EDITORIAL ARTICLES.

THE DIFFERENTIATION OF THE EPIZOOTIC

AFFECTIONS OF THE PIG.

45

A QUESTION possessed of a double interest to the veterinary profession, in this country and abroad, is that of the identity or non-identity of Swine-Fever and Mal Rouge. In the first place, if the maladies so designated are identical, the method of preventive inoculation now extensively practised in France might, with great benefit, be employed to counteract the ravages of Swine-Fever in this country. On the other hand, if Mal Rouge and Swine-Fever are in reality two distinct affections, there is a manifest danger of the introduction of a second porcine pest into Great Britain, and a like danger that our Swine­Fever may, by the importation of diseased animals, obtain a footing in France. It seems almost incredible that this question was not definitely settled before Pasteur and Klein fell foul of each other as to whether the microbe of the disease was a bacillus or a figure-of-8 micrococcus. The implied reproach, however, falls much more upon the French savant than upon Dr Klein, for the paper by the latter which appeared in the Report of the Medical Officer of the Local Government Board for 1877, and in which the author claimed to have discovered the bacillus of the disease, contained, both in respect of text and illustrations, a very complete account of the morbid anatomy of Swine-Fever. On the other hand, Pasteur's papers on Mal Rouge contained no information of any value regarding the lesions of that disease.

In a recent number of the Recueil de Medicine Veterinaire (15th Dec. 1887) M. Cagny in a note on Le Rouget (Mal Rouge) recognises two types of the disease-a benign form, and a severe or grave form. In the former the lesions appear to be confined to the skin, which presents a more or less extensive red discoloration, in extreme cases so deep and general that the pig looks as if it had been dipped in blood. In the more severe type the red discoloration of the skin becomes violet, and h;:cmorrhage occurs in the liver, spleen, lung, and intestine. "Frequently the congestion has been such that there is a formation of ulcerations," etc.

The disease may become chronic, and then, according to M. Cagny, " the visible lesions are especially these of cachexia and an;:cmia."

If one may assume that in this account of the morbid anatomy of Le Rouget the writer has not overlooked the most constant lesion, there can be no manner of doubt that the Swine-Fever of this country is totally distinct from Le Rouget. It is possible that in extremely rapid cases of swine-fever death may occur before any characteristic intestinal lesion has time to develop. Such cases, however, are very rare; so rare, indeed, that, given an outbreak of disease in which several pigs are attacked, we do not think that anyone is justified in

EDITORIAL ARTICLES.

diagnosing swine-fever unless intestinal ulceration is present in some of the animals. Moreover, the character of the ulcers is very dis­tinctive.

We know for certain that the so-called Hog-Cholera of the United States is identical with our own Swine-Fever. The description and figures of the intestinal lesions given by Detmers, Salmon, and others leave no doubt on that point. The last-mentioned authority, how­ever, has recently shown that in the United States there are two distinct contagious diseases attacking pigs, viz., hog-cholera and swine-plague, the former, as already said, being identical with British swine-fever, and the 'latter with the schweine-seuche, or swine-plague of Germany. The latter is essentially a contagious pneumonia of the pig, and quite recently MM. Cornil and Chantemesse have pointed out that the malady, which is extremely fatal, has for several years been in existence in France, where, however, it has hitherto been con­founded with Le Rouget.

It appears, therefore, that there are at least three distinct porcine epizootics, viz. :~

(I) Swine-fever, in which the pathognomonic lesion is a character­istic ulceration of the large intestines, accompanied in many cases by pneumonia.

(2) Swine-plague, the constant lesion of which is a croupous pneu­monia, without marked intestinal disease.

(3) Le Rouget or Mal Rouge, in which the lesions are much less destructive than in the other two maladies.

CAN APPARENTLY HEALTHY STALLIONS

COMMUNICATE INFLUENZA TO MARES?

IT will hardly be necessary to direct the attention of our readers to the remarkable facts narrated in the preceding pages of the :Journal concerning the transmission of influenza or pink-eye from stallions to mares. Mr Pottie was, we believe, the first to call attention to the fact that stallions apparently in a state of perfect health, can, and do, communicate influenza to mares served by them. On a priori grounds it seems highly improbable that such should be the case, and apparently Mr Pottie's original statements on the subject were received with incredulity. As Mr Pottie now states, however, the fact is well established. It is an open secret among horse-breeders that some of the most famous Clydesdale stallions in Scotland communicate the disease to a large proportion of the mares with which they copulate, and other practitioners besides Mr Pottie have satisfied themselves regarding the correctness of this belief. If any corroboration of the opinion were necessary, it would be furnished by the fact that an independent observer has recently chronicled a