188 THE DOG IN DISEASE. 



the chest-wall. As the dog is an excitable animal, he must 

 be quieted and soothed a little when the pulse is being 

 taken or the heart examined, especially by a stranger. 

 In all cases it must be ascertained that the pulse is not 

 merely transiently affected as the result of temporary 

 excitement from the very process of examination or other- 

 wise. 



The variations natural to the different positions of the 

 body are not to be forgotten. 



The pulse at birth is very rapid, 130 to 160 ; for the 

 first three months, 120 to 140 ; at from the sixth to the 

 ninth month, 90 to 110 ; after one year, 70 to 90. It will 

 be understood that these are only rough estimates, so wide 

 are the variations with age, sex, breed, position, tempera- 

 ment, etc. 



A merely rapid pulse, with no elevation of tempera- 

 ture or other unfavorable symptoms, is not of great sig- 

 nificance usually. It is to be borne in mind, too, that 

 when an adult dog is quietly sleeping the pulse may be 

 very slow — indeed, 40 to 50. 



The author desires to draw special attention to a feat- 

 ure of the pulse of the dog to which reference is seldom 

 made. After puppyhood the pulse is subject to a sort of 

 normal irregularity — i. e., with each expiration the pulse 

 is slower and stronger, and the beats uneven — a condition 

 of things, in fact, which in man or any other animal would 

 be a certain sign of disease in the large proportion of cases. 

 The phenomenon in question is never shown decidedly 

 in a young puppy, and it is never absent in a matured 

 dog, so that it constitutes in some measure an indication 

 of age. By the inexperienced these peculiarities might 



