7r>S BOARD OF AGKICULTUKK. 



10 cause it. Klieimiatic syiuptouis are frequeutly uoticed at the begin- 

 ning of an outbreak of hog cholera. 



Syinploms.— Tlie muscles and joints may both be involved, and the 

 symptoms quite marked. There may be fever, loss of appetite and a 

 general lack of condition. The lameness will move about and may in- 

 volve one or more of the legs. Sometimes there is considerable swelling 

 of the hock, the knee or the joints of the feet. If the muscles of the 

 back are involved, it is arched and very tender on manipulation. Stiff- 

 ness in the gait is present, especially if the quarters are involved. The 

 pain in the muscles and swollen, inflamed joints is intense and the hog 

 will sometimes squeal when the parts are handled or the joints flexed. 

 While the hog is asleep there may be sudden contractions, indicating 

 pain due to the relaxation of the muscles. On account of the pain and 

 difficulty in walking the hog will lie around the pen most of the time 

 and refuse to go far for his food. 



Treatment.— Preventive treatment is very important. It means the 

 providing of dry, comfortable quarters and the avoidance of exposure. 

 The straw stack should be avoided as a shelter for hogs. Sick hogs 

 should be given good quarters and kept as quiet as possible. A cathartic 

 of castor oil should be given. Salicylate of soda can be given in twenty 

 or forty grain doses three times daily. Recovery occurs in from two to 

 three weeks. The disease may become chronic. 



Rachitis, or Rickets.— This condition is due to a lack of development 

 of the bones. The mineral matter is not deposited in the normal pro- 

 portion. It is seen in gi-owing pigs after we?ining. It is rare before 

 weaning. It most often occurs in those that receive an almost exclu- 

 sively corn diet Avith no milk and no pasture. It is seen more often in 

 winter than in summer because the conditions enforce the penning and 

 feeding of the pigs at that season. It is also seen in some litters which 

 might indicate that it was hereditary. 



Symptoms.— The disease is characterized by weakness of the bones, 

 bending of the legs, breaking down upon the feet; there may be either 

 a dropping or arching of the back, a spraddling gait, distorted face, 

 bulging forehead, sniffles and paralysis. Such pigs are nearly always 

 fat at the beginning. The disease does not tend to destroy the animal 

 quickly, as it is a slow progressing disease. 



Treatment. — The treatment as far as it can be of service, is to feed 

 less fattening food and substitute milk, oats, rye, and a little oil meal. 

 An abundance of salt, wood ashes and air slaked lime should be avail- 

 able. 



Sniffles, Snuffles, Bullnose.— It is evident from the descriptions given 

 that all writers are not agreed upon the nature of this affection. There 

 are two varieties of the affection— the catarrhal and the rachitic. 



In the catarrhal we have a more or less wheezing, respiration occiu'- 

 ing at irregular intervals. There is a profuse, watery discharge from 



