TRICHINE

smal! parasites or worms, barely visible to the naked eve, which are found sometimes in pork, and which, if they enter the human system, breed rapidly, bore through the walls of the intestines, and bury themselves in the muscles of the sufferer. Because of the po ibility of their presence, neither pork nor pork products of any kind should ever be eaten unle thoroughly cooked. Heavily salted meats are generally free from them, but the heat engendered in careful and complete cooking is the only sure preventive. Furthermore, reliance cannot be placed in the boiling or roasting of large joints, for the heat attained in the center may be insufficient. It is therefore best to give a second cooking —as broiling—to portions cut from a large joint. Small pieces, even if cut raw, are rendered entirely innocuous by thorough broiling over a strong fire, because heat of high temperature thus permeates every portion. Small joints thoroughly boiled or baked are also safe. When pork from an animal in an otherwise normally healthy condition has been thoroughly cooked, the presence of the destroyed trichine does not in any way impair its flavor, digestibility, or food value, for they exist in the flesh only in a dormant, sac-enclosed condition—they have not enjoyed active existence in it, nor do they breed until they find themselves again in the digestive organs of some mammal. There is no poisonous quality in their bodies —their harmfulne is found only in the boring activity which follows their awakening. Trichine are found in other omnivorous animals but this has little interest for the ordinary individual as the pig is the only member of the cla which is an article of popular diet. Though they have been found in calves and sheep, it is an exceedingly rare occurrence.