146 DISEASES OF SWINE 



like red blotches, similar to those that were found in the kidney and 

 skin. The underlying blood-vessels are all overfilled and dilated, 

 and we can trace their course as bright red, wavy Unes. The 

 mucous membrane around the opening of the ureters or tubes that 

 lead from the kidneys to the bladder is usually markedly swollen 

 and pouting in appearance. 



These changes in the kidney and bladder, and especially those 

 in the kidney, are highly diagnostic, and should always be looked 

 for. The small red spots in the kidney are about the most fre- 

 quently found of all the postmortem lesions of cholera; that 

 is, these changes occur with greater frequency than any other single 

 finding. Ulcers on the bowels are not always found ; many cases 

 show no swelling of the ears or discoloration of the skin; but the 

 vast majority of cases will show these hemorrhages in the kidney. 

 The number of spots present will vary, as stated, from a very few, 

 in some cases, to hundreds, but in nearly every postmortem some 

 spots in the kidney can be found if carefully looked for. There 

 is no other disease of swine in which these same dark-red spots in 

 the kidney are common, and so their presence is of the utmost im- 

 portance in making a diagnosis in cases where hogs are beginning 

 to die of some unknown disease. 



During the past winter I have examined many postmortem 

 cases shipped from surrounding country districts in which diagnosis 

 could not be made from the symptoms present. In these cases I 

 often find at the commencement of an outbreak that there are 

 no ulcers in the intestine, very little discoloration of the lymphatic 

 glands, no changes in skin, very little change in spleen or Uver, but 

 almost invariably the examination of the kidney shows the presence 

 of the tell-tale turkey-egg apotting. I have often ventured a 

 diagnosis on the finding of these spots alone, and I have yet to see a 

 case where subsequent developments did not bear out the diagnosis. 

 As a postmortem finding I consider the lesions in the kidney by 

 far and away the most important single finding. 



Many stockmen and veterinarians have come to associate 

 cholera with ulcerations of the bowel. Now this is quite true in 

 chronic cholera, but it must be remembered that in the acute 

 form of cholera intestinal ulceration is often entirely absent. 

 I would also like to say that I have repeatedly made postmortem 



