NATURAL HISTORY OP THE DOG. 



CHAPTER XIII. 



DISEASES OF THE DOG. 



THIS portion of my subject might truly be made to occupy 

 treble the space of the present entire treatise. Such an ex- 

 tended dissertation, however, would not be within the limits 

 of such a work as this ; nor do I think it would prove very 

 useful. The less any one quacks his dog the better. If a 

 veterinary surgeon can be called in, let him prescribe, and 

 do you implicitly follow his directions. It may happen that 

 you are not so circumstanced as to be able to obtain such 

 assistance ; then let nature work her own will, and, in nine 

 cases out of ten, you will find her successful. Still, how- 

 ever, though nature does not require absolute aid in her 

 operations, she requires the removal of obstacles of such 

 attendant circumstances as might interfere with her opera- 

 tions. I shall not pretend to offer more than a little advice 

 on such subjects generally ; and I may here observe, that 

 when a human surgeon happens also to be a dog-fancier, you 

 will find his opinion and advice far more valuable than that 

 of half a hundred "quack pretenders. 



RABIES, OR CANINE MADNESS, 

 SOMETIMES IMPROPERLY CALLED HYDROPHOBIA. 



Hydrophobia, a term expressing fear of water, is, when 

 applied to this malady as occurring in the dog, grossly in- 

 correct, a dog laboring under rabies drinking water not only 

 willingly, but greedily to the very last. 



I need scarcely say that no curative treatment will avail, 

 once a dog has been seized with this terrible disease : my 

 duty, therefore, merely consists in describing the symptoms 

 which indicate the approach of danger, that the affected ani- 

 mal may be timely destroyed ; and also to point out the 

 treatment to be pursued in the event of a fellow-creature 

 having been bitten. One of the earliest symptoms of rabies 

 in the dog is restlessness. He is constantly turning round 

 and round before he will lie down ; his countenance becomes 

 anxious ; his eyes bloodshot ; he fancies that he sees objects 

 around him which have no real existence, and he snaps at 



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