ABATTOIR, the term applied by the French to designate slaughter-houses for cattle. These useful establishments were introduced into Paris and other large cities by Napoleon. Formerly the multitude of animals slaughtered in Paris, became a nuisance of great magnitude to the inhabitants, from the exhibition of the barbarities practised on the poor animals by the butchers, the piteous cries of sheep and cattle pent up, without food or water, in the confined stalls in which they were crowded, and from the offensive exhalations of putrid blood and offal that proceeded from slaughter-houses, often planted in the most populous parts of the city. The same nuisance, till lately, disgraced the British metropolis, and most of our other great towns. It appears hardly conceivable that London should, till 1852, have tolerated the nuisance of Smithfield market. When this mart was established five centuries ago, it was far beyond the precincts of the city. There, in the midst of a dense population, no fewer than 243,537 head of cattle, and 1,455,249 sheep were sold in 1852, to be afterwards slaughtered in the crowded lanes and ill-ventilated courts of the metropolis; while our more judicious neighbours the French, and our transatlantic brethren in New York and Philadelphia, do not tolerate such sources of disgust and disease in the interior of their great towns.
The abattoirs of Paris, created by Napoleon's decree of 1810, amounted to five in 1818, when they were all completed, and put under excellent regulation. There are three on the north, and two on the south side of Paris; and all are in the outskirts of the town, about two miles from its centre. The largest to the north is in the Rue Rochechouart, between the Barrières Poissonnières and des Martyres; the largest on the south side is just behind the Place Breteuil; the rest are near the banks of the Seine. The cattle-markets are all at the distance of some miles from Paris; and the cattle are driven from them to the abattoirs, round by the external Boulevards, so as to avoid the streets as much as possible.
Each butcher goes to his own abattoir; to which are attached proper places for preserving the meat, provided with an iron rack for the fat, pans for melting the tallow, and stalls for the cattle before they are slaughtered. The stalls are furnished with proper racks and troughs for hay and water, that the animals may suffer as little as possible before they are slaughtered. The abattoirs, and the whole establishment are kept very clean, by an abundant supply of water that carries off the blood and all impurities into sewers. Considering the nature of the place, every thing is commendably clean.
An inspector is appointed to each abattoir, whose business it is to prevent the sale of unwholesome meat, and to enforce order and cleanliness. For these accommodations a butcher pays according to the number of animals he slaughters. The sum now paid for each ox is six francs, four for a cow, two for a calf, and one for a sheep or lamb. The money thus raised from all the Parisian abattoirs in 1842, amounted to about £48,000 sterling.
It is greatly to be wished that some regulations like those of the French abattoirs were introduced into all our large towns, especially London, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, &c., as has lately been done at Edinburgh.
In 1851, the corporation of Edinburgh constructed a greatly improved abattoir in that city, from designs prepared by Mr David Cossin, the city architect. It occupies an area of four acres and a quarter, surrounded by a screen-wall, with entrance gates on each side in the Egyptian style of architecture; behind the screen-wall is a large open area, from which access is given to all the different buildings con-
Abauzit, II. nected with the establishment. The slaughtering booths consist of a double row of buildings, extending in a straight line to about 376 feet in length, with a centre roadway 25 feet wide. There are three separate blocks of building on each side of the roadway, the extreme blocks being each 100 feet in length, and the central one 140 feet, with cross roads 18 feet wide, between these, giving access to the other portions of the grounds. The different ranges of building contain 42 booths in all; each booth is 18 feet wide, 24 feet in length, and 20 feet in height, having a cattle shed attached, 18 feet by 22 feet, and a small enclosed yard behind, with a separate back entrance, by which all the cattle are driven into the sheds, where they are kept previously to being slaughtered. By a series of large ventilators along the roof, and by other contrivances, these buildings are thoroughly ventilated. The large doors of the booths, instead of being hinged in the usual manner, are hung by balance weights, so as to slide up and down similarly to an ordinary sash-window, so that they never interfere with the operations within, or with the thoroughfare of the road.
Improved mechanical contrivances have been introduced, some of them of a novel application, which have secured great facilities in the dressing and preparation of the meat. Each booth is amply provided with water.
In addition to the slaughtering booths, there is large accommodation for triperies, pig-slaughtering houses, tallow-weighing houses, and all the other necessaries of such an establishment.
The whole of the booths have been laid with thick well-dressed pavement, resting on a stratum of concrete twelve inches thick, and the walls to the height of seven feet are formed of solid ashlar, so as to prevent the possibility of rats burrowing in them. With this view also, the whole surface of the roadways have been laid with concrete and causewayed with well-dressed whinstone pavement. The drainage also consists entirely of glazed earthenware tubes, so that the whole area of the buildings is rendered impervious to these destructive vermin.
There are two distinct sets of drains, one for surface water, which is conveyed directly into Lochrin burn; the other for soil from the booths, which is conveyed into large tanks formed for its reception, and sold for agricultural purposes.
Before the erection of these buildings, private slaughter-houses were scattered all over the city, often in the most populous districts, where, through want of drainage and imperfect ventilation, they contaminated the whole neighbourhood. Since the opening of the public abattoir, all private slaughter-houses are prohibited.