760 
W. H. DALRYMPLE. 
much against successful high-class horse breeding in the 
South. 
We have annually a large mortality among our hogs, and 
unfortunately the term hog-cholera with us is so comprehensive 
. that it covers all the diseases the porcine tribe is heir to. 
Although the hog industry in our State is assuming consider¬ 
able proportions, and the herds of pure-bred animals are be¬ 
coming quite numerous, the majority of the hogs are range ani¬ 
mals—principally “ razor-back ”—and their food consists of what 
they can get to eat in the woods. Large numbers of them die 
annually, mostly from gastro-intestinal troubles. There is per¬ 
haps less attention paid to the hog with us, from a hygienic 
point of view, than to any other of the domestic animals, and as 
the result of inbreeding and general unsanitary conditions and 
surroundings the animal death-rate is large. 
During the months of May and June last the northern par¬ 
ishes of Louisiana experienced one of the most extensive and 
virulent, and, from a professional standpoint, interesting epi¬ 
zootics of anthrax that has occurred for many years. But before 
proceeding with the description I might state that sporadic out¬ 
breaks in the Mississippi bottoms are not at all uncommon. 
Last summer I was called to a large sugar plantation where 
three mules had died so suddenly that the owner had suspected 
foul-play, but on seeing the cadavers I was suspicious of anthrax. 
An autopsy on one of them revealed pathognomonic post-mor¬ 
tem symptoms of the disease, which a subsequent microscopical 
examination verified, by the identification of the bacillus an- 
thracis in the blood. The mules were being fed crushed corn 
and rice bran—the former a product of the plantation ; the lat¬ 
ter an imported article. I suspected the bran as a probable 
vehicle for the spores, as the rice might have been raised on a 
place that had been previously infected. I advised the discon¬ 
tinuance of the bran, for the reason just stated, and no more 
deaths occurred ; but a fortnight afterward the bran was again 
inadvertently resorted to, with three or four more deaths result¬ 
ing. After this the bran was entirely discarded, and no more 
