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In the early stages, the marrow is transformed into a vascular connective tissue; its bone-eating functions are exaggerated, and the framework of the bone becomes rarefied, so that it bends under pressure as in osteomalacia. In course of time, however, new bone is formed in great abundance; it is at first devoid of lime salts, but later becomes calcified, so that the bones regain their rigidity.

"These young doctors have taken this out of me, and that out of me, as you might take the works out of a watch. And it has done no good; and they were mistaken in their first diagnoses, because what they took for true osteomalacia was only Would you mind telling me again? Oh, yes; I had only a pseudo-osteomalacic rhachitic pelvis, to begin with.

Rarefying Osteitis, or Degenerative Changes. Certain bone affections, such as osteomalacia or osteoporosis, are in the main, responsible for distortions and morphological changes of bone, causing lameness, permanent blemish and even resulting in death of the affected animal.

The young connective tissue which replaces the marrow is not unlike that seen in osteomalacia; it is highly vascular and may show hæmorrhages of various date; there are abundant giant cells of the myeloma type, and degeneration and liquefaction of tissue may result in the formation of cysts, which, when they constitute a prominent feature, are responsible for the name osteomyelitis fibrosa cystica sometimes applied to the condition.

Osteomalacia is a disease of the bones in adult life, occurring most frequently in puerperal women, but also seen in women not in the puerperal state, and in men. It is characterized by a progressive softening of the bone-substance, from a gradual absorption of the lime salts, and gives rise to considerable deformity, and occasionally to spontaneous fracture.

Anti-scorbutics in the form of orange, lemon, or grape juice, and of potatoes bruised down in milk, may be given. #Osteomalacia.# The term osteomalacia includes a group of conditions, closely allied to rickets, in which the bones of adults become soft and yielding, so that they are unduly liable to bend or break.

In slowly growing forms there may be considerable formation of imperfectly formed bone, often deficient in lime salts; this condition may be widely diffused throughout the skeleton, and, as it is associated with softening and bending of the bones, it is known as cancerous osteomalacia.

Osteomalacia associated with New Growths in the Skeleton. When secondary cancer is widely distributed throughout the skeleton, it is associated with softening of the bones, as a result of which they readily bend or break, and after death are easily cut with a knife. In the disease known as multiple myeloma, the interior of the ribs, sternum, and bodies of the vertebræ is occupied by a reddish gelatinous pulp, the structure of which resembles sarcoma; the bones are reduced to a mere shell, and may break on the slightest pressure; the urine contains albumose, a substance resembling albumen but coagulating at a comparatively low temperature (140°

The lesions in the bones resulting from actinomycosis and from mycetoma, have been described with these diseases. These include rickets, scurvy-rickets, osteomalacia, ostitis deformans, osteomyelitis fibrosa, fragilitas ossium, and diseases of the nervous system. Rickets or rachitis is a constitutional disease associated with disturbance of nutrition, and attended with changes in the skeleton.