TREATMENT OF HOG CHOLERA. 
15 
PRACTICABILITY OF THE SERUM THERAPY IN THE 
TREATMENT OF HOG CHOLERA. 
By Dr. W. B. Niles, Ames, Ia. 
Read before the Iowa State Veterinary Medical Association. 
Our Secretary has assigned me a subject which I cannot dis¬ 
cuss as satisfactorily as I would like, for the reason that the use 
of serum in the treatment of hog cholera has not been tried suf¬ 
ficiently to determine whether it is practical or not. Knowing, 
however, the great interest veterinarians and stock owners have 
in this subject, I consented to freely give 3 t ou the benefit of 
what information I could gather relative to the practicability of 
what is now generally called the serum treatment for cholera 
in swine. 
As the preparation of the serum and the way in which it is 
supposed to produce immunity and cure disease'has been thor¬ 
oughly described in two papers read before this body by Dr. 
Peters, of Nebraska, I will not touch upon these points, but at 
once proceed to the practical side of the question. 
Any line of treatment for disease, whether directed toward 
prevention or cure, to be practical, must possess two qualities, 
first, it must succeed ; and, secondly, the treatment must be of 
such a nature that it can generally be put into practice. 
If a given treatment will not cure a considerable per cent, 
of diseased animals or prevent the contraction of the disease, it 
is not practical, no matter how easily applied or inexpensive. 
On the other hand, if a given line of treatment cures every case 
and will render all or a large per cent, immune, it is not practi¬ 
cal unless so inexpensive and of such a nature that it can come 
into general use. Measured in this way, I say that the practi¬ 
cability of the serum treatment for hog cholera depends, first, 
upon whether this line of treatment will render hogs immune 
against the disease and cure the sick ; and, second, whether 
the serum can be obtained and used at a figure which swine raisers 
can afford to pay. Taking these questions up in order, first, will 
the use of serum cure the sick and render well hogs immune ? 
