ACTINOMYCOSIS 319 



volved, in which case the disease is often given the name 

 wooden tongue. The organism may invade the bony part 

 of the jaw, causing it to become spongy and enlarged. This 

 permits the teeth to become loose, so that some of them may 

 fall out. The internal organs may he invaded by the organ- 

 ism. In the hums, nodules similar to the nodules found 

 in tuberculosis of the lungs may be formed under the 

 stimulus of the fungus. These vary in size from mere 

 specks to that of a pea. The spleen, liver, and udder may 

 contain act inomyeot ie nodules. 



The organism occurs in masses in the pus discharged 

 from the nodules. Because of the color of the organism, 

 these mas-es of growth, which can be seen by the unaided 

 eye. are often called sulphur (jranules. 



Treatment. The disease is one of the few of those due 

 to the invasion of the tissues by a parasitic organism that 

 responds to treatment with drugs, the most successful of 

 which is potassium iodide given in water as a drench. The 

 dose is from one to two and one-half drams a day. The 

 administration of this amount of the drug can not be con- 

 tinned for any length of time without producing in the ani- 

 mal the effect known as iodism. This causes the eyes to 

 run, the skin to become dry and rough, and a loss of appe- 

 tite. When these evidences of the drug become apparent, 

 its use should be discontinued for a few days, and resumed 

 later. In the case of milch-cows, the milk should be dis- 

 carded, as the drug is excreted through this channel The 

 drug may also cause abortion. All animals do not react fa- 

 vorably to the drug. Where beneficial results are obtained, 

 treatment should be successful in from three to six weeks. 



Man does not acquire the disease from cattle, but he be- 

 comes infected in the same manner as cattle, viz., through 

 wounds in the mouth. The meat of affected animals can be 

 used as food, if the disease is localized. 



