Blood Diseases. 141 



carefully with a course of iron tonics with quinine in 

 small dcses. 



Rheumatism. — This disease owes its origin to the 

 state of the blood as the result of impaired digestion and 

 assimilation : it is charged with elements inimical to its 

 constitution, an arrest of certain functions being the 

 cause of their accumulation and retention within the 

 organism. The disease exhibits a preference for particular 

 tissue, such as the joints and ligaments, when it is known 

 as articular rheumatism; and in the muscles, especially 

 their terminations and attachments by tendons. The 

 latter form producing much stiffness of the body, 

 especially, has been known for generations as the "chest- 

 founder " of the old farriers, and lumbago of more recent 

 days. In sporting dogs the disease appears as the result 

 of cold and damp quarters, hence the term " kennel- 

 lameness." 



Two forms are observed, the acute and chronic, the 

 first, as a rule, subsiding into the latter, assuming per- 

 sistent and incurable states, extremely liable to aggrava- 

 tion by adverse states of the temperature and moisture 

 of the air. The acute form is also liable to become 

 periodic, and heart complications, as valvular disease, 

 of a serious and fatal nature are common. 



Symptoms. — In the acute articular form the joints are 

 hot, swollen, and intensely painful. Movement causes 

 intense agony, which the sufferer avoids, but yelps 

 piteously when forced to change his position. 



In the muscular form or " chest-founder," the sufferer 

 is more or less unable to advance the forelegs, or move 

 the shoulders, which are stiff, the whole of the limbs 

 being carried in a piece, and with extreme care. The 

 sufferer objects to being handled, and yells loudly when 

 the limbs are manipulated, especially if abducted or 

 moved away from the body. Considerable fever is 

 present. 



In lumbar rheumatism the same objection to move- 

 ment is evident. The back is arched upwards, the feet 

 being near together, movement in any direction causing 

 intense agony, and as a result, the creature refuses to be 



