LETTER VIII. 



YOU desire to know if there be any remedy for 

 the distemper among dogs : I shall therefore 

 mention all the disorders that my hounds have ex- 

 perienced, and point out the remedies which have 

 been of service to them. The distemper that you 

 inquire about, is, I believe, the most fatal (the plague 

 only excepted) that any animal is subject to : though 

 not long known in this country, it is almost incon- 

 ceivable what numbers have been destroyed by it in 

 so short a period ; several hundreds I can myself 

 place to this mortifying account. It seems happily to 

 be now on the decline ; at least, is less frequent, and 

 more mild ; and probably, in time, may be entirely 

 removed. The effects of it are too generally known, 

 to need any description of them here — I wish the 

 remedies were known as well ! * 



A brother sportsman communicated to me a 



I 1 All remedies to be of use in distemper must be given in the earlier 

 stages of the disease. Directly a hound shows symptoms he should be 

 isolated, and dosed with Gillard's compound or quinine until the fever 

 abates, being kept meanwhile in a warm dry place, free from draughts. 

 Eyes and nose should be sponged clean twice a day with tepid water, in 

 which there is a little disinfectant. When the fever has gone, Pacita will 

 be found a very useful tonic to restore the hound to health again. Like 

 influenza in man, it is the ailments that are left behind that generally 

 prove fatal in distemper. Each sick hound should have a small kennel 

 to itself, with plenty of clean dry straw on the bench, and creosoted saw- 

 dust on the floor, which should not be swilled down. The droppings 



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