Osteomalacia. 577 



indisposed to exert herself further. Many cases at this stage 

 begin to improve and may get well in five or six weeks. Some 

 will remain down for several weeks and finall}' get up and re- 

 cover. With con.stant decubitus however, the animal falls off 

 greatly, becoming emaciated and weak, the appetite xwAy fail 

 altogether, and the patient is worn out by the persistent fever, 

 nervous exhaustion and poisoning from the numerous bad .sores. 

 Abscesses, sloughs and fistulae are common over the bony prom- 

 inences. 



It is in these last conditions above all that fractures and dis- 

 tortions of the pelvic bones and less frequentl}' of the bones of the 

 legs occur. They occur earlier as well in connection with falls, 

 blows, crowding by their fellows and sudden active movements 

 of various kinds. 



The disease may advance for two or three months, and in case of 

 pelvic fractures and distortions, there may be permanent lameness, 

 and dangerous obstruction to parturition, even though the bones 

 should acquire their normal hardness through the deposition of 

 lime salts. 



It has been noted that the disease is usually confined to well de- 

 fined areas, and that even in these it has its periods of abatement 

 and recrudescence so that given years are osteo-malacia j'ears. In 

 the department of I'Aube, France, Leclainche, particularly noted 

 the enzootics of 1865-6, 1870, 1875-6, and 1883-4. 



Prognosis. The gravity of the affection varies greatly under 

 different conditions. Some outbreaks are mild while others are 

 very severe, and the prognosis must vary with this gravity. 

 Again at the decline of an enzootic the disea.se is tnore benign and 

 less ruinous. A case in its very earliest stage is much more 

 hopeful, than one that is far advanced, with bones extensively 

 softened or even broken, digestion and assimilation badly im- 

 paired, and infecting .sores and sloughs on different parts of the 

 body. Isolated cases are usually much milder than when the af- 

 fection has gathered strength enough to determine an enzootic. 



Treatment. This will vary with the predominance of the 



causes, essential or accessory. In some cases the suspension of 



the injurious food and a rich alimentation on well grown fodders 



from sound lands will meet every need. Green clover, alfalfa, 



37 



