206 Distemper of Dogs. 



eration, a catarrhal, a nervous and an exantliematous form of 

 distemper may be distinguished. Such sharp characteristic 

 forms of the disease, however, are only rarely observed, as in 

 most instances the symptoms of two or even of all three forms 

 are present simultaneously, although in such a way that the 

 sjanptom complex of one of the forms usually predominates. 

 Most frequently the catarrhal or nervous form occurs separ- 

 ately, while the skin exanthema usually occurs conjointly with 

 one or the other. Besides the character of the clisease may 

 not infrequently change during its course, as it is often noted 

 that nervous manifestations associate with the catarrhal symp- 

 toms, and later these may even predominate. 



Just as there are great variations in the clinical appearance 

 of the disease, so its duration varies greatly from case to case ; 

 very mild cases may thus terminate in recovery inside of a 

 week, whereas severe cases may extend over several months. 

 The average duration, however, is from three to four weeks. 

 The recovery is not infrequently incomplete, or it may become 

 complete only after a long time. The symptoms of paralysis 

 are most prone to persist, or may improve only after several 

 weeks. Incurable degenerations may be present in some of the 

 nerves of the brain, leading sometimes to blindness, deafness, 

 loss of the sense of smell, etc. 



Occasionally after the acute stage of the disease has passed 

 a certain predisposition of the mucous membranes for catarrhal 

 affections becomes noticeable which leads for months after- 

 wards to repeated catarrhs. The catarrhal pneumonia may 

 develop into a chronic inflammatory condition leading to casea- 

 tion of the exudate and an increase of the connective tissue, 

 which considerably interfere mth the later development of 

 the young animals. 



Permanent changes sometimes develop in the eyes, such as 

 white cicatrices at the sites of the cornea ulcerations, synechiae 

 after a perforation of the iris, and occlusion of the pupil or 

 atrophy of the eyeball after a severe iritis. 



Diagnosis. Distemper may be readily distinguished from 

 other catarrhal affections whenever nervous or pustular exan- 

 thema are present in addition to catarrhal s3miptoms. This 

 also applies to older animals, in which the diagnosis is other- 

 wise more difficult. In the presence of purely catarrhal symp- 

 toms, the high fever which occurs in the beginning of the 

 disease, the pustular exanthema, the early age of the animals, 

 and frequently also the possibility of tracing the infection, 

 may reveal the nature of the disease. Gastro-intestinal catarrhs 

 originating from other sources, such as for instance from 

 dietetic errors or from poisoning, are differentiated from dis- 

 temper by the absence of the catarrh of the air passages and 

 conjunctivae. The change in the disposition of the animals, 



