ACTINOMYKOS1S. 
159 
Jolme subsequently examined the tonsils of twenty-four pigs 
wliieli were apparently quite healthy, and with only two excep¬ 
tions found them free from these fungi, lie could never discover 
them in the tonsils of cattle. 
Pathology. 
There can scarcely be any doubt as to the etiology of act! 
nomykosis. The actinomyces is constantly found in new for¬ 
mations of a special kind, and through its irritating and disinte¬ 
grating influence it not only produces these formations, but sets 
up destructive processes in the tissues in which it may locate 
itself; and sooner or later, unless it loses its power or is removed 
from them, it causes their death. An actin07nyces tumor must, 
therefore, be looked upon as what German pathologist designate 
an “ infection tumor,” and actinomykosis as an infectious dis¬ 
ease. 
As has been said, the tumors offer certain distinctive char¬ 
acters, and all tumors possessing these characters contain the 
fungus. Externally these growths, be they large or small, 
present various appearances; but they are generally round, lobu¬ 
lar, or fungiform in shape, smooth on the surface, and soft in 
consistency, like the poly pi-sarcomata, or somewhat hard, like 
the fibro-sareomata or fibromata. In color they also vary—the 
latter being of a greyish-white, or light-yellow tint; the former 
are darker, less vascular, and often stained by blood extravasa¬ 
tions. Studding the surface, and particularly in the softer variety, 
are generally seen a multitude of small, very yellow nodules, 
whose presence is really a diagnostic feature. On section, the 
typical character of the actinomykoma is best displayed. Im¬ 
bedded in the fibrous stroma of the growth are noticed the various 
sized nodules, more or less numerous, small and isolated, or in 
confluent rounded masses the size of a hazel or walnut, grey or 
yellow in color, of a cheesy softness, and in the very smallest of 
them are a number of minute particles or centre, sulphur-yellow 
in tint, which are the clusters of the actinomyces. If one of the 
cheesy masses is submitted to pressure or teased out, these par¬ 
ticles—which resemble lycopodium seeds—are slightly separated 
from the matter around them. 
