DOGS : THEIR MANAGEMENT. 269 



mand. If the missile should be small, the poor animal, 

 in its eagerness to seize, may unfortunately swallow it, 

 and when that happens, the faithful brute nearly always 

 dies. The oesophagus or gullet of the dog is larger than 

 its intestines, and consequently the substance which can 

 pass down the throat may in the guts become impacted. 

 Such too frequently follows when stones are gulped ; 

 for hard things of this kind, though they should be small 

 enough to pass through the alimentary tube, neverthe- 

 less would cause a stoppage ; for a foreign body of any 

 size, by irritating the intestine, would provoke it to con- 

 tract, or induce spasm ; and the bowel thus excited 

 would close upon the substance, retaining it with a force 

 which could not be overcome. Persons, therefore, who 

 like their dogs to fetch and carry, should never use for 

 this purpose any pebble so small as to be dangerous, or 

 rather, they should never use stones of any kind for this 

 purpose. The animal taught to indulge in this amuse- 

 ment seriously injures its teeth, which during the excite- 

 ment are employed with imprudent violence, and the 

 mouth sustains more injury than the game can recom- 

 pense. 



If a dog should swallow a stone, let the animal be 

 immediately fed largely; half-an-hour afterwards let 

 thrice the ordinary dose of antimonlal wine be adminis- 

 tered, and the animal directly afterwards be exercised. 

 Probably the pebble may be returned with the food when 

 the emetic acts. Should such not be the case, as the dog 

 will not eat again, all the thick gruel it can be made to 



