EPILEPSY. 457 



invariably with bad success. Like other contagious diseases, 

 it must be prevented by the segregation and slaughter of 

 diseased animals. It is indispensable, when outbreaks of 

 this malady occur, to place restrictions on the liberty of 

 dogs, which should be tied and muzzled. No attempt 

 should be made to treat rabid dogs, though it is also desirable 

 to kill animals suspected of rabies, and which may have 

 bitten human beings or other animals, without keeping them 

 for a while to determine if they are rabid. In Scotland, 

 dogs seized with ordinary apoplectic fits are commonly 

 destroyed as rabid, and the ignorant prejudice still prevails 

 that if a healthy dog bites a human being, and that animal 

 afterwards happens to contract rabies, the human being 

 will fall a victim to the disease. 



EPILEPSY. 



This is a disease which we have a great difficulty in 

 defining. It occurs in all animals, but it is specially 

 common amongst dogs, and particularly young ones. It is 

 characterised by sudden fits ; hence the name sxeX^ia, a 

 seizure. 



Symptoms. An animal in apparent health, or at all 

 events quite calm and conscious the one moment, is seen to 

 stagger, stare, and begin to champ with its jaws the next. The 

 mouth foams, the muscles of the neck contract, the head 

 is jerked upwards or drawn round to one side, the muscles 

 of the trunk then contract spasmodically, and the animal 

 falls, straining, struggling, and unconscious. Dogs are apt 

 to cry out at first, but are quite dumb and listless during 

 the seizures. The head is jerked violently, and the whole 

 body severely convulsed. Fseces and urine are discharged 

 involuntarily, and the animal breathes with difficulty. The 

 mucous membranes are red and congested, and the heart 



