ACTINOMYCOSIS. 443 



the disease yields readily to proper treatment, and about 75 per cent 

 of the affected animals may be cured. 



Prevention. — The question as to how and where animals take this 

 disease is one concerning which we are still in the stage of conjecture, 

 because so far we possess very little information concerning the life 

 history of the actinomyces itself. The quite unanimous view of all 

 observers is that animals become infected from the feed. The fungus 

 is lodged upon the plants and in some way enters the tissues of the 

 head, the lungs, and the digestive tract, where it sets up its peculiar 

 activity. It is likewise generally believed that the fungus is, as it 

 were, inoculated into the affected part. This inoculation is per- 

 formed by the sharp and pointed parts of plants which penetrate 

 the mucous membrane and carry the fungus with them. The disease 

 is therefore inoculable rather than contagious. The mere presence 

 of the diseased animal will not give rise to disease in healthy animals 

 unless the actinomyces grains pass directly from the diseased into 

 some wound or abrasion of the healthy or else drop upon the feed 

 which is consumed by the healthy. Not only are these views deduci- 

 ble from clinical observation, but they have been proved by the posi- 

 tive inoculation of calves and smaller animals with actinomyces. 

 The danger therefore of the presence of actinomyces for healthy 

 animals is a limited one. Nevertheless an animal affected with this 

 disease should not be allowed to go at large or run with other ani- 

 mals. If the fungus is being scattered by discharging gi'owths we 

 certainly can not state at this stage of our knowledge that other 

 animals may not be infected by such distribution, and we must 

 assume, until more positive information is at hand, that this actually 

 occurs. 



It is, howeA^er, the opinion of the majority of authorities that when 

 actinomycosis appears among a large number of animals they all 

 contract it in the same way from the feed. Much speculation has 

 therefore arisen whether any particular plant or group of plants is 

 the source of the infection and whether any special condition of the 

 soil favors it. Very little positive information is at hand on these 

 questions. It would be very desirable for those who live in localities 

 where this disease is prevalent to make statistical and other observa- 

 tions on the occurrence of the disease with reference to the season of 

 the year, the kind of feed, the nature of the soil (whether swampy or 

 dry, recently reclaimed, or cultivated for a longtime) upon which the 

 animals are pastured or upon which the feed is grown. 



It is highly probable that such investigations will lead to an under- 

 standing of the source of the fungus and the means for checking 

 the spread of the disease itself. Veterinarian Jensen, of Denmark, 

 made some observations upon an extensive outbreak of actinomycosis 



