El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-07-09

In fact, they seemed to be as ll2Dle 10
catch the maIady and die of 1T as any
other hogs would be. Here, again, was
contradiction not easy to explain
On the other hand, experiments showed
that. if blood were taken from a
cholera-sick hog, and injected under the
skin of a well hog, the latter contracted
! the disease. But in this case the disease
artificially produced was contagious; and
the pig, if it recovered. was proof there
after against hog cholera.
This fact shed some light upon the
problem. For it seemed TO prove that
| there was something else in the blood
/ with the disease-sOme thing. that Is to
say, other than the bacillus already men
/ toned Indeed, it was found that when
such blood was passed through filter,
50 as to get rid of the Dacilh and all
other visible bacteria, it was still as
virulent as before, readily producing hog
! cholera. Obviously. then, there must be
another germ invisible, because of its
extreme minuteness, even under the
microscope.
Credit to Dorset.
Here was the beginning OF success IN
long series of experiments leading up
to a great discovery. the credit for
which must be given to DIR. Marion Dor
set of the Bureau of Animal Industry
But, of course, the really important
work had still to be accomplished. To
know that an invisible germ existed was
one thing; to make use of it in a prac-
! teal way was another. Even at the pres
ent time no means Is known whereby the
/ microscopic" 1nicrobe OF hog
i cholera can be bred in artificial "cul
lures that Is 10 say, outside the body
| of the pig
1t has been necessary, therefore, to
| operate through the medium of the pig
exclusively. To begin with, Dr. Dorset
| picked out certain hogs which, owing to
some accident of nature, were proof
to be immune because they had failed to
catch the disease when exposed TO it in
infected herds. Their immunity was
necessarily due to the presence in their
blood of certain substances hostile TO the
cholera germs.
Into the bodies of these picked hogs
was injected blood taken from cholera
sick pigs-the object in view being to
cause the cells of the pigs body to
manufacture in large quantities the
| above mentioned substances. in order to
fight against the germs thus artifieially
introduced. The pig. in other words was
made to serve as 4 factory for the pro-
| ductIon of an antl-pOiSOn against hog
cholera: and. afterwards, his blood. rich
in this anti-poisOn, was drawn from him.
BY the abOve-descrIbed process the
/ cholera proof hog was converted into
: hyper immune" The blood drawn from
j his body was allowed to clot. and The
I fluid pressed ont of it ito get rid of the
/ useless ''fibrin'') was the long-sought
serum, which has solved the hog chol-
/ era problem When injected under the
! skin of an everyday pig, it renders the
latter proof against the cholera. 4 fact
worth mentioning incidentally IS that the
! eXpermenters found it practicable 30 in
! jet into the .'immunes" 1000 times as
much sick-hOg blood as would have
killed an ordinary pig, without even
making the animal seriously uncomfort-
able.
Many Hogs Killed in Work.
! Where ordinary pigs are concerned. an
I injection OF one thimblefuI of cholera
! disease blood Is fatal The first imDOr
tant test experiment by Dr. Dorset CON
sisted an giving this dose to u hogs. six
/ OF winch, however, received simultaneous
/ ly, dose OF the serum The latter
/ suffered no i'll effects, whereas all six of
those which were dosed with blood. with
] out the serum" died. To make sure
that there was no mistake this kind of
trial was repeated over and over again.
Bleed from various parts of the United
! STAGES was used, and serum from MANY
'mnunes,' but the result was ALWAYS
the same
1t was ascertained, however, that the
serum when used by itself, produces
an immunity that Is only temporary,
/ lasting three or four weeks perhaps. To
confer upon the pig permanent immun-
/ lty against the cholera which will last
| for life, it must be dosed simultaneously
| with the serum" and with diseased
| blood, an injection of each being made
| IN the muscles beneath the hind legs. As
result, the animal is not perceptibly
| sick, and it can never suffer from hog
| cholera.
Just why this should be so nobody
knows 1t may be that hog treated in
| this way gets a light attack of the
| cholera, which Is promptly cured bV the
remedy already introduced into his veins.
! In herd where the maladv mas lust
! broken oft, and only a few are sick (say
! D percent). the serum alone, If used on
all the others, will not only stop the
progress of the disease. but will make
the brutes permanent |'immunes" This
| again seems odd; but it may be that
they have already picked up enough of
the infection to serve instead of the
disease-blOod injection of the si1nultan-
eOus method.
Serum Hard To Obtain.
! 1t Is by no means easy to obtain this
serum" from the immunized hog, its
| blOOdyessels being very deep-seated The
method at first adopted was to cut the
animals throat Now, however, the ex-
perts adopt the daintier and more agree
able plan of cutting off the beasts tail
| \ hammer and ehisei were originally
utilized for the purpose, brit now it is
done with the aid of a miniature quill
Otine, which chops off the caudal dppen-
| dage so quickly that Mr. Pig hardly
knows what has happened to him. About
| pint of blood flows from the severed
member into a sterilized bowl, and at the
| end of another week the chopping off of
another small piece of tail yields an
equal quantity of the precious serum"
| This Is repeated three or four times, and
finally the animal is killed, all of its
blood being utilized for the manufacture
of the remedy
The rOVar11rs,op% ha