598 PRINCIPLES OF VETERINARY SURGERY 



of the disease, the progressive cachexia of all the organs re- 

 flected chiefly upon the skeleton. 



ANIMALS ATTACKED.— Osseous cachexia is fre- 

 quent among bovidse, especially the cow. It is rare in the 

 horse, the sheep, the goat, the hog, and the dog. Animals 

 kept in captivity in menageries and zoological gardens — 

 giraffes, rabbits and birds — may also be attacked. 



HISTORY. — It has been observed since ancient times, 

 when Vegetius described it under the name of "syntexis," 

 and was noticed at different epochs in every part of Europe. 

 In Norway, about 1650, it was attributed to the mgestion 

 of a plant called "sterregrass," and it was treated by the ad- 

 ministration of bone dust. It often appeared in Germany, 

 where Hinke, in 1870, was first to observe it. A good de- 

 scription was given of the disease by Gleditsche in 1787, in 

 Brandebourg and Magdebourg. It was afterward studied 

 by Bohlmann in 1823 in the Duchy of Anhalt, by Hertwig 

 and Gurth in 1859 and later by Zundel in Alsace. It was 

 also observed in Belgium for the first time by Dale in 1836, 

 in the neighborhood of Antwerp, then by Maris in 1852 in 

 the agricultural colony of Laumel, and more recently by 

 Duvieusart in 1875 and by Mosselmann and Hebrant in 

 1895, who made a thorough scientific study of the disease. 



Osseous cachexia has a wide geographical distribution. 

 It has been found in Italy, Switzerland and in the region of 

 the Great Lakes in America. In France it was noticed by 

 Roux in 1825, and by Dupont, of Bordeaux. The German 

 investigations were brought to the attention of veterinar- 

 ians by Neyen in 1863, and later by Zundel, who observed 

 the disease in Alsace, where it was the subject of an inter- 

 esting discussion at the Veterinary Society in 1870. It is 

 from this time that our knowledge of the disease became 

 definite, thanks to the writings of Bouley, DeTherry, Lec- 

 lainche, Collard, Tapon and Cantiget, whose recent works 



