DOGS '. THEIR MANAGEMENT. 189 



is impossible to say what the different kinds of dogs 

 affected may necessitate none can be named here ; the 

 symptoms must be observed, and according to these should 

 be the treatment ; which must be studied from the prin- 

 ciples inculcated throughout this work. Most usually, 

 however, tonics, stimulants, and alteratives will be 

 required, and their operation will be gratifying. The 

 dog, which before was offensive and miserable, may 

 speedily become comfortable and happy ; and should the 

 errors which induced its misfortune be afterwards avoided, 

 it may continue to enjoy its brief life up to the latest 

 moment ; therefore the teeth should never be neglected ; 

 but if any further reason be required to enforce the neces- 

 sity of attending- to the mouth, surely it might be found 

 in the frightful disease to which it is occasionally sub- 

 ject. 



When the teeth, either by decay or from excessive wear, 

 have been reduced to mere stumps, their vitality often is 

 lost. They then act as foreign bodies, and inflame the 

 parts adjacent to them. Should that inflammation not be 

 attended to, it extends, first involving the bones of the 

 lower jaw, and afterwards the gums, and CANKER OF THE 

 MOUTH is established. 



Such is the course of the disease, the symptoms of 

 which are redness and swelling during the commencement. 

 Suppuration from time to time appears ; but as the animal 

 with its tongue removes the pus, this last effect may not 

 be observed. The enlargement increases, till at last a 

 hard body seems to be formed on the jaw, immediately 

 beneath the skin. The surface of the gums may be ten- 



