248 HOG CHOLERA 



disease among swine. It was found to be similar to the 

 German ScJnveirieseiiche \^o\.\i in the morbid anatomy and in 

 the morphology and properties of its specific organism. In 

 naming this disease the Bureau of Animal Industry called it, 

 on account of its similarity to the German ScJnveineseuche, 

 swine plague and its organism the bacillus of swine plague, 

 and changed the name of the disease described in 1S85 to hog 

 cholera and its organism to the bacterium^ of hog cholera. 

 The changing of the name of the first disease described from 

 swine plague to hog cholera has been the cause of some 

 criticism and it has been credited with the responsibility of 

 creating confusion. It has, perhaps, led hasty readers to a mis- 

 interpretation of these diseases and their relation to those de- 

 scribed in other lands under different names. While the names 

 assigned may not have been especially happy ones, the trans- 

 fer of the term swine plague from the intestinal to the lung 

 disease must be considered as a fortunate occurrence and one 

 which tended to simplify and not to confuse. 



Billings, of the Nebraska State Experiment Station, 

 opposed this nomenclature. He not only refused to accept 

 the change and to continue to write about hog cholera under 

 the title of swine plague, but he denied the existence of the 

 swine plague, as described in the reports of the Bureau of 

 Animal Industry for 1SS6 and subsequently, as an indepen- 

 dent disease. The wide dissemination of his publications on 

 this subject has unquestionably been responsible for much of 

 the haziness concerning the distinguishing features of these 

 maladies. 



In 1893, Drs. Welch and Clements read a paper before the 

 International Veterinary Congress in which they gave a very 

 clear history of the nomenclature of these diseases and in 

 which they adhered to the one of the Bureau of Animal In- 

 dustry. 



§ i8i. Geographical distribution. Hog cholera is 



*In 1888 the genus Bacterium was changed to Bacillus and this 

 organism is spoken of since that time as the hog-cholera bacillus. 



