DISEASES AND THEIR CURES 251 



and are especially fatal to puppies. They are either 

 the round worm or the tapeworm. The former 

 is like the common earth-worm, and from four to 

 eight inches in length. There are several species 

 of the tapeworm, and one of them is sometimes 

 yards long. It may be imagined what horrible 

 pests they are, when they knit themselves together 

 and intertwine with the bowels. Sometimes they 

 crawl into the stomach, causing violent vomiting, 

 and thence into the lungs and nostrils. With 

 young dogs especially they may be feared, and 

 should be anxiously looked for. The symptoms 

 are a staring coat, emaciation, notwithstanding 

 a ravenous appetite, low spirits, a hot nose, and 

 an offensive breath. The excrements are frequent, 

 but scanty, and there is an occasional discharge 

 of mucus. If you dose the dog with a strong 

 aperient — a risky treatment if he is weak — you 

 will see what worms he is troubled with. But 

 all treatment is more or less hazardous, for the 

 medicines that destroy the worms are poisons or 

 irritants which affect his health. Some authorities 

 say that the areca nut is harmless, and it is cer- 

 tainly the most innocuous. The doze of grated 

 areca is two grains for each pound of the dog's 

 weight. Cleanliness, with good food, are the 

 surest preventives, but the most dainty dogs will 

 swallow the foulest garbage, and there is no 

 guarding against that. 



Skin diseases are troublesome and apt to become 

 loathsome. It would be idle and endless to enter 



