine some difference between the blood muscle fibres and structures of other organs of bob veal and older veal. No conclusive dififerences were found. A little later the writer attacked the problem in an endeavor to deter- mine if there might not be a greater amount of glycogen present in the meat of the younger than in the older veal. The results were not promising and the work was abandoned. Two years ago the work was taken up again on the basis of the amount of water present in the tissue. It is a generally conceded fact that the flesh of young animals contains a greater percentage of water than does that of older ones. It is on this basis that the present work has been done. Three lines of experiments have been car- ried on: (i) The determination of the freezing point of the meat juices expressed from the tissues. The fewer the solids present the nearer will the freezing point come to that of dis- tilled water, which contains no solids. (2) The determination of the specific gravity of the meat juice by means of the pyknometer. (3) The determination of the percentage of water present in a piece of meat of given weight. The weighing was repeated at intervals until a constant weight was obtained. The parts used were from the loins and round. The beef and mature veal were purchased in the market. Experiments have been performed upon 16 bob calves and from 20 to 22 samples of market veal and the same number of beef. In all 115 deter- minations have been made of the freezing point of the various specimens and a lesser number of observations made upon the specific gravity of the muscle juice and the percentage of water 3 present. Of these three methods the freezing point seemed to be the most sensitive and reliable, and greater attention has been de- voted to that. The freezing point of each sample was determined tvirice and the average of the two determinations w?as used in com- piling the statistics. In comparing the averages of the three series of meats there is found to be a difference of from o.io° to O.I I" between the bob veal up to 14 days of age and the market veal and beef. The results show much closer harmony between the market veal and beef than between the market veal and bob veal (less than two weeks of age). In all three series of meats the averages showed that the freezing point of the round was depressed o.oi" to 0.02'' lower than that of the loin. The curious fact was observed that in the bob veal up to five days of age this did not hold true. Up to this age the loin showed a lower freezing point than did tbe round, but from the age of five to fourteen days the reverse was the rule. The following table is a summary of the results obtained up to the present stage of the work : Bob Veal. Market Veal. Beef. Loin. Round. Loin. Round. Loin. Round. Freezing Point 0.9572° 0.9716° 1.0625° 1.0822° 1.06195° 1.080° Specific Gravity 1.0263 1.0281 1.0314 1.0342 1.0315 1.0328 Tercentage of Water 78.87% 78.97% 75.87% 75.43% 73.66% 71.76% (Five specimens) The investigation has been carried on with the idea of obtain- ing as definite data as possible for differentiating the tissues of the bob from older veal. Thus far in the work no calf older than 14 days has been used. Although the table shows that the aver- ages of the experiments indicate quite a satisfactory line of de- marcation between the younger bob and older veal, there are oc- casional individual exceptions, and the method as yet cannot, therefore, be declared infallible. Although a method which would distinguish the tissues of the bob from that of the older veal with some degree of positiveness would undoubtedly be of great value in aiding the enforcement 4 of the law, the centre of the whole question Is whether or not the tissues of bob veal are really unwholesome as a food and if the body functions are in any way disturbed thereby. It is obvious that the only way to settle such a question is to eat bob veal. Dietetic experiments have, therefore, been carried along with the preceding portion of the investigation. Seven families, including over 20 individuals, have co-operated at var- ious times in this portion of the work. The ages of these indi- viduals ranged from two to sixty years. No report of any dis- turbance of the physiological functions was received. The state- ment that the flesh of bob veal has a laxative effect and induces diarrhoea has not been confirmed in a single instance throughout our work. The health in all cases was apparently normal; nor did any family refuse a second helping when another carcass be- came available. In all veal there is a deficiency of fat as compared with beef. In bob veal this deficiency is naturally- somewhat more pro- nounced because fat is a result of growth and age under proper nutritive conditions. In the use of bob veal this deficiency may be overcome to a considerable extent by cooking the veal with pork or other fat. The fact that persons are arrested at times for attempting to dispose of bob veal would indicate that the law is, without much doubt, sometimes evaded. Persons have un- doubtedly eaten bob veal unwittingly who would have disdained to touch it if they had known in advance what it was. The in- vestigation thus far has shown that the tissues of bob veal do possess a somewhat larger percentage of water than do those of mature veal. Is it logical to condemn the use of bob veal as a food on this ground, when we consider as delicacies certain fish, lobsters, oysters, etc., all of which possess a higher percentage of water than even bob veal, and bring a higher price in the mar- ket? Is there a demand for bob veal? In all of the larger and many of the smaller cities of the East there is a considerable for- eign population. Many of these persons have eaten bob veaJ in their native homes ; they knew what they were eating and wanted 5 if they would still eat it if it were available. From the stand- point of health and physical stamina they compare favorably with our native population who have not eaten this veal. Others, financially poor, upon whose tables meat seldom appears, would in time come to use it if reassured as to its wholesomeness. Bob veal should be marketed and, therefore, retailed at a lower rate than older veal. The economic side of the question is of great importance to the general public, for it involves the conservation of the meat sup- ply. Since 1890 the population of the continental United States has increased 41.7%, while that of cattle has increased only 30.8% during the same period. The statistics for the more re- cent years show a still greater divergence, although the cost has increased. The honest farmer who carries on intensive dairying and does not find it profitable to raise all of his calves to maturity, or if the sex of the calf does not permit it to produce milk, must suffer considerable loss. The skin of the calf may perhaps be sold for a dollar or less, but the law prohibits the sale of the car- cass for food purposes. Naturally, the farmer infers that the flesh is unwholesome. If the butcher may not be allowed to sell it to the public to eat, the farmer and his family are not likely to consider it a proper food for themselves. The result is that the carcass possessing a certain nutritive value, as far as proteids are concerned, is thrown away or cooked up and served to the swine or poultry for food. The waste in this respect must amount, in this State, to a number of thousand dollars. Much of this might be saved if the farmer were sufficiently aware of the nutritive value of the material and utilized it as food in his own family. In the country as a whole the aggregate must be large. Such a waste is serious in connection with a diminish- ing beef supply. Diseased conditions are less commonly found in the young as compared with the older animals, and where meat inspection is not practiced the probability of eating diseased tissue is less likely than when older animals are consumed. If it came to the question of eating healthy young tissue or diseased older tissue, there should be but one answer. According to the late Dr. Pear- son, the Federal government spent $3,000,000 in 1907 for meat inspection. At the present time the amount is probably not less than that sum. If the people of this country contribute the above amount, then New York State, with about one-tenth of the total population, contributes $300,000 for this purpose, and only about one-half of the meat consumed is thus inspected by the Federal government. The half that is not inspected probably needs the inspection more than the half that is. Municipal or local inspec- tion should by all means supplement that of the government. The reduction of the killing age of beef has been referred to. Why not extend it to veal ? As a first step in the conservation of the meat supply it would appear desirable to reduce the mar- ketable age of bob veal to three weeks, as already sanctioned by the government and the State of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. There should be uniformity in the various States having laws upon this subject. The reduction of 25% in the age limit would check a large amount of waste in those States which require an age of four weeks or more. Under the present arrangement various absurd conditions may arise. A healthy calf three weeks of age is legally fit for food in the State of Pennsylvania; if car- ried across an invisible line into the State of New York it is condemned as unwholesome. What miraculous physiological changes must have occurred in the tissues of the animal while crossing the line. Natural law is apparently subsidiary to State law. In time, as the conservation of the meat supply becomes more imperative, the age-may be reduced to one or two weeks, as in the case of the greater portion of Germany. Certainly the Germans may be regarded as holding their own in health and stamina, al- though they consume a large amount of what would be classed in this country as bob veal. Another step in checking this waste and safeguarding the supply would be to legalize the sale of bob veal as such. To substitute it for mature veal would be illegal, but since there is 7 a demand for it, with the prospects of future growth, why not supply it plainly labeled to those who may desire it? While it might not entirely check, it would undoubtedly very much reduce the attempts to substitute for older veal. As to the charges of unwholesomeness and injurious effects upon the human system, it would appear that the burden of proof should rest upon those who make them. Our own investigation, with the co-operation of more than tvi^enty persons, including the tender age of childhood and advanced maturity, do not con- firm them, but rather indicate that the flesh of bob veal has a definite nutritive value and appears in no way to interfere with the normal physiological functions of the human body. Further Observations on Bob Veal BY PIERRE A. FISH New York State Vctetimty College Ithaca, N. Y. ALBANY THE ARGUS COMPANY, PRINTERS 1912 FURTHEK OBSERVATIONS ON BOB VEAL. PiEEEE A. Fish. Department of Veterinary Physiology. In the preliminary paper published last year,* attention was called to facts of historical, legal, nutritive and economic interest. The samples then examined were necessarily somewhat restricted in number. Up to the present there has been a total of sixteen bob calves and from twenty to twenty-two specimens each of market veal and beef examined. As samples were usually taken from two regions — the loin and round, something like 115 determinations have been made of the freezing point and a lesser number of ob- servations made upon the specific gravity of the muscle juice and percentage of water present. Of the above-mentioned experiments the determination of the freezing point of the tissue juice seems the most promising. A Beckman's thermometer, graduated to 1-100 degrees, has been em- ployed. The fineness of the division of the scale has made it pos- sible to utilize 0.01 of a degree 'as the unit of calculation through- out the experiments. The freezing point was determined twice for each sample and the average of the 'two tests was used in compiling the statistics. The averages of the three series show that there is a difference of from 0.10 to 0.11 between the bob veal up to fourteen days of age and the market veal and beef. Occasional exceptions occur. In the sixteen specimens of bob veal, there were three samples each of the loin and round found, in which the freezing point was depressed far enough to rank with that of the market veal and beef. In the market veal there were four out of the twenty specimens of the loin and two out of the twenty-one specimens of the round which showed a freezing point so slightly depressed as to class them with the bob veal. In the beef, six out of twenty samples of the loin and none from the round showed a freezing point similar to that of bob veal. In all three series the averages showed that the freezing point * Preliminary Observations on Bob Veal. Report of the New York State Veterinary College for the year 1909-1910. of the tissue from the round was from 0.01 to 0.02 lower than that of the loin. In the case of the bob veal where the samples from the loin and round came from the same animal, the interest- ing fact was observed 'that the freezing point of the " round " tissue was less than that of the loin up to five days of age. JFrom five days to fourteen days of age, the freezing point of the " round" tissue was depressed lower than that of the loin except in the case of one specimen ten days of age, in which the freezing point of the loin tissue was depressed 0.017 lower than that of the round. In the case of the market veal and beef, the samples of the loin and round probably did not come from the same animal as in the case of the bob veal. There was, therefore, greater fluctuation in the freezing point of the two tissues. This was more noticeable in the beef than in the market veal, but in each series there was dis- tinctly a greater number of " round " samples with a lower freez- ing point than loin. The fact that six of the twenty samples from the loin of the beef gave freezing points similar to that of bob veal was somewhat unexpected. It may be explained, possibly, on the ground that in this tissue there is a larger proportion of water to the solids than there is, for example, in the round. The loin is one of the tender- est, juiciest and most sought-after portions of the carcass, and because the muscular tissue here is not subjected to as severe work as that of the round a larger proportion of water may be present and the tissue does not develop the toughness 'that other regions do which undergo more active exercise. In the case of the bob veal, as already noted from the freezing point, there is apparently a larger proportion of water present in the round up to the fifth day of life ; after that there is less than there is in the loin. This fact may, perhaps, be explained on the ground that for a short time after birth the calf, as a rule, is not very active with its limbs, but with increasing activity of the limb muscles as compared with the loin, there is a decrease in the pro- portion of the water present. The greater the proportion of solids present, the more is the freezing point depressed. This is well shown in the diagrams of Plate I. In the majority of the samples of each series the freezing point of the " round " is depressed further than that of the loin,. although there are occasional exceptions. If 1.0 degree below zero be taken as a standard for comparison, it will be seen from the dia* grams that in the case of the beef round that the freezing point of every one of the twenty-two samples was depressed lower than 1.0 degree ; while in the case of the loin the freezing point of some of the samples was not depressed go far as 1.0 degree. In the case of the market veal it is shown that out of the twenty-one samples of the round all but two were depressed more than 1.0 degree ; while out of twenty samples of the loin there were four which were not depressed so far as 1.0 degree. In the sixteen specimens of bob veal, the freezing point was depressed lower than 1 degree in only three instances in case of the loin and round respectively. The following tables show the series of the freezing point, specific gravity and percentage of water in the bob veal, market veal and beef : Bob Veai. — Fbeezing Poikt. No. Age. Loin. Bound. 2 1 day (20 hours) -0.923° -0.894° 1 2 days -0.933° -0.913° 11 3 days -1.011° -0.9535° 3 4 days -0.965° -0.959° 8 4 days -0.972° -0.942° 12 5 days -0.970° -0.976° 4 6 days -0.924° -0.9855° 9 6 days -0.9345° -0.962° 10 7 days -0.950° -0.964° 5 8 days -0.795° -0.826° 14 9 days -0.951° -1.0085° 15 10 days -0.935° -0.918° 7 11 days -0.849° -0.987° 16 12 days -0.9305° -0.9675° 13 13 days -0.971° -0.987° 6 14 days -1.0885° -1.117° Average -0.9439° -0.9600° Makket Veal — Feeezing Point. ' No. Loin. 1 -1.158° 2 -1.085° 3 -1.192° 4 -1.234° 5 -1.0405° 6 -1.045° 7 -1.0125° 8 -1.087° 9 -1.159° 10 -0.980° 11 -1.101° 12 -1.0015° 13 -1.0515° 14 -1.0205° 15 -1.0655° 16 -0.9910° 17 -0.9485° 18 -1.0975° 19 -1.019° 20 -0.961° 21 Average -1.0625° Beef— Feeezing Point. No. Loin. 1 -1.069° 2 -1.142° 3 -1.175° 4 -1.1495° 5 -0.970° 6 -1.054° 7 -0.963° 8 '.. -0.917° 9 -1.1455° 10 -0.977° 11 -1.175° 12 -1.0105° Kound. -1.240° -1.111° -0.923° -1.035° -1.0645° -1.1315° -1.0055° -1.123° -1.091° -1.130° -0.9045° -1.082° -1.1165° -1.1045° -1.1095° -1.055° -1.079° -1.1155° -1.124° -1.092° -1.090° -1.0822° Eound. -1.051° -1.044° -1.018° -1.311° -1.052° -1.0785° -1.0725° -1.013° -1.037° -1.108° -1.041° . -1.0305^ Beef — Feeezing Point — ( Continued) . No. Loin. Round. 13 -1.047° -1,049° 14 -1.107° -1,057° 15 -0.9905° -1,109° 16 -1.0665° -1,0545° 17 -1.040° -1,099° 18 -1.179° -1,079° 19 -1.0675° -1.060° 20 -0.994° -1,125° 21 -1,095° 22 -1.177° Average -1.06195° -1.080° ' —■< ■ •- Stjmmaet of the Feeezikg Point Experiments. Loin. . Round. Bolj veal -0.9439° -0;9600i° Market veal -1.0625° -1.0822° Beef -1.06195° -1.0800° Bob Veal — Specific Geavitt. Age. Loin. Round. 1 day 1.023 1.033 3 days . 1.026 1.025 4 days 1.027 1.020 5 days 1.027 1.027 6 days 1.025 1.025 6 days 1.027 1.030 7 days 1.027 1.032 8 days 1.018 1.020 9 days 1.030 1.032 10 days 1.028 1.025 11 days 1.020 1.030 12 days 1.031 1.03a 13 days 1.032 1.032- 14 days 1-028 1.030 Average 1.0263 1.0281 8 Maeket Veal — Specific Gbavitt. No. Loin. Round. 1 1.029 1.040 2 1.035 1.030' 3 1.035 1.035 4 1.032 1.033 6 1.035 1.036 6 1.032 1.032 7 1.034 1.035 8 1.038 1.031 9 1.032 1.037 10 1.034 1.032 11 1.027 1.035 12 1.027 1.045 13 1.032 1.034 14 1.028 1.037 15 .' 1.028 1.032 16 . 1.032 1.033 17 1.025 1.027 18 1.034 Average 1.0314 1.0342 Beef — Specific Geavity. No. Loin. Round. 1 1.030 1.034 2 1.035 1.028 3 1.035 1.030 4 1.035 1.035 5 1.035 1.038 6 1.030 1.033 7 1.027 1.032 8 1.032 1.032 9 1.035 1.032 10 1.032 1.034 11 1.033 1.027 12 . . 1.030 1.034 13 1.032 1.03;? 14 1.033 1.040 9 Bkef — Specific Geavitt — (Continued). No. Loin. Bound. 15 1.023 1.037 16 1.030 1.035 17 1.033 1.033 18 1.027 1.028 19 1.027 20 •. 1.035 Average 1.0315 1.0328 SiTMMAET OF THE SPECIFIC GbAVITY TaBLES. Loin. Boand. Bob veal 1.0263 1.0281 Market veal 1.0314 1.0342 Beef 1.0315 1.0328 Bob Veal - - Peecentage of "V Loin. Bouiid. . 78.48^ 78.17;^ 77.65^ 78.75^ 81.19^ 80.89^ 79.37^ 77.86^ 77.77^ 79.21;^ 76M^ 78.43^ 73.81^ 75.98;^ 76.63^ 77.16^ 74.81^ 76.60^ 78.41^ 79.40^ 78.92)^ 77.83j^ 77,96J^ 71.81^ 81.31^ Average . . 77.08;^ 78.43;^ 10 Maeket Veal — Peecentage of Watee. Loin. Kound. 63.03^ 75.64^ 70.94:j^ 71.04^ 73.48^ 78.43^ 74.21^ 73.56^ 77.50^ 75.97^ 79.10^ 78.32^ 75.26^ 75.00^ 83.19^ 72.39^ 77.05^ 75.86^ 76.80^ 76.63^ 77.20,'^ 74.77^ 74.75^ 75.29^ 75.98)^ 75.49^ 78.31^ 77.32^ 75.27^ 75.95^ 77.93^ 75.26^ 77.90^ Average.. 75.87^ 75.43^ Beef — Percentage of Water. Loin. 70.69^ Round. 74.96;^ 69.30;^ 70.99;^ 76.20^ 77.06^ 74.18^ 59.40^ 77.78;^ 73.47^ 75.81^ 77.335^ 72.85^ 55.08^ 77.14^ 76.82^ 69.28^ 74.50^ 72.27^ 72.54^ 72.76^ 70.43^ 72.82^ 73.49^ 74.63^ 74.44^ 75.07^ 74.47;^ 74.19^ 71.42^ Average. . 73.66;^ 71.76^ 11 Summary of Tables of Percentage of Water. Loin. Eound. Bob veal TT.OS^ 78.43^ Market veal 75.87^ 75.43^ Beef 73.66^ 71.76;^ Market Veal. Beef. Loin. Round. Loin. Eound ■1.0625° ■ -1.0822° -1.06195° -1.080° 1.0314 1.0342 1.0315 1.0328 75.87!^ 76.43^ 73.66^ 71.76;< Summary of All the Tables. Bob Veal. Loin. Round. Freezing point ..... -0.9439° -0.9600° Specific gravity 1 . 0263 1 . 0281 Percentage of water. 77.08^ 78. 43;^ In analyzing the tables, a general correspondence is noted in respect to the averages of the freezing point, speidfic gravity and percentage of water. In the bob veal where more water is present in the tissues, there is less depression of the freezing point, a lighter specific gravity and a greater percentage of water. In the market veal and beef, there is a greater depression of the freezing point, greater specific gravity and a less percentage of water. Although there is this general uniformity as regards the averages there are numerous individual instances in which it does not exist. Of these various methods the freezing point has appeared to be the most sensitive and is, therefore, considered to be the most reliable. There are certain conditions which may influence the results in experimental work of this kind. The amount of moisture in the -tissue may be increased or decreased. If the meat has been frozen or. kept in a cold temperature and then brought into a warm temperature it is quite probable that some of the juice will escape from the meat and the freezing point of what further juice may be obtained will have a freezing point lower than that which might have been expected from the original j'uice. If, on the other hand, the conditions of temperature and moisture are right, the tissue may absorb moisture and the freez- ing point in that event should not be depressed so much. An experiment was tried along this line by allowing samples from the round of the market veal and beef to remain exposed to the ordinary temperature in a basement room for three days dur- 12 ing the month of July. A portion of the meat was iised each of the three days and its freezing point determined. The following tables show the results obtained: Maeket Veal. July 13. Freezing point — 1.091° 14. Freezing point — 1 . 141° 15. Freezing point — 1 . 150° Beef. July 13. Freezing point — 1 .108° 14. Freezing point — 1 . 174° 15. Freezing point — 1. 102° The figures would indicate that in the case of the veal moisture was lost continuously as the freezing point was depressed each day. In the case of the beef it would appear that moisture was lost between the first and second days as shown by the lower freez- ing point, but that between the second and third days enough mois- ture had been absorbed so that the freezing point was not depressed quite so much as it was on the first day. Another fact which should be taken into account is the condi- tion of the calf at the time of birth. If it be premature and is bom two or three weeks before it is normally due, then the tissues naturally could not be expected to be so mature as those of a nor- mal calf. Yet such a calf four weeks after its premature birth may be sold as veal under the New York State law, while if its birth had been delayed until the normal time, the law would re- quire the usual four weeks to elapse before the veal could be put on the market. If on the other hand the calf is not bom until two or three weeks after it is due, we must consider that during this period of extra retention in the uterus, its tissues are still growing and developing in vigor. If the calf has run three weeks overtime is it, one week after its birth, still bob veal ? It is un- der the law and yet it may have gone as far in development as the prematui-ely born calf which the law permits to be sold four weeks after its birth although this only brings it to about the time when its birth should have normally occurred. The law governing the sale of veal varies in different countries. In some parts of Germany veal may be offered for sale eight or ten days after birth ; in other parts two weeks must have elapsed 13 from the time of birth. In Great Britain it is said (A. R. Little^ John, Meat and Its Inspection) that " calves are seldom killed for meat before five weeks old, and never should be slaughtered before two weeks old." In this country the Federal law provides that the calf must be three weeks of age (it was formerly four weeks). In the different States the laws vary from three weeks in New Jersey and Pennsylvania to six weeks in Arkansas and Missouri. In a number of other States the laws prescribe four weeks. It would appear that in some portions of this country there has been a tendency to reduce the minimum age at which the veal may be offered for sale, and there is not much question but that uniform laws with an age limit similar to that fixed by the Federal government would mark a decided step in advance. It is not at all improbable that it may be desirable to reduce the minimum age to that fixed by Germany or even lower if it cannot be proven that the veal is unwholesome or unpalatable. The dietetic experiments have been continued. Seven families, including more than twenty persons, have co-operated at various times in this part of the investigation by eating a portion of the veal. Children from two years up have partaken of the flesh and have apparently enjoyed it as well as the elders. The families were ready to receive a portion of a carcass when it became avail- able. In none was there any evidence that could be detected of any detriment or disturbance of the normal physiological proc- esses of the body. Although the range of persons included chil- dren of tender years up to those well along in maturity not a single complaint of distaste or injurious effect has been received. The claim that the flesh of very young animals has a laxative effect upon human beings (Walley) has not been verified in the present experiments. Because of the lack of the fat in the immature animals, it has been found that the flesh is apparently rendered more palatable if this deficiency is supplied by cooking the veal with pork or other fat. . The fact that carcasses are occasionally seized as bob veal by ofiicials indicates that there is more or less of an attempt to sub- stitute immature for mature veal. Undoubtedly the attempt is sometimes successful. It such a case there is not much doubt that many people, ignorant of its character, would eat bob veal 14 with a relish, who would disdain to touch it if they were informed of its true character in advance. With some there is an idiosyn- crasy against veal whether it be mature or immature, as there may be with others against oysters, clams or other articles of food. There is, however, among many foreigners a demand for bob veal ; others, financially poor, would imdoubtedly use it, since it could be put on the market for a lower price than mature veal. There can be no harm in legalizing the sale of bob veal if it is properly labeled to prevent substitution and so that those who wish it may procure it. As to the charge of unwholesomeness or deleterious effect upon the human system, the burden of proof rests upon those who put forth such claims ; our own experiments thus far show to the contrary. Such a law would bring meat into the homes of the poor where it is now absent or but rarely used. It would also reduce the attempts, under the present law, to substitute immature for mature veal. The economic side of the question is of the highest significance because it bears upon the conservation of the meat supply. To the honest farmer who does not care to raise veal to maturity there must be considerable loss. The skin may be sold, but in the absence of any knowledge of the nutritive value of the flesh, which the present law tends to confirm, the rest of the carcass is usually thrown away or cooked up and fed to the poultry or swine. Doubtless many thousand dollars worth of food of a definite nutritive value goes to waste in this way in the State of New York as well as many other 'States. Such a waste should be considered very seriously when statistics show an increasing population with a diminishing meat supply. The following tables compiled from the year book of the U. S. Department of Agriculture show the conditions existing as to milch cows and other cattle with their value in New York State and the United States. (See also Plates II, III and IV.) .1 / / / ». \ V t I V ■^ ^ \ \ \ \ ^ \ 1 ■4 \ ^ > ,/ 1 I i \ / \ >« \, ? \ A V, V \ ^ y^y «1 N: > / \ \ / \ 1 "^ / ', ll cj /; '^ \ >• ■t) \ \ ^•''' \ V. s >. y> ?= y /^ 9i y\- ^ ^ \N ^ \, tv ^^S>^ V, ^ ( / \ ^ i >a \ V / ^ \ X.I \ \i St- \ 1 '■^ / 1 '<■ ' i» > V ~,^ 3- 1 \^ + * , •\- -"" ^ / ? tf f « \ t. / / 1/ / N N '1 s <3 ^- n r t Plate II 'ob_m_m GmKi/mw- \000 000 i/) 000-000 If-OOO-OOO ffOOOOOO I7-0O0O0O /b.OOO-OOO ie:oooooo /'H)ooooo Diagram showing the number (left) of milch cows (above) and other cattle (below) with the farm value (right) in the State of New York from Janu ary 1, 1906 to January 1, 1912 (Data from the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture) 6o,t*\/MW 100 000 ■n b '01 '08 'o<\ 1° 1.1 '!?■ Plate III Zi^oo.ooo s/.eoaooo seooooooo SiaO.OOO-OOC iO.iOO.OOO SMi.00000 S/i/ooooo tCOOO-OOO /feoaooo '?yoo.ooo Diagram showing the number (left) and farm value (right) of milch cows in the United States from January 1, 1906 to January 1, 1912 (Data from the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture) e[v5*j/tvw*0.000000 'oi» ■q-j '08 'oa 'in 'ii 'ii . Ifaooaon^ fieoooooo foo ooo ooo ywoooooo yio-oooooo yzooooooo -joo.ooaooo 6 to- 000 ooo 660.000 ooo 6¥O-0OO.OOO bZOOOO OOC ()Oo ooo ooo 6cv«foAvw - 1.000 000 W*U Plate IV Qttiuv W^ K S". Eattiivw. 10 000000 ■ Qla '01 'og 'M 'lo -u -It yfO-OOa ooo Diagram showing the rnimber (left) and farm value (right) of other cattle in the United States from January 1, 1906 to January 1, 1912 (Data from the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture) 15 New York State. Year. No. of milch cows. Farm value. Jan. 1, 1906 1,75,5,972 $60,581,034 " 1907 1,826,211 65,743,596 " 190'8 1,789,000 59,932,000 " 1909 1,789,000 61,273,000 " 1910 , 1,771,000 69,954,000 " 1911 1,510,000 73,235,000 " 1912 1,495,000 64,734,000 Year. No. of other cattle. Farm value. Jan. 1, 1906 954,277 $15,764,647 " 1907 944,734 17,307,526 " 1908 907,000 15,419,000 " 1909 898,000 14,817,000 " 1910 889,000 16,180,000 " 1911 922,000 20,468,000 " 1912 894,000 17,701,000 United States. Tear. No. of mlleh cows. Farm value. Jan. 1, 1906 19,793,866 $582,788,592 " 1907 20,968,265 645,496,980 " 1908 21,194,000 650,057,000 " 1909 21,720,000 702,945,000 " 1910 21,801,000 780,3018,000 " 1911 20,823,000 832,209,000 " 1912 20,699,000 815,414,000 Year. No. of other cattle. Farm value. Jan. 1, 1906 47,067,656 $746,171,709 " 1907 51,565,731 881,557,398 " 1908 5O',073,00O 845,938,000 " 190i9 49,379,000 863,754,000 " 1910 47,279,000 917,453,000 " 1911 39,679,000 815,184,000 " 1912 37,260,000 790,064,000 Such statistics emphasize the necessity for the conservation of the meat supply in both the State and Nation. If, as in the past. 16 it has been found wise to reduce the killing age of beef from seven years to the one or two years of " baby " beef, then in the future, in view of the diminishing supply and increasing cost of meat, it may also be found wise to remove some of the restrictions which surround bob veal. In conclusion I desire to express my appreciation of the assist- ance rendered by C. E. Hayden who has done practically all of the -mechanical work involved in the experiments and to whose patience, skill and accuracy my data are due.