EEPOET OF THE BUEEAU OF AOTVIAL INDUSTRY. 161 



be nothing short of a national calamity, the destructive effects of which will long 

 be felt, as will easily be understood from the following table of the number of hogs 

 and young pigs to be found in the Kingdom under census of 1881, viz : 



Great responsibility will thus rest not only upon the veterinary and police author- 

 ities, but also upon the agriculturists, in devoting all possible energy in their mutual 

 exertions to prevent the further spread of this dreaded evil. 



The disease is supposed to have been introduced into Sweden 

 by boars imported from England for breeding purposes. Thence 

 it was carried to Denmark,* in which country it first appeared on 

 the dumping grounds near Copenhagen, on which numbers of swill- 

 fed pigs were kept. 



Chiefly young pigs up to the age of four months were attacked, the period of in- 

 cubation lasting from five to twenty days. The infected animals refused food 

 and were at first constipated. Later on diarrhea set in, characterized by the dis- 

 charge of yellow putrid masses, frequently mixed with blood. The temperature 

 often rose to 105 and 107.5 F. The animals were indifferent to surroundings. 

 Tail and head drooping. Conjunctiva reddened, frequently glued together with 

 dried-up mucus. Respiration in many cases quickened and labored. Occasionally 

 a muco-purulent discharge from the nose. Not infrequently reddening in patches 

 was observed on the ears, snout, abdomen, about the anus and inner sides of thighs. 

 The animals became very weak ; posterior part of body swayed in moving about. 

 They concealed themselves in the bedding, and finally were unable to rise. Death 

 followed insensibility and convulsions.' 



A characteristic sign of this plague were diphtheritic changes on the apex, sides, 

 and under surface of the tongue, as well as on the mucous membrane of the cheeks, 

 hard and soft palate, and the tonsils. On these parts grayish-white or yellowish 

 opaque patches appeared,which were sharply denned, and were converted later into 

 ulcers by removal of the slough. 



In one herd the teats of several sows were affected with dark-gray, sloughing 

 sores, with inflammation of the udders. These were infected from the diphtheritic 

 sores in the mouths of the sucking pigs. In Denmark the disease was first recog- 

 nized in this way. The acute disease lasted from five to eight days, but sometimes 

 death occurred sooner than this. 



The disease appeared in Denmark in September. In December the plague took 

 on a more chronic character and became less inf ectious. The infected animals fre- 

 quently showed no indications of disease, only they were smaller and thinner than 

 others of the same age. There was occasionally coughing and diarrhea. Some re- 

 covered ; others perished by a gradual wasting away. The post mortem appearances 

 were very characteristic. The large intestine was attacked in every animal, and in 

 acute cases the small intestine and stomach likewise were reddened and swollen, and 

 the surface in part covered with a thin layer of a grayish- white or grayish-yellow 

 soft mass, which consisted of fibrin. This same layer was very thick in the large 

 intestine, easily lifted away in toto in some places; in others the attachment was 

 firmer (diphtheritic). In other acute cases there was simply reddening and swell- 

 ing of the mucosa of stomach and small intestine, and diphtheritic changes in the 

 large intestine, the fibrinous exudate being absent. Moreover, the follicles, Peyer's 

 patches, and mesenteric glands were always tumefied. 



The seat of the diphtheritic process was the whole large intestine, more especially 

 the C83cuni. The follicles and Peyer's patches were nearly always affected. The 

 ulcers appeared when the slough had come away. In the place of the follicles but- 

 ton-like sloughs were formed, which gradually invaded the whole thickness of the 

 wall, spread laterally, and ran together into larger patches. The wall, thus converted 

 into a cheesy mass, was frequently one-fifth to two-fifths of an inch thick, on the 



* Schiitz : Die Sehweinepest in Ddnemark, Arch. f. wiss. u. prakt. Thierheilkunde. 

 XIV, 1888, p. 376. 



12057 A I 11 



