388 KENNEL DISEASES. 
tagion; it is supposed to be also produced by the variola of man and of the 
sheep. It chiefly affects young dogs, although old animals are not exempt. 
One attack ensures immunity for the remainder of the dog’s life. 
‘©The disease commences with fever, which continues for two or three 
days, and is followed by the appearance — over a large surface of the body, 
though rarely on the back and sides of the trunk—of red points, resembling 
flea-bites, which are quickly transformedinto no dules, and then into vesicles. 
The contents of these become purulent and finally dry into a crust, whose 
shedding leaves a naked cicatrix. 
‘In the dog, as in the sheep and pig, there are different forms of the dis- 
ease, and it is benignant or malignant accordingly. Puppies nearly always 
succumb, and, on a necroscopical examination, it is not unusual to find vari- 
ous pustules on the mucous membrane of the respiratory and digestive organs. 
‘¢The disease being contagious, though the virus does not appear to be very 
volatile, it is necessary to isolate the sick, and to take due precautions that the 
contagion is not carried from them to healthy animals. 
‘¢Careful dieting, a dry and moderately warm dwelling, cleanliness and 
abundance of fresh air are the essentials in the curative treatment. 
‘¢An emetic in the early stage of the malady has been recommended as 
likely to be useful. Afterward the treatment must be purely symptomatic.” 
That this disease is infectious is highly probable; and that it is characterized 
by an initial fever of short duration and succeeded by an eruption passing 
through the stages of papule, vesicle and pustule, is evident from the reports. 
There is very decided resemblance therefore between such attacks and those 
of small-pox in man. It remains to be proved, however, whether or not they 
are neatly related. 
A reasonable deduction from the few cases on record is, that treatment is 
not at all likely to be followed by good results, and were a young litter at- 
tacked, about all that could be done would be to isolate the pups and mother, 
nourish her carefully, and trust the little ones entirely to her and to nature. 
ACTINOMYCOSIS. 
Actinomycosis is an infectious disease of cattle. It is also of occasional 
occurrence in man; and less frequently dogs are victims of it. Indeed in the 
long experience of the author he has encountered but one case. 
It is caused by a ray-fungus — actinomyces— which grows in the tissues, 
and develops a mass made up of individual growths, of the size of millet- 
seed. These aggregate, and the collection may be as large as one’s fist. 
They are generally yellowish, and of about the same density as tallow. The 
