190 THE DOG IN DISEASE. 



to advise so as to prevent disease a subject on which mod- 

 ern medicine has made great advances. 



To the really intelligent practitioner there is little sat- 

 isfaction in pouring medicine into a dog whose case is 

 plainly hopeless, but which might have been saved, possi- 

 bly, if an early consultation had been sought. It is for 

 owners and practitioners to so understand each other 

 that advice will be valued and asked early. A certain 

 proportion of breeders, etc., are men of enough intelli- 

 gence to appreciate medical discussions at all events, 

 sufficiently to know when to attempt treatment themselves 

 and when to call in experts in medicine ; accordingly, the 

 author will endeavor to keep this part of the work free 

 from needless technicalities, while it is made scientific, his 

 object being to make the book as widely useful as possible. 



Diagnosis. Different persons arrive at a diagnosis or 

 determination of the nature of the ailment by different 

 methods. The safest, in fact the only absolutely safe way, 

 is by the process of exclusion i. e., considering all possi- 

 ble or probable diseases, and finally narrowing down to 

 one by determining that the malady can not be any of the 

 others ; apparently a tedious method, but in reality with 

 practice pretty rapid. 



Every help must be secured, so that the dog's attitude, 

 expression, carriage, etc., are to be considered before he is 

 taken in hand for a careful examination of each system of 

 the organs of the body. The latter implies what is termed 

 physical signs, as ascertained by palpation, or feeling dif- 

 ferent parts ; auscultation, or listening to various sounds 

 derived from the chest- wall usually ; percussion, or tap- 

 ping with the fingers or instruments over different regions 



