444 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



a number of years ago which led him to infer that the animals were 

 inoculated by eating barley straw harvested from pieces of ground 

 just reclaimed from the sea. While the animals remained unaffected 

 so long as they pastured on this ground or ate the hay obtained from 

 it, they became diseased after eating the straw of cereals from the 

 same territory. Others have found that cattle grazing upon low 

 pastures along the banks of streams and subject to inundations are 

 more prone to the disease. It has also been observed that feed 

 gathered from such grounds, even after prolonged drying, may give 

 rise to the disease. Actinomycosis is not infrequent in cattle in the 

 southwest and is generally supposed to be the result of eating the 

 prickly fruit of the cactus plant, causing wounds of the mucous 

 membrane and subsequent infection with the parasite. Much addi- 

 tional information of a similar kind must be forthcoming before the 

 source and manner of infection in this disease and its dependence 

 upon external conditions will be known. It is not at all improbable 

 that they may vary considerably from place to place. 



Treatment. — Until recently this has been almost entirely surgical. 

 When the tumors are external and attached to soft parts only, an 

 early removal may lead to recovery. This, of course, can be under- 

 taken only by a trained veterinarian, especially as the various parts 

 of the head and neck contain important vessels, nerves, and ducts 

 which should be injured as little as possible in any operation. Unless 

 the tumor is completely removed it will reappear. Disease of the 

 jawbones is at best a very serious matter and treatment is liable to 

 be of no avail. 



In March, 1892, an important contribution to our knoweldge of 

 this subject was made by Nocard, of the Alfort Veterinary School, 

 in a communication to the French Central Society of Veterinary 

 Medicine. He showed clearly that the actinomycosis of the tongue, 

 a disease which appears to be quite common in Germany, and is there 

 known as " wooden tongue," could be quickly and permanently cured 

 by the administration of iodid of potassium. Nocard calls attention 

 to the success of Thomassen, of Utrecht, w^io recommended this treat- 

 ment so long ago as 1885, and who has since treated more than 80 

 cases, all of which have been cured. A French veterinarian, God- 

 bille, has used the same remedy in a number of cases of actinomy- 

 cosis in the tongue, all of which have been cured. Nocard also gives 

 details of a case which was cured by himself. 



All the cases referred to were of actinomycosis of the tongue, and 

 no one appears to have attempted the cure of actinomycosis of the 

 jaw until it was undertaken by Norgaard, of the Bureau of Animal 

 Industry. In April, 1892, he selected a young steer in fair condition 

 which had a tumor on the ja vv measuring 15^ inches in circumference 

 and from which a discharge had already been established. This 



