, DISEASE AMONG SWINE AND OTHER DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 63 



different diseases classed under the name of cholera. In tbo sprinji; season the animals 

 are affected with something like inlluonza. They cough and exude an offensive matter 

 from the nose, refuse to eat, and pine away and die in from one to three weeks. An- 

 other and more fatal form is, I think, a typhoid or bilious fever. The symptoms are vom- 

 iting and sometimes purging. Those aldicted in this way die within a shorter time than 

 the others, say within from one to six or eight days. The fatter the hog the more rapid 

 and fatal is the disease. The percentage of recoveries in this form is very small. Rem- 

 edies are attended with little success, as the animal is a hard subject to get medicine 

 down. There seems to be no intelligent mode of treatment, and the trouble and expense 

 often equals the value of the hog after recovery. I think measures of prevention will be 

 found both more practical and more profitable. I would therefoi-e suggest the isolation 

 of the sick animals and the burying of the dead carcasses. 



Mr. John C. Andras, Maiicliester, Scott County, Illinois, says : 



In this vicinity the losses have been very great from diseases among hogs, that of 

 cholera being the most prevalent. The loss of pigs recently, from one to two months old, 

 within a circuit of two miles, has been over 400 head. In a herd of 150 head only two 

 were left; in another of 90 head but 8 were left. The first symptom* were extreme 

 chilliness, even when the thermometer ranged from dW^ to 95° Fahrenheit. This was 

 shown by their crowding in beds at mid-day, and a general discoloration of the skin, 

 that of black hogs a-ssuming a gray or purple hue, and the white animals a pinkish 

 tinge. This was followed by high fever and a general breaking down of all the animal 

 tissues, and fatal results within from three to five days. With older hogs the prelim- 

 inary symptoms are the same, but the fatality is not so great. Recovery is generally 

 followed by loss of hair and sometimes the sloughing off' of large pieces of flesh. The 

 animal is almost worthless for feeding purposes for at least one year. 



As to remedies there have been none found that can be relied on with any certainty. 

 Different compounds of antimony, arfenic, poke root, and iron (sulphate of iron), are 

 used in some cases with apparent benefit. Dissection shows a general infiammatory 

 condition, centering sometimes in the stomach, but more generally on the lungs. The 

 general breaking up of all the animal tissues is shown by rapid decomposition as soon as 

 death ensues. The usual bird scavengers seldom feast on the carcass of a hog that has 

 died of cholera. 



There are several other diseases which hogs are subject to, among which is pneumo- 

 nia. The symptoms are high fever and general debility, and ultimately extreme ema- 

 ciation, with small percentage of death. Long continued and the best of feeding will 

 rarely overcome the extreme leanness of the animal. Dissection generally shows atro- 

 phy of part of the lungs, and general adhesions. I think a thorough investigation of 

 this subject by competent persons would result in great good to the entire country. 



Mr. P. T. Graves, Burkville, Lowndes Comity, Alabama, says: 



All kinds of farm animals, with the exception of hogs, have been healthy during the 

 past few years. Hogs have been affected more or less fatally each year for some years 

 past with a disease known as cholera. The disease manifests various symptoms, the 

 most fatal of which is purging. The excrement of the hogs affected in this way is 

 of a greenish color and starchy consistency. No settled conclusion has been reached 

 as to the cause of this malady, nor has a remedy been found. Two points, however, 

 seem to have been conclusively determined, viz : First, that the disease commences in 

 damp, warm, weather, during a favorable season for vegetable growth and fungoid 

 formations. The hogs feed greedily on growing vegetation, with ns mostly on cotton, 

 and if allowed all they will eat the result is invariably disease. It is thought that 

 atmospheric conditions have considerable influence in producing disease. Second, we 

 find that hogs taken from a range where the disease has been developed, but showing 

 no signs of infection themselves, if confined on dry ground and fed dry food they will 

 escape the disease. But a clearly marked case of hog cholera is contagious, and the 

 disease should be so treated. Those that have been so affected should never be used 

 as breeders, as the taint will be imparted to the offspring. There are many remedies, 

 so called, but caution and preventive measures will be found the most profitable. 



All kinds of fowls have suffered to a great extent with cholera this year. Entire 

 flocks of turkeys, geese, ducks, and the common barn-yard fowl have died from its 

 effects. The disease is more fatal with the Asiatic breeds than with the more common 

 kinds. No treatment has been tried with sufficient care to warrant a favorable opinion 

 of its efiicacy. Lovers of fowls and eggs will be grateful for a sure remedy for this 

 scourge. 



Mr. John F. Lafferty, Martinsville, Clark County, Illinois, says: 



I keep but few hogs, as the losses are so great that the business is not profitable. It 

 frequently occurs that an entire herd is lost. While the disease is generally, almost 



