554 PRINCIPLES OF VETERINARY SURGERY 



the existence of a tumor of the same nature in the neural 

 canal at the third lumbar vertebra that compressed the 

 spinal cord to 2-5 of its ,normal size and softened it. Mel- 

 anotic tumors w^ere also found in the liver, under the sac- 

 rum, in the spleen and on the endocardium. 



TREATMENT.— The deposit of melanotic pigment 

 cannot be prevented, nor can it be made to disappear. Once 

 commenced! the process continues through the entire life of 

 the animal. External tumors that obstruct certain func- 

 tions, — micturition, defecation, respiration, etc., — or those 

 which prevent the animals from being untilized, can be re- 

 moved. The extirpation should be complete, as the tissues 

 impregnated with melanin cicatrize badly. 



MELANOSIS IN RUMINANTS. 



DEFINITION. — The melanosis of ruminants, as in the 

 horse, consists essentially in pigmentary aberrations. In 

 exceptional cases, the pigment is deposited in the elements 

 of fibromata and myxomata. 



ETIOLOGY. — The physico-chemical properties of 

 melanin are the same as in the horse, and the deposits, too, 

 are similar. The melanosis of calves and that of adtilts 

 should, however, be distinguished. 



Calf. — More or less complete researches on melanosis 

 of the calf have been recently made. Wehenkel gives the 

 first account of the subject. Trasbot, in the article on mel- 

 anosis in the "New Dictionary," mentions that Goubaux 

 found an authenticated case of melanotic infiltration in a 

 calf. In 1885, DeGive found- melanotic infiltration of the 

 meninges, lungs, liver, skin and the heart in a calf five days 

 old. In 1887, Morot brought several cases of melanic pig- 

 mentation among calves to the notice of the Societe Cen- 

 trale. The lungs are the organs most frequently attacked. 

 Also reports, with the observation of Albert, that he disco.v- 



