DISEASES AND THEIR CURES 247 



all the same, but then I think he has more strength 

 to resist it, and will pull through when otherwise 

 he would have given in. Distemper is not unlike 

 influenza — indeed one form of it is so defined — 

 in its symptoms, its course, and its consequences. 

 When a bad case, it is lowering, emaciating, and 

 depressing, and if the patient does recover, he is 

 apt to suffer from those consequences. Chorea or 

 St. Vitus's dance is one of the most common of 

 them. I have a Scotch terrier now, with an origi- 

 nal constitution of iron and extraordinarily strongly 

 built. He caught something like distemper when 

 two years old ; distemper it must have been, but 

 there were none of the warning symptoms, and he 

 was treated too late. The strength of his consti- 

 tution served to fight it off, but he recovered to 

 be victimised by chorea. For months he went 

 through a course of contortions, and his moanings 

 were painful to hear. I thought seriously of put- 

 ting him out of his misery, but while there is life 

 there is hope, and I knew the strength of his con- 

 stitution. Now, though there is constant twitching 

 of the hind legs, especially when sleeping, he seems 

 as happy as any dog need care to be. Gradually 

 the tucked-in tail went up as his loins regained 

 much of their old elasticity, and when he hunts 

 the fields or the hedges, you would never know 

 there was anything the matter. I quote him to 

 show that one need never despair, and also to 

 show that there are limits to a dog's intelligence. 

 Preternaturally sagacious and objecting to pain, 



