410 DISEASES OF SWINE 



dependant part of the abscess. Allow the pus to escape on some 

 clean cotton or clean rags or other material which can afterward be 

 burned. After the pus has been squeezed out, take the finger and 

 push it through the opening made with the knife and break up 

 any pockets that the abscess may have and allow all the pus to 

 escape. Now take some tincture of iodin, full strength, on a 

 cotton swab, and thoroughly brush over the inside of the abscess. 

 This done, the animal may be turned loose, and the abscess will 

 quickly heal. The cotton or rags upon which the pus has been 

 received should be destroyed by burning, and there will be no 

 spreading of the germs of infection to other animals in the herd 

 and the development of other abscesses. 



Handling of Herd After Injection. — In a large measure the 

 success that will follow the use of either the single or double 

 method of treatment, and especially the double method of injec- 

 tion, will depend upon the after-care of the herd for the next week 

 or ten days following the use of the serum. 



Animals should, preferably, not be fed the night before or the 

 morning of the day on which they are to be treated, and they 

 should be fed very lightly for several days after the administration 

 of the treatment. The body is at this time the seat of a terrific 

 battle between the forces of disease, in the form of the cholera 

 virus, and the forces of health, in the form of the germ fighters 

 which are present in the serum which has been injected. The 

 cells of the body are being trained to take part in this battle, 

 much as the volunteers in time of war must be trained by the 

 regular army officers. As a result, the tissues are in poor condi- 

 tion to use food, and the smaller the amount of food they receive 

 during the few days immediately following the injection of the 

 serum, the better it will be for the animal and the more successful 

 will be the treatment. 



Perhaps the best method of handling these animals is to place 

 them on a short pasture and allow them to rustle for their food. 

 In this manner they will get around a great deal. The moving 

 about will have a tendency to work out the stiffness and soreness 

 that develop as a result of the wound made by the needle, and, 

 at the same time, the moving about increases the amount of ab- 

 sorption of the serum from the tissues where it was injected. 



