The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1879-03-13

and whose ears are nearly the length of
his legs, and who walks at the pace of
a snail, and a very slow snail at that
Cor. Boston Journal.
Peculiarities of the Hog Cholera.
AT the late annual session of the New
York State Grange, held at Ithaca, N.
Y, Prof. James Law being called upon
to give brief account of his investiga-
ton into the so-cal)ed hog cholera, re-
sponded in the following very interest
ing remarks, for which we are indebted
to the Husbdndmdn:
The work which have undertaken
for the Agricultural Department of the
Government is to establish facts in re-
gard to this dreadful disease, which
has destroyed such vast numbers of the
swine of this country. 1 have not been
seeking for remedies SO much as to learn
of the character of the malady. The
work of seeking a remedy should be
conducted in the midst of the contagion
and not where only a few specimens
are at hand for experiment, as in my
case. Specimens of the virus of the
disease were sent to me with the dis
eased organs of swine. and during their
examination an intelligent student, who
had some acquaintance with the Rus
sian rinderpest, remarked the striking
similarity in the appearance of the
parts affected with the hog cholera and
rinderpest. If it is like the rinderpest
it is more than folly to seek remedies
for affected animals. They had better
be killed at once and put out of the
way of spreading the disease.
~ l. f,-
preventing the spread of the contagion.
Prevention is better than cure. In
order to know how to prevent the dis
want to understand in what ways the
disease may be contracted, how it can
spread. Ihave made q number of ex-
periments upon this point. In the first
place have permitted healthy swine to
eat the virus, but have not succeeded
in conveying the poison in this way. !
have inoculated healthy swine with
small particles of the virus, and have
in this way been successful in impart-
ing the disease. The virus has been
sent me from New Jersey, North Caro-
lima, and other points on quilts. In
some cases the virus was comparative
ly fresh; in others 1t was several days
old and completely dried, hut there
seemed to be no perceptible difference
in its efficiency for conveying the dis
ease.
1t is certainly important for US to
know that a very minute particle of the
virus, after being transported thous-
ands of miles. and kept until it is dry
and scarcely perceptible, is still capa-
BILE of conveying the contagion. 1t sug-
gests many other ways in which the
poison may be spread. 1t may be car
ried by the wind, on scraps of paper,
or even on thistle downs. It may have
adhered to the boots or clothing of at
tendants, or to the feet or hair of dogs.
The many hundred ways of conveying
the disease will readily suggest them
selves as points in its alarming char
acter.
l have inoculated the virus from
fresh intestines, and, as I have said,
when it was old and dried, but with
unvarying success. In one case
failed to produce disease when the
virus was taken from diseased intestines
sent to me from New Jersey, but they
were partly putrid, which suggests that
putrefaction may destroy the germs of
the disease. Other experiments will be
made upon this point.
have been testing the virulence of
the blood of diseased animals, and
have inoculated it frequently, almost
invariably producing the disease. 1
have been able to find in the tainted
blood living particles, but they are
very small, requiring glass of one
thousand magnlfying power to discover
them.
A test was made to determine the eff
feet of freezing on the virus. After it
had been firmly frozen for more than q
day it seemed to have lost none of its
effectiveness for conveying the disease.
Another experiment was made to de-
termine the contagious character of the
disease. A healthy animal was placed
in a pen between two sick ones. Diff
ferent persons attended the sick and
well animals, and every precaution
was taken not to assist in the convey
ing of the disease from the sick pigs to
the well ones. In inspecting the pens
always visited the ones where the
healthy pigs were first. After twenty
four days the pig was attacked with
the disease. In cases where healthy
pigs were inoculated, thirteen days was
the longest time that intervened be-
tween incubation and the development
OF the disease.
In another experiment 1 put a sound
pig in a pen that had been vacated
thirteen days before by diseased an
imal. The pig contracted the disease
and died within fifteen days of the time
it was put in the infected pen. In one
experiment put q well pig in the pen
with a sick one. II went through q
mild form of the disease and is now re-
covering. / am satisfied that the NAL
ady is not readily impaired by conva-
lescent animals.
have also made experiments to as
certain whether this disease could be
impaired to other animals than the pig.
l inoculated a rabbit with the blood of
a sick pig, producing the disease in the
rabbit, and with the blood of the in
fected rabbit conveyed the disease to
healthy pig. With the same blood
that I used to inoculate q rabbit i'm
parted the disease to a lamb, and from
that 1 am now endeavoring to convey
it to pigs again. The object of these
latter experiments is to find what an
imals can contract the disease and
convey it from place to place. I am
still conducting various experiments
bearing upon this disease, and in due
time a fuller statement of the work
will be given to the public.
Bishop Clark says the best capital
for a young man about " starting in
life," is "a clear head, an honest heart
and an energetic will" When q young
mon ef rfe IN life ho 10 not q dav old