Some American Sporting Dogs. 



637 



service in extreme cases. Where but one dog is kept, the scraps 

 from the table should be ample for him ; but where food must be 

 prepared, there is nothing better than oat or corn meal thoroughly 

 boiled in water, in which some coarse meat — such as a neck of 

 beef or shin-bone — has been cooked almost to shreds, the meat 

 being chopped fine and mixed with the mush. The dogs should 

 never be fed more than twice a day. But the great cause of 

 death among dogs is distemper, and the more finely and carefully 

 they are bred, the more susceptible they appear to be to its effects. 

 Dogs of almost any age are liable to be attacked, 

 and if they escape with life, may be left with 

 chorea or St. Vitus's dance. In fact, in this 



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SIDE VIEW OP KENNEL. 



respect distemper is not unlike measles, which often leaves a 

 patient with some other disorder. Frequent post-mortems have 

 revealed the fact that distemper in some of its forms very much 

 resembles pneumonia, and, as in that disease, a certain amount of 

 stimulation is necessary. The symptoms are, a thick, mattery dis- 

 charge from the eyes and nose, with a dry, husky cough and a 

 straining, as though a bone were lodged in the throat; a hot, dry 

 nose, and general listlessness, with, later, a weakness of the hind- 

 quarters. Fits, in puppies particularly, are frequently present, but 

 the symptoms vary somewhat, although the above are unmistakable. 

 There are many remedies advocated for distemper, but I believe 

 there is none more generally successful than that suggested by Dr. 

 Webb, which consists of a course of calomel and quinine, com- 

 mencing with a dose of the former, varying from ten to twenty 

 grains, according to the size of the dog, and followed by doses of 

 five to ten grains of quinin<- daily, reducing the dose as the dog 

 improves. When taken promptly in hand, and the dog is kept in a 

 warm, dry place, the disease generally yields to this vigorous treat- 

 ment. Cleanliness is the great source of health, and when more 



