DOGS! THEIR MANAGEMENT. 107 



est opinions are by no means to be absolutely relied 

 upon. 



Dog-doctoring is, in fact, a separate branch of science 

 so intricate as to call for intense study strengthened by 

 constant observation. No one not attached to the animal 

 should attempt to master it, for success in such a case 

 would be hopeless. The annoyances are so great that 

 the patience is continually being tried ; and the facts on 

 which reliance can be placed are so few, that he who is 

 content to depend upon the received assertions will never 

 be able to realize his expectation. Nothing is more erro- 

 neous than to believe that there is. any close analogy be- 

 tween man and the dog in the operation of medicinal 

 substances. Aloes, rhubarb, &c., are not purgatives to 

 the dog ; but castor oil, which to the human being is a 

 gentle laxative, to the dog is an active purge ; while 

 Epsom salts are a violent hydragogue to the canine pa- 

 tient, producing copious and watery stools. Common 

 salt is in large doses a poison, and in apparent small 

 quantities is so strong an emetic as to be dangerous. 

 Salivation speedily ensues upon the use of minute quan- 

 tities of mercury, which therefore cannot be considered 

 safe in the hands of the general practitioner. Secale 

 cornutum has little specific action beyond that of indue 

 ing vomiting; and strychnia cannot be with security 

 administered, on account of its poisonous operation upon 

 the animal. Other instances, casting more than suspicion 

 upon thq inferences which every writer upon Materia 

 Medica draws from the action of drugs given to dogs, 



