INFECTIOUS DISEASES OF CATTLE. 437 



appetite. When these symptoms appear the medicine may be sus- 

 pended 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 ani- 

 mals 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 Lugol's solution, or one of these solutions should be injected 

 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 1J drams, which was maintained until the twelfth day 

 of treatment, when the steer appeared entirely cured. 



M. Nocard gave the first day 1£ drams in one dose to a cow; the 

 second and succeeding days a dose of 1 dram in the morning and even- 

 ing, in each case before feeding. This treatment was continued for 

 ten 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 

 are annually published. Its possible bearing on public health has, 

 however, given this disease a place in the public mind which it hardly 

 deserves. 



It has already been stated that the actinomyces fungus found in 

 human disease is considered by authorities the same as that occurring 

 in bovine affections. It is therefore of interest to conclude this article 

 with a brief discussion of the disease in man and its relation to acti- 

 nomycosis in cattle. 



In man the location of the disease process corresponds fairly well 

 with that in cattle. The majority of cases which have been reported 



