DOGS I THEIR MANAGEMENT. 151 



attacks are commonly confounded with true distemper 

 fits, from which they are altogether distinct ; and from 

 which they may be readily distinguished by the absence 

 of the champing of the jaw, the want of any dis- 

 position to bite, the immediate insensibility which ensues, 

 the shrieks not being heard, and the urine or faeces not 

 being voided. Nevertheless, the two are usually con- 

 founded, and hence many persons are found asserting 

 that distemper fits are easily cured; and several dogs 

 have been shown to me at different times, which their 

 owners were confident had been attacked by distemper 

 fits, and radically cured by the most simple, and often 

 ridiculous specifics. I have sometimes in despair even 

 against my reason tried these boasted remedies, but in 

 no instance has the result rewarded me. Where there 

 was real occasion for a potent medicine, and little hope 

 that any drug could benefit, the nostrums have, without 

 a single exception, belied the confident recommendations 

 with which they were offered, and either have done harm 

 or proved inoperative. 



The symptoms of distemper, as the reader will, after 

 wading through the foregoing description, have perceived, 

 are numerous and complicated ; they admit of no posi- 

 tive arrangement, being both eccentric in their order and 

 appearances. Redness of the eyes, with discharge from 

 both eyes and nose, accompanied with ordinary signs of 

 illness, are the early indications ; but even these are not 

 to be sought for, or to be expected in any single form. 

 The judgment must be exercised, and study strengthened 



