352 DISEASES OF CATTLE. 



FRACTURE OF THE ORBIT. 



This accident occasionally occurs among belligerent animals, or as 

 the result of blows delivered by brutal attendants. The orbital process 

 above the eye may be entirely crushed in, pressing down upon the eye- 

 ball. In such an event the depressed bone should be elevated into its 

 proper place, and if it fails to unite it may have to be removed with saw 

 or chisel. The margin of the orbit may be crushed at any point and 

 cause periorbital abscess, or necrosis may result from the presence of a 

 splinter of bone or the excessive destruction of bone. In all cases of 

 fracture the animal should be taken out of the herd and kept by itself 

 until the injured part heals. 



NECROSIS OF THE BONY ORBIT. 



As the result of fracture of the margin of the orbit a part o.f the 

 injured bone may become necrosed (dead), and periostitis and perior- 

 bital abscess will follow as a consequence. The discovery of this dis- 

 ease will at first resemble abscess, but on making an examination with 

 a probe after the abscess is open we will find the bone rough and 

 brittle at the point of disease. The discharge will have a peculiar 

 fetid odor, and is often mixed with blood. 



Treatment. — The affected bone must be laid bare and all diseased por- 

 tions removed by scraping, or if necessary with saw or chisel, disre- 

 garding the extent of the injury or the size of the wound necessary to 

 be inflicted. A large portion of the bony orbit maybe removed with- 

 out serious danger to the eye, provided the eyeball itself has not been 

 previously affected by the disease or involved in the original injury. 



TUMORS OF THE ORBIT. 



A fungous tumor of the eyeball or orbit occasionally appears, which 

 is designated fungus hcematodes. This may arise without any appre- 

 ciable cause, or as th'e result of a wound. It frequently commences 

 within the eyeball as a small, red mass, eventually bursts through, and 

 pushes its way outside of the orbit as a large, dark-red mass, bleed- 

 ing at the slightest touch. It has a peculiar fetid odor, and early in 

 its appearance destroys sight, involving all the contents of the orbit, 

 not infrequently the bony wall itself. 



Unless the tumor is totally removed in its early stage of growth, 

 together with the eyeball, the disease will eventually cause emaciation 

 and death of the animal. The enucleation of the eyeball should not be 

 undertaken by anyone unacquainted with the anatomical structures 

 involved in such an operation. When the operation is performed 

 early enough the result is generally satisfactory. 



Bony tumors of the orbit are occasionally present in cattle, the result 

 of bruises, fractures, etc. They may encroach upon the contents of 

 the orbit, causing paralysis of the optic nerve — the condition known 



