ACTINOMYCOSIS 263 
The lymphatics show no constant tendency to become involved. 
Metastasis occurs in a very small proportion of the cases. When it 
does, as reported by Ponfick, large areas may be simultaneously 
affected. He reports a case in the human subject in which the left 
jugular vein was perforated by a mass of the organisms resulting in 
the formation of actinomycotic infarcts in the lungs, spleen, brain, and 
heart. 
In cattle, actinomycosis usually appears in one or more of the 
following locations. ; 
In the maxillary bones. Here it generally results in large tumor- 
like growths. Actinomycosis of the jaw usually commences with 
2 
Fic. 59. ACTINOMYCOSIS OF THE TONGUE, “WOODEN TONGUE” (PHOTOGRAPHED BY 
HOPKINS). 
flat granulation of the gums and mucous membranes in the neighbor- 
hood of the teeth and spreads finally to the medullary tissues of the 
bone and to the periosteum, soon giving rise to the osseous tumor. 
From the maxillary bone the disease may advance either to the sub- 
cutaneous connective tissue and the skin or to the oral cavity in the 
direction of the molar teeth, which become displaced. 
In the tongue. When the lesions appear in this organ the disease 
takes the form of an indurating glossitis. The tongue becomes 
thickly sprinkled with round or oval, hard, fibrous nodules which 
finally become purulent or chalky at the center. Around these there 
is a considerable increase of connective tissue which leads to the 
atrophy of the muscle fibers. Upon section the tongue is found to be 
