PRINCIPLES OF VETERINARY SURGERY 499 



sitic extensions and endeavor to break them up and destroy 

 them, and the fungus thus takes the form in which it is 

 found : the form of degeneration or involution. The hyahne 

 globules are the remains of the shattered club-forms. 



Generalization of the disease is very rare and is ex- 

 plained by the parasite's behavior. The disease is diffused 

 through the medium of cells laden with living filaments, per- 

 haps, also, but more rarely, through the lymphatics and fin- 

 ally sometimes through the blood vessels. Its localization 

 has been observed in the blood vessels. It must not, how- 

 ever, be supposed that the actinomyces behaves like a mi- 

 crobe. Its behavior is entirely different and its generaliza- 

 tion should be regarded as exceptional. 



GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION.— The disease is 

 found in nearly every country of Europe. In France the 

 maxillary form is especially noticed. The lingual form is 

 rare. Nocard and Leclainche show by statistics collected at 

 the market of Villette the proportion, in round numbers, of 

 0.72 per 1000: the stock of Maine (2.94 per 1000), of Hol- 

 land (1.52 per 1000), and of Normandy (1.52 per 1000) fur- 

 nished the highest figures. 



At Saint Etienne, out of 13,905 cattle slaughtered in 1894, 

 only one case of maxillary actinomycosis was found, as was 

 also the case in 1895 out of 11,156. In 1896 and 1897 none 

 were found. In 1898, only one case was seen out of an anal- 

 ogous number of slaughtered animals. All of the cases no- 

 ticed were in animals coming from one district. The disease 

 is rare in the cattle supplying the market of Amiens. In the 

 course of one year, — 1898, — the abattoir inspection revealed 

 but four cases. The statistics for the several years is suf- 

 ficient to show the rarity of the disease in the cattle of 

 Flanders, Normandy and Picardy. In Dijon the proportion 

 is perceptibly higher than in the above mentioned towns. 



