The Health Exhibition Literature Volume 19 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1884 Excerpt: ...and the land divided into small plots. Each family owns its own patch of land. The very utmost is extracted from the soil. The people VOL. XIX. Y derive from it the barest subsistence. No land is allowed to lie fallow. Beyond pigs and poultry, no domestic animals serviceable for food are kept. Except in the extreme north, bordering on Mongolia, sheep are unknown. The ox of the north and water buffalo of the south are the horses of China. They perform all the work of ploughing, &c, and going to market. They are too sacred to be killed and eaten. They are offered in sacrifice only by the Emperor of China--the Son of Heaven--to the Supreme Ruler. The pig is the poor man's friend in China as in Ireland. Pork can be obtained almost anywhere throughout the country and at all seasons. The native Chinese are pork-sellers, the Mohammedans are the mutton-sellers. In the north, beef, mutton, and pork in the large cities are partaken of, alternating perhaps with a sirloin of camel, horse, mule or donkey, for these animals, when they sustain a fracture or severe accident, or are incapacitated for further work by reason of age, supply cheap meat to the poorer classes. The mutton is of first-rate quality. The beef is inferior to that of England, but would compare favourably with that of the continent. The extensive prevalence of the Buddhist faith has had an influence inimical to the consumption of butchers' meat. Strict religionists of this sect ought not to eat meat wherein life has existed. Such at least is the theory--in their practice they break every precept of the gospel of Shakyamuni. In China, where a vegetable diet rules so largely, the presence of intestinal worms might naturally be inferred. The most common parasite in the world--a great vegetable feeder--...