288 OTHER GERM DISEASES. 



bacillus (B. tetanus), which lives normally in the earth and may get 

 into a wound and produce the well-known and commonly fatal 

 disease. 



Abortion. This troublesome disease sometimes appears in 

 a herd and produces great loss, and endless trouble to the dairyman. 

 Cows attacked by the disease do not carry their calves the full time, 

 but drop them early and become useless for the time as milk-cows. 

 If the animal is once affected she is likely to have the same trouble 

 the next time she is in calf, and perhaps her usefulness is ended. 

 This trouble has for some time been recognized as contagious and 

 has in recent years been demonstrated to be produced by a definite 

 species of bacterium. The bacterium may infect cow after cow, and 

 even the bull may distribute it through a herd of cattle. The best 

 remedy has been found to be thorough disinfection. The calf must 

 be destroyed, the stable disinfected, genital parts of the cow thor- 

 oughly washed with disinfecting solutions and the animal kept from 

 the rest of the herd. A thorough disinfection of this sort will com- 

 monly allay the trouble. 



Takosis of Goats. This is a disease of goats only recently 

 studied and found to be caused by a bacterium. It brings on a 

 general weakness and wasting away, which finally results in death. 

 It has caused great loss among the Angora goats in the northern 

 states. It is always fatal. 



Lumpy Jaw, Malignant Tumor, Wooden Tongue. These 

 three names are applied to the same disease, located, however, in 

 different places. The cause of the trouble is one of the higher 

 types of fungi rather than a bacterium. The name of the organism 

 is Actinomycosis and it differs from bacteria in forming longer 

 threads and in branching (see page 12). When it finds entrance 

 into cattle, generally through the mouth, it may invade the tissues 

 and produce the diseases named above. Sometimes it is found 

 in the throat, lungs, and skin. It is most common in cattle, but it 

 also occurs in swine, and may be given to other animals by inocula- 

 tion. It occasionally occurs in man. The disease is not common, 

 though it causes considerable loss at times, since it is serious and apt 

 to be fatal. It produces hard tumors that invade the bones or other 



