451 
CONTEMPORARY PROGRESS OE VETERINARY 
SCIENCE AND ART. 
By John Gamgee, M.R.C.V.S. 
The limited number of subjects treated of in this 
my first part of the Contemporary Progress of our Science 
and Art calls for some remarks. It is not a mere cata- 
logue of disconnected facts which I have in view, in editing 
this department of the Journal, but the grouping of writings 
on special subjects to clear up doctrinal difficulties, and 
thereby to establish rules for guidance in the practical study 
and treatment of disease. It is the example of the bee, rather 
than that of the ant, which I strive to follow. A rich store 
of material is on hand for digest in future numbers. As 
intimated in the last month’s introduction, time alone can en- 
able my readers to judge correctly the scientific and practi- 
cal merits of this project. 
“Spina Ventosa of the Lower Jaw in Cattle.” — 
Anacker states this disease begins by a small oblong swell- 
ing in the vicinity of the second or third molar; it appears 
as an exostosis. This spreads over the whole maxilla, and 
induces such an amount of mechanical impediment, and con- 
sequent pain, that the patients lose their appetite and dwindle 
almost to nothing. Sometimes a fistula opens into the mouth. 
Anacker is at a loss to explain why steers should be affected 
in preference to bulls, which, he says, is the case. A 
blister of cantharides in the early stages may cause it to 
subside, but it always returns. Surgical operations or caustics 
are useless. The animals must be destroyed before the dis- 
ease has deteriorated their flesh Mag, fur die ges. Thierheilf 
Jan., 1855). 
(From cases I have observed in the North of England, 
and on the Continent, it would appear that the upper 
jaw is also frequently affected, the antrum being in- 
volved. Such tumours consist in a deposit of fibro-plastic, 
fatty, and granular matter in the osseous canals, leading to de- 
struction of the bone, and development of scanty bony 
plates and spicula, which spread in all directions, and form 
an out-growing network to enclose the soft deposit. In some 
parts the bone is hypertrophied. A quantity of cheesy-look- 
ing matter of a yellow colour, probably transformed pus, is 
found in various parts. The whole is bound down by con- 
densed cellular tissue and periosteum, atrophied muscle, and 
thickened skin, which rarely ulcerates, unless rubbed and 
irritated. M. Collignon, veterinary inspector of the slaughter- 
