DISTEMPER. 131 



days and were then injected with fetid pus or the purulent discharge from a glan- 

 dered horse reeled, tottered, and were unable to walk for a few hours, but at the 

 end of five days recovered their health and appetite, the wound where the injection 

 had been made healing nicely. Dogs treated similarly in every way with the ex- 

 ception of not having previously received the hyposulphite died in from the fourth 

 to the sixth day with a purulent discharge from the eyes and nostrils, and the 

 point wtiere the injection was made became gangrenous. The dose of this drug is 

 from two to twenty grains, depending upon the age and size of the patient, and 

 the condition of the bowels; if they become too loose the dose must be decreased. 



"Quinine is another drug of great value in the treatment of distemper and all 

 febrile conditions. Its uise is, however, abused from a failure to understand its real 

 action ; as a rule too large doses are given and at too frequent intervals. The action 

 of quinine, besides lowering temperature and pulsation, is in small doses tonic and 

 stimulating, increasing the appetite and all digestive secretions; in large doses con- 

 tinued it is depressing and destroys the appetite. It has remarkable antiseptic 

 properties, attacking and destroying all pernicious micro-organisms. A full dose 

 (five grains for a St. Bernard) given at the first sign of lassitude and dejection or 

 other premonitory symptoms of an attack of distemper, while it may not prevent 

 the disease, will certainly moderate it. Its use should then be discontinued until 

 the fifth or sixth day of the disease, when small doses of from one to five grains 

 should be given three times a day, but discontinued if any signs of disagreeing 

 with the dog are shown. 



"Pulmonary complications can be relieved by applying hot flannels to the sides 

 or the use of hot water bags. Hot fomentations or bandages wrung out of warm 

 water do more harm than good, as the animal generally gets chilled while they are 

 being used. 



"Nitrate of potash may be given in the clog's drinking water or in six to fif- 

 teen grain doses; it reduces fever and stimulates the action of the kidneys. 



"IF the pulse and temperature are very high a few doses of veratrum can foe 

 juv'Mi with advantage, but riot continued for more than two days. The close is from 

 one-tenth to one-third of a grain of the powder, at intervals of three or four hours. 



"Epileptic fits and nervous symptoms are difficult to treat with any degree of 

 success during the course of the disease. If they are due to reflex action, as from 

 the patient cutting teeth, lance the gums; if due to worms, the system is generally 

 too debilitated to stand the powerful drugs necessary to remove or destroy these 

 pests. The patient, however, can be temporarily relieved by bromide in closes of 

 from five to twenty grains, four or five times a day, either in a capsule or a watery 

 solution. If the excitement is extreme the bromide can be combined with from 

 three to ten grains of chloral. The latter drug, when administered, should be mixed 

 with syrup of mucilage to prevent its irritating the throat. 



"Vomiting should, if possible, be prevented by carefully selecting those foods 

 that the stomach seems best able to digest, but if it is so irritable as to expel the 

 most easily digested foods, give from two to four drops of Scheele's strength oi' 

 hydrocyanic acid, combined with from two to eight grains of pepsin, which will re- 

 lieve the irritability of the digestve organs and stop the vomiting. 



"Diarrhea mw^t not be too hurriedly checked, unless the discharges are so fre- 

 quent as to debilitate the animal. In mild cases give paregoric in from one-half 

 to two tea spoonful doses, and if that is not effectual a mixture of from five to ten 

 grains of chalk and from five to fifteen drops of ether and laudanum may be given 

 in a little milk 01 soup. 



"In arriving at the proper dose of the various drugs I have recommended, the 



