DISEASES OF SWINE 491 



confined eighteen hours in crates such as have been described, and 

 at noon on another day when it was necessary to catch and hold 

 them in pens 12 feet long by 4 feet wide. In tne crates the average 

 temperature was found to be 102.3 F., and in the pens 103.1 F., a 

 difference of 0.8 degree, and this notwithstanding that the pens were 

 very small and the hogs could be caught and held without exercising 

 or exciting them very much. (B. A. I. B. 88.) 



Among the 58 hogs tested, 26 were found on postmortem ex- 

 amination to be affected with tuberculosis. From the temperature 

 records of the affected animals we obtain the following facts : After 

 an injection with tuberculin the number of hours that pass before 

 a reaction begins varies considerably, and the same is true about 

 the time when the reaction reaches its maximum, and the number 

 of hours during which the reaction persists. The average time 

 when the temperature first rises above the maximum temperature 

 before injection, and when the reaction reaches its maximum are, 

 respectively, the seventh and the fourteenth hours after injection; 

 and the average number of hours during which the reaction per- 

 sists and the temperature remains higher than the highest temper- 

 ature recorded before injection is twenty-three. If we divide the 

 time of the reaction into two periods, one from its beginning to 

 its maximum and the other from its maximum to its termination, 

 we find that on an average the latter period is about twice as long 

 as the former. The application of the tuberculin test to hogs is 

 practicable, and the results obtained are as reliable as with cattle, 

 provided the hogs are kept very quiet beginning some time before 

 and throughout the entire test. The need for quiet can not be too 

 much emphasized. (B. A. I. B. 88.) 



Preventive Measures. The first step to be taken in preventing 

 the further spread of tuberculosis is to remove all affected animals, 

 whether hogs or cattle, from the premises, as these will only serve 

 as sources of infection so long as they are allowed to mingle with 

 healthy animals. In dealing with affected herds of cattle it has 

 been found best in most cases to apply the tuberculin test to the 

 entire herd as a means of selecting the tuberculous animals, 

 but with a drove of hogs in which tuberculosis has appeared there 

 can be no doubt that the best and surest method of procedure will 

 in nearly every case be found in the slaughter of the entire drove 

 as soon as they can be put in a marketable condition. They should 

 be slaughtered at an abattoir under Federal inspection, so that 

 proper disposal may be made of affected carcasses. 



This means of removing from the farm all of the centers of 

 infection which exist among its swine is made possible and prac- 

 ticable by the ease with which a new drove may be built up from 

 fresh foundation stock. With cattle the offspring seldom number 

 more than one to a cow in a year, and the young cow does not pro- 

 duce until 2 years of age. With swine reproduction may be ex- 

 pected when the young sow is 1 year old, and instead of producing 

 but one at a birth from six to ten may reasonably be expected. If 

 properly handled, the first litter of young may be weaned in time 



