DISEASE AMONG SWINE AND OTHER DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 39^ 



Magendie, Gerlacb, and others. A complete interruption was brought about by cover- 

 ing the skin of various animals with an air-tight c:oat of varnish, grease, or tar, and 

 the result, according to Gerlach, was as follows : Accelerated pulsation, extraordinary 

 fullness of the arteries till an increased discharge of urine made its appearance, some- 

 what accelerated breathing, trembling of the whole body, rapid emaciatioTi, great 

 debility, augmented secretion of an albuminous urine, which latter contained also soma 

 of the coloring matter of the gall, and a decrease of the animal temperature. The 

 latter, however, became not very conspicuous before the animal had become emaciated, 

 and was near dying. The animals (horses) so treated died within from three to tea 

 days. Pigs smeared all over with grease or fish-oil, for the purpose of killing lico, 

 died within a week, and showed the same sj^mptoms. 



The office of the skin, at least as far as the processes of elimination and absorption are 

 concerned, bears also a very close relation to the functions of the diverse serous and 

 mucous membranes. It is true if the skin is disqualified to perform its allotted duties, or 

 if its functions are interrupted by some means, the same will be performed partially but; 

 partially only by those organs named the lungs, the kidneys, and the serous and mucous 

 membranes in general. These organs, in such acase, have to make extraordinary efforts if 

 the equilibrium in the organic change of matter, so indispensable to the preservatiou 

 of health, is to be maintained only approximately. To maintain a perfect equilibrium 

 is impossible, for these organs, as I have said, can, in addition to their own duties, only 

 partially perform the functions of the skin ; certain parts of wasted material will not 

 be discharged, but will remain in the organism. The lungs, the kidneys, and the serous 

 and u. neons membranes, if I may use the expression, will be overburdened, and the 

 consequence will be that just those organs thus weakened will be the first ones that 

 become diseased, or have to suffer from over exertion, and from the injurious effects 

 necessarily produced by a retention of wasted matter in the organism, and also by a con- 

 stant loss of organic compounds that cannot be spared. That such loss is taking place has 

 beec proven by the experiments of Professor Gerlach, which shows that the urine in such 

 a case carries oft" albumen. Further, that an interruption of the perspiration must 

 necessarily produce a disturbance in the circulation of the blood, which results in an 

 extraordinary flow of blood to those organs — lungs, kidneys, &c. — burdened with 

 increased activity, and constitutes in that way a cause of congestion and subsequent 

 inflammation, is too evident to need any further explanation. 



The perspiration can be interrupted, or, in other words, the skin can be disqualified 

 TO perform its functions by several means ; for instance, by a disturbance or a partial 

 ■.nterruption of the circulation of the blood in the capillary vessels ; by congestion and 

 inflammation ; by any degeneration or morbid change of its tissue, or of a part of its 

 tissue ; by a closing of its pores in a mechanical way, &c. This granted, it remains 

 to be ascertained if those pigs and hogs which are, or have been, affected with the 

 epizootic influenza of swine (erroneously called hog-cholera) have been subjected to 

 one or more of those just named influences or agencies able to cause an interruptiou 

 or partial cessation of the activity of the skin (perceptible and imperceptible perspira- 

 tion). Taking the facts just as they have presented themselves, that question must 

 be answered in the affirmative. My investigations and my inquiries have convinced 

 me that in all those pigs or hogs which have suffered from or died of that disease, 

 one or more of those causes have been at work, as I shall endeavor to show. 



1. All animals affected with the epizootic influenza — at any rate all those which I 

 iave seen, and I have seen a large number — were very lousy. Lice irritate the skin, 

 ieep it in a semi-inflamed condition, cause swelling, and, finally, a gradual degenera- 

 tion of its external layer — beyond a doubt constitute to some extent a disturbance of 

 lormal perspiration. 



2. All the hogs and pigs which had contracted the disease had been exposed night 

 ind day to all the sudden changes of temperature and weather so frequent in the 

 lYesteru States. Some of the animals had been kept in small, wet, and dirty yards and 

 .nclosures, without a roof to protect them ; they had to suffer during the day from the 

 rays of the sun, and from the heat which naturally accumulates in a small space or lot 

 walled in by a tight fence, and which is constantly increased by the decomposition 

 of wet manure and other organic substances. During the night the same were exposed 

 to the chilling influence of the cold night air, and the frequently very heavy dews, 

 not to mention the effect of severe rains and thunder-storms. Further, after each raiu 

 the animals thus kept had a chance to get the entire body covered with mud and the 

 pores of the skin thoroughly closed ; but an opportunity to get rid of the dirt by taking 

 a bath was never given. Such influences, evidently, are very apt to cause irregulari- 

 ties in the circulation of the blood in the capillary vessels of the skin, and an inter- 

 ruption of the perspiration. Other animals have been kept in comparatively large 

 herds, and have been allowed to run at large in a barn-yard, in a so-called hog-lot, ia 

 the woods, &c. These, too, were exposed more or less to the burning rays of the sun 

 during the day, and at night, in most cases, they found shelter under a corn-crib, under 

 an old stable, or an old barn — at any rate in the closest and dirtiest places, where they 

 acked loom, and where they often crowded on top of each other when retiring ta 



