AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 



297 



slight attack of the distemper, which immediately gave 

 way to bleeding and a dose of tartar emetic; and in three 

 or four days he was restored to perfect health. His colour 

 was a perfect jet black; he was larger than common, and 

 altogether, the finest young pointer I ever saw. On the 

 8th of January, (of the following year,) I observed the 

 Dog keep his mouth almost continually open, the inside of 

 which appeared darker coloured than usual, and somewhat 

 swelled. I immediately bled him copiously, which, how- 

 ever, produced no visible alteration; on the contrary, the 

 next day all the symptoms had evidently increased, and I 

 observed that he was unable to swallow, though he made 

 many attempts both to eat and drink, particularly the 

 latter: but the water or the milk, which, by putting his 

 nose into the vessel, he contrived to get into his mouth, 

 uniformly run out again, and he appeared utterly unable to 

 pass it down his throat: he licked his fore-legs very much, 

 and seemed to have a trifling discharge of mucus, or saliva: 

 but all this time the Dog appeared not only perfectly sensi- 

 ble, but even in good spirits, and evidently experienced 

 but little pain. A sporting acquaintance, who saw him, said 

 the disease was what was distinguished by the appellation 

 of dumb madness, which seems to me altogether a ridiculous 

 term; and supposing this to have been the disorder with 

 which my Dog was affected, I can testify that the term is 

 very improperly applied, as the animal in question regularly 

 barked on the approach of a stranger, though in a different 

 tone, and with more diiSculty than usual. However, I 

 immediately searched authorities for dumb madness, with 

 a view to ascertain the proper mode of treatment. In an 

 old writer, (the author of the "Gentleman's Recreation,") 

 I found it thus described: — "The Dog that is troubled 

 with dumb madness will not feed, but holds his mouth 

 wide open continually, putting his feet to his mouth fre- 

 quently, as if he had a bone in his throat." Now, though 

 my Dog kept his jaws somewhat distended, his mouth was 

 not wide open, but only partially so, and that he was able to 

 shut it I can safely attest, as I saw him many times close 

 his jaws, though he never kept them more than a second 

 or two in that position; further, the animal frequently 

 licked his fore-legs, but I never saw him raise his feet, or 

 otherwise use indications similar to those adopted by a Dog 

 when he seems to have a bone in his throat; and therefore 

 the cases did not appear to agree. 



I had next recourse to the "Sportsman's Dictionary, or 

 Gentleman's Companion:" the third edition of which was 

 published in 1783, which contained the following observa- 

 tions: — "Dumb madness lies in the blood, and causes the 

 Dog not to feed, but to hold his mouth always wide open, 

 frequently putting his feet to his mouth, as if he had a bone 

 in his throat." 



4 F 



To be brief — I perused every thing within my reach, on 

 the subject of Dogs and their diseases, but without gaining 

 the least information; and, as the disorder, at least in the 

 form in which it presented itself, was new to me, I began 

 to entertain fears for the life of my Dog, and the sequel will 

 prove they were but too well founded. I have already 

 remarked, that I first perceived the disease on the Sth of 

 January, and the Dog continued much in the same way for 

 four successive days, during which, all his faculties appear- 

 ed very little, if at all, impaired. He would follow me 

 into the field, and even hunt, frequently attempting to 

 drink, and, in order to accomplish that desirable object, 

 would thrust his nose into the water, instead of attempting 

 to lap; but he never succeeded in forcing any of the fluid 

 down his throat: his sense of smell was as perfect as ever; 

 and, indeed, though he 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 sensible, 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 atten- 

 tion. 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 pur- 

 purpose, I called in the assistance of a skilful veterinary sur- 

 geon, and the animal was 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 manifested 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 conviction, 

 that the disorder of the Dog was a glandular affection, which, 

 by rendering him incapable of swallowing sustenance, 

 caused his death. 



Of the cure, should a similar case come under my obser- 

 vation, I feel confident; and I have been thus minute for 

 the information of sportsmen in general, particularly as I 

 have been informed, that the disorder which I have at- 

 tempted to descj^ibe, or something very much resembling 

 it, has carried off, within the last few years, great num- 

 bers of valuable dogs. Should a similar case occur with 

 any of my Dogs, I should force food, (nourishing broth, 



