In killing animals for food all painful processes are avoided. Under the
old system the cruelty with which the animal was treated, and its
suffering from the violence of the death-struggle greatly affected the
quality of the meat, lessened its nutritive powers, and rendered it less
digestible, and very often exciting and injurious. Now, when an animal
is to be killed, it is placed in a large lighted stable, over which is a
loft, communicating with it by means of a grating. In this a man is
stationed, who thrusts through the grating a long stick, baited with a
bunch of fresh grass, in the middle of which is contained a small
globule endued with the property of depriving the animal of all
consciousness and sense of feeling. As soon as the beast has eaten the
grass, and consequently swallowed the pill, he staggers and falls; and,
before he has time to recover, the butcher despatches him by cutting his
throat and letting out the blood, whereupon he dies a painless death,
without a struggle. Only one animal is despatched at a time in the same
stable, so that one does not see another killed. There is reason for
this precaution.
A lamb takes the ball of grass from the hand, for it is thus our
shepherds sometimes feed them. Poultry are killed by very small
quantities of the preparation being mixed with their grain; the fowls
sometimes take up two or three grains not impregnated with the material,
but as soon as the smallest particle is swallowed they stagger and fall.
It is interesting to see this, the effect is so instantaneous. The
ingredient used does not in any way injure the meat and is indeed
considered beneficial, even to the human system, when administered in
small quantities, since the torpor it causes at the moment is succeeded
by increased vitality and strength.