296 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



carload of swine billed from the West to some slaughtering' 

 establishment near Boston. The animals were released from 

 the cars by the accident ; and the State agent of the rail- 

 road, to prevent them from straying away, caused them to be 

 driven to, and secured in, the yards of Mr. E. C. Hawkes, a 

 farmer, whose residence was less than a half-mile from the 

 depot. There were one hundred and seventy of the animals, 

 about twenty of which indicated sickness, or slight injuries 

 from the accident, supposably the latter. After remaining 

 in the yards of Mr. Hawkes two days, they were all for- 

 warded to their destination, though several w^ere so feeble 

 that it was necessary to carry them to the cars. Mr. Hawkes 

 was a large owner and breeder of choice swine, and, at the 

 time of the accident, had in his pens adjoining the yards 

 where the Western hogs were confined one hundred and 

 eighteen of these animals of different ages. About ten days 

 after the hogs from the railroad were removed it was noticed 

 that quite a number of them refused their food, appeared 

 sick, and manifested behavior quite like that of the supposed 

 injured animals. The disease developed rapidly : numbers 

 of them soon died, and it spread to all the pens and enclo- 

 sures. Various remedies were tried without effect ; and, at 

 the time the Commissioners were notified, more than half the 

 stock had been lost. 



Not knowing the disease with which his swine were 

 troubled, or its cause, and hoping to save some of them, Mr. 

 Hawkes had removed a number to an outlying farm two 

 miles away, and turned them into an open field ; but they 

 carried the disease with them, and made another centre of 

 contagion, causing serious alarm throughout the vicinity, to 

 allay which, and remove the difficulty, appeared to require 

 severe repressive measures. As chap. 24 of the Acts of 1878 

 had extended the powers 'and duties of the Commissioners 

 for the suppression of contagion among cattle to "the pre- 

 vention of contagious and infectious diseases among domestic 

 animals," and as this was surely such, and circumstances 

 made it peculiarly dangerous, it was determined to apply the 

 provisions of the law applicable to herds of cattle infested 

 with contagious pleuro-pneumonia. Accordingly, on the 13th 

 of October, the entire stock alive at that date (fifteen in num- 

 ber) were slaughtered. Of these, six on inspection were ad- 



