BEPOBT OF THE BUBEATT OP ANIMAL ENDUSTBY. 



159 



erful disinfectant, was tried upon rabbits. A solution was prepared 

 containing .001 gram mercuric iodide and .002 gram potassic iodide 

 in a cubic centimeter. Of this .5 cubic centimeter was injected be- 

 neath the skin of the back of four rabbits (ISTos. 1, 2, 3, and 4) for 

 eight successive days. On the third day Nos. 1, 2, and 3, and a fresh 

 rabbit (check), No. 5, received hypodermically into the inner surf ace 

 of the thigh i cubic centimeter of liquid containing .000001 cubic 

 centimeter of a beef -infusion culture of hog cholera bacteria one day 

 old. All the inoculated rabbits died, the dates being given in the 

 appended table. Rabbit No. 4, which had received the iodide only, 

 to observe any poisonous effect, remained well. The lesions were 

 those of hog cholera and the specific bacteria were present in the spleen. 

 The total amount of the iodide given was .004 gram, about one- 

 sixteenth grain. 



At the same time healthy pigs were fed with the same substance 

 in minute doses to observe any toxic effect that might appear. 

 These experiments were likewise interrupted in their application by 

 the disappearance of the disease at the beginning of the year. While 

 we therefore recommend, in general, the use of a purgative, such as 

 calomel, in the beginning of the disease, and careful feeding subse- 

 quently, we have as yet no actual experimental evidence that such 

 treatment will be of any avail, owing to the frequent interruptions 

 of the work. 



HOG CHOLERA IN OTHER COUNTRIES. 



SWEDEN AND DENMABK. 



In the fall of 1 887 a disease closely resembling hog cholera ap- 

 peared in Sweden among swine, which rapidly spread from place to 

 place, showing itself very fatal, and causing alarm and consterna- 

 tion among the agricultural population. The disease invaded the 

 territory of Denmark, where stringent measures were adopted to 

 prevent its further spread. The following communication, received 

 by the Department of State from our consul at Copenhagen and 

 kindly forwarded, may serve to illustrate the measures employed by 

 the authorities to check the epizootic. After giving briefly the symp- 

 toms of the disease and the lesions caused thereby, Mr. H. B. Ryder 

 continues as follows: 



The very prompt and stringent measures taken by the Danish Government, it is 

 to be hoped, will be the means of localizing as well as of effectually stamping out 

 this malignant pest. For example, circulars have been sent from the home de- 

 partment to all the sheriffs throughout the Kingdom, instructing them to make 

 publicly known that all persons who, within the last two months, may have pur- 

 chased hogs or young pigs from Copenhagen or in its vicinity should immediately 



