Sequestration. [Benefice, p. 347.] Slave, Slavery, Slave Trade. Small Debts. Courts of.] Smuggling. Soccage. [Insolvency; Requests, Social Contract, or Original Contract. Societies, Associations. Soldier. Solicitor. [Attorney.] Sovereignty. Speaker. [Parliament.] Spy. Squadron. Stabbing. [Maim.] Stage Carriage; Hackney Coach; Cabri- Stamps, Stamp Acts. Standing Orders. [Bill in Parliament. ] Staple. Star-Chamber. State. [Sovereignty.] States-General. Statistics. Statute. Statute (Scotland). Sequestration. [Bankrupt, Scotland, p. Statute (Ireland). POLITICAL DICTIONARY. ABATTOIR. ABANDONMENT is a term used in marine insurance. Before a person who has insured a ship or goods can demand from an insurer or underwriter the stipulated compensation for a total loss of such ship or goods, he must abandon or relinquish to the insurer all his interest in any part of the property which may be saved. ABATTOIR, the name given by the French to the public slaughter-houses which were established in Paris by a decree of Napoleon in 1810, and finished in 1818. There are three on the north, and two on the south side of Paris, not far from the barriers, and about two miles from the centre of the city. The cattle markets for the supply of Paris are several miles distant, and the cattle are driven from them round the exterior boulevards to the abattoirs, and consequently do not enter the city. The consumption of Paris in 1840 was 92,402 oxen, 437,359 sheep, 90,190 pigs, and 20,684 calves: the number of butchers, all of whom are required to take out a licence, does not much exceed five hundred. At one of the abattoirs each butcher has his slaughter-house, a place for keeping the meat, an iron rack for tallow, pans for melting it, and a place with convenience for giving cattle hay and water, and where they may be kept before being slaughtered. A fixed sum is charged for this accommodation, and in 1843 the fee was 6 francs for each ox, 4 fr. for a cow, 2 fr. for a calf, and 10 c. for a sheep. The income of the establishment, arising from these fees, the sale of manure, &c., was above 48,000l. in 1842. It is stated in Dulaure's Paris,' that the fee paid for each head of cattle ABATTOIR. includes all the expenses of slaughtering; but a witness who was examined before a Parliamentary Committee on Smithfield Market, and who had visited Paris for the purpose of inspecting the abattoirs, says that the butchers employ their own men. Dulaure's account is probably correct. The butchers can have their cattle slaughtered at any hour of the night, but they must take away the meat at night. There is an inspector appointed at each abattoir, and means are taken to prevent unwholesome meat getting into consumption. There are slaughter-houses under public regulations in most of the continental cities; and those of New York and Philadelphia and some other of the cities of the American Union are, it is said, placed on a similar footing. The medical profession in France attach great importance to slaughter-houses being strictly regulated, and removed from the midst of the population. The great cattle-market in Smithfield for the supply of London existed above five centuries ago, but the spot was at that time a piece of waste ground beyond the city, instead of being, as at present, surrounded by a dense population. In 1842 there were sold in Smithfield Market 175,347 cattle, and 1,468,960 sheep, and at least this number are annually slaughtered within the limits of the metropolis. There are slaughtermen who kill for other butchers frequently above a hundred head of cattle, and perhaps five or six hundred sheep every week; many butchers kill for themselves to a considerable extent; and there are few who have not accommodation for slaughtering and dressing a few sheep, either in the cellar underneath their shop, or in the rear of B |