26 o 
G. F. STARKEY. 
the seat of this development, the germs are borne from one to 
another in rapid succession, leaving a fibrous cord to show the 
route from one to another of the obliterated glands. How long 
this might continue and what the result might be is a matter of 
supposition with me, for I have never seen a case where more 
than twenty-three of these glands were affected, and that was 
not of long standing, so responded readily to treatment. When 
the tongue is the seat of the lesion, the stock owner, as a rule, 
dos not understand that medical interference is necessary until 
so late that a greatly enlarged organ, covered with ulcers, is 
what we usually find. Actinomycosis of the tongue seems to 
form an apparent exception to the rule that actinomycosis can¬ 
not exist in the muscle of the bovine species. A careful exam¬ 
ination of the superficial structure of the tongue, however, will 
reveal the true cause. When this disease affects the pulmonary 
tissue the ante-mortem examination is not in most cases satis¬ 
factory proof; but in all such a post-mortem will readily reveal 
the nature and extent of the lesion. In cases of pharyngeal 
actinomycosis, the primary seat of the disease is generally ex¬ 
ternal and affects those parts simply by extension. The seat of 
the trouble may be, however, of primary origin in the pharynx, 
for even here, as in the intestinal tract, the membrane may be 
removed and leave a fit place for actinomycotic development. 
Age, sex, color, size, or breed seem to have no effect upon these 
formations. The fact that this disease is communicable by in¬ 
oculation, and that it affects mankind has raised the question 
—is the flesh of animals affected with actinomycosis fit for hu¬ 
man food ? In my opinion this depends entirely upon the effect 
the germ and tumor has upon the general health of the animal. 
I care not how large the tumor, or of how long standing, so 
long as the general health of the animal remains unimpaired and 
it continues to thrive and fatten, I believe that all the carcass of 
such animals except the tumor is free from taint and perfectly 
wholesome for human consumption as food. In any case I be¬ 
lieve there is no danger of communication to man even if the 
animal is becoming thin and emaciated from the effects of the 
