400 BOVINE PATHOLOGY. 



upon their surface for blood-vessels. Hence, they have 

 been mistakenly described as " ossified brains/^ Strange 

 to say, such cases are seen in animals in good condition 

 brought for slaughter, no special signs of disorder having 

 been noticed in connection with them. Bony growths 

 are not infrequent, too, around the margin of the orbit, 

 dependent on periostitis, the result of injury. They some- 

 times attain such a size as to require to be removed with 

 a saw. Sometimes they bend inwards and exert pressure 

 on the eyeball, and they are always rather liable to injury, 

 which causes ulceration. Small or large bony tumours 

 are sometimes found on the ribs, extending into the thorax. 

 Once exostoses have assumed the true bony character 

 they will remain as part of the body whatever treatment 

 may be adopted. The application of blisters will promote 

 absorption of any surrounding deposit. Cases of this 

 kind seldom require treatment. 



Osteophytes, or bony growths, result from ossification of 

 exudates or of fibrous tissue. They are distinguished 

 from exostoses by not being attached to bone. 



Feagilitas ossium is a condition in which, through 

 excess of earthy matter, produced either by too great 

 removal of animal constituents (as seen in old age, and as 

 a result of inflammation), or, less frequently, by excessive 

 earthy deposit, the bones readily break. Under this 

 heading must be recorded the disease known as Cachexia 

 ossifraga malacia, which was especially noticed in the 

 ' Edinburgh Veterinary Keview,^ vol. iii, pp. 16, 75, and 

 223, and also treated of in the 'Americali Veterinary 

 Journal,' May, 1852. It is vulgarly known as '^Cripple'' 

 or " Stiffness,^' and is enzootic in certain situations, and 

 affects especially milch cows. It is attributed to the non- 

 assimilation of phosphatic material, or its excessive re- 

 moval from the system in milk. A deficiency of phosphates 

 in the soil is considered the main cause, and over-stocking 

 land is likely to give rise to it. 



Symptoms. — Indigestion, with progressive debility, stiff- 

 ness of gait and staggering. Later, inability to rise, swell- 

 ing of the bones, especially at the joints, and paralysis. 



