No. 4.] CATTLE COMMISSIONERS. 553 



ulceration of the Peyer's patches of the intestine as a char- 

 acteristic lesion. 



" Swine plague," so called, is a septic pneumonia of the 

 pig, and is sometimes produced by feeding upon decomposed 

 swill. Cases have occurred where "swine plague" has 

 been communicated from swine to horses, sheep, lambs and 

 calves. 



Boiling the swill, where city swill is fed, will kill the 

 germs of " hog cholera" and of " swine plague," and after it 

 cools, skimming the grease off the top has also been advised. 



Sometimes, after cooking the swill, the pigs will show 

 evidences of ' ' swine plague ; " this is probably due to the 

 presence of ptomanes (chemical products of a poisonous 

 character) that have been produced by the growth and de- 

 velopment of the septic germs before the swill is cooked. 



" Hog cholera" and " swine plague " may both be present 

 in the same pig at the same time, or either may appear in a 

 herd of swine without being associated with the other. 



Another disease that has just been brought into notice by 

 the issuing of a recent bulletin upon the subject by the 

 Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, written 

 by Dr. Veranus A. Moore, is the poisoning of swine by wash- 

 ing powders and strong alkaline soaps sometimes found in 

 the swill of hotels and public institutions. 



The name " hog cholera" is often used indiscriminately by 

 the public in designating these maladies, and a number of 

 cases are reported every year, usually during the winter and 

 spring months. 



About the only action necessary seems to be to quarantine 

 the premises while the outbreak lasts, forbidding the sale of 

 swine while any sick ones are left, and advising against the 

 introduction of new ones into the infected herd ; separating the 

 sick and well ; disinfecting the premises when the outbreak 

 is over; and cooking the swill if it comes from city supplies 

 or public institutions. When the outbreak is over, the quar- 

 antine is raised. 



Tuberculosis is not at all uncommon among swine ; it is 

 usually discovered at the time of slaughter, and is seen 

 chiefly among pigs kept under cow barns where there are 

 tuberculous cows, or, if the cows are diseased, in pens where 



