PERIOSTITIS. 
103 
PERIOSTITIS. 
By A. A. Holcombe, D. V. S., N. Y. 
[Continued from Page 149 .] 
In so far as we have observed, the Veterinary works in the English 
language are almost entirely destitute of any information concerning 
the disease of which we are attempting to treat, and the profession will 
appreciate the difficulties to be overcome, and the inevitable errors 
which will occur, in the exposition of periostitis as it occurs in the dif¬ 
ferent parts of the entire osseous system, by one who has seen so limited 
an amount of practice. In treating of this disease as it occurs in differ¬ 
ent parts of the body, we have thought it best to consider the regions in 
the order of their most frequent seat of occurrence. 
It is the long bones which, as a rule, are subject to the acute form 
of periostitis, hence their consideration will be left until the last. 
The short, flat, and irregular bones being usually the subjects of the 
chronic form of this disease, will be divided into six different regions.— 
1st, the phalanges ; 2d, the tarsus; 3d, tlie carpus; 4th, the inferior 
maxilla; 5th, the vertebral column, including bones of the head; and 
the 6th, comprising the scapula, sternum, ribs and pelvis. 
PERIOSTITIS OF THE PHALANGES. 
Inflammation of the periosteum covering the last phalange, or os 
pedis, is due, in the majority of cases, to traumatic influences, as punc¬ 
tured wounds, toe-crack, quarter-crack, concussion, &c., yet it is some¬ 
times met with as an accompaniment of disease of the neighboring joints 
and contiguous tissues. While punctured wounds of the feet are sel¬ 
dom seen in the country, nothing is more common, especially in the 
spring of the year, than the picking up of nails in the streets of our 
cities, and although the wounds at the time may seem trivial, they are 
often followed by untoward consequences, as will be attested by every 
practitioner, and perhaps especially so by our friend Mr. Mclnnes, of 
Charleston, South Carolina, who reported in the Veterinary Joitrnal for 
March, 1876, some twenty-five cases of tetanus as the result of punc¬ 
tured wounds. 
Any instrument perforating the walls of the foot and wounding the 
bone must of necessity be followed by a more or less circumscribed 
