VEl!Ri;C()US ENDOCAKDITIS OF THK PKJ. 713 



however, be distinctly understood that in the case of very young pigs 

 which have died shortly after infection, there is often an entire 

 absence of the lesions described, the only changes present bein" 

 inflammation of the stomach or some part of the intestines. 



Further, there are instances where older pigs have been slaughtered 

 m the early stage of the disease in which no definite lesions have been 

 found, and in such cases inquiry into the condition of the rest of the 

 herd becomes necessary. 



One most important feature in connection with the morbid anatomy 

 of swme fever is the disposition which many animals have to recover 

 from the disease ; evidence of the reparatory process having often been 

 detected in the intestines after they had been carefully washed. 



^ Dr. Klein also maintained that many pigs took the disease in the 

 mild form, and recovered without presenting any of the marked 

 symptoms of swine fever. 



It was found that, whether infected in the ordinary way or by 

 direct inoculation, in some pigs killed only a few days after being in- 

 fected the ulcers were occasionally seen gradually detaching from the 

 surface of the intestines, and cicatrisation had already commenced. 



VEEEUCOUS END0CA.EDITIS OF THE PIG. 



In the report of the Board of Agriculture for 1894 reference was 

 made to the^ numerous instances in which the heart of the pig had 

 been found affected with verrucous endocarditis. 



This form of disease of the heart was known to veterinarians in 

 Great Britain as far back as the year 1847. . For reasons given in 

 that report it became obvious that this diseased condition of the 

 valves of the heart was not produced by swine fever. The question 

 arose whether in addition to swine fever another disease existed, 

 known on the Continent under the name of swine erysipelas. The 

 importance of this question will be ai^preciated when it is explained 

 that on the Continent swine erysipelas is classed among the con- 

 tagious diseases of the pig. 



The clinical evidence of the disease called swine erysipelas on the 

 Continent appears to be more or less discoloration of the skin, similar 

 to that which is frequently observed in swine fever, together with the 

 occasional presence within the warty growths upon the valves of the 

 heart of a bacillus which is regarded by Continental authorities as 

 the cause of the disease. 



Early in the inquiry it was ascertained that a bacillus identical 

 with that found in swine erysipelas was also present in the diseased 

 portion of the valves of the heart of the pigs in this country. 



