ACTINOMYCOSIS. 445 



animal was treated with ioclid of potassium, and the result was a 

 complete cure. 



The iodid of potassium is given in doses of 1-| and 2| drams once 

 a day, dissolved in water, and administered as a drench. The dose 

 should vary somewhat with the size of the animal and with the 

 effects that are produced. If the dose is sufficiently large signs of 

 iodism appear in the course of a week or 10 days. The skin becomes 

 scurfy, there is weeping from the eyes, catarrh of the nose, and loss 

 of appetite. When these symptoms appear the medicine may be 

 suspended for a few days and afterward resumed in the same dose. 

 The cure requires from three to six weeks' treatment. Some animals, 

 generally the ones which show no signs of iodism, do not improve 

 under treatment with iodid of potassium. 



If there is no sign of improvement after the animals have been 

 treated four or five weeks, and the medicine has been given in as 

 large doses as appear desirable, it is an indication that the particular 

 animal is not susceptible to the curative effects of the drug, and the 

 treatment may therefore be abandoned. 



It is not, however, advisable to administer iodid of potassium to 

 milch cows, as it will considerably reduce the milk secretion or stop 

 it altogether. Furthermore, a great part of the drug is excreted 

 through the milk, making the milk unfit for use. It should not be 

 given to animals in advanced pregnancy, as there is danger of pro- 

 ducing abortion. 



The best results are obtained by pushing the drug until its effect 

 is seen. The many tests to which this treatment has been subjected 

 have proved, with few exceptions, its specific curative value. In 

 addition to this the tumor should be painted externally with either 

 the tincture of iodin or Lugol's solution, or the drug should be 

 injected subcutaneously into the tumor. 



Godbille has given as much as 4 drams of potassium iodid in one 

 day to a steer, decreasing the dose one-fourth dram each day until 

 the dose was 1^ drams, which was maintained until the tAvelfth day 

 of treatment, when the animal appeared to be entirely cured. 



Nocard gave the first day 1^ drams in one dose to a cow ; the sec- 

 ond and succeeding days a dose of 1 dram in the morning and 

 evening, in each case before feeding. This treatment was continued 

 for 10 days, when the animal was cured. 



Actinomycosis and the public health. — The interest which is shown 

 concerning this cattle disease is largely due to the fact that the same 

 disease attacks human beings. Its slow progress, its tendency to 

 remain restricted to certain localities, and the absence of any directly 

 contagious properties have thus far not aroused any anxiety in other 

 countries as to its influence on the cattle industry, not even to the 

 point of placing it among the infectious diseases of which statistics 



