192 GENERAL DISEASES. 



stiff and painful; he stands with back arched, and when he walks his 

 limbs are dragged as though partially paralyzed. In certain positions he 

 suffers hut little excepting an occasional cramp-like twinge, which is 

 sometimes very severe and elicits a sharp outcry. While the parts affected 

 are sensitive, firm pressure will be borne and seem to afford relief. 



There are few or no constitutional symptoms, slight if any fever, and 

 the appetite is rarely impaired. Aside from the tenderness there are no 

 local signs, such as heat, swelling, and redness. In chest-founder or 

 kennel-lameness the affection exists in the muscles of the shoulders and 

 forelegs. The disease may appear either in the acute or chronic form; 

 the duration of the former varies from a few hours to several weeks. The 

 chronic form is obstinate, and persists usually for months. Exposure to 

 cold and damp is an important factor in the causation of this form of 

 rheumatism. 



The local treatment consists of soothing applications in the acute form, 

 and blisters or stimulating liniments in the chronic. Measures to improve 

 the general health are important, and iron and other tonics are to be given 

 if the condition of the animal suggests their need. 



Eruptive Fevers. 



Cases of small pox and measles occuring among dogs are on record, and 

 the symptoms of the former malady are given at length by some authors. 

 In the one reported case of measles it was stated : " A dog licked the hand 

 of a child lying in bed, and on whom the measles eruption was at its 

 height. Twelve days later the dog sickened and suffered for two days 

 with nasal discharge; and four days later died, with marked congestion of 

 the throat and air-passages." 



Mr. Fleming in the Veterinary Science thus discusses small pox: "This 

 is a rare malady, and maybe developed directly or by contagion; it is 

 supposed to be also pi-oduced by the variola of man and of the sheep. It 

 chiefly affects young dogs, although old animals are not exempt. One 

 attack ensures immunity for the remainder of the dog's life. 



" Symptoms . — The disease commences with fever, which continues for 

 two or three days, and is followed by the appearance — over a large surface 

 of the body, though rarely on the back and sides of the trunk — of red 

 points, resembling flea-bites, which are quickly transformed into nodules, 

 and then into vesicles. The contents of these become purulent, and finally 

 dry into a crust, whose shedding leaves a naked cicatrix. 



" In the dog, as in the sheep and pig, there are different forms of the 

 disease, and it is benignant or malignant accordingly. Puppies nearly 



