160 DOGS : THEIR MANAGEMENT. 



of the doctor. The man who, during distemper, seeing 

 an ulcer upon the cornea, under the imagination that by 

 so doing he will set up a healthy action, presumes to 

 touch it with lunar caustic, will in the resistance of the 

 poor patient be rebuked, and, by the humour of the eye 

 squirting into his face, probably be informed that he has 

 accomplished the very object he intended to prevent, 

 while a fungoid mass will spring up to commemorate his 

 achievement. 



When the lungs are attacked, all kinds of mistaken 

 cruelties have been perpetrated. No wonder the disease 

 has been so fatal, when it has been so little understood. 

 I cannot conceive that any dog could survive the measures 

 I was by my college tutor taught to pursue, or the plan 

 which books told me to adopt. Needlessly severe, calcu- 

 lated to strengthen the disease, and to decrease the power 

 of the animal to survive, as the general practice decidedly 

 is, I entreat the reader to reject it. In truth, the involve- 

 ment of the lungs is in distemper a very slight affair ; no 

 symptom yields more quickly or to milder means. Do 

 not forget the diet, but let it be both low and small. The 

 system cannot endure depletion, therefore we must gain 

 whatever we can through abstinence. Do not starve, but 

 be cautious not to cram the animal ; only keep it so short 

 that it remains always hungry. The meal must now 

 never be full, or sufficient to satisfy the appetite, which 

 is usually large. A loaded stomach would do much, 

 injury, therefore little and often is the rule. The amount 

 for the day must be cut off in the morning ; and during 



