224 DOGS : THEIR MANAGEMENT. 



the mouth is of a faint dull tint, and often it feels cold tt» 

 the touch. The coat looks not positively bad ; but rather 

 like a skin which had been well dressed by a furrier, than 

 one which was still upon a living body. 



The history in these cases invariably informs us that 

 the animal has been fat — very fat — about six or twelve 

 months ago. It fell away all at once, though no change was 

 made in the diet ; and yet we learn it has been physick- 

 ed. No restraint has been put upon buckthorn, castor 

 oil, aloes, sulphur, and antimony, but yet the belly VQil 

 not go down — ^it keeps getting bigger ; and now we are 

 told the animal" has a dropsy which " wants to be cured." 

 It is natural the figure and condition should suggest the 

 idea of ascites ; but the hair does not pull out — none of 

 the legs are swollen — the shape of the abdomen wants 

 the appearance of gravitation, and if the patient be placed 

 upon its back the form of the rotundity is not altered by 

 the position of the body. Moreover, the breathing is 

 tolerably easy : and, though if one hand be placed against 

 the side of the belly, and the part opposite be struck with 

 the other, there will be a marked sense of fluctuation ; 

 still we cannot accept so dubious a test against the mass 

 of evidence that declares dropsy is not the name of the 

 disease. To make sure, we feel the abdomen near to the 

 line of the false ribs. This gives no pain, so we press a 

 little hard, and in two or three places on either side, on 

 the right, or may be the left, high up or low down ; for 

 in abnormal growths there can be no rule — in two or 

 three places we can detect hard, solid, but smooth liimps 



