TYPHUS FEVER, OR DISTEMPER. 315 



mixtures (6) or (8) ; or, if very severe, by the pill (19). At the 

 same time, rice-water should be given as the only drink ; and beef- 

 tea, thickened with arrow-root or rice, as the sole article of diet, 

 changing it occasionally for port wine and arrow-root. When the 

 stage of exhaustion has commenced, the tonic mixture (63) will gen- 

 erally be requii-ed ; and it is astonishing what may be done by a per- 

 severance in its use. Dogs which appear to be dying will often re- 

 cover. No case should be given up as long as there is any life 

 remaining. 



The diet should be carefully attended to, little or no food being 

 required on the first four or six days, beyond weak broth or gruel, 

 no solid food from the first being permitted. This restriction must 

 be maintained until the dog is quite recovered. When the state of 

 exhaustion or prostration comes on, good strong beef-tea should be 

 given every three or four hours, and, if the dog will not swallow 

 it, force should be used ; a spoonful at a time being given in the 

 manner described elsewhere for drenching. Port wine is often of 

 service at such times, being thickened with arrow-root, and given 

 alternately with beef-tea. For a dog of average size, the plan 

 is to give a teacupful of beef -tea, then, after two hours, the same 

 quantity of arrow-root and wine ; then, again, after two hours, a 

 dose of the tonic mixture, and so on through the twenty-four 

 hours. Perseverance in this troublesome plan will generally be 

 rewarded with success, but, of course, it is only a valuable dog 

 which will reward it properly. In less important animals, the 

 beef-tea may be provided, and if it is not voluntarily swallowed, 

 the poor patient often dies for want of the compulsion, so that 

 humanity as well as self-interest counsel the adoption of what 

 often appears a harsh proceeding. 



No exercise, even of the most gentle kind, should be allowed, 

 as it invariably tends to bring on a return of the disease. Many a 

 young dog has been sacrificed to the mistaken kindness of his 

 master, who has thought that a " breath of fresh air" would do 

 him good. And so it would, if taken in an easy carriage, at rest; 

 but the muscular exertion necessary to procure it is highly injuri- 

 ous, and should be delayed until the strength is restored. This is 



