As diseases are peculiarly liable to change

As diseases are peculiarly liable to change

As diseases are peculiarly liable to change

The brain, both Blaine and Youatt speak of as subject to inflammation during the latter stage of distemper. As diseases are peculiarly liable to change, and the appearances assumed at different times are by no means uniform, I may not say those estimable writers never beheld it in such a state; but I am certain I have never seen it in a similar condition; I have found it congested, but far oftener have I discovered it perfectly healthy. One of its coverings (the dura mater) has exhibited a few spots of congestion, but these have been small, each not larger than the head of a moderate sized pin, and in number about ten or twelve; generally they are situated towards the anterior of the cranium (on either side or falx), and near to the crista galli.

Are not heard in every instance even of this kind

Are not heard in every instance even of this kind

Are not heard in every instance even of this kind

The cries, however, are not heard in every instance even of this kind, and the abdomen is not generally sensitive to pressure. When the belly is handled, the dog, by contracting the muscles covering the parts, may denote some small degree of resistance; but I have never known it to struggle during the operation. The curving of the spine, the occasional looks towards the seat of agony, and the efforts made to press or draw the belly upon the ground, will indicate the inflammatory character and the locality of the disease. The pulse does not materially aid the judgment; it becomes quicker and more sharp, but hardly to such an extent that dependence can be placed on its indications. The discharges often cease when the disease, in an acute form, becomes concentrated upon the contents of the abdomen; but the nose is almost always hot and harsh, though in a few cases I have known the part remain cold and moist even to the last. As the close draws near, a very peculiar smell, not absolutely powerful, but more sickly than offensive, is emitted. This odor is consequent upon the fæces, and when it is detected the animal seldom or never survives.

The stomach and intestines are always involved

The stomach and intestines are always involved

The stomach and intestines are always involved

The stomach and intestines are always involved; I have never known a case in which either escaped. The affection of the first is generally shown by sickness during the earliest stage; when also the derangement of the last is denoted by either costiveness or relaxation, the bowels never being perfectly regular; towards the latter stages, or about the third or fourth week, the appetite sometimes becomes enormous; the craving for food is then unnatural, and is so intense that no quantity can appease the hunger. The animal will eat anything; dry bread is taken with avidity, and stones, cinders, straw, and every species of filth are eaten with apparent relish. Such, however, is not always the case, since it is not unusual for the appetite entirely to fail. In either instance the dog rapidly wastes; the flesh seems to melt as it were away, and the change produced by a few days is startling; from having been fat, a thinness which exposes every bone is witnessed in a shorter time than would be supposed possible. At this period vomiting may come on; but when the animal is morbidly ravenous, the stomach does not generally reject its contents. After death I have found it loaded with the most irritating substances, and always acutely inflamed; but no sickness in any instance of this kind has been observed. Vomiting is most generally absent, but the protruded and reddened appearance of the anus will give a clue to the actual condition of the alimentary tube. The stomach is inflamed, not throughout, but in various parts which are in different stages of disease. The pyloric orifice is always more affected than the cardiac; the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum, are inflamed; the cæcum is enlarged, inflamed, and generally impacted. The rectum, however, suffers most severely; it is much reddened and thickened, often to an extraordinary degree. I have known blood to be exuded from the surface of this bowel in such quantities as to destroy the life from actual hemorrhage. In one case, however, a spaniel vomited more than half-a-pint of blood previous to its death, which took place two hours afterwards. A small quantity of blood is ordinarily passed with the fæces toward the latter stage; but in several cases a large amount of pure blood, partly coagulated and unmingled with any fæcal matter, has flowed from the body in a continued stream, to which there will be cessation only as death approaches. The possibility of this occurring will give the reader some idea of the extent and degree in which the bowels are or may be diseased; the symptoms, nevertheless, are not such as would suggest the danger which may be shortly violently exemplified. Irregularity of the intestines may be remarked; but it is not so characterised as to force itself upon the attention. The belly during distemper mostly appears tucked up and small; the intestines, even when costiveness exists, are seldom loaded, but all except the rectum may feel empty. The animal is always bound when the bowels are acutely attacked. The first indication we get of this is often colic. The cries are high and yet full at first; but they only occur at periods, between which the dog seems easy and inclined to sleep; gradually the exclamations become more sharp and short, a quantity of dark-coloured fæces are voided, and relief is for a time experienced; the cries, however, return and become continuous; diarrhœa sets in; the excretions become more and more liquid, by degrees mixed with blood, and of a lighter color. Whenever they are discharged, pain is expressed; but as the animal sinks the cries grow less frequent, till at last the excrements pass involuntarily, and death soon takes place.

Whereas I know of no age that is exempt from its attack

Whereas I know of no age that is exempt from its attack

Whereas I know of no age that is exempt from its attack

Everything concerning distemper is by the generality of the public misunderstood. Most people imagine a dog can have the distemper but once in its life; whereas I had a patient that underwent three distinct attacks in one autumn, that of 1849. The majority of persons who profess an intimate knowledge of the dog will tell you distemper is a disorder peculiar to the young; whereas I know of no age that is exempt from its attack. I have known dogs, high-bred favorites, to be left with men selected because of their supposed familiarity with dog diseases; and these very men have brought to me the animals in the fits which are the wind-up of distemper, yet notwithstanding have been ignorant that their charges had any disease whatever. All the stages and symptoms of ordinary distemper may appear and depart unnoticed; but it is widely different with yellow distemper, for when the yellowness appears, it is so marked that no description of a peculiar symptom need be inserted, since it cannot be overlooked or mistaken. It is attended with excessive debility, and, unless properly combated, is rapidly fatal.

The liver is generally involved

The liver is generally involved

The liver is generally involved

The liver is generally involved. After the termination of a fatal case, this gland is found either soft or more brittle than it ought to be, else it is discovered much enlarged. I never saw it of less than its natural size. Generally it is discolored, mostly of a pale tint; which sometimes exists all over the organ, though the pendulous edges of the lobes are very generally seen of the bright red, suggestive of inflammation. The gall-bladder is always distended with a thin dark-green fluid or impure bile; and a large quantity of the same secretion, but of greater consistency, is distributed over the lining membrane of the anterior intestines. The liver obviously is the cause of the yellow distemper, which is no more than jaundice added to the original and pre-existing disease. Yellow distemper is by writers treated of as a distinct disorder, but I have not yet met with it in that form. When it has come under my notice, it has been no more than one of the many complications which the symptoms are liable to assume. The dog has been ill before his skin became discolored; but the eyes not exhibiting that ordinary discharge which denotes the true character of the affection under which he labored, the distemper was not detected.

I know it only as a mild variation of the ordinary symptoms

I know it only as a mild variation of the ordinary symptoms

I know it only as a mild variation of the ordinary symptoms

Dogs of late years have not commonly died of pneumonia during the distemper; but authors speak of the pulmonary form of the disorder as having formerly been a common cause of death. I know it only as a mild variation of the ordinary symptoms. It has not in any case under my observation proved fatal, but has readily yielded to gentle measures, aided by attention to simple diet.

Though cough is quite as often absent as present

Though cough is quite as often absent as present

Though cough is quite as often absent as present

The affection of the lungs is denoted by the dog breathing more quickly, and often making a small plaintive or whistling noise during respiration. Though cough is quite as often absent as present; but if present it is usually severe; the pulse is increased, but small and thready, and the appetite may not be impaired. The animal is, however, disinclined to move, if put down at liberty, it always gets into some place where it hopes to be allowed to remain undisturbed. As the symptoms become more intense, the animal constantly sits upon its haunches; but I have not seen it carry the head erect, although authors state this to be one of the indications. There is a desire for fresh air, and the dog will always leave the house, or get to the window or door, if he have an opportunity of so doing. These signs are hardly to be mistaken, but they are easily confirmed. If the ear be applied to the side of a healthy dog's chest, no sound can be detected; but when the lungs are diseased, a very plain noise is readily heard. The presence, therefore, of any murmur, or of anything like air escaping over a dry rough surface, is indicative of disease, and the certainty that the lungs are involved is confirmed.

The eyes lose their transparency

The eyes lose their transparency

The eyes lose their transparency

The eyes lose their transparency, the surface is white and opaque, the sight is impaired, and the lids are nearly constantly closed. One or both of the organs of vision may be thus affected; usually the two are simultaneously affected, but seldom with the like intensity. After a few days, and sometimes at the commencement, a small circular depression is to be seen upon the very centre of the eyeball. It is round, and varies in size from that of a pin's head to that of a small pea, but rarely becomes larger. The depression, if nothing be done to check it, deepens till a little shallow pit is exhibited. At other times the hole grows larger and deeper, till the outer covering of the eye is absorbed, or, in common phrase, is eaten through, and the water escapes: this gives relief. If, however, the animal survives, the eye is often perfectly restored, though very frequently a white speck marks the spot which was ulcerated; or the dog is left with weakened eyes, and has a tendency to cataract, which may ultimately render it blind.

There is an abatement of the symptoms

There is an abatement of the symptoms

There is an abatement of the symptoms

Commonly, after the second stage, there is an abatement of the symptoms, without any actual cessation in the discharges. The dog is concluded to be better, and thought to be doing well, but it will not be long before something to excite alarm is witnessed. The eyes or nerves, or lungs or liver, or stomach or intestines may be attacked; or a pustular eruption, or actual mange, or a disposition in the animal to eat its own flesh, or chorœa, or paralysis may appear, and all of these possible varieties require to be separately dwelt upon.

The animal suddenly so far recovers

The animal suddenly so far recovers

The animal suddenly so far recovers

More frequently indeed, in the majority of cases the distemper is hardly well developed before it all at once seems to disappear. This peculiarity in the disorder has no doubt given strength to the general faith in specifics for this disease. The animal suddenly so far recovers, or appears to recover, after having been seriously affected, that the inexperienced naturally conclude the dog is either quite well, or evidently so far cured that the efficacy of the remedy administered is not to be disputed. For two or three weeks this deceptive appearance may continue, and in some cases no return of the symptoms may be witnessed; but in the majority of instances the disorder is only dormant, and again starts up as if it had been strengthened by its treacherous repose. The running from the nose comes back in excessive quantities, and either the bowels are singly inflamed, or with them the brain is involved, and fits or diarrhœa, or both united, speedily terminate in death, to arrest which medicine has seldom the power. The loss is on these occasions rarely attributed to distemper, which is thought to have been subdued; but death is commonly set down to fits, or to poison, or to inflammation of the bowels, or to anything else which the imagination of the proprietor may conceive. Hence we get an insight into the value of a large number, and perhaps into all, of the reputed nostrums; and hence it is the more necessary the reader should be made aware of those indications which denote the virus is not eradicated, but only latent as it were, lurking, to spring with greater certainty upon its victim. No one must conclude the distemper is mastered if the dog continues to lose flesh, or if the animal does not rapidly repair the waste consequent upon the earlier stages of the disorder. This tendency to stand still or decline should be carefully observed, and it will seldom deceive. When it is remarked, or even suspected, let the owner be upon his guard. When the distemper is actually overcome, there is a marked disposition to fatten; indeed, so strong is it at this time that, should it not be evident, there can be no doubt as to the cause, especially if a short and slight attack of the disorder has been known to have occurred a little time before. A warning, equally clear to those who will look for and can read it, is to be obtained from the eyes. These may be bright, and even peculiarly transparent; the face have a more animated expression than it displayed during previous health; but if the eyelids are retracted, the membranes will be found red, and the vessels before observed upon will be seen running over the white of the eye. When these things are present, although the coat may be beautifully smooth, the discharge dried up, the shivering gone, the appetite strong, and the spirits boisterous, still there is in the system the seeds of a disease which at no distant period will reappear in its most dangerous form.

When the symptoms described are apparent

When the symptoms described are apparent

When the symptoms described are apparent

When the symptoms described are apparent, the distemper is easily recognised, but it is not likely to continue stationary for any long period. In the course of a week it generally changes its character, and sometimes appears to subside altogether; the cases in which the disease steadily progresses, becoming day by day more severe, being comparatively rare.

When no abatement is witnessed, the case is not to be despaired of, but it requires to be anxiously watched; for often it will take a sudden turn, sometimes favorable, but more frequently demanding immediate assistance to prevent a fatal termination. The symptoms become aggravated. The eyes are clogged by a thick matter which glues the lids together, especially in the morning. The nostrils are plugged up by an accumulation of tenacious discharge, which becomes encrusted over the lips and nose, and impedes the breathing. The body rapidly wastes, though the appetite may return, and even be voracious. The shivering is constant. The dog seeks repose and is disinclined to move; though at times it may be playful, and in some instances will never exhibit any diminution of spirit. The cough may continue; but it more often ceases, or is only heard at irregular and distant intervals. The animal makes repeated and desperate efforts to expel the accumulated matter from the nose, and uses its paws evidently with an intention to remove the annoyance. Day by day, if not attended to, these signs grow more aggravated; the breath becomes very offensive; ulcers appear on the lips; the eyes become white; the discharge from the nostrils changes its color, and is mingled with blood and scabs, having an offensive odor. The creature at last begins to "yap," or utter short sharp cries. It becomes more weak, till at length it cannot walk, but lies upon its side; the noise being continued for hours, and then ceasing only to be again commenced. Constipation has usually been present, but at last diarrhœa sets in; the fæces have that peculiar smell which in the dog is characteristic of the latest stage of all; and gradually death, without a seeming struggle, closes the scene of suffering.

When the disease is established

When the disease is established

When the disease is established

When the disease is established, the animal is sensitive to cold. It seeks warmth, and is constantly shivering; when taken hold of, it is felt to tremble violently, so much so that the pulse cannot be accurately counted. The bowels are generally constipated. A thick purulent discharge flows from the eyes; and the white around the eye, if the upper lid be retracted, will be seen covered with numerous small and bright red vessels, giving to the part the appearance of acute inflammation. The vessels now spoken of are not to be confounded with the veins which are natural to this organ. These last are large, and of a purple hue, while their course is in the direction of the circumference of the cornea. The small vessels, indicative of distemper, are fine, bright in color, and their course is towards the centre, or in a line directly the opposite to that indicated by the veins. They are never present during health, though they are often to be witnessed in other diseases besides that which is here treated of. A glairy mucus, or yellow fluid, moistens the nostrils, and if the ear be applied to the head, the breathing will be discovered to be accompanied with an unusual sound. The cough is often severe and frequent; it is sometimes spasmodic the fits being almost convulsive, and terminating with the ejection of a small quantity of yellow frothy liquid, which is thrown off by the stomach. The digestion is always impaired, and sickness is not unusual; the matter vomited having an offensive smell, and never being again consumed by the animal, as is generally the case when the creature is in health. The nose is dry and harsh; the coat staring and devoid of gloss: the skin hotter than is customary, and the paws warm. The pulse is perhaps quicker by twenty beats than during the prior stage, but less full the artery feeling sharp, short, and thin under the finger.

Will also have to be taken into consideration

Will also have to be taken into consideration

Will also have to be taken into consideration

The period of the year, however, will also have to be taken into consideration; and inquiry should always be made whether any animals in the immediate neighborhood are known to have exhibited the disorder; because the disease is then proved to be in the locality. At this stage the practitioner is always more or less in the dark; and therefore he contents himself with such measures as he concludes are adapted to the symptoms, and waits for further instructions which nature will speedily develope.

They may assume almost any form

They may assume almost any form

They may assume almost any form

The symptoms in the very early stage are not well marked or by any means distinguished for their regularity. They may assume almost any form; dulness and loss of appetite, purging, or vomiting, are very frequently the first indications. The more than usual moisture of the eyes, and a short cough, are often the earliest signs that attract attention. In the bitch a desire for copulation, with a disinclination to accept the dog, is to be regarded with suspicion; as is also a display of peevishness and a wish to be undisturbed in full-grown animals. These things denote no more than the derangement of the system; but if, conjoined with them, the inner surface of the lower eyelid should appear to be more red than usual, and the pulse should be increased in number without being materially altered in character ranging from one hundred and twenty to one hundred and thirty in puppies, and in dogs from one hundred and ten to one hundred and twenty-five the probability of distemper making its appearance is the greater, though even then by no means certain.

This last fact I have often proved

This last fact I have often proved

This last fact I have often proved

Exercise and food, however, do influence the complaint. The dog that is free suffers much less severely than the one that is confined. The animal that never tastes flesh has a much lighter attack than the one which subsists entirely upon meat. This last fact I have often proved. When the distemper has made its appearance, the opportunity for changing the diet has passed away. We have, then, only a choice of dangers. To remove the flesh to which the animal is accustomed is to cause it to pine and to weaken the strength, at a time when vigor is of every importance; whereas to continue the meat is mostly certain death; in this position I generally take away the flesh, for by so doing I give the patient a chance of recovery; and however desperate that chance may be, nevertheless it is to be much preferred to no chance at all.

When treating of a subject like the present

When treating of a subject like the present

When treating of a subject like the present

When treating of a subject like the present, there would seem to be a disposition to string together a number of words which do duty for information. Cold, wet, bad food, foul air, excessive exertion, fear, &c., are grouped together, and put forth for almost every "ill that flesh is heir to;" but I have to learn that these accepted terms have any connexion with the development of this disorder. Dogs that are starved, neglected, and cruelly tortured animals that are judiciously fed, properly housed, and sensibly treated as well as favorites that are crammed, nursed, and humored all equally are its victims; and those which are most cared for fall most frequently, while those which are least prized more generally survive. If, therefore, privation or exposure be of any importance, the facts seem to infer their tendencies are either to check or mitigate the attack.

With regard to other causes I know

With regard to other causes I know

With regard to other causes I know

With regard to other causes, I know of none. I have not been able to observe that any circumstance can induce the disease, though at particular ages the animals are predisposed to its exhibition.

During the latter period of dentition that is, when the second set of incisors are well up, and the permanent tusks are about half-grown, the temporary ones being still retained is the time when pups are most disposed to display this disorder. I cannot state the precise age, because mouths are not regular in their appearances even as to mouths; but the aspect of the teeth will sufficiently mark the period when an individual may be expected to be attacked. The season certainly, in no little degree, influences the disease. In winter it is not usually seen; in the spring it is more common; in summer is rare, but less so than in winter. During the autumn, however, especially if much rain should fall, it is very frequent, and always more prevalent than at any other periods. Spring and autumn, therefore, are the times when it is to be looked for, but in the latter it is to be anticipated.

The causes cannot be well ascertained

The causes cannot be well ascertained

The causes cannot be well ascertained

The causes cannot be well ascertained. Contagion has been by the majority of writers supposed to be its principal source, but I cannot say my experience has corroborated that opinion. My own little cur never had the distemper, and yet she lived where the disease was scarcely ever absent. Animals virulently affected were daily brought to me, and not a few were left in my charge. From these she was not kept separate; they were her acquaintances and companions; she played with them, and often by choice shared their beds; and nevertheless she died without exhibiting the disease. I do not generally put those dogs by themselves which are affected with distemper; yet I cannot bring to mind the instance of an animal while under my care having caught the disorder. I doubt whether there is any justice in the general opinion. It would be hard to prove the prevailing notion was a prejudice, yet there can be no doubt that it is much more insisted upon than it deserves to be.

Which prevents the two diseases from appearing exactly the same

Which prevents the two diseases from appearing exactly the same

Which prevents the two diseases from appearing exactly the same

In its character, distemper approaches very near to "continued fever" in the human subject; the chief difference being consequent upon the more delicate constitution and more irritable temperament of the dog, which prevents the two diseases from appearing exactly the same. It consists in a general fever, which produces a morbid excitement of all the mucous membranes. The digestive track is the principal seat of the disease, but of course its presence is most easily recognised at those parts which are most exposed to view. Thus the membrane of the eye, being a comparatively large surface, and by its delicacy well calculated to denote every variation of the system, is usually the first observed, and often the only place inspected. If this be cloudy or watery, the nature of the malady is at once concluded; the membrane of the nose also, though less palpable, is under observation; and if its secretion be copious and opaque, the fact is generally imagined to be established. The alterations, however, exhibited by these membranes are no more than sympathetic derangements, they being continuous with the more important organs; and when proofs are found in the eyes or nose, the disorder is generally confirmed, or has taken hold of the system. Some have supposed the disease originated in the nose, and thence extended to other parts; now I shall not stop here to consider so groundless an hypothesis. It essentially is fever affecting the entire of the mucous surfaces, but especially those of the alimentary canal.

In the instances where a single dose is depended upon

In the instances where a single dose is depended upon

In the instances where a single dose is depended upon

The unfounded belief that all of these animals must have the disease makes every one anticipate its advent, and tempts them to call every ailment by the name suggested by their expectations. Two-thirds, at least, of the cases which are so quickly cured by nostrums and specifics would on inquiry prove to have been mistaken; and as, in the instances where a single dose is depended upon, nature is pretty much left to herself, the chances are that a fair share of the rest would get well of themselves. The recovery, however, could in no way be expedited by that which is credited for its accomplishment; since the little done is mostly calculated to aggravate and not to alleviate the symptoms, while there is no possibility it should eradicate the disorder.

Let the many tales about never-failing receipts

Let the many tales about never-failing receipts

Let the many tales about never-failing receipts

The reader is entreated to dismiss from his mind all he may have read, or heard, or thought of this affection. Let the many tales about never-failing receipts, and the only proper modes of treatment, be for a time at all events forgotten, that the author, who undertakes to oppose prejudice and to contradict authority, may at least have a patient hearing. There is no reason to doubt that many cases which have been called distemper have, to all appearance, been saved by each of the reputed methods of cure. A pillet of tobacco, a tea-spoonful of salt, a dose of castor oil, an emetic, rubbing the nose with syrup of buckthorn, &c., &c., or anything that is famed for the purpose, may have often seemed to check the disease; but no one who has been accustomed to depend on these charms can deny he has frequently witnessed their failure. That they should sometimes have seemed to do good is easily explained. In the first place, there are very few persons who know how to recognise the early symptoms of the malady; but it is usual for every young dog that is a little poorly to be pronounced sick with the distemper.

Distemper has been hitherto regarded as an inflammatory disorder

Distemper has been hitherto regarded as an inflammatory disorder

Distemper has been hitherto regarded as an inflammatory disorder

Distemper has been hitherto regarded as an inflammatory disorder, which was to be conquered only by antiphlogistic remedies. Bleeding, purging, vomiting, sedatives, blisters, and setons were employed; and the more acute the attack, the more violent were the means resorted to for the purpose of its conquest. Under such treatment I do not wonder at the evil character which the malady has obtained; for in proportion as the efforts made were great, so would be the probability of the disease proving destructive. There can be no doubt that more dogs have been killed for the distemper than would have died from it if nature had been suffered to take her course; and yet there is no disease that more requires help, or rewards the practitioner more largely for the assistance he affords.

The disorder is feared only because it is not understood

The disorder is feared only because it is not understood

The disorder is feared only because it is not understood

My experience does not corroborate these various but harmonious accounts and opinions. In my conviction, the disorder is feared only because it is not understood, and is rendered worse by the injudicious attempts to relieve it. I find it tractable, easily mastered, and when submitted to me before the system is exhausted, I am very seldom disappointed by the result of my treatment. It has for some time been my custom to tell those who bring me an animal affected with this complaint, that if my directions are strictly followed, the creature "shall not die." When saying this, I pretend not to have life or death at my command, and the mildest affections will sometimes terminate fatally; but I merely mean to imply, that when proper measures are adopted, distemper is less likely to destroy than the majority of those diseases to which the dog is liable.

Distemper.

Distemper.

Of all the diseases to which the dog is subject, this one is the most dreaded. Writers have agreed it is the scourge of the canine race. Blaine and Youatt speak of it as capricious and untractable; the French regard it as incurable. The owners of dogs, despairing of benefit from regular means, have for a long time been content to trust in charms and specifics. Folly and cruelty have been embraced to accomplish that which kindness and science appear unequal to perform; and one general feeling seems to be entertained with regard to the distemper most persons being agreed that the disorder is not to be subdued by medicine, and that its fatality is independent of the best efforts of man to check it.

Names are in medicine dangerous things

Names are in medicine dangerous things

Names are in medicine dangerous things

No notice will be bestowed upon those mysterious compounds known as alteratives, sedatives, &c., which are given merely because habit has sanctioned their administration. Names are in medicine dangerous things, and give a currency to error which, to man and beast alike, has proved fatal. Neither will any attempt be made to classify diseases; which custom, though it has some advantages, is likely to mislead, by setting up a system where no positive connexion can be demonstrated. The disorders of the dog in this work will be treated of after no formal plan; but the index must supply that want of arrangement, the absence of pretence to which probably will give offence to regular students.

Youatt in his recommendation is much better

Youatt in his recommendation is much better

Youatt in his recommendation is much better

On no account should such doses as Blaine prescribes ever be exhibited. Youatt in his recommendation is much better, but even the amount he orders is too great. A quarter of a grain of tartar emetic in solution is sufficient for a middling sized dog; and four grains of ipecacuanha is equally effective. If in two hours (which rarely happens) no effect is produced, it is better to repeat the dose, and continue even to do so, than to commence with a larger quantity in the first instance. These animals in their constitutions are so various, and the practitioner has so little to guide his judgment, that the utmost caution will not in every instance protect him from self-reproach; and in no case is he warranted in closing his mind against the suggestions of prudence. It is true the primary effects of an emetic are generally gratifying, but the after consequences, if carefully traced, will not be found to be equally satisfactory. Often the purge and the vomit, with which every dabbler commences his treatment of a "dog-case," appear to give relief; but, commonly, when the immediate excitation which their first operation naturally calls forth passes away, debility ensues, and the termination is not in harmony with the beginning. I once was very partial to emetics. I now rarely make use of them, and have no reason to lament my change of practice.

It is true the dog can readily be made to vomit

It is true the dog can readily be made to vomit

It is true the dog can readily be made to vomit

The description denotes nothing calculated to suggest that the organ whose derangement is so marked should be rudely tampered with. It is true the dog can readily be made to vomit. No creature is more easily moved in that way; but in such a circumstance reason should perceive no license to thrust emetics down the animal's throat. The organ which is so readily excited, by the fact asserts its sensibility, and on that very account ought to be the more respected. I have found oftener difficulty to check this tendency than reason to provoke it. Repeatedly are tonics rejected, and only by the reduction of the dose can the dog's stomach be made to retain the medicine. The emetics in common use are, moreover, far too violent. Antimonial wine, from half a teaspoonful to a dessertspoonful, is much preferable to tartar emetic and calomel.

Being so universally employed by the owners of dogs

Being so universally employed by the owners of dogs

Being so universally employed by the owners of dogs

Emetics are shamefully abused, being so universally employed by the owners of dogs, and so strenuously recommended by writers upon their treatment, that one might think these agents were held to possess some charmed power over the health of the animal. Lecturers are marvellously fluent upon the subject of the dog's vomiting, which they dwell upon with such delight that their auditors must suppose the act of revulsion in the canine species is a pleasurable performance. Let any one, however, possessed of sense and reason, observe the creature in the act of being sick. The attitude is not characterised by ease; but the body is drawn up preparatory for some unusual effort. The countenance does not bespeak tranquillity; but the face is expressive of inward oppression. The animal's frame is shaken by convulsive spasms, each throe being announced by a deep pectoral sound, and only after this has repeatedly been heard is the stomach able to cast off its contents.

Which is a dose for a small dog of seven or eight pounds weight

Which is a dose for a small dog of seven or eight pounds weight

Which is a dose for a small dog of seven or eight pounds weight

This is for one pill, which is a dose for a small dog of seven or eight pounds weight. Three times the quantity would be required for a Newfoundland. It is not very powerful in its action; its effect upon the system being quite as much alterative as laxative. The animal under its operation is evidently nauseated, and refuses food for about twelve hours; at the expiration of which time relief is afforded by a not very copious, but bilious evacuation. It is, however, important that, after the administration of a purgative, the dog should be permitted to remain perfectly quiet; since, if put to exercise, or much excited, the medicine will in all probability be ejected.

A little pounded sugar added to this will often render it palatable

A little pounded sugar added to this will often render it palatable

A little pounded sugar added to this will often render it palatable

A little pounded sugar added to this will often render it palatable, which, being of a fluid consistency, is without difficulty exhibited. The compound, however, flows the more readily if it be slightly warmed, and in winter it even requires to be thus prepared. Sulphate of magnesia I rarely employ; and, as a general purgative, it is not suited to the dog, though in exceptional cases it will be seen I recommend it. Should pills be preferred, the following will be found to answer every purpose:

Ext: Col:	Half a scruple.
Pulv: Colch:	Six grains.
Pil: Hydrarg:	Five grains.