320 



The Tumid Jaw of Cattle. 



Vol. V. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 The Tumid Jaw of Cattle. 



At page 297 of the last Cabinet, P, M. 

 has the ibllowinff inquiry : " Do you or any 

 of your correspondents know the caute or 

 remedy for the swelling or lump on the jaw, 

 often Ibund on cattle." 



I am always pleased with such inquiries as 

 lead to objects of practical utility, and it af- 

 fords me pleasure, when I can, to answer 

 them. The following remarks may not be 

 altogether out of place. 



The Tumid Jaw in cattle, is essentially 

 the same disease which surgeons call osteo- 

 sarcoma or bony cancer, in the human sub- 

 ject. It is a disease of the bony system, and 

 is common to man and the lower animals. 

 Although the jaw bone, and especially the 

 inferior one, is the most frequent seat of this 

 terrible malady, yet it may invade any part 

 of the bony fabric. 



No satisfactory cause has yet been assigned 

 for osteosarcoma. Sometimes it nay follow 

 contusions or other injuries of the bones ; or 

 when seated on the jaw, it may appear to 

 proceed from the irritation causel by a de- 

 cayed tooth ; but there is reason to suppose 

 that in those cases there must hive been a 

 constitutional predisposition to fie disease. 

 This supposition ia rendered moe probable, 

 since it has sometimes attacked successive 

 members of the same family ; at (ther times, 

 it has appeared almost simultane<usly in se- 

 veral distant parts of the body, aid when the 

 affected member has been remo'ed, the dis- 

 ease has been reproduced clsewh-re. 



The seat and commencemen)of this ma- 

 lignant disease, is obviously in the spongy 

 cellular substance formed in tie interior of 

 most bones. As the disease is d-veloped, the 

 bone swells and its healthy strucure becomes 

 entirely changed. The followiig graphic de- 

 scription of the appearances of tie tumour, is 

 drawn by Dr. Gibson, (Surgery,v'ol, i. p. 408.) 

 "The bone will be formed snioth on tlie sur- 

 face, and either uniform and rgular, or else 

 disposed in lobulated masses of ifferent forms 

 and sizes. Sometimes these re extremely 

 regular, of a rounded form, andresemble very 

 much a cluster of grapes. A other times, 

 several large masses arc joine together, and 

 present the appearance of amrtichoke or a 

 protuberant potato. When tb bony texture 

 of these tumours is cut, forcbly separated, 

 or crushed, a number of irreular cells are 

 brought into view, containingeither a thick, 

 cheesy, lardaceous, medullarymatter, or else 

 a gelatinous, semitransparei fluid, which 

 oozes out of its own accord or can be re- 

 moved by mechanical means or by macera- 

 tion, — leaving the sides of tb cavities lined 

 by a very fine and delicate ccmbrane. The 



morbid tissue of bone will then be found to 

 consist of innumerable spicula disposed in 

 endless variety of ramifications, and shooting 

 out into fantastic forms, resembling some 

 species of coral, or assuming the shape of 

 some vegetable productions." The same 

 writer continues: "I have in my possession 

 a very fine specimen of ostea sarcoma of se- 

 veral pounds weight, taken from the upper 

 jaw of an ox. In this specimen, the cells 

 which I have described, and the arrangement 

 of the bony spicula, are uncommonly well 

 displayed, owing to the magnitude of the tu- 

 mour, and the original texture of the bone 

 upon which it is reared." 



In the more advanced stage of tumid jaw, 

 more or less suppuration takes place; the tu- 

 mour bursts in one or in many places, and 

 pours forth an ichorous and corrosive dis- 

 charge, which soon excoriates and contami- 

 nates tiie adjacent soft parts. From this 

 time the disease puts on more and more the 

 appearance of malignant cancer, until the 

 poor animal falls a lingering prey to sufierino- 

 and exhaustion, or is kindly released from 

 further torment by the humane interference 

 of its owner. 



It may readily be perceived, that a disease 

 such as I have described, will prove intracta- 

 ble and difficult to cure. In its incipient 

 stage of tumid jaw, while the tumour is 

 small, it ought to be rigorously attacked by 

 often-repeated blistering — or by opening a 

 constant drain from the immediate neighbour- 

 hood by means of a rowel, or the application 

 of strong caustic. If these means fail to 

 avert its progress, an operation for its entire 

 removal should not be too long delayed. 

 With this view, the whole of the diseased 

 mass must be laid bare, and by the bold and 

 dexterous use of small saws, gouges and chis- 

 els, every vestige of unhealthy bone must be 

 cut away. 



As we are by no means certain that suc- 

 cess will attend even this dernier resort, I 

 would by no means recommend it in ordinary 

 cases. Where there is no extraordinary value 

 attached to the animal, perhaps it would be 

 more prudent to put it off, before the disease 

 shall have progressed so far as to interfere 

 with the process of feeding. 



Neither is it likely that any lasting advan- 

 tage would accrue from the operation, after 

 the tumour has become a corroding cancer- 

 ous sore. 



Medicus. 



4th mo. 21st, 1&41. 



The seeds of pumpkins should not be sown 

 till late, to keep back the blossoming until 

 the rains, as drought is highly injurious to 

 them. 



