H8 SPECIFIC CATARRHAL DISEASE, OR DISTEMPER. 



tines ; with liberal feeding, and an occasional warm bath. See 

 Chorea, Class II. 



The debilitating stage of distemper. — I left off the continuous 

 treatment of the disease, after I had pursued it to its sequel as A 

 phlegmonous affection. Active catarrhal inflammation leaves it 

 when the purulent secretion is fully established, that is, when pus 

 flows abundantly from the nose and eyes ; after which, whatever 

 of fever remains is either of the symptomatic or the hectic type, 

 unless active pneumonic or hepatic affection supervene. It ap- 

 peared to me, that when I had pursued the treatment of this disease 

 thus far, it was convenient to stop, and introduce such occasional 

 states as are apt to intervene between the first and second stages ; 

 as pneumonia, diarrhoea, epilepsy, chorea, &c. These being noticed, 

 I shall now return, and continue the treatment of the true muco- 

 purulent catarrhal affection : which having been attacked, as di- 

 rected, by depletion, and such other means as tend to combat the 

 acute inflammatory state, must now be as actively pursued by other 

 means ; or a direct asthenic state, or one of diminished vital ac- 

 tion, will take the place of that where there had been too much. 

 The means hinted at are the judicious and liberal use of tonics^ 

 and which may with propriety be varied to meet the different com- 

 plexions that the disease is still likely to assume. One of these is the 

 continued discharge from the nose and eyes, with harassing cough, 

 debility, and emaciation ; which state I have found to be most ad- 

 vantageously treated by what, in old-fashioned language, might be 

 called a demulcent tonic^ : — 



' Among these tonics, none are more efficacious than liberal feeding on the 

 most nutritious and tempting food, which should be offered to the dog fre- 

 quently, but not in cloying quantities. When the natural appetite fails, the 

 animal may yet be often tempted by morsels selected by the hand of one he 

 is accustomed to : but when even enticement fails to excite the effort to take 

 food, then the dog must be forced with rich gravies, or gruel with ale and 

 spices ; not in large quantities at a time, which will probably be returned from 

 the stomach, but in smaller and more frequently repeated dosings. Meat balls 

 may also l)e forced down, even if liquid nutriment is returned. 



- There is a fashion in our medical opinions, as well as in others. Mr. 



