210
Rickettsia Conjunctivae Coles in Goats
scarcely demarcated from the surrounding
cellulo-fabrillar masses from which they arise,
and (4) the tendency for the formation of syn-
cytial masses of osteoblasts in apposition with
the newly-formed trabeculae. The whole pic-
ture therefore represents a stage in the develop-
ment of osteo-sclerosis, which is a characteristic
feature of chronic fluorosis in man and rat.
The over-production of young haversian tubes
in the diaphyses of long bones, seeming to
arise from osteoblasts, is also related to endo-
steal activity, and here again the same feature
of osteosclerosis may be said to predominate.
SUMMARY
1. The osseous changes, resulting from a high
fluorine (NaF) intake in mature hill bulls kept
on a diet adequate in calcium and low in phos-
phorus, have been studied, and the gross and
microscopical lesions in certain of the bones
have been described.
2. In connection with pathogenesis, it is
pointed out that the ingestion of fluorine causes
only a mild disturbance in Ca and P meta-
bolism, due probably to reduced appetite of the
animals in an advanced stage of cachexia and
consequent inefficient utilization of food.
3. The pathological changes produced, seem
to be influenced by the calcioprive and the osteo-
genic effects of fluorine.
4. Although osteoporosis of the metaphyses of
long bones may be said to represent a stage in
the development of the final pathological pic-
ture, the lesions do not entirely correspond to
classical osteomalacia.
Certain hyperplastic
changes in the diaphysis and metaphysis of the
long bones and ribs indicate endosteal activity
and the resulting lesions are more suggestive of
osteosclerosis than of osteomalacia.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author is grateful to Dr K. C. Sen,
Officer-in-charge, Animal Nutrition Section,
Imperial Veterinary Research Institute, Izat-
nagar, Dr S. N. Ray and Mr B. N. Majumdar
of the same section for placing at his disposal
experimental animals for pathological studies,
and for providing biochemical data pertaining to
the disease.
He is also obliged to Dr F. C.
Minett for editing the paper.
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OCCURRENCE OF RICKETTSIA CONJUNCTIVAE COLES IN GOATS IN
THE PUNJAB
By M. ABDUSSALAM, Punjab Veterinary College, Lahore
(Received for publication on 2 October 1942)
(With Plate XX and two text-figures)
SINCE Coles [1931] described Rickettsia con-
junctivae as the cause of irido-cyclitis in South
African sheep, several workers have recorded
its occurrence in many other parts of the world.
A closely allied and perhaps identical organism
was later described by Coles [1935] as a cause
of ophthalmia of goats in South Africa. It is
noteworthy that the goat parasite has not been
encountered by the several workers who have
observed ocular rickettsiosis of sheep.
This
disparity may not only be due to the relatively
smaller number of goats in many countries but
also because the pathogenic effects of this pro-
tista are not so severe and manifest in goats
as they are in sheep.
In India Rickettsia conjunctivae was recently
encountered by Nanda and Abdussalam [1943]
and considered to cause contagious keratitis in