DISEASES OF DOGS : MADNESS. 365 



accustomed to do. Some dogs, while in this state, 

 pick up straws, or any thing from the ground, and 

 especially if it be small ; sometimes they keep con- 

 stantly licking the nose and other parts of dogs, 

 and particularly if they be very cold ; also stones, 

 iron, or other cold substances. Not unfrequently 

 in the beginning of the complaint, it is attended 

 with much irritability, and particularly so in young 

 dogs, which manifests itself by the affected animal 

 showing the highest dislike to dogs, and particu- 

 larly to cats, which he will snap at, and bite if 

 they come in his way : should he in this state be 

 provoked with a stick, or any thing, he will 

 eagerly seize and shake it with great violence. 

 Sometimes the part bitten is painful, and the dog 

 is observed to keep constantly nibbling it. One 

 of the most frequent symptoms of this disease"' is 

 a loss of appetite ; and if food be offered to the 

 dog, he will perhaps eat some, but it is with seem- 

 ing reluctance. The dog's appetite is very often 

 depraved, and then he will devour his own excre- 

 ment, urine, or any trash he may meet with. The 

 dog is mostly thirsty from the fever present, and 

 will often keep lapping water, though sometimes 

 he cannot swallow it ; and in some cases it excites 

 a painful convulsive motion of the muscles of the 

 throat, and it is then that the dog refuses water 

 altogether. He is also often sick at the stomach. 



