und in the soft tissue should be kept open until the cavity in the bone
has filled with granulation tissue.

RICKETS.

This disease, also called "rachitis," is an inflammatory affection of
young, growing bones, and mostly involves the ribs and long bones of the
legs. It consists in a failure of the organism to deposit lime salts in
bone, and for this reason the bones do not ossify so rapidly as they
should. The cartilaginous ends of the bones grow rapidly, but ossification
does not keep pace with it. The bones become long and their ends bend at
the joints, the legs become crooked, and the joints are large and
irregular. All the bones affected with this disease are thicker than
normal, and the gait of the animal is stiff and painful. A row of bony
enlargements may be found where the ribs articulate with the cartilages
connecting them with the breastbone and is called the "beaded line." A
catarrhal condition of the digestive tract is usually observed. The disease
may result from an inherited weakness of constitution, poor hygienic
surroundings, or improper diet. Calves and foals are less frequently
affected with rickets than dogs and pigs.

_Treatment._--The affected animal should have nourishing feed containing a
proper quantity of lime salts. Outdoor exercise and plenty of fresh air are
indispensable. Limewater should be given once daily for drinking purposes
and ground bone meal mixed with the food. Phosphorus, one-fortieth of a
grain, and calcium phosphate, 1 dram, given twice daily to a 2-month-old
calf, and proportionally increased for older animals, has proved
efficacious in this disease. In some cases the long bones of the limbs are
too weak at birth to support the weight of the animal, and temporary
splints, carefully padded and wrapped on with some soft bandages, become
necessary.

OSTEOMALACIA (CREEPS).

This is a condition of bone brittleness or softening of bone found usually
in adult life. It consists in the decalcification of mature bone, with the
advancing diminution of the compact portion of bone by absorption. The
periosteum strips very easily from the bone. This disease is seen in milch
cows during the period of heavy lactation or in the later stages of
pregnancy, and the greater the yield of milk the more rapid the progress of
the disease. Heifers with their first calves are frequently affected, as
these animals require a considerable quantity of mineral salts for their
own growth and for the