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THE -SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



have investigated this malady with much 

 interest, and the facts elicited, we think, 

 are curious and interesting. 



I have received information that this 

 disease has prevailed in Ohio, Switzer- 

 land, Ripley and Dearborn counties, Indi- 

 ana, also along the valley of the Miami, in 

 Montgomery, Butler, and Hamilton coun- 

 ties, Ohio; also in Clinton county, and 

 very severely at New Richmond. It has 

 also prevailed in Kenton, Boorfe and Gal- 

 latin counties, Kentucky, and laro-e num- 

 bers have died in the vicinity at Warsaw. 

 We may form some idea of the number 

 of hogs that have died from the losses at 

 the following places : — Mr. Daniel Armel 

 informs me that he has lost at Ingraham's 

 distillery, from the 1st of August up to 

 the 24th of October, 1,285. Mr. J. C. 

 Jenkins writes from Petersburgh, Ky., that 

 he has lost since the 18th of October, 2,- 

 576, at the distillery in that town ; Mr. 

 Pate has lost 500 at Rising Sun; Mr. 

 Slumer, 500 at Covington ; Messrs. T. & 

 J. W. Gaff, of Aurora, have lost since 

 the 20th of June, 4,546 ; Mr. J. Bryns 

 writes that at New Richmond, since the 

 disease made its appearance, 10,435 have 

 died, and Mr. Backman, of Aurora, has 

 furnished me information of over 6,000 

 that have died at other places. 



When, in addition to these numbers, we 

 take into consideration the large numbers 

 that have died along the valle}^ of the 

 Miami ; also in the neighborhood of War- 

 saw and East Bend, Ky., and on farms 

 over the country — some of the farmers 

 having lost nearly their whole stock — I 

 think we may safely estimate the number 

 that have died within one hundred miles ' 

 of Cincinnati, since the disease made its ; 

 appearance, at not less than 60,000. The 

 value of these would be $300,000, avera- 

 ging live dollars each, and when fatted, 

 after deducting ten per cent, for the usual 

 loss, would probably have been woith over 

 $650,000. 



The disease made its appearance at Au- 

 rora about the 19th of June, and still con- 

 tinues to prevail in Dearborn county. The 

 first symptoms that can generally be dis- 

 covered, the hog appears weak, his head 

 droops, and frequently in a few hours alter 

 these symptoms, diarrhoea commences, 

 which has caused the disease to receive 

 the name of " Hog Cholera." 



When the hogs were fed upon slop the 



discharges were generally yellow, but if 

 fed upon corn and running at large, they 

 were dark colored. There was frequently 

 vomiting and sometimes bloody discharges 

 w r ith apparent tenesmus resembling dysen- 

 tery ; in other cases there was cough and 

 difficult breathing, showing the lungs to be 

 principally affected. Sometimes there was 

 inflammation of the throat, and the hog 

 when caught could make no noise. In 

 these cases, the tongue was generally very 

 much swollen and inflamed ; sometimes 

 one or both legs were inflamed and swol- 

 len, and the inflammation extended along 

 the sides, or belly, of a deep red color, al- 

 most precisely similar to a phlegmonous 

 erysipelas. Some had large sores on their 

 legs resembling carbuncles, others had 

 gangrenous sores on their sides or flanks 

 from three to six inches in diameter ; 

 some appeared delirious, others blind. 

 These symptoms were combined in almost 

 every possible variety : death took place 

 in from one to five days. Out of a pen 

 containing one hundred hogs fed upon 

 slop, thirty-three general^ died, and it re- 

 quired about eight weeks for the remain- 

 der to recover from the disease. 



On opening the bodies, I found the ap- 

 pearances as various as the symptoms were 

 different; I examined forty-seven hogs 

 that had died of this disease, and scarcely 

 found two that presented precisely the 

 same appearance. In every instance there 

 was evidence of a diffusive form of in- 

 flammation that was not confined to any 

 particular tissue. The skin was generally 

 of a purple appearance, and in cutting 

 through those parts which were most in- 

 flamed, the cellular tissue was infiltrated 

 with serum, and the skin was swollen. In 

 nearly every case, the mucuous membrane 

 of the stomach was more or less inflamed, 

 presenting a bright red appearance, tumi- 

 fied, and generally softened. Sometimes 

 there was an effusion of blood in the 

 stomach, and this organ was frequently 

 found distended with food. In all cases 

 wheie there had been diarrhoea or dysen- 

 tery, the mucuous membrane of the large 

 or small bowels presented evidence of in- 

 flammation. Sometimes the bladder was 

 inflamed, and occasionally contained an 

 effusion of blood. The peritoneum, in 

 eighteen cases, presented marks of in- 

 flammation — there w 7 as effusion of bloody 

 serum — and adhesions between the intes- 



