212 DOGS : THEIR MANAGEMENT. 



diminished. The animal is averse to motion ; but when 

 the affection is established, the dog sits upon its hocks, 

 and wherever it is placed, speedily assumes that position. 

 As the disorder becomes worse, the difficulty of breath- 

 ing is more marked. The creature also shows a dispo- 

 sition to quit the house, and if there be an open window 

 it will thrust its head through the aperture. The sense 

 of suffocation is obviously present, and at length this 

 becomes more and more obvious. The dog in the very 

 last stage refuses to sit, but obstinately stands. One of 

 the legs swells, and, on being felt, it is ascertained to be 

 enlarged by fluid. There is dropsy of the chest, and the 

 limb has sympathized in the disposition to effusion. The 

 pulse denotes the weakness of the body ; but the ex- 

 citement of disease in a great measure disguises the other 

 symptoms. The dog may even, to an unpractised eye, 

 seem to possess considerable strength ; for it resists, with 

 all its remaining power, any attempt to move it, and its 

 last energies are exerted to support the attitude that 

 affords the most relief to the respiration. At length the 

 poor brute stubbornly stands until forced to stir, when it 

 drops suddenly, and for several moments lies as if the 

 life had departed. Again it falls, but again revives ; and 

 always with the return of consciousness gets upon its 

 legs ; but at last it sinks, and without a struggle dies. 



The lungs have been, in the first instance, inflamed, 

 but the pleura or membrane covering the lungs, and 

 also lining the chest, has likewise become by the pro- 

 gress of the disease involved. The cavity has become 



