distempeh.] 



FOR MOUNTAIN, FIELD, AND FARM. [distempee. 



the attack, as well as tuo ago, constitution, 

 aud locality of tho object of it. It is soine- 

 what singular, tliat while tho very best practi- 

 tioners so often fail in their treatment of tho 

 complaint, wo seldom have met with a sports- 

 man, or breeder of dogs, who, according to his 

 own account, could not readily euro it, ' being 

 in possession <3f what he ilattered himself 

 was an intalliblo remedy.' AV'o once thought 

 a remedy of our own discovery almost so ; 

 but though it remains a valuable one, it is 

 far from iufalllblo ; aud wo suspect most of 

 these are much further from deserving such 

 a character than that wo allude to. It 

 happens, however, with these fancied infallible 

 remedies for distemper among gentlemen, that 

 under the exhibition of some supposed cura- 

 tive, they have met with two or three successful 

 cases, which would, perhaps, have done well 

 without anything ; such medicament has been 

 afterwards considered as the grand specific. 

 But continued experience leads us to a con- 

 clusion that, although many different remedies 

 are useful, according as one or other form of 

 the disease prevails, yet tliat there is not, and 

 we believe cannot be, a universal specific for 

 this Protean disorder. As most cases of dis- 

 temper commence by cough, or slight running 

 from the nose and eyes, with loss of flesh, 

 appetite, and spirits, an emetic is the first 

 remedy, as it clears the stomach aud bowels, 

 and sympathetically lessens the inflammatory 

 action going on. Should the pulse, the state 

 of breathing, or a harassing cough, indicate 

 any great determination to the lungs, take 

 from three to five or six ounces of blood 

 away, according to the size, age, &c. ; par- 

 ticularly if the dog be fat and moderately 

 strong. If bleeding is omitted, substitute 

 a mild purge, if the bowels are not already 

 relaxed. Emetics are useful as prepara- 

 tory medicines in distemper ; indeed very 

 useful. Strong dogs may take from two to four 

 grains of tartar emetic ; or otherwise from four 

 to six or seven grains of calomel. Sometimes 

 one, and sometimes the other of these reme- 

 dies is to be preferred. When there is any 

 disposition to purging, already observed, give 

 the tartar emetic only, from one graiu to four, 

 as a maximum ; or the vomit may be made of 

 equal parts of calomel and tartarised antimony, 

 from one grain to three grains of each ; or even 



four grains of each may not bo too much for a 

 full-grown dog of tho largest breeds ; and far- 

 ther, this latter vomit has tho advantage of 

 proving a laxative also. Tho purging aud 

 emetic articles used on theso occasions by 

 sportsmen, as Turpith mineral and crude anti- 

 mony, are, from their drastic qualities, objec- 

 tionable ; and they can only be admissible for 

 very strong dogs, not yet at all debilitated by 

 tho complaint ; indeed, it is only in such cases 

 tliat theso violent remedies may bo risked. Of 

 this kind are large doses of salt, which occa- 

 sionally do good when no looseness of bowels 

 has already como on. The early insertion of 

 a seton should depend on circumstances : if an 

 impatience of light present itself, aud the pupils 

 look red within, the cough being hard, dry, and 

 frequent, insert one; but if, on the contrary, 

 the discharge from the eyes and nose is become 

 purulent aud profuse, and particularly if tho 

 dog be losing flesh daily, by no means do so. 

 While the dog is fat, should his inflammatory 

 symptoms run high, two or three moderata 

 purges are proper ; but when distemper is at 

 its height, always avoid them. Costiveness, 

 however, must bo combated; but do it by 

 laxatives only in these cases : as already ob- 

 served in other cases, a brisk purgative is 

 admissible and liighly proper; for unloading 

 the bowels, like unloading the stomach, will 

 tend greatly to lessen irritation, and reduce 

 tbe inflammatory action of the heart and ar- 

 teries ; but, at the same time that, under these 

 views, they are valuable agents, we must not 

 lose sight of the diarrhoea, which is so fatal a 

 symptom of the disease, and which too free a 

 use of them might tend to bring on. Theso 

 primary depleting means having been carried 

 into effect, proceed with the following febri- 

 fuge : — Antimonial powder, two, three, or four 

 grains ; nitrate of potash (nitre), five, ten, or fif- 

 teen grains ; powdered ipecacuanha, two, three, 

 or four grains ; powdered myrrli, four, six, or 

 eight grains. Make into a ball with a minor, 

 medium, or major quantities, according to the 

 size and age of the dog, and give two or threo 

 times a day, as the symptoms are more or less 

 urgent, diminishing the quantities if tbey 

 occasion sickness. When the cough is very 

 distressing, by which pneumonic symptoms 

 may bo apprehended, add to each dose of 

 these from half a grain to a grain of digitalis 



485 



