her any special condition of the soil favors it. Very
little positive information is at hand on these questions. It would be very
desirable for those who live in localities where this disease is prevalent
to make statistical and other observations on the occurrence of the disease
with reference to the season of the year, the kind of feed, the nature of
the soil (whether swampy or dry, recently reclaimed, or cultivated for a
long time) upon which the animals are pastured or upon which the feed is
grown.

It is highly probable that such investigations will lead to an
understanding of the source of the fungus and the means for checking the
spread of the disease itself. Veterinarian Jensen, of Denmark, made some
observations upon an extensive outbreak of actinomycosis a number of years
ago which led him to infer that the animals were inoculated by eating
barley straw harvested from pieces of ground just reclaimed from the sea.
While the animals remained unaffected so long as they pastured on this
ground or ate the hay obtained from it, they became diseased after eating
the straw of cereals from the same territory. Others have found that cattle
grazing upon low pastures along the banks of streams and subject to
inundations are more prone to the disease. It has also been observed that
feed gathered from such grounds, even after prolonged drying, may give rise
to the disease. Actinomycosis is not infrequent in cattle in the Southwest
and is generally supposed to be the result of eating the prickly fruit of
the cactus plant, causing wounds of the mucous membrane and subsequent
infection with the parasite. Much additional information of a similar kind
must be forthcoming before the source and manner of infection in this
disease and its dependence upon external conditions will be known. It is
not at all improbable that they may vary considerably from place to place.

_Treatment._--Until recently this has been almost entirely surgical. When
the tumors are external and attached to soft parts only, an early removal
may lead to recovery. This, of course, can be undertaken only by a trained
veterinarian, especially as the various parts of the head and neck contain
important vessels, nerves, and ducts which should be injured as little as
possible in any operation. Unless the tumor is completely removed it will
reappear. Disease of the jawbones is at best a very serious matter and
treatment is liable to be of no avail.

In March, 1892,