290 DOGS I THEIR MANAGEMENT. 



health may appear to be good, but on examination debi- 

 lity will be found to be present. The anus also pro- 

 trudes, and the orifice is thickened ; while, possibly, a 

 marked tendency to piles may at the same time be dis- 

 played. Should no attention be paid to the case, the 

 swelling will continue without sensibly enlarging ; but 

 after a period, hard substances may with the fingers be 

 detected beneath it. These hard bodies are faeces, which 

 accumulate within the rectum, and often in so great a 

 quantity as to seriously inconvenience the animal, ren- 

 dering it dull and indisposed to feed. 



Before attempting to direct the treatment for these 

 cases, it is necessary the nature of the affection should 

 be fully explained. The enlargement, to which attention 

 is at first solely directed, is always of secondary con- 

 sideration. The dropsy is merely a symptom indicative 

 of the loss of tone of the adjacent parts, of which the 

 rectum is by far the most important If this circumstance 

 be not observed, but the swelling be treated as if it was 

 all the practitioner had to contend with, he will in the 

 end learn his mistake. The intestine loses its tonicity ; it 

 no longer has power to contract upon or to expel its con- 

 tents ; it becomes paralysed, and the dung consequently 

 accumulates within it, distending it, and adding to its 

 weakness by constant tension. The rectum at length 

 retains no ability to perform its function ; but the sphinc- 

 ter of the anus, or the circular muscle that closes the 

 opening, appears to gain the strength of which the intes- 

 tine is deprived. It contracts, and thus shuts up the 



