REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ANIMAL INDUSTRY. 285 



ered more this year (1887) than ever before; some farmers have lost every hog they 

 had. Before the cholera made its appearance in this county hogs were very healthy. 

 It was a rare thing for hogs to die after they had been put up to fatten. 



PICKETT. Hog cholera first made its appearance in this county (then Overton 

 and Fentress Counties) as far back as 1851 or 1858. The mode of its introduction is 

 unknown. The disease operated differently then. The hog frequently Avould die 

 in a few hours, purging and vomiting during the time of illness. 



ROANE. Hogs have died all over the county by the wholesale the past summer and 

 fall, and are still dying in some sections. Fully 90 per cent, have died with this dis- 

 ease of cholera. It is a different form of cholera from any we have ever had before. 

 Some die in an hour or two; hardly any live longer than forty-eight hours after first 

 symptoms are discovered. They begin with a cough, and when they have an action 

 it is very watery and black. Everything fails to effect a cure. 



SCOTT. No hog cholera prevailed in this county the past year. It made its first 

 appearance here about thirty years ago. Do not" know the means or mode of its 

 introduction. It has reappeared about every third or fourth year since. No contag- 

 ious disease prevailed among any other class of stock during the year. 



SEVIER. I have failed to find out when hog cholera first made its appearance in 

 this county. But it was some time prior to the late unpleasantness, probably between 

 1850 and 1859. There have been heavy losses among hogs the past year. 



SEQUATCEIE. Hog cholera was first noticed in this county about 1850. The cause 

 of its introduction is probably not known, but my experience is, the principal cause 

 is lice, They become so numerous as to penetrate the ears, and perhaps burrow their 

 way into the head. They take it, or rather manifest it in different ways. Some get 

 lame in one foot, and in a few days all their feet seem affected as if they were sore, 

 stepping the hind feet well under the body nearly up to the fore feet. They are dis- 

 posed to lie a great deal of their time, and when forced to move they seem frightened, 

 running off a few steps and then resuming their former positions. The most com- 

 mon symptom is a coarse, whoopy cough, followed by loss of appetite and an aver- 

 sion to food; and if they recover at all it usually leaves them with a rough, crackly 

 skin, becoming perfectly nude, and when the hair returns they are invariably gray. 

 Coal-oil poured on them and sulphur administered inwardly usually kills the lice 

 and gives relief Linseed-oil given when the cough first appears is a good remedy. 

 I have noticed that plenty of buttermilk often affords relief. Horses are remarkabJy 

 healthy and disease is very rare. Cattle generally healthy, but a few deaths from 

 murrain; quite a number die annually from what is known here as milk-sickness, 

 a peculiar poison supposed to be the effects of some mineral, either accumulating in 

 the water they drink, or from evaporation settling on the vegetation they eat." It 

 affects no other animal known but cattle. It proves fatal to persons eating the milk 

 of the cow unless active remedies are used. Dogs eating the carcass of such as die 

 almost invariably die. 



SHELBY. I copy from one of my valued correspondents, a physician and a farmer, 

 as follows: " Hog cholera made its appearance in this county in 1847, and has occur- 

 red at intervals ever since. So far all remedies have failed. No specific has been 

 found. We have had a plague among swine for several years. I have investigated 

 it professionally and have concluded it to be different from so-called hog cholera. 

 I call it " gnat poison." It begins shortly after the Buffalo gnats make their appear- 

 ance, and is a skin disease. It is extremely fatal. Hog cholera was introduced by 

 hogs brought from the North, Shortly after importation they died as hundreds of 

 others died the same year." As to cholera being introduced by Northern hogs 

 brought here is, I think, doubtful. 



SMITH. Hog cholera first appeared in this county about the year 1860. I never 

 saw a case until 1860. It did not become general, however, till 1862 during th 

 late war. There is a prevailing opinion that its advent, in point of time, corre- 

 sponds with the introduction of the imported breeds, Berkshires, Irish Grazers, etc., 

 to cross upon what was then our native stock. Indeed many believe that, as a rule, 

 it is now confined to mongrels, pure blood of any stock being free from it. While 

 not concurring in this opinion, I think observation authorizes the belief that cross- 

 breeds are more liable to it than pure-bloods. The general condition of stock has 

 been good all the year, and, except hogs, they have been healthy. Nearly all young 

 horses and mules have the catarrhal affection known as distemper, but this rarely 

 ever proves fatal. The most of those that die die of colic, the result of overwork 

 or imprudent feeding, or of old age. 



STEUART. The first cases of hog cholera that I can get an account of occurred in 

 1862. It has prevailed first in one locality andthen in another since that time. 

 This year there has been less of the disease than usual, and stock hogs are in good 

 condition. In many cases the animals would be taken in the morning and die before 

 night. No vomiting or purging. The hair would appear ruffled, the nose would 



