Diseases of the Digestive Tract 271 



Vomition 



All dogs have the power of vomiting or ejecting 

 the contents of the stomach at will, consequently, 

 whenever nauseating substances pass into the 

 stomach, this animal usually expels them at once. 

 The readiness with which vomition is induced con- 

 stitutes, in a measure, some safeguard against the 

 absorption of irritant poisons by the stomach, so 

 that it is not always advisable to check vomition, 

 as such may be the most efficient means of clearing 

 the stomach of some noxious substance that might, 

 if the vomition were arrested, lead to the animal's 

 death. The ready response of the dog to an emetic 

 renders it easy to clear the stomach almost im- 

 mediately, and in the majority of cases of poisoning 

 it is expedient to do so. From half to two ounces 

 of ipecacuanha wine is a simple but efficacious 

 emetic. Antimonial wine can bo used as a substitute. 

 From the foregoing remarks it will be gleaned that 

 the vomiting is often a salutary process, and that 

 it is only when it becomes excessive that it ought 

 to be checked. When prolonged it is exhausting, 

 troublesome vomition being a common symptom in 

 distemper; but even in that disease a good deal of 

 care is necessary, as diarrhoea often follows when 

 remedies have been used to check the vomiting. 

 When vomiting is troublesome all water must be 



