AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 



backwards towards the door. The surly savage returned 

 growling to his lair; and, in a state of stupefaction, I found 



bugle 



was playing, and the 



myself in the open air. A 



light infantry company of my own regiment was entering 

 the village, with loud shouts and hurras. — London Sport- 

 ing Magazine.. 



DISEASES OF DOGS. 



Wild animals, reclaimed from a state of nature and do- 

 mesticated, are susceptible of great change and variety in 

 form, colour, and character; and owing, no doubt, to being 

 thus compelled to assume in some degree, an artificial mode 

 of life, they are rendered more liable to disorders. Animals 

 in a state of nature are little subject to disease: and though 

 the wild Dog subsists on flesh and carrion, it is more than 

 probable he is never troubled with what is distinguished by 

 the appellation of the distemper, or any of that long cata- 

 logue of disorders, to which the Dog is rendered obnoxious 

 after having become the companion of man. However, 

 thus much may be truly observed, that if a Dog be properly 

 fed and exercised, has plenty of good clean water, and his 

 bed kept clean, he will not in general be much troubled 

 with disease; and this rule will be found to obtain more 

 particularly if he be kept in the country. 



The Disteinper. — The distemper frequently attacks a 

 Dog before he has attained his first year. As a preliminary 

 observation, it maj- be remarked, that the same membrane 

 which lines the nostrils extends down the windpipe into 

 the lungs; and the distemper, in the first instance, may be 

 regarded as an inflammation of this membrane; which, if 

 not removed, extends down to the lungs, where suppuration 

 will soon be produced; when the animal's eye will become 

 dull, accompanied by a mucus discharge, a cough, and loss 

 of appetite. As the disease advances, it presents various 

 appearances, but is frequently attended with twitchings 

 about the head, while the animal becomes excessively weak 

 in the loins and hinder extremities; indeed he appears 

 completely emaciated, and smells intolerably. At length, 

 the twitchings assume the appearance of convulsive fits, 

 accompanied with giddiness, which cause the Dog to turn 

 round: he has a constant disposition to dung, with obstinate 

 costiveness or incessant purging. 



On the first appearance of the symptoms which I have 

 described, I should recommend the Dog to be bled* very 



* Bleeding. — In speaking on this subject, I am not supposing that the 

 sportsman is a member of the medical profession in any of its branches, 

 but sufKciently skilled in anatomy to know a vein from an artery, which is 



291 



freely, and his body to be opened with a little castor oil or 

 syrup of buckthorn: this will generally remove the disease 

 altogether, if applied the moment the first symptoms ap- 

 pear. If, however, this treatment should not have the 

 desired efiect, and a cough ensues, accompanied with a 

 discharge at the nose, give him from two grains to eight 

 of tartar emetic (according to the age and size of the Dog,) 

 every other day. When the nervous symptoms ensue, 

 which I have already described, external stimulants (such 

 as sal-ammoniac and oil, equal parts,) should be rubbed 

 along the course of the spinal marrow, and tonics given 

 internally, such as bark, &c. 



Of the various remedies, the following was given with 

 success to a Dog, so afiJicted as to be scarcely able to 

 stand: — 



Turbeth's mineral, six grains, 



mixed with sulphur, and divided into three doses, one given 

 every other morning. Let a few days elapse, and repeat 

 the course. 



Another: 



Calomel, one grain and a half. 

 Rhubarb, five grains. 



given ever}' other day for a week. 

 Another: 



Antimonial powder, sixteen grains, 

 Powdered fox-glove, one grain, 



made into four bolusses with conserve of roses, and one 

 given at night, and another the next morning, for two days. 



all the knowledge requisite for performing the operation of bleeding a Dog. 

 A vein* may be distinguished from an artery by its having no pulsation ; 

 if an artery of any consequence shall be divided, the blood will flow in irre- 

 gular gushes, it will be difficult to stop, and may cause the death of the 

 Dog. However, there is little danger of such an unpleasant circumstance 

 happening, and an ordinary degree of attention is quite sufficient to obviate 

 it. The most convenient and the best place to bleed a Dog, is to open a 

 vein, (the jugular vein,) longitudinally, in the side of the neck, round which 

 a cord should be first tied ; and if the sportsman is not expert at handling a 

 lancet, he may purchase a fleam at any of the shops where surgical instru- 

 ments are sold, which, by means of springs, is so contrived, that the great- 

 est bungler need be under no apprehension. Those who sell this instru- 

 ment win describe the method of using it, which indeed is so obvious at first 

 view, as to render elucidation superfluous in tliis place. 



If, after the vein is opened, the animal should not bleed freely, pressure a 

 little below the orifice will cause the blood to flow. When sufficient blood 

 has been taken, (eight ounces, if a strong Dog,) the bleeding will generally 

 subside ; should this not be the case, a little fur from a hat will stop it, or 

 the lips of the orifice may be drawn together with a needle and thread. 



The vein should be opened longitudinalbj, as I have already observed ; as, 

 if opened in a transverse direction, it may be difficult to stop the bleeding, 

 owing to the circumstance of the incision opening every time tlie Dog holds 

 down or stretclies out his head. 



Caustic or hot iron will stop bleeding, even when an artery is divided ; or 

 it may be sewn up. 



* An artery brings tht blood from the- heart ; a vein carries back the blooil to tlie heart 



