126 DISEASE AMONG SWINE AND OTHER DOMESTIC ANIMALS. 



past eating thoy are drenched. During one yearniy son utterly failed with all these 

 articles. Nothing whatever seemed to do his animals any good. They were large, 

 line, fat hogs, in apparent good health, yet they died daily. After a great many died 

 ho was advised to use mutton tallow. When this was used freely it seemed to check 

 the disease, but when he ceased to use it, because of the expense, the disease returned 

 with great fury, and swept ott' from 00 to 75 per cent, of those left. He is now using 

 J. M. Thompson's remedy, and so far with success. I know of one case where a hog, 

 seemingly almost dead, was cured by drenching with melted lard and then giving it 

 Mr. Thompson's arsenic mixture. Tlie experience of all seem to bo about this — pre- 

 ventives are a success if used regularly and judiciously, but if tiio hogs are once 

 attacked there is nothing that will prove of much benefit. I think the disease is both 

 epidemic and contagidus. I have been thioug') two sieges of it. In the first instance 

 it was evidently epidemic, passing from east to west, and taking all in its course. lu 

 the second instance the disease was imparted to my herd by an infected shoat that 

 found its way into my iuclosure. 



I forgot to mention in the proper place that I found some benefit result from burn- 

 ing and charring the carcasses of the dead hogs and feeding the refuse to the living 

 ones. 



This subject is one of vast importance to the farmers of this country, and I trust 

 you may receive an appi'opriatiou suthcient to make a thorough and speedy investiga- 

 tion, in order that the cause may be discovered and a sure remedy be found. 



Mr. n. TI. Mitchell, Lemon, Wyoming County, Peuusylvania, says : 



There is no disease prevailing in this locality at present, nor has there been the past 

 season. lu an experience of over forty years as a farmer I have invariably found that 

 an ounce of preventive is worth a pound of cure — that is, by judicious feeding and 

 care I have found that all classes of farm-stock are less liable to be attacked by any 

 prevailing disease than those illy cared for and in a measure left to shift for them- 

 selves. Protection from the blasts and storms of winter, plenty and frequent changes 

 of feed, and an abundance of salt has always been my motto, and I have never lost but 

 one cow and two or three calves by any disease in all these forty-odd years. The ben- 

 efits of good care and feeding were very apparent during the prevalence of the epi- 

 zootic among horses a few years since. By protection from cold currents of air, espe- 

 cially when the horse was wet with sweat, plenty of salt, potatoes, and laxative food 

 generally, many animals escaped altogether, while those that did have it escaped 

 withoutany serious results. I have lately heard of a very simi)le and sure remedy for 

 this trouble. It is, to take five or six onions and put them in the feed box of the 

 horse and let the aninaal help himself. After eating two or three he will begin to 

 snutt' and blow, when his nose will commence to run, and soon thereafter he will be a 

 well horse again. 



After having lost some valuable hens with the gapes, I took a tablespoonf ul of hog's 

 fat, melted it, and poured it down the throat of one so near gone that it could not 

 stand up. In a day or two, without other treatment, it had entirely recovered. Others 

 may have known of this remedy. I did not. 



Mr. P. E. White, Denmark, Lewis Coiiuty, ^^ew York, says : 



A new disease made its appearance the past summer among horses, which is calle<l 

 spinal meningitis, and bailies all medical skill. In the last case which came under m.y 

 observation the horse, to all appearance, was well in the morning but died before 

 noon. The animal, when attacked, begins to droop very suddenly, refuses to eat, 

 shows signs of pain, drops to the ground, and is never again able to rise. They usually 

 lie flat on one side, and never seem to move a muscle even in the throes of death. 



Colic, in its various forms, causes the death of more of our valuable horses than any 

 other disease, and an ettective remedy would be of great value to the owners of these 

 animals. Various remedies have been prescribed for this disease, but they often fail. 

 Colic terminates one way or the other in a very few hours, and therefore requires 

 speedy and careful treatment. 



We do not know of any prevailing disease in the herds of our county except that 

 of abortion among cows." This direful scourge and fearful drawback to the dairying 

 interests of this locality has been prevailing lieie for severjil years, and still continues 

 •with unabated progress. Thousands of dollars are yearly lost to the farmers by the 

 ravages of this disease alone (we term it a disease, for we know of no other name to 

 give it). We have known of large dairies where nearly three-fourths of the cows 

 would abort, and yet no key has been found to unlock the mystery. It is well known 

 that large sums of money and much time have been expended to solve this mystery 

 without arriving at the true cause or source of the trouble. We would therefore rec- 

 ommend that abortion in cows be one of the diseases nuirkcd iov a special and thorough 

 investigation by your department. The welfare of the farmers and stock-growers of 

 the country demands this. 



