454 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



lished. This animal was treated with iodid of potassium, and the 

 result was a complete cure. . 



The iodid of potassium is given in doses of 1^ to 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 there ap- 

 pear signs of iodism 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 afterwards resumed in the same 

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

 animals do not improve under treatment with iodid of potassium, and 

 these are generally the ones which show no signs of iodism. 



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 producing 

 abortion. 



The best results are obtained by pushing the drug until you see its 

 effect. The many tests to which this treatment has been subjected 

 have proved with few exceptions its specific curative value. In addi- 

 tion to this the tumor should be painted externally with the tincture 

 of iodin or LugoFs solution, or one of these sohitions should be in- 

 jected subcutaneously into the tumor. 



M. 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 twelfth day 

 of treatment, when the steer appeared entirely cured. 



M. Nocard gave the first clay 1^ drams in one dose to a cow; the 

 second 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 



