DISEASES OF THE BONES. 169 



Symptoms. — Swelling. After awhile there is a discharge from 

 the affected part, and an abscess is formed, at which time the dead 

 bone is separating from the living. There is a discharge of curdy 

 pus with fetid odor. The wound does not heal. 



Treatment. — Enlarge the opening from which the pus is flow- 

 ing, and with the fingers or forceps remove the dead portion of 

 bone. 



The same treatment will apply to necrosis wherever found. 

 If it occurs in the weight-bearing bones, the treatment is more 

 tedious. The animal should be properly cared for by having 

 good food, comfort, and cleanliness. 



ABSCESS OF BONE. 



The formation of abscess in the substance of a bone is of rare 

 occurrence. In long-continued cases of lameness, with enlarge- 

 ment of a bone, a surgeon should open the enlarged portion by a 

 trephine, the probabilities being that he will find pus. It is gen- 

 erally necessary to cast the patient, make a careful incision on 

 the diseased bone, avoiding injury to important blood vessels and 

 nerves, dividing of their long axis, separating all the soft tissues 

 from the bone before the trephine is applied, and finally washing 

 out the abscess with water, in which a small quantity of pure 

 carbolic acid has been dissolved. 



RICKETS. 



The term rickets is used to denote an unnatural softness of the 

 osseous system in young animals. It is due to a deficiency of 

 earthy, and an excess of animal, material in the bone. Rickets 

 may be seen in foals, calves, and young dogs, more especially 

 young spaniels and pointers. In foals and calves the metacarpal 

 bones are those which bend first; in dogs, the lower third of the 

 humerus, giving to the dog a dwarf-like api)earancc. When the 

 bones of the posterior extremities are affected, the toes are turned 

 outward, the hocks inward. 



Kickets appear when the j)ati('nt is a few weeks or months old, 



