10 OSSEOUS CACHEXIA. 



Secretion of milk diminislies or ceases and abortion is not un- 

 common . 



3. The third phase is characterised by fractures, and it is this 

 pecuHarity of the disease which has procured for it the names of fragi- 

 litas ossium, and osteoclastia. These fractures may affect any portion 

 of the skeleton. Animals so suffering sometimes break a leg whilst 

 trotting or the pelvis in simply jumping over a ditch; a collision with a 

 fixed object like the jamb of the stable door, or a fall on the ground, 

 may result in the fracture of one or several ribs. 



Such shocks would be of no importance to a healthy animal, but to 

 one suffering from osseous cachexia, any violence, or even the slightest 



Fig. 3. — Pig suffering fioiii osseous cachexia (foiu'tli stage). 



muscular effort may be follow^ed by fracture of the gravest character, 

 involving even the vertebral column. In cows the pelvis, femur, and 

 tibia are most frequently injured. 



In horses, particularly in riding horses, fractures are commonest in 

 the region of the forearm, cannon bone, and anterior phalanges. So 

 extremely fragile are the bones at this stage that the horse represented 

 herewith broke twelve ribs at one time by simply falling on its side. It 

 is interesting to note that such fractures are never accompanied by any 

 extensive bleeding. They Imve little tendenc}^ to repair, no real callus 

 formation occurs, and on post-mortem examination one often finds the 

 ends unconnected by temporary callus, worn, and rounded by reciprocal 

 friction. 



At this stage but under other circumstances, the animals show great 

 reluctance to rise, remaining down for twelve to twenty-four hours 

 without shifting their position. If forced to get up, they stand as 

 though fixed in one position, the respiration and circulation become rapid, 

 and they soon grow tired and fall. 



