64 DISEASE AMONG SWINE AND OTHER DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



invariably termetl cholera, the symptoms are sometimes very differeut. For instance: 

 Last snmmer my hogs Urst showed a lack of appetite, weakness in the back and a 

 staggering gait, dullness of the eyes, general feverishness and great thirst. Finally 

 they would fall down with a spasm, froth at the mouth, and squeal from the intense 

 pain of cramping. The first stage would last from one to two weeks, but after the 

 spasms set in, which daily increased in fre(]uoncy, but three or four days would elapse 

 before death would ensue. I lost eleven head out of a herd of nineteen with the above 

 symptoms. 



In August and September many farmers lost their fat hogs by what was supposed to 

 be sore throat. They would refuse to eat, apparently because it liurt tbeir jaws to mas- 

 ticate their food. In two or three days they would die, apparently without pain. 



Chickens, too, are subject to a disease generally called cholera. I am of the opinion 

 that the disease has its origin in the liver, as that part is usually found enlarged to three 

 times its natural size. We often find the livers of apparently healtiiy fowls entirely 

 too large. 



I have tried all the popular nostrums and many of those little known for both hogs 

 and chickens, but none do auy good. We generally separate the sick hogs from the well 

 ones and let them die. We kill and bnry the chickens, or feed them to the hogs as soon 

 as we discover any symptoms of the malady. I do not know whether the killing of 

 affected hogs would arrest the disease, as I have not tried that. 



Hogs and chickens are about the only classes of farm-stock affected in any way with 

 disease. So fatal are the maladies which affect these that farmers have about aban- 

 doned both. 



Mr. Jajmes T. Coleman, Collier County, Texas, says : 



At this time we have no fatal diseases among farm-animals worthy of notice. At 

 times we have had lung-fever and staggers among horses, and occasionally a few cases 

 of malignant distemper. Cattle have suffered but little. Some cases of bloody mur- 

 rain now and then occur, but so seldom that the subject is hardly worth noting. We 

 have but few sheep in the county, and as far as I am advised no disease exists among 

 them. Hog and chicken cholera prevails to a less extent than usual. All diseases af- 

 fecting hogs and chickens, from time to time, are designated under the one head of 

 cholera. The general symptoms in chicken cholera are about as follows : The comb 

 and wattles turn pale, the fowl becomes droopy and stupid, the excrements are watery. 

 Death ensues in a few days. Sometimes fowls that are in apparent good health will 

 suddenly drop dead. On opening such the liver appears enlarged to three or four times 

 its natural size, and is quite rotten. Copperas, calomel, red pepper, and tannin are used 

 as remedies, and sometimes with good results. 



Mr. Luke Teeple, Belvidere, Boone County, Elinois, says : 



I have had no disease among my farm-stock except a disease known as cholera 

 among chickens. It was very fatal, as my entire flock died with the excei>tion of a 

 few young chickens. I tried many remedies but all to no purpose. 



A strange disease recently attacked one of my neighbors' pigs, shortly after they were 

 weaned. They would be found sitting in the position of a dog. When disturbed, and 

 often when they were not, they would start off on a run, and heedless of where they 

 were going they would often dash themselves with great force against any obstruction 

 that lay in their way. They would fall down, get up and stagger around awhile and 

 fall down again, and then lay and pant as though they were tired and almost exhausted. 

 At other times they would jump up into the air, and continue to do so until death 

 would relieve them of their suffering. The pigs generally died within from four to 

 twelve hours after the first symptoms were observed. As high as fourteen pigs died 

 of the disease in one day. Asja remedy, saleratus was used at the rate of one jiound to 

 twenty pigs. None died after the administration of the second dose. 



Mr. J. C. Peak, Vera, Fayette County, Illinois, says : 



There has been no disease in this section, of any consequence, among farm-animals, 

 for some time past, except the so-called cholera among hogs. This disease appears at 

 all seasons of the year, in hot and cold, dry and wet weather alike. It attacks all 

 breeds, ages, sizes, and in all conditions, whether fat or lean. It appears in various 

 forms, all of which generally prove fatal. Some seasons it is most prevalent among 

 pigs and shoats. At other times these escape and the older hogs will be attacked, 

 while during other seasons those of every age and condition will be suffering from it 

 at the same time. The disease is generally jireceded by a cough, sometimes low and 

 suppressed and at others harsh and whooping. Sometimes the animal is costive and 

 passes hard black lumps covered with white slime. Some will pass blood and also 

 bleed at the nose. At other times the disease will assume the form of diarrhea, and 



