TREATMENT OF CHOLERA 213 



and heart in this case were practically unchanged, except for a 

 somewhat well-marked flabbiness of the heart muscle. 



The case was unquestionably one of cholera, and the source of 

 infection was undoul^tedly from the bacon rinds, ham trimmings, 

 and other pork products brought out from the city. These un- 

 doubtedly in part were originally derived from animals that had 

 suffered from cholera. 



Another case, which gives an example of this same source of 

 infection, was seen in central Illinois. The previous fall the farmer 

 who owned this herd of hogs had had an outbreak of cholera on his 

 premises. He had selected 3 animals which apparently were 

 in good health, and had slaughtered them at once for his own 

 meat. The balance of the herd had been shipped to market. 

 The pens were unoccupied by hogs during the entire winter. In 

 the spring he purchased 20 shoats at a pubUc sale and brought 

 them home. They were placed in the pens previously occupied 

 by the cholera herd. They remained there for several weeks, 

 apparently doing fine. No evidence of cholera or any other disease 

 was to be seen. About this time he found one of the hams which 

 had been cured during the winter was apparently a little sour. 

 This ham was thrown out into the hog lot and eaten by the hogs. 

 About fifteen days later three or four of the shoats came up missing 

 at feeding time. Search found them burrowed in the htter of the 

 sleeping quarters. They were aroused and driven up to the feeding 

 troughs. They showed little incHnation to eat, however, and soon 

 returned to the pens, where they again burrowed under the litter. 

 The next morning one of these animals was dead. Postmortem 

 showed typical signs of acute cholera. Especially marked were 

 the dark red spots in the kidneys, blood-colored spots in the lymph- 

 glands, and also in the lungs. The farmer was of the opinion that 

 the animals contracted cholera from the previously infected pens. 

 While this would have been possible, the evidence is much more con- 

 clusive that the source of infection was in the infected ham which 

 had been fed about two weeks previously. The animals had al- 

 ready remained in the pens several weeks — much longer than the 

 usual incubation period for cholera — while the period elapsing be- 

 tween the feeding of the ham and the development of symptoms was 

 just about the average incubation period of cholera. 



