ir ae re We at As’ gaia Hf vA 2D ty) oe 4 i ay" +e 
4 « 
de nian th Rae so hua 
( ; Pat ay | itt ove het = Fe Wank We pe os) 
. BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. MES Oe ae 
’ ' r s 5 os y 4 . > he 
hog cholera, as indicated by the lesions and the ; 
bacteriological examination: 
Rabbit inoculated. After infection of soil. Died. 
Js October Ss as 264, RE 23 days October 17. 
Wetoberj iS. oof: : é ays October 24, 
November 4 : : November 12. 
December 12 December 23. 
Pint P Rn Pleat fret aioe in is aioe be siatayes citecids & eR AR cele wm TES cola aja area + sratereselatciee’s Shin ford dia tam Remains well. we. 
ERIS eEN PIR cio ning D ia oe Oa ARS te Sins Bl sin isla oleae a tisiand «acta Ale isla loins) ays ac Do. 
_ The above table shows that infected soil kept moist and ata range rie 
of temperature from 60° to 95° F. retained its virulence for rabbits st 
from two to three months. Roll cultures made at this time showed 
that other bacteria and fungi had found their way into the pot 
of soil, but no hog cholera bacteria could be detected. This and 
other reasons drawn from observations of this germ lead to the conclu- 
sion that the life becomes extinguished with its pathogenic effect on 
rabbits. This phase of the question is not to be overlooked, for even 
if agerm should not longer prove pathogenic, it may regain its orig- 
inal virulence under certain unknown circumstances. The infect- 
ious quality of this soil when a month old was demonstrated on pigs 
by feeding two directly with a tablespoonful each. One showed no 
disease; the other, unable to rise on the eighteenth day, was killed. 
The mucosa of the lower ileum and of the entire large intestine was 
completely necrosed. The intestinal walls were so thick that they. 
failed to collapse when slit open, and were very brittle. Bacterio- 
- logica? examination and rabbit inoculation confirmed the diagnosis of 
hog cholera. 
_A pot of sterilized soil which had been saturated throughout with 
hog cholera germs was placed, December 16, 1887, in the grounds of 
“the Department of Agriculture to test its vitality when exposed to 
natural conditions. January 5 a rabbit was inoculated from the soil ~ 
on the surface of the pot. It died January 16 of hog cholera, Dur- 
ing the period from December 16 to January 5 the germs had been 
subjected to alternate freezing and thawing several times without 
being destroyed. On February 1, ene and a half months after in- 
fection, the virulence of the same soil was tested on a second rabbit. 
A severe cold had prevailed since the first inoculation and a thaw =a 
was now upon us. The rabbit died of hog cholera on the eighteenth 
day, indicating that the number of bacteria inoculated must have 
been very small, and that most of, them had already perished. On 
February 23 another rabbit was inoculated from the surface soil of 
the same pot. This also died of hog cholera on the eleventh day. 
Subsequent inoculations remained without effect. Both experiments 
show that the bacteria perished between the second and third month. 
These and additional experiments now in progress will be reported 
more in detail in the report of the bureau. 
ORDINARY LIME AS A DISINFECTANT IN HOG CHOLERA AND SWINE 
PLAGUE. 
Experiments made by Liberius* in Germany have demonstrated 
that the bacteria of typhoid fever and cholera in man are quite readily 
destroyed with ordinary slaked or unslaked (powdered) lime. Ex- 
* Zeitschrift fir Hygiene, II (1887), p. 15. 
