no HUNTING DIRECTORY. 



Dumb Madness. 



turns or alterations by which the same disease assumes a 

 different form, and, accordingly, requires different treat- 

 ment? This is too much to expect. Huntsmen and 

 gamekeepers, also, are generally much attached to their 

 dogs, and seldom fail to show them considerable atten- 

 tion, when they are diseased ; and though I may have 

 met with some who possessed acute perception and sound 

 sense, yet, in order to acquire a thorough knowledge of 

 the subject on which I have been speaking, a superior 

 education seems indispensable, as well as much more 

 extensive practice than could possibly be afforded by 

 any one dog establishment in the kingdom : if extensive 

 practice be necessary to the physician and the surgeon, 

 why not to the dog-doctor also ? In any science or pro- 

 fession where success must depend very much upon the 

 practitioner's powers of perception, some degree of edu- 

 cation is not only indispensable, but superior abihties or 

 considerable genius also. It is not likely, that the requi- 

 site opportunities and qualifications will be found united 

 in many instances ; and, under such circumstances, I 

 would strongly advise sportsmen to pay as much atten- 

 tion to their diseased dogs as possible ; and whatever 

 reliance they may place upon their servants, it can do no 

 harm to watch the progress of the disorder themselves. 

 Many sportsmen of the old school, in their treatment 

 of the diseases of dogs, seem to have resorted to super- 

 stitious notions, and to have disregarded true philosophy 

 altogether ; so much so, indeed, that it is amusing to 

 read many of their ideas on the subject. It is possible, 

 however, that dog-diseases might formerly have existed, 

 which are unknown at the present day ; but a disease 



