88 REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 



out their substance. Spleen enlarged and very dark, but firm. The small ventral 

 lobes resting laterally upon the heart, which are most dependent in the natural 

 position of the animal, airless and adherent to costal pleura*, which is deeply in- 

 flamed where adherent. The smaller air tubes of the hepatized masses are filled 

 with a yellowish purulent exudate. Bronchial glands enlarged and congested. All 

 the lymphatic glands of abdomen tumefied and deeply congested. Large intestine 

 empty. Mucosa deeply inflamed from caecum to anus, being most severe lowest 

 down. In colon and rectum it is covered with a continuous layer of exudate 

 stained a dirty yellow and probably diphtheritic. Slight superficial necrosis of the 

 membrane. Numerous ascarides in stomach, which is nearly empty. 



This was without doubt a case of genuine swine plague. The exudative deposit 

 on the mucosa of the large intestine has never been observed by us in uncompli- 

 cated hog cholera. Unfortunately no bacteriological examination was made. 



A very interesting case was presented by No. 402, which had been in the pen in 

 which No. 406 died. On February 17 a very liquid diarrhea set in, which weak- 

 ened the animal very much. It was found dead February 19. Large patches of 

 the skin of throat, abdomen, and pubic region deeply reddened. Superficial in- 

 guinals very large, cortex hemorrhagic. Sheath of penis infiltrated with blood. 

 Patches of diffuse blood extravasation in subcutis, in abdominal and lower inter- 

 costal muscles. Lungs cedematous, a few slender fibers attaching right lung to 

 chest wall. Cephalic lobes emphysematous ; small region of ventral lobes hepa- 

 tized, grayish red. Extravasation of blood beneath pleura on dorsal aspect of 

 lungs, near root. Cortex of bronchial and cesophageal glands infiltrated with 

 blood ; bronchi filled with whitish foam. Epicardium dotted with ; inctiform ex- 

 travasations on auricles, and near base on ventricles. Small clot in right heart, 

 left empty. Liver bloodless. Kidneys pale, hemorrhage into mere' rane inclosing 

 papillae. A few petecchiae on cortex. Serosa of small intestines covered with 

 oblong purplish patches, found to correspond with Peyer's patches, which are very 

 dark throughout. In many there is hemorrhage on the surface. Beneath serosa 

 of large intestine numerous petecchiae and hemorrhages. All glands of abdomen 

 with cortex hemorrhagic. Mucosa of colon very dark, and covered with isolated 

 yellowish-white masses from one-eighth to one-fourth inch in diameter. These 

 are fairly consistent, and come away entire, leaving a slightly depressed sur- 

 face. In the rectum this exudate has coalesced into a continuous sheet. Fundus 

 of stomach covered with a layer of clotted blood ; when removed the exposed 

 mucosa is found dotted with closely-set hemorrhagic points, evidently the source 

 of the hemorrhage. 



This case is of considerable interest. In the first place the extensive hemorrhages 

 throughout the body have left the organs almost bloodless. The lungs were with- 

 out doubt beginning to consolidate, and the very important question arose : Are 

 the swine plague bacteria at times the cause of such severe hemorrhagic lesions as 

 are presented there ? 



Examination on cover-glasses of the parenchyma of the various organs proved 

 negative as regards micro-organisms. A large number of cultures were made with 

 the following results : Two tubes of beef infusion inoculated with shreds of pleural 

 exudate remained sterile. Two tubes of beef infusion peptone received each a bit 

 of spleen tissue. In both large bacilli developed, either single or in long chains, 

 some spore-bearing, the spore causing a considerable local increase in the width of 

 the rods, giving them a spindle-shaped or club-shaped outline, according as the 

 spores were situated nearer the center or one extremity of the rods. A few were 

 observed to execute spontaneous movements. 



Two tubes of beef infusion, inoculated each with a bit of liver, contained the same 

 bacilli ; also a microbe resembling the swine plague bacteria very closely, and a 

 streptococcus. A liquid culture of blood from the heart contained the bacillus only. 

 A gelatine tube culture made bv^ dropping into it a few drops of heart's blood de- 

 veloped numerous translucent waxy colonies, made up of several kinds of bacteria. 

 The gelatine after a few days began to liquefy. Two tube cultures in gelatine, con- 

 taining each a bit of spleen, began to liquefy after a few days with disengagement of 

 bubbles of gas and a peculiar, unpleasant odor. The same large bacilli present in 

 both tubes. 



These results indicate, absence of a perceptible growth of bacteria in the internal 

 organs. Owing to the extensive hemorrhages upon the mucous surfaces, the vari- 

 ous microbes found in the cultures gained access to the blood. The bacillus found 

 in almost every culture is presumably some form causing butyric fermentation. 

 This is shown by its spore formation, feeble growth in cultures exposed to the air, 

 and the odor of the cultures. The animal probably died early in the night, and the 

 warm weather then prevailing gave the bacilli ample opportunity to multiply. 

 Their general distribution seems to favor the assumption that the bacilli or their 



