Horse flesh and its digestibility

Abstract

The use of horse flesh as a human food is a custom as old as that of using the flesh of any other food producing animal. Proof of its use by the cave men has been unearthed in Northern Europe by archaeologists. Judging from the quantity of remains found associated with those of men of that time, wild horses were very abundant in the prehistoric Neolithic, or polished stone period, and the chase of the animal must have been one of man's chief occupations, providing him with one of his most important food supplies. Today, horse flesh in practically every country where used has more secret buyers than open admires. It is cheaper than other meats, which stimulates its use among the poorer classes. It is to be noticed that on a whole the prejudice against it has lessened, not yet disappeared, and as it becomes more popular among the poorer classes, the abhorrence for the same increases among the people of' means. This is justified because the horses slaughtered are mostly old unfattened horses, and because the horse has been esteemed above all other animals, even the dog. The purpose of the digestion trials, to be discussed in this paper, was to determine the digestibility of the protein and fat in horse flesh as compared with that in raw bovine flesh.