DISTKMPEK. 137 



for dogs do not have the real thing but once. If your dog's system is left very 

 much run down, blood tonics are good, according to individual needis, Scott's 

 Emulsion being especially beneficial. 



The most important safeguards to bear in mind are: (1) Absolute quiet on 

 chain in dry quarters. (2) Tablets regularly given and constant care. (3) The 

 seton promptly put in before the case has advanced to the fatal or acute form of 

 the disease. Distemper in itself is not fatal, but the complications and collateral 

 developments it leads to are. Whoever faithfully follows the suggestions given in 

 this article need have no fear of any fatal results from distemper. The ideas herein 

 formulated tare but rhe result of years of practical experience of varying results 

 with young setters. Common sense is the underlying principle of it all, which after 

 all, if used in time, is far better than medicine. We hear of all kinds of "cures." 

 including those who still have faith in "coffee," the pellet of "buckshot," or dose 

 of "gunpowder," together with other harsher specifics and methods of treatment. 

 Should we not give our priceless dogs, whose value every year is increasing with 

 their educated usefulness and close companionableness, the benefit of up-to-date 

 intelligent care, rather than the "guess at it" methods of the past? 



"Modestly submitted for the benefit of somebody's faithful dog, sometime, some- 

 where." 



The following very complete and exhaustive article on DISTEMPER was written 

 especially for this book by Dr. George W. Clayton: 



DISTEMPER. 



"HISTOKY. The disease now known as canine distemper made its appearance 

 at a very early period. According to Laosson, it was known at the time of Aristotle, 

 and the epizootic that invaded Bohemia during the year 1028 and decimated the 

 canine species of that country is now known to have been canine distemper. It 

 inndp its appearance in England and on the Continent of Europe during the Seven- 

 teenth Century, first in Spain, and traveled from there to the other countries. It 

 i red in England and France about 1740, in Germany in 1748, in Italy about 

 1764, and in Russia in 1770. Distemper now exists all over the world wherever the 

 do:.; is found. Prom the time of its first appearance it has been considered one of 

 the most fatal diseases to which the dog is subject. 



"DEPIMTJON. Distemper is an acute contagious disease, caused by the intro- 

 duction of a specific poison into the system. It has been known under various 

 names. Opinions differ as to its nature. Some authors have compared it to 

 typhoid or typhus in man, others to variola. A number of different authors describe 

 it as a catarrhal fever, as it affects all the membranes of the body. The nervous 

 system is generally if not always involved, and there is also a characteristic skin 

 eruption. 



"CAUSES. That a germ constitutes the exciting cause of distemper we are 

 convinced by recent investigations. Some authorities believe there may be several 

 germs or different forms of the same germ. As the disease is very highly conta- 

 gious, clearly defined, and well characterized, the existence of a specific germ must 

 be conceded. According to this theory the spontaneous origin of distemper is 

 not tenable, and tha\ the disease may be perpetuated and continued in existence, 

 there must be a continued propagation of the poison, and a continual trans- 

 mi SPJ on of this poison. 



"The poison exists in the air in a fixed and volatile state, and enters the sys- 

 tem by the nose and mouth. 



