CHAPTER XIV. 



ACTINOMYCOSIS, GARGET, COWPOX, AND CON- 

 TAGIOUS ABORTION. 



Actinomycosis or lumpy jaw as it is commonly called, 

 is a disease of cattle although horses, sheep, hogs, and 

 dogs may be affected. Man is also subject to the disease. 

 The cause of the disease is not one of the bacteria but an 

 organism much like a mold. The disease is not a highly 

 important one as only about one out of sixteen hundred 

 .animals are affected with it. Tuberculosis is at least 

 fifty times as prevalent as is actinomycosis and yet in 

 many places the latter disease has made more of an im- 

 pression on the popular mind than has tuberculosis. 

 The reason is that the changes which tuberculosis pro- 

 duces are hidden, while those of actinomycosis are usually 

 evident on the surface of the body in the form of a lump 

 on the jaw. Animals rarely die of the disease. 



Actinomycosis is not a contagious disease since one 

 animal does not acquire the disease from another. The 

 organism that causes the trouble is supposed to grow on 

 barley and other grains. It enters the body through a 

 wound in the mouth, through a hollow tooth or it may 

 "be inhaled. 



Symptoms. The first symptom is a slight swelling in 

 the region of the head or throat. The swelling gradually 

 increases in size and is hard and dense. It may break 

 and discharge a thick yellow pus. The opening may heal 

 temporarily only to break later and discharge again. 



