206 DISEASES OF SWINE 



This can have only one result. The water suppUed from such 

 wells is a menace to both man and animals, and large numbers of 

 live stock and not infrequently a large number of human lives are 

 sacrificed from this source. 



Last summer I had the opportunity of observing an epidemic of 

 cholera on a farm in western lUinois which was most hkely started 

 from impure water obtained from a well of this character. The 

 farmer in question had a herd of about 100 hogs which he had been 

 keeping on a pasture nearly a mile away from the well which proved 

 the source of the disease. This well was located in a hollow, about 

 a quarter of a mile below a neighbor's hog lot, and received the 

 drainage from this lot as well as a large amount of surface water. 



During the early summer the neighbor's hogs developed cholera 

 and died in large numbers. As the first-mentioned drove of hogs 

 was nearly a mile distant, there was no spread of the outbreak to 

 them. Finally, toward the latter part of the summer, the water- 

 supply in the pasture where these hogs were kept began to fail, 

 and the owner started hauling water from the well in the hollow. 

 About ten days after he started to bring water from this well his 

 hogs began to show signs of sickness, and in the course of about 

 two weeks several had already died. The source of the epidemic 

 was never suspected by the owner, but I am convinced that the 

 true cause of the outbreak was this water, which was brought from 

 the well which had been contaminated by seepage from the infected 

 hog lots located on the hillside higher up. 



Several years ago I remember, while hving on a farm in western 

 lUinois, that a neighboring farmer had a well of this kind which 

 had been sunk in a low bottom land and which provided an ample 

 supply of water at a depth of about 14 feet. This well was loosely 

 covered at the top, and was used merely for the supply of water to 

 a herd of cattle which were pastured in the field surrounding the 

 well. 



Along in the early spring a new herd of cattle was turned into 

 this pasture to graze, and in a couple of weeks after they had been 

 placed in the pasture several of them began to show evidences of 

 indigestion and diarrhea. One or two of the animals became very 

 sick, and finally one of them died. On postmortem examination 

 the carcass revealed a diffuse inflammation of the intestinal canal 



