CHAPTER X. 



KON-INFLAMMATORY DISEASES OF BONES. 



RICKETS — MOLLITIES OSSIUM — OSTEO-POROSIS — FRAGILITUS OSSIUM- 

 OSTEO-SARCOMA — EFFECTS OF MERCURIAL POISONING ON BONES. 



EICKETS. 



The terms " rickets " and " racliitis " are used to denote an 

 unnatural softness of the osseous system in young animals, 

 and is referable to disordered nutrition of tlie osseous tissue; 

 in fact, to the mal-assimilation and non- development of the 



materials neces- 

 sary to the forma- 

 tion of bone. 



Rickets may be 

 witnessed in foals, 

 calves, and young 

 dogs, more especi- 

 ally young spaniels 

 and pointers. In 

 foals and calves the 

 metacarpal bones 

 are those which 

 soonest bend; in 

 dogs, the lower 

 third of the hume- 

 rus ; giving to the 

 dog a dwarf-like 

 appearance : he 

 stands with his 



Fig. 29. 



fore legs wide apart, and walks with a peculiar rolling gait, 

 throwing the w^eight of his body from one limb to another in 



