50 DISEASE AMONG SWINE AND OTHER DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



Mr. E. M. MuMFOKD, rriuceton, Gibson Coimty, ludiana, says : 



The farmers of Gibson County have lost thousands of dollars this year by what is 

 termed hog-cholera. The tirst symptom of the difsease is a cough, then the animal be- 

 comes stnpid, refuses to eat, and generally dies within from three to six days from the 

 appearance of the first symptoms. Corn soaked in lime and fed to hogs is said to be 

 a preventive. Copperas, sulphur, and ashes are also said to be of some value as pre- 

 ventives. No cure has as yet been found. 



If anything can be done by way of investigation by your department that will afford 

 relief, it will be thankfully received by the farmers of this section of the country. 



Mr. C. W. Johnston, Chapel Hill, Orange County, Xortli Carolina, 

 says : 



Distemjjer has prevailed to some extent among horses and mules in this locality. 

 The duration of the disease .averages about one month. Not one in one hundred of 

 the animals attacked die of it. An efhcient remedy is found in the inhalation of smoke 

 from burned tar and feathers. Asafetida used on the bit and in the trough will be 

 found a good preventive. 



Murrain has prevailed to a small extent among cattle, with fatal results. There 

 seems to be no remedy for this disease. 



Among hogs the cholera has prevailed to an alarming extent. Sulphur, turpentine, 

 cojiperas, &c., have been used as remedies, but none of them have proved efficacious. 



Cholera has also been very destructive among fowls, and, as with hogs, all remedies 

 seem to be ineffectual. 



Mr. H. A. Cutting, Lunenburg, Essex County, Vermont, says : 



I would say that the use of powdered lobelia, or ipecac, in all cases of epizootic or 

 colds in the heads or throats of horses have, in tliis section, been beneficial. The man- 

 ner of use has been to take a large spoon and put into it a drachm of ipecac or two 

 drachms of lobelia, and, after opening the horse's mouth and diawiug out his tongue, 

 scatter the powder as low down on the roots of the tongue as possible. In this way it 

 is mostly swallowed, and yet some is worked about the mouth and throat, causing an 

 increased secretion and almost immediate benefit. 



Hogs have died to some extent this summer — perhaps one-sixth of all. The disease 

 seemed induced by constipation, and after the cause was discovered all were saved by 

 giving them common salt. Those not sick were given salted food, and all went well. 



Mr. George C. Eisenmayer, Mascoutali, Saint Clair County, Illinois, 



says : 



We have no general diseases among farm stock in this county, except cholera among 

 hogs, for which there is no known remedy. There are also occasional cases of cholera 

 among all kinds of domestic fowls, for which no remedy has been found. 



]\Ir. B. Whitaker, Warsaw, Hancock County, Illinois, says : 



It is with much gratification that I learn that the diseases affecting farm animals 

 is about to receive attention. The losses in this county from hog-cholera alone are esti- 

 mated in cash value at $:iO,000 per annum. In a recent report of the State Board of 

 Agriculture the disease was said to exist in eighty-eight counties of the State, and 

 from authentic and well-digested reports the annual loss was estimated at $7,880,060. 

 The terrible fatality of this disease and the great losses sustained thereby is the 

 strongest argument that could be offered in favor of a speedy investigation into its 

 causes. Remedies without number have been prescribed, but without any appreciable 

 effect. The disease, in its various forms, is veiled in so much mystery that a correct 

 diagnosis is rendered very difficult. The symptoms generally, as I have observed them, 

 are about as follows : First, the hog becomes stupid and refuses to eat, sleeps a great 

 deal, and dies within a few days. Second, it may be constipated or exactly the reverse. 

 Where diarrhea prevails the hog may die soon or it may linger along for several days, 

 all the time losing and shrinking in flesh. Sometimes animals affected in this way re- 

 cover, but they remain poor, gaunt, and apparently shriveled up. Young hogs are 

 generally affected with a hacking cough and a noticeable jerking pulsation in the 

 flanks at every inspiration of breath. Pigs and shoats will sometimes linger for weeks 

 with these symptoms. Still another symptom is observed in cases where the hog seeks 

 seclusion, with every appearance of a severe cold or chill. It will crouch into the 

 smallest possible compass, apparently for the purpose of securing warmth. Some hogs 

 are attacked with vomiting and purging, which symptoms continue until death en- 

 sues. The disease is more fatal with fatted hogs than with any other cl.ass. Many of 

 these drop dead without a struggle, and without any visible symptoms of disease. 



