PART SECOND. 
PRINCIPLES OF MEDICINES. 
CHAPTER I, 
SYMPTOMS OF DISEASE. 
ALTHOUGH descriptions of the symptoms will occupy a large part of the space 
devoted to individual diseases, that branch of study is so important that a pre- 
paratory discussion of it here, which may also properly include certain principles 
and general considerations of the natures and causes of diseases, is deemed 
advisable, since it must favor much better understanding of the subjects when 
reached. 
To define disease is difficult except by negation — which is to say what it is 
not, instead of what it is. The popular definition, therefore, is an absence or 
deficiency of health. No practical embarrassment, however, results from this 
difficulty to draw the line with precision; for each owner unconsciously fixes an 
individual standard for his dog, and variations from it constitute disease. In 
other words, by intimate association with his canine friend he soon knows what 
in him is the healthy state, and is able to promptly detect when he has left it and 
is ailing. 
In a general way in a healthy dog we note as follows: Eyes bright, the white 
usually clear, the fine red lines seen at times having no significance ; the lining 
of the lids a pink, rose tinge. Nose cold, moist, and slippery, except when the 
animal sleeps; then often hot and dry. Coat soft and smooth, and in long-haired 
dogs, glossy. Skin soft, easily moulded, and of a gentle heat. Tongue moist, 
pink in color, free from coating. Pulse full and strong, ranging from eighty to 
one hundred, varying in different breeds and natures. The larger animals have 
a lower rate than the smaller, the nervous a higher than the less easily excitable. 
Excretions from the bowels vary with the food given in consistency and color. 
Neither hard nor thin, they should be free from undigested matter, and not mark- 
edly offensive in odor. The urine should be pale yellowish, abundant, and freely 
and easily expelled. 
The fact may be properly emphasized here that the canine race, as a whole, is 
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