bones: diseases and accidents. 265 



Treatment. — The bone should be opened for the purpose of curet- 

 ting out the diseased portion of the marrow cavity and removing all 

 the necrotic pieces of bone. This should be undertaken only by a 

 competent veterinarian. The after treatment consists in tamponing 

 the Avound with pledgets of iodoform gauze or injecting a 2 per cent 

 solution of sulphuric acid or hydrochloric acid of similar strength or 

 pure lactic acid or a mixture of iodoform 1 part and glycerin 4 parts. 

 The wound in the soft tissue should be kept open until the cavity in 

 the bone has filled with granulation tissue. 



RICKETS. 



This disease, also called " rachitis," is an inflammatory affection of 

 young, growing bones, and mostly involves the ribs and long bones of 

 the legs. It consists in a failure of the organism to deposit lime 

 salts in bone, and for this reason the bones do not ossify so rapidly as 

 they should. The cartilaginous ends of the bones grow rapidly, but 

 ossification does not keep pace with it. The bones become long and 

 their ends bend at the joints, the legs become crooked, and the joints 

 are large and irregular. All the bones affected with this disease are 

 thicker than normal, and the gait of the animal is stiff and painful. 

 A row of bony enlargements may be found where the ribs articulate 

 with the cartilages connecting them with the breastbone and is called 

 the " beaded line." A catarrhal condition of the digestive tract is 

 usually observed. The disease may result from an inherited weak- 

 ness of constitution, jooor hj^gienic surroundings, or improper diet. 

 Calves and foals are less frequently affected with rickets than dogs 

 and pigs. 



Treatment. — The affected animal should have nourishing feed 

 containing a proper quantity of lime salts. Outdoor exercise and 

 plenty of fresh air are indispensable. Limewater shoidd be given 

 once daily for drinking purposes and ground bone meal mixed with 

 the food. Phosphorus, one-fortieth of a grain, and calcium phos- 

 phate, 1 dram, given twice daily to a 2-month-old calf, and propor- 

 tionally increased for older animals, has proved efficacious in this 

 disease. In some cases the long bones of the limbs are too weak at 

 birth to support the weight of the animal, and temporarj^ splints, 

 carefully padded and wrapjoed on with some soft bandages, become 

 necessary. 



OSTEOMALACIA (CREEPS). 



This is a condition of bone brittleness or softening of bone found 

 usually in adult life. It consists in the decalcification of mature 

 bone, with the advancing diminution of the compact portion of bone 

 by absorption. The periosteum strips very easily from the bone. 

 This disease is seen in milch cows during the period of heavy lacta- 



