the flower, as are the spokes of a wheel about the hub. Technically defined, an actinomorphic flower is said to have as many planes of symmetry as there are members in a cycle. This means that if an imaginary plane be run through each sepal or petal or stamen and the common centre, the two resulting halves of the flower will be similar. More commonly such flowers are spoken of as "regular." See Flower.
AC'TINOMYCO'SIS (Gk. ἀκτίς, aktis, ray,
beam + μύκης, mykēs, mushroom, fungus, ex-
crescence), Lumpy Jaw, or Big Jaw. A specific,
infectious disease produced by a parasitie micro-
organism known as the Ray fungus (Actinomy-
ces bovis). The micro-organism causes local
affections in the form of tumors (Actinomyco-
mata) of the bone and other tissues. The dis-
ease is usually of sporadic occurrence, but some-
times takes the form of an enzoöty. It is most
frequently found in cattle, but affects also
horses, pigs, sheep, deer, llama, guanaco, and
man. Actinomycotic tumors in cattle have been
recognized since 1825, although they have fre-
quently been mistaken for cancerous, tubercu-
lous, and other kinds of tumors. The disease
occurs in all parts of Europe and North and
South America. The Ray fungus is found in
all tumors and abscesses of this disease, wher-
ever situated, and its presence may be detected
by the form of small yellow spots in the muscles
and soft tissues of affected animals. When
slightly magnified these spots are seen to consist
of a radiating structure, which is characteristic
of the growth of the ray fungus. In cattle the
scat of the disease is usually in the inferior
maxillary bones, submaxillary salivary glands,
in the tongue, pharynx, and œsophagus. The
common names, Big Jaw, Lumpy Jaw, Big Head,
and Wooden Tongue are descriptive of the most
frequent forms of actinomycosis in cattle and
horses. When the maxillary bones are affected,
a large bone tumor is formed which shows a
highly vacuolated cancellate structure. Statis-
tics collected in Russia show that in 99% of
cases actinomycosis was located in the head.
In a small percentage of cases the lungs and
intestines are affected. Maxillary tumors in
cattle are almost invariably due to the Ray
fungus, and therefore actinomycosis may be
readily diagnosed.
Considerable difference of opinion prevails regarding the systematic position of the Ray fungus. It has been supposed that the organism has a plant host on which it passes part of its life cycle. The agency of various grasses (especially such as have sharp-pointed awns) in transmitting actinomycosis can hardly be questioned. About 500 cases of this disease in man have been reported in the medical journals, the greater number of cases having occurred as a result of eating raw meat.
Actinomycosis is peculiar in that it yields to a direct specific treatment. In 1885 Thomassen showed that recent cases of the disease could be cured by the internal administration of potassium iodide. In treating actinomycosis in cattle the ordinary practice is to give daily doses of eight to twelve grams of potassium iodide for weekly periods, alternating with shorter periods, in order that the animals may recover from the symptoms of iodism. Actinomycosis follows a slow chronic course of development.
The relationship of the disease to the public health has been much discussed. Apparently infection most frequently takes place in man and cattle through diseased teeth or abrasions of the mucous membrane of the mouth. The identity of actinomycosis in man and cattle is admitted by nearly all investigators, but most authorities hold that its direct transmission to man through eating the meat of affected animals is of rare occurrence. Whether an animal affected with actinomycosis should be used for human food is a question the answer to which depends upon a variety of circumstances. It may, however, be safely asserted that animals in which the disease has become generalized should be condemned. For details concerning actinomycosis consult D. E. Salmon, "Investigations Relating to the Treatment of Lumpy Jaw, or Actinomycosis, in Cattle," U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Animal Industry, Bulletin 2 (Washington, 1893); D. E. Salmon and others, "Special Report on Diseases of Cattle and on Cattle Feeding." Report of U. S. Department of Agriculture for 1892, Bureau of Animal Industry, (Washington, 1892); "Tumeurs des mâchoires observées dans l'espèce bovine," Journal de Médecine Vétérinaire (Paris, 1826).
AC'TINOZO'A. Same as Anthozoa (q.v.).
ACTION (Lat. actio, a doing, performing,
an action, suit, process). A term which, in its
broadest sense, includes every lawful proceeding
in a court of justice for the enforcement or
protection of a right, the redress or prevention
of a wrong, or the punishment of a public
offense. Formerly the term was confined, in
English law, to an ordinary proceeding in a
common law court, while the word suit was
applied to a proceeding in equity. By the
reformed procedure in many of our States, all
distinction between actions at common law and
suits in equity, as well as between the different
forms of common law actions, have been abol-
ished, and only a single civil action is recog-
nized. If the prosecution is not instituted and
carried on by one party against another, it is
denominated by some statutes a special proceed-
ing (q.v.). The earliest classification of com-
mon law actions was: (1) real actions, or those
based on the plaintiff's right of property in
specified lands, so called because the res, or prop-
erty itself, was sought to be recovered; (2)
mixed actions. such as those for partition of
lands, for ejectment or for waste; (3) personal
actions, or those against a particular person
for a money judgment. The distinction between
real and personal actions is the foundation of
the classification of property as real and per-
sonal. (See Property.) This third class was
subdivided into actions ex contractu, such as
debt (q.v.) and covenant (q.v.), and actions
ex delicto, such as trespass (q.v.) and detinue
(q.v.). Again, actions are. divided into local
and transitory, according as they must be
brought in a certain county or slate, or as they
may be brought wherever the defendant is found.
An action for trespass to land is local, and it
must be brought in the State where the land is
situated: while an action for slander of title
(q.v.) to that land is transitory. (See the author-
ities referred to under the various titles above
named.) The action of account at common law was
used much earlier than, and is distinct from, the
action upon an account stated, which came into
the law as a common count (q.v.). The action
of account would lie at common law. and by early
English statute against one acting in a fiduciary
