THE MANAGEMENT OF DOGS IN HEALTH. 107 



solids minced. This preparation may be mixed with por- 

 ridge made of oatmeal, corn-meal, wheat-meal, etc., or stale 

 bread, broken biscuits, or such like, which furnish the 

 necessary proportion of starchy food. A small proportion 

 of vegetables may be boiled with the above, to flavor, etc. 



Certain it is that all meal preparations should be boiled 

 till reduced to a jelly, for a dog's stomach is no more 

 adapted to digest raw or half -cooked meals than a man's. 

 It is probably this ill-prepared meal food, such as may do 

 for fowls, that has been condemned by so many breeders, 

 and rightly ; but their disapproval is not wisely extended 

 to good porridge. However for summer use especially, 

 wheat-meal porridge serves a better purpose than either 

 corn-meal or oatmeal. It is less apt to cause irritation of 

 the diixestive tract, and reflex effects which show them- 

 selves in irritation of the skin. 



Yery generally the question of economy is an impor- 

 tant one. In Britain and on the Continent of Europe 

 horseflesh is obtainable at a low price. In America not 

 so easily, perhaps ; but butchers' offal — such as heads of 

 oxen and sheep, the '' pluck " (heart, liver), etc. — may be 

 secured cheaply, and makes excellent food in the hands 

 of a discreet kennel manager ; but in no case should such 

 food be given raw. 



Kaw flesh in small quantity occasionally acts like a 

 tonic to nearly all dogs, however kept. 



What of patent foods, such as Spratts's? Yery admira- 

 ble preparations, most convenient, saving much trouble, 

 but rather expensive, and not suitable for continuous use 

 as the sole food any more than any uniform diet that can 

 be devised. Change is at the foundation of life itself, and 



