130 DISEASES OF THE GREYHOUND. 



object of every courser ought to be to have healthy dogs or none, 

 it is better to destroy one which is evidently phthisical. On no 

 account should a phthisical subject be used for breeding purposes, 

 since there is not the slightest question as to the transmission 

 of this disease from parent (whether male or female) to offspring. 



INFLAMMATION OF THE STOMACH. 



WILFUL POISONING; INDIGESTION. I have already described 

 the process of digestion and the coats of the stomach, and it is 

 unnecessary for me again to allude to them. Inflammation of 

 the stomach is only caused by improper food or poisons, or 

 by neglect of exercise. It is seldom that this inflammation 

 becomes acute, unless poison has been given, because the irri- 

 tability of the dog's stomach is so great that he rejects the 

 improper food by vomiting, if of so crude a nature as to produce 

 active mischief. Poisons, however, are sometimes of such a 

 charactei as to cling to the mucous membrane of the stomach, 

 in spite of the most powerful efforts of the muscular coat to 

 reject them by vomiting. When, therefore, incessant vomiting, 

 without constipation, occurs in the dog, straining him severely 

 for hours together, there may be a fair presumption that poison 

 has been administered, either purposely or by mistake. But 

 if death takes place, and the interior of the stomach is thick- 



