lyo HOG CHOLERA 



setting forth the symptoms and morbid anatom\- of this 

 disease. He beheved it to be contagious although the specific 

 organism had not been found. The U. S. Commissioner of 

 Agriculture appointed, in 1878, nine men for a period of two 

 months each to investigate the disease in various localities. 

 In their reports the symptoms and morbid anatomy formerl}' 

 described were confirmed and two additional features set 

 forth. Law showed that it was transmissible by inoculation to 

 other animals (rabbits, rats and sheep) and Dr. Detmers 

 described a microorganism which he called Bacilhis siiis and 

 which he believed to be the specific cause of the trouble. 

 Later, Detmers described his organism as a micrococcus. 

 The transmission of the malady to rats and sheep was not 

 confirmed by subsequent tests. The work of investigation was 

 continued under the direction of the Commissioner of Agri- 

 culture and finally, in 1885, the specific organism was 

 discovered by Salmon and Smith, who described its essential 

 characters and properties. It was called Bacterium of swine 

 plague. Since that time the disease has been under investiga- 

 tion and the Bureau of Animal Industry has during the last 

 few 3'ears been actively engaged in the effort to produce a 

 specific, therapeutic serum. 



In 1 886, Dr. Theobald Smith discovered another bacterial 

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

 man Sdrcccincseuche, both in its morbid anatomy' and in the 

 morphology and properties of its specific organism (see § 47). 

 In naming this disease the Bureau of Animal Industry called 

 it, on account of its similarity to the German Schwemeseuche, 

 swine plague and its organism the bacillus of swine plague, 

 and changed the name of the disease described in 1885 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 criti- 

 cism and it has been credited with the responsibility of creat- 

 ing confusion. It has, perhaps, led hasty readers to a misin- 

 terpretation of these diseases and their relation to those des- 



*In 188S the genus Bacterium was changed to Bacillus and this 

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



