DISEASES or SWINE AND OTHER ANIMALS. 69 



tlioroiiglily moistened, softened, and partially dissolved in the fire cases 

 in which a solntion was nsed. In the sixth case the thin slice was only 

 kei)t in the fumes of the burning' snlpliur for five minutes. In all cases 

 a portion of the disinfectant was necessarily introduced into the wound 

 along with the virulent agent. In four out of the six pigs the disease 

 developed and ran its course as shown in the table, the disinfectants 

 thus pro\ing' ineft^cctual being* carbolic acid, sulphate of iron, sulphurous 

 acid, and chloride of lime. 



The -pig inoculated with virus, treated with bisulphite of soda, died on 

 the seventh day, evidently from lung-worms, and without any distinct 

 symptoms of the plague. There remains the possibility that had it lived 

 longer these would have appeared. 



One agent only out of the six can be set down as having proved au 

 efficient disinfectant as used, namely, the chloride of zinc. The virus, 

 treated with this agent, produced no appreciable illness ; and though the 

 pig's temperature was raised on the fourth, sixth, and ninth days, this 

 was probably accidental, as it showed no tendency to become permanent. 

 Finally, two x)igs were subjected to a hyj^odermic injection of a few drops ' 

 of the blood of a diseased subject, mixed in a dram of a solution of 

 permanganate of potassa for the one, and of bromide of ammonium for 

 the other. Both inoculations took effect, and one of tlie pigs thus in- 

 fected furnished the blood which conveyed disease to the sheep, rabbit, 

 and dog, as recorded above. 



NATURE OP THE HOa FEVER. 



Though long confounded with typhoid fever, anthrax {malifinant xniS' 

 tnle), erysipelas, measles, scarlatina, &c., this malady is distinct from aU 

 of them. In my report for 1875 I pointed out my reasons for declining 

 to recognize in it either of the above maladies, and claiming it to be "a 

 disease siii generis ^^; and this position has been fuUy indorsed by the 

 recent researches of Klein, Usler, and others, as well as b}^ my own ex- 

 periments. This affection may be defined as a specific, contagious fever 

 of swine, characterized by a high but variable temperatiu'e, by conges- 

 tion, exudation, ecchymosis, and ulceration of the intestinal mucous mem- 

 brane, especially that of the caecum and colon, and, to a less extent, of 

 the stomach f by congestions and exudations in the lungs in the form of 

 lobular pneumonia ; by general heat and redness of the skin, the latter 

 efiaceable by pressure ; by darker red and black spots unaffected by 

 jiressure; by a jiap^ilar eruption and abundant dark sebaceous exuda- 

 tion ; by ecchymosis on the nmcous and serous membranes generally; by 

 swelling and ecchymosis of the lymi^hatic glands; by irregularity of the 

 bowels, costiveness alternating with a fetid diarrhea ; and perhai)S most 

 uuportant of all, by the iireseuce of colonies of minute globular micro- 

 cocci in the various seats of morbid change. 



Au experiment of Dr. IClein, in 1877, in which he cultivated the micro- 

 coccus for se^'en successive generations in the aqueous humor taken from 

 the eyes of rabbits, using only a si)ec]i; on the point of a needle to inocu- 

 late every new portion of the humor, and finally inoculated the product 

 of the fifth and seventh generations successfully on two pigs, seems to 

 establisli that these microphytes are the ultimate cause of the diseasi'. 

 ISly own exi)eriiuent, in whicli the disease was conveyed by blood that 

 had been kc])t for eleven days in an incubator at the, tem])erature of the 

 body, goes to support the sanu^ conclusion; but I hope still to subject 

 this (piestion to a more crucial ti\st. If we accejjt this hypothesis of the 

 pathogenic action of the bacteria, it would almost of necessity follow 



