332 DOGS AND ALL ABOUT THEM 



does it appear to be so difficult to treat them ? " I should answer the 

 first thus : Through the neglect of their owners, from want of cleanli- 

 ness, from injudicious feeding, from bad kennelling, and from per- 

 mitting their favourites such free intercourse with other members of 

 the canine fraternity. Overcrowding is another and distinct source of 

 skin troubles. 



My answer to the second question is that the layman too often treats 

 the trouble in the skin as if it were the disease itself, whereas it is, 

 generally, merely a symptom thereof. Examples : To plaster medi- 

 cated oils or ointments all over the skin of a dog suffering from con- 

 stitutional eczema is about as sensible as would be the painting white 

 of the yellow skin in jaundice in order to cure the disordered liver. 



But even those contagious diseases that are caused by skin germs 

 or animalcules will not be wholly cured by any applications whatever. 

 Constitutional remedies should go hand in hand with these. And, 

 indeed, so great is the defensive power of strong, pure blood, rich in its 

 white corpuscles or leucocytes, that I believe I could cure even the worst 

 forms of mange by internal remedies, good food, and tonics, etc., 

 without the aid of any dressing whatever except pure cold water. 



In treating of skin diseases it is usual to divide them into three 

 sections : (1) The non-contagious, (2) the contagious, and (3) ailments 

 caused by external parasites. 



(1) THE MOM-CONTAGIOUS. (A) ERYTHEMA. This is a redness, with 

 slight inflammation of the skin, the deeper tissues underneath not being 

 involved. Examples That seen between the wrinkles of well-bred 

 Pugs, Mastiffs, or Bulldogs, or inside the thighs of Greyhounds, etc. 

 If the skin breaks there may be discharges of pus, and if the case is 

 not cured the skin may thicken and crack, and the dog make matters 

 worse with his tongue. 



Treatment Review and correct the methods of feeding. A dog 

 should be neither too gross nor too lean. Exercise, perfect cleanliness, 

 the early morning sluice-down with cold water, and a quassia tonic. 

 He may need a laxative as well. 



Locally Dusting with oxide of zinc or the violet powder of the 

 nurseries, a lotion of lead, or arnica. Fomentation, followed by cold 

 water, and, when dry, dusting as above. A weak solution of boracic 

 acid (any chemist) will sometimes do good. 



(B) PRURIOO. Itching all over, with or without scurf. Sometimes 

 thickening. 



Treatment Regulation of diet, green vegetables, fruit if he will 

 take it, brushing and grooming, but never roughly. Try for worms 

 and for fleas. 



(c) ECZEMA. The name is not a happy one as applied to the usual 

 itching skin disease of dogs. Eczema proper is an eruption in which 

 the formed matter dries off into scales or scabs, and dog eczema, so- 

 called, is as often as not a species of lichen. Then, of course, it is often 

 accompanied with vermin, nearly always with dirt, and it is irritated 

 out of all character by the biting and scratching of the dog himself. 



Treatment Must be both constitutional and local. Attend to the 

 organs of digestion. Give a moderate dose of opening medicine, to clear 

 away offending matter. This simple aperient may be repeated occasion- 



