DEATH OF PIGS.-BLOOD DISEASE. 
445 
into acute diarrhoea. During this stage the pigs are seen 
to crouch and shiver, and portions of the integument to 
change in colour—the tip of the ears being always the first 
to alter in colour. These appearances are quickly succeeded 
by a similar change in the extremities, abdomen, and along 
the course of the spine. The discoloration appears at first in 
irregular blotches, which enlarge as the malady advances, 
and ripens into a deep purple ; it being at first of a pinkish 
hue. Towards the close of the illness the eyes become 
amaurotic, and the eyelids close involuntarily. The limbs 
are partially paralysed, and the poor creatures stagger about 
until death closes the scene. The diarrhoea continues the 
whole of the time, the evacuations being of a light colour. 
The mischief found in the stomach and bowels of the two 
opened by me clearly manifested that some irritant had pro¬ 
duced considerable visceral disturbance, and which I strongly 
suspect was in the food. This consisted of grains; old wheat, 
ground ; sharps, and a liquid called grout. This grout is the 
settlings from the cooler where the liquor has been placed, 
and consists chiefly of the finer portions of the malt which 
pass through the strainer. The wheat meal was always either 
boiled or scalded before being used, and I doubt not it has 
sometimes been given whilst in a fermentative condition. 
This, I believe, has been their diet for a very long time, conse¬ 
quently it is surprising that such serious effects should now 
happen if the food be the real cause. 
I saw several small pigs, all suckers, suffering on Thursday, 
and from the state they were in I felt assured that their death 
was certain, and very quickly too. I therefore did not apply 
any medical treatment in such hopeless cases. I directed, how¬ 
ever, every portion of the food in the troughs to be removed, 
and for them to be well washed. I also ordered a complete 
change of diet, consisting of bean meal, fine sharps, and clear 
water, and trusted to this change of food to alter the state of 
affairs. I may observe that a gilt which came to be stinted, 
being then perfectly healthy, remained there a few days; and 
after its return home she also died. While at the brewery 
she lived on the same food as the other pigs. 
On receipt of this note I wrote to Mr. Peech for further 
particulars, and in due time received the following reply: 
The food of the pigs affected at the Brewery consisted 
of grains, sharps, grout, and wheat roughly ground. The 
wheat was English, and was a little sprouted, but not to an 
