1893 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. 
379 
times its normal size, and the interior be completely 
honeycombed as a result of this disease. 
An illustration of this bone breaking is shown at 
Fig. 139. The upper picture shows the jaw of the 
animal shown at Fig. 140. The darker spots are open¬ 
ings through which pus was discharged into the 
mouth. The lower picture shows the honey-combed 
condition of the bone. Fig. 140 shows a case of lump 
jaw in one of the most common locations. In this case 
the tumor is caused by the bulging of the jaw bone. 
The pus from this tumor was discharged into tae 
mouth. Fig. 141 shows another common form, where 
the tumor is situated upon or within the bones of the 
face. Most of the pus was discharged through the 
mouth with a little through the opening in the face. 
The disease is due to the growth in the animal tissues 
of a peculiar vegetable organism named “ actinomy- 
ces.” Without considering this in a scientific way, it 
is enough to say that this growth takes place on the 
jaw, forming the bunch and causing the secretion of 
pus. 
Contracting and Curing the Disease. 
Dr. Mayo records a number of experiments in culti 
vating the actinomyces and in inoculating healthy 
animals with the pus from diseased ones. As the re¬ 
sults of his experiments he says : “ The probable mode 
of infection is by animals eating food upon which the 
organism which produces the actinomyces is growing ; 
a spore, or possibly a piece of the growing organism, 
gains entrance into the animal tissues, either through 
an abrasion of the tissues or opening of a gland, vege¬ 
tates and produces the disease known as actinomy¬ 
cosis. In some cases animals undoubtedly contract 
the disease by inhaling the spores, which may lodge 
in the sinuses of the head and produce the disease in 
this region. Animals may become affected with this 
disease in any region to which the spores of the orig¬ 
inal fungus may gain access from the outside of the 
body or through the digestive or respiratory systems, 
but not through the circulatory system. I have tried 
to produce this disease by giving animals food mixed 
with pus from an actinomycotic tumor, but was not 
successful.” 
A complete cure may be expected if the tumor is 
taken in time, but usually treatment is not begun in 
time and the result is not satisfactory. One treat¬ 
ment is to cut out the tumor with a knife or remove it 
by caustics. A veterinarian ought to be employed to 
do any cutting. In using caustics a small quantity of 
arsenic or corrosive sublimate is wrapped in tissue pa¬ 
per and pushed 
into the center 
of the tumor. 
In the course of 
12 to 15 days 
the diseased tis- 
s u e surround¬ 
ing the caustic 
sloughs out and 
the wound is 
then treated 
with a solution 
of one part cor- 
rosive subli¬ 
mate to 1,000 
parts water. 
The other 
treatment is to 
give doses of 
iodide of potash 
internally, as 
described byDr. 
F. L. Kilborne 
in these pages. 
Dr. Salmon, of 
the U. S. De¬ 
partment of 
Agriculture, 
strongly recom¬ 
mends this 
treatment. Dr. 
Mayo says of 
it: “ The iodide 
of potash treat¬ 
ment consists in giving the iodide of potash in¬ 
ternally, in from one to three dram doses, accord¬ 
ing to the size and age of the animal. The iodide 
of potash should be dissolved in a pint of water 
and given as a drench. In the course of a week a 
condition known as iodism will be produced, there 
will be a slight discharge from the eyes and nostrils 
and the epidermis scales off, especially in the region 
of the neck. The use of the iodide of potash seems 
to .destroy the actinomyces, and the tumor may be 
absorbed. It is necessary to continue the medicine 
for two or three months, and the treatment requires 
much time, and is expensive. This treatment has not 
given good results in my hands. For the first two 
months the tumor is usually absorbed quite rapidly, 
but it usually reaches a stage where further treat¬ 
“ Have you sowed any grain ? ” 
“ No spring grain ; I sowed some rye last fall.” 
“ How is that looking ? ” 
“ First-rate.” 
*• I understand you make quite a specialty of onions. 
Are they doing well ? ” 
\ es, excepting that on low ground they have 
washed out badly.” 
“ Did they come up well ? ” 
“ Fairly well. The wet weather hasn’t injured them 
as it has some of the other crops.” 
1 ‘ One thing I must credit the homeopathic system 
with,” said an old-school doctor the other day. 
“ What is that ? ” 
“The homeopaths have forced us to reduce the 
strength of our doses of medicine. We now use less 
medicine and accomplish better results. It’s like the 
bit of doggerel I read the other day : 
“ When t was a young man,” said Jonathan Gray, 
“ If a fellow took physic he knew It, you bet. 
It would cramp him all up in a colicky way. 
And, good fjord, what a twisting his Insides would get ! 
But the pills in use nowadays by sensible folks 
Are as easy to take and as pleasant as jokes.” 
Hut doesn t the fact that these pills are so sweet 
and pleasant lead people to take more of them than 
they ought to ? ” 
No doubt of it. The best of them, however, are 
too mild to do any serious damage. That, you see, is 
the same principle as decreasing the dose. Better a 
pill than a purge any day.” 
What Ailed Those Hens. —On page 333 C. M. S., 
tells how his flock of fowls died, and wants to know 
what ailed them. They died of what I call “ corn 
cholera,” caused by eating too much corn. I once 
killed 13 out of a flock of 15 fancy Plymouth Rocks 
with corn, and the symptoms were exactly the same 
as those C. M. S. describes. I had been feeding them 
corn on the ear all winter, and, supposing they were 
.sed to it and had sense enough not to eat too much, I 
threw about a peck of shelled corn into the pen one 
morning. They immediately stuffed themselves and 
kept stuffed all that day. The next day they ate but 
little and ihe next none. Then I began to bury them, 
and though I removed the rest of the corn and dosed 
them with various “ remedies,” I had to keep on bury¬ 
ing them until but two were left. Occasionally since 
then a hen would get too much corn in’some way, and 
as soon as the yellow droppings appeared she was 
shut up in a barrel and fed condition powders mixed 
with a small 
quantity of 
Graham bread 
moistened i n 
milk. Under 
this treatment 
about eight out 
of ten recover; 
but they don’t 
begin to lay 
again short of 
six or eight 
weeks. Corn 
should always 
be fed to grown 
fowls on the 
ear. Iftheya'e 
hungry enough 
to want it badly 
they will get it 
off all right, 
but as it is a 
slow, laborious 
job they never 
get too much. 
FRED GRUNDY. 
Christ. Co., Ill. 
Oats and 
Peas.— In a late 
Rural S. P. L. 
inquires con- 
c e r n i n g oats 
and peas. In 
this latitude—the north shore of Long Island Sound 
—in a reasonably good season oats and peas can be 
put in the silo early enough to clear the land for Hun¬ 
garian which in turn will give way to winter grain in 
September. As he is further north, perhaps he cannot 
do it. Like clover, oats and peas is a risky crop to 
cure if the weather happens to be catchy. On the 
other hand, there is some risk of a dearth of experi¬ 
ence regarding hot weather ensilage. A good grist of 
hot weather ensilage experience would be very val¬ 
uable now, for there are large possibilities in it for 
the improvement of summer feeding, e. c. birge. 
Wiiat Do I Know This Spring ?— I know that we 
had a mild, open winter, and stock went through in 
good condition. I know that my cow made a pound 
ment is useless. I have found the hypodermic injec¬ 
tion of a weak solution of iodine (.05 per cent) in the 
affected tissues aids materially in the absorption of 
the tumor.” 
Dr. Mayo says th- re is no danger in eating the flesh 
of affected animals, provided the diseased portions are 
removed. He says : “If the animals are in good con¬ 
dition and the tumor is small, I should consider the 
flesh of such animals as suitable for food ; but if the 
animals are thin, or the tumors large and discharging 
pus freely, they should be condemned, not because 
the flesh is dangerous as food, but because it is not a 
proper or suitable food. To illustrate : If an apple, 
Jaw Bone, showing Effects of Actinomycosis. 
Fig. 139 
otherwise perfect, contains a small decayed spot, if 
the decayed portion is removed, I should consider the 
remainder suitable for food. If the apple is small and 
the decayed portion extensive, it should be rejected, 
not because it is dangerous, but because it is not suit¬ 
able for food.” 
This certainly is a disease that should be “nipped 
in the bud.” 
_ _ ... I l'IW i 
A Case of Lump Jaw with Tumor Outside. Fig. 140. 
Lump Jaw with Tumor Inside Face Bones. Fig. 141. 
MINUTE TALKS WITH FARMERS. 
IMPRESSIONS ON AN EAR DRUM. 
“How are you getting along with the work?” I 
asked a Jersey farmer and trucker the other day. 
“Oh, we’re trying to catch up now. It has been a 
pretty hard spring on us farmers.” 
“ Have you finished planting potatoes yet ? ” 
“Just finished to-day [May 19], a month later than 
we finished last year.” 
“ Didn’t you plant any early ?” 
“Yes, but we would have been better off if we 
hadn]t. I just plowed up half an acre that had all 
rotted, and there are a couple of acres more that I 
presume will have to come up, as there is ( only here 
and there one that has sprouted.” 
