DOGS : THEIR MANAGEMENT. 365 



Another common failing in veterinary practitioners is, 

 a belief that the ergot of rye, or secale cornutum, acts 

 upon the dog as a direct uterine excitant, and thus pro- 

 motes the parturitive function. In this belief, however, 

 they are not single. Many writers speak with confi- 

 dence of its operation upon the animal. The accounts 

 are positive ; and I would not lightly place my unsup- 

 ported testimony to the fact against a host of authors 

 who can be suspected of no motive to misstate. The 

 gentlemen alluded to are authorities of such weight that 

 a strong conviction of the" truth is recjuired to make me 

 advance, against such and so many witnesses, my single 

 word. The reader must, however, take both for what 

 they are worth ; and remember the truth is not the less 

 true because there may be but one humble individual 

 ranged upon its side. It is not my intention to say the 

 authors who speak decidedly concerning the action of 

 the ergot on the bitch had no grounds for the statements 

 they advance. I should not be justified in making so 

 gross an assertion ; on the contrary, I believe sincerely 

 they saw all which they narrate ; but, nevertheless, I am 

 prepared to maintain that secale cornutum is not an 

 excitant to the uterus of the dog in that sense which 

 would warrant the veterinary practitioner in regarding it 

 as a lawful agent. To be so esteemed by such persons, 

 it should be both safe and certain in its operation. It 

 should not only possess a chance of doing good in one 

 direction, but it ought to be attended with no probability 

 of doing harm in another way. It may, in the hands of 



