HUNTING DIRECTORY. 107 



Dumb Madness. 



evidently became very lean, he might be said to be in 

 good spirits till the morning of the 13th, when I found 

 him very languid, his eye had lost its lustre, and death 

 was evidently fast approaching. He was perfectly sen- 

 sible, and whenever I approached and spoke to him, he 

 raised his heavy eyes, and by these, as well as by the 

 movement of his tail, appeared grateful for my attention. 

 Towards the evening he made a last effort to swallow 

 food, but was not able. On the following morning he 

 was stretched on his side, and had every appearance of 

 death, only that a breathing, at very long intervals, 

 proved that the vital spark was not absolutely extinct. 

 Some few hours afterwards he was perfectly lifeless ; 

 and I was resolved, if possible, to ascertain the cause of 

 his death. For this purpose I called in the assistance of 

 a skilful veterinary surgeon, and the animal was partly 

 dissected in my presence. On opening the body, it was 

 abundantly evident that the dog had been starved to 

 death ; or, in other words, had died for want of food. 

 The lungs, the liver, and, indeed, all those parts of the 

 animal organization were totally unaffected, and mani- 

 fested not the slightest symptom of disease ; the same 

 remark will equally apply to all parts of the throat, and 

 also to the brain ; and the only affection that could be 

 discovered, was in the salivary glands, which were tri- 

 flingly swelled. On the whole, I feel a perfect con- 

 viction, that the disorder of the dog was a glandular 

 affection, which, by rendering him incapable of swallow- 

 ing sustenance, caused his death. 



Of the cure, should a similar case come under my 

 observation, I feel confident ; and I have been thus 



